Jon in Pasadena

Have you by chance been bitten by any mosquitoes lately? Chills & sweating are classic symptoms of malaria which would be really uncommon here in the US -- but not unheard of for those of us who travel to dubious places on occasion. Also - West Nile Virus is another mosquito-borne possibility. It can cause painfully swollen lymph glands in the throat (can't swallow) as well as disorientation, tremors, fever and assorted other symptoms. I'd ask about these if I were you. Good luck.

Sorry if it's already been discussed but I found this article rather interesting, considering recent events. Check the date.

While I agree with your main premise that EFX movies usually suck, I must point out that you are blaming entirely the wrong people here. As someone who frequently works with the aforementioned geeks, I can assure you that blaming them for the plot (or lack thereof) of the feature is like blaming the Buffalo Bills' waterboy for the team passing 40+ times in a row on 3rd and short. The geeks just create the EFX that their producers request from them. The people you want to be blaming are the studios for refusing to greenlight anything but EFX-heavy formulaic crap, and most of all the sheepish hordes of filmgoers who keep on buying tickets to go see EFX-heavy formulaic crap. Directors who attempt to distract us from their lack of skill by letting their visual EFX supervisors run hog-wild don't help the matter much either.

They let Newfies make doctors? That is sick! Seriously, that was one sad fugged up story.

Simon, Have I ever told you how much I think you fuggin rock ? 'Cuz I do. Really. I mean, I love ya' man. Uh, in a totally macho and definitely really really straight way, that is.

Not where I work they ain't...

Well these guys seem legit, although their selection is both limited and IMHO highly questionable: tra-la-la Old McDonald?

Takamine Classical. About 25 years old now and sounds very nice. Not bad for a guitar I got for free. Random Jap Strat sunburst knockoff. Not too bad actually, but I busted it and haven't fixed it yet... Gibson Sonex. Worst.Guitar.Ever. I can get better sounds out of folding a piece of tracing paper over a comb and making my mouth go "brrrrrrrzzzzz". Thanks for reminding me I need to get rid of this POS. No amp at present. Love the old marshall plexi superleads. Maybe I'll get one when I get a bigger house...

Better be young and in shape for this one...

OMG! Soooooo many possibilities for this one....what to play first: Led Zep - "Whole Lotta Love" VH - "OU812" Blondie - "Eat to the Beat" Tubes - "Don't Touch me There" The mind boggles......

While there is some truth to these remarks, I would contend that they are not completely fair or accurate. Certainly racism has been from ancient times deeply ingrained in the Japanese people (who considered themselves to be members of a single huge tribe, which is basically accurate). Obviously this has had some tragic consequences, historically, both for themselves and many of their Asian neighbors, not to mention a whole lot of U.S. servicemen. As you say, there are still some "Japanese only" establishments. However-- these days they are becoming BY FAR much less common. Sentiment IS changing. Change is not instantaneous, especially in a society far more conservative and homogeneous than our own. Things take time. (In my lifetime there were "white-only" establishments right here in the wonderful U.S.A. There's still places where you can get killed for being the wrong color, etc. ) It is certainly untrue to say that 100% of Japanese care nothing for anyone but themselves. I have seen plenty of evidence of good things that they have accomplished elsewhere in the world. In (north) Vietnam, over by the Laos border, there's a little farming community that I stopped in. To my surprise, they had a top-notch bridge over the river. When I inspected the base of the bridge, I found a small plaque indicating that it was a Japanese foreign assistance project. In Uzbekistan, there are Japanese agricultural experts helping the local farmers to learn modern farming techniques to increase the productivity of their land. In the Rif mountains of Morocco, there is a hospital founded and staffed entirely by Japanese. The local Berbers and Arabs love them and raved to me about how compassionate and caring they were. These are just a few examples; it's easy to find many more. The younger generation of Japanese is much more interested in the outside world than were their parents or grandparents. I know many, many Japanese who have ventured out into the outside world to engage it constructively. The number of international marriages in Japan is increasing quite a bit. There's actually a bit of a craze right now for other cultures, especially for (formerly despised) Korea. Now if only the government would swallow its pride and finally deal with the WWII reparations issue once and for all. That's still a big thorn in their side.

D, The People's Republic of Berzerkly hasn't been part of California for a loooonnnggg time now.....

Corruption in the Big Easy? Say it ain't so...

For me "sweet" implies a combination of accurate, good stopping power, won't jam on you, easy to disassemble/clean, fits well in my hand, not too heavy (or too light), reasonable capacity mag. My wife can shoot the same gun as I can which is nice. Although it pisses me off when she outshoots me. I took firearm safety and shooting classes from a retired FBI agent who trained the local police force and we used the same firing range as the cops use. Even though I live in a horrible state (California) for law-abiding gun owners, there are still several indoor and outdoor ranges within easy driving distance from my house, ammo store 2 blocks away, etc. Most states are better & have more ranges.

So how do you like the .45 Glock? I have the baby .40 (G23) and it is sweet.

Whoops, that was me. Way to support the saggin greenback, AD!

"We Close Our Eyes" by Oingo Boingo

Interesting. According to the letter of Ohio's law, it would seem that as long as you plan, in good faith, to be in another county on that day, you could apply for, and should be approved for, absentee voter status. Here's California's info about obtaining permanent absentee voting status: It really is pretty different from state to state.

"In fact" you're wrong. The rules on absentee ballots are up to the individual states. Here in California any registered voter may request an absentee ballot for any reason (or actually for no reason, since there's not even a place to write in a reason). You just call up your county clerk's office and request an application be sent to you. Fill it out, send it back, and for the rest of your life, as long as you vote in all eligible elections and keep your mailing address current they'll send you out an absentee ballot about three weeks before the election. (Caveat: I only speak from personal experience on this about LA County, as I didn't know about voting absentee when I lived up in Nevada County). As to why people do it? There are many reasons, and I don't presume to judge others. I personally think it would be rather stupid for me to wait in line all day to accomplish exactly the same thing that can be done in 5 minutes by licking a stamp. I guess I'd rather be thought of as lazy than stupid. If I want to demonstrate "sacrifice" or something I can find more meaningful ways of doing it than missing work, clogging traffic, and waiting in a polling line.

I actually had no idea what a hot pocket was until I read this thread. Never had one and probably never will. They sound nasty.

Anyone of any gender preference who signs a blanket statement like that one deserves what he/she/it gets!

Oh I definitely agree with that. Maybe I should have written "for amusement purposes only"

Try taking this quiz; you might be surprised by the results. (Or perhaps not. I wasn't.) DISCLAIMER: this concerns religious beliefs so don't hurt yourselves.... Quiz

Thanks, Jester! He be a holy terror though....I lost 10 pounds already chasing that little bugger. Loved your story BTW. I actually have quite a few I can't tell yet due to statutes of limitations not expired yet and so forth... B)

Which means that the more you drive, the more you like Bush? (Bonus points to anyone able to unravel that silly-gism.