Tassie Dave’s Comments (group member since Mar 27, 2011)

Tassie Dave’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

Tamahome wrote: "Huh, that actress is British in real life."

More Swedish, than British.

She was good in the Mission Impossible films.

At least I'll have a couple of episodes when I get it.

Silvana wrote: "No Disney+ in Indonesia until maybe 2020 or 2021 *sigh"

That is ridiculous. A 2 year roll out is silly. It's asking people to find alternate means of watching the shows they're waiting for.

Mark wrote: "Only one episode so far."

OK thanks. That and the new Marvel stuff is what I want to see.

Yeah, I've been reading that from the start. They add new material each week.

It is, as part of the story narrative, being added to by Agent Dale Petey (hence the name)
He's the FBI agent with Laurie.

If you want to know the history of the "blue device" in the case that Laurie has, it's in this week addition. (Dan (Owlman) designed it for her. He thought she was still hung up on Dr M.
There are also blueprints for it :-?

The scene with the babies being pulled out of cray-pots from a swamp and grown in an incubator was "weird"

Also weird was the scene with the silver spandex "Lube man". Who I think is Agent Petey. He's tall and skinny. He also has a fascination with masked vigilantes.

I'm seeing mixed reviews for The Mandalorian.
Is only 1 episode up or have they released the whole series.

I still have 5 days to go before D+ becomes available here.

Use the html code and either use the "enlarge cover" image or change the size of the image by altering the default size of width="40" height="100

Code I used: (I removed the < & > )
img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/comp..." /

Iain wrote: "I also feel it has tropes that are less problematic for a modern audience (that said I haven't read these books in 20 years....)"

I need to go back and read them both to see if they hold up to my memories :-?

Iain wrote: "I thought he was hunting Thylacines back then.... ;-)"

I did too good a job of that :-?

At least I still have my other Tigers :-P

Trike wrote: "Ten years before it was published?."

Cheeky ;-)

Though it is scary to think I left High School only a few weeks after Star Wars was released :-?

Trike wrote: "I’m sure Google doesn’t steal your ideas or anything."

Google doesn't steal, silly.

They read your emails and docs to enable them to personalise your Google searches, so you can find things to buy that you never realised you needed.

Iain wrote: "I do have penchant for The Midwich Cuckoos for sheer creepiness"

Another good choice.

I think I was in high school when I read that. So not that long ago ;-)

This months FREE book from tor.com is available now.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Available until 11:59 PM ET, November 15th, 2019

https://ebookclub.tor.com/

Trike wrote: "I wonder what the selection algorithm is."

Books published in the United States in English, including works in translation and other significant rereleases, between November 16, 2018, and November 15, 2019, are eligible for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards.

We analyze statistics from the millions of books added, rated, and reviewed on Goodreads to nominate 15 books in each category. Opening round official nominees must have an average rating of 3.50 or higher at the time of launch. Write-in votes may be cast for eligible books with any average rating, and write-in votes will be weighted by the book's Goodreads statistics to determine the top five books to be added as official nominees in the Semifinal Round. A book may be nominated in no more than one genre category, but can also be nominated in the Debut Novel category. Only one book in a series may be nominated per category. An author may receive multiple nominations within a single category if he or she has more than one eligible series or more than one eligible stand-alone book.

TRP wrote: "I'll be campaigning for a John Wyndham Laser pick at some point"

The Day of the Triffids would be the best choice for a S&L read.

I haven't read it in nearly 40 years. I loved it as a teen.

Germany did have colonies. Mainly in late 19th century Africa. Not to the extent of the dastardly British.

There are several real world examples of cultures/groups monopolising technology. Though a blanket ban, not the on/off monopoly as in TSQ.

China with silk production comes to mind. Chinese silk makers were banned by Imperial decree from letting outsider learn the secrets of where silk came from and how it was produced.

Trade Guilds of middle age and Renaissance Europe protected the secrets of their trades, mainly as a way of controlling supply and therefore prices of goods. Guilds in these days were basically organised gangsters. Freemasons are a leftover from that time. Most of the conspiracy theories on them are from a time when they were into shady practices.

I like your thoughts on possible real world parallels. I'll have to think about that for a while.

I finished today. I rated it ★★★★☆

I really enjoyed it. It had a great world and well rounded characters.

I'm not sure I'll read the sequels. I liked where it ended and don't feel a need to find out what happens next.

I'm between games at the moment. I have Red Dead Redemption 2 and Assassin's Creed Odyssey on my Xbox One, but I'm wary of starting such time heavy games coming into Summer :-?

Uncharted is one of those series I wish had come to Xbox.

Christos wrote: "I love it too but I don’t understand why it’s a Watchmen show it barely ties into the comics"

It is 30 years later. I think of it as Watchmen EU

They are making it accessible for a generation that has no knowledge of the comic, while also giving the lovers of the comic plenty of fan service.

Where's Jeffy McJeff-face ;-)

That pronunciation guide is in the Kindle version as well.

i'm loving Watchmen.

The Veidt/Ozymandias scenes with his"robot" servants are the most intriguing parts each week and if the comic taught us anything then his scenes are going to be the most telling to the overall mystery of the show.

All we know for certain about Veidt is that he has gone missing and is presumed dead.

Some questions I have:
What are they celebrating? His cake has 1 candle in Ep 1, 2 in ep 2 & 3 in Ep 3. Though, unless they are playing around with time, 1 year hasn't passed between each episode.

The burnt body is taken to be put with the "other" bodies in the cellar. "We'll have a use for him before too long". What are the bodies for? I assume it is part of an escape plan.

The squid showers have to be linked to what ever Veidt is up to :-?

The "robotic" servant has real looking burnt flesh. Are they cyborgs, androids or, even, rapidly grown clones? Clones seems the obvious answer.

Where is Veidt being held captive? The countryside and castle looks English, but the events of this episode lead me to think he is being held somewhere off world.
He dresses up the clone servant up in some sort of suit to withstand the cold and leaves him. When he comes back he is frozen solid. This leads me to believe they are on Mars. Probably in some sort of habitat built by Dr Manhattan. Mars at night drops to ridiculously cold temps (Up to -70+C, -100F) while it can be a nice 20C (70F) during the day.Though this adds another question. How is he going to get from Mars to Earth ??? Could he be back in Antarctica?

It was nice to see Silk Spectre turn up as the jaded FBI agent, Laurie Blake. Though she has a different surname, which comic readers will know is her real dads surname (The Comedian AKA Edward Blake)

What was her phone call to her ex-boyfriend (Dr Manhattan) about? and who dropped the car? I doubt it was Dr Manhattan responding to her phone call with a hissy fit. He is above that sort of human emotional response.

The scene with the briefcase and the blue "device" was weird :-?

A couple of nice Easter Eggs. The hotel where the 2 FBI agents were staying was called "Black Freighter" and there were a few Jolly Rogers symbols in the Veidt scenes. These refer to the comic within a comic from Watchmen. "Tales of the Black Freighter"

Brad wrote: "I’m not sure if The Dollhouse is influenced by Joe Hill other than that he curated the comic to be in the line. That one is written by Mike Carey with art by Peter Gross. I’m thinking Low, Low Wood..."

Oh right, I missed that. I saw Joe's name on the cover, his pic inside and, wrongly, assumed they were all by Joe.

That's still cool. The Dollhouse does have a Joe Hill feel to it.

I will get the other books as well when they are released as Trades.