They treated Mandarin like the Star Wars universe treats droid noises.

At least he's open and honest about maybe not being 100% open and honest.

I didn't know any of the backstory when I saw Brave in theatres and man oh man did it strike me as a film with a major identity crisis. Was this about independence? Magic spells? A mother-daughter relationship? A killer demon bear? It seemed like it was trying to do about a half-dozen things at once, all of them…

He's literally an outlaw, isn't he? There are Wanted posters with his face on them because he's accused of kidnapping the princess.

They're boring and depressing to watch this season, as they were for most of the 2015 season as well. Instead of a high-tempo, fast-rhythm offense it seems like they milk the play clock for every second it's worth regardless of circumstances. I'm recognizing a lot of their formations and plays ahead of time and I'm a…

That concept is predicated on the assumption that receivers will eventually get open. And while I won't say that never happens with the 2016 Packers, their level of play has certainly challenged that idea.

I thought it was delivered by Gypsy Danger in defense of the remains of Hong Kong.

Got it in one. Also, lovely muck for all.

One of my prouder early video-game achievements was instigating a perfectly balanced state of civil war in the middling Koei SNES strategy game, Gemfire. One of the more obscure factors in that game was real-time aging, which could see the older feudal lords dying and their lands passing to their heirs.

I can't imagine bothering to level up much past 20 in the original Dragon Warrior. By that point you've squeezed every drop of content from the game with the possible exception of killing a Metal Slime.

One thing I always liked about the pre-prequel Star Wars spinoff games is that there are very few major characters to act as models in the first three movies. So it seems like about 30% of the population of that far-away galaxy is grizzled, devil-may-care smuggler types. They outnumber actual merchants by a factor of…

I always thought that first world (Talos?) was a deliberate test by the developers.

I do, though I've put a moratorium on political podcasts for the time being because I can only spend so much time jabbing at an open wound.

Wait'll your average NFL fan hears what "We Will Rock You" is really about.

To be [gag] fair to Trump, I believe the KKK paper endorsed Romney in 2012.

Thinking about it, I've actually quoted this scene for the last thirty years. Specifically, McClane listening to this long list of political prisoners to be freed and just saying to himself incredulously: "Whaaat the fuck?"

True, that's a suspension-of-disbelief moment, but at least there was a good reason for them being so clean: the building was under construction and they were brand-new.

It's so nice to see something go wrong for a villain, too. Usually everything goes perfectly for them right up until the inevitable reversal.

IIRC, his bare feet had been annoying but not pressing until that point. Then he had to escape across broken glass while being shot at by a bunch of gunmen.

Doesn't he schedule the harlots? Like, "You, be in my chambers at 4:00. You, 4:15. … And bring a friend."