The truth outs in the end.


by Ted Grant

Doctor Who fans are crazy. This makes perfect sense when you consider the longevity of the show. They’ve had more time to develop and nurture the crazy than almost any other nerd-attracting program. And the best illustration of this are the arguements. You see, the less important an issue becomes, the more loudly people will argue about it. Take, for example, the raging debate over whether or not the upcoming series of the show is the fourth series or not.

All this series 4 nonsense should now be washed away. Honestly who can call a series series 4 when 29 series have preceeded it?

The same stupid BBC that rejected Red Dwarf IX. The same stupid BBC that cancelled Doctor Who in the first place. The same BBC that panders to thugs etc by being so politically correct.

Why not? If Red Dwarf came back should it be called series one again? If Men Behaving Badly came back should that be series one again? The facts are it’s the same series not a reset or anything like that so it is Season/Series/Whatever 30. It makes perfect sense. Having Series One follow Season 26, Dimensions in Time, TV Movie is absurd.

But it is SERIES FOUR, because that is what BBC Wales, the people who are actually making it are calling it. The fact that DWM called it Series 30 once, in a headline of article about SERIES FOUR is just a coincidence. It will remain the thirtieth series of something called Doctor Who but its official title is Series Four. Fans can call it what they like, but it remains Series Four.

Twaddle you can’t call it the 4TH SERIES/SERIES 4 BECAUSE THAT WAS ON IN THE 1960S ABSOLUTE RUBBISH i DON’T CARE WHat bbc Wales say they have no right to reset the numbering they didn’t create Doctor Who.

Doesn’t matter what the BBC are calling it. There have been 29 seasons prior to this one. It’s 30.

Ever wondered why Dr Who fans have a reputation for being uptight, anal, unbalanced obsessives?

The only reason they’ve adopted the ludicrous new numbering is because they stupidly think the audience will be confused by reminders that the show has been around so long. It’s disrespectful to a British institution .

I’m really, really sorry for you that you haven’t got the version of the show back that you want, but I‘m tired of hearing you bleat on and on and on about it. Can’t you stop being quite so bloody selfish and appreciate how much a hell of a lot of other people are enjoying it?



If you could pick one GL to become gay, who would it be?


by Ted Grant

Over at the DC Comics message board, homosexual comic book characters tends to be a…touchy subject. Which is why the sheer reasonableness of this thread on the subject in the Green Lantern section is so shocking.

Luckily, user “renaudman” comes along to remind us where we are:

Just dumb stupid cheap shock value gimmickry to turn a character gay, especially to please 5% of a population, that don’t even care about Green Lanterns to begin with, except a few to bastardize one

Again, if those Want-My Gay-Superhero boys don’t have the balls to create their own, and put their money where there mouth is, and live by those characters, than maybe they should stop whining about bastardizing other people’s creations

Queezada bastardizing the Rawhide Kid in one of his wetdream agenda was bad enough.

Yes, “renaudman” is apparently still complaining about a western comic book that came out five years ago and was quickly forgotten by everyone else. He really hates him some homos, I guess.



I am happy to fulfill this request.


by Kevin Church

4chan is infamous.

Things like the thread below, beginning with the first response displayed, are why.

(Strangely, I’ve found that a higher-than-average number of the denizens there can actually spell, find the shift key, and punctuate. I don’t know if this worries me more or less…)

4chan_thread.jpg



The fact that it came from The Advocate gives it less weight


by Ted Grant

Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia as accurate as asking Jimmy down at Hootch’s Bar for his expert opinion, isn’t the first place you’d expect to find raging debates over trivial matters…okay, no, it is exactly the place you’d expect to find pointless arguements. But some people’s devotion to refusing to acknowledge the obvious is downright touching.

Take the debate over whether or not the character of Jim Dangle on Reno 911! is meant to be gay or not:

Dangle’s orientation is never made clear, for a reason: it’s a running gag. To say outright that he is gay is simply wrong

The ongoing joke in the show is that he never reveals if he is or is not gay, hence it is ambiguous.

It never says that shw wanted the divorce because he was gay, and certainly was not flirting with the new husband. The joke of the scene is that they got along, despite the odd circumstances.

I suggest we fix the article. Dangle isn’t outright homosexual, and that’s the whole point.

Seems to me like Dangle is gay but he’s reluctant to admit it, possibly fearing the inevitable retribution he’d get from the rest of the cops. He tries to seduce Trudy thinking he’d never see her again and that she was infatuated with him.

The fact that he’s had a history with women yet behaves in a homosexual manner makes the viewer unsure of his sexuality, and that’s the entire point of it. He never openly has had a relationship or any sexual activity with a man, but he was married at one point. Even T.V. Guide’s show description refers to him as being sexually ambiguous.

It’s also important to keep in mind that the actors aren’t always as knowledgable of the characters they play as the creators are. Just because Thomas Lennon says Dangle is gay doesn’t mean the creators intend for Dangle to be an outright homosexual.

You’re making too hasty a conclusion without really thinking. Your “evidence” is based mainly on his outward behavior, which means that obviously you don’t know the definition of homosexual. Anything that points to him being gay and attempting to cover it up could also point to him being straight and attempting to appear gay.

As already mention, Lennon may play the part as gay but the show certainly makes it ambiguous. I also think that T.V. Guide holds enough weight to balance Lennon’s reference to him as being gay.

The fact that it came from The Advocate gives it less weight. Think for a moment: they’re discussing a character who is “ostensibly” (I think that that word sums up what all the reviews and insightful viewers of the show have arrived to) gay for a gay magazine.

So, to review: we can not describe a character clearly coded as gay, who displays an obvious attraction to other men, who participated in a gay marriage, whose creator explictly describes as gay because TV Guide said otherwise once. Gotcha.



Wow means nothing now


by Ted Grant

Draigar is upset that, these days, anyone can have a “good” character in World of Warcraft just by putting in playing time, not by being an excellent player.

Before BC, I had a Grand Marshel Rogue in full epic pvp gear and both the swords.

I had a full T2 priest and a 5/8 T2 hunter. I was in the best raid guild, had top of the line gear (Untill naxx when I said screw raiding) and was a RL of the guild. I was full epics on 3 toon, that was sweet.

Now, every Tom %#@% and harrry has 2 70’s and there both full S1 or some sort of epics.

Sence BC i gave up on being a hardcore raider and pvp just isnt my thing, I got my former GM rogue whos in 3/5 T4 and a alli shammy in 2/5 T4. The only thing Im proud of is haveing 7 70’s.

Back before BC getting epics and being good was hard, now its a joke, not to mention raids are easy mode and you can AFK for epics.

This is why I plan to canncel my account as soon as I finish getting a 70 of every class.

Anyone else feeling how empty wow feels now. It lacks importance and fullness.

Oh and In before angry 12 year olds make fun of how much they think I play, if you have half a brain you can get 1-70 in 3 or 4 weeks.

(Translated, what most of that means is: He had a character who was a priest and a character who was a hunter, both in good equipment, achieved through going on “dungeon raids” in the game. But since the Burning Crusade expansion was released for the game, it is too easy for other people to get good equipment for their characters without neccessarily going on difficult and time-consuming “dungeon raids. “Now he plans to quit the game after he gets a level 70 character in each of the game’s character classes, but will continue to pay the $15 a month fee until he does so.)

Other players respond in various ways. Football is mentioned frequently.

WoW is increasingly becoming a bad game for people who want their game to mean something. The something in this case is “Haha! Look at me! I play this game so much more than you - therefore I have this fancy gear! You will never, ever have it!! DROOL, PEON!!”

This is a good thing.

I dont get it. People can be proud of scoring touch downs in meaning less games like High School Football but soon as someone says that a video game had more meaning to it when you had to put in a decent amount of time in it they say it shouldn’t matter..

Because football is a sport that takes physical training and discipline to be good at. You can’t even compare it to a video game because all you have to do is sit on your fat ass and push buttons.

Training for high school football was about 2 hour practice for 5 days a week, how can you compare that to 4 hours a night in naxx?

Any idiot can push keys on a keyboard. It actually (did) take skill, finesse, and lots of practice to get good at PvPing. Skill used to show, skill used to mean something.

It actually takes time and practice to get good at (most) videogames. And normally it shows.

Now of course just roll a Druid for Arenas and a Hunter for everything else and you can own face by slamming your head on a keyboard.

I can kind of feel you on this, arena really has degraded what epics meant. I mean, look at the difference between people in full t4, and people in full season 1 arena. There are probably 50-60 people in full season 1 arena gear for every 1 in full t4.

There are a ton of people who have acquired a 134 dps two hand weapons through arena, and only a handful who have actual looted them off a raid boss.

It is important that everyone gets to participate and all, but seriously, if every single person in the world had a ferrari would they be cool anymore?? I dont even inspect people anymore becuase there are no epics that excite me, everyone is using the exact same gear.

At no point in the conversation does the question of “are you having fun playing the game?” get asked.



What’s with Whedon and bitches?


by Sluggo, Agent of N.A.N.C.Y.

That bastion of entertainment reporting, Ain’t It Cool News, has a brief report on current goings-on regarding Dollhouse, the new television series by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, and starring occasional Buffy guest-slayer Eliza Dushku.

In the comments section for that article, some wonder what’s up with Whedon and his obsession with strong young women, such as sith_rising:

What’s with Whedon and bitches?

Did he not have any strong males in his life or something? The guy worships women to the point of creepiness. He probably pays chicks to kick his ass ala Payback.

Others wonder why Mr. Whedon doesn’t simply go back to doing what he apparently does best:

Screw this shit.

If these 2 are getting together and not making a Buffyverse series then they are truly mental.

There is already a fan base which is still in place after around, what, 5 years? This thing could be huge. Buffy and Angel are 2 of the best series that have been on the TV for years, compared to this which sounds shit. Does no self respecting creator/actress want a cash cow any more?

One gentleman has jumped the gun a bit, and has already prepared the following letter:

FOX: DON’T CANCEL ‘DOLLHOUSE’

To Whom It May Concern:

Dollhouse is one of the most original shows to air on television, and certainly on your network, since your early cancellation of Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly,’ a move which has cost you dearly in viewers and PR in the years hence.

Since the incredible pilot, ‘Dollhouse’ has only increased in quality. Ms. Dushku represents the sort of strong female role that is missing on television, and the show itself is a powerful allegory for the situation the world is in right now.

I am aware that ‘Dollhouse’ is only pulling in eight million viewers a week, but it is second in its demo, and with a better time slot and lead-in, I’m sure that could be brought up to twelve or thirteen million next season. Add to this that iTunes sales are currently high, and DVD sales will certainly be high, and it should be clear that ‘Dollhouse’ is a money-making factory that doesn’t come around every day.

I promise you, if you cancel ‘Dollhouse’ at this time, I will be finished. Your network will have screwed me over for the last time, and I will NEVER get attached to another show on Fox again.

Until the next one.

I suspect that last fellow’s tongue may firmly be in his cheek, but let’s consider it a preview of the more sincere despair and wailing on LiveJournals and message boards across the land when the series does get the axe.



Do you know what that monkey is thinking clearly? answer: no.


by Sluggo, Agent of N.A.N.C.Y.

“Ok,I will go on telling you about high beings aliens.”

“Submitter-1″ has some words of wisdom for his fellow message boarders:

When aliens looked at human ,they have some special feelings and thinking .
Because they have experienced many time ago what we are experiencing and they still remember those experiences very clearly.
Plus they didn’t need our things any more,so those feelings are main feelings in their minds.
So,they are not thinking about how should they rob earth,but thinking about their histories.
They are comparing past themselves to human.
They know pains of their past and happiness of their past and hopes.
So,those feelings are complex.

Some people have trouble grokking his deep meaning:

all i see here is some out-of-context rambling. no offense, but most of us will have no idea what you’re going on about.

Thankfully, Submitter-1 returns to clarify:

For some usage, I will give you lessons so you can have more understanding.

my lessons:
1. did any one of you human read any history written by animals?
answer: no.
2. do you know what that monkey is thinking clearly?
answer: no.
3. do aliens know what you are thinking clearly?
answer: yes.
4.
aliens
or
your teachers and brothers and parents
who know your feelings and minds more?
answer: aliens.

However, enlightenment does not come quickly:

I think he’s trying to make us believe he’s an alien :D

…Maybe he should find a board that would let him communicate in his native language.

More at the link, if your puny human minds can handle it.



[spoilers]He dies in the end[/spoilers]


by Brought to you by Carl's, Jr.

IMDB’s message boards are marvelous places to peruse if you ever want to find endless reasons to hate your fellow man. It’s also a place of great passion and activism. The world’s most avid movie fans gather there to tear down the movie folks they hate and boost the ones they love. For instance, this thread on how The Rock can boost his career, inexplicably placed in the Dark Knight message threads:

Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, Rocky Maivia, The Brauma Bull, and the People’s Champ is a man who has unlimited potential. I firmly believe that he can become an actor among the likes of Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, or George Clooney. He simply needs to have the right image and land the right roles. I hope to help him succeed in his quest to become a serious actor, and not just go to the Oscars to present an award. Here’s the plan:

Change the image. Dwayne simply needs an image overhaul, physically among other things. So,
1. Grow out the hair (On the head and on the face)
2. Lose some muscle and trim down.
3. Get paler (ditch the fake tan)

Once he has done that, here are some sure shot movie ideas I have come up with:
1. He plays an abusive father dealing with the death of his eldest son and his painful, crippling, debilitating alcoholism.

2. He plays an Argentinean intellectual who is arrested and taken to a concentration camp in the Argentine countryside with his wife during the so called “Dirty War” of the late 1970s. [spoilers]He dies in the end[/spoilers]

3. He plays an Army officer who proudly served his country in Vietnam. However, he is forced to retire due to an early onset of Alzheimer’s. As his mind slowly starts to slip away, he tries to reconnect with his estranged family before the end. Cue the sad music (I suggest the Johnny Cash cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life”).

Let me know what you guys think. What stuff works?

Later in the thread, some spoilsport reminds “watchoutforbears” that Dwayne Johnson is, in fact, part Samoan, and so his “fake tan” is not in fact fake. But “watchoutforbears” is ready for that:

I know he’s part Samoan, but I think he could expand his horizons if he bleaches his skin tone a little bit. Actors do it all the time (or tan). Studios are pricks and they are all about accuracy. I could definitely work with it. Argentina, obviously. Also, I will just say his last name is Diaz or Ramirez. Boo yah!

Done got served, son.



I wish Mark Millar was not so cocky and has thise “buy my comics” attitude because they are so so so so so good.


by Kevin Church

So there’s a poll on Newsarama asking people What person has ruined more comics than any other, and the responses already in place seem to indicate that this is going to be fun. You’ll want to check back with it, but here’s the highlights I’ve come across so far.

Grievous has some of the most… unique capitalization I’ve seen:

Fortunately I can’t say any of the above have ruined any comics for me.I wish Mark Millar was not so cocky and has thise “buy my comics” attitude because they are so so so so so good.

Dan Didio is the reason I got back into comics, Ever since Identity Crisis I have being compelled by most of the projects,crossovers and new books in the DCU, doesn’t mean I think everything is classic,

jeph Loeb is hit or miss for me, I loved Hush and his colour Books but some of his writing comes off very hokey and pedestrian.

Joe Q is doing Great business for marvel, Controversy sells, You have got to hand it to the man, he is making the Dollars for marvel, that being said I would not touch Brand new day with a barge pole.

Judd winick is decent writer, who makes silly ideas every now and then :(

And if his quirky, arty use of the shift key isn’t enough for you, there’s the sudden lapse to Bizarro speak here:

Funny thing, I have never read a bruce jones issue ever,You am half tempted to buy the first issue of the war that time forgot, but then again I probably won’t bother.

As always, my favorite comments are when somebody takes a normal, defensible position such as “I think Alex Ross should be more aware of his high profile” and transmogrify it into the sort of rhetoric that would appear spew from the piehole of Glenn Beck:

Alex Ross is the most contemptible piece of crap to ever express interest in the genre, and does nothing but embarass himself, by acting like the spoiled, overhyped diva he is.

It looks like you’re not going to be on Alvatron’s Christmas card list, Mr. Ross. Try to console yourself with the hundred dollar bills stuffed into your pillow.



…you would be a hero to all Cubdom and all marxists in general…


by Kevin Church

Reader Jason is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and deep down inside, aren’t we all? (No, not really, but that’s neither here nor there.) He tells me that new team owner Sam Zell is looking at selling the naming rights of Wrigley Field, which sounds a bit iffy to me considering the iconic nature of the place but hey, it’s his sports team and if he needs to generate an additional few million in revenue, that’s his right, right? Thankfully for this website, not everyone thinks this is the case.

i’m sure this has probably been posted, but in case it hasn’t…
why don’t you mainland folks organize a petition or joint statement of some sort declaring that all (or as many as possible) cub fans will boycott whatever company buys the naming rights to wrigley?…..Oh yeah, and let me restate my other suggestion…one of you whose life is particularly dismal ought to shoot zell. nevermind the jail time and new gender role that woudl surely be forced upon you; you would be a hero to all Cubdom and all marxists in general…



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