taksraven

GODAMMIT! I just finished writing a little bit about the death of Ricardo Montalbán, and then I see that THIS has happened. Not good, not good. Patrick Joseph McGoohan (March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) Born in Queens, New York City, but his family moved back to Ireland soon after his birth. (A lot of people don't know that.) Another great legend. He did a lot of work but its The Prisoner that he will rightfully be remembered for. Not only was he the star of the show, he was also the creative force behind it. I'm not going to go on here about how good it was because that would be repeating the correct opinion of others. I will simply say this. If you have not seen the Prisoner series, go and hire it/buy it whatever. It is just brilliant. A cool quote from Patrick: "Mel Gibson will always be Mad Max, and me, I will always be a Number," (Check him out with Mel in Braveheart, another outstanding performance.) RIP Patrick McGoohan. He will be missed. Taksraven

Oh no. He WILL be missed. I remember Nicholas Meyer talking about Ricardo in the Star Trek II commentary and he says that he essentially asked Montalbán why he had not done more artistic things in his career like Shakespeare. Montalbán apparently answered that such opportunities were not commonly available to people of Hispanic origin in the early part of his career. I also like this bit from his Wikipedia page..... "There were some questions initially as to whether Montalbán had prosthetic muscles applied to his chest during filming of Star Trek II to make him appear more muscular, on account of his being over 60 years old at the time. Montalbán and others associated with the production of Star Trek II have disputed this, most notably Leonard Nimoy in his book I Am Spock, citing the fact that he was always physically active and worked out regularly, and those really were his muscles. The theory that those chest muscles were Montalban's own is furthered by an episode of the Biography series about him, in which both William Shatner and Montalban's son say Ricardo worked out strenuously to achieve that look. Film clips and shots throughout the episode bolster these claims, as they evidence a man in fine physical shape even into the 1970s." I know that there was a LOT more to his career than his two appearances in Trek, but for many of us that was his defining role and the coolest character that he played. And the way he quoted Moby Dick at the end of Star Trek II. "From Hells heart, I stab at thee. For hates sake, I spit my last breath at thee......." RIP Ricardo.

Was gigantor any good? I have never had the chance to see it. Taksraven

Yeah, yeah, what-ever. Taksraven.

a lot of people dont realise that the usa carriers are a very important symbol of power to places like australia because they basically form a part of australias national defence. The aust navy mothballed its last carrier decades ago & did not replace it because the usa would help defend us due to treaty obligations. Taksraven

What are you? My stalker? I dont have to justify myself to you. Lighten up. You are taking things *too* seriously. Taksraven

*YAWN* Ok us "military nuts" (giggle), does anybody have anything interesting to add to this discussion or are we going to let yellowlightman keep us chasing our tails? Taksraven (Just for the record, I think that "The Almighty Dollar/Greenback", as the most powerful currency in the world, is more of a symbol of American society than pop culture and McDonalds. Shhh though, I don't want any more comments boring me about this)

Remake news has been quiet for a while, so here is a new one we can expect to see. A remake of the George Romero classic, starring Australia's own borefest, Radha Mitchell, I give you..... The Crazies..... http://www.darkhorizons.com/news09/090112i.php Taksraven

What triangle resolution? When did that happen......? :lol: Taksraven (BTW, and I know that I have been partly responsible for stuffing this up myself, but I think that if we work hard at it we can take this thread even further off-topic, how about it??)

And that makes them different from the rest of the entertainment industry in which way? Taksraven

What he said. (But its pointless trying to convince him that he is wrong) Taksraven

Bah!. Don't look at it as being an 'old fogey', just consider yourself to be a "First Generation Anime Fan". You guys were the leaders in anime fandom in the west and the rest of us young-uns are just the followers. Taksraven

They are a major symbol and a lot of people are impressed by them. (especially the scale of modern aircraft carriers) When US Carriers visit Sydney Harbour, people turn out in the tens of thousands to see them. Taksraven

I guess that this had to happen eventually...... Guitar Hero III first game to reach $1 billion in sales... http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars...illion-in-sales Taksraven

A lot of it comes down to the mentality of the fans as well, especially if they start to really develop the attitude that they "own" the show, that the producers owe them something. (Yes, I know that this was the attitude torn apart in the Poochy episode of the Simpsons, but it is true) There is nothing wrong with fans having expectations from a show, but FFS, its up to the creators to take a show where THEY want, and if they want a vague ending, thats their decision. Taksraven

Wouldn't it just be easier to hand over your TWO firstborn children so you can keep your left testicle and kidney? Thats what I would do. :lol: Taksraven

Just thought this might be fun. What was the first anime series/program/movie that you ever saw in your life and how old were you when you did see it. It doesn't matter if you knew whether or not it was anime at the time. Just have a think and see what you come up with. (Sub or dub does not matter either, we are not getting into those arguments) You can also mention which anime series first had a real impact on you. (It may not be the first one that you saw, of course) I think that the first anime series I saw would have been Kimba the White Lion, and I was younger than five, during the late 1970's. Soon after that I saw Marine Boy. The first anime series that had a real impact on me though and I am still a huge fan was Gatchaman (In its Battle of the Planets incarnation) Anybody else remember their first anime? Taksraven

I am astounded that they have any conventional carriers left. Must have been a pain in the backside to keep such a museum piece operating. Taksraven

It all stems from Hollywood's inability to comprehend the fact that some movies are only meant to be "one-shots". The movie is made, it says what it has to say, and thats it. No need for sequels or prequels or 'reimaginings' or any crap like that. Unfortunately, the Hollywood studio system dictates that if a movie is really successful, then ya gotta make another one. I find that the best policy is that if you really enjoy a film , and later, an unneccesary sequel appears, JUST IGNORE IT, pretend that it does not exist. Example. I really enjoy the movie The Blues Brothers. I am aware of the fact that they made a follow-up, Blues Brothers 2000, but that is as far as my knowledge of this second film extends. I will never own a copy and I will never see it. I could not care less about it. Second example, 2001 vs. 2010. I have copies of both films. (I only bought 2010 because it was going for 10 bucks). I have watched both and I appreciate them on two different levels. 2001, simply put is one of the greatest films of all time (and I mean overall, not just SF), but 2010 is just some simple hack science fiction by comparison that I watch if I want to kill some time. As for Forbidden Planet, I doubt that any sort of prequel or followup to this film will be made. If it is, we will have to wait and see what it is like I guess, but I doubt it would be good, regardless of who is writing/making it. Taksraven

I must say, the mods have been allowing this thread a lot of 'latitude' in regards to politics, especially since I once had a thread edited by a mod for saying "Dubya". I am not pro-censorship, but I think that things have to be consistent here to be fair to all. So whats the deal?? Taksraven

How many non-nuclear carriers do they have left?? Taksraven

DEFINITELY keep an eye on MUSE's website, last time they toured here they had a presale on it for the Australian shows. A band that I would love to see again would be Rammstein. Saw them a few years ago at the Enmore Theatre (all those fireworks going off in a wooden building) and they were great! Also saw Pulp at the Enmore in '98 (outstanding) as well as Oasis in 2002. (Awesome show) I saw Blur at the Metro theatre (they were good but they were drugged out of their minds) so the only other Britpop bands that I have yet to see are Radiohead. Taksraven

Whatever you want to call it, it was a nicely designed unit. One of the highlights of Southern Cross. Taksraven

This might belong more in the remake thread, I am not sure. I am sure that this project has been mentioned there before. The could get Leslie Nielsen back to play his role from the original. Just use some CGI to make him look younger. I don't know about the current status or availability of Robby the Robot though. To be honest, they should leave it alone. I think that they would stuff it up. Taksraven

Its funny that you should ask that about which website is the best for checking out up and coming concerts. As far as I can tell there is no single definitive website which keeps listings of upcoming gigs for bands in Australia. This is not an acceptable situation and as a result I have missed out on MANY good concerts because I did not know that tickets were going on sale. Whats even more stupid is the fact that the same band can have tickets available for different cities through both of the main ticket selling websites. In other words if, say for instance, the Smashing Pumpkins were going to tour, their Sydney and Perth tickets might be available through Ticketek and tickets for all the other capital cities may be available through Ticketmaster. If there is one SINGLE website that lists all upcoming 2009 tour dates in Australia for all artists I don't know about it and would like to if it exists. Generally, when I am looking around to see what is coming up, I usually search by band (looking at an artists official website) or by venues that I like. www.metrotheatre.com.au for the Metro in Sydney is a great website for upcoming concerts, as it www.enmoretheatre.com.au for the Enmore Theatre. Moshtix is another good website to look at for tickets but generally they handle artists that are "smaller". As for the con, I am still thinking about that and I will get back to you ASAP. 2009 is looking to be a pretty busy year for me so far. Taksraven