Be careful what you read…

I do keep up with Disney news. 

And it's always amusing how the writers are in it for clicks using totally misleading headlines. 

To wit, there was an article about how fans are complaining that the Indiana Jones stunt show has become woke. 

The author points to a Reddit post, which says that someone was disappointed that the stunt show stopped with the over-the-top violence. Guns aren't shown "killing" anyone and the mechanic doesn't get cut by the airplane propellor. The poster says it's a sad loss and not authentic to the movie (that came out over 40 years ago!). He does say it's a sign of the times. He doesn't decry it as a political thing. He doesn't mention woke. I didn't read the comments, but I'm sure someone did. Just not him. 

And yet the author of the article claims it's woke. Which gets him clicks (including mine, I suppose). 

Then there was another article that says Disney is cutting ties with Dewayne Johnson because of a kidnapping charge. 

Scroll. Read. Scroll. Read. 

The lawsuit in question is someone from many years ago who was involved in the WWE who claims she and her children were held against their will. The statements in the claim are wild and seem a little off. And she is suing for $3 billion, which is attention grabbing to be sure. 

Celebrities frequently get sued for all manner of things. This is no different. I mean there could be truth to it, but it fails some of the "sniff test" and that alone wouldn't be enough to make a movie studio steer clear. 

What else do they have? Well, it's that there was a comment that Disney made during Johnny Depps trial that maybe they could replace depp with  "the rock" in future pirates movies. 

But they negotiated with Depp after the trial and he looks likely to return as Jack sparrow - so that means that they're dropping Johnson! Right!

🤦🏼‍♂️

What am I missing here?

The attached article is titled “The 4th Largest Cable TV Company is Considering Outsourcing Its TV Service In New Markets”

That sounds kind of weird, right?

Apparently the cable company has been losing customers to cord cutting at a quick rate, so they are offering new customers YouTube tv instead of traditional cable. 

The whole point of going to YouTube tv (or any other streaming service) is that you “cut the cord” … yes you still need a cable in order to have wifi in your house, from which you can stream, but the point is that you buy wifi and that’s it, then you pay a subscription to YouTube. 

So why would anyone pay the cable company for the service? Surely they have to make money on it, so the cost would be higher than going directly to YouTube. 

I can’t imagine they could “bundle it” with anything that would be cost effective, or cheaper than doing it yourself. 

It kind of makes no sense. But they think it will make them more money. 

The only thing I can think of is that they’ll charge more for internet only, and less for wifi + YouTube + phone. 

Maybe internet only would cost $100 for a low bandwidth option, and the combo would cost $90 (and I know that number is much too low).  I guess that might be a way?

Seems strange to me…

https://cordcuttersnews.com/the-4th-largest-cable-tv-company-is-reportedly-considering-shutting-down-its-tv-service-outsourcing-it/

Picard….yeah I thought it sucked (spoiler)

The last episode of Picard was available so I watched it.

Oh look, the senior citizens of Star fleet take the old enterprise and manage to save the day one last time!

It had more fan service than ever, it was nostalgic. And yet it was too trite and simple. Totally predictable and unremarkable.

No plot twists. No surprises. No help from any other species. Just the borg queen took Jack and plans to annihilate all … humans? Star fleet? Every life form? That wasn't quite clear.

And your intrepid crew puts their lives at risk … but manage to come through as always and destroy the borg. Again!

Here's to hoping they are done with the next generation crew. I love 'em, but that's enough.

And may discovery, strange new worlds, or what comes next be more enjoyable.

Hypocrisy. As always

So the wife of the guy who wrote the anti drag show law essentially violates the law with some "charity event" that has some innuendo and suggestive attire.

But don't bother these people with facts! Drag show=bad because it's about other people. My wife's show=good because I am the entitled white person.

https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-republicans-wifes-charity-event-flout-anti-drag-law-2023-4

Local TV Stations Are Driving Up The Cost of streaming

A few years back, there was a service that allowed you to stream local tv stations via an app, called localcast (I think that was the name). It was "free" but to cover costs they asked for donations, and would interrupt the stream to ask you for that donation.

They got sued and had to cease operations because "free over the air tv" means it has to be free.

So be it.

And as I'm reading the article below, I'm thinking "hold on a second"… streaming service costs are rising because of the increasing carriage costs of providing local tv channels via this service?! Whaaaa?

What it amounts to is this: in order for a streamer to add a local channel, they pay a rights fee to the local channel. And they pass that on to the consumer.

…And that way everyone wins. Well. The local stations do.

So if I understand this correctly, the problem with localcast was simply that they were not passing along any money to the local stations. Full stop. Everything else was noise.

It's always. ALWAYS. About money.

https://cordcuttersnews.com/local-tv-stations-are-driving-up-the-cost-of-fubo-directv-youtube-tv-hulu-more/


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

The big reveal in Picard season 3 [spoilers]

I was entertained by seasons 1&2 of the Picard series. Good story arcs, interesting characters. It was good. Sure, it's not the happy, altruistic view that gene Roddenberry created for TOS and TNG, but I thought of it as an evolutionary sort of view.

You fought the borg, the dominion, and then had the romulan planet destroyed, which caused dissension in star fleet. The concept was believable in a less certain future.

And so season 3 starts and it's also good. We have the "we're getting the band back together" vibe and it's well thought out. There's the changelings. There's Picards son. Lots of intrigue and mystery.

And then we get to the big reveal. We're going to find out who jack is. Why is he important.

Speculation is rampant. And personally I hoped that they'd bring back a lost storyline from TNG, or maybe some thread from another show.

But please. Please? Don't make it the borg.

The borg were interesting when they first arrived in TNG. But they got overplayed. Then they showed up in voyager too often. Then they were in enterprise.

Season 1 of Picard featured the borg
Season 2 of Picard featured the borg

And of course, season 3 features ... the borg. 🤦‍♂️

I was actually annoyed. Maybe a little mad. Why? Why the borg AGAIN? Sure there's some nice fan service, but it's just so overplayed. Why not literally anyone else?

Here's to hoping that episode 10 changes my opinion on this. Do something creative. Bring back another badass species. Don't just make it enterprise d against the borg.

That kind of sucks

I've worked for the same large company for a very long time - like in the quarter century club long.  It was recently named one of the best places to work.  The quarter results were great and the ceo was doing a victory dance and even said there were no layoffs planned. 

And then, seemingly out of the blue, I got a meeting notification from my boss who told me I was being let go.  My department had recently merged with another one, and my staff position was eliminated.  It was especially odd because someone else who merged in with us, and had a similar job, just left the company.  So in a way two jobs were eliminated, I think. 

Now my boss and I had our issues, which I don't want to dwell on.  I can't imagine that she wasn't involved in the decision to let me go, but neither was it all her doing. Still, it felt personal because I haven't heard about anyone else being "displaced."

I have 30 days to find another job, or I take the decent severance package and look elsewhere. It sucks to be in this position.  Maybe something good comes along, or maybe this is a blessing in disguise in a way.

But what I find a little wild is that in many ways I am persona non grata where my boss has very little to say to me (other than to hand off work) and her bosses completely ignore me. I'm just a number that they dealt with.  

Meanwhile, another member of the team that I'm on has to take leave for personal reasons.  I am sorry for her.  She announces it at a team meeting and tells everyone how great it is that the team is so supportive in taking her work on while she's out.  She says how great the company is in giving her this flexibility.  And goes on to thank the leadership for their concern and communicating with her directly and wishing her well.

Wow.  That was completely insulting, and in my face.  She doesn't know about my situation (why would I tell her?), but that stung.  The company is a great company to work for...until they decide that they don't want you.  Then, all bets are off.