RE: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest deaths

2005-05-14 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Jackson doesn't die nearly as much as the great Charleston Heston, who 
has more melodramatic death scenes than anybody I know of. Remember "Beneath the 
Planet of the Apes"? Death. "The Omega Man"? Died, and not just 
died, but if you saw that movie, he died in a fountain, his blood pooled at his 
feet, arms and legs outstretched, in nothing so much as a Crucifix-like 
figure.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 20:27To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's 
  greatest deathsDoesn't it seem like Samuel L. Jackson 
  is always dying in his movies?As we prepare for his final lightsaber 
  battle in ''Star Wars: EpisodeIII,'' we review his best cinematic swan 
  songs.http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1060425_1_0_,00.html1) 
  Star Wars: Episode III (2005)THE STIFF Mace Windu, Jedi 
  knightCAUSE OF DEATH We're going to go out on a limb here and guess 
  thatit's death by lightsaber.2) Goodfellas (1990)THE STIFF 
  Stacks Edwards, thief and Mob associateCAUSE OF DEATH: 
  Gunshot3) Jungle Fever (1991)THE STIFF Gator Purify, homeless 
  crackheadCAUSE OF DEATH: Gunshot4) Jurassic Park 
  (1993)THE STIFF Ray Arnold, a technician at the dinosaur 
  preserveCAUSE OF DEATH Velociraptor5) Hard Eight 
  (1996)THE STIFF Jimmy, a Reno casino security guardCAUSE OF 
  DEATH: Gunshot6) 187 (1997)THE STIFF Trevor Garfield, high 
  school science teacherCAUSE OF DEATH: Gunshot7) Jackie Brown 
  (1997)THE STIFF Ordell Robbie, arms dealerCAUSE OF DEATH: 
  Gunshot8) Deep Blue Sea (1999)THE STIFF Russell Franklin, 
  tycoon and adventurerCAUSE OF DEATH: Shark attack9) Basic 
  (2003)THE STIFF Sgt. Nathan West, Army Ranger drill 
  sergeantCAUSE OF DEATH Gunshot, grenade, stabbing  depending on whom 
  youbelieve. As viewers learn in one of the plot's 
  twists-upon-twists,there's a reason all these death scenes appear a little 
  far-fetchedand over-the-top.10) Kill Bill  Vol. 2 
  (2004)THE STIFF Rufus, a musicianCAUSE OF DEATH: 
  Gunshot__The Black 
  Prince. The Black Church. A State of Mind.http://www.theworldebon.com







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RE: [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV

2005-05-14 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





"Two 
pretty boys who would've been lost without a geek"? Say on, Martin! 


  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Martin PrattSent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 20:52To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on 
  TV
  Yep, none other than Rex "You Take My Breath Away" Smith (even after 
  twenty-plus years, that song's worth a laugh). I won't try to defend Viper. I 
  just liked it. As for "Stingray", the closest to an ending I remember was an 
  ep in which his past came back to almost bite him on the can. He almost had to 
  give up his "favor-for-a-favor" gig, if not for one of his favors being a 
  Government big-wig who stepped in long enough to let him slip away. 
  Therewere two more eps before the show ended, if I remember right. Oh, 
  and "Riptide"! Two pretty boys who would've been LOST without a geek. The way 
  the world REALLY works.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Street Hawk's star was former pop idol and broadway star ("Pirates of 
Penzance") Rex Smith, wasn't it? I never got Viper. Seemed kinda low-rent to 
me. Stingray was definitely cool. I remember one show when the star was 
arrested and printed. His prints were sent off for matching and he kept 
telling the arresting officer "You're wasting your time". The officer felt 
he had the guy, until the results came back: a fax showing a young Black 
man! Never did figure out his story, and how did the show 
end?
Gotta tell you, that was another Stephen J. Cannell show, and he had 
a long run of good ones, from 21 Jump Street to Riptide to Hunter to (yes, 
even) A-Team.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Martin PrattSent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 
  19:47To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: 
  [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV
  Anything BUT. Street Hawk didn't do much for me, but Stingray was 
  even cooler to me than The Equalizer, which I loved. Possibly the idea 
  that Stingray might have some obscure government connection held some 
  interest for a budding conspiracy theorist. Viper, I hadevery 
  epon video, got rid of them only because I began to convert my video 
  collection to DVD and ran into a little thing called unemployment a few 
  weeks in.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Now what do you have against the story of a man and his car? At 
least they got rid of KITT's voice and the cheesy '80s music done by 
anyone but the original artists (didn't they? I never watched the Knight 
Rider redux series). As for men and their vehicles, did you like Street 
Hawk, Stingray, or Viper?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Martin PrattSent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 
  15:02To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: 
  [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV
  That it was. I came to like "Vanishing Son" more than any of the 
  sci-fi shows. "TekWar" had me for all of a month, and let's not 
      discuss "Knight Rider" in ANY incarnation. "The story of a car and his 
  man."Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

I watched Time Trax maybe twice, but never got into it, and I 
think it was gone before I got around to trying.Was it part of 
theso-called "Action Pack" that came out a few years ago? 
Remember that? It was a block of shows that would air 
together, including "Vanishing Son" (the martial arts themed show 
starring Russell Wong), "Knight Rider: 2000", "Hercules", "TekWar", 
"Xena", and maybe a few others. It was shows that I think were from 
Universal. At any rate, the Action Pack music would play and they'd 
show scenes from all the above shows. Usually it'd air on Saturdays 
and Sundays, and there'd be 2 -3 hours of series in the group. Even 
after the other shows were all cancelled, Hercules and Xena would 
still often be introduced as part of the Action Pack. I 
used to love that gimmick even if all the shows weren't that great. 
It was just the ability to watch a block of scifi on Saturday 
afternoons that I loved...

  
  -Original 
  Message-From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Martin 
  PrattSent: Sunday, May 08,

RE: [scifinoir2] Enterprise episode Terra Prime

2005-05-15 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Right, 
he appeared in the OS episode "The Savage Curtain", where beings on a planet of 
lava recreate figures from history that represent good and evil. They then make 
the two sides fight. The aliens had no real concept of good and evil, and 
wanted to know which was stronger and how they differed. On the "good" team were 
Kirk, Spock, Surak (the father of Vulcan Logic), and Abraham Lincoln! The "evil" 
gang included father of the Klingon Empire Kahless, Genghis Khan, some 
creepy-looking alien lady who had experimented on her people, and Colonel Green, 
who had led agenocidal campaign on Earth. 

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  AstromancerSent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 01:44To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: [scifinoir2] "Enterprise" 
  episode "Terra Prime"
  Um...Who Is Colonel Green? OhFrom TOS?Martin Pratt 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  
Somewhere, on some rogue website, I recall spotting a blurb spoiler 
about "Enterprise" and the final eps that suggested that Weller would be 
playing Colonel Green. I was all ready for that, figuring how great Green's 
xenophobic actions would play out against Starfleet's attempts to establish 
the Federation. One more letdown in a long string of 
letdowns...Keith Johnson 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 

  
  Well, I wish I 
  could say I liked the second episode better, but nope. I can't quite put 
  my finger on it, but it just didn't move me. It seemed at once rushed, 
  unengaging, and dull. Somehow Peter Weller's villainous xenophobe failed 
  to resonate, coming off more as an irritant bigot than a threat to 
  galactic peace. Certainly he didn't paint the portrait of a man 
  who'dhoped to be mentioned in the same breath as the infamous 
  Colonel Green.  The whole plot device with him taking over the Mars 
  Virtiron Array as a terroristic threat wasn't very exciting either. 
  The sub-standard plot and action made me realize that the focus was 
  shifted to the wrong thing. Here we had an upcoming major peace 
  conference, Terra Prime's threatening to destroy Starfleet Command, yet 
  there was very little coverage of things on Earth, on the reactions of the 
  delegates, media coverage of the impending disaster. Rather than 
  time spent on the posturing Weller and his bald, black racist flunkies, or 
  on sub-standard FX, I'd like to have seen more focus on Earth itself. It 
  would have been nice to see the delegates as they wrestled with the 
  significance of the still-healthy racist element on Earth. I still have 
  issues with the Black racist sidekicks used as an ironic 
  commentary.
  The one thing 
  that did resonate was the storyline around Elizabeth, Trip and T'Pol's 
  baby. To see him crying at the end, T'Pol's look and anguish, and their 
  holding hands--well, that was powerful. The comment that the delegates 
  wanted to attend her ceremony was a nice touch too. 
  
  Overall I'd 
  just rate it as an average show that again reminded me of a season one 
  episode. "Excuse me while I 
whip this out."Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles" 


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RE: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest deaths

2005-05-15 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





that's 
the one. I used to think Heston had a Messiah complex

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Martin PrattSent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 11:06To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. 
  Jackson's greatest deaths
  It was "El Cid".Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Indeed! Remember the movie where he died before a great battle, but 
had his body propped up on his horse, so his corpse could inspire and lead 
his men into battle? Was that "El Cid"?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of AstromancerSent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 
  01:46To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: 
  [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest deaths
  YeahCharlton's great 'DeMille-esque' death scenes...serious ham 
  sanwichesKeith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Jackson doesn't die nearly as much as the great Charleston 
Heston, who has more melodramatic death scenes than anybody I know of. 
Remember "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"? Death. "The Omega 
Man"? Died, and not just died, but if you saw that movie, he died 
in a fountain, his blood pooled at his feet, arms and legs outstretched, 
in nothing so much as a Crucifix-like figure.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Kelly WrightSent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 
  20:27To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: 
  [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest 
  deathsDoesn't it seem like Samuel L. Jackson 
  is always dying in his movies?As we prepare for his final 
  lightsaber battle in ''Star Wars: EpisodeIII,'' we review his best 
  cinematic swan songs.http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1060425_1_0_,00.html1) 
  Star Wars: Episode III (2005)THE STIFF Mace Windu, Jedi 
  knightCAUSE OF DEATH We're going to go out on a limb here and 
  guess thatit's death by lightsaber.2) Goodfellas 
  (1990)THE STIFF Stacks Edwards, thief and Mob 
  associateCAUSE OF DEATH: Gunshot3) Jungle Fever 
  (1991)THE STIFF Gator Purify, homeless crackheadCAUSE 
  OF DEATH: Gunshot4) Jurassic Park (1993)THE STIFF Ray 
  Arnold, a technician at the dinosaur preserveCAUSE OF DEATH 
  Velociraptor5) Hard Eight (1996)THE STIFF Jimmy, a 
  Reno casino security guardCAUSE OF DEATH: Gunshot6) 
  187 (1997)THE STIFF Trevor Garfield, high school science 
  teacherCAUSE OF DEATH: Gunshot7) Jackie Brown 
  (1997)THE STIFF Ordell Robbie, arms dealerCAUSE OF 
  DEATH: Gunshot8) Deep Blue Sea (1999)THE STIFF Russell 
  Franklin, tycoon and adventurerCAUSE OF DEATH: Shark 
  attack9) Basic (2003)THE STIFF Sgt. Nathan West, Army 
  Ranger drill sergeantCAUSE OF DEATH Gunshot, grenade, stabbing 
   depending on whom youbelieve. As viewers learn in one of 
  the plot's twists-upon-twists,there's a reason all these death 
  scenes appear a little far-fetchedand over-the-top.10) 
  Kill Bill  Vol. 2 (2004)THE STIFF Rufus, a 
  musicianCAUSE OF DEATH: 
  Gunshot__The Black 
  Prince. The Black Church. A State of Mind.http://www.theworldebon.com
  
  
  Yahoo! Mail MobileTake 
  Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. 
  "Excuse me while I whip this 
  out."Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"
  
  
  Yahoo! Mail MobileTake 
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RE: [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV

2005-05-15 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





I 
believe it. It's a gift.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Martin PrattSent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 11:13To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on 
  TV
  No, but I'll start. You may find it hard to believe, but most of these 
  things come right off the top of my head.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

You need to keep a list of cool one-liners and tag lines. That 
"Pretty boys" thing is great. Be perfect in a review, or as a title for a 
review. do you keep a list of neat sayings like that?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Martin PrattSent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 
  20:52To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: 
  [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV
  Yep, none other than Rex "You Take My Breath Away" Smith (even after 
  twenty-plus years, that song's worth a laugh). I won't try to defend 
  Viper. I just liked it. As for "Stingray", the closest to an ending I 
  remember was an ep in which his past came back to almost bite him on the 
  can. He almost had to give up his "favor-for-a-favor" gig, if not for one 
  of his favors being a Government big-wig who stepped in long enough to let 
  him slip away. Therewere two more eps before the show ended, if I 
  remember right. Oh, and "Riptide"! Two pretty boys who would've been LOST 
  without a geek. The way the world REALLY works.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Street Hawk's star was former pop idol and broadway star 
("Pirates of Penzance") Rex Smith, wasn't it? I never got Viper. Seemed 
kinda low-rent to me. Stingray was definitely cool. I remember one show 
when the star was arrested and printed. His prints were sent off for 
matching and he kept telling the arresting officer "You're wasting your 
time". The officer felt he had the guy, until the results came back: a 
fax showing a young Black man! Never did figure out his story, and 
how did the show end?
Gotta tell you, that was another Stephen J. Cannell show, and he 
had a long run of good ones, from 21 Jump Street to Riptide to Hunter to 
(yes, even) A-Team.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Martin PrattSent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 
  19:47To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: 
  [scifinoir2] RE: Scifi on TV
  Anything BUT. Street Hawk didn't do much for me, but Stingray was 
  even cooler to me than The Equalizer, which I loved. Possibly the idea 
  that Stingray might have some obscure government connection held some 
  interest for a budding conspiracy theorist. Viper, I hadevery 
  epon video, got rid of them only because I began to convert my 
  video collection to DVD and ran into a little thing called 
  unemployment a few weeks in.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Now what do you have against the story of a man and his car? 
At least they got rid of KITT's voice and the cheesy '80s music done 
by anyone but the original artists (didn't they? I never watched the 
Knight Rider redux series). As for men and their vehicles, did you 
like Street Hawk, Stingray, or Viper?

  
  -Original 
  Message-From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Martin 
  PrattSent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 15:02To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: [scifinoir2] RE: 
  Scifi on TV
  That it was. I came to like "Vanishing Son" more than any of 
  the sci-fi shows. "TekWar" had me for all of a month, and let's 
  not discuss "Knight Rider" in ANY incarnation. "The story of a car 
  and his man."Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

I watched Time Trax maybe twice, but never 
got into it, and I think it was gone before I got around to 
trying.Was it part of theso-called "Action Pack" 
that came out a few years ago? Remember that? It was a 
block of shows that would air together, including "Vanishing 
Son" (the martial arts themed show starring Russell Wong), 
"Knight Rider: 2000", "Hercules", "TekWar", "Xena&quo

RE: [scifinoir2] Hercules on NBC--Weak!

2005-05-16 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Man 
this was weak! Mediocre FX, confusing plot, performances that seemed like the 
actors were sleepwalking through their roles. The dude who played Hercules had 
the musculature but looked way too Caucasian to my tastes (the British accent 
didn't help). Is there some law that Greek men can't play Greek characters? 
Honestly, I think the last time a Greek dude played a god was back in the OS 
Trek episode, "Who Mourns for Adonis?". I heard more British, Kiwi, and American 
accents in this thing than I could count. Sean Astin was 
wasted as teacher/sidekick Linus, looking rather blank, which worked for 
simpleminded Samwise Gamgee, but here makes one wonder if Astin's contemplating 
a fading career instead of thinking about his lines. Timoty Dalton must 
have grabbed a fat check to play Herc's father, as he had little to do but bring 
his trademark piercing eyes and cultured voice to a boring character. Leeli 
Sobieski (sp?)got on my nerves playing a wood nymph, with that bronze 
Nivea tanning lotion slathered on her and the dopey floating scenes where grunts 
were obviously lowering her from a tree on a rope.Shedid a 
couple of shots that came periously close to flashing us withher bare 
breasts, which I guess was supposed to be daring or titillating, but seemed 
contrived.

I'd go 
on, but the movie doesn't warrant further criticism.Well, maybe a little 
more. The only things that made it of minor note were that the writers 
brought in some realism about the characters' motivations and behaviour. For 
example, unlike the recent sanitized Hercules series, this treatment pretty much 
stated that Zeus raped Hercules' mother after morphing into a likeness of her 
husband. And unlike the series, mother and son didn't have a good relationship, 
as she spent her entire life trying to do in her son, even going so far as to 
purposefully being behind Hercules' murder of his own kids. Mom got started way 
before that though. She was the one who put the snakes in Herc's crib, which 
were of course strangled by the mighty infant. There were some 
scenes with nubile women running through the woods with satyrs, and one scene 
where a lady laid on her back on the grass, about to get busy with one of the 
goat-like demigods! That was surprising on network TV at 8 pm.Then there 
was the Oracle of Delphi who was revealed to be an hermaphrodite (Hercules and 
others called him "man-woman").He/she gets blinded in a vicious scene for 
accidentally violating a secretceremony devoted to Hera. The lady who 
blinded him? Herc's mother. And there was a homosexual thing played 
up between Hercules' brother and his cousin, who at the end of the movie were 
shown in bed together. But given the overall clumsiness of the rest of the 
movie, these attempts at "realism" and a mature theme merely served to highlight 
the weakness of the rest of the effort, and thus appeared (perhaps unfairly) as 
heavy-handed and falseattempts to be daring.

Frankly, it wasn't as well done or intelligent as the better Hercules and 
Xena story arcs. When those shows cut lose with the humour, they were 
funny as heck. When they dug deep for drama and played it straight, they could 
be downright impressive. Tonight's efffort was nowhere near as 
good.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Keith JohnsonSent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 17:26To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] "Hercules" on 
  NBC
  Heard about this one? 
  Soundsa little more serious than Sorbo's outing, as it deals with the 
  aftermath of Hercules having killed his own children.I'll guess I'll have to check it out. My wife 
  already commented that "at least they finally got a dark-haired Hercules with 
  real muscles". She could never get with Sorbo due to his brownish hair and 
  slim physique. That muscled, curly-haired dude from the '50s Hercules flicks 
  set the standard to her mind.
  
  http://www.nbc.com/nbc/Hercules/
  He was the slave that defied the gods. The hero who won 
  the people. The man who became a legend. From Emmy Award winning executive 
  producer Robert Halmi Sr. ("The Odyssey," "Gulliver's Travels," "Merlin") 
  comes this epic tale based on the spectacular exploits of Hercules, the 
  super-strong figure fathered by the supreme Greek god Zeus. 
  The three-hour movie event, filmed amid the breathtaking 
  scenery of New Zealand, follows Hercules who, after killing his three sons, is 
  compelled to redeem himself by performing 12 heroic labors - including slaying 
  the multi-headed Hydra and the dreaded Nemean lion. 
  With groundbreaking special effects, "Hercules" is the 
  definitive re-telling of the most famous myth of all - the story of a 
  half-god, half-man whose extraordinary feats of strength would elevate him to 
  the status of legend on Earth and immortality in the heavens. 
  Paul Telfer stars as the legendary Greek hero, while Sean 
  Astin 

RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Star Wars fans have strong presence at theatre

2005-05-18 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





They 
could always bring a bottle of Old Spice and try to cover up the funk with 
liberal amounts of it slathered on.
-Original Message-From: 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
MetaSent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:19To: 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Re: Star Wars fans 
have strong presence at theatre
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, 
  Bosco Bosco [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote: "But I keeping looking at them, and mixed in with that 
  admiration is one thought: "Man that theatre is going to *stink* 
  with all the funk up in there!" Maybe someone remembered to bring 
  some 'Baby-wipes".Meta







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RE: [scifinoir2] Frank 'The Riddler' Gorshin Dies at 72

2005-05-18 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





This 
is a loss. A man whose talents extended way behind the couple of TV roles that 
got him major notice. While the episode of Trek they're mentioning isn't one of 
my favs, I enjoyed seeing Gorshin, especially the way he'd move that lanky body 
almost as if he didn't have a skeletal system. (The episode was "Let This Be 
Your Last Battlefield", in which two aliens carry out their bigotry-filled fued 
on Enterprise. Each is black on one half of his body, the racism comes from 
*which* side was black and which was white).

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Brent WodehouseSent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 
  16:04To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] 
  Frank 'The Riddler' Gorshin Dies at 72http://www.wnbc.com/entertainment/4503355/detail.htmlFrank 
  Gorshin, Impressionist And Actor, Dies At 72BURBANK, Calif. - 
  Actor Frank Gorshin, the impressionist with 100 facesbest known for his 
  Emmy-nominated role as The Riddler on the old "Batman"television series, 
  has died. He was 72.Gorshin's wife of 48 years, Christina, was at his 
  side when he diedTuesday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, his 
  agent and longtimefriend, Fred Wostbrock, said Wednesday."He put 
  up a valiant fight with lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia,"Mrs. Gorshin 
  said in a statement.Despite dozens of television and movie credits, 
  Gorshin will be foreverremembered for his role as The Riddler, Adam West's 
  villainous foil in thequestion mark-pocked green suit and bowler hat on 
  "Batman" from 1966-69."It really was a catalyst for me," Gorshin 
  recalled in a 2002 AssociatedPress interview. "I was nobody. I had done 
  some guest shots here andthere. But after I did that, I became a headliner 
  in Vegas, so I can't putit down."West said the death of his 
  longtime friend was a big loss."Frank will be missed," West said in a 
  statement. "He was a friend andfascinating character."Gorshin 
  earned another Emmy nominations one for a guest shot on 
  "StarTrek."In 2002, Gorshin portrayed George Burns on Broadway in 
  the one-man show"Say Goodnight Gracie." He used only a little makeup and 
  no prosthetics."I don't know how to explain it. It just comes," he 
  said. "I wish I couldsay, 'This is step A, B and C.' But I can't do that. 
  I do it, you know.The ironic thing is I've done impressions all my life - 
  I never did GeorgeBurns."Gorshin's final performance will be 
  broadcast on Thursday's CBS-TV series"CSI: Crime Scene 
  Investigation."







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RE: [scifinoir2] FW: [SciFiNoir Lit] Black Voices Column on Sci Fi Noir

2005-05-18 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Try 
this. Go to the Black Voices home page, click on the News tab, and it's under 
Views. The link below should work.

http://bv.channel.aol.com/newsmain/voices



  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Martin PrattSent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 18:33To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: [scifinoir2] FW: [SciFiNoir 
  Lit] Black Voices Column on Sci Fi Noir
  The link came back dead for me, Lester."Tracey de Morsella 
  (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  Original 
Message-From: SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Behalf Of Dr. Lester K. 
SpenceSent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:22 PMTo: 
SciFiNoir_LitSubject: [SciFiNoir Lit] Black Voices Column on Sci Fi 
NoirI sent an email to the list a few weeks ago when the sh*t 
hit the fan,and wrote a column about it. I wanted to thank everyone 
thatresponded...the story came out today or yesterday. It can be 
foundhere:http://bv.channel.aol.com/newsmain/canvas_directory/columnist?id=20050511123109990001Let 
me know what you think.peacelksDr. Lester K. 
SpenceAssistant Professor, Political Science, Afro-American 
StudiesWashington UniversityKellogg Scholar in Health 
DisparitiesCommunity email addresses:Post message: 
SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.comSubscribe: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]Subscribe Digest Mode: 
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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to Grey's Anatomy?

2005-05-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





From 
your response and Tracey's, I guess ABC's pullling stealth diversity, using 
white-oriented marketing to pull in the mainstream. Like I said ,all the 
commercials focus on the whites. And I'm still troubled by magazine and other 
media coverage like TV Guide, which completely ignores the 
Blacks.
Isaiah 
Washington's a good actor, but something about him often seemed to get him 
villain roles. He was a villain in "Romeo Must Die", and a couple other films I 
saw. I saw him in an interesting movie a few years back with Mirando Otto (Eowen 
from "Lord of the Rings"), where he falls in love with a white South African 
played by Otto. He was a villain in "Exit Wounds" too. But Washington's done a 
lot of work, almost 40 films! Could we be looking at another Sam Jackson? check 
out his filmography:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913460/

Also, 
I have to give him my props, as he's a fellow Texan!

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 22:07To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened 
  to "Grey's Anatomy"?I like "Grey's Anatomy," it is a 
  perfect companion to "Desparate Housewives" but if I miss either, it is 
  not a tragedy. When the show first came on I mentioned the 'bizarro 
  world' aspect of it --where the blacks were ostensibly in charge and were, 
  in essence, oppressing the downtrodden white characters. I am sure 
  the show's creators had to make many compromises. For instance, one 
  of the four interns was supposed to be a black man but I guess that was 
  too much diversity for the suits that run ABC. Television is a cruel 
  master and an incredibly difficult place for a person of color to get a 
  foothold. There has been much to do about "Everybody loves Raymond" 
  coming to a conclusion after nine seasons. One of the hubbubs when 
  the show was getting off the ground was that they didn't want Italian Ray 
  Barone's wife to be "too ethnic." By that Les Moonves (who is 
  married to an Asian woman as is Rupert Murdock)didn't want Ray's wife to 
  be Italian or Jewish. They originally wanted someone like Meredith 
  Baxter Birney. If Ray Romano can't get an Italian wife in a show 
  based on his life on a show he co-created and co-executive produces, what 
  chance does a black show producer have? That said, let me 
  say I thoroughly enjoyed the episode of "Grey's Anatomy" where Anna Maria 
  Horsford played an old scrub nurse who was dying and even though her 
  illness was terminal and the hospital could do nothing to save her the 
  administration was letting her stay until she died. This episode 
  showed the humanity of all the black totems and taught the callow young 
  white interns something about caring and community. As an 
  aside, I have never been an Isaiah Washington fan. I loathe almost 
  every character I have seen him play including his debut in Spike Lee's 
  "Girl 6" where despite substantial screen time he is credited simply as 
  the "Shoplifter." But I saw him the other day on "The View" touting 
  "Grey's Anatomy" and he was lovely. He looked great, loved his mama 
  (as came out in an anectodote) and he simply adored his pregnant wife of 
  nine years(who was black and in the audience). This man has been 
  horribly miscast. I hope to one day write something worthy of his 
  silky elegance.~rave!--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I tuned into this show because I'd heard a 
  Sister was the creator and main writer. She spoke at length with Tavis 
  Smiley about the diverse cast (three Blacks and an Asian) and how the 
  stories often center around guests of color. That may be true, but I 
  haven't seen anything that really differentiates this from other shows 
  I've seen that focus on the whites. The star's in a love affair with 
  the doc played by Patrick Dempsey, the buxom nurse (who used to be on 
  Roswell) has gotten some storylines, including one that had her 
  stripping to her underwear in front of her co-workers. The Asian 
  nurse is apparently pregnant. Frankly I quit watching after two 
  episodes because nothing convinced me the Blacks would get major 
  treatment. From what I can tell they're more like window dressing to 
  the white characters.  I notice that among the Blacks we 
  have what are becoming familiar caricatures: the older doctor who 
  ostensibly runs the place. But like Fancy on NYPD Blue, it reminds me of 
  the device where you create a leader who's Black, then push him to 
  the background...a mean doc who's shepherding the newbies. She comes 
  onscreen, barks at the youngsters, then stalks off...and Isiah 
  Washington's arrogant, self-centered genius, who reminds me of Eric 
  LaSalle's character on "ER". He gets a few lines where he helps 
  himself by being a real human to his charges, then off he goes. They all 
  seem to do little 

RE: [scifinoir2] NASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000

2005-05-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





This 
is one of the things we discussed a couple a days ago in how terraforming would 
work. I noted that needed gases could be pulled from a planet's soil. 
Wouldn't that be awesome?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Brent WodehouseSent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 23:38To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] NASA Challenge: 
  Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000http://www.space.com/news/050519_moonrox_challenge.htmlNASA 
  Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000By Tariq 
  MalikStaff Writerposted: 19 May 2005NASA has promised 
  a cool $250,000 for the first team capable ofpulling breathable oxygen 
  from mock moon dirt, the latest award in thespace agency's Centennial 
  Challenges program.The cash prize is the reward for winners of the 
  agency's Moon RegolithOxygen (MoonROx) challenge, the third contest set by 
  NASA to encouragecommercial space industry."It our hope to kind of 
  seed some of the long-term technologies thatwere going to need for future 
  exploration," said Brant Sponberg, NASA'sCentennial Challenges program 
  manager, in a telephone interview.In the MoonROx contest, NASA and the 
  Florida Space Research Institute(FSRI) challenge inventors to pull at 
  least 11 pounds (five kilograms)of breathable oxygen from a volcanic 
  ash-derived lunar soil substitutecalled JSC-1.But it doesn't end 
  there. Participants not only have to extract theoxygen, but must 
  accomplish the feat within eight hours. Thecompetition expires June 1, 
  2008."Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic 
  andhuman missions to the moon," said Sam Durrance, executive director 
  forFSRI. Like other space-focused prize competitions, the 
  MoonROxchallenge will encourage a broad community of innovators to 
  developtechnologies that expand our capabilities.Earlier this 
  year, NASA detailed two other centennial challenges.The 2005 Beam 
  Power Challenge will award $50,000 to the first teamthat can use wireless 
  technology to lift a weight off the ground. Suchtechnology could 
  eventually be employed to beam payloads off Earth.Meanwhile, the 2005 
  Tether Challenge calls for teams to build thestrongest tether of a 
  specific diameter. The tethers will each bestretched to the breaking 
  point, with winners advancing through theranks toward a final showdown 
  with NASA's house tether, made ofexisting material. Beat the house tether 
  and you snag $50,000.NASA plans to set aside about $80 million towards 
  Centennial Challengeprizes over the next five years to encourage private 
  space technologydevelopment. Partly spurred by the $10 million Ansari X 
  Prize for aprivate, manned suborbital spaceflight - which was snared last 
  yearby Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne - the cash prize is also geared 
  tohelp support NASA's space exploration vision.That vision, 
  announced by President Bush on Jan. 14, 2004, callsfor a resurgence of 
  human missions to the moon by 2020, as well as theultimate push out to 
  Mars and beyond."The use of resources on other worlds is a key element 
  of the visionfor space exploration," said Craig Steidle, NASA's 
  associateadministrator for the exploration systems mission directorate, in 
  astatement. This challenge will reach out to inventors who can help 
  usachieve the vision sooner.Sponberg said that more challenges 
  will be announced in upcomingweeks, and may include additional contests to 
  develop off-planetresource utilization tools or astronaut support 
  systems.Other front-runners for near-term contests could challenge 
  innovatorsto develop a better spacesuit glove or an unmanned, 
  lighter-than-airvehicle that could one day lead to a Venus or Mars 
  probe."Longer-term challenges may call for full-up space missions or 
  complexdemonstrations, such as a high-precision landing," Sponberg 
  added."I think it adds great dimensions to our [exploration 
  vision],"Sponberg said of the Centennial Challenges program. It's a great 
  way toreach out to innovators that we couldn't before.







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[scifinoir2] FW: Bill Moyers Blasts CPB Chairman Tomlinson

2005-05-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Amy, I hadn't heard about 
Moyers recent speech until you posted that info tonight.So I searched and 
found this article about it. Are we surprised? I've been wondering when 
the villagers would start bringing their pitchforks and torches to the public 
broadcasting arena. I remember years ago when NPR was airing Mumia Abu 
Jamal's "Live from Death Row" recordings. There wasa firestorm of protest 
from citizens and some public officials, a huge mess. NPR finally dropped him. I 
think Pacifica Radio picked it up, or it might have been a conscious, 
independent radio station here in Atlanta, WRFG. But the bottom line is NPR was 
forced to kowtow to the right. I knew then it was only a matter of time, 
and with Bush in office the witchhunters are emboldened indeed. Very worrisome 
this is...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051605N.shtml

Bill Moyers Blasts CPB Chairman 
TomlinsonThe Free Press 
Sunday 15 May 2005
Veteran journalist calls for nationwide public hearings on 
  future of public broadcasting in speech at the National Conference for Media 
  Reform.
St. Louis - In a speech before 1,400 media activists, 
television journalist Bill Moyers lambasted Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), for hijacking public broadcasting to 
serve a partisan agenda.
"I simply never imagined that any CPB chairman, 
Democrat or Republican, would cross the line from resisting White House pressure 
to carrying it out for the White House," Moyers told a packed room at the 
National Conference for Media Reform. "And that's what Kenneth Tomlinson has 
been doing."
Tomlinson, a staunch Republican, has launched a 
personal crusade aimed at "eliminating the perception of political bias" in PBS 
programs. He has covertly promoted right-wing programming and tried to install 
his political allies to CPB's board and executive offices. He even contracted an 
outside consultant to monitor Moyers' weekly PBS news program, "NOW with Bill 
Moyers," for signs of liberal bias.
"The more compelling our journalism, the angrier the 
radical right of the Republican Party gets," Moyers said. "That's because the 
one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to 
be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."
In his first public statement since the controversy 
over the CPB emerged, Moyers announced that he had sent a letter to Tomlinson 
requesting an hour-long program on PBS to debate the direction of public 
broadcasting. Earlier this month, 50,000 concerned citizens signed a Free Press 
petition urging Tomlinson to resign.
Moyers also endorsed a call by Free Press, Common 
Cause, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Media Access Project 
for a series of town hall meetings nationwide so Americans can speak directly to 
station managers and policymakers about what they want and expect from public 
broadcasting.
"That great mob that is democracy is rarely heard, 
and that's not just the fault of the current residents of the White House and 
Capitol," Moyers said. "There is a great chasm between those of us in the 
business and those who depend on TV and radio as their window to the world. We 
treat them too much like audiences and not enough like citizens. They are 
invited to look through the window, but too infrequently to participate and make 
public broadcasting public."
The National Conference for Media Reform, hosted and 
organized by the nonpartisan media reform group Free Press, brought together 
thousands of media activists, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned 
citizens from across the country and around the world who are concerned with the 
current state of the media.
"An unconscious people, an indoctrinated people, a 
people fed only partisan information and opinion that confirm their own bias, a 
people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda, is 
less inclined to put up a fight, ask questions and be skeptical," Moyers said. 
"And just as a democracy can die of too many lies, that kind of orthodoxy can 
kill us, too."







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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to Grey's Anatomy?

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Good point. That's why I was asking for an opinion, because I'd quit
watching. Still think Homicide had the most realized Blacks on TV in a
coon's age...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 09:20
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to Grey's Anatomy?


I Like Washington, and see this role as an opportunity for him.  But...
that could be lust talking.  :)

Stealth diversity..  I like that term.  I do not necessarily have a
problem with stealth diversity..  For many artists of color, it might be
the only way to get high profile, break out roles.  the same for many
producers, writers and directors of color.  I've seen the shows with
true diversity last only 6 six and bottom of the list ratings.  In the
long run it does not do much good.  If Grey Anatomy becomes an ER,
(which seems extremely likely) Washington, that Black actress, and the
Asian actress might find themselves with stable employment with a high
profile role that actually requires them to act, allows them to take
some of the offers of movies that they now will get, enough money to
produce their own stuff if they want, and also will present them with
opportunities for other juicy parts.

If you look at the career paths of Omar Epps,  Eriq La Salle , Ming-Na
and maybe a few other ER alumni of color, ER may have contributed to
some milestones in their careers.  I think being on a top 10 show, in a
part where you are not playing some stereotype could definitely do some
positive things for an actor's career.

So, while I have a few criticisms and reservations about Grey's Anatomy,
I am glad in is thriving.

Tracey
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of Keith Johnson
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 12:10 AM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to Grey's Anatomy?


From your response and Tracey's, I guess ABC's pullling stealth
diversity, using white-oriented marketing to pull in the mainstream.
Like I said ,all the commercials focus on the whites. And I'm still
troubled by magazine and other media coverage like TV Guide, which
completely ignores the Blacks. Isaiah Washington's a good actor, but
something about him often seemed to get him villain roles. He was a
villain in Romeo Must Die, and a couple other films I saw. I saw him
in an interesting movie a few years back with Mirando Otto (Eowen from
Lord of the Rings), where he falls in love with a white South African
played by Otto. He was a villain in Exit Wounds too. But Washington's
done a lot of work, almost 40 films! Could we be looking at another Sam
Jackson? check out his filmography:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913460/

Also, I have to give him my props, as he's a fellow Texan! -Original
Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 22:07
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What happened to Grey's Anatomy?


I like Grey's Anatomy, it is a perfect companion to Desparate
Housewives but if I miss either, it is not a tragedy.  When the show
first came on I mentioned the 'bizarro world' aspect of it --where the
blacks were ostensibly in charge and were, in essence, oppressing the
downtrodden white characters.  I am sure the show's creators had to make
many compromises.  For instance, one of the four interns was supposed to
be a black man but I guess that was too much diversity for the suits
that run ABC.  Television is a cruel master and an incredibly difficult
place for a person of color to get a foothold.

There has been much to do about Everybody loves Raymond coming to a
conclusion after nine seasons.  One of the hubbubs when the show was
getting off the ground was that they didn't want Italian Ray Barone's
wife to be too ethnic.  By that Les Moonves (who is married to an
Asian woman as is Rupert Murdock)didn't want Ray's wife to be Italian or
Jewish.  They originally wanted someone like Meredith Baxter Birney.  If
Ray Romano can't get an Italian wife in a show based on his life on a
show he co-created and co-executive produces, what chance does a black
show producer have?

That said, let me say I thoroughly enjoyed the episode of Grey's
Anatomy where Anna Maria Horsford played an old scrub nurse who was
dying and even though her illness was terminal and the hospital could do
nothing to save her the administration was letting her stay until she
died.  This episode showed the humanity of all the black totems and
taught the callow young white interns something about caring and
community.

As an aside, I have never been an Isaiah Washington fan.  I loathe
almost every character I have seen him play including his debut in Spike
Lee's Girl 6 where despite substantial screen time he is credited
simply as the Shoplifter.  But I saw him

RE: [scifinoir2] Darkest of Star Wars dark lords get his day in the sun

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





After 
seeing "Sith" today, I just *knew* it had to be the same actor. how awesome it 
is the same guy playing the Emperor in all the movies! What a strange two-edged 
sword it must be for actors, to get recognized most for what may be your least 
challenging or complex work. Or to be typecast by a role you loved, but want to 
put behind you. George Reeves, Leonard Nimoy and others have had that 
struggle.But hey, if it pays the bills--more than pays them, I 
imagine--it can allow you the freedom to do all those plays and 
stuff.

At 
least McDiarmid seems to have a good attitude. I know the late Alec Guiness came 
to despise the fact that he'd be most rememebered as Obi Wan. I remember reading 
an interview where he was faintly contemptuous of his fans, whom he felt were 
odd and needed to get real lives. That was sad.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Friday, May 20, 2005 10:07To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Darkest of "Star 
  Wars" dark lords get his day in the sunhttp://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/movies/may05/327099.aspDarkest 
  of 'Star Wars' dark lords gets his day in the sunBy BOB 
  LONGINOAtlanta Journal-ConstitutionPosted: May 19, 
  2005Skywalker Ranch, Calif. - More than 20 years after Scottish actor 
  IanMcDiarmid first donned the dark threads of Emperor Palpatine as 
  rulerof "Star Wars' " evil Empire, the robe's back on.53727'Star 
  Wars'And in "Revenge of the Sith," the final installment in George 
  Lucas'"Star Wars" saga that opened worldwide this week, the dark lord 
  isfinally having his day in the sun.Palpatine gets to wield a 
  lightsaber, slicing his way through amélange of Jedi knights.He 
  uses that hellish lightning-from-the-fingertips moxie he's got in 
  ablistering, senate chamber-smashing duel with Yoda. And he gets 
  toorder around Anakin Skywalker, compelling him to do evil deeds 
  withsimple commands, like "Kill him."If Darth Vader is the baddest 
  guy in the universe, what does that makehim?"It makes me beyond 
  that," said McDiarmid, a veteran stage and TVactor with limited big-screen 
  appearances. "Blackest of the black.Darkest of the dark. But, 
  unfortunately, still recognizably human."McDiarmid was 38 when fans 
  first saw him as the creepy, disfiguredemperor when "The Return of the 
  Jedi" was released in 1983.Now he's 60 and actually much closer in age 
  to the character he'splayed in four "Star Wars" films.From Shakespeare 
  to SithMcDiarmid has progressed from senator to supreme chancellor to, 
  now,the man who would be emperor.For a dozen years, McDiarmid was 
  joint artistic director of theAlmeida Theatre in north London. He's 
  performed with the RoyalShakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre 
  and the Royal Court.He's played Edward II, Henry IV and Prospero in "The 
  Tempest." He'shad small parts on the big screen in Tim Burton's "Sleepy 
  Hollow,""Gorky Park" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."His left 
  profile, emphasizing a weak chin, slightly pointed nose and asplash of 
  swept-back gray hair, is the spitting image of the notoriousMr. Burns of 
  "The Simpsons.""The whole of 'The Simpsons' (seems to be) obsessed 
  with 'Star Wars,'" McDiarmid said.He doesn't know if Palpatine was 
  in Matt Groening's mind, the actoradded, "but I wouldn't be 
  surprised."Lucas hadn't seen McDiarmid's work on stage, but a casting 
  directordid, in the small, upstairs theater at the Royal Court at the dawn 
  ofthe '80s."It was Sam Shepard's play, 'Seduced,' in which I 
  played the aging -well, his version of the aging - Howard Hughes with the 
  long hair andthe fingernails, motionless in bed," McDiarmid 
  recalled.His performance struck the right notes: paranoia, 
  confidence,arrogance, obsessiveness.Later, McDiarmid was called to 
  lunch with Lucas."Even when I got back (home), I didn't know why we 
  had been speaking,though I imagined it had something to do with 'Star 
  Wars,' " he said.His agent phoned.Obviously it went well 
  because you got the part, the agent said."I said, 'What part?' 
  "The agent leafed through his papers, searching for the role, and 
  thenuttered four words - emperor of the universe." 'We'll be doing 
  that then,' I said. And that's how it started."Creating a 
  villainOnce McDiarmid saw the ghastly prosthetics planned for the 
  emperor'sface - the reason behind his metamorphosis from the 
  normal-lookingsupreme chancellor to the hideous emperor is illustrated in 
  "Sith" -he conjured up the character's distinctive, cackling 
  voice."Oh, he's like a toad," McDiarmid said. "He's a terrible 
  reptile. Ithought his voice should come from the dark depths. From the 
  bowels ofthe Earth or the bowels of his being. . . ."And the voice 
  just sort of arrived.""Sith" provides McDiarmid with the most screen 
  time he's had yet.High praiseHis co-star, Hayden Christensen, 

[scifinoir2] Scorpius is in Sith!

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Kelly, from 
your post about the blue-faced dude in "Sith": A Peter Cushing 
look-alike. At the end of the film, there's an actor who bears a strong resemblance to the late 
actor who played Grand Moff Tarkin, one of 
the villains in the first "Star Wars" movie.

Guess what, that 
actor is played by Wayne Pygram, "Scorpius" from Farscape! Also in the movie is 
Keisha Castle-Hughes of "Whale Rider" fame. I guess the movie was shot in 
Australia in part, as both actors are natives.









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RE: [scifinoir2] Kelsey Grammer to play Beast in X-Men 3

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Huh?? 
Grammer as Hank Mccoy? Why? Didn't they already have a quick shot of another 
actor playing McCoy in "X2"? Also, isn't Grammer a little old and frankly 
out-of-shape to play the superstrong, super-athletic Beast? He may have the 
intelligent bearing and diction, but I just can't see Frasier Crane literally 
bouncing off the walls!
On 
another note, I'm surprised they're thinking of Maggie Grace to play Kitty 
Pryde. Pryde is Jewish, Grace doesn't appear to be.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Friday, May 20, 2005 10:48To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Kelsey Grammer to 
  play Beast in X-Men 3http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20050520/en_movies_eo/16596Kelsey 
  Grammer has been tapped to play Beast--the super-intelligentblue behemoth, 
  in the forthcoming X-Men 3, according to Variety.He'll be joined by 
  two other new X-Men recruits, Kitty Pryde, akaShadowcat, who can pass 
  through walls (Lost's Maggie Grace is reportedto be the top candidate), 
  and the winged Angel.They'll square off against another evil mutant, 
  the metal-clad giantJuggernaut, to be played by Vinnie Jones (Snatch, 
  Lock, Stock and TwoSmoking Barrels).British director Matthew 
  Vaughn is taking over behind the camera fromBryan Singer (who is helming 
  the new Superman). X-Men 3 is slated tohit theaters over Memorial Day 
  2006. 
  __The 
  Black Prince. The Black Church. A State of Mind.http://www.theworldebon.com







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RE: [scifinoir2] What happened to Grey's Anatomy?

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





I said 
I didn't watch it anymore, because the Blacks weren't getting good treatment. 
That's why I posted, to see if I was missing something worth coming back to. And 
from what y'all say maybe so. As for the "nurse", yeah, she's an intern. Typo on 
my part. I mentioned that scene not to criticize it, but because it was a 
powerful moment that I happened to catch, but I haven't "happened" to catch 
equally powerful moments with the Black actors. (though truth be told, there's 
not a Sister on there with a body like that.Whoo-hoo!!!) In other 
words, in the three or four episodes I watched fully, and in the few pieces of 
episodes I've caught, and in the trailers, the Blacks haven't been 
front-and-center. So I assumed my random sampling reflected the overall tone of 
the show. Maybe I'll give it a chance again...

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Leslee FreemanSent: Friday, May 20, 2005 12:23To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: [scifinoir2] What happened 
  to "Grey's Anatomy"?
  You cannot even be watching this show :)The 
  buxom nurse isn't a nurse, she is an intern with all the rest. She stripped 
  because she got sick of everyone flipping out because she used to be a 
  Victoria's Secret-type model, so she did it to shut them up. Sort of like, ok, 
  now I'm naked, you'veall seen it first hand, so shut up about it. On the 
  previews it lookedcheesy, but it made sense in the context of the 
  episode.The Asian nurse is having an affair with the younger of the 
  black doctors, and their story is one of the main sublines, second only to the 
  star's romance. We see how he relates to how she used to be, and that is what 
  drew him to her, Of course, the fact that she IS like he used to be is giving 
  them major problems. We are starting to see layers of the evil black nurse. 
  She is a typical mentor type, but not just stereotypical black woman evil 
  anymore. 
  
  It is not perfect, and may not be your cup of 
  tea, but it is far, FAR better than most shows portraying minorities on TV. 
  
  
  But then, my expectation is much lower. I have 
  accepted that until we create shows on TV1 and BET, we will not have the type 
  of roles we can truly relate to. This is our own damn fault, you know, so I 
  enjoy shows based on whether or not I like the story now. 
  
- Original Message - 
From: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 

Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 12:08 
PM
Subject: [scifinoir2] What happened to 
"Grey's Anatomy"?

I tuned into this show because I'd heard a Sister was the creator and 
main writer. She spoke at length with Tavis Smiley aboutthe diverse 
cast (three Blacks and an Asian) and how the stories often center around 
guests of color. That may be true, but I haven't seen anything that really 
differentiates this from other shows I've seen that focus on the 
whites. The star's in a love affair with the doc played by Patrick 
Dempsey, the buxom nurse (who used to be on Roswell) has gotten some 
storylines, including one that had her stripping to her underwear in front 
of her co-workers. The Asian nurse is apparently pregnant. Frankly I 
quit watching after two episodes because nothing convinced me the Blacks 
would get major treatment. From what I can tell they're more like 
window dressing to the white characters. 
I notice that among the Blacks we have what are becoming familiar 
caricatures: the older doctor who ostensibly runs the place. But like 
Fancy on NYPD Blue, it remindsme of the device where you create 
a leader who's Black, then push him to the background...a mean doc who's 
shepherding the newbies. She comes onscreen, barks at the youngsters, then 
stalks off...and Isiah Washington's arrogant, self-centered genius, who 
reminds me ofEric LaSalle's character on "ER". He gets a few 
lines where he helps himself by being a real human to his charges, then off 
he goes. They all seem to do little more than provide plot points for the 
scared doctors to be, yet have little in the way of fully fleshed out roles 
themselves. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I just feel the hoped-for strong usage of the 
people of color isn't materializing. This seems to be borne out by all the 
coverage I've seen: not one commercial on TV shows the Black actors, instead 
focusing almost exclusively on the star and her lover, with a little bit of 
coverage given to the other non-Blacks. TV Guide recently did an 
article on the show that included a two-page spread of photos of the 
"stars that make it hot". Not *one* of the Blacks was pictured!

Am I off base? Are the Blacks used effectively? Do the guest stars 
consist of people of color with strong roles? Anyone watching this?









Yahoo! 

RE: [scifinoir2] Scientists Warn Against Weaponizing Space

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Hell, 
I guess we need Gary Seven to drop an orbital nuclear weapon on China, blowing 
it up at the last moment! Think we'll get the message then?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Brent WodehouseSent: Friday, May 20, 2005 19:29To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Scientists Warn 
  Against Weaponizing Spacehttp://www.space.com/news/ap_050520_space_weapons.htmlScientists 
  Warn Against Weaponizing SpaceBy Nick WadhamsAssociated 
  Pressposted: 20 May 2005UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A 
  scientists' group on Thursday warned the UnitedStates against weaponizing 
  space, saying the move would be prohibitivelyexpensive and could set off a 
  new arms race.The Union of Concerned Scientists, a watchdog group that 
  opposes weaponsin space, said the United Nations should consider drafting 
  a treaty thatwould prohibit interfering with unarmed satellites, taking 
  away anyjustification for putting weapons in space to protect 
  them."The United States has a huge lead in the space field - it can 
  afford totry out the multilateral approach,'' said Jonathan Dean, a former 
  U.S.ambassador and an adviser on global security issues.The 
  Union's demand comes as the administration of President Bush isreviewing 
  the U.S. space policy doctrine. Some scientists worry that thereview will 
  set out a more aggressive policy that could lead to thegreater 
  militarization of space.On Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott 
  McClellan told reporters thatthe policy review was not considering the 
  weaponization of space. But hesaid new threats to U.S. satellites have 
  emerged in the years since theU.S. space doctrine was last reviewed in 
  1996, and those satellites mustbe protected."There are changes 
  that have occurred over the last eight or nine years,and there are 
  countries that have taken an interest in space, McClellansaid. "And they 
  have looked at things that could - or technologies thatcould - threaten 
  our space systems. And so you obviously need to take thatinto account when 
  you're updating the policy.''The Bush administration has also included 
  some money in the budget forspace-based weapons programs to defend 
  satellites, strike ground targetsand defend against missile attacks, said 
  Laura Grego, a scientist with theunion.Any complete weapons system 
  in space would be very expensive, running intothe many billions of 
  dollars. Developing a shield to defend against asingle missile attack 
  would require deploying 1,000 space-basedinterceptors and cost anywhere 
  between $20 billion and $100 billion, saidDavid Wright, a union scientists 
  and co-author of a recent report on thefeasibility of space 
  weapons.And such a system would require a huge expansion of U.S. 
  launchingcapability. The United States currently launches between 10-12 
  largerockets a year, while with space interceptors, it would need to 
  launchmany times more that each year.Wright argued that 
  space-based ground attack systems were not yetpractical either. One, 
  dubbed "Rods from God'' - which would fire rods oftungsten from space - 
  would cost 50-100 times as much as a similar attackfrom the 
  ground."The fact that it's still being considered I think suggests 
  that there'ssome sort of emotional attachment to it for putting weapons in 
  spacerather than a hard-nosed analysis,'' Wright said.Any such 
  move would also likely draw swift international condemnation. In2002, 
  after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-BallisticMissile 
  Treaty, China and Russia submitted a proposal for a newinternational 
  treaty to ban weapons in outer space.But the United States has said it 
  sees no need for any new space armscontrol agreements. It is party to the 
  1967 Outer Space Treaty, whichprohibits stationing weapons of mass 
  destruction in 
  space.







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[scifinoir2] Revenge of the Sith lives up to its promise--NO spoilers

2005-05-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





This 
one is spoiler-free, really just a stream-of-consciusness jotting down of my 
emotional reaction. Overall it wasn't surprising but was very enjoyable. Perhaps 
not as satisfying in terms of writing and acting quality as "The Empire Strikes 
Back", but very good. I'll drop a spoiler-filled review in a few days, 
once more of you have had a chance to see it.


No 
spoilers...

With "Revenge of the Sith", George Lucas goes out with a 
bang, not the whimper I'd feared. "Sith" is vastly superior to the boring 
and mostly unnecessary Episodes 1 and 2. The overall tone is darker, more 
mature, and the story flows better than anything since "The Empire Strikes 
Back". Though I knew what to expect--Anakin turns bad, almost everybody 
dies--the execution was what counted.Like "Titanic", where we knew the 
ending but enjoyed the ride, "Sith" executes with a high level of 
excitement, action, and compelling drama. I can't remember how much time I spent 
on the edge of my seat as light sabre's sliced the air (and flesh) 
orhundreds of battling ships filled the screen. I "oohed" and "aahed" and 
yelled as the embattled Jedi fought an ultimately hopeless battle against the 
return of evil and the fall of the Republic. Perhaps most notably, the 
acting is much improved from the stilted and wooden-sounding lines from the 
previous films. Gone are stretches of cringe-inducing love scenes, or 
akward moments as the actors stare blankly into space as if unsure of what to 
say next. Actors which Eps 1 and 2 incredibly made appear incompetent come 
off as more polished here, their performances more convincing. Vader-to-be 
Hayden Christensen is perhaps the most improved, finally conveying a sense of 
real menace instead of the whiney teen we saw in "Attack of the Clones". 
There are still a few moments of clunky dialogue and spots where the actors 
don't emote enough for my tastes, but overall the writing and acting is sharp 
and fits the pacing of the movie perfectly. Even the music is surprisingly 
mature and sets appropriate moods for the action onscreen. I've often felt 
some of Lucas' efforts have fallen a little short in terms of making me believe 
his world is "real". I've often been distracted by special effects, costumes, 
and sets that seem too manufactured, too obviously make-believe contrivances, 
rather than views into an alternate reality. But I didn't have that problem 
here. "Sith" sucked me in, allowing me to suspend my disbelief enough to really 
get into this film. I felt real sadness and anger as Anakin fell to the Dark 
Side, I thrilled as Obi-Wan and Yoda fought desperate battles to save their 
Order and way of life. I all but hissed as the Emperor's masterful manipulations 
came to fruition. And at the end, with all hope lost but that of the few 
surviving Jedi and the tiny babes who would be charged with setting things 
aright in the future, a lump actually came in my throat as the familar music 
played. Like the characters themselves I was full of despair, but clinging to a 
faint hope for the future. George Lucashas redemed his past missteps with 
a movie that, while not surprising, still manages to move us. It was everything 
I'd hoped it be.







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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Kelsey Grammer to play Beast in X-Men 3

2005-05-21 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





"Jewish" is colloquially often used interchangeably as a religious 
description and an ethnic description. The context of my statement indicates it 
was being used as the latter, since I specifically was referencing their looks. 


If 
you'd prefer it rephrased, Kitty Pryde is Semitic, not Western European, 
so why get a blonde white girl to play her?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  yinka oyekunleSent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 14:22To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Kelsey 
  Grammer to play Beast in X-Men 3
  "On another note, I'm surprised they're thinking 
  of Maggie Grace to play Kitty Pryde. Pryde is Jewish, Grace doesn't appear 
  to be."
  
  Being Jewish is a religion not an ethnic 
  group.
  g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote:
  Like 
my teenage step-daughter's clothing and hairstyle, this choice of actor 
will change 12 times before Sunday.After all, it's only a comic 
book.GeorgeCaptainThe USS Ronald E. McNair 
(Boston)--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Martin Pratt 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I heard a rumor that the 
Beast was going to be CGIed, no transformation between blue fur and 
humanoid form. If so, it might play in Peoria.  Keith 
Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Huh?? Grammer as Hank Mccoy? 
Why? Didn't they already have a quick shot of another actor playing 
McCoy in "X2"? Also, isn't Grammer a little old and frankly out-of-shape 
to play the superstrong, super-athletic Beast? He may have the 
intelligent bearing and diction, but I just can't see Frasier Crane 
literally bouncing off the walls! On another note, I'm surprised 
they're thinking of Maggie Grace to play Kitty Pryde. Pryde is Jewish, 
Grace doesn't appear to be.  -Original 
Message- From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kelly Wright 
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 10:48 To: 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Kelsey Grammer to 
play Beast in X-Men 3   http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20050520/en_movies_eo/16596 
 Kelsey Grammer has been tapped to play Beast--the 
super-intelligent blue behemoth, in the forthcoming X-Men 3, 
according to Variety.  He'll be joined by two other new 
X-Men recruits, Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, who can pass through 
walls (Lost's Maggie Grace is reported to be the top candidate), and 
the winged Angel.  They'll square off against another evil 
mutant, the metal-clad giant Juggernaut, to be played by Vinnie 
Jones (Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). 
 British director Matthew Vaughn is taking over behind the 
camera from Bryan Singer (who is helming the new Superman). X-Men 3 
is slated to hit theaters over Memorial Day 2006. 

  __Do You 
  Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
  http://mail.yahoo.com 







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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Kelsey Grammer to play Beast in X-Men 3

2005-05-21 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Well, 
in current mainstream X books, Kitty is definitely shown as Jewish. She's part 
of the staff at the Xavier Institute, and always wears a Star of David on a 
necklace. You must mean "X-Men Unlimited", which has all but sanitized many 
aspects of the X-Men characters' unique identities, such as Storm being more 
Americanized. I wouldn't be surprised if they've given Kitty's religion 
short shrift.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 
  16:13To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: 
  [scifinoir2] Re: Kelsey Grammer to play Beast in X-Men 
  3In a message dated 5/21/05 3:32:55 
  PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
  "Jewish" is colloquially often used interchangeably as a 
religious description and an ethnic description. The context of my statement 
indicates it was being used as the latter, since I specifically was 
referencing their looks.If you'd prefer it rephrased, Kitty Pryde is 
Semitic, not Western European, so why get a blonde white girl to play 
her?Well in the current version of the X-Men the 
  new Kitty has none of the 'jewish' features of her old 
  version.-GTW 







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[scifinoir2] Neon Genesis and Killer Sheep at WETA

2005-05-21 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Been checking out 
the WETA sites tonight. Interesting. Check out their current projects, 
which include King Kong of course, and something called "Jane and the Dragon". 
But what really caught my attention was "Neon Genesis Evangeline", which is on 
hold but may be greenlighted in the near future. Click the link and view the 
gallery of images. And really wild, they're working on a horror/comedy called 
"Black Sheep", about deadly, carnivorous sheep?? The image gallery shows one of 
the deadly creatures with blood streaming from its mouth after having eaten the 
sheepdog. Weird!


http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/projects
http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/projects/filmography/galleries/neon_genesis
http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/projects/filmography/film/black_sheep







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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Wormholes unlikely to allow time travel

2005-05-23 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Don't 
despair. If God had consulted "experts", the universe would never have been 
created. I can see the reports now: "Can't be done, Oh Most High!"..."How you 
gonna make something out of nothing, Supreme One?""Our research shows a 78 
percent probability that any attempt to create a self-sustaining cosmos would 
result in disaster". 

You go 
right on what whatever your mind can create. In a few millennia it just may come 
true...

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Monday, May 23, 2005 21:43To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Re: Wormholes 
  unlikely to allow time travelI am somewhat 
  disappointed to read this as I love the notion of wormholes. While I have 
  never used the premise of time travel through wormholes, I have woven a 
  system of natural wormholes into the mythology of my World Ebon. 
  These invisible wormholes, which I call pulse points, are used by adepts 
  as a means of teleportation.~rave!--- In 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Brent Wodehouse" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote: http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Sciencearticle=UPI-1-20050523-18392800-bc-wormholes.xml 
   Wormholes unlikely to allow time travel   
  LONDON, May 23 (UPI) - Researchers say the idea of using "wormholes" 
  to travel from one place in the galaxy to another is a "Star Trek" 
  idea whose time may never come.  A study by 
  University of Oregon researchers shows a wormhole that would be 
  capable of transporting someone would be fundamentally unstable, the 
  BBC reported Monday.  "We aren't saying you can't 
  build a wormhole," said researcher Stephen Hsu. "But the ones you 
  would like to build - the predictable ones where you can say, 'Mr. 
  Spock will land in New York at 2 p.m. on this day' - those look 
  like they will fall apart."  A study by the University of York 
  and Central Connecticut State University says even if it were 
  possible to keep a wormhole's throat open with so-called exotic 
  matter, the throat still would be too small for time 
  travel.  Cambridge astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has argued 
  since the 1980s that fundamental laws of physics would prevent 
  wormholes from being used for time travel.  
   Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights 
  Reserved.







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RE: [scifinoir2] Anyone getting Lost tonight?--spoilers

2005-05-25 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





SPOILERS

Yeah, 
the boat people have to be the "Others". They're way too close to the island to 
be anything else. What's their deal? What's in that hatch I wonder. Walt and the 
big dude warned them not to open it. It's obvious the island brought people to 
it for redemption and second chances, but why was Boone needed as a sacrifice? 
How in the world will they keep this theme running a whole 'nother season 
without people getting mad and wanting to know all the secrets? If this isn't 
mystical/scifi land (I think the creators said that) then what's up with that 
crazy smoke?

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)Sent: Wednesday, 
  May 25, 2005 22:38To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: 
  RE: [scifinoir2] Anyone getting "Lost" tonight?
  Oh 
  Yeah!! I think those guys on the boat are "the Others" what do you 
  think. They are the one that took Delan/Rouseau's baby 16 years ago and 
  she really did not light the fire. I think she helped get Clair away 
  before
  
  Tracey
  
-Original Message-From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Keith 
JohnsonSent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 9:08 PMTo: 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Anyone getting 
"Lost" tonight?
Really wild so 
far. What do you think?







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RE: [scifinoir2] Voyager 1 reaches solar system's final frontier

2005-05-26 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





I 
realized I didn't give myself any really positive options, unless number 1 is 
positive. Can't figure out if I'm most afraid of #4 or #3...

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Martin PrattSent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 13:34To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: RE: [scifinoir2] Voyager 1 
  reaches solar system's final frontier
  Leaning strongly toward Option 2.Keith Johnson 
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
  

Saw that on the news today. Cool as hell! I remember watching the 
launches back in '77 as a teen. Captivating. I figure one of the 
following may happen with the Voyager:

  In two hundred years it'll return as V'ger, supremely powerful and 
  self-aware, demanding to know who the hell made it and why 
  In 2020it'll crash outside NASA with a note attached: "No 
  littering. Keep your sh% in your own system!" 
  Nothing 
  An armada of aliens will surround the planet. They'll thank 
  us for the map showing the way to Earth, and for the DNA drawing proving 
  that our biologies are compatible. They'll carry a book titled "To Serve 
  Man". 

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
  Behalf Of Brent WodehouseSent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 
  19:19To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: 
  [scifinoir2] Voyager 1 reaches solar system's final 
  frontierhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/space_voyager_dcVoyager 
  1 reaches solar system's final frontierWed May 25,12:00 PM 
  ETWASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's Voyager 1 has reached the 
  final frontier ofour solar system, having traveled through a turbulent 
  place whereelectrically charged particles from the Sun crash into thin 
  gas frominterstellar space.Astronomers tracking the little 
  spaceship's 26-year journey from Earthbelieve Voyager 1 has gone 
  through a region known as termination shock,some 8.7 billion miles 
  from the Sun, and entered an area called 
  theheliosheath."Voyager 1 has entered the final lap on its 
  race to the edge ofinterstellar space," Edward Stone, Voyager project 
  scientist at theCalifornia Institute of Technology, said in a 
  statement released Tuesday.Voyager watchers theorized last 
  November that the craft might be reachingthis bumpy region of space 
  when the charged solar particles known as thesolar wind seemed to slow 
  down from a top speed of 1.5 million miles perhour.This was 
  expected at the area of termination shock, where the solar windswere 
  expected to decelerate as they bump up against gas from the 
  spacebeyond our solar system. It is more than twice as distant as 
  Pluto, thefurthest planet in our system.By monitoring the 
  craft's speed and the increase in the force of the solarwind, Voyager 
  scientists now believe the craft has made it through theshock and into 
  the heliosheath.Predicting the location of the termination shock 
  was hard because theprecise conditions in interstellar space are 
  unknown and the terminationshock can expand, contract and ripple, 
  depending on changes in the speedand pressure of the solar 
  wind."Voyager's observations over the past few years show the 
  termination shockis far more complicated than anyone thought," said 
  Eric Christian, ascientist with NASA's Sun-Solar System Connection 
  program.Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 were launched 
  in 1977 on amission to explore the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. 
  The pair keptgoing, however, and the mission was 
  extended.Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, the only 
  spacecraft tohave visited these outer planets. Both Voyagers are now 
  part of theVoyager Interstellar Mission to explore the outermost edge 
  of the Sun'sdomain.Both Voyagers are capable of returning 
  scientific data from a full rangeof instruments, with adequate 
  electrical power and attitude controlpropellant to keep operating 
  until 2020.Wherever they go, the Voyagers each carry a golden 
  phonograph record whichbears messages from Earth, including natural 
  sounds of surf, wind, thunderand animals. There are also musical 
  selections, spoken greetings in 55languages, along with instructions 
  and equipment on how to play the record.More information and 
  images can be found online athttp://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/voyager_agu.html"Excuse 
  me while I whip this out."Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"
  
  
  Do You Yahoo!?Yahoo! Small Business - Try 
  our new Resources site! 







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RE: [scifinoir2] Voyago's Picardo Appears On USA's The 4400

2005-05-29 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





He was 
also on that short-lived TV series with Rob Lowe. Something about a law firm 
where the senior partner commits suicide and there's all kinds of questionable 
things going on? Picardo was some kind of law officer or detective I believe. I 
think that show--whose name escapes me--also featured the Brother who currently 
runs the hospital on "Grey's Anatomy".

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Rising SunSent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 07:22To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: Re: [scifinoir2] Voyago's 
  Picardo Appears On USA's The 4400Didn't I spot him in 
  Cold Case?RS=D"Anyone who would give up a little liberty for 
  more security deserves neither." Ben Franklin...My Fav links: http://www.geocities.com/jagrslc/tv.show.swop.list.htm 
  [My complete TV Show collection for exchange]... http://www.geocities.com/jagrslc 
  [My FF]... http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/tv-divx/ 
  [Swop Mart for TV Shows]... http://www.geocities.com/slustufflikethat/First.Ladies.pdf 
  [My labour of 
  Love]__Do You 
  Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection 
  around http://mail.yahoo.com 







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[scifinoir2] Repost: Scorpius is in Sith!

2005-05-29 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





For 
those who've seen "Revenge of the Sith" since I posted this. Didja catch these 
actors?


Kelly, from 
your post about the blue-faced dude in "Sith": A Peter Cushing 
look-alike. At the end of the film, there's an actor who bears a strong resemblance to the late 
actor who played Grand Moff Tarkin, one of 
the villains in the first "Star Wars" movie.

Guess what, that 
actor is played by Wayne Pygram, "Scorpius" from Farscape! Also in the movie is 
Keisha Castle-Hughes of "Whale Rider" fame. I guess the movie was shot in 
Australia in part, as both actors are natives.









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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Caught Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-29 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Well, 
I saw "Attack of the Clones" the night before I saw "Sith", and it's definitely 
better. But no way--NO WAY!--will I *ever* watch "The Phantom Menace" again! 
It's just too painfully bad. "Baby Vader" is irritating, the Trade Federation 
starting what becomes the Separatist movement is confusing and unengaging, Liam 
Niesen is wasted in his role, the Pod Race sucks! I posted a long reply to Astro 
about this, where I stated I felt Ep 1 should have introduced Baby Vader and 
then aged him to a teen in the first 45 minutes or so. Then that'd give Lucas 
more time to start building Anakin's journey to the Dark Side, and would have 
allowed Ep 2 to actuall *be* the Clone Wars.

As for 
your observations about "Sith", you're dead on. Obi Wan couldn't handle Anakin. 
I'm still amazed at how the Jedi let him get away with so much. And you are 
*dead on* about Mace: he'd have put a hurting on Anakin! Buddy would have been 
too damn *scared* to get with Palpatine if he knew he'd have to face Mace 
later!

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:21To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Re: Caught "Revenge 
  of the Sith"Perspective is everything and I had the 
  misfortune of being ace booncoon to someone who has watched episode three 
  EVERY DAY since hecopped a copy of the bootleg last Saturday. He has 
  been through theroof and over the moon enthusiastic about "Revenge of the 
  Sith,"recounting key scenes and epic battles over and over and 
  repeating"Yoda is a bad man!" like a mantra. I have heard so 
  much about"Revenge of the Sith," that frankly, there was no way the actual 
  moviecould stand up to the hype. The movie my friend 
  recounted is WAY better (and funnier) than themovie I paid to see 
  yesterday. (Even before I saw it we had starteddoing riffs: When Obi 
  Wan lands on General Grievous'landing dock heshouts "Surrender!" Grievous, 
  who is surrounded by thousands of battledroids, looks around and then back 
  at General Kenobi standing there byhis lonesome, "You must be crazy with 
  the heat!" Grievous raises hisfour arms, each holding a light-saber, 
  "You 'bout to get broke off,son!").That said, "Revenge of the 
  Sith" is clearly the class of this trilogy. It is no "The Empire 
  Strikes Back" but it is far better than the stilldisappointing "Return of 
  the Jedi." And, interestingly, it makes thetwo movies that preceeded it 
  rise in my estimation. I am actuallyjuiced to see Episode one and 
  two again, something you would neverhave heard me say after originally 
  viewing them."Revenge of the Sith" put me in mind of the scene in "The 
  Godfather"where Marlon Brando as the old don tells Robert Duvall as the 
  callowconsigliere "You were not a bad consigliere; Sonny was a bad 
  don."Yoda could have sat down with Obi Wan and told him the same 
  thing:"You bad master, were not; Anakin bad padawan, was."Except, 
  Obi Wan WAS a bad master. He remained too much of a "gee wiz,wiz-bang, 
  hale fellow, well met" kinda guy (a prototypical LukeSkywalker if you 
  will) and never exhibited the firm hand Anakinneeded. Qui-Gon would have 
  done a much better job, (heck Mace Winduwould have done a better job: 
  Mace:"You reckless eyeballin' me, boy?"Anakin:"Stop yelling at me!" 
  Mace: "I ain't yellin' at you! This ishow I talk!") which is why 
  Darth Sidious sent Darth Maul toassassinate Qui-Gon in the first 
  place. Frankly, Obi Wan hasn't beenthe same since he saw his master 
  Qui-Gon get broke off by Darth Maulin Episode 
  One.~rave! Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote: Saw this today at a 10 am showing. (There were over 60 people 
  in thetheatre, so good crowd). Really enjoyed it. The overall tone was 
  themost mature and realized since "The Empire Strikes Back". A few 
  scenesof Anakin's fall from grace were shocking. I don't want to say 
  moreuntil others have seen it. If you're a Star Wars fan, go. If you 
  lovescifi, go. I plan to see it at least two more times. 
   








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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Repost: Scorpius is in Sith!

2005-05-29 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





Well, 
I'm okay with electing a queen. It'd actually makes sense in a way, letting the 
people choose a monarch they trust, then giving that monarch limited time. Guess 
it's like a more powerful prime minister posting or something. I do have an 
issue with the age of these women. What possible skills could they bring to 
running a whole planet before their eighteenth birthdays? And then Padme 
goes on to become a Senator?? Didn't buy it.

  
  -Original Message-From: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
  Kelly WrightSent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 11:05To: 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Re: Repost: 
  "Scorpius" is in "Sith"!Speaking of Keisha 
  Castle-Hughes, what is up with Naboobian practiceof ELECTING these 
  virginal Queens? Is "Queen" on Naboo an "AmericanIdol" type-hype 
  where young women parade in their Kabuki make-up andNaboobians pony up 
  galactic credits for each call/vote they make?~rave!--- In 
  scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Johnson"[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote: For those who've seen "Revenge of the Sith" since I posted 
  this. Didja catch these actors?  Kelly, from 
  your post about the blue-faced dude in "Sith": A Peter Cushing 
  look-alike. At the end of the film, there's an actor who bears a 
  strong resemblance to the late actor who played Grand Moff Tarkin, one 
  of the villains in the first "Star Wars" movie.  Guess 
  what, that actor is played by Wayne Pygram, "Scorpius" from Farscape! 
  Also in the movie is Keisha Castle-Hughes of "Whale Rider" fame. 
  I guess the movie was shot in Australia in part, as both actors are 
  natives.







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[scifinoir2] Sith Fans Maimed in Light-Saber Mishap

2005-05-29 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





This is 
funny/sad. And checkout the thing about Vader-helmeted crooks pulling 
robberies. Funniest thing since Reagan 
masks...
"Sith" Fans Maimed in Light-Saber 
Mishap

by Charlie Amter May 25, 2005, 7:05 PM 
PT

The Force--let alone common sense--was definitely 
not with them. Two British Star Wars fans 
sustained critical injuries after constructing their own light sabers from 
fluorescent light tubes filled with liquid fuel. According to British media 
reports, a 20-year-old man and his 17-year-old female friend were filming a mock 
duel in homage to Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, the latest 
chapter of George Lucas' record-breaking franchise. 

The duo were reportedly emulating one of Sith's key 
battles, a light-saber clash between Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden 
Christensen's Anakin Skywalker. The two Brits 
suffered severe burns when their homemade sabers exploded. The two had been 
videotaping their clash. They have been hospitalized at Hemel Hempstead in 
Hertfordshire since the accident Sunday. 

Aside from fiery accidents, the Sith craze is being 
blamed on a string of robberies. In separate incidents in Illinois and Florida, 
Dark Side-inspired crooks wearing Darth Vader helmets are being sought by police 
on assault and robbery charges. Meanwhile, in 
other Sith-related news, federal authorities have shut down online file-sharing 
network Elite Torrents. The network had Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the 
Sith available as a download hours before the film even bowed in U.S. theaters 
on May 19. Officials for the Justice Department and Department of Homeland 
Security said users of the site had downloaded Sith more than 10,000 times in 
its first 24 hours of availability. 

Still, the online leak hasn't hurt Sith's bottom 
line, as the film broke all kinds of box-office records, including a 
Chewbacca-sized $50 million on its first day of release. 

All told, the film has raked in nearly $183 million 
domestically, per BoxOfficeMojo.com, and should hit the $200 million mark on 
Thursday with the lucrative Memorial Day weekend looming. 









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RE: [scifinoir2] Fw: World leaders ignoring deadly flu threat, experts say: World Science

2005-05-30 Thread Keith Johnson
Title: Message





I've 
been following this potential nightmare for the last year. The CDC head 
was in Washington last week testifying on this. The US is finally starting to 
take steps.. It's a scary thought. Most people know nothing about this. I was 
telling my wife and a guy at work about the last one from the 20th century and 
they'd never heard of it. As I painted the bleak picture, they were amazed. 
Maybe the media needs to get involved and make this newsworthy, as so often 
happens, so the public can get up in arms about it the way they did about the 
shortage of flu vaccines last year.

For 
those who don't know about the terrible last worldwide epidemic, 
readbelow. And then, as Delenn said to Sheridan when she told him about 
the Shadows "Be prepared to never sleep well again..."

http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/
The Influenza 
Pandemic of 1918: The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more 
people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere 
between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating 
epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single 
year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. 
Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global 
disaster. In the fall of 1918 the Great War in Europe 
was winding down and peace was on the horizon. The Americans had joined in the 
fight, bringing the Allies closer to victory against the Germans. Deep within 
the trenches these men lived through some of the most brutal conditions of life, 
which it seemed could not be any worse. Then, in pockets across the globe, 
something erupted that seemed as benign as the common cold. The influenza of 
that season, however, was far more than a cold. In the two years that this 
scourge ravaged the earth, a fifth of the world's population was infected. The 
flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. This pattern of morbidity was 
unusual for influenza which is usually a killer of the elderly and young 
children. It infected 28% of all Americans (Tice). An estimated 675,000 
Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the 
world war. Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, half of them fell to the 
influenza virus and not to the enemy (Deseret News). An estimated 43,000 
servicemen mobilized for WWI died of influenza (Crosby). 1918 would go down as 
unforgettable year of suffering and death and yet of 
peace...


-Original Message-From: 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
Amy HarlibSent: Monday, May 30, 2005 17:53To: Mike 
SargentSubject: [scifinoir2] Fw: World leaders ignoring deadly flu 
threat, experts say: World Science
[EMAIL PROTECTED]Eternally 
  interesting to the max!Subject: World leaders ignoring deadly flu 
  threat, experts say: WorldScience* World leaders ignoring 
  deadly flu threat, expertswarn:A bird flu pandemic could kill more 
  than 7 millionpeople and devastate the world economy in the nextfew 
  years, scientists say.http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050526_flufrm.htm







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RE: [scifinoir2] Home from Surgery!

2005-06-01 Thread Keith Johnson
Well, long as I'm in good company!

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 15:36
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Home from Surgery!


KEITH
You are an email addict!!!  so am I  (sheepish grin)

Tracey
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 3:21 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Home from Surgery!


I'm more amazed that you're back online one day after surgery! And I
thought I was bad! Gonna show my wife so she can quit all the subtle
hints about me being an e-mail addict.

Welcome back!

-- Original message --
Hello, folks!

I can't believe that 24 hours ago I was on an operating table having a
herniated disk removed from my neck!

Obviously. I am home.  When I woke up after surgery, the first thing I
did was to move my left arm.  It had been numb and painful for the past
2 weeks. Then I noticed that ALL of the pain in my left shoulder, chest,
and shoulder blade was gone, too!

I slept overnight in the hospital.  For the first time in 2 weeks I was
able to sleep on my back...to sleep at all, in fact!

The doctors came in at 7:00 AM this morning, explained what they did,
and told me I could go home!

I'm wearing a collar as a precaution.  I have a 1-inch horizontal
incision to the right of my Adam's apple that is stitched up.

God bless you for all of your prayers.  I know they work!

I just have to not be dumb and overdo it!  Trust me, I won't!   :o)

Maurice/Reece

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.4.0 - Release Date: 6/1/2005

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.4.0 - Release Date: 6/1/2005




 
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[scifinoir2] It's a good time to catch up on TV shows

2005-06-03 Thread Keith Johnson
Though most people on *this* list know this (and more) I thought I'd
toss out some info on a few series that I've enjoyed.  You may have
missed some, but with rerun season here, now's a good time to check 'em
out  and see what you've been missing.  Remember when rerun season was
fun, as you could finally watch all the shows you missed while watching
other shows? Course that was in the pre-VCR/PVR days... 
 
Lost  
Wednesdays at 8 pm, ABC -- Season  one has  just started its reruns.
Great show that keeps you guessing. Are the passengers in some kind of
giant lab? Another dimension/time? Is the island in someone's
imagination? Are they all dead? Polar bears on a tropical island??  The
plane crash--shown from several different perspectives in the first few
eps--is quite harrowing. Don't watch if you're afraid of flying.
Season two's going to continue the guessing, if the really wild ending
of season one is any indication. Can they possibly keep an audience
confused, guessing, and anxious for another whole season and not cause
them to lose interest? We'll see. I'm willing to give 'em the chance!
 http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html
 
The 4400
Season 2 premieres June 5 at 9 pm, USA  over 4000 people appear on the
shores of a lake one day, deposited there by a giant ball of light. The
group  consists of folks missing from throughout the world, and
throughout time . They include doctors, lawyers, teens, and even a
little girl who went missing  back before WWII. None of them has aged a
day. Many start exhibiting strange powers such as telepathy,
precognition, the ability to bring the dead back to life.  A government
agency monitors the 4400 to see whether they pose a threat to humanity.
Season one started strong, but quickly faded to a plodding show of
investigators stalking people while never really doing anything. We have
time to ponder questions such as why only two major investigators to
track 4400 people? Is it a violation of civil rights to monitor these
people. How long will these obvious super powers continue to be
overlooked by the agency? It almost reminds one of the X-Files--only
without a Muldar to be the voice of fanatic belief. And a one-theme show
like this can degenerate very quickly into a boring collection of
monotonous power of the week episodes if not handled properly. Still,
a good cast, an intriguing premise, and lots of room to work with will
have me coming back for season two.
 http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400/
http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400/
 
Medium
Mondays at 10 pm, NBC  Reruns start June 5. I was skeptical of any
scifi/supernatural show on network TV, but this one caught me by
surprise. Based on the true story of a real life medium who's on record
as helping police with her psychic powers.  Patricia Arquette does a
great job as a lady using her gift--sometimes reluctanctly--to help
others.  Well-written stories, moving stories, sometimes disturbing
stories (murderers and all kinds of freaks abound), but never boring
stories.   Just when you think it'll become a repetitive gimmick of the
week show, they throw you a curve, such as Arquette's character
guessing wrong, or being pressured by her husband and boss to circumvent
the law by using her powers. The show is grounded in Arquette's desire
to have a normal family life, despite the fact  of  the growing
psychic powers of her two oldest daughters!   And this may sound weid,
but I love the fact that she and her husband fight and yell, that their
kids' hair needs combing, that the house looks vaguely like something
from Roseanne. All reminders that, mental powers aside, this is just a
lady trying to live as normal a life as possible.
 http://www.nbc.com/Medium/ http://www.nbc.com/Medium/
 
Justice League Unlimited
Saturdays at 9 pm, Cartoon Netwoork.   Now in its second season.   Skip
this paragraph unless you're a lover of comics and 'toons like me. For
the rest, this show is a blast.  The roster's been expanded from the
original JL cartoon of a couple of years ago. Heroes and villains that
you've always wanted (or maybe never wanted) to see are here, including
Solomon Grundy, Vixen, Atom Smasher, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and many
others. Intelligenty  written, sometimes surprisingly mature  (such as
Green Lantern John Stewart being asked by an alien GL, Do you still
snore?)  Kudos to the latest ongoing theme that the government
distrusts the JL due to their powers and autonomy (to say nothing about
the armed satellite orbiting Earth!) and is willing to go to extreme
means to reign them in.  Like I said, if you love 'toons, watch it.
http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/xmlServices/ScheduleServices?methodN
ame=mainSchedule
http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/xmlServices/ScheduleServices?methodNa
me=mainSchedule 
 
Stargate SG-1 
Fridays at 8 pm, Sci Fi Channel  In reruns, new season premieres July
15.  For years I've pondered the question how does SG-1 stay on TV when

RE: [scifinoir2] Fw: PLEEEEEEASE READ!!!! it was on the news!

2005-06-06 Thread Keith Johnson
Amy,
 
It's one of the oldest hoaxes perpetrated in hopes of getting people to
clog up bandwidth and e-mail boxes by sending it all over the world. You
probably already know this, but there are three general criteria you can
apply to such a message to see if it's probably a fake:

*   Assertions that it was on the news.  In that case, you should
be able to quickly and easily find coverage of it on CNN, Yahoo, MSN,
USA Today, your local TV/newspaper sources, etc.  But nary a peep.
Something of this magnitude, which would effectively mean millions or
billions of dollars given away--simply for clicking Forward!--would be
big, big news. The stock market would take a major hit. The people
who're being paid all this dough would have their faces plastered all
over the place. Everyone and their brother would be sending mail to
everyone from the President to the Pope.  But again, nary a peep.
*   The frantic message to Pass it on! Now! To everyone you know!
Urgent!  Other than something like September 11 or perhaps the arrival
of a malignant and incurable computer virus, there are very few events
that warrant millions of e-mails being sent all over the place
immediately. They're just hoping to start a chain reaction of hoax
messages cascading around the Net.
*   The promise of big bucks for doing basically nothing. Remember
the old adage You can't get something for nothing?  No one gives away
money for free, certainly not Bill Gates, and certainly not for tracking
e-mail. Trust me, between cookies, portals that make you sign up with
your name and e-mail address,  info they could get from their own
resources (such as Hot Mail) or even your  ISP (legally or not),
Microsoft has no need to pay huge sums of money for this.

Keith

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Amy Harlib
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 21:09
To: Mike Sargent
Subject: [scifinoir2] Fw: PLEEASE READ it was on the news!



[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Is this and urban legend hoax thing?



 THIS TOOK TWO PAGES OF THE TUESDAY USA TODAY - IT IS FOR REAL


 Subject: PLEEASE READ it was on the news!


 This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through
with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class
action suit similar to the one filed by PepsiCo against General Electric
not too long ago.



 Dear Friends; Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates
sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, You will repent later.
Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an
effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used
program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.



 When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track
it ( If you are a Microsoft Windows user) For a two weeks time period.



 For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay
you $245.00 For every person that you sent it to that forwards it on,
Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives
it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact
you for your address and then send you a check.



 Regards. Charles S Bailey General Manager Field Operations
 1-800-842-2332 Ext. 1085 or 904-1085 or RNX
 292-1085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]




 I thought this was a scam myself, But two weeks after receiving this
e-mail and forwarding it on. Micros oft contacted me for my address and
withindays, I receive a check for $24,800.00. You need to respond before
the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this, Bill gates is the
man.



 It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many
people as possible. You are bound to get at least $10,000.00. We're not
going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without getting a
little something for our time. My brother's girlfriend got in on this a
few months ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT game. She
showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and was stamped
Paid in full



 Like I said before, I know the law, and this is for real.



 Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them the
largest Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL remains the
most widely used program, Intel and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.



 When you forward this e-mail to friends, Intel can and will track it(
if you are a Microsoft Windows user)for a two week time period.



 Try it; What have you got to lose





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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RE: [scifinoir2] A must-see video I'm sure you will enjoy!

2005-06-09 Thread Keith Johnson
And my wife was stunned the time I yelled K'plah! to a dude dressed
like a Klingon at a restaurant!  Funny! 
How'd you go about submitting this?

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 17:31
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] A must-see video I'm sure you will enjoy!


FYI. I thought that you'd enjoy my video short. Yes, this relates to 
sci-fi. Watch the video and you'll see how:

http://www.maintainyouridentity.net/?
source=f2fcurrent=forwarded.swfcurrent_id=B97C0B81-8164-445B-A812-
2FDA73FE4A53

This site is from the Saab USA auto manufacturer. You can either
click 
on this link or copy and paste it into your web browser. Don't forget 
to vote for my video: click on Rate this movie. Enjoy!

LOL!

George
Captain
The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston)






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[scifinoir2] Early Batman Begins Reviews are great

2005-06-11 Thread Keith Johnson
There are NO spoilers here. Two reviews, both giving Batman Begins an
A. I'm even more pumped now than I was before. Until Narnia gets
her, I have sneaking suspicion this will be my favorite movie of the
year!!
 
'Batman Begins': The franchise finally takes wing on the big screen
By ERIC ROBINETTE
The Middletown Journal
Batman never had super powers, but the dark knight has pulled off a
super feat. 
 
For the second summer in a row, a superhero movie ranks among the best
films of the year. Last year, it was Spider-Man 2, the live action
pinnacle of the genre. Batman Begins is virtually its equal. 
 
Warner Brothers Pictures
'Batman Begins' 
The verdict: The Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until
now. 
 
When Batman first flew into comic racks in 1939, he was all about
vengeance. But that was mostly missing from the Batman movies of the
late '80s to the mid-'90s, replaced by sullen introspection in Tim
Burton's films, then outright camp in Joel Schumacher's. 
 
As a result, the Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until
now. 
 
Co-writer/director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer have
wisely ignored the last four films and started from scratch. Batman
Begins not only brings the hero back with a vengeance, it has vengeance
coursing though almost every scene. 
 
What set Batman apart from most of his caped brethren was that he was as
frightening as many of the criminals he hunted. That piercing
intimidation is largely what makes Batman Begins so memorable. 
 
Nolan is the ideal director for Batman because he and the character
share a knack for creating an unnerving sense of dread. Like Nolan's
Insomnia and Memento, Batman Begins is an engrossing look at a
dangerously fragmented mind. 
 
Years after the murder of his parents, a simmering Bruce Wayne
(Christian Bale) falls in with deadly fighters in the Orient under the
exacting tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson, who between The Phantom
Menace, Gangs of New York and Kingdom of Heaven has cornered the
market on mentor/father figures). 
 
When Wayne returns to the crime-ridden Gotham City, he must battle a
plot by a villain called the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who is the
mirror image of Batman in that fear is also the Scarecrow's weapon. He
develops a mind-altering drug to paralyze his victims with their most
primal terrors, and threatens to spread it throughout the city. 
 
I'm making the movie sound awfully grim, and to be sure, this intense
thriller is absolutely not for children or viewers looking only for
breezy fun. Older kids, and some restless adults, will likely become
antsy when Batman doesn't show up in costume for more than an hour into
the film. 
 
I urge those viewers to be patient. The first half of the film cleverly
sets up a slam-bang payoff with more than a few startling moments. Once
Batman Begins gets going, it becomes impossible to shake. Even the
Batmobile, with its silly monster truck-like wheels, works in this
movie's hyper-real world. 
 
The film boasts the strongest cast of all the Batman movies. Bale, whose
intense style has spawned a cult following, will inspire more than a
cult after his formidable turn. Bale's Batman doesn't just sneer at
criminals - he growls at them. 
 
Michael Caine, in a pitch-perfect performance, plays Alfred not just as
a butler but as a devoted servant determined to uphold the Wayne family
honor, which means he does not always approve of Bruce's methods. Morgan
Freeman is great fun as Batman's gadget master with a twinkle in his
eye, and Murphy is suitably maniacal without being over the top. 
 
If Batman Begins has a chink in its suit, it's that it lacks the
emotional resonance of Spider-Man 2 or the first two Superman movies.
This is not the fault of Katie Holmes, who has a rather limited role as
Bruce Wayne's love interest. However, since Batman is inherently aloof,
warmth is naturally in short supply. I chalk this one up to personal
preference more than any actual faults, of which there are few. 
 
Batman begins, indeed. On the big screen, he finally begins to take
wing. 
 

***
 
Nolan's 'Batman' gets it right
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER 
Palm Beach Post
 
He's been beat up, shot up, set up, camped up, dragged down and bombed
out. 
 
But 66 years, hundreds of comics, a few television shows and five major
motion pictures later, Batman, that angsty crime-fighting cave dweller,
is alive and kicking with great aplomb and KABOOM! 
 
As the fabulously cool Batman Begins opens Wednesday, it might seem odd
that Hollywood's willing to pump more megabucks into chronicling the
saga of Bruce Wayne. Think about it - as popular as the character is in
the comics (where he's appeared continuously since 1939 and continues to
star in at least six serials a month), his last big-screen outing, Joel
Schumacher's hacktastic Batman and Robin, was a big fat Batbomb. 
 
Critics hated it. Batfans (including yours truly) hated it. 

RE: [scifinoir2] Don't forget The Batman and Justice League

2005-06-11 Thread Keith Johnson
Yeah, same here! Where you been hiding?!  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2005 18:12
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Don't forget The Batman and Justice League


KEITH! Long time no type...

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:New eps of both series
are on Cartoon Network (or at least I never saw
The Batman).  Good shows. I originally panned The Batman, but it's
grown on me. Love the atmosphere. Justice League Unlimited continues
to impress, if for no other reason than all the new characters they
introduce. Tonight is Captain Marvel, which ought to be good. And
there's a great running storyline about the US government plotting
against the JL. They fear the League's power, bolstered in part by the
arrival of the evil Justice Lords from another dimension ,and the recent
realization that the JL satellite has a weapon on it.  Amanda Waller and
company have been quite conniving in the things they've done to get an
edge over the League, including recently breaking into the satellite and
stealing an Olympian suit of armor.  Good stuff



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Stay in touch with email, IM, photo sharing  more. Check it out!

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RE: [scifinoir2] DARK ENERGY CHILLS OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD

2005-06-11 Thread Keith Johnson
Most def!  Always been interested  by stuff like  dark energy and dark
matter. I remember in the original Star Trek series, they spoke of the
barrier at the edge our the Milky Way as reading negative energy and
negative density.  (This was in By Any Other Name, when the Kelvins
took over the Enterprise). As a kid I thought that was silly. How in the
world could you have negative energy? Now we hear about dark
matter/energy, energy in supposedly empty space (the premise of the
Quantum torpedoes on Trek and the Zero Point Modules on Stargate
Atlantis) and even anti-time.  Fascinating!

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2005 18:01
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] DARK ENERGY CHILLS OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD


Kewl! Marin, Keith, you catch this?

Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:Hi Amy:

thanks for posting this.  Since I renamed our web site Dark Energy Cafe,
i
had been researching it.

Tracey

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of Amy Harlib
Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2005 1:35 PM
To: Mike Sargent
Subject: [scifinoir2] DARK ENERGY CHILLS OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD



[EMAIL PROTECTED]



 This article appeared in Scientific American, May 2005

 Too Cold for Comfort
 DARK ENERGY CHILLS OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD BY GEORGE MUSSER

 When you first meet dark energy, it
 seems so charming. An alluring
 stranger, outsider to the Standard
 Model of particle physics, it entered astronomers'
 lives a decade ago and won their
 hearts by fixing all kinds of problems, such
 as discrepancies in the age of the universe
 and the cosmic census of matter. Cosmic
 expansion has got its groove back: once
 thought to be winding down, it is actually
 speeding up. But astronomers have come to
 realize that dark energy has a dark side. The
 cold grip of its repulsive gravity is strangling
 the formation of large cosmic structures.

 And now observers see it prowling the
 neighborhood of our own Milky Way. You
 dont need to go so far to find dark energy,
 says Andrea Macci of the University of Zurich.
 Dark energy is also around us.
 Up until recently, those seeking the exotica
 of the universe, dark matter as well
 as dark energy, focused on the very largest
 scales (galaxy clusters and up) and on comparatively
 small ones (a single galaxy). But
 in between is a poorly studied cosmic mesoscale.
 The Milky Way is part of the Local
 Group of galaxies, which in turn is part of
 the Local Volume, about 30 million lightyears
 in radius. We and the rest of our gaggle
 are flocking en masse at 600 kilometers
 per second, lured by the Virgo Cluster of
 galaxies and other outside masses. Tracking
 relative motions within the volume, though,
 is tough; it requires distance and velocity
 measurements of high precision.
 Early efforts by Allan R. Sandage of the
 Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif.,
 and others in the 1970s, confirmed in recent
 years, hinted that stuff is moving abnormally
 slowly on average, somewhere around
 75 kilometers per second. Simulations predict
 that galaxies, pulled together by gravity,
 should buzz around at closer to 500 kilometers
 per second. By analogy with a gas
 of slow-moving molecules, the Local Volume
 is cold.
 Another way to think of the problem is
 in terms of cosmic expansion. Theory predicts
 that you'd have to go out hundreds of
 millions of light-years, where matter is
 spread randomly rather than finely structured,
 before the overall expansion should
 outgun localized motions. Yet in the Local
 Volume, you have to go out only about five
 million light-years.
 One explanation, championed by Igor
 Karachentsev of the Russian Academy of
 Sciences, is that galaxies and their individual
 cocoons of dark matter swim in a sea of
 dark matter. The sea would mute the density
 contrasts and hence the gravitational
 forces that drive galactic motions. The only
 trouble is that matter, whether dark or visible,
 should not spread out into a sea. It
 should clod.
 So others have looked to dark energy. Its
 gravitational repulsion would offset galaxies
 gravitational attraction, thereby deadening
 their motion. In and near the Milky
 Way, attraction wins, but beyond a certain
 distance, repulsion does. As Arthur Chernin
 of Moscow University and his colleagues
 calculated in 2000, this distance is five million
 light-years, exactly where galactic motions
 deviate from standard predictions.
 The initial calculations actually only
 halved the galactic velocities, which is not
 enough. But the new full-up simulations by
 Maccis group indicate that dark energy
 works after all. If and only if you include
 dark energy, there is a very good agreement,
 Macci says. This is why we state that we
 have found the signature of dark energy.
 Not everyone agrees. In 1999 Rien van
 de Weygaert of the 

[scifinoir2] Early Batman Begins Reviews are great

2005-06-11 Thread Keith Johnson
There are NO spoilers here. Two reviews, both giving Batman Begins an
A. I'm even more pumped now than I was before. Until Narnia gets
her, I have sneaking suspicion this will be my favorite movie of the
year!!
 
'Batman Begins': The franchise finally takes wing on the big screen
By ERIC ROBINETTE
The Middletown Journal
Batman never had super powers, but the dark knight has pulled off a
super feat. 
 
For the second summer in a row, a superhero movie ranks among the best
films of the year. Last year, it was Spider-Man 2, the live action
pinnacle of the genre. Batman Begins is virtually its equal. 
 
Warner Brothers Pictures
'Batman Begins' 
The verdict: The Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until
now. 
 
When Batman first flew into comic racks in 1939, he was all about
vengeance. But that was mostly missing from the Batman movies of the
late '80s to the mid-'90s, replaced by sullen introspection in Tim
Burton's films, then outright camp in Joel Schumacher's. 
 
As a result, the Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until
now. 
 
Co-writer/director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer have
wisely ignored the last four films and started from scratch. Batman
Begins not only brings the hero back with a vengeance, it has vengeance
coursing though almost every scene. 
 
What set Batman apart from most of his caped brethren was that he was as
frightening as many of the criminals he hunted. That piercing
intimidation is largely what makes Batman Begins so memorable. 
 
Nolan is the ideal director for Batman because he and the character
share a knack for creating an unnerving sense of dread. Like Nolan's
Insomnia and Memento, Batman Begins is an engrossing look at a
dangerously fragmented mind. 
 
Years after the murder of his parents, a simmering Bruce Wayne
(Christian Bale) falls in with deadly fighters in the Orient under the
exacting tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson, who between The Phantom
Menace, Gangs of New York and Kingdom of Heaven has cornered the
market on mentor/father figures). 
 
When Wayne returns to the crime-ridden Gotham City, he must battle a
plot by a villain called the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who is the
mirror image of Batman in that fear is also the Scarecrow's weapon. He
develops a mind-altering drug to paralyze his victims with their most
primal terrors, and threatens to spread it throughout the city. 
 
I'm making the movie sound awfully grim, and to be sure, this intense
thriller is absolutely not for children or viewers looking only for
breezy fun. Older kids, and some restless adults, will likely become
antsy when Batman doesn't show up in costume for more than an hour into
the film. 
 
I urge those viewers to be patient. The first half of the film cleverly
sets up a slam-bang payoff with more than a few startling moments. Once
Batman Begins gets going, it becomes impossible to shake. Even the
Batmobile, with its silly monster truck-like wheels, works in this
movie's hyper-real world. 
 
The film boasts the strongest cast of all the Batman movies. Bale, whose
intense style has spawned a cult following, will inspire more than a
cult after his formidable turn. Bale's Batman doesn't just sneer at
criminals - he growls at them. 
 
Michael Caine, in a pitch-perfect performance, plays Alfred not just as
a butler but as a devoted servant determined to uphold the Wayne family
honor, which means he does not always approve of Bruce's methods. Morgan
Freeman is great fun as Batman's gadget master with a twinkle in his
eye, and Murphy is suitably maniacal without being over the top. 
 
If Batman Begins has a chink in its suit, it's that it lacks the
emotional resonance of Spider-Man 2 or the first two Superman movies.
This is not the fault of Katie Holmes, who has a rather limited role as
Bruce Wayne's love interest. However, since Batman is inherently aloof,
warmth is naturally in short supply. I chalk this one up to personal
preference more than any actual faults, of which there are few. 
 
Batman begins, indeed. On the big screen, he finally begins to take
wing. 
 

***
 
Nolan's 'Batman' gets it right
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER 
Palm Beach Post
 
He's been beat up, shot up, set up, camped up, dragged down and bombed
out. 
 
But 66 years, hundreds of comics, a few television shows and five major
motion pictures later, Batman, that angsty crime-fighting cave dweller,
is alive and kicking with great aplomb and KABOOM! 
 
As the fabulously cool Batman Begins opens Wednesday, it might seem odd
that Hollywood's willing to pump more megabucks into chronicling the
saga of Bruce Wayne. Think about it - as popular as the character is in
the comics (where he's appeared continuously since 1939 and continues to
star in at least six serials a month), his last big-screen outing, Joel
Schumacher's hacktastic Batman and Robin, was a big fat Batbomb. 
 
Critics hated it. Batfans (including yours truly) hated it. 

[scifinoir2] MacGyver Boss Dies

2005-06-12 Thread Keith Johnson
I remember reading about Elcar's encroaching blindness several years
ago. At the time he blamed himself for not having gotten regular eye
checkups which could have caught the glaucoma in the early stages. As
this article mentions, he was indeed one of those ubiquitous actors that
showed up on a host of TV shows and movies, the consummate character.
You know, with the slow demise of TV movies (at least on the major
networks) and the growth of reality shows, I wonder if opportunities for
character actors like Elcar and the late Sid Haig are vanishing? I just
know that I seem to notice fewer of those ubiquitous appearances by
actors nowadays
 
MacGyver Boss Dies 
By Joal Ryan 
 
When Dana Elcar began to lose his eyesight during the fourth season of
MacGyver, the actor became as resourceful as the TV show's gadget-handy
titular hero, suggesting that his character be allowed to grow blind
with him. Elcar, the familiar prime-time face who enjoyed his longest
run as MacGyver's boss Pete Thornton on the 1986-1992 adventure series,
died Monday in a Ventura, California, hospital of complications from
pneumonia, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 77. 
Taking up Elcar's invitation, producers wrote in vision problems for
Thornton, solving a dilemma for his portrayer. In a speech to the 1991
convention of the National Federation of the Blind, Elcar said that with
glaucoma fast robbing him of sight he told MacGyver executive producer
Steve Downing that something had to be done. 
 
We have to make Pete Thornton have the same qualities, the same visual
abilities that I have, or we're going to run into trouble, Elcar said,
recounting the conversation. I can no longer jump out of helicopters. I
can't run down hill at night at a fast pace over logs. It simply will
not work. 
 
The next day, the actor said, Downing called back. And that was that.
The 1991 season closer, Hind-Sight, saw Elcar's character undergo
surgery for glaucoma. Before becoming a can-do symbol for the
vision-impaired, Elcar simply was a busy actor. Though never a leading
man, his sturdy, compact build made him the perfect authority figure to
a host of exasperating charges in the 1970s and 1980s. He was
Richard Dean Anderson's Phoenix Foundation superior on MacGyver,
Robert Blake's original lieutenant on Baretta and Robert Conrad's
commanding officer on Baa Baa Black Sheep. In network TV's golden age of
the episodic drama, Elcar was ubiquitous. The Internet Movie Database
lists 109 guest-starring credits. The Rockford Files, B.J. and the Bear,
Eight Is Enough, Knight Rider, Hart to Hart, Hardcastle and McCormick,
The A-Team, Trapper John, M.D.--Elcar did them all, and more. Elcar
stood in for the late Edward Platt to play--what else?-- Don Adams' boss
in the 1980 Get Smart movie, The Nude Bomb. Other big-screen credits
included The Sting and 2010. 
 
Born Oct. 10, 1927, in Ferndale, Michigan, Elcar was inspired to go into
acting at age 13 after watching Citizen Kane over and over and over
again at an all-night movie theater, his son, Dane Elcar, told the
Times. Elcar's career would go on to span TV's bargain-basement
beginnings--a 1954 soap opera, A Time to Live, that aired in
15-minute-long installments--to its big-money prime--a 2002 episode of
ER, included. Even an industry veteran like Elcar, though, worried about
what impending blindness would do to his career. You hear a lot of
things about Hollywood, about how hard it is, how cold it is, how mean
it is, he said in his 1991 address. And yet there were people [on
MacGyver] who immediately responded and said, '...We want you on the
program--you are good for the program.'  
 
Richard Dean Anderson did not disagree. At a time when I had very
little business being called an actor, Anderson said of Elcar to the
Times, he made things so easy for me. 

 


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[scifinoir2] FW: Future Giant Laser Threatened by Cuts

2005-06-17 Thread Keith Johnson
 The usage of alternative fuel sources is a special interest of mine,
and I guess I have  a special place for fusion...By all means, let's
hold off on fusion research while we continue slogging along with
pollution-producing hydrochemicals, destroying pristine environments
with oil spills, and finding ourselves at the mercy of Opec and
politically unstable oil-producing nations.  I understand money's tight,
and I know there's a lot of wasted spending. And I definitely understand
we need more funds allocated for healthcare, education, urban renewal
and other worthwhile goals. But as an e-mail I sent y'all last year
stated, I think a critical issue for the whole human race is the need
for more efficient and cleaner sources of energy.  All these dire
predictions of oil running out in the next few decades, global warming,
etc. Whether you give them credence or not the truth remains that we
can't maintain a thriving world by burning crap and poisoning our own
air and water.  Nuclear power never became the salvation we hoped it be,
given all the problems, breakdowns, and potential for terrorists
stealing the radioactive waste. We've dragged our feet for decades,
never pushing viable alternatives like wind, fuel cell, even true solar
power.  All this time and the best we've come up with is hybrid cars
that cost too much, don't get nearly the mileage they should, and are in
my opinion years behind where they should have been in development.  Is
fusion the great hope I anticipated all those years ago when reading
science and science fiction predictions of its promise? I don't know.
But I do know that it has a great potential to move us from an oil and
coal burning society into something better. And we'll never know unless
we give this a serious shot. Typically our leaders wait until the
situation is dire before backing what's seen as far-out or unworkable
technology (hence the long delay in serious hybrid vehicles until gas
prices skyrocketed and fear of treating with oil-rich nations drove
Detroit to get interested).  But this is a time when we need some major
foresight and strength of character to look into something that may
stave off a very bad future for us and our planet. 

Besides, havent' these guys seen Soylent Green?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=1894e=3u=/ap/20050617/ap_on_
sc/super_laser

Future Giant Laser Threatened by Cuts 
By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer 
Thu Jun 16, 9:08 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A giant laser being built to simulate the explosion of a
hydrogen bomb is facing funding cuts in the Senate that supporters say
could kill the project after $2.8 billion has been spent on it. The
device, which would focus 192 lasers at a single point to create a huge
release of energy, is nearing completion at the Lawrence Livermore
nuclear weapons lab in Northern California. But a spending plan for
energy and water projects approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations
Committee would shut off further construction money for the project,
leaving it with just the four laser beams now in place.

Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., complained that
ballooning costs on the project, called the National Ignition Facility,
are a drain on other programs for maintaining the nation's nuclear
arsenal. New Mexico is home to the nation's two other nuclear weapons
labs, Sandia and Los Alamos.

NIF construction must wait until additional resources can be found to
balance the needs between support of the stockpile and the single-minded
desire to build NIF, said Domenici, who chairs both the Energy
Committee and the Appropriations Committee's energy and water
subcommittee. He contended that even with just four beams, the device
remains the world's most powerful laser and is capable of performing
many useful experiments.

The project is now scheduled for completion in 2009. Supporters said
it's as good as dead because without more lasers it cannot reach fusion
ignition - the hoped-for energy release.

The whole point is to achieve ignition. That's why it's called a
National Ignition Facility, said Lawrence Livermore spokesman Bob
Hirschfeld. Achieving fusion ignition would allow nuclear weapons
scientists to study the performance and readiness of the country's aging
nuclear arsenal without actually detonating a nuclear device. President
Bush's 2006 budget proposal requested $141 million for NIF construction.
The House agreed to that figure but the Senate Appropriations Committee
eliminated it entirely Thursday, leaving a few funds for other program
elements.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., said she
hopes to get some of the money restored when House and Senate
negotiators meet later in the year put together the final bill for
sending to Bush.

The NIF is almost there. They've done all the experiments, they're
almost there. It would be a total waste to stop the program now,
Feinstein said.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
Yahoo! Groups 

RE: [scifinoir2] Jeffrey Combs on Sci Fi Channel today

2005-06-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Batman Begins was great. Reviews later today.   Sorry Hammerhead
didn't rise (sink?) to at least the level of enjoyable camp...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Martin Pratt
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 11:02
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Jeffrey Combs on Sci Fi Channel today


Hope you enjoy your Bat-viewing, Keith. As for Hammerhead, I wasted
forty minutes of my life on it, and NBC would sue over the land shark
similarity, if they didn't already own Sci-Fi.

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Sci Fi Channel is
running another creature feature today.  The focus
today seems to be water-based killers. I just caught the end of a
laughable one about a giant killer croc, and now I'm chuckling at Shark
Hunter, with C-movie mainstay Antonio Sabato, Jr. as an Ahab-like
scientist trying to destroy a 70-foot giant shark. (Who does more
forgettable movies like this, Sabato or Lorenzo Lamas?)  But the real
treat for this popcorn movie today has got to be the premiere of
Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, starring non other than Jeffrey Combs of
Reanimator and Star Trek fame.  Combs is back in the role as a
creepy little scientist with a decidedly strange bent. This time he's
playing with sharks. Here's a bit on the movie:

http://www.scifi.com/hammerhead/
When he began fusing shark and human DNA, his colleagues laughed at
him.  Now his creation is taking his revenge, and they aren't laughing
anymore. The plot revolves around a scientist performing illegal stem
cell research to find a cure for cancer. After the transfer of shark
cells into a human test subject, the ill man gets well again, and it
looks like the treatment was a success. But the experiment goes wrong,
and the test subject transforms into a mutant beast. A monster half
shark half human. The attempt to hush up the experiment and keep the
monster in a safe place fails, leading to a series of horrible events.
The original title for the movie was Sharkman.

I'd stay around and watch it for a laugh, but I I'm more into bats
today. Off to the theatre now...


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Excuse me while I whip this out.
Cleavon Little , Blazing Saddles

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RE: [scifinoir2] Jeffrey Combs on Sci Fi Channel today

2005-06-20 Thread Keith Johnson
I guess Hammerhead passes for a Father's Day special? Combs saw the
shark/human creature as his son...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 17:16
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Jeffrey Combs on Sci Fi Channel today


AHA! No wonder, NBC couldn't make a decent sci-fi anything is they
tried...Well, Not since the seventies...Oh yeah...HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO
ALL DADS!

Martin Pratt [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Hope you enjoy your
Bat-viewing, Keith. As for Hammerhead, I wasted forty minutes of my
life on it, and NBC would sue over the land shark similarity, if they
didn't already own Sci-Fi.

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Sci Fi Channel is
running another creature feature today.  The focus
today seems to be water-based killers. I just caught the end of a
laughable one about a giant killer croc, and now I'm chuckling at Shark
Hunter, with C-movie mainstay Antonio Sabato, Jr. as an Ahab-like
scientist trying to destroy a 70-foot giant shark. (Who does more
forgettable movies like this, Sabato or Lorenzo Lamas?)  But the real
treat for this popcorn movie today has got to be the premiere of
Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, starring non other than Jeffrey Combs of
Reanimator and Star Trek fame.  Combs is back in the role as a
creepy little scientist with a decidedly strange bent. This time he's
playing with sharks. Here's a bit on the movie:

http://www.scifi.com/hammerhead/
When he began fusing shark and human DNA, his colleagues laughed at
him.  Now his creation is taking his revenge, and they aren't laughing
anymore. The plot revolves around a scientist performing illegal stem
cell research to find a cure for cancer. After the transfer of shark
cells into a human test subject, the ill man gets well again, and it
looks like the treatment was a success. But the experiment goes wrong,
and the test subject transforms into a mutant beast. A monster half
shark half human. The attempt to hush up the experiment and keep the
monster in a safe place fails, leading to a series of horrible events.
The original title for the movie was Sharkman.

I'd stay around and watch it for a laugh, but I I'm more into bats
today. Off to the theatre now...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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Excuse me while I whip this out.
Cleavon Little , Blazing Saddles

-
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[scifinoir2] 'Batman Begins' leads worldwide box office

2005-06-20 Thread Keith Johnson
'Batman Begins' leads worldwide box office
By Dean Goodman 
 
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Caped Crusader led the charge at the North
American box office as Batman Begins sold an estimated $46.9 million
worth of tickets in its first weekend, reigniting a lucrative superhero
franchise that burned out eight years ago. According to studio estimates
issued on Sunday, the Warner Bros. Pictures release has earned $71.1
million across the United States and Canada since opening on Wednesday.
The figures were within expectations, said Dan Fellman, president of
distribution at the Time Warner Inc. -owned studio.
 
Batman Begins also earned an estimated $41.7 million from 73
international markets, led by Britain with $7.8 million and France with
$3 million, both in three days, while Mexico contributed $4.2 million in
five days.But Batman could not prevent overall North American ticket
sales from posting their 17th consecutive weekend of year-on-year
declines. According to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12
films earned $128.5 million, down almost 2 percent from last year.
 
The highest-profile victim of the box office blues has been Russell
Crowe's boxing drama Cinderella Man, which has grossed just $43.6
million after three weekends. The Universal Pictures release, currently
at No. 8 after a $5.2 million weekend, cost $88 million to make.
Industry observers have blamed its failure on timing. Such prestige
releases usually come out in the fall as awards season gets underway.
 
Batman Begins, which cost $150 million to make, stars Welsh-born actor
Christian Bale (American Psycho) as Gotham City billionaire Bruce
Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. It was directed by Christopher Nolan,
the English filmmaker behind edgy thrillers like Memento and
Insomnia. His dark interpretation of the Batman story thrilled
comic-book fans, and generally pleased critics. The five-day haul was
the best start among the five films in the Batman franchise, Warner
Bros. said. The record of $66 million was held by the third film, 1995's
Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer. The franchise folded in 1997
with the next film, Batman  Robin, starring George Clooney in a
batsuit with nipples. Director Joel Schumacher's campy effort bowed to
$52 million for the first five days.
 
Warner Bros. is also resurrecting fellow DC Comics superhero Superman,
and preparing for the November release of a fourth Harry Potter film.
Last weekend's champion, Mr.  Mrs. Smith, slipped to No. 2 with $27.3
million, taking its 10-day haul to $98 million. The thriller stars
rumored real-life lovers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as married
assassins who must kill each other. Its distributor, 20th Century Fox,
predicted it could pass $160 million.
 
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.'s animal cartoon Madagascar was No. 3
with $11.1 million in its fourth weekend as its total rose to $147.2
million. Fox's Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith was No. 4
with $9.7 million, and a five-weekend tally of $347.8 million.
Paramount's Adam Sandler comedy The Longest Yard rounded out the top
five with $8 million, and a score of $131.9 million after four weekends.
 
The top 10 contained one other new release, the teen romantic comedy
The Perfect Man, starring Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear. The
Universal Pictures release opened at No. 7 with just $5.5 million,
coming in at the lower end of modest expectations. The studio said the
film cost less than $10 million to make. Universal is a unit of NBC
Universal, which is majority-owned by General Electric Co . 20th Century
Fox is a unit of News Corp . Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc
. 



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RE: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies

2005-06-22 Thread Keith Johnson
I ended up watching the whole show. It was good, and I was pretty much
right on with most of the top twenty quotes, including the number one.
As always with the AFI lists (which i follow), I'm always aware of how
few Blacks make the list. I think They call me Mr. Tibbs! was possibly
the only quote spoken by a Black actor in the whole list!  Note that
Gollum's My precious made it.   I disagree with the committee on
choosing Open the pod doors, Hal from 2001.  The most memorable line
from that movie in my opinion is Dave, I'm afraid.  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Brent Wodehouse
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 16:52
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies


http://www.voy.com/178771/51411.html

AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies

1. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn, Gone With the Wind, 1939.
2. I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse, The Godfather,
1972.
3. You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender.
I
could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, On the
Waterfront, 1954.
4. Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore, The Wizard
of
Oz, 1939.
5. Here's looking at you, kid, Casablanca, 1942.
6. Go ahead, make my day, Sudden Impact, 1983.
7. All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up, Sunset Blvd.,
1950.
8. May the Force be with you, Star Wars, 1977.
9. Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night, All About
Eve, 1950.
10. You talking to me? Taxi Driver, 1976.
11. What we've got here is failure to communicate, Cool Hand Luke,
1967.
12. I love the smell of napalm in the morning, Apocalypse Now, 1979.
13. Love means never having to say you're sorry, Love Story, 1970.
14. The stuff that dreams are made of, The Maltese Falcon, 1941.
15. E.T. phone home, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.
16. They call me Mister Tibbs!, In the Heat of the Night, 1967.
17. Rosebud, Citizen Kane, 1941.
18. Made it, Ma! Top of the world!, White Heat, 1949.
19. I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!,
Network, 1976.
20. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,
Casablanca, 1942.
21. A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some
fava
beans and a nice Chianti, The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.
22. Bond. James Bond, Dr. No, 1962.
23. There's no place like home, The Wizard of Oz, 1939.
24. I am big! It's the pictures that got small, Sunset Blvd., 1950.
25. Show me the money!, Jerry Maguire, 1996.
26. Why don't you come up sometime and see me?, She Done Him Wrong,
1933.
27. I'm walking here! I'm walking here!, Midnight Cowboy, 1969.
28. Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By,' Casablanca, 1942.
29. You can't handle the truth!, A Few Good Men, 1992.
30. I want to be alone, Grand Hotel, 1932.
31. After all, tomorrow is another day!, Gone With the Wind, 1939.
32. Round up the usual suspects, Casablanca, 1942.
33. I'll have what she's having, When Harry Met Sally..., 1989.
34. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips
together and blow, To Have and Have Not, 1944.
35. You're gonna need a bigger boat, Jaws, 1975.
36. Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't
have
to show you any stinking badges!, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,
1948.
37. I'll be back, The Terminator, 1984.
38. Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the
earth,
The Pride of the Yankees, 1942.
39. If you build it, he will come, Field of Dreams, 1989.
40. Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know
what you're gonna get, Forrest Gump, 1994.
41. We rob banks, Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.
42. Plastics, The Graduate, 1967.
43. We'll always have Paris, Casablanca, 1942.
44. I see dead people, The Sixth Sense, 1999.
45. Stella! Hey, Stella!, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951.
46. Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars, Now,
Voyager, 1942.
47. Shane. Shane. Come back!, Shane, 1953.
48. Well, nobody's perfect, Some Like It Hot, 1959.
49. It's alive! It's alive!, Frankenstein, 1931.
50. Houston, we have a problem, Apollo 13, 1995.
51. You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well,
do
ya, punk?, Dirty Harry, 1971.
52. You had me at 'hello,' Jerry Maguire, 1996.
53. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my
pajamas, I don't know, Animal Crackers, 1930.
54. There's no crying in baseball!, A League of Their Own, 1992.
55. La-dee-da, la-dee-da, Annie Hall, 1977.
56. A boy's best friend is his mother, Psycho, 1960.
57. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good, Wall Street, 1987.
58. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, The Godfather
Part II, 1974.
59. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again, Gone With the
Wind, 1939.
60. Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!, Sons of
the
Desert, 1933.
61. Say 'hello' to my little friend!, Scarface, 1983.
62. What a 

RE: [scifinoir2] Johansson Quit MI3 Because Cruise Tried To Convert Her

2005-06-22 Thread Keith Johnson
I could care less about Johansson quiting in light of how fearful I am
of Cruise putting more dreck on us. MI2 sucked so bad I've never watched
it again. It was the Tom Cruise show, not the IM Force.  The first movie
at least had some aspects of a team dynamic, though their butchering of
Jim Phelps' legend was inexcusable.
As for the Scientology thing, they must have zapped Cruise with more of
that electricity testing/cleansing regimen they have, as he's been
acting straight crazy recently!

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 01:23
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Johansson Quit MI3 Because Cruise Tried To Convert
Her


Scarlett Johansson pulled out of appearing in the second Mission:
Impossible
sequel after Tom Cruise tried to convert her to scientology, according
to
reports. Cruise, who produces the action adventures, met with Johansson
ahead of casting for the upcoming Mission: Impossible 3 and took her to
one
of the controversial religion's headquarters, claims Radarmagazine.Com.
A
source tells the website, After two hours of proselytizing, Cruise
opened a
door to reveal a second room full of upper-level Scientologists who had
been
waiting to dine with the pair, at which point the cool-headed ingénue
politely excused herself. Officially Johansson quit the film because of
scheduling conflicts after the film was delayed so Cruise could make War
Of
The Worlds.

Tracey deMorsella, Managing Producer
Convergence Media, Inc.
Home of The Multicultural Advantage
Phone: 215-849-0946
E-mail:  tdemorsella @multiculturaladvantage.com
http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.7.9/23 - Release Date: 6/20/2005



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RE: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies

2005-06-23 Thread Keith Johnson
You're right, how careless of me! A whopping two percent belongs to us!!


-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 18:37
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies


Don't forget Cuba Gooding, Jr. -- Jerry McGuire...Show me da money! 
:o) 

Two!  WOW!   

---Original Message--- 

From: Keith Johnson 
Date: 06/22/05 18:18:15 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies 

I ended up watching the whole show. It was good, and I was pretty much 
right on with most of the top twenty quotes, including the number one. 
As always with the AFI lists (which i follow), I'm always aware of how 
few Blacks make the list. I think They call me Mr. Tibbs! was possibly

the only quote spoken by a Black actor in the whole list!  Note that 
Gollum's My precious made it.   I disagree with the committee on 
choosing Open the pod doors, Hal from 2001.  The most memorable line

from that movie in my opinion is Dave, I'm afraid.  

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Brent Wodehouse 
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 16:52 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [scifinoir2] AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies 


http://www.voy.com/178771/51411.html 

AFI list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies 

1. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn, Gone With the Wind, 1939. 
2. I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse, The Godfather, 
1972. 
3. You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender.

I 
could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, On the 
Waterfront, 1954. 
4. Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore, The Wizard 
of 
Oz, 1939. 
5. Here's looking at you, kid, Casablanca, 1942. 
6. Go ahead, make my day, Sudden Impact, 1983. 
7. All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up, Sunset Blvd., 
1950. 
8. May the Force be with you, Star Wars, 1977. 
9. Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night, All About 
Eve, 1950. 
10. You talking to me? Taxi Driver, 1976. 
11. What we've got here is failure to communicate, Cool Hand Luke, 
1967. 
12. I love the smell of napalm in the morning, Apocalypse Now, 1979.

13. Love means never having to say you're sorry, Love Story, 1970. 
14. The stuff that dreams are made of, The Maltese Falcon, 1941. 
15. E.T. phone home, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982. 
16. They call me Mister Tibbs!, In the Heat of the Night, 1967. 
17. Rosebud, Citizen Kane, 1941. 
18. Made it, Ma! Top of the world!, White Heat, 1949. 
19. I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!, 
Network, 1976. 
20. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, 
Casablanca, 1942. 
21. A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some 
fava 
beans and a nice Chianti, The Silence of the Lambs, 1991. 
22. Bond. James Bond, Dr. No, 1962. 
23. There's no place like home, The Wizard of Oz, 1939. 
24. I am big! It's the pictures that got small, Sunset Blvd., 1950. 
25. Show me the money!, Jerry Maguire, 1996. 
26. Why don't you come up sometime and see me?, She Done Him Wrong, 
1933. 
27. I'm walking here! I'm walking here!, Midnight Cowboy, 1969. 
28. Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By,' Casablanca, 1942. 
29. You can't handle the truth!, A Few Good Men, 1992. 
30. I want to be alone, Grand Hotel, 1932. 
31. After all, tomorrow is another day!, Gone With the Wind, 1939. 
32. Round up the usual suspects, Casablanca, 1942. 
33. I'll have what she's having, When Harry Met Sally..., 1989. 
34. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips 
together and blow, To Have and Have Not, 1944. 
35. You're gonna need a bigger boat, Jaws, 1975. 
36. Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't 
have 
to show you any stinking badges!, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 
1948. 
37. I'll be back, The Terminator, 1984. 
38. Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the 
earth, 
The Pride of the Yankees, 1942. 
39. If you build it, he will come, Field of Dreams, 1989. 
40. Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know 
what you're gonna get, Forrest Gump, 1994. 
41. We rob banks, Bonnie and Clyde, 1967. 
42. Plastics, The Graduate, 1967. 
43. We'll always have Paris, Casablanca, 1942. 
44. I see dead people, The Sixth Sense, 1999. 
45. Stella! Hey, Stella!, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951. 
46. Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars, Now, 
Voyager, 1942. 
47. Shane. Shane. Come back!, Shane, 1953. 
48. Well, nobody's perfect, Some Like It Hot, 1959. 
49. It's alive! It's alive!, Frankenstein, 1931. 
50. Houston, we have a problem, Apollo 13, 1995. 
51. You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, 
do 
ya, punk?, Dirty Harry, 1971. 
52. You had me

RE: [scifinoir2] OT: She Hate Me

2005-06-23 Thread Keith Johnson
Great review. Makes me want to rent the movie. The critics in the main
excoriated it..

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 18:12
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: She Hate Me


Check out my review of Spike Lee's controversial eighteenth 
movie, She Hate Me at:

http://www.theworldebon.com/home.htm
__
The Black Prince.  The Black Church.  A State of Mind.
http://www.theworldebon.com




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RE: [scifinoir2] What are Good Fantasy Books for Black Youth to Read

2005-06-23 Thread Keith Johnson
What age range? Do you have issues with magic, sorcery, demons, etc? Do
the books need to have a moral?  Specifically fantasy here, not hard
scifi?

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Amanda
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 19:49
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] What are Good Fantasy Books for Black Youth to
Read


I'm trying to find fantasy books that black youth could read.  They 
don't have to be by or about African Americans, but I would like to 
find those as well.  Also what about African etc?





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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: OT: She Hate Me

2005-06-25 Thread Keith Johnson
I agree with your statement. I've been very cognizant of the mainstream
press's disdain for Spike Lee. I don't let the critics tell me what to
think. In my case the trailers and synopses I read didn't draw me in. I
feared another Girl 6, a movie I hated so much I walked out on it, so
I stayed away. I couldn't find anyone who'd seen it either, so I had no
positive reviews to go on.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 23:56
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: OT: She Hate Me


What annoys me most about the negative reviews She Hate Me received
is the notion Spike made the movie he made because he didn't know any
better, as if he were novice Matty Rich mucking up The Inkwell. 
Spike has made eighteen movies including one that may be one of the
one hundred best movies ever made (Do the Right Thing).  It is true
that Spike also made Girl 6, but even Spike's misses are
well-considered and well-constructed.  Spike is a classicist, a
university educated filmmaker who is well versed in his cinematic
antecedents.  IMHO many of the reviews were dismissive and
condescending, surprisingly so given Spike's porfolio and reputation.

~rave!

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Great review. Makes me want to rent the movie. The critics in the main
 excoriated it..
 
 -Original Message-
 From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On
 Behalf Of Kelly Wright
 Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 18:12
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: She Hate Me
 
 
 Check out my review of Spike Lee's controversial eighteenth 
 movie, She Hate Me at:
 
 http://www.theworldebon.com/home.htm
 __
 The Black Prince.  The Black Church.  A State of Mind.
 http://www.theworldebon.com
 
 
 
 
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[scifinoir2] Justice League Unlimited: WOW!!!!

2005-06-26 Thread Keith Johnson
I know I've said this before, but you have *got* to watch the Justice
League show! I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say I
think the League's about to battle the US government very soon. I saw
trailers from next week's episode showing missiles attacking the League
satellite,  Captain Atom fighting Superman (the former's been forced to
go back into military service) and what looks like ranks of Leaguers
arrayed for battle.   If you haven't been following the show, for
several months now the government and the League have been building
toward this. It all started when the League revealed, trying to stop an
alien threat, revealed that the satellite HQ was capable of firing a
weapon towards Earth. That alarmed officials, as did  events such as the
appearance of the alternate-reality murderous Justice Lords. And of
course there have been those who've mistrusted these god-like heroes
from the get-go. All the suspicion and mistrust has united people from
Luthor to generals to Amanda Waller, and they've been doing all kinds of
dirty things in a search for a way to check or eliminate the League. The
slow buildup has been great, but I think it's all coming to a head. Do
yourself a favor and check it out!!


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RE: [scifinoir2] War of the Worlds-Has Cruise's Meltdown Affected Whether You Will Go See It

2005-06-27 Thread Keith Johnson
I'll still see it. Half the people whose movies I see have issues, so
Cruise is no different. In keeping with his belief system, he's just
being more open about his particular idiosyncracies than some actors who
front all the time. If there's even a chance that Spielberg can pull off
a War of the Worlds that delivers the same impact as the classic George
Pal version--which I watch *every* time it's aired on AE or AMC--then I
have to see it. Besides, Hollywood's been on a good role with stuff like
Kingdom of Heaven, Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins (awesome film!),
and I'd like to keep staying on that train.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 21:27
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] War of the Worlds-Has Cruise's Meltdown Affected
Whether You Will Go See It


Forcing co=stars to endure hours of scientology rhetoric, coercing
studio
execs to visit the scientology headquarters, suing bankrupt wrestling
porno
stars who claim to have compromising wrestling videos, jumping up and
down
on couches proclaiming undying love to a woman he just met, attacking
former
co-star for seeing a therapist and taking prescription drugs to handle
post
partum depression, lecturing interviewers about psychiatry.. the list
goes
on.

I was going to see Cruise in War of the World anyway.  But were you?
Are
you now?  Has his crazy behavior impacted whether you will go see him in
war
of The Worlds.

Tracey deMorsella, Managing Producer
Convergence Media, Inc.
Home of The Multicultural Advantage
Phone: 215-849-0946
E-mail:  tdemorsella @multiculturaladvantage.com
http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.2/29 - Release Date: 6/27/2005



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RE: [scifinoir2] War of the Worlds-Has Cruise's Meltdown Affected Whether You Will Go See It

2005-06-27 Thread Keith Johnson
I agree. So many writers and actors and directors have issues, if you
stayed away just for that you'd never go to the movies.  I don't
patronize any movies by Woody Allen since he basically molested a young,
naive Asian girl who was in all practical purposes being raised as his
daughter.  The heart wants what he wants indeed.  Sorry but he don't
get my little change. Same for Roman Polanksi, who drugged a girl he
claims he thought was an adult.   R. Kelly ain't getting any of my money
either. I'm not a witch hunt kind of guy, but unless there's an
orchestrated fiendish plot against Kelly, I'm leaving him alone.
 
 
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Laileana
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 23:38
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] War of the Worlds-Has Cruise's Meltdown
Affected Whether You Will Go See It




Nope, I try not to let personal lives effect my movie going experience.
I would make an exception for child moltestors

Lois

I was going to see Cruise in War of the World anyway.  But were you?
Are
you now?  Has his crazy behavior impacted whether you will go see him in
war
of The Worlds.

Tracey deMorsella, Managing Producer
Convergence Media, Inc.
Home of The Multicultural Advantage
Phone: 215-849-0946
E-mail:  tdemorsella @multiculturaladvantage.com
http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.2/29 - Release Date: 6/27/2005




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I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of
another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor
wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that
yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a
life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it
is in our lives, and not from our words that our
religion must be judged. Thomas Jefferson






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Yahoo! Sports
Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football

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[scifinoir2] Catch the AE special on Star Wars

2005-06-27 Thread Keith Johnson
There's been surprisingly little Star Wars talk in the group. I guess
few of y'all are fans, and fewer still saw Revenge of the Sith. I
don't consider myself a fan the way I am for Star Trek, but I still
enjoy it. Fan or not, I think you'll like the AE special on the making
of the first film: A New Hope. It's amazing to see how Lucas
singlehandedly pulled this vision together when everyone else--actors,
crew, financial backers--thought he was nuts. At one point Star Wars
almost became a Saturday morning kids' project. A real testament to the
power of persevering with your dreams. Fascinating to watch how ILM
invented the whole FX industry. Funny to watch Hamil, Fisher, and Ford
just laugh and groan through the incredibly stilted and phony sounding
dialogue. And actors working agains blue screens where they don't see
the action that'll be added later is common now, but back then it was
surreal and the actors thought it was hilarious.   Also, a real treat to
see people like William The Greatest American Hero Katt, Kurt Russell,
Cindy Williams, and others reading for the parts of Luke, Han, and Leia.
 
http://www.aetv.com/global/listings/series_showcase.jsp?EGrpType=Series
http://www.aetv.com/global/listings/series_showcase.jsp?EGrpType=Series
Id=11470933NetwCode=AEN Id=11470933NetwCode=AEN
 
It is the most popular space adventure of all time and one of the most
groundbreaking sagas in Hollywood history. This two-hour AE SPECIAL
PRESENTATION: STAR WARS: EMPIRE OF DREAMS details how the phenomenon
captured imaginations with an irresistible Force and catapulted three
young performers to stardom - Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie
Fisher. But the STAR WARS trilogy didn't just change the way we look at
movies. It changed the way movies are made. What began as a galactic
fairy tale became a success story beyond one man's wildest dreams. While
George Lucas has remained true to his own vision, it's audiences
everywhere who have reaped the rewards ever since May 1977 when
moviegoers first caught sight of that galaxy far, far away. For Lucas,
what began as a quest for creative freedom became a philosophy, a
cultural phenomenon and his own empire of dreams. 

The AE SPECIAL PRESENTATION: STAR WARS: EMPIRE OF DREAMS features
riveting movie clips and fascinating screen tests plus interviews with
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie
Fisher and other cast members. 


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[scifinoir2] An alternative to the Bush speech tonight

2005-06-29 Thread Keith Johnson
While I try to follow our leaders at all times, I simply haven't been
able to force myself to watch any news conferences by the idiot in the
White House.  So, while channel surfing to find something good on TV, I
came across a great two hour program on PBS. It's a documentary on the
life of Galileo, done as an historical drama with actors portraying the
scientist and others in his life. Astronomy nut that I am, I couldn't
resist sitting down and watching the whole thing, reliving again the
wonder that Galileo must have felt as his telescope literally revealed a
whole new view of the cosmos. The moons of Jupiter, closer views of
Mars, stars never before seen, the surface of the moon, sunspots.
Amazing.   And then of course comes the Inquisition, when the Church
rebuts his theories of a Sun-centered system where the Earth, rather
than being the center of the universe, moves around the sun. Galileo was
ultimately forced to basically recant his theories or face life in
prison as a heretic. As it was he spent the rest of his life in virtual
house arrest, kept there by a Church afraid of Truth.  So I end up
watching a show about a man whose revelation of the Truth was quenched
by close-minded moralistic unyielding fools who supressed the facts in
order to keep alive a lie, advance their agenda, and keep power
centralized in their own hands? Men who didn't hesitate to condemn and
destroy some of the best and brighest people of their time?
 
Hmmguess I could have watched Bush's speech after all.
 
 
 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/about.html
In this two-hour special, NOVA celebrates the story of the father of
modern science and his struggle to get Church authorities to accept the
truth of his astonishing discoveries. The program is based on Dava
Sobel's bestselling book, Galileo's Daughter, which reveals a new side
to the famously stubborn scientist-that his closest confidante was his
illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun. The actor
Simon Callow plays Galileo in dramatic reenactments of key moments from
his life: his pioneering telescopic observations of the Moon and
planets, his revolutionary experiments with falling objects, and his
fateful trial before the Inquisition for heresy. Born in 1564, Galileo
lived a generation after Nicolas Copernicus published his controversial
theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe around which
the heavens revolved. Galileo supported the idea that the Earth turned
on its axis and that it, along with the planets, revolved around the
sun. The view was considered absurd by most scholars since it
contradicted certain passages in the Bible and challenged the
commonsense experience of the Earth as a solid, unmoving object. But
Galileo found merit in the idea, especially after he aimed a newly
invented instrument called the telescope at the night sky and saw that
the Moon and planets were far from the perfect realms accepted by the
Catholic Church. His discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter and phases in
the appearance of Venus, analogous to the phases of the Moon, supported
the Copernican view. 

The Church insisted that Galileo couch his speculations in hypothetical
terms only. But he stepped over the line in 1632 when he published his
Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, in which a simpleton mouths the
views of the then-reigning pope, Urban VIII. This was too much for the
Pope, and Galileo was hauled before the Inquisition, which had tortured
and burned to death malefactors for far less. Galileo's clash with the
Vatican put Sister Maria Celeste in an awkward position, but she
continued to correspond and meet with her father and even served as his
editor. Though his life was spared, Galileo was put under house arrest,
and the Dialogue was banned. But it was a Pyrrhic victory for the
Church. Galileo's arguments eventually won the war for the Copernican
theory, making it intellectually respectable to believe that the Earth
in fact moves, says Harvard professor Owen Gingerich. 

Previously an obscure branch of philosophy, science was now on the road
to becoming the preeminent method for discovering how the world
works-thanks to Galileo.



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[scifinoir2] An alternative to the Bush speech tonight

2005-06-29 Thread Keith Johnson
While I try to follow our leaders at all times, I simply haven't been
able to force myself to watch any news conferences by the idiot in the
White House.  So, while channel surfing to find something good on TV, I
came across a great two hour program on PBS. It's a documentary on the
life of Galileo, done as an historical drama with actors portraying the
scientist and others in his life. Astronomy nut that I am, I couldn't
resist sitting down and watching the whole thing, reliving again the
wonder that Galileo must have felt as his telescope literally revealed a
whole new view of the cosmos. The moons of Jupiter, closer views of
Mars, stars never before seen, the surface of the moon, sunspots.
Amazing.   And then of course comes the Inquisition, when the Church
rebuts his theories of a Sun-centered system where the Earth, rather
than being the center of the universe, moves around the sun. Galileo was
ultimately forced to basically recant his theories or face life in
prison as a heretic. As it was he spent the rest of his life in virtual
house arrest, kept there by a Church afraid of Truth.  So I end up
watching a show about a man whose revelation of the Truth was quenched
by close-minded moralistic unyielding fools who supressed the facts in
order to keep alive a lie, advance their agenda, and keep power
centralized in their own hands? Men who didn't hesitate to condemn and
destroy some of the best and brighest people of their time?
 
Hmmguess I could have watched Bush's speech after all.
 
 
 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/about.html
In this two-hour special, NOVA celebrates the story of the father of
modern science and his struggle to get Church authorities to accept the
truth of his astonishing discoveries. The program is based on Dava
Sobel's bestselling book, Galileo's Daughter, which reveals a new side
to the famously stubborn scientist-that his closest confidante was his
illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun. The actor
Simon Callow plays Galileo in dramatic reenactments of key moments from
his life: his pioneering telescopic observations of the Moon and
planets, his revolutionary experiments with falling objects, and his
fateful trial before the Inquisition for heresy. Born in 1564, Galileo
lived a generation after Nicolas Copernicus published his controversial
theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe around which
the heavens revolved. Galileo supported the idea that the Earth turned
on its axis and that it, along with the planets, revolved around the
sun. The view was considered absurd by most scholars since it
contradicted certain passages in the Bible and challenged the
commonsense experience of the Earth as a solid, unmoving object. But
Galileo found merit in the idea, especially after he aimed a newly
invented instrument called the telescope at the night sky and saw that
the Moon and planets were far from the perfect realms accepted by the
Catholic Church. His discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter and phases in
the appearance of Venus, analogous to the phases of the Moon, supported
the Copernican view. 

The Church insisted that Galileo couch his speculations in hypothetical
terms only. But he stepped over the line in 1632 when he published his
Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, in which a simpleton mouths the
views of the then-reigning pope, Urban VIII. This was too much for the
Pope, and Galileo was hauled before the Inquisition, which had tortured
and burned to death malefactors for far less. Galileo's clash with the
Vatican put Sister Maria Celeste in an awkward position, but she
continued to correspond and meet with her father and even served as his
editor. Though his life was spared, Galileo was put under house arrest,
and the Dialogue was banned. But it was a Pyrrhic victory for the
Church. Galileo's arguments eventually won the war for the Copernican
theory, making it intellectually respectable to believe that the Earth
in fact moves, says Harvard professor Owen Gingerich. 

Previously an obscure branch of philosophy, science was now on the road
to becoming the preeminent method for discovering how the world
works-thanks to Galileo.



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[scifinoir2] The Batman is getting better

2005-07-11 Thread Keith Johnson
I wrote a scathing review of the new animated series The Batman when
it premiered on Kids' WB last year. Too dark, I said. Too
self-consciously moody, I charged. Too different in portrayals of
criminals like Joker and Penguin, I wrote. I gave up on the show after
two episodes.
 
Recently I've had occasion to watch it again, now that it's been moved
to Cartoon Network, airing just before the awesome Justice League
Unlimited. I must say I'm liking the show a whole lot more.  It is
dark, but I'm coming to see that reflects the Gotham that breeds the
likes of Joker and the other psycho criminals The Batman must fight,
just like in the comics and the movies. I guess it was the particular
palette used for this series (more of a reddish, depressing background),
but I'm getting over that. I also didn't originally like Bruce Wayne,
who, conversely, didn't seem dark enough to my tastes. I'm more used to
the Wayne who spoke in the low, harsh whispery voice whenever he was in
costume, or at home alone with Alfred.  The Wayne who seemed to be the
mask worn over the real persona of Batman. This Wayne seemed a little
more, well--normal and happy to me. Then I took a look at Christian Bale
in Batman Begins, and I realized that both that movie and this series
are dealing with Batman in the early days. When he was still young and
finding his way. When, even though he's of course driven by anger and
bitterness, he's perhaps not yet as jaded as years of crimefighting will
ultimately make him. So give the man a break, he's still young enough to
make jokes with Alfred and actually have fun every now and then. He can
shoot hoops with his buddy just to have fun. He can be forgiven for
getting cocky and cracking jokes that seem out of character.  Like the
movie, I can allow for personality discrepancies between this Bat and
the one I know because he is new to the game. 
 
Finally i have to admit I like the writing in this series. There's a
skill to crafting an action cartoon that isn't just a 30 minute series
of battles and great animation.  It needs to have heart and soul,
believable characters, good writing that gives flesh to the images and
makes them more than caricatures. The Batman does that pretty well. In
addition to the byplay between Wayne and Alfred, it's given us some
other interesting characters such as Detective Yen, the cop who wants to
bring Batman in as a vigilante. Then there's her partner Ethan Bennett,
Bruce's best friend, and Captain Rojas, who's vowed to bring in Batman
and the criminal freaks he fights, all of whom he sees as menaces to
society. These characters help to enrich the stories and give us more
than wham-bam! fights.  All of these various elements came together
quite well in a recent two-part story that detailed the origins of the
villain Clayface.  Without giving too much away, let's say this story
brought in Joker, Rojas, Yen, and Bennet. It dealt with Wayne's guilt
over keeping his identity secret from Ethan, tragic consequences to the
likes of the Joker being loose, and Yen's evolving attitude about the
need for Batman in the increasingly bizarre landscape that Gotham is
becoming. And watching Rojas, who's lumped Batman along with the
super-villains he's vowed to take down, we can't help but realize that
Rojas just doesn't get it. He has no insight to the fact that normal
police can't fight the fight the Bat does. You just know it's only a
matter of time before Rojas is out and Commissioner Gordon--who
understood the need for the vigilante--is in.  
 
Once something I just watched to fill the half hour before JL, I find
myself looking forward to seeing The Batman for its own sake. I can
only hope it continues to get better and builds on the sometimes
excellent stories I've seen. It's still not quite as good to my mind as
the great Batman animated series from the 80s, but as a new telling of
the Dark Knight's origin, it stands well on its own, and together with
the recent movie, does a nice job of taking the legend in a slightly new
direction.  
 


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[scifinoir2] Fez of 'That '70s Show' dons superhero garb

2005-07-16 Thread Keith Johnson
Fez of 'That '70s Show' dons superhero garb 
By Marty GrahamFri Jul 15, 6:34 PM ET 

Actor Wilmer Valderrama, best known as Fez on Fox television's That
'70s Show, says he needed a special swagger to become Hollywood's first
Latino superhero, but he insists it's all in the suit.

The 25-year-old Miami native recently wrapped production on the
independent film El Muerto, based on a graphic novel by Javier
Hernandez, and he appeared in costume this week at the comic book
convention Comic-con to preview a trailer for the movie.

They really wanted to up the hunk factor, so they came up with these
amazing pants, Valderrama said, referring to the costume's
tight-fitting black leather pants. Wearing that suit really changed my
walk.

Valderrama demonstrated a lean, lithe, shadowy movement far from his
portrayal of Fez, the adorably goofy foreign exchange student he has
played on That '70s Show since its debut in 1998.

El Muerto, which co-stars Joel David Moore, Tony Plana and Angie
Cepeda, is a production of the independent Los Angeles film company
Dream Entertainment and is expected in theaters later this year.

Valderrama plays a young man in East Los Angeles who is abducted by
Aztec gods when his car crashes on the way to a festival celebrating the
Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos).

Transformed into El Muerto, the Aztec Zombie, he struggles with the
world between life and death, using his supernatural powers to protect
his loved ones from evil.

Our goal was to make a beautiful drama of this awesome world that
Javier created, Valderrama said. It's the first movie based on a
graphic novel about Latinos set in East L.A.

Valderrama said he also was involved in developing a reality television
show with MTV, tentatively called Yo Mama, inspired by rapper Eminem's
2002 movie 8 Mile.

It's street kids going against each other on 'yo' mama' jokes, he
said. I'm hosting and creating the show.

Other projects include an upcoming film, The Darwin Awards, with
Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder, and Valderrama plans to return to That
'70s Show for an eighth and presumed final season of the show.

He said producers plan to revive the use of dream sequences in the final
episodes and may introduce Fez's parents to reveal the answer to one of
the show's long-standing mysteries -- his character's exact country of
origin.

We are going to leave with a bang, we are going to get in as much
trouble as possible, Valderrama promised.

Fez is a part not far from his own experience. Valderrama was born in
Miami but moved to Venezuela when he was three years old. When his
family returned to the United States when he was 13, he did not speak a
word of English.

As well as his comic role in That '70s Show, Valderrama is a regular
in U.S. gossip columns as a ladies man, with past girlfriends including
Lindsay Lohan and Mandy Moore. 



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RE: [scifinoir2] Halle looks Great in HDTV! (see who doesn't...)

2005-07-21 Thread Keith Johnson
Not to go the obvious route, but lists like this usually irritate me.
One, I've seen Kournikova, and no way her skin looks better than many
Sisters I've seen. Black skin tends to be smoother, younger-looking, and
less wrinkled than just about any other racial group.  Second, one
person who's part  Black  in the top ten, and she's half white. Then
they list Beyonce Knowles, who's on the lighter side too. Okay, there's
Janet Jackson and Brandy, but that's it for the darker ones. What about
Angela Bassett? Gabrielle Union? Serena Williams? From what I've seen,
darker skinned Black people actually tend to have smoother skin than
lighter skinned ones. 
 
It seems to me this is more of a list of white-to-light skin that they
find beautiful, combined with the stars they simply find popular.  I
know this is all in fun, but I just see another example of how the media
hypes a certain look and convinces us that look is beautiful. How else
can *anyone* put blonde Kournikova ahead of women like Zeta-Jones or
Selma Hayek? And the number of darker Sisters---and Latinas--whose skin
would put most of these women to shame is staggering, but barely a knod
to them.  Finally, most of these celebrities are the same ones you see
on other most beautiful and most popular lists. I know from my
wife--who keeps up with fashion and beauty trends--that many celebs you
think have perfect features owe it to a team of makeup experts whose job
it is to make them look flawless. Don't let this list fool you.
 
Okay, so I only got three hours of sleep and my cranky self is blowing
this *way* out of proportion!  :)

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 18:47
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Halle looks Great in HDTV! (see who doesn't...)


6. Halle Berry
Wow! She looks great on regular TV, but her beautiful skin and lips 
make her irresistible in high-def. This Catwoman wouldn't have to 
work hard to bring home the kittens..

http://www.TVPredictions.com

HDTV: Beauty Is Skin-Deep
  There is no escaping the naked lens of High-Definition TV. The 
picture is so clear that aging signs and skin
  imperfections are clearly visible. Below is our Top 10 list of 
which celebrities look better -- and worse -- in high-def.
  If you're a member of the media and would like to interview our 
president, Phillip Swann, about HDTV and/or
  The List, call 703-505-3064 or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Also see: The 10 Scariest People in HDTV!
  

Here is OnHD.TV's top 10 celebrities who look even better in High-
Definition TV.


1. Anna Kournikova
The occasional tennis player looks even more beautiful in high-def. 
Her skin is glistening and luscious. It's easy to see why her matches 
sell out despite her limited talents. It's not love-15; it's love 
Anna.

2. Catherine Zeta-Jones
The star of Chicago and Traffic is absolutely gorgeous and it shows 
in high-def. Pity the aging Michael Douglas when he has to stand 
beside her in the high-def broadcast of an awards show. (See Worse) 
The actress is so beautiful in high-def that even the hyphen between 
Zeta and Jones looks good.

3. Charlize Therzon
Whoever did her makeup for Monster should have received an Oscar. 
This woman is gorgeous and it's hard to believe that she was made to 
look so horrific in the film. At the recent Oscar awards, Theron was 
glowing under the HDTV lights.

4. Sting
Isn't it bad enough that this guy has all that musical talent? In his 
fifties, Sting still looks great in high-def.

5. Scarlett Johansson
The Lost in Translation star has the skin of a porcelain doll and 
looks incredible when seen in high-def. It's easy to see why Bill 
Murray would get lost in her gaze.

6. Halle Berry
Wow! She looks great on regular TV, but her beautiful skin and lips 
make her irresistible in high-def. This Catwoman wouldn't have to 
work hard to bring home the kittens..

7. George Clooney
His animal magnetism is legendary in Hollywood and it comes through 
in HDTV. The Oceans 11 star must be living right.

8. Angelina Jolie
Breathtaking. Like Berry, her skin and lips are just juicy. The only 
negative: The actress has a small mole on her forehead. In high-def, 
it looks like Mt. Everest..

9. Liv Tyler
How can she look so great when her father is headed for Keith 
Richards territory? Beautiful skin.

10. Penelope Cruz
How did Tom Cruise break up with her? Talk about Mission Impossible.

Honorable Mention
Ashley Judd
Maria Sherapova
Jennifer Garner
Beyonce Knowles
Antonio Banderas
Rebecca Romjin-Stamos
Mariah Carey
Meg Ryan
Gwyneth Paltrow
Mandy Moore
Alex Rodriguez
John Travolta
Susan Sarandon
Janet Jackson
Nicole Kidman
Natalie Portman
Lee Lee Sobieski
Lucy Liu
Heidi Klum
Jay Leno
Rob Lowe
Jessica Alba
Salma Hayek
David James Elliott (JAG)
Naomi Watts
Brandy
Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan)
Leah Remini (King of Queens)

And here is OnHD.TV's top 10 celebrities who look worse in

[scifinoir2] Wal-Mart cancels experiment with in-store dating

2005-07-24 Thread Keith Johnson
From the sublime to the ridiculous. This was a scary experiment. I know
Wal-Mart is already starting to dominate the world in terms of retail,
groceries, even automotive care. They're changing the shape of
shopping--for good or ill. They've have all kinds of impacts of people's
lifestyles (I know people who think of trips to Wal-Mart on the same
level as going out to the movies!) But the thought of people making love
connections in the aisles?! How creepy is that? Also, the article
references a dude over 60 but I'm assuming it's setup for folks of all
ages, just as the store's clientele varies in age? How would a young
woman in her 20's stop unwanted advances from an old geezer.  'Scuse me
dearie, but you're certainly looking spiffy tonight! Great set of gams
you got there chicky! How's about me and you stepping out and cutting
the rug? Oh--can you pass me that bottle of Geritol first?

Wal-Mart Nixes 'Singles Shopping' 
ROANOKE, Va. - Wal-Mart has ditched a program that helped single
shoppers find love in the discount store's aisles. Officials at Wal-Mart
headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., ordered their Roanoke store to put an
end to Singles Shopping, the only program of its kind at Wal-Mart's U.S.
stores. Taking a cue from Wal-Marts in Germany, the month-old program
encouraged customers on Friday evenings to pick up a red bow they could
place on their shopping carts as an invitation to other singles. Flirt
points were set up in various sections of the store. A Wal-Mart
spokesman declined to comment on the reason behind the program's
cancellation. But customer Dale Firebaugh, who showed up Friday night
hoping to meet his match, said store employees told him several people
had complained.
I'm disappointed, said Firebaugh, 63. Where can someone over 40 who
doesn't smoke or drink or go to bars meet someone?
___



 
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[scifinoir2] Box office results for this weekend.

2005-07-24 Thread Keith Johnson
I'm a little surprised Charlie is still doing so well, after the mixed
reviews about Depp's creepy Willie Wonka. More surprised that Wedding
Crashers is doing that well.  As for The Island? Can't say I am
surprised. First, you know I'm not a fan of the directing style of
Michael Bay and his ilk. The film's trailers throw out the concept, then
assault you with lots of vehicle crashes, explosions, and people
running. Looked no different from Bad Boys or The Rock or something.
That  did nothing to make me want to see it despite McGregor and
Johannson, actors I really like. I went to see Batman Begins for the
third time, which is becoming, as I expected, my favorite of the
scifi/comic films of this part of the year. Hustle and Flow is on the
agenda for this evening.


Depp still tempting moviegoers with 'Chocolate' 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory conquered
moviegoers' taste buds for a second weekend on Sunday, while the costly
new sci-fi movie from action director Michael Bay flopped. Charlie
sold about $28.3 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning
Friday, taking the 10-day total for the Johnny Depp fantasy to $114.1
million.
Director Tim Burton's $150 million adaptation of the famed Roald Dahl
book about oddball confectionery mogul Willy Wonka is on track to hit
$200 million, said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Time Warner
Inc.-owned Warner Bros., which released the film.

It was followed closely by the comedy Wedding Crashers, starring Owen
Wilson and Vince Vaughn, which held at No. 2 with $26.2 million, and a
10-day haul of $80.9 million. It was released by New Line Cinema, also a
unit of Time Warner.
Twentieth Century Fox's comic-book adaptation Fantastic Four was No. 3
for a second weekend with $12.3 million, and a three-week tally of
$122.6 million.Bay's The Island opened at No. 4 with $12.1 million,
having cost just over $120 million to make. The film stars Ewan McGregor
and Scarlett Johansson as inhabitants of a utopian society with a
terrible secret.Clearly this is a disappointing opening, said Jim
Tharp, head of domestic theatrical distribution at closely held
DreamWorks SKG Inc. We can only hope that the film finds its audience
in the coming weeks.
While the studio knew it had a problem on its hands, it had hoped The
Island would open nearer $15 million, Tharp added.
Bay is best known for such big-ticket action films as Pearl Harbor and
Armageddon, which enjoyed explosive openings even if critics were
appalled. This time, critics and moviegoers were on the same page.

TICKET SALES DOWN

The top 10 list of films at U.S. and Canadian theaters contained four
other new entries, but their arrival was unable to prevent overall
year-on-year sales from resuming their downward trend, following a
two-week winning streak.
The top-12 films grossed $128.1 million, down 7.8 percent from the
year-ago weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. Before
the short-lived uptick in sales, business had fallen for 19 weekends in
a row, the longest slump in more than two decades. Paramount Pictures'
Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton in the role of the
curmudgeonly baseball coach memorably played by Walter Matthau in the
1976 original, opened at No. 5 with a modest $11.5 million.
The acclaimed hip-hop movie Hustle  Flow, starring Terrence Howard as
a Memphis hustler who dreams of becoming a rapper, was No. 7, with an
impressive $8.1 million, having opened on far fewer screens. The
low-budget film was acquired for $9 million at the Sundance Film
Festival in January by Paramount's art house wing, Paramount Classics.
It was followed at No. 8 by Lions Gate Films' horror film The Devil's
Rejects, which opened with $7 million, a figure that matched its
production budget. The film was directed and written by rock musician
Rob Zombie, and represents a follow-up to his debut effort House of
1000 Corpses.The documentary March of the Penguins jumped two places
to No. 10 with $4.3 million after expanding its theater count in its
fifth weekend of release. It was distributed by Warner Independent
Pictures, also a unit of Time Warner, and has earned $9.3 million to
date.

Fox is a unit of News Corp. Additionally, Fantastic Four was produced
in association with Marvel Enterprises Inc.. Paramount is a unit of
Viacom Inc. Lions Gate Films is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.



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RE: [scifinoir2] Bay's 'Island' no paradise this time

2005-07-26 Thread Keith Johnson
Are we surprised? Like I said Sunday:  As for The Island? Can't say I
am surprised. First, you know I'm not a fan of the directing style of
Michael Bay and his ilk. The film's trailers throw out the concept, then
assault you with lots of vehicle crashes, explosions, and people
running. Looked no different from Bad Boys or The Rock or something.
That did nothing to make me want to see it despite McGregor and
Johannson, actors I really like.
 
Most of the dreck that Bay and his kind put out which makes money has
stars like Will Smith, Bruce Willis, or Ben Affleck. I like McGregor and
Johannson, but they're not going to draw as many mainstream people.
Without that, the movie needs to be good and clever, or at least trully
entertaining. Over-the-top as I think it is, no surprise...
 
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Said Kakese Dibinga
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 12:37
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; Tope Oluwole;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [scifinoir2] Bay's 'Island' no paradise this time



BOX OFFICEBay's 'Island' no paradise this timeThe action director tries
to figure out how the opening of his latest megabudget blockbuster
became a debacle.By Chris Lee
Special to The Times

July 26, 2005

Anticipating that the heat would be on in Hollywood this weekend, The
Island director Michael Bay slipped away - to sweltering Arizona.

I didn't hear the numbers all weekend, he said. I relaxed, called my
agent Sunday and said, 'Give me the bad news.' 

When he did, this much was clear: It's a debacle. It's my worst opening
weekend ever, Bay said.

This summer, box office doldrums have claimed any number of victims:
Rebound, The Honeymooners, The Lords of Dogtown and, on a
bigger-budget scale, Cinderella Man and Kingdom of Heaven. But last
weekend, moviegoers crowned the biggest big-budget dud yet: Bay's
Island.

According to Paul Degarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co.,
its opening comes as a major disappointment for DreamWorks, the studio
that released the film.

There's a lot riding on a tent pole movie like that, he said.
Everyone expected this movie to come in at No. 1 or 2.

Bay said The Island suffered from low awareness among potential
moviegoers. In a phone interview, he said he felt the movie, which stars
Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannson as clones who go on the run after
discovering they have been raised for harvested body parts, had fallen
victim to a number of factors.

It could be the subject matter, the lack of stars, he said. I'm not
blaming the whole thing on the marketers.

A spokesman for DreamWorks said the studio mounted the biggest print,
online and broadcast marketing campaign in its history for The Island,
an effort that included five theatrical movie trailers, a word-of-mouth
screening campaign, three websites and numerous Internet ads.

In the weeks leading up to The Island's opening, though, marketing
executives at other studios said they thought the campaign was confusing
and unfocused. Bay himself, in an earlier interview with The Times,
worried about the marketing campaign and complained that The Island's
poster made Johansson look like a porn star.

In its first three days of release, the $124-million sci-fi epic took in
just $12.4 million, opening in fourth place behind the previous
weekend's top draws, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wedding
Crashers and Fantastic Four.

That means The Island grossed just 10% of its production budget,
placing it ahead of Cinderella Man and Kingdom of Heaven as the most
expensive dud of the summer so far.

Its lackluster performance is another indication of a continuing
moviegoing slump in which overall admissions are down about 10% for the
year.

The director's previous five films opened at No. 1 and have combined to
gross $1.7 billion worldwide, according to boxofficemojo.com. He said he
felt reassured by the knowledge that other successful directors had also
experienced commercial missteps.

Everyone from Spielberg to Zemeckis to Kubrick - they've all had big
flops, he said. I was five for five. You know it's going to happen.

It hurts, Bay added. It's always the director's fault. 
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
latimes.com/archives.




If you could make a difference, what would you do?...Said Kakese
Dibinga









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[scifinoir2] Don't forget Firefly tonight

2005-07-29 Thread Keith Johnson
The two-hour premiere airs from 6 - 8 pm EST on Sci Fi Channel tonight.
See it and see what all the fuss was about. I started out really
disliking the show, and three episodes in was a believer, and when it
was cancelled, was disappointed.
 
 


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[scifinoir2] Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder Woman'

2005-08-01 Thread Keith Johnson
Speaking for myself, I don't see either Holmes or Barton as the Wonder
Woman I'd like to see. I've always liked having my heroes be a little
older, more mature. I like Whedon a lot, but his leaning toward these
women concerns me. Last thing I want is him bringing a Buffy-type
sensibility to Diana's story.  I'd love to see a Charisma Carpenter
type--both in age and body type. Or how about going with Firefly
beauty Morena Baccarin? It'd be nice to see someone who's not simply
Caucasian play the Themysciran princess.

Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder Woman'
 Hollywood beauties Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sandra Bullock have been
dismissed as too old to play superheroine Wonder Woman in a new movie
version of the TV series - by the show's original star. Lynda Carter,
who starred in the original 1970s show, would prefer to see Buffy The
Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon cast a young actress in the lead role
rather than any established stars who have been linked with the part.
She says, It should be an unknown actress who's about 20. The OC's
Mischa Barton and Tom Cruise's fiancee Katie Holmes are said to be
amongst Whedon's prime candidates for his 2007 release. 


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[scifinoir2] Harry Potter Triggers Debate on the Asian Image in Media

2005-08-01 Thread Keith Johnson
Interesting sometimes to see what other people of color feel about
Hollywood and the media in general.  Though not opposed to interracial
relationships in the main, I do have an issue with how Hollywood tends
to put white dudes with women of color (and rarely the other way).  Of
course Asian women have been in with white dudes for years now, so I'm
not surprised, but I guess I was suprised it would irritate so many
Asians.  I also think we're going to continue having this
discussion--especially as it often takes the form of white dudes putting
themselves with women of color while relegating the men to criminals or
whatnot--as long as certain groups continue to make the movies and put
forth the stories.
 
Harry Potter Triggers Debate on the Asian Image in Media

Philippine News
http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=ae7b2bf
4b645a3766b265db2086aa302 , News Report, Erin Pangilinan, Jul 31, 2005

With the international release of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6), Asian fans and readers of the book
are looking critically at how Asian Americans fit into the Hogwarts
world by examining Asian roles in previous Harry Potter books.

Harry's romantic relationship with an Asian female named Cho Chang ended
in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5). The
upcoming release of the film this year, Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire, debuts Scottish-Asian actress Katie Leung, playing the role of
Cho Chang.

Asian Americans are paying attention.

Jealous online teens write their thoughts in forums and ever-popular
blogs, as well as popular Asian American watchdog websites like Angry
Asian Man. Some Asian teens complain that Leung is ugly, while
non-Asian fans are jealous that Harry Potter is kissing an Asian (this
is what happens in Harry Potter #5.)

Chang rarely speaks throughout the entire book series (until she is in a
relationship with Harry Potter). She is always described as pretty and
popular. One may ask: Is Rowling attempting to be politically correct by
choosing an Asian as Harry's love interest?

Some Asian Americans are outraged by the stereotypical use of the -Ch at
the beginning of the character's names. Wikipedia says the last name Cho
has no meaning in Chinese, and is closely related to Chou, which has
negative definitions (i.e. stink, slap, worry, thick and
ugly). Cho Chang also means elephant in Thai.

UC Berkeley Chinese American student Zechariah Feng says, Everyone
seems to be looking too much into it. It's not exactly possible to tell
what Cho Chang means because we don't have the stresses (accents) to
help us determine what words they are, and of course in the traditional
Chinese sense a name always has some kind of meaning as technically so
do names in English.

Rumors have Korean Japanese-pop singer BoA and Filipino singer Heart
Evangelista playing the role in the film. Online petitions have been
circulated to support BoA as Cho Chang, with similar online discussions
for Heart Evangelista. Initially, this sparked interest in the political
and cultural identity of Asian Americans as they are depicted in various
ways, as Pacific Islanders, East Asians, South Asians, Orientals,
Chinese, Filipino, etc.

UC Davis Filipino American student Anthony Tadina does not find this
surprising. He says, Rowling based Cho Chang on what she views Asian
girls are -- light skinned, skinny, smart ... the stereotype. 

Closer to home, it is not surprising to find actors/actresses with
Filipino in their bios playing roles different from their true
ethnicity. Aside from the notable films like The Debut, Lumpia, The
Flipside, Lolo's Child, Disoriented and other attempts to bring the
Filipino American to mainstream cinema, many Fil-Am actors/actresses are
cast in token roles in films as, maybe, an East Asian nurse, a Hawaiian
cook, or a Chinese martial artist.

The same frustration has been expressed by some Asian Americans who have
criticized Asian representation in films, ranging from old favorites
like The Flower Drum Song to the recent druggie comedy Harold and
Kumar Go to White Castle. 

What about the modern depictions of William Hung as the buck-toothed,
tone-deaf singer; Lucy Liu as the swashbuckling dragon lady and the
exaggerated image of Mulan as a warrior woman? Isn't the Asian American
much more than these images?

Which brings us back to Harry Potter and Cho Chang. What message is
Rowling trying to send by choosing an Asian girl to be Harry's love
interest?




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RE: [scifinoir2] Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder Woman'

2005-08-02 Thread Keith Johnson
None! She only has eyes for me!  :)

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 23:33
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder
Woman'


Based on your Brazil message and this one I can see that Morena Baccarin
has join Charisma Carpenter and Kenya Moore on your list of Hot women.
My husband agrees with you.  I'm curious, which hollywood men are Phylis
drawn to?

Tracey

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of Keith Johnson
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 10:13 PM
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder
Woman'


Speaking for myself, I don't see either Holmes or Barton as the Wonder
Woman I'd like to see. I've always liked having my heroes be a little
older, more mature. I like Whedon a lot, but his leaning toward these
women concerns me. Last thing I want is him bringing a Buffy-type
sensibility to Diana's story.  I'd love to see a Charisma Carpenter
type--both in age and body type. Or how about going with Firefly
beauty Morena Baccarin? It'd be nice to see someone who's not simply
Caucasian play the Themysciran princess.

Zeta-Jones and Bullock 'Too Old' for 'Wonder Woman'
 Hollywood beauties Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sandra Bullock have been
dismissed as too old to play superheroine Wonder Woman in a new movie
version of the TV series - by the show's original star. Lynda Carter,
who starred in the original 1970s show, would prefer to see Buffy The
Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon cast a young actress in the lead role
rather than any established stars who have been linked with the part.
She says, It should be an unknown actress who's about 20. The OC's
Mischa Barton and Tom Cruise's fiancee Katie Holmes are said to be
amongst Whedon's prime candidates for his 2007 release.


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[scifinoir2] What will the future hold?

2005-08-04 Thread Keith Johnson
 From a recent conversation. Which scenario seems most likely to you may
reflect your current feelings about society, humanity, and the country
in which you live:

What will the world be like one hundred years from now? Hmmm...let's
consult the ol' crystal ball... 

Scenario one: Utopia. Leaving behind the destructive depencies on fossil
fuels and mechanisms, we have returned to Eden. We are one with the
Earth, using holistic medicine, eating organic food (much of which is
produced from giant kelp farms on the ocean).  Solar and wind power
provide most of our energy, along with safe, clean fusion. Travel across
the world is possible via underground supersonic tubes; cars when used
are electric, and use vast intelligent networks to drive you to your
destination and avoid accidents. Cities are built with a mind to blend
with the environment, rather than disrupt it. The rainforests, coral
reefs, plankton, and the ozone layer are all on the rebound.  Racism and
religious intolerance have been replaced with an embrace of diversity.
Worldwide cooperation in the life sciences has cured most disease and
yielded phenomenal methods to heal injuries.  The average human lives to
be 110 years old. Luna and Mars have been colonized and are yielding
valuable materials which can only be produced in low-G environments.
Humanity is exploring the rest of the Solar System in ships which ride
the solar winds.
Wal-Mart is no more. American Idol has been outlawed. 
Examples: Can't think of a single bloody movie or book at the moment--at
least, not one that doesn't end with Satan crawling back into Paradise
and ruining things
Likelihood:  Not sure how likely this future is. I'll ask the Easter
Bunny and Santa what they think next time I see them...

Scenario two: Status quo.  The world goes on much the way it always has.
Some good times, some bad.  Good leaders, crooked leaders. Rogue states,
and cooperative alliances.  Lots of wars still being fought, just no
world wars, no nuclear exchanges. Terrorism still a problem but the
dreaded nuking of a city by fanatics never took place. (Okay, maybe
one). Some people prosper, some starve. Some countries are rich, others
are still poor. Technological improvements abound in terms of DNA
research, AI, curing disease, etc. For many the world's a better place,
but it's not Utopia. We go to work, to school, to the movies--which are
now holographic--the same as previous decades.  Kids learn more thanks
to neural hookups that tie their brains directly into their computer
ports, and phone calls are made and answered with circuitry implanted in
the bones of the skull.  None of it is any more out of the ordinary than
iPods or PDAs are now. In short, it's more of the same, with humanity
crawling slowly forward, with times of regression.  It'll be a world
much like ours, just with cooler stuff.
Examples: Minority Report (minus the telepathy angle), Star Trek,
Century City
Likelihood: Highly probable. If we don't kill ourselves I think humanity
will just muddle along... 

Scenario three: Big Brother as God.  Technologically and materially
we'll be much like Scenario two above. But socially, politically--ah,
there's the rub! A world in which religious and philosphical views
dictate our personal lives even more than now. Separation of Church and
State is gone, replaced by virtual theocracies in which state views on
religion and morality shape everything you do. Need a job? Worship the
right god (or in some countries, none at all). Call yourself a
Christian? Better be the right kind if you want to avoid harassment.
Better watch the right TV shows, read the right books, surf the right
Web sites, as the Patriot Act will have expanded to give the government
the right to monitor anything you do, anytime they feel like it. School
prayer is mandatory, Bible studies enforced as part of the curriculum,
evolution not only not taught, but a criminal offense to discuss.
Newspapers run by the state, reporters little more than hand-picked
stooges to filter what info the public receives. In America the
two-party system has died off, as only the Constitutional Conservative
Christian Party is allowed to field candidates. Behaviour is closely
monitored, from the type (and gender) of partner you pick, to the number
of kids you can have, how they're raised, and where they go to school.
The draft is back, needed to back aggressive policies that often lead to
conflict with other countries who don't yet see the Light.  Europe in a
type of tailspin since the US has broken most ties with it and put
unacceptable conditions on the alliances it makes.  The loss of US power
and support, coupled with the rise of China, threatens the stability of
the EU.  Other countries, both upset and galvanized by the increasing
factionilism and theocratic leaning of the West, see it as an excuse to
become even more totalitarian than before. Some become increasingly
fanatic about their own religious beliefs, others become more agnostic.
Life 

RE: [scifinoir2] What will the future hold?

2005-08-05 Thread Keith Johnson
...someone's idea of Utopia will be someone else's idea of Hell...
Great point, which makes the idea of a human race reaching harmony in
the next century unlikely. Sometimes I still wonder if the only way
we'll quickly pull together as a race is due to a threat that almost
kills us all. Either a near-apocalyptic war which finally makes us get
it, or perhaps an alien invasion scenario that makes us unite. But even
then, I doubt it. One, humans, alone among God's creations, can lie to
ourselves. Someone would always blame someone else for a nuclear
holocaust, and it's possible centuries after healing we'd be at it
again, forgetting or denying the realities of what came before.  After
all, didn't they call WWI The War to end all wars.  Yeah, right. 
 
 Two, from the scifi angle,  I've always been a little uncomfortable
with using aliens to unite us. It seems to me that is simply replacing
certain existing prejudices--racial, gender, class, religious--with
another, that against aliens. I remember how in the original Star Trek,
Kirk always bragged of how racism was completely eliminated on Earth.
Yet I noted plenty of dislike, even prejudice, against aliens, be it
human discomfort with Vulcan Logic, or Kirk's innate repulsion to the
reptilian Gorn.  The one thing Enterprise did right was show how, even
though human internal bigotry was all but gone, there was still plenty
left over for aliens. Transferring hatred is not the solution.
 
Catastrophic events *can* make us mature as a race, but the downside may
not be worth it. Also, as we gain more technology, those events can be
worse. The Civil War united many Americans into a stronger Union, but it
cost thousands of lives, and Blacks still got screwed. World Wars I and
II ultimately created some new, strong alliances, but they also created
opposing alliances, killed millions, WWI helped spread a worldwide flu
pandemic that killed tens of millions, the impoverished in many
countries were even worse off, and some totalitarian governments used
the chaos following the wars to establish themselves.   The next
catastrophic event to make us grow could be devastating due to the power
of nuclear or biological weapons likely to be used. Not sure we can
afford that.
 
Can Man only grow through this type of suffering? Sometimes I think
Scenario Two is the best we can hope for: muddling along slowly, slowly,
crawling toward maturity and enlightenment, praying like hell we don't
destroy ourselves before we can reach it. 

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 00:33
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] What will the future hold?


I think storieswe see usually end or start the way they do
because...well, it seems the human tendency is to try to bring order to
a universe that tends toward disorder rather than to harmonize with
it...Why try to force it into your idea of perfection intead of
embracing and working with its uniqueness? Also, all of humanity
resists, though unsuccessfully, change. Even the most open-minded of us
tend to resist change in some form or another...But for story writers,
that's ok...It is conflict that makes the stories interesting. Any one
of the scenarios are great to me although Utopia seems the most
unrealistic to me...No matter how perfect a world, someone's idea of
Utopia will be someone else's idea of Hell, i.e. 'Logan's Run' and 'A
Brave New World'...However, I'd love to see a universe where reality
shows are outlawed under penalty of death! LOL

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:From a recent
conversation. Which scenario seems most likely to you may
reflect your current feelings about society, humanity, and the country
in which you live:

What will the world be like one hundred years from now? Hmmm...let's
consult the ol' crystal ball... 

Scenario one: Utopia. Leaving behind the destructive depencies on fossil
fuels and mechanisms, we have returned to Eden. We are one with the
Earth, using holistic medicine, eating organic food (much of which is
produced from giant kelp farms on the ocean).  Solar and wind power
provide most of our energy, along with safe, clean fusion. Travel across
the world is possible via underground supersonic tubes; cars when used
are electric, and use vast intelligent networks to drive you to your
destination and avoid accidents. Cities are built with a mind to blend
with the environment, rather than disrupt it. The rainforests, coral
reefs, plankton, and the ozone layer are all on the rebound.  Racism and
religious intolerance have been replaced with an embrace of diversity.
Worldwide cooperation in the life sciences has cured most disease and
yielded phenomenal methods to heal injuries.  The average human lives to
be 110 years old. Luna and Mars have been colonized and are yielding
valuable materials which can only be produced in low-G environments.
Humanity is exploring the rest of the Solar

RE: [scifinoir2] What will the future hold?

2005-08-05 Thread Keith Johnson
I sure did, thanks! I meant to send a reply but probably forgot it.  My
wife is doing better, though it's still hard as hell of course. It has
helped us in some ways: i've finally got her jotting down her thoughts
in a journal, and I've been writing more consistenly. How you doin'?

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 00:35
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] What will the future hold?


BTW, Keith, did you get my email?? I meant it to sooth some of the rough
times you endured recently...I hope all is well with you now...

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:From a recent
conversation. Which scenario seems most likely to you may
reflect your current feelings about society, humanity, and the country
in which you live:

What will the world be like one hundred years from now? Hmmm...let's
consult the ol' crystal ball... 

Scenario one: Utopia. Leaving behind the destructive depencies on fossil
fuels and mechanisms, we have returned to Eden. We are one with the
Earth, using holistic medicine, eating organic food (much of which is
produced from giant kelp farms on the ocean).  Solar and wind power
provide most of our energy, along with safe, clean fusion. Travel across
the world is possible via underground supersonic tubes; cars when used
are electric, and use vast intelligent networks to drive you to your
destination and avoid accidents. Cities are built with a mind to blend
with the environment, rather than disrupt it. The rainforests, coral
reefs, plankton, and the ozone layer are all on the rebound.  Racism and
religious intolerance have been replaced with an embrace of diversity.
Worldwide cooperation in the life sciences has cured most disease and
yielded phenomenal methods to heal injuries.  The average human lives to
be 110 years old. Luna and Mars have been colonized and are yielding
valuable materials which can only be produced in low-G environments.
Humanity is exploring the rest of the Solar System in ships which ride
the solar winds.
Wal-Mart is no more. American Idol has been outlawed. 
Examples: Can't think of a single bloody movie or book at the moment--at
least, not one that doesn't end with Satan crawling back into Paradise
and ruining things
Likelihood:  Not sure how likely this future is. I'll ask the Easter
Bunny and Santa what they think next time I see them...

Scenario two: Status quo.  The world goes on much the way it always has.
Some good times, some bad.  Good leaders, crooked leaders. Rogue states,
and cooperative alliances.  Lots of wars still being fought, just no
world wars, no nuclear exchanges. Terrorism still a problem but the
dreaded nuking of a city by fanatics never took place. (Okay, maybe
one). Some people prosper, some starve. Some countries are rich, others
are still poor. Technological improvements abound in terms of DNA
research, AI, curing disease, etc. For many the world's a better place,
but it's not Utopia. We go to work, to school, to the movies--which are
now holographic--the same as previous decades.  Kids learn more thanks
to neural hookups that tie their brains directly into their computer
ports, and phone calls are made and answered with circuitry implanted in
the bones of the skull.  None of it is any more out of the ordinary than
iPods or PDAs are now. In short, it's more of the same, with humanity
crawling slowly forward, with times of regression.  It'll be a world
much like ours, just with cooler stuff.
Examples: Minority Report (minus the telepathy angle), Star Trek,
Century City
Likelihood: Highly probable. If we don't kill ourselves I think humanity
will just muddle along... 

Scenario three: Big Brother as God.  Technologically and materially
we'll be much like Scenario two above. But socially, politically--ah,
there's the rub! A world in which religious and philosphical views
dictate our personal lives even more than now. Separation of Church and
State is gone, replaced by virtual theocracies in which state views on
religion and morality shape everything you do. Need a job? Worship the
right god (or in some countries, none at all). Call yourself a
Christian? Better be the right kind if you want to avoid harassment.
Better watch the right TV shows, read the right books, surf the right
Web sites, as the Patriot Act will have expanded to give the government
the right to monitor anything you do, anytime they feel like it. School
prayer is mandatory, Bible studies enforced as part of the curriculum,
evolution not only not taught, but a criminal offense to discuss.
Newspapers run by the state, reporters little more than hand-picked
stooges to filter what info the public receives. In America the
two-party system has died off, as only the Constitutional Conservative
Christian Party is allowed to field candidates. Behaviour is closely
monitored, from the type (and gender) of partner you pick, to the number
of kids you can have, how

RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people?

2005-08-05 Thread Keith Johnson
Like many of y'all have said--better than me, I might add--it ultimately
boils down to us controlling our own. Between whites that are
prejudiced, whites that aren't prejudiced but let market factors shaped
by *other* whites influence their decisions, and whites that simply
don't get it, we're always fighting an uphill battle. Why are so many
Blacks in scifi often used as aliens that are either weird looking, or
noble savages? I've complained more than once that Stargate SG-1 and
Atlantis each use the noble savage in Teal'c and Teyla. Did you know
that Rodney's character (the nerdy, grouchy, scary genius on Atlantis)
was originally written for a Black man? The producers claim they
couldn't find a Brother to really fit the role, so they brought in
Rodney! Even then, what was odd was that the man they wanted was
described as an elderly Black man. I have *nothing* against older
actors. Indeed, I celebrate their usage, which is too infrequent. But
it's strange that so often white geniuses (Daniel Jackson, Samatha
Carter) are often depicted as young, vibrant, and attractive, but Black
ones--when depicted--are often older, nerdier, unattractive. Strange.
We could go on asking questions such as why someone like Will Smith
still can't make a movie where he has a Black love interest, but again,
it's back to us doing our own...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of DJ VIBE
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 09:16
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people?


--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 i posted about this during Season one of Galactica and did a count 
of Blacks. I counted about three or four, incuding the comm officer 
and some nameless pilots (I assume) used in the background. I then 
found a lot of Blacks existed afterall: on the prison barge!  When 
Apollo was sent over there to quell the riots, the place was lousy 
with Big Black Man, most of them dark-skinned as hell and bald...




See, you guys have me ROFLMBAO!  I'm gonna double-check for that when 
I get the Season 1 DVD in September, but you're probably right and 
IIRC, Saggiterion, where Zarek and his followers are from, is 
considered the ghetto of the colonies.  Go figure.





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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people?

2005-08-05 Thread Keith Johnson
Oh yeah, I'm aware of it. I follow the videogame industry quite closely.
I've even posted some articles on it here, such as the new phenomenon
where actors, musicians, and atheletes now count starring in games as
being as important as getting good endorsement deals. The issue of race
is a huge one in gaming, and, as this article says, worse than that of
gender. It's a male-dominated industry, true. But at least in
RPGs--notably the Japanese ones--you get women used as heroines. Often
part of a team, many times as the stars. Blacks are rarely seen in
traditional RPGs: funny that you can have elves, giants, orcs, fairies,
dudes with purple hair, etc., but no Brothers. And when Blacks are
featured in such games, they're invariably shown as huge and hulking.
Look at many fighting games, a genre which does feature Blacks. From the
classic Street Fighter, to Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan), to
Soul Calibur, the Asian and white characters usually have skills such as
speed, dexterity, flexiblity, agility, and are masters of a number of
impressive martial arts. Black fighters are almost always rated high on
size, strength, and cruder, more brutal fighting, such as boxing. A
classic example is the Mike Tyson-like character in Street Fighter 2 who
fought in a Vegas scene which was filled with Black pimps and
prostitutes. The other characters had speed, superhuman skills and
powers, he was just a big brawler. For years, the Big Black Guy has
been a staple in gaming. We never get the slicker abilities. With the
advent of the more realistic games like Grand Theft Auto, designers
opened a new world in which games are based more on real environments.
Unfortunately the realities they've chosen to portray have often been
the inner city, gang-ridden, crime overrun ghettoes. Hence the Brother
in GTA San Andreas, the roster of rappers starring in the fighter Def
Jam Vendetta, and others.  Oh: we also star in a host of football and
basketball games, and show up as soldiers too--always subordinate to a
white commander.
 
Video games are becoming a huge part of our culture. They're as
entrenched as TV and the Internet. The gaming industry is making money
that meets or exceeds that of the film industry, billions of dollars. A
single game like GTA or Halo can sell millions of units and be seen the
world over by people from several cultures. What a sobering thought that
the image of Blacks as hulking, graceless, thuglike pimps and gangsters
is what Japanese and European gamers are seeing. 

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 16:02
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people? 
 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Like many of y'all have said--better than me, I
 might add--it ultimately boils down to us
 controlling our own. Between whites that are
 prejudiced, whites that aren't prejudiced but
 let market factors shaped by *other* whites
 influence their decisions, and whites that
 simply don't get it, we're always fighting an
 uphill battle. Why are so many Blacks in scifi
 often used as aliens that are either weird
 looking, or noble savages?

Don't forget how we are portrayed in video games, where we now seem 
to be getting more and more leading roles like CJ. See below. 
That's part of the problem, too. It's good to read about this 
brother, Armstrong, who is taking action.

George
- - - - - - - - -
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/08/05/minority.gaming.ap/index
.html
Drawing minorities into gaming
Push for more black, Hispanic heroes in video games
Friday, August 5, 2005; Posted: 12:07 p.m. EDT (16:07 GMT) 

[Photograph. Caption: Urban Video Game Institute co-founder Joseph 
Saulter, demonstrates 3D animation software.]

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- In the popular video game Grand Theft 
Auto: San Andreas, players assume the lead character of Carl 
Johnson, a down-on-his-luck criminal who roams city streets, 
stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by 
shootings.

CJ, as he's known by his pals, is black -- and to some in the 
video game industry, that's a problem.

A growing number of people in the booming industry believe there 
should be more black and Hispanic heroes and heroines instead of 
hoods and hoodlums.

Not everybody goes outside with bling-bling and listens to rap 
music all day, says Amil Tomlin, a black 15-year-old from Baltimore 
who plays hours of video games each day.

Among those trying to paint a different racial picture is Mario 
Armstrong, who hosts a weekly National Public Radio program on 
technology. He and two fellow black colleagues have started the 
Urban Video Game Academy, a virtual programming boot camp for 
minorities.

It's been said that a bunch of nerdy white guys are creating these 
games, Armstrong said. The problem with a bunch of white guys 
creating the games is that the story isn't being created with 

RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people?

2005-08-06 Thread Keith Johnson
Didn't know of Gordo. There is a new Black character in Soul Calibur 2.
Not sure what his powers are...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 09:33
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people?


A notable exception was Eddie Gordo from Tekken 3.  Unfortunately,
Eddie was replaced by Christine in Tekken 4 (although he can be
unlocked in both Tekken 4 and 5).  I have read there is an
African-American character named Raven 
http://www.tekken-official.jp/tekken5/character/raven_e.html
in Tekken 5, who borrows quite a bit from Wesley Snipes' Blade,
but I can't confirm this as I have been through with Tekken since they
deep-sixed Eddie.

See the excellent article on Eddie Gordo from Planet Capoeira.

http://www.capoeira.com/planetcapoeira/articles/gordo.htm 

A few years ago the video game developer Namco released Tekken 3 to
arcades, the third in a series of hugely successful video games.
Introduced into this game was the world's first video game
capoeirista. Surprisingly, the developers of the game did a pretty
good job representing the art form. Certainly, there was some artistic
license in the name of bombastic video flash, but overall not bad for
a first try. At the time of development they used the then cutting
edge technology of video motion capturing, hooking a real life
capoeirista (Marcelo Pereira, i.e. Mestre Caveirinha of  Capoeira
Mandinga) up to some electrodes and sensors, and capturing his
movements for all time into the annals of video game history. 

~rave!

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Oh yeah, I'm aware of it. I follow the videogame industry quite
closely.
 I've even posted some articles on it here, such as the new phenomenon
 where actors, musicians, and atheletes now count starring in games as
 being as important as getting good endorsement deals. The issue of
race
 is a huge one in gaming, and, as this article says, worse than that of
 gender. It's a male-dominated industry, true. But at least in
 RPGs--notably the Japanese ones--you get women used as heroines. Often
 part of a team, many times as the stars. Blacks are rarely seen in
 traditional RPGs: funny that you can have elves, giants, orcs,
fairies,
 dudes with purple hair, etc., but no Brothers. And when Blacks are
 featured in such games, they're invariably shown as huge and hulking.
 Look at many fighting games, a genre which does feature Blacks. From
the
 classic Street Fighter, to Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan),
to
 Soul Calibur, the Asian and white characters usually have skills such
as
 speed, dexterity, flexiblity, agility, and are masters of a number of
 impressive martial arts. Black fighters are almost always rated high
on
 size, strength, and cruder, more brutal fighting, such as boxing. A
 classic example is the Mike Tyson-like character in Street Fighter 2
who
 fought in a Vegas scene which was filled with Black pimps and
 prostitutes. The other characters had speed, superhuman skills and
 powers, he was just a big brawler. For years, the Big Black Guy has
 been a staple in gaming. We never get the slicker abilities. With the
 advent of the more realistic games like Grand Theft Auto, designers
 opened a new world in which games are based more on real environments.
 Unfortunately the realities they've chosen to portray have often been
 the inner city, gang-ridden, crime overrun ghettoes. Hence the Brother
 in GTA San Andreas, the roster of rappers starring in the fighter Def
 Jam Vendetta, and others.  Oh: we also star in a host of football and
 basketball games, and show up as soldiers too--always subordinate to a
 white commander.
  
 Video games are becoming a huge part of our culture. They're as
 entrenched as TV and the Internet. The gaming industry is making money
 that meets or exceeds that of the film industry, billions of dollars.
A
 single game like GTA or Halo can sell millions of units and be seen
the
 world over by people from several cultures. What a sobering thought
that
 the image of Blacks as hulking, graceless, thuglike pimps and
gangsters
 is what Japanese and European gamers are seeing. 
 
 -Original Message-
 From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On
 Behalf Of g123curious
 Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 16:02
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people? 
  
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
  Like many of y'all have said--better than me, I
  might add--it ultimately boils down to us
  controlling our own. Between whites that are
  prejudiced, whites that aren't prejudiced but
  let market factors shaped by *other* whites
  influence their decisions, and whites that
  simply don't get it, we're always fighting an
  uphill battle. Why are so many Blacks in scifi
  often used as aliens that are either weird

[scifinoir2] Germans aren't excited about videogames

2005-08-18 Thread Keith Johnson
I find this fascinating.  You know I follow the gaming industry for its
cultural impact, its growing economic power, which now rivals (perhaps
surpasses) the movie industry's. Its potential for education and even
further opening up the communication potential of the Net. I guess I'd
taken it for granted that gaming was growing exponentially all over the
world. It's definitely a force in the US and Asia. Australia has enough
gaming concerns to make games like Grand Theft Auto bones of contention
(Australia bans a lot of mature games). Europe is generically spoken
of as one monolithic unit.  So imagine my surprise to know that Germans
have yet to see anything important in gaming. What, do they have the
unmitigated gall to read and write and go to the theatre and take
strolls, rather than gluing their eyes to a TV screen? Very interesting.

 
Do you know of any other countries that haven't gotten into the video
game revolution? Not because they're poor and can't afford it (many
Latin and African countries) but because the people simply aren't that
interested?
 
Germany video games fair opens amid image problems 

By Georgina ProdhanThu Aug 18, 6:42 AM ET 

Europe's biggest computer games fair opened its doors to the public on
Thursday, with its German hosts expecting more visitors than ever but
still fighting an image problem in the country.   As they prepared to
welcome at least 110,000 video games enthusiasts in the German city of
Leipzig, exhibitors scratched their heads as to why they were still
unable to crack the gaming market in Europe's biggest but
slowest-growing economy.

We have some way to catch up, to put it mildly, the fair's director,
Josef Rahman, told a news conference. It's a very important industry
and we shouldn't leave it all to our American, Japanese and English
friends.

Organizers said Germans had spent 466 million euros on video games last
year, 15 percent more than in the previous year but still a tiny
proportion of the estimated $25 billion spent globally on games software
and hardware each year.   Germany, with a population of more than 80
million, lags far behind not only the United States and Japan but also
smaller European neighbors Britain and France in terms of the proportion
of households that have games consoles.   Gerhard Florin, European
manager of the world's biggest games software publisher, Electronic Arts
(Nasdaq:ERTS - news), said a battle still had to be fought against the
perception that computer games made young people stupid.

I'm often asked when I'm abroad, in connection with our industry: 'What
is wrong with the Germans?' he said in a keynote speech at the fair's
opening.

Florin said plain ignorance about the industry was often to blame, and
called for a public education campaign, warning that Germany could
otherwise find itself in a cultural backwater.

Germany was definitely a cultural leader in the age of pictures and
books in the 19th century -- but already in the 20th century of films,
TV or music this wasn't true any more.

Germany shouldn't allow itself another century of cultural silence, he
said, adding that the computer-games industry was already bigger than
the film industry and was set to overtake videos, too.

IT'S NOT BAD TO READ BOOKS

The Games Convention's Organizers are trying to ensure not only that the
German market opens up but also that the German economy will benefit.
Currently, there is no major games software or hardware company in the
country.   By contrast, Canada -- a nation which has less than half of
Germany's population -- has the world's biggest video-games studio in
Vancouver, and the hit Grand Theft Auto games were developed in
Scotland.   Alongside the Leipzig games fair, Organizers are trying to
foster a games-creation hothouse with a three-day developer conference,
which this year attracted more than 450 participants from 14 countries.

Our developers don't have the access to the international market that
they should, given that we are a major industrial nation, said fair
director Rahmen.

The fair's Organizers have enlisted the Federal Association for
Interactive Entertainment Software and the Children's Charity of Germany
to help with campaigning.   Parents can visit a special family-themed,
education-oriented section of the fair and adults accompanying children
pay a reduced daily entry fee of 7 euros, compared with the full price
of 10 euros.   Dirk Hoeschen, spokesman for the Children's Charity,
blamed a lack of computer awareness from an early age, saying that
German schoolchildren used computers far less than their counterparts in
other European countries. 

It's impossible to understand why computers aren't used in
kindergartens, he said, blaming a too-high regard for the book over
other media. 


Electronic Arts' Florin was diplomatic. It's not bad to read books but
it's just as good to play games. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-18 Thread Keith Johnson
I stand 6'1, weigh about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a
little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could
barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much
later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing.
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat
and dairy products.  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:25
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


Everybody does not do well as vegetarian(s).  Check out your blood type.
If
you're a type 'A' like I am, vegetarian is the way to go.  On the other
hand
type 'O', the original type, is a meat-eating type.  Got it from the
original diet.  Type 'A' evolved after humans settled down and began to
grow
stuff.  Type 'B' is mostly Asian, and AB is the latest evolved type.
VERY
sketchy, but since I've started paying attention to my diet according to
my
blood type, I've had a lot less trouble because of food reactions. 

When I stopped eating red meat, my cholesterol dropped way down into the
normal range even though I still pigged out on some really ugly foods. 
After I had a recent operation, I let my craving for protein lead me to
red
meat, and my cholesterol is way up again...I'm getting it back under
control
.. 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Meta 
Date: 08/18/05 11:43:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!


--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote: 
 Feeling depressed? Are you disappointed with the current crop of sci- 
 fi TV shows and films? Are you upset with your government and the 
 current state of politics? 
 
 Don't despair. There is balance in the universe. Things are never as 
 bad as they seem. Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi. This 
 should bring a huge smile to your face: 
 
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/austrian_signs/ 
 
 Enjoy! 
 
 George 
 Captain 
 The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston) 

I was very surprised at my results. 
My footprint is 2.1 and planets needed was 1.2. 
I think the meat eating got me. I've got my family 
down to a few days a week on average of no meat, but as Dad is 
a serious carnivore, so far no meat dinner is out of the question. 

Meta 





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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-18 Thread Keith Johnson
Ha-ha! The one addiction I have is to ice cream. I try very hard to only
eat ice cream on the weekends. Try to leave hamburgers and stuff to the
weekends too. That usually works, unless I start the weekend early.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 19:53
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


I have to ask...What about those Coke and vanilla ice cream floats???

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I stand 6'1, weigh
about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a
little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could
barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much
later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing.
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat
and dairy products.  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:25
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


Everybody does not do well as vegetarian(s).  Check out your blood type.
If
you're a type 'A' like I am, vegetarian is the way to go.  On the other
hand
type 'O', the original type, is a meat-eating type.  Got it from the
original diet.  Type 'A' evolved after humans settled down and began to
grow
stuff.  Type 'B' is mostly Asian, and AB is the latest evolved type.
VERY
sketchy, but since I've started paying attention to my diet according to
my
blood type, I've had a lot less trouble because of food reactions. 

When I stopped eating red meat, my cholesterol dropped way down into the
normal range even though I still pigged out on some really ugly foods. 
After I had a recent operation, I let my craving for protein lead me to
red
meat, and my cholesterol is way up again...I'm getting it back under
control
.. 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Meta 
Date: 08/18/05 11:43:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!


--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote: 
 Feeling depressed? Are you disappointed with the current crop of sci- 
 fi TV shows and films? Are you upset with your government and the 
 current state of politics? 
 
 Don't despair. There is balance in the universe. Things are never as 
 bad as they seem. Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi. This 
 should bring a huge smile to your face: 
 
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/austrian_signs/ 
 
 Enjoy! 
 
 George 
 Captain 
 The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston) 

I was very surprised at my results. 
My footprint is 2.1 and planets needed was 1.2. 
I think the meat eating got me. I've got my family 
down to a few days a week on average of no meat, but as Dad is 
a serious carnivore, so far no meat dinner is out of the question. 

Meta 





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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Yumm! Psyllium husks! Reminds me of the old Coneheads skit on Saturday
Night Live: Dehydrated fruit pulp (Tang). Shredded swine flesh (bacon).
Yum! Fried chicken embryoes! I use it too though...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 02:01
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


Trust me!  I understand!  I also use psyllium Husks (gentle fiber) in
water,
and this helps to move poisoned foods through my system.  So does Colon
Hydrotherapy... 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Keith Johnson 
Date: 08/18/05 21:57:46 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi! 

Ha-ha! The one addiction I have is to ice cream. I try very hard to only

eat ice cream on the weekends. Try to leave hamburgers and stuff to the 
weekends too. That usually works, unless I start the weekend early. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Astromancer 
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 19:53 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


I have to ask...What about those Coke and vanilla ice cream floats??? 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I stand 6'1, weigh 
about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my 
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a 
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when 
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a

little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I 
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I 
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could

barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much

later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing. 
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't 
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat 
and dairy products.  

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of M C Jennings 
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:25 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


Everybody does not do well as vegetarian(s).  Check out your blood type.

If 
you're a type 'A' like I am, vegetarian is the way to go.  On the other 
hand 
type 'O', the original type, is a meat-eating type.  Got it from the 
original diet.  Type 'A' evolved after humans settled down and began to 
grow 
stuff.  Type 'B' is mostly Asian, and AB is the latest evolved type. 
VERY 
sketchy, but since I've started paying attention to my diet according to

my 
blood type, I've had a lot less trouble because of food reactions. 

When I stopped eating red meat, my cholesterol dropped way down into the

normal range even though I still pigged out on some really ugly foods. 
After I had a recent operation, I let my craving for protein lead me to 
red 
meat, and my cholesterol is way up again...I'm getting it back under 
control 
... 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Meta 
Date: 08/18/05 11:43:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!



--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote: 
 Feeling depressed? Are you disappointed with the current crop of sci- 
 fi TV shows and films? Are you upset with your government and the 
 current state of politics? 
 
 Don't despair. There is balance in the universe. Things are never as 
 bad as they seem. Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi. This 
 should bring a huge smile to your face: 
 
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/austrian_signs/ 
 
 Enjoy! 
 
 George 
 Captain 
 The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston) 

I was very surprised at my results. 
My footprint is 2.1 and planets needed was 1.2. 
I think the meat eating got me. I've got my family 
down to a few days a week on average of no meat, but as Dad is 
a serious carnivore, so far no meat dinner is out of the question. 

Meta 





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Visit your group scifinoir2 on the web. 
  
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 



  _  

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*  Visit your group scifinoir2 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2  on the web. 
  

*  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: 
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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-19 Thread Keith Johnson
Had a bad week for some reason. It may because I had to be at work at 5
am three days out of the last five, doing five-hour server upgrades each
time. I was too tired to workout like I needed, yet my schedule kept me
from eating well (I usuallly take time to prepare breakfast, lunch, and
snacks to eat at work so I avoid the pitfuls of eating out). So I'd get
home tired yet hyper, pissed off, and hungry. Next thing I know I'm
downing ice cream shakes. I've polished off three gallons of ice cream
in the last week. So I'll be hitting the road about 7 in the am tomorrow
to run off some of the calories I picked up.
 
It's amazing how one can be biochemically configured to respond
favorably to various smells or tastes. I consider myself to be very
disciplined, but ice cream is a true weakness. I also have an amazing
reaction to the smell and taste of vanilla. Give me a vanilla bean pod
and I'm like a cat with catnip. I probably drop two tablespoons of
vanilla extract into each milkshake I make.The smell  has an amazing
affect. The same with the smell of roses for me. 

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 14:22
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


The same with me and rootbeer or gingerale ice cream floats...

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Ha-ha! The one addiction
I have is to ice cream. I try very hard to only
eat ice cream on the weekends. Try to leave hamburgers and stuff to the
weekends too. That usually works, unless I start the weekend early.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 19:53
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


I have to ask...What about those Coke and vanilla ice cream floats???

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I stand 6'1, weigh
about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a
little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could
barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much
later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing.
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat
and dairy products.  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:25
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


Everybody does not do well as vegetarian(s).  Check out your blood type.
If
you're a type 'A' like I am, vegetarian is the way to go.  On the other
hand
type 'O', the original type, is a meat-eating type.  Got it from the
original diet.  Type 'A' evolved after humans settled down and began to
grow
stuff.  Type 'B' is mostly Asian, and AB is the latest evolved type.
VERY
sketchy, but since I've started paying attention to my diet according to
my
blood type, I've had a lot less trouble because of food reactions. 

When I stopped eating red meat, my cholesterol dropped way down into the
normal range even though I still pigged out on some really ugly foods. 
After I had a recent operation, I let my craving for protein lead me to
red
meat, and my cholesterol is way up again...I'm getting it back under
control
.. 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Meta 
Date: 08/18/05 11:43:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!


--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote: 
 Feeling depressed? Are you disappointed with the current crop of sci- 
 fi TV shows and films? Are you upset with your government and the 
 current state of politics? 
 
 Don't despair. There is balance in the universe. Things are never as 
 bad as they seem. Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi. This 
 should bring a huge smile to your face: 
 
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/austrian_signs/ 
 
 Enjoy! 
 
 George 
 Captain 
 The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston) 

I was very surprised at my results. 
My footprint is 2.1 and planets needed was 1.2. 
I think the meat eating got me. I've got my family 
down to a few days a week on average of no meat, but as Dad is 
a serious carnivore, so far no meat dinner is out of the question. 

Meta 





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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-20 Thread Keith Johnson
You brought up a point I hadn't mentioned: I do have dairy allergies.
When i was born my mom had to give me soy milk because of that. When I
drink milk or eat dairy, I immediately get mucous buildup exactly as if
I had a head cold. It's one reason I try to stay away from dairy. This
past week was a rare breakdown.  Not sure exactly what meat is bad for
me, but I know how my body feels sluggish when I eat certain types. When
I did my vegan thing, I slowly re-introduced meat, and was able to note
the specific effects of different types as I ate them.  Red meat is of
course the worst, so I limit my consumption of hamburger or beef to
something like once a month.  

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 02:03
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


I hear you, Keith!  I LOVE Vanilla, and/or the smell of it.  I get
vanilla
flavored Rice Milk and/or Soy Milk.  It helps.  I used to be an ice
cream
fiend, tooPistachio! 

The doctor I went to after my stomach and hemhorroids became acutely
bloody
told me that cravings like that are a red flag for foods we're allergic
to. 


He was right.  I hated him for ruining my one true addiction.  I thanked
him
later when I was was able to tie my bleeding directly to the dairy
products.
Now, I'd rather eat Crisco than Ice Cream. 

Not an option either, by the way!  LOLLOL! 

Man, that cycle you were forced into this past week has got to have a
name. 
It happens way too much! 

I remember spending nights sleeping in chairs back in the day, making
software fixes, re-writing code on a customer's site, and testing.
You're
bringing back great memories, my friend.  Thanks! 

Hope that doesn't happen to you often...! 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Keith Johnson 
Date: 08/19/05 22:12:32 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi! 

Had a bad week for some reason. It may because I had to be at work at 5 
am three days out of the last five, doing five-hour server upgrades each

time. I was too tired to workout like I needed, yet my schedule kept me 
from eating well (I usuallly take time to prepare breakfast, lunch, and 
snacks to eat at work so I avoid the pitfuls of eating out). So I'd get 
home tired yet hyper, pissed off, and hungry. Next thing I know I'm 
downing ice cream shakes. I've polished off three gallons of ice cream 
in the last week. So I'll be hitting the road about 7 in the am tomorrow

to run off some of the calories I picked up. 

It's amazing how one can be biochemically configured to respond 
favorably to various smells or tastes. I consider myself to be very 
disciplined, but ice cream is a true weakness. I also have an amazing 
reaction to the smell and taste of vanilla. Give me a vanilla bean pod 
and I'm like a cat with catnip. I probably drop two tablespoons of 
vanilla extract into each milkshake I make.The smell  has an amazing 
affect. The same with the smell of roses for me. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Astromancer 
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 14:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


The same with me and rootbeer or gingerale ice cream floats... 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Ha-ha! The one addiction

I have is to ice cream. I try very hard to only 
eat ice cream on the weekends. Try to leave hamburgers and stuff to the 
weekends too. That usually works, unless I start the weekend early. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Astromancer 
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 19:53 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


I have to ask...What about those Coke and vanilla ice cream floats??? 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I stand 6'1, weigh 
about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my 
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a 
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when 
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a

little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I 
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I 
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could

barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much

later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing. 
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't 
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat 
and dairy products.  

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL

RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-20 Thread Keith Johnson
Amen! What kind of IT work did you do? Still in it? I'm trying to move
from the LAN admin stuff I'm doing (which is a very broad category that
can cover everything from grunt work to fairly high-level sys admin
stuff, depending on the company or on the particular needs at the
moment).  Goal is to move more toward the strategic planning arena. I
like IT, but finally at the point where I'm tired of having to be up on
the latest technology all the time. Doing it for myself is fine--I'm
currently in the process of building a Linux server--but the often
hectic pace of becoming an expert for a job is getting old.  Also, I'm
really serious about this writing thing (as my long e-mails often
state!) and I can't afford the extra time such jobs demand. You're
always having to study and check and keep on top of things, and that
usually means little downtime to goof off at work, and a need to do more
work at home.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 02:05
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


Murphy says...Fixes don't, software isn't, and upgrades aren't! 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Astromancer 
Date: 08/19/05 23:13:14 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi! 

Um Keith...I think you response to vanilla is more Pavlovian than
biochemical...lol...and you're starting to frighten me...I am thinking
about
going into the maintenence side of the computer field, but if you keep
shring these 'delightful stories' about five hour upgrades, I might bolt
and
run... 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Had a bad week for some
reason. It may because I had to be at work at 5 
am three days out of the last five, doing five-hour server upgrades each

time. I was too tired to workout like I needed, yet my schedule kept me 
from eating well (I usuallly take time to prepare breakfast, lunch, and 
snacks to eat at work so I avoid the pitfuls of eating out). So I'd get 
home tired yet hyper, pissed off, and hungry. Next thing I know I'm 
downing ice cream shakes. I've polished off three gallons of ice cream 
in the last week. So I'll be hitting the road about 7 in the am tomorrow

to run off some of the calories I picked up. 

It's amazing how one can be biochemically configured to respond 
favorably to various smells or tastes. I consider myself to be very 
disciplined, but ice cream is a true weakness. I also have an amazing 
reaction to the smell and taste of vanilla. Give me a vanilla bean pod 
and I'm like a cat with catnip. I probably drop two tablespoons of 
vanilla extract into each milkshake I make.The smell  has an amazing 
affect. The same with the smell of roses for me. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Astromancer 
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 14:22 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


The same with me and rootbeer or gingerale ice cream floats... 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Ha-ha! The one addiction

I have is to ice cream. I try very hard to only 
eat ice cream on the weekends. Try to leave hamburgers and stuff to the 
weekends too. That usually works, unless I start the weekend early. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of Astromancer 
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 19:53 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


I have to ask...What about those Coke and vanilla ice cream floats??? 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I stand 6'1, weigh 
about 210 pounds, yet eat very little meat for my 
size. Everyone expresses surprise at how little meat I eat. I workout a 
great deal and always seem to have high energy. A few years ago when 
this weight consisted of more fat (now it's hopefully more muscle with a

little fat left) I went cold-turkey vegan for three months. Though I 
missed the barbecue, Mexican food (beef), and ham with my pancakes, I 
did surprisingly well.  My wife, however, had a terrible time. She could

barely last two weeks, and was always craving meat. It wasn't until much

later that you and others made me aware of the whole blood type thing. 
I'm type AB, which according to that Web site you (?) posted, doesn't 
need much meat. Indeed, AB needs to stay away from a wide range of meat 
and dairy products.  

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of M C Jennings 
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:25 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


Everybody does not do well as vegetarian(s).  Check out your blood type

RE: [scifinoir2] Star Trek Wiki

2005-08-21 Thread Keith Johnson
Great stuff! I can add this to my other Trek resources, like my tech
manuals, interactive CDs, etc.

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Brent Wodehouse
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 19:37
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [scifinoir2] Star Trek Wiki


http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Main_Page



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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007

2005-08-22 Thread Keith Johnson
 I still say Ewan McGregor would be a great Bond, but no one seems to
agree with me. Clive Owen would have done well, too.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of B. Smith
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 14:59
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007


--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, yinka oyekunle 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I thought it was said that he will return to this
 role.  Is this old news or is Brosnan outed again?

He's supposedly out for good. The Bond people want Daniel Craig from 
Layer Cake as the new Bond. I like Craig but he doesn't come across 
as Bond-like to me.

 
 --- Brent Wodehouse [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
 
 
 http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20050817/112429692000.html
  
  Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007
  
  Wednesday August 17
  
  
  A single, surprising phone call and it was over.
  That's how Pierce Brosnan
  says he learned that his services as James Bond
  would no longer be
  required.
  
  One phone call, that's all it took! the
  52-year-old actor tells
  Entertainment Weekly magazine in its Aug. 19 issue.
  
  Brosnan starred in four Bond films. He says that
  before they stopped
  negotiations, the producers had invited him back for
  a fifth time.
  
  You know, the movie career for me really started
  with Bond, says
  Brosnan, acknowledging that by the time GoldenEye
  premiered in 1995, he
  was already 42.
  
  He then starred as 007 in Tomorrow Never Dies
  (1997), The World Is Not
  Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).
  
  His departure from the role was a titanic jolt to
  the system, says
  Brosnan, followed by a great sense of calm.
  
  I thought. ... I can do anything I want to do now.
  I'm not beholden to
  them or anyone. I'm not shackled by some contracted
  image. So there was a
  sense of liberation.
  
  Brosnan says he's grateful to have had the role, but
  adds: It never felt
  real to me. I never felt I had complete ownership
  over Bond. Because you'd
  have these stupid one-liners which I loathed and I
  always felt phony doing
  them.
  
  He plays a foulmouthed, skirt-chasing hit man in the
  upcoming film The
  Matador.
  
  (For this) to come on the heels of my departure
  from the world of Bond is
  sweet grace, to play this one as a farewell to that
  chapter in time it
  certainly wasn't planned.
  
  ___
  
  On the Net:
  
  http://www.piercebrosnan.com/
  
  
 
 
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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Movie theater owners fire back at studios

2005-08-22 Thread Keith Johnson
Oh, I don't argue the reality of what's happening. Like I said, i
understand that finances and convenience make it desirable for many
people to watch films at home. My wife's not so gung ho on going to the
theatre as much as I am. I imagine that'll be more true once I get a
widescreen theatre setup at home. And the Net's going to be a big player
soon, the same way podcasts and stuff on the audio frontier are big.
It's just that I still love the theatrical experience, and I worry about
what may happen down the road. Will studios turn out cheaper films as
the theatre crowd shrinks? (By cheaper I fear not just less money, but
less quality, as they're wont to do).  Will we get a lot of substandard
stuff created for the direct-to-video/cable market? (Imagine all the
in-da-hood movies starring the likes of Fat Joe and Mack 10 that now go
direct to video).
 
 Most importantly, what would a emphasis on home theatre do to the flow,
structure, and look of movies? One of the things that bothers me with a
lot of folks who watch movies at home is that they often don't watch
them in one chunk. I hear lots of people say stuff like I watched the
first hour of 'Return of the King' tonight, and I'll catch the rest this
weekend. Or they'll start a movie, stop it to cook or talk on the
phone, then start it up again an hour or so later. Happens a great deal.
I think people miss the feel, the true overall experience, when they
watch movies at home like that. I try my hardest to watch a movie like a
*movie*, to watch it in one uninterrupted session so the overall
experience builds, not gets broken up.But if you know your audience is
watching movies like tV shows, would you start changing the structure of
those movies, perhaps building in breaking points in the story akin to
commercial breaks in episodic TV? And will the look of movies
themselves--the camera shots, the panning of the screen--change as films
are shot for smaller home screens instead of big theatre screens? I
mean, much of the beautiful scenery of Middle EArth, such as the awesome
mountains of New Zealand, is lost on the small screen. Unless everyone
is assumed to have widescreens at home, perhaps Hollywood will start
scaling back the very look of films, since most will be going direct to
video.  Just thoughts as to what the future holds...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 17:40
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Movie theater owners fire back at studios


Unfortunately, it is not as simple as both sides to this argument 
portray the issue. As I see it, there are at least 5 sets of dates:
1) domestic theatrical release
2) international theatrical release
3) domestic cable release
4) domestic DVD release
5) domestic broadcast TV release

Sometimes #2 happens before #1. More often, #1 is before #2. Either 
way, bootleg DVD copies circulate.

Coming soon is the sixth release date:

6) Internet release

The theatre owners are fighting an uphill battle as technology and 
change are against them. NetFlix comes to mind immediately. 
Economics is going to force it, too. With $3 a gallon gas by 
Thanksgiving, people in rural areas aren't going to drive as much to 
the movies. And if the rate of increase goes to $4 a gallon by 
Easter 2006, the shift in behavior will be even more dramatic.

However, with comments like Iger's, the studios are acting short-
sighted for at least 2 reasons:
- lower production costs enable independents to enter the market and 
go straight to #4 or #6. Competition, baby... Atom Films and iFilm 
ain't going away.
- Hollywood is no longer the only game in town. As demographics 
change, the audience is going around Hollywood and other areas such 
as Bollywood will gain more clout.

The last unspoken reason for the behavior change is the reason few 
want to say publicly... perceived safety. In a post 9-11 world, some 
people are more comfortable just staying home and viewing movies 
there.

Just my 2 cents...

George
Captain
The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston)

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I know a lot of you are watching more movies at home, due to
 reduced costs (no high theatre fees, overpriced food), comfort,
 and convenience. I imagine that's especially true for those
 with young kids. And I think that's great. I can't wait for the
 day when I have a nice HD widescreen setup with great sound.
 I'll be watching Lord of the Rings and playing Playstation games
 all day in my own theatre setup. But I still love the movie going
 experience. For one, even the best home system still doesn't
 match the spectacle of a huge theatre screen.  There's nothing like
 watching larger-than-life action on thescreen. The panaromic views
 afforded by a big theatre screen too can't be quite matched by
 even the biggest home systems, no matter how costly. And, I love
 the event of going

RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007

2005-08-23 Thread Keith Johnson
Good point. You know, I always want to take Hollywood to task for being
too youth and looks conscious. Yet Sunday I had a conversation with some
friends on what Black person would make a good James Bond. Three of us
were considering people like Denzel washington (too obvious in my
opinion), and even Don Cheadle (who'd be great). What surprised me was
one Sister who kept rejecting Brother after Brother as too ugly.  She
kept naming people like Shemar Moore, Morris Chestnut, even Christopher
Williams (from New Jack City).  She kept focusing on only the men
considered most handsome, without, in my opinion, looking critically at
their acting abilities.  Cheadle, for example, who I *know* could pull
off a spy role, was rejected out of hand as too small and not handsome.
I mused out loud that eternal question, does Hollywood dictate to us the
type of actors we want, or do we tell them what we want? Her
superficiality was very telling.
 
Anyway, the whole conversation made me realize that some people are just
as superficial as Hollywood hopes. It also made me realize that Blacks
are sorely lacking what could be a great character: a superspy. Let's
not fight for making a Black Bond, let's look at getting our own Black
spy with his own story and history.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of B. Smith
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 14:58
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007


Clive Owen was my choice as well. But I hear that they think he's 
too old, not suave enough, etc.

I guess he'll have to settle for some more Oscar nods.

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  I still say Ewan McGregor would be a great Bond, but no one seems 
to
 agree with me. Clive Owen would have done well, too.
 
 -Original Message-
 From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
 Behalf Of B. Smith
 Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 14:59
 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
 Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007
 
 
 --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, yinka oyekunle 
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  I thought it was said that he will return to this
  role.  Is this old news or is Brosnan outed again?
 
 He's supposedly out for good. The Bond people want Daniel Craig 
from 
 Layer Cake as the new Bond. I like Craig but he doesn't come 
across 
 as Bond-like to me.
 
  
  --- Brent Wodehouse [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  wrote:
  
  
  http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20050817/112429692000.html
   
   Pierce Brosnan Out As James Bond, 007
   
   Wednesday August 17
   
   
   A single, surprising phone call and it was over.
   That's how Pierce Brosnan
   says he learned that his services as James Bond
   would no longer be
   required.
   
   One phone call, that's all it took! the
   52-year-old actor tells
   Entertainment Weekly magazine in its Aug. 19 issue.
   
   Brosnan starred in four Bond films. He says that
   before they stopped
   negotiations, the producers had invited him back for
   a fifth time.
   
   You know, the movie career for me really started
   with Bond, says
   Brosnan, acknowledging that by the time GoldenEye
   premiered in 1995, he
   was already 42.
   
   He then starred as 007 in Tomorrow Never Dies
   (1997), The World Is Not
   Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).
   
   His departure from the role was a titanic jolt to
   the system, says
   Brosnan, followed by a great sense of calm.
   
   I thought. ... I can do anything I want to do now.
   I'm not beholden to
   them or anyone. I'm not shackled by some contracted
   image. So there was a
   sense of liberation.
   
   Brosnan says he's grateful to have had the role, but
   adds: It never felt
   real to me. I never felt I had complete ownership
   over Bond. Because you'd
   have these stupid one-liners which I loathed and I
   always felt phony doing
   them.
   
   He plays a foulmouthed, skirt-chasing hit man in the
   upcoming film The
   Matador.
   
   (For this) to come on the heels of my departure
   from the world of Bond is
   sweet grace, to play this one as a farewell to that
   chapter in time it
   certainly wasn't planned.
   
   ___
   
   On the Net:
   
   http://www.piercebrosnan.com/
   
   
  
  
  __
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  Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
  http://mail.yahoo.com
 
 
 
 
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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than sci-fi!

2005-08-23 Thread Keith Johnson
Very interesting background. Would make a great fiction character, a
Black detective who uses both technical and traditional investigative
skills to solve crimes.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of M C Jennings
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 06:50
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi!


I was a fair electronics expert in the Air Force, and that skill
transferred
itself to programming in the sense that I was not intimidated by
computers
because I understood how they worked... 

I started off writing in Basic (self-taught), and wrote some time
accounting
software for my job.  My Big boss saw that I had a talent, and he sent
me
from NJ to Virginia.  I was a UNIX expert after about 8 intense schools.
I
wrote a lot of tech softward in 'C', and some assembler language stuff. 
This was back in the early '80s.  I started as a programmer in 1980, and
was
promoted to programmer/analyst, Systems Analyst, then Custom Development
Software Project Manager.  By 1984 I was responsible for our unit
programmers providing support for the ATT marketers who were selling
ATT's
line of computers in direct competition with IBM.  I always thought THAT
was
insane, but hey!  LOL! 

Anyway, we were responsible for developing software to make the
computers do
what the marketing people told the customers it would do.  We had
Customers
like Chemtrec (The D.C. Haz-Mat people who put the placard rules on
trucks,
etc.), and the Marriott (They were in the process of gaining control of
all
of the Interstate restaurants, and building LOTS of hotels.  We finally
realized we could not be all things to all people, so we started
concentrating on super database systems.  It was insane, and I was
driving
to meetings in all the midlantic states up to NY.  I had to fly into
places
like Bluefield, West Virginia.  That was a treat!  LOLLOL! 

Anyway, I also used Dbase's programming language, UNIX Shell language..
Informix's new database management package...anything to keep from
writing
screen software in 'C'.  I learned Paschal, but never used it.  I have
used
Fortran for some calculation stuff, and COBOL for more stuff than I want
to
remember.  

Uh-oh...all of this is making me remember rehab, too...KIDDING!   My
rehab
was leaving on early retirement and becoming a police officer.  I wrote
a
few systems for our department back in the early '90s.  These were
enjoyable
..like the Airline pilot who flies a biplane for enjoyment... 

WOW!  Guess I rambled a bit.   LOLLOL! 

Anyway, that was me.  My skills are obviously obsolete now, but I'm glad
I
was there back in the day.  My first ATT boss was very astute at wiring
programming boards! 




---Original Message--- 

From: Keith Johnson 
Date: 08/20/05 08:17:17 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than
sci-fi! 

Amen! What kind of IT work did you do? Still in it? I'm trying to move 
from the LAN admin stuff I'm doing (which is a very broad category that 
can cover everything from grunt work to fairly high-level sys admin 
stuff, depending on the company or on the particular needs at the 
moment).  Goal is to move more toward the strategic planning arena. I 
like IT, but finally at the point where I'm tired of having to be up on 
the latest technology all the time. Doing it for myself is fine--I'm 
currently in the process of building a Linux server--but the often 
hectic pace of becoming an expert for a job is getting old.  Also, I'm 
really serious about this writing thing (as my long e-mails often 
state!) and I can't afford the extra time such jobs demand. You're 
always having to study and check and keep on top of things, and that 
usually means little downtime to goof off at work, and a need to do more

work at home. 

-Original Message- 
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On 
Behalf Of M C Jennings 
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 02:05 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 


Murphy says...Fixes don't, software isn't, and upgrades aren't! 

Maurice 


---Original Message--- 

From: Astromancer 
Date: 08/19/05 23:13:14 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Reality is often more interesting than 
sci-fi! 

Um Keith...I think you response to vanilla is more Pavlovian than 
biochemical...lol...and you're starting to frighten me...I am thinking 
about 
going into the maintenence side of the computer field, but if you keep 
shring these 'delightful stories' about five hour upgrades, I might bolt

and 
run... 

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Had a bad week for some 
reason. It may because I had to be at work at 5 
am three days out of the last five, doing five-hour server upgrades each


time. I was too tired to workout like I needed, yet my schedule kept me

RE: [scifinoir2] DVD format war escalates as talks fail

2005-08-23 Thread Keith Johnson
I've been following this one for a while. I really hope Blu Ray wins
out. It has a much higher storage level, which allows for more data and
more special stuff on DVDs. The gaming industry would benefit as the
next-gen systems could see games so detailed that convential DVDs could
be too small for the data.  Blu Ray is an overall better, more
forward-looking technology. Of course the industry is upset because
they'd have to refit their manufacturing facilities for Blu Ray, while
HD DVD can be produced in current facilities with little investment
needed.  I really, really hope we're not going to see the VHS vs.
Betamax thing again, where the inferior technology (VHS) won out.
 
You know what's really interesting? We've discussed before that much of
the new technology of the Web and home multimedia has been driven by the
adult industry. Well, the major adult film production companies have a
big voice in this , as they of course churn out billions of dollars
worth of DVDs each year.  They too have too look at the costs of Blu Ray
vs. HD DVD. Can't you see the meetings with reps from Toshiba, Sony,
Panansonic, the film industry, Microsoft, and then reps from the likes
of VCA and Evil Angel?  :)

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Brent Wodehouse
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 16:58
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] DVD format war escalates as talks fail


http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7886

DVD format war escalates as talks fail

13:10 23 August 2005

NewScientist.com news service


Japanese electronics giants said on Tuesday they would go ahead with
incompatible formats for next-generation DVDs after talks to reach a
common standard failed.

The decision presents consumers with a choice much the same as when
video
cassettes came out in the 1970s. The duelling HD DVD and Blu-ray formats
parallel the battle between Betamax and VHS and - a fight which Betamax
eventually lost.

Next-generation DVDs, expected to hit the mass market late in 2006, are
billed as offering cinematic quality images and new possibilities for
interactive entertainment.

Sony's Blu-ray disc is expected to have a greater storage capacity but
also be more expensive to make, at least in the short term, as the
format
has greater differences from current-generation DVDs.
Software schedule

Toshiba, maker of the HD DVD (High Density Digital Versatile Disc), said
it was still in talks with Blu-ray designer Sony to find a common format
but in the absence of an agreement it was going to push ahead with
production of its own format.

[We are] planning to launch our first HD DVD products by the end of
2006.
To do that, we have to start production of software for it by the end of
August, a Toshiba spokeswoman said.

We have not set a time limit for the talks on a common standard, she
added, but we have not reached any concrete agreement yet. A Sony
spokesman said future negotiations would be held if there was an
opportunity for it.

But the Sony spokesman was bullish about Blu-ray becoming the single
standard. He said: We have focused on improving our format with many
technological breakthroughs. It is desirable that the market has a
single
format for the next-generation DVD. So Blu-ray has improved itself so
that
all firms will support the format.
Multi-functional hardware

After three years of fighting, the two sides agreed in April to study
compatibility to prevent a scenario in which future Sony discs do not
work
on Toshiba players, or vice versa.

But even if consumers have headaches when next-generation DVDs first hit
mainstream stores, analysts note that the electronics industry has
become
more sophisticated since VHS and Betamax.

In the digital era, it is easier for hardware to become
multi-functional.
It is different from the analogue period, like with video formats, said
Osamu Hirose, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.

The difference between the two formats are things such as pickups and
laser wavelength. Eventually, multi-functional DVD players should be
able
to overcome the difference. Consumers will only have to wait a little
until that time comes, he said.

Some electronics firms, including Paris-based Thomson, have said they
would support both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. Supporters of the Blu-ray
technology include Apple Computer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Samsung
Electronics.

Among the Hollywood studios, Walt Disney and Sony Pictures Entertainment
back Blu-ray, while HD DVD supporters include Paramount Pictures,
Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers Studios.



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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: Brock Peters, Sisko's 'Father', Dies at 78

2005-08-26 Thread Keith Johnson
Entertainment Tonight and my local NBC affiliate did mention he'd been
in Star Trek movies...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kelly Wright
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 17:25
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Brock Peters, Sisko's 'Father', Dies at 78


Now, see, this is what EYE am talkin' about!  So far this (SFN) is 
the only source that has mentioned Peters stint as Sisko's father.
Thanks Brent!

~rave!

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Brent Wodehouse 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-08-23-peters-obit_x.htm
 
 Brock Peters, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' actor, dies at 78
 





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RE: [scifinoir2] It was everything WOTW tried to be (and failed at)!

2005-08-29 Thread Keith Johnson
I still haven't seen Signs, but I agree about War of the Worlds. I
only saw the movie once, which for me is saying a great deal. I've seen
Batman Begins three times, and will be buying the Sin City DVD.
I'll buy the WOTW DVD, but it's not a must-have. It was overall less
thrilling than the '50s version with Gene Barry and FX by George Pal
(which I've seen at least 20 times).  
 
Unless something changes, I'm thinking Batman Begins will be my
favorite scifi movie of the year, with Sin City close behind--at least
until King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia hit this winter!

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2005 17:54
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] It was everything WOTW tried to be (and failed
at)!


Last night, I watched the film Signs on DVD. I hadn't seen the 
theatrical release and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was immediately 
struck by how it was everything in a good sci-fi story -- aliens, 
suspense, emotion, discover, fear -- that War of the Worlds tried to 
be and failed miserably.

WOTW even had the little, young precocious girl or child that was 
strangely insightful. With Signs, Shyamalam developed and directed 
a far more enjoyable sci-fi story with 1/10 the SFX budget that 
Spielberg used; with 10 times more suspense and tension. 
With Signs, you really felt the fear even though the body count 
was 1/100 of what Spielberg presented in WOTW.

One of the best scenes was the way Shyamalam had Gibson's character 
(and us, the audience) discover the alien lurking in his living room 
and holding his son. I won't disclose the method, but it was sheer 
brilliance!

IMHO, this is another example that bigger isn't always better. That 
more and bigger explosions aren't always better or more effective. 
Spielberg should feel ashamed of himself.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286106/

What did you think of the two films?

George
Captain
The USS Ronald E. McNair (Boston)






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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: It was everything WOTW tried to be (and failed at)!

2005-08-30 Thread Keith Johnson
Sin City has a look that's like the graphic novel. Think Sky Captain
with an adult plot and more impressive coloring. The first few minutes
take a bit to get adjusted as you try to decide if it's gimmicky and
hokey or brilliant, but in ten minutes or so brilliant wins out.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:34
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: It was everything WOTW tried to be (and failed
at)!


Keith:

Do rent the Signs DVD. I beleive that you'll be glad you did. Then 
you can compare it to WOTW and wish that you hadn't bought the WOTW 
DVD. I am glad that I bought the Signs DVD. There is so much 
subtlety in it that it is easy to miss stuff (e.g., the roof scene).

I haven't seen Sin City yet. It looked to cartoony for my tastes. 
I do agree with you... the George Pal version of WOTW was really 
goo; and the better of the 2.
George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I still haven't seen Signs, but I agree about War of
 the Worlds. I only saw the movie once, which for me is
 saying a great deal. I've seen Batman Begins three
 times, and will be buying the Sin City DVD. I'll buy
 the WOTW DVD, but it's not a must-have. It was overall
 less thrilling than the '50s version with Gene Barry
 and FX by George Pal (which I've seen at least 20 times).  
  
 Unless something changes, I'm thinking Batman Begins
 will be my favorite scifi movie of the year, with Sin
 City close behind--at least until King Kong and The
 Chronicles of Narnia hit this winter!

snip







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[scifinoir2] When are we going to learn?

2005-09-04 Thread Keith Johnson
We're hearing so much about technology infrastructure failure in New
Orleans and Mississippi: lack of cell phone networks, cops draining gas
from stranded cars, power gone, backup generators failing in hospitals
that went days longer than they should have on emergency power.  One
guardsman said his men had gone back to ancient times, sending men as
runners from place-to-place, as that was the only way to communicate
between units.  I've long been a proponent of aggressively moving
forward to alternative energy sources such as hybrids, solar, and
fuel-cell. The naysayers scoff at it as impractical and expensive.  But
what if there'd been advanced solar power cells on the roofs of the NO
hospitals? What if all the buildings--even the cop's communication
devices and laptops--ran on portable fuel cells?  We could have seen
people plugging their oxygen tanks and dialysis machines into outlets
receiving power from still-functioning buildings, rather than dying for
want of electricity. 
 
A year ago I wrote the following as a response to a conversation with
someone in this group (was it you, Astro?) about the need to push toward
a day when those alternative sources become mainstream sources of
energy.  In light of what's happened after the hurricane, i think this
is still appropros. Sometimes science fiction themes *should* become
science fact...
 
[From June 2004]
Well, I agree alternative energy sources would be expensive at the
start, but so is any new technology. The problem is that we waited too
long to get started. Had this country bit the bullet and dedicated funds
and research to solar/wind/fuel cell power back during the Energy Crisis
of the '70's, we'd have cheaper, more affordable sources by now. It's
like the new hybrid cars. Those things are selling like hotcakes, the
waiting list is a year or more, yet now some people complain they aren't
getting the super gas mileage expected, and they cost too much. Well, if
Detroit had seriously started working on hybrids a couple of decades
ago, they'd be more advanced and not cost as much. Sometimes you suffer
living in a land of plenty. You don't start working on problems until
they become critical. We're not very good with longe-range thinking.
Americans also don't like to think about doing more than one thing. The
ultimate solution is a combination of oil, fuel from other sources such
as corn, and the solar/wind/fuel cell thing. No one energy source will
meet all our needs in the foreseeable future. But Americans don't like
it: it's too complicated.

That's what I meant about the land of plenty. In war-torn European and
Asian nations they had no choice but to rebuild in the last few decades.
They learned there to be more concerned about efficiency and backups
than about the biggest and best as Americans do. Many Asians can't
afford fancy cars and SUVs, so they ride bikes. Europeans like to travel
from one country to the other and love their natural beauty, so they
have incredibly efficient rail systems. Many poor nations make it
mandatory for large buildings such as hospitals to have realiable backup
power systems, as their national grids can't be trusted. Suggest that
here and people look at you like you're an alien. I think every large
building could/should have fuel cell/solar systems that could power it
even if the whole nation's electrical grid were sabotages.

But we Americans want the biggest cars with the fanciest stereos, the
biggest engines, etc., and didn't care how much oil they were burning.
We laughed at alternative fuel advocates as hippy Greenpeace nuts, and
the big mega-corporations saw no profit in it.  Well now we're reaping
the results of our egocentricism, selfishness, and greed.

We have no choice. The national mindset HAS to change to start
appreciating diverse fuel sources, efficient cars, and an increase in
mass transit. As for the oil, it takes millions of years for nature to
convert dead animals into the oil found underground. Nothing we take is
going to be replenished anytime in the next few thousand years


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[scifinoir2] Nagin said slow response cost lives

2005-09-04 Thread Keith Johnson
Nagin said slow response cost lives

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005 7:57 p.m.
Frustrated and grieving, Mayor Ray Nagin on Sunday again ripped
the painfully slow response of state and federal
authorities to the plight of tens of thousands of
stranded New Orleanians in the days following
Hurricane Katrina, saying their inaction cost lives
and caused needless misery.
Nagin singled out Gov. Kathleen Blanco for criticism,
saying that the governor had asked for 24 hours to
think over a decision when time was a luxury that no
one, especially refugees, had.
When the president and the governor got here, I said,
'Mr. President, Madame Governor, you two have to get
in synch. If you don't, more people are going to die.
Blanco and Bush met privately at his insistence, Nagin
said, after which Bush came out and told Nagin that he
had given Blanco two options, and she requested a full
day to decide.
It would have been great if we could have walked off
Air Force One and told the world we had it all worked
out, Nagin said. It didn't happen, and more people
died.
Police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said Sunday that
about a dozen corpses were being taken out of the
Superdome. The convention center has not been swept
yet, he said.
Apart from the deaths, Nagin said people needlessly
suffered, particularly at the Dome.
There was suffering at an unprecedented level in this
city, at this place and at the convention center, he
said. This is one of the richest countries in the
world. I'm looking at my city and I see death and
destruction, and I see a lot of it. And I'm pissed.
Nagin said while much of the suffering was borne by
poor people, it would be a mistake to think it was
limited to the poor.
When the final script is written, they're going to
see that everyone suffered, he said. Not just black
people - white people, Hispanics, people from Italy.
At the convention center, you had tourists, you had
people from hospitals, you had a mixture of people.
Asked whether he himself bore responsibility for the
debacle, Nagin responded: I'll take what
responsibility I have to take. But let me ask you
this: When you have a city of 500,000 people, and you
have a Category 5 bearing down on you, and the best
you've ever done is evacuate 60 percent of the people.
and there's never been a mandatory evacuation in this
city's history.
I did that, and I elevated the level of stress to the
citizens. I said to make sure you have a fricking axe
in your house. And as a last resort, there are no
buildings in the city to withstand a Category 3 storm
other than the Superdome, and when that filled up, we
started sending them to the convention center. You
tell me what else I was supposed to do.
Nagin said the government needs to learn quickly from
its nightmarishly slow reaction to Katrina. 
Our response to a significant disaster is appalling,
he said. What went down is a national and state
disgrace.
The mayor said his next fear is that the decomposing
bodies of those who died in the storm and its wake
will spread disease, via mosquitoes, across the region
if the corpses aren't picked up soon. Again, he feels
the response has lagged.
I requested a crop duster as soon as possible, the
mayor said. I still don't see a plane flying.



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[scifinoir2] Times-Picayune series on dangers to New Orleans

2005-09-05 Thread Keith Johnson
There have been lots of talk about who knew what about the dangers New
Orleans faced from hurricanes. Were studies done, how reliable were the
levees, etc? The following link takes you to the Times-Picayune site,
which has reposted a series of reports the paper did three years ago on
these topics. Makes for very interesting reading
 
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/
 
The Army Corps of Engineers says the chance of New Orleans-area levees
being topped is remote, but admits the estimate is based on 40-year-old
calculations. An independent analysis based on updated data and computer
modeling done for The Times-Picayune suggests the risk to some areas,
including St. Bernard and St. Charles parishes and eastern New Orleans,
may be greater than the corps estimates. Corps officials say the agency
is studying the problem with an updated model.


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RE: [scifinoir2] [OT] 25 Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-11 Thread Keith Johnson
Wow, wow, wow!
You know, a friend of mine called me last week extremely upset that Dick
Cheney hadn't (at that time) visited the hurricane ravaged area. She
kept saying Why don't the Republicans get up in arms about this? How
can the VP NOT show up immediately? I think she wondered why I--known
as a very vocal critic of all things Bush--wasn't equally upset. My
response? Because these people are all fools and self-righteous,
self-serving idiots. I don't expect anything from them, and thus don't
get disappointed as easily. Was  I pissed at Cheney? Sure. Upset that
his idiot boss once again shows how stupid and out of touch he is, with
slow response time (took a couple of days to cut short his vacation),
canned we shall overcome speeches, and a complete lack of the guts to
take responsibility for the mess he's helped create? Of course.
 
But I cried my tears when Bush won the Presidency once, then twice. I
raged and cursed and stormed when he wasted resources and lives on the
Iraq invasion. I've yelled myself hoarse at a populace so criminally
retarded that they could vote for a man who dodged duty in 'Nam, yet who
makes the guy who *did* serve out to be a coward. I've been living in a
nightmare I hadn't experienced since the horrible days of Reagan. And
everytime I hear Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton or John Edwards or John
Kerry speak, I get depressed over the leadership we *used* to have, the
leadership we *might* have had, and the disaster we *do* have.   So I
try to maintain balance and sanity by realizing it can't last forever. I
try to avoid losing my mind with anger and disappointment by reminding
myself that the leadership we have now is too stupid to ever do
anything worthwhile, and thus no boneheaded move or comment of theirs
should surprise me.
 
The great quotes you posted here do nothing to change my attitude.
Someone please wake me up when this is over...

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Brent Wodehouse
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 17:04
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] [OT] 25 Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina


http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/currentevents/a/katrinaquotes.htm?nl=
1

25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its
Aftermath

From Daniel Kurtzman


1) I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.
-President Bush, on Good Morning America, Sept. 1, 2005, six days
after
repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from
Hurricane Katrina (Source -
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJsdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fmediam
atters.org%2Fitems%2F200509020001)
sdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fmediamatters.org%2Fitems%2F200509020
001)

2) What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to
stay
in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of
the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so
this (chuckle) - this is working very well for them. -Former First Lady
Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome,
Sept. 5, 2005 (Source -
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJsdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed
itorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_
id%3D1001054719)
sdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2
Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1001054719)

3) It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city
that's seven feet under sea levelIt looks like a lot of that place
could be bulldozed. -House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Aug. 31,
2005
(Source -
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJsdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.su
ntimes.com%2Foutput%2Fhurricane%2F)
sdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.suntimes.com%2Foutput%2Fhurrican
e%2F)

4) We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is - and it's
hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to come a
fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent
Lott's house - he's lost his entire house - there's going to be a
fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.
(Laughter) -President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala.,
Sept.
2, 2005 (Source -
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJsdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hu
ffingtonpost.com%2Farianna-huffington%2Fpresident-bush-hits-the-s_b_6670
.html)
sdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Farianna-huf
fington%2Fpresident-bush-hits-the-s_b_6670.html)

5) Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans,
virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively
well. -FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source -
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJsdn=politicalhumorzu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cn

RE: [scifinoir2] The entire community is now a toxic waste dump

2005-09-11 Thread Keith Johnson
The truth of this is that we're seeing problems in New Orleans, sure,
but they're not unique.. Many--most of these problems--aren't unique to
this city, or only a result of the hurricance. When you start talking
about poverty, intentional (or casually ignorant) racism, politcal
ineffectiveness, government apathy, lack of services, lack of jobs, lack
of affordable housing, the rich and powerful getting the best places to
live and the best treatment, environmental racism--you're talking about
many, many cities in America.  The neighborhood in which I was raised in
Fort Worth was flooded out way back in '49 when my parents had just
moved there. Their new home took on seven feet of water.  Many white
areas weren't affected. Why? Because the city had started building
levees to manage the Trinity River, and of course the white areas were
done first.  I recall as a child--too ignorant of the ways of the
world--spending hours staring in fascination at the constant stream of
dump trucks dropping loads of the city's garbage in the giant dumping
ground that lay less than 100 yards from my back porch.  Too young to
understand environmental racism, I never asked why  huge piles of
trash were dumped in my neighborhood, but not those of my white
schoolmates. Nor, as I was being entertained by the possibly dangerous
wastes being buried in the local soil, did my young mind know to ask why
my neighborhood was bordered on one side by the dump, another by the
railroad, a third by a major freeway, and a fourth by a giant truck
repair facility and dogfood manufacturing plant. Later the city closed
the all-Black elementary school less than a mile away, turning it into a
low-security prison for deadbeat dads and drunks.  Everytime I go home
for a visit I get to pass that school turned prison, turn under the
railroad trestle onto my mom's street, and see the vast expanse of grass
that grows over the (thankfully) now defunct dumping ground.  
 
As an adult, I get it in ways I never could as a child. The hurricane is
forcing a renewed focus of the poor and helpless and Black in New
Orleans, but let's hope it doesn't stop there. Let's hope the politicans
and cops and everyday citizens all remember that, if they want to see
people to help, to aid there desperately poor brothers, and to find
places to right the wrongs of the world, they don't have to go all the
way to New Orleans. Like the young child I was, all they have to do is
look in their own backyards.

 
 
 
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Xavier Moon
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 10:04
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] The entire community is now a toxic waste dum



This article is chilling: The rich will not suffer from any of this.
Only
the poor. It is a taste of things to come.  Really makes a person want
to
slap a few rich people.  Fitness first, ecosystem after, if at all. How
could it be otherwise? Indeed.  XM

What concerns me is not the way things are,  but rather the way people
think things are.

- Epictitus

The Gulf Coast is drowning in a poisonous stew, people are dying from
waterborne bacteria, and federal funds have been drained by years of
pro-industry policies. Katrina is one of the worst environmental
catastrophes in U.S. history.

Sept. 9, 2005  |  From 500 feet in the air, Chris Wells, a geographer
with
the U.S. Geological Survey, looked with dismay on the landscape pounded
and
then abandoned by Hurricane Katrina. As Wells flew on Wednesday above
the
Louisiana coastline, across New Orleans, the marshlands south of the
city,
and over Mississippi, nearly every tree was snapped, their limbs twisted
around in a braid, the bark shredded right off the trunk. The marshland
below looked as though somebody had taken a spatula and scraped away the
marsh grasses, leaving a sea of mud. Aside from a number of shorebirds,
and
one 8-foot alligator swimming about 20 miles offshore, Wells saw no
wildlife. What he did see were streaks of oil, some miles long and 200
yards
wide. 

It was on any body of water of any significance, he says. Hundreds of
thousands of inland acres are covered with a spotty sheen of oil. The
landscape right now is absolutely bizarre and unreal, Wells says, from
his
home in Lafayette, La. It's emotionally draining. Even if nobody was
hurt,
it's heartbreaking to see what has happened to the environment. 

 ... (Remainder removed)
 
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/09/wasteland/
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Rebecca Clarren







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[scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight

2005-09-13 Thread Keith Johnson
Two new shows are premiering tonight. First is Bones (8 pm EST on
Fox), about a forensic anthropologist who assists an FBI agent (played
by Angel star David Boreanaz) solve cases. Early reviews I've read say
it's formulaic (the genre's getting crowded) but has decent leads. Next
up is Supernatural, about two brothers (one of whom is Smallville
star Jensen Ackles) who travel around dispatching supernatural baddies
as they search for their missing father.  Critics have given this show
good press, saying it's genuinely scary. Might be worth a look.The
two shows represent the obvious continuing influence of other hits. In
the case of Bones it's the whole investigative theme (CSI, Navy NCIS,
Crossing Jordan, etc.)  Supernatural is glomming on to the resurgence
in, well, supernatural-themed shows like Medium and Lost (which may
or may not be supernatural).
 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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RE: [scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight--what did you think?

2005-09-13 Thread Keith Johnson
Anyone see these shows? Bones was indeed formulaic.  The star is a
lady whose parents disappeared when she was a teen, an event that of
course shaped her life. She  now solves crimes and chases down the bad
guys to make sure others don't suffer as she did. She tries to be there
for the victim because she thinks things might have been different had
someone like her had been there when her parents disappeared, a
co-worker sagely reveals.   She's that typical
driven-and-brilliant-cold-on-the-surface-but-caring-deep-down genius.
Nothing special about her. Boreanaz plays the FBI agent with the square
jaw and police skills who tends to have doubts about the value of
big-brained lab types in the field.  Brains don't solve cases, asking
questions a thousand times solves cases, he growls at his new partner
the squint--the cute name FBI agents evidently give forensic nerds who
are always squinting at microscopes and test tubes and the like. He
didn't stand out either. The investigative staff is the standard
eclectic mix of young and eccentric folk.  Again, typical nowadays. The
only aspect of Bones I saw to differentiate it from the other
investigative shows was their usage of holography to create an image of
a murder victim from her bones. Other than that it didn't offer anything
new. Since I'm not a big fan of the investigative genre, I'm not sure
I'll keep watching it. 
 
Supernatural, on the other hand, was intriguing. The beginning is
creepy, showing how the brothers are set on a path of hunting--seeking
out and destroying evil ghosts and monsters.  The show dealt with the
Lady in White myth, a beautiful young woman betrayed in life by her
man, who killed herself and  whose ghost haunts backroads, killing
unfaithful men who succumb to her. The show wasn't terrifying, but it
had enough suspenseful moments to make me keep the lights on. The
ending's a trip. I liked the stars, liked the writing and pacing, liked
the seriousness with which it was done. Not sure if it'll end up being
as good as the creepier episodes of The X-Files or Kolchak the Night
Stalker at its scariest,  but I'm definitely willing to stay with it
for the season. Lots of good possibilites.  Speaking of Kolchak,  it
will be interesting to see how Supernatural  compares to the remake of
The Night Stalker airing this season.
 
Someone check out these shows and tell us what you think. I believe
Supernatural will re-air this Thursday night.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Keith Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 20:22
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight


Two new shows are premiering tonight. First is Bones (8 pm EST on
Fox), about a forensic anthropologist who assists an FBI agent (played
by Angel star David Boreanaz) solve cases. Early reviews I've read say
it's formulaic (the genre's getting crowded) but has decent leads. Next
up is Supernatural, about two brothers (one of whom is Smallville
star Jensen Ackles) who travel around dispatching supernatural baddies
as they search for their missing father.  Critics have given this show
good press, saying it's genuinely scary. Might be worth a look.The
two shows represent the obvious continuing influence of other hits. In
the case of Bones it's the whole investigative theme (CSI, Navy NCIS,
Crossing Jordan, etc.)  Supernatural is glomming on to the resurgence
in, well, supernatural-themed shows like Medium and Lost (which may
or may not be supernatural).





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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RE: [scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight--what did you think?

2005-09-14 Thread Keith Johnson
Not really. Bones, like I said below, was very standard. The two leads
were okay, but didn't stand out. The lady in particular, with the
backstory of her parents disappearing, is cliched. I mean, the female
detective on Law and Order: SVU is the product of a rape I believe,
and the blonde chick on that outre detective show recently cancelled
(the one with Daniel Baldwin and Peter Coyote) had a backstory of having
been abducted as a child. Gets old.
Supernatural is the one to catch.
 
 
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Astromancer
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 01:22
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight--what did you
think?



Hmm...Sorry i missed the premieres...Bones sounds pretty interesting

Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Anyone see these shows?
Bones was indeed formulaic.  The star is a
lady whose parents disappeared when she was a teen, an event that of
course shaped her life. She  now solves crimes and chases down the bad
guys to make sure others don't suffer as she did. She tries to be there
for the victim because she thinks things might have been different had
someone like her had been there when her parents disappeared, a
co-worker sagely reveals.   She's that typical
driven-and-brilliant-cold-on-the-surface-but-caring-deep-down genius.
Nothing special about her. Boreanaz plays the FBI agent with the square
jaw and police skills who tends to have doubts about the value of
big-brained lab types in the field.  Brains don't solve cases, asking
questions a thousand times solves cases, he growls at his new partner
the squint--the cute name FBI agents evidently give forensic nerds who
are always squinting at microscopes and test tubes and the like. He
didn't stand out either. The investigative staff is the standard
eclectic mix of young and eccentric folk.  Again, typical nowadays. The
only aspect of Bones I saw to differentiate it from the other
investigative shows was their usage of holography to create an image of
a murder victim from her bones. Other than that it didn't offer anything
new. Since I'm not a big fan of the investigative genre, I'm not sure
I'll keep watching it. 

Supernatural, on the other hand, was intriguing. The beginning is
creepy, showing how the brothers are set on a path of hunting--seeking
out and destroying evil ghosts and monsters.  The show dealt with the
Lady in White myth, a beautiful young woman betrayed in life by her
man, who killed herself and  whose ghost haunts backroads, killing
unfaithful men who succumb to her. The show wasn't terrifying, but it
had enough suspenseful moments to make me keep the lights on. The
ending's a trip. I liked the stars, liked the writing and pacing, liked
the seriousness with which it was done. Not sure if it'll end up being
as good as the creepier episodes of The X-Files or Kolchak the Night
Stalker at its scariest,  but I'm definitely willing to stay with it
for the season. Lots of good possibilites.  Speaking of Kolchak,  it
will be interesting to see how Supernatural  compares to the remake of
The Night Stalker airing this season.

Someone check out these shows and tell us what you think. I believe
Supernatural will re-air this Thursday night.

-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Keith Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 20:22
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] New shows premiering tonight


Two new shows are premiering tonight. First is Bones (8 pm EST on
Fox), about a forensic anthropologist who assists an FBI agent (played
by Angel star David Boreanaz) solve cases. Early reviews I've read say
it's formulaic (the genre's getting crowded) but has decent leads. Next
up is Supernatural, about two brothers (one of whom is Smallville
star Jensen Ackles) who travel around dispatching supernatural baddies
as they search for their missing father.  Critics have given this show
good press, saying it's genuinely scary. Might be worth a look.The
two shows represent the obvious continuing influence of other hits. In
the case of Bones it's the whole investigative theme (CSI, Navy NCIS,
Crossing Jordan, etc.)  Supernatural is glomming on to the resurgence
in, well, supernatural-themed shows like Medium and Lost (which may
or may not be supernatural).





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[scifinoir2] Are you watching Prison Break?

2005-09-14 Thread Keith Johnson
Prison Break isn't moving me. I watched it recently and just  couldn't
get engrossed in the whole plot of the man sentenced to death for a
crime he didn't commit.  The idea of a guy getting inside the prison to
break said innocent out is intriguing, but I'm not sure if they can
build on it to hold my interest for an entire season.  I'm afraid it'll
become laborious slowly sifting through the unraveling mystery week
after week. Takes special skill to pull off the one-theme show,
something shows like Lost and 24 have  managed to great effect. (I
don't count the X-Files because despite its overwhelming theme of
conspiracy and aliens, it had a huge number of standalone shows  that
introduced other topics). I'm trying to decide if I'll watch Prison
Break again. Dominic Purcell, who plays the guy sentenced to death, is
a good actor. He was very effective in John Doe, a great show (that
incidentally also had a theme of a  mystery slowly unfolding). Sadly
that was cancelled. After that Purcell showed up as a leather pants
wearing vampire in Blade: Trinity, a role that made me alternately
laugh and groan at his character.  I guess Prison Break is a step up
from that fiasco of a film.


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RE: [scifinoir2] Re: New shows premiering tonight

2005-09-14 Thread Keith Johnson
As you saw on my followup post, I wasn't impressed with Bones at all.
If i don't watch CSI, I'm certainly not going to put Bones on the
must-see list. As for the topic, I agree, it's nice to discuss scifi
again. Not that I have any problems discussing socio-political issues,
mind you, but I've been missing our discussions on Battlestar Galactica,
movies, cartoons, crappy Sci Fi Channel original programs like last
week's so-bad-it's-funny The Man with The Screaming Brain. 
 
-Original Message-
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of g123curious
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 13:01
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: New shows premiering tonight



It's nice to have something to discuss other than Katrina and the 
Brad Pitt/Jennifer Anniston breakup. I just upgraded from Basic 
cable (a/k/a antenna service) to Standard cable with ESPN, ESPN2, 
SciFi, and TBS. (Comcast upgraded my monthly bill from $8 to $55, 
too. That is criminal as there is no package inbetween the two.) So, 
now I cna get my full weekly dose of football.

Bones was another CSI clone. There are now so many CSI clones on TV. 
Bones was cute in spots, but doesn't have enough horsepower to keep 
my attention or viewership. Yes, it is formulaic... very much so. 
Nothing really original here, either. I'll make no bones about it 
and strongly recommend that you skip it.

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Two new shows are premiering tonight. First is Bones
 (8 pm EST on Fox), about a forensic anthropologist who
 assists an FBI agent (played by Angel star David
 Boreanaz) solve cases. Early reviews I've read say
 it's formulaic (the genre's getting crowded) but has
 decent leads. Next up is Supernatural, about two
 brothers (one of whom is Smallville star Jensen
 Ackles) who travel around dispatching supernatural
 baddies as they search for their missing father.
 Critics have given this show good press, saying
 it's genuinely scary. Might be worth a look. The
 two shows represent the obvious continuing
 influence of other hits. In the case of Bones
 it's the whole investigative theme (CSI, Navy NCIS,
 Crossing Jordan, etc.)  Supernatural is glomming
 on to the resurgence in, well, supernatural-themed
 shows like Medium and Lost (which may or may
 not be supernatural).








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[scifinoir2] Didja see The Man with The Screaming Brain?

2005-09-14 Thread Keith Johnson
Gawd, did ANYONE see Bruce Evil Dead Campbell's
writing/directorial/producing debut last Saturday on the Sci Fi Channel?
It was a very, very low-budget, camp, implausible movie about an
arrogant pharmaceutical exec who gets killed by a crazy gypsy woman in
Bulgaria. (Told ya the plot was implausible). Stacy Keach--wielding an
awful, fake accent--plays a mad scientist who's discovered a method of
combining tissue from two or more people without any danger of
rejection. He plans to get Campbell's character to invest in his
technology. But upon hearing of Campbell's death, he decides to put on
the ultimate demo. He grafts brain tissue from a former KGB
agent-turned-cabbie who was also killed by the gypsy (again, don't ask!)
into Campbell's head, regenerating his brain and body in the process.
The result is a freakish-looking low-budget Frankenstein (big forehead,
big scar) who runs around acting crazy as the two personalities fight
for dominance in his head. Hence, the Screaming Brain title.  Those of
you old enough to remember the infamous two-headed transplant films of
the early '70s will recognize this effort as a modernized take on that
classic theme.
 
Throw into the mix Keach's sidekick, a Bulgarian who's created a
humanoid robot and who so loves American hip-hop culture that he says
stuff like fo' shizzle my nizzle (in equally badly faked accent) and
teaches the robot to flash gang signs. He's played by Ted Raimi, best
known as Joxer on Xena.  And THEN throw into the mix Campbell's wife,
who's had an affair with the dead KGB cabbie, and you have the
ingredients for an awfully campy, awfully bad movie.  The sets were
cheap, everyone sounded horrible, the robot was painfully, obviously a
man in latex, and the whole thing couldn't have cost more than a few
hundred thou to produce. Still, I found myself laughing out loud
throughout  much of the movie. Campbell is a gifted comic actor. Only he
could get laughs from stuff like pouring cold milk on his head to cool
off his overheated brain, or from sitcom-level slapstick as the two
personalites battle in his body, each having separate control of one
hand. Only Campbell could make me laugh as his two brains argue out loud
in a fake Bulgarian restaurant, with fake Bulgarian patrons looking on.
I want steak!... No I don't!...I want vodka!... No I hate vodka!
Bring me scotch!   Can't believe I enjoyed that stuff, but it was silly
enjoyable fun.  The movie does tend to peter out in the last quarter as
the minimal framework starts to give. Raimi's wannabe-Black Bulgarian
grates on the nerves after a while. The ending's a little predicatble. 
 
Screaming Brain doesn't rise to the level of classic camp like Plan 9
From Outer Space or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Still, all in all
it's not the worst movie I've seen, it gave me some laughs, and frankly,
Campbell's camp was much better than some of the serious fare Sci Fi
Channel's put out recently. 
 
 


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[scifinoir2] Nightline study of the Katrin debacle

2005-09-15 Thread Keith Johnson
Just to get you in the mood for Bush's mea culpa speech at 9 pm, Ted
Koppel is currently doing a one hour retrospective of the hurricane
aftermath. His hour-by-hour, day-by-day detailing of this debacle is
even more upsetting than I expected. For example, the mayor himself went
to a command post in a hotel near the Superdome, but his *entire* staff
had only *ONE* laptop to share. It was wireless at least, but when
whatever access point it was using failed, the mayor was effectively
blind and deaf.  His director of IT for the city ended up finding one
Internet enabled line somewhere in the facility, and then had to find a
looted Home Depot, where he scrounged some networking equipment and
managed to McGyver (his words) together a functioning Internet
connection.  The first levee breach was reported at 8:14 am on
Monday--by the National Weather Service. The police, the mayor, FEMA,
Homeland Security--none of them knew the levee had breached for over a
day. By that time the small gap had grown to over 200 feet and the
nightmare was on. At the *same* moment, the deputy FEMA director was on
TV saying New Orleans is not filling up with water like a bowl. The
vast majority of the city is fine.  The governor, at his side, nodded
agreement.


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