Hey! Why, I oughtta… For your information, I know perfectly well that glass panes are actually thicker at the top, due to centrifugal force from the earth’s rotation. I’m not that ignorant. In any case, I was only considering the relative comfort of black versus white clothing where all other factors are equivalent-- so, to take the original example, the mathematician from Jurassic Park would in fact actually have been more comfortable in the tropical heat wearing a white shirt and pants rather than black. As far as violet and yellow polka dotted clothing is concerned, I’d guess that the heat wouldn’t be as much a source of discomfort as the cruel laughter of children.
Now, of course, I also have to add *The Flying Circus of Physics * to my reading list, right under Preston and Child’s The Ice Limit. I’m thinking that I’d better not let the two books get close enough to touch one another, or something bad might happen.
28 Days Later was in general a pretty decent zombie flick. But the whole premise of it…(spoiler boxes, just in case):
You get bitten or somehow infected, and you can immediately feel it ‘in’ you - fine, whatever. Within something like 30 seconds, you’re a full-fledged zombie? I’m no expert, but I am fairly certain that it takes a vrius a little bit longer than that to take over a fully-grown human.
It also fluctuated in size noticeably throughout the film so as to be convenient to whatever the director wanted a shot to look like or to fit a plot point.
This is a reason to be annoyed at a film? It happens constantly in movies. In the original King Kong they scaled him up by a factor of 1.5 when he got to New York City, because they thought he looked too small compared to the buildings.
and Jessica Rabbit’s hands change size relative to her bust depending upon what they want to emphasize at the time. I really like watching this one, to see if I’ve caught all the nuances.
In Godzilla I think it was, because it was so blatant. We’re talking the heros escaping form Godzilla into a tunnel at one point in the movie that it can’t fit into, only to have it chase them into another tunnel of the same size later on with no problems.
If it wasn’t so blatantely stupid they might get a pass but when it’s that obvious that scale seems to change every scene it’s a real mood breaker.
Oh dear, you just HAD to bring it up, didn’t you? JUST when I’d managed to control the frantic eyerolling the first (and only) five minutes I saw of this excrescence you have to bring it back up, and all typos I commit from this point will b e yhour falut because I cn’at see straight enogho to see wha’t I’j tyhpojmg, yosu batsard!
You know, thinking about it… a gigantic machine intelligence that powers itself with the collected electrical impulses of human bodies is actually kind of a stupid idea.
To go back to Armageddon for a moment, there were a number of things about that film which bugged the piss out of me:
[ul]
[li]NASA has a pair of high tech space shuttles they’ve kept hidden. Yet other than looking slightly different than the regular shuttles, there doesn’t seem to be anything terribly high tech about them.[/li][li]These high tech shuttles are launched within close proximity of one another, even though the folks at NASA would have to know this was a really bad idea.[/li][li]Adding a Russian cosmonaut to one of the shuttles doesn’t screw up things like air supply, fuel, etc., etc., etc.[/li][li]The debris from an exploding Mir somehow manages to miss both shuttles.[/li][li]NASA scientists can find a “debris field” behind the asteroid, but can’t figure out that a shuttle passing through that debris field would be at risk for damage (and thus not have the “astronauts” fully suited up).[/li][li]The rover vehicles can drive at any speed, yet fail to reach escape velocity.[/li][/ul]That’s the short list, BTW.
Penguins have black dorsal plummage because they’re aquatic predators, and it provides countershading. Aqautic predators and prey species are generally countershaded. Examples as extreme as penguins include orcas, who often swim in the same waters, and try to eat them. Much of polar bear fur isn’t so much white as it is transpearant. It’s also a very complex heat traping mechaism.
I’m a resident of florida too, and the color of shirt makes pretty little difference to me. White shirts allow more light through, to hit me, and black shirts absorb light, and warm up. I think the straightdope report means “loose” more in the sense of an aba, with a light, breathable, moisture absorbant under layer. The black outgarment should probably be loose and flowing, like an aba for example. http://www.desertstore.com/products-For-Sale/SA-bst-01.html Oh my word, desert peoples actually have thought of this system! Me, I turn on the AC.
Not to mention the illogical premise. At one point, Billy Bob Thornton, or maybe it was Ben Affleck, asked, “Wouldn’t it be simpler to teach astronauts to drill instead of drillers to be astronauts?” Michael Bay’s reply: “STFU.”
Not to mention, at the very start of the movie, the main character (the guy) wakes up on an operating table with no urine or feces on him, and he’s completely fine despite not having had any food or water. Wasn’t he there for 28 days?
Well, he’s not exactly completely fine–the first thing he does, after staggering around is suck down several cans of soda. He does have an IV in his arm (presumably saline and electrolytes), and if he’s not eating solids it’s not surprising he hasn’t had a bowl movement. (Urine could have dried.) But yeah, he’s been without supervision for three weeks or more; it’s surprising he can move around at all. And he’s bloody lucky he came acrossed Selena and Mark at the exact time he did; why wouldn’t they be holed up somewhere out of the way instead of wandering the streets?
I love the graffiti he sees on the wall of the church, though, at the beginning of the film: The end is fucking nigh!
I just think they should have had one of the infected have an astonishing resemblence to Sandra Bullock.
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan]
To go back to Armageddon for a moment, there were a number of things about that film which bugged the piss out of me:
[ul]
[li]NASA has a pair of high tech space shuttles they’ve kept hidden. Yet other than looking slightly different than the regular shuttles, there doesn’t seem to be anything terribly high tech about them.**[/li]
I would have to watch it again , but I think the advanced orbiters were actually airforce , not nasa. But beyond a C-130 style cargo ramp , they just looked like they were an evolution in orbiters.
Nice how the buggies they used had some sort of mini gun, as part of the complete package.
I would have to watch it again , but I think the advanced orbiters were actually airforce , not nasa. But beyond a C-130 style cargo ramp , they just looked like they were an evolution in orbiters.