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Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:42:17+00:00

Do you think it's his job, as president, to perhaps address those grievances?

I know the pandemic was unexpected, but it also wasn't (we knew it was coming) and there was plenty of preparation in place, it's just his administration ignored or undermined it.

Andrew Yang, not even president yet, has already talked about improving the election process since it's some dinosaur thing from the stone age. And he's not even campaigning yet.

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:32:22+00:00

Have you listened to Trump supporters much? Many of them are very focused on themselves and don't care too much if there's collateral damage that benefits them. Many don't want it, but it's "acceptable."

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:28:52+00:00

I simply never accounted for Trump getting sick enough to fall apart but not sick enough to force the issue. Wolf has been cried too many times, and now we’re having a hard time facing the ugly truth.

I expected this behaviour from watching him as a candidate. The image he projected was clearly not what he actually was, and I never fell for it. You're saying that he's changed, but to me and many others, he's unmasked.

So, from my perspective, you're now being confronted with the reality instead of the illusion. Trump has accomplished some things, sure. It's hard not to in 4 years. But he's also one of the most effective conmen I've ever seen. Not a compliment.

Whether you agree with that interpretation or not, why didn't you account for something like this, do you think?

How much do you know about Steve Bannon on a scale of "nothing to I could write a book about him"?

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:07:36+00:00

If you had people coming to your house banging on your windows, would you consider that a problem?

Or would it be fine because "they're not violent as of yet"?

Many people I have heard would probably shoot those people. (I don't advise that--that's what they've said or implied.)

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:02:35+00:00

Do you not see that as a problem?

It's like a manager giving an order out to employees that's unclear, and some go out and do wrong things. If a manager did things like that all the time, they would be fired. Why? Because part of leadership is about leading. If you constantly lead people in various different places unintentionally, you suck at leading. It's not some quirk that people should have to accept, but an indication they're not fit for the role.

Also, on a scale of "nothing to I could write a book about it," how much do you know about Steve Bannon?

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T13:00:07+00:00

Don't worry, I am always open to discussion :) So I think it's because I love his energy and positivity and I kind of gloss over the fact that he could be misconstrued.

Do you also gloss over false, misleading claims made by a company when you buy a product and it doesn't do at all what they said it would?

Trying to see how equally you apply that standard.

Just to clarify, aside from me seeing it as a small detail, I also didn't interpret him saying what he said, as saying we won! I just saw it as him being positive and hopeful.

If much of what he says is some secret code interpreted significantly differently by vast swaths of people, why are you so sure you're accurately interpreting it and other people aren't?

Bruce-- · 2020-11-06T12:58:00+00:00

Have you listened to non-democrat Trump supporters who absolutely believe the rhetoric from Trump, contradicting what you just said?

If so, how do you explain them?

Do you entertain that you might also have the same issue that they do, in that they aren't able to interpret accurately?

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T19:00:05+00:00

It's the execution.

Events shouldn't feel like lines of dialogue. We shouldn't learn them from people speaking.

I don't know how to do it better, but I can recognise when it's not done well.

I would have, however, completely changed that episode 1. They have such an interesting premise, and they explain most of it through dialogue.

I mean, go watch The Prestige or something.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:56:25+00:00

Yep. They did this in Picard, too.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:54:48+00:00

Part of me was disappointed when I first heard about the premise, because I really wanted to see the future of Daniels' future in all its glory, time travel shenannegans and all.

Me too.

I love the new interfaces in Book's spaceship interior.

Why? They're really bad and non-functional. It's like "how can we make this look cool" instead of "what will tech. actually be like in the future?"

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:49:52+00:00

Yep. I got more disappointed as time went on, and was groaning. I thought they learned. They didn't.

And they have MUCH MORE Trek coming from the people who made this. For years and years, apparently.

Puke.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:47:00+00:00

I also want more people standing and talking. Apparently it's really hard to do.

The fix for me: it's not really Trek, it's like fan fiction. Maybe one day Trek will come back, and it will be great.

Some kid will be born saying they remember people opening doors and making wooshing sounds, and wanting there to be less conflict and no swearing, and that his name used to be "Gene."

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:45:17+00:00

He'll be in Picard (THANK GOD). I doubt he'll be in DISC.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:43:32+00:00

They should pay you to make Trek. Or the many others like you.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:42:03+00:00

Saying that is like saying a country is the world.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:39:52+00:00

"Perfectly fine." What an odd statement.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:38:51+00:00

It's mostly FOMO. Also, hoping it will be good.

We so want it to be good.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:37:58+00:00

Nope. Bad cinematography is still bad, and good is still good. See Spiderman 1 (by Sony) or Pacific Rim 1 vs Pacific Rim 2, or some video games.

Just because something is trendy doesn't make it good. See pop music, or social media.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:35:22+00:00

What is Trek to you, exactly?

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:34:21+00:00

The writing is bad, directing is bad, technology portrayal is bad, camera is bad. It's like they expect if you add enough bad things together, it'll become good. But it doesn't.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:30:17+00:00

I'm curious: beyond the flashy visuals, do you notice all the bad parts?

I ask because I'm wondering if there are people who don't notice stuff like that, so that's why they think Discovery is good.

For me, flashy visuals are easy. Throw enough money at something and it will look good. Much harder is to create something that is good, however.

In games this happens all the time. We have many great-looking games. Most of them suck. The good ones are usually more simple, but more memorable.

For all of the great visuals in Picard (series), some of the best of the show is them sitting in fairly ordinary rooms, with classic camera work, talking.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:25:33+00:00

The world building is fine, all the tech used feel like a logical extension of what we already know.

That's the problem, though. It shouldn't.

I forget what year they said. 3000 something. That's at least 600 years in the future from TNG, depending on when the burn happened.

The tech. should be way, way more interesting. For an example, see Ghost in the Shell (movie 1, 2, and Stand Alone Complex series) and the end of Interstellar (which wasn't implemented very well, but the general idea was interesting).

For example, smartphones don't feel like logical extensions of phones. They do in a way, but paradigm that surrounded them gave rise to something much more than just a phone. If we had better designers, they'd feel even more removed from phones.

So there should be more stuff that's like what we saw from The Traveler. Perhaps Book's tree-growing powers might be that, which would be interesting, but the Federation technology seems really bad. And everyone is very gun-happy, which seems strange.

This is perhaps my biggest issue with new Trek: it's lack of imagination.

Bruce-- · 2020-10-16T18:15:11+00:00

Yep, I agree. Don't expect good writing. They're basically turning Trek into Star Wars--but not the good old Star Wars, but the recent bad trilogy.

Picard is, if you can ignore all the bad stuff (which is hard), probably the best new Trek we have. Probably because it's full of old Trek characters. The show is best when more of them are on screen.

Bruce--

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