Caraccioli

Why is it that recent independent movies insist on leaving you hanging? Is it against the Indie policy to write an ending? I suspect that they think this is a clever way to keep you thinking about their movie and to try to "reflect the open-endedness of real life". But it's not reality, it's not truly an accurate reflection of reality, it's one person or a group of person's perceptions revealed as constructed (or at least semi-constructed) fiction. There are several movies that I would have really liked had they not left me dangling at the end. So now they go from 3 or 4 star NetFlix Ratings to 2 star. (And, for the record, I had the same complaint when I was 14 and The Empire Strikes Back pulled that gag on us. This is a big part of the reason why I consider Star Wars a better movie than TESB. Good stories have an ending (and thus, closure which often leads to the movie having a more accute point.))

Silent, your pic doesn's show up for me for some reason. I want to see a quark. (By which I do not mean a ST character.)

And Face. Don't forget Starbuck. I think Dirk Benedict was born to play the charming slimeball. Truthfully, I think the A-Team is great because it is basically a live-action cartoon. (Hannibal was always my favorite. He did most of the planning.)

I tend to agree. If the topic interests you, you can really get an earful (eyeful?) in the book Canonisation of Daniel Defoe by Furbanks and Owen. I actually blathered on quite extensively on the topic of why Defoe is probably not the author based on my reading of that book in this thread (as user Mission). However, it is still available under the authorship of both Daniel Defoe and Captain Charles Johnson...and since one version is essentially the same as the other, it doesn't matter which one you read as far as I know. Whomever wrote it, it's one of the consummate period books on the topic and should be on the reading list of anyone who's interested in the topic. (Note, however, that several of the stories are actually considered to be fictional, including (alas) the Misson/Caraccioli story.) Three words? Great pirate book

That's sort of been my experience with Key West. (Although I've only been down there during Pirate Daze once - long before I started posting here. I've flown to Key West over a dozen times.) If it hasn't changed, it's about $150 - $200 pretty much fixed to fly a small plane out of most of the larger airports in South/Mid Florida (which is a neat trip in itself - the sky view of the Keys). Balance that with the cost of a rental car... You might think you will want to have a car, but, done right, you really don't need one much once you're there (unless you want to go to new town.) OTOH, as Ol Man From the Sea hints, the drive down (once you get onto Key Largo proper) is pretty cool, especially in a convertible. There's all kinds of little kitschy roadside shops, art galleries and restaurants to distract you if you're not in a hurry. And there's the bridges...(*sigh* Sometimes I'm such an engineer.) And the ocean...

Firefox...come to the dark side.

This is a game (I guess it's a game) where you list something you're working towards explained in two parts. Part first - Near: a small thing you're working on right now. Part second - Far: the overarching end you're trying to get to by completing the "near" part. I guess you should only list one thing, although I haven't a reason to make that a specification of the game, so feel free to ignore it if it makes you happy. I'll start: Near: Building a shelf on wheels to fit in one of the doorways to create a "pantry-effect" and also add a hidden door to the room. (No, I don't know why I'm adding a hidden door to my kitchen - someone suggested it and I just sort of liked the idea.) Far: To create a Delorean-themed kitchen in my house And you?

I like those photo, Shipwreck John. They remind me of a trip I took to the Dry Tortugas...Fort Jefferson was neat and all, but I really liked traipsing among the little sandy spits of land that extended off of the main island. It's sort of interesting to watch your footprints recede behind you as you get further and further from sight of "civilization." (Sorry, no photos. I actually dislike taking pictures without purpose for some reason, so I may not have even had a camera with me.)

...but you didn't explain it.

What? Only Disney had the wherewithal to show us authentic pirate skeletons playing chess! (Actually, if it weren't for Disney, I may never would have been interested in Pirates at all.) (Thanks to Captain Sophia for that photo.)

Still muddling through Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. I am in Chapter V [Recursive Structures and Processes] where I came across one of the best descriptions of renormalization of particle physics I've ever seen. I might even be able to understand muons if they were completely explained in this manner! Oh, I finished JP awhile ago. Started Dave Barry's Tricky Business, from which I expect little. (But I love Dave Barry's writing style and I saw it for cheap.)

Yeah, I think that's another thing I really like about it. It isn't all "gee whiz" sci-fi or "look at this interesting universe populated with bizarre, yet still vaguely human looking, aliens that we've created to mirror the one you live in." (I guess that means no Daggit, huh?) Those bastages! Disc 1 of the first season ends in the middle of an episode involving Starbuck ejecting as her ship is going down! Grr.... Now I have to wait for Netflix. (Funny, so far they are recycling a lot of ideas that I vaguely remember from the original series. I guess the ideas make sense, though. Running out of water, discontent among the civilians and so forth. Gaius and Starbuck?! Eww...doesn't work for me. But I guess that's entertainment.) [bTW, "bastages" is from the pretty entertaining movie Johnny Dangerously - the first show I'm aware of to play with disguised swear words. ["You lousy corksuckers. You have violated my farging rights. Dis somanumbatching country was founded so that the liberties of common patriotic citizens like me could not be taken away by a bunch of fargin iceholes... like yourselves." -Roman Moroni ]

I eschew "eschew" as it often confuses people when you use it. (Many of you may have seen the sign that orders the reader to, "Eschew obfuscation!") I remember the word that means a word sounds like what it is describing! Onomatopoeia - a word or grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, and thus suggests its source object, such as “bang”, “click”, "buzz" or "pop" or animal such as “moo”, “oink”, “quack” or “meow" Huh. It sounds nothing like what it means to me.

I have no idea, but nearly as creepy looking as the butterfly. The top thing looks like praying hands, which is where I suspect the Catholic guesses are coming from, but the overall object looks vaguely Middle-Eastern in design to me for some reason. And what is that white sack on the left hand side? It looks like a teabag or a cocoon or something. What an interesting object you've chosen! It does have a purpose outside of pure ornamentation (or 'Art'), right?

*bump* I am so close.

Being rich is not always equal to being successful either... I never said it was. It's just a frequently used marker for success in Western society, albeit sometimes erroneously. (Wealth does often follows personal success, mastery and the discovery of personal, truly meaningful work.) However, my point is that most wealthy people are not at all like what you think they are. This is why I suggested those books - they're based on statistical studies of hundreds of millionaires in this country by the author. The results were extremely interesting and quite contrary to the popular image of the media-presented prototypical "rich person". Also note that neither wealth nor success necessarily equate with happiness. As for lottery winners...you can't very well keep what you haven't learned how to manage. The same thing goes for heirs (spoiled rich kids) and so forth. Managing wealth is a skill that must be learned like any other skill. Now this isn't to say that a lottery winner or heir can't learn what is required to manage great wealth. However, it seems to be more of an exception than a rule from my reading and observation.

Well that would make it your turn, even though we weren't playing a game at that point. My current picture (which it surprises me that not one of you *huge* self-proclaimed Barbossa fans recognized) is Barbossa's ring. Something I read on the net regarding the ring... (I read it on the internet, so it must be true!) "Long story short, this particular ring [that Captain Jack wore in POTC:CotBP] had to be taken to a jeweler and molded, then reproduced for the stuntman (Tony Angelotti) to wear [in second unit shots] as well. They sold the stuntman's ring on E-bay a few years back. Funny thing is, Geoffry Rush then said "Hey -- why don't I get a ring too?" So the jeweler had to custom make make Barbossa's ring for him, while Jack's ring was just something Johnny had lying around." Anyhow...take it away, PirateSSe!

The Post-It note is an example I frequently use in some of my success trainings. Art Fry came up with the idea while trying to figure out how to keep the bookmarks from falling out of his songbook at choir practice. He had seen a glue that Spencer Silver had invented that allowed two pieces of paper to stick together but to also be easily pulled apart...and then re-stuck. Fry got the idea of spraying it on his bookmarks for his songbook. When it worked, he started using it on slips of paper in his office to stick notes on his cubical wall. Other people saw it and asked him to make them up for them as well. Pretty soon, 3M execs got curious about the line of people hanging around Art Fry's cubical... (It's a little more complex than that, but that's the gist of it.) Fry did pretty well off that little invention and now gives lectures and presentations on creativity. BTW, being rich is not equal to being evil. Most millionaires are not the sorts of people you see portrayed in movies and on TV that drive expensive cars and live in big houses. In fact, it's frequently the opposite - those people are often living well beyond their means through the magic of extended credit. In fact, there's someone on this very board whom I believe has skillfully planned their route to riches and is far from the much-touted "evil rich person" bill of goods we've all been sold. Read The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind for more info if you're interested.

I was reading about Doris Christopher, founder of the Pampered Chef in IBD this morning and was moderately inspired by her story of modern success. It reminded me of this discussion, so I am splitting this mutant discussion out and starting a new thread. Excerpted from the March 22nd, 2007 IBD, "Her Home Cookin' Pays Dividends " by Kathleen McKernan in the Leaders & Success Section, p. A3: "When her youngest daughter started school, Pampered Chef founder Doris Christopher had a problem. She wanted to work again so she and her husband could afford their two daughters' college education. At the same time, she wanted flexible hours so she could be home when Julie and Kelley left for school and returned. She didn't want to work holidays, weekends or nights, and she wanted to have time to do volunteer work and to care for her daughters if they got sick. Her husband told her that the kind of job she wanted didn't exist; her requirements to own her own time made her unemployable. Faced with this challenge, Christopher realized what she had to do: She cooked up her own business, one in which she could work on her terms and from home. Christopher had a bachelor's degree in home economics and had taught in schools and through county extension offices. She enjoyed cooking and realized that many of her friends didn't know about or have the kind of tools that made cooking fun, plus quick and easy. She wanted to help her family, but she also wanted to help other women enjoy mealtimes with their families as much as she did. With $3,000 borrowed from a life insurance policy, she bought kitchen tools and aimed to show other women how to use them through home parties - following the direct sales model. At first, she stored all her inventory in her basement, and most of the home parties took place in basements of other homemakers. From those humble beginnings in basements all around suburban Chicago, The Pampered Chef was getting warm. That $3,000 in 1980 was the first and only outside cash infusion to the business. As it turned out, that was just chicken feed. By 2002, when Berkshire Hathaway bought the company, The Pampered Chef's sales were over $700 million."

I just saw Monster House last night (which I enjoyed far more than I thought I would) and there were some decent quotes that I thought I'd share. (In shock) "I've just... murdered a guy!" "Naw... when it's an accident, it's called manslaughter." "Oh gross! Whatever disease you guys have I'm sure its got letters and that they make pills for it." "I paid 28 dollars for that ball! I had to mow ten lawns and ask my mom for a dollar 26 times!" The almost tuneless song the little girl on the tricycle was singing in the beginning was neat. I may get the CD just so I put it on my iPod. (I have a playlist called "Happy" - it'll fit right in. )

I'll bite. (This one's about the size of my cat... ) I want to see an interesting photo taken from a very high place. (For those of you who aren't aware of it, Google Image Search might be a wonderful tool for this game.)

I read in Investor's Business Daily that they're considering passing a law to tax the stuff you buy in those types of games. Bizarre...

Actually I switched mainly because I've had several mail accounts with mail.com for a long time. In the past three or four years, they developed an affinity for showering users with pop-ups and pop-unders. (Say, what, exactly, is the benefit of a pop-under over a pop-up? I'm just curious...) I used an IE add-on for awhile to get rid of them, but the pop-up writers always seemed to find a way around the add-on, even with upgrades. This is why my friend recommended Firefox. Now, no pop-ups. So, for me, it's as good as IE, only better because it doesn't crash (so far - something IE used to do to me from time to time without warning ("Send a report to Microsoft?")) and I no longer get multiple pop-ups at mail.com (again, so far). My friend (who works in the field) says this is because Firefox is better written to handle such problems.

I've noticed that as well, but being a web developer means you're either stuck working with it or you have to ignore it. Which is the case regardless of what you actually use. Just like Patrick uses Netscape - you have to think about Netscape too! (Heck, some people are probably still using SlipKnot. ("Upgrade?! Never!")