Messages

9331

Prog / Re: Judgement Day

« on: 06 April, 2005, 01:54:19 AM »

A small point:  the credit for the plot (as given in the opening episode in 2000AD) is given as John Wagner & Garth Ennis.  It then goes on to credit Garth Ennis with the script.

9332

Prog / Re: Judgement Day

« on: 05 April, 2005, 10:41:39 PM »

You're right, of course, the link is tenuous at best.

We go from (correct me if I'm wrong) present day --> world-wide Judge System --> Stront-World (where muties abound after some kind of new nuclear holocaust) --> Termight (where the Blackhole Bypass has been built).

Plus (as discussed elswhere) the Ro-Busters timeline (with it's irritatingly contra-continuity Volgan war) doesn't sit neatly with the Dredd timeline.

BUT who's to say that after the (necessary) collapse of the Judge System, London wasn't rebuilt?  The various "rad-zones" could have been reclaimed with future-tech.  This would explain away many supposed continuity glitches.

At the end of the day, I reckon, you've got to allow the creators the freedom to avoid over-burdening themselves with uber-continuity and let them get on with telling stories.  It was entertaining for Alpha and Dredd to cross swords, therefore they live in the same timeline.

(As for Judgement Day, I think it was all worth it for the last panel:  "Who the hell's gonna mess with us?")

9333

Prog / Re: Judgement Day

« on: 05 April, 2005, 04:21:58 PM »

Which means that Sabbat could very easily turn up right now (having looked into the future and seen his own demise) and attempt to take out Dredd before the event.

Oh, be still my beating paradox!

9334

Suggestions / Re: Re:

« on: 04 April, 2005, 04:30:00 AM »

Well, in that case, piss in the kettle and sellotape the on-switch down.

9335

Suggestions / Re:

« on: 04 April, 2005, 04:02:01 AM »

Have you tried telling him what you think of him and suggesting that he alter his behaviour?

9336

Off Topic / Re: TBFQ: Do you believe in god?.....

« on: 07 April, 2005, 11:24:07 PM »

Conveniant, that.

9337

Off Topic / Re: TBFQ: Do you believe in god?...

« on: 07 April, 2005, 04:09:11 AM »

Simply, no I don't believe in God, and it all goes back to Santa Claus:

Big dude, white beard, lives at the North Pole, climbs down chimneys, has flying mammals.  I can't remember at what age I interrogated my big sister about this, but the truth of the matter soon became clear (although my sister still insists that I'm wrong).  Fun hokum, sure...but the game was up.

Now:  big dude, white beard, lives in Heaven, sets fire to bushes, has flying slaves.  I just followed the same logic that I had for Santa Claus.

Of course I'm talking about the God from the bible.  It's another problem I have answering the question "do you believe in God?"  Well, define God.

If it's a single entity that created the universe, then no, I don't.  I think it clearly defies logic.  I can't prove it one way or the other though, and in fact, none of us can.  This is why I don't go around trying to convert people away from their supreme-being based religious beliefs:  I could be wrong.

I like the idea (which I thought I came up with all on my own through the vagaries of LSD but realise now is certainly not a unique concept) that our "souls" are all part of some universal "soul-pool" that we return to when our physical selves give out.  I like the idea, but following logic, if my awareness survives my bodily death, with what do I sense my surroundings?  Will I have other senses to replace my bodily ones?  Is there some part of my awareness that is not linked directly to the physical reality of my brain?

Do we have the ability (as Iain M Banks puts it) to sublime?

Organised religion:  well, that's another topic entirely.  On the one hand you've got community spirit, forgiveness, fairness and lots of other positive kit.  On the other you've got people committing atrocities and causing human suffering on a grand scale, all under the auspices of organsied religion.  Thou shalt not kill:  I thought that was fairly clear but lots of christians argue in favour of the death penalty.  How about, God is all forgiving:  but if you use condoms you're going to hell?  There's one the dear old Pope should be remembered for.

Anyway, remember what Brian said:  "You are all individuals!"

("Yes, we are all individuals!")











("I'm not.")

9338

Off Topic / Re: Message of the Day

« on: 06 April, 2005, 07:20:33 PM »

"I've had a wonderful time, but this wasn't it"

- Groucho Marx

9339

General / Re: Thongtroversy

« on: 01 April, 2005, 09:00:44 PM »

Jesus H Prude:  don't stick your nose up (at least not up in the air).

9340

General / Re: If I had a time machine I woul...

« on: 31 March, 2005, 11:41:50 PM »

...take my laptop with me and show Shakespeare Baz Lurhman's Romeo & Juliet...just to see his reaction.

9341

General / Re: If I had a time machine I woul...

« on: 31 March, 2005, 06:47:58 PM »

Oh my god - the person who wrote this article is a complete arse!

SPOILERS

He says "fans of the graphic novel will know that a cataclysmic event takes place at the climax".  Yes, and now so does everyone who reads your article you spoilering buffoon!

9342

General / Re: If I had a time machine I woul...

« on: 31 March, 2005, 06:43:38 PM »

I love the way the writer describes a giant owl costume as "very 80s"...did I miss a trend?

9343

General / Re: SECOND CITY BLUES

« on: 31 March, 2005, 11:00:01 PM »

Aside:  wasn't it the Rennie droid, in one of his Meg articles that discussed the habit of naming characters in a pun-like way?

You know:  Judge Dredd is to be feared, Rogue I've already mentioned in the previous post, Venus Bluegenes, Sternhammer (I wonder if that's a reference to how excited he gets when he's with Johnny), Canon Fodder, Inspector Ram (sorry!), Durham Red, Slaine (sounds like slaying), Sam Slade (that's s-l-a-y-e-d), Henry De'Ath, Fuego being Fire, Middenface, Clacton Fuzz...

9344

General / Re: SECOND CITY BLUES

« on: 31 March, 2005, 10:31:40 PM »

The opening episode really put me off, due to what I considered at the time to be poor art.  Not only that, but I didn't like the guy with the horse head or the upper class gang or the clockwork orange gang or the fact that it was a future sport strip.

However, by the end of the run I'd been converted.  I'd got used to the art, and instead of finding it poor, I now just see it as a different style.

The story drew me in and by the end of it I was finding it really enjoyable:  so it totally upset my expectations.

It is more cartoony than some of the other strips:  but I don't see that as a bad thing.  At the end of the day it kept me entertained, much more so than, say, Faces, which I found particularly dull during the Autumn.

I don't think it's really fair to say that having people with horses heads being Centaurian is too much of a stretch of logic.  Well, yes, in a purely logical world, it is a stretch:  but no more so than Rogue, Helm, Bagman and Gunnar having names that fit their roles in the strip, or the majority of alien species in any sci-fi being bipedal carbon-based life forms.

As a sci-fi cartoon I think it worked really well:  and it didn't concentrate too heavily on the actual sport - and in the penultimate episode the match was pretty much abandoned in favour of an invasion of hula-hoop headed aliens.  Now come on:  that's not a cliche.

9345

Off Topic / Re: Pills, Patches, and Hypnosis.....

« on: 31 March, 2005, 05:37:44 PM »

I tried and partially succeeded (ie ultimately failed) with patches.  I did cut down to one a day:  sometimes none a day...but ultimately, I think the only solution is none a day, starting from a specific point in time.

You must (as has been said) throw away all your lighters, ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia.  I found myself going back to the bin for my "last one" several times, so eventually I had to pour water into the tobacco to stop myself doing that.

I found patches very helpful:  and without them (even if the effect was only a placebo) I found it 10 times more difficult to ignore the cravings...which do only last a minute or so at a time.

When I went back to smoking, they tasted horrible and made me fill ill:  but I persevered - I found taking up smoking was quite difficult after 3 months of 1 or less a day.