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[itisnotlogical]

My life revolves around a few schedules, namely work, school and the city bus. To make life easier for everybody else, I've printed out many copies of these schedules and put them in places where they cannot be missed. People will still call, text, or just yell across the house to ask when I'll be at a given place. Often while standing right in front of the sheet that says where I'll be and when, every single day for the next two weeks. Arrghlarghl.

[Reelya]

Make an app that they have to download, and they need to click through paid ads to get your details. Point them at the app anytime they ask.

[martinuzz]

You should be glad that you have a cat who is so obvious about being in heat. Perfect signal to keep all doors and windows closed so no tomcat comes in and starts a catsplosion. It should only last a day or two.

EDIT: in other wtf, I learned today that our king regularily flies airliners as co-pilot. Flying has always been his passion, and even though his ascension to the throne forced him to quit his water management function and his position at the IOC, he retained the privilege to fly passenger airliners.
Where before 9/11 the cockpit doors were kept open, and passengers were surprised to see the king flying their plane, nowadays it's mostly incognito. Only those familiar with his voice might notice, when he says 'this is your captain speaking'.

Right now he needs to go back to flight school though. Finally, the government and KLM have decided to quit flying Fokker in favour of Boeing. To still be able to fly as a guest pilot for KLM, he will need be taught the ins and outs of the 737.

Heh, learn something new every day.

[ChairmanPoo]

Do you favor/support your royal family?

[martinuzz]

Not really. I can accept that royals have some value in managing foreign (trade) relations, but I think they should be made to pay tax over their vast assets, and stop recieving state benefits to pay for their butlers, cars and holidays.
I completely fail to understand the craze of millions of people waving orange flags at king's day every year, and camping outside for the night just to get a good spot to see the king.
I would not object to getting rid of them altogether (the royals, not the millions of people waving flags lol).

[Khan Boyzitbig]

At least he is doing something useful what with flying passenger planes. The British monarchy is much less exciting, personally cannot blame the Queen as she is rather old but her children and grandchildren have not that excuse.

[Criptfeind]

Some little kids might enjoy it but they might not get what the whole emoji thing is about. For parents it's just the latest gimmicky thing, but not tied into anything their kids actually like. Are groups of teens likely to want to go watch this? They'd probably find it too childish. Are adult people with phones going to go watch this because they identify with emojis? Let's get real here.

I think you underestimate kids a little bit here. The little kids I know (luckily not a large sample size, so take it with a grain of salt) know what emoji are, and most of them have cellphones. I think it's like, an appropriate subject matter for a cynical cash grab childrens movie. It'll probably do well, for all that it'll be dead in two months, and that's all the makers are looking for, probably.

[Reelya]

No, I'm not convinced. Emojis are a thing on phones, but they're not content. e.g. people aren't emoji fans like they would be e.g. Smurfs fans. Or even Candy Crush fans. The thing is, far better ideas have completely flopped and then people went "saw that coming". There's no target base for this thing. Consider that this isn't a movie that's likely to do well even by direct-to-DVD standards, yet they're giving it a big rollout in the cinema.

Also kids young enough to think this looks cool but old enough to go see this without their parents have probably already seem almost all the Pixar / Dreamworks / CG films that have come out in the last 10 years. So they'll know it's a knockoff of all the other movies that are coming out recently.

[smjjames]

I just realized, it would be hilarious if all the reviews were, get this.... "meh".

[Silverthrone]

Speaking of airborne royals, I doubt that it is true (it is simply too good to be true), but there is this story about that the king of Jordan has personally flown in airstrike sorties against the Islamic State. I rather like that. More royals ought to consider it. Perhaps even get their own aeroplanes with their monograms on them. There is not much room for warrior kings in this day and age, but this is a possible niche.

At least he is doing something useful what with flying passenger planes. The British monarchy is much less exciting, personally cannot blame the Queen as she is rather old but her children and grandchildren have not that excuse.

Prince Harry did serve in Afghanistan. Thus, he has likely contributed more to that war than most of the MPs who were in favour of kicking that row back up.

As for monarchy itself, I am very much in favour. It is a matter of heritage and continuity on one hand, and a symbolic counter-force to the popular election on the other. Direct power of decision and execution should be in the hands of politicians chosen by the public, but I think that it is healthier that they must relate to an office, be it essentially symbolic and unable to carry out real power over the nation, that has not been chosen, that was there yesterday and that will be there tomorrow.
Not to mention, a lot of republicans (as in the literal term, not the American term) that I have met are such crashing bores that I do not wish for them to be satisfied. Indeed, I think the radiating force of their smugness alone would kill me, where the crown thrown onto the scrap yard.

[smjjames]

I suppose having a stable, even if only symbolic, monarch head of state would be helpful in a time of political turmoil, but it ain't gonna happen here in the US.

[Criptfeind]

No, I'm not convinced. Emojis are a thing on phones, but they're not content. e.g. people aren't emoji fans like they would be e.g. Smurfs fans.

I don't claim to understand it, but this isn't true. Emojis have become a thing of their own, I see kids walking around with like emoji plush dolls and hats and stuff. It's definitely a thing. Although you're right I did overstate how successful I think it'll be, "probably do well" I should change to "I could see it doing well". I'm not going to try to claim to understand what makes a soulless childrens movie do well and make strong predictions. And kids who can see this movie alone certainly aren't the target. It's going to be kids pulling their parents to see it or parents bringing their kid to see a safe bet on movie night.

[TD1]

I agree. It's a case of respect, for the past and the present. In the present, the Royal Family's official position is that of servants of the people, in one way or another. They do genuine good work - charities, funds, global networking. As for the past, what would your grandparents say to you abolishing the monarchy? Well done? I doubt it. In times of crisis, the Royal Family gave the nation a back bone, and something quintessentially British to rally behind. I would not, as Silverthrone says, throw that onto the scrap yard just because it is becoming the trendy thing for angsty teens and young adults to say.

I suppose having a stable, even if only symbolic, monarch head of state would be helpful in a time of political turmoil, but it ain't gonna happen here in the US.

You may not have a succession of blood royals, but I often think that the role of symbolic head is more or less fulfilled by the Presidential family. Even have their own palace and all the panoply of ceremony to go with it.

[Reelya]

No, I'm not convinced. Emojis are a thing on phones, but they're not content. e.g. people aren't emoji fans like they would be e.g. Smurfs fans.

I don't claim to understand it, but this isn't true. Emojis have become a thing of their own, I see kids walking around with like emoji plush dolls and hats and stuff. It's definitely a thing. Although you're right I did overstate how successful I think it'll be, "probably do well" I should change to "I could see it doing well". I'm not going to try to claim to understand what makes a soulless childrens movie do well and make strong predictions. And kids who can see this movie alone certainly aren't the target. It's going to be kids pulling their parents to see it or parents bringing their kid to see a safe bet on movie night.

Update: I think I know how they made this and why they don't care whether people see it:

Sony describes the whole thing as an “epic app-venture.” Key product placements in the film will include Candy Crush Saga, Dropbox, Instagram, Just Dance, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube, while apps like Crackle, Facebook, Shazam, Snapchat, and Twitch will also appear in the movie. Per Sony:

Some apps are presented as standalone worlds of their own that come to life in thrilling ways. In the music streaming app Spotify, characters ride rushing streams made of music. In Candy Crush Saga, our heroes are trapped inside the game board and must play through the levels in order to survive.

Basically they took money from a good dozen+ major tech firms to place their apps as the "standard" ones in the phone that are going to be visited. So unlike Wreck-it-Ralphs hypothetical games that represent genres, tech firms have pre-paid a lot of money to have theirs put in The Emoji Movie. The Candy Crush makers have deep pockets for example, and looks like they paid a lot of money to represent the concept of "game" in Emoji.

Of course, the entire thing being based on product placements means a sequel just can't work, unless you can find another 12+ major app creators to back the sequel. So no chance of a sequel, and they already got their money, so it's going to be a pump and dump, and if they're clever they won't hit the marketing too hard (because it could backfire if enough people realize just how bad it is).

[Khan Boyzitbig]

As long as they lead by example and duty is my opinion on the monarchy. Would still rather have a king or queen than a president and would happily fight to protect them because they represent the many kingdoms of Great Britain.