darth_ender

timdiggerm said:

darth_ender said:

Well, I am officially the third highest official in the local Mormon Diocese.

Okay, so that's a lame joke.  But I am now serving in a position of authority over the local congregation as the 2nd counselor in the bishopric.  Positions are entrusted to a person, not sought, and leaders are not paid in my church, so there is no ambition in seeking these positions.  This is a position I am honored and terrified to take part in.  I'm younger than the usual folks, and it can be rather time consuming.  I am not terribly organized by nature either.  But I pray I am up to the challenge and may serve God to the best of my ability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_(Latter_Day_Saints)

This is a serious question, and I am not making fun of your faith, despite the fact that it might sound like I am.

 

How many secret handshakes do you know, as a Bishop?

First, I am not actually a bishop: I am second counselor to a bishop.  No biggie, but just to clarify.  Second, it's a difficult topic for me to discuss because I feel that what you are referring to is sacred and not to be spoken of lightly.  Even referring to it as handshakes, though I know that is how it is commonly viewed, seems like a simplistic way to express it.  They're not something we do outside the temple, and they are not even part of entrance to the temple, nor are they a means of conveying, "Hey, I'm a Mormon too."  Though the comparisons to masonry are common and understandable, their function is different.  Brigham Young put it this way:

“Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.”

What others call secret handshakes we call tokens.  That said, I received my endowment which included all such "key words," "signs," and "tokens" back in 2001 prior to going on a mission.  There are no new tokens to learn.  I learned 'em all already 12 years ago.

Hope that's a useful answer.

Bingowings said:

Orson Scott Card said : many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse.

Orson Scott Card has a very odd way at looking at the universe, it probably helps write convincing fiction.

The world is a big place with lots of people in it so the above statement may well be true but it could also be adapted to almost anything.

"Many Mormons first entered that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse."

Equally true and equally odd.

Indeed the few gay people I know who were abused sexually were abused by heterosexuals and are women.

So is he a typical church member in his particular stance on homosexuality or just a particular church member in his stance on homosexuality?

Well, first off, I couldn't really say what a typical Mormon believes because I've never performed a survey.  I've heard various things from various people, so my little sample would suggest no, or at least that it's not limited to such.  I know of no such teaching either.

I'm getting rid of a bunch of stuff in my house.  One thing I don't think I need any longer is my theatrical widescreen TPM VHS.  It's a collector's set with a couple of nice additions, so it ought to go for more than 50 cents.  But before I get rid of it, it occurs to me that there are folks who like every possible preservation effort possible.  Adywan has done a very high quality theatrical TPM, though it is slightly imperfect as it lacks the bridge.  Althor has done the Japanese laserdisc.  There really are two good preservations out there.  However, if anyone really wanted, should I do a VHS capture and preservation, or should I just go ahead and get rid of it?  If not, I'm certainly not offended.  Just speak up quickly if you do.

I suspect that it was a last minute idea.  I too wondered if it wasn't truly his son, especially since he was marooned on that planet for 15 years and only got his wife pregnant in the last year shortly before her death.  But if it were his child, I believe the notion would be that Khan was so obsessed with destroying Kirk that he not only gave up his own life in the process, but was even willing to sacrifice his young child--truly an overpowering vendetta!  But I am glad it was cut.

JEDIT: Bingo beat me to it, but put it better and offered other ideas as well :)

Amidst my search for Khan related material, I've recently learned something that maybe others here knew, but I sure didn't.  Apparently there was a toddler among Khan's party at the Botany Bay.  Apparently Chekov and Terrell first saw the child when they discovered the Bay on the surface of Ceti Alpha 5.  For the rest of the movie the child is no longer seen, till the last moments of Khan's life on board the Reliant.  The child toddles on up to the Genesis device, attracted by the pretty light, only moments before its destruction.  Kind of weird, but interesting.

http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/08/man-who-saved-star-trek.html

At first I thought it was a silly rumor and an altered picture, but then I found the second picture and the blog with the printed article about it.  Crazy!

DuracellEnergizer said:

I never was fond of that "Big Bang" tag. It'll always be the Horrendous Space Kablooie Theory to me.

Awesome!  Glad to know you're a fan of Bill Watterson's brilliant work :)

SilverWook said:

My internet is pretty spotty lately, and upload speed is abominable.

If someone really wants the ABC cut, I'd be happy to snail mail a copy once my house is back in order.

I'd really be grateful, and I of course would reimburse you.  Just let me know when you're ready, and I'll probably drop a reminder now and then if I haven't heard from you for a while.  Thanks, Wook!

You might be right about their reasoning, though I remember watching the theatrical version of TWOK in pan and scan on VHS when I was a kid.

Just found this.  It's a YouTube video of the ABC version of Kirk and Saavik on the turbolift, which is different from both the theatrical and director's cuts.

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

Close ups instead of wideshot, and I guess is supposed to imply a little flirting.

Hmmm...I'm confused too, as I am referring to The Wrath of Khan now.  I was speaking of The Motion Picture earlier, but now I'm dwelling on the second film.  Hope I haven't contributed to the confusion.

Checked my Director's Cut DVD and I don't see any deleted scenes in the special features, unless they're mixed into the documentaries (which I haven't watched).

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-II-Directors-Collectors/dp/B0000683DH/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1374858020&sr=1-1&keywords=wrath+of+khan+directors+cut

Amazon doesn't list any deleted scenes either.  I have the original cut on DVD as well as part of the "trilogy," but I don't see any deleted scenes.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Motion-Picture-Trilogy/dp/B001TH16CY/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1374857917&sr=1-2&keywords=star+trek+trilogy

I've look at the Blu-ray on Amazon as well, and I don't think there are any alternate scenes.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-II-Restored-Blu-ray/dp/B002I9Z8B2/ref=pd_cp_mov_3

I'm surprised there hasn't been an official release of the ABC version, but then again, maybe I'm not, as there are several TV versions of other movies not commercially available.  I know you're busy and your house is a mess, but when you are able to put it up, I promise I will repay you with 'thank you's in six different languages! ;)

TV's Frink said:

darth_ender said:

Quotes from Batman for Lando are great, but I think quotes from Brian's Song might be even better.  There could be a whole lot of attention to the fact that he's the only black man in the OT, and considering the theme of Brian's Song, you'd have a lot of lines to pull from.

Here is a small sample from IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068315/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

Another example, when he sees Han, "How you doin' you old pirate!  So good to see you!  How's your mother?"

Yeah, but I already own Batman.

So pirate the movie!  Sheesh, what kind of a weak atheist are you?! It's not like you're worried that God's watching you ;)

Might be and I just hadn't realized it.  Still, I think it'd be cool to see them integrated.  Whenever you got the chance to put it up somewhere, I know I'd love to download it. :)  Meanwhile, I'll check my Director's Cut DVD for the ABC scenes.

darth_ender said:

darth_ender said:

FanFiltration said:

darth_ender said:

Weren't there several different versions of TMP released?  What are they and which is best?

My "Special Longer Version" using letterbox footage from multiple sources. All released versions had been P&S.  *Grin*

Snatched! :)

Out of curiosity, between the Special Longer Version and the Director's Cut, is all released TMP material made available, or are there other cuts that include even more stuff.  I don't have the patience to go through and catalog these differences myself.

I know TWOK Theatrical and Director's Cuts both still miss some stuff that I'm not even sure how it got out there, like Saavik's half-Romulan heritage, etc.

Piggy-backing on this as-yet unanswered question, where can one find the additional missing scenes and takes for TWOK?  For instance, is there a way to get ahold of the ABC-TV version which has some differences from both the Director's cut and the Theatrical cut.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084726/alternateversions

Also, where does one see the scenes found on this YouTube video?  Are they in another cut, or is there an official release that includes them as deleted scenes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rKw66EU5Fc

In that case, I'd either go with thejediknighthusezni's suggestion, or something else rather similar, like Return of the Utterly Ridiculous.

Good luck with your many projects, and I look forward to the rest of the trilogy when you've got the time :)

Quite honestly, I think it's more important that the Ridiculous name closely matches the original name than that the acronyms are distinctive.  There are other fanedits out there could be confused with the originals if that were a substantial problem (secior's Return of the Sith, for instance), but I don't think it has ever really been a significant issue since usually the edits are not referred to by an acronym.

If you've got new techniques up your sleeve, go ahead and use them.  I will say that I personally am very happy with the existing ANH you've made.  But then again, I don't pick up on the problems most people do.  So it's really up to you.  If you feel unsatisfied, give it another go.  If you feel it's good enough, then put it on hold.  I might add that if you do decide to redo ANH, I hope you would do so after you've completed ESB and ROTJ.  But those are simply my personal feelings.  Again, good job on what you've already done!

:)  Nice just to get a reply.  I'd never have time for such a thing, but it's fun to imagine.  Maybe one day.

Hey!  Guess what!  I found it!  And it works in my new BD player.  Don't know why it wouldn't work in the old one.  Anyway, I quickly looked at parts of it and was pleased with what I saw.  Thanks for your good work on this.  Sorry it took so long to give a reply.  Hopefully I can give you a better one in the near future.  I also hope you plan on completing the OT, though I know you're a busy guy with a ton of projects going on.  Keep up the good work! :)

Thanks TK :)  I've been pretty tied up the past couple of days, but I'll write you probably tonight or tomorrow to let you know what I need.  Thanks a bunch :)

I posted this in the appropriate thread, but I would be remiss if I neglected to make a point here that Glen Larson, the producer for the original BSG, is MORMON!  If you are familiar with our teachings, and if you are believer that we're already too sci-fi-oriented and weird already, then you'd probably pick up on a lot of references throughout the series that lend support to people's misconceptions about us.  Thanks, Glen :/

So I burned and deleted my copy of this, and now I can't find the DVD I burned.  Would someone be willing to seed this place over at MyPancreas so I can give it another go?  Thanks :)

In the radio drama, Death Star is merely a project code name, not necessarily the official name.  I kind of like thinking of it that way: it's a code name that the Alliance adopted for propaganda purposes.  It seems to fit your interpretation perfectly.  But for the record, I don't think the Empire cares much at that point if they are offending their population with scary names.  They intend to use "fear [to] keep the local systems in line," not subtlety, as Palpatine did* to first gain control.

*cough, yeah, Palps was reeeeeal subtle as he assumed power...I can totally see why no one suspected him.

Quotes from Batman for Lando are great, but I think quotes from Brian's Song might be even better.  There could be a whole lot of attention to the fact that he's the only black man in the OT, and considering the theme of Brian's Song, you'd have a lot of lines to pull from.

Here is a small sample from IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068315/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

Another example, when he sees Han, "How you doin' you old pirate!  So good to see you!  How's your mother?"