Techwright

Would reading only grim children's books and only washing dark clothing count as potential regrets? Wait a sec..."going about his day?" 😕

Oscar-winning actor William Hurt passed away March 13 of cancer. In a body of significant work, I'd point out two that qualify for this forum: Heroic Duke Leto Atreides in the the cable TV version of Dune. Manipulative rogue General (Later Secretary of State) Thaddeus Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Dune, despite it looking like a limited budget work, Hurt managed to breath life and humanity in Duke Leto in a way his predecessor in the Dune movie of the 1980s was not able to (or didn't have the minutes to do so). I knew Leto would have a limited roll in the work, but I found myself wishing Hurt had more to do. Thaddeus Ross is always a pain in the neck regardless of the medium, and Hurt captured that well, first as General Ross in the Hulk movie that belatedly was accepted into the MCU, and later as the promoted Secretary of State that was such a snake, manipulating the story to guilt the Avengers into signing the Accords and force them under his patronizing command. I'd heard through the rumor mill a while back that the MCU planners were looking forward to a third conversion of Ross, turning him into the Red Hulk. I wondered about that at the time, knowing Hurt was approaching his 70's. I thought it an uncomfortable risk to plan distantly for a character whose actor might not be able to perform the role when they were ready for it, and might not even be alive. I wasn't aware that he was also battling cancer. I don't know if Red Hulk (and Hurt?) will show up in She-Hulk. I wonder if the MCU will recast the role to gain the Red Hulk, and possibly continue the emotional button pushing of Ross, or like Black Panther, will they retire the role? Hurt was very good in the role, but like I said regarding the decision about Black Panther: the character should survive the actor. https://variety.com/2022/film/news/william-hurt-dead-kiss-of-the-spider-woman-1235203576/

Is that an actual thing or just a colorful descriptive? If it is, how high does the chart go and how are the ranks defined? Southern boy asking. I spent 3 winters in Indianapolis back in the late 90s, but don't recall any meterings other than "20 inches" for the blizzard of Dec 31, 1998.

Oh, I also forgot Kenobi's great fall during Order 66. As much as I loathed Episode VIII, I have to say I was not put out to see that moment on screen. I was genuinely puzzled by others' negative reactions. Force wielders can literally do anything. The question has never been "can they do it", it has been "have they figured out how to do it, and have they prepared properly". Oh, and apparently, "do they have the midichlorian count to do it?" She's a Skywalker. She does...or did. 😕

Oh, that's easy. Episodes VII, VIII, and IX never happened. It was all a bad dream and it all went away when Patrick Duffy stepped out of a shower somewhere. 😉 I know a lot of people have it headcanon that Mace Windu survived the fall out Palpatine's window and will return at some point. I rolled my eyes at first, but then remembered that surviving falls from great heights, often while crippled, is actually a thing in Star Wars. Luke, Maul, and Palpatine all survived (more or less) great falls after being badly injured. Ahsoka has now survived falling outside a crashing starship. Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc pit. Okay, that wasn't a long fall, but it certainly was a terrifying, seemingly fatal one. There's probably others I could think of if I took the time. So yeah, people's headcanon that Windu survives rush hour sky traffic in a grand canyon of steel, one-handed might just be a thing. Oh, actually I do have one headcanon that I firmly hold to: The Stargate franchise. I firmly contend that the Goa'uld have been around so long, there's no way that all of them were wiped out by the end. I posit that there was another break-away group of snakeheads who opted to go find a galaxy or galaxies of their own to plunder and pillage, leaving Ra and the System Lords (there's a band title!) for centuries, if not millenia. When the renegades eventually do return, it will be to overthrow Ra, having claimed, in their usually parasitic ways, technology more powerful than anything seen by the Asgardians. Of course, they'll find the System Lords wiped out, and upon making inquiries as to who could do this, they'll find that Stargate Command , holders of all technology Asgardian and Ancient, is a threat. Cue Stargate: The Next Generation.

Isaacs' characters are not just villains, they're interesting villains. Grand Inquisitor was one of those. I found myself wishing we'd have a mini-series on him, just to fill in the details on his fall-from-grace backstory. I wasn't too happy that the role ended so soon, save for the one brief, important cameo, and that most of the villain airtime went to less-than-thrilling characters (at least until Thrawn showed up). Isaacs was also, IMHO, one of the few bright spots on season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery, and I finally got a chance to see him play both heroic and villainous roles.

Sorry, the email system won't allow any attachment over 10 mb Lbs.

That moment one realizes that Condorman is a Disney property and could therefore show up in the Marvel Multiverse. 😁 That movie showed up the first year or two after the Disney Channel premiered on cable TV. I watched it every chance I got. The movie came out in 1981 and camp comedy was still a big thing. I was always amazed that Michael Crawford (who was known more for Hello, Dolly back then) was the star and that Oliver Reed, a man who looked more comfortable in Shakespearean-caliber roles, was the big bad. I'd be up for a reboot, if they tightened it up. With modern Disney imagineering, backed by their sibling Marvel, it could be a lot of fun. I wonder what 30-something actor would make good casting in the role, though? Rupert Grint, perhaps?

Deborah Chow is directing/producing this, and she directed 2 of the Mandalorian episodes. So yeah, a Mando alumnus is at the helm. Color me intrigued. I'd watch it anyway just to see Obi-Wan played by Ewan again. I'm going to have to get used to the Grand Inquisitor. I'd fully expected Jason Isaacs, his animation voice actor and model, to play him on any live action flashbacks, and I'm saddened to not see him. I wonder what happened? Schedule conflict perhaps? I'm also not a fan of the new look of the Grand Inquisitor. Pau'ans are supposed to be thin and elongated, and their craniums are as well. This was seen both in Star Wars: Rebels with the Grand Inquisitor's first appearances onscreen, as well as in Revenge of the Sith, where several Pau'ans were seen. Nothing against Rupert Friend, but it looks like they gave him a small football helmet to wear under a latex skullcap. It's an odd departure from source material for something that otherwise looks like it took great pains to get everything correct. Fifth Brother looks pretty good, though he seems very slight in comparison to the stocky, almost overweight look he had in Rebels. Other than those concerns, I'm definitely intrigued. Reva is brand new to the Star Wars universe. A quick search on the web suggests that she will be Third Sister. Reva must be her name from before she became an inquisitor, just like Trilla became Second Sister in Jedi: Fallen Order. Looks like we're going to get to see a live action Nal Hutta. I don't think we've had such up to this point. This probably means Hutts will show up, and Hutts during the Empire years suggests an appearance by Jabba. We've never seen Jabba off Tatooine before. I wonder if we'll see him and whether it will be on Tatooine or elsewhere. Incidentally, Nal Hutta's appearance suggests a solution to how Kenobi can be spotted without giving away his Tatooine hiding place to Vader. If, as Ewan strongly hinted in the first teaser we'll get to see Kenobi and Vader lock blades again, then Kenobi will have to be off Tatooine. Looks like we'll also get to see the underwater Inquisitorius from the canon game Jedi: Fallen Order. I can only hope Cameron Monaghan makes a cameo appearance before jetting off into J:FO2, though I suspect the latter will be set before the events of Obi-wan Kenobi, so probably they won't want to spoil the fate of Cal Kestus or any of his friends. We did see a BD-1 droid on Tatooine in post-Original Trilogy days, though, so there may be a connection somewhere.

Well, there is the original Casino Royale with Peter Sellers and David Niven. It's been decades since I saw it, so I don't recall if it was a good spoof. Oh, and then there's The Private Eyes, the Don Knotts/Tim Conway send up of the murder mystery genre. It was filmed about an hour from my home, and I love watching it just to see all the rooms of the Biltmore Mansion that were used. Well that, and all the zany ways Conway messes up homing pigeons' lives. Another classic send-up of the same genre is Murder By Death. Despite it being star-packed, I don't think it is on par with The Private Eyes. MBD spoofs many famous literary characters. It in turn was imitated by a made for TV movie, Murder Can Hurt You, which parodied all the popular TV detective shows up to that point. EDIT: Just remembered a bizarre film that tried to spoof both westerns and Looney Toons at the same time, in live action: The Villain. Star-packed, with Kirk Douglas, Arnold Schwartzneggar, and Anne-Margret headlining. Haven't seen it in 30 years or more, but just the crazy idea of an actor of Kirk Douglas' Oscar caliber basically taking on the role of Wile E. Coyote had me glued to the screen, and even cracking up laughing. I was still not old and jaded, though. Not sure how I'd react now.

Are you referring to rotating so you can see the face of your character and what's behind him? If so, I press down on the mouse wheel and hold. I can then move the mouse to rotate the camera. Releasing the wheel will freeze the camera into position. If you need to quickly reset it, hit the Page Down key on a standard keyboard.

Do what you love good sir/madame/small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. Tarnished brass is fine, or perhaps oiled brass? I was merely providing a possible option.

I'd love to hear what you think of Tucci's performance in the comedy. And I'll be checking out his Italy broadcasts. I'm pleased, but not really not surprised he's doing this. He's had a history of a love of fine cooking. It's why he made Big Night and I suspect why he did Julie & Julia. And you need not worry about my hunger. My sister married into a Sicilian family of restaurateurs. Such challenges are well known to me now. Do worry for my waistline though.

This one think about, I must. First thing that comes to mind is the superspy romp Undercover Blues with Dennis Quaid, Kathleen Turner, and Stanley Tucci. It's not a blistering satire of its genre like Airplane was, but it has its moments. Tucci had me, and everyone I've shown it to, gasping for breath laughing. As overconfident street thug Muerte, whose vendetta gets him sucked into a superspy game he doesn't understand, Tucci's slapstick skills rival the old masters. Quaid was a perfect foil for him. The movie is not deep, but its one of my guilty pleasures.

I've only recently started dual build on my energy/energy blaster. I love the powersets, but having to slot kb-to-kd on everything for the good of the team reduces his full potential. The second build is a build to remove those restrictions, embrace KB, and give sets one more slot to work with. I'll probably use that for soloing or in events so crowded it doesn't matter, like mothership raids. I do see potential in a dual build for my warshade. I've just not started it.

Just to be contrary... 😛 For my pick I'll say Marvel's Random. He may look like a blaster here, but he literally adapted to most any situation:

I've been enjoying the RTS game Northgard this past month while I'm looking for new material. It reminds me of the best elements of the old Warcraft RTS games which I enjoyed back in the late '90's.

Sooo...how is it?

I agree, @Cancrusher. The creation should transcend the creator. I said that also about the MCU Black Panther, although there it was the sad loss of amazing Chadwick, rather than anything ugly he did. On the subject of STO, I've got an account but haven't touched it in a while. I'd taken a keen interest in the Romulans, but was put out by a lot of buggy issues that weren't being address over a long time.

It's been several years, but I played it a lot in its "Vanilla" format through its first expansion, and popped in periodically until about 4 years ago. It's one of the few games where I actually enjoyed playing the "villain", though the way I played would probably be classified as "rogue" in City of Heroes. I really enjoyed playing the Sith sorcerer (was that the name?) as a slave race member elevated due to his force ability. I took it a step further by pushing towards a pure "grey" morality. Essentially, he's forced into the Sith Academy where everyone hates him and expects him to die, and instead he fights ferociously not only to survive but thrive. His conversation were always chosen to be sassy. Essentially, he enjoys sticking it to "the man", in this case, the entrenched Sith regime, but realizes to do so he has to walk a balance between conformity and outright rebellion. It change much of his interactive conversations, and created a fascinating character capable of ruthless manipulation and aggression while also just as comfortable showing mercy if he felt like it. Likewise I found playing the Imperial Agent to be tons of fun when played as a gray morality, whatever-gets-the-job done character. I chose to play that character as Chiss and it seemed such a good fit. The trooper and bounty hunter characters were likewise quite entertaining. I probably enjoyed the trooper storyline more than any other blue side story in the "Vanilla" pathing, though I've heard others found it a bit too straightforward for their tastes. Of the Jedi, dual blades knight and double-blade staff Jedi consular were my favorites, the latter probably being my best design if I ever took up role playing (which I didn't). I did have some dislikes, one of which was enough for me to cancel my account: 1. Walking: @TheOtherTed was on-point about the walking problem. Even with hover segways, it is quite time consuming, especially when you have to go through a (usually unnecessary) orbital space station to land on a planet, followed by a large land-based spaceport. I suppose this was created originally to keep players in the game longer despite less material in the game, but when I left, this had not be reduced and it had reached a very annoying level at times. 2. Platform jumping - some improvements to your character can only be found by searching weird, hidden corners of the world. While I like Easter egg hunts in games, I don't like things that take you through an exceptionally long, convoluted path over tighter and more tricky elements where a slight misstep drops you and you have to start all over. Early in the game this was especially frustrating as my hardware just barely fit the game, and the level of precision needed on some secret pathing was just more than my old mouse and keyboard could perform at. 3. Known issues at key moments never repaired. This is the one that caused me to leave. I'd put a lot of time into all my characters and finally got the Jedi Knight up to his finally challenge and pulled through it. At that point, there should have been a story moment where he's awarded for his victory, sort of the award sequence at the end of the original Star Wars. Instead the game just ignored it and cut over to ordinary, meaningless stuff. I thought I must have misunderstood, that perhaps there was something left to do still, but researching it, I discovered it had been a known issue for years, and apparently the devs had no intention of addressing it, leaving a host of players without their reward for their hard work. Glitches happen, and I understand that. But that the players were denied their 15 minutes of fame after years of registered concerns was quite telling to me at how the players were viewed by the development team. It was not the only major glitch left unattended for years, I discovered. Just the one that hit home. 4. Removal of companion customization. It used to be that I could craft empowering gear and do other customizations to my companions to aid me in the storylines. This stopped and all the companions were stripped to what I (and several others) felt was a very blah version of them. Irritating, but okay: 1. One thing that actually started as good and got irritating over time was the story scene characters' pantomimes. At first I thought these were pretty good, but then I started seeing the same moves again, and again, and again. Some were even used in some weird situations that just didn't seem to fit them. I figured they'd get some fresh stuff when the expansion rolled out, but nope. 2. "Stolen" names. @TheOtherTed: actually there were name grabs. I had several of my characters names "stolen" during one brief time away. The crazy thing is I'd put a lot of thought into the names and felt I had some original stuff. I guess someone had seen the names and written them down with the idea of swiping them at first chance. Bit of a turn off for me since it happened in a relatively short time away.

Well, this has been an interesting picture. Interesting as in, it sent me digging in research for a bit. Not knocking you, but I'm not convinced everything there is brass. Those pans on the bottom appear pure copper. But sure, why not? I did learn something myself, though. (Knowledge! Yay!) There is a "red brass", and yes, it does have a 10% to 20% higher copper content. So, yes, a darker color would be possible. However, several sites point out that the term "red brass" is a misnomer. It's technically a bronze because it has tin in it in addition to copper and zinc. So, curiously, everybody ends up right on this, just for different reasons. Nice. 😁

I've personally never seen this. Is "giant" the only thing in common? Can you suggest a bit more of what other features you're choosing, perhaps something slightly unusual like wings or backpacks?

Why them? Is it some association revealed in the arc? I'd have been interested in seeing BABs and Marauder hanging out.

Should it be a fresh, never frozen bio, or can we select the best from those of ours that are aging like fine wine? *Looks at the 5-hour full performance Richard III play* Ironic.

If I may suggest, the color scheme for Brass Jaw appears to be aged bronze rather than brass. Brass is closer to gold in color while bronze is closer to copper. In certain circumstances, a brass-like look can be achieved with our color chart. Case in point, my Brass Dragon. Depending on which piece of armor, the color scheme will look practically like shiny brass (Chest, legs, helmet), or perhaps more like dull brass (shoulders, gloves, boots). There's nothing to be done for the finish unfortunately, but it's a brass look regardless. I was able to achieve this with just two colors from our color chart. The gold highlighted, and the yellow just below it. I've experimented with each piece, sometimes swapping which is primary and which is secondary to achieve the strongest look possible for each piece. On a couple of pieces, I slightly deviated to another color on the same line, due to the finish of each piece, but generally it is just those two colors. Perhaps that will help you, if for nothing else than a second suit.