Ten Forward Lounge - Miscellaneous General Chat & Welcome Thread

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Locutus of Bored, Jun 19, 2015.

  1. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Just found that The Outer Limits is on Amazon Prime. I'm a happy geek.
     
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  2. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    I'm binge watching Alias again--you know, that tv show about psychopathic globalist elites using terrorist fronts to fund their research into luciferian occult attempts at immortality?

    Haha, science fiction is funny.
     
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  3. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I just reread that. Thought you said Aliens. Only thing that threw me off: TV show.
     
  4. rhubarbodendron

    rhubarbodendron Vice Admiral Admiral

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    from the pov of a biologist the Alien movies had their funny side: the poor critter has the mandibles of a human plus a chironomid larva and a dinosaur's teeth plus those of a dog. IRL the unfortunate creature would starve to death as the muscles necessary to work all of these would cross and block each other and wouldn't fit the skull either.

    When with a horde of fellow biologist I saw Red Planet in the cinema, we were almost thrown out because we got a laughing fit from the carnivore Martian insects: body of a cicada with a grasshopper's feelers, an LED under its wings, the general shape and colour taken from a Quality Street hazelnut-chocolate (you know, the ones with the triangular cross-section, wrapped in purple foil), head shield borrowed from a scarab and above all they call it a Nematode (which is in fact a sort of small semi-transparent worm). Imagine someone building a monster truck from parts of 3 cars, illuminating it with a string of Christmas lights and selling it as a Venusian aeroplane. That'd be pretty similar (and similarly ludicrous).

    But then, Trek isn't free of any guilt in this respect either: remember Worf's pet Targh (a partly shaven wild boar with horns) or TOS' and TNG's infamous in-ear parasites (green lacewing larvae). Tribbles sound and look like long-haired guinea pigs.

    If only the'd ask a biologist before they build their alien creatures!
    In Bavaria, we have a special name for such patchwork-creatures: Wolpertinger
     
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  5. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    I thought “Doppelgänger” was the correct German word for, “Badly designed alien prop?”
     
  6. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    That's the term for your duplicate on the other side of the world.

    @rhubarbodendron, you've got me curious. You're tasked with designing a truly scary movie prop. What do you design?
     
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  7. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    Scariest thing I can think of:
    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Taxes scare us all @Michael Two Wolves. Well except my Tax Accounting professor in college.

    Huh. "Someone Likes Me" trophy, awarded. And there it is.
     
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  9. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    Yes, and with that award comes responsibility...now, it's your responsibility to get those taxes done. Wait, do I deduct LLC expenses on the 1040 form, or the 1086? And do I need to file a 1080 miscellaneous for my LLC if I haven't conducted any taxable business?
     
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  10. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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  11. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    Yeah, I have that effect on people...

    :whistle:
     
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  12. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I'm a finance guy, but even I have a CPA to deal with that stuff.
     
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  13. Michael Two Wolves

    Michael Two Wolves Commander Red Shirt

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    My CFA said he's never seen the market this broken. That is an unsettling prospect when one considers he's been at this since the early 80s.
     
  14. Ríu ríu chíu

    Ríu ríu chíu Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Which version?
     
  15. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    1995 version.
     
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  16. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I mean, that would be nice, yes. But biologists tend to get stuck in the minutia of things ;)
     
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  17. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Which is why I asked him to design a beast. Would you care to take a crack at it?
     
  18. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I am not a biologist and won't claim to be. Most of my alien creatures are usually very humanoid and similar to my reference points.
     
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  19. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I mean, I like realism. But that Alien Queen, despite the faults, is so good. The above description of the problems is one thing. But I've never really gotten past "two sets of jaws." What would the evolutionary need be for that one thing. Still, badass.
     
  20. Bekk Ishy Z

    Bekk Ishy Z Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Wooohooo! Made it to full status! Time to change my avatar.
     
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