sauromatian wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Here's another of I suppose a zillion mainstream-press articles about D&D. This one is especially noteworthy for the illustration:
The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons & Dragons | The New Yorker

Awesome article.

MadCatUSA wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Awesome article.

I was probably more negative about the article than necessary, but sometimes I struggle to find justification for posting links here.

You're welcome!  I'll post a separate thread about it shortly.

Now that Christmas season is here again, why not take a look at some gifts, & what better represents the dungeon-y state of mind than carrying around equipment for unexpected adventures? Here are a couple of great gift ideas in the EDC pocketknife category! Surprisingly, "EDC" doesn't mean "erectile-dysfunction compensator," but instead it means "every-day carry." I think that means it's conveniently small enough to be carried daily for those of us who find ED a daily issue.

The best place to start is with the Victorinox Classic small swiss-army knife. Every attachment seems intended for the human body, delivered in a tiny package that resembles a blood-engorged tick: tweezers, toothpick, nail file, scissors for nails or nosehairs, and a knife blade. Why the blade, & how is one supposed to use it on one's own body? Is this how angst-ridden teenagers got the idea for cutting, or is the knife blade for an even darker, Oedipal purpose? The drop point of a swiss-army knife does sort of resemble the spay blade on stockman knives. That's "spay" as in "spay-&-neuter." The whole thing seems like it's made for self-obsessed people who are constantly picking at themselves, & who would become anxious without always having the proper tools for doing so. Surely you can think of someone like that on your gift list.

Next up is the Victorinox Minichamp II, an expanded version of the Classic. This knife includes attachments for abusing one's self in a more substance-oriented way:

1. A "cuticle pusher" that looks like a small spoon. Okay.
2. A ruler that only measures to 1 1/2 inches. What comes in such short lines?
3. A straight-edged, razor-sharp blade for cutting the aforementioned lines. I'm starting to get an idea at this point about what the small spoon might be for.
4. A hook-shaped "citrus peeler" that is also noted by the manufacturer as being useful for opening "pharmaceutical packaging." I suppose I am showing my age here, since I think of those things as coming wrapped in foil or balloons. Kids today must have to worry about opening all kinds of pharmaceutical packages that are prescribed to them or their friends.
5. Scissors for snipping cigars or hand-rolled cigarettes.
6. Tweezers to use as a clip for hand-rolled cigarettes.
7. A beer-bottle opener.
8. A ballpoint pen to sign the credit-card slips for all the money you'll waste while partying. It is supplied in place of the toothpick - when you've done everything you can with the tools on the Minichamp, your mouth will be so numb that you won't mind picking your teeth with a metal implement.
9. A file. I don't know what kind of substance abuse requires a file, but now I sort of want to find out.
10. Last but not least, another knife blade. I'm sure the depraved souls who who need the above attachments will find all sorts of creative uses for it.

I went to see the movie Thor Ragnarok today and was glad I did.  It had a good balance of humor, action and dialogue, and there is an above average amount of humor for an Avengers-related character.   The acting was decent enough in that I didn't notice a lot of bad acting.   Most important, the plot makes sense although the premise is contrived.  In these comic book conflict movies, it's important to have a worthwhile bad guy and Cate Blanchett does a great job of being evil.  And there is a nice plot twist toward the end that would be hard to predict.  The movie moves right along with no wasted scenes.

This is a movie made for the big screen with lots of special effects.  I did not see it in 3-D or IMAX, and since there's so much fighting, I'd recommend against the 3-D.  I have found that 3-D and fight scenes usually don't work well together.  The movie is fairly long at two and half hours including previews and the bonus scenes at the end.  Speaking bonus scenes, there are two, one that happens two minutes after the movie is "over" and another some six or seven minutes later.  If you miss them, it's not that big a deal, but I enjoyed them.  The movie stays completely away from smoking, cuss words and gratuitous skin reveals.  It gets its PG-13 rating completely from violence and suggestive language.  There's a funny conversation about the devil's anus, for example.  Anyway, you may not want to take your kids if they aren't 13 or older.

If you like your comics dark and serious, you may not like this movie.  While there are deadly serious moments in the movie, the humor, and attempted humor, dominates.  The humor mostly works, and that's why I recommend this movie.  It's a solid entry in the Marvel pantheon.

psst. dave. over here. they also made a lawnmower man rpg. don't tell anybody i told you. shhh.

IIRC West End also did Species, too??---not everything can be Star Wars or Paranoia or TORG

Allan.

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:To our national birds, the American Eagle and the Thanksgiving Turkey. May one give us peace in all our states, and the other a piece for all our plates! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  :pig:

Happy Thanksgiving !