vincegamer

So who's been to the Gilroy Garlic Fest besides me? The icecream was interesting. Better than expected but still not something I'd keep in the freezer.

I can't view the above, but if it's the same as this one http://www.break.com/articles/houselights.html I'd love to be their neighbor. I'd sit outside my house every night admiring it. Who need TV when you have shiny lights?

The armor she is wearing is called a plastron and it only covers the right side of the chest (note the scales hanging below) because when you duel you stand with your weapon side towards your opponent and the other side can't get hit.

I'm with Eric. It doesn't look so much undead as a baby dragon got in the bandages box. Unfortunately I think a dragon mummy would be tough. Look at mumified birds: the wings are always strapped down to the body. If you're going to do a good mumified dragon, I think it would have to be a wingless kind (and would have to be more covered up).

Nice for the proposed mini cliche contest (severed head entry)

If you enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle - or think you would - then I also recommend Shao Lin Soccer, staring the same guy in a very similar role. If you are unfamiliar with it, it takes a modern sport, Soccer (football to the rest of the world), and a couple of old cliche's of Hong Kong cinema (divided brothers, revenge) and produces something hilarious. Slightly lower budget than KFS, but modern and never quits. Also, if you haven't seen either, see soccer first because KFS makes at least one joke about Shao Lin Soccer.

I used to live right by an onramp to 280 in San Jose (San Tomas expressway exit - across from the Safeway). During morning rushhour you would enter a traffic jam just getting out of the driveway. There was a light at the bottom of the ramp and another at the top of the ramp. It was always fun when a motorcycle cop would park on the ramp. He could just walk over to cars waiting on the ramp and hand them tickets for breaking the anti-gridlock laws (edging into the intersection under a yellow light when there is nowhere to go on the other side). Then for about a month afterward the traffic would be smooth until people forgot, the traffic jammed up again, and the cop showed up to hand out more tickets.

For me the best thing about Netflix when I had it was that I could see old TV shows I couldn't otherwise see. I watched the entire All Creatures Great and Small series. I suspect you could get some classic old Sci-Fi like Quark, Space 1999, original Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers etc. I was looking for Goodies episodes but it doesn't look like more than one or 2 has made it to DVD. Here's the thing: you can get all of the recent releases from the local video store, but how many of those carry the complete Laurel and Hardy or Buster Keaton collection?

Ooooh! What a great idea! I've seen minis come with various heads to choose from. She could come with various animal bodies to choose from!

I was just listening to an interview with a black American painter who recently died - can't remember his name. Anyway, he had done a painting 30+ years ago that made him famous. It was a KKK man raping a black woman. In the interview he was explaining that no one ever understood what he was painting. He said look at the woman. The subject of the painting isn't oppression, it's resistance. The black woman is strong and is going to fight tooth and nail for her rights - not going to let the economic establishment push her around (you were supposed to get this from the pinstripe suit you could make out under the Klan robes).

I read a bit about this too. The maker of the figures has been accused of obtaining the bodies in dubious ways (e.g. buying dead prisoners from the Chinese government) but he denies it of course - there's no proof, but he made some of the work before he started using those consent forms. As to whether it's art, well, the maker wants it to be considered art according to an article I read. Why? Well, it was a cynical article. You see, his patent has run out and other people are now using his method of preservation. When that happened he started doing the body posing and display. If it's art, rather than science/education, then he can claim a copyright, which has much longer protection than patent.

never had it so I can't tell you there. The British Isles have such odd foods: treacle tart, vegimite, bangers and mash, bacon buddy, blood pudding (in the USA, pudding is a sugar and cream dessert - putting blood in it would probably make you ill)

I don't think negative seems harsh at all. Hey, I know, I'll put stuff up for auction on ebay, then send a torn envelope with nothing in it, give a partial refund and I make $$ (sorry, my keyboard doesn't have a pound sign) for absolutely nothing! Anyway, what I would do is message him and say if he refunds you the remaining 2.5 you will leave positive feedback. He might try to refund minus his cost (.6) in which case I'd leave neutral feedback. If he refuses to refund the rest I'd leave negative feedback. (Item lost in shipping due to worst possible packaging, then refused to refund fully).

I have to disagree with you. The buttered popcorn jelly bellies taste quite good. But you have to eat them right. You have to eat nothing but buttered popcorn jelly bellies, with full knowledge of what you are doing. The trouble is when you mix them in with other flavors. Then the reaction in your mouth is almost but not quite a gag reflex. They are nasty when you are going the ultra sweet way and hit butter. I pick them out of mixed bags and save them. Then sometime when I crave something buttery I can eat and enjoy them. Think of it like this. Salmon fillet is good! Ice cream is good! Salmon fillet sunday is bad!

Idolators every one of you!

I try not to use the word should as it implies value. I would fight it if I believed myself in the right. If you think a) the cost of the time off work and stress of the process plus the risk of an increased fine outweigh the benefits of a) the chance of getting out of it or having it reduced plus the benefits of taking part in the American legal system, then don't. If you decide to go, then if at all possible, attend an earlier date just to watch how traffic court works on other people before going before the judge yourself.

Yes, and no. The testimony of the officer carries more weight than your testimony because the officer is considered to be an expert on traffic laws. However, if he isn't there, he can't give testimony. In other words, if it's your word against his, you lose. If it's just your word, you win. You can also win with your word plus corroborating evidence against his word, if you have enough evidence. An affidavit is a sworn statement made out of court, but to use it in court you have lots of requirements that are unlikely to be met - the cop isn't likely to hire a lawyer to explain why he can't be there and to present an affidavit. p.s. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but the definition of coming to a stop used by police is NOT the definition we all use. I would say you stopped if your wheels stopped rolling. The police say you stop if your forward momentum stops long enough for the body of the car to rock back on its suspension.

I have to step in and correct this. One judge once in England said in a case that he would apply a "rule of thumb" and defined it as above. He was making a joke or pun because rule of thumb is a phrase that goes way back further than that. It was a common saying at the time. Rule of thumb has both a metaphysical meaning: the thumb is the ruler of the other fingers as it stands alone and it alone allows gripping etc. It has a physics meaning the ancient Greeks came up with. Take your right hand thumb out. Curl your fingers. A cylindar spinning in the direction you are culring your fingers will generate momentum in the direction of your thumb. There are many such misunderstandings of language that are abused by people trying to be over-PC. Another example is the school that banned the term picnic for an annual function because it came from white supremicists "picking" a "nigger" to lynch. Total BS as it's from the French for eating outdoors! For when it's icy: Slicker than snot on a doorknob

so did you get them yet?

Yup, Gael's is my fave too, though I like the native american stuff. Can't stand the Van Horn sculpt - wrecks a nice concept art.

It was sort of a personal joke. My mom will often mail me something, then call me the next day to see if I got it.

I have never heard of a judge increasing fines if you show up in court. First of all, usually the fine on the ticket is the maximum fine by law. In my experience, showing up usually results in the judge reducing the fine. Also, if you show up and the officer does not, you win. I would try to fight the ticket and apply to get the date changed. Move it to the day after Thanksgiving or something when you think the Cop will be on vacation. Finally, if traffic school is an option to erase the ticket from your record you should definitely do that. Heck, I think everyone should go to traffic school at least once. I learned a ton of fascinating things there.

so did you get them yet? (I'm so excited I think I'll start asking every day)

I'm commenting my way through the Rotten Harvest. I think the movie strip line is great. Would it be possible to move it below the comments though? I hit quick comment, then it refreshes showing my comment and I have to scroll back up through all the other comments to find the "next" thumbnail. It would be nice if it were right there when the screen refreshed.

Though we haven't seen the film, I was thinking "corpse bride" myself.