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So I'm rewatching the original VHS promo for Ocarina of Time and I was struck by the sheer number of beta elements present in the footage.
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weird west
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More Star Trek filk songs...
Open Hailing Frequencies All About That Borg Engineer's Hymn Border Patrol Mineral Rights Tell the Captain Banned from Argo |
It's Matthias Wandel time again!
A machine to test the strength of wood and wood joints. I'm sure there's a simpler option, but his credo is why buy what you can build. |
PM Press has a new book on sci-fi/fantasy literature from 1950 to 1980 :cool:
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds |
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So people have apparently been trying to figure out the mechanics of the slot machines in Pokemon RBY for years. I'd insult this, but I'm sure I've obsessed about more pointless things myself *cough* Prime Directive *cough* Maquis *cough* Yu-gi-oh *grumble*.
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10 actors who were on both Star Trek and Stargate.
Most of these I knew about, but I was surprised to see that Jellico on Trek and Kinsey on Gate are the same guy. |
Will Quinn did my Patreon request based on Dune (1984)!
Daily bunny no.1583 challenges you to a battle of knifes |
Someone broke a watch by soaking it in oil, so this guy resurrects it with a thorough cleaning.
This kind of intricate machinery is always impressive. I'm a big proponent of restoration instead of replacement wherever possible. I've seen plenty of examples of "oh, that can't possibly be restored" where I've been proven wrong. Then again, some restorations seem to go too far in my opinion. It's the Ship of Theseus paradox all over again, replace too much and I can't call it the same thing as the original in good conscience. I'm confused at the comparison between the Ship of Theseus and the Cutty Sark, frankly. One is internal restoration, one is external restoration. I call the Ship of Theseus the same ship because the onboard crew was able to take raw materials and do the restoration en route. The Cutty Sark needed complicated parts from elsewhere and wasn't functional in the interim. |
Joachim Boaz posted the introduction to PM Press's Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985 on his website Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations!
The Introduction to Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985, ed. Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre (2021) |
I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving. Here's a roundup of links...
The Mouse on the Mayflower. Our VHS tape was much-loved until it broke. At least we'll always have YouTube. It's a shame how few people know about the wider range of Rankin-Bass specials. Garfield's Thanksgiving. I confess to having less nostalgia for this one than the Christmas special, but it still has some good moments. This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers. I'm actually not that fond of the regular Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Peppermint Patty is really a jerk in that one. A compilation of Friends Thanksgiving clips. Intergalactic Thanksgiving. I never heard of this one before the Cinema Snob episode, but give it a whirl if you want something a little different. Ashens trying Turkey and Stuffing Doughnuts Kurn will try some burned replicated bird meat |
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Back in the FMV days Terry Farrell starred in a puzzle game called Treasure Quest.
Which inspired a search for other Trek alumni in video games... Screenrant presents 10 video games with Trek alumni cameos |
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This is just weird. Putting cinnamon sticks in epoxy, then turning it on a lathe.
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It's always relaxing watching the gang at Lofty Pursuits use the tried and true candymaking techniques. This time they made pecan pie candy for the holidays.
I've never had pecan pie, by the way. I prefer my nuts by themselves, not in desserts. Give me key lime or raspberry pie any day. |
Every year Ashens reviews a couple Advent calendar. This year is Star Trek and Doctor Who, featuring boxes shaped like the TARDIS and a Borg Cube.
Day One features a Fizzbin deck! It's sad how rudimentary Ashen's knowledge of Trek is. But hey, he knows more than I will ever know about British 8-bit computers, so I guess we're even. |
oldie but goody: an AI programme that judges your spotify listening habits
How Bad Is Your Streaming Music? |
Solving a 21X21X21 Rubik's Cube.
A cube this size is patently ridiculous. I keep my old 3X3X3 around mostly as a souvenir and talisman, not as an actual toy. As it turns out I'm not very good at Rubik's Cubes. |
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Someone reproduced the clock tower from Zelda Majora's Mask using craft materials.
Crafting miniatures is something I like to watch, but would never have the patience to do myself. |
Today we have a roundup of Christmas Carol adaptations that I've never seen before.
1971 animated Alastair Sim I'm not sure how to feel about this one. I don't want to throw too much mud at a classic, so I'll just say that too much attention was paid to inconsequential things (especially the detail in the art) and not enough on the important things (especially the pacing and rhythm of the dialogue). 1997 animated Tim Curry Sadly I've seen too many cartoons voiced by Tim Curry, so his voice doesn't sound like "Scrooge", it sounds like his standard cartoon voice as heard in Mighty Ducks, Mighty Max, Gargoyles, or the Story of Santa Claus. That being said, this is a competent version, even if the dog annoyed me at times. 1982 animated Ron Haddrick This one has details often overlooked in adaptations. One of my interests is the history of animation, and while I'm hardly an expert, it's fun to try to judge when a cartoon was made by the style. This one screams 1970s to me. 1954 live-action Fredric March The musical interludes are a bit much. It's also odd to hear "Santa Claus" and "Kris Kringle" instead of "Father Christmas" for this setting. Furthermore, "Kris Kringle" was still in a transitory phase at this point in history (1843), you'd be more likely to use "Christkind". Even so, it's a competent version. 1969 animated Ron Haddrick Definitely a different sort of adaptation. The animation reminds me of the contemporary Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table. 1970 live-action Albert Finney Turning this material into a musical rarely succeeds (Muppets aside, of course). You see, unless the director and composer are very careful about meshing the numbers and the plot, you get abrupt emotional shifts. And this story can't afford to have those, the emotional journey is supposed to be seamless. |
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As a followup to the Christmas Carol roundup...
The Disney Christmas Carol record that was later remade as Mickey's Christmas Carol I've known about this for awhile, but never heard it. Alan Young is great as usual, but whoever did Mickey was awful (as it turns out it was also Alan Young). This was during the limbo between Jimmy MacDonald and Wayne Allwine as the voice of Mickey. Alan Young also voiced Merlin/Ghost of Christmas Past, which was another bad performance. The original voice for Merlin, Karl Swenson, died in 1978, four years after this record. I wonder if he was unavailable or Disney was just being cheap (probably the latter). The musical numbers are unnecessary. Scrooge's muddling of the syllables in words seems like an odd trait for the character. That's Willie the Giant's job. Walker Edmiston did a valiant job as Willie the Giant, but he'll never match Billy Gilbert. Overall, it's a valiant effort at telling the story, but it falls short in so many ways. |
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Trailer for the new David Tennant version of Around the World in 80 Days.
ATWIED is one of my favorite classics, although I admit that I've read children's abridgements more than the original version. The Jackie Chan version never appealed to me, the plot seemed to have as much to do with the original story as the Robert Downey Jr. version of Doctor Doolittle did with that original story. Meaningless aside: why can't anyone do the story of Doctor Doolittle properly? It's not that hard. Studios focus on the "talks to animals" part to the detriment of the actual story. Which is always Doolittle doing his best to help people no matter the cost or risk. As for the Pierce Brosnan version of 80 Days, I thought he was rather stiff. Phileas Fogg may be methodical and unwilling to get close to people, but that doesn't equal "stiff." |
Musical Hell presents the Drew Barrymore Babes in Toyland
Hey, I prefer the original Annette Funicello version too, but this movie still has a soft spot in my heart. Is it hokey? Yes. Are the songs a little stiff (despite being from Leslie Bricusse of Doctor Doolittle and Willy Wonka fame)? Yes. Do I care? No. This movie has heart, and sometimes that's enough. (And the Amazing Thing I Learned Today is that the version I know is heavily cut down from the original, which you can now see on YouTube here). |
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Facebook Meme Roundup!
Who would win in a fight? Hawkeye or Legolas? I have to note that it says "fight", not shoots better or farther. Odds are Legolas would win in an archery contest, but Hawkeye would win in an actual fight. A Christmas tree halfway through a Portal portal I thought about blue and orange portals for a second. I've never played the game, but I thought that one was exclusively "in" and one was exclusively "out", but I guess not. I am bothered that the two portals don't have the same diameter. How all starships meet each other with the bridges pointing up Look, I'm a fan of the "buttered toast always lands butter-side down" thing as much as anyone, but this just seems a little ridiculous. The galactic poles are clearly established, so it shouldn't be too hard to tell the computer to keep the axis of the saucer parallel to them in a certain direction. |
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Bing Crosby sings "Good King Wenceslas"
GKW is one of my favorites of the more obscure Christmas Carols. |
Today's Star Trek Advent Calendar entry is a bottle opener in the shape of a Cochrane delta.
What amuses me the most is that Ashens consistently holds it backwards. The narrow leg is on the right, dude! |
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A fan documentary about the development of Superman the Animated Series.
And the amazing thing that I learned today was that early designs for Brainiac were based on Ruk from TOS! |
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