JsARCLIGHT

Hey, it's a good thing this thread came back. I'm helping a guy I know handle his father's estate (his father having died this week) and his dad had some pretty wicked things hidden away in his old house out in the sticks. Just now Derrick came by and dropped off a bunch of stuff he found for me to sort through and sell for him and three things stand out from the pile: A DEWAT MP-40 submachine gun, most likely a capture his dad made in WW2. A Nazi waffen and eagle proof marked Luger (also a capture) that appears to still be functional... and a whole mess of other GI and European theater related things. Some of this stuff is contraband and I'm not sure where or how to dispose of them (a few of what I assume are captured Nazi flags, arm bands, pins and other such things) so we might just end up burning most of this stuff. (sorry to the WW2 fans out there but I feel a bit wrong dealing in Nazi memorabilia and so does Derrick so we have deemed most of this stuff to be "trash barrel burning" material) but as for the DEWAT MP-40 and the Luger I might just pay Derrick to keep those as they are rare as hell and kind of cool. Who here can't always use a wall-hanger Mp-40 Derrick had no clue his dad had all this stuff, so word to those out there with older Grandparents and parents that served in the military durring WW2... ask them if they have any bring-homes because you might just score a nice pile of loot!

Soooooo this is going to differ from the Powerpuff Girls, Kids Next Door, Dexter's Lab and all the other cartoons they run on CN how again exactly? If you break most of today's american cartoons down to brass tacks they are not much but vehicles aimed at the kiddie market to sell toys or just be a nice low hum of nonsense that they can wrap their simple minds around. As one of my college professors said when he yelled at us for making fun of Barney: "That show is not intended for you, you are accusing it of being just what it is... a simple show for young children. No matter how stupid it seems to you it is the best thing since huggies to those toddlers as they have not had the twenty some years of learning and experience you have." Although to me the show looks stupid as the day is long there is some mouth-breathing 6 year old out there who will eat this up like candy.

Oh for the love of... OK I get it now. This has to be one of those dumbest things I have ever seen. Just randomly typing in numbers I was right more than half the time and when I saw the "pattern" I just about laughed my ass off. This is someone's idea of a cruel joke.

I don't get it. I pressed roll, entered a number that I love to use and it says I got it... on the first try... Did I miss something?

Wow, that is kind of a shock to me. In my circles it is the young people who are the most accepting and least ingrained in old tyme stereotype and racism... but then again I guess it all goes back to who you are and what circles you live in. It is proof positive that if you grow up in a racist home you will inherrantly pick up some racist tendancies, even without your wanting or knowledge.

OK, I have a question here for all parties involved and no, my use of this word and my asking of this question does not make me a racist or insensitive to the feelings of others: Is it just me or like Ewilen said is "Oriental" not an outdated word just like "Colored" is? I mean, I never hear the word oriental anymore in any context and if I did chances are it would be coming out of the mouth of a senior citizen. I have been operating under the assumption for years that people like to be refferred to by their names first and foremost or by sir or madam or miss second. It seems to me the only people in this day and age that revert to racial titles are the police (when putting out APBs) and people too lazy to learn someone's name or too rude to say "excuse me sir". But on the other side of the coin you have racial groups taking pride in their race. There is nothing wrong with that but it is still drawing dividing lines between people... then again I am a white palace believer that everyone is the same no matter who they are or what their race. Most people would be like me if they had some exposure to other peoples in other places as I have in my life. Most people in today's world live in their own little cloistered worlds and have no exposure to people other than people just like them and this breeds the "them and us" mentality that exsists and has exsisted since the dawn of time. We will all start getting along better when we drop the differences and embrace the similairities... but there are more people willing to embrace difference right now than there are those willing to embrace likeness and it is still tearing the country apart. But there is no reason it should tear apart MacrossWorld so let's all just step back and reassume our "internet race-less identities" and treat each other as macross fans and not care about who is what.

Graham is but a dream inside the head of the dreamer. You cannot touch Graham without first becoming one with the dream.

Tips for hiding valkyrie purchases from fiancee: - keep old power tool boxes, they make excellent trojan horses for smuggling new toys into the house - make yourself a special toy hiding place in the house. Usually a nice big cardboard box in the basement that has "Spare Toilet Parts" written on it works well - pay for everything with paypal and mark the withdrawls in your checkbook as "car parts" or "lumber", something she will not question - practice saying "no honey, that's an old one. Gee, you should pay as much attention to my hobbies as I do to yours!" (start sobbing, works every time) - don't openly play with the new toys more than the old ones, if she sees favoritism she may look closer at that toy - don't buy things that are very different from what you already have. Diversity is a good thing in the workplace but in a toy collection it will draw attention. - if you see her counting your toys, remove old ones before adding new ones. Hide the old ones in your special hiding place (see above) - whatever you do, when she asks if you want a toy for your birthday, christmas, holiday, etc. always say yes, this way she thinks you are not getting any on the side - when she sees or hears you talking with another collector about toys always say "yeah, I wish I had that one" rather than "oh yeah, I've got the whole set!"

I myself had three PS1's. First one was a first gen that you could spoof... motor went up in flames. Bought the next one when they switched from the 3 sepparate RCA jacks to the unified speical cable... that one's laser stopped working. Bought the third and last one when it became the "PSOne", the smaller white one. It lives to this day in a box in my closet next to my Super Nintendo in the land of forgotten games. I loved my PS1 but damn that thing was a piece of crap.

Hang on... if you read the fine print they are selling the Voltron as 3 sets? Soooooo... are the 3 sets then boxed as one set or are they selling them as three sepparate sets? Just what is the deal? ... oh and does anyone remember the Matchbox Voltron reissue that came out to Toys R Us stores in like 1998 that had all the original metal lions de-neutered with launchers, lion weapons, sword accessories and all other manner of neat kitch?

If a person is a man/woman older than you, you call them sir/ma'am. If a person is a man/woman younger than you, you say "hey you" If a person is wearing stripes you call them Sarge because they work for a living. If a person is wearing shiny metal on their collar you call them sir. If a person is being an ass you call them an ass. If a person is being a dork you call them a dork. Race has nothing to do with it when you use the right polite/impolite words. The only color the army sees is green and the only nationality I see is American. If you live in this country and are a citizen you are an American. Once you come to America it corrupts and mutates you into an American anyway... just try going back to your home country once you've been "Americanized". Chances are they will call you an American then, too. Everyone else from other countries you are Chinese, Japanese, French, British, you name it. If I don't know your nationality I call you by the chart above until I know your name or your nationality... and chances are when I know your name your nationality does not matter any more.

Holy cow is this a slow news day or what? Every news channel and a few of the networks are loaded to the gills with Ronnie. I was born under Nixon (and didn't notice... I was a baby after all), grew up under the watchful eye of bumbling Ford and the peanut farmer Carter and was just smart enough to know what was going on (and care) when Ronnie the Raygun took office. As far as I'm concerned as someone else said he was the president of my youth and outside of a few small things like trading arms for hostages he was IMHO the last noteworthy president we had. He was also the last president I actually "liked". So in a sense I'm sorry he is gone but heck he was 93! Most people don't live that long. I wonder if we will have this much fanfare when Carter bites it?

Michael Moore is just a propagandist. He latches on to a topic that he himself may or may not be fond of and then proceeds to muckrake, inflame, insult, slander and in some cases just outright bend the truth to suit his needs. He is not a director, he is a partisan with a camera.

... and did you also know that I've been looking for that damn special cut of the song for 12 years and have not found it? And only the last 3 episodes where in mexico? wow. I must have seen those same three episodes like ten times that season because it felt like an entire season's worth to me...

... but then don't forget the last season... in Mexico. (Del Shannon still plays in my head... must... resist... suicide...)

Aahhhh, there you go. You had to go and mention Crime Story! Damn! That damn song is stuck in my head again! Damn you Michael Mann! Damn you and your talent!!!

Nope. I'm on code red pee-pee pants level to see his new one. But I should mention that I'm a die hard Michael Mann fan... From Miami Vice on I always loved his stuff. Most people find him to be heavy handed and melodramatic but since the day I saw HEAT in the theaters (and almost lost my hearing) I have oodles of respect for him. Heck, anyone that can get Val Kilmer to not ruin a movie has talent. As for DePalma he is much like Scorcese, Coppola and a few others. They did their best work early and middle of their careers and then got corrupted by the "dark side" of hollywood... AKA the truckfull of money. As for Kubrick, 2001, Sparticus, Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Lolita are what he is known for... but his early works like Paths of Glory, The Killing and The Seafarers are decent enough but not quite as developed and interesting as his later works. But to me, Eyes Wide Shut does not exsist... it will never exsist... it is a figment of my imagination...

Shrek 2 at 15 days out is controlling over 4,300 screens in the US whereas at the 15 day point Van Helsing held just over 3,400 screens. Being a children's movie and a predicted cash cow from the start comparing VH to Shrek is like comparing a fat retard to Michael Jordan... but! Troy currently has it's claws into 3,400 screens on day twenty and ironically enough Van Helsing also held 3,400 screens on that day in it's release. So those two are directly comparable... sort of... well they are both still losing money at least they have that in common... Edit to add: My initial point however was more of a sucker punch to Blaine's comment on "how the fark could that movie cost that much to make?" A movie like Shrek 2 which is 100% special effects and logically should take more effort to post-produce than Troy and Vanhelsing has a third the budget and makes money hand over fist. The only thing I think making VH and Troy cost so much money would be the cost of principal photography and all those darn sets and costumes. But the sad thing is that numbers like these change industries... hell, Disney has shatcanned their entire traditional cel animation department to focus on CG films from now on.

I myself would add to BSU's list Brian DePalma, Michael Mann, Martin Scorcese, Stanley Kubrick and Francis Ford Coppola for the body of their works (even though all of them have had their dogs in the past). I nominate the following two buttmunches to the shoot on sight list of directors Joel Schumacher and Michael Bay. Both deserve swift kicks to the nuts at the least.

Now just to put the zap further on VH, here are some numbers from it's competition: Shrek 2: Released in the US on May 19, 2004, has yet to go international and has 15 days in theaters Total US Gross as of 6/1 $271,516,000 Production Budget $70,000,000 (estimated) Prints and Advertising Budget $50,000,000 (estimated) Shrek 2 total profit margin after a mere 15 days in release: $151,516,000 Troy: Released in the US on May 14, 2004, has yet to go international and has 20 days in theaters Total US Gross $112,275,000 Production Budget $150,000,000 (estimate) Prints and Advertising Budget $60,000,000 (estimate) Troy has a current loss margin of $97,725,000 (that is how much more the movie has to make to "break even") ... kinda makes you think, eh? Shrek 2 has a few low A level actors on the payroll as voice talent and is basically all effects whereas Troy has a few A level actors on the payroll and a good number of effects yet it cost almost $80 million more to make and had $10 million more advertising thrown at it. Shows how hollywood moves in strange ways... yet who here did not know Shrek 2 would be boffo?

Just for anyone who is interested in the take and make of movies like I am here is Van Helsing's current standing: Released in the US on May 7, 2004 and has been in general release for almost a month. Limited international release is in effect. Total US Gross $111,220,000 (from ticket sales to 6/1) Production Budget $170,000,000 (estimated, does not include marketing budget) Worldwide Gross $119,667,790 (includes US Gross to 6/1) (data obtained from The Numbers, a reputable industry site) So the movie is a month out of the gate, in limited international release and has yet to turn a profit. A good sign is that it is still supposedly in 2,000+ theaters, but it has not made it's primary production budget back yet and that is not a good sign for a summer blockbuster and generally a sign that no sequel will come. My guess is they intend to make their money back in rentals and sales of the general DVD release. If you like the movie or not is almost not a factor when it comes down to the brass that VH is a summer popcorn flick designed to make the studio some coin, which it is not really doing at the level they like their summer blockbusters to perform. Then again, most studios only get one "money picture" a season even though they produce between 5 and 10 high budget flicks.

I noticed this switchover a week ago or so. I don't watch Tech TV much so this does not affect me at all really... it just seems like the whole channel has gone "video game" rather than being about tech stuff with one video game show.

Hey EXO or anyone else: BAG ME ONE! I'm good for the money!

The more desensitized to violence you are the more accepting you are of it... and some might argue the more prone to it. Then again I have seen hardended soldier hardass types puke their guts out when they saw some of what some people would call "low level gore". And in the same breath being "used to it" does also not neccessarily make you capable of it. It's the hard heart that kills.

My point on directors comes from my own real life experiences working with them on TV commercials and other productions. A Director's background and training completely influence their ability to direct others and create. A "classic" Director, someone who has always been "in the chair" or striving for it usually has an open mind with few notions and limits. They tend to be more flexible and get their actors to emote and perform very well. A large degree of that cannot be taught but comes from personality and experience. Couple this with their background and generally you have the makings of a good Feature or Short Director. People who came up through the ranks of other professional film or video post production routes tend to be very, very entrenched in their ways. SFX guys who direct always revert to "what they know" and their pieces generally are FX heavy, little to no plot or character drive and they are the cheif abusers of the now classic lines "we'll fix it in post". In a production environment when the pressues, deadlines and budget start closing in on you you always revert back to your core, your "center"... what you know. A classicly trained and educated director will fall back on his actors to work with him to achieve his goal... whereas these TD's and SFX guys who become directors rely on their trade (special effects) to save their ass. A lot of modern movies have been directed to a degree from the shadows by old SFX people and they are all weak because when push came to shove they relied on their fancy spaceships and dissapearing gnomes rather than their storytelling ability or their actor's skills. Anime suffers from this same thing a lot of times as the people driving the production are so steeped in their backgrounds (like mechanical design or giant robots) that their production is very weak because they only focus on what they know they can do well. Cameron and Jackson are prime examples of this, they only do what they know and they fall back on effects to save them when their storytelling ability fails. George Lucas can also be sited as an example of a classic director "corrupted by the dark side" of the FX people in that he now relies so much on the FX to do his storytelling for him that his movies blow.