| Favorite team: | Oklahoma  |
| Location: | Manchester, England |
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| Number of Posts: | 642 |
| Registered on: | 7/28/2021 |
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re: Rings Of Power 3 casts Simon Pegg as voice of Balrog
Posted by ouflak on 8/15/26 at 8:41 am to SouthEasternKaiju
quote:
What ever contortions and twists of theoretical scenarios one may want to project onto the nature of orcs,...
Well that's thing isn't it? Have any of the writers read even a single chapter of any one of his works in this universe? I'm quite certain that is a resounding, "No". I doubt any of them have even heard the phrase "Tolkien's Moral Dilemma". Lord only knows what reasoning they are going to come up with.
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...the idea that Galadriel would entertain any such alliance goes well beyond what Tolkien ended up with in his finished works.
Even if you include his unfinished works, his diaries, his unarranged musings on the side, his private letters, the idea is patently absurd.
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And I laugh at the idea that we're getting any heartfelt sincerity by the writers when they've so openly mocked and derailed from the spirit of what Tolkien had intended. It's just terrible fanfic at this point, driven by Bezos and his own hubris.
If he had insisted on writers who had atleast, at a minimum, read the Hobbit and seen all of the LOTR films (don't even have to be fans, just that minimal amount of lore knowledge), this production wouldn't be the billion-dollars-down-the-hole it seems to be turning out to be. And if he had found some truly knowledgeable creators, he could have printed money with the success of an in-universe series - maybe even got the estate to open up some of the other source material to really expand the horizons. Oh well.
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re: Rings Of Power 3 casts Simon Pegg as voice of Balrog
Posted by ouflak on 8/15/26 at 8:01 am to SouthEasternKaiju
quote:
That’s because there were a handful of dwarfs and men who sided with the dark side. That’s not the same as there being “good“ orcs. That’s not a distinction without a difference. This alliance would only happen in one direction. Siding with evil, not the other way round.
On a large scale level, I'm in agreement. But once you really started to drill down from the holistic view to a more granular one, it get's - perhaps ironically- much less clear. It gets even murkier if you are religious (which I kind of am, and Tolkien very much was), or deeply philosophical.
Orcs, according to Tolkien, were sentient and sapient. Also they had souls and morality. They had children in the same fashion that Men did.
Alright then:
- Did the females have maternal instincts to care and raise their children? (unknown)
- Did the the males have paternal instincts to protect and care for their family? (unknown)
- Did they love their children? (unresolved by Tolkien)
- If they did love their families, would every single one of those individuals truly be 'evil'? (unresolved - and really bothered the very Catholic side of Tolkien)
Could an orc, raised by generations of openly cynical orcs, all of whom having been consistent spies for elves and maintained those relationships over long periods of time - over those same generations - perhaps have a different agenda as an individual?
Tolkien tried everything he could creatively do to make the answer to that question an always, "No". He never even convinced himself of this (Tolkien's Moral Dilemma). This dilemma gives a thin slice of a small crack of possibility of an orc, corrupted by a lifetime of influence from cynical orcs and only ever relatively positive relationships with elves, to actually exist. It just seems so very unlikely.
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...the Orc who will be Galadriel’s sidekick in season 3. Yes, we now have a good guy Orc as one of the 3 travellers hunting Sauron as he heads for Mt. Doom.
This is certainly extreme, but in the books the orcs weren't exactly the most faithful of creatures either. Many openly expressed their cynicism of Sauron, even those living under the Eye in Mordor. There were seemingly plentiful various spies which readily passed on tactical and strategic information to elves and humans. I believe there were even some open alliances with some Dwarf clans.
That said, an elf and an orc somehow openly working together without one or the other doing so out of life-threatening duress does seem to be ruled out by the vast majority of the fandom. Tolkein never rules this out explicitly himself as far as I aware, though this may be due to his long running struggle to define the nature of orcs.
re: Star Trek movie re-releases with awesome popcorn bucket
Posted by ouflak on 8/13/26 at 4:25 pm to Master of Sinanju
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City on the Edge of Forever
Would be kind of neat to see this episode on the big screen.
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No, because of their collective bargaining agreement, they will have to include the union and the likes in discussions.
Why do you have to include the union in on discussions of what a woman is? I'm fairly certain that basic concept of humanity is far more fundamental than what needs to ironed out in a CBA.
David Hasslehoff in Guardians of the Galaxy.
I always thought Peter Ustinov's fourth wall break in The Muppets (1979) was cute.
I always thought Peter Ustinov's fourth wall break in The Muppets (1979) was cute.
re: A clearer picture regarding LSU and the rumors around private equity is emerging
Posted by ouflak on 8/10/26 at 9:48 am to Tigerpride18
quote:
...not sure why anyone gives two shits about any of this.
Some of us care about the fate of LSU even if we aren't specifically fans. And some us have seen and experienced first hand how private equity works its evil. Maybe LSU has wriggled a legal way out of this being exploited - and really hope this is just a 'private equity' deal in name only, with the reality being it's a more typical good-ole-boy way of funneling money into the program. Which I'm just fine with.
But a true private equity entity is whole different story. They would love to get their claws into a public institution like LSU (or any other of that stature) because they know that when they do their thing, and start to squeeze for their money, LSU will first appeal to their boosters and raise tuition. When that's not enough, they'll wrangle it out of the state budget. And when that's not enough, they'll get a federal bail out.
A PE golden parachute all paid for by the taxpayer.
That's the scenario many of us are giving two shits about.
Bit of a guess, and I may override this later, but I think it's Frasier. Don't have enough confidence to also say South Park (minimum 95% or there-abouts).
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With a 9-game conference schedule and the highest ratings ever in the 1st year of the ABC deal, the next media contract will be massive.
It will also be a long long ways off (great negotiating there Sankey).
re: How long till SEC athletics go private equity per school?
Posted by ouflak on 8/1/26 at 2:12 pm to makersmark1
quote:
Why would PE want to be in college sports?
That's easy. Because they know that a school will leech its students for tuition money to cover the growing PE financial demands. And when that is no longer enough, the state will come to rescue with taxpayer funds. And when that is no longer enough, the federal government will bail the whole lot of them out - by printing money if need be. It's potentially a diamond mine inset in a gangue of pure gold.
They just have to scam their greedy hooks in first....
re: Ole Miss files lawsuit against two LSU players
Posted by ouflak on 7/30/26 at 6:49 am to stopitnow1
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So, they paid them to play, because you can't force someone stay at a school unless they are an employee that signed a contract.
You can't force them to stay at the school even if they are employees who signed a contract. Slavery, even by contract, has loooong since been illegal in the United States. This is not negotiable, nor is it up for debate.
re: Ole Miss files lawsuit against two LSU players
Posted by ouflak on 7/30/26 at 6:46 am to 03 West CoChamps
quote:
It was Rev share contracts. It is legal salary. Every school gets 20.5 million to pay salary. These signed rec share contracts with ole Miss. the contracts had buyouts. They broke the contract and haven’t paid the buyout. They are legally required too. Stop complicating this. It’s cut and dry.
Debt slavery has been illegal in the United States in some form, since its founding. The passage of the 13th Amendment codified it into the Constitution. It is indeed cut and dry. Just maybe not as cut and dry in the direction you want it.
re: Lane is about make OM pay
Posted by ouflak on 7/29/26 at 6:43 am to Goldingera
quote:
When good lawyers draft a contract…they include liquidated damages clauses for breach of said contract.
If they received no money, and just decided they wanted work somewhere ten days later, they can't be contracted into debt slavery, no matter how good the lawyers are. The 13th Amendment still applies.
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Not sure why any player would think they can sign a contract with a 6 digit buyout and just walk away without paying the buyout.
If they took the money (little surprised UM would be so gullible as to pay it out up front like that, but ok), then yes, they should pay it back. If they didn't take any money, then the 13th Amendment kicks in. You can't contract somebody into debt slavery... even in Mississippi.
re: Stories you wish were movies
Posted by ouflak on 7/25/26 at 5:08 pm to SOBmustpay
The Darwath Trilogy, but only if done right. And yes that means some of the source really couldn't make it into movie. But that's ok as I've never been a purest. The story can be well told in film without some dogmatic adherence the books. If done right....
re: What's so hard about understanding the Iran war
Posted by ouflak on 7/25/26 at 7:13 am to RollingwiththeTide
quote:
... We can keep letting Iran kill a few here and there and let the numbers pile up or we can just go do this and get it over with. It sucks and I hate it but you can’t talk to these people any more than you could talk to Tojo or Hitler.
Iran = Hitler.
Right.
So we invade and wipe them out and do the job properly and at the proper time (NOW), yes? Because if history has taught us anything, it's that tossing missiles around in limited strikes on isolated strategic targets isn't going to do anything. Even mass bombings of high-population areas probably isn't going to be effective. The only way to ensure the Hitler/Tojo/Iran threat is neutralized once and for all times, is invasion and occupation. We already know this from our own experiences, and we know how to do it.
re: Rings Of Power 3 casts Simon Pegg as voice of Balrog
Posted by ouflak on 7/25/26 at 6:50 am to Little Wooden Box
quote:
...help Sauron forge the One Ring.
That can't be right. Sauron was the greatest craftsman of rings in the universe matched by no other being - except Celebrimbor (who exchanged knowledge of the skill with Sauron to improve each other's abilities). How the heck is some brooding henchman Balrog going to help with that?
Kabi Khushi Kabie Gham
I've found that media portrayal of software engineers has been in 3 sorta kinda categories, that often overlap.
- Hyper super hero programmers who can hack into any system, break any encryption, immediately write scripts/programs targeting any hardware platform or operating system - literally even inhuman alien ones.
- Recluses who can speak techno babble, but don't seem to actually know anything coding, engineering, or software development principles.
- Einsteinian corporate Napoleans who are somehow just plain smarter than everybody else around them and able make to make billions as easy as normal people focus and take deep breaths.
I don't mind these portrayals as some of them are quite entertaining. All that said, there have been some films that depicted software types as they actually are somewhat realistic settings and have been rather notable in quality and watchability.
- Hyper super hero programmers who can hack into any system, break any encryption, immediately write scripts/programs targeting any hardware platform or operating system - literally even inhuman alien ones.
- Recluses who can speak techno babble, but don't seem to actually know anything coding, engineering, or software development principles.
- Einsteinian corporate Napoleans who are somehow just plain smarter than everybody else around them and able make to make billions as easy as normal people focus and take deep breaths.
I don't mind these portrayals as some of them are quite entertaining. All that said, there have been some films that depicted software types as they actually are somewhat realistic settings and have been rather notable in quality and watchability.
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Just because the SEC breaks away doesn't mean NIL money goes up.
The point isn't that NIL money goes up. The point is that it is a clear violation of the law (and the Constitution if any obscene legislation like this ever does get passed and the Supreme Court gets their say). The NCAA getting exemptions from breaking those laws is just the final straw. I almost hope the law passes.
Then the P4 along with the PAC + 6-8 G5's will go off to form their own governance structure and the NCAA can finally have its long coveted disgusting exemptions. Indeed, it will take its final gasping dying breath with them in hand.
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