Selkie

Just returned from seeing it, and agree with Mojo. It's a good film, but not a great one. I enjoyed it, despite feeling like it would have benefited from being a little shorter. Some great visuals, though like most ambitious fX films, some things worked better than others.

Chris, best of luck on getting the article written and published. That's exciting news.

All: many thanks for the well wishes and support. They really do mean a lot to me, especially now, when I'm feeling down and generally crappy about my situation.

I mailed out the promised canine care packages to everyone slated to get one this afternoon, so watch your mailboxes.

Yeah, and my Velvet Ballsack bag.

 

:lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would you settle for a kangaroo scrotum coin purse?

May Og strike me down for knowing about such things.

Congratulations, and many happy returns.

The "sacred portal to the feminine temple"?! :icon_twosgun: :wacko:

Mark, this project sounds very intriguing and I wish you and your artist all the best. I prefer the WVa mining town to the iconic Old West - I think there's a ton of potential there.

By any chance, have you read the book "Half Human, Half Animal"? It's not terribly well written, but it contains an enormous number of werewolf (and werecoyote, werefox, and werecat) myths, including many of native American origin, that might be useful research. Many of the original stories were a lot more interesting than the Hollywood standard "get bitten, turn into a werewolf only on the night of the full moon."

Mark, I'm probably not the only American struggling with the words "West Virginia" and "old west" being used in the same pitch, at least in terms of the classic spaghetti western frontier mining town look and feel (and if you're deliberately going from something less tried and true, more power to you). Googling "West Virginia history" turns up some interesting looking web sites....

T

Where even to begin, Charlie?!

I think the fundamental disconnect between received wisdom and reality relates to the hiring of the best qualified people for in-house positions (none of what I'm about to say applies to consultants). Received wisdom says that companies wants to hire the most highly qualified, smart, educated employees available because they will help the company succeed. This is true - but only if the company:

* Is relatively small, with a fairly flat org chart, or

* Being run hands-on by its founder, or

* On its last legs financially, or

* If the hiring manager was educated outside the U.S.

Otherwise, the guy sitting in the chair interviewing candidates wants someone just qualified enough to make him look good, but not so talented that he will be passed over for promotion or replaced by the newcomer. I've seen this pattern repeat itself over, and over, and over again, ad nauseam. The bigger the company, the more blatant it is that the best qualified candidates get passed over. Usually their resumes get tossed, but sometimes they make it in the door but are never in the final consideration for some vague reason.

I've even had secretaries for companies that were interviewing me for the second round warn me that "the boss really likes you, but he thinks you're too smart. If you want to get hired, dumb it down on this one." I know a lot of people who have received similar advice from helpful insiders.

Also, strange insecurities tend to be revealed in hiring managers during interviews. I know, for example, of one middle manager who won't consider a candidate who is taller than he is. An employee outside his office could predict, almost to the minute, how long the interview would take based on how much taller, or shorter, the candidate was than him. Tall people got maybe five minutes of his time, tops. Short people got as much as an hour. This was for a company that was interviewing and hiring lots of people, so it's hard to believe that small sample size was the issue.

Also, ever notice how the people who get promoted to middle management and above tend to be the ones who never make a decision, on anything, no matter how insignificant? They get promoted precisely because they're not "controversial."

I could go on, but I tend to start frothing at the mouth and I don't want to alarm mama 'rent when I pick her up from work in a few minutes.

I wish I'd learned that just because a person is educated does not mean s/he is wise, or even "smart", a whole lot sooner.

I sure as hell wish I'd realized everything I *now* know about the medical profession a long time ago. For that matter, I wish I'd learned to reject the advice of any expert when it overrode my common sense.

I wish I'd learned that adults are just big children, and that few of them ever achieve emotional maturity.

I wish I'd discovered sooner how fundamentally insecure most people are, and how many of their actions are motivated by that insecurity.

I wish I'd known that everything I'd ever been taught about how to succeed in the business world was dead wrong.

I wish I'd learned to lie when I was young, because I think I'd be much more convincing at it now.

I wish I'd understood how generally unimportant grades were. Or, for that matter, one's "permanent record." I would have learned a lot more, rather than spending so much time memorizing stuff to regurgitate on command.

I wish I'd known what bullcrap many of my teachers were spouting when they told me how things were handled in "the real world." The kind of thing I'm talking about? One of my English teachers talked a girl out of accepting a prize for her writing because there was a small monetary award attached. He told her that all throughout high school and college, she would be required to write on the top of each paper that she was a "professional" writer, and that she would there after be graded more strictly than all of her classmates as a result. What absolute horse manure. I could go on with endless examples of that kind of nonsense that I and other kids I knew were led to believe, because after all, the teachers are there because they know what they're talking about, right? (See above related note about people being motivated by their insecurities)

I wish I'd learned at an earlier age not to accept the teachers' and school administrators' assertions that it was *my* fault that I was bullied by other kids, and that it was my responsibility to conform to the standards of the bullies, and not the other way around. I never gave in the way other bright kids of my acquaintance did, but there are a lot of things I know I would have done differently if I even one adult had reassured me that *I* was not the problem.

I wish I'd learned much earlier that sex is not nearly as important and earthshattering as one is led to believe. I would have had a lot more fun in my teenage years.

I went with Pride, because I don't think Pride should be a sin, but in light of recent events I was ever-so-tempted to choose Gluttony. Lust's always fun too.

So many sins, so little time in which to commit them all!

OK, folks, there were rumors of cat toys in those boxes but I sure couldn't find any. If some turn up - always a possibility in our garage - I'll let the cat people know.

Selk, my missus took me to task for my comment last night. "Doesn't like toys? Are you insane? She loves plushy toys." It appears I mispoke! Maybe it's because Betty tends to chew them up, destroy them and forget about them.

WAH! Wish I'd thought to start this thread last week. I donated a whole bunch of salesman's samples of THE COOLEST (and most expensive) plushy squeaky dog toys imaginable to Salvation Army. I might have saved one or two - I'll check. They were terrific, and as strange as they may have been to donate, at least it was better than seeing them go in the trash. I thought they'd make great kid's toys as long as the store removed the tags identifying them as dog toys.

I think you may have heard that we also had a shih tzu that we had to give away because she was too nippy and jealous of the baby.

In other words, she was a Shih Tzu. I'm one of the most soft-hearted dog people imaginable, and I don't have a single kind word for members of that entire breed. I've never met one that wasn't a nippy, nasty little beast once it reached adulthood.

Charlie, a Lab mix that's indifferent to toys?! Has anyone checked the temperature in the underworld recently?

Wolvy, PM me your details. I'm sure I should have something appropriate for your puppy. How big is he right now?

And why have I not seen mention of this pooch before, Charlie? Any other toys on that list he might like? I should have several things in the 45-pound Lab mix range.

I just went through the box that was rumored to contain cat toys but all I could find was bird stuff :( On behalf of the feline owners, I'll keep looking.

In the spirit of STH neighborliness, I make the following offer to those of you with medium or large dogs (small ones might be eligible - read on), and possibly cats too.

My family owned a pet store for three generations, which closed while I was in my teens. My father recently unearthed several boxes of supplies from when the store closed, that he held onto with the idea that we'd have them when it opened in a new location. It never did. He's now a sales rep for a local distributor, and plans to give away what stock we still have to one of his favorite customers. However, I've been given carte blanche, for the next twelve hours, to give away some of the toys and rawhide to the dogs (and possibly cats) of friends. I'm not allowed to give it all away, but there's quite a bit left and I consider you guys my friends, so....

If you'd like a toy or two for your pooch or cat, P.M. me with your address, the details of your pet (particularly if it's a dog - specify small, medium, or large, and whether you will or won't give it rawhide), what kinds of toys s/he might enjoy, and whether you prefer red, blue, or green (in the event of having a choice of colors on plastic toys) and I'll see if I still have anything suitable. Sorry to restrict this to U.S. only, but the value of the stuff doesn't justify shipping it overseas.

I know there are rope knot toys, plastic dog bones, plastic "hand grenade" shaped toys, plastic rings, one doggie frisbee, and various sizes of rawhide sitting in boxes. I think one of the other boxes might contain some cat toys, but I can't guarantee that. There never were many small dog sized materials, but I think there are still a few.

So Selkie, how did you feel about all the sex, swearing, and drug use? :lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That there wasn't nearly enough of it! :D

What I couldn't forgive was how incredibly sexist the movie was - far more so, strangely enough, than a more obvious target like Sin City. If I had a little girl, I certainly would not have wanted her to see Valiant not just because it was a badly written movie, but because of the stereotypes portrayed therein. The movie was arguably even more sexist than the era it portrayed. Given that this is a movie involving an air corp of talking pigeons, the filmmakers don't get to hide behind even the tiniest fig leaf of an argument about striving for historical accuracy.

The animation was beautiful, but the script (above and beyond the gender issues) was such irredeemable shite that there was no salvaging it. Blech. I would have been praying for the hawks to kill and eat those pigeons, except even they had no discernable personalities or character development at all.

And to answer GenGris' earlier question: Skeleton Key isn't a scary film, at least to me, but it is a nicely atmospheric one.

The horror! The agonizing pain! The nightmares!

I was dragged to see Valiant this afternoon. There are kids' movies for all ages. There are kids' movies for kids. Then there are putrid POSs that are fit for no one. Three guesses which category this fit into?

I discovered that life goes better with a Hellblazer trenchcoat long before I'd ever heard of Hellblazer. I went without one for several years after I, um, "outgrew" the oh-so-perfectly stylish one I wore throughout college. Words cannot describe my happiness at finding the perfect coat, by accident, while searching for clothes I had a more immediate need for. A lovely light greenish tan, full length, and strokeably soft. I wear it in almost all weather, short of the scorching summers we've been experiencing the last few months. I so look forward to cooler temperatures arriving so I can take it out of the closet again.

.

Physically, my cousin is fine (at least, so I'm told) and she wasn't assaulted while in her weakened state. Emotionally ...

I was thinking of this movie..

but is it a must-see?  or can i just wait til it comes out in dvd or hbo for that matter?

 

I have this thing about crowds...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Worth seeing, but not a must-see. It's not going to lose much in the transition to the small screen, so I'd file it under "Wait for the DVD." It might even be better inif watched in a dark, spooky house, preferably during a rainstorm.

Just finished a Firefly marathon, which was my first exposure to the show aside from the Serenity trailer. I thought it looked amazing and I really applaud the effort to make something "different", even if I feel the mad-love that many others seem to. I've got to figure out a way to see the movie on opening night, because I enjoy seeing movies with strong cult followings, even if the cult isn't my own.

The univese works in strange and mysterious ways.... GenGris bumps this old thread on the very morning that I'm molding this particular critter. Coincidence? I don't think so!

Wish me luck, guys. I haven't made molds in ages, and have already knocked a toe off the original this morning. But, the first mold section came out looking really good, so I'm off to the hardware store for more plaster. I had hoped to have the first piece ready in time to enter a book contest, but the only way that's going to happen now is IF the mold making goes perfectly, and I'm able to transport the plasters to my friend's studio (an hour's drive over less than smooth road condition) to dry in his vacuum chamber AND they survive the return drive AND the first casting comes out right (which it never does) AND I push the porcelain to its drying limits AND nothing bad happens during multiple kiln firings. In other words, happen, not gonna. But at least I should have some Frog-goroths in the near future.

lyra, I'm not sure how your latest works escaped my notice for so long, but I'm glad I finally saw them. Wow doesn't even gbegin to cover my reaction. They're gorgeous!

Think what a cool shop/club we could make!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The STH Art Guild!

<swooning> Charlie, may I bum a virtual cigarette off of you?

Thanks so much, everyone. Please keep the descriptions of amazing foods coming. I figure that if my every waking moment is going to be consumed by thoughts of food I can't eat, at least I could make the thoughts be of amazing, well-loved foods. Some of the edibles described in this thread are things I've enjoyed before, and miss. The ones I haven't tickle my imagination as to what they must be like ... mmm.....

Although I didn't intend for this to become a recipe thread, particularly in light of my inability to eat anything, I've got to ask: GenGris, how do you make that Graham cracker/cream/mango dessert you described? Is there more to it than putting some cream on a cracker, and putting a slice of mango on top? I can't possibly eat such a concotion, but a friend who is an amazing cook can ....

(And, alas, I'm pretty sure durian fruit isn't permitted to be imported into the U.S., but I've heard from multiple sources that the taste is incredible if you can get past the smell).