Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

This year's finalists for entry into the Toy Hall of Fame


Call me a purist, but I don't think games with formalized rules count as "toys" in the traditional sense. Especially something as complex as Settlers of Catan.



I am amazed that spinning tops and Nerf balls weren't in the Hall of Fame already.

[Nate the Great]

Steve Shives tackles the usage of the Mirror Universe in Trek (on screen and in the Expanded Universe).


As I've said before, I hate the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes and don't revisit them. First, the contrivances necessary to keep all of the people in the same locations between locations pile up and up and up as the years go by. It's okay for a single point of intersection in "Mirror, Mirror", but anything more lis ludicrous. Second, it falls into the same trap as "Year of Hell" and "Course: Oblivion", creating a playground that the creators can play with without worrying about consequences.

[Nate the Great]

Guys make a huge battery using over a thousand lemons.


All that work for not even five volts.



As it turns out, I watched one of their videos years ago without making the connection: How much sawdust can you put in a rice crispy bar before it's inedible?


Making a wooden bicycle. I wouldn't want to get on that thing, it looks like a disaster in the making...

[Nate the Great]

A Voyager meme that gave me a chuckle...

[Nate the Great]

Obscurus Lupa tackles "The Naked Time" vs "The Naked Now." She has more respect for TOS than I thought. Also wait for the discussion of the Data/Yar relationship. And plenty of Gene bashing.

[Nate the Great]

Kyle Hill completely misses the point of the Lord of the Rings Eagle Problem


The issue isn't the cube square law, this is explicitly another world where magic exists in all lifeforms, even the eagles.



A more educated reply


The TL;DR:
* Gandalf is friends with one eagle who owes him, he can't just summon a whole flock anytime he wants.
* The eagles have their own society and they aren't as concerned with this Sauron stuff as our heroes.
* Sauron's tower is surrounded by flying monsters who would detect a flock of giant eagles almost immediately. Placing the One Ring in the vicinity of them would be a Bad Idea.

[Nate the Great]

Astrophysicist ranks fictional starships.



The only Trek ships on the list are the NCC-1701 and the Narada. I would've liked the Klingon Bird of Prey and Borg Cube being discussed.


I was also disappointed that he didn't know the name of the ship from Flight of the Navigator. Neither did I, but I could find it on the Disney wiki in less than a minute. It's a Trimaxion Drone Ship.

[Nate the Great]

It's "Male Versions of 'Let it Go'" Day!


NateWantsToBattle. The first one I ever saw, and still the best in my opinion.


Caleb Hyles. I like his work, but in this one he has the bad habit of trying to emphasize every word. Proper musical flow doesn't work like that.



princepeterwolf. He puts his own spin on it, this is more like sing-talking.



Caissie Levy. You can tell that this more of a Broadway version.

[Nate the Great]

I was in the mood for some Trek filk songs that I'd never heard before...


Space Shanty. TNG songs are a bit rarer than TOS ones.
Enterprise. I thought I'd already heard all of the Julia Ecklar ones, but I guess not...
Call the Navigator. I hold fan creators to higher standards when it comes to canon, and it's inexcusable to call flame gems Aldebaran and not Spican. (In Enterprise flame gems (two words) come from Rigel). (As it turns out Spica is a real star in the constellation of Virgo. And that's the Amazing Thing That I Learned Today).
For The Need of the One. Another Ecklar contribution, and another example of fans caring about deep lore. She uses the word "T'hy'a", which in Vulcan means friend/brother/lover and comes from the STTMP novelization.
Mineral Rights. I never expected a musical retelling of "Devil in the Dark."
All About That Borg. My favorite "All About That Bass" parody is still the Pokemon-themed "Spinning Round That Bass", but this one is okay too.
Eternal Loser. A ballad by Kirk dedicated to his women.
Eternal Loser. You don't encounter the same filk song being covered by more than one singer very often, but this one was. Which one do you like more?

[Nate the Great]

A Not Always Right story about someone who doesn't know what a gazebo is


Of course the commenters were quick to make oblique references to the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo.


I don't even play RPGs (besides Pokemon), but that one was a classic of early Net culture.

[Nate the Great]

Teaser Trailer for the new Mario movie


So yeah, that's happening.

[Nate the Great]

When it comes to fan-made LEGO models of Star Trek ships, I'm very hit or miss as to whether I'll like it. Then I found this one on Reddit that couldn't help but make me smile. So yeah, let's do a roundup!


USS Reliant


A variety of ships. At this scale they seem more like chunky kids toys than faithful recreations



Type 8 and Type 9 shuttles


NCC-1701. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the original or the Discoprise.


A variety of ships. Some I like, some I don't. I leave the determination as an exercise for the reader.



A large Runabout. On the whole I like larger sets for more accurate details.


All of the Enterprises in approximate scale with each other.

[NAHTMMM]

https://panelsandprose.com/2022/10/0...ng-the-sitcom/

An article about how the American situational comedy was developed in early comic strips. Incidentally, some of those early comic strips were awfully wordy.

[Nate the Great]

Angela Lansbury died today. Time for a roundup!


Her first scene. Her Cockney accent is worse than Audrey Hepburn's, and that's saying something.


Beauty and the Beast. You knew this one was coming.


As Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.



Performing "Bosom Buddies" with Bea Arthur


When it comes to young Angela I'm most familiar with her part in 'Til The Clounds Roll By.


I'll bet you never thought you'd see Angela and Julie Andrews dressed up like Carmen Miranda...


Angela reads the Nativity Story accompanied by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir


I had forgotten that she starred with Judy Garland in the Harvey Girls


I can't remember if I've ever actually seen Court Jester.



She did a good job in Anastasia

[Nate the Great]

A Trek-themed XKCD

[Nate the Great]

Bookmark alignment chart


I guess I'm chaotic good-scrap paper all the way. Even if a book ribbon is present, I just can't keep up with it.

[Nate the Great]

SF Debris covers The Killing Game


Even if you aren't into Chuck's reviews, watch his recap of World War II from 15:45 to 18:35 using references to numerous movies. It's absolutely ludicrous how much stuff pop culture has crammed into six years.



In fact, the only thing Chuck really missed is how the Stargate was moved out of Egypt to stop the Nazis from getting it.

[Nate the Great]

People are connecting their old Commodore 64s to the Internet


I never used a C64, my nostalgic pre-DOS memories are limited to the AppleIIe at school and the TI-99/4A at home. Which is a shame, Matterhorn Screamer looks way better on the C64 than it did on DOS or Apple.


And today's Amazing Thing that I learned is that someone hacked Dragon's Lair to work on a TI-99/4A. And I mean the original FMV game, not the NES platformer. Impressive.

[Nate the Great]

The Battle of the Superfloppies!


I didn't know that ZIP disks had so many competitors. I miss ZIP disks...

[Nate the Great]

Only TOS fanatics know that the bridge of the 1701 is actually rotated at 36 degrees because of the location of the turbolift.


However, he also compares the bridge to a theatrical stage to justify this rotation, which never occurred to me.