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BiggerBoat  "Pass me the harpoon"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 15:11:46
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quote: Originally posted by Salopian
I'm currently in the interval of a film and a couple have so far talked quite loudly all the way through. I'm trying to build up the nerve to say "Would you please shut the fuck up or fuck the fuck off?"! Now that it's the intermission, they are whispering, of course. 
Do it. At best you'll feel like this and the worst that can happen is , but it would be worth it. |
Edited by - BiggerBoat on 01/22/2009 15:12:07 |
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turrell  "Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 16:59:47
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quote: Originally posted by Salopian
I'm currently in the interval of a film and a couple have so far talked quite loudly all the way through. I'm trying to build up the nerve to say "Would you please shut the fuck up or fuck the fuck off?"! Now that it's the intermission, they are whispering, of course. 
Do all films in London have intermissions? It seems a pity not to see the film in a single sitting as undoubtedly the director would have intended - even a very long film if well made can keep me in the seats for 3 or 4 hours straight... |
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BaftaBaby  "Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 17:29:18
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quote: Originally posted by turrell
Do all films in London have intermissions? It seems a pity not to see the film in a single sitting as undoubtedly the director would have intended - even a very long film if well made can keep me in the seats for 3 or 4 hours straight...
NO! They don't. Except really really really long films and then prob'ly only in London. I'll bet Sal's watching a double-bill.
What Europe does have are a string of commercials before the coming attractions, which helps keeps prices down. I was very surprised when I first came over here in 1968 to see them, but have managed to get used to them. Also, because some very established directors are often used, some of them are excellent. At the moment there's a spectacularly funny series for Orange mobile phones - that's cells to you! - which feature really well-known actors trying to pitch unlikely scripts to a panel of funders - all exceptionally funny comic performers like Steve Furst. The current one is Dennis Hopper, before that were Angelica Huston and Rob Lowe, etc. They may be on YouTube. Hope this helps BB - the other one
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 01/22/2009 17:30:04 |
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Sal[Au]pian  "Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 17:55:22
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It was a Bollywood film and they always have intervals.
The Orange segments are switch-off-your-mobile messages right before the film and they are excellent. The conceit is that people are pitching for the company to fund their films and it always wants to impose stupid ideas -- "Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie." The head honcho is hilarious.
The earlier adverts are often very high quality and they allow people to be late without being a nuisance. It had never occurred to me that not every country had them. |
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MguyX  "X marks the spot"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 19:19:05
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I know you guys are desperately trying to hijack this thread (and your efforts are admirable!), but I just saw this on the Associated Press:
Obama signs order to close Guantanamo in a year.
Who reneged on what promise????
Oh sweetness: thy name is gloating!  |
Edited by - MguyX on 01/22/2009 20:05:36 |
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Sal[Au]pian  "Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 19:39:06
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| Yes, yes, you've said that about ten times now. So, when is the United States going to give the land back to Cuba? |
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MguyX  "X marks the spot"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 20:12:37
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Signed by the 1903 Cuban government that owed its creation to Washington, the lease for Guantanamo stipulated that it would not expire until both countries agree to its termination. The current Cuban government demanded on March 5, 1959, that Washington end its occupation in Guantanamo province. But Washington has continued to "rent" the land, originally paying $2000 a year in gold and now sending $4,085 in the form of a yearly check that Havana has not cashed since 1959.
excerpt from Jane Franklin's essay "Through The Looking Glass In Guantanamo"
As soon as the lease expires.  |
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turrell  "Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 20:19:49
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Seems fair - just because the Castro brothers don't like us there - despite the fact that we got them the hook up in the first place. $4,000 seems a pretty fair deal. (in gold - what is that a few ounces?)
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turrell  "Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 20:23:07
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quote: Originally posted by Salopian
Yes, yes, you've said that about ten times now. So, when is the United States going to give the land back to Cuba?
I heard we were waiting for the Argentinian military to become strong enough to drive the white devils out of the Falklands before we risked such a thing. |
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MguyX  "X marks the spot"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 20:35:04
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(you freakin' clever MBA, you!)  |
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BiggerBoat  "Pass me the harpoon"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 23:15:06
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I've just realised. Obama is going to be the real life version of 'My name is Earl.'
"#1 on the list: Dismantle Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo wasn't going to be easy to sort out and, heck, I didn't even know where I was going to house those enemy combatants, but I figured that once I started dismantling it, good things would start happening..."  |
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Sal[Au]pian  "Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 23:21:07
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quote: Originally posted by BiggerBoat
I've just realised. Obama is going to be the real life version of 'My name is Earl.'
"#1 on the list: Dismantle Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo wasn't going to be easy to sort out and, heck, I didn't even know where I was going to house those enemy combatants, but I figured that once I started dismantling it, good things would start happening..." 
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duh  "catpurrs"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 23:29:07
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quote: Originally posted by BiggerBoat
I've just realised. Obama is going to be the real life version of 'My name is Earl.'
"#1 on the list: Dismantle Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo wasn't going to be easy to sort out and, heck, I didn't even know where I was going to house those enemy combatants, but I figured that once I started dismantling it, good things would start happening..."
OK, big laugh here! |
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duh  "catpurrs"
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Posted - 01/22/2009 : 23:59:04
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quote: Originally posted by BaftaBabe
quote: Originally posted by duh Improper Username
I hope the following will make sense
> What angers me is that no politician ever makes plain the connection between military budgets that depend on fomenting wars and conflicts - >
What I'm puzzled about is how a military budget depends on fomenting wars and conflicts. It seems to me that a military budget's purpose is to fund protection of the country.
The budget of the Kansas National Guard includes helping the citizenry during natural disasters, such as the aftermath of the infamous tornado damaage of Greensburg. Kansas Guardsmen went to Louisiana to help people during Katrina. They even drop hay to cattle stranded in blizzards, to help the ranchers.
The Kansas Guard has been helping farmers in Afghanistan, and my husband is part of an agriculture team that will be going over there soon. Much of that country's ability to feed itself and to get its crops to market was harmed by the Soviet scorched earth practices.
The military gives a lot of young people who might be unable to afford it otherwise, opportunities to get job training and experience.
Like any human institution, the US military isn't perfect and within any unit you will find some parts that function better than others. It has a culture that recognizes its own flaws and is continually trying to improve.
The best boss I ever had was, in addition to his job as head of audiovisual production in Kansas State University Extension, a colonel in the Kansas National Guard. He trained every student staff artist such as myself, in every aspect of the office so thoroughly that any one of us could have done his job for him.
He built up our morale and helped us to function as a team and to laugh and play together as well as work together. Having a boss with that management style really spoiled me. (Eventually, I married his son, and we've been married for 28 years.)
We don't see the contemporary US military depicted realistically very often in films. Usually, military officers are shown as violence and power seeking morons, and that is so far from the truth.
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Sean  "Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 01/24/2009 : 07:03:42
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quote: Originally posted by duh Improper Username
quote: Originally posted by BaftaBabe What angers me is that no politician ever makes plain the connection between military budgets that depend on fomenting wars and conflicts -
What I'm puzzled about is how a military budget depends on fomenting wars and conflicts. It seems to me that a military budget's purpose is to fund protection of the country.
Obviously that can't be the case, if it was there would be no wars. Although I accept that this is the standard reason fed to the masses for the existence of a military budget.quote: The Kansas Guard has been helping farmers in Afghanistan, and my husband is part of an agriculture team that will be going over there soon. Much of that country's ability to feed itself and to get its crops to market was harmed by the Soviet scorched earth practices.
The Soviets left Afghanistan 20 years ago. I hadn't heard that there were any significant lasting effects of their military action on horticulture and transport - 20 years later. Do you have any references that I can read about this?quote: The military gives a lot of young people who might be unable to afford it otherwise, opportunities to get job training and experience.
This is certainly true, but this is simply a case of spending taxpayer funds on job training. Those funds could equally be spent on the same training without going through the military's bank accounts, and without the recipient of such training being beholden to the military to be used when required for invasions and occupations of foreign countries.quote:
Like any human institution, the US military isn't perfect and within any unit you will find some parts that function better than others. It has a culture that recognizes its own flaws and is continually trying to improve.
It's a shame that for the last 8 years their Commander in Chief didn't recognise his own flaws, which would have prevented him from embarking on futile invasions of foreign countries based on fictitious threats and fabricated intelligence. If it's fundamentally flawed at the top, then smaller flaws lower down don't really matter...quote:
We don't see the contemporary US military depicted realistically very often in films. Usually, military officers are shown as violence and power seeking morons, and that is so far from the truth.
I'm aware that British mercenaries in Iraq have respect for the motives of US forces, but nothing but contempt for their level of knowledge. Most US soldiers in Iraq don't have a clue why they're there. Oh yeah, it's "'cos they did 9/11 and so we don't have to fight them in the USA"... |
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