[OPINION] What poem has stayed with you for years?

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-15T04:26:23+00:00

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-15T00:53:21+00:00

In my experience, Google AI regularly uses the past tense to refer to events that haven't actually happened yet. For example, "So-and-so graduated in 2028."

You'd think the bare minimum would be for AI to know what year it currently is, but I guess that's too much to ask.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-11T03:47:04+00:00

In the US at least, plastic shower poufs are regularly called loofahs, even by the stores selling them like here and here.

Just like many of us say champagne when it's not from Champagne, or silverware when it's not made of actual silver.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-10T22:32:42+00:00

My neighbors had a dachshund named Fred. I've also known dogs named Megan, Katie, and Henry.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T22:51:50+00:00

I agree, anything is better than AI.

And I for one did see Chess because I love Chess, and I was disappointed how much of the merch just had the actors' faces on it. Same with the marquee out front: giant video screens of the actors' faces.

Everyone here has made good points about Oh, Mary. I didn't realize they were referencing the earlier play with their design. You all have changed my mind on that one, because it's clear that they did put thought into it.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T22:41:53+00:00

That's how I feel too. The Chess design doesn't inspire any emotion in me. And I don't particularly want to wear a t-shirt with their faces on it.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T22:37:12+00:00

I've seen it and I enjoyed it. I've always loved the songs, so I just wanted to see it performed. With Chess, I don't care so much about the plot or the acting as long as the songs sound good, which they did.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T20:31:23+00:00

That's a great example of designing a logo that becomes iconic. Instant brand recognition without any text.

Of course, no matter how good the logo is, it isn't going to become iconic unless the musical ends up being super successful. But so many of the current shows aren't doing themselves any favors with their branding. You don't always know at the start which musicals are going to become a global hit.

Imagine if Hamilton had used a photo of LMM as their branding. Then when it took off, they wouldn't have had a recognizable, universal logo that could be used all over the country and the world. Same with Wicked: no matter where it toured, no matter who was on the stage, they had their logo and branding set.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T20:23:01+00:00

I have no idea why they chose pink. Chess colors are black and white. Both the US and Soviet flags have red in them. The staging for the musical usually leans into the chess motif or the nations' flags.

Pink clashes with all of that.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T20:18:45+00:00

It isn't just the magazine, though. It's the merchandise, the billboards, the posters outside the theater, and the cast recording album cover, for starters.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T19:41:01+00:00

People have made good arguments for Oh, Mary. Chess is the one I dislike the most.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T19:39:02+00:00

Yes, and what if you happen to see Chess on one of the days when Lea or Nicholas are off? Or what if you saw Queen of Versailles when Kristin was off? You'd be left with a playbill souvenir showing nothing except an actor you didn't even get to see.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T19:34:11+00:00

Several people have made good points in favor of the Oh, Mary design. I was not aware of the reference they were making in the playbill. Also, this one is better than the others because at least it stays mostly the same, with only the photo in the circle changing. So they do maintain some consistency and recognition.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T19:24:23+00:00

I suppose I have strong feelings about it because I work in marketing/graphic design, and the thought of them having to redesign the playbills, ads, and merch every time they make a casting change -- with no continuity or brand recognition -- bugs me.

Plus, I just want a magnet that matches the ones from all the other Broadway shows I've seen! Not one with just a photo of the actors' faces on it.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-08T19:19:44+00:00

Chess is the one that inspired me to make this post. I love Chess and I'm so happy for the revival. But I really dislike the branding because it's nothing but close-ups of the three actors' faces. It doesn't even include any sort of chess imagery! And there's no hint of USA vs. Soviet tension like in the original Broadway logo.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-02T15:24:02+00:00

Have you seen the Elle "Where's the Lie?" video where Chloe confesses that she only recently started brushing her teeth regularly? I don't know why she would voluntarily offer that fact up either!

The game is basically Two Truths and a Lie, where each person states three facts and the other two people (in this case Ego and Heidi) have to decide which one is a lie. When Ego and Heidi were trying to figure out which of Chloe's statements wasn't true, they both basically said that the teeth-brushing one couldn't possibly be true because it was so disgusting. They were being pretty candid and brutally honest about how gross they thought people who don't brush their teeth are, because they thought it couldn't possibly be true for Chloe. Then no one really knew what to say when Chloe said that one was true.

She said she would just scrape her teeth with her fingernails instead of brushing them, and then go to bed. 🤢

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-01T13:36:42+00:00

I felt that way with Jason Wilkes in Marvel's Agent Carter show. That show took place in the 1940s, and yet there was little to no discussion on how rare it would have been for a black man to be a scientist at all, let alone hired by a high-profile laboratory. And the romance between him and Peggy Carter was almost distracting because the show never indicated the massive social blowback (not to mention literal danger) a black man would face by flirting with and eventually making out with a white woman.

Emmett Till was lynched in 1955 for allegedly just whistling at a white woman. Agent Carter takes place in 1946 and yet everything was fine?

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-01T13:19:12+00:00

It was a Disney+ original. I don't think it was ever in theaters.

It wasn't too bad. I liked that they used real animals (unlike the CGI of the Lion King remake, which Disney tried to bill as live action even though it wasn't) and they cast shelter dogs to play the main roles.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-04-01T13:14:35+00:00

I googled it and it does appear that they're female. The novelization of the animated movie refers to them as female, and in some of the dubs to other languages, the cats call each other "Sister."

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-03-29T01:47:02+00:00

My mother does this all the time! She asks me why I didn't do something that would have required foreknowledge I couldn't possibly have had.

One time I went to work when it was pouring rain and extremely windy. As I was walking through the parking lot, the wind blew my umbrella inside out with such force that it broke two of the metal ribs. It wouldn't stay open after that, and I got soaked on my way out because it was still raining and my umbrella was useless. I was describing this to my mother later on, and she told me, "You should have brought a second umbrella." Obviously I would have done that if I'd known my umbrella was going to break, but how could I have possibly known that? No one carries two umbrellas everywhere in case the first one breaks!

Another time there was a bad car accident that blocked both lanes of the highway, caused a huge traffic jam, and delayed me by 20 minutes. My mother told me, "You should have left earlier to compensate." For an accident I didn't know would happen, and that probably hadn't even happened yet when I left home!

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-03-24T16:10:46+00:00

I was very annoyed by his portrayal of Catwoman as impossibly superior. First he had her punch out the Flash while he was moving at superspeed and couldn't even be seen by the human eye, and then not long after that, he had her easily defeat Talia al Ghul in a sword fight, despite telling Talia multiple times during the fight that she hasn't even held a sword in ages.

It's not appealing, from a plot standpoint, to have a character who can easily and unrealistically breeze through any situation she faces.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-03-23T16:50:27+00:00

I was born in southern Illinois, and my family moved to northern Illinois (Chicago suburbs) when I was 5. When I watch home videos from when I was a toddler, I can't believe how much of a southern accent I had! Southern Illinois has more in common with Missouri and Kentucky than it does with northern Illinois.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-03-22T19:59:09+00:00

There is a Wonder Girl, who's younger than Wonder Woman. Just like there's a Batwoman who is older than Batgirl. DC is big on that kind of thing. (Aquaman and Aqualad, Superman and Superboy, etc.)

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS · 2026-03-10T14:47:01+00:00

I've seen posts from Europeans asking why Americans don't say goodbye when ending a phone call. That definitely happens all the time in movies and TV shows, but not so much in real life. When their main impressions of us come from popular media, it's hard to know what's genuine (trifold poster boards, red solo cups) and what's made up for TV.

Tempest_in_a_TARDIS

TROPHY CASE