noefingway

First time I saw him was in Riley Ace of Spies. A great series that was on PBS. Last series I watched was Untamed. He was one of my favorite actors and a credit to his profession. Sad to learn of his passing.

So i'll throw this out there. When I was a growing up back in the 50's (yeah, way back then) I was given a model of a v-8 engine to build. It was clear plastic, had pistons, crankshaft, valves, and little red lights for the spark plugs. Small battery powered motor (I think in the starter motor) made everything go round and rounds. One of the coolest models I ever built as a kid.

"There are four words you need to know to adequately prepare yourself for childbirth. Take notes here, ladies: I...want...my...epidural."

Will Les Nessman be in his "office"?

well said. You are the product not the consumer. "Soylent green is people!"

As a teen I first learned to program on a pdp-8 with a teletype terminal. Then moved on to mainframes - we wrote out the code on paper (lined in 80 columns), then punched the cards out and submitted the deck to be run. punch card machines were available all over the university campus. BTW, I had a colleague programmed by plugging wires in a plug board. So, yeah, punch cards are definitely computing.

I read these two all the time. I wish nytimes.com came in a text version, I hate the move to video. I was raised on newspapers not mtv...

Brings back memories from childhood. I used to build and fly model airplanes (by wire not rc). Starting those engines was also a challenge. I still have a scar on one finger from an engine kicking back when trying to flip the propeller.

Here, here! I was born in 1951 - read Peanuts everyday as a kid, still read Peanuts everyday as an adult. It has great humor and insight into relationships.

The Blob: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/?ref_=fn_t_2

Very cool stuff. Brings back a lot of memories from my youth spent in movie theaters on Saturday afternoons watching the sci-fi/horror double features. I have several posters printed by the S2 Art Group (they used to have their lithograph machine in the Paris hotel in Las Vegas), one of my favorites: https://www.cinemasterpieces.com/62014/s2frankteaser.jpg the eyes follow you everywhere.

I'm 73, had tinnitus all my life, I am used to it. Some days it seems louder than others. When I was 17-18 I worked as a stock boy at a JC Penney store. I used to hear this high pitched squeal near the front entrance. I mentioned it to my compatriots who responded "What squeal?" I always found a way to avoid the front entrance on my rounds. So yeah, I get the alarms

I've been re-reading Kerouac lately (LOA has a nice collection of novels in a single volume). His prose is jumps from bebop riffs (On the Road) to elegiac praise of hiking in the woods/mountains (Dharma Bums). The characters (like them or not) are well drawn and always interesting. My hitchhiking days are long gone and I don't suppose this mode of transportation obtains much in the US anymore, which I think is unfortunate as it is (or was) a great way to see the country and meet a lot of people.

Interesting website. I thought for sure I'd find mention of Silver Apples of the Moon. May have missed it though...

yeah - i've been using it for several years. it's got some issues: fails to detect cars and trucks at night (apparently it doesn't know what to do with the moving headlights); also frequently fails to detect me walking past the camera with my 4 small dogs on our morning walk; confuses farm equipment for cars and continues to record even when the object is stationary. still it's better than most of the other software i've tried.

Item 3 is important in more ways than most people realize. Last year many farmers in my area that planted soybeans early had a problem with slugs eating the sprouting beans and were forced to replant multiple times. This spring I went to a growers conference and heard a presentation by a Prof. Tooker from Penn State Ag about the slug problem, which he has been researching for several years. Turns out that the slug infestation can be directly traced to the use of insecticides used in seed treatments. The insecticides kill beetles (and other beneficial insects) that eat the slugs but don't kill slugs because they aren't insects (they are mollusks). No beetles more slugs. Take away is don't use treated seed. However, standard practice at seed companies is to treat seed with fungicides and insecticides, thus creating a problem rather than solving it.

True fact! My wife sent one to a friend of hers. Got delivered promptly, undamaged.

I have a substantial investment in both Dewalt and Milwaukee tools that I use regularly in my farming operation. I definitely prefer the Milwaukee tools to the Dewalt. I recently bought a 6" Milwaukee chain saw for light duty cutting. I get a lot of cuts before I have to change batteries. Also the torque in the Milwaukee 3/4" impact gun is truly amazing and the battery lasts through a lot of bolt removals.

What I find fascinating about this debate is that only municipalities/cities add fluoride to water. If you are on well water, no fluoride. So any studies comparing the incidence of tooth decay between populations that are on well water and those that are on fluoridated city water?

I get that this was a great public health benefit before fluoride in toothpaste became widely available but is this still the case? Couldn't it be argued that most of the benefit comes from brushing your teeth?

I visited the Barnes before it moved from its original location. It is a truly stunning collection of art. There was a very public fight over the relocation of the museum, which fortunately was resolved and the collection preserved. Of all the great works of art Barnes collected, my favorite is "The Joy of Life" by Henri Matisse https://artincontext.org/the-joy-of-life-by-henri-matisse/

Truly one of the greatest actors of all time. For those of you that haven't seen this, I strongly recommend watching this show. Just a group of ladies having tea and a chat. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7363336/

Always been a Zappa fan since the first Mothers album. I always found is humor in music and words appealing. His band was always tight, great musicians. I many of his albums but I have to say Live at the Fillmore East (1971) is my favorite.

Second this. IMHO Richard Burton and Alec Guinness give stellar performances in these shows/movies. I would also recommend the Len Deighton series Game, Set, Match with Ian Holm. You need to watch to the end to figure out what's going on.

Cheers for PocketRef! Another tool in my farm shop.

Exactly this. When I was 17 I worked at a JC Penny store as a stock boy. Every time I approached certain entrances (like the main one that opened into the shopping mall) and other areas of the store my ears were assaulted with a high pitch squeal. Never figured out what it was, nobody else seemed to hear it. I've always had tinnitus, and the frequency always seemed to be the same. In fact, I'm listening to it now.

For the "Dr Strangelove" fans that haven't seen "Failsafe" I recommend watching it and "Seven Days in May". IMHO Larry Hagman provides a compelling performance as Henry Fonda's translator trying to get the translation and nuances of emotion from the Soviet premier.

All three were released in 1964 and provide different takes on the anxieties of the era. We used to joke a lot about having to hide under our desks (lived in the DC suburbs) during the air raid drills, lot of good that would do when the nukes dropped!

Pie, jam, crumble, stewed over vanilla ice cream and (best of all) Slingsbury Rhubarb Gin!

I still have my 1966 Britannica. Learned a lot as a kid just picking a volume and reading random articles. I hate to give it up.

In the early to mid-60s I built a shortwave radio and a digital clock. Unfortunately neither survived. I still think about that clock sitting by my bed, glowing reddish orange. Sigh....

Every time the SR-71 pops up, it's brings back a memory of seeing it do a flyby at Dulles Airport. IIRC it was supposed to be the last flight as the program was ending. This is probably 1989. I didn't know about it until the day of the event so I didn't have my camera with me.

I think my entire engineering department and a bunch from the production floor (about 15-20 of us) went over to the airport to see the bird. Back then you could drive up to and park at the upper departure level. So there we are, waiting... Someone brought a portable scanner along and was listening to air traffic control, so we knew when it would pass over.

First thing we heard was the sonic boom as it passed over (I believe this flight set the west coast to east coast speed record.) After some interval of minutes we heard which direction it would be coming from. All other landing and take off traffic was suspended while the bird circled the airport. Then turned a made a low level (like about the height of the tower) really slow. We got a really good look at it. He hit the afterburners, and took off. I've never seen anything move that fast. It practically disappeared, like something out of a movie jumping into hyperspace. Absolutely incredible, no matter how much I read about the SR-71 and the program, I'm just in awe of the designers and engineers that made it happen.