# Yo, Chas.E, I'm going to say it right out: **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2001, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642 "2001-10-16T03:17:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/81 "2001-10-19T12:58:14Z")
I am reiterating my request for you guys not to get in the middle of this. I especially thought I would not have to make this request to Anthracite, who made a similar request for people not to get involved in a matter that she wanted to keep meddlers out of, and people generally complied. The details have been emailed to the mods and they will handle it as they see fit. FYI, it would be stupid of me to post as a sockpuppet under Derber’s name just to make it look like he violated the no-contact order, when SDMB logs all IP addresses. The finger would point right back at me. I know it’s really Derber. And as soon as the sun comes up and they’re finished with their morning donuts, the Police will know as well. Derber found out about this thread because someone posted a link to it in one of the Usenet transformers fan newsgroups. So perhaps now you guys can see why I have a problem with otaku. There’s always a chance when you deal with fans that one of them is an otaku that is so obsessive that they know why Megatron’s left nipple is blue instead of white in episode #283, and that they’re so obsessed with finding out these miniscule details that were completely irrelevant to the creators, that they’d send death threats to anyone who withheld such information as I have. I’m not going to be responsible for the next Mark David Chapman or David Hinckley ending up on the creator’s doorstep. These artists are already paranoid about otaku, so they took their names off the project and just worked in the background. They’ve taken their names off of other projects too. They live in high-security buildings and never make public appearances. They make millions of bucks in their work and they have no use for obsessive fans, they already have respectable projects that have brought them acclaim and fame, and they don’t want to be associated with ridiculous kiddie cartoons that TFs turned out to be. Anyway, I apologize to the SDMB readers and mods for such ridiculous crap coming into the boards. You don’t deserve to get into the middle of this, and I will deal with it off in the real world with appropriate law enforcement officers. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/82 "2001-10-19T13:01:05Z")
**L\_C** , because yer my pal, here’s a few links: Start [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42018) continue [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41808) and end here: [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42639) Fenris, Pit-archeologist ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/83 "2001-10-19T13:02:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*I am reiterating my request for you guys not to get in the middle of this. \*\* Aw, c’mon. It’s too much fun _now_. BTW, why _was_ his nipple blue? ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/84 "2001-10-19T13:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > **They live in high-security buildings and never make public appearances.** Oh, I dunno…sounds like a prison to me. 😃 > [@](#): > > **They make millions of bucks in their work and they have no use for obsessive fans, they already have respectable projects that have brought them acclaim and fame, and they don’t want to be associated with ridiculous kiddie cartoons that TFs turned out to be.** All I can say is - :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/85 "2001-10-19T13:09:43Z")
You make a simple request, and it’s fair enough, **Chas.E**. You won’t be hearing any more out of me on this here or in other threads. Sounds like you have issues to take care of. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/86 "2001-10-19T13:10:40Z")
Yeah, I wasn’t involved until now… But the intrigue! The mystery! This is even better than The A-Team! This could be one for the SDMB hall of fame (shame?) – Hold on tight, Kids, and keep those arms inside the car at all times! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/87 "2001-10-19T13:16:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uber-Otaku \* > \*\* > Jordan Derber, Uber-Otaku > aka H-K > aka Buster Darkwings, Evil Destron Fairy > Subtitler and Co-Organizer of the Japanese TF episode fansubbing project > Donations needed for the project! > E-mail me at jsdst5@pitt.edu for fundraiser sale info \*\* Jordan, if this is the real Jordan, and it sounds like him, if really ticked off, is a fairly good guy and well known in the TF community, for the dubbing project. He’s a prolific poster on alt.toys.transformers, which is where I hang and occasionally post as Firestone. Someone, not myself, did post a link to this discussion on att, and I suppose the natural happened. What can I say, Chas really knows how to get people’s backs up. On the other hand, in transfandom, we have one thing to remember. Possibly the most disliked person in the fandom (Claims the Cons are noble and good, and the Bots are bad. Actually believes this. Has a big snake.) is also the person who started and hosted the first BotCon. Every good person can come off as a jerk at first. I apologize for Buster. For Chas, there is just no explanation. Sometime this weekend, I’ll try to start a new TF thread. Probably I’ll start with a breakdown of what there is. It may take some time… we’ve got fifteen to twenty years of history, maybe thirty, depending on how far I go back. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/88 "2001-10-19T13:31:05Z")
We all have issues, Anthracite. In my life, this Pit thread is a trivial issue, it is just words on a screen. But when that thread is visited by someone that once said they were anticipating standing over my dead body with a knife, that is another thing altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/89 "2001-10-19T13:48:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by E-Sabbath \* > **What can I say, Chas really knows how to get people’s backs up.** I can understand, for example, supporters of Microsoft who were enraged at my criticisms, but after all, this is one of the most important political and economic issues of our day. We debate these issues the way people used to debate religion and politics, and I am more outspoken than most, so naturally I am bound to offend a few people. But that is the greatness of our society, from out of the two extremes comes some middle ground, if someone did not occupy the extreme position on one side, the center would be skewed away from where it belonged. But I have never been able to understand why anyone treat comic books as seriously as those other issues. All I said was that these aren’t the Japanese products that everyone thinks they are, they’re American products and that I knew the people that created them. And for that, I’ve been attacked by obsessive people. If someone gets their “back up” over this sort of trivial thing, I think they have a serious problem. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/90 "2001-10-19T14:08:31Z")
Why do people get their backs up, Chas? Cause you’re an… well… Heck, can’t even do it here. Because you’re spreading ignorance. That, and people like to talk about their hobbies. Like to clear up misconceptions, and when they find someone’s mistaken, they like to try to help out. If you invest time in something, anything, you get passionate about it. Myself, I’ve got… goodness. Thousands of dollars of japanese and american toys. Kind of sad, when you look at it objectively, but I enjoy them. I’m not a displayer, I _do_ play with the things. I think it’s an outgrowth of the old engineer lego gene. Not that it matters, really. Giant robots with big weapons of mass destruction are, by definition, cool. Yep. So, when you invest time and effort and money and your personal regard into something, and then someone wanders in and says, “Microsoft is looking out for your best interest.” or “Look! A mandatory ID card for all citizens is just the government trying to help you!” or “Proctor and Gamble are satanists!” or “I know these two hippies who are millionaires.” and they clearly are showing serious rectal-cranial inversion, and not just simple ignorance, people get upset. Ignorance can be cured. Lies fester. They may not be important lies, but they certainly are obvious ones. And, like a brick that hits you in the face, impossible to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/91 "2001-10-19T14:11:30Z")
> [@](#): > > All I said was that these aren’t the Japanese products that everyone thinks they are, they’re American products and that I knew the people that created them. And for that, I’ve been attacked by obsessive people. If someone gets their “back up” over this sort of trivial thing, I think they have a serious problem Nah, I don’t think anybody here is an obsessive cartoon fan except for you, **Chas**. I, for one, can’t believe anybody over the age of 12 even watches Transformers. No, the beefs many folks (including me) have against you are 1. You’re rude. 2. You’re arrogant. 3. You claim to be an expert on every single subject broached in a thread. 4. You make assertions that you refuse to back up with evidence. 5. When caught in an error or inconsistency, you never back down, retract, or apologize. I have no idea what you’re like IRL, but your behavior at the SDMB shows me that, online, you are seriously lacking in elementary social skills. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/92 "2001-10-19T14:20:58Z")
Here’s a question: why is **Chas** so well known on Anime/Manga boards? He’s posted his views over and over and over and over that all manga/anime/comics are crap > [@](#): > > You manga people bug me. You think manga and anime is the be-all and end-all of the arts. Guess what? Even the people who make this crap don’t think it’s art. > > \ > Anyway, to get back to something less moronic than comic books, > \ > There aint no comic ever written that is “essential.” > \ (all from [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=89667) thread, but there’ve been others) He’s entitled to his opinion, however moronic I consider it (art can be made/found in any genre, IMHO), but if he hates the medium so much, why is he hanging around the people who like it? Why is he so well known to them? If I were so terribly offended and outraged by something, I certainly wouldn’t be involved with the community enought that I’d have my very own (alleged) stalker. I know what it would be called if I popped into all the (say) sports threads and tossed around comments like the above. I wonder if the Okatu folks use the same word. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/93 "2001-10-19T14:57:35Z")
Fenris, I am well known in otaku circles because I am a scholar of Japanese studies, and at least in the internet circles I work, otaku would take over if we (and I am not the only one) didn’t make attempts to deter them. And they pester us mercilessly, because we have one thing they do not: Japanese language fluency. The only thing that annoys us more than otaku are people who ask us to translate things into Japanese so they can get tattoos. ESabbath, if I told you their names, you wouldn’t believe me, even if I had a picture of them holding up a drawing of their prototype transformers next to incontrovertible proof of the date. Some people have so much invested in their little fantasy world that nothing can change it. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/94 "2001-10-19T15:06:36Z")
I’m just popping my head in to say a big real world thank you to **Ferris** for those links before slinking off again. It’s fun here but the walls move too much. Have fun. **Thank you, Ferris!** - those threads are pure theatre. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/95 "2001-10-19T15:08:19Z")
What’s _any of this_ got to do with the rapture? [sub]I’m now struggling with an image of the Left Behind movie cast entirely with Transformers.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/96 "2001-10-19T15:15:50Z")
I could kick myself for not following this thread earlier. So is this a case of Maxwell Smart battling the forces of Kaos while we all unwittingly stumble into grave danger for having witnessed events not meant to see the light of day _or_ are we seeing the unfortunate effects of delusions of grandeur colliding with paranoid fantasies? The latter, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/97 "2001-10-19T15:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Chas. E_ > ESabbath, if I told you their names, you wouldn’t believe me, even if I had a picture of them holding up a drawing of their prototype transformers next to incontrovertible proof of the date. Some people have so much invested in their little fantasy world that nothing can change it. I have this old photo in my attic that has **Ed Zotti** and **Lynn Bodoni** holding what appears to be a d]awing of a prototype transformer with a newspaper on the table showing the fall of Saigon on the front page. Is that the picture you need. I’ll send you a copy if you want it. (BTW, nice big gold medallions, **Ed** But then, of course, I will have to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/98 "2001-10-19T15:33:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Chas. E_ > ESabbath, if I told you their names, you wouldn’t believe me, even if I had a picture of them holding up a drawing of their prototype transformers next to incontrovertible proof of the date. Some people have so much invested in their little fantasy world that nothing can change it. I have this old photo in my attic that has **Ed Zotti** and **Lynn Bodoni** holding what appears to be a d]awing of a prototype transformer with a newspaper on the table showing the fall of Saigon on the front page. Is that the picture you need. I’ll send you a copy if you want it. (BTW, nice big gold medallions, **Ed** But then, of course, I will have to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/99 "2001-10-19T15:38:49Z")
I spoke with a nuclear engineer friend of mine (PhD. University of Utah), who has asked that his name not be used (I’m sorry about that, but he works for a National Laboratory, and they’re a little twitchy these days. This is easily confirmed with any reputable scientist.) He had this to share: > [@](#): > > That facility [at U Iowa] housed a vandegraaff generator which is the 1930’s version of a “particle accelerator” but is hardly defined as such in the modern use of the term. A vandegraaff generator is basically a insulated belt on a pulley system driven by a high speed motor. The friction between the pulleys and the insulated belt result in the build up of static electrons, which can be conducted off of the belt to some type of discharge apparatus. In the laboratory scale vandegraaff generator, the discharge apparatus is a large metal sphere that sits on top of a tube containing the pulley and belt system. The charge builds up on the sphere until it has enough voltage to discharge to ground via sparking. > > What happened in my physics 101 lab class was that the TA got a volunteer to touch the sphere and conduct the static charge to ground (the sink in this case). There’s almost no current associated with this, so it doesn’t even tingle much as it passes through your body. [But it does great things to your hair. -ed] > > So what would a 5 story vandegraaff generator be like? Well, it’d have a big motor (maybe a diesel motor), a big belt, and some big pulleys. The discharge apparatus would probably be a metal rod or something that would focus the electron beam onto a target of some sort. The only magnets possibly associated with the generator would be in the motor, and then only if it was an electric motor. So no, he wouldn’t have had problems with his watch, nor would he have had problems with his desk drawers sticking. > > Also note that magnetic fields that are large enough to stop watches and stick metal desk drawers closed are not really healthy for humans to have long-term exposure to. As early as the 1970’s it was recognized that chronic exposure to magnetic fields that big can cause long term memory loss in humans as they literally “scramble” your neural pathways (remember that neural impulses are electrical in nature). Having an office in a place like that would be a bad idea and its doubtful that any graduate student would have been forced to have an office in such an area. . . > > The kind of particle accelerator that this guy is thinking of when he referred to the magnetic field and whatnot is more like a linear accelerator, where charged particles are sped up by applying huge magnetic currents to the ion beam. These things are kind of dangerous, as the particles can attain speeds approaching the speed of light. [but this, of course, is not what U Iowa had. -ed] Thanky you ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be here all week. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642/100 "2001-10-19T15:45:20Z")
That’s very amusing Andros. I freely admit that the physicists might have been pulling pranks on me with their magnets, and I would have had no way to tell. But I had one watch ruined in that office. But yes, back in the 1970s, they still called it a particle accelerator (a minor aggrandization on their part, I only repeat their usage, which you might note was still used in the decommissioning article). Hey, I never said it was the Superconducting Supercollider. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yo-chas-e-im-going-to-say-it-right-out/87642.md?page=6)