Agiel

I have a feeling that Funko Pops of Alexei, complete with tiny cherry-flavoured slushie, aren't long in coming.

As a reminder that there was a time in the 70's that bombings carried out by fifth columnists in the United States were nearly daily occurrences, to the point that they hardly warranted coverage in national news, the Baader-Meinhoff gang was carrying out routine bank robberies, kidnappings, plane hijackings, and their own bombing attacks (including on NATO bases), and Italy underwent its own wave of political violence between the far left and right that eventually earned the moniker <<Anni di piombo>>, culminating when Italy's own Prime Minister was kidnapped and subsequently executed by the Red Brigade. Personally I think we do a great disservice with talk of the current generation of so-called "antifas" being even a tenth as bad as far-left extremists were in days of yore.

I probably fit all but two of those criteria.

Trump presses Lockheed to keep open a Pennsylvania plant slated for closure I've banged on about this before, but for as much as the GOP claims to have been the party of the "Cold Warriors" Trump seems to find a lot to love about Soviet industrial policy (i.e. "Nothing wrong with epicly wasteful spending as long as there's jobs in it").

As if the IRGC has never needlessly landed Iran in diplomatic hot water before, or that it's categorically impossible for the Iranian leadership's right hand to not know what its left hand is doing:

https://poll.qu.edu/texas/release-detail?ReleaseID=2625 I was of the opinion over the past few years that Texas is in danger of becoming a purple state inside of two decades, not because of "more brown people" but because of an influx of college-educated people seeking lower costs of living in the state (anecdotally I have a cousin who works for Blizzard who has dreams of transferring to the Austin office for that very reason). Perhaps losing Texas might be the wake-up call the GOP needs to stop shooting itself in the stump where its foot once was.

A theory that's been forming in my head from that Cyberpunk 2077 reveal is that in the gameplay demo it is shown that as part of character creation you can choose who your PC's childhood hero is, among those choices being Johnny Silverhand. My wild guess is that that whoever projects himself to you changes based on what you choose, meaning that there might yet be some celebrity reveals in store (Dave Bautista for Morgan Blackhand and George Takei for Saburo Arasaka for instance).

I still won't be surprised if it still gets delayed into late Summer, and CDPR chooses not to have it as a centerpiece at E3 2020 since independent marketing will already be ready to ramp up soon after.

At the very minimum Rick and Morty gets those of us who are in the hobby.

Word of mouth post-launch has really gotten the ball rolling for this game's fortunes, so you may be waiting some time yet.

Wonder if there's a sense at Beamdog that they've been passed over.

Newest model I'm about to edge highlight. I hope somewhere down the line I look at this and don't think "Man, the half-and-half stripes and diamonds scheme looks stupid" because these guys are a bastard to paint once all the pieces are glued together.

Would be interesting if Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (the real "Boneyard") made it into a future West Coast Fallout game.

Grand Moff Tarkin: Stormtrooper, what is that button on your body armor? Hapless Stormtrooper: A peace symbol, sir. Tarkin: Where'd you get it? Stormtrooper: I don't remember, sir. Tarkin: What is that you've got written on your helmet? Stormtrooper: "Cloned to Kill", sir. Tarkin: You write "Cloned to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke? Stormtrooper: No, sir. Tarkin: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or I _will_ unleash the Death Star on your sorry butt. Stormtrooper: Yes, sir. Tarkin: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man. Stormtrooper: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir. Tarkin: The what? Stormtrooper: The duality of man. The Yoda thing, sir. Tarkin: Whose side are you on, son? Stormtrooper: Our side, sir. Tarkin: Don't you love the Empire? Stormtrooper: Yes, sir. Tarkin: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win? Stormtrooper: Yes, sir. Tarkin: Son, all I've ever asked of my Stormtroopers is that they obey my orders as they would the word of the Emperor. We are here to help the Wookies, because inside every Rebel Scum there is an Imperial trying to get out. It's a hardball galaxy, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over. Stormtrooper: Aye-aye, sir.

"Cyber-Altered Task unit."

I dare not press play on that trailer, but I can't keep the image of that Sonic saying "Death to Videodrome! Long live the New Flesh!" in James Woods' voice out of my head.

Cinema in the American Bible Belt: