Pattern Ghost

I'm glad Chibnall's gone at least. By far the worst of the batch.

Honestly, I really liked the "Eat the Baby Song." That was catchy and fun. The new Doctor and Companion seem fun to me, maybe a little more light-hearted than some of the other recent Doctors. If they can avoid soapboxing and just tell stories with the character, it might work. I'm willing to give it a chance after seeing the special.

Been a weird time lately. Will the election be the 6th or 7th Seal? I've lost track.

This is interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/02/orangutan-seen-treating-wound-with-medicinal-herb-in-first-for-wild-animals-max-planck-institute-sumatra

Maybe the apes will take over before the AI apocalypse?

21 minutes ago, Old Man said:

And the greed.  Don't forget the greed.

Yeah, a lot of that going around.

Still going around, really. Paying that COVID tax still at the grocery stores and the gas pumps. What comes up . . . never comes down apparently.

12 minutes ago, Lectryk said:

As usual, Trump was the loose cannon in that plan - 'Kung Flu' and other talking points similar don't go well with the '... trying to prevent retaliation against Asians' part.  And he didn't do so well on the compliance part...  Touch it up, and you probably have something that might have legs with the right groups..

Touch what up, the first part or the second? The second is basically what happened. Motives unclear. Stupidity abounding. The first version is just building a better mouse trap fun.

On 4/28/2024 at 3:26 PM, unclevlad said:

There's plenty of people that would far rather say that, say, COVID was a bioweapon being developed by China

I've never seen anyone put out the most plausible conspiracy though. Mine goes like this:

The US and China both have issues with a growing aging population that needs to be supported at least in part by the state, and at least in China's case, a shrinking work force. COVID-19 hits the elderly the hardest. Therefore, the two countries had motive to develop it as a means of population control. Unfortunately, it escaped the lab due to poor oversight before it was perfected. The lab which was being protected by a misinformation campaign about pangolins, the scrubbing of data sent to the CDC from the lab, and a few other key lies that were put out very loudly by the government all point to a cover up. You could then toss up many examples of unethical experimentation by the US and China throughout modern history as support and to churn up an emotional response.

My actual version is: Trump removed oversight we were supposed to have on that lab. The lab got sloppy. COVID got loose. Our government told a lot of lies for a lot of reasons, including trying to save face, trying to prevent retaliation against Asians, trying to gain compliance with guidelines, etc. So, a mix of stupidity, underhandedness, and misguided attempts to control and contain the situation.

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

Iran has actually displayed remarkable restraint during this whole affair in Gaza.

Let's not forget they helped engineer the 10/7 attack:

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-israel-hamas-strike-planning-bbe07b25

Israel may have hit them first in this round of Poke the Bear, but I don't think Iran deserves any praise for restraint. 

Did I totally miss seeing the poll go up, or did Pariah get sidetracked?

I've had a hard time thinking of a title, so if it's not too late, I'll go with the obvious: Up Schitt's Creek, in the Dark, with No Spear

I've rarely seen anyone literally hopping mad, but here you go:
 

And for good reason.

On 1/20/2024 at 6:09 AM, Rich McGee said:

Well, I guess I'd better not play CoH any more, then. 

You do you. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by calling a thing what it is. Or was, in this case. 

Missed my Wings pick, Blue Falcon (Hanna-Barbera)

Wildcard: Sebastian Haff/Elvis Presley (From the movie Bubba Ho-Tep), Guardian of the Spear of Destiny

This is two weeks old, but I don't think it's been posted yet:

Color Hero: Red Hood (Jason Todd, DC Comics)

MacGuffin: Spear of Destiny (DC Comics)

Bug Hero: Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider

Secondary Antagonist: S'ym (Marvel Comics)

Shape Changer: Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man

The GM's Nightmare: Badger (First Comics)

Yellowstone: Wish I'd known there was still half a season left, and that Costner may not come back for it. Some good, some bad, some stupid to it. Still managed to suck me in. It subverted my expectations and made the protagonists into a cowboy mafia, which was an interesting spin on a ranch family defending their legacy, the eponymous ranch that's adjacent to the park of the same name. It often struggles with trying to create sympathetic characters out of a bunch of dysfunctional, self-interested killers. Frequently suffers from godawful dialog. Has a few true soap opera level stupid situations. 

1883: Yellowstone prequel, one season mini-series. Tells the tale of the Dutton family's journey across the Oregon Trail that led them to the Yellowstone. I liked it quite a bit more than the original show. It did a good job of showing the sheer brutality of life on the Oregon Trail. Narration was annoying, though. 

1923: Best of the three. Set between World Wars, a mining baron (Timothy Dalton) is trying to take over the ranch. Big Damn Hero son is off in Africa dealing with his personal demons. He finds romance and adventure while trying to get back home. Waiting for season 2. 

The Americans: Almost through Season 2. Great Cold War spy show, with plenty of twists and turns.