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Ah - The Zorg approach to things. Don't forget the people who maintain the roads that those materials are shipped over, and so on...

... a hydraulic accumulator off an airplane.

The question is: Which airline has a lousy enough maintenance record not to miss it?

Probably the same one that lost an engine.

From the news:

Casey Wong: On the international scene, the Amazon nuclear facility has blown its stack, irradiating the world's largest rain forest. Environmentalists are calling it a disaster.
Jess Perkins: But don't they always.

(Wondering if you'll understand the joke here...)

> I'm glad to hear that they've kept the Misty Mountains song and I'll be greatly disappointed if an updated version of "Funny Little Things" or "Down, Down to Goblin Town" doesn't make the cut also.

Not me. The Misty Mountains song was given a great treatment -- it sounds wistful and eerie. I'm told the Break Plates song will be in there also. But seriously, do we really need The Hobbit to be a musical? There already is one and it was horrible.

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003669/

Like others, reading the books brought me into a new world when I was a kid. Unfortunately, though, the original cartoon version of this scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. I wonder if my kids will be scarred from this version?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/

From back when Hollywood bad guys weren't all from the Middle East.

I'd actually also add Jane Austen to the list. Her books are funny, satirical, and insightful; the fact that she still has a cult following nearly 200 years after her death, and one big enough to make a movie aimed at her fans, should be evidence that she's worth a try. One of the things that makes them so good is that each of the books follows the general form of a romance novel of her time, but subtly deconstructs it. I'd recommend starting with Pride and Prejudice as the most accessible. Her books are easy to download from the internet, but if you can get a copy with good notes, that helps a lot.

WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

I hear they are taking applications for the best human guinea pig reality show ever.

Except that the plane returned to the factory unassisted with the tanks back to empty (and clear of fumes) and the only way anyone knew what had happened is that there were several reports of an unpainted 747 flying overhead.

Oh and by some miracle the engine lifecycle had been reset to zero and the engines and all other parts that would have experience wear were magically returned to new.

In fact it was later revealed that it was all a magic trick and the thief/pilot had simply generated an illusion of the plane that the security guard saw fly away and plunge into the ocean after a parachute was seen opening a minute earlier.

In fact... no, your analogy was shit because no single use only physical object was stolen (except for perhaps a physical DVD disc). All the data, and work and editing and props and Hugh Jackmans and such were all still in place and available for post production work if necessary and the movie still went on to make stupid money:
Budget: $150,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $85,058,003 (USA) (3 May 2009) (4099 Screens)
Gross: $373,062,864 (Worldwide) (1 October 2009)

Looking at photos of him walking around with other party members makes me think that it's like a sadean novel going on at the nation scale.

The Vulcans did on just one Warp signature (and Cochrane's smell of booze spanning the solar system, which does make a second data point). ;-)

...not that movie. ;-)

Billy Beane did just this with sabermetrics. (The new film Moneyball is based on this).

Long before he book and movie were made Business Week (or similar magazine) had an article about it. He stopped looking at the human equation in baseball and started looking straight at statistics. And statistics of statistics. Stuff that you wouldn't even think about considering. "He hits 90% of the balls and 45% of those hit earn him a double when the pitcher is left handed." Then started to assemble a team of cheap players that statistically worked together.

they have an incredible piece of scientific equipment known as the Tunneling Electron Microscope. Now, this microscope is so powerful that by firing electrons you can actually see images of the atom, the infinitesimally minute building blocks of our universe. I were using that microscope right now, I still wouldn't be able to locate my interest Facebook.

Credit where it is due

-----------------

Ctachpas is "boring". How appropos.

What makes you think it's honest, or that it's mourning for Kim Jong-Il?

In the absurdist documentary The Red Chapel, the director speculates that when their North Korean guide starts crying at the monument to Kim Il-Sung, she is actually crying for her relatives who died under his policies.

Simple -- Zuckerberg just has to correspondingly change his identity.

That next step was the premise for a Star Trek:TOS episode http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708414/. They had found that you have to actually kill the humans after the computer based battle though.

"Teacher: All you need to say is two words... two specfic words, though. What they are? 'Not. Guilty.' "
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116731/quotes

How about a 91/30 for $79; which is an actual piece of history. Mine is old enough it very likely was used in WWII. A lot of people use these weapons for hunting. Mine shoots roughly 1.25 MOA at 100 yards, which is slightly better than average. The 7.62x54r has ballistics roughly equal to a .308 even though its been around since the dinosaurs. The weapon is not a refined weapon to say the least but its easily usable to drop large, North American game out to 500-600 yards or so; assuming you have the eyes to do so with its ladder iron sights. And if you know any WWII war buffs, its a very affordable gift. Add to the fact that surplus ammo is dirt cheap for it, its without a doubt the best bang for the buck.

If you want to "plink" with the rifle, a $10 rubber butt stock is an absolutely must. The straight stock will pound the holy crap out of your shoulder if you don't get the rubber butt which replaces the steel plate. My shoulder was literally black and blue for two weeks after thirty rounds without the rubber butt plate. Really makes you appreciate what they did in battle whereby they might have fired thousands of rounds over a couple of continuous days. It even has fairly accurate ladder sights good enough to hit a man-sized target out to 600-800 meters; depending on the shooter and rifle.

Cons: Jackhammer straight stock. Tough trigger which takes some practice; though it can be somewhat improved if you're so inclined. Ladder sight is calibrated for meters, not yards. Hard to use safety - has probably never been used. Very long barrel.
Pros: Piece of history and might have even been used in WWII. Frugal, fairly accurate (assuming barrel is still good), high powered rounds. $80 will buy a near lifetime supply of ammo. They're just cool and an frugal way to get into hunting and shooting.

And if you care, they can be pretty accurate rifles. The sniper variant was randomly picked from bulk lots. They were not specially made. This means its possible to get a rifle which actually shoots 1-MOA or better without ever having served as a sniper rifle. And if you've ever seen Enemy At The Gates, these are the rifles. These rifles, sniper and otherwise, killed many a German soldier and sniper.

"Against our will they sell off our rivers, our wells, our lakes, and even the rain that falls upon us"

Wow that was a scare, this Mike Babcock is an associate of mine, though you appear to be a different one.

Your mama's so fat, she doesn't indent with a tab, she indents with a Fanta.

A few things to keep in mind about truckers:

First, truckers have a Commercial Drivers License. You can't just walk in to a trucking company with your Class C license and get a job as truck driver. No, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get a Commercial Drivers License, but it isn't all that easy to get one, either. Which means you've received more training than your typical driver.

Second, cops love to bust truckers. And, at least here in California, a Commercial Drivers License usually means that fines are doubled. You're a professional driver, right? You have less excuse than others when you do something wrong.

Third, an accident usually means the end of your truck driving job because the insurance for the company just goes too high.

Truckers are generally much safer drivers. Between the training and the consequences of a mistake, they'll err on the side of caution. And that means they'll put down the CB radio if it becomes a distraction.

I know, I loved Smokey and the Bandit as much as the next guy. But it's a movie. It isn't real.

I'll stand up and say that you're wrong - or, since you're judging art, at least in the small minority. That story you linked to praises the movie and gives several reasons why it's in Roger Ebert's list of "Great Movies". You gave no reasons why you think it's horrible. The movie has a very high 8.7 out of 10 stars at IMDB.com based on over 100,000 user ratings. It was nominated for 5 Oscars the year it came out and, although it didn't win any, it has won other awards. Perhaps being in the public domain has helped the movie - but that's not the only reason it's remembered.

I'll stand up and say that you're wrong - or, since you're judging art, at least in the small minority. That story you linked to praises the movie and gives several reasons why it's in Roger Ebert's list of "Great Movies". You gave no reasons why you think it's horrible. The movie has a very high 8.7 out of 10 stars at IMDB.com based on over 100,000 user ratings. It was nominated for 5 Oscars the year it came out and, although it didn't win any, it has won other awards. Perhaps being in the public domain has helped the movie - but that's not the only reason it's remembered.

hehe I just watched Taken. Pretty decent and better than I expected.

Could this be part of a marketing campaign?

"In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/

Just joking...

You must be a youngster. You forgot about the movie star that was in charge of California for several years...then was in charge of THE COUNTRY.

We all need to see Being There again (or, for the first time)...

Well, there are pet rocks, and then there is pet rock.

I'm not sure I'd prefer being sexually assaulted by either kind.

They would probably just replace the rocks with potatoes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/trivia

not seen that one, although the premise sounds familiar.

*From my recollection having watched the entire series back to back several times: Humans have colonised the Moon and Mars. Following the decision to send a manned mission to Jupiter and after a series of disasters in low Earth orbit, the decision is taken to clean up the thousands of pieces of space junk - something best left to private enterprise since it would cost Governments far too much to do it themselves...

Anyone remember the movie Looker ( http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3767927065/ ) where the would scan in perfect models and make them more perfect in the computer then kill the original model? Great movie and the technology is here.

Yah Explorers is awesome. I bought the DVD a few years back and watched it with the kids (12,14) they loved it. Its on par with Stand By Me. Contact is pretty cool also.

Few others I downloaded in the last few months

Flight Of the Navigator http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091059/
My Science Project http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089652/
Monster Squad http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093560/

Damn the 80's had lots of cool movies for kids.

Yah Explorers is awesome. I bought the DVD a few years back and watched it with the kids (12,14) they loved it. Its on par with Stand By Me. Contact is pretty cool also.

Few others I downloaded in the last few months

Flight Of the Navigator http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091059/
My Science Project http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089652/
Monster Squad http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093560/

Damn the 80's had lots of cool movies for kids.

Yah Explorers is awesome. I bought the DVD a few years back and watched it with the kids (12,14) they loved it. Its on par with Stand By Me. Contact is pretty cool also.

Few others I downloaded in the last few months

Flight Of the Navigator http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091059/
My Science Project http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089652/
Monster Squad http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093560/

Damn the 80's had lots of cool movies for kids.

And don't forget this classic TV show from the late 70's: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078681/

one of my favourites. This one, too, although I think the several trillion Dollars cost is a bit out of most peoples' reach...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/

Exactly. That's my first assumption, too. Haven't more people seen S1M0NE?

Well, since they sell clothes, not computer models, it may be better to think: S1m0ne.

The movie missed many opportunities to explore the implications of a realistic virtual actor/model, but it was a start. Certainly a better example than JJ.

It's a freaking camera. A book by it's operator would be more interesting.

The camera's operator was a guy named Gil Taylor. Taylor is famous as a british DP for shooting Dr. Strangelove and the Richard Lester's Beatles films, A Hard Day's Night and HELP!, among other things, but he was a notorious fuddy-duddy ass on the set of Star Wars and was constantly undermining Lucas to the crew. He's had little positive to say about the experience.

He's still alive, at 97, if you wanna shoot him an email :)

And by definition, black swans cannot be modeled at all.
 
... because after all these years, I'd still let Natalie Portman model me with a bowl of hot grits anyday.

The problem is that Hollywood is riding a pricing bubble and they know it. The only way for them to stay on the gravy train is to keep a crushing control on the advertising and the distribution of films. Any new player in distribution is a threat that needs to be dealt with.

Look at it this way. Nowdays the filming equipment is cheaper then ever before, both the pre-production and post-production process is faster and cheaper with the current technology, there are dozens of skilled actors auditioning for every role, the CGI is cheaper every year... All in all the cost to make a movie should be maybe half of what it used to be 20 years ago.

So why aren't movies cheaper? Why doeas a production of a comedy without action scenes, special effects or difficult filming locations cost 80 000 USD?

Because they can sell it. Because they are in control.

Dilute the control and the bubble will burst

Hence the Hollywood's resistance to new distribution schemes.

If they come back looking like Tricia Helfer I won't be complaining

Please spell Persis Khambatta correctly next time.

Didn't anyone else see Southland Tales? I don't think we can take this risk too lightly.

In Firefox, create any bookmark, use %s for the placeholder, and give it a keyword.

E.g.

http://www.imdb.com/find?q=%25s&s=all
keyword: imdb

=> typing "imdb name of movie" in the URL bar searches for the movie on IMDb.

Also, right-clicking any Search entry field should give you the option to create a keyword for that search ("Add a keyword for this search"). Just type a name for the bookmark and give it a keyword.

They say the most Harley owners 'detune' their new bikes just to get the right sound out of the muffler. With the way that things might be going, I wonder if some won't miss their cars making engine sounds, not to mention blind people.

Come on, man, hasn't anybody else seen The Delimma?

I see Bugs Bunny's Black Jacque Shellaque character saying "Sacre Iliac!" instead.

You learned that from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Send a probe and hope that Not Sure figures out how to communicate with it.