Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sat May 23, 2015 7:25 pm

In that the book exists and therefore is a valid book free to make its own decisions, you are correct

I can't t outright hate on it, but I have to question its relevance to high school students - is it truly the best example of puns and dick jokes for them to read ?

Blicero · Post by **Blicero** » Sat May 23, 2015 7:45 pm

It's probably not the best example of puns and dick jokes. But it could be the best introduction to existentialism that also contains puns and dick jokes, for an at least locally optimal definition of best. It is, I guess, a more ambiguous question whether existentialism is relevant to high school students.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sat May 23, 2015 8:07 pm

Blicero wrote:It's probably not the best example of puns and dick jokes. But it could be the best introduction to existentialism that also contains puns and dick jokes, for an at least locally optimal definition of best. It is, I guess, a more ambiguous question whether existentialism is relevant to high school students.

Wouldn't that be Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead?

...You Lost Me · Post by **...You Lost Me** » Sat May 23, 2015 8:30 pm

I don't remember a lot of either in R&G. But there was quite a bit of existentialism.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat May 23, 2015 8:54 pm

Well, I know Gatsby flopped in it's time. NPR was running an interview with a book reviewer who wrote their own book and clearly should have just bought a scotchguarded, vibrating copy of the Great Gatsby to hold between her thighs at night.

They talked about how it flopped, but it dealt with the issues of the period, so I can see why people at the time who did like it would have.

karpik777 · Post by **karpik777** » Sat May 23, 2015 9:18 pm

Stahlseele wrote:The Books you get to read in school are terrible by definition, because they are not written for/meant to be read by children usually.

This is one of the main reasons. Another issue is that often they are chosen not because they're particularly great works, but because they represent a certain artistic/cultural movement that they want you to learn about. One of the books I was supposed to read back in school was picked due to it, and the damn thing literally used half of a page to tell me that "it was a sunny summer day"...

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Sun May 24, 2015 12:45 am

They should pick short stories that represent those things and choose awesomer books for the long ones. Because reading Toni Morrison in high school sucked so badly. Hell... Reading her stuff as an adult still sucks.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun May 24, 2015 12:55 am

Hell, use short stories as the assigned work to demonstrate a style and then give kids a list of books of those styles so they can pick one that appeals to them.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sun May 24, 2015 2:56 am

I was forced to read Enders Game in high school. I couldn't finish it, so I read It in class instead. The teacher wasn't amused.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:42 am

Is there a name to the feeling that your life is thrown for a total loop every 10 years or so? Or is that just some sort of confirmation bias or some other fallacy?

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri May 29, 2015 1:50 pm

Is the Suicide Squad movie part of the same continuity as the CW DC shows?

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Fri May 29, 2015 2:50 pm

Cynic wrote:Is there a name to the feeling that your life is thrown for a total loop every 10 years or so? Or is that just some sort of confirmation bias or some other fallacy?

When you say "thrown for a total loop", do you mean "total upheaval" or "it repeats itself"?

If you're asking specifically about why this seems to happen every ten years, I'd say it's the same type of confirmation bias/pattern matching/cherry picking that goes into people believing in the "rule of three".

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:16 pm

Shrapnel wrote:Is the Suicide Squad movie part of the same continuity as the CW DC shows?

No. The movies and shows are seperate continuities.

In the show continuity, Superman has apparently been active for at least 12 years, probably longer (thanks, Supergirl, that doesn't screw up Arrow's timeline at all). In the new movie continuity, Man of Steel was Superman's first outing, but Batman has been active for many years.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:46 pm

Ah. That clarifies things.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri May 29, 2015 4:48 pm

Which is kind of weird, because apparently Harley was supposed to be on Arrow, but the separation of continuity may be why that didn't actually happen.

Of course, that separation of continuity is precisely why DC cannot create any real competition for Marvel, or rather a large reason in a sea of reasons. Of course there's also the fact that I would put good money on a new canon being established with the next Batman or Superman they make after Dawn of Justice. Because DC apparently loves the special flavour of barrel-cock.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Fri May 29, 2015 5:02 pm

hyzmarca wrote:In the show continuity, Superman has apparently been active for at least 12 years, probably longer (thanks, Supergirl, that doesn't screw up Arrow's timeline at all). In the new movie continuity, Man of Steel was Superman's first outing, but Batman has been active for many years.

I swear I read somewhere that they'd ultimately decided to have a separate continuity for Supergirl for exactly that reason.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri May 29, 2015 5:03 pm

'Old on, where'z Superman in the Arrow/Flash universe? I don't remember hearing anything about that.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:09 pm

Shrapnel wrote:'Old on, where'z Superman in the Arrow/Flash universe? I don't remember hearing anything about that.

Oliver Queen refers to the flying guy a couple of times. Given the context, he's probably talking about Superman, and not The Atom or The Weather Wizard or Firestorm. The CW shows are a shared continuity only with each other. They don't share continuity with the movies (movie Deadshot is played by Will Smith and Arrow Deadshot is played by Michael Rowe). And they don't share continuity with shows on other networks (Supergirl is on ABC I think, and Gotham is on FOX), or even previous shows on the same network (Arrow/Flash/Legends of Tomorrow takes place in a world where the events of Smallville didn't happen).

Now DC has a much stronger stable of TV shows than Marvel does. They have better cartoons, they have better Teen dramas, they have better science fiction adventures. Their TV offerings are just better. But this is achieved in large part by allowing each show to be their own thing rather than tie themselves to the narrative of various movies written by different people. For fuck's sake, Marvel had a show called "Agents of SHIELD" and then Winter Soldier came around and disbanded SHIELD. If some DC movie comes along and kills Huntress off, that will be exactly zero impediment to Green Arrow encountering Huntress again in the show.

The very thing that makes Marvel movies so good, so much better and more satisfying than DC movies is the thing that keeps Marvel from being serious competition quality wise for DC's TV productions. The rigid control of canon and story and character continuity just plain keeps them from being able to do the kind of tonal variance that different TV shows need to establish themselves in their own niches.

Supergirl looks like it's going to be about Ally McBeal with super powers. And that doesn't really sound like my cup of tea. But it's still going to be better as its own thing than anything Marvel can bring itself to put on the small screen, because Marvel wouldn't allow one of its shows to be Ally McBeal instead of a bunch of C-listers from Iron Man 4 running around with a tiny special effects budget.

-Username17

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:17 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:Supergirl looks like it's going to be about Ally McBeal with super powers.

Technically Ally McBeal isn't the one with super powers, but the boss of the person with super powers

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri May 29, 2015 9:30 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:And they don't share continuity with shows on other networks (Supergirl is on ABC I think, and Gotham is on FOX)...

Supergirl is on CBS, who co-owns the CW. The writers and producers of Arrow and Flash are also working on Supergirl, and the idea of crossovers have been tossed around (I do believe crossover-ability was actually written into the producer's contract). So far, though, the networks want to give a breather to the CW shows so they're not having to introduce the world with Supergirl in it, and CBS wants to at least get the show established before they go shaking it up with crossovers.

But they are intended to be the same universe.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri May 29, 2015 10:16 pm

I still want Marvel to give Netflix the license for a Hawkeye solo show that uses the Matt Fraction version. Then there can be Team Disability team ups between Daredevil and Hawkeye (he's deaf in the comics).

I think the way Daredevil is being done is a good way for Marvel shows to work, implicitly in the same universe and canon as the movies, but off on their own stuff. Daredevil references Thor and Iron Man, but they're not showing up and the movies don't really affect Hell's Kitchen except as a further burden on the already dire financial straits due to the destruction New York suffered overall in Avengers.

More stuff about me producing game stuff- I'm now working on getting a notebook and a Cards Against Humanity expansion produced and I'm faced with the question of how important it is for these things to have UPCs if they're only going to be sold through a website and small game stores. Obviously if Target for some fucking reason actually shows interest in carrying my CAH expansion I'd want a UPC for them, but if it's just on a personal website, maybe an Amazon store, and in small game stores?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 4:03 am

I inherited a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt scotch whisky, aged fifteen years before it was bottled, and now legally old enough for it to drink alcohol. How does one go about drinking whisky? Mix with tonic ala gin? Fill a glass and slam it down? Pour a tiny measure and sip it while smoking a pipe? Mix it with some kind of soft drink and see where the night takes you?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 4:06 am

I believe you usually just put whiskey in a glass, either with or without ice.

That said, I'm sure you could find plenty of whiskey cocktails

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 4:14 am

Mixing a single malt is kind of a waste and if you have any friends who are into that sort of thing you may want to look into doing a trade if you decide you don't like it neat.

Count Arioch the 28th · Wed Jun 03, 2015 6:58 am

If you mix that scotch with anything I will personally destroy everything in this world you care about.

Alright, that's a little extreme. But seriously, I don't recommend using decent booze to make mixed drinks, that's what you do to cheap booze to make it more palatable. Maybe a bit of water if it stings too much, but I will make fun of you for that.

Although I can't say much, I can't handle scotch. Brings back bad memories of the time I was drinking absinthe and chasing it with Johnny Walker Black Label. That was not a fun night...