reddsun1

Give me a Benelli M1, M3 or Remington 870 anyday over a SPAS 12. Too many damn knobs, dials, levers and buttons to operate on the SPAS 12. I'm suprised that nobody has suggested the M79 or M203 40mm grenade launcher as a solution for taking down dinosaurs. True it's only single shot, but if it hits, the dino is down. Graham Ah yes, the M203/M16 combo: another classic "movie macho" weapon of choice. I dunno though; wouldn't the M16's small rounds lack stopping power against Raptors or other medium sized threats? You'd have to put a whole clip into a Raptor to drop it, wouldn't you? It almost certainly wouldn't conceivably seem practical to try to just use the grenade launcher against all of them...I'm thinking the best contemporary "equivalent" to a Raptor in terms of size/muscle/mass would be like, an elk, or a black bear maybe? Anybody remember a little diddie from the 80s "My Science Project?" Another rent-worthy classic for the B-movie enthusiast. Our hero's packing a M203/M16 when attacked by a T-Rex; when the small rounds don't work at stopping it, he pumps a 40mm grenade into it's gut, stopping it cold. Blew it's guts out. The blast/kill radius for one of those rounds is about 5 m, isn't it?

thanks for the info on the SPAS, JsArCLIGHT. I'm only familiar with those from the ones I've seen in films--apparently directors just looove these babies--but I've always thought they were pretty cool. If in an ass kicking contest with a gang of heavily armed thugs out to pepper your hide, I'd always figured that'd be the boom-stick of choice.

What? You guys don't like JP? I always liked that movie. Even liked the second one too; those Japanese tourists running down the street going "Gojira! Gojira!" was a bit cliched, but still funny. The bit when the kid tried to wake his parents, then the T-Rex raised up with "fido's" doghouse dangling was pretty funny too. I just pretend the third movie (Lost World?) never existed--definitely a let down of a sequel. I thought the dinosaur's unexpected ability to breed was explained by "mutation of the donated frog DNA" making them hermaphroditic(sp?) or something? The lack of contingencies--at least in the 1st movie--were largely attributed to John Hammond's being somewhat overenthusiastic and naive. He was short-sighted, and as Jeff Goldblum's character--to paraphrase--so succintly stated "we're so busy asking if we can when we ought to be asking if we should." I think it can be inferred that Hammond hurriedly funded putting the park together, but didn't heed the warnings/input of his animal control man Muldoon. IIRC, there's a scene where he just poo-poo's whatever Muldoon says, as he's so anxious to get his tour started and wow his potential supporters. I don't think that directly confronting the T-Rex was even considered as an option. I don't give a damn how big the gun is, would you consider facing down a bigsonuvabitch like that if it was charging/chasing you? Not me, that's fer damn sure...unless maybe it's a BAZOOKA...and I got three or four hundred yards between me and it...and a concrete bomb shelter to dive into right behind me if I miss...

Top speed: 110mph? HA! I'll believe that when I see video and radar gun proof. My arse! What nut would be so bold as to take that thing that fast, anyway? Sorry, but I just don't like it. It looks--to coin a bad phrase--unsafe, at any speed. I remember seeing this little hot wheels car once and thinking "whoa, that looks like a modernized Batmobile or something--that'd be cool as heck if somebody built a real one like that..." Of course, it was in black, but this one shows the lines of the toy better.

Saw a news clip on the passing of Anne Bancroft today at age 73. The wife of comedian/director Mel Brooks, she starred in three of his films "Silent Movie," "To Be or Not to Be," and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," among many other award winning plays and film credits. She's probably still best remembered as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?" Just recently on May 18, there was the passing of Frank Gorshin, who gave us the original Riddler on the Batman TV series of the late 60's. I still remember watching re-runs of those shows as a kid. I'll always think Gorshin's Riddler ownz Jim Carrey's crap-tastic version--let's face it; Carrey's done the same schtick since Ace Ventura. Not long before that, there was news of the passing of Thurl Ravenscroft, who's otherwise known by his trademark growl: "They're Grrrreat!" He gave--numerous--generations of kids the voice of Tony the Tiger (for over 50 years!) since 1951. Ahh, time marches mercilessly on. Faces and names we grow up with, the people our parents and our grandparents talked about and were entertained by, it all fades into history. Bummer...

Yes, it came out squished for some reason, in spite of trying to maintain aspect ratio. The link to the little story on this one--with a much more proportionate photo--is here: http://www.lmsr.net/juthenewrilet.html

Bill Riley announces new LMP Prototype racer. At $675,000 this car will cost more than double the Daytona Prototypes also constructed by Riley. One could fall back on the adage "you get what you pay for." I for one will contend that while the DP's are definitely the "lesser" cars (really more like "spec" chassis; NASCAR cage w/the engine at the other end), they have proven effective in that they've fulfilled the objectives laid down by Grand-Am with their new rules package; i.e. close, bunched racing in "packs," more passing/lead changes, and more of the "rubbin is racin" phenom that their target audience seems to want more of. That last bit of nonsense, I don't agree with. Concerns are starting to rise with teams/drivers about the increased contact that comes with the closer racing. I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but they're not gonna be satisfied 'til a driver(s) gets hurt, or worse, what with that bumping and grinding crap. Whoa, needed to do a resize there...

Won't be long now. Just over a week-1/2 'til the "big show" at LeMans. Russian Age Racing shows the 550 Maranello still has legs in testing: 3rd in class, between the Aston DB9R's and the Corvettes. Wonder how deep the field will be this year? I'm guessing we can count on pretty rotten coverage here in the US again this go 'round...

just watched the trailer to Sky High. Looks like it may be okay--it is aimed at a younger audience, presumably. So how are they avoiding copyright infringement issues, seeing as how a lot of characters have some awfully familiar super powers, and all? Lynda Carter....the original Wonder Woman....mmmmm, old school hottie

I always liked how much attention they paid to detail in these games--although primitive by today's standards. I liked how they even went so far as to color the ships to give them a "used" appearance, with paint weathering and damage/blast holes in the cut-scenes (ironically, something that was lost from the 1st game to the next). I'd like to see how these would come out if given a current treatment to run on modern systems in a new game engine...

Can't forget the bad guys. The Kilrathi ships were pretty interesting too. I like how the game creators went to the trouble to create a variety of ships, both capital and small, each with a design to serve a specific function. Small/med/heavy fighter, bomber, transports, carriers, etc...pretty cool for back in the day on old 486's.

Ahh, the Sabre. The graphics definitely improved with ea. successive game, and this one packed a real punch.

The Rapier, definitely the "P-51 Mustang" of the game...quick and deadly, but more vulnerable too. Required a skilled hand to get the most out of her.

You're right, Chronocidal. How could I have forgotten the WC ship designs? I love the designs from the first games--much moreso than the newer ver. of WC (WCIII and on...). Sure, they may look crappy and pixelated compared to the newer ver. ships, but they had much more character than the newer ones. I always thought the new game ships just looked too bland and polygonal--just a bunch of rectangles and squares and such tied together with some color skins. Each of the original games' designs seemed to "fit" their designed function much better. Chris Robert's et. al. also did a good job with those games, lending a very "cavalier" atmosphere to the games, like the feel and design cues were heavily influenced by aviation during the WWII era. My favorite? Actually the Raptor from WCI. Slow as a tug, with crappy rearward vision, but thick skinned and what a wallop those guns packed! Yeah, that's right. I'm goin old skool... I remember beind disappointed that they didn't use any game-influenced designs when the movie came out. What a letdown that one was...great set designs, good strong talent base of supporting cast; but the story was out in left field (weak at best), and those dreadfully forgettable turds they used for spaceship designs!

OMGROTFLMAO!! This joint is so funny! A 5-part mini "saga" if you will, that I just stumbled on while surfing. Our "hero" goes on a bloody rampage seeking revenge. You can see the skills of animator Matt "Krinkels" Jolly improve with each succeeding ep. This makes John Woo films look lame in comparison. http://www.madnesscombat.com/toons/madnesscombat.php http://www.madnesscombat.com/toons/madnessredeemer.php http://www.madnesscombat.com/toons/madnessadvenger.php http://www.madnesscombat.com/toons/madnessapotheosis.php http://www.madnesscombat.com/toons/madnessdepredation.php

This thread, page 8. Or of course, here: http://yamatomechanics.org/

Oh no, the thanks really should go to UN Spacy for first posting the link to the Yamato Mechanics page; and of course, to those talented people maintaining that site. They've put up some really wonderful drawings/artwork, of the Yamato and some kick-ass captial ships in addition to all those cool fighters...

I'm just wondering how putting it directly behind the rear seat is supposed to make it "safer"? Makes me think of the first-gen Mustangs; with their "drop-in" fuel tanks, you had to worry about the tank/fuel being pushed right up in through the rear seat back in hard rear-end collisions.

Lots of sharp, pointy design cues on a lot of the Space Cruiser Yamato ships, even further adding to their "functionality." If guns and missiles fail, you've got some handy ramming utensils on the wings, tails, etc. for "impaling" an enemy.

Love the starfighters. They have a "century fighters" feel to them, like they're heavily influenced by those fighters of the 50's-60's. The cockpits, and in some cases the nose sections, make me think of the Thunderchiefs, Voodoos, Super-Sabres and Starfighters.

Hey, thanks for that link, UN Spacy. That site is pretty cool. Just wish I could understand more of it. I've always loved the "Starblazers" ship designs. Much better fighter designs, from a practical standpoint--like much better all 'round vision for the pilot than other shows' designs. Much as I love the X-Wing, Y-Wing, Colonial Viper, and Buck Rogers' starfighters; you have to admit, they're terrible designs as far as pilot visibility (rearward, and in Y-Wing's case, overhead too!) is concerned. And isn't that supposed to be one of the most critical elements of good fighter design?

Yeah, the desire to get more "before they're all gone" wouldn't be so torturous if not for the bit of news my wife gave me the other night. My 3 yr old asked if she could play with my 1S Roy, to which I replied "no dear, you can't play with that 'cause it's very expensive. In fact, your mom would get mad if she knew how much I paid for it..." To this, she casually replies that she saw another one just like it while shopping the other day, about an hrs drive away. Of course, surprised, I try to clarify. "Are you sure it was like this one?" She tells me it was in a box just like my Yamato's, but coyly won't divulge just which store she saw it in. Just to add to the tantalization more, when I ask what color the writing on the box was, she'll only say that it maybe was red--or maybe yellow, she can't remember. By now I'm thinking *best supervillian voice* "Woman, if you won't give me the information I seek, I shall take it by force!"

I really hate having to defend American companies, but the new Z06 and GTO pretty redeem any of GM's dumb ideas in my eyes. Who really misses the Camaro/Firebird? They looked like crap, handled like crap, and had crappy GM interiors. Yeah, the LS1 was an awesome motor but that was the one worthwhile part of those cars. Not to mention GM's feat of completely overhauling Cadillac is probably one of the greatest decisions made by an American auto manufacturer in the last 25 years. 10 years ago Cadillacs were junk and pretty much worthless next to European and Japanese luxury brands, to be purchased only by blue haired old ladies. Now they're a nearly attractive, internationally COMPETITIVE (reviews are saying the STS is as good, if not better, than comparable BMW's) brand. You're right about the Camaro/Firebird. I think in the end, they just needed killing. GM just didn't seem to get it. Sure, they made the F-bodies perform better than the competition (Mustang). In magazine test after test, the F-bodies usually bested the Mustang in a variety of parameters. But the 'Stangs still outsold them by almost 2:1. The latest gen F-bodies were just dog's arse ugly--looked like aardvarks on wheels. The GTO? Bob Lutz can't beat his chest over that one, 'cause all he did was stand on the shoulders of others. The Aussies already built it; all he did was have it re-badged and converted to LHD (in a nutshell).

Checked out a site that normally carries Yamato's 1/48s and noticed they have 1J Hikaru, now going for $169; and the 1J Millia Super for $205. Dang, prices are on the rise! Then went to trusty ol' Valkyrie-Exchange, and they have the 1J Millia Super too; for only $20 more than the others' Hikaru! I love the 1/48s (misproportioned cockpit and all) and hope to eventually get more to go with my 1S Roy. But does anyone else find themselves thinking: eventually, there's going to come a time when we look back and wonder "$200 for a toy? WTF was I thinking?" Oops, I see this probably could've gone in Luclin999's post thread....

I keep hearing talk of the comeback in a few years but never really seen anything. With the success of the new Mustang, it would seem illogical for GM not to respond much like the did in the 60's. Yeah, but GM's not exactly known for making decisions that make sense these days, are they? sad to say it (for me that is)....but neither is DaimlerChrysler these days.... Remember kids, the "Chrysler" is silent! I wouldn't go so far as to say that about Chrysler. I may not like the styling of some of their vehicles--but then again, Chrysler products have always been the "Mavericks" of the big 3 in that department, haven't they? I definitely DO like their marketing strategies. They don't try to create cookie-cutter cars for everyman. They know they have a specific segment of the market, and they target them appropriately. To their credit, Chrysler offers "hot-rodded" SRT versions of nearly all their cars: from trucks, to station wagons, to sports cars, right on down to the economy Neon (8 models so far, IIRC). They know there's a segment out there that wants traditional, RWD platforms, with options to make them more sporty/powerful; and that's just what they offer. GM on the other hand; what the higher-ups there have done/are doing could arguably be considered downright INCOMPETENCE. I mean really; they dump all their pony-car and sedan models on V8/RWD platforms in favor of FWD with wheezy V6s and trucks/SUVs. They bet the farm on the SUV/utility craze and crank these out like gangbusters, and surprise, surprise--they wind up reporting losses in the 9-figure range ($800mil, wasn't it?). Now, they're getting more and more desparate, having to offer deep price cuts--basically, employee level discounts and rebates across the board, on virtually every domestic model--in order to make ends meet. C'mon, why aren't these guys getting tossed out on their arses? Instead, they get golden parachutes and 6-figure bonuses while employee pensions and profit margins hang in serious doubt. P.S. What the hell happened to the Charger between this concept model and the actual roll-out? I know, I know; NASCAR needed a sihlouette shape on the quick-step, so's they could re-introduce the nameplate. Sooo....