Wesley: Hey. Hey, Gunn. Is something weird going on? … Charles, you just peed on my shoes. Gunn: I'll be damned. That's weird.

'Life of the Party'


Natter 64: Yes, we still need you  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Calli - Aug 12, 2009 2:40:52 pm PDT #3519 of 30001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

F Wolverine, C Superman, M Batman

Wolverine and Superman were a toss up, but marrying Bruce Wayne sounds great. He's inclined to be reclusive, so I wouldn't have to deal with too much meet and greet, Alfred would handle the house stuff, and if Batman's off saving Gotham that'll give me plenty of time to catch up on my flist. Wayne's a well traveled polymath. As long as you don't try to make him talk about his night job or his feelings he'd be an interesting conversationalist. And if it's the C. Bale Batman getting him out of the batsuit would be well worth the bother.


Cashmere - Aug 12, 2009 2:43:29 pm PDT #3520 of 30001
Now tagless for your comfort.

Bats just has too many issues, I think. It might make me a little crazy, even if it meant living in Wayne Manor and having Alfred around.


Calli - Aug 12, 2009 2:47:19 pm PDT #3521 of 30001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

Bats does have a ton of issues, but so does Wolverine. Superman has fewer issues but what he lacks in trauma he makes up in boring.


§ ita § - Aug 12, 2009 2:47:23 pm PDT #3522 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Never M Wolverine. That way lies surefire death. On the other hand, F Wolverine. C Superman, although I think more kindly of him than I used to. I marry Bats because that way I get to F him and I suppose I'll live a little longer than if I wed Logan. But marrying Superman is the only safe bet. I just don't always want safe.


§ ita § - Aug 12, 2009 2:48:15 pm PDT #3523 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Superman's not boring! It's just the movies that are...in the hands of a good comic book writer (or even the right animated series writer) he's cool. He's just no Wolvie or Bats.


Dana - Aug 12, 2009 2:49:03 pm PDT #3524 of 30001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Superman would at least try to be a good husband.


§ ita § - Aug 12, 2009 2:52:48 pm PDT #3525 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Wolverine would try too, but it wouldn't matter.


Hil R. - Aug 12, 2009 2:57:41 pm PDT #3526 of 30001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Respectfully, that's not a sound evolutionary argument. Human ancestors learned to use weapons to kill animals. That in turn gave us the protein and fat needed to gain bigger brains and continue to evolve. Without the protein, we'd not be sporting the big brains we have now. Although we'd probably have an easier time as bi-peds.

There's actually still a lot of debate and unanswered questions about what early humans and human ancestors ate, and in what quantities. I've seen different studies that approached the question from different perspectives and came to wildly different conclusions. The fossil evidence is pretty difficult to interpret, since meat meals tend to leave behind bones that can become fossils, while the remains of vegetable meals tended to biodegrade pretty quickly and not leave much that we could look at now.

(I am positive that billytea will come along soon and know way more about this than I do.)


Jesse - Aug 12, 2009 3:03:56 pm PDT #3527 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

I don't know jack about comics, but this is pretty much my thinking:

Never M Wolverine. That way lies surefire death. On the other hand, F Wolverine. C Superman, although I think more kindly of him than I used to. I marry Bats because that way I get to F him and I suppose I'll live a little longer than if I wed Logan. But marrying Superman is the only safe bet. I just don't always want safe.


Hil R. - Aug 12, 2009 3:06:33 pm PDT #3528 of 30001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Stephen Hawking defends NHS: [link]

Hawking has defended Britain's tax-funded National Health System after he was held up by a US financial newspaper as an example of why the NHS should not be used as a blueprint for the reforms. In a recent editorial, Investors Business Daily claimed: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

The Cambridge professor, who is of course British despite speaking with an American-accented vocoder, told the Guardian: "I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived." Hawking was treated by an NHS hospital as recently as April, when he was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for chest infections. Investors Business Weekly has since amended its article, removing any mention of the scientist.