So How Does This End?

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

In Libya, I mean. When you’ve got an international effort going on and it’s the French who are leading the charge, then basically it’s Anything Can Happen Day.

Like they’d say in Texas (or some other state where they say such things) Gadhafi is like a turd that just won’t flush. But I don’t see the international community having the nerve to go in and oust him or charge him with war crimes. On the other hand, one of his own command saying, “Enough’s enough” and putting a bullet in his brain…that I could see.

UPDATED 6:53: And what the hëll is with the guy’s surname?! The New York Times has Qaddafi. The Daily News has Khadafy. This guy is like the Doctor Who of names: Every time you see it, it looks different. From now on, I’m just calling him K’Daffy.

PAD

Movie review: Star Trek Generations

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 23, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1101

When Star Trek: The Motion Picture (quickly dubbed “The Motionless Picture”) opened, there was no escaping the fact that it was a Very Bad Movie. Yet many dedicated Trek fans seized on the positives (what few there were) and clung to the fact that it was, at least, Star Trek. That the franchise was being perpetuated, and that the voyages were still continuing.

And so it continues. We may have lost Star Trek the dream or Star Trek the creative vision, but, by God, at least Star Trek the franchise continues unabated. And some apologists and dedicated fans have returned in force, as fresh-faced and well-scrubbed as they were years ago, and they’ve sung the praises of Generations because they want it to be good. They want it to be good so much that it’s almost painful to watch them. I feel like I’m kicking a puppy dog or knocking the crutch out from under Tiny Tim when I am forced to sorrowfully conclude that Generations is, in fact, not a very good movie.

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Talking Points

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 16, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1100

A sort of morbid incredulity has settled, for the moment, over bleeding-heart liberals such as my humble self. Even a bit of distant black humor rears its head. For instance, I was telling a group of comics fans about an upcoming development in Marvel’s futuristic “2099” line of books. I said, “Doom takes over America.” And the immediate response I got was, “Didn’t that just happen?”

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PBS is Practically Unwatchable

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Lately whenever I’m channel surfing and I see that something is on PBS that looks interesting, I go to it and–lo and behold–either I hit a pledge break, or I watch for maybe five minutes and then, stop the music, stop everything, time for a pledge break.

Understand that this is purely anecdotal, but it seems to me there used to be a lot fewer pledge drives, and now it’s literally whenever I happen to tune in. Now for all I know it’s just that they only run shows of interest to me during pledge drives, but jeez. Unless I record stuff so that I can buzz past the pledge drives, it’s pretty much impossible to watch the channel.

I don’t even want to think what it’ll be like if government funding goes away altogether.

PAD

If You Want to Help Relief Efforts in Japan

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

The Red Cross is accepting donations earmarked for earthquake and tsunami relief. You can go to their website at www.redcross.org.

Alternatively–and what we’ve just done–is that you can text REDCROSS to 90999 from your cell phone which will result in a $10 donation.

Help if you can.

PAD