Zamfir

Godzammit. I went to the body shop yesterday to FINALLY pick up a splashguard that had torn off the bottom of the car a month and a half ago while I was on a major artery in town. The car is a 1987 Acura Legend, so finding spare parts is a REAL pain in the ass as time goes on. But, he claimed two weeks ago he'd have it in. so I get there. The owner's swamped with work. "Bring it by tomorrow, about this time" he says (2-3 PM). I go there today. He's not even there. Back Monday, says someone else. Goddammit. Trying to get this guy to repair just a few things on the car since my wife's minor accident in *early April* is driving me ape{censored}. I use him because his was the only body work shop town that made it financially worthwhile to repair a car that old - barely. Even the body work wasn't that great.

Originally posted by niomosy I don't doubt Montana's gorgeous. All the pics I've seen indicate such. Hell, even western Idaho (up near Spokane, WA) was pretty damn nice when I drove through a little bit to get out to the Silverwood amusement park It's just that whole winter thing that'd get to me. I don't get along all that well with cold weather. As in, headaches and whatnot if I'm not covered up well enough (I can kick the blankets off during the night and end up with a headache in the morning until I get into a nice, warm shower). That and some of the nut jobs up in Montana give me a tad bit of.... concern Gotta admit, I need to go through their winter to see if I could hack it. I did OK in Maine, except for the extended darkness. That took some getting used to. Might have done better if I hadn't been so worked and stressed to the bone. Plus the drier air might {censored} up my sinuses good and tight if given more of a chance. But still. Awesome hiking. Yellowstone 1.25 hours away... Glacier 6 hours away (fruno - you'll love it, my man! Gorgeous area!), Tetons just south of Yellowstone. And there's plenty of trails in all kinds of areas like the Gallatin Nat'l Forest... Way cool. Hard not to like. Better than these pidgin-ass zits, OK, mountains we got in Virginia, by far. Nut jobs? Hey, my brother might be one of those! I dunno, Virginians elected George Allen in the Republican primary as the "moderate" alternative to Ollie North, prior to Senate election. In retrospect of his Senate behavior, we seem to have underestimated the wacko-ness of either Allen or the nut jobs who voted for him...

Originally posted by greenshag Salt Lake City...a nice little drinking town with a Mormon problem-some guys t-shirt I read the other day. No offense to the Mormons I know, but that wins a Zamfir Post of the Day Award!! niomosy - If I could find a good job and afford housing in Montana, I'd be there instantly. Beautiful place. Housing prices in Bozeman, however, are insane, beyond even what they are in my burg. And Bozeman's a much smaller population...

Hey greenshag! I forgot to mention that going to and from Montana, I stopped off in Salt Lake for an hour layover at the airport. (Same plane to Bozeman. Got to harass some Bosnian Muslim women serving airport food in their own language, very badly, but they tolerated me. But I digress). Beautiful surroundings you got down there, btw! Maybe a bit marshy for a bit... But I was wondering: is it true that people float more easily in the lake, on account of the salt? Do people even swim in it?

Originally posted by frunobulax i might be moving to Montana soon... yummy gazpacho for lunch...mmm Fruno!!!! Welcome back! Moving to Montana? What for?? ...isn't that past 128? {censored}! Lunch! I need to cram a PB&J down my throat and take the car to the shop.

Originally posted by greenshag See, what confused me was, I was getting drunk one night with her classmate and her after a week of hanging out with them, and the less communicative of them sorta jumped me first. That made for a strange exit from their hotel room. Then, another American in a separate language program in the same city, but who was a cool guy whom I'd/we'd often run into, ended up trying to date the cuter/younger/less-experienced Russian to no end of his own frustration. He and I were guessing virgin. But then the weird thing is, a couple weeks later, the cuter one sort of hinted that she wished we'd started something. Hinted at it again when I was in Moscow a year later.

Originally posted by niomosy tee hee! I sure hope to god that isn't the ambulance that responds to my next family issue... Btw, I forgot to explain that the reason I haven't been here much is that I was in Montana, and it took me the longest damn time (i.e., until today) to figure out that the duet HC server no longer functioned.

Originally posted by greenshag luckily, this girl is everything but frigid!!! I exaggerate, of course. Partly in connection with my ex-gf being rather taciturn for stretches. Chilled vodka did warm them up, oddly. On the rare occasion, she'd turn into a rabbit. But boy was that rare. Should've dated her much cuter if less experienced classmate.

Originally posted by greenshag care to enlighten a poor soul on the reasoning behind never dating a russian? frigidity and lack of communication? I think I abuse the frigidity metaphor a bit much in the lyrics, but it still works. I also have to point out that despite the stereotyping of the song, I myself have some Russian up the family shrub... Originally posted by niomosy C'mon, though, this movie was really about the fall of the Jedi so all the Jedi fight scenes make sense. True dat, but the number of them got a little excessive, and frankly, only Samuel L. Jackson really had somewhat convincing kendo-like moves. Most of the saber fights looked clumsy and same-y to me. No terror, the way Vader in Episodes IV - VI sent you into your sneakers the first time you saw it, y'know? Even if you knew it was coming, V and VI still had you going "Oh {censored}, oh {censored}" when Luke is getting the tar beaten out of him or facing closing calls. OK, maybe I'm just too old to appreciate what III did for 7 year olds everywhere, and maybe I'm blinded by loathing for Hayden, but.

Problems With Star Wars Episode III: ...5. Too many damn Jedi saber battles. Bring on the starships, Lucas, you silly nit, you!

Originally posted by greenshag a truth I have found out recently....never drink vodka with a russian girl, you will lose, but sometimes that is the point Dated one once. First time I went to Romania, in fact. Visited her in Moscow once. There was the night we went to visit a couple of her friends, the male of whom had been drinking since 4 PM. Fun, but *thud*. Ten years later, I have a little pseudo-blues rollicking ditty called "Never Date A Russian."

Originally posted by niomosy 5. Well, I'm sure the thing takes just a little while to build Actually, though not part of the movies, there was info on there being a few different Death Stars built (at least one other) before they built the completed one. One was just a skeleton structure with the weapon, I recall. I thought there were at least one or two others before the main one. One of the goals behind them, I thought, was to help rule through fear. Remember, Grand Moff what's his name said, "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.", when discussing the elimination of the Imperial Senate. True dat. But they are keeping local systems in line with the Rebellion already fairly well underway. But I take your point, it could be interpreted as some measure of pre-empting grumbling in the Senate at Palpatine's open power grab, transforming the Republic into an Empire. Still, I coulda sworn Tarkin or Vader or somebody says something about the Death Star being built to crush the bastids. I can't remember if the original book of Episode IV mentioned something about previous prototypes?

Originally posted by niomosy They aren't communists. Any claims of such are just marketing on their part to cover up their dictatorships. Very arguable. The convictions of most of the original Soviet revolutionaries and, according to some biographies of Stalin, suggest deep devotion to communist principles as they understood them. Not just marketing. Even Khrushchev was a committed, idealist activist on some levels. A true communist government has never actually existed as any attempt at one turned into totalitarian dictatorship where the people were treated like {censored}. Not at all the Marxist ideal. Not the ideal, no, but there is certainly a culture of sacrifice for the collective good. (Plus, you cannot be right as against the Party...) You should take a look at some of the measures they attempted to institute in 1918-1919, such as the (brief attempt at the) elimination of money. These guys weren't kidding around with some of their principles, just having great difficulty translating theory into practice. I don't know Asian communist variants well at all, but I would be careful not to dismiss the convictions and policies of early revolutionaries in China or Vietnam, either. Not as an apology for the bastards, but a suggestion to probe deeper into those societies. Despite the colossal human costs inflicted, they nonetheless succeeded in instilling some measure of egalitarian values among large sections of the populations they were abusing...

STAR WARS SPOILER! STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT DETAILS! OK, so I broke my own exhortation not to fund Hayden Christiansen or Hollywood at full ticket price. I feel so dirty. But Episode 3 was pretty good. Except for: 1. Battle scenes too jerky and unclear. 2. Edits of five second scenes across five planets/galactic locations leave me dizzy and looking for the OnStar button. 3. Vader going "Nooooooo!" and bending backward, supplicating some higher being, is just plain doofy. Lucas is still a weenie. But those aren't my two biggest problems. 4. Since when does Luke and Leia's mother die in childbirth? Because my memory tells me that Leia has a scene in Return of the Jedi where she remembers her mother while Luke says he has no memory of her. Oops. 5. More importantly, why would the Empire start building a Death Star before there's anything close to an organized Rebellion? The Jedi have been destroyed and the remnants exiled. Why do you need to blow up planets just yet? And isn't there dialog in Episode IV about the new weapon being created expressly to destroy the Rebellion? Oops.

Originally posted by mxpxfan party pooper Me?!? I'm not the one who floats a load in the punch bowl...

Originally posted by mxpxfan It doesn't mean its bad. It means I'm takin' a risk out of ignorance.

Originally posted by mxpxfan how so? The more unfamiliar the chemical, and the longer the chemical name...

Originally posted by mxpxfan ...sorbitan monostearate, lcysteine, monohydrochloride. This is where I begin to worry. But thanks!

Off to see if the news will announce that the world is about to implode.

Seriously, can you post the contents? It's when they start talking about Xantha Gum and Yellow Additive #9 that I get a little worried...

Originally posted by mxpxfan All comes to he who knows how to wait. All wait for he who knows how to come. I think I could turn this into an Internet attraction...

Originally posted by mxpxfan The dough mix here only cost 50 cents or something likethat I think. Try out some store ones, not the super pricy one. I find the Koger ones work well. Edit: to make clear, we just buy the dough in the packs That cheap? I'm intrigued, but now highly suspicious of what's in it or what it tastes like...

Originally posted by mxpxfan I buy the pizza dough packets. Add water add some stuff, flatten, add toppings, cook and eat. See, now, it's the pre-prepared stuff that gets expensive. Plus home-made = you interact with your food = tastes better. I'm just short on time to {censored} with dough. Hell, I still have to learn to bake a decent loaf of bread...

Originally posted by mxpxfan I make most of my own. Cheaper and you get just what you want. Doesn't making pizza dough take a while?

Originally posted by Bonoman ZAMFIR - Like I said, my dad's over 60 so distinguished is good. Are you even 40 yet? You've got time to be distinguished. Keep it short. No, I'm on the long side of 34. And I don't want to be grey for another ten years, minimum! *yanks another one*