Aedilred's Athanasiac Random Banter #241

[Keltest]

Last time I checked sport was not an art.

Wait, figure skating.

Last time I checked most sports were not an art.

Wait, rugby.

Last time I checked some sports were not an art.

Wait, football.

Last time I checked football was not an art.

American football maybe, but Association Football from my understanding involves an entire theater production.

[Anonymouswizard]

American football maybe, but Association Football from my understanding involves an entire theater production.

Only when you get hot by the opposing team's hair.

Also you say that American Football doesn't involve a theatre production, but I've heard about those halftime shows organised by the Superb Owl.

[Peelee]

Last time I checked sport was not an art.

I say the same thing about Andy Warhol, and yet. Beauty, and art, is in the eye of the beholder.

My only problem with the MCU is that it makes weird lore changes that complicate matters when someone who mostly knows the movies tries to get into the comics..

Is that something only the comics are allowed to do?

[Fyraltari]

My only problem with the MCU is that it makes weird lore changes that complicate matters when someone who mostly knows the movies tries to get into the comics.

They are indeed adaptations.

Other than that there's no real problem with the movies. They're good movies.

Meh.

[Rater202]

Is that something only the comics are allowed to do?

It's a matter of degrees, really.

You don't have to understand that characters like Spider-Man and the Hulk are "magic accessed through science"t to get into the comics, but like, MCU Peter is almost a completely different character.

This isn't a problem with the MCU exclusively, mind you. The X-Men Movies and other adaptions of them tend to White-Wash Xavier a bit.

Charles is a good man who means well, genuinely loves all of mankind, and sees the best in all but the most evil of people. Charles also has a tendency for arrogance that borders on narcissism at his worst moments, a lot of skeletons in his closet, and he was the one who first proposed that mutants were the next step in human evolution, not Erik.

The disagreement between Charles and Erik isn't about whether or not mutants are superior. They both more or less agree on that subject.

The fallout came because Charles believes that that superiority comes with a moral obligation to help ordinary humans and that if mutants prove their worth to baseline humans that humans will leave mutants alone and make a place for them while Magneto believes that mutants will always be hated and feared for the ways that they are differant from humans and thus mutants will only be able to live in peace when humans are cowed.

[LaZodiac]

I should clarify I brought up the MCU since people consider them pointless media garbage and I contest that they do have value in them, that's all.

[Rater202]

I should clarify I brought up the MCU since people consider them pointless media garbage and I contest that they do have value in them, that's all.

...I have never seen anyone make that criticism of the MCU.

There are people who jump down my throat for the criticisms I have.

[halfeye]

I'm not convinced that music is about communication, there are two records that I think of in this connection, the superb "Telestar" by the Tornados, and the appalling "Mouldy old dough" by Lieutenant Pigeon. I think they were both number one hits. There is no sense in the lyrics of either, the first is musical, the second more or less isn't. I don't think communication is part of the appeal of either.

[Fyraltari]

...I have never seen anyone make that criticism of the MCU.

Would you describe yourself as more or less likely to hang out (including on the Internet) with people who enjoy superhero comic books and and related media than with people who do not?

Because I assure you "the MCU is the cinematographic equivalent of junk food" is a pretty common take.

[LaZodiac]

...I have never seen anyone make that criticism of the MCU.

There are people who jump down my throat for the criticisms I have.

You're the only person I've ever seen with complaints of that stripe, and just about everyone I know is riding a Disney hate-train a mile long. And by all means hate Disney, but don't let your reasonable dislike of a company diminish the art people ARE putting into these films.

I'm not convinced that music is about communication, there are two records that I think of in this connection, the superb "Telestar" by the Tornados, and the appalling "Mouldy old dough" by Lieutenant Pigeon. I think they were both number one hits. There is no sense in the lyrics of either, the first is musical, the second more or less isn't. I don't think communication is part of the appeal of either.

I'd have to listen to those to be sure, but I imagine there's more there than you'd expect. There is always a sense; even the Beetle's most famous nonsense songs were made with the vibe of "let's make something nonsensical", which is in and of itself communicating a point.

For many of them, the point was that they hated Ringo Starr, but I digress.

[Lord Raziere]

You're the only person I've ever seen with complaints of that stripe, and just about everyone I know is riding a Disney hate-train a mile long. And by all means hate Disney, but don't let your reasonable dislike of a company diminish the art people ARE putting into these films.

Indeed, I like some of the stuff Disney puts out, and I wish I could see Star Wars Visions.

But I'm not paying for a freaking subscription to Disney Plus, it has made a lot of terrible theme parks and I'm thankful Walt never realized his dream of making an actual "city of the future", because it would just be a company town under his reportedly control-freak thumb.

[Rater202]

Pop-Culture Trivia: In the 1983 television special Don't Eat the Pictures, the cast of Sesame Street get trapped overnight in a museum. Most of the special is just disconnected skits tied together by the setting, but there's a running plot line of Big Bird and Snuffy befriending the ghost of a young Egyptian prince who has been cursed to be unable to enter the afterlife until he solves the riddle posed by a demon. He's been stranded on the earth, alone, separated from all of his loved ones for well over 4300 years.

Over the course of a single night, Big Bird helps the boy solve the riddle and defeat the demon, and then when the Egyptian God of the Underworld denies the boy entry into the afterlife anyway because his heart is too heavy Big Bird rips into him with such intensity that the God reconsiders.

[LaZodiac]

Pop-Culture Trivia: In the 1983 television special Don't Eat the Pictures, the cast of Sesame Street get trapped overnight in a museum. Most of the special is just disconnected skits tied together by the setting, but there's a running plot line of Big Bird and Snuffy befriending the ghost of a young Egyptian prince who has been cursed to be unable to enter the afterlife until he solves the riddle posed by a demon. He's been stranded on the earth, alone, separated from all of his loved ones for well over 4300 years.

Over the course of a single night, Big Bird helps the boy solve the riddle and defeat the demon, and then when the Egyptian God of the Underworld denies the boy entry into the afterlife anyway because his heart is too heavy Big Bird rips into him with such intensity that the God reconsiders.

My poisoned mind read this and immediately summoned up the image of Big Bird being the host of Pharaoh Atem instead of Yugi.

[Rater202]

My poisoned mind read this and immediately summoned up the image of Big Bird being the host of Pharaoh Atem instead of Yugi.

God damn it, that mental image is gonna be haunting me all night.

[Form]

Over the course of a single night, Big Bird helps the boy solve the riddle and defeat the demon, and then when the Egyptian God of the Underworld denies the boy entry into the afterlife anyway because his heart is too heavy Big Bird rips into him with such intensity that the God reconsiders.

Ah yes, of course. Big Bird. Well known for his boundless rage against the heavens, his willingness to cast the gods down and topple their thrones. I admire his blasphemy, if only for its mad ambition. I wonder how much more hardcore Sesame Street truly is.

[Peelee]

Ah yes, of course. Big Bird. Well known for his boundless rage against the heavens, his willingness to cast the gods down and topple their thrones. I admire his blasphemy, if only for its mad ambition. I wonder how much more hardcore Sesame Street truly is.

Are you saying that you don't think a character from a children's show aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners would get into an epic verbal smackdown with a primal force of nature itself? Bah! I suppose you think that Big Bird just gave a mildly stern talking-to. Next thing you know I'll hear people claim that the Count is not a blood-soaked sociopath that has turned the entire bario into his sexual slaves.

[Aedilred]

I'd have to listen to those to be sure, but I imagine there's more there than you'd expect. There is always a sense; even the Beetle's most famous nonsense songs were made with the vibe of "let's make something nonsensical", which is in and of itself communicating a point.

For many of them, the point was that they hated Ringo Starr, but I digress.

And yet, I always had the impression that Ringo, within the band, was the least disliked of the members.
(Taking them as a four-piece. I'm presuming they liked Pete less than Ringo, and I don't know how George felt about Stu, although I gather Stu and Paul had some issues.)

[LaZodiac]

And yet, I always had the impression that Ringo, within the band, was the least disliked of the members.
(Taking them as a four-piece. I'm presuming they liked Pete less than Ringo, and I don't know how George felt about Stu, although I gather Stu and Paul had some issues.)

I always forget who it was that was disliked, just I have the memory of Maxwell's Silver Hammer being made specifically to spite that person over Octopus's Garden.

[Aedilred]

I always forget who it was that was disliked, just I have the memory of Maxwell's Silver Hammer being made specifically to spite that person over Octopus's Garden.

I hadn't heard that story, although both those songs were written when the band was breaking apart. By that point, John and Paul were going in increasingly different directions. John wanted to push the experimental envelope, producing stuff like Revolution 9, while Paul was doing straightforward melodious cod-nursery-rhymes like Ob-La-Di and Maxwell ("granny music", as John called it). The other three (who wrote or assisted with writing Octopus) hated Maxwell. I don't think either song was written specifically to spite anyone, but I imagine Paul wrote Maxwell knowing John would hate it.

During the Abbey Road recordings, to my understanding, John and Paul pretty much hated each other, Paul and George had fallen out, and Ringo was pretty much sitting around sadly chilling, knowing the band was breaking up and unable to do anything about it.

[Peelee]

I just noticed that factotum last logged in at the end of October.

Godspeed, sir.

[Fyraltari]

I just noticed that factotum last logged in at the end of October.

Godspeed, sir.

Well, I was already sad today, anyway.

[LaZodiac]

Few things are as sad as the unfortunate reality of some online relationships.

Sometimes that little light just isn't going to turn on again, and you'll only notice when it's far to late to reach out.

[Jasdoif]

Would you describe yourself as more or less likely to hang out (including on the Internet) with people who enjoy superhero comic books and and related media than with people who do not?

Because I assure you "the MCU is the cinematographic equivalent of junk food" is a pretty common take.

Indeed, that's a pretty common take among the people I know who used to thoroughly enjoy the MCU. They all agree that the MCU was excellent, though having a few hiccups, until Endgame dropped the ball on the writing...opinions diverge from there, most notably on whether Endgame itself is good despite that, but the general consensus is that the ball continued dropping, penetrating the planet's crust and revealing a layer of excreta.


(If anyone's like me, and wants to get a sense of what everyone's talking about without having the motivation to actually watch a big bunch of movies or shows, this thorough treatment of Endgame, with some background on the MCU up to that point, is well worth the two hours)

[Bartmanhomer]

By the power of Hlal the Laughing Dragon Goddess, this isn't cute anymore. So anyway my pen pal made a post on the internet forum saying that she got COVID! I post a comment saying that my friend and his whole family got COVID a few days ago. I hope she feels better. Also in related news, can we all admit that the pandemic isn't fake? I mean seriously this isn't funny anymore. People are starting to get sick once again.😫😫😫😫😫

[Anonymouswizard]

I don't think there's a single person in this thread who thinks of the pandemic as fake or promotes the idea. I don't even hear such stuff in meatspace anymore, although I do occasionally have to hear 'COVID can't melt steel beams' level conspiracy theory anti-vaccine rubbish. Of which the only proof ever offered is videos on YouTube, along with claims that 'top scientists have been shut up' and that COVID isn't really that harmful.

Now here's the thing, I know somebody who used to do actual medical research, and now does astrophysics research. At an actual university. I suspect if top scientists were actually being shut up I'd have heard it through the grapevine by now. As it is I'll trust the people with the training to understand the peer reviewed biological papers when they say that the risk of a blood clot is vastly smaller than that of COVID death.


I've got a contact lens arriving in a month, so I'm thinking of applying to start an Open University masters in computer science. Maybe once it's finished I'll see if I can go from there to studying for a PhD, maybe I'll just use it to help me change careers.

[enderlord99]

I don't know for sure, but I heard the clot risk only applies at all if it's administered incorrectly.

[Rater202]

Comic Book Trivia: In keeping with their status as artificially created beings designed for a specific purpose, Marvel's Eternals tend to refer to themselves with machine and computer terminology.

For example, an Eternal's inborn psychic defenses are referred to as a firewall, Eternal bodies are described as intuitive, and a telepath puppeting an eternal is compared to playing a videogame.

[Peelee]

By the power of Hlal the Laughing Dragon Goddess, this isn't cute anymore. So anyway my pen pal made a post on the internet forum saying that she got COVID! I post a comment saying that my friend and his whole family got COVID a few days ago. I hope she feels better. Also in related news, can we all admit that the pandemic isn't fake? I mean seriously this isn't funny anymore. People are starting to get sick once again.😫😫😫😫😫

When was getting COVID cute?

[Metastachydium]

Yeah. The bigger issue 'round my parts is that nobody seems to remember it's a thing anymore. Granted, Europe does have, khm, other stuff to attend to right now.

[Peelee]

Yeah. The bigger issue 'round my parts is that nobody seems to remember it's a thing anymore. Granted, Europe does have, khm, other stuff to attend to right now.

Ya know, I never knew you were European. And I can't even do my standard "hello, fellow EU citizen!" because I don't know if that's accurate.