17 to 01: The Changeling

Spoilers: Scotty dies in this episode. The unusual camera work here is probably because they had to shoot around Nomad. There's a lot of good things in this episode and I wish we could take the best parts of "The Changeling" and The Motion Picture.

So is the mental illness play here work, or is it another contrived reason to have a villain do bad things because "they're crazy"? *cough* Ultron *cough*

Look-ups: Steve Martin did "The Man with Two Brains" and Bruce Campbell did "The Man with the Screaming Brain."

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 01:00 AM CT and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

TRO: 3087 - Wizard

3087 is a Battletech alternate universe where The Jihad never happened. Instead, political fracturing continues in the wake of the technological and military upheavals of the 3050's. Its history is told through the pages and designs of TRO: 3087. With any luck this series will be the last anyone hears about 3087.

MLN-OW Wizard
Overview
The attack on Outreach and the expulsion of complicit or questionable commands from the MRBC fractured the mercenary trade in 3067. While many ejected commands chose to resettle at Galatea or Solaris VII, by the end of the decade, mercenaries were operating from over a dozen worlds along the Lyran Commonwealth and Free Worlds League border.

These resource-rich worlds, like Giausar and Chertan, immediately received industrial funding and development from the Word of Blake, channeled through their new arrivals. Within a few years, they were developing new ‘Mechs like the Lookout and harboring new separatist movements which would lead to the formation of the Mercenaries’ Alliance.

The Wizard was the second of three new machines and is by far the most popular, seeing deployment in almost every mercenary command and most Successor States. It was based on a much older design, the Merlin, in much the same way as the Alliance’s other two native-built OmniMechs.

Phone Calls

Dead Island: Property Damage Asshole, Pt 1 of ???

My new game was going to be Bioshock, but it didn't want to run so here we're watching the headache-inducing Dead Island.

17 to 01: Assignment Earth

We cut this one a lot of slack for all of the questions they ask and never answer. Maybe it's because it's a fairly solid episode and the questions aren't essential to the plot. Maybe it's because it's a pilot and we understand they're trying to pique our interest.

Coming this fall from ABC: NASA Security. Starring the ghost of Lincoln Demyan, this cold warrior teams up with a DHS agent who has problems of her own. Together, they foil terrorist attacks whether they're foreign, domestic, or originating from beyond the stars!

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 01:00 AM CT and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

10 Cloverfield Lane

I didn't see Cloverfield because it didn't seem that interesting. Nothing I've heard about it has made me regret that decision. I won't see 10 Cloverfield Lane because I still don't care, but the trailer looks good.

Also, props to the guy on the Entertainment Weekly page who commented, "They alive damnit!"

You're a cool guy.

Gul Dukat on the Battlefield

So, why not make Magic cards for Gul Dukat? He undergoes a lot of changes over the course of Deep Space Nine.

Before we meet him, he in charge of the occupation of Bajor. Oppression is kind of his middle name. Which is good because that only leaves his first name as a complete mystery.

I'd like him to tap down more than one guy to represent more of the mass oppression of the occupation, but that'd be a bit much.

This is the Dukat we first meet. He's securely in the Cardassian fold and okay with an oppressive, cutthroat system as long as he's got a shot at cutting some throats himself. His body should be a bit bigger given his second ability but the Megrim ability plus the card draw lockdown are pretty strong against certain decks.

Remember when Dukat was a pirate with a kick-ass Klingon Bird of Prey? Those were weird times. Anyway, he's a bit more scrappy and not at all interested in the system. This is as cool and punk as Dukat gets and he was still a creepy, misogynistic bag of dicks. 

He could've gotten away with being a 2/2 given that he can't block, but the steady decline of his power over these three cards was something I was really fond of.

Not even a dickbag joke on this card. I hate these half-lords as much as the next guy, but Dukat only cares about one thing. My alternative build was a complicated thing where creatures could exile a single non-creature permanent if they were unblocked. I liked the reference to the start of The Dominion War, but I couldn't make it work without using Haunt, which everyone hates.

"Waltz" Dukat is the greatest. He's a paper-thin, nothing-held-back, all-in Hyphen-Crazy McCrazyPants. His activation cost probably should've been 1BR or 2BR, but what are you gonna do?

Casting cards from exile is generally a blue, mono-red, or mythic rare thing, but it fits the phenomenal cosmic powers he gets from the Pah-wraiths. It also works with the definitely-black drawback. 

I could have cranked it up as the exile happening on each upkeep, but that's a big, big penalty in multiplayer. That's use-or-lose up to eight cards every turn. Even if I gave those cards flash I'd still have to make him into a really, really aggressive card for that to balance out.

At the beginning of each upkeep, exile the top card of your library.

You may play cards exiled this turn by Dukat, of Course He Causes The Apocalypse from exile as though they had flash. Spells cast this way cost 1R less to cast.

Not too bad.

The Force Awakens

You know the drill. I saw The Force Awakens. Here are the notes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - It looks like big, stupid fun so at least it looks better than the last one. Will Arnett is the perfect choice for Vernon.

Civil War: After the trailer, someone actually said the date aloud. That’s a person who wants to see a movie.

Superman versus Batman: After the trailer, a small child said, “I like Superman.” I hope that kid’s not disappointed.

Zootopia: Great trailer.

God of Egypt: This looks so terrible. I like how the ground fire is faster than this guy, but snakes around him instead of burning him alive. This is going to be the biggest piece of steaming pile of CGI set in Egypt since the last steaming pile of CGI set in Egypt.

17 to 01: The Ultimate Computer

This one took a while to produce because a small oversight in the execution of our new and improved recording system created echoes of our voices and I had to manually remove every echo of every word. :)

Derek and I finally find an answer as to why Commodore Wesley is such a jerk. I'm satisfied with it, honestly. Also, I sincerely apologize for not slipping in a "shut up Wesley." I am so, so sorry.

Are we wrong in not taking Kirk's side on this thing? If Kirk isn't necessary, he's not necessary. Star Trek validates the arbitrary nature of fulfilling our dreams (like starship captain), but on the other hand, the only reason the M-5 isn't a good captain is because it just doesn't work right? Is the message that anything complicated enough to replace a human role as demanding as starship captain must also have human foibles?

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 01:00 AM CT and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

TRO: 3087 - Matteus

3087 is a Battletech alternate universe where The Jihad never happened. Instead, political fracturing continues in the wake of the technological and military upheavals of the 3050's. Its history is told through the pages and designs of TRO: 3087. With any luck this series will be the last anyone hears about 3087.

Matteus (Block 3)
Overview
The Battle of Outreach was another watershed moment for the Wolf’s Dragoons. While the losses were horrific, the Dragoons turned the MRBC commands on the planet into a community galvanized by their shared experience.
As a result, Blackwell’s production line of War Dogs was retooled to produce the first in a line of OmniMechs constructed solely with Clan technology, the Matteus. While already in the preliminary planning stages, pushing production up was a great strain on Outreach’s economy, but it was a cost most bore as a matter of planetary pride.
The Matteus was their reward, with production runs being divvied up among loyal MRBC members, and additional models being given to unit commanders who completed an embedded tour with The Dragoons to learn their command style and tactics. Almost twenty years later, there are still a number of independent mercenaries led by a rust-red Matteus which traces its origins to the Battle of Outreach.
For most though, a reliable OmniMech and its additional logistical baggage led to closer ties to The Dragoons and a slow transition to in-house units--as much as any of the Dragoons Pact regiments could be considered in-house.

Billy on the Street: Chris Pratt

Billy Eicher is pretty funny when he's showing a lot of enthusiasm instead of yelling at strangers on the street. It works, but it's a touchy thing.

Also he was apparently on Parks and Rec.

17 to 01: Return to Tomorrow

Little late today. Sorry. We're ironing the kinks out of a new recording method and so this one took entirely too long to edit.

"Return to Tomorrow" is one of my favorites. It's disappointing to learn about the contested writing credits. The more I learn about Gene Roddenberry, the more complicated the picture is. I can't really judge the guy, but he seemed to do the best with the poor environment of Hollywood.

As always, I'm interested in hearing any stories, either verified or heresay, about the guy.

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 01:00 AM CT and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

Spider Crab v. Giant Stingray