Amino Tips and Tricks

I’ve been a contributor to the Amino app communities for quite some time. (I had to set up a new account now that I have a Kindle, but that’s not what this about.) My username is Radical Edward (My old username, Rock Lobster, is still there, but I no longer use it). This post is designed to give tips on how to use the app.

• Don’t use it on a phone or iPod touch. It takes up too much memory and will crash. Plus, tablets have a bigger keyboard anyway. The desktop version doesn’t allow you to edit or make posts, but you can leave comments.
• Level up as much as you can when you first sign in. Many communities are blocked at the earliest levels. You can add reputation points by signing in, leaving comments, posting articles, basically contributing in any way. But if you just lurk, nothing happens.
• Get to know the curators and leaders. They are admins for your community, and deserve your respect and support.
• You don’t need to access Amino+ to enjoy the app. Amino+ is just extra stuff that you have to pay for. I never use it.
• Always obey the community standards. Again, the admins deserve respect.
• Once a week is the ideal contribution schedule. That’s what I do.
• The wiki is always available for you to contribute to, but if your topic is already filled in, it’s best to pick a different topic. The wiki is basically a Wikipedia for the community, and you can contribute to it.
• Use hashtags at the end of your article or in the article yourself. This allows the search engine to find the articles. It also increases your chance of getting featured on the main page!
• And finally, have fun contributing. Again, look for me as Radical Edward!

 

 

Bill Maher, YOU are the child, not us!

Before I start, a disclaimer: I am not a fan of Bill Maher. His smug attitude always reminds me of all those atheists I have met on the Internet who attack Christians for their beliefs in the “Flying Spaghetti Monster”. So when he attacked Stan Lee, I rolled my eyes and thought that was the end of it. I did address him in my tribute, but that was all I did. But lately, he has not refused to give it up. He believes that we are a nation of children–that “only a nation of children would vote for Donald Trump and think comic books are important.” He calls out millennials for their “adulting” and celebrating these superheroes.

Die Hard is Not a Christmas Movie

I may be in the minority, but this is something I am sick of. I am tired of people classifying Die Hard as a Christmas movie. So for my annual Christmas blog post, I will explain why all of you are wrong–Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie.

OK, yes, the movie takes place at Christmas. But time for the setting doesn’t always determine type. If that were the case, then we could say the movie version of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a WWII movie (note: the movie actually does have the London blitz in it, despite that not being in the actual book). In fact, if you took out all the Christmas trappings and made it take place at, I don’t know, Halloween–you’d still have the same story. In fact, of the Die Hard movies, only the first one takes place at Christmas. Even Home Alone’s lesser sequel, Lost in New York, still took place at Christmas.

Top 10 Favorite Star Trek TNG Episodes: Lower Decks

A few years back, I reviewed what I considered were the best and worst episodes of the original Star Trek. While I was writing those posts, I had started rewatching the 80’s version, Star Trek: The Next Generation. Now that I’m on the final season, I’ve decided to do a retrospective for this series as well (And DS9 fans, your day is coming. I’m in season 5 of that now.

Bookworm: Action Comics 1000

When Action Comics hit 1000, I had to get a copy. But I had a problem–there was no comic book shop nearby. My nearest bookstore no longer existed. My solution? Downloaded it off the DC app.

Instead of posting one special story to celebrate this milestone, this issue actually has several stories, celebrating Superman and his legacy. I thought I’d review and rank all of them.

• “From the City That Has Everything” (Team: Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund/Hi-fi/Rob Leigh)–10/10

Summary: Superman fights off a Khund invader and reluctantly returns to Metropolis, where they are celebrating Superman Day. Lois wants him to hear everyone’s testimonies, but he’s too nervous about the invaders.

Review: I liked all the testimonies, including the reformed criminal. It set the tone for the rest of the comic.

• “Never-Ending Battle” (Peter J. Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Alexandro Sanchez/Tom Napolitano)8/10

Summary: Superman battles Vandal Savage across space and time, reflecting on the life and battles he’s had so far while celebrating his birthday with his family.

Review: This may be one of the last stories Tomasi ever does for Superman, and if it is, then it’s a good farewell. Gleason’s artwork was great, but I’m deducting points for the Conner Kent cameo. Way to rub our faces in it, DC.

• “An Enemy Within” (Marv Wolfman/Curt Swan/Kurt Schaffenberger/Hi-fi/Rob Leigh) 9/10

Summary: While Superman fights one of Brainiac’s drones in Japan, a principal in Metropolis has been hypnotized into taking someone hostage. What Superman doesn’t realize is that the drone he’s fighting is what’s controlling the principal.

Review: This story was especially unearthed just for this issue, and is the only story that isn’t new. (For those who don’t know, Curt Swan was one of DC’s most-celebrated artists, and died in 1996) It even ends with a Curt Swan-esque drawing in tribute to him.

• “The Game” (Paul Levitz/Neal Adams/Hi-fi/Dave Sharpe)7/10

Summary: Superman and Luthor take time out from fighting each other to play a game of chess.

Review: This was a great scene and a classic-style story of worthy opponents with Lex at his hammiest. It seemed like something out of Superfriends, but I liked it.

• “The Car” (Geoff Johns & Richard Donner/Oliver Colpel/Sanchez/Napolitano)

Summary: You know that car that Superman is picking up on the very first cover of Action Comics? We meet the driver in this story. 8/10

Review: “Hey what about the car Superman picked up on the cover?” sounds like a good “high concept” story idea. And I like Geoff Johns a lot, even with the controversy that seems to follow him wherever he goes.

Happy 80th Birthday, Superman!

On April 17, 2018, Superman celebrated his 80th birthday! Not only that, but Action Comics, where he made his first appearance, just hit 1000 issues–the first time an American comic ever had that many issues!

Superman was vastly different in his first appearance. The only powers he had were superhuman strength, speed, and leaping–not flying. He worked at the Daily Star, not the Daily Planet. (the old-time radio show changed it and also added Perry White and Jimmy Olsen to the cast) He grew up in an orphanage instead of on a farm. He was more aggressive than he is these days.

These days, Superman is now married to Lois Lane, who once considered him a rival. But perhaps the biggest change is now he’s a father! As a result of the Convergence event, Superman’s son was born, named Jonathan Kent, after Superman’s earthly father.

Celebrating 40 Years of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

For many Star Wars fans, The Empire Strikes Back is the definitive movie of the franchise. Although the franchise debuted in 1977, Star Wars really feels more like a byproduct of the 80’s than the 70’s. That’s how ahead of its time the original movie was. It not only secured the franchise as a permanent part of our culture, but also secured George Lucas’s place as a filmmaker. For better or worse, Star Wars defined him. Even when he tried to do a different movie later in the 80’s, Willow, it paled in comparison to Star Wars. Yes, he also helped make the Indiana Jones franchise. but that was a collaboration with Steven Spielberg. Star Wars was the more definitive movie.

Although I enjoy the series as a whole, Empire is not my favorite of the series. Which one is? You’ll find that out next time. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the movie, far from it. I just don’t enjoy it as much as everyone else does.

Best Star Trek Episodes #1: City on the Edge of Forever

Well folks, here it is, the all-time greatest episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. This isn’t just my opinion, it’s also Roddenberry’s favorite, tied with “The Menagerie” (which was a re-working of the original pilot episode “The Cage”).

From the series’ inception, Star Trek actually had the support of elites in the sci-fi community. When “The Cage” was shown by NBC and Roddenberry to these people, Isaac Asimov himself was in attendance and personally congratulated Roddenberry. But he wasn’t the only elite that supported Roddenberry. He also had Harlan Ellison, who had a special story he wanted to write for the show.

Harlan Ellison was a sci-fi writer who wrote novellas, screenplays, and even scripts, and not just for Star Trek. In fact, when Twilight Zone was revived by CBS in the 80’s, Harlan Ellison was brought on as the show’s executive producer, and wrote many of the scripts. (By that time, Rod Serling had died.) He actually was not pleased with this episode, as he and Roddenberry had disagreements over how the script was supposed to be written. These disagreements soured his relationship with Roddenberry, which is why this is the only story he ever wrote for the series.

The story begins with McCoy treating a comatose patient, and injects him with cordazine. The drug has the potential to cause insanity, but the patient does not appear to be affected.  However, when the Enterprise is rocked by a galactic distortion, he accidentally injects himself with too much of the drug, causing him to become paranoid. Driven by his paranoia, he beams down to the planet’s surface, with Kirk and Spock chasing after him. When they arrive, they discover a “time tunnel” (no relation to the short-lived TV series), which is causing the distortions. McCoy runs through the tunnel, and moments later, Kirk discovers that the Enterprise no longer exists. In fact, neither does Starfleet itself!

Best Star Trek Episodes: Space Seed

When Nicholas Meyer signed on to direct Star Trek II, he actually had little knowledge of what he wanted. To prepare, he watched several episodes, including this one. In fact, if someone had never watched Star Trek, this is an episode I would show.

The story begins when the Enterprise finds the starship Botany Bay. They board the ship with historian Lt. Marla McGivens accompanying them. When they beam onto the ship, they discover there are inhabitants in suspended animation. These are the notorious Khan Noonian Singh and his followers.

Everyone is intrigued with the idea of reviving Khan and his followers, despite their reputation. I like how Spock is bewildered that Khan is actually revered despite his tyranny. This is realistic. There are many notorious people who are still admired to this day.

Best Star Trek episodes: Balance of Terror

Mark Lenard appeared in two classic Star Trek episodes, and both are among my favorites.  I’ve already talked about “Journey to Babel”, so now let’s talk about “Balance of Terror”

The Federation has two alien races as enemies: the Klingons and the Romulans. While the Klingons eventually became allies by the start of Next Generation, the Romulans remained enemies throughout both Classic and Next Generation. While both are warlike, they approach conquest in different ways. The Romulans are such a threat that they set up a “Neutral Zone”, an area of space which the Federation is forbidden to enter. The Romulans can come and go as they please, but if the Federation crosses it, it could start an intergalactic war.

What I truly enjoy about this episode is the parallel between the unnamed Romulan Commander and Kirk. Both are well-respected by their crews.  In fact, the Commander, despite being the villain, is a father to his men. His crew believes it unwise to question any order he gives. They trust his judgment completely.  The Commander knows very little about Kirk’s background, but he sees Kirk as an equal.  Despite the fact that they are enemies, the Commander respects Kirk.