The "You know what?" thread

[MuppetSpot]

I just realize that their was a lot Bart torture episodes during the 00's on the Simpsons.

 

[Drtooth]

Don't ask me why I found this out on the particular site I did, but Apparently Sony is going to stop making Betamax Video Tapes. That's the equivalence of hearing about an actor who died who wasn't very active in years to the point you question "wait...he was still alive?" Yep. They were still making Betamax tapes? Didn't even think they still made standard VHS format tapes.

Wonder if the Oddity Archive guy found out about this.

 

[D'Snowth]

I was getting ready to say I thought Betamax was like proto-type VHS.

 

[D'Snowth]

I just knew we'd have an early spring this year, but I really didn't figure on it arriving by this weekend . . . that's a bit too early, even for us. But then again, after losing two-thirds of December to the Blowtorch pattern we had, I can't say I'm really surprised.

I'd say this ranks as one of the worst winters we've ever had.

 

[minor muppetz]

In most Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, whoever he's in conflict with usually wins. Especially predator characters. When most cartoon predators are the designated villain and typically lose, Henery Hawk and the weasel almost always manage to get Foghorn in the end. Even though we don't see them eating or cooking the character (well, I think Plop Goes the Weasel ends with the weasel cooking him by roasting his foot), Henery is usually shown pulling Foghorn home to cook or whatever (well, there was the time when Foghorn tricked Henery into thinking Sylvester was a rooster and he dragged him away).

I guess part of it comes from the fact that Henery was originally meant to be the star with Foghorn Leghorn being a supporting character, but it's still odd that a predator would be the star of the cartoon and win (it can be debatable whether characters like Wile E. Coyote are the star, but they still lose most of the time). It does seem like Henery is too small to be a real threat, but Foghorn (and other characters who get taken away by him) doesn't try to get out of it (and he's big enough to easily do so).

But in addition to predators, he has lost to many. In the shorts where Miss Prissy wants to marry Foghorn but he doesn't want to marry her, they end up getting married (I'm pretty sure it was against his will in Lovelorn Leghorn). In The Slick Chick, the mischevious little boy gets the better of Foghorn throughout, with Foghorn never coming out on top. In Broken Leghorn, he never gets rid of the new rooster (and the farmer ends up sending him away). And of course the Barnyard Dawg often wins against him (though actually, he's part of the conflict between Foghorn and another character, with Barnyard Dawg often a decoy for the designated villain, though they also have a feud for no known reason).

 

[mr3urious]

You'd think that oil prices being very cheap and plentiful in America would be good for our economy, but apparently not as so many oil workers are losing their jobs due to the weak demand. And we're starting to export our petroleum for the first time, or at least the first in a long time. I'm sure Japan would appreciate it, as their gas prices are some of the highest in the world.

 

[fuzzygobo]

The economy was just as bad at the end of George Dubya's last term, and gas was four dollars or more a gallon.
What the oil companies are doing (or should be doing) are looking for ways to find our own renewable form of energy, that burns cleaner, doesn't pollute the environment, and doesn't have us dependent on Middle Eastern countries.
This would be called progress.
But interfering with that progress are lobbyists and some oil owners looking out for their own interests that push that it's cheaper to import oil and keep America dependent on fossil fuels than to switch. People like the Bush family made their fortunes off oil. Who wants to stop that gravy train?
We might have some new reserves now that might last another twenty or thirty years, but it won't last forever.

 

[minor muppetz]

Many artists who Weird Al Yankovic has parodied songs from (okay, so Nirvanna is the only one I know of off-hand, but I thought I've read that others have felt this way) have stated that they realized they made it when Yankovic parodied one of their songs. But at the same time, Weird Al Yankoivc has outlasted a lot of his parody targets in show business.

Hmmm.... Could a Weird Al parody mean that the artist has both "made it" and is on their way to becoming a has-been? Could "making it" as a result of getting parodied lead to the artists deciding they don't have to try so hard anymore, or maybe even feeling like retiring altogether?

 

[Drtooth]

You'd think that oil prices being very cheap and plentiful in America would be good for our economy, but apparently not as so many oil workers are losing their jobs due to the weak demand. And we're starting to export our petroleum for the first time, or at least the first in a long time. I'm sure Japan would appreciate it, as their gas prices are some of the highest in the world.

What the oil companies are doing (or should be doing) are looking for ways to find our own renewable form of energy, that burns cleaner, doesn't pollute the environment, and doesn't have us dependent on Middle Eastern countries.
This would be called progress.
But interfering with that progress are lobbyists and some oil owners looking out for their own interests that push that it's cheaper to import oil and keep America dependent on fossil fuels than to switch. People like the Bush family made their fortunes off oil. Who wants to stop that gravy train?
We might have some new reserves now that might last another twenty or thirty years, but it won't last forever.

And we're forgetting the worst part of the equation. Oil company share and stock holders and oil speculators. I HATE how it's traded as a commodity since, well, price fluctuations in oil and gas are partially determined by those who say it's going to go up, usually by saying "Middle East Crisis" or "a Hurricane is near something." And it gives us a unique no win situation. If oil prices are high, they benefit but it winds up costing essentially everyone there is, working poor, working class, and even major companies. But when the oil prices are low and everyone there is but them can benefit, they cause the stock market to crash. That's part of two reasons why there was such a huge drop. That and China's economic boom is slowing down , which also should be a good thing as ..uh...weren't they kind of our economic rivals to the point where everyone was saying "we need to learn Chinese for when the take over America" like 10 years ago? I refer you to what Rick of Rick and Morty says about Wall Street. Can't post it here, but its in the second season episode where Morty harbors a vaporous being.

 

[D'Snowth]

MAJOR PAYNE is an okay movie, but there's something about that's really left unresolved. During the infamous bedtime story scene, we can pretty much guess why Payne turned into maniacal,frigid, lunatic, killing machine that he is as he appears to slip into PTSD mode in reliving the moment where he and his friend were attacked, his friend losing both legs in the process, surrounded by enemy guerillas, and Payne basically starts killing the lot of them for what they did to his friend. The teacher interrupts the story and tells him she'd like to talk to him about the story over dinner.

Now then, when they go out for dinner, she commends him for trying to do something nice for the kids, but that his story was a little too rough and graphic, and suggests that he really needs to loosen up and find an oulet where he can express himself that doesn't involve war or battle (which turns out to be dancing). The thing that bothers me is that she wasn't just a teacher, but she was also a guidance councelor, which is sort of like a therapist . . . I know this would have been terribly cliche, but it seems like to me that during their dinner discussion, she should have taken the time to suggest that perhaps that the root to his crazed military mindset is brought on by the grief and sorrow he must feel deep down for what happened to his friend, and that perhaps his killing people at the drop of the hat, and his harsh tactics to whipping his subordinates into shape is his way of trying to avenge his friend.

Like I said, I know it would be really cliche, but it seems like it would have given Payne further character development, and maybe open his eyes to the way he is and realize what's done is done, and he can't change the past, but can probably make a difference for the future.