The Prisoner: Living In Harmony, Part 2

I recently purchased--at the unspoken behest of the geek hive mind--the classic BBC series The Prisoner. I'm watching it offshore to pass the time and sharing spoiler-free responses/reviews with the internet without provocation, cause, or request because that's what the internet is for. Enjoy.

No, this was a standard, forty-five minute episode of The Prisoner. But usually when I review an episode, I can either talk about it as a viewer or tackle the themes it presents. “Living in Harmony” was the only time where both angles were equally worthy of exploration.

Weekend Music: "Coffee and Cigarettes" by Jimmy Eat World

I know two things about this band:
1) I like them.
2) How to link their website.

It's the Magic: Tests

A few months ago, the guys at Magic did a reality show/recruitment drive called The Great Designer Search 2 to find new designers. I was interested and did some research on the first GDS they'd done. One of the challenges from the original Great Designer Search was to make six cards, according to the following guidelines:

1. All five colors must be represented.
2. All six card types must be represented.
3. Converted mana costs one through five must be represented. (One spell should cost one, another two, etc.)
4. Two of the cards must be appropriate for common; two for uncommon and two for rare. (Make sure to label the rarity – put it in parenthesis after the title.) 

I was eliminated early (in the first round, actually) on in the second one, so I can't really say that designing the cards was of any benefit, but hey, who doesn't love showing off their homemade Magic cards?

Concession

In the classic episode of Star Trek "Amok Time," Spock becomes affected with Pon Farr, the periodic mating urge that Vulcans go through. In the throes of Pon Farr, Vulcans must either mate, fight, or die. In Spock's case:

The worst time for that "bros before hos" speech.

The Game's The Thing: Play By Email Strategic Roleplaying Game

As I often do, I’ve gone on about the principles of a Play By Email Strategic Roleplaying Game (PBEMSRPG, or P*S*R) without actually explaining what it is.

A typical turn of a P*S*R would have a player receive an email. It’s a piece of fiction, in-character communiqué, or a bare-bones description of events in the universe. These events could include a new issue that’s arisen worthy of a leader’s attention (either mild unrest, an invasion, political maneuvering, an intelligence report on enemy activity, etc.), the results of an ongoing project/storyline (like an update from the front in a war, the latest success in an intelligence war, or details from an economic revitalization effort), or a communication from another faction (like a message from another player's character).

Playing Favorites excerpts, pt 33

Every Tuesday I post excerpts from best selling at not selling super blog, Playing Favorites.
 

So I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention mad scientist Lex versus evil corporate Lex versus Smallville Lex who’s basically the current canon Lex now somehow. I think that it’s an interesting thing; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a definitive Lex Luthor. I’ve seen fun Lex Luthors and I’ve seen Lex Luthors who are good combinations of previous Luthors, but I’ve never seen the one that is the Lex Luthor you’ve been reading about in pieces finally assembled into an elemental representation of pure, uncut, Columbian Lex Luthor. Every interpretation of him I’ve seen has been adulterated just a bit. “Kingdom Come,” “Final Crisis,” nineties hirsute clone Lex…even “Action Comics” Lex comes across as overconfident, human, egotistical, obsessed with Superman, ruthless, and manipulative, but I think one reason there are so many Lexes floating around is because while being ‘the ordinary guy who’s a Superman villain’ is a compelling plot, the character hasn’t yet found its full voice.

Lex also invites similarities to Batman, which makes sense because while it took a while for Lex to distinguish himself from the masses to become the Superman villain, Superman is the elemental hero. While his mental characteristics are purported to be as prodigious as his physical characteristics, for the most part, Superman is generally physically superhuman, and as the basis of superheroes, (and righteous violence, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah) most other heroes are built in that mold. I won’t say Batman subverts the mold of standard superheroes or anything because he’s just a hair younger than Superman, but I will say that as a human who one day found himself in a world where struggling against titans was ordinary, he had to become more than a man in a bat suit. Both Batman and Luthor struggle against creatures who could crush them with a single blow, but Luthor attacks the kindest of their lot while Batman must stop the most ruthless. Both work with a keen intellect, but Batman is a tactical thinker, and almost always improvising. Luthor is a strategic thinker and usually working offense versus one target. The offense versus defense is the easiest difference between them. Luthor hates something and wants to destroy it. Collateral damage happens and he’s not too concerned about it. Some of his plans even involve hurting people who aren’t Superman just to get to Superman. He’s ruthless whereas Batman is relentless. If anyone pays for Batman’s war on crime, it’s Batman. He never asks anyone to pay for his mistakes, he goes out of his way to protect innocents, and when he fails to accomplish either of those things, the bat-despair is palpable.

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The American Justice System