The United States has had an unexpected, extended cold snap the past few weeks (global warming? Psh!) and here in the south is supposedly coming another big one. The temperature here dropped 15 degrees from yesterday, and the worst hasn't hit us yet, which is supposed to be tomorrow.
Because we aren't used to extended cold temperatures, we are also not used to driving on slick, iced-over roads. A few nights ago there were 11 near-simultaneous wrecks within a few miles of each other. Granted that has been the worst of it, but, again, what is coming up tomorrow is supposed to be worse (so much so that my doctor's appointment north of here and some events both in town and south of here were all postponed.
So anyway... how are things elsewhere in the world?
Seen in both movies and TV, I would wager that it is more commonly seen in the latter given the number of available opportunities. A single actor or actress takes on multiple roles within a series portraying twins, alternate universe duplicates, doppelgängers, or even parts not quite as similar... like Patty Duke playing "identical cousins."
How many come to mind for you? Do you have any favorites or opinions on performance?
(Minor-spoiler) When done well, this is one of the few things that can get me excited during a series. This came to mind because I am re-watching Fringe, and for those who don't know, an alternate universe is discovered of similar characters. It's not a mirror universe like "Evil Spock" and "Evil Kirk" in the original Star Trek series. The characters are very much the same but with some obvious differences.
I always find it interesting how you get to know a character (not the actor playing the character) in a series, and when a double is discovered, the personality is so different from the familiar that you can almost believe it is a different actor or actress playing the part. I can get invested so much that when the twin attempt to pass himself/herself off as the character we've always known (as often happens in at least one episode) I can feel myself cringe. "No! Don't go in there with him! He's the impostor!"
Literally. But I'm not asking what you were probably thinking.
How many time-telling devices are in your home?
I think about mine every time that the power goes out. I grab my phone with the unaffected clock and go through resetting the rest using it so that the first clock isn't 3 or 4 minutes different from the last But then there is daylight savings time in which every clock is adjusted.
Though most of them I don't have to reset until DST, between computers, phone, recorders, kitchen devices, phone, security, miscellaneous devices, and standalone clocks (not counting any watches because I don't wear them anymore) inside and outside of the house, I have just short of 30 devices I could check the time on!
In other words, if I'm late, it is absolutely my fault
I've played this on a few other boards, and it seems generally more fun when you have a lot more members, but who knows, we might get a kick out of it here for a little while.
The purpose of this "game" is to wish for something. The next person will grant your wish but like a twisted genie will corrupt the wish so that you aren't getting what you expected.
For example:
"I wish for a million dollars." "Your wish is granted, but it's a million dollars in Monopoly money."
"I wish for an end to world hunger." "Wish granted. The Earth gets completely destroyed, now there is no one left to go hungry."
OK, so it's not really a "game" per se. It's a way of introducing you and others to YouTube videos you wouldn't have thought to search for. The idea works this way: I start by posting a video that I found on YouTube. You watch the video and at the end of the video they always display "recommendations." (These are the same recommendations that they show to the right of that video, but the point initially is to watch the video shown here.)
Once you have watched the video, click one of the recommended links. You do not have to watch that video. You can either skip to the end or go to the right side of the page and click another recommendation, then again, and again, and again until you have clicked recommendations six different times (so after where you started, you should be six more pages deep.) Watch and then post that last video link here. You do not have to do anything with the videos in between.
Someone else then watches the new video posted and does the same thing, going six more recommendations down. It's also recommended that you vary your clicks. Don't always choose the first one, and try not to choose the ones that are easily noticeable as fully connected (eg: same band, same user, same sport, etc) I joined this on another forum and it was weird the stuff some links lead to.
I will start by posting one video and then below it a vid that was 6 steps away. The next person should use the second video to post the next link.
Ok, maybe "yay" is a little over-expressive. I don't "enjoy" surgery, but I don't freak out and worry over it either. It needs doing; I get it done; I move on.
Since most of you don't know any details, I have had a cerebral shunt since I was a baby due to complications caused by arachnoid cysts at birth. Every 6 years or so, there are problems with it, so of course something then needs to be done about it.
For my routine yearly checkup, today I had a head CT done followed by an appointment with my neurologist who told me the draining tube has separated from the shunt by about an inch and a half. This is causing not as much fluid from draining as should be which is resulting in a very slow build up of fluid in my head. Though this has likely been the case for at least a few months if not since last year (meaning a few more weeks or months of waiting probably wouldn't "hurt" me,) I've decided to fix the problem before the Christmas holiday, hoping for no complications so that I can enjoy my time with the family without concern.
My surgery will be this Wednesday.
The surgery involves reopening two incisions, one in my neck and one in my abdomen, and threading a new tube from one to the other and then attaching it to the shunt (I could have had an easier "patch job" done which would be splicing a small piece of tube within the gap, but that can fail more quickly meaning surgery again sooner.) If possible, though unlikely, they will remove the old tube, but it won't be the first tube left behind. That's not a big deal. I have actually had this exact problem once before, though it was a much more extreme case that time. In that one--sparing you the weird details as to why--the problem was "hidden" and the severity only discovered once I was under the knife.
Having been told this news today, it likely explains a few things from minor headaches and mild head pressure I have been feeling lately. It could also be the cause of why I suddenly started as of last year having some trouble breathing through my nose. So, if those problems by chance get fixed as well, bonus!
Even though they had an SRP of $30, they were selling for around $20 each on Amazon when I was first pointed to them. I didn't buy them because I figured, in the end, I would likely never really want them (these specifically having the original theatrical releases else I could care less.) Most of my DVDs over the years have been gifts or bought through gift cards. I've never paid for many because there is always so much to watch again and again that I never saw a reason to stockpile.
Now the DVDs are selling for a combined $180, and I ask myself (even though I still don't want them so badly... again, it was just curiosity) why didn't I buy them back then? Sure the theatrical releases are laserdisc copies, no remastering (but how do you remaster something and keep the "flaws in tact" like people want?) and non-anamorphic (this last one doesn't matter given I watch on my computer and can adjust for this,) but they are, nonetheless, the original versions.
(I see a boxed set of these being sold used for $100 on another site. Hmmm.... )
Thoughts?
(On furthering the topic, do any of you ever have situations like this?)
This time of the year, kids all over are getting ready to dress up, go out, demand candy, and then go home and pig out. The same is true for some adults as well.
But what about you? What sort of stuff do you do getting ready for or during Halloween?
Personally, I was never a big Halloween person that I can recall. I've never been much of a decorator or one that cares about handing out candy (even though I still do it.)
It's weird the things that you can run across by accident online. A TV show had a guy playing with a Slinky. I decided I would go to Wikipedia and the toy's page lead me to the NTHF page which contained all of the previous winners. The entries are selected by national submissions. I assume the finalists are choose by popular vote. The 2-3 winners are "made on the advice of historians, educators, and other individuals who exemplify learning, creativity, and discovery through their lives and careers" according to the official website. This is a Hall of Fame rather than a Toy of the Year which explains the classic nature of all previous winners and finalists.
In the poll are the 12 finalists for this year. Vote for your three choices and give why you believe they should be chosen.
2000: bicycle, jacks, jump rope, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky (out of 34 nominations)
2001: Silly Putty, Tonka Trucks (out of 83 nominations)
2002: jigsaw puzzle, Raggedy Ann (90 nominees)
2003: alphabet blocks, Checkers
2004: G.I. Joe, rocking horse, Scrabble
2005: Candy Land, cardboard box, Jack-in-the-box
2006: Easy-Bake Oven, Lionel Trains
2007: Atari 2600, kite, Raggedy Andy
2008: stick, baby doll, skateboard
2009: ball, Game Boy, Big Wheel
2010: The Game of Life, playing cards
2011: Hot Wheels, dollhouse, blanket
And of course, this year: Clue, dominoes, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Lite-Brite, little green army men, Magic 8 Ball, pogo stick, Sidewalk Chalk, Simon, Star Wars action figures, tea set, and Twister. source
Just an hour ago I was laying in bed, sleeping soundly, not a care in the world.
Then, all of a sudden, I hear a jackhammer chipping away in bursts at my back porch just outside of my window. But I'm still half asleep. Maybe it was something else. There is construction going down at the end of the street but this was far, far louder than anything I had heard over there even while standing outside. It is right here next to me.
So, I listen. . . . . *brrrrr-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-dt*
What the?! Now I realize, though the sound is rattling my entire room, the sound is focused higher. Maybe instead of the concrete porch the sound is coming from tall columns on the porch.
*brrrrr-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-dt*
But they are hollow. No way would... what ever this is.... cause the columns to sound that way. Enough things have hit them in the past. They make a hollow noise like hitting a tree.... hmmm..... "hollow" ...... I wonder....
So I get out of bed and head outside, still a little dazed. I head to and look up at the top of the column. Certain I know what the noise is now.
*brrrrr-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-dt*
Ok, I am now certain, but it's not the column. It seems further over this way... but why? There's nothing over there . . . unless . . .
*brrrrr-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-dt*
*slaps forehead*
A woodpecker decided it would be a good idea to search for food inside the top of the metal rain gutter right above my window. The outside wall of my bedroom is particularly thin which leaves no insulation for drowning out noise. My bedroom is on the second floor and there is a downspout that ends at about the middle of the wall (where the first floor roof begins. The water then drains down that roof into the first floor gutter.) I have hated these gutters since day one. Combined with my thin walls, when rain is finished and only drips are left behind, just like a leaky faucet, one by one, drops fall and hit the bottom edge of the metal downspout.
As one who likes complete silence when I am trying to go to sleep, you can imagine how annoying that is. But instead of tiny soft drops of water, this morning the sound was of the hardened beak of a woodpecker searching for breakfast.
Does anyone know why, so often, a movie is paid for in the United States, produced/directed/cast in the United States, and yet several international audiences get to see it days or even weeks before it is brought to theaters (aside from test audiences) in the United States?
Have you ever broken down any of your TV seasons, full series, or entire collection and payed attention to how much you spend per episode?
This idea came to me when looking at Justice League: The Complete Series
Amazon sells the entire boxed set series, all 91 episodes, for $71.89 before shipping. That's 79 cents an episode. If you buy the 5 seasons individually, they show as $22.97, $13.88, $29.52, and $7.68 for a total of $74.05 or 81 cents per episode. But you can also buy individual episodes for $1.99 each for a total of $181.09 (though I would expect anyone that takes this route not wanting many of them).
Obviously these are the base near SRP value "extremes" but, as I said, it got me curious about what you guys often pay for episodes.
Have you ever pondered what you would do if you knew tomorrow was your last day on Earth?
I heard a song tonight that mentions that as a mini-theme and it turned into a discussion among a few of us. It surprised me that all of them had thought about this from time to time whereas I may have thought about it once in my entire life.
"I treat every day like it's my last day on Earth: a lot of whimpering and crying." ~ Tommy Sledge
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