What made your day? KAI

[Joseph Goodman]

I found out today that "Gigantis, The Fire Monster" still exists in 35mm, as not one, but two prints. Now, they are part of the collection of a major government institution, and therefore not generally accessible to the public, but it's nice to know that this version exists in some form other than decades-old video masters. In the event Toho ever lightens up about making such versions available again (yeah, I couldn't type that with a straight face), there's at least something usable (maybe).

The real pisser is that I missed a chance to see one of these prints screened back in 2014... I only found the blog post announcing this screening recently, and it made no reference to what format it was being shown in. My email seeking details about this screening is how I found out about the prints in question.

[G-Matt]

I've now seen GvsMG74 twice in 35mm!

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

Finally beat Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I loved it. Just in time for an orchestra event I'm going to be checking out in a few days where they'll be performing music from the game.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Finally beat Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I loved it. Just in time for an orchestra event I'm going to be checking out in a few days where they'll be performing music from the game.

Rebirth definitely feels like a long journey. There’s a great sense of accomplishment upon beating it. I’m just hoping the third one is a little more focused and stream lined. It doesn’t need to be as long as this, just more cohesive.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

Finally beat Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I loved it. Just in time for an orchestra event I'm going to be checking out in a few days where they'll be performing music from the game.

Rebirth definitely feels like a long journey. There’s a great sense of accomplishment upon beating it. I’m just hoping the third one is a little more focused and stream lined. It doesn’t need to be as long as this, just more cohesive.

I think the reason it took me so long is actually because I'm obsessed with doing every little thing in JRPGs. Especially when it comes to FF7. If you just play through the story, I don't think the game is actually all that long. I'm actually happy with them having an obscene amount of things to do in the game. But I think a lot of it just needs to be missable and up to players to discover. And it sounds like the developers actually want to move in that direction for the final game. I agree a little more focus on the main story would be a benefit to the pacing. Let us discover all the extra side stuff on our own, even if it means during subsequent playthroughs.

It does need to be big, though. We still need to see the Weapons, the Northern Crater, exploring underwater in the submarine, Cloud realizing he's been an unreliable narrator the whole time, Hojo getting his comeuppance, etc. And then they have to explain and wrap up all the new stuff. It'll be a substantial game for sure.

I've just been so stoked on the game ever since beating it. I really hope the conclusion of the final game sticks the landing because I've thoroughly enjoyed the Remake series up to this point. More than I've enjoyed a game since maybe The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. And that game is old now, so that's saying a lot.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

Just got home from the orchestra (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) and a night on the town. I have to say that was one of the best live performances I've ever experienced. I've been to MANY concerts of various sizes. And I've played a lot of shows myself. But this was the first time I've ever been to the orchestra and those folks killed it. The conductor was clearly enjoying the music and the first chair violinist really showed her skill with some of the pieces she had to do. And the choir? Absolutely beautiful.

I've always enjoyed classical/orchestral music. Whether it's Vivaldi, Beethoven and Wagner or Shore, Zimmer and Ifukube. But seeing it live is something else. I found some inspiration watching the show. I still write music, but I haven't really had time to record and I certainly don't have time to play in a band anymore. But I may start making time to record. I've got all the necessary equipment.

My thoughts are all over the place right now. I'm definitely rambling typing this out. But I just wanted to share my enthusiasm with this experience. I feel very fortunate to have seen the show and I'll absolutely be checking out the orchestra again.

[Jomei]

That sounds fantastic. I've been contemplating getting a pass for the local symphony. Hmm.

[JAGzilla]

Finding out that the History Channel YT channel finally started a playlist for its mid-2000s series UFO Files, pretty much the foundation of my interest in the UFO subject along with Unsolved Mysteries. I watched this show constantly as a teenager, and I really wanted to revisit it through adult eyes. It's been very difficult to find for the last several years, though, outside of three episodes on Amazon Video. But yeah, about ten-fifteen episodes have been put on YouTube in the last few months. Gonna watch some of those ASAP.

[CrimsonBloodX]

A YouTuber that I've been a fan of for many years, who left YouTube 2012, has returned to the website just out of the blue. Very unexpected, but it made me so damn happy to see him again. His YouTube channel is BoogerBoyMeister.

[Major sssspielberg!]

Apparently Coppola's Megopolis or Megalopolis or whatever has a special material Adam Driver's character uses. It's called Megalon. Meaning Coppola's magum opus he's been trying to get made for 40 years has a significant role for Megalon in it.

[Jomei]

Was a couple days ago, but I got copies of a journal from a university in Iraq that published a poem of mine partially about Mothra and environmental disasters.

It ended up being a nicer issue than I was expecting, and from what I read, it sounds like Sulaimani is actually a pretty cool place with a rich literary culture. Felt very happy to have contributed even a tiny piece to that.

[mikelcho]

Was a couple days ago, but I got copies of a journal from a university in Iraq that published a poem of mine partially about Mothra and environmental disasters.

It ended up being a nicer issue than I was expecting, and from what I read, it sounds like Sulaimani is actually a pretty cool place with a rich literary culture. Felt very happy to have contributed even a tiny piece to that.

That's great! Would you please post the poem on here? I'd like to read it and I'm sure everyone else would, too.

[Jomei]

Was a couple days ago, but I got copies of a journal from a university in Iraq that published a poem of mine partially about Mothra and environmental disasters.

It ended up being a nicer issue than I was expecting, and from what I read, it sounds like Sulaimani is actually a pretty cool place with a rich literary culture. Felt very happy to have contributed even a tiny piece to that.

That's great! Would you please post the poem on here? I'd like to read it and I'm sure everyone else would, too.

Maybe lame of me, but I try to avoid posting print pieces in full.

But here's a sample, and anyone sincerely interested in the whole thing can PM

[Destoroyah of Worlds]

Finding out that the History Channel YT channel finally started a playlist for its mid-2000s series UFO Files, pretty much the foundation of my interest in the UFO subject along with Unsolved Mysteries. I watched this show constantly as a teenager, and I really wanted to revisit it through adult eyes. It's been very difficult to find for the last several years, though, outside of three episodes on Amazon Video. But yeah, about ten-fifteen episodes have been put on YouTube in the last few months. Gonna watch some of those ASAP.

Do you believe in UFOs and aliens? I don't personally. But it's fascinating to think about. I think the explanation is more spiritual than something from in outer space.

[JAGzilla]

Do you believe in UFOs and aliens? I don't personally. But it's fascinating to think about. I think the explanation is more spiritual than something from in outer space.

I feel like Nick Pope, who officially investigated UFOs for the British Ministry of Defense, has the best take on belief. To paraphrase from memory, it's not a matter of what anyone believes. UFOs are plainly a real thing. The question isn't and never should have been "do UFOs exist?" The question is "what are they?"

But speculation and theory do have to enter the equation at some point. I don't know. It's a huge, sprawling, multifaceted subject, much more complex than even most "believers" give it credit for. No one theory cleanly explains every aspect of the phenomenon. There is definitely a lot of evidence to support the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, but then you have to ask why aliens behave so similarly to ghosts, cryptids, fairies/little people, and religious apparitions. And then you can't just write UFOs off as some mystical, intangible phantom presence because there's pretty substantial evidence of crash retrievals at Roswell and other incidents, meaning physical hardware is involved.

And there's also a lot of indication that only certain people can see these phenomena, whatever that means. My family have seen all kinds of ghost and UFO-type things over the years. I'm way more interested in the unexplained than any of them, yet I never see any of it. Even if I'm in the same room when a ghost walks through, I'm looking the wrong direction. They see it, I don't. What the hell? Why? It's all just really weird, and I don't know what to think.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

UFOs are obviously a real thing. The US military has more or less confirmed that. What they are is open to debate.

[JAGzilla]

The military has admitted that UFOs exist, but they're still hiding things and misleading the public. "We need more data" is basically the new line they use to handwave everything away. They've also pretty effectively changed the entire face of the phenomenon. The media conversation these days is centered really squarely on military sightings and videos or commercial pilot reports from 2002 onward, with ordinary civilian reports ignored unless they're blatant hoaxes like Las Vegas or Miami. Major media outlets also made a big deal about calling the Chinese spy balloons UFOs. There's definitely still a coverup in place.

[MC_Lovecraft]

Yeah, there's definitely more to the UFO (UFP now) phenomenon than is shared with the general public. I guess the question is if they know what they are and are covering up their knowledge, or they don't know what they are and are covering up their ignorance? Modern governments seem totally allergic to admitting a lack of knowledge on just about any and every subject, so I think both possibilities are about equally likely.