Musings – Page 7

Those Brits Confound Me…

So this is old news, but I wanted to respond to a little something I read over at Inside The Ropes, the wrestling web portal of news as curated by the Brits. Particularly, their response to WWE’s Moments Of 2025 where they declared John Cena’s Heel Turn as the biggest moment of 2025. Well, those Brits being cheeky fuckers, decided that, “No, WWE! THIS is the Biggest Moment of 2025 and we will not be denied!”

And what was their choice for biggest moment, you ask?

The return of Brock Lesnar… you know, the same Brock Lesnar who showed up, beat up John Cena on one PPV, and then fucked off again.

That’s their biggest moment of 2025?

Really?

Setting aside the obvious elephant in the room that needs not be mentioned, Brock Lesnar coming back was certainly a surprise… but the biggest, most defining moment of 2025? Really? That’s your fucking choice, kids? Are you trying to pull my plonker?

Look, the John Cena Heel Turn might not have been the big success story that it was and could have gone a hell of a lot better… hell, that whole retirement tour, apart from the way it ended, could have gone better… but John Cena turning heel was a bigger deal than the 283,876,975th cameo appearance by Brock Lesnar that’ll last a couple shows before he fucks off back to his farm or something. That turn made more of an impact that Mr. Sable’s brief run. Unless he turns out to be the real culprit behind… yeah, on second thought, let’s not go there.

Anyway… just thought I’d share my thoughts…

And yes… chances are nuggets like this are the closest you’ll get to me discussing the particulars of modern wrestling as you’re going to get.

Fifty Years Of The Infamous Spock Beer Ad

In 1976, Heineken commissioned a new print advertisement that depicted the character of Spock (a.k.a. Mr. Spock from Star Trek) with droopy ears that become erect after taking a sip of Heineken beer. You look at that for what it is and you figure “Hey, hey. Funny!”

Leonard Nimoy would sue the company for unauthorized use of his likeness. It was one of a number of sticking points that almost kept him from wanting to reprise the role in later Star Trek productions… well, aside from the whole typecasting thing that also proved to be a bit of a detriment for the career.

I don’t know when this advert first hit the scene, but this year marks its 50th anniversary. Whether that’s a cause for celebration or just some random piece of business.

I bring this up because Strange New Worlds is closing up shop; we’re due for a fourth season and eventually a fifth and final season – cut down to six episodes – will follow. Given that every year features some sort of “comedy” episode at the expense of Spock, I’m surprised that we’ve not reached a point where Spock is inflicted with some condition that causes his ears to go all droopy and the only way to cure the condition is by – you guessed it – drinking a Heineken.

Where Were You When RAW IS JERICHO(r not, I really don’t care)

Ooh! Ooh! I can answer that!

I was in the can… having a movement… yeah, that about covers it.

Yeah, so… really, am I supposed to be surprised?

The worst kept secret in the business since the last worst kept secret in the business (seriously, guys, take your pick – you’re ripe with options) took place last night on RAW and I didn’t watch… because the potential return of Chris Jericho wasn’t enough to entice me to subscribe to Netflix and watch this monumental moment, which, in turn, did not spur me to look forward to the upcoming Royal Rumble event from the benevolent and progressive kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It’s worth noting that I’m writing this weeks before the episode airs and thus if no Jericho showed up on (from your perspective) last night’s RAW, disregard everything I’ve just said, but if he did show up… then I’ll probably watch the clip on Youtube, shrug, and move on with my life. At this point, what does it matter? It’s another WWE alumni returning “home” or whatever the vernacular happens to be and everyone will start cheering for the guy after years of calling for him to retire or whatever the case may be. Wish him all the best whenever he shows up, but I really don’t care at this point.

P.S. Well, much to the chagrin of the universe who actually gave a shit – and this is the part that’s been written after the post has been published on scheduled – Learning Tree Ocho Chris didn’t appear… however, Becky got her title back and Bron Breakker didn’t get the title he probably should have gotten. In other words, I didn’t miss much.

Yeah… About that…

I guess if you’ve been following the news, you know about a certain campaign that took place in South America this weekend. I don’t need to tell you what; you either know it or you can easily look it up because that’s been the biggest news story this past weekend.

I make it a point not to touch on worldwide international affairs on this blog because the whole point of this thing is to be a fun little place where we occasionally celebrate things of interest and crap on terrible things in the name of good fun. I steer away from points of controversy because that’s not my wheelhouse and that anything I say would get mixed up with the white noise that usually passes as “discourse” on the various online circles that these things are usually discussed.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of not knowing what to say. Other times, it’s a matter of not wanting to stir a pot that’s been stirred way too much and has gotten too volatile as a result. But most of the time, it’s simple a matter of my feelings on these matters being none of your business.

I discuss serious issues with people during face to face conversations. I’m not wasting my time discussing these issues on a platform where any moron can come aboard, take your words, and warp them to mean something different than what you meant to say. I have no problem wasting words on silly things like bashing on bad showrunners of popular franchises or talking about trivial things because that’s the whole point of this whole deal in the first place; it’s to get away from that noise in the real world.

Yes, I’ve touched on real world stuff before, but those have been rare occasions where I felt I had some proper thoughts and fears to convey. Do I have feelings on this matter? Sure. Am I conflicted? Kinda. Are my feelings on the matter any of your business? Absolutely not. There are some things that I am willing to share with the limited audience reading this blog or watching these videos, but when it comes to other things, those I keep close to my sleeve or I discuss with other people that I know and in person. This online white noise regarding any political affair is not something that I feel comfortable or even fully equipped to contribute to without any of it being lost in the shuffle or worse, construed to fit someone else’s false narrative.

If you want someone to use their platform to discuss real world issues or promote causes that are meaningful to them, you’ve got your pick of the litter elsewhere. But for me, personally, I’d rather use this space to discuss the trivial things that interest me and bring some levity to a place that desperately needs it. And if this whole affair does indeed escalate, chances are we won’t be around to discuss things online or sharing stupid memes to discuss our frustrations.

This will be my only word on the matter.

I Asked ChatGPT To Craft An Amazing Video Game Idea

George Wood of Gaming In The Clinton Years fame had a challenge for Eidos. In Tomb Raider III, create a storyline in which Lara gets breast cancer. Imagine the drama of a vulnerable Lara Croft still persisting on her worldly adventures despite her illness. It needs fleshing out, no pun intended, but we guarantee the gaming world would be shocked, stunned, and moved by the effort to make Lara’s character more meaningful. We love Lara, but it’s about time the industry had a big shock for a change.

ChatGPT – ever the creative genius – had the following to say on this amazing video game idea.

Continue reading “I Asked ChatGPT To Craft An Amazing Video Game Idea”

BleedingCool’s Assessment Of RTD (also fish sex)

Source: https://bleedingcool.com/tv/doctor-who-russell-t-davies-is-now-the-best-the-worst-showrunner/

An interesting perspective on the second run of Russell T Davies, with comparisons to John Nathan-Turner, the last Doctor Who showrunner of the classic era before the show was put on ice for good. To be quite frank, I’m not sure if that’s a fair comparison. Sure, Nathan-Turner might not have been the most popular producer, but there’s stuff from his era that I thought was pretty good and at the very least, his solution to getting away from the sonic screwdriver (i.e. just get rid of the bloody thing) was a way to make the Doctor more clever and resort to other means to solve problems.

Far be it for me to use this as another excuse to rag on ol’ RTD for his recent shit run, but I made a banner called Doctor Boo and so I might as well make the most of it.

For what it’s worth, though, I got around to seeing some of that War Between Land And Sea before I decided that I got bored and just read the synopsis for the rest of the series. Of course, the whole thing degrades into a love story between a man and a fish girl. That’s all this whole thing was about anyway, wasn’t it? Anything that supposedly touches on an interesting premise eventually devolves into bestiality… er, sorry, I mean interspecies erotica, fucko!

Man, remember when this guy was a genius responsible for reviving Doctor Who and turning it into a sci-fi juggernaut? Those were the days… can we build a TARDIS and bring THAT guy over so he can fix up the mess his future self mucked up? Would be nice.

Belated Good News: The Nuking Of Fake Trailer Culture

Source: https://filmstories.co.uk/news/youtube-has-deleted-two-major-channels-which-specialised-in-fake-film-trailers/

I hadn’t had the chance to comment on this piece of business, but I wanted to get it out there. I am pleased to hear that Screen Culture – the Youtube channel that often houses fake movie trailers with its fake thumbnails and other bullshit fakery – has been nuked by Youtube, along with a couple others that have specialized in fake trailers and trying to pass that shit off as real.

Very rarely will you have me championing the nuking of a Youtube channel for content that I disagree with, but there’s a HUGE difference between making your own fan trailers and making your own fan trailers while trying to pass them off as legitimate. And for years, I’ve had to put up with search results that constantly brought up these con artists and their obviously doctored thumbnails when trying to look for recent movie trailers. All I can say is thank fuck this is being remedied.

I’d imagine the ongoing trend of using AI tools to create fake trailers is what spurred this action on Youtube’s part and, yes, there’s going to be the other side of the coin where channels producing genuine, worthwhile content might be false shitcanned… because that sure as shit hasn’t happened in the past. But hey, at the very least, the system did what it was intended to do and that was clean up a mess that needed to be cleaned ages ago. And for this one, brief moment, I will applaud their efforts.

Now if only someone can nuke Screen Rant while we’re at it… or replace all the opinion writers on that site with actual journalists who will post actual news and not fluff pieces that don’t matter. That’d be a real step up, thanks.

Some “Homework” For Starfleet Academy

So TrekMovie has been putting up some material to hype up the upcoming Starfleet Academy series that’s due to premiere in a couple weeks. This includes an article bringing people up to speed on the background of the new reality that the series is set in, as well as one of the actors giving a tour of the sets on his Instagram.

None of this is really hyping me up for the show, but for those who are keen to learn more, you can follow the links here.

‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Orientation: The State Of The Galaxy And The Rebuilding Of The Federation – Link

Watch: ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Campus Set Tour + Clip Of Captain Ake’s Welcome To The USS Athena – Link

On The Last Day Of 2025… Another Declaration Of Not Having Watched Section 31

It is the 31st of December of the year 2025 – otherwise known as New Year’s Eve – and I find myself astounded that I STILL have NOT watched the Star Trek: Section 31 streaming video motion picture film starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh.

Despite a two-month Paramount+ subscription period… I never found myself watching the film. Instead, I watched the completed run of Strange New Worlds instead… the third season that is a considerable step above the second’s swinging and shit. I haven’t gotten a disc copy for either my birthday OR as a Christmas gift. The threat of Section 31 no doubt looms in the distance, but we’re still… able to keep this thing going.

In any event, tomorrow is the Winners And Losers Of 2025 and I’ll give you a bit of a spoiler: Section 31 is the top Loser of the year… this despite the fact that I haven’t seen the bloody thing yet.

But when has that stopped me before?

Anyway, enjoy your New Year’s eve, everyone.

The Last Minute Pushback

A bit of a pushback on the videos, as the last one is going to be a bit of a whopper… or is it a burial of sorts? So what was supposed to be today’s offering (Portrait Of Ruin) bleeds to tomorrow and that means, yes, the Order Of Ecclesia review falls on New Year’s Eve… which is appropriate because I can bury both this game and this whole, godforsaken year in one fell swoop. Not only that, but there’s also a little bonus for the few who wanted another PPV musings from me. No, it’s not a recent PPV, but it is covering something that I thought I already touched on back in the day and turns out that… yeah, we haven’t done that. Anyway, you’ll know it when you see it.

This past weekend has been busier than usual, which mean no time to properly finish these reviews, which have been – quite frankly – the most difficult pieces of work that I ever had to put together. Technical issues, creative conflicts, and erratic runtimes are the main culprits… but at the same time, it also becomes a matter of losing something in translation if something gets cut. So there’s a very good chance that one of these videos will end up being one of the longest video reviews ever produced on this channel and one has to wonder if the excess is really worth it. It’s no secret that I tend to prefer nice, brief video outings because they’re simple, straightforward, and tell you everything you need to know without spoiling everything. Sometimes, you need a little more to dive into the context of why you feel the way you do about something. As much as you strive to be as unbiased and as objective as possible, by their very nature, reviews are subjective due to each individual experience being unique… and I will tell you this much; that Ecclesia video is going to be a very unique review.

Not exactly great taste in ending the year on such a downer video – and yes, I am out and out telling you that the video is going to be as miserable an experience as the subject matter it covers was – but on the other hand, all that means is that we get to start 2026 on a good note… which means we dive into Ataribox, which might be a multi-part series.

I mention the part about being busy during the weekend and that’s partially true. Some stuff came up that required my attention, but also some health issues popped up that required my staying in bed to recover… hence the rushed nature of SGT#50, which was always intended to be that, but much more prepared. Truth be told, there’s a lot of stuff that needed to be better prepared, but once we get stuff in order around these parts, we can get 2026 off to a good start, which is the ultimate end goal right now. For what it’s worth, I’ve had some nasty bowel movements as a result of something I ate over the holidays that didn’t agree with me and usually when that happens, I end up with pains that keep me from doing anything productive for a good while. I’m doing better now, but it’s a constant reminder that I’m not out of the woods as far as this condition I’m dealing with is concerned and that I should always be vigilant in keeping up with recovery methods.

And so if this ends up being the last hopeful message of the year, then so be it. But on the other hand, let’s get all the bad news out of the way while we’re still in the old year so that we can start the next one on the right foot… or the left foot if you’re a leftie.

That’s all I’ve got.

Later.