Despite Disney's claims that no man-made formations will be created for the promotion of the forthcoming movie 'Signs', Canadian researcher Paul Anderson has found good reasons to doubt this, as ANDY THOMAS reports...
Earlier in the year (see our January headlines in Archives), Disney/Touchstone Pictures stated categorically that they would be making no man-made formations to promote the forthcoming movie blockbuster 'Signs' (slated by its initial reviewers - see reviews in our May Headlines).
However, Paul Anderson of the Canadian Crop Circle Research Network has reason to doubt this, citing a competition or 'sweepstakes' currently being promoted on the official 'Signs' website. The competition blurb (to be found at http://www.signs.movies.com/sweeps) reads as follows:
*
"Is it a Sign? Win Touchstone Pictures' 'Signs - Destination: Unknown' Sweepstakes and Find Out!
BURBANK, Calif., May 23/PRNewswire/ - For years, the signs have been appearing. From now until June 30th, audiences will have a chance to explore their meaning.
So far this year, four crop signs have mysteriously appeared in farms around the world, with 280-300 expected by the end of the year. Most will appear this July and August - it is not unusual for three or four to emerge suddenly in a single day during the summer months - and now moviegoers will have a chance to see these unexplained phenomena up close.
In anticipation of Touchstone Pictures' 'Signs', the upcoming thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, moviegoers can enter the 'Signs' - Destination: Unknown' sweepstakes. One lucky winner and guest will be flown to the site of the next crop sign occurrence in the continental United States. While there, the winner will record all the strange events on digital video and still camera equipment (provided by Ritz Camera), take a helicopter tour of the site, and get up close in an SUV. The winner will stay two nights in first-class accommodations, and once home, share all the extraordinary happenings with the world via Yahoo! Movies."
*
Putting aside the inaccuracies of the blurb ("280-300" formations is a bit optimistic given last year's count of nearer 150), why the sureness that America will suddenly be receiving formations of note this year, given that it has had very few indeed in the past couple of years, and nothing on a level with the spectacular designs of the UK? Could a widely-publicised competition really risk the non-arrival of a promised formation for the winners, or the embarrassing appearance of something rather scrappier than winners may expect? The only solution to this would surely be to ensure that a good formation WAS available for viewing... Paul Anderson, writing on his website 'CCCRN News', says:
"In light of circulating rumours regarding Disney/Touchstone Pictures possibly having 'many' commissioned fake crop formations being made worldwide (?) to promote the upcoming 'Signs' movie, I personally doubt they would go to those lengths to promote a single movie (an apparently typical Hollywood 'alien invasion' type flick according to reviews from advanced screenings) unless there is a larger agenda afoot to further debunk the whole phenomenon. But it is interesting how they could apparently 'promise' to be able to whisk the winner away to the latest 'real' formation in the USA complete with 'strange events' unless they perhaps had one ready-made and waiting... Disney had earlier publicly denied they would be having any formations made to promote the film."
"If a man-made formation is commissioned to be made for the openly-stated purpose of being used in a film, commercial or contest with a farmer's permission, etc., fine. If, though, such a formation were to be 'passed off' as a real one for publicity purposes, that is irresponsible, although it should be relatively easy to find out which ones they were, as Disney would have legally required the farmer's consent."
"Question is, what are Disney's intentions by doing this? Just pure entertainment or something else? While the film certainly will help make more people aware of the phenomenon, the portrayal of 'evil aliens' being the cause doesn't help serious research, although, as someone pointed out, most of the public now thinks this is mostly nonsense anyway, thanks to some ill-conceived documentaries in recent years. That being said, we should remember this is Hollywood entertainment, not a documentary. Our focus should continue to be the investigation of the phenomenon itself and not get too wrapped up in associated sideline entertainment. The possible danger, though, is that such 'promo formations', if done, could be used to further the idea in the public's mind that the entire phenomenon is nothing but man-made hoaxes and land art, and for that reason we should at least keep an eye on developments like this."
Any lucky competition winners, then, might like to wonder very carefully about the origin of what it is they are finally treated to seeing...
Thanks to Paul Anderson. The Canadian Crop Circle Research Network's website can be found at:
If you bought gasoline in 32 oz bottles it would probably be that expensive too. Things do tend to be cheaper when you buy them in larger quantities and without all the packaging. (Yes, I know you can fill up a 1 gallon tank with gasoline for the same $/gallon as a full tank, but that really doesn't inlcude all the 32 oz bottles.
Oh yeah, there are 128 oz in a gallon, not 64, so the price would be more like $11.70 a gallon. But it's silly to compare them anyway. I could pay $1.99 for the 750 mL bottle of Fiji water or I could pay the $0.005 a gallon from my PUC. It's all about marketing and packaging.
Number of references to Israeli "retaliation" on U.S. network nightly newscasts between September 2000 and March 2002: 118 Number of references to Palistinian "retaliation": 14
Oh, but thanks for generalizing. I'm sure all Palistinians are on Hussein's side just like all Russians were on Stalin's side.
I prefer this PBS article. It boggles the mind, the UK has so much good stuff that US public TV has to import, yet the US seems to be entirely more dependent on TV than any other nation.
Re:Sure, all hardware is documented all the time..
on
Whither 802.11a in Linux?
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
I am so fucking pissed about this. I saw the exploit and immediately put exactly what you say in my sig, and it remained there even after the alleged fix. Stupidly, I tried to change the alert message in my sig, and now it's gone completely! I was so looking forward to spreading my beautiful work across slashdot like yahoo reported.
Man, you must be a cock ranger if you drink Snapple. Unless, of course, you just caught a glimpse of the label while bashing it over some poor bastard's head, in which case I retract my statement.
A source of light, like a lightbulb, is not the source of the shadow. There has to be something in front of it to do that, like a person. And vampires have shadows, it's reflections that they don't have.
And by the way, genius, my training and discipline have saved quite a few lives (including my own) several times.
Hey, me too! This one time I was making a Dinner, and I realized that I had undercooked The Steak, so I threw it on The Barbecue for a few more minutes. If I hadn't thought so quickly, who knows how many People may have been killed by some sort of Food Poisoning.
I suspect that was the intention and Roesch probably solicited Roblimo about the article. I little bit of free stress testing is a good thing, and I can't imagine anyone would be serious when they say they'll hire "linux zealots". It would get a much more favorable reaction to call them gurus rather than zealots, though those two terms are not necessarily interchangable.
I know there are legal issues even for those crappy Estes rockets. Last time I tried to launch one at a park, some overzealous mom called the cops on us and reported our license plate number. I was only standing about 10 feet away from her, so I overheard the whole conversation and bolted pretty quickly after that. So, I'm not sure that what I was doing was illegal, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out. I can only imagine that rockets that would get in the way of the flight path of planes are even more illegal.
Anyway, probably the most fun part of model rocketry IMHO is building them with explosive materials like rubber cement. I've recreated the Challenger tragedy many times with my craftmanship.
Re:"Track Feral books through their captors"
on
Free as in Books?
·
· Score: 1
Are you watching Conspiracy Theory on TNT also? It's on right now... that's some good shit.
Slashdot Mirror
text of article sure to go down:
/PRNewswire/ - For years, the signs have been appearing. From now until June 30th, audiences will have a chance to explore their meaning.
'SIGNS' COMPETITION CAUSES HOAX CONCERN - 14/06/2002
Despite Disney's claims that no man-made formations will be created for the promotion of the forthcoming movie 'Signs', Canadian researcher Paul Anderson has found good reasons to doubt this, as ANDY THOMAS reports...
Earlier in the year (see our January headlines in Archives), Disney/Touchstone Pictures stated categorically that they would be making no man-made formations to promote the forthcoming movie blockbuster 'Signs' (slated by its initial reviewers - see reviews in our May Headlines).
However, Paul Anderson of the Canadian Crop Circle Research Network has reason to doubt this, citing a competition or 'sweepstakes' currently being promoted on the official 'Signs' website. The competition blurb (to be found at http://www.signs.movies.com/sweeps) reads as follows:
*
"Is it a Sign? Win Touchstone Pictures' 'Signs - Destination: Unknown' Sweepstakes and Find Out!
BURBANK, Calif., May 23
So far this year, four crop signs have mysteriously appeared in farms around the world, with 280-300 expected by the end of the year. Most will appear this July and August - it is not unusual for three or four to emerge suddenly in a single day during the summer months - and now moviegoers will have a chance to see these unexplained phenomena up close.
In anticipation of Touchstone Pictures' 'Signs', the upcoming thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, moviegoers can enter the 'Signs' - Destination: Unknown' sweepstakes. One lucky winner and guest will be flown to the site of the next crop sign occurrence in the continental United States. While there, the winner will record all the strange events on digital video and still camera equipment (provided by Ritz Camera), take a helicopter tour of the site, and get up close in an SUV. The winner will stay two nights in first-class accommodations, and once home, share all the extraordinary happenings with the world via Yahoo! Movies."
*
Putting aside the inaccuracies of the blurb ("280-300" formations is a bit optimistic given last year's count of nearer 150), why the sureness that America will suddenly be receiving formations of note this year, given that it has had very few indeed in the past couple of years, and nothing on a level with the spectacular designs of the UK? Could a widely-publicised competition really risk the non-arrival of a promised formation for the winners, or the embarrassing appearance of something rather scrappier than winners may expect? The only solution to this would surely be to ensure that a good formation WAS available for viewing... Paul Anderson, writing on his website 'CCCRN News', says:
"In light of circulating rumours regarding Disney/Touchstone Pictures possibly having 'many' commissioned fake crop formations being made worldwide (?) to promote the upcoming 'Signs' movie, I personally doubt they would go to those lengths to promote a single movie (an apparently typical Hollywood 'alien invasion' type flick according to reviews from advanced screenings) unless there is a larger agenda afoot to further debunk the whole phenomenon. But it is interesting how they could apparently 'promise' to be able to whisk the winner away to the latest 'real' formation in the USA complete with 'strange events' unless they perhaps had one ready-made and waiting... Disney had earlier publicly denied they would be having any formations made to promote the film."
"If a man-made formation is commissioned to be made for the openly-stated purpose of being used in a film, commercial or contest with a farmer's permission, etc., fine. If, though, such a formation were to be 'passed off' as a real one for publicity purposes, that is irresponsible, although it should be relatively easy to find out which ones they were, as Disney would have legally required the farmer's consent."
"Question is, what are Disney's intentions by doing this? Just pure entertainment or something else? While the film certainly will help make more people aware of the phenomenon, the portrayal of 'evil aliens' being the cause doesn't help serious research, although, as someone pointed out, most of the public now thinks this is mostly nonsense anyway, thanks to some ill-conceived documentaries in recent years. That being said, we should remember this is Hollywood entertainment, not a documentary. Our focus should continue to be the investigation of the phenomenon itself and not get too wrapped up in associated sideline entertainment. The possible danger, though, is that such 'promo formations', if done, could be used to further the idea in the public's mind that the entire phenomenon is nothing but man-made hoaxes and land art, and for that reason we should at least keep an eye on developments like this."
Any lucky competition winners, then, might like to wonder very carefully about the origin of what it is they are finally treated to seeing...
Thanks to Paul Anderson. The Canadian Crop Circle Research Network's website can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/cropcirclecanada
ANDY THOMAS
Oh yeah, there are 128 oz in a gallon, not 64, so the price would be more like $11.70 a gallon. But it's silly to compare them anyway. I could pay $1.99 for the 750 mL bottle of Fiji water or I could pay the $0.005 a gallon from my PUC. It's all about marketing and packaging.
THINK ABOUT IT: Where does the electricity come from?
yeah, next time think before you draw a conclusion!!
Thank God we have corporations like WorldCom out there to manage our telecommunications infrastructure instead of the government!
Anyone else confused by this?
Number of references to Israeli "retaliation" on U.S. network nightly newscasts between September 2000 and March 2002: 118
Number of references to Palistinian "retaliation": 14
Oh, but thanks for generalizing. I'm sure all Palistinians are on Hussein's side just like all Russians were on Stalin's side.
Vonnegut was an overrated hack so drop the conceited bullshit and admit to yourself that only retards who can't think for themselves read that crap.
I prefer this PBS article. It boggles the mind, the UK has so much good stuff that US public TV has to import, yet the US seems to be entirely more dependent on TV than any other nation.
Plzfx&diethx
I am so fucking pissed about this. I saw the exploit and immediately put exactly what you say in my sig, and it remained there even after the alleged fix. Stupidly, I tried to change the alert message in my sig, and now it's gone completely! I was so looking forward to spreading my beautiful work across slashdot like yahoo reported.
Man, you must be a cock ranger if you drink Snapple. Unless, of course, you just caught a glimpse of the label while bashing it over some poor bastard's head, in which case I retract my statement.
A source of light, like a lightbulb, is not the source of the shadow. There has to be something in front of it to do that, like a person. And vampires have shadows, it's reflections that they don't have.
There is a difference between educated elite and intelligent elite. Thanks for helping to prove that point.
If you're going to bother to fix that, shouldn't that be One nation, under George, indivisible, with liberty and justice for some...?
How about "it's as difficult as maintaining adequate social skills?"
Yeah, it's real tough looking out for those Al-Qaeda Aircraft Carriers and Submarines. They really keep You on your Toes!
Hey, me too! This one time I was making a Dinner, and I realized that I had undercooked The Steak, so I threw it on The Barbecue for a few more minutes. If I hadn't thought so quickly, who knows how many People may have been killed by some sort of Food Poisoning.
I suspect that was the intention and Roesch probably solicited Roblimo about the article. I little bit of free stress testing is a good thing, and I can't imagine anyone would be serious when they say they'll hire "linux zealots". It would get a much more favorable reaction to call them gurus rather than zealots, though those two terms are not necessarily interchangable.
Anyway, probably the most fun part of model rocketry IMHO is building them with explosive materials like rubber cement. I've recreated the Challenger tragedy many times with my craftmanship.
Are you watching Conspiracy Theory on TNT also? It's on right now... that's some good shit.
So is that a Freudian penis... er slip... or what?
Showgirls is not pr0n. Not even close. But it is the most hardcore thing Blockbuster has, and even then, they had to censor it.
I have tried this trick a few times and must say it works like a charm.
Your link says:
1. Requirements
Microsoft Windows 95,98, 2000, Possibly ME. XP home, XP Pro
But thanks for playing!