I work from home most days and the voting place is like 1.5 miles from me so I went and voted during lunch (lot more people than I thought would be there at that time). I’d say Trump will win but I thought he would win in 2020 (suspicious stuff aside of course). I have a friend who thinks it will be a 1984 style blowout for Trump, but I doubt that since demographic changes have made such a landslide nearly impossible. Another friend of mine thinks it would be poetic justice for Trump to win by a razor thin margin and have Dems/media screaming about a stolen election with their own protest at the capitol that the media downplays.
Anyway, what do y’all predict?
I read it when I was in the Air Force and then again like two years ago. Came to mind when my sister in law was telling me that my 12 year old niece was a big reader and was looking for something out of the ordinary to read
Recently found some Harry Turtledove (Guns of the South and that WW2 interrupted by alien attack series) but haven’t read them yet. I’ve always had an interest in the “what if” story which is why I loved the show Sliders(despite excessive Cro-Mags and downer ending) and love reading up on the multiverse theory.
I have an anthology of mystery stories called sideways in time where each story is a murder mystery that takes place in a parallel earth. My favorite story was a mystery that took place at the equivalent of the U.N. for parallel earth representatives. Another interesting one is The Pacific Mystery. I recently found a book that takes place in the 1950s in a world where the British won the revolutionary war.
Anyway, any recommendations?
Currently binge watching Monsters, The Hitchhiker, Tales from the Crypt, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and the 80s Alfred Hitchcock reboot and it has me missing anthology series. Saw a lot in the 80s/90s. Anyone have a favorite?
If I had to pick just one I guess mine would be the original TZ but I have a soft spot for the 80s version. One Step Beyond is an old but good one. Nightmare Cafe was a good but very short lived series.
I recently learned there will be a Star Wars Legends/EU convention in March about 20 minutes from where I live. Been reading the EU ever since I was 12 when I got Heir to the Empire for my bday. I’m strictly a pre Disney Star Wars fan now. They had a legends convention last year in California with some authors (except Zahn). I’m honestly surprised Disney allows it because they seem petty enough not to.
I remember one of the authors saying that he understood Disney wants to do their own thing but worried about alienating a large group of loyal fans. They could’ve just made more stories in a separate continuity or done some animated adaptations. Looking back I just see it as the normal playbook we see today of telling actual fans to piss off so they can court a new type of fan.
Anyway, I’m really pumped about this
With everything going on, if you want to take a break and have a good laugh I recommend Good Neighbors (also called Good Life). British show from the 70s about a guy with a 9 to 5 job that lives in the suburbs who decides to start a farm on his property with his wife and live off the land. I absolutely love it, but to be fair I have always been into British TV/have had a fascination with all things British since I was a kid for some reason. Sucks that they have gone so crazy with the diversity/inclusion obsession, but there is still a lot of older content I have yet to see and a good thing with the free streaming services is that they have quite a bit of older BBC shows or shows from Australia.
I did the ancestry DNA thing a while back and met some super distant British cousins online, but unfortunately they all live in the big cities so I'll have to wait for a cousin to pop up who has a fancy country estate where I can take a vacation.
Imagine a world where the owners of an IP actually appealed to the fans of the IP. I know sometimes you can expand your customer base with certain products but certainly not when you try to do it at the expense of loyal customers.
I tried to explain to him most polls til Election Day will either show a tie or show her up and not to put too much faith into them. I feel that her “popularity” is a media invention considering she lasted only a few minutes in the primaries, but there are plenty of people who will blindly vote for her like the “mean tweets” people in 2020. To say nothing of any mysterious overnight ballots come Election Day.
I just told him that the media will be pushing her harder than they did for Obama or Biden. I would love to see a landslide like 84 but ever since 2012 this country has sadly shown they will vote based on emotion and what is trendy in a heartbeat.
I moved to where I now live in 09, and back then the shopping center where my local grocery store is had a Blockbuster (it has since become a dental office) and everytime I buy groceries I think about the good times I had at Blockbuster growing up. At least once a month we would order pizza and go to Blockbuster to rent some movies. I remember when that Blockbuster went out of business in 2010 and they had a hug going out of business sale with PS2 games as low as 3 dollars and I bought a ton of games that day (wish I had never given up my PS2). I also remember when I was little it seemed every store or gas station had a corner for video rental.
As a kid working at a video rental place always seemed like such a cool job and as a teen, I was busy with sports and when I did work it was at restaurants or temp agencies. I'm curious if anyone had ever worked there or any other video rental?
Also, you think that model could ever work again with some being more interested in physical media? I could possibly see a rental place but they would have to have some other stuff, but I do know some VHS collectors so you could make it work.
On facebook, I'm in a group for people who like 50s/60s era of television, and recently the admin banned someone who was trying to discuss lack of diversity in tv shows of that era and racial politics. People were saying it was unfair, but the admin said this group is for a specific topic. Years back I would've seen that as harsh, but now I'm all for it. If only we done that with our hobbies once the usual suspects infiltrated.
The larger point being is that there is always some idiot who feels the need to bring in politics or some other issue into a completely unrelated hobby, and can't just let people have an escape. Recently I saw that the Twister movie was attacked for not addressing climate change, and I remember that Far Cry game got bad reviews for not addressing white supremacy.
Of course, the usual thing we hear is that "(fill in the blank) has always been political" or "it is too important". One of the reasons I rarely use reddit now is because of what happened during the "summer of love". I collect sports cards (baseball/football/hockey) and on a hockey card subreddit you had people who felt the need to have long posts about covid or vaccine misinformation along with the usual racial reckoning nonsense. Then of course they jumped all over me for asking what that has to do with hockey cards and I was told "some things are too important". I had to completely get off the Dallas Cowboys subreddit because they went off the deep end at that time.
Anyway, the mindset of these people who just can't let people enjoy something or feel that their point of view has to be brought into anything and everything even if it is some babies playing with blocks will never cease to annoy me.
A friend sent me something he saw his relatives posting from Occupy Democrats saying "now show as much concern for third grade classrooms", and then someone added "or minorities".
I know I shouldn't let it annoy me, but these people don't care about third graders getting shot and killed. They only care if a gunman is a straight white male. Notice how quickly the story if lost if a gunman isn't a white male. They don't care about the kids getting killed if it is a "transgender" person or anyone else who isn't a straight white male. These are also the same people who don't bat an eye at heinous actions if they are done by illegal immigrants, black criminals, or anyone else on their list of darlings.
As for the minority thing, unless a white cop is killing a black person (of course with the media distorting the situation) they don't care. Perfect example is David Dorn. I remember CNN saying "well he didn't die from peaceful protestors"
These are the same jerks who whine about gun violence but weekly inner city shooting is ok.
If an upstanding white person is killed by an illegal/black/other special criminal they quickly fade from the news, but someone like Saint Floyd gets a golden casket and cities burn because of that scumbag but that is ok. Ashli Babbit of course was painted as an evil person immediately.
Sorry for the rant, but that really ticked me off, and I know that isn't very Christianly to let myself get so upset so I'll work on that.
First ones off the top of my head would be UBIK by Phillip K Dick or either Stranger in a Strange Land or JOB by Heinlein.
Seems every year you see this. I live in Texas, summers are hot and anyone who has a heat related death gets tied to climate change. They do this in the winter too. Here in north Texas winters shift between cold and warm until spring but whenever it gets warm in January they act like we are going to die.
I recently found the book at a used book store and I’ve heard good things. Of course they said it will have a “modern twist” and I hate to make assumptions but seeing the showrunner I have no doubt it will be like every other modern adaptation.
Also heard a rumor that an Elric adaptation is in the works, and I’d be shocked if Netflix respects the Narnia source material.
On the bright side, whenever I see that a book or comic is being adapted and the story sounds interesting I just get the source material because an actual adaptation is low on the list of Hollywood priorities
I like asking this every couple of months. I’m currently reading the first book of the Three Body Problem and the book I finished before it was a book about Angels by Billy Graham that my mother gave me when I was in middle school but finally read recently. Better late than never
People have been telling me to buy it for a while. I know his Narnia books are more well known but how does this trilogy compare? Cant wait to read it because I love the idea of him writing sci-fi
In a local paper they had an article about how at a high school graduation one of the ladies graduating handed the superintendent a book that was on the “banned list”. I was glad to see so many in the comments point out that if she was able to get the book then it isn’t banned.
Pointing this out to people is as useless as trying to debunk the police shooting narrative to a true believer. I had a cousin that got mad at me because he was talking about Florida banning books and I simply pointed out all the books listed were available to order on Amazon. Why people don’t understand that a public library or public school not carrying a book is banning it. By all means, start your own bookstore or public library
While I love TNG (even though the cast can’t shut up) and that was the first Star Trek I was familiar with since I was 6 and a fan of reading rainbow when it came out I would say that the original series is my favorite (can happily watch Trek through Enterprise). My dad watched Original Series reruns since as long as I can remember.
The sendoff for the original crew always gets to to me and it just contrast that with writers today who live to crap on or deconstruct the works of better writers. I saw they are making a new blade runner with a delusional man, Disney is making a new Neverending Story, and Netflix is butchering… I mean remaking the Chronicles of Narnia.
One good thing about Star Trek is that I have a lot of books to read. I was at a convention once and a guy had a bunch of Star Trek books for a quarter a piece so I left with a bunch.
If you haven’t seen The Best Years of Our Lives check it out when you have a chance. It’s on Freevee and Pluto. Made in 1946 it’s about 3 men returning home from WW2 and adjusting back to civilian life. Maybe I’m sentimental but it’s really a beautifully made film.
Who would be on your Mt. Rushmore of pro wrestling? Biggest names in the business in your opinion. You also get two honorable mentions. Also, who are your person top 4, or your personal favorite Mt. Rushmore with two honorable mentions. I still watch but for me 80s through Ruthless aggression is my favorite time as a wrestling fan and I'll be rewatching matches from that timeframe forever. For me it is:
Hogan, Austin, Rock ,Flair
Honorable Mention: Undertaker (never the face but top guy in multiple eras) and Bruno Sammartino
Personal Rushmore:
Hogan, Macho Man, Undertaker, Bret Hart
Honorable mention: Sting and Andre the Giant
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of the pre Disney Star Wars Expanded Universe books and comics. I find it interesting they wanted nothing to do with the EU and thought it was smart to alienate myself and all the other fans who faithfully bought the books and spent time in forums, but they seem to keep mining it for content and even more interesting they don’t want to turn their crappy High Republic into a tv series.
Of course we could play a drinking game for when we hear “updated for modern audiences”, “i never played KOTOR”, or showcase the diverse cast
I like to ask this question every few months.
Currently reading Life of Pi by Yang Martel. Saw the movie a few months ago and wanted to read the book. The one I just finished was called Black Ice by Michael Connelly. It’s one of the Bosch books.
The flyer has a list of all the genders that are allowed (essentially women, and delusional men who think they are women or any other trendy delusion, just as long as you aren't a normal man). They are saying that they want to create a safe and fun space for these people. Been going to this store for years, but they changed ownership a few years back and the people behind the register wear nametags with their pronouns. It is weird because they prominently display the lgbt stuff that doesn't sell at the front of the store, but the main comics that are sold are from their large back issue section. Also have a large manga and tabletop section.
As you would expect with comic book stores, the main customers are males so they are following the Marvel/DC model of ignoring the actual fanbase to cater to a very tiny minority. They refuse to accept that the audience who wants heavy lgbt content is small. It is a nice audience. I've been to bookstores that have a gay section but they know better than to make that the main section.
I'm really torn because I'm leaning towards going further out to buy my comic books, but they have a great back issue section and the Manga is a little cheaper than Barnes and Noble.
Really sucks because that place used to be a great gathering for typical nerdy guys to discuss comics or debate whatever nerdy thing you wanted or play D&D. I used to always have long discussions about Star Trek with the assistant manager (way before Discovery was even thought of).
What are some singers/bands that you have everything or as close to everything as you can by? Name no more than ten. Here is mine
Elvis Presley James Brown Otis Redding Hank Williams Sr. Led Zeppelin Jimi Hendrix Robert Johnson Rolling Stones Johnny Cash Iron Maiden
Many more, but I have to follow my own rules.
I was thinking Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith or Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell but those may be a bit advanced