We cover five questions from the Hat, children! Five whole questions! Can you stand it?
Also, an elaborate and complex discussion of superhero (and supervillain) powers. What would *you* choose?
LINKS:
We talk about Sherlock, Fragile Things, and Jackie Chan Adventures, but I don’t really know a good link to them, so I’m just putting the Wikipedia entries, and you can find your way from there.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
See, super powers aren’t inherently good or bad, like Force powers. I’m struggling to think of a good way to use Force Lightning, but being invisible? You could use that either way. Mind control? Again, either way; you could make someone walk off a bridge or talk down a hostage situation. So, I suspect the use of super powers is wholly dependent on the mindset of the wielder, and thus an entire spectrum of good to bad applications.
Anyway, there are good uses for flying. You could catch planes falling out of the sky (a la Superman reboot), or be a one-man airvac team for people stranded on Mount Everest. I was thinking also that you could grab criminals, fly them up to 10,000 feet and let go, but that’s a little vigilante.
Not sure about the disembodiment of invisibility users. I can see where William was coming from, but while you are invisible, you’re also quite tangible. Unless becoming invisible is an out of body experience, you’re still just you, walking about. You perceive touch and other senses.
I disagree about Mind Control, I can’t see a way that that isn’t evil, you are quite literally taking away someones will and self and forcing them to do what you want. Even used on someone evil, its just fighting evil with evil.
And I want a Green Lantern power ring, but based on my personality it would probably be something Hulkish.
Elan: “You wanna buy some death sticks?”
Obi-Wan: “You don’t want to sell me death sticks.”
Elan: “I don’t wanna sell you death sticks.”
Obi-Wan: “You want to go home and rethink your life.”
Elan: “I wanna go home and rethink my life.”
See, Stu, this topic is where you get a difference of opinion between those who have read The Dresden Files, and those who haven’t. In the Dresdenverse, messing with someone’s head is specifically against the Laws of Magic, and for good reason.
I think this very much becomes a paradigm issue. What happens when you do mind control? Both to the mind of the person doing it, and to your mind?
In Star Wars, it’s basically short term hypnosis with absolutely no side effects. So yeah, in that situation, it can *totally* not be evil. Although, socio-politically, it still gets complicated…. 🙂
Hmm, how about Granny Weatherwax taking over the minds of animals. She co-exists alongside their own mind, to control their body to do… I dunno, reconnaissance using a crow, or something.
(Discworld)
Yeah, I need to start reading Dresden Files… I’m awaiting my turn from the library!
Well I have to credit a friend of mine (Eric, if anyone reading this knows/cares) for bringing up “mind control is always evil” to me first; but yes, “The Dresden Files” really drove the point home. And maybe the jedi mind trick isn’t always being used for evil purposes, but Elan in your above example still had free will removed which I would call evil.
Doing it to animals I suppose would depend on your paradigm if animals have souls or not, if they count as sentient. It’s no more evil than riding a horse or using a plow ox. People like PETA members that think keeping working animals is inhumane would call it evil.
Force lighting could let you jump start a car battery, helping a stranded motorist.
Just being able to fly without super strength and invulnerability would not allow you to catch a falling plane. You’d just get crushed by the plane and die before all the passengers do so.
True about the plane. I guess you’d have to grab each passenger in turn and fly them to the ground, lickety split.
Here’s some feedback about the sound: I could barely hear William, but didn’t want to turn up the volume because Tony was really loud, especially his various bodily functions (sneezing, etc). The intro and outro were very quiet in comparison, so it was quite a surprise when I turned up the sound at the beginning but quickly realized that the podcast itself needed to be turned down.
I’ve seen Jackie Chan Adventures, when it was on the Disney Channel’s spinoff cartoon cable network; my son was really into the show while it was airing, and I just checked Netflix and you can watch it on streaming.
I’m with William about anything deep-fried on a stick. The last time we were at the Oregon State Fair the big thing was deep-fried bacon. There’s a sushi place here in town that dips one of their rolls in tempura batter and fries it, but it doesn’t come on a stick.
Yay! Finally someone who thinks William was too quiet!
I’ll tweek the new settings on the new computer. And apparently, I’ve gone too far with the “raise the gain of our track, lower the gain on the intro and outro” issue.
Keep up the feedback, until I get it just right! 😉
Some of the best rolls are tempura’ed. Om nom nom nom!
Sherlock: Written by Stephen Moffet, who currently runs Doctor who and also worked on the upcoming Tin Tin movie unless I’m very much mistaken.
If you like Sherlock, you might also like Jeckyll. Also by Stephen Moffet.
I would also suggest a movie called Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle. Which is about Arthur Conan Doyle and his teacher, Dr. Bell, who is often cited as being the inspiration for Sherlock Holms including by Doyle himself. (Although, in a letter to Doyle, Bell stated that it’s obvious that Doyle bases Holms on himself.)
How did I guess that Toot Toot would have been your favorite character.
Probably because the character name sounds like a childish term for a bodily function generally considered to be mildly obscene.
Bob was very different between the TV show and the books. But they’re both awesome. I liked the TV show and even now that I started to read/listen to the books I still like the TV show. Harry in the TV show is quite frankly more likable then book Harry.
TV show Bob was more of a teacher type, more of a mentor then a servent/familiar as he is in the book. Book Bob is a spirit of air, or something of that type, tethered to a skull while TV Bob is… Well… That’s kind of a spoiler. TV Bob was more studious and… I don’t want to say dower… But book Bob is more… Hmmm, flakey and lecherous quite frankly. Book Bob, is more likely to get Book Harry into trouble and TV Bob is more likely to get TV Harry OUT of trouble. I think Book Harry would want to trade Bobs with TV Harry and TV Harry would be like… Um… no.
I was aware of Jackie Chan Adventures but I didn’t watch it… I may have to now that you mention they were disconbobulated by Pig’s heat ray eye beam.
I think the fact that the question about fried foods on a stick making Tony feel bad means my work here is done.
I’m not sure about eating a deep fried stick of butter.
Now I didn’t hear about deep fried beer, but I did hear about deep fried Coke-a-cola and what THAT turned out to be was a batter that was made with the aforementioned soda and then dripped into the frying medium. Not like a funnel cake, more like what British chip shops called “Scraps”.
Yeah, I remember the deep fried coke, I always likened it to a sweet hush puppy.
I think there can be only one solution as to why the Pig talisman gave laser powers. Bacon.
Pig + laser = crispy tasty bacon.
Toot Toot is pretty damn awesome, but I have to say my favorite Dresden character is Dresden himself. Yes, he’s not always likeable, he’s often moody and sometimes lets the anger get the best of him, sure he’s screwed up A LOT, he’s mildly sexist (chauvinism goes with chivalry), but I suppose I am a lot of that stuff too so I relate.
I just typed up a severe retort to your comment about Harry, but opted to delete it, because there are people hanging around here who haven’t read them yet, and don’t want spoilers. 😛
Overall Jekyll is amazing, in particular James Nesbitt’s performance is outstanding. Though the ending fell a little flat for me.
Yup Stevan Listens to You. Still… Don know why… You people are AWSOME!!!
Sound levels: Tony was more loud & obnoxious than usual and overall the sound seemed flat and/or muddy?
How exactly does Beowulf get down graded to being a rural legend along with flush toilets?
The steampunky 3 muskers is the best movie option right now? Crap. I actually liked 90% of the 3 Musketeer remakes in the past 10 years, but the trailer for this latest one just makes me kind of ill.
William’s not read the original Sherlock Holmes? Dude, FIX THAT SHIT! :p Also, you’re half right. Doyle in different books has Watson discussing different bullet wounds. Though many scholars suggest that Watson was actually wounded in more than one place with one wound being more immediately life threatening with the other becoming more troubling as he got older.
Tony: Would I be safe in assuming that Monarch of the Glen story you referenced has nothing to do with the BBC TV series?
Kraft dinner, a moment on the lips forever on the hips. William’s books…. umm, a moment on the brain will bring no pain?
I only ever caught one episode of the Dresden files show and I found the actor playing Harry to be…. too much of a weasel.
Is Azuretalon the podcast’s villain or the podcast’s whipping boy?
IANAL that being said: Alice in Wonderland was published sufficiently long enough ago that it currently resides in the public domain and as such the Carroll estate should not be able to sue you.
Perhaps the best power for Tony (given his commitment issues) is one that changes every day.
Invisibility & X-ray vision are really just useful for perverts. Flying can actually be very useful for fighting crime. Here’s just 2 examples that immediately spring to mind:
* Most people don’t look up, so when you attack from above a person’s line of sight it gives you an enormous advantage in a fight.
* You could act as an ultra-maneuverable police helicopter, by carrying a police band radio and reporting in the location of fleeing crooks following them into places real helicopters can’t go.
Also super speed, without some form of invulnerability, would totally suck. There you go running down the sidewalk after the villain, somebody opens a shop door into your path when you have no time left to react and you’re going to be in a world of hurt. Telekinesis could also allow you to fix yourself a snack without leaving the couch and to change the channel even after the remote’s batteries die. And I’m extremely pleased that Tony didn’t research Homoculi before answering this question or the show would have taken a even worse turn than vomit goblins.
In reply to Stuart’s comment about mind control/Granny Weatherwax: on the Disc your average animal is not sentient, so not too much of an issue. Then again while Granny Weatherwax always seems to work for the greater good; she’s not exactly a “good guy”. By nature, she’s a wicked witch but one who, by sheer force of will, decided to be a good witch to balance out the nastiness of her sister.
Slip-on shoes are just too convenient to bother with the old-fashioned kind.
You keep asking for more questions, but you’re still behind in the reading questions some of us have sent in….
Digested Bloodsparrow. *ugh* That sounds particularly nasty. As did all the deep-fried nonsense.
Is TMTH on Google Plus yet?
Mark, correct. The Monarch of the Glen TV show has nothing to do with the novella sequel to American Gods. I suspect that they both are a reference to the famous painting/tapestry, though.
And the Hat will most likely not get on Google + before me, and I’m not getting on for awhile.
Tony, that was just me being silly. I was not seriously suggesting the 2 were linked. Also isn’t it a bit odd that you always claim TMTH cannot talk yet you sign all your blog posts as TMTH?
Who is this “Tony”person you keep talking about? 😉
I like to think I’m the “Black Hat”
Does that make you black & blue all over then?
Favorite Dresden character: How could we all forget about Butters?!?!?!