Post Praetorian

Merry Christmas OT OT crew…

DuracellEnergizer said:

Nice to see you back posting, Praetorian. It’s been a long time, no see.

Thank you my friend…I have been busy these past few months…finally catching up!

I have spent the past few days ruminating upon my experience in seeing The Force Awakens…essentially my disappointment outweighs my enthusiasm. I feel the corner has finally been turned. I am not certain I will endeavor to watch any further productions of the series…at least not in theaters.

I have arrived at this decision based on 12 main factors:

1. The entire movie was a remake of A New Hope. Given the incredible amount of material available with which to craft a natural continuation of the Star Wars Universe the fact that an exact remake of the 4th movie suggests one of two possibilities: 1) a timidity on the part of writers/producers to stray from a winning formula or 2) a rational and cynical decision to provide viewers with the exact same film in order to maximize profits. In either case the suggestion is that we will be fed a steady diet of same in future releases. I would prefer to watch modified episodes 1 - 3 than endure a review of a film I have already seen.

2. The dynamic among the Republic, the Resistance, and the First Order is seemingly thin to the point of breakage. The Resistance is resisting what exactly? It has tacit support of the Republic, but not its formidable funding? Why is it not simply a Republic force? Why is it labelled the Resistance if it’s sole function is to oppose the First Order? A resistance force is expected to be battling against an established regime and not merely a competing faction of the collapsed Empire. I would have welcomed the introduction of two or three alternate forces, each vying for control of the remaining Republic Empire. Having a Republic force supplemented by a Resistance each facing the same First Order is decidedly uninspired.

3. Witnessing the conscience of one solitary Storm Trooper is interesting. However his immediate escape and subsequent collision with Rey is frustratingly simplistic. Lost was an entire chapter of the struggles of Storm Troopers to overcome their conditioning as Finn might have attempted to recruit others from among his fellows to his side…to form a fifth column element within the First Order. This fifth column could then have been the primary source of intelligence to the Resistance as well as the means by which the destruction of the new Star Killer base might have been achieved. There would have been no need for another Thermal Flaw in the Death Star design.

Further, Finn’s seeming lack of restraint in firing on his previous comrades seems surprising…for had he not lived and trained with these soldiers since his early childhood? Far from showing him up as a hero in such a scene it seems more to paint him as a particularly disconnected individual.

4. The destruction at the Yellow Yoda’s castle does not seemingly make sense. The effort to recover a solitary droid required space ships to enter the atmosphere and utterly pulverize the very location where said droid was alleged to be found? Would not a party of ground troops had far greater success and at far less risk? For what may have prevented the data from being irrevocably lost seemingly was pure happenstance. This use of a crane to crack a walnut seemed extremely odd…even odder than Yellow Yoda.

5. The loss of the primary Republic planets seems pointless. One would assume that ownership of the Republic seat of power would have been considered the entire purpose behind any effort to control the entire Republic: possession of this key system should have served to cement control. Instead, by having it removed from the equation, it appears the First Order has decided it would rather rule over a series of disparate frontier worlds instead of an entire civilization. While this could be understood as an act of desperation by a losing party, or an act of terror by an extremist ideology it is not quite plain that the First Order occupies either position.

6. Rey’s ability to outforce a true adept at the Dark Side is patently absurd. Even if she had received training she had only done so until the age of 4 or 5. To what purpose must an individual such as Ren sacrifice all of his familial ties and goodness if he might be outfought by an adept with zero practical training? Clearly Ren as a villain has been removed from the equation. He will remain forever sitting in the snow in my mind. Any future plot devices allowing for his alleged strength have been permanently barred from further reality. He was handily defeated by two individuals who had never previously held light sabers. All future force training efforts need no longer apply. Any former Storm Trooper will suffice for a runner up, while any 5 year old in a woman’s body might complete the task.

7. Ren should not have removed his mask. Masked, he was a formidable and unknown quantity. To attempt to humanize him from the beginning robbed the audience of the ability to fear him, to respect him, and then to finally realize his true depth at a later date. At this moment he is now little more than an overly emotional youth complaining of too much homework. His darkness has been replaced by meaningless angst. The effort to portray him as having a humanity beneath his mask has been thwarted by showing his killing of his own father for reasons hinted at (that he would gain in the use of the Dark Side) that only a few frames later are revealed to be false (he is handily beaten by two greenhorns working in single file). No convincing reason has equally been provided to explain his ferocious turn to the Dark Side. If it was due to Han having abandoned him as a child to chase after alien women then perhaps a more logical take might be made of both his inner angst and his hatred of Han, but it is made clear that his father left only after Ren turned evil.

8. Snokes…this villain is ridiculous. Aside from the fact that his name is reminiscent of Snopes, he appears little more than a repeat of the Emperor…save this time we are treated to his entire visage instead of having something left to the imagination.

9. A paucity of space battles, in spite of being the namesake of the entire series.

10. The Starkiller base appeared to be a throwaway weapon. In consuming its system star the obvious consequence should have been the eventual lack of habitability of the planet and the loss of purpose of such a stationary weapon. Indeed destroying the third Death Star had little true purpose outside of saving the Resistance the hassle of relocating their evidently easily relocatable base.

11. R2 and the map.

12. Phasma and the shield. Having lowered the shield is bad enough, but she did this while both of her ‘captors’ were clearly distracted with their backs to her. No effort at resistance performing a task which must have appeared to be a death sentence…and why might the shield plausibly be deactivated in such a small control room far away from the main control center…? Certainly the lowering must have been noted and a counter command able to be issued from said center? Or is it to be believed that an individual must needs run down to this room in order to perform the function at that location?

I feel that a modern laziness in plot and purpose in action films has infected the new Star Wars films as well. It does not seem to be meaningful to hope that anything might improve in the near future.

Positives from the film? I enjoyed the effects. I enjoyed seeing Han Solo. The temperature of the film was more in line with the originals. Had I not previously seen it before as A New Hope I would have enjoyed it as a stand-alone film.

Rating 6/10

This

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/low_concept/2015/12/construction_memos_from_general_hux_to_the_contractors_who_built_starkiller.html

DuracellEnergizer said:

I wish I'd been around when New Coke was introduced. I'm curious to know what it tasted like.

 It tasted somewhat sharper than the original...perhaps slightly more acidic?

PsychoDayv said:

I GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL LAST NIGHT, BUT I PROBABLY SHOULD'VE STAYED A FEW MORE DAYS.

 What put you in such a place?

I would think the majority would do so so as to be better accepted by their would-be spouse...although it must surely depend upon the degree of faith held by both parties initially...

Well thank you for this very in-depth analysis of these songs...I've truly enjoyed reading your comments...

I have been listening to some compilations by DJ Checcottanta. At first I thought his mixes too slow a pace, but then I found that I began to truly enjoy the flow of most after repeat listenings...I have about 20 of his mixes and have listened to half (as they are about 1 1/2 hours in length on average). Most are in English, but he did provide 3 in Italian. The one listed above was the first of these that I had listened to. Naturally due to the novelty of such songs I have not yet acquired an 'ear' for them and so have yet to determine how to rate them in my collection. Based in part on your assessment and what I have heard I feel it fair to rate this particular set with 3 stars.

If you are interested, the next group is as follows:

01 - Stadio - Acqua e sapone                        

02 - Gianna Nannini - Fotoromanza                           

03 - Anna Oxa - A lei                        

04 - Scialpi - Solitario                        

05 - Ivan Cattaneo - Odio e amore                            

06 - Caterina Caselli - Perdono                                   

07 - Vasco Rossi - Una splendida giornata                             

08 - Marcella Bella - Nell'aria                          

09 - Franco Battiato - Bandiera bianca                                  

10 - Tullio de Piscopo - Andamento lento                                

11 - Raf - Ti pretendo                          

12 - Julio Iglesias - Se mi lasci non vale                                   

13 - Mango - Bella d'estate                            

14 - Sammy Barbot - Aria di casa mia                       

15 - Rita Pavone - La partita a pallone                       

16 - Ivan Graziani - Monna Lisa                                 

17 - Patty Bravo - La bambola                                    

18 - Sergio Caputo - Un sabato italiano                                 

19 - Dalla & De Gregori - Ma come fanno i marinai                           

20 - Raffaella Carrà - Tuca tuca                                 

21 - I Nuovi Angeli - Donna felicità                            

22 - Fiorello - Spiaggie                                  

23 - Zucchero - Diavolo in me                        

24 - Edoardo Viannello - Abbronzatissima                             

25 - Gianni Togni - Giulia                               

26 - Pooh - Piccola Katy                               

27 - Riccardo Cocciante - In bicicletta                       

28 - Lucio Battisti - Dieci ragazze                               

29 - Rino Gaetano - Ma il cielo è sempre più blu                                

30 - Baccini & Ladri di biciclette - Sotto questo sole                          

31 - Giorgio Gaber - Goganga                       

32 - Rita Pavone - Viva la pappa col pomodoro                                  

33 - Gianni Morandi - Andavo a 100 all'ora                           

34 - Adriano Celentano - Svalutation                         

35 - The Rockes - Ma che colpa abbiamo noi                          

36 - Paolo Conte - Via con me                                    

37 - Armando Trovajoli  - Samoa tamoure                        

38 - Fred Buscaglione - Eri piccola così

Possessed said:

I think Frink said "What in the actual fuck?"
And Praetor said "I have no idea what that means!"

Did I win!?!?!?

 You, my good man, are a natural...!

I am now in the midst of listening to some Pop Italian...here is the playlist:

01 - Gino Paoli - Il cielo in una stanza                         

02 - Drupi - Piccola e fragile                          

03 - Cugini di campagna - Bella da morire                              

04 - Loredana Berté - E la luna bussò                        

05 - Matia Bazar - Solo tu                             

06 - Edoardo Bennato - Viva la mamma                                

07 - Donatella Rettore - Lamette                                

08 - Caterina Caselli - Sono bugiarda                         

09 - Rita Pavone - Il Geghegé                          

10 - Gianni Morandi - Fatti mandare dalla mamma                             

11 - Franco Battiato - Cuccurucucu                           

12 - Amedeo Minghi & Mietta - Vattene amore                                 

13 - Gianni Togni - Luna                                

14 - Gigliola Cinguetti - Non ho l'età                          

15 - Tony Renis - Quando quando quando                            

16 - Julio Iglesias - Sono un pirata e un signore                                  

17 - Mal dei Primitives - Yeeeeh!                                

18 - The Rockes - E la pioggia che và                        

19 - Bobby Solo - Una lacrima sul viso                                  

20 - Umberto Tozzi - Tu                                

21 - Lucio Battisti - Un'avventura                               

22 - Heather Parisi - Cicale                            

23 - Rocky Roberts - Stasera mi butto                                   

24 - Pupo - Gelato al cioccolato                                

25 - Umberto Tozzi - Stella stai                                  

26 - Ricchi e Poveri - Mamma maria                          

27 - Viola Valentino - Comprami                               

28 - Renato Zero - Mi vendo                         

29 - Gianni Drudi - Fiki fiki                            

30 - Francesco Salvi - Esatto!                        

31 - Raffaella Carrà - Rumore                        

32 - Mina - Zum zum zum                              

33 - Edoardo Vianello - I watussi                               

34 - Patty Bravo - Ragazzo triste                               

35 - Vasco Rossi - Ti voglio bene                              

36 - Luis Miguel - Noi ragazzi di oggi                         

37 - Loredana Bertè - Non sono una signora                         

38 - Righeira - L'estate sta finendo                             

39 - Adriano Celentano - La storia di Serafino                       

40 - Toto Cutugno - L'italiano                        

41 - Piero Focaccia - Stessa spiaggia stesso mare                   

42 - Domenico Modugno - Volare                              

43 - Mina - Nessuno ti giuro nessuno                         

44 - Dik Dik - Sognando la California                          

45 - Little Tony - Cuore matto                         

46 - Equipe 84 - Io ho in mente te

Is any of this popular in your corner, Leonardo...?

IHNIWTM...!

Haha...very good...!

Glad to hear you are experiencing such exertions, my friend...I have been unable to run for quite some time...it began with knee trouble...and ended with acute laziness...I would have to discover something truly terrifying to motivate me into even a light trot...but I fear even considering such an outlay of physicality would simply have me prepared to embrace whatever fate the terror might have prepared...but then what terror might I expect to have entered my humble home? For I can never be found outside...so I suspect I remain safe...both from any such creature...and from the need to self-motivate in such a manner...

I have perfected my latest (and only) cookie recipe...now I simply have to un-perfect it again so as to limit consumption of same...

FanFiltration said:

 Reminds me of Sierra's Homeworld...when bored I once used only my scavenger ships...captured the entire enemy armada...and it looked somewhat like this...

I truly enjoyed this ...and naturally I would wish for the superellipsis...right...now...!

Seriously...u

It was interesting while it lasted...it should have been drawn out a bit more...but that is what is to be expected here...

TV's Frink said:

RicOlie_2 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_wars_before_1000&oldid=683896948

Take a look at the first one. :D

 [citation needed]

 Haha...good...!

TV's Frink said:

bkev said:

Off-topic is a moronathon where nobody gets banned.  Frink just likes to mini-mod (in other cases, with good reason!)  Though rather condescending at times, he has reason to be -- we used to get hit with trolls hard.

Anyway, welcome to the forum.  I hope we haven't scared you out of off-topic for good.

 When two people I don't recognize randomly show up in off-topic and start arguing with each other, I suspect a minimum of one sock, if not two.  I'm not saying I'm right, but it certainly sets off alarm bells.

 I thought the same...there's a history here of such things...but now let us put down the welcome mat...it is good for new blood to arrive...!

Warbler said:

Possessed said:

thatd be sweet. i mean i like warb and id love to have them both. but bingo makes the place fun and interesting, while warb seems like he tries his hardest to ruin everybodys fun. and while i like them both, warb has made it clear its one or other, am i going to pick the fungi (teehee) or the wet blanket.

 I truly do not mean to ruin anyone's fun.  I am sorry I come off that way.  It is that just my religion means a lot to me and I get hurt when I think(in this case incorrectly) that people are disrespecting it.  

As for for Bingo, I remind everyone that his absence is 100% voluntary.   He chose to leave and stay away, it is his choice whether or not to comes back.   If he does come back,  then I will have to decide what to do.   I am sorry for not being as much "fun" as Bingo is.   I can only be me.  One thing I do wish is that some in here would look at the thing with Bingo from my shoes. 

 At issue, my Dear Warbler, is not a preference for one over the other...but an interest in the dynamism that diverse opinions bring to a site...for you bring a quality to this site that would be truly missed...yet equally so did Bingowings...his absence here is the primary reason I began going to other forums. Every locale needs its characters. This creates interaction. Continuous agreement without opposition is too vanilla for my tastes...

Have a good trip(?) our twisty friend...;-)

FanFiltration said:

 ;-)