Okay, open Forum, off-topic, or whatever (grab a cup and sit)

[markperr]

Tim,

Here in Michigan, March definately came in like a lion. Got six inches of fresh snow yesterday and the wind whipped it into drifts over a foot high. Hopefully, March will go out like a lamb and I can look forward to another season of garden railroading.

Right now, i'm just sitting at work, drinking a hot black coffee, and enjoying myself on the forums.

Mark

[markperr]

The last temptation of Christ? Wasn't Willem Defoe Christ in that movie? Never saw the movie but I'd have a hard time watching him play Jesus after watching him battle Spiderman. I've also not seen The Greatest Story Ever Told although one friend of mine who's seen it one told me it's more like the LONGEST story ever told.

Sometimes I shoot from the hip and come off as sounding defensive when defending my position. Gets me in trouble every time. Personally, I really enjoyed "The Passion" and never once thought of it as a snuff flick. My wife bought me the DVD for Christmas and I haven't even unwrapped it from the celophane cover yet. It's a very hard movie to watch, even for the seasoned veterans of "gore". What Christ went through was nothing short of brutal torture. Anyone with half a conscience can't watch those whipping scenes just for the entertainment value. I simply went to see it to see if it would help me understand my own commitment to Christianity.

As for Oscar nominated movies, of the five, the only one that I've seen is Sideways. Thankfully, the wife and I saw it as a matinee. I'd hate to think I wasted 18 bucks instead of eleven.

Mark

[TurboOne]

Curmudgeon awesome photos. It looks like a huge amout of work. Almost as if you are rebuilding all. I salute you and your comrades. [bow][bow]

Vic, I enjoyed the temptation movie. Definately a different point of view from typical Christian movies. Also most of my backyard has become grass again instead of swamp. Location where train is going is still mud, so I will probably have to delay start of outdoor railroad, until I build up the area. That sounds expensive, I may end up with cab forward and no track to play. [:(]

Mark, I thought of Hollywoods treatment of the movie was like their treatment of Spielberg, most of hollywierd was 2nd rate in comparison, so they ignore them, therefore their movies win "awards". $$ speak, The movie went to #7, hello. Believer or non believer, people watched and enjoyed this movie. Mel doesn't need hollywierd, he did it with his money and looked what happened.

I had been avoiding the open forum thread as it seems to upset a certain people when I post on the Garden thread. Even though I have a G scale train, cheap still counts, [:D], and I enjoy the outdoors, heck that is why I live in San Diego, better weather than anywhere, except the last few months.

But now, even if I don't post people get upset, so what the heck,

HOW IS EVERYONE HERE DOING ? [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)]

HOW IS THE WEATHER TREATING YOU IN YOUR PART OF THE WORLD? [:)]

I LIKE COFFEE, TEA, SMOOTHIES, AND I WILL DRINK THEM WHILE I READ THIS THREAD ONLY, WOULDN'T WANT IT TO SPILL ON OTHER, MORE SERIOUS THREADS. [:D][:D][:D][:D]

Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC day where ever you are, [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]

Tim (positive Tim)

[Curmudgeon]

Sorry, been busy.
Here's some photos we have of the work we are doing on Cobra:


http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=xmc75wt.5e6flcb1&Uy=xjxvhx&Upost_signin=BrowsePhotos.jsp%3FshowSlide%3Dtrue&Ux=0


We are stripping paint off wood and re-varnishing as original, re-doing lights, restoring Control Room, panels, tags, indicators......

TOC

[vsmith]

Mark, I guess we all see things differently.[;)]

I saw along time ago a movie that attempted to show almost the same thing you describe, about Jesus coming to grips with the prospect of dying so the sins of the world could be forgiven, the temptations of the Devil, and final acceptance of his fate, done far far better and more effect because it actually talked about what and why Jesus had to die. The movie was "The Last Temptation of Christ" a movie that devote Christians protested vemonently, even though they did not bother to actually see it. One of the best movies about Jesus and the crucifiction I've ever seen because it actually attempted to make the viewer see it from Jesus's perspective, it really made you think.

..and Max Von Sedow in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" looks about as Jewish as Brad Pit, and Brad Pitt in "Troy" looked about as Greek as ....well, sorry, but everyone looks more Greek than Pitt does[;)]

[markperr]

I think the point of the Passion was missed by many people. First, Christ's ultimate lesson to us was that he, even though scared to death about what he knew was going to happen to him, went through with it because it was his Father's will. "That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." That's the famous John 3:16 passage all good football fans see at the endzone during extra point kicks. The point was to show "Christ"ians what brutality their saviour went through so that their sins would be forgiven. I for one was brought up in the very antiseptic "Christ died to save our sins" era, without ever understanding the true implications of what that statement meant.
This movie brought home that reality and was very true to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Second, Look at a picture of Jim Caviezel in and out of the Christ character make-up and tell me that he still looks like a "white dude surfer". Mel Gibson went to great lengths to make him look Jewish since Jesus of Nazareth was indeed a Jew.

Just MY 2cents
Markl

[Anonymous]

[#ditto][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[vsmith]

Yeah Ben, so do I. Some of the "Talent " out here gets payed stupidly large amounts of cash for very little talent, like Ashley Simpsons performance at the Orange Bowl, or someone please tell me why Paris Hilton is a celebrity when her only discernable talent can be seen in an x-rated home movie? Its like the song says "Money for nothing, and your chicks for free"

[Anonymous]

I wished i had 1/4 of the move peoples money , I could buy a lot of trains and rolling stock and track. JUST a wish. ben

[vsmith]

The following is just my opinion, so dont anyone get PO'd. We are talking about a MOVIE , a MOOOVVVIIIEEEEE!!!!! so keep that in mind, just a MOVIE.!!!!!![:o)]

I hope this doesnt cause a flame war Tim but I for one was not impressed by the Passion, IMHO I thought it was a 2hr Snuff film. It just my personal opinion but if Mel Gibson wanted to show his love of Christ then he should have focused on what he taught, not focus in graphic gore on a historically anti-semetic Medeavil stage play on how he died, then act surprised when the Jewish community got upset claiming he was anti-semetic in his portrayal of the Jews. (Passsion plays were historically VERY anti-Semetic throughout the centuries) Sad comment when a gore fest like this eclipses the peacefull teaching that were at the core of Christs teachings. Even sadder when a flick like "Jesus Christ Superstar" teaches more about Jesus than this did. I for one was almost offended by the graphic gore which too me was extremely gratuitous and this is coming from a guy whos seen a bunch of gratuitous gore films. I for one walked away not learning a single thing new or insightfull about Jesus other than Mel Gibson has a predomonant fascination with gushing blood! I think the South Park episode "the Passion of the Jew" really caught the gist of this film when Stan tells Mel Gibson "If you wanted to focus on Jesus, then why didnt you focus on what he taught, not how he died, thats Mideavil Dude!"

One other thing, why is Jesus always portraited by an actor who looks like a white dude surfer? For a guy who no-one, not even the Pope has a clue of what they looked like, always portraited as a very Anglo Hippie character. The earliest depictions of Jesus are actually clean shaven and very Roman like. Not until the 3rd century in Constantonople do we get the more traditional depiction of Jesus, 3 centuries later, he could have looked more like Mel Brooks for all we know... now wouldnt THAT be a movie? Anyway thats my take on the MOVIE. and its only my take, my 2cents, so take that as it may ....[;)]

I'm curious if anyone else came away with the same opinion.

BTW let me add that I also wasnt impressed with Clint Eastwoods remake of "Old Yeller" that one this years Oscar....[;)]

[TurboOne]

Looks like Vic, its just you and me. Got a new job doing low interest mortgages. It is fun but very time consuming.

I thought Hollywood was horrible nominating movies that made almost no money, but ignoring the Passion that moved up to #7 on the all time money list. No bias do you think????

Polar Express was great, and so was The incredibles. All I get to see now is kids movies.

Take care Vic

Tim

[vsmith]

Tim, you could have just posted here and bumbed this back to the top[;)]

I have been very busy lately only posting where I can feel its usefull to do so. out all weekend, only checked messages online the last couple days. Watched the Oscars last night, wife was happy Eastwoods remake of Old Yeller got the nood, I was rooting for The Aviator, Poor Marty Scorsese , always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Worst Omission this year was The Polar Express from the animated catagory, apparently some members of the academy thought that the motion capture used to film it wasnt really "animation" BS if you ask me, theres still a tremendous amount of "animation" done before the final print. BTW I was pushing for The Incredibles in that catagory.

[TurboOne]

Vic, I mowed as soon as we got back from Vegas. Wanted to have a chance against the weeds. I lucked out that I cleaned up a whole trash can full of leaves on the side of the house. My trenches wouldn't have worked if I didn't clear that the day before the storms hit.

Nice and sunny out so far, no clouds. Maybe we can dry out a little bit before the next one hits.

Curmudgeon you can have your weather back now. Us SoCals are returning it to you, free. [:)]

Kimbrit, I think the weather is caused by all the people who use hair dryers. Messed with the eco system. Stop drying our hair, weather goes back to normal sunshine.

Steve, how did you come out so far. Hope all is well.

Matt, thanks for being around over 1000 times. You have been funny, a great sense of humor, great with sharing your ideas, and the coffee and smoothies were great fun while talking. [:D]

Take care all,

Tim

[Anonymous]

lot's of strange weather planet wide lads, methinks you should be lobbying your politicians in the states re the Kyoto agreement, time to stop pumping all of that CO2 into the atmosphere. How much are you paying for petrol?, around £4-00 per gallon here so the majority of us have frugal cars. We only have one atmosphere, we are getting the warnings now, time to listen! I suspect that people a couple of hundred years from now will look back at this time and call it the 'time of the a***holes'.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]
Cheers

[vsmith]

Hey Matt congrates on the 4th star!

Tim, back yard is still there, just lots of weeds since it rains every weekend I cant get the mower out.

it looks like some clear weather for a few days, finally!

[Anonymous]

Well I not sure when the last elnino effect was but it brought warm weather to Ohio the last time, 45 degree averages I believe not this time though.

Turbo, I actually thought of ditching my membership here and starting of to get rid of the stars and the post number, the wife comes in and checks on me periodically and it just proves how much I'm really here....UH OH! got to go here she comes[:D]

[Curmudgeon]

Yeah, but the Pacific Northwest A) didn't go dry, B) didn't go warm, and C) melt virtually ALL the snow until after!

[TurboOne]

The sun is out for now, still raining most of the day. Trench has worked, I can rest a little, and maybe do some benchwork tonight.

Matt [yeah][wow] on 4 stars.

Take care all, Vic and Steve hope all is well. Vic what is left of your backyard ?

Tim

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't place bets on that. The el Nino this year is much smaller than in other years, and we started our abnormal rain fall, long before the incident in the Indian ocean.

But, I'll blame it on that anyway. ;)

[Curmudgeon]

May not be scientific, but after the big Indonesian quake and the report that the earth wobbled on it's axis, I told everyone up here to stand by and watch the weather.
Ocean currents make the weather, hence the El Nino effect, and sure enough, it all shifted to Soggy So Cal.
And away from us.
Wonder if it's permanent?
TOC

[Anonymous]

I've seen floooding in areas around my place I've never seen before. Not in the 15+ years I've lived down here.

News yesterday even said there was a new lake in Death Valley. But, Mead and Powell are pretty much untouched so far. Owens valley gets most of its water from the eastern side of the Sierras so it should be in much better shape.

I'm ready for some sun to be sure. According to LA news, the rain last night pushed us over the top. It's now the wettest rainy season on record. And we haven't gotten to the normal rainy part of the winter yet.

And yes, another news article indicated So Cal has 5X the rain as Seattle so far.

Normal rain fall for our town for this point in time is 4.5". We just passed the 30" mark. Heck, i got 5.5" in the last 5 days. I know, no great amount for some folks, but So Cal is just not architeted for this kind of rain fall.

Oh, and it slipped my mind. Lets not forget the tornados that crused through the southwest side of town on Saturday.

Ole Ma Nature, sure on a rampage this year. Here and around the world.

[vsmith]

One house with a sliding pool? Last count I had was 6! This has been a loony winter down here. at least 2 dozen homes at risk of sliding. The problem here is that we simply dont get this much water falling on the city, not since '93 and that was considered a fluke, maybe we are seeing a more seasonal cycle starting with wetter winters than in the past. As it is the summers are far more humid than I can ever remember. Winters next?

I had 2 inches of flowing water in my backyard Monday, my front porch looked like the backside of Niagra Falls. and still my stupid dog would sit out on the back porch and run around in the rain even though we has a nice warm doggy bed in the garage.

All we get is rain, some more rain, a little more rain, some dry rain, then some windy rain, cold rain, warm rain, and did I metion , rain? I estimate we have passed 40+ inches at my house near the foothills.

Devils Gate resivour near my house has water over the spillway, this has only happened twice since the dam was built in 1920, both times have been this winter. Also overflowing are Castaic, Piru, San Gabriel resivours hopefully a lot of this will help refill Lake Mead and Lake Powell in Arizona and Owens and Mono lakes up north where we get our drinking water from. Hanson and Santa Fe flood control dams have big stores of water behind them and all the concrete lined drains we call rivers are high. And more rain is forcast for this weekend....[:0]

[TurboOne]

Hey I need coffee this morning, where is the coffee. [:D] [:D] [:D]

I see sun outside. It has stopped raining for now. My trenches worked, the backyard is not a pond, even after all the rain last night.

Thanks to those who wrote to check on us. No tornado set down, just a few funnel clouds. Nothing like the midwest gets fortunately.

How is Vic in LA, they got more water then we did ?

Sink whole's all over town, there is one 20 ' accross, whole neighborhood is evacuated.

Bad time to own a house on a cliff, many are tetering or have lost part of yard. There is one house in LA that the whole pool slid down the mountain.

Take care all

Tim

[TurboOne]

Hey guys, came in from the trenches actually. We have had so much rain that it almost went over the patio. I have a huge pond in the backyard. Neighbors backroom addons flooded. So I dug a trench on both sides of the house. The back patio roof looks like a waterfall. It was five feet wide yesterday, incredible waterfall. We also had a dam crest in north San Diego, it looks incredible.

Got about 10 minutes of trains in this weekend, with the rain seems like it never is going to end. We have about 3 more inches coming tonight, and more on thursday. Take care all, have to check the waterflow, and see if the fish started appearing yet.

Tim

[Curmudgeon]

Boomers....41 for Freedom boats....
Hey, all youse Cally-forn-eee-ans.
Guess what?
Our Seattle weather has been re-routed to you.
This is EXACTLY what we got for the last 2 months, but it's been DRY and SUNNY.
You ever want to move to Seattle, that is what you get!
But, as a general rule, we have figured out how to build and drain around it.
TOC

[grandpopswalt]

A Destroyer is called a "tincan" and submariners are respectfuly called "sewerpipe" sailors. Marines call sailors "swabjockies" and sailors call marines "jarheads" or "seagoing bellhops". That about exhausts the printable names I can think of.

Walt

QUOTE: Originally posted by Capt Bob Johnson

I had assumed that the SSBN was called a "boomer" because of the big boom the missile would make if they ever had to fire them in earnest! I leave it to the Curmudgeon to set us all straight on that choice of slang. I do know that a FFG was called a fig, and a carrier a bird farm!

[Anonymous]

Vic, better breakout the dehumidifyer in the garage to protect the layout!

Did your heat vents fill up with water? Mine did earlier in the year because of rain.[V]

Really sad was the little girl who was crushed by a boulder when the hillside gave way and it went into their house!

[Anonymous]

vsmith
BOY THE PEOPLE ON THE WEST COAST are haveing their problems, looseing their houses, big sink holes ,i would move out and never go back . ben

[vsmith]

WILL IT STOP [censored][censored][censored] RAINING !!!!!!!!!!





I had enough of this at 30 [censored] inches, its been raining since Friday and I'm sure I'm at over 40 inches at my house now!

[Tom The Brat]

I seem to recall a misile carrying sub being called a boomer, but TOC is the expert. Oh, yea, a big male kangaroo... (I watch PBS)