5 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

The superman's enemies and peers are also OP (intergalactic or god-like creatures) in the comics.

 

He's a bit of a basic superhero, not very interesting as a person.

 

I like the trailer mainly because of the idealistic themes, the movie itself was good but had a bunch of small flaws.  It's very much the themes that kids that grow up in the 1990s believed in.  Seems a thousand years ago.  But it's really the stuff that we wished we could live up to.

 

In a way Superman is the WW2/baby boomer generation's superhero, rather naive and from much more simple times.

 

 

In novels, Geralt receives his knighthood (of Riveria) on the battlefield. This is alluded to in the Tourney in blood and wine and it appeared in the spin off game (from the novels):

 

 

Meve is a really good "strong female character", unlike most of what Hollywood has produced in the past decade. She has merits and she is followed because of her actions, not just because she's a woman.

She's not a Mary Sue and she has strong principles, she's not a superficial character like Captain Marvel, Michael Burnham and all these very forgettable characters.

Polish and Japanese writers are way better than American writers now (the Murican writers might get replaced by AI pretty soon )

@Cult Icon What are your favorite knights' tales? (regardless of the context: it can be historical, fantasy, modern, futuristic, sci-fi, etc.)

On 6/3/2023 at 6:09 PM, Enrico_sw said:

@Cult Icon What are your favorite knights' tales? (regardless of the context: it can be historical, fantasy, modern, futuristic, sci-fi, etc.)

I'd have to think on that one.  Witcher is the gold standard for me.  The Nolan Dark Knight trilogy was great and completely fit the classical mold of heroes' journey. 

I think Star wars & Luke skywalker was a lost opportunity.  Luke Skywalker could have become legendary if the sequels were well made. 

The last character that struck me as outstanding was Ragner (Travis Fimmel) from Vikings.  This character's journey was in far greater depth and detail than normal, I think Ragner was much deeper and better than any of the characters in Game of Thrones TBH.

'spoilers' - not really though.

5 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

I'd have to think on that one.  Witcher is the gold standard for me.  The Nolan Dark Knight trilogy was great and completely fit the classical mold of heroes' journey. 

Agreed on both of these.

5 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

I think Star wars & Luke skywalker was a lost opportunity.  Luke Skywalker could have become legendary if the sequels were well made. 

Lucas put a lot of himself in Luke. When Kennedy inherited the franchise, she wanted to erase Lucas' legacy to build her own (which she didn't mange to do in the end).  Metaphorically, you can see it as Brutus stabbing Caesar. Betrayal is the tool of those who have ambition, but lack the legit means to fulfill them.

Cal Kestis has a great hero's journey in Jedi: Survivor. This game is not perfect, but, in terms of story telling, it's got nearly everything. I love this game.

5 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

The last character that struck me as outstanding was Ragner (Travis Fimmel) from Vikings.  This character's journey was in far greater depth and detail than normal, I think Ragner was much deeper and better than any of the characters in Game of Thrones TBH.

I don't know much about this show (thought I heard of it many times).

On 6/3/2023 at 4:41 PM, Enrico_sw said:

 

 

I'm not an expert in superman, but I think he's too powerful and doesn't have enough hardships/struggles to overcome. His main ennemies are Lex Luthor (a billionaire that looks like Jeff Bezos) and his alien siblings. They don't look much as a challenge.

 

Batman has to go through very difficult hardships and his ennemies are very powerful and charismatic. All of the villains are memorable and very dangerous, even if they don't win in the end.

 

The challenges/struggles are what makes the knight.

Nolan's batman films are really great, and it's amazing that he was able to film something that complex about superheros and make it believable.  Have you played Arkham City? It's a great game and also very well written lore-wise and in depth.

The Superman comics go more in-depth, I think one of the issues with Superman is his loneliness and purpose (as he is basically a god).  Overall I prefer Batman too.

Ragner Lothbrok in Vikings has the classical heroes' journey not just in his actions but in his internal struggle.  Not everyone liked the road he took in Season 4 but I think it was right for him and he makes his final choices.

This is one of the best Superman comics I've come across (also made into a cartoon movie):

Superman: Red Son - Wikipedia

24 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

Lucas put a lot of himself in Luke. When Kennedy inherited the franchise, she wanted to erase Lucas' legacy to build her own (which she didn't mange to do in the end).  Metaphorically, you can see it as Brutus stabbing Caesar. Betrayal is the tool of those who have ambition, but lack the legit means to fulfill them.

 

Cal Kestis has a great hero's journey in Jedi: Survivor. This game is not perfect, but, in terms of story telling, it's got nearly everything. I love this game.

With Luke Skywalker, his heroes' journey was not over at the end of "Return of the Jedi".  He won at the end but there is still the struggles of middle age and old age and what to change and what to do.  There is a lot of stories to tell.

The sequels could have been about that, but instead they ruined it by essentially doing a woke re-boot.

I'm appreciating the prequels more these days.

Its not even Summer technically, and I'm over it already. I'm fully ready to move to Alaska, or Maine at this point

Almost done with the audiobook for Anna Karenina.  After the first 1/3rd was over it became one of the most boring audiobooks I've ever done.  In fact I think 50% of the time I was daydreaming about something else.

one of the things I've noticed about the Amish people in Lancaster PA after countless trips is that they all look like they are related due to inter-breeding.  They also look markedly different from everyone else.

I could grab random Amish people from one corner and bring them to another, and they would look like they could be members of the same family.

A lot of amish women are actually quite good looking.

Another commonality with the amish is that they are of somewhat above-average height and have long and thin limbs.  All of them are thin as well, much more than ordinary people.

Happy Birthday @Stromboli1! 

On 6/16/2023 at 7:20 AM, Matt! said:

Happy Birthday @Stromboli1! 

 

On 6/16/2023 at 8:07 AM, Tania8222 said:

Happy birthday @Stromboli1

 

 

Thanks guys!

4 minutes ago, Stromboli1 said:

 

 

Thanks guys!

You're welcome!!! 

This girl's tiktok has gotten viral in Korea, China, and Japan.  It's just a few tiktoks of her looking beautiful and working at a coffee shop:

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCKING SHIT

City Leaders Quiet About 4 Kids Found At South Boston Transgender Party Filled With Dead Bodies, Sex Toys, Drugs

The most underreported story in Boston right now is the fact that over the weekend first responders were called to a public housing complex in South Boston for a man in cardiac arrest and found a horrifying scene filled with men in drag and at least 5 children between the ages of 5-10. From the Boston Herald:

Four children living in squalid conditions while being hidden from first responders were found in an apartment filled with “alcohol, drugs, sex toys” and a dead man, according to an incident report and outraged officials.

“This is sickening,” said At-Large City Councilor Michael Flaherty. “I was informed by people at the scene that there were drugs, alcohol, sex toys all around the apartment as well as a dead body on the floor.”

That fire department report, obtained by the Herald and confirmed by police response, states that a BFD crew was sent to Old Colony Avenue Saturday morning for a call that a man had gone into cardiac arrest and required medical attention. That address is the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing complex run by the city. However, according to the incident report, firefighters found more than just a routine medical emergency.

“The apartment was in extremely unsanitary conditions. Approximately 6 adults, who appeared to be males, were seen in the apartment,” they wrote, saying they subsequently found “four children in the back bedroom being hidden by an adult male from first responders.”

According to the incident report the children ranged from ages 5 to 10.

“All of the adult parties were being uncooperative and did not provide helpful information. All adults present denied having children inside the apartment,” they wrote.

Fire crews say they filed a “51A form with the appropriate state agency.”

The fire crews, according to the incident report, performed CPR on the person in cardiac arrest, who apparently died. The Boston Police Department is investigating. A fire department spokesman confirmed a call came in for that address.

“At about 11:11 AM, on Saturday, June 17th, officers responded to the area of 381 Old Colony Avenue for a death investigation. District Detectives handling, not suspicious, no further information,” a BPD spokesperson told the Herald.

It is unclear whether the children were relatives of the people the fire department described as “appearing to be male” or if they lived in the apartment.

Flaherty, Public Safety chairman on the council, told the Herald Monday night the dead body found on the floor was “from an apparent overdose” and that “a man wearing a wig claiming to be the father” of the kids was found in a back bedroom.

Multiple sources tell the Herald some of the adults were dressed as women when first responders arrived at the scene.

Happy Pride month! Perhaps City Councilor Julia Mejia should do something about the fact that pedos are using public housing to have drug fueled parties with children, instead of suing award winning journalists for asking questions about alleged police coverups.

How is this not front page news? A government subsidized apartment filled with sex toys, drugs, a dead body, possible pedophiles who demand you call them women, AND FOUR children! We know that they’re hiding something since they refused to cooperate with first responders and initially tried to hide the children in a back room. Yet we don’t know who lives in the apartment, and somehow no one has been arrested? I’ve put in a records request for the incident report, but the City of Boston routinely violates public records laws by not responding for months, so I won’t hold my breath.

The Herald’s reporting is also confusing. First it says that all parties in the apartment denied being the parents of the children, then later on it says that a man in a wig claimed to be the father of all of them. If that was the case then why wouldn’t he get the hell out of there before first responders arrived? Ya know, because the cops were about to find a dead BLT-123 next to a bunch of dildos and discarded needles, and it’s gonna be tough to explain your presence there with your children.

Meanwhile, why are only 2 City Councilors speaking out about this? Mayor Wu had plenty of time to tweet about how “we” need to repair all the harm that “we’ve” done to black people.

But not much time to acknowledge her concern over the project pedo parties in South Boston.

Julia Mejia was also celebrating Juneteenth and embracing “our history,” despite not even being remotely close to qualifying as a black person.

Everything that has been revealed about the Oceangate sub since its disappearance is insane.

I cannot see how these people cannot be liable, no matter what kind of waivers their passengers signed beforehand.

One German passenger who went down with them a few years ago had the trip delayed five times due to technical failures and breakdown of material.

Then prior to the attempt when they did go down, he saw a member of the maintenance crew fix something on the Titan by reattaching it with some zipties. 🤯

The viewport was only certified to be safe up to 1300 m depth. Titanic lays at around 3800 m depth.

It's actually quite remarkable they did not have a catastrophic failure much sooner.

Seems like Wagner has declared war on the Russian army after Prigozhin claimed an attack was carried out on a Wagner position by Russian troops.

2 hours ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

Seems like Wagner has declared war on the Russian army after Prigozhin claimed an attack was carried out on a Wagner position by Russian troops.

 

 

 

Unless this situation develops further I'm going to say that it's likely a fake scenario designed to manipulate public opinion for some kind of goal only they know.  I see Surovikin & Putin comment about it and one of them is his boss & the other is his close ally. 

It could be a honey trap operation to lure out enemy spies and so forth..or manipulate Ukrainian forces.

Wagner PMC is a hybrid (public-private sector) organization funded by the Russian Army (Ministry of Defense) and its command cadre are in the main former members of Russian special services (particularly the GRU).

If it is real then he must have been very pissed off that the Russian army used Wagner PMC to do most of the serious fighting in Ukraine while the reservists trained and readied their fortifications..

It's this and the handful of tanks/vehicles in Rostov with civilians hanging around Wagner men.  

It's a bit more high budget than his previous staged videos, I guess the world will tune in for the next installment of the circus..

Prizoghin is the Russian Donald Trump (Prizoghin is also a billionaire), has a lot of personality and plays the populist very well.  He also is very popular in Russia and some think that he may succeed his friend Putin as a more ruthless & aggressive leader.  He always attacks the 'elites' even though he is an oligarch.  At the same time he never attacks Putin himself (the chairman of Russia).  And his comely appearance, looking like a middle school janitor also helps. And the warm relations he displays with Wagner men in many photo-ops and trips into and around Bakhmut, close to the frontline have increased his popularity.

IMHO his whole saga vs. Minister of Defense Shoigu look like political theater and not reflective of reality.  This is looking like the final act of the saga.  Nobody seems to understand what's going on, except the elite inner circle.

The most likely trigger of this affair, out of several is how the Russian Ministry of Defense consolidated Wagner deeper into the Russian Army recently- reducing its independence, meaning that the Mercenaries as well the Volunteers of some 40+ units (eg. Separate Volunteer Battalions) have to sign contracts with the state.  

Prior to this they also cut off the supply of convicted criminals to Wagner and redirected the channel into themselves, in particular the "storm Z" penal assault companies attached to conventional Russian army formations all across Ukraine.  This means that Wagner PMC , a few months ago had to recruit from volunteers as they used up their final batch of convicts to seize central and eastern Bakhmut.

Putin has already publicly called this treason. If it is indeed just theater on the part of Prigozhin, then it might turn out to be costly theater to him personally.