Jack B Nimble

Favorite Questions and Answers of All Time

It was suggested we do a favorite questions and answers post, so here it is.

Beofett suggested the answer to Are all Stormtroopers as poor soldiers as the ones in the movies?, which was answered by Jeff.

This is my single favorite answer on the entire website. It’s one of those answers that just shattered my preconceived notions about one of my favorite titles in a way that makes me enjoy the movies more than I had originally.

Mooz’s favorite question is What is the song of ice and fire? asked by Shevliaskovic

A Pretty underrated question. It’s one of those funny ones where you see it and you’re like “why didn’t I think of that?”. The entire story hinges around this one simple line, and none of us questioned what exactly is the “song of ice and fire”…

His favorite answer is by Thaddeus to the question Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?

Thaddeus always takes the time to give us well-researched and wonderfully formatted answers, he even gives us a nice tl;dr for all of his answers. This one stands out for me as I really enjoyed the subject matter and all of the links and extra reading linked in the answer.

Slytherincess has exactly 3 questions favorited.

Why didn’t Fidelius charm on Shell Cottage stop the heroes from apparating there from Malfoy Manor? asked by jogabonito. Why did the Fidelius Charm on the Potters’ house break? asked byKevin. And the infamous Is Santa Claus a Time Lord? asked by Tango

She asked How Was the Sound of the Nazgûl Composed? and received an answer from Gabe Willar.

Gabe Willard’s answer was absolutely the most surprising and unexpected one I could have imagined! The question is just okay, but the answer is unbelievable.

Darth Satan has a favorite answer, his own. To the question Word for female dunedain asked by Envite.

At the risk of a (probably fair) accusation of self-promotion, I was very happy with the detective work I got to do for my answer to “Word for female dunedain”. I understand why it only got +8 rather than the obvious +several billion it undoubtedly deserves (smiley goes here) since it was a farly niche-interest question, but it’s still amazing what one can dig up in obscure footnotes and side-references.

Richard liked the question Who, or what, are the human characters in the original 1977 Hildebrandt Star Wars poster? asked by Major Stackings.

It took me a while to puzzle out why the poster (drawn after the film had been made) looked like it had completely different actors on it.

SQB says What is the origin of the phrase “on the gripping hand?” asked by Bill the Lizard and answered by Gilles.

…because I learned something that I didn’t even know I could learn.

DVK has a number of favorite questions, of which he predominately answered.

The top 4 favorite questions on the site are:

The Flash – Pilot Episode

The show opens with an 11 year old Barry Allen coming downstairs to see a swirling yellow and red thing encircling his mother. Suddenly he is teleported a few blocks away from his house. By the time he makes it back home, his mother is dead from this mysterious presence.

The Flash

Flash (pun intended) forward to a now 20-something Barry Allen. He is a junior forensics analyst for the Central City police. He’s a scientist (Batman’s a scientist!) and he is excited for the opening of a Star Labs in his town with a new particle accelerator. He ends up missing the opening day and returning to his lab only to see an explosion in the distance (the particle accelerator) and an energy wave pass through the city. Some of the energy collects above his lab and he is struck by lightning, and then rushed to the hospital (who knew to call an ambulance for him? He was alone).

At the same time his adoptive father is running down a lead on a couple of bank robbers who drive a Mustang (product placement). The perps manage to escape in a plane, but not before the same energy wave hits their plane, destroying it and leaving the two presumed dead.

Barry Allen awakens from a coma nine months later and has the abilities of The Flash (i.e. super speed and super reaction time). He works with a few people from the now defunct Star Labs (the explosion really spooked the investors) and not only starts to learn his own abilities, but also learns of the existence of other meta-humans that were created as a result of the particle accelerator gone bad.

When a man who can control the weather starts robbing banks (you might say he is something of a wizard at it) Barry has to decide if he is going to use his newly found powers for good. He has a short conversation with Arrow about it, and ultimately decides to go all super hero and become a vigilante.

Overall I thought it was a pretty decent pilot episode. I’m much more of a Batman fan, but I enjoyed The Flash pilot a lot more than I enjoyed the Gotham pilot. Gotham is apparently all about silly cameos and corrupt cops, while The Flash has a lightheartedness to it that makes it fun. I couldn’t really get into Arrow, but I’m definitely going to be following this sister-series.

Things I noted;

  • The mysterious death of Barry’s mother is obviously going to be a major plot point. Particularly since it makes a viewer think that Barry himself could potentially be responsible.
  • Barry has already revealed his secret identity to five people. This means he tells his secret faster than Batman. I wonder if that will become an issue down the road…
  • We’ve already seen a major antagonist of The Flash perish. Comic Tv shows and movies seem to hate recurring villains, I guess that is why they die so often.
  • The explosion, which potentially affected lots of people, opens the path for many meta-humans to appear in The Flash and in Arrow.
  • We see a news article 10 years in the future which says that The Flash mysteriously vanished during a crisis. Is this the kind of crisis that could span infinite Earths?

Highlights from 2014 – 3rd Quarter

The question with the highest score and the most views was Why did the Matrix simulate 1999 instead of a pre-computer year?. This was also a favorite question of Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart. He felt it was a “good question that provoked a pretty good range of answers.”

The question with the highest answer score was Hogwarts: So why aren’t the kids “doing it”? which was answered by Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart.

Close behind it was the answer to Why was Han Solo on Tatooine? asked by TZHX, which was a favorite answer to the aforementioned Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart. It was answered by phantom42.

Speaking of “the phantom,”* he liked the question Whose underwear is this? which has the advantage of being in the #2 spot for up-voted questions, and is more appropriate than the Harry Potter sexy times question. * (not actually a phantom)

He also liked the answer to Is Big Brother an actual person in the novel 1984? asked by Santa Claus (he doesn’t have any claws at all!) and answered by Thorsten S.

Was your favorite question/answer callously forgotten? Drop a link in the comments (scifi.SE links only).

Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 Report

Well Attended, Not Well Organized

The 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con saw over 120,000 attendees. Thursday evening some people still weren’t getting their wristbands until ten minutes before the convention hall closed. This was particularly frustrating for people who had purchased a 3-day pass. Saturday, the last day of the convention, more than 90,000 fans came to the Salt Lake Convention Center (Salt Palace). The line to get in (even for those with wristbands) stretched around the block and then some, as capacity was at its maximum. All tickets had been sold by Saturday around noon, but lines outside persisted well into the afternoon.

mainhall

Convention Floor - Courtesy of Salt Lake Comic Con
Convention Floor – Photo courtesy of Salt Lake Comic Con

Convention Floor

Tom Cook – animator and director of a number of 1980s cartoons (He-Man, She-Ra, Ghostbusters, Bravestar, Blackstar).

On Blackstar, the Wikipedia entry says:

John [Blackstar]’s race is not specified in the series, though it is often speculated that he could have Native American heritage.

However, as I was visiting his booth I heard Toom Cook explain how Blackstar was originally meant to have black skin, but the networks didn’t like it. Instead the title character was changed to have deeply tanned skin.

Tom Cook
Tom Cook

I saw a couple of Groots, and their costumes were pretty good.

groot
I am Groot.

The Utah Lego Group was back with more builds.

batman
Lego Batman
friends.
And friends.

Eventually I got thirsty, but fortunately I found an oasis.

Voldemort isn't the only one who likes to relax with a glass of blood to wind down.
Voldemort isn’t the only one who likes to relax with a glass of unicorn to wind down.

I also saw this, when I peeked my head in, I was just a little bit frightened.

Cosplay your way into love.
Cosplay your way into love.

Panels

I attended a couple of panels while I was there. This being my first panel experience I learned a few things.

  • When you line up for a panel, there are no ropes or anything to keep the snaking line from merging, even when they press the lines together. Despite this obvious flaw, people tend to be honest and snake along their given path and not cut.
  • Sitting near the edges is a great way to go deaf from the speakers
  • Most panels are comprised of random fans and not celebrities or people in the actual know.

The first panel I attended was 75 Years of Batman. This panel consisted of six people talking about their favorite aspects of Batman, from comics, to films, to villains, and everything in-between. I left this panel early to make sure I made it into the next panel (Marvel Movies: Phase III). Panels might not be my thing. I’d like to see more insiders and less random local people.

Syfy Z Nation

Everyone knows that San Deigo Comic-Con is the place to see new trailers and test footage for upcoming movies. While Salt Lake Comic Con may bring in SDCC levels of attendance, it hasn’t reached the point where it the place for new content. That’s why I was happy to see that the Syfy Channel premiered the pilot for their new series Z Nation at SLCC.

SLCC’s place on the calendar might make it a good spot for upcoming fall shows to tease footage and other things. What SDCC is for movies, SLCC might be for television.

Salt Lake Comic Con will return in September 2015

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