quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Yes, that idea has been bouncing around for a couple of years. I always find it interesting when someone takes a one-off and makes it dramatically more popular than the original, only to have the first guy come back and try to reclaim it. Sure, he came up with the original idea, but then he dropped it, and wants to simultaneously piggyback on the fame created by others while disavowing their contribution.
Tsk tsk.
Yup. Also, if it only goes one place, the scope is too limited to make even another movie all that appealing, let alone anything further.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Yes, that idea has been bouncing around for a couple of years. I always find it interesting when someone takes a one-off and makes it dramatically more popular than the original, only to have the first guy come back and try to reclaim it. Sure, he came up with the original idea, but then he dropped it, and wants to simultaneously piggyback on the fame created by others while disavowing their contribution.
Tsk tsk.
Yup. Also, if it only goes one place, the scope is too limited to make even another movie all that appealing, let alone anything further.
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Yes, that idea has been bouncing around for a couple of years. I always find it interesting when someone takes a one-off and makes it dramatically more popular than the original, only to have the first guy come back and try to reclaim it. Sure, he came up with the original idea, but then he dropped it, and wants to simultaneously piggyback on the fame created by others while disavowing their contribution.
Tsk tsk.
Yup. Also, if it only goes one place, the scope is too limited to make even another movie all that appealing, let alone anything further.
It doesn't even make sense. Why would they have to figure out the address or the point of origin if it was merely a door between two places? Address doesn't matter if you can only go one place. And it's also a little hard to believe that with space ships, they only found one other planet worth colonizing, and that place was a desert wasteland.
It seems pretty obvious that it must go other places. From a technical standpoint though, I never got the seventh symbol as a point of origin though. There are only so many symbols on the gate, and they've been to way, way more planets than there are symbols.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Yes, that idea has been bouncing around for a couple of years. I always find it interesting when someone takes a one-off and makes it dramatically more popular than the original, only to have the first guy come back and try to reclaim it. Sure, he came up with the original idea, but then he dropped it, and wants to simultaneously piggyback on the fame created by others while disavowing their contribution.
Tsk tsk.
Yup. Also, if it only goes one place, the scope is too limited to make even another movie all that appealing, let alone anything further.
It doesn't even make sense. Why would they have to figure out the address or the point of origin if it was merely a door between two places? Address doesn't matter if you can only go one place. And it's also a little hard to believe that with space ships, they only found one other planet worth colonizing, and that place was a desert wasteland.
I honestly never thought about that, but you're right. Seems like a pretty big plot hole.
quote:It seems pretty obvious that it must go other places. From a technical standpoint though, I never got the seventh symbol as a point of origin though. There are only so many symbols on the gate, and they've been to way, way more planets than there are symbols.
I'm not a big math person, but somebody should do the math on that, just to see.
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quote: Originally posted by Lyrhawn: It seems pretty obvious that it must go other places. From a technical standpoint though, I never got the seventh symbol as a point of origin though. There are only so many symbols on the gate, and they've been to way, way more planets than there are symbols.
I'm not a big math person, but somebody should do the math on that, just to see.
Forget the math. It makes no sense in the first place. It's like me addressing a letter to someone in Canada, and adding USA on the last line, after the complete Canadian address.
You need six points to define/describe a unique 3-dimensional location. The 7th makes no sense; either the point of origin should have its own 6-point identifier (which it does, when going TO there), or it shouldn't have to be specified at all.
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I think the footnote is speculation anyway. AFAIK, in SG1 they only had the one offworld gate prop and they also usually re-used the same DHD prop from episode to episode.
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Blayne Bradley
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I believe the point was so that the DHD's could keep track of gate activation which couldn't be done without a DHD so it was required to dial with the dialing computer.
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For the footnote to make sense, there would have to be millions of different glyphs. We've never seen that many.
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quote:Originally posted by Mucus: I think the footnote is speculation anyway.
I think it's actually semi-canonic, but it doesn't matter, because it doesn't make sense!
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: AFAIK, in SG1 they only had the one offworld gate prop
Two physical props (one complete and one partial) and frequent CG ones, especially in the last few seasons.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: For the footnote to make sense, there would have to be millions of different glyphs. We've never seen that many.
And gates work when moved to a new location, but the the POO glyph doesn't stay the same.
The seventh symbol requirement makes absolutely no sense. Someone thought it was a cool/clever puzzle, and we're stuck with it, but all the after-the-fact apologetics in the world can't get around the simple fact that it does not make any sense. It never did.
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The 8th symbol doesn't work for the exact same reason. There are thousands of galaxies, and having a single glyph stand for each galaxy makes no sense, especially when they're actually seeding random galaxies with random gates. There's no way for the gates to know where one glyph goes, and apparently there aren't six glyphs to pinpoint the galaxy's point in space.
This is especially true when, as you say, gates can be moved. If there are a million glyphs for each theoretical point, then certain gates could only ever work on 36 different planets.
Oh the hell with it...::puts on first disc of season 1 dvd and hits play::
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Once you get to the end of Season 4 of Babylon 5, you're pretty much done. Just jump ahead and watch the series finale that was originally the Season 4 finale and you're good to go.
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Heck, these days, I don't even watch season 1 anymore. Once you watch it once, you never need to do it again. The main bulk of the story and character arcs are in 2-4.
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Still watching SG1, Lyr? I'm roughly 1/3 through S3. Just skipped Deadman's Switch (which I find mostly annoying). So now it's time for medieval English and witch burning! Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'm rewatching SGU, and I'm finding it surprisingly more impressive than the first time around.
From Rush's time in the chair, reliving his wife's final days before dying of cancer or realizing that when they thought they were going to die by flying straight into a sun Grier decided to face the end by undressing and staring out the window.
It helps knowing how Eli's character changes by the end of the series.
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Still watching SG1, Lyr? I'm roughly 1/3 through S3. Just skipped Deadman's Switch (which I find mostly annoying). So now it's time for medieval English and witch burning!
I'm a third of the way through S4. I just finished Window of Opportunity, which might be my all time favorite episode. It's right up there with The Fifth Race.
I'm skipping a bit here and there, but I was surprised by how much of S3 I didn't skip. There are a lot of great episodes in that season.
I suspect we aren't skipping the same episodes though. I think Deadman Switch is a great funny episode, and I skipped Demons. And Urgo is one of my favorites, but I seem to recall you having a special place of hatred for it.
As I'm watching, I don't see how they could possibly remake this and make it better, or even as good. The only thing that would likely be better is the graphics.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I'm a third of the way through S4. I just finished Window of Opportunity, which might be my all time favorite episode. It's right up there with The Fifth Race.
Agreed with you on both of those.
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I'm skipping a bit here and there, but I was surprised by how much of S3 I didn't skip. There are a lot of great episodes in that season.
Yeah, S3 has a bunch of great ones.
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I suspect we aren't skipping the same episodes though. I think Deadman Switch is a great funny episode, and I skipped Demons. And Urgo is one of my favorites, but I seem to recall you having a special place of hatred for it.
Yeah. No accounting for your taste.
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: As I'm watching, I don't see how they could possibly remake this and make it better, or even as good. The only thing that would likely be better is the graphics.
quote:Originally posted by T:man: Are they cutting personnel from every branch?
I'm looking into joining the coast guard, and that doesn't really sound good for me.
Yes. But you'll be fine as long as you...
1) Don't get wounded or hurt in any way. This includes getting diagnosed with something.
2) Make sure you research your career field and pick one that is in high demand. A lot of jobs are getting cut because they have too many people in them. My job happens to be one of those, which means if I stay in, I'll have to pick a new field to work in.
3) Be OK with doing a lot of extra work that was previously spread out. The whole military is cutting its numbers, but the work those people are doing doesn't just go away. It has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is you.
4) Know that going in, everything your recruiter is telling you either bends the truth or is a flat-out lie. These guys are paid to get you to sign, and it is all a numbers game, just like in any sales job. Have you ever noticed that all of them are typically attractive or in shape? There's a reason for that. They have to be able to sell this thing to you, and it has to sound amazing. Don't listen to anything they say. My recruiter actually told me that my job was something completely different from what it actually ended up being (he said it was an Intel Network Security job when it was actually just Tech Support). I was a fool and took him at his word, and then I discovered (when it was too late) that everything he'd told me was a lie.
If you want to know more, I wrote a blog entry called "Six Things You Really Need To Know Before Joining the Military". None of what I've just told you is mentioned in this blog, so it shouldn't be redundant. Maybe it will shed some light on it for you. Just keep in mind that I wrote it from an Air Force enlisted perspective. It could be drastically different in the other branches.
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I misread that post. I thought he was asking if they were taking Coast Guard folks into SG service. They have Marines and Air-Force. Atlantis could have used the Coast Guard.
That's what they need to make--SG42. The last SG Team. Consists of the not-brightest scientists, some Coast Guard drop outs, and a couple of nephews of Senator Brand's who are useless type nerds. They go out and have silly adventures.
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Speaking of SG-1, I'm currently in season 2, episode 10 (Bane). I've been really enjoying the show, much more than I did as a kid (although I liked it back then, too).
Being in the Air Force has allowed me to appreciate it on a different kind of level (the uniforms, the ranks, medals, terms, etc, which I'd never really understood before). I've noticed a few abnormal things about that stuff here and there, but for the most part they are pretty spot-on with the way they portray the branch. It just adds to the fun, I suppose.
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quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: Speaking of SG-1, I'm currently in season 2, episode 10 (Bane).
That would be one I skipped.
quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: I've noticed a few abnormal things about that stuff here and there, but for the most part they are pretty spot-on with the way they portray the branch.
Considering they had an on-set AF adviser for all or most of the series' filming, I would hope so.
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From what I understand so long as North Korea doesn't significantly escalate tensions beyond their current salami tactics the United States will not start World War III or military unilaterally engage North Korea.
1) The United States cannot afford it unless it is a vital interest. 2) It would harm world economy. 3) Would not possess unaninimous support.
Assuming its just another incident like the Norks bombarding an uninhabited island or randomly shooting across the DMZ, if it ain't an invasion it ain't a threat to world peace.
Afterall I would consider Iran to have significantly crossed the line in actuality that Iraq we only pretended to believed had crossed and the US isn't doing anything beyond supporting terrorist attacks on Iran.
Is Iran more likely to be the next confict? Yes, if some combination of Isreal doing an osirik style strike (not logistically probably but it might happen), Iran getting the bomb, or Iran providing a bomb to Hezbollah; blocking the straights,etc. It would take a significant escalationary type of event before a conflict would erupt.
Not to say there aren't tensions, things are pretty intense (like camping) right now with iran making noises about blocking the straights and the sanctions damaging Iran's economy and the ratcheting rhetoric etc. But rapid troop redeploymentsand increased arms shipments to Hezbollah aren't crossing the line before US military intervention becomes required.
What makes the situation much more uncertain is the power struggle in Iran right now between the different factions, the Revolutionary Guards, the Supreme leader and the office of the President; moderates vs hardliners, etc, its very chaotic from what I hear so that's why we get the inconsistent stances and messages from iran's leadership and mouthpieces that borders on shizophrenic.
Now interesting question, I actually believe this argument is bullshit but I'll bring it up anyways:
Do anyone believe that the embargo on Iran falls under the category of 'collective punishment' and illegal under international law?
Argument here:
quote: Yes. If you ship embargoed goods, perform financial transactions for, or are involved with any company that does these things and the government can prove you did it knowingly, your ass is trash and US companies are not allowed to do business with you.
The financial transactions is a particularly big one. Iran is now having problems because no one is allowed to take payment for the grain that is being shipped to them, and naturally no one will deliver until they're paid. Thus, the sanctions are starving citizens, and yet no one has any expectation that this will hurt the leaders in the slightest, only that it might piss people off enough to revolt and overthrow their leaders (hint: it won't, it gives them yet another reason to hate the Evil Empire).
If these rules result in people starving, which is the stated intention (to cause "hate and discontent at the street level" and "regime collapse"), then they're working entirely as intended and it should be viewed as such whether or not President Obama flies Air Force One to Tehran and physically takes bread out of people's mouths.
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If you consider the ability to eat in a world that wastes as much food as we do a human necessity, and the country doing the boycott explicitly enacts policies that forceably shut down other countries ability to export food thus shrinking the number of food exporters any single country can work with, and then shut down a country's trade with the people that feed them leading to food supply shocks, then yes, those people who are now living through food supply shocks are having their human rights violated.
This is less a trading scenario and more of a hostage taking scenario that is being done in attempt to overthrow a nation's government. The US is trying to corner people into starvation in an attempt to subvert the people's ability to choose their way of life. If that isn't human rights abuse, then the words become meaningless.
If we were at war with Iran, this would fall under the collective punishment clauses and would be illegal. In a sane world, attempted social destruction would constitute an act of war and these sanctions would be intensely illegal right out of the box.
The people making these posts, and I direct this to Rakeesh, if its any consolation over our past disagreements, *are* in fact who even *I* would consider to be anti American pro terrorist useful idiots, not that you ever used or implied those words or sentiments to me or anyone, I am just showing that yeah, there's a line even I won't cross; the "give Iran nukes just to spite (ie "counter balance the US") the US" is pretty much the line.
Just in case though you ever did think I happened to be anywhere near the extreme end of leftist geopolitical spectrum, I'm just showing, I'm downright near the damn middle compared to some people on the internet.
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quote:Afterall I would consider Iran to have significantly crossed the line in actuality that Iraq we only pretended to believed had crossed and the US isn't doing anything beyond supporting terrorist attacks on Iran.
Claim all you like that Iraq didn't do enough to justify invasion-there's a case to be made, there. But it did cross, as a question of public record *fact*, multiple really thick dark black lines over a period of years. And we're doing quite a bit more than 'supporting terrorist attacks on Iran'
As for the sitch in Iran, absolutely, much more complex than most Americans (or Europeans, Asians, Africans) credit, you're right.
As for other people, as exasperating and silly as I find some of your arguments (Iraq as 'aggressive war', we only pretended to think Iraq crossed lines), I've always rated you as, y'know, an actual person when it comes to politics and not just a total foaming fanatic, such as the link described.
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quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: 4) Know that going in, everything your recruiter is telling you either bends the truth or is a flat-out lie. These guys are paid to get you to sign, and it is all a numbers game, just like in any sales job. Have you ever noticed that all of them are typically attractive or in shape? There's a reason for that. They have to be able to sell this thing to you, and it has to sound amazing. Don't listen to anything they say. My recruiter actually told me that my job was something completely different from what it actually ended up being (he said it was an Intel Network Security job when it was actually just Tech Support). I was a fool and took him at his word, and then I discovered (when it was too late) that everything he'd told me was a lie.
I want to reply to this: it really depends on your recruiter. I had one recruiter who slung me the standard "it's the greatest thing ever and all your wishes will come true!" line, and another recruiter saw he was losing me fast, so he stepped in and pretty much told me straight up how it would be. The important thing, though, is I didn't trust either of them. I went and researched the MOS I wanted, then made sure my contract specifically stated I would get that MOS.
You can only be fooled by recruiters if you let them fool you, and some of them will try and pressure you into signing a contract right away. This is how a lot of young people get screwed over. Instead, look at all your options (if necessary, ask for a different recruiter who won't pressure you), and spend a few months negotiating your contract before you sign anything.
I went in knowing exactly what to expect, and I haven't been disappointed so far.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I just finished Window of Opportunity, which might be my all time favorite episode.
I hit Window shortly before Shabbos. (Watched it and half of the commentary; had to stop to finish getting ready for Shabbos.)
I'm about to head over to my parents' place for game night (my brother is in town), but I know what I'll be doing when I get home. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I don't think I've ever watched the Stargate commentaries, which is odd because I love DVD commentary. On the whole, is it pretty good?
I just started S5, descending on the dark and hopeless road to Ragnarok (otherwise known as Season 6).
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I don't think I've ever watched the Stargate commentaries
!!!
How else would one know all the funny and amusing backstory stuff?
There are none on S1, S2, S3. After that, watch all the ones with Peter DeLuise with someone (pretty much anyone) else. He's hilarious, but when it's just him talking to himself, it gets rather tedious. Martin Wood is not as good, but is sometimes interesting. Any of the ones with the actors are usually good. Skip ones that have none of the above unless you're really into technical details.
As for S6, I happen to like most of that season. I like Daniel quite a lot, but I liked Jonas too. I never felt it was a loyalty thing either -- Shanks made the choice to leave. (And the choice to come back, as well.)
Anyway, the whole season would be worth it for Abyss alone. That episode is brilliant, in so many ways. Other great S6 episodes: The Other Guys and The Changeling. Many of the rest are quite good as well.
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Why did Michael Shanks leave in the first place? Did he come back because of a failure to find new work?
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quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: Why did Michael Shanks leave in the first place?
I don't think he's ever made a definitive statement (lots of interviews with vague reasons), but the usual story I've heard is that he was tired of the smaller and smaller bits he was getting.
quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: Did he come back because of a failure to find new work?
I suspect it had more to do with the fact that the fan demands to bring him back encouraged the producers to offer Shanks more money. And that he got them to agree to give him meatier parts.
quote:Originally posted by rivka: Skip ones that have none of the above
Oh, oh! Almost forgot. Except if it has Mallozzi & Mullie. They're not only an awesome writing team, they do great commentaries too.
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Just started S6. I think I'm going to finish this season and then go back to where the commentary started and rewatch them, then I'll watch it concurrently afterwards.
I read that on one disc, they make up lyrics to the theme music.
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I just started Season 9. Broke my pledge to go back and watch the commentaries, but I have watched a couple here and there, and starting with Season 9 I'll watch them all. Very informative. The ones with the actors are the best, especially Claudia Black because she's just delightful.
I had no idea that Season 9 was actually supposed to be the pilot of a whole new show, Stargate Command. I wonder what the plot was supposed to be if it didn't involve SG1.
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I do support Israel's right to defend itself against belligerents who openly declare they will destroy them. I also recognize we have a formal agreement with Israel to assist them if they need our help. But if our country has already spent out purse elsewhere, how can we keep this commitment if it does come to war?
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Without us, Israel simply would not exist...but our help to them isn't a suicide pact. Just because they want to attack Iran doesn't mean we help them out. We've paid a heavy price for our support of Israel over the years, and it's a price that by and large I think was well worth it, from a moral as well as strategic point of view.
But attacking Iran is a whole different kettle of fish, and I'm not in favor. Israel simply doesn't have the capability to attack Iran, not without a minor miracle happening, and even then, their weapons are unlikely to fully destroy Iran's nuclear facilities without us supplying them with far more powerful weapons that even then might not totally do the trick. And then the cat's out of the bag. All the while, world oil prices will blast out of control, despite the fact that Iran's total output actually isn't a huge percentage of worldwide production.
I'm fine with giving sanctions more time to work.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I do support Israel's right to defend itself against belligerents who openly declare they will destroy them.
Well, more specifically, there's a number of ways this could shake out, there's self-defence if Iran really attacks Israel first. There's coming to the aid of an ally if Israel attacks Iran, Iran retaliates in self-defence, and the US joins in. There's pre-emptive war on your own behalf, the case having been made for that by President Bush. And then there's pre-emptive war on behalf of someone else, if it is the case that the US attacks first on Israel's behalf.
I guess we'll see which one this turns out to be.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I do support Israel's right to defend itself against belligerents who openly declare they will destroy them.
Well, more specifically, there's a number of ways this could shake out, there's self-defence if Iran really attacks Israel first. There's coming to the aid of an ally if Israel attacks Iran, Iran retaliates in self-defence, and the US joins in. There's pre-emptive war on your own behalf, the case having been made for that by President Bush. And then there's pre-emptive war on behalf of someone else, if it is the case that the US attacks first on Israel's behalf.
I guess we'll see which one this turns out to be.
Setting aside what the US should do about it, I think that the case for Israel initiating a preemptive war is much stronger than ours could ever be.
Assuming they have reasonable intel suggesting a potential threat, the reality is that a surprise attack against the US would be highly unlikely to completely incapacitate us. Even if they destroyed our seat of government, that would still leave many millions of very stunned, angry Americans willing to retaliate.
Israel, by comparison, is extremely vulnerable because of their small size and density. It's even more important for them to take threats seriously, and strike to disable or neutralize threats preemptively, because failure to do so could essentially result in the nation's complete eradication.
Now, I generally support aiding Israel, but I think Lyrhawn's concerns over our reaction (more specifically, our capacity for reaction) are probably justified.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: The Other Guys is one of my favorite episodes.
Just watched that one. So now it's time for Poisoning the Well-- no, it's called Cure the first time.
SGC was one of several options considered after S8, as I recall. Including the ever-discussed feature, which took a few years longer to happen.
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