Dammit

Stacy Keach has passed on.

I lost track of the number roles he played that I enjoyed.

Mike Hammer and Papa Titus loom largest. 

It is of note that I have no idea what his politics were.  That's so refreshing! 

Weiẞe Rose

I try to avoid Dancing Monkeys frothing at the mouth about politics because, invariably, the ones who do so are dumb as posts.

Today's example is Wil Wheaton, a known Dancing Monkey.

Wil is best known for playing a deeply unpopular character on Star Trek: Next Generation and a version of himself on The Big Bang Theory.

And for being an insufferable ass about politics.

Wil recently ranted, "Stephen Miller, on behalf of Star Trek, and everyone who knew and loved [Patrick Stewart], keep my Captain's name out of your fucking Nazi mouth.  He despised you, and everything you stand for."

Interesting that you're the official spokesman for the show now, Wil.  Did you ask Bill Shatner?  Does Paramount know?

But, let's address AGAIN the Nazi accusation that idiot leftists and Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers keep making.

Wil, you would not be able to level this accusation at a real, dyed in the wool, National Socialist.

Well, not for very long.

Actual, real, literal, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei types would just pick you up off the street and have you executed by guillotine.  The White Rose Society was far milder in their opposition to Hitler than you are about Trump.  Just sayin'.

In short, Wil, you have no fucking clue about what you're talking about with regards to Nazis, so I will just have to assume that you have no clue as to the mind of Sir Patrick Stewart.

So, Dancing Monkey, I stopped paying the grinder a long time ago, you can shut up and slink off to wherever failed actors go.  Yes, I will have fries with my order.

Patrick Stewart, also a known Dancing Monkey, did express some socialist politics, but never did so in an abrasive, hateful way.  His public expression was that he disagreed, not despised, with policies.

But it matters not one whit because MISTER Stewart was a foreigner poking his nose into American politics.  Particularly gun control.

That's something I despise with a vengeance and it makes me miss him less.

And, AGAIN I emphasize the sozialistische part of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.

Socialist in English.

Let's see, Wil, who's more like Hitler than Trump.  You're a socialist, Hitler was a socialist.  You're a member of a trade union, "Arbeiterpartei" can be translated as "union" and Hitler was a member of a union...

Stewart, the same is true.

In truth, you Dancing Monkeys are better Nazis than anyone else I can name. 

RIP Officer Bester

Walter Koenig has passed the veil at the rip old age of 90.

While I liked Chekov, his performance as Alfred Bester in Babylon 5 was his defining role to me. 

RIP Viper

Tom Skerritt, a steady and reliable dancing monkey, has shuffled off the mortal coil.

I can't think of a truly bad performance. 

Back To The Terminator

Which Is Exactly Why I Liked In The Grey

"Pitting together charismatic stars in an underpowered caper, Guy Ritchie's In the Grey is a slick action vehicle whose lack of fresh ideas ultimately put its entertainment value in the red."

-- Consensus at Rotten Tomatoes.

Rotten Tomatoes says 52% for critics and 82% for people.

I generally like Guy Ritchie as a director and enjoy his films.

This was no exception.

The plot is laughably thin.  They telegraph what's going to happen so even the most dense viewer will see it coming.

I have seen this movie before.  Dozens of times.

I don't care.  I liked this movie when they did it in the 1980's.  I liked this movie when they did it in the 1990's.  I liked this movie when they did it in the 2000's.  I liked this movie when they did it in the 2010's.

Why wouldn't I like this movie now? 

RIP

Frank Beard, the only person in ZZ-Top without a beard, has shuffled off the mortal coil.

I met him once.

They'd ordered pizzas to their hotel after a concert and I got the plum job of delivering them.

Mr Beard is the guy who came to pay for them.  Good tipper too!

And I had been upset at not being able afford tickets AND having to work even if I did have tickets!

Fair winds, Mr Beard! 

Odyssey

I am starting to see a divide in the YouTube pundits over Christopher Nolan's Odyssey.

They either love it or hate it.

I think I spotted the why of it.

It's the same as when Paul Verhoeven did Starship Troopers.

Some people loved it.

Some people hated it.

There's no middle ground.

So I asked the people who loved it, "Why?"

They loved it because it's a funny, sci-fi action movie.

"What about all the changes from the book?"

"Book?  What book?"

And there's your divide.

The people who hated Starship Troopers wanted to see the book, not an unrelated property with character names from the book.

I'm willing to bet that the people who don't like Nolan's Odyssey are in the same camp.

They wanted Homer's epic, verbatim.

PS: John Leguizamo is an epic hypocrite!  John, if you're going to whine about Anglos in Hispanic roles, you shouldn't take on roles where you're not playing an Hispanic character.  Or roles where the character is significantly older than you, what about all the genuinely elderly actors who need the work, John? 

Unwilling Suspension Of Disbelief

Because I'm a gamer and because I have Amazon Prime, I get the animated productions from Critical Role.

The most recent outing, "The Mighty Nein," has messed with my suspension of disbelief with a musical number.

In a burlesque style strip club they played a speakeasy jazz number.

Nothing about the way it's been presented lead me to expect music or technology past the 13th century.

I sometimes wonder if most fantasy worlds can best be explained by the Aladdin theory that it's set after an apocalypse that dimly remembers the world before, but not very accurately.

True Crime

The Lovely Harvey reads true crime stories.

We're watching "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood," which includes a fictionalized version of the Sharon Tate murder.

Fictionalized in the respect that Sharon Tate is not murdered.

Oh, spoiler alert for a seven year old movie, I guess.

She's already spotted that it's not going exactly to the facts in how far along Ms Tate was in her pregnancy.

Wait until she gets to the end!

You're Going To Have To Be More Specific Drew

Drew Carey says Angelenos shouldn't vote for Spencer Pratt because he's a "serial scammer."

He doesn't, however, say how that distinguishes Mr Pratt from the other candidates. 

I guess he tried by saying, "I understand being angry/unsatisfied, but at least get behind someone competent and not some serial scammer without a soul or moral compass."

Again, how is Mr Pratt different from the other candidates? 

Oh That's Why

There's so many creative people I've stopped watching since 2016...  November 2016 come to think of it.

Europeans really don't get us.

The more I see them explain my motives for things without asking me, I also understand why they don't understand.  They don't want to.

They think we're like them and when we, repeatedly, demonstrate different they get petulant.

Scandinavia vs the World is the first place it really hit home for me.

Lazer Pig is the most recent.

He really supports Ukraine.  Everything side tracks to how the US isn't doing our part to support what he wants.

Our part?  Why the fuck is any of this our problem?  And if it's our problem, then you're blaming the wrong president and political party, fucktard.

And if you don't support Ukraine he has a huge video that explains why you're wrong and evil and fell for propaganda...  But if you look hard at what he's saying and how he's saying it, then if you DO support Ukraine then you're wrong, and evil and fell for propaganda but it's OK this time because it's HIS propaganda.  FuzzyGeff was unable to finish the video.

I took a break from him, and History of Everything, about here. 

And he gets around to blaming the wrong president and political party by name in what is supposedly a video about the Challenger II tank.

The asides about Russia getting Trump elected by a supposed historian...  then I realized something.  Lazer Pig is a gay man.

Trump is literally Hitler to the LGBTQSS.

Click.

Got it.

Adventure Action Boredom

I just hit me why the sequels to The Curse of the Black Pearl fell flat for me.

The complicated fight sequence is a pause in the plot.  The longer that runs, the longer I have to wait before the story starts moving again.

Especially since the story doesn't depend on that fight being there.

Especially since it's obvious that the fight with deadly weapons will not result in any bloodshed, let alone a death, because all of the principals are essential to the plot.

A plot on hold while they have their flashy little tiff. 

Blacklist

I've been watching, and enjoying, the NBC show "The Blacklist."

It's a bit formulaic, but lots of fun.

James Spader is a joy in this role.

Not the smallest matter of fun is his chosen pistol is a Browning Hi-Power.

Glad!

The HP is one of my all-time favorite nine millimeters.

If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up!

The Highwaymen

Way back when the Kevin Costner movie "The Highwaymen" came out, I mentioned that I enjoyed it, but something just stuck that didn't at the time, though Beans mentioned it in the comments.

It's the first Bonnie and Clyde movie where the good guys are portrayed as the protagonists.

The Barrow gang were murdering criminals.  They were not the good guys, no matter how romanticized Hollywood wants them to be.

The realization of how rare it is for Hollywood to let the actual good guys be the heroes of the story really hits home.

It's remarkable and I am remarking on it.

Related is the constant refusal to take their own culture's side when portraying historical events.

That culture is the only reason your commie asses get to be millionaires, you should appreciate it more!

Of course, they're just emulating Herr Marx.  Not producing anything of value while mooching off friends and cheating on their spouses. 

I cannot think of how much better the world would be if McCarthy had owned a helicopter. 

Unami

Watching "Poker Face" and a character offers another some demerara sugar.

He said it added an unami tone to the coffee.

A bag of it is just $5 on Amazon, so we said, "what the Hell?"

I added a tablespoon to my coffee and...  mildly sweet with unami.

Who the Hell knew?

I don't normally take sugar with my coffee either.

This will be the second time we've tried something from a show we watched that worked out great.

Smash burgers from "The Menu" being the first. 

RIP

Crazy man, commentator and cartoonist Scott Adams has succumbed to cancer.

I've been missing Dilbert since the scolds went after him.

Can't Go Too Far Wrong

If you find yourself wondering how you should feel about any given issue, just find out what the dancing monkeys are saying about it.

Do the opposite of what they say to do and you're going to be OK almost all of the time.

How old IS the song that reminded us that we don't need Niel Young around?

53 years.

There you go. 

That's Where We Lost You?

Harvey and I watched "Primitive War" tonight.

The Vietnam War with dinosaurs!

A couple of small things I noticed.

It's set in 1968 and the M203 wasn't fielded until 1969.

An XM177E2 shouldn't have a plastic stock.

A 1968 AKM shouldn't have a groove in the stock.

YOU NEED TO COCK A SINGLE ACTION PISTOL FOR IT TO WORK!

Interestingly, the people making the dinosaurs were using the latest scientific ideas for how they looked.  The CG wasn't awful, but they definitely needed more budget to realize the vision.

Nitpicks aside, the equipment was remarkably accurate for the period.

I wonder how many of the extras were recruited from Vietnam reinactors. 

Meathead In The Fire

Rob Reiner has died.

Considering how often he lectured me about my politics, I will not miss him much.

He made a lot of stuff I enjoyed watching, and if he'd limited himself to letting his art speak for him, I'd prolly be more upset.

Update: It's being investigated as a homicide.