From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #455 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Tuesday, December 9 2003 Volume 12 : Number 455 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: DVDs and days [grutness@surf4nix.com] the year of doom [Eb ] Re: Regional conflicts ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: DVDs and days [Aaron Mandel ] Re: DVDs and days ["Fortissimo" ] Re: DVDs and days ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: DVDs and days [grutness@surf4nix.com] and now you can listen to... [grutness@surf4nix.com] Re: DVDs and days [Michael R Godwin ] Re: DVDs and days [Christopher Gross ] premature Sam Goody reap? [Miles Goosens ] Re: films and missed opportunities ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: films and missed opportunities [Michael R Godwin ] Lovecraft meets Chick! (No Robyn, 100% obscure Xian subculture ref) [Swee] Wi-Fi Q ["The Mammal Brain" ] Re: films and missed opportunities [Miles Goosens ] RE: films and missed opportunities ["Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" <] Re: films and missed opportunities ["Fortissimo" ] Re: region-free DVD players ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: Wi-Fi Q [Tom Clark ] FIREFLY in the jar [Miles Goosens ] Re: FIREFLY in the jar [Christopher Gross ] RE: FIREFLY in the jar ["Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" ] Re: reap [Marcy Tanter ] Re: reap [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: FIREFLY in the jar [Miles Goosens ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 13:08:08 +1300 From: grutness@surf4nix.com Subject: Re: DVDs and days >> Wow... so are those hard to find/expensive? Anybody have any >> makers/models/prices they can recite? > >I don't know about the U.S., but in the UK you can get multi-region players >for about 45 u.k. pounds (that's about $70-75 dollars, depending on how >quickly the US dollar is falling against other currencies at the moment). here in NZ I'd say 95% of DVD players are multi-region and dual-format. With most of our DVDs coming from Australia, the US, southeast Asia, and the UK, it would be silly for them to be otherwise. >But non-North-Americans also say "seven December", whereas we would always >render that "the seventh of December". The different (and seemingly >contradictory) ways of saying dates surely results from the equally >conflicting ways of writing them. I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the seventh, and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But I'd also say that the users of the latter two terms are either N American or influenced by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're creeping into the language far more, too. >Same tip: is anyone besided me irritated by the fact that needless zeros >have infiltrated dates in normal text just because they are (or more like >were) necessary for computer data entry? I mean, why should it be >12/08/03? What's so confusing a bout 12/8? Anyone reading that as the >eightieth of December? nah - it's obviously the 12th of August ;) James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 17:05:58 -0800 From: Eb Subject: the year of doom http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/08/entertainment1749EST0701.DTL ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2003 20:17:47 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: Regional conflicts Rex.Broome wrote: > > What's so confusing a bout 12/8? Yeah, it means 12th August the world around. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 20:57:22 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: DVDs and days On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 grutness@surf4nix.com wrote: > I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the > seventh, and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But > I'd also say that the users of the latter two terms are either N > American or influenced by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're > creeping into the language far more, too. I've never heard anyone say EITHER of the latter two, and as far as I know I live in North America. a ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2003 22:07:32 -0600 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: DVDs and days On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 13:08:08 +1300, grutness@surf4nix.com said: > I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the > seventh, > and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But I'd also > say > that the users of the latter two terms are either N American or > influenced > by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're creeping into the language > far > more, too. I'll hear "the 7th of December," "December 7th," or "December the 7th" (the last one rare) - but never "7 December" or "December 7" (unless it's someone pretending to be a cop or something). > >Same tip: is anyone besided me irritated by the fact that needless zeros > >have infiltrated dates in normal text just because they are (or more like > >were) necessary for computer data entry? I mean, why should it be > >12/08/03? What's so confusing a bout 12/8? Anyone reading that as the > >eightieth of December? However, leaving the initial zero out of the year - as one of my cow-orkers insists on doing - is just confusing. Sorry: 12/8/3 does not look like a date, it looks like that slip of paper on the Mad Hatter's hat. I think we'll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that North Americans put the month first while others (which?) put the date first - as long as you know which system is being used, it's not too confusing. (And obviously a notation like "20/12/61" gives it away.) ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: crumple zones:: :: harmful or fatal if swallowed :: :: small-craft warning :: ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2003 23:27:31 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: DVDs and days Fortissimo wrote: > > I think we'll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that North > Americans put the month first um, I don't think Canadians do. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 18:00:43 +1300 From: grutness@surf4nix.com Subject: Re: DVDs and days >On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 grutness@surf4nix.com wrote: > >> I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the >> seventh, and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But >> I'd also say that the users of the latter two terms are either N >> American or influenced by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're >> creeping into the language far more, too. > >I've never heard anyone say EITHER of the latter two, and as far as I know >I live in North America. Odd - it's certainly started to creep in here in NZ after its use on US TV (especially on news reports). James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 18:00:41 +1300 From: grutness@surf4nix.com Subject: and now you can listen to... ...me! Radio One (as in the Otago Uni student radio station, not the big ones in the UK) have started live-streaming. has all the details. Of course, I discover this the day after I'm on air - I do the early morning ambient music show ("Atmospheres") every second Sunday morning, 8-10. Which would make it Saturday early afternoon in many parts of the US, I suspect, for those who are interested... James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 11:51:21 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: DVDs and days On Mon, 8 Dec 2003, Fortissimo wrote: > I think we'll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that North > Americans put the month first while others (which?) put the date first - > as long as you know which system is being used, it's not too confusing. > (And obviously a notation like "20/12/61" gives it away.) Really unfair puzzle on that Simon Singh prog last night: An airman decided to welcome in the New Year by painting the date on a banner and flying it behind his plane as the New Year was rung in. He took off, and realised too late that he had tied the banner on upside down. But he then realised that it didn't matter. When did he paint the flag? - - MRG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:44:07 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: DVDs and days On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 grutness@surf4nix.com wrote: > I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the seventh, > and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But I'd also say > that the users of the latter two terms are either N American or influenced > by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're creeping into the language far > more, too. Fur as I can tell, people raised in the US say "December seventh" or "December the seventh" almost exclusively. However, sometimes the final "th" sound isn't clear, especially to those not used to the accent. (I think US military personnel sometimes say things like "report for duty at oh-eight-hundred hours, seven December," but this might just be an false impression I've picked up from Hollywood.) - --Chris, whose email was down all day yesterday, and who had three times as much spam as usual when it came back ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 08:29:31 -0600 (GMT-06:00) From: Miles Goosens Subject: premature Sam Goody reap? While Sam Goody/Musicland is probably on its way out, as reported by Eb a few days ago, I haven't found any stories about the chain going out of business. They *are* in the middle of a dreaded "restructuring," closing around 150 stores, which is probably a harbinger of things to come. Nevertheless, it looks like their remaining locations plan to be open for your shopping displeasure in 2004... later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 08:34:41 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: films and missed opportunities > From: Tom Clark > > Hey - you leave Gwynney alone! I'll come down there and bust yer tube amp! Fuck you Tom Clark! You do not mess with a man's tube amp. And besides, I've got two more as backup. But OK, I'll leave your precious little Gwynney alone. As long as you leave my precious, precious Sylvia Plath alone. Deal? I mean, come on, if it weren't for Sylvia Plath, upon whom would lonely English majors have secret crushes? Besides, I bet Gwynney is a PC user. No doubt Sylvia would have used a Mac. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:38:57 -0500 From: Ken Weingold Subject: Re: films and missed opportunities On Tue, Dec 9, 2003, Gene Hopstetter, Jr. wrote: > But OK, I'll leave your precious little Gwynney alone. As long as you leave > my precious, precious Sylvia Plath alone. Deal? > > I mean, come on, if it weren't for Sylvia Plath, upon whom would lonely > English majors have secret crushes? > > Besides, I bet Gwynney is a PC user. No doubt Sylvia would have used a Mac. Who exactly is she? Peter Laughner had a song called Sylvia Plath. - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 17:06:15 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: films and missed opportunities On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Ken Weingold wrote: > Who exactly is she? Peter Laughner had a song called Sylvia Plath. American Poet. Committed suicide. Was married to Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, now also deceased. There was a big row about whether he drove her to suicide. I believe she had a history of depression which pre-dated her marriage, so it is unlikely that the marriage was the sole cause. . - - MRG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 12:12:17 -0500 From: fingerpuppets Subject: Soft Boys 3/24/01 bit torrent - ----- Forwarded message from Christopher Carville ----- From: "Christopher Carville" To: Subject: Soft Boys 3/24/01 bit torrent Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 11:56:47 -0500 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 Hi - I am seeding this show: http://www.sharingthegroove.org/msgboard/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25940 If anyone else downloaded these shns from John Halewood's ftp site, please help seed them! I broke this into 2 torrents so that if anyone could help, we would have the same files. Please feel free to tell other RH trading groups, friends etc... about these torrents. C - ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 10:24:13 -0700 From: Sweet & Tender Hooligan Subject: Lovecraft meets Chick! (No Robyn, 100% obscure Xian subculture ref) Dunno if anyone on this list is familiar with Jack Chick and his infamous tracts, but I grew up with 'em, and this site had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. http://www.howardhallis.com/bis/cthulhuchick/ Figured I'd pass it along on the off-chance that somebody else might "get" it. :^) = s&th hooligan@apostate.com www.jaquelinerose.com "To me, fat guys are like the chirping canaries in the mine shaft of freedom." - Dennis Miller ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:55:21 -0800 From: "The Mammal Brain" Subject: Wi-Fi Q so i live about one-half mile from a free, public hotspot (the library). definitely note line-of-sight (plenty of vegetation in the way). is it possible, with an antenna, to pick up the signal? if so, which kind? also, are hotspots always "emitting", or only during the location's open hours? finally, wi-fi is supposed to be "blazing fast", but, wouldn't one be limited to the hotspot's conventional connection's bandwidth? i know dick about wi-fi, so hereby apologise if these are totally moronic questions. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:25:34 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: films and missed opportunities At 08:34 AM 12/9/2003 -0600, Gene Hopstetter, Jr. wrote: >I mean, come on, if it weren't for Sylvia Plath, upon whom would lonely >English majors have secret crushes? Anne Sexton? later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:28:11 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: DVDs and days At 08:57 PM 12/8/2003 -0500, Aaron Mandel wrote: >On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 grutness@surf4nix.com wrote: > >> I'd agree that the seventh of December is as good as December the >> seventh, and that seven december and December seven are eqully bad. But >> I'd also say that the users of the latter two terms are either N >> American or influenced by N American speech patterns. Sadly they're >> creeping into the language far more, too. > >I've never heard anyone say EITHER of the latter two, and as far as I know >I live in North America. Same here. Maybe this is a usage pattern that's developed in the warehouse where they grow US TV news anchors for the export market, but I've never heard anyone say "Seven December" or "December Seven." later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 11:45:00 -0800 From: "Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" Subject: RE: films and missed opportunities Gene wrote: >I mean, come on, if it weren't for Sylvia Plath, upon whom would lonely >English majors have secret crushes? How about your fellow English majors that are also cute and depressed? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:13:47 -0600 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: films and missed opportunities On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:25:34 -0600, "Miles Goosens" said: > At 08:34 AM 12/9/2003 -0600, Gene Hopstetter, Jr. wrote: > >I mean, come on, if it weren't for Sylvia Plath, upon whom would lonely > >English majors have secret crushes? > > Anne Sexton? Morrissey? ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: "In two thousand years, they'll still be looking for Elvis - :: this is nothing new," said the priest. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:13:56 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: region-free DVD players I just bought a Toshiba SD-4900, which plays DVD-V, DVD-A, MP3, WMV, and even JPGs. It cost me all of $90. It's not sold as region-free, but you can play Region 1 DVDs with a simple two-step menu combo to override the region blocker. I've played a DVD from Germany on it without a problem. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 12:39:22 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: Wi-Fi Q on 12/9/03 9:55 AM, The Mammal Brain at tews@drizzle.com wrote: > so i live about one-half mile from a free, public hotspot (the library). > definitely note line-of-sight (plenty of vegetation in the way). is it > possible, with an antenna, to pick up the signal? if so, which kind? > It's really gated by the library's antenna, not yours. A standard wireless router has a range of 150 feet or so. Add-on antennae can boost this quite a bit - maybe up to 1000 feet. But what you're talking about would require a point-to-point line of site wireless connection. > also, are hotspots always "emitting", or only during the location's open > hours? > Probably always on. I don't see why they would go through the trouble of shutting down the routers when they lock the doors at night. > finally, wi-fi is supposed to be "blazing fast", but, wouldn't one be > limited to the hotspot's conventional connection's bandwidth? > Your standard "Wi-Fi" is the 802.11b standard, roughly 11 megabits per second. That's about ten times faster than a good DSL connection. So, you're right, the library's connection to the internet is the bottleneck. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 15:27:49 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: FIREFLY in the jar Today I was very glad that I hadn't pre-ordered the FIREFLY DVDs. I took a little shopping trip at lunchtime, in part to pick them up, and when I arrived at Media Play, I was greeted not only by the FIREFLY set, but a cheery little sign beside them that read: FIREFLY: THE COMPLETE SERIES SALE: $19.99 Since the lowest I'd seen it was $29.99, I was taken aback. When the clerk rang up the purchase, it showed as $39.99, but I directed her to the sale sign, and, faced with this evidence, she gave me the set for $19.99. I do think the sale price was a typographical error, but just in case Media Play/Sam Goody/Suncoast mass-produced signs with this error, it might be worth your while to peek inside to see if you can get that $19.99 price before they correct their mistake. And not to play Rexian Contrarian, but I was really surprised to see how many Amazon.com users stumped for both FIREFLY and DARK ANGEL on FIREFLY's Amazon.com page. I'm sure that part of it has to do with both shows having aired originally on Fox, and Fox cancelling them after relatively short runs (half a season for FIREFLY; two seasons for DARK ANGEL). But geez, to me DARK ANGEL (Jessica Alba's looks and Lydecker's speech to the AA meeting aside) was pretty much a "how NOT to do a science fiction show on TV" primer, whereas FIREFLY was pretty much the "how to do it right" polar opposite. Sometimes I get the sense that a lot of science fiction and fantasy fans (*not* the ones on this list!!!!) are pretty indiscriminate, ready to gush fanboyish at any TV show with science fiction or fantasy elements -- which is a damn shame, because I think this causes a lot of smart people to ignore the whole genre, and thus miss out on the better things it has to offer. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 17:07:44 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: FIREFLY in the jar On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Miles Goosens wrote: > Today I was very glad that I hadn't pre-ordered the FIREFLY DVDs. I > took a little shopping trip at lunchtime, in part to pick them up, and > when I arrived at Media Play, I was greeted not only by the FIREFLY > set, but a cheery little sign beside them that read: > > FIREFLY: THE COMPLETE SERIES > SALE: $19.99 You lucky weasel! ;) I ordered mine from Amazon for $38 or so, but at least a fraction of that money will go to Jewel Staite. They should arrive in a few days, accompanying the Buffy season 5 set. It's going to be a real Joss Whedon festival at my place.... > Sometimes I get the sense that a lot of science fiction and fantasy > fans (*not* the ones on this list!!!!) are pretty indiscriminate, > ready to gush fanboyish at any TV show with science fiction or fantasy > elements -- which is a damn shame, because I think this causes a lot > of smart people to ignore the whole genre, and thus miss out on the > better things it has to offer. This reminds me of the old bumper sticking reading "The worst day fishing is better than the best day at work." For some people, the worst SF show is better than the best "mundane" show. I probably felt that way once, when I watched such quality fare as the Buck Rogers show; but I have the excuse of being about 10 years old at the time. But was Dark Angel really that bad? I never watched it but had considered renting the DVDs. I remember being intrigued by the first promos, but I have to admit that was most likely because Jessica Alba looked cute.... - --Chris, who has never watched Farquest, Stargate the series, Highlander the series, Smallville or Charmed np: The Swans, "Celebrity Lifestyle" ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 14:21:27 -0800 From: "Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" Subject: RE: FIREFLY in the jar > --Chris, > who has never watched Farquest, Stargate the series, Highlander the > series, Smallville or Charmed There is only one series listed above that doesn't totally suck. The that features the lush fir forests of Kansas. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 14:21:41 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: reap Paul Simon No, the other one. ===== "Senator John McCain recently compared the situation in Iraq to the Vietnam era -- to which President Bush replied, 'What does Iraq have in common with drinking beer in Texas?'" -- Craig Kilborn "I don't think the Bush administration lied to us about Iraq. I think it's worse than that. I think they fooled themselves. I think they were conned by Ahmad Chalabi. I think they indulged in wishful thinking to a point of near criminality. I think they decided anyone who didn't agree with them was an enemy, anti-American, disloyal. In other words, I think they're criminally stupid." -- Molly Ivins __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 16:28:21 -0600 From: Marcy Tanter Subject: Re: reap That's too bad. He was a good guy. Remember the paradies of him on SNL? He had a very distinctive voice. Marcy At 02:21 PM 12/9/2003 -0800, Jeff Dwarf wrote: >Paul Simon > >No, the other one. > > > > >===== >"Senator John McCain recently compared the situation in Iraq to the >Vietnam era -- to which President Bush replied, 'What does Iraq have in >common with drinking beer in Texas?'" -- Craig Kilborn > >"I don't think the Bush administration lied to us about Iraq. I think it's >worse than that. I think they fooled themselves. I think they were conned >by Ahmad Chalabi. I think they indulged in wishful thinking to a point of >near criminality. I think they decided anyone who didn't agree with them >was an enemy, anti-American, disloyal. In other words, I think they're >criminally stupid." -- Molly Ivins > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard >http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 14:43:25 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: reap Marcy Tanter wrote: > That's too bad. He was a good guy. Remember the > paradies of him on SNL? He had a very distinctive > voice. Best acting Al Franken ever did (though the highlight of that SNL's coverage of 1988 campaign is still Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis blurting "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy" during one of the debate skits). I also remember when Paul "No tengo Garfunkel" Simon guest hosted in early 1988, Senator Simon came out during the monologue, which was the two of them discussing which one of them was actually hosting the show that night. Really funny. Gave the distinct impression that was a genuinely very nice man -- not one that would need a whole industry of people to con everyone into thinking he's likable when he's really a smarmy fratboy cokehead cum Christian Supremacist pigfucker. ===== "Senator John McCain recently compared the situation in Iraq to the Vietnam era -- to which President Bush replied, 'What does Iraq have in common with drinking beer in Texas?'" -- Craig Kilborn "I don't think the Bush administration lied to us about Iraq. I think it's worse than that. I think they fooled themselves. I think they were conned by Ahmad Chalabi. I think they indulged in wishful thinking to a point of near criminality. I think they decided anyone who didn't agree with them was an enemy, anti-American, disloyal. In other words, I think they're criminally stupid." -- Molly Ivins __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 17:16:44 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: FIREFLY in the jar At 05:07 PM 12/9/2003 -0500, Christopher Gross wrote: >You lucky weasel! ;) I ordered mine from Amazon for $38 or so, but at >least a fraction of that money will go to Jewel Staite. Hm, maybe I'll try to funnel the proceeds of my sale to Morena Baccarin. >This reminds me of the old bumper sticking reading "The worst day fishing >is better than the best day at work." For some people, the worst SF show >is better than the best "mundane" show. I probably felt that way once, >when I watched such quality fare as the Buck Rogers show; but I have the >excuse of being about 10 years old at the time. I was about 10 years old then too. My grandmother and I watched the show, and did what would now be called a MST3K-ing of it. No robots were involved, except for that annoying sop-to-kids comic-relief robot that was actually on the show. >But was Dark Angel really that bad? I never watched it but had considered >renting the DVDs. I remember being intrigued by the first promos, but >I have to admit that was most likely because Jessica Alba looked cute.... Jessica's got a top-5 derriere if I've ever seen one, and she did a pretty good job in the lead. The actress who played Original Cindy was winning enough, too, and the premise, while not startling original or anything, was intriguing enough. Unfortunately the scripts did little to deliver, serving up little else but hackneyed plots with bone-stupid execution. I think I said this on the list earlier this year (and I said it to Sumiko off-list today), but the show's Rubicon for me was the Season One episode where a "police sketch" of Max (Ms. Alba's character) was circulated all over Seattle, and she, her friends, and her nemesis Lydecker all immediately recognized that it was her, even though IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE JESSICA ALBA AT ALL! Even setting aside the idea that this future world would still be reliant on police sketches, this means that not one person on the set either noticed this inconvenient fact or was willing to speak up about it. Producer James Cameron's cash cow may have been an equally wretched movie, but at least Leo's sketch (wasn't it actually Cameron's?) of nekkid Kate Winslet looked like nekkid Kate Winslet... All that being said, rent a couple of discs of Season One and see what you think. I know Rex likes DARK ANGEL way more than I did, so there's at least one bright person with good taste who digs it. Plus one of the early ones has Lydecker's speech at the AA meeting, which was so well-written that it seemed like it fell into the script from an unaired HOMICIDE episode. Me, I missed a few Season Two episodes, and I'm thinking of using a Netflix rental or two to fill in the gaps. >--Chris, >who has never watched Farquest, Stargate the series, Highlander the >series, Smallville or Charmed Let's see... FARQUEST: Never have seen it, though a trusted friend loves it, and I'll try it on DVD someday. STARGATE SG-1: Never have watched (as mentioned a few days ago). HIGHLANDER: IMO always worth watching -- it wasn't the Best Show Ever or anything, but was fine escapist fare, especially in its first two seasons when large chunks of the show were shot on location in Paris, it rolled out guest stars like Joan Jett and a super-creepy Roland Gift, and the lovely Alexandra Vandernoot was Duncan's main squeeze. Also, any episode with Amanda (former Miss America and probable Clinton hookup Elizabeth Gracen) is worth watching, since she's Da Bomb. SMALLVILLE: Never have watched. CHARMED: I watch it every week, but I make no claims for quality, except when it comes to the looks of Holly Marie Combs, Rose McGowan, and the now-departed Shannen Doherty. Alyssa Milano was hot when it started, but not any more: there's her queen-bitch putsch that landed Shannen off the show (I swear that this season, the writers keep taking subtle digs at Alyssa), plus a series of disastrous hairstyles and a weight loss so severe that she has now has little boy hips and her fake breasts look ridiculously fake -- the rest of Alyssa has melted away, but the silicone spheres stand out from her body like someone's glued dodgeballs to her chest. later, Miles ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #455 ********************************