Bits 'n' Bobs.

So I was just thinking about Wesley Crusher.

No, not like that.

But it’s interesting - surely I’m not the only one who went through this process:

1. [As a young teen, watching TNG] I wanna be Wesley - living on a Star Ship, learning how it operates.
2. [When he gets assigned to active duty] How awesome would that be?
3. [When he leaves the Federation] Ungrateful lil shit.
4. [Watching TNG again, as an Adult]: Christ alive Wesley is annoying.

Then you find out that Wil Wheaton is like the coolest dude on the internets [Sorry lawyer cat!] and it gets soo confusing.

I still say Wesley is a bit of a tool - though that’s due to how the character was written, and through no fault of WWs acting. I mean, as others have said - here’s a kid who fails the Academy entry exam, yet seems to come up with solutions that save Enterprise every other episode.

Back at the start of the 2000s there was a band called JJ72

I’m not quite sure why they weren’t more successful.

State of the Union: Dropped Content.

I thought it might be worth making a note of the various programmes - be they TV shows, podcasts etc, etc, that I’ve ‘dropped from rotation’. And by ‘worth making a note’, I mean for my own consideration - but I need content for the queue, so there we go

Podcasts:

• Geekscape
• The Totally Rad Show
• Hak5
• The Bugle
• Couchcast [GeekShock]

Podcasts have definitely taken a hammering over the last six months - the first to be ‘axed’ was The Totally Rad Show, followed quickly by Hak5, and then The Bugle. Geekscape was a more recent decision - towards the middle of May, due to the quality of the ‘guest hosts’ [nothing against them, they just, for the most part weren’t talking about anything interesting. The recently ‘re-launched’ movie club gained absolutely no interest of mine. As for the site itself - I still post on the forums, usually in spurts of a few days, every few weeks, but honestly the interest is waining fast. Between the members who left, those who I can follow on Tumblr / Facebook, and the lack of anything interesting from the new members - yeah. It’s a shame, but whatever. Maybe the next iteration of the site might bring people back. 

The ugly Couch Shows’ CouchCast has been axed - only because it’s been re-launched as Geekshock [which I continue to listen to]. I also still watch the ‘main show’, when new episodes appear.

Also worth mentioning [I guess] - I used to listen, every now and then, to various SModcast network podcasts [I dropped SModcast from regular rotation, around the time Smith discovered the ‘joys’ of being a stoner], but for the most part, I’ve dropped the network. I might occasionally download an episode here and there, but for the most part, I’ve lost interest in anything Smith, or the people on the network, have to say.

TV Shows:

• Glee.
• The Big Bang Theory.
• House.

Glee has gone - I suddenly came to the realisation that I didn’t actually like 90% of the characters. Other than Coach Beaste, and Burt [Kurts dad] the rest are just annoying as fuck. And they changed Sue from ‘awesomely evil’ to ‘annoying’. So for that reason, I dropped it from rotation.

The Big Bang Theory - It’s got about 4/5 episodes of Season 5, before I decide if I drop it or not - I very, very nearly dropped the show half way through season 4 - the character ‘development’ just isn’t working for me, and it seems as if they’re going out of their way to ‘dumb down’ the female leads. Get rid of Bernadette - or at least tweek the character a bit, and bring back Sara Gilbert, as Leslie Winkle, to antagonise Sheldon.

And if I never have to hear the word ‘Bestie’ again, I’l be happy.

House - It looks as if there’ll be one more season before the network ends the show. If that’s the case, having sticked around for seven seasons, I’ll watch the final one, in the hopes that they wrap things up. Hell, it can’t be any worse than most of this last season.

So that’s my list of ‘axed content’.

[Queued Post]

Some thoughts on ‘physical’ things…

Over the last week or so, I’ve been slowly de-cluttering. It’s nice to take stock of what you need, and don’t. Plus in my case, it either starts with, or ends with, a trip to Ikea.

I did realise something, however, with regards to books. I love reading. Be it a physical book, or on my Kindle. But I am thinning down my physical book collection - they’re going off to the charity shop, to be read by other people.

Now I have no problem with that - my ‘favourites’, my ‘collections’ - i.e. all my Philip K. Dick books, Michael Connelly, etc, etc, are gonna stay.

But it did make me realise, that in say 30 years time - when people who aren’t social fuckwits, go out on a date, and they go back to a persons home - how are they gonna check out that persons book collection?

I’m not one of these people who think Kindles, Nooks and the like are gonna ‘kill’ traditional books - of course they’re not. But I do think peoples approach to books will change, in the same way that peoples approach to music and movies, has changed.

Twenty years ago, people went out and purchased CDs / VHS cassettes. Now people mostly consume music either via internet streaming, or by using Mp3 players.

Whilst movies haven’t quite gotten to that yet - people are still, for the most part, reliant on a physical format [particularly in the UK] - I can see that changing, should internet speeds increase, and Government interference, go away [I’m looking at you Digital Economy Act]

So let’s flashforward 20 years - the end of April, 2031. Hopefully, I’ll be 47 [There’s a somewhat interesting concept - me in my late 40s]. Two people meet up in a bar, or wherever [And let us hope, that by 2031, nobody gives a flying hoot about people of any background / gender / ethnicity / religion, hooking up] - and then, say on a first, or second date, decide to head back home to one of the respective persons houses.

No books in a bookcase, no movies on a shelf - everything streaming / stored on a media centre. Whilst that’s to some people [including, I gotta say, me] a nice idea - I dunno, it just seems a bit ‘sterile’.

I’m not one of these people who can wax lyrically about the ‘smell’ or ‘feel’ of a book - far from it, as I’ve ranted about perviously about people who dismiss e-books because they ‘don’t have that new book smell’, but it did make me wonder.

Then again - I’m looking at it from my perspective. Would anyone born today, honestly miss those things? DVDs / Blu-Rays might inform part of their childhood, but by the time they’re a teenager? To the Adults of 2031, who’re being born today, it might not be that big of a deal.