Batgirl III's Character Thread (Simon Baz, Lady Shiva)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

Post by Batgirl III »

I've never been much of a "Car Guy," although having grown up in Metro-Detroit and having a "car guy" for a father, I've absorbed a lot of car culture just by osmosis. But I do really enjoy watching three grumpy old British men bicker with each other whilst they drive incredibly expensive cars around lush foreign landscapes and/or bicker with each other whilst they drive incredibly lousy cars into rock quarry walls at high speed. I mostly just watch the show at random when I've got nothing else to watch or just want some sort of light mindless "background noise" whilst I do something boring like fold laundry or paint miniatures.

There was some sort of early Top Gear that was a "straight" car review show, which by all accounts was quite good if that's the sort of thing you like (my Dad was a fan). But the show really hit its stride with the trio of Jeremy Clarkston, Richard Hammond, and James May and injecting a lot more humor into the show, this is the Top Gear where the Stig was introduced... and then a few years back, Clarkston had some sort of row with one of the producers and punched him. The BBC fired Clarkston, but May and Hammond both quit in solidarity. Top Gear continued on the BBC with a trio of new hosts... and Clarkston, Hammond, and May were approached by Amazon to make a show for their streaming service, The Grand Tour.

The Grand Tour is basically just Top Gear, without the Stig. I haven't seen any episodes of the new BBC Top Gear, since it's not available on any of the streaming services that I currently have. There's also an American spin-off, the creatively named Top Gear America which I've also never watched... But it's got Dax Shepard as one of the hosts.

(I've actually met him and his wife Kristen Bell in real life, not that they'd remember me, and they were pretty cool people. Very friendly. Plus, Shepard didn't mistake my uniform for a Navy one and actually called me a "Coast Guardsperson," which whilst *technically* not the correct nomenclature was closer than most people ever get.)
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Green Hornet and Kato)

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Jabroniville wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:14 am haha, nice. My brother showed us all a ton of Top Gear episodes one time. I really liked it... but never watched it again, lol. No idea what channel it's even on.
The BBC, or BBC Canada for those of us in the frozen north.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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What few episodes I’ve seen, I saw when they were available in Netflix Latin America.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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The Clarkson, Hammond and May era Top Gear is one of my all time favourite shows, I'd say it's probably the show I've watched on repeat more than any other. It was often genuinely laugh out loud funny and one of the few programmes that my entire family would regularly watch together and enjoy (despite none of us really being interested in cars).

There's actually a half hour Top Gear tribute to Sabine Schmitz on the BBC tonight. For those who may not know she was a German racing driver who occasionally appeared on the show and who died recently.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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I watched the old 60's Batman: The Movie last night, and you know what? I will gladly take the kind of campy fun film that movie represents over the Snyder-verse any day of the week, twice on Tuesdays. The film is just FUN. The actors are clearly having a good time, and it completely embraces the cheeseball nature of the Silver Age.

So yeah Snyder, if I'm "living in a dreamworld" because I prefer heroes who act like heroes, I'll take the dream over your nightmare any day.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

Post by Jack of Spades »

Batgirl III wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:37 am (I've actually met him and his wife Kristen Bell in real life, not that they'd remember me, and they were pretty cool people. Very friendly. Plus, Shepard didn't mistake my uniform for a Navy one and actually called me a "Coast Guardsperson," which whilst *technically* not the correct nomenclature was closer than most people ever get.)
What is the correct term, Batgirl?
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Batgirl III
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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“Coast Guardsman” or “Coast Guardsmen,” irrespective of the sex or gender. They tried to get us to use “Guardian” back around 2007-2008 or so, but no one liked it and it was quietly dropped after a couple years. It’s not uncommon for people outside the service to want to say “Coast Guardswomen” or “Coast Guards” so most of us will just roll with it... Believe me, we’ve all be called worse!

“Coastie” is a popular nickname and most Coast Guardsmen will be perfectly happy to be called a Coastie in an informal context. It’s sort of derogatory, but in that kind of way that’s actually affectionate, like calling a Marine a “Jarhead.”

“Puddle Pirates,” “Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club,” and many other unflattering nicknames involving degrees of profanity that would make Ares’ need to drown our forum server in gallons of bleach have been developed for us by the other branches of the service, mostly the Navy. But who cares what those filthy Squids think?
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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I do have to say that one of my favourite Top Gear episodes was the second amphibious car episode. After modifying their cars to make them amphibious (one of which I statted up for M&M in my vehicles thread), they got their challenge. The moment that Jeremy said that they were going to Dover (Douvres in French), every Briton watching knew what was coming next. :lol: They were going to sail their modified car across the English Channel to Calais! Keep in mind that the Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Only one car made it, but all of the hosts did.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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Back in my teens, I was really into open-water marathon swimming. Swimming across the Channel was always a dream of mine... But the logistics involved in it are kind of nuts. You can't just stroll off a beach in Kent and start swimming until you hit the other side. They make you sign all sorts of waivers, you have to have support people, and a passport.

These days, well, let's just say I'm "more buoyant" than I was in my teens and prefer to do my open-water crossing from the cockpit of a sailboat.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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Ares wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:33 pmI watched the old 60's Batman: The Movie last night, and you know what? I will gladly take the kind of campy fun film that movie represents over the Snyder-verse any day of the week, twice on Tuesdays. The film is just FUN. The actors are clearly having a good time, and it completely embraces the cheeseball nature of the Silver Age.

So yeah Snyder, if I'm "living in a dreamworld" because I prefer heroes who act like heroes, I'll take the dream over your nightmare any day.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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Batgirl III wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:08 pm You can't just stroll off a beach in Kent and start swimming until you hit the other side. They make you sign all sorts of waivers, you have to have support people, and a passport.
a) What if they don't see you on the beach in Kent when you start?

b) What if you start from the other side? I'd think having the cliffs of Dover in sight, even if at your 1 o'clock, would help one stay on course.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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a) It’s a 34 kilometers straight-line shot between the two narrowest points and one of the most heavily trafficked stretches of water in the northern hemisphere... The British and the French militaries and civilian law enforcement patrol it regularly, plus all the commercial traffic and pleasure cruisers. You’re odds of remaining unnoticed are slim. Plus, not being noticed is a good way to get yourself killed when one of those ships runs you over.

2) I’m not certain why, but the vast majority of crossings have been from England to France and not France to England. Probably has something to do with tidal currents and/or wind patterns. (As a general rule of thumb, anything and everything nautical can be blamed on tidal currents and/or wind.)
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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In some places, on a clear day you can see actually France from Britain's shoreline, it's amazing to think that the channel, a comparatively small stretch of water was all that stood between Britain and Nazi invasion.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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Batgirl's right, there's next to no chance you can swim the Channel unnoticed. I mean, I've seen with my own eyes the sheer amount of ferries that serve the Dover-Calais route. And anyone who does it wants to be noticed anyway. And I think there are laws in France that restrict or forbid starting a cross-Channel swim from their side.
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Re: Batgirl III's Character Thread (The Stig)

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M4C8 wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:05 pm In some places, on a clear day you can see actually France from Britain's shoreline, it's amazing to think that the channel, a comparatively small stretch of water was all that stood between Britain and Nazi invasion.
Well, the Channel and the Royal Navy. (Okay, the Royal Air Force helped too.)
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