Month: February 2016

Pacific Rim 2 is really gonna happen.

They got a director and everything: “Steven S. DeKnight will helm Pacific Rim 2, his first ever directing gig after creating TV series Spartacus, and helping to to make Netflix original Daredevil a success.” Now, normally I would be perhaps a little worried.  Because sequels are sequels, and you have to be concerned that the new director would not be committed to the vision of the old, and so on, and so forth.

But come on. Pacific Rim.

Giant robots, hitting giant monsters in the face.  That’s all we need.

Via @seanhackbarth.

Please do not beat the nice robot with a hockey stick, Hu-man.

Sure, all demos are fake, but: this Atlas one from Boston Dynamics is pretty good stuff.

And I understand why all the business with the sticks and the pushing.  It’s actually bragging: Hey, look, our robot can handle a few trivial tasks that the rest of you have spent years trying to work out for yourselves. But in some weird sort of way it just identifies as not-quite-nice.  I mean, I know: that robot is neither ‘alive’ or ‘aware’ in any meaningful sense of the term. But you see the four limbs and a body and a head in an upright position, and the mental reflexes kick in…

Tweet of the Day, Dear Lord But I Somehow Knew This About Hillary Clinton edition.

To wit: she has never cracked the cover of the Constitution, apparently.

This elementary mistake was brought to you in the context of a discussion on the Second Amendment, of course. Because believing too strongly in gun control apparently causes neurological damage.  And yes, I know that sounds harsh, but I keep seeing anecdotal evidence to support that…

Moe Lane

PS: For the benefit of anybody who might have wandered in here: ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. It’s certainly not a Constitutional amendment, like, say: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The fix is in!

I’d love to know how they came to THIS conclusion:

Actually, I can guess: lies, damned lies, and statistics. I imagine that a good analysis of the criteria they used to determine best mass transit system would prove interesting. Or at least informative.

DC Comics gets into the sitcom business with Powerless.

DC is doing a sitcom!  It’s called Powerless, and it honestly sounds kind of like a stand-up comedy sketch:

The single-camera workplace comedy is set at one of the worst insurance companies in America — with the twist being that it also takes place in the universe of DC Comics. The project is about the reality of working life for a normal, powerless person in a world of superheroes and villains.

…and I’ll be honest: theoretically that doesn’t sound so bad to me. It’s an interesting concept, because living in a superhero universe would be a highly surreal experience.  And ‘surreal’ is a short jump to ‘comedy.’  Of course, it’s the implementation that matters. For that matter: are we at saturation point yet when it comes to superheroes and TV?  I don’t actually have cable, remember, so I wouldn’t really know.  What’s next, though? Superhero soap operas?

…Well, maybe. After all, superhero webcomics are a thing, so the concept might transfer over.

Via @kennethhite.

Tweet of the Day, Go Home, @JohnKasich edition.

You are not helping, John Kasich.

If you do not know whether or not your purpose is to be President, then you will not be President. This is how it works. Go home, John Kasich.