Do ALL the Things!, Revisited

Yesterday I accomplished pretty much nothing... but in my defense, I am sick and I haven't had a whole day off from "doing stuff" in some time. Mostly I spent the day either sleeping, or skirting the no-man's-land where you're not actually sleeping, but too sleepy to actually do anything, effectively having the worst of both worlds.

On the other hand, in the evening we went over to the Rathbunnery and played "Cards Against Humanity" and "Mansions of Madness," which were fun. In "MoM," the heroes were one turn away from actually winning when doom fell upon them, which is a much better showing than our first game, where they all pretty much died horrible deaths. We still haven't got a proper hang of the rules yet, so they kept alternatively having it either too easy or too hard, but the rules are scattered all over the books, which makes it a little hard to find things on the fly. I'm thinking of writing up a summary cheat sheet.

Today, I have to try to do some job work from home to make up hours I spent sitting in the doctor's office earlier this week. (I need to do this, because I have no vacation hours, but will be sitting around the doctor's office again this coming week. :P) Time permitting, I also hope to work on commissions and/or to-do-list stuff that didn't get done over the week.

*deep breath* Wish me luck. *jumps in*

-The Gneech

From the Desk Of: The Emperor Of the Universe

Please direct your attention to the following edicts:

1. To more accurately reflect the truth, items formerly referred to as “Adult-Rated” will now be referred to as “Raging Hormonal Teenager-Rated.”
2. All funds being spent on stupid, plotless, explodey movies will be diverted to world hunger, which should resolve the problem in about 20 minutes.
3. All funds being spent on Twilight movies will be diverted to space exploration and colonization, which should have us permanently settled on Mars by 2016 (including travel time).
4. J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek did not happen. Please remove all evidence to the contrary. (See also Edict #2.)
5. Someone get us a sandwich.

As always, your cooperation in these matters is appreciated. Please continue to enjoy your pleasant lives under our benevolent rule.

-The Gneech

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

My Star Trek Rant

Because a few people have asked for me to explain my stance, here it is in a nutshell, c/o IM chat with graveyardgreg...

graveyardgreg: I agree with your journal except for one thing...
the_gneech: Hmmm?
graveyardgreg: I liked the new Star Trek movie. ;_;
the_gneech: I am afraid, that is something on which we will never agree. That movie was the last nail in the long, slowly-dying coffin of the once-awesome Star Trek franchise.
graveyardgreg: Sorry to break it to you, but Star Trek is alive and well now thanks to that movie. We shall have to agree to disagree. And I'm not sure if I agree to that! XD
the_gneech: It's not just a matter of "I didn't enjoy it." Thematically, philosophically, Star Trek as it exists now is pretty much the antithesis of what made it great originally.
graveyardgreg: Pray, do continue.
the_gneech: Star Trek was about scientists, explorers, nerds. In the show, Kirk was a giant nerd in college, regularly harassed by classmates for being a walking library and working hard. Not a snotty attitude who was handed everything on a silver platter for being the resident pretty boy.
graveyardgreg: Now, see, I never knew that. So that's why it didn't bother me.
the_gneech: Abrams' Star Trek was a stupid, plotless, explodey movie. Even the rubber science of the original Star Trek was -about- sceince.
graveyardgreg: So you don't like it because it was an action film. I can dig it.
the_gneech: It was an action film that made Kirk, one of my lifetime heroes, into an arrogant asshole.
the_gneech: In the show, Kirk was a man of action, but also knowledge and compassion.
the_gneech: Not just the resident alpha male.
graveyardgreg: Alright. Thanks for explaining your hate. You're sure to join the Dark Side anyway, but at least now I understand your motives before I have to fight you in front of the Emperor.
the_gneech: It's not hate of the suck. It's love of the once-great.

I think that pretty much covers it. I mean, there are other aspects, too-- for instance, the crew of the Enterprise were certainly experts in their field, but there weren't Superhuman Wunderkinds by any stretch. The Enterprise was just one ship in a whole fleet of such experts. (They weren't even the flagship-- that was the Constitution.)

But my biggest gripe is the anti-intellectual, instant-gratification nature of Abrams' Trek. Original Star Trek's message: "Be smart, work hard, show compassion, and you will hopefully succeed. You may have to fight along the way, but it's a last resort." Current Star Trek's message: "You're due what you want, because you want it. Cheat if you have to. If that doesn't work, punch things."

Ugh.

-The Gneech