T w e n t y S i d e d

This is just to keep everyone reading up-to-date. We had a hiccup toward the end of the week where we ran out of storage, but it didn’t effect most features of the website. But it *has* delayed some posts. I’m sorry about that. There is another DMOTR HD Remaster ready to go; we just have to coordinate schedules. Enough space has been freed up (why does “freed” look wrong? Is that even a word? <checks D-D-G> Yes: Simple past tense and past participle of free. Spelled correctly. I’m just having one of the moments, like when you say “penguin” too many times in a row and it starts sounding like you’re saying it wrong) to keep things on track for a bit. Before seeing if we need to change some of our hosting parameters, we can probably off-load about half of our storage to another solution. There are some things that are infrequently-accessed but take up a lot of space that can be outsourced to a cheap solution. Probably. There are a bunch of ways we can solve some things. I think at some point in the near future we will likely move to a fresh WordPress installation, as we do have some mysterious “why isn’t this working when it should?” problems. But we’ll only do that after thorough testing.

I have personally done almost *no* gaming for the last few weeks. I’m still on my laptop with the PC repairs being a few steps away on the list of things to do. Additionally I mentioned frequent trips to the doctor with my parents. My dad now has a cardiologist, as balancing swelling, dizziness, shaking, and high blood pressure has finally reached a point of no simple solutions. I feel like something was missed early on, years ago, but I’m not a doctor. Plus, I wasn’t there. He has spent most of the last several years both denying his aging AND his problems, and pretending he can keep doing what he’s always done even when it was clear he shouldn’t (which involves a lot of operating heavy machinery and manual labor.) He may finally be at a point where the option of pretending is no longer available. (BTW, I post this not to generate sympathy; but simply because talking about things is a good type of therapy itself. Talking through issues, even if it’s just how your day went, is important to your health and the health of your relationships. Other people need to know what you’re thinking because they can’t read your mind.)

I was planning on writing about differences in storytelling between DC and Marvel, how that has transferred to the movie screen (which is to say, it doesn’t actually have much to do with the classic arguments), and where the two properties are right now. Thing is, “Point A” doesn’t actually have much to do with “Point B.” While history, lore, and style can be referenced for many things as properties evolve and adapt, what DC did in the Golden Age and what Marvel did in the Silver Age don’t really affect how the movies themselves got/get made. Sure, you can recall all that when you talk about audience perception and reception, but the people making the movies are just trying to sell them to as many people as possible. Sometimes they get lucky and even make a good movie…and there is a lot of truth to the axiom that no one ever REALLY knows whether a movie will be successful, is done the right way, etc. It’s a HUGE ******* topic, is what I’m sayin’. And the more I thought about it, the more it all expanded into a huge deal that became more and more unfocused. And of course, I want to disengage or balance my own opinions as much as I can. I don’t want to just jump on the “X is right and Y is wrong (or vice versa, depending)” bandwagon. I suspect one avenue to explore might actually be “what makes a superhero movie good IS NOT what makes a superhero comic good, which puts the people who make superhero movies in a tenuous position because translating the comic to the big screen IS NOT a simple procedure.” It looks simple in hindsight, or from the outside, but it’s not. That’s a possibility. I’ve been on a movie kick again. Plus, we’re coming up on the Halloween season! Scary movies are always a great thing to talk about.

Because of the laptop usage, I am not currently subscribed to anything (because it would largely be a waste of money.) As I’m using a new LOTRO account, I have filed away that I need to sub for a month to get the perks that gives, but before I subbed they updated the hunter class and now I need to figure out my rotation again. I’ve been waiting for online rotation recommendations to update to the new specs…that’s usually the easiest way to start.

That’s it for now, see you soon!

Paige Francis He/him