Category: Television

Here’s Something Stupid: My Favorite Starship Design #StarTrek #StarWars #SciFi #TTRPG #RPG #FASA

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My work on my Bridge application has me contemplating all the ship designs I’ve seen in science fiction and science fantasy, and it reminded me of what my favorite design among them is. Unsurprisingly, it’s from Star Trek.

The Klingon D-7M Cruiser from the TOS movie era and beyond.

Now, let’s be crystal clear. I’m fully aware that this is 100% subjective. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything other than to maybe mull it over and form your own opinion. However, I’m going to explain why I like it so much anyway. First, I think it emulates a jet fighter you might pilot. But in this regard, it probably isn’t any better than this ship from the FASA Star Trek RPG.

The Romulan T-10 (Bright One) Destroyer

I’ve always preferred the Romulans to the Klingons as enemies, but this one loses out (as do many other cool designs) to the D-7M for another reason: The backstory (or at least my preferred backstory) to the D-7’s design. I’ve heard a few theories as to why it has a long, thin neck separating the main hull from the bridge. First, it was to keep the poorly insulated ships from irradiating the command bubble. Second, it was to lower the forward profile of the ship when attacking, leaving it’s command center and devastating photon torpedo launcher less vulnerable to being disabled. The third explanation, though, is my favorite, and to my knowledge it comes from the Star Fleet Battles RPG that I played only once. That game positied the notion that the design made it harder to succeed in a mutiny. The thin neck was a natural bottleneck for subordinates trying to take over the command module. Also, it’s interior design had many obstacles built into it, requiring mutineerers to zigzag through the neck before getting to the command module. That gave plenty of time for the captain to detach the command module and blow up the main hull and neck before the mutineers could reach him. What’s more Klingon than that?

But ultimately, I simply like the aesthetic. As I said, this isn’t an argument.

I think Star Wars has had enough designs to come up with some really cool ones, but many are, surprisingly, more functional than creative in design. They’re closer to what I think an actual starship would look like if it were real, or maybe what you’d expect from a rebel alliance that’s repurposing far more available freighters as weapons of war. The FASA Star Trek RPG did a top notch job of expanding the Star Trek universe with some really great designs as well, but they just don’t top the D-7 for me. I should also mention that I haven’t watched a tremendous amount of science fiction and science fantasy, so maybe there’s something out there I’d like better. However, for now, the Klingons win this war. Seems appropriate.

As always, YMMV.

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Strange News out of Ohio

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Odd goings on in the midwest.

Generally speaking, trite, but this is a new twist to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Media is Shit These Days #media #OldGuard #Netflix #streaming #OldDays #tv #movie

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Here’s something that in part is completely uncontroversial, but I still want to say it because I think some of it might encourage disagreement.

Old Guard was released 5 years ago. The sequel was released recently. I have zero recollection of the original beyond the basics, so I don’t fully appreciate the context, and I didn’t enjoy it. Releasing the sequel 5 years later is just fucking stupid. There’s far too much content we absorb to expect us to clearly remember the detailed context from a prior film that isn’t worthy of multiple rewatches over the years, and I’m not going to rewatch the original just to make sure I appreciate all the subtleties of the sequel that make it worth watching. And that’s for a movie. For a TV show, this is even dumber.

I saw a meme recently that I didn’t save, so I can’t reproduce it here. It pointed out that in the old days, there were 20-something episodes per season, with only a summer break between each season. Now it’s 10 episodes (or fewer) separated by at least a couple of years. In the age of the internet and streaming where release schedules should be more relaxed, this represents a massive failure by the creatives. I’m sure they, along with the suits in control, win with this arrangement: less work for more pay. In the meantime, people can be distracted by all the other content available.

I get the notion of Abe Simpson yelling at clouds. I’m very much self-aware of how I’m not part of the new culture when it comes to a lot of things. Unlike many people my age (57), I’m 100% fine with that. All of you do you, and don’t worry about the guy that isn’t in the most important demographic. But this is fucking stupid, and on this, I don’t know why the currently generation tolerates it. Maybe they don’t feel they have a choice, or perhaps ignorance is bliss, but if they’ve given this any thought and still think this is a reasonable option, then I really don’t get what the kids are thinking these days. In this narrow regard, it was much better in the old days. Considering we had only three viable channels, that’s crazy.

Note well that I’m not criticizing the content itself. Most people my age do, but that’s not what this is about. To the extent that I don’t like the creative direction of modern media, that’s generational, and my opinion should be ignored. I’m talking about something far more objective than personal taste. This is about structure, and the structure is shit.

Or maybe I’m just yelling at clouds.

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Happy (The *Real*) Star Wars Day @kesseljunkie #StarWars #StarWarsDay

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As today is the real Star Wars Day and the only one that should be celebrated, I’ll tell you my story. Like all my childhood stories, there’s an element of sadness to it, but only in a “first world problem” sense. It’s not really a downer.

Star Wars: A New Hope was released eight days after my ninth birthday. I didn’t get to see it quickly, as it wasn’t a priority for my parents, and they didn’t want to wait in those ridiculous lines. However, the release was extended due to its popularity, so because they were interested in it themselves, I technically did see it when it was released. Unlike some of you, I don’t remember the exact date, but it was definitely (and obviously) during 1977.

My cousin, Kessel Junkie, and his older brother loved it, but their parents fostered that. They had the bed sheets, toys, etc. So, when it was re-released in the theaters, their parents planned to see it again. The day before, they were over at the house. I had helped out their mother in some way I don’t remember, and she returned me home. She asked me what I wanted in return. I responded, “Take me to see Star Wars.” Knowing how my family would react, I said it with deep and sincere sarcasm in my voice because I never imagined being able to see it in the theater a second time. Well, she enthusiastically responded, “Sure!” She knew that would absolutely pay the debt (so to speak) to me. My mother wasn’t pleased but was in a position where it would be awkward to disallow it. I’d pay for it later, but I didn’t care. So, I actually got to see it twice on the big screen. This was the nicest thing my aunt ever did for me (I don’t mean that as a backhanded compliment), and I always appreciated that.

Foreshadowing!

On Christmas of the year the Empire Strikes Back was released, Kessel Junkie‘s parents got me the novelization for Christmas. It was given to me at the large, extended family Christmas party we had every year, so there was no way to hide it. I immediately started reading it, ignoring the party, but obviously I couldn’t finish the entire novel that night. I was ridiculed every time I picked it up because it was childish (I was fucking 11 years old!), but because that didn’t work, it was confiscated within the week. I never did finish it. I imagine, just like many books, it improved on the story from the movie. I hadn’t thought about this in decades, so maybe I should buy and read it.

This wasn’t really the product of an anti-Star Wars attitude as much as it was just another excuse to crush my spirit, but they did even meaner things with Star Trek, so this had nothing to do with . . .

The “Rivalry”

Star Wars sucks!

“Star Trek >> Star Wars” is a phrase I use more than “My name is Rob,” but as Kessel Junkie will tell you, we’re both fans of both. I just prefer Star Trek, and he prefers Star Wars. But the only Star Wars that doesn’t appeal to me is the animated stuff (for reasons I’ve discussed before) and the Last Jedi (it reminds me too much of the OJ Simpson slow speed chase). Maybe my love of Star Trek is why Rogue One is my favorite Star Wars movie; it has a more Star Trek feel. In any event, don’t take it as an insult to the franchise. Star Wars continues to consistently put out great material, and they even adjust on the fly to cater to what the fans suddenly want to see (e.g., Ahsoka). To be fair, Star Trek did that with Strange New Worlds.

I really do love Star Wars, and you should never doubt that simply because . . .

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Star Trek >> Star Wars.

“Historic” Watch: HBO’s Rome @StreamOnMax #GoodWatch #HBO #Rome #RayStevenson #tv #television #RIP

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Ray Stevenson’s death has inspired many articles on his career. I read a couple and saw that he had starred in HBO’s Rome. It’s a show I’d (somehow) never seen, so I decided to binge it this past week leading into the Memorial Day weekend.

Despite strong liberties taken with actual history, it’s a pretty good show that, as far as I can tell, reflects Roman life accurately and is both well-written and well-acted. So, it’s surprising it lasted only two seasons. One article explained that: It was simply too expensive for its time; they couldn’t afford to make more episodes.

As always, YMMV. R.I.P Ray Stevenson

The best part of the show was the name of season 2, episode 4: Testudo et Lepus. Go Terps!

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Nostalgic Watch: Soap @Tubi #GoodWatch #Soap #Tubi #vlog #tv #television #70s #80s

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I finished binging Soap, a sitcom from the 70s and early 80s. Here’s my report.

Does it hold up?

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America Does *Not* Suck (Anymore Than Anyone Else) #Murica #America

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For some strange reason, Americans (or at least my social media connections) love to trash on America. Actually, I know the reason. Everyone wants what they can’t have and takes for granted what they do. For this post, let’s put aside misconceptions about foreign countries and mischaracterizations of our own. Let’s assume that you’re lamenting over legitimate problems we have and how much better they have it somewhere else. Fine, but try not to forget that they get wrong and we get right . . . or at the very least, less wrong. Here’s one, though the merge was actually from 50 to 20 lanes.

Then there’s that whole “no concern for civil rights” thing. Just sayin’.

Murica!

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Happy Birthday, William Shatner and Captain Kirk! @WilliamShatner @StarTrek #aging #happybirthday #birthday #StarTrek

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Yeah, you read that right. Captain Kirk and William Shatner were both born on March 22. Shatner was born in 1931, and Kirk will be born in 2233. This may be out of place considering that I’m writing this post on May 7, 2022, and who knows what will happen to my captain (or me) between now and then, but I wish them both well . . .

. . . because I’m delusional.

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Ending Another Streak @IronMaiden @themandalorian #TV #music #StarWars #IronMaiden #UpTheIrons

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Sundays are lazy days for me. Sometimes I post other people’s work. Sometimes, something silly. Usually both. Well, there’s nothing sillier than this. I post today only because this will become my 200th consecutive daily post. I’ve pulled this shit before, posting just to say that I’m continuing what would become a 374 day streak, but I post this to say my streak is ending. Very meta.

Okay, fine. Because you’re here, I should probably give you a stupid meme. Here’s one.

Nice mashup of two things I love. It’s not as if I had something important to say for most of the 199 before it (short of some of these).

Now it’s time for another break.

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My Impending Addition #Caturday #StarTrek

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I’m getting a cat soon, and this will be me.

Is it Caturday? Is it Star Trek Saturday?

Also of note, yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, but it was also St. Gertrude’s Day. She’s the patron saint of cats and died on March 17, most likely in the year 659 AD.

Am I of Irish descent? Am I a cat lover?

You will love my cat.

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