Random Thoughts

Rusty wrote:Looks like SAG has reached an agreement with the Studios. Just has to be approved by the Union members.

Netflix has dropped the first teaser for Terminator: The Anime Series from Japanese animation studio Production G.

The eight-episode series will be part of the Terminator universe but will center around new characters. This is the first iteration of the franchise to be animated.

Here’s the synopsis for the new series: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: the AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.

No premiere date has been set.

Mattson Tomlin is the showrunner/EP/writer. Executive producers are Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger.

Director is Masahi Kudo.

WyldeMan wrote:I've been planning a garage overhaul with all new storage shelves and some updated wood working benches but the price of lumber is still crazy. In the Spring when I originally wanted to do this, a sheet of 4x8 3/4" birch plywood was over $150 and now while it has dropped down to $80, that still seems crazy to me. 

For decades I rarely paid over $35 so now it's hard for me to reconcile paying 60% more for the exact same product.

Abe, what have you been paying for 2x4's and plywood for your Theater Riser project?

I know I just need to bite the bullet and get what I need to finally do these projects but when you've spent twenty years paying good prices, its so hard for me to justify spending two or three times what I always have for literally the same product without getting two or three times more wood. I hate this!!!!!

WyldeMan wrote:I've been planning a garage overhaul with all new storage shelves and some updated wood working benches but the price of lumber is still crazy. In the Spring when I originally wanted to do this, a sheet of 4x8 3/4" birch plywood was over $150 and now while it has dropped down to $80, that still seems crazy to me. 

For decades I rarely paid over $35 so now it's hard for me to reconcile paying 60% more for the exact same product.

Abe, what have you been paying for 2x4's and plywood for your Theater Riser project?

I know I just need to bite the bullet and get what I need to finally do these projects but when you've spent twenty years paying good prices, its so hard for me to justify spending two or three times what I always have for literally the same product without getting two or three times more wood. I hate this!!!!!

WyldeMan wrote:Guys, where the hell is Tyger? I've noticed that he's been posting far less these past few months but it's been almost a month since he last stopped by.

Stats show he's only posted two or three times since July.

It'd be a real shame if he stopped coming around altogether. I hope all is well and that he'll be back soon.

joey con carne wrote:Patting myself on the back today. I had to present October financials to leadership today and, apparently, I did a great job. Woo hoo

Now I will be celebrating with a giant Jersey Mike’s number 7. It’s the rhythm of the sliiiice.

WyldeMan wrote:Guys, where the hell is Tyger? I've noticed that he's been posting far less these past few months but it's been almost a month since he last stopped by.

Stats show he's only posted two or three times since July.

It'd be a real shame if he stopped coming around altogether. I hope all is well and that he'll be back soon.

joey con carne wrote:Patting myself on the back today. I had to present October financials to leadership today and, apparently, I did a great job. Woo hoo

Now I will be celebrating with a giant Jersey Mike’s number 7. It’s the rhythm of the sliiiice.

Tyger wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Guys, where the hell is Tyger? I've noticed that he's been posting far less these past few months but it's been almost a month since he last stopped by.

Stats show he's only posted two or three times since July.

It'd be a real shame if he stopped coming around altogether. I hope all is well and that he'll be back soon.

I broke my right arm just above my elbow at the end of September. Just a stupid awkward fall. Been a very long slow healing process so I haven’t done much of anything I usually do.

joey con carne wrote:Have you guys heard much about the show called “All the Light We Cannot See”? I read it was supposed to be really good but got bad reviews on some websites. Might check that out.

Tyger wrote:I broke my right arm just above my elbow at the end of September. Just a stupid awkward fall. Been a very long slow healing process so I haven’t done much of anything I usually do.

WyldeMan wrote:

Jeremy Renner also seems to be making quite the recovery.

Tyger wrote:No titanium in my arm, healing naturally but slowly. Have another follow up tomorrow afternoon to see how the bone is healing. Still can’t put too much weight/pressure on my right arm, but definitely significantly better than a week or 2 ago.

Tyger wrote:Not as significant an improvement as hoped, but still getting a little better every day

A Fired ‘Scream’ Star, Clients Booted From Agencies and a Secret Tom Cruise Meeting: Inside Hollywood’s Divide Over Israel

Four days after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, WME invited Steve Leder, the rabbi from Wilshire Boulevard Temple, to visit the agency’s Beverly Hills headquarters. He came to provide comfort for employees reeling after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Although the event was not mandatory and Leder’s speech was considered secular, several staffers voiced complaints, which made their way to WME co-chairmen Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead. Instead of caving, WME invited Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to speak to the agency on Nov. 1. Greenblatt didn’t mince words, according to those in attendance, calling out the Writers Guild of America for refusing to issue a statement after the Hamas attacks.

Across town, the agency’s fiercest rival, CAA, was dealing with a crisis. Maha Dakhil, one of its top agents, had ignited a firestorm with her Instagram posts, including one that said, “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.” In response, Dakhil was relieved of her duties as co-chief the motion pictures department, though she was allowed to remain an agent. It didn’t hurt that her most important client, Tom Cruise, made it known to CAA that he was backing her. Cruise met with Dakhil at her CAA office on Nov. 15. A knowledgeable source says he took the rare step of going in person to show support for his embattled agent.

But the Dakhil issue didn’t end there. A group of CAA assistants threatened to walk out over the agency’s treatment of her, sources say. They believed she was being railroaded by management but ultimately abandoned their threat. At the same time, some of the agents who complained internally about Dakhil’s posts felt disillusioned, believing she should have been fired. Separately, CAA cut ties with a staffer and two clients over incendiary anti-Israeli social media posts.

Similar instances of firings, finger-pointing and feelings of betrayal are playing out across Hollywood as the industry wrestles with the raw emotions aroused by the eruption of violence in the Middle East.

From power brokers to the rank and file, a growing number are incensed by the hostile rhetoric surrounding Israel and the lack of solidarity, even as some 240 hostages continue to be held by Hamas. Others feel a kinship with the Palestinian cause and believe Israel is the aggressor. The polarization is notable because the industry has largely presented a united front when it comes to politics, from its blanket opposition to former President Trump to its uniform support of reproductive rights. But when it comes to Israel, the cracks are showing.

“There’s just no excuse for not condemning Hamas and demanding the release of the hostages. Hollywood was quick to declare Black Lives Matter, as they should, and Time’s Up, as they should, and myriad other important causes,” Greenblatt tells Variety. “There’s plenty of room for criticism of Israel or to voice concerns about the ongoing war in Gaza, but that doesn’t provide celebrities and industry reps with an open license to wage unfair accusations against Israel, such as accusing it of ‘apartheid’ or ‘genocide’ or, worse, to celebrate the actions of Hamas terrorists.”

Some have had enough. Spyglass quietly dropped Melissa Barrera as the star of the next “Scream” film, sources say, due to her social media posts that referred to Israel as a “colonized” land and floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media, writing: “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.” Barrera did not respond to a request for comment.

Spyglass initially declined comment, though a spokesperson offered a statement to Variety later in the afternoon to clarify that the actor was fired because her posts were seen as antisemitic: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

Likewise, insiders say “La La Land” producer Marc Platt texted WME leadership about why Boots Riley was still a client after the “Sorry to Bother You” writer-director urged his followers on X to boycott an industry screening of footage of Hamas atrocities at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He dubbed the footage “murderous propaganda” and warning that “when IDF and Israeli officials are at The Hague for war crimes, massacres and genocidal actions- you wont want your name or image to have been anywhere near it.”However, Riley remains an agency client. A Platt rep says he merely flagged the posts.

Meanwhile, several agents at UTA have expressed outrage internally over a recent open letter spearheaded by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and believe he should be dropped from the agency’s roster. Coates was the first signature on an Oct. 14 letter that many industryites felt dehumanized Israelis and softened Hamas’ actions with such lines as “Hamas militants broke out of Gaza. More than 1,300 Israelis were subsequently killed.” The agency is sticking with him, though it has severed ties with Susan Sarandon over her controversial words on the conflict.

CAA, too, has been more willing to cut ties over problematic social media missives. The agency fired assistant Jouman (Jasmine) Barakat over her posts that called all Israelis white supremacists and mocked a post from the country’s official handle that stated, “Even Israelis Deserve to Live” by calling it a “fascist regime.”

CAA also dropped Saira Rao and Regina Jackson — who co-wrote the 2022 book “White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better” — over their social media posts. Rao had written on X, “Zionists are starting to panic that more and more of the world sees them for the bloodthirsty genocidal ghouls they are.”

Rao tells Variety that Hollywood is “punishing people of color for speaking out.” She adds, “It’s disgusting. The genocide is indisputable. You can watch it on live TV. CAA will be on the wrong side of history. And shame on CAA for doing that to Maha.” A CAA spokesperson says Rao was not dropped for supporting Palestinians but for posts deemed antisemitic.

When it comes to Israel, the use of the word “genocide” has long been considered problematic in Hollywood. In 2021, Mark Ruffalo apologized for suggesting Israel was committing genocide and added, “It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad.” In 2014, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz signed a letter that called Israel’s operations in Gaza “genocide.” They both later clarified their positions after being widely criticized.

The divisions in Hollywood could deepen. “I’m not entirely surprised by the Jew-hating we’re seeing, but the fact that the dead weren’t even being buried when, at best, you were getting both sides-ism was horrifying,” says Robert Newman, a WME agent. “And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

And many are questioning why Hollywood entities — notably the Writers Guild of America — have remained quiet. On Oct. 21, WGA West president Meredith Stiehm sent an email to a group of writers who had been calling for a statement. She explained that none would be forthcoming because “many members have asked us to refrain” and “consensus [is] out of reach.”

Writer David Shore, who was a member of the WGA’s negotiating committee, says he was stunned by the guild’s actions. “There was an opportunity to stand up and be one of the groups who said we stand with the victims of this terrorist attack,” he says. “I was disappointed that they did not do that.”

In this combustible atmosphere, WhatsApp text chains have popped up all over town, sharing instances of perceived antisemitism. WME’s is particularly lively, with one member deriding director Ava DuVernay for posting in support of her agent Dakhil. As for Dakhil, she is on a “Jewish listening tour,” according to a New York Post story that noted she had met with Greenblatt and Leder. Sources close to Greenblatt and Leder say they were unaware that their names would be mentioned in the story and “felt used.” (Leder declined comment, while Greenblatt declined to discuss an off-the-record conversation.)

Although she has become an inadvertent symbol of the Hollywood schism, one top agent at a CAA rival is hoping that Dakhil will continue to receive the backing of her bosses.

“I hope she stays there,” says the agent. “I think it will be incredibly awkward with her there.”

WyldeMan wrote:Girlfriend murdering piece of shit Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius was granted parole after serving ten years and will be released on January 24, 2024.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Anyone make any big purchases for Black Friday?

UltimateMarvel wrote:This is probably the most shopping I've done on Black Friday. Bought everything online this year which I've never done, why bother going to the stores anymore and waste gas. I got a Sony 4K TV, PS5, a year of PS Plus subscription, a subwoofer for the theater, a treadmill, fans for my desktop, and some shoes. Still need to get some clothes and it looks like deals are still going.

I think I just saved us from inflation, the economy should thank me. You're welcome!

Rusty wrote:hahaha, thanks for doing that. About time you got the PS5. I think I remember you saying you were waiting for the Slim. Is that what you picked up? Did you get the digital or disc edition?

UltimateMarvel wrote:

Rusty wrote:hahaha, thanks for doing that. About time you got the PS5. I think I remember you saying you were waiting for the Slim. Is that what you picked up? Did you get the digital or disc edition?

Yep. I got the Slim disc version with the Spider-Man 2 bundle. But it's white so I have to paint it black eventually.

joey con carne wrote:Which Sony TV and which subwoofer did you buy?

I picked up 70-90 pound extensions to my PowerBlocks, two Crucial P3 4TB drives for my PC so I can finally stop using my 3.5" hard drives and remove the cage inside my case, Dr. Squatch deodorant, and a Dyson Supersonic hair dryer.

Bought zero blu-rays!

Next up I would like to buy a Yamaha receiver so I can upgrade my home theater to 4K and then buy a subwoofer to upgrade my PC speakers. Maybe later...

Hope everyone here had a nice Thanksgiving! One holiday down, two more to go!

Tyger wrote:Didn’t they release those colored plates?

UltimateMarvel wrote:

Model KD65X80K, it's a mid budget TV. It's got Dolby Vision which is why I went with it.

Subwoofer is Monolith M-10 V2.

The plates for the Slim are coming out soon I think, that is an option. They're like $40. But I still have to paint the controller though.

Rusty wrote:Missed opportunity. Now you have the PS5 you should have picked up a native 120hz TV. I recently grabbed the Sony X85K.

Rusty wrote:Couldn't you just buy a second controller that's black? Do you have a nearby game store that accepts trade-ins ? Maybe trade-in you're new white one + cash for a black one.

UltimateMarvel wrote:
I considered it but this TV is mostly going to be used for TV viewing and most content is 60Hz. I'll probably buy a monitor for gaming eventually

Nah, I would have to sell the controller. You don't get much money for trade-ins. I could buy a second controller if I find one on sale.

Rusty wrote:Is this the TV for your home theatre? Do you not intend to game from the home theatre?

Rusty wrote:If you find the right game that completely immerses you and takes up more time than you'd care to admit, you're going to want a second controller anyway. I found that out early enough after jumping back into an awesome game and realised I'd forgot to charge the controller between stints. I don't sit close enough to my PS5 to keep the controller plugged in whilst playing.

Tyger wrote:I use the controller dying as my queue to take a break and usually go to bed and charge in rest mode

Also, I used to be annoyed by the PS5 being white, but it doesn’t bother me anymore

UltimateMarvel wrote:Sadly, the days of gaming for 6 hours straight are behind me. Now it's 2 hours and I'm done. I really miss those days.

WyldeMan wrote:Carpal tunnel?

Not only did the Vikings travel to the Americas hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus, but it appears that they were likely making routine trips to extract natural resources. Researchers believe they now have the proof of this behavior, thanks to a better understanding of trees found in Greenland.

A study published by researchers from the University of Iceland journal Antiquity earlier this year says that Norse colonists in Greenland (from 985—1450 AD) relied on imported timber for shipbuilding and large construction projects. It also claims that elite farms had access to timber imports from Northern Europe and North America.

That access—and the timing of it all—backs up Viking legends that claimed there was a regular trading route between Greenland and North America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus led his famous voyage west.

“These findings highlight the fact that Norse Greenlanders had the means, knowledge, and appropriate vessels to cross the Davis Strait to the east coast of North America, at least up until the 14th century,” the study authors wrote. “As such, journeys were being made from Greenland to North America throughout the entirety of the period of Norse settlement in Greenland, and resources were being acquired by the Norse from North America for far longer than previously thought.”

The timber in question includes hemlock and jack pine—tree species not native to either Greenland or Europe. Finding that these species were used in Greenland around 1000 AD supports the theory that they were imported from the Americas. The jack pine likely came from what is now New England and Nova Scotia. Hemlock may have taken even more travel to find, as it was most prominently located in and around Quebec, Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada.

To better understand the import practices, the researchers analyzed wood from multiple farms and construction projects known to be in use around 1000 AD, according to a statement. By scrutinizing the cellular structure of the wood, they were able to conclude that roughly a quarter of the timber used was either imported or arrived at the island as driftwood.

“By demonstrating the range of timber sources used by the Greenland Norse,” the authors wrote, “the results illustrate connectivity across the medieval North Atlantic world.”

Source: Popular Mechanics

UltimateMarvel wrote:That is fucking cool! What would it have been like if they decided to stay here?

Mark Sheppard, best known as “Crowley” on Supernatural, revealed on Instagram Saturday that he somehow survived six heart attacks.

“You’re not going to believe this! Was on my way to an appointment yesterday when I collapsed in my kitchen,” Sheppard began. The 59-year-old actor wrote that he had “six massive heart attacks” and was “brought back from [the] dead 4 times,” before learning that he “had a 100% blockage in my LAD” (left anterior descending artery.)”

Sheppard called the event “The Widowmaker,” and expressed his thanks to his medics.

“If not for my wife, the @losangelesfiredepartment at mullholland and the incredible staff @providencecalifornia St Joseph’s – I wouldn’t be writing this,” he said. “My chances of survival were virtually nil.”

“I feel great. Humbled once more,” Sheppard added. “Home tomorrow! #spnfamily.”

Sheppard’s castmate Misha Collins, who portrayed Castiel on the CW series, shared a message in the comments section of his post.

“Mark! You don’t need to do the most and biggest every time! 6 heart attacks? 2 or 3 would have been impressive enough,” Collins wrote.

“You’ve impressed us, okay. Now stop with this heal up and get back on the road with us,” he continued. “Love you, pal.”

WyldeMan wrote:Well if the vikings had a prosperous relationship with the natives for over 500 years like evidence suggests then that certainly continues to discredit the italian/piece of shit/rapist/invader/fraud Christoper Columbus. 

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Well if the vikings had a prosperous relationship with the natives for over 500 years like evidence suggests then that certainly continues to discredit the italian/piece of shit/rapist/invader/fraud Christoper Columbus. 

Anything else you'd like to add to his name?