The Vent and Rant Thread

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i will definitely do this on my next washing machine (as you say, it's probably too late for this one). especially since i've since received the replacement piece, and when i put it in i checked the other two plastic beaters (i did not do this before, as they had not actually fallen off, and as i am an idiot). it turns out BOTH of them are only holding by the clips on one side. so they will have to be replaced as well (i'm waiting until next month to do that though and hoping they won't break in the interval).

i think i'll mark a warranty valid through 2099. i thought about making it valid through the 25th century but i don't know, how gullible do you thing these machines are ?

Dave Barry lacks your graphic skills. Make a dummy extended warranty and show it to the machine......

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Dave Barry lacks your graphic skills. Make a dummy extended warranty and show it to the machine......

hm. well that's an interesting point... but i still think it's too late here. i'm pretty sure this particular machine knows what time it is (ie, post-warranty).

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Just, finally, watched V for Vendetta. I should have stopped watching at the very start when they said "by the makers of The Matrix". But then Stephen Fry's name was mentioned, so I watched.

And whilst it wasn't especially true to the comic, I could understand the changes they made - the threats and paranoia in the film were, after all, more likely to resonate with a modern audience than nuclear war.

I could even find it ironic that John Hurt, one time actor of Winston Smith, was no playing big brother - even if at times he seemed to be modelling his character on how he thought Leo McKern might have played it.

I could even forgive being pulled out of the narrative by wondering if Stephen Fry was playing a character in a film, or if the film character had been based on him.

And for most of the film I felt that Alan Moore had been being a bit prima donna-ish really in disassociating his name with it.

And then...

And then someone said "let's make it a bit Matrix-y" and then someone else said "let's make V seem superhuman".

And you got the awful, terrible showdown, with the slow-mo daggers flying, and the twisting and turning and none of V's injuries seeming to affect him (one of my main gripes with Hamlet is how it took him so sodding long to die compared to everyone else), and it just spoilt the whole tone of the film. It went from a modern take on The Count of Monte Cristo, a fact unsubtly made earlier in the film, into something wholly mundane and humdrum.

And then...

And then just as you'd almost got over that (which would have had me launching the remote at teh TV had it not been safely out of harm's way), you have all the people taking their V masks off and revealing, amongst others, characters you know are dead. What sodding point did they think they were making? You don't need resurrections to make the point that words, that ideas don't die. It was unneccesary. It was jarring. It spoilt whatever impact the film had left after it went Matrix-y.

[nekokami]

It's snowing here. Again. I won't be getting together with any family members to celebrate Christmas this weekend. (I like my family members, so this is not a good thing.) My best friend will probably not come to visit today as hoped. Haven't seen him in weeks.

If I don't stop writing now, I'm going to start whining, and I don't think this is the right thread for that....

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nekokami

It's snowing here. Again. I won't be getting together with any family members to celebrate Christmas this weekend. (I like my family members, so this is not a good thing.) My best friend will probably not come to visit today as hoped. Haven't seen him in weeks.

If I don't stop writing now, I'm going to start whining, and I don't think this is the right thread for that....

if this isn't the right one i can't think where it would be...

i'm very sorry neko. further proof that you can have too much of a good thing. i hope you manage to see your family soon and have a christmas celebration even if it's a bit after the official date. and i hope you manage to see your best friend soon as well.

[vivaldirules]

I'm doing my best to send soothing waves of equanimity your way, neko, even though you are the unequalled expert at that. And share a nice cup of tea with me, too.

[nekokami]

Aw, thanks, both of you. That tea helps.

I'm trying to just think of this as "rest time." (Naturally, I instantly think of a batch of projects I've been meaning to try to get done....)

[desertgrandma]

I dearly love Agatha Christie. Amazon had them just not long ago for between $1.95 to $2.95. I made a mental note to go back and buy all they had. Went back tonight, and guess what.........they are all now priced at $.4.79. Rotten, miserable, %#&ds!

I know, its the publishers that set the price, so I emailed Harper Collins and let them know what I thought, and asked why they would change the prices so. Nothing had changed, no new books had come out, so why???? Will probably get a stock response, but at least I vented.

'whiiine................

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

I dearly love Agatha Christie. Amazon had them just not long ago for between $1.95 to $2.95. I made a mental note to go back and buy all they had. Went back tonight, and guess what.........they are all now priced at $.4.79. Rotten, miserable, %#&ds!

I know, its the publishers that set the price, so I emailed Harper Collins and let them know what I thought, and asked why they would change the prices so. Nothing had changed, no new books had come out, so why???? Will probably get a stock response, but at least I vented.

'whiiine................

What is the first Miss Marple book? I caught an episode on PBS and now I have to read it. She's a fellow knitter Someone said it on here but I can't find it...

[zelda_pinwheel]

i think the first one is "Murder at the Vicarage". highly recommended.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i think the first one is "Murder at the Vicarage". highly recommended.

Excellent! Now do I file it as a "Classic" in my spreadsheet of books, or do I go to the trouble of making a "Mystery" category?

Although when I read Janet Evanovich (thanks desertgrandma) I'll need that category anyway...


On a completely different note, I'm watching Antiques Roadshow, and this guy brought in a family letter (this is the ten year special favorites thing) that inspired "Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus." How cool is that?

Here's the video:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/199704A43.html

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

What is the first Miss Marple book? I caught an episode on PBS and now I have to read it. She's a fellow knitter Someone said it on here but I can't find it...

Yes, its Murder at the Vicarage. Here is an excellent site. Just type in the author, and it will give you all the books, in chronological order and by series, AND with summaries.

Priceless resource.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/agatha-christie/

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Excellent! Now do I file it as a "Classic" in my spreadsheet of books, or do I go to the trouble of making a "Mystery" category? Classic Mystery?

On a completely different note, I'm watching Antiques Roadshow, and this guy brought in a family letter (this is the ten year special favorites thing) that inspired "Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus." How cool is that?

Thats a great show, isn't it?

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Yes, its Murder at the Vicarage. Here is an excellent site. Just type in the author, and it will give you all the books, in chronological order and by series, AND with summaries.

Priceless resource.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/agatha-christie/

Oh doubly excellent...adding to bookmarks

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Excellent! Now do I file it as a "Classic" in my spreadsheet of books, or do I go to the trouble of making a "Mystery" category?

well, i think you should add a mystery category, but then i'm biased, since i love mysteries.