darth_ender

emanswfan said:

darth_ender said:

Even an unfinished project can be an inspiration (see my signature regarding a far less finished project).  Keep your chin up :)

Oh don't worry, I plan to rehelm the whole thing after my PT is done.  i've never given up on it, I've just not been in a hurry for it.

Hope I didn't offend.  I really am so glad that you intend to.  When you told me you'd take over, I was happy, but at the time I was not aware of your capabilities.  Now that I'm really seeing what you can do, I believe the project will one day get done, and by someone (i.e. not me) who has the capacity to really make the changes discussed.  Yes, definitely work on your PT, but I am excited for the day when you resume work on ROTJ.  As far as my role goes, the project is forever unfinished because I take a year simply working on a few Star Wars deleted scenes slideshows ;)

TK-949 said:

In case you didn't see it in my thread here, here's a little video I made of the scenes, that were in the ROTJ Trailer, but not in the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xClYZmolp-c

I hadn't gone to your thread, though I was certainly aware of all the cool clips in the trailer not found in the film.  It is nice to find most (I noticed a couple you are still missing) in a single video to highlight what was not in the final film.  The ones you are missing might be from one of the other ROTJ trailers.  Thanks for the video :)

Glad you are feeling better.  We all have our crazy times.  Some will never be rehabilitated *coughTV's*coughBingo*.  I hope I can get ahold of the workprint.  Even an unfinished project can be an inspiration (see my signature regarding a far less finished project).  Keep your chin up :)

Old news.  I've got it now, thanks :)  If you wanted it, it's up at MySpleen.

Please, by all means, self-promote!  I want to know when you update the blog, and I check this thread often.  I'll take a look at what you've done :)

Jambe Davdar's documentary called Star Wars Begins is as complete a version of the Jabba scene with Mulholland available.  It's not hard to find, though I can point you in the right direction if you need further help.

Oh, good, another politics thread.  That said, cue CP3S chastisement for my intolerance of off topic discussions in 3...2...1...

I will admit, the Scotland line is a brilliant point.

I've always loved FE and OT.

Ah, I see.  Sometimes I'm not sure when you're joking!

Since I'm not familiar with the quote, I am not sure to whom it would be correctly ascribed, but I feel compelled to point out that your picture, Bingo, is of Hawking, a much more recent atheist, not Dawkins, who has held his views for some time.

That said, I somewhat see your point, though I'm not in entire agreement with Dawkins' ultimate conclusions.

As for the spread of Christianity, it is incredible.  The Roman Empire is much to credit, just as the imperialism of Islam in its earliest centuries caused its meteoric rise.  Still, Christianity tends to have had a greater appeal, including among the native inhabitants of the Americas.

As for JWs, while I have my own grievances, I also have a hard time vocalizing them since they are so often compared to Mormons with their zealous missionary efforts.  I tend to believe and hope that Mormon missionaries are a little more thoughtful in general.  And besides that, they're right about what they preach ;)

Judaism is not a proselyting religion, so it limits its own spread.  Either you are born a child of Abraham or you are not.  Historically, Judaism has always remained relatively small.  Although people could convert, they were never actively sought, and proselytes were never considered quite as good as the real thing.  Christianity, on the other hand, was opened up to gentiles and actively sought converts.  The apostles, the seven deacons, and the seventy were all active missionary groups that preached that Jesus was the Messiah.  As you probably know, belief in a Messiah was already an idea spread amongst the Jews, so preaching that he would deliver from sin instead of Roman oppression wasn't too big a transition among Jewish crowds.  Also, there was much appeal among the poor, as Christianity taught that all were alike before God, that he that abaseth himself shall be exalted, that Jesus himself reached out to the outcasts, etc.  It was tolerated among the Roman Empire until Rome burned under Nero and he needed someone to blame it on.  Christians were severely persecuted and often executed, but still the message found appeal.  Once Constantine became Emperor and converted to Christianity, he made it the state religion and suddenly elevated this downtrodden religion to an exalted status.  Christianity, by virtue of being essentially one and the same as the most powerful Empire Europe had ever seen, then spread even more rapidly and had political and military power to back it up.  It was guaranteed success.

And there's also the fact that I, a believing Christian, think God had a hand in preserving it all.

That's all off the top of my head.  Hope it helps.

Ryan McAvoy said:

Episode VII: Something Elsewhere Elusive

Winner!

Even if you don't read the books, there is a lovely wiki article that wouldn't be too hard to find.

The elevator scene is from the TV version.  The Deleted Scenes are actually part of a promotional reel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od4BjWW5jTw

It was essentially a lengthy trailer, but it included material never put into any final version of the film.  I think some of it is really cool and wish it would be integrated.

Again, I recommend this very nice thread.

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=220249

Starting around page 4 or 5, they start talking about TWOK and that promotional reel.

pittrek said:

I'd actually love to see the TV version of ST2. I can't find it anywhere even when the guy claims it's easy to find

I've got a few leads, including SilverWook, but he can't get it to me at present.  I've got two folks willing to help out at FE.org, but I haven't gotten it yet.  I'll be sure to upload it at MySpleen when I get it so it can be better spread to folks here.

doubleofive said:

I'm behind you and these changes 100%, d_e!

Yes!  Our movement is gaining momentum!  Including my signature, we are now at 2.5 supporters (Warbler only supports half of my suggested changes).  I can feel the wheels turning!  We will be heard!

AntcuFaalb said:

This ESWN? http://eswnonline.org/

:-D

Almost...Entertainment and Sports Wizarding Network, silly boy! ;)

That's great!  Just try to avoid too much roughage, okay?  It can make it difficult to get this out at a reasonable time without straining. :)

There is a fellow at trekbbs.com calling himself CaptainBearclaw who has been doing research on deleted scenes from the Star Trek films.  I already have linked to his thread over there.  Matter of fact, he is also a recent member here, calling himself Tack.  He just started up a blog on these deleted scenes.

http://startrekrarities.blogspot.com

Now the blog hasn't gotten too far yet, but his thread is pretty thorough, and I imagine his blog could become much like T-bone's Star Wars site if he keeps at it, given the material already in the trekbbs thread.  Check this blog frequently.  I know I will :)

@Warbler...Well, the reason I suggest a point limit is because getting the Snitch still can be the winning act, but it's not a guarantee.  However, a time limit might be better.

@Frink...AVADA KEDAVRA!

Quidditch is interesting and fun to watch on ESWN, but I'm afraid the rules are severely flawed.  The game only ends when the seeker catches the snitch, and thus earns 150 points.  Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins, but the chasers only earn 10 points for their team every time the quaffle goes through a hoop.  This means that for a team to gain the snitch and lose, they would have to be behind by at least 160 points, or 16 goals.  Now points do count for the whole season, so the winning team is the team with the most points overall.  For this reason, I could see why it would be advantageous to catch the snitch when the opposing team is far ahead.  But other than this, the rules as such are foolish, and since such leads are rare, only the seekers matter in the end.  This is problematic, as other players' purposes are null and likely wouldn't feel motivated to put in their best effort to score, while the seeker is ALWAYS the VIP.

To compound the problems, even under the existing rules, players could take advantage of a different strategy that would better ensure a win, though it would be less entertaining for the crowds.  Better than scoring through the hoops would be playing interference against the opposing seeker.  But surprisingly, teams and coaches somehow haven't wised up to this obvious strategy.

Imagine a game of soccer where fans watch as players run around and score on each other.  How exciting!  Oh, but unless one team gains a massive advantage at their game, it matters little.  What really matters is two players chasing a pig in a nearby field, and whoever gets the pig ends the entire game and scores 15 points, likely winning for their team.  How is this fun at all?  What is the point of most of the rest of the game?  It's largely pointless!

I therefore propose the following changes and submit them to the International Quidditch Council for reform to ensure fairness and cohesiveness in the game.  First, the game should not end when someone catches the snitch.  Reportedly, games have gone on for months when the snitch was too tough to catch.  Rather, it would be wise to end the game at a certain number of points, say 150 or 200.  Second, the Snitch is too valuable.  Even if you want to keep it a big point earner, it shouldn't be the only reason for playing the game.  Knock it down to a value of 100 points, and even those teams who catch the Snitch might still lose.  Or perhaps no one would catch the Snitch, and yet the game ends with the other players actually serving a purpose.

It is my hope that my suggestions do not fall on deaf ears and that this game be reformed.  For those who wish to unite behind this cause, I invite you to sign the petition below.  Let's make sure all our players are put to good use and that are games are actually enjoyable to watch for all their aspects!

Ryan McAvoy said:

As I've said I suspect Card knew what it meant on some level. However, I'll concede that he may just have been using it in the Harry Potter way you mention, like "Damn", "Bloomin'" or "Bloody". For example if he'd done a series of books about wars with Vampires, his characters might have dubbed "Those bloody Vampires!" as "Blooders".

I honestly think that much is pretty clear.  It was a pejorative term, but not a reference to sexuality.  Bugger was not capitalized as a proper name, though Formic was.  Clearly it was slang, and meant to be insulting.  As you pointed out, he began to emphasize Formic later, possibly to avoid any connotation with the archaic term.

Interestingly, later in the series another sentient alien species is discovered.  They are given the proper name of Pequeninos, Portuguese for little children.  But they are nicknamed "piggies" (with a lowercase p) because of their pig-like snouts.  I doubt Card was making any statement about overweight people, or people with upturned noses, or perhaps little Portuguese fat kids.

And @CP3S, stop being a boob (by which I obviously mean you are a female anatomical body part) ;)  I'm not in denial over the meaning of the term despite my prior ignorance, but I find it impossible that anyone who has actually read Ender's Game would believe Card's intent was such.  The original story is over 30 years old, and it never became an issue till recently (since Card has made several statements on the topic in recent years).  As you say, educate yourself my good fellow, and read the book ;)

I just introduced my kids to ThunderCats yesterday.  They love it.  I was about the age of my boys when I first watched it.  It's fun to see it again.  It's nice that there's a good preservation available of the first five episodes, as the official DVDs are missing little bits here and there.  It's amazing that after all these years, I picked up on a lot of these subtle cuts.

Well, I had a lengthy post half-prepared to post when I logged in today, but I think most people are confident Card meant nothing by using the word bugger.  Honestly, it's really a stretch to believe that was his intent.  I was watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night, and the captain of the Quidditch team calls one of the balls a "nasty little bugger," which I'm sure he intended to mean the ball would sexually assault Harry at the first chance it got.  Clearly Card meant nothing by the word, and if anyone has doubts, perhaps they should read the books instead of jumping to conclusions.  Even if Card knew the meaning, there is absolutely no indication he wanted to tie an outdated British term to it.  I imagine his audience would have a hard time taking his work seriously if he had written a book about the Sodomite Wars (the sodomites of course being large, mite-like aliens).  It's literally about the most stupid and ignorant conclusion one can draw.  Since Bingo was merely pointing out the interesting coincidence, I feel his understanding was most important, and I won't belabor that aspect of the discussion any further.

As for Card's actual views, I won't apologize for his ignorance and stupidity on the subject.  I still feel his views are not hateful--idiotic, yes, but not intended as hate.  Nevertheless, I would certainly understand your taking offense at his feelings, Bingo.

Ryan McAvoy said:

IMO it stretches credulity to imagine that Card, who seems to have been writing novels for a decade before 'Ender's game', would not have a grasp of the meaning of words. Afterall, if I was writing a Sci-Fi saga I'd agonise for weeks over what to call the antagonists.

The fact that in the last decade he has apparently ret-conned the "Buggers" to have a different name "Formics" which he used becasue it is derived from the Latin for Ants, suggests he has a deep understanding of the meaning and entymology of words.

Or that he belatedly realized its potential for offense and started emphasizing a different term.  I have a much longer post currently saved.  I'll post it when I have a moment to finish it.