http://gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/gamespotting/110901/p2_01.html

My Alanis Morissette gland isn't functioning right now. Can anyone tell me if this guy is serious?

Sounds like it. I wonder if he camped out to pick up his Windows XP copy ?

"Not only is the toilet paper essential to having a comfortable evening, but it can also make you some new friends who will be glad to hold your place in line while you relieve yourself throughout the night."

Bail money is probably something you'll want to have along as well.

I have sooo many better things to do than camp out OVERNIGHT for a console. I mean, really, folks. If you're doing this and you're over the age of, say, 24.. time to re-evaluate your life.

Come on, you've guys never camped out for anything? Grab several friends (some drinks in paper bags) and make an evening of it. Ofcourse its more fun camping out for concert tickets in the middle of summer than november but what the hey.

No, camping is fine and all that, but the toilet paper suggesting is alarming. I mean, what? He's...um...using an alley or something? Has he got a handy forest nearby?

Geez. I'm only showing up a few HOURS early
for the "Harry Potter" premiere.

I WILL be wearing my Slytherin witch outfit,
though. But bringing *toilet paper*??? That's
just weird.

I remember the days when we had to walk five
miles uphill in the snow barefoot for a copy of
Murder on the Zinderneuf, and we didn't bring
no sissy toilet paper!

EA is making "Zinderneuf 2002" for X-Box. It comes with bunch of branching FMV scenes of b-actors hamming it up and generally performing on a sub-"Clue: The Movie" level.

Also: M.U.L.E. Hardcore, which is an action game in which you controle the M.U.L.E. as he kicks ass on alien transexuals.

If I do regret getting a PS2 so early, I sure as hell don't regret camping out all night in front of a Best Buy for it. Some guy brought a grill, we had coolers of beverages to go around, and after a while we had a great game of touch football going on in the empty parking lot. I don't think this year's launches are going to be anything near as crazy as the PS2's was last year, but if you're camping out make sure you pinch a loaf before you get in the car.

Just to show my age, I once camped out overnight for tickets to The Who. In retrospect, I don't feel terribly nostalgic about it but if I did it again you can be damned sure I'd follow some of the suggestions in this guy's article and, yeah, I'd bring more friends. Might as well make a party out of it.

I can see camping out for concert or sports tickets, you know, things that only happen once...but a console will be there for years. And you don't get better seats by buying your console early, you're still sitting on the same couch with the same controller playing the same games.

Maybe you'll have to wait a week (god forbid), but you won't be shut out by missing the first day of sales.

If I ever catch U camping on my SiN deathmatch server, I WILL KICK/BAN U, CHEATING LAMRZZZ!!!

Cheap fugging sniper bastards.

All right, his antics were charming at first, but now he's getting old.

What is ur SiN serial number, Ben? I WILL BAN YOUR SERIAL NUMBER FROM MY DEATHMATCH SERVR. Are you ready to face that? Kan you DEEL WITH IT? No mo loggins to SiNNER 3001'S FRAGFESTIVAL OF HORROR. No more Capture the Frag. You're on thin ice. Don't step on an crack! Watch yer back, cheating Hax0r!

If you're going to rip off someone else's jokes, at least use Erik's, not a second-tier comedian like Lowtax.

Yeah, he sounds more and more like JeffK with every post. Kinda disappointing, really. Not that I don't like JeffK, but c'mon--get your own schtick, SiNNER 3001.

Dude, you're getting a DELL!

What he said.

Holy shit! I just saw an episode of Star Trek: TNG in which Picard and Riker blow up the head of a dude, and you see his head explode. Then his chest bursts open, and a screaming alien pops out. Riker and Picard then blow up the alien with their phasers and we're left with a lingering view of the corpse sitting in a chair with no head and a gaping chest cavity.

When did David Cronenberg start directing Star Trek episodes?

That was a really, really bizarro episode. I can't imagine Roddenberry approving that one in a zillion years.

As stupid as Star Trek has gotten, it's amazing how good some of those TNG episodes were:

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/tapestry.rev.html

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/innerlight.rev.html

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/cause.rev.html

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/synopsis/measure.syn.html

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/cause.rev.html

That was a first-season episode, which means Roddenberry was probably in full control.

--- Alan

Whoa, you're right. That one aired in '88, and he died in '91. Freaky.

I can find vague references online to Gene replacing the initial plot device of an internal Starfleet military coup with the bug-alien things, on utopian-future-society grounds. The gore in that one is still a large diversion for the series.

Good picks Jason.
I caught some of that TNT marathon and was floored by many of the later episodes. And, for my money, "All Good Things..." (the series finale) may be the finest and most intelligent peice of filmed science fiction I've ever seen.

-Andrew

Star Trek was always the wierdest mix of hard sci-fi (the time episodes), secular humanist morality plays (picard's life on the dead planet), and just stupid television (that Wesley finale).

'And, for my money, "All Good Things..." (the series finale) may be the finest and most intelligent peice of filmed science fiction I've ever seen.'

Something about the feel of that one felt awfully contrived to me. I haven't seen most of them since I was a teenager, but I'd pick Measure of a Man; has any hard SF done better work on the moral implications of intelligent constructs, which I'm starting to think are inevitable? Asimov always seemed to screw around more with the logical implications of his Laws than wonder about larger issues.

Hmmm, contrived? Yeah, maybe, but it was a finale after all.

I admire it for its brisk and remarkable, script and the fact that the performances, even Michael Dorn, all rose to the occasion. It just has fantastic pacing given how convoluted the whole thing is. The fact that despite its complexity, the plot actually holds under scrutiny afterwards(most time travel weirdness, doesn't) and the bravery that it neatly bookends the entire series, is remarkable (which, yeah, also makes it a candidate for "contrived"). But, how better to end a long series than to show a glimpse of most of the character's futures? To show the hero as a frail dottard. And, at the same time, to tie it in so neatly (and ominously) with the premiere episode. It also does one thing series finales never do (especially if a film series is starting), it actually features and implies character development beyond the series. Something the movies are incapable or unwilling to do.

Plus, that end poker scene was a really nice touch. "Nothing wild and the skies the limit!"

The Measure of a Man (had to look that up) was good, but, c'mon, that's a sci-fi story almost as oft told as a regular time travel episode. Android has rights. Didn't they tell that again with Android creates Daughter?

-Andrew

Oh, forgot to mention, "All Good Things..." is also a fairly successful riff on "A Christmas Carol".

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm pulling off my Vulcan ears and heading to bed.

-Andrew

Wow. I nominate this for "Geekiest...Thread...Evar!!!"

Well, okay, maybe only second...There's still that whole "My X-Wing can Beat your Y-Wing" thing...

'The Measure of a Man (had to look that up) was good, but, c'mon, that's a sci-fi story almost as oft told as a regular time travel episode. Android has rights. Didn't they tell that again with Android creates Daughter?'

Sure, but it's the best handling I've seen. Then again, I was probably 16 at the time.

'Oh, forgot to mention, "All Good Things..." is also a fairly successful riff on "A Christmas Carol".'

I hadn't thought of that, cool.

This is my favorite episode, also from the last season:

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/lowerdecks.rev.html

Seeing the regular characters from the perspective of the cadets was damn cool. My favorite part was when Worf administered the blindfolded combat test to the young recruit (beating the hell out of this helpless young lass while yelling at her to "defend herself") that turned out to be a lesson in learning when to speak up when you're presented with an unfair challenge, rather than the exercise in mystical Kung Fu it appeared to be.

By the way, what the heck was the deal with that bitchy doctor taking over from smart and saucy Bev Crusher for an entire season? I know she was forced off the show and then brought back, but why? Her replacement was anti-charismatic, to say the least. Maybe Bev turned down one of Gene's trademarked sexual advances on Enterprise medical staff.

Actually, Bev left the show to persue a movie career. She eventually landed on some soap opera for a season which didn't pan out either, so back to Star Trek she went.

I think she was afraid of getting type cast as "That Doctor from Star Trek"...I mean, how many non-Trek movies was DeForest Kelly in?

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Quote:

I mean, how many non-Trek movies was DeForest Kelly in?

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"Wow. I nominate this for "Geekiest...Thread...Evar!!!"

Oh come on now Michael. Trek isn't any geekier than endless threads about MMORPGs, Windows XP quibbling, the fate of fansites like SND, Gord, etc., and, um, church Halloween bashes.

And lets not forget, that whole X-Wing vs. Y-Wing wasn't some pie in the sky speculation. It was relating to a, y'know, game. No geekier than arguing which is the better weapon in Quake 3. Um... relatively speaking, of course.

Besides, nominating the geekiest threads ever on a geek board is, well, um, REALLY geeky. Eh?
;)

-Andrew

Hehe, well, ok, so he was in a lot of movies, but none I have ever heard of, thus they are unimportant to me. :)

Bev Crusher (don't know her real name) was the wife of Jack Ryan in Hunt For Red October, but she wasn't brought back as his wife in the rest of the Jack Ryan series.

Gates McFadden

- Alan

"Gates McFadden"

I'm a Ferengi; by tradition we're not allowed to refer to women by name. (See the 254th Rule of Acquisition.) The doctor on Star Trek is thus known to me only as Redhair Piece of Tail (or Dances With Data).

> My X-Wing can Beat your Y-Wing" thing...

Actually Murph I think it'd be the other way round, seeing that the Y-Wing is a space tub -- it'd be rather tricky to take out an X-Wing in one, though it's been done :)

> Bev Crusher (don't know her real name) was the wife of Jack Ryan in Hunt For Red October, but she wasn't brought back as his wife in the rest of the Jack Ryan series.

Yeah, she got replaced by an Agent of Scientology.

--- Alan

I've always been a big fan of Star Trek but I preferred how Babylon 5 paced it's storyline, especially the last half of Season 2 up to the first half of Season 4. That was a magical time as an SF fan. As for meaninful and intelligent stories, B5 is chock full of them. It seems to me that the current Star Trek folks seem to rely on the same old crutch from series to series.

(If the X-Wing vs. Y-Wing comment doesn't increase the geekiness factor, I'm sure bringing B5 into the mix will....)

Chris

I agree that after seeing Babylon 5, watching an average episode of Star Trek (particularly this new "Enterprise" show) seems limited. There are many Star Trek episodes that are better than B5, and B5 has weaknesses, but all-in-all, I will take a show wherein the characters actually develop over time and in which often heroic characters are allowed to waste their lives and screw up royally in unforgivable ways. (See: Lennier, Garibaldi, Londo.) On Star Trek, it's basically understood that all of the main characters are Good, and even if they make mistakes they will be forgiven by the end of the episode. Also, main characters will only die if the actor wants out of the series; there was some of that in B5, but most of the horrible fates for characters were planned from the beginning.

It's like the difference between John Blade and Gordon Freeman.

http://www.blacksuperhero.com/exh-misc-johnblade.html

Agreed, there were definitely some clunkers in B5, plus the whole uncertainty of the show coming back for a 5th season caused a lot of the pacing to get out of whack. The characters in B5 are what made the show as good as it was, the fact that they all for the most part had a destiny to meet was intriguing. I still think the arcs that G'kar and Londo went through are some of the finest moments in storytelling I've seen on television.

Chris

[geek mode]
Personally, my favorite sci-fi show is still Battlestar Galactica. I've recently gotten sick of Star Trek...
[/geek mode]

'As for meaninful and intelligent stories, B5 is chock full of them. It seems to me that the current Star Trek folks seem to rely on the same old crutch from series to series.'

Maybe I'm Not A Real Sci-Fi Fan or something, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about Babylon 5. At all. I'd sit down to watch an episode after reading some background stuff online; it looked cool, the plot was vaguely interesting.....but I just didn't care. No damned idea why.

I felt that way at first, the pilot and the Season 1 episodes I saw didn't spark much interest at the time. What did it was reading the episode descriptions and analysis at the Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5. I was at work and was bored to tears and ran across some folks raving about how good B5 was. I was lucky to give the show a chance at the start of Season 2 and saw everything begin to gel.

Chris

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Quote:

[geek mode]
Personally, my favorite sci-fi show is still Battlestar Galactica. I've recently gotten sick of Star Trek...
[/geek mode]

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Heh.
Yeah, it's still geeky, but Jason and I were discussing episode storylines, not getting hung up on ship schematics or Klingon pronounciation.
But it's all relative. You should see my wife blow a gasket when they get a medical procedure wrong (nursing-wise) on ER. Then again, at least she's a nurse....

Anyway, it reminds me of this cartoon I saw that had some big brawny guy berating a D&D nerd for reading the monster manual. Then he goes home and picks up his football stats book...

-Andrew

"You should see my wife blow a gasket"

Do you have photos?

"You should see my wife blow a gasket when they get a medical procedure wrong (nursing-wise) on ER."

This must happen with every profession. My wife wanted to watch Ally McBeal during dinner the other night. I had to get up and leave after two ethical violations in five minutes.

Hehe, yeah, she made fun of me when I bitched during that silly X-Files virtual FPS video game episode a couple seasons back.

-Andrew

Yeah, my wife gets angry at me every time I start making fun of Laura Flynn Boyle bursting into tears in the courtroom in The Practice. Then, just like Bub's wife, she does the same thing with ER.