There's a spin-off in the works -- here and here -- set around the time the Cylons were created by the humans on Caprica. Apparently it's been "in the works" for quite a while, so, no real telling if/when it'll be released.
(Never thought I'd be participating in a convo about anti-coagulants on/., heh.)
I've been on Coumadin (commercial brand for warfarin) for around 3 years now to treat atrial fibrillation, i.e. arrhythmia or a persistently irregular heartbeat. There is no real cure for it, but sometimes electroshock therapy can "trick" the heart into resuming normal operation. I'm not kidding, either... probably one of the only times you would have the electro-paddles slapped on your chest and not be practically dead -- you know, <cue ER moment>"Clear!"</cue>
Of course, the only problem is that you have to have that done fairly soon after developing atrial fib, otherwise the chances of the shock treatment working plummet... for whatever reason, I'm not sure why. Something along the lines of breaking old habits.
Who else here, after learning of warfarin's "other" uses, said, "Well, how about that"? I remember flipping through the dictionary and stumbling upon the "w"'s one day... obviously there's a huge difference in the amount they would shove down a rat's throat and what's contained in these little pink pills, but yeah, that's enough to give your whole day a sickly green glow.
FYI, if you're taking warfarin, the biggest thing you should watch for is eating food rich in Vitamin K. Most green, leafy stuff: loaded.
RPGs aside, as far as action/adventure games go I still get a gigantic rush out of games that can elicit a hearty, sudden "Holy shit!".
The most recent example that comes to mind for me is Aliens vs. Predator 2, specifically in the Marine storyline as you descend into the cargo hold of the Forward Observation Pods -- a few steps behind the Predator. I kept thinking that I would catch up to him, but no: you end up watching him blast his way out of the hold and hijack one of the landers... all the while listening to what's going on over the communications link, i.e., hell breaking loose. I thought that whole scene was incredibly, incredibly cool, not the least because it was in real-time (no cut-scenes to detract from the flow).
Emotional attachment in games is pleasant enough when it's done admirably, sure. But it still is a rarity that the storytelling and execution meshes that well... and the line between feeling actual empathy for characters and thinking, "Wow, this is getting corny." is difficult to walk for game designers since so much has to work right in order to suspend disbelief enough to make someone forget that it's just a "game".
I can appreciate the point you're trying to make, akin to the "people have just about as much free time today as they did x number of years ago, bully for progress" idea, but I would like to correct you on one thing:
Are people really living longer, healthier lives in the post war world? Can we even develop a superior replacement to morphine? Look around you, the vast majority of people in the United States are far from healthy. Compare it to pictures from the depression or something... Humans today look closer to monsters than men.
Nevermind the very valid argument that our obsession puts TOO MUCH emphasis on life, that we should simply let nature take its course.
Speaking as a kidney hemodialysis patient, I am damned lucky I decided to be born in the 70s instead of the 20s or the 30s. Medicinal technology has increased by leaps and bounds since post-WWII, and I do believe the average life expectancy has jumped significantly since then.
But I guess <sarcasm>I should be really happy the good doctors didn't just say "Oh, darn, your renal function is fucked, well, I guess we oughta just let nature run its course"</sarcasm>
That "valid" argument is only valid if you assume you will never find yourself in one of those situations, otherwise you find yourself thinking, "ain't technology grand?" quite a few times.
Star Trek TNG and Buffy are two of the finest television programmes ever made
I'll definitely 2nd that opinion. TNG and Buffy have, I think, been the only TV shows I followed regularly... ever. (Besides Twin Peaks, but I didn't catch up with that 'til 10 years after it aired)
Like there hasn't been enough joking, but...
on
Mice In Space
·
· Score: 1
(likely scenario)
NASA Guy #1: Good. The Velveeta One has returned. I get to keep my job.
NASA Guy #2: Are the mice okay? Oh, they're coming out now... (cootchie-coo voice) How ya little guys doin'?
Mice: We're fine, thanks.
Long pause.
NASA Guy #1: Um. Anyone remember these things being able to talk?
Mice whip out giant death-ray guns. Orson Welles' ghost appears, laughing his ass off.
Everytime I watch 4, 5, or 6 (and very rarely, 1 and 2) I see something new that: doesn't follow continuity; doesn't make sense; is just plain stupid/annoying/plottish/etc., etc. Little by little, though, I'm coming to terms with the fact that Star Wars is dead as far as our generation(s) is/are concerned.
It was definitely our big "cinema experience". Just like you could say the baby boomers' "media experience" was JFK's assassination, or the landing of the Eagle on the moon. Every iteration of the genepool has its own big deal, something that 99% of people can point at and say nifty things like "ayuh, I remember where I was when... blah blah blah" and have someone their age nod and go "yep". The original three SW films were definitely our own. We were first to see anything like that, the first to go nuts about the toys, the comics, the this and that.
If you're a kid of the 80s, you were also the first to play with Go-Bots, Transformers, Speak n Spell, Atari 2600/5200/etc., and so on; ever taken a stroll around a toy store lately? The same toys are still around, only now they're updated, revamped, retooled for the next slew of kids who will play with them, love them and stash them in boxes when they grow out of them.
Movie franchises (and I mean the "summer blockbuster" types) cater towards kids. I would be very surprised if a huge % of the ticket profits from Episodes I & II wasn't from parents' wallets.
Another thought is that the original three episodes were so much better because they were the beginning of the George Lucas Empire. They weren't a phenomenon or a franchise yet; they were a pricey, labor-of-love gamble on Lucas' part. He had to make movies that would be appealing to the whole gamut, and for the most part, he did, obviously.
So if he goes and makes another three... well, they'll be geared towards a whole new generation of kids to whom the original trilogy would seem like someone blubbering to us about the "good old days" when movies were silent, none of that "talky" shit. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's close enough.
I think the only thing I still begrudge Lucas for is him telling Leonard Maltin in the 3-part interview included with the pre-Special (Olympic) Edition three-pack VHS of Episodes 4, 5, and 6: "I'd like to direct again, sure. But I'll probably only direct Episode I, blah blah blah Jar-Jar ha ha you stupid bastards."
Although Ido wouldn't've taken half the shit that Spengler took from Venkman...
Seriously, though... this could be good, barring some sort of greedy bastardization (unfortunately a distinct likelihood with Hollywood, never mind the fact that it's Cameron). The only problem I really see with it is the ending, since Americans are not usually all that keen on action movies that end sort of as a downer. No pun intended, really, for those of you who've seen it.
On the other hand, can you imagine the eye-candy and gore-value?
I don't know the specific title of the track...
on
Underworld Trailer
·
· Score: 1
...but I'm 90% positive it was on the soundtrack for The Jackal.
Damned good CD, too, as I remember.
Either that or The Matrix, which would make much more sense.:D
I haven't seen LotR:T2Ts yet (yes, I live in a cave) but was Gollum really very much of a comic-relief character? All the intelligent observations I've heard about the movie say that he is the epitome of a tragic character. *shrug*
"I think it is time for "Star Trek" to make a mighty leap forward another 1,000 years into the future, to a time when starships do not look like rides in a 1970s amusement arcade, when aliens do not look like humans with funny foreheads,
and when wonder, astonishment and literacy are permitted back into the series. Star Trek was kind of terrific once, but now it is a copy of a copy of a copy."
...which I thought was as good a summary of today's Star Trek as any.
Slashdot Mirror
"Stay tuned for Service Pack Five... Thousand!"
There's a spin-off in the works -- here and here -- set around the time the Cylons were created by the humans on Caprica. Apparently it's been "in the works" for quite a while, so, no real telling if/when it'll be released.
Sorry if this is pedantic, but... it's "Nazis".
Interesting link, though.
(Never thought I'd be participating in a convo about anti-coagulants on /., heh.)
I've been on Coumadin (commercial brand for warfarin) for around 3 years now to treat atrial fibrillation, i.e. arrhythmia or a persistently irregular heartbeat. There is no real cure for it, but sometimes electroshock therapy can "trick" the heart into resuming normal operation. I'm not kidding, either... probably one of the only times you would have the electro-paddles slapped on your chest and not be practically dead -- you know, <cue ER moment>"Clear!"</cue>
Of course, the only problem is that you have to have that done fairly soon after developing atrial fib, otherwise the chances of the shock treatment working plummet... for whatever reason, I'm not sure why. Something along the lines of breaking old habits.
Who else here, after learning of warfarin's "other" uses, said, "Well, how about that"? I remember flipping through the dictionary and stumbling upon the "w"'s one day... obviously there's a huge difference in the amount they would shove down a rat's throat and what's contained in these little pink pills, but yeah, that's enough to give your whole day a sickly green glow.
FYI, if you're taking warfarin, the biggest thing you should watch for is eating food rich in Vitamin K. Most green, leafy stuff: loaded.
Good luck to the others in this thread.
RPGs aside, as far as action/adventure games go I still get a gigantic rush out of games that can elicit a hearty, sudden "Holy shit!".
The most recent example that comes to mind for me is Aliens vs. Predator 2, specifically in the Marine storyline as you descend into the cargo hold of the Forward Observation Pods -- a few steps behind the Predator. I kept thinking that I would catch up to him, but no: you end up watching him blast his way out of the hold and hijack one of the landers... all the while listening to what's going on over the communications link, i.e., hell breaking loose. I thought that whole scene was incredibly, incredibly cool, not the least because it was in real-time (no cut-scenes to detract from the flow).
Emotional attachment in games is pleasant enough when it's done admirably, sure. But it still is a rarity that the storytelling and execution meshes that well... and the line between feeling actual empathy for characters and thinking, "Wow, this is getting corny." is difficult to walk for game designers since so much has to work right in order to suspend disbelief enough to make someone forget that it's just a "game".
I can appreciate the point you're trying to make, akin to the "people have just about as much free time today as they did x number of years ago, bully for progress" idea, but I would like to correct you on one thing:
Are people really living longer, healthier lives in the post war world? Can we even develop a superior replacement to morphine? Look around you, the vast majority of people in the United States are far from healthy. Compare it to pictures from the depression or something... Humans today look closer to monsters than men.
Nevermind the very valid argument that our obsession puts TOO MUCH emphasis on life, that we should simply let nature take its course.
Speaking as a kidney hemodialysis patient, I am damned lucky I decided to be born in the 70s instead of the 20s or the 30s. Medicinal technology has increased by leaps and bounds since post-WWII, and I do believe the average life expectancy has jumped significantly since then.
But I guess <sarcasm>I should be really happy the good doctors didn't just say "Oh, darn, your renal function is fucked, well, I guess we oughta just let nature run its course"</sarcasm>
That "valid" argument is only valid if you assume you will never find yourself in one of those situations, otherwise you find yourself thinking, "ain't technology grand?" quite a few times.
Star Trek TNG and Buffy are two of the finest television programmes ever made
I'll definitely 2nd that opinion. TNG and Buffy have, I think, been the only TV shows I followed regularly... ever. (Besides Twin Peaks, but I didn't catch up with that 'til 10 years after it aired)
(likely scenario)
NASA Guy #1: Good. The Velveeta One has returned. I get to keep my job.
NASA Guy #2: Are the mice okay? Oh, they're coming out now... (cootchie-coo voice) How ya little guys doin'?
Mice: We're fine, thanks.
Long pause.
NASA Guy #1: Um. Anyone remember these things being able to talk?
Mice whip out giant death-ray guns. Orson Welles' ghost appears, laughing his ass off.
end
Hollywood should do a live-action version of Riding Bean instead.
They could fuck that one up all they liked and it'd still be fucking hilarious.
Everytime I watch 4, 5, or 6 (and very rarely, 1 and 2) I see something new that: doesn't follow continuity; doesn't make sense; is just plain stupid/annoying/plottish/etc., etc. Little by little, though, I'm coming to terms with the fact that Star Wars is dead as far as our generation(s) is/are concerned.
It was definitely our big "cinema experience". Just like you could say the baby boomers' "media experience" was JFK's assassination, or the landing of the Eagle on the moon. Every iteration of the genepool has its own big deal, something that 99% of people can point at and say nifty things like "ayuh, I remember where I was when... blah blah blah" and have someone their age nod and go "yep". The original three SW films were definitely our own. We were first to see anything like that, the first to go nuts about the toys, the comics, the this and that.
If you're a kid of the 80s, you were also the first to play with Go-Bots, Transformers, Speak n Spell, Atari 2600/5200/etc., and so on; ever taken a stroll around a toy store lately? The same toys are still around, only now they're updated, revamped, retooled for the next slew of kids who will play with them, love them and stash them in boxes when they grow out of them.
Movie franchises (and I mean the "summer blockbuster" types) cater towards kids. I would be very surprised if a huge % of the ticket profits from Episodes I & II wasn't from parents' wallets.
Another thought is that the original three episodes were so much better because they were the beginning of the George Lucas Empire. They weren't a phenomenon or a franchise yet; they were a pricey, labor-of-love gamble on Lucas' part. He had to make movies that would be appealing to the whole gamut, and for the most part, he did, obviously.
So if he goes and makes another three... well, they'll be geared towards a whole new generation of kids to whom the original trilogy would seem like someone blubbering to us about the "good old days" when movies were silent, none of that "talky" shit. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's close enough.
I think the only thing I still begrudge Lucas for is him telling Leonard Maltin in the 3-part interview included with the pre-Special (Olympic) Edition three-pack VHS of Episodes 4, 5, and 6: "I'd like to direct again, sure. But I'll probably only direct Episode I, blah blah blah Jar-Jar ha ha you stupid bastards."
Oh, that's paraphrased, of course. Yeah.
Although Ido wouldn't've taken half the shit that Spengler took from Venkman...
Seriously, though... this could be good, barring some sort of greedy bastardization (unfortunately a distinct likelihood with Hollywood, never mind the fact that it's Cameron). The only problem I really see with it is the ending, since Americans are not usually all that keen on action movies that end sort of as a downer. No pun intended, really, for those of you who've seen it.
On the other hand, can you imagine the eye-candy and gore-value?
...but I'm 90% positive it was on the soundtrack for The Jackal.
Damned good CD, too, as I remember.
Either that or The Matrix, which would make much more sense. :D
...instead, picture a 50-foot tall Uruk-Hai.
Summer blockbuster.
Oh, and do a google "how tall King Kong" & look at the 3rd hit. heh.
Actually, I was thinking Al as in Al Bundy.
Like maybe... Galaxy Quest with a LOT more skin. (Maybe that would've solved the mystery of the Weaver Breast-Enlargement problem.)
you have to admit, that really isn't saying much.
A jar* could take Jar Jar in a fight.
I haven't seen LotR:T2Ts yet (yes, I live in a cave) but was Gollum really very much of a comic-relief character? All the intelligent observations I've heard about the movie say that he is the epitome of a tragic character. *shrug*
*peanut butter jar, pickle jar, olive jar, cookie jar, whatever, it don't matter.