Mechamaniac

Sorry to hear about your friend. Can you share more details about this though? That's a great Shatner story. Was it done through any type of "last wish" organization? Or did someone he knew put Shatner in touch with him? Best, H 326928[/snapback] Hey, thanks Brian. No, it didn't happen through any sort of "last wish" organization. It was pretty much a friend of his family, who sent an e-mail to Mr. Shatner through his website. As it turned out, he was near our area at the time, and his assistant called my friend's family to arrange the call. At this point, my friend was nearing the end, and was sleeping most of the time. Mr. Shatner's assistant was very gracious, and arranged for a time that they could do the call. At the arranged time, right on the dot, the phone rang, and my friend answered, and there was Bill Shatner on the other end. My friend's family asked if they could record the call, and Mr. Shatner said they could. My friend called him Mr. Shatner, and the first thing he said was "Call me Bill". They then spoke for about 15 minutes. Mr. Shatner complimented my friend about his courage in the face of his illness, and mentioned that he was in his thoughts and prayers. My friend was always very gracious, and thanked Mr. Shatner for his charity work. Mr. Shatner said "Oh no, thank you for your courage, and inspiration" He gave my friend some words of encouragement, told him to keep fighting, and that he would be pulling for him. As I said, they talked for quite a few minutes, and it was very positive and uplifting for my friend. I've been a fan of the original Star Trek series since I was a kid, and have always been ready to poke a little fun at Shatner for his notorious over acting, and scene stealing. I also thought it was funny about 10 years ago, when all of the sudden, he changed his mind, and started acting like he was "in on the joke" the whole time. However, idiosyncrasies aside, what he did was very cool, and not for any personal benefit to himself. So, like I said, that day, he jumped about 50 points up the cool meter in my book.

And an all around helluva guy as well. I had a friend who succumbed to a brain tumor a few months ago, and before he passed away, Shatner called him personally and spoke to him at length. It was a very cool experience for my late friend. After that, Shatner jumped about 50 points in my book.

I've seen too many opinions here to quote all the ones I agree/disagree with, and try to give a point/counterpoint, so I will just say this.... 1. PEOPLE bear the greatest responsibility for their own well being. Yes, the infirm, the elderly, and the very young were not at fault for this as they have to depend on those more able bodied to care for them. However, for so many people to show up at the Superdome, and the Convention Center, and allow themselves to stay in those deplorable conditions reflects upon the all too prevalent "cradle to the grave" mentality that people have towards the government. If I had escaped the hurricane, and showed up at either of those places with my wife and kids in tow, I would have taken one look, and kept on walking... No food No water Human waste Corpses Refuse What was to be gained by staying there?. NOTHING. Which reflects again on the mentality of people to sit and wait for someone else to bail them out. Sorry, but as long as my legs kept working, I would have kept walking, and I guarantee you, I would have gotten myself and my family out of that city. What about the roving thugs blah blah?. Common sense, travel by day, rest by night, keep your eyes open, and your trigger finger ready. However, this brings to light another point...everyone reading this thread should ask themselves the question - What would I do?. Do you have a disaster preparedness plan for your home/family? Do you have adequate food and water stored? Could you survive in your home for days on end with no power, water? I can tell you my answer, and it was NO. But it won't stay that way for long. 2. Ray Nagin - I was all for his rant when I originally heard it, but then I saw the pic of the NO schoolbus yard, and all sympathy I had for the man went right out the window. As the mayor, you can bet your last dollar that HE KNEW the statistics of how many people would not evacuate in that situation, and it was HIS RESPONSIBILITY to at least try and get some of them out. Could he have gotten all of them out? NO. But when all the chips have fallen from this, you know someone is going to ask him how dare he rant on like that when he clearly had the means to transport at least some of them out, and I can hear the dead silence, and paper shuffling that will be the response to that question now. 3. - Federal Aid - Was it too slow? YES. That is partially the fault of the federal government combining FEMA with DOHS, and planning for terrorist attacks, and not natural disasters. Somewhere, they should have realized that the results of either of those scenarios are pretty much the same. The amount of damage we're seeing in NO would be roughly the same as if a small nuke had been detonated there. Parts of the city would be levelled, and the shock wave would either cause the levees to break, or affect the lake in such a way that the resultant pressure would have broken the levees, so you would wind up with a destroyed, flooded city. Bottom line is that DOHS and FEMA have a massive budget, and it is clear that they have been spending too much of it at the airports trying to prevent another 9/11. However, Katherine Blanco has to take the hit on this as well. All of the news agencies are reporting the same fact....that she did not declare disaster and request federal aid until Wednesday. Given that, the soldiers showing up on Friday is acceptable. Remember folks, that the first groups of soldiers to show up were National Guard, that means that they first had to leave their own jobs, families, and lives, pack up their stuff, head to the armory, pack up the unit, lay on supplies, weapons, and wait for orders to move out. I know what I'm talking about here, I was both Active Duty and National Guard, and was deployed by the guard more than once. It takes time to mobilize that many troops, equipment, and supplies. Also remember that to ask this of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama units is even more problematic since they had their own problems to deal with. This means that whatever NG aid was coming, was coming from many miles away. Now, the one thing that keeps popping into my mind when I think about this is....DUH!!!. I mean, clearly, what we have seen here is a breakdown of government at local, state, and federal levels and at a critical time. Did Blanco wait too long to declare disaster/emergency?. YES. However, should she really have had to?. For something like this, when everyone expected the whammy, there should be a federal statute that overrides the one that states that they cannot move in until requested. 4. Looters - Phuck 'em. If you are seen carrying anything but food or medicine, you get a nice set of matching bracelets, or a bullet. Whether you're White, Black, Tan, Yellow, Purple, whatever. Is there sense in starving, or getting sick when there's a grocery store full of food / medicines that will rot away (and ultimately be written off in an insurance claim) anyway?. OK, rant mode off, sorry for the long ass post. FINALLY - Regardless of the situtations and individual choices (good or bad) made by the now evacuees of NO, my heart goes out to all of them. I am thankful that our members were all spared, and brave enough to tell us about their own personal stories. It is times like this when I miss being in the Army. I can guarantee that if I was still in, I would be in that area if I wasn't in the sandbox.

What he said.

Yeah, great book. Bears no resemblance to that worthless movie. And I never get tired of that quote... "To the everlasting glory of the infantry, shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young."

Well, perhaps if Shawn gave me and Myersjesse the access passwords to the new server, we could actually do some updates . Graham 324316[/snapback] Yeah, you guys and the new site admin(s)

According to Yamato, it will be full variable / perfect transformation.

Well, if it wasn't for these stupid attachment limits (something the old forums didn't have), I could also post new pics of the 1/72 Hasegawa VF-0S with Ghost Booster model kit in the model forum. Unfortuantely, I've reached the limit for posting attachments. And Shawn still hasn't given me the access codes for the new server, so I can't upload the pics directly to the site either Graham 323256[/snapback] You still have the option of uploading the pics to your webspace, and linking them from your post.

I saw an Isamu cosplayer, he was at the panel. I also saw a Sara cosplayer in the dealer's room, as well as Minmay that came to our panel. TheLoneWolf got pics of a Basara and Mylene, and I of course, had my custom Gubaba on my shoulder whenever I had my backpack on. One of the dealers pointed him out from like 20 feet away, and shouted 'Is that a Gubaba!!!!??" Gubaba was also quite the chick magnet, I had a bunch of cutie chicks approach me with "He's so cute, can I pet him?"

and I am a god among men haha. j/k Yeah, I forgot about that Nick, sorry.

That's the image alright, but the copy Wes is linking is fubar. It opened for me, but it's obviously corrupted.

If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract a worm.

Yup, still going to happen. Cap is still working on another project, but the latest word was that he still intends to start on it this month.

C'mon, I'm in for a 5 spot, let's all get together, buy that thing, and give it a proper, DIGNIFIED burial.

I know that you know your sh*t. But we're all capable of a brain hiccups every now and then . I thought maybe you had your search bar "floating" or something strange like that. Sorry about that. H 319238[/snapback] It's all good, don't worry. I wasn't bitching, I was flat out wrong... Brain farts are a friend of mine, that's why I have a test lab at work.

No, I know the difference, between the menu bar and the search pane, give me some credit dude. I have never used the built in IPB search function, so I assumed (like a git) that it was a google engine. However, a ten second Google search seems to have proven us all wrong. http://www.gmailforums.com/lofiversion/index.php/t768.html

I think it's because of the new google search bar at the top right of the forums. Google probably has to have a bot running in order for the search bar to function.

ROFLMAO!

Myth: The Zentraedi couldn't repair their own equipment: Source: RT and Pat Payne's post Reality: The Zentraedi are seen several times throughout SDF Macross repairing their own equipment. Remember Kamzin in his wifebeater when their ship was crashed in the Amazon, and he was bitching at his guys to get it fixed.

Is this for MWCON5 shirts?. In that case, I need 2 at 2XL please.

Thanks!. Working on angry eyes now. lol, pissed Gubaba.

Here's my film strip...

Yeah I saw that on Tam's forum... Tam has his forums with all the bells and whistles... looks great. 318412[/snapback] Ya, I never post on Tam's forums. More than two or three forums, and I'd never get any work done, and my family would forget what I looked like.

Umm, looking to waste more time that I should spend working, of course.