Persistent, Niggling Questions

[Nate the Great]

Let me repeat. Posting in a forum, your own blog, or in a comment section is one thing. Posting on a "professional" reviewing site is quite another.

[Nate the Great]

PNQ: How do we feel about the iSlate, the touchscreen tablet rumored to be announced by Apple soon?

[Nate the Great]

PNQ: So Raimi couldn't promise to get Spider-Man 4 out in May 2011, so they decide to reboot the franchise with the new movie coming out in 2012? Huh? I mean, seriously, HUH? If 2012 is okay for the reboot to come out, why couldn't they have given Raimi and company another year and have SM4 come out in 2012?

(Note: Another rumored problem is the fact that they've already killed off the major villains, leaving only the obscure baddies as options. Well, I don't have a problem with second-string villains if they're done well, and I DO have a problem with killing off villains to prevent a Sinister Six movie!)

[LtFielding]

PNQ: Am I the only person under 25 who listens to Frank Sinatra?

[Sa'ar Chasm]

If you'd asked me that question five years ago, the answer would have been no.

In slightly related news, how's 30 treating you, Derek?

[Nate the Great]

PNQ: How are we feeling about the imminent announcement of the Apple Tablet?

Speaking for myself, I find the idea intriguing, but I won't be buying one. I can't be dropping $800-$1000 for a gadget that will have impossible to update hardware and a battery that I can't replace (at least for less than a sack of cash).

[Nate the Great]

PNQ: Is anyone else getting annoyed by gadgetmakers using the word "thin" as a dimension?


Example, the new iPad is advertised as "0.5 inches thin". "Thin" is not a valid property! An iPad is 0.5 inches thick, or X inches _thinner_ than a iPod!

[NAHTMMM]

Eh, I'd say that's like a 3.0 on the Richter scale of Mind-Numbingly Stupid Things Advertisers Say. But then I may not be exposed to those commercials as often as you are.

[Nate the Great]

Once more I see the "DC comics publishes something called Shazam, even though the real name of the hero is Captain Marvel" thing.

PNQ: Why why WHY can't DC just give Marvel umpteen billion dollars to buy back the rights to have a comic book called Captain Marvel?

I mean, I like the Marvel versions of Captain Marvel just fine, especially the brainwashed Skrull version. But even so, when most people think "Captain Marvel," they think The Big Red Cheese, they think half capes and lightning bolts, they think Billy Batson.

[Nate the Great]

So I see an ad for a stage show that I'd like to see, but tickets start at $38...

PNQ: Do they ever sell out performances at that price in this economy? Where are these people getting this much disposable income?

And I'd like to note that this is not a hoity-toity fine arts performance, either. You won't be seeing tuxedos and champagne here, just ordinary folks. How many ordinary folks can drop $80 for two tickets on a mere two hour show these days?

[Nate the Great]

So I attempt ("attempt" being a very key word) to follow the connection between CardCaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, and xxxHolic.

PNQ: So Watanuki is the son of the Sakura and Syaoran from CCS? Yeah, um, what?

I mean, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of the TRC Syaoran being a clone or whatever of the real one.

[MaverickZer0]

Oh dear lord, don't even try. Trying to make sense of CLAMP's plans with all the Sakuras and Syaorans causes insanity.

That being said I think that Watanuki is an alternate timeline version of real!Syaoran, who is Cardcaptor Sakura's Sakura and Syaoran's son. Or a twin. Or...something...

[Zeke]

I decided to check out Tsubasa recently so I could understand its frequent crossovers with XXXHolic, but I stopped at one volume. It's clearly a series for CLAMP aficionados; I liked it on its own terms, but I can tell how much I'm missing. ('Holic is the only CLAMP series I've read much of.) I'm not yet invested in the "real" Sakura, Syaoran, etc. What's more, there have been two "what the hell is going on" guides published for Tsubasa, so I get the feeling even faithful readers have trouble keeping up.

As for 'Holic, I checked that out on the strength of this crossover, which I found while looking for Hell Girl fic (there's not a lot around). As I implied in the latter show's fiver, Yuuko really does look like a grown-up Enma Ai -- albeit one who's gone from impassive to mischievous. The theme song shot of Yuuko in a yukata makes me double-take a lot.

I like 'Holic so far, but the art style is a major impediment. "Spindly" does not begin to describe people's limbs in this series. Watanuki gets the worst of it.

[Naki]

Spindly nothing, that boy makes me look well filled out

[LtFielding]

How come the only time I have used my Boy Scout medical skills is when my friend Radmer cut himself on the carpet?
More importantly, How did my friend Radmer cut himself on the carpet?

[Nate the Great]

Yet again I see an ad for the new fancy iMac. My PNQ this time is "what's the big deal about wireless keyboards and mice?"

I mean, seriously, are these two wires just THAT annoying? Furthermore, rechargable batteries where they aren't necessary (and where a hardline would be perfectly acceptable) make me cheesed more than an exploding Velveeta box.

[Nate the Great]

It's National Debt Day! (again, I think)

http://www.cracked.com/funny-4136-national-debt/

Yes, I know, always take statistics derived from Cracked with a grain of salt, but let's take these figures of "13.7 trillion dollars" and "the debt will match our gross domestic product in 2019" at face value.

PNQ1: Is it even possible for the debt to be repaid, or is this a high-pressure hose with no off valve?
PNQ2: Foreign interests couldn't really repossess American property, right?
PNQ3: If the debt really is owed to other countries, why are we giving them foreign aid without taking a "debt writeoff"?
PNQ4: If the debt is owed to the taxpayers, why are we still paying taxes if the nation theoretically owes us?

[Nate the Great]

Since Smallville has been renewed for a tenth season, much is being made of the fact that they are tied with Stargate SG-1 for the longest-running consecutive (sorry, Doctor Who) scifi show.

PNQ1: Is Smallville really "scifi"? Isn't it more of a drama?
PNQ2: Does this really count as the same show anymore? A few commentators have noted that we really don't focus on Smallville itself anymore, plus the only original characters still around are Clark and Chloe, so would treating the last few seasons as a successor series make more sense?

[Katy Jane]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

PNQ1: Is Smallville really "scifi"? Isn't it more of a drama?

I don't think Drama is the right words, maybe fantasy would be better than scifi, but Clark Kent is an alien i suppose, that's scifiish i guess.

PNQ2: Does this really count as the same show anymore? A few commentators have noted that we really don't focus on Smallville itself anymore, plus the only original characters still around are Clark and Chloe, so would treating the last few seasons as a successor series make more sense?

As long as the show has ran with out stopping and the name hasn't changed and the production numbers haven't reset or anything like that I don't see why it shouldn't be considered a consecutively running show. Look at ER, where there any original characters left when they wen't off the air?

my PNQ is wasn't the original Doctor who run longer, nay, much longer than 11 years? /

[Chancellor Valium]

Doctor Who was originally on-air between November 23rd 1963 and December 6th 1989, which makes 26 years for those of us who aren't maths whizzes.

A television movie was co-produced with Fox and Universal in 1996.

A range of novels covering continuing stories - the "New Adventures" was published by Virgin between 1991 (starting with Timewyrm: Genesis) and 1997 (last book published was So Vile A Sin, but, IIRC, the last in-sequence was The Dying Days).

A range of BBC tie-in novels covering continuing stories for the Eighth Doctor of the TV Movie, Paul McGann, was produced between 1997 (The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks) and 2005 (The Gallifrey Chronicles, by Lance Parkin).

Both book series were paired by a run of books chronicling stories for previous Doctors, often slotted in-between their on-screen serials. The New Adventures were paired with the Missing Adventures, and the Eighth Doctor Adventures with the Past Doctor Adventures.

Big Finish Productions have been producing past- and Eighth Doctor audio plays since The Sirens of Time which came out in about 1999.

There were also two stand alone Dalek films in the 1960s starring Peter Cushing as the human scientist, "Doctor Who". There was also a 1979 (?) TV spin-off pilot for a series called K9 and Company.

Oh, and Telos Publishing, which was set up in 2001, have published some DW novellas; I think the only other spin-off matter worth mentioning from before the revival is BBV.

So uh, does that answer your question?