Kinda psyched for all-masked showings of DUNE, very immersive
Anyone unmasks, point at them and go "THEY SQUANDER THE WATER OF THE SIETCH" and challenge 'em to a crysknife duel
— Max Gladstone (@maxgladstone) July 28, 2021
The movie I’m looking forward to is The Green Knight, but not until I can watch it at home. Any of you braver Jackals seen it yet?
Sportsball-adjacent:
Obama joins NBA Africa as strategic partner https://t.co/PCK16LbumQ pic.twitter.com/CZnUSPOSUY
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 28, 2021
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner to help advance social responsibility efforts across the continent, the National Basketball Association said on Tuesday.
Obama will have a minority equity stake in the new venture, which over time he intends to use to fund Obama Foundation youth and leadership programs across Africa.
“By investing in communities, promoting gender equality, and cultivating the love of the game of basketball, I believe that NBA Africa can make a difference for so many of Africa’s young people,” Obama said in a news release…
And from the faunasphere…
Seems like a decent metaphor for community formation on Twitter https://t.co/u4ZaeZrwm5
— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) July 29, 2021
… [Bird ecologist Richard] Major has been studying Australian birds for almost 40 years. A few years back, he began noticing something peculiar in Sydney: cockatoos that were eating out of someone’s open trash bin.
“I wasn’t really expecting cockatoos to be rubbish bin feeders,” he said. “They’re not something like ibis or crows that are scavengers. These are good, self-respecting seed-eaters — or at least plant-eaters.”…
“The thing that really got me was when I saw a cockatoo fly up from a rubbish bin, sit on a electricity wire, holding a chicken drumstick in its foot,” he says, explaining that a cockatoo can perch on one leg and hold its food in another. “Here it was, just munching on a drumstick, and I thought, ‘Oh god, this is verging on cannibalism.’ Certainly once cockatoos start eating meat, we’re done for.”
He’d just assumed that those bins were already open and overflowing — nothing clever about that. But Major later began observing several of the birds actually opening the bins themselves, and now he was intrigued. If this behavior spreads, he thought, “There’ll be cockatoos opening bins all over the place and they’ll have this endless supply of rubbish.” A cockatoo smorgasbord…
A team of scientists — including John Martin, Sonja Wild, Jana K. Hörsch and Lucy Aplin — joined Klump and Major to figure out what was going on with these clever cockatoos. They started by sending surveys out to different suburbs in Sydney to ask people if they had noticed the big white parrots opening up their trash bins and, if they had, when they first saw it. The survey results showed that over two years, the number of trash-raiding cockatoo sightings had increased from just three suburbs to 44, indicating that the birds were learning from each other. A culture of trash can break-ins was radiating out from the birds who first figured it out…
HarlequinGnoll
My personal preferred movie watching time and day of week combo already was technically social distancing.
PsiFighter37
Big week comes to a close. Condo closed on, car picked up and purchased. Now I need to actively think of things to do with the car now that we have one. It’s the first time I have ever purchased a car, at the ripe young age of 35, but I did not know how slow things go. I paid for the car with all cash, and it still took me nearly 2 hours to get out of the dealership (I assumed most extra time went to the financing aspects). I do wish that my parking spot was less cumbersome to park in…definitely requires delicate maneuvering, but in Manhattan, you take what you can get, not necessarily what you want.
End of July already…kind of crazy. This year has veritably flown by compared with what felt like the slow-motion car crash of 2020.
Richard Guhl
Thus proving that the cockatoo has more smarts than the average GOP voter.
trollhattan
@PsiFighter37:
Don’t say “car crash”!
Anne Laurie
Dunno — prying open trashbins to feast on garbage sounds a lot like the template for QAnon…
Baud
I for one welcome our new cockatoo overlords.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: I paid cash for my used Prius…yes it took quite a while to get all the paperwork done.
zhena gogolia
Asking again, since this passed unnoticed the other day. Is The Hobbit really terrible? I’m running out of Richard Armitage viewing.
Tehanu
@zhena gogolia:
Well … he’s very good in it. And it has its moments; Martin Freeman is also very good.
trollhattan
Oh my gosh, this video of the cockatoos at work is remarkable.
Remind me a bit of the keas that strip parts off cars parked in the New Zealand mountains.
Steeplejack
Where’s Omnes? I believe he has a notification set for A Fistful of Dollars, which just started on TCM. To be followed by For a Few Dollars More at 10:00 EDT.
zhena gogolia
@Tehanu:
Okay. Maybe I can fast forward through boring parts. I love Martin Freeman too.
WereBear
I’m never astonished when science discovers that Animal X is actually more social, communicative, and smarter than commonly thought.
Isn’t that what evolution is about? We came from somewhere, didn’t we?
trollhattan
@Anne Laurie:
Will note that a nickname for bald eagles in Alaska is “dumpster chickens” because of their dining habits near civilization.
TheOtherHank
@zhena gogolia: have you read the book? If so it will seem weird since they expanded a short book obviously meant as a children’s story into three 2+ hour movies. There are new characters, new subplots, characters from Lord of the Rings making cameos, etc…
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@zhena gogolia: If you are expecting it to stick close to the spirit and content of the original novel, you’ll be disappointed.
But on its own as a fantasy trilogy, I thought it was enjoyable enough. An excuse to spend a few more hours in Middle Earth after seeing Lord of the Rings. And Martin Freeman is very enjoyable as someone else said.
Anne Laurie
Well, but everybody knows bald eagles are scavengers (& bullies, who steal fish from smaller birds) — that’s why Ben Franklin was furious about the bald eagle being chosen as a symbol for the new United States!
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
I saw people comment, and, yes, it’s awful.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@WereBear:
One of my all time favorite non-fiction books is Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are, by Frans de Waal. He is an expert and a pioneer in the field of animal cognition, and he’s got plenty of convincing examples, not just among primates.
He spends some time talking about how desperately science has been over the centuries to deny that there’s such a thing as “animal cognition”, to somehow define what it means to be human in a way that no other species can fit the definition (e.g. humans are tool users). Every time somebody finds an animal counterexample, these people scramble for a new human-exclusive definition.
pat
Hmm, any chance the cockatoos can evolve back into dinosaurs? That would be awesome. They can take over the over-heated planet when all the hoomans are gone.
Hey, why not?
Major Major Major Major
a friend of mine described the trailer as being for “Christopher Nolan’s Dune” and I just can’t stop thinking about it that way. I’ll still see it, of course, but I’m prepared to be disappoint.
StevEagle
Just saw The Green Knight and it’s f-in great. First movie in a theater in 18 months and definitely worth it! I get wanting to see it at home, but this is definitely one worth seeing in theaters. It just looks incredible and the sound design is also very nice.
Narya
@zhena gogolia: yes, it’s terrible. I’m a LOTR freak, and saw the 3 hobbit movies btbtb when the third one came out. That’s a day I’ll never get back.
frosty
@PsiFighter37: Congratulations on the wheels. I was 21 when I got my first and it was a disaster: a used Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider. The ones I bought in my 30s were much better!
ETA: “used” means worn out. Main bearings in the engine were shot, carbs needed rebuilding, two blown head gaskets, etc etc.
trollhattan
@Anne Laurie:
Yeah, they certainly will snag the easiest calories available. They do hunt, too. My favorite sequence on a camera forum I frequent is of a bald eagle going completely underwater and reappearing clutching a flounder. Had no idea they’d do anything more than grab surface-swimming fish.
Golden eagles are certified bad-asses.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: If you like LOTR and the hobbit, then you should definitely watch, even if you fast forward through anything that doesn’t interest you.
The good parts are good.
Major Major Major Major
@WereBear: we’re basically emerging from a weird ~100 year dark age where scientists decided that all non-human animals were automatons. The evolution of sentience and knowing is fascinating, so it’s too bad we decided to set ourselves back for a while.
ETA highly recommend the book Other Minds
pat
Why are the women playing beach volleyball wearing G-strings?
And yes I know that the Norwegians were fined when they wore actually, you know, shorts. Go Norway!
zhena gogolia
@TheOtherHank:
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I’ve never read any of the books and only could make it through a half hour of LOTR. Don’t know if that’s a plus or minus.
trollhattan
@frosty:
Hah! A buddy had a pristine Duetto Spider–identical to The Graduate Alfa–that he sold to fund his septic tank install. Decades of derision followed.
He recently spotted an auction of its twin and the car remained unsold when the $90k top bid had not met reserve. Sheesh.
Urza
@Major Major Major Major: The Dune trailer itself is already so far off the books. Not sure they can claim it as anything other than a reimagining of.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@pat: We’re watching that right now too. My answer is that they dress as they do because men run things. Also notice the camera angles–lots of shots of them walking away
frosty
@trollhattan:
In April off of the Channel Islands, I saw a bald eagle snatch a gull out of the water and fly off to the cliffs with it. The other gulls were trying to chase it away before it made its move.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Don’t Fauci Florida!
Major Major Major Major
@Urza: interesting, I mostly remember a big smash cut of “hand in box! blue eyes! sand! generic sci-fi sets! huge worm! DUNE!”
what made you think it strayed?
RSA
How cool. There’s a centuries-long history of identifying some unique quality of human beings, something that distinguishes us from other animals, and it’s been claimed that culture is one of the these qualities. But it turns out that some animals (great apes, corvids, dolphins…) do have something that we could characterize as culture, which critically includes transmitting information between individuals and down through generations.
Some years ago I published a paper in the animal cognition literature, on tool use, and I still remember one correction from a reviewer. I’d said something about a mother dolphin teaching her daughters how to use a sponge in a particular way (this was a big finding at the time), but that was not quite accurate: the mother dolphin would demonstrate the behavior, which the others learned and adopted. To animal cognition researchers, teaching and learning aren’t necessarily duals.
Major Major Major Major
@Dorothy A. Winsor: this is why i watch men’s diving, for the equality!
frosty
@trollhattan: Yep, mine was a ’67, same as the Graduate car. When the mechanic told me the 10psi oil pressure was because I basically had no main bearings we talked, and I swapped it for his TR-3. Not much more reliable but the parts cost 1/4 as much and I could do the work myself.
ETA: This isn’t Off Topic!! We mentioned a movie!
Ken
Because pole dancing isn’t an Olympic event yet?
pat
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Well since they don’t have much in the way of tits, I guess they have to go for the buns.
Can’t imagine landing in sand with that much skin exposed, but I guess they must be used to it….
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
Have you watched The Stranger or Castlevania?
The first Hobbit is ok. The best scene is when they all meet at Bag-End at the beginning of the story. It’s just a sweet scene.
He has a large catalog of audio books. ?
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
I haven’t signed up for Netflix yet. I guess I’ll have to, since that seems to be where he is these days. I have never gotten into having books read to me, but he does have a good voice!
We made it through Uncle Vanya, tonight we’re watching his Lynley episode, then there’s a Marple. The great thing is that my husband has heard me listening to so many YouTubes that he now does a quite creditable impression of RA’s voice, usually saying “in an Oxfordshire garden.”
Oh, and I bought Robin Hood, but it’s pretty boring!
Urza
@Major Major Major Major: The dialogue is just so far off the books. Not just not using words from the books but being not what a character would say. Talking about Paul’s premonotions before he ever took the spice. Bene Gesserit talking to Paul as if he’s anything more than a young kid. In the book there was no part of that other than the Gom Jabbar scene. Cheney talking the way she does in the trailer is so far off the books. If thats true in 30 seconds then its probably true the entire movie.
Thopters and sand worms look good, the rest is way off the several dozen books in the expanded universe as well as the previous movies. I will give them credit for showing the massive armies that were always implied but never really detailed in the books.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
I kept checking back but didn’t see any replies. I guess I gave up too soon.
John Revolta
I saw a study maybe 15? years ago where a certain kind of bird had learned to drink out of milk bottles on people’s porches, but the weird thing was that birds in Europe and England learned to do it at the same time- but these birds don’t communicate (i.e. fly across the Channel). I haven’t heard any more about it since then so I dunno if it led anywhere…………..
Ivan X
I saw Pig today in a theater. Don’t think I would have got through it at home but I thought it was excellent.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@StevEagle: & for the tradcaths, there is latin mass.
sadly, they will be disappointed to see a hindoo cast as gawain, rather than a proud anglo-saxon.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@pat: as decreed by ioc chair sisqo.
Urza
@John Revolta: 100th Monkey Effect in a real world example.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Then you will hate it! I don’t care how much you love Richard Armitrage.
He is in the last few seasons of MI-5. BritBox, I think. And he’s in Berlin Station (Epix channel on Prime).
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
He was in the first season of Strike Back which I was able to watch on YouTube. He is excellent in it.
Did you watch him in MI5 (Spooks)? Good character for him until the script jumped the shark a bit at the end of his second season on the show.
MomSense
@Steeplejack:
Berlin Station was fantastic.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: apologize to ron de santis
right now
raven
@frosty: Here I am driving my first car, a 64 Fairlane that a guy my old man knew wanted to give to a vet. I was 20.
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
No, I haven’t seen those. And I just found The Crucible on YouTube.
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
Ha! I forgot he was Guy on that series. My youngest likes that show when he was little so we watched the whole series. He also loved Monk, Psych, and Eureka. We still watch Monk every now and then.
pat
I read the lord of the rings and the hobbit three times in the 80s. Do not want to watch the movies, because they will not portray what I imagined.
ArchTeryx
@Urza: Yeah, that seems… off. The Bene Gesserit were rather famously inscrutable about their real goals and motives, and they played the long game. The LOOOOOOOONG game.
Paul completely *@#ed up their shit because someone with his powers was born too soon, and worse, his mother basically staged an intervention on Arrakis and trained him to tell the Reverend Motherhood to eat sand. Little did she know that millenia into the future, that decision would unleash the Honored Matres, which were the Bene Gesserit turned feral.
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
Cinemax or Showtime bought Strike Back but he didn’t stay on the show.
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
He tweeted that he just finished another Harlan Coben thing for Netflix. I don’t think I’m going to like Harlan Coben.
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
TD
The first Hobbit movie was good if you fast forward thru the goblin tunnels. Green Knight was worse than the third Hobbit movie
trollhattan
@frosty:
Knew a guy who did a frame-up TR3 restoration and while he did a better-than-stock job with the wiring loom, etc. he could not avoid replacing the Lucas electrics with more Lucas electrics.
I’m sure it was JUST fine.
Ken
I’m sorry Ron DeSantis is an ideology-driven fool who has killed tens of thousands of people.
Major Major Major Major
@Urza: ahh, good catch, I didn’t really pay attention to the dialogue since it’s usually pretty divorced from context, hopefully that’s the case here
That said I don’t really care toooo much about the sequels or extended universe. Adaptations change stuff… Arrival was still good.
Steeplejack
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Did you see the article I posted for you a few days ago? “The Half-Finished Duolingo Course.”
Martin
I believe I successfully deprogrammed a relative last night.
This youtube video helped quite a bit in understanding where their thinking was coming from and how to work with them on it.
It’s long, amusing, and not really about what it you think. Stick with it to the end.
trollhattan
@Ken:
AKA #2 most likely Republican candidate in 2024.
“Freedom: you’re never more free than when you’re dead.
-Desantis-Greene ’24”
Major Major Major Major
And now, back to Fallout 76.
laura
@frosty: and yet, you’ve passed on Mr. Gladstone as a nym…
Obvious Russian Troll
I’m in Toronto, which has a huge raccoon population. This is in large part because the green bin program, where in addition to garbage and recycling we put food waste at the curb in those green bins.
Naturally, the raccoons love them.
A couple of years ago, the city introduced a raccoon-proof green bin. It was of course cracked almost immediately by intrepid raccoons. To this day I am convinced that there are grizzled old raccoons giving seminars on how to open the new green bins.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Steeplejack: I missed that. Thanks for posting it again.
As it happens, I’m visiting a friend for a few days, and I decided to take the chance to break the compulsion to do Duolingo every day. I’ll do some when I get home, but I’m going to try to be normal and sane about it
Jeffro
@Anne Laurie: Franklin was right, we should have gone with the turkey. ;)
comrade scotts agenda of rage
The Hobbit is beyond bloated.
That being said, the opening scene of the 3rd film with Smaug running amok and getting shot is worth finding.
Also too, a guy did a fantastic fan edit and made “The Battle for Dol Goldur”. At 40 minutes, it’s fantastic:
mega.nz/file/VFo2WYza#xpcxGovLRcLgFELAIZEuOl-n7gPaOsSV2g_xDLL9GTk
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@zhena gogolia: And Lee Pace. Don’t forget Lee Pace. And his saddle elk.
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major:
@Urza: one of the side benefits of my family’s road trip this past week is that we got to talking about movies, which led to talk of recent movies (or trailers) and so I got to give them all a bare-bones outline of DUNE, the novel.
Now they all want to read it(!)
I think I might have a future in sales…. =)
VeniceRiley
@Major Major Major Major: My fiancé just got a Nuka Girl tattoo…
RandomMonster
I made a portuguese fisherman’s stew that fairly rocked the world. So I’ve got that going for me tonight.
trollhattan
@Obvious Russian Troll:
The bear-“proof” dumpster technology deployed in the Sierra Nevada shows an ever-evolving battle.
Another Scott
@Martin: Zooks. Too long for now.
But the bits I saw (the start, around 35:00-38:00, and near the end) are well done.
Thanks for the pointer.
Cheers,
Scott.
Benw
Among Us!
Robert Sneddon
@Urza:
A lot of the new Dune trailer seems to have been filmed in Explodey-vision, an odd choice for yet another movie version of a book which spends most of its pages going into tedious detail about the mental states of the various characters. Then again previous movies and TV series didn’t do a particularly good job of putting such an unfilmable book on screen either although the eye-candy in the David Lynch version was nice, sometimes.
As an aside, why do famous actors portraying Fremen spend so much of their time with their faces exposed and hair blowing in the desert winds? Let me guess, it’s less to faithfully depict the book’s ecological message and more to do with the face-time clauses in their contract…
Yutsano
@Benw: Should we open a private BJ room?
Spinoza Is My Co-pilot
@StevEagle: Yeah, watched the Green Knight last night at the movies with my wife, first time at a theater since January ’20, great movie to get back with.
It was quite good, and — most especially for all the interesting and perfectly-suited music — best experienced at a theater. Beautiful cinematography and a fascinating version of the story that really captured the non-linear and dream-like strangeness (to modern sensibilities) of the original medieval tale.
One aspect (common to so many modern movies) that was not particularly good was the preponderance of muddled dialogue. The difficulty (often impossibility) of catching what was being said was exacerbated by the strong accents, but mostly it was just typical (modern) lousy sound editing. The gist of what was happening could be ascertained for the most part, but this did somewhat lessen the overall enjoyment. Still recommend.
brendancalling
Packing for a move.
Brachiator
There was a recent thread about TV and streaming shows that people are watching. This got me wondering.
Is anyone going out to the movies?
I admit that I am still Covid shy and will probably be limiting the social spaces I visit for a while. This includes movie theaters, even though I used to love, love, love going to the movies. But even more than this, my preferred movie theaters went out of business as a result of the pandemic and the alternatives are not as comfortable or as accommodating.
Also, I might also give up on wanting to stream some upcoming releases. Disney Plus makes the new release of “Black Widow” available for streaming for a $30 surcharge. I would snap this up in a flash if I had a houseful of family and friends. But as a single ticket, nope. And where is my senior discount?
I am also curious about the health of the movie industry. Unfortunately, the mainstream news stories are pitifully shallow and uninformative. So, back to Black Widow again. I read that opening weekend grossed $80 million on somewhere around 4,000 screens. Maybe more. But there is not much competing for available screens. Anyway, this tells me little. It would be far more useful to know the number of regular tickets sold (excluding IMAX) and the number of theaters showing the movie compared to 2019. Audience demographics (which I can probably dig up) might be useful.
I would also like to know about the financial health of movie theaters. What are their current average costs? Have they had to increase wages? Are they having trouble hiring staff or getting former employees back?
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
If you and hubby aren’t going to be watching things on different devices at the same time, think about opting for the stripped down basic Netflix.
They kind’a sort’a try to hide it, but the lower cost option is there. Supports streaming on only one device (not one specific device – i.e., you could use it to watch on a TV in the living room and later on using a tablet in the basement – just not both at once). Also you won’t be receiving stuff in 4k but in 1080p*. Less costly layout for this tier: $8.99 per month.
*At least for my older eyes, there’s no significant difference worth mentioning in picture from 4k. (It’s also possible your particular viewing device doesn’t support 4k, also too, so you’d be seeing it in 1080p regardless.)
YMMV: personally have become less enamored of Netflix. Used to be I’d find a half dozen or more things which piqued interest each month. More recently lucky if I find one or two, some months nothing new at all.
Ken
I’m imagining a steel cube with walls six inches thick.
Now I’m imagining the same cube ripped open.
NotMax
BTW, anyone seen/heard hide or hair of SiubhanDuinne?
eclare
@NotMax: Same here. I’m thinking of switching to Hulu. Just not as much I want to see.
eclare
@NotMax: I wondered about her too.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Obama joins NBA, meanwhile Dump joins the all you can eat buffet line at Denny’s
gwangung
@Robert Sneddon: Film actors act with their faces, Masks remove much of the subtle cues they use to act on screen. Part of the reason why I think the series is unfilmable.
Obvious Russian Troll
@trollhattan: I bet. Raccoons fortunately don’t have the brute strength a bear does.
Major Major Major Major
@VeniceRiley: oh neat!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Brachiator: I’ve paid the premium price a couple times to stream theatrical releases that were simultaneously available for streaming. The price was comparable to two theater tickets, actually a little less.
But no interest at all in a live theater yet.
I’d like to support the art-film houses, places like IFC Center in New York so periodically I look to see if they’re streaming. Haven’t seen much going on though.
Urza
@Robert Sneddon: Dune is something that should be fine using any unknown actor that can actually act. Sticking Jason Mamoa in seems like a pointless exercise unless they’re going to have all the Duncan gola in future movies. He was dead pretty early in the book. Nameless Fremen should be people off the street, or just anyone showing up who could use some IMDB credits for their resume.
I get tired of seeing the same actors recycled through every movie as if there’s no one else willing to do the job.
frosty
@trollhattan: I rebuilt the engine twice and replaced the tranny. Never did a frame-up restoration but if I would have I’d’ve been looking for Hitachi, Bosch, ANY other electrical equipment instead of the ones from the Prince of Darkness.
Q: Why do the English drink their beer warm?
A: Lucas made all the refrigerators.
Another Scott
Always good to keep in mind.
Cheers,
Scott.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Obvious Russian Troll:
Racoons can drive (video)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: :-)
From roughly 20 years ago – I remember seeing Ollie North get off a plane about 50 feet in front of anyone else at a gate at Dulles. I couldn’t think of anything to snappy to say (like “Liar!!”) before he was gone.
I admire people who have quick snappy comments, and quick snappy stinky eye!
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Thanks.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Oh, good point. Not in the last few days.
Benw
@Yutsano: that would be fun!
zhena gogolia
Man, Richard Armitage and Nathaniel Parker in the same scene is ? , as the kids say.
Jay
@frosty:
the rule of thumb with “classic” Italian cars, is that you needed to have a garage and a body shop, ( rust, parts) that specialized in Italian cars. Italian cars were built “light” and “tight” to provide the performance and handling.
It was recommended that you visited your mechanic twice as often as it was recommended you visit your dentist. 4 tune ups a year, meticulous PM. At the first scratch or rust bubble, off to the bodyshop.
( former 1964 Alfa GTV owner, former 1972 Fiat 128 ex racing car owner who sold both, because I couldn’t afford the upkeep, but I sold them while they were still in great shape, so I got better than “top dollar”)
None of them were cars you could just drive with nothing more than regular oil changes, sparkplugs, rotors and an air filter change twice a year, brakes and clutch as needed.
Gin & Tonic
@Jay: That’s why FIAT stands for Fix It Again, Tony.
lashonharangue
@Obvious Russian Troll:
@trollhattan: I bet. Raccoons fortunately don’t have the brute strength a bear does.
The bears don’t just rely on brute strength. There are various designs of bear proof food canisters that are required when camping in the Sierra Nevada back country. They have to be approved. There was one design the bears in a particular park figured out they just had to sit on it. The canister would deform enough the top would pop off. Smart critters and they teach their cubs.
Another Scott
A candidate for the most hyperbolic click-baity headline of the year. (I have no doubt it will be topped – perhaps before I click the Post Comment button.)
TheNextWeb – Google’s ‘time crystals’ could be the greatest scientific achievement of our lifetimes.
(via GoogleNews)
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Jay: I put four generators in the TR-3 in four years, LOL. It needed a little more than the routine maintenance too.
I swear the DPO* of all my sports cars did no maintenance whatsoever. They all needed carb rebuilds (engines too, now that I think of it) at a minimum.
*Damned Previous Owner
Morzer
How long before the Loser of Mar-a-Diaper claims that he was NBA Africa’s first choice and turned them down because they didn’t respect his record as a player sufficiently?
NotMax
@lashonharangue
“Yeah, the rind is tough but what’s inside is worth it.”
Ken
@lashonharangue: I had never heard of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, nor the process to get IGBC Certified. Thank you for expanding my store of trivia.
Ken
@NotMax: Reminds me of this classic.
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
Speaking of Italian cars, is it just me who sees this baby as looking like three separate cars which suffered an unfortunate transporter beaming in glitch?
;)
Just Chuck
@Anne Laurie: Yes, and he wanted the wild turkey to be the national bird. Thankfully we ended up with the one that looked badass.
Funny thing tho, that high screech you hear usually attributed to bald eagles, as played in the Colbert Report intro, is a red-tailed hawk. Bald eagles make a very un-macho hi-pitched “cheep”.
Kelly
Olympic team fencing competition should be a melee
S. Cerevisiae
I love the Dune books and I always cut film versions some slack because of the whole viewing the actors thing. I don’t wonder about what happened to all the corpses in Supernatural either…
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@trollhattan:
Dad had a TR-3 for years. His problem was that he knew nothing about how to fix them, and it was mighty finicky.
Just Chuck
The David Lynch version of Dune is cringe-inducing to watch in so many parts … but the look of it still holds up pretty well. I still crack up at the Lynch-isms he added, like people walking a pack of poodles around the throne room, and the rat duct-taped to a very confused cat.
NotMax
@Ken
Cute.
Reminded of an NPC* conversation in World of Warcraft between two Saurok (lizard people).
“Yeah, I ate a gnome last week and I’ve been picking pink hairs out of my teeth since.”
*non-player character(s), for the gaming unsavvy
Philbert
@frosty: Q: What are the three setting for Lucas headlights?
A: Off, Dim, and Flicker
Cameron
Anybody have some inside info on what happens now that the anti-eviction order is done?
lashonharangue
@Ken: Don’t take my previous comment to suggest they don’t use strength. They can peel the door off of a car like it was a sardine can. However, they can be discriminating. I heard a great story from a hiker in Yosemite. He had parked his pickup at a trail head with a case of motor oil in the open bed. Came back from the hike to find one puncture hole in the top of each can. I think the bear was hoping for canned peaches or something and tasted each can with his claw. Disappointed he left the truck alone.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: (I may have mentioned this story before.)
I have an uncle who bought a new MG Midget with some inheritance money. Blew the engine, had it sitting in a garage for a few years until he had the money to try to fix it. I remember he even bought all new bolts for it. I was visiting once when he was working on it, and was installing some of the head bolts.
“Hmm. These seem very tight. Oh well, we’ll just use the ratchet on them…”
All the bolts were strangely tight…
Long story short, the British standard threads were slightly different from SAE threads… :-/
He never did get it back together. That tiny tin car probably would have killed him if he had!
He had an Opel 1900 sport wagon thing, then a CR-X after that. Much more sensible cars. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Philbert:
A: Off, smoke, flame
(There are dozens of Lucas jokes!)
Obvious Russian Troll
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Frankly it explains a lot about Toronto traffic.
Robert Sneddon
@NotMax:
Two orcs in Mary Gentle’s disgustingly hilarious fantasy parody of the USMC, “Grunts”.
“Pass me another elf, Sergeant. This one’s split.”
Another Scott
@Cameron: Presumably the usual eviction process will start up again (meaning landlords will go to courts, etc.)
(via LOLGOP)
There are still tens of billions of dollars in federal pandemic rent assistance that haven’t been distributed. I’m not sure what the holdup is or whether that money can somehow prevent a mass of evictions.
Chaotic ends to federal programs are never a good thing. :-(
Presumably we’ll know more in coming days/weeks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Obvious Russian Troll
@lashonharangue: Didn’t mean to imply that bears aren’t smart! They obviously are.
The thing is, though, they can both apply their brains to the problem of opening a garbage can *and* they can apply sheer brute strength. But they’re larger, so there are fewer of them and it’s harder for them to live in large metropolitan areas like Toronto.
Jay
@NotMax:
There was a time, when there were “Body Builders”. Specialty shops could buy a rolling chassis and drivetrain from a manufacturer, put their own body and interior on it, sometimes “tune it”.
Some of the results were “weird”, some were rare and beautiful, and some became the iconic “look” for the vehicle because the factory adopted the body style.
The expansion of the successful Manufacturers, (buying the shops and designers and bringing them inhouse) and the switch to unibodies killed that. At best these days you get tuners, who add tails, scoops, airdams and fender flares.
Leto
May thy knife chip and shatter! There’s only 6 books btw. The shit his kid and KJA did so bastardized his themes/basic character construction that’s if you need fire starter material, I’d recommend all of them. Still looking forward to the movie on HBO+. Will definitely have all the candy/popcorn ready for it.
James E Powell
I liked the Hobbit movies and I didn’t mind that they were bloated or that they added story lines. I did mind that the “we need a female elf” story line included Kate from Lost. It was hard for me to see her and not expect Jack or Sawyer or John Locke to pop into the scene. If they had to add a female elf story line, there were any number of previously unknown persons who could have done the job.
Other MJS
Dang, I wish I could make this a photo comment.
roadsideamerica.com/story/2127
NotMax
@Jay
Not to mention redonkulous stretching.
;)
Ken
Much easier to enjoy the amenities of towns like Grafton, New Hampshire.
(Still can’t quite grasp how anyone could be so stupid….)
Jay
@Another Scott:
back in High School, Carey had a MG Midget. Motor died, soon after buying it. So in Shop Class, Mr. Wilson thought it would be instructive to put a 289 in it instead. So we did, along with a beefed up suspension and tranny. We also added a electric horn from a semi.
On the way to school one day, Carey stopped behind a Biker at a stop sign by the Parkland elementary school. The Biker thought it would be funny to rev his engine at some school kids crossing the crosswalk to scare them. Casey hit the Airhorn.
You could have slid a 2” x12” between the Bikers ass and his seat, and it’s a wonder he didn’t get whiplash from frantically swivelling his head between mirrors and shoulders trying to see the semi bearing down on him.
Eventually, he noticed the tiny MG, dropped his kickstand, got off the bike and started to stomp towards Carey.
Carey undid his seat belt, “lap belt only”, unfolded himself from the car, and stepped out, ( did I mention he was 6’9”, 285lbs and our football teams center?)
The Biker did a 180 and left.
Nowadays guys put 5L Mustang engines and 5 speeds into Miata’s.
Cameron
@Another Scott: Damn. Maybe I should have stayed in Philly.
Poe Larity
@frosty: A 914 was more reliable and maybe as much fun.
You did have to know how to replace the fuel injection fuse in the dark and replace the fuel lines or when they broke it would be a bonfire. 35 mpg though and vw parts prices.
My BIL restored an MGB a few years back. Beautiful, fun and all that. But can’t find any buyers. Everyone is just too fat today. Same for old airplanes.
Another Scott
@Jay: Interesting.
I knew a guy shortly after HS who had a Hemi Superbird. He had to drive it like a grandma because he gotten too many tickets. And he had a Thompson submachine gun. :-/
Those cars were amazing (I remember a dealer near the Big Chicken in Marietta, GA that had dozens of them on the lot in ’69-’70 that they couldn’t sell), but amazingly impractical. Similarly with the Boss 429 Mustangs. Just amazing power, but so much weight in a chassis that couldn’t handle it.
That Midget must have been a terror in a straight line, and terrifying in a curve! :-)
Cars are so much better in just about every measure now, but the styling is incredibly boring.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay
@Obvious Russian Troll:
according to studies, they can also smell a tuna fish sandwich, in a ziplock bag, in a closed cooler, inside a locked and closed up camper, from over 2 km away, if the wind is right.
Despite attempts, they are difficult to say the least, to manage, for applications like drug sniffing, demining, explosives detection, etc.
eclare
@Ken: Interesting article, thanks.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: denny’s is terrible, but at least there’s no buffet.
Freemark
@NotMax: Should be noted the $8.99 Netflix tier is actually SD or 480p.
Freemark
@Obvious Russian Troll:
Assume you’ve seen Raccoon Nation which is about the Toronto raccoons.
Jay
@Another Scott:
the Midget actually handled really well, we beefed the suspension, and I had noticed that one of my neighbours was using an engine block to prop up his camper shell, that never rusted. It was an uncommon aluminum 289 block made for crate roadracing (cheating, by Ford. For a few years they made just enough of them, to qualify by the SCCA rules).
It wasn’t broken, needed new liners, bearing holders, bearings, but “we” traded a year of yardwork for it, so it weighed 131lbs less than a stock 289 HiPo.
Of course, you needed good throttle management leaving a corner, or accelerating from a stop, or in the rain, or snow or ice.
And yeah, a 2020 4 door silver Camry would kick it’s ass in all round driving, but for 1972, it was a great ride and a lot of fun.
OldDave
Quiet now. You’ll hurt my 981’s feelings.
Morzer
@Leto: The minute you see KJA given credit as a writer, you know the book is going to be between mediocre and wretched.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: I saw “Black Widow” in a theater–a wholly vaccinated group of friends rented a whole theater out. The resulting effective ticket price was surprisingly reasonable.
Was that a wise thing to do? I dunno, maybe not. The movie was OK. But I did find that I was less excited and intrigued by it than by “Loki” or “WandaVision” which were TV series. It makes me wonder if it makes sense for Disney to pretty much shift their attention there.
Jay
@Poe Larity:
if the numbers match, colour codes are correct, Lucas reinstalled, ( ie a resto, not driver), the Auction/Collectors/Specialty Websites are the route to go for sales.
There are lots of guys/gals/them/preferred pronouns who would love a good, correct MG for the nostalgia, who will drive it for a few hours, only on Sundays, during sunny days, in the summer.
(*correct seems to come down to model, and wire wheels vs. stamped steel)
if I had money, I’d buy an okay MGA or Jaguar C in a heartbeat.
Morzer
@James E Powell:
Clearly the ANTIFA reprogramming camps have not been as effective as I had hoped!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott:
In my day! alert, but I was thinking last week how you used to be able to ID a car just by it’s shape. That’s a Cutlass, that’s a T-bird, that’s a Seville… Now a Camry looks pretty much like a Lincoln that looks pretty much like a Sonata…. Cars had cooler names, too, dadgummit!
Just triggered a memory for myself, a high school friend’s parents who used to get brand new Cadillacs every other year, the big ones with all the right angles.
Leto
@Morzer: wretched is what happened to book sales after the release of the Dune 7 book 2 (back when it was trendy to release the final book as two parts) to the rest of the series. The Brian Herbert/KJA books were seeing declining sales after the first series they did, but the published basically canceled the last two planned series because sales were so bad. I just cannot properly state how bad they were. So bad.
prostratedragon
@Kelly: US men advanced in foil. Not sure what other events remain. Caught some team sabre, which was indeed an exciting melee.
Morzer
@Leto: They met the gom jabbar of reality.
prostratedragon
Good movie coming up on Turner, Hollow Victory aka The Scar, with Paul Henried.
NotMax
@Freemark
I subscribe to that level and receive 1080p streaming on the TV (via Roku) and also on the tablet. Just checked the stream stats again to confirm. While it’s not full HD, it’s more like faux HD and looks perfectly fine. Really have no burning desire to see every nostril hair on actors.
StringOnAStick
@Jay: Ugh, I went through a few early ’70’s Fiats; when the oil pump fell off my 124 Spyder is when I learned how to attempt to rebuild an engine with my dad. He decided it should have non stock lock washers on the main bearings because that’s how diesel engines are built; I didn’t have it long enough after that to see how that worked out.
years later I was on a train in Italy and saw that it was made by Fiat, at which point I began to wonder if we’d make it to our destination.
Leto
@Matt McIrvin: I think part of it is that they waited too long to make a BW stand alone movie, then it didn’t help it was basically delayed a year due to covid. The wife told me that ScarJo is suing Disney because they released it on Disney+ at the same time? Idk.
I do know that with covid, it messed up Disney’s release schedule of tv/movie show. Falcon and Winter Soldier was supposed to come out first, but had to be delayed. Then when WandaVision finished, it was supposed to be immediately followed by the new Dr Strange movie as they tied in together. I think if the can get the two synced back up, it’ll be better. We’ve really enjoyed the tv shows, so hoping that the new movies will be fun.
Another Scott
@OldDave: Nice.
But Porsche’s been treading water styling-wise since the 959 days. IMHO. :-)
Seriously, I recognize there are a lot more constraints on car designers now then there were in the ’60s-early ’70s (crash safety, pedestrian safety, mileage, common platform constraints, etc.), so it’s a tough problem.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay
@OldDave:
stock 914’s were cute, akin to Fiat X-19’s, Datsun 510’s, BMW 2002’s, but the IMSA models were rad beasts.
I always thought the early 60’s 912’s were and still are the prettiest.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ah, in your face styling. 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt. With retractable hardtop.
Never made it into production as a little worldwide scuffle interrupted auto manufacturing.
Then there’s the uniquely designed 1925 round door Rolls-Royce.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Heh. :-)
There was a Car&Driver story in the ’80s, IIRC, that had silhouettes of all of that year’s GM cars and from the smallest Chevy to the largest Cadillac they mostly all looked the same. It’s been a problem for a while. (Toyota was smart in only having 2-3 brands when GM had the legacy of having 6 or more* brands in the USA at times.)
Cheers,
Scott.
* – Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, GMC (and LaSalle, Saturn, Opel, that NUMMI thing with Toyota, and maybe some others I’ve forgotten).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax:
and NotMax brings the two strands of the thread together by posting a picture of a hobbit car
Jay
@StringOnAStick:
FIAT’s big problems were rust, tuning and being built “tight”.
My 128 came stock with 2 Webbers, each one had to be adjusted independently for altitude and temp. A drive to the Rockies required an “at the side of the road” adjustment before I got to Fernie. 1/4 of the trunk was filled with tools and spare parts.
They were taking fairly “old” tech, 2 OHV, Iron blocks, and at the factory, “tuning it”, to get Mor Power. So they didn’t wear well.
As a result, any rebuild had to be done right. With metrics.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott: I went looking at pictures of Cadillacs, remembering my friend’s dad’s giant-ass Fleetwood/s and his mom’s El Dorado/s in the early 80s. The compactificiation of Cadillacs occurred much earlier than I remembered.
OldDave
@Jay:
I’m in pretty much complete agreement – at local events I find myself looking mainly at the various 356, early 911, and 914 cars. Always wanted a 914/6, but wife/kids/responsibilities.
NotMax
@Leto
Big bucks involved; her agents are the ones suing on her behalf as the way Disney is releasing it violates terms of her contract. Upshot is that to sidestep a precedent onto which SAG can glom there will be an army of hackles raised and an out of court settlement for not quite as big bucks, kicking the can down the road.
Leto
@Jay: fast forward to 2011 where I rented a Fiat Bravo II turbo diesel and drove it from just outside Milan to Ramstein AFB. Roughly 8 hours. Used 3/4 of the tank with an average speed of 140 Kph. In that direction, it was basically all uphill. The return trip was quicker. Super comfortable, great power/acceleration, lots of room, just overall really good car. Those old Fiats left a lasting impression on Americans.
Jay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
like the suicide door square Lincolns, the finned and square Caddy’s are iconic.
Friend had/has a 4 door hardtop he got from his grandad in the early ‘80’s. That infamous $1 sale. It’s not stock, because early on he discovered that valve covers with the bowtie or GMC were $150, while the Caddy ones were $450.
SFBayAreaGal
I liked the Hobbit movies.
I’m looking forward to the Wheel of Time series coming soon on Amazon Prime
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Just as well. It would have cost untold billions to rebuild overpasses and garages to accommodate twelve foot high tail fins.
:)
trollhattan
Such a long list. Can add Saab (sniff, Omnes understands), Holden, Hummer, Isuzu, Geo, Suzuki, Vauxhall, Bedford.
NotMax
@Jay
Knew someone who had (may still have) a Caddy station wagon. ’58 or ’59. I forget. Production model, not an aftermarket conversion.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: A guy a couple of streets over has a roughly 1968 Cadillac and a ’66 or ’67 Toronado in his driveway. He drives them around occasionally. Another guy down the street has a couple of ratty 1960s 427 Corvettes, one that he drives on the weekend. I think one can smell the car coming before one hears it – it uses so much gas and has to run so rich… :-/
I remember going with my dad to an Olds dealer once to look at a ~ 69 Toronado. Wow! It has a flat floor!!1
GM was trying in those days. Not always successfully, but they were trying, to make cars that were interesting.
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
@Jay:
GF had a 124 sedan that in traffic released the shift lever to her hand, to do with as she pleased (other than shifting).
Leto
@NotMax: they’re working hard to not have home release be at the same time. The number of actors/directors who were absolutely pissed that Warner was pairing with HBO to release movies on their platform at the same time was quite loud. To that I say: fuck’em. Yeah, a theatrical release is something special. But for me, being able to have a quiet environment, not having assholes talking on their phone, kids crying, over priced concessions… sorry, American’s had their shot to create a nice environment and fucked it up (sound familiar?). Adapt or die, mofo’s.
NotMax
@Another Scott
Friend here inherited his grandfather’s ’64 Corvette. With an automatic transmission.
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
Toronado! (also, a cousin El Dorado). GM’s first FWD car, with a transverse by gawd vee eight. Between that and the hideaway headlights, it was bitchin’ back when only southern Californians said “bitchin’.”
OldDave
Wasn’t someone here a fan of the Pikes Peak hillclimb events? Saw this on display a few days ago.
VeniceRiley
Prime has Grand Tour: Lochdown and it is hilarious.
Scarlet Johanssen is suing Disney for the money she lost on simultaneous release of Black Widow. Her points were theatrical.
NotMax
@Leto
Going forward things will be very different. Meantime the terms of the contract are the terms of the contract, unless renegotiated. If her agents did not dispute, they would be derelict in their duties.
Jay
@Leto:
My Brother has played “Rickey the Road Racer” all his life, even now that for over 2 decades, it’s a minivan. A regular bodyshop customer.
His last “Courtesy Car” was a Fiat 500 Turbo, which of course, he wrecked.
Since 1989, I’ve never owned a domestic, but I have driven them, ( rentals). Had a fun winter in Milwaukee with a 5 litre turbo Mustang convertible, ( only rental with a CD player).
“We”, the relocated Vancouverites, always piled into it for lunch, followed by parking lot donuts in the snow.
Ran it up to Green Bay in a snowstorm, doing 70, getting passed by Grannies doing 90, and flipping me the finger.
gwangung
@Leto: It’s not the prestige; it’s the compensation. Any compensation tied to theatre box office is of course gutted when streaming cuts into it. And from where I sit, ScarJo has a case.
The bigger issue is artist compensation down the line (down to the one-liners and crew) when streaming becomes a bigger proportion of the income stream. At the next negotiations, if the studios want to keep shifting to streaming, they’re gonna have to ante up and pay their actors, technicians and crew in line with that.
Another Scott
@NotMax: Obligatory pointer to the great Bruce McCall – e.g. The Last Dream-O-Rama.
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
@Another Scott: Bruce McCall is the Douglas Adams of Gary Larsons. Genius+humor personified. Fond memories of “Buglemoblies, the cars that say ‘get out of my way.'”
e.g., “DeSoto discovers the Mississippi.“
Another Scott
@trollhattan: His illustrations always crack me up. I’ve got his Zany Afternoons book. I still remember his stuff for National Lampoon – e.g. The R.M.S. Tyrannic.
Genius.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@gwangung
Not that I’ve been following it all that closely but it seems there’s a pesky adjective in a provision of her contract, guaranteeing exclusive theatrical release.
Obviously there must be some time limit on exclusivity to allow for broadcast and DVD sales; no idea what that may be.
NotMax
@Another Scott
Linky no work.
Another Scott
@NotMax: Whoops. Sorry about that.
Try this one.
(Seems to work.)
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
My kid is in Vegas en route to the Four Corners area for some high-altitude running. Her sole goal for Vegas (being not 21) is visiting World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and meeting Chumlee.
What can I say?
NotMax
@Another Scott
Make sure you have the right gasoline.
;)
Jay
@trollhattan:
yeah, the shift lever, connects to the transmission via adjustable bushing linkages, not directly to the transmission. That was one of the every 4 month adjustments that Tony or Flavio would do when it was in the shop.
On the other hand, GF who became my wife, then My Ex Wife, had a Chevette that when you hit the brakes, the pedal went straight to the floor.
“You have to pump them up” she said.
”Or you can replace the master cylinder” I sad and did.
Less than $100, including beer and brake fluid.
gwangung
@NotMax: the exclusivity is kinda standard, and there’s a time limit on that window to allow for DVD, rentals, streaming, cable, etc.
But the two sides were supposed to get together and discuss terms if the studio changed distribution, and ScarJo’s folks were constantly on them for that.
But the Mouse played their usual game on screwing individual artists (see Alan Dean Foster), and nobody has sympathy for them.
Leto
@gwangung:
Unless theaters are still following covid protocols and not packing people in. Which I know the theaters around here are following. Movie sales, overall, are still way down. But it’ll be interesting to hear her lawyers arguments. “No, Disney did not have a fiduciary duty to it’s shareholders to maximize profit on this movie. Instead, we should’ve honored her contract and made just… *checks notes* approximately $116M over three weeks. Granted, most Marvel movies make more than that just on their opening weekend but this is a totally normal release schedule for this movie.”
Jay
@NotMax:
google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6123402
NotMax
@gwangung
I’ve never had sympathy for Disney since Walt’s appearance before HUAC.
Never been to Land or World; the TV program was telepersona non grata in the household while I was a niblet.
gwangung
@Leto: Disney also has the legal obligation to honor the condition of the contract they signed. Most courts will find that supersedes the obligation to shareholders
Mind you, I’m no ScarJo fan. But the legal arguments from the Disney side seems to me to be are more problematic. (And a reminder that Warners Brothers, in the same situation, anted up and compensated their artists).
NotMax
@Jay
Whoopsie daisy.
;)
(Took an extra minute to find the one which included a classic Caddy.)
Brachiator
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
This has also been a problem in studies of human evolution. There have been some misguided scientists trying to decide which traits made us “superior” to other early human species. Almost everything which supposedly proved that Neanderthals were primitive brutes has been shown to be incorrect.
Another Scott
@Jay: In Neil Peart’s book Ghost Rider he talks about accidentally putting diesel in his BMW motorcycle while on his great road trip. You northerners need to pay more attention!!
;-)
Cheers,
Scott
Leto
@gwangung: True, WB did. And moving forward it looks like agents will need to have better language in contracts for streaming revenue sharing. As it stands, BW will be the lowest grossing Marvel movie of all time. Trying to peg that just on streaming is… interesting.
Here’s ticket (domestic/international) and streaming revenue of the movie so far: variety.com/2021/film/news/scarlett-johansson-sues-disney-black-widow-1235030582/
Leto
@Another Scott: So I did that, put diesel in my motorcycle, while living in Italy. The diesel/petrol (gas) nozzles are of different sizes. So trying to put a diesel nozzle in a petrol cap doesn’t work (and vise versa). BUT a motorcycle’s gas cap is this big giant opening which will take anything. Totally my fault as I wasn’t paying attention (just gotten off work and was tired). Less than quarter mile down the road the engine started performing really, really rough and I didn’t know wtf was going on. Luckily my mechanic was at the first turn off, so I took it straight there. A day later he called me, laughing at me, asking why I’d put diesel in my bike. Again lucky for me, all it needed was flushing and it was good to go.
NotMax
@Leto
Well, of Disneyfied ones. Leave us not overlook the library in toto.
Howard the Duck and Elektra, anyone?
;)
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
This sounds like a cool idea.
The problem that few want to seriously talk about is that streaming currently is terrible for some actors and directors, and obviously not good for traditional movie theaters.
Actors and directors whose contracts give them a piece of the movie theater box office lose out when the movie goes to streaming. Movie theater owners saw a huge decline in revenue when Black Widow went to streaming in addition to theater exhibition.
No one knows what works anymore.
Brachiator
@gwangung:
Hollywood don’t work that way. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
It was interesting to see how WB sweetened the compensation for Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot before the release of Wonder Woman 1984. That the film did not do well at the box office may have worried Disney.
NotMax
@Braciator
If you build it, they will come works only for cornfield ballparks and strip joints.
;)
Jay
@Another Scott:
Firman gennies. Great generators. Our Store has sold 16. Once they are set up, power goes out and you are sitting on the couch, press the start button, power comes back on. All for $575 plus tax.
Got one back, returned. They sent it to me to be tested and drained of gas. Took me, the “engine whisperer”, 45 minutes with the manual, accessing the panels to figure out the initial start/programming feature, because Firman decided to mirror IKEA assembly instructions and add bluetooth.
Since then, we have gotten back 8 more back, one filled with diesel.
Read the manual.
I let Gary, learn on his own, and after a half hour of watching him struggle jumped in and showed him how. Then got him to do it three times.
Fun times.
Leto
@NotMax: haha, yeah those don’t count. Counting X-Men 3? Daredevil? First Hulk (Ang Lee)? Hell, we can keep going back and finding super low performing Marvel films. Difference is those weren’t part of Marvel Entertainment. The rights were sold off. So they’re not Marvel movies.
@Brachiator: no, they’re figuring it out. Same way most television studios have figured it out. Movie actors/directors and movie theaters don’t like it. So I guess we’ll see how this plays out in the long run. We’ll also see how this breaks down via domestic/international, as most major movies generate most of their profit overseas.
frosty
@Poe Larity:
Well, I’m not too fat yet. But in the last couple years before my 23YO 1990 Miata* got totaled I noticed it was getting harder and harder to get in and out of it.
* Jan 1989, I read an article about the Chicago Auto Show. I sez to Ms. F: “Mazda is making my dream car! A rice-burning 2-seat rear wheel drive ragtop!! We got one in the dealer’s third shipment and paid a $1,500 premium.
Viva BrisVegas
@pat: To keep sand out of the nether regions apparently. Less clothes, less sand.
The Norwegians who were fined weren’t beach volleyball players, it was some other non-olympic sport I can’t remember the name of.
As for cockatoos, they were the only animals I had ever seen crack open macadamia nuts with their beaks. Don’t mess with them.
frosty
@Another Scott: Styling is boring because it’s driven by aerodynamics and fuel efficiency. Carbuilders can shave 3 mpg by a lot of work on the drivetrain or a little work on the bodywork. Hence the similar (boring) body shapes. But it’s a good thing, really!
frosty
@Jay:
OK, that’s it. I’m never camping in bear country again, especially with a tunafish sandwich!
frosty
@Jay:
LOL!!
ETA: And now that I don’t need a daily driver (I commuted in LA in the TR-3 and drove it cross-country twice) I might spring for another one … although the TR-4 with wind-up windows would be a hell of a lot more practical. Even for a spring-day fling top-down drive in case it rains.
NotMax
@frosty
“Next time I’m bringing salmon salad.”
;)
frosty
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Car names: after trying to sell a Chevy Nova in Mexico the names got a lot more vague.
frosty
@Jay:
Loved my Datsun 510. Rice-burning BMW 2002. Rusted out immediately. Mine was in California, dunno if any still survive. There aren’t any on the east coast.
frosty
@NotMax:
Whoa!!! on both of those. To bad about that WWII thing interrupting car development, right?
frosty
@Jay:
That was my TR-3 trips. I had an entire gasket set on one trip and used it. When we got to Maryland with the cracked piston rings my dad and I rebuilt the engine and I broke it in heading west on the PA Turnpike. Good times!
NotMax
@frosty
Somehow, the Studebaker Dictator lasted through a ten year (pre-war) run, eventually renamed the Commander in ’37. In Europe and throughout the British Empire during its time of manufacture the Dictator was sold as the Director.
Jay
@frosty:
Loved my Datsun 510 as well. 4 door, roll cage, close ratio gear box, lowered, Cortina rims and 60 series tires, 4 bbl Mazda carb on a new plenum. First exposure to real drivers seats. 60mph around corners rated for 30kph with out even shading the lane.
Jay
@frosty:
had a TR 4 in the early 80’s. Fun, but got an offer. $4 k plus a 5?year old Volkswagen Rabbit Convertible. The $4k was quickly spent on a rigid sub frame, strut links, Koni towers, air dam, fender flares, mags and 50 series tires, KN filter, headers, exhaust, cat,
It was a California car, so it coasted through air care, but had AC????
Just put a towel down!
The most dangerous part of the car was the top down, eyes drifting to the stars on a twisty mountain road.
NotMax
@Jay
“Mazda goes ‘hmmm'” is tanned, rested and (maybe) ready.
;)
frosty
@Jay: Wow! Nice wheels. A friend I railpassed through Europe with he had a 4-door 510 with a turbocharger – loved to blow off Porsches with a full complement of passengers. I sold him my two-door when he left for the states so I could get a few more bucks to keep traveling. He wanted it because he thought it would look cooler.
Jay
@NotMax:
RX-2’s made my life miserable at Westwood Race Track until they were banned.
Jay
@frosty:
they did look cooler. And they were stiffer. One less door, each side, less body flex, faster corners. Here, rodded survivors go for $60k Canadian, so $1.25 USD.( snark)
NotMax
Recently saw a (marginally watchable) piece o’ fluff American movie originally released in 2000 in which I swear they rounded up every Yugo that might be in any sort of running condition or made to appear it was. Everybody in the town drove one, including the police.
Jay
@Jay:
they could recarb, cut the ports open, and get 145hp in a car the same size, weight as a Datsun 210 or Fiat 128, both under 60 hp, maxxed out. They would just walk away from you.
They had the same corner speed, but the 3 chamber rotor plus the added HP, vs a 4 stroke, higher rpm’s and faster motor acceleration, well, they were just “gone” until the next corner, if you were lucky.
the only good point for me, and others, was they would burn their seals, ( sort of like rings) out. 2 day comp, we are toast. 3 day race, they were mostly stuck in the pits on the third day.
Jay
@NotMax:
Yugo’s were Fiat 124’s built in first the Soviet Union, then Russia, off of the production lines sold when Fiat phased out that model, with less attention than the Italian “craftsmen” had for quality and detail.
Still, no Niva or Skoda, but the rear window defroster kept working when you had to push it. Kept your hands from freezing.
Brachiator
@Leto:
Yep. It will be interesting. But the studios are still skittish. Disney is continuing to include streaming. I forget which studio it is, but the new Ghostbusters movie proudly proclaims that it will debut only in theaters.
And the wild card here continues to be the pandemic, which is still an issue in the biggest foreign markets, Europe and China.
James E Powell
Since this turned into a car thread, I noticed a lot of new cars are showing paint that looks kind of like primer. I’ve seen it on several manufacturers. In addition to the dull color, the whole car or truck is the same color, as if the Honda H, for instance, is painted over. The colors are like olive drab, khaki, and light blue.
What’s up with that?
Just One More Canuck
@Obvious Russian Troll: suburban Toronto here- I learned to never put out the garbage and recycling until the morning of pick up. Spent too much time scraping crap off the driveway and street
WaterGirl
@brendancalling: Oh my gosh, does this mean you will get to see your son?
J R in WV
@Major Major Major Major:
“Other Minds”
Octopus intelligence, right? A great book, currently hiding in a pile of mail and paperwork on the kitchen counter.
If they lived longer and could be out of the water more, they would be able to create a technical civilization. Not that a technical civilization would necessarily be a good thing for them.