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Sméagol

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Posts posted by Sméagol


  1. For me it's simple. The TV shows are too much. For me personally, Disney+ has no redeeming qualities. It's not that I have 0 interest in them, but they are incredibly low priority, I'm not going out of my way to watch them, and I'm definitely never subscribing. Everything I've seen so far I have watched on my brother's account. I'll try to watch relevant shows before any films, but if I "miss" them I won't lose any sleep over it, I'll catch up on the details on wikis. Currently, the only show I'm intrigued enough to actually want to watch is Loki season 2. But I'll probably give Ms. Marvel a shot before I go watch the film.

    No, 3 films a year works perfectly for me. I'm definitely not feeling fatigue as I just don't bother myself with the TV shows too much, and I generally still enjoy the films. Some more than others. And exceptions aside.. Currently Eternals 2 is the one I can do without, but it will also be the only film I'm still giving a shot simply because of invenstment in the MCU. If Eternals 2 fails to be at least 10x better than it's predecessor (which I don't expect it to be), than Eternals 3 will be the first MCU film I'm conciously going to miss.

    As for other future films.. I'm looking forward to Fantastic Four after seeing John Krasinski in Dr. Strange 2, also after not having seen any of the other Fantastic Four films.

    But after the latest announcements, I'm very curious to see how they combine the Kang/multiverse and secret invasion storylines. I don't follow the comics but these are things I looked into out of curiosity. My main problem so far is that the TV shows.. generally just aren't very good, and only serve as vehicles to just add extra lore to the MCU (which Disney of course hopes you don't want to miss). This lore itself being intriguing usually. I was already thinking some time ago if Marvel wasn't juggling too many storylines. I'm no Marvel expert, but as far as I can tell the Kang/ multiverse storyline has nothing to do with the secret invasion storyline originally. I didn't care for the TV show Falcon & Winter Soldier, but I did like the character of the new/fake Captain America, and the Julia Louis-Dreyfus character's involvement. So while I'm wondering if they're juggling too much, I'm also intrigued to see how it plays out in the films, with the culmination in the new Avengers 2 parter in 2025.

    21 hours ago, Julius said:

    The crazy thing is that, so far, the MCU is the only one to truly make their model a success; no-one else has come remotely close. And thank goodness – I can't imagine what it would be like if we had two of these juggernauts to keep up with. 

    I've said this before, but I'm baffled (not really) how DC failed to copy/paste the model exactly. They want the Avengers succes, but failed to build up to it. They're also afraid to commit to the mess they currently have, I'm also pretty sure with some effort they could have salvaged a lot of it. At this point they should just do a complete reset and ignore everything up to this point. They're now introducing characters (Black Adam) that I don't give any shit about, and I'm not going to give a chance because their cinematic universe is non-existent. I didn't give a shit about many Marvel characters initially, but gave them a chance because of the MCU.

    I see a lot more than 3 films a year, I definitely have room for probably several cinematic universes. It's just that no one succesfully copied the model that's up for grabs.

    • Like 1

  2. 14 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

    Anyone having to do anything different over the next few days for the heat? I've got the days off anyway but was tempted to just go in as my office has AC but I decided to stay at home to make sure my cats don't just stay out in the heat.

    The Nijmegen 4 days marches starts tuesday.. Or it was supposed to, they cancelled the first day because of the heat (estimated 39°C).

    • Sad 1

  3. 43 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

    Didn't Doctor Strange come out like 2 months ago? I guess maybe Covid affected the release schedule but wow, still seems crazy to me.

    Amongst other setbacks, yeah. They had to shift things around. Black Panther 2 is slated for somewhere end of the year.

    • Thanks 1

  4. 5 hours ago, bob said:

    That's the dude from Dark too, right?

    That's him yeah, and from what I've heard there are other actors from other international Netflix series. Plus Emily Beecham. :love:

     


  5. Looks good @Shorty! Those hand holds you're gripping look pretty small. I'm definitely not on that level yet.

    I do love training on overhangs. There's one I love to do early in the session that's almost horizontal, but it has very easy holds. I do it early, because I won't have the strength for it later. :laughing:

    Funnily enough Covid is the reason I started to look into bouldering. I needed an alternative/backup for swimming, and my city has a public outdoor bouldering wall. But I got the advice to wait until after the then current lockdown and go to a dedicated gym.

    I'll see if I can make some pictures at some point. Rotterdam has 3 bouldering gyms, I chose mine because unlike the other two, it's located in the city centre, and being on the 6 to 9th floor it has an amazing view of the city in all directions. It also happens to be brand new, it opened in February this year.


  6. Who's into bouldering?

    Indoor-Climbing.jpg

    Was going to post about it in the exercise thread, but in the spirit of not putting everything in Megathreads ( @jayseven ) I thought I'd create a new thread.

    For those who don't know what bouldering is, it's a climbing sport, in the indoor variant you climb routes on walls with colourful holds. You don't use ropes or anything, the walls are at most roughly 4,5 meters in height. Walls are surrounded by mats to break any fall you may make. If you go bouldering outdoor, you climb a literal boulder. Unlike other climbing sports, there's a low barrier to get into the sport, as you don't need a lot of gear to start with, and don't need a buddy. I'll focus on indoor bouldering by the way, as that's what I do (not a lot of (natural) boulders over here), and outdoor bouldering is a bit different. For indoor bouldering, all you need in the beginning, apart from entry to the bouldering gym and some exercise clothes, are climbing shoes, which you can rent the first couple of times.

    Then for the actual (indoor) bouldering, this may be different from gym to gym and country to country, but over here the general way to go about things is this:

    You have a wall with a lot of colourful holds. Generally, you have specific routes on the wall, all being of one colour, and you have a (marked) starting and finishing position. You put your hands on the starting holds, get yourself into a stable position, then start climbing towards the finish. Using the wall itself is fair game, just don't use any holds not part of the route. If you can touch the finishing hold with both hands while being in a stable position, you've done it. And you go try another one, or rest a bit. Routes (the official term is a "problem" I think, though I've never heard it over here) can have different difficulties, denoted by the colours. The  grading system  generally used in Europe starts at 3, and ends.. I'm not sure if it ends, but the highest in my particular gym is 8, though there's definitely a grade 9.

    There are 4 aspects to this sport, and it's the combination of all these things that make this fun for me.

    Strength
    Probably the main thing you think you'd need if you've never bouldered before. It's definitely not the only aspect, and it's not something that should prevent you from trying out the sport. I myself am lacking arm strength, as I've never really used them before. My legs are ok since I cycle a lot, but my arms simply haven't gotten a real workout for many years. All the beginner's routes were fine, most don't require a lot of strength. The fun thing is you pretty much use all your muscles. There's an emphasis on your underarms, since those (together with your fingers) determine how well you grip things, but in the end you're also going to need your legs, upper arms, shoulders and core. There's also endurance, even if you do a route that's relatively easy, if you're doing a lot of them in a session, it's still going to be a workout.

    Technique
    If you read up on bouldering, then one of the tips you frequently see is that you should focus on technique as a beginner. For example, you should remember to use your legs, as as a beginner, your focus will probably be your arms. You'll often be able to "bruteforce" beginner's routes this way, but to get better you need to learn how to move from A to B as efficiently as possible, so instead of pulling with your arms you should push with your legs, as those are stronger. You'll need to learn to use all of your body, you need to figure out which limbs to use and how to use them, how to get a grip on certain holds etc. Then you need to learn how to balance yourself. Bouldering is a lot like yoga in that regard.

    Mental / Confidence.
    There's no denying it, bouldering can be scary, even if you're not dangling on a cliff 30 meters up. Even a potential uncontrolled fall from 2 meters high can be scary. It's funny, but a lot of routes I'm currently trying to do, have some kind of mental block. Sometimes I make it almost to the end, only to hesitate too much before the final steps, not feeling confident enough I can make it without falling. Experience and simply getting stronger will build confidence, so I keep trying and eventually I'll get it.

    Mental / puzzle solving
    Another really fun aspect. Simply figuring out what the fuck you're supposed to do in the first place, is half the fun. As a beginner, this will come from not having a lot of knowledge about techniques. Those you can learn (perhaps with a course given by your gym). I'd love to do beginner's course at some point, but for now I'm having fun figuring things out on my own, it's more satisfying at the moment. But I can imagine even when you do know the techniques, you still need to figure out what to apply where and how.

    There's also a bit of a social aspect. I love how it's optional, being a slight introvert. It's not a competitive sport, so people are there to have a good time, I love the vibe in the gym. Sometimes it's fun to get tips, or give them. If a natural conversation happens, that's great, if not, it's a solo sport and you can simply do your own thing.

    Anyway, these 4 aspects make it fun for me. there's a wide variety of routes, that put the emphasis on another aspect, or sometimes multiple. If a route is not really your style, there will be other ones which are. That said, to make progress you'll need to train everything, and therefore do a variety of routes. For example, overhanging routes require a lot of strength, which I don't really have yet, but I still find them fun to do. Even trying a route is training.

    I've been doing this for a few months now, but can see me doing this for a long time. I hope I'll make some people enthousiastic about trying out the sport?

    • Like 1

  7. Went to my first concert since 2018 yesterday.

    While I had the concert in mind for quite some time, the actual decision to go was made.. past last minute. Sometimes Often I end up not doing something more or less planned because I hesitate too much, this was almost one of those cases. I got up late that day, still went to exercise like I planned, but this resulted in a situation where I'd really had to hurry if I also wanted to make it to that concert. Got home, had a quick bite too eat, took a shower as fast as I could (that's 25 minutes).. Then got on the internet to check all the details and arrange stuff (like getting the train ticket). I called the venue for some details (I was already late anyway, but there were some unknows, like when the main program was going to start), but I couldn't get through. Often this is where I just give up and go do something else, but this time I thought "fuck it", printed the train ticket, brushed my teeth, and left (and cycled hard to get to the most convenient train station within 30 minutes), and went "op de bonnefooi".

    To go "op de bonnefooi" is a Dutch expression, which seems to have its origin in French, but I don't know of an English equivalent. it means something like going somewhere without a concrete plan, and hoping for good luck.

    Like I said there were some unknowns, mainly what time the main act was going to start. I could perhaps make that, though I definitely was going to miss the support act at that point. Theoretically it could also sell out, but I thought that was very unlikely.

    Anyway, long story short, it worked out. While I did get in late, the main act actually just started, but I didn't miss much. Better yet.. Someone left an unused ticket at the counter, so I actually got in free. I spend the money I saved on merch. Too bad there was no signing.

    Spoiler

    It's actually not the music I typically listen to, but I wanted something different.
     

     

     

    • Like 1

  8. Should be obvious, but post here the stuff you have no strong feelings for one way or another, but you want to share anyway.

    Today I renewed my driving license for another 10 years!

    I'm probably not going to use it for another 10 years..

    • Like 1

  9. So still no word on a Nintendo show? That's a damn shame. Regardless of the actual quality of the show, I always look forward to it. it's also probably why I'm absolutely not aware of any other shows, because apparently I've totally missed the LRG show (and I probably can't be arsed to watch any other shows).

    At first glance that list doesn't contain many interesting titles, but I'll (finally) get Doom at least, and Turtles. On the other hand, I'm kind of bitter I'll have to order a LRG version after pre-ordering a regular version that's cancelled, it won't fit with the other game.


  10. 18 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

    Fair enough though I don’t know how you manage to sit through Marvel stuff. Those shows are full of idiotic stuff and plot holes galore. The bad guy in Wandavision being caught by someone driving a car into his and blocking his way out “You’re not going anywhere, smirk” or highly training security specialists being taken out by a computer nerd  Lol. But it’s the same as Star Wars, it’s not meant to be taken that seriously.

    The problem for me is that you're right, and I can see Marvel heading the exact same way, with all these shows coming out. I still following the films  because I love the characters, and all the castings have been on point, and there's usually some funny dialogue. But story-wise not everything has been great. WandaVision definitely wasn't great, and I don't care much for any of the other shows. I can imagine a future where I stop watching Marvel stuff altogether the same way I stopped watching Star Wars stuff. For now, I'll keep following the films, but I'm all but done with the shows. I'll give the 2nd season of Loki a chance, but have no interest in any other Marvel shows at this point.


  11. I did, and for the most part it is to me, though I'm still going to judge individual stories on their own, if for some reason I'm still giving something a chance. I wouldn't mind trying Fallen Order for example, and to be fair, I've watched 3 films since the latest reboot before I gave up on the films, so you can't say i didn't give it a chance.

    Last thing I'll say about Obi-Wan Kenobi:

    Spoiler

    Keep in mind that currently, there are no stakes at all. The inquisitors have proven themselves to be incompetent and are no threat, and Leia is saved so that situation is resolved.

    So these first 2 episodes are just a prologue for whatever's coming in the following episodes. Everything up until now has been noise. Whatever they're setting up, they could've done it much better.

     


  12. 21 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

     

    Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying you went in with preconceptions, just that a lot of the stuff you talk about has always been a part of Star Wars. It’s supposed to be goofy with idiot bad guys (mostly) or ewoks defeating the empire like @Mandalore says. 

    It feels different to me. It needs some drama, but I didn't feel anything besides annoyance. It's just badly acted, directed and written. None of the characters besides Obi-Wan, including Leia, were interesting to me, and all the plot points so far felt pointless.

    Spoiler

    Again.. Watching Obi-Wan and Leia casually escape while those two inquisitors have an argument, is simply not exciting television. Not to me anyway.

     

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