# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/722 "2024-03-27T19:34:17Z")
If Austin Powers had toppled Maxwell Smart, I’d be looking for another corner of the World Wide Web to hang out in. mmm ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/723 "2024-03-27T19:56:29Z")
62 miles west would definitely mean in the water. It’s considerably farther than Catalina (Twenty six miles to Santa Catalina, the island of romance!). East would put me in Norco or Corona. No thanks. South would be Orange County near San Clemente. Nice. But if it’s a straight line, I’d end up in the ocean again. North would be Santa Barbara. Yeah, I could live there. Hi, @hajario ! ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/724 "2024-03-27T19:58:26Z")
I like both series, but think that on the whole _Get Smart_ was better than _Austin Powers_. The original run of _Get Smart_ produced enough high-quality material to overshadow the later failed revivals and lacklustre movies. The _Austin Powers_ series has much less to work with; the first film was outstanding but the two sequels relied too much on recycled jokes and gross-out humour. Still, I think the character of Austin Powers is a more interesting and more developed one than Maxwell Smart. Smart was always just a blustering doofus who often dismissed the good advice of his much smarter companion, and managed to thwart KAOS only by sheer luck. Austin Powers was actually a halfway competent spy, at least in his native 1960s, with most of his mishaps stemming from his failure to understand the culture of the 1990s. Even so, he actually developed as a character, eventually learning to adapt much of his skills and his behaviour (particularly towards women) to modern sensibilities. Smart never showed much inclination or capacity to learn. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/725 "2024-03-27T20:23:51Z")
I loved _Get Smart_ as a kid, but I saw part of an episode a few years go and found it basically unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/726 "2024-03-27T21:15:45Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Still, I think the character of Austin Powers is a more interesting and more developed one than Maxwell Smart. Smart was always just a blustering doofus who often dismissed the good advice of his much smarter companion, and managed to thwart KAOS only by sheer luck Thank you, this put it much better than I would have. Granted, there’s an almost certain age distinction in our impressions of the two characters and cast - when I first saw Get Smart in reruns in the mid 80s or so I’d have been around 10. I kinda got it, but to my sensibilities of the time he was just so _stupid_ - why did anyone like this? I spent all my time less amused and more irritated. Austin Powers, years later, is a terrible person, even if he grows a bit through the movies. But (and again, I’m older) I see him in light of all the older Bond movies which I had seen by that time, complete with the casual attitudes towards violence and sex, as well as the strangely self-sabotaging villains, and it made it a better _parody_ to me. So my votes are heavily tinged by how old I was when I was exposed to each and are unlikely to have any objective (to the extent that is a thing for enjoyment of a fictional series!) value. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/727 "2024-03-27T21:44:45Z")
Didn’t vote in the 62 miles poll. Any choice would put me in rural Tennessee, Arkansas or Mississippi. Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/728 "2024-03-28T02:53:53Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Any choice would put me in rural Tennessee, Arkansas or Mississippi. So this is a fun game! I’m guessing you must be somewhere in the vicinity of Sardis Lake, just from looking at the map. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/729 "2024-03-28T03:01:02Z")
Were the bodies embalmed? (Most embalming materials are not good for the living.) How recent was the last burial in the area the vegetables were grown in? What kind of vegetables? Raised beds? (For the vegetables, not for the corpses.) Filled with what sort of soil? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/730 "2024-03-28T03:18:48Z")
North puts me barely on Oklahoma, no thanks. East is near one of the lakes, and just starting to get into the trees South is either an outlet mall town or BFE without the trees West puts me near Mineral Wells, which could be good or, again, BFE ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/731 "2024-03-28T04:22:10Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > So this is a fun game! I’m guessing you must be somewhere in the vicinity of Sardis Lake, just from looking at the map. I’m in Memphis - the blue island in a sea of red. But I’ve been to Sardis Lake, which is about 62 miles south. Definitely don’t want to live there. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/732 "2024-03-28T05:12:44Z")
If I were a caveman, I would almost certainly be dead. I doubt many cave people made it to 60. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/733 "2024-03-28T05:14:06Z")
I went with 100km north of where I live now, as that would put me in far southeastern Wisconsin, near Racine, which would not be too bad. 100km west and south would put me in the middle of farm country, and 100km east would put me in Lake Michigan, very close to the Michigan shoreline. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/734 "2024-03-28T13:45:01Z")
100 km south takes me into West Virginia, I think. West into Ohio. East toward central PA, North toward Erie. I’ll stay where I am, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/735 "2024-03-28T15:31:05Z")
100 km puts me in redneck central, no matter which direction. East would, at least, put me near a college town and several state parks, so that would probably be the least bad direction. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/736 "2024-03-28T15:34:46Z")
I found this tool useful for figuring out what the 100 KM radius was, by the way. > **[Radius Around a Point on a Map](https://www.freemaptools.com/radius-around-point.htm)** > > Draw a radius on a map to find the area covered I actually need to go back and change my answer based on this… I ain’t going nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/737 "2024-03-28T15:40:18Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I found this tool useful for figuring out what the 100 KM radius was, by the way. That site blew up my malware alert programs. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/738 "2024-03-28T15:52:32Z")
Uh oh. OK, reported my own post. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/739 "2024-03-28T15:56:44Z")
Your link and the site are fine. It might have been a guided ad for @Procrustus based on his cookies. I did several checks and the link is clean. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/740 "2024-03-28T15:57:40Z")
Thanks. Sorry for the false alarm ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/741 "2024-03-28T16:09:55Z")
You can also open Google Maps, right-click anywhere, and click on “measure distance” at the bottom of the contextual menu that appears. Then it will measure the straight-line distance between anywhere you click on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=38)