SecretAsianMan

I think there's really only one issue with adding another permanent host: is there room in the Idle Thumbs/Campo Santo office for another portrait?

I'm looking forward to seeing Kingpin. Thus far he's still a behind the scenes guy (I'm assuming at this point that its him).

I was kinda underwhelmed by the trailer, but I attribute that to spending all day being hyped up about it by twitter before actually seeing it. I'll admit it shows much more promise than the last few movies though.

I played like crap in that daily. I should have died multiple times but somehow managed to beat Hell. I sacrificed a significant amount of potential gold focusing on not dying. I did enjoy carrying around a second jetpack though.

Remasters occupy a precarious space in my mind. On the one hand, I like getting updates features such as graphics, additions, or gameplay improvements. They're a great way to introduce older, classic games to a new generation that hasn't experienced them and probably wouldn't otherwise. It's also a good opportunity for me to play things I may have missed the first time or never wanted to finish for one reason or another. On the other hand, there's a part of me that feels like remasters are nothing more than a way of selling me a game I already paid for but with a new layer of polish. If its still essentially the same game, why am I paying again? If its changed significantly, why am I not just getting a brand new game? That's an exaggeration of course and I'm not trying to come off as someone who thinks all companies are nothing more than money-grubbing executives who are trying to bleed their audience dry (although I'm sure those exist). As for the hipster angle, I agree with Patrick that playing an original release on original hardware is a different experience. I'm old enough to have played games on an Atari so nostalgia alone has appeal to me. I'm sure there are people who want to be seen in public with an original Gameboy because they think it'll make them cool, but there are also people like me who want to play on an original Gameboy because that's where our fondest memories come from. Finally, to talk about a specific game, the Ducktales remaster had the opposite effect to me. I really loved the game as a kid but the new version just wasn't really any fun to me. To be fair, I haven't gone back and played the original version as a point of comparison so it may be me who's at fault here and the game was never as good as I thought it was.

I have a 5 piece Cutco knife set (6 counting the wood block) that I bought from my cousin a number of years ago when she spent a summer selling them. They worked reliably but my chef's knife has a lot of dings in the blade so I was in need of a replacement. I considered getting a santoku but thus far the Victorinox has performed very well.

I bet we have the same knife then cause I got mine off their recommendation too.

Amazon has another free app bundle going today. There's a couple games in there, but one of the notable apps to me is the Wolfram Alpha app.

That's a heck of a long day!

Those made me cringe, especially the second one.

Yeah, what I said is definitely not a universal situation. It's a thing I hear a lot around tax season.

I watched the first two minutes or so of the first episode and already got a laugh out of the "stopping power" joke. I'll give it a shot. Edit: I didn't mean for that to be a pun.

The Pulaski character was designed to mimic Bones and her relationship with Data was supposed to echo that of Dr. McCoy and Spock so you picked up on the intention. I think the problem is the Bones type character doesn't really fit in with TNG. Spock never strived to embrace his human side whereas Data made that his life's goal. McCoy's criticism of Spock being unfeeling is a product of Spock's decision to act that way. Pulaski's criticism of Data sounds more like "you can never be more than you are and what you are is garbage".

Depending on how you manage your money, owing taxes is sometimes better than getting a refund. A refund means you overpaid and are getting some money back, but that money isn't paid back with interest so you lose any possible earning potential from it. Even putting it into a basic savings account would technically put you ahead overall. Of course that assumes you don't spend that money over the course of the year.

What do you mean by gunplay? Despite how neat I think guns are and how many FPS's I play, I actually dislike it when people in media get shot, especially if it's unnecessarily violent. Also, I'm kind of bummed my favorite gun, the FN P90, isn't on that chart. Although they seem to be mostly assault rifles anyway.

I watched the first few seasons as reruns, only catching the middle and later seasons as they first aired. By the time I saw the first few episodes, I was already used to what the show looked and sounded like after it had found its stride. I still dislike the costumes worn during the first two seasons with the stripe through the black shoulder parts, as silly as that is. I also really didn't like Dr. Pulaski. Partly because she was constantly talking down to Data, but also because young me had a crush on Dr. Crusher (pardon the pun). In general though, I can only handle so much camp and there are a few episodes of Star Trek that cross that line for me.

I didn't mean to suggest that Tapestry was bad, just wanted to clarify that it's essentially not a Q episode so as not to mislead anyone. I like the recurring plot elements as well. It helps to tie things together while still allowing for individual episodes. It does make lists like this harder though. I don't want to suggest what I think aren't good episodes to someone, but at the same time if you didn't see some of the early ones the later ones don't make sense. So more than once I just ended up leaving out the entire plot.

The Q episodes are worth talking about. Tapestry technically has Q in it, but I wouldn't call it a Q story. It's really about Picard, Q is just a plot device. Q Who is admittedly very important to the series for introducing a major foe, but I just don't think it's that good of an episode otherwise. Qpid I just can't stand. It's another episode where the cheesiness overwhelms everything to me. DS9 only has 1 Q episode I think, while Voyager has a couple. I personally like the Voyager ones the most. There's also a bunch of episodes that feature a recurring side character, Reginald Barclay. I have a few of them in my list but most I left out because I think they're dumb or Reg isn't a prominent character. He also crosses over with Voyager. I think he might have been in DS9 once.

While that's problematic in its own way, I might be willing to put up with it if it does what Gormongous suggests.

Man, that really makes me want to watch these. I'm fascinated by weapons, but not because of how "cool" they are (ok, maybe a little because of that). I think they're really interesting mechanical devices and all the nuances intrigue me as an engineer. A show that doesn't fetishize the hell out of them really appeals to me.

The only reason I left off Ship in a Bottle is because I didn't include Elementary, Dear Data. I didn't really like Elementary although Ship is pretty clever in a few places. You need to watch them both though, neither can really stand up on their own. Data is probably my favorite character as well. Thine Own Self has some good moments in it, such as his medieval science. I didn't really care for The Offspring. While the idea is interesting, I didn't really like Lal all that much. I do like the scene where he approaches Riker and asks him what his intentions toward his daughter are. I found Time's Arrow to be a little too goofy for my taste. Although I admit I do like the very subtle link it creates with the episode Booby Trap. That clip is one of my favorite Star Trek moments. Its such a bummer the rest of the episode is garbage.

I've used plain potato chips as breading before. Pretty good actually. Never tried Cheetos though.

Ok, this is my full list of TNG Episodes. Includes short blurbs in case this gets used again in the future. YMMV. Bold episodes were not included in my list from earlier in this thread Season 1 Uh, none really Season 2 The Measure of a Man - 2x09 - Great courtroom episode about Data's rights as an artificial but sentient being Season 3 Who Watches the Watchers - 3x04 - A primitive civilization think Picard is God. I mostly just get a kick out of them saying "The Picard" over and over Booby Trap - 3x06 - A Geordi heavy episode as he tries to devise a way to free the Enterprise from a 1,000 year old booby trap The Enemy - 3x07 - Geordi gets trapped on a dangerous planet and must rely on an enemy to escape. Also a good Worf scene. Deja Q - 3x13 - Q gets turned into a human as punishment for his behavior Yesterday's Enterprise - 3x15 - An neat sort of what if? episode mostly set in an alternate timeline Sins of the Father - 3x17 - Worf's father is accused of treason by the Klingon homeworld (Qo'nos). Worf goes to Qo'nos to discover the truth. Sarek - 3x23 - Spock's father aboard the Enterprise. Really great Picard scene towards the end. Menage a Troi - 3x24 - Most of the episode is terrible, but The Best of Both Worlds - 3x26 - WE ARE THE BORG. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. Season 4 The Best of Both Worlds, Part II - 4x01 - Part 2. Duh. Family - 4x02 - I'm actually not a huge fan of this episode but it's pretty well liked I guess. Picard deals with the trauma of what the Borg did to him.Data's Day - 4x11 - A day in the life of Data. Pretty light hearted episode Devil's Due - 4x13 - Picard takes the devil to court over the custody of a planet Clues - 4x14 - A neat little space mystery The Nth Degree - 4x19 - Barclay becomes a super genius The Drumhead - 4x21 - A future witch hunt for spies within the Federation Half a Life - 4x22 - An episode about euthanasia. Also the only episode with Troi's mom that I can stand The Mind's Eye - 4x24 - Geordi is brainwashed into being an assassin In Theory - 4x25 - Data gets a girlfriend Redemption - 4x26 - Civil war in the Klingon Empire Season 5 Redemption, Part II - 5x01 - More Klingon civil war Darmok - 5x02 - Picard must learn to communicate with an alien species that has a very unusual speech pattern. Way more interesting than it sounds. Disaster - 5x05 - The Enterprise hits an anomaly in space and the bridge crew are all stranded in different parts of the ship Unification I, II - 5x07, 5x08 - Picard and Data investigate the disappearance of Ambassador Spock (yes, that Spock) Conundrum - 5x14 - The Enterprise crew all wake up with amnesia and find themselves in the middle of a war Cause and Effect - 5x18 - The Enterprise is stuck in a timeloop The First Duty - 5x19 - Wesley Crusher gets in trouble at school I Borg - 5x23 - The crew recover a single, damaged Borg The Next Phase - 5x24 - Geordi and Ro become ghosts. Or do they? Some good old sci-fi shenanigans The Inner Light - 5x25 - Picard finds himself living as a different person on a different planet. My personal favorite episode of the entire series. I can't watch the ending without tearing up a little. Season 6 Relics - 6x04 - Montgomery Scott (aka Scotty) is found after 80 years of transporter stasis Rascals - 6x07 - 4 memebers of the crew are turned into children and the ship gets taken over by the Ferengi. Mostly comedic episode Chain of Command Part I, II - 6x10, 6x11 - Picard is forced to hand off command of the Enterprise. Picard, Worf, and Crusher then go on a secret mission. Face of the Enemy - 6x14 - Troi is kidnapped and cosmetically altered to look like a Romulan Starship Mine - 6x18 - Picard is trapped aboard the Enterprise with several mercenaries Second Chances - 6x24 - Riker finds that a transporter accident 8 years ago has produced a duplicate of him that has led a very different life Timescape - 6x25 - The Enterprise appears to be frozen in time during a battle with Romulans Season 7 Gambit I, II - 7x04, 7x05 - Space Pirates. The ending is incredibly stupid. Attached - 7x08 - Picard and Crusher are abducted and have their minds linked Inheritance - 7x10 - Data meets his "mother" Parallels - 7x11 - Worf keeps shifting through parallel universes Lower Decks - 7x15 - An unusual episode that follows some junior officers aboard the Enterprise Genesis - 7x19 - The crew (except Picard and Data) get infected with a disease that deevolves them All Good Things... - 7x25/7x26 - Series finale First Contact - second TNG movie - The only TNG movie I'd say is any good. The Borg return and try to prevent the creation of the Federation by going back in time.

Star Trek in general hits the highs and lows of sci-fi a lot. When it's great, it's really really great. When it's terrible, it's some of the most cringe inducing television ever made. As a whole though, I think the good outweighs the bad, in quality if not quantity.

I don't think I'd mind flat land. Driving around hills is a pain, especially when it snows. I have to imagine the gas mileage is closer to the manufacturer's claims than what I get.