Space Marine and Dragonwrangler Bar & Grill

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Raventongue

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Evening folks :) Post-backreading rep distribution is imminent!

Should I take a hot bath in the hopes it'll make my joints stop aching, then cook a heavy meal if it doesn't- or the other way around?

Ah yes, and take a look at this mother-effing Tesla Christmas tree...

teslatree.jpg


Go on, just try to tell me that's not badass.

Anybody who has ever met me will swear that I am the living image of a Strong, Independent, and Intelligent Woman. But if somebody comes to me and says, "Your life is in real danger, and to keep somebody from jerking your heart out and lunching up on it, you need to stay here in this house," I think I'd damn well listen. It's not Strong, Independent and Intelligent to say, "I don't care, I'm strong, independent and intelligent, so I'm going to do exactly as I please." It's willful and foolhardy and stupid.

If the plot relies on something that flimsy, the writing isn't as ironclad as you had me thinkin' it was.
 

LadyV

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Only problem I see: how would you get the presents out from underneath the tree?

Wear a rubber suit?


Off to work. I hoping that after having a double truck last night, we'll have a small one tonight.
 

BigWords

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Ah yes, and take a look at this mother-effing Tesla Christmas tree...

teslatree.jpg


Go on, just try to tell me that's not badass.

In any other thread, this would be considered a derail, but here I go...

Whenever people have images or videos of weird and awesome electrical whatever's, the use of Tesla as a cultural touchstone is the first thing to come to mind (and yes, this extends to TV Tropes as well), but... I don't feel that people give enough credit to the utter nutjobs who came before him. Take a while to go back through the history of people playing around with electricity and there are awesome stories you will uncover.

And it isn't just the scientists. There's a story about Lord Byron standing on a box with a coil battery hooked up, shooting electricity out of his fingers at people - like a forerunner to Electro or someone. And before him you have the people who were making corpses jig around. Crediting everything awesome to Tesla is just a teeny bit too easy, and for the people in this thread especially I would expect more attention given to the Real Life-SF pioneers.

[/RANT]
 

Raventongue

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In any other thread, this would be considered a derail, but here I go... *snipsnip*

Okay you inspired me to google it just by mentioning Lord Byron, who was already 10 steps past nuts in my mind before I knew that :Jaw:

I figured it had been dubbed that because looking at it, I assumed (possibly stupidly- remember who missed all her science classes) that it must work in a way somewhat similar to a Tesla coil. Hadn't noticed a trend of crediting everything crazy someone does with electricity to him, but now that you mention it, I see what you mean :eek:
 

slcboston

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Whenever people have images or videos of weird and awesome electrical whatever's, the use of Tesla as a cultural touchstone is the first thing to come to mind (and yes, this extends to TV Tropes as well), but... I don't feel that people give enough credit to the utter nutjobs who came before him.

Ok, yes, all valid (esp in the wake of "research" I've been doing on Frankenstein), but...


It *is* a Tesla coil, is it not?

:D
 

BigWords

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Okay you inspired me to google it just by mentioning Lord Byron, who was already 10 steps past nuts in my mind before I knew that :Jaw:

The bear-in-his-room isn't the best story by far. :D

Ok, yes, all valid (esp in the wake of "research" I've been doing on Frankenstein), but...

I dread to imagine what "research" you are doing...

It *is* a Tesla coil, is it not?

Well... there were extremely similar things which led to him creating that, so the specific credit isn't wholly accurate - it isn't as if he came up with an entirely new way of playing with deadly things from scratch. And you might want to look up a bunch of French and Germans from the 1800s who took screwing with alternating currents to ridiculous heights. And that one story about the electrocution of an elephant (which someone really ought to make a film about).
 

amergina

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Hey Pgh people (and other folk who come to Pgh...), on Dec 28, 29, and 30, there's this:

http://www.showclix.com/event/TheLastUnicornWithPeterBeagle

The Last Unicorn. On the big screen. With Peter S. Beagle.

"All three screenings will begin with a 30-minute Q&A session with Peter S. Beagle himself, author of both the original novel and the screenplay for the movie."
 

slcboston

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I dread to imagine what "research" you are doing...

For a WIP. What else?



... Don't answer that.



Well... there were extremely similar things which led to him creating that, so the specific credit isn't wholly accurate - it isn't as if he came up with an entirely new way of playing with deadly things from scratch.

Yes, but... despite all your hemming and hawing there, it *is* called a Tesla Coil. Ergo, "Tesla Christmas Tree" is a fair nomenclature. Regardless of what may have come before it.

I'm not arguing who invented it, I'm arguing terminology. Which means I am willing to concede your points - heck I even agree with them - but it's not a counter-argument to my point.

:Lecture:

If anything, I'd take issues with the "Christmas Tree" part because it doesn't look very evergreeny to me, but that's just me.

:D


And yes, I know about the poor, poor elephant.
 

N.P. Browning

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I had two problems with the story, and one of them is so subtle that it took me a little while to put my finger on what it was.

The first was the most obvious: the ending didn't pay off. the second... Okay, the character was well written: I believed her as a hero, her backstory worked, the in-the-moment depictions rang true. But I don't like a story where the the plot hinges on the character carrying the Idiot Ball all the time.

Anybody who has ever met me will swear that I am the living image of a Strong, Independent, and Intelligent Woman. But if somebody comes to me and says, "Your life is in real danger, and to keep somebody from jerking your heart out and lunching up on it, you need to stay here in this house," I think I'd damn well listen. It's not Strong, Independent and Intelligent to say, "I don't care, I'm strong, independent and intelligent, so I'm going to do exactly as I please." It's willful and foolhardy and stupid.

To have a character make that mistake once is fine; it shows the bad guys are playing for keeps. But to go there again and again and again, in the face of good evidence that you're in a shitload of trouble and maybe listening to the expert might good sense? No, I'm not buying it.

That makes perfect sense, and I totally agree.
 

BigWords

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I'm not arguing who invented it, I'm arguing terminology.

Yeah. Like Bell gets credit for the telephone when it had already been invented...

If anything, I'd take issues with the "Christmas Tree" part because it doesn't look very evergreeny to me, but that's just me.

There is precedent. (Wikipedia is great for the dumb stuff, but I wouldn't trust it for more serious research)
 

slcboston

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BigWords

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:popcorn:

I thought the vid was rather relaxing.

*shrugs*

Oh, and I need to find where I can get steampunk goggles now...
 

hillaryjacques

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Hey Pgh people (and other folk who come to Pgh...), on Dec 28, 29, and 30, there's this:

http://www.showclix.com/event/TheLastUnicornWithPeterBeagle

The Last Unicorn. On the big screen. With Peter S. Beagle.

"All three screenings will begin with a 30-minute Q&A session with Peter S. Beagle himself, author of both the original novel and the screenplay for the movie."

*interest is piqued* Wonder if I can make this...
 
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