Skip to: site menu | section menu | main content

NonStop Chatter

Blogging about whatever I feel like

Archive for August, 2007

Thursday Thirteen - 13 of the Worst Movies I’ve Watched

My sisters and I had a tradition in college. Every here and there we would get together to watch a really, really bad movie. Our “Bad Movie Nights” were a lot of fun, as we tore apart the plot, the acting, the special effects… anything that caught our interest. It made some really horrible movies quite watchable.

And yes, for the most part they were rented rather than watched in the movie theater. Can’t have near as much fun when in a theater and other people are there, wanting quiet.

So, in no particular order, otherwise known as the order in which I remember the titles:

  1. Independence Day - Gosh, you can hack alien technology with a Mac? I guess Apples really are superior. Never did understand why some people thought this move was so brilliant. Good special effects, but for the rest… meh.
  2. Batman & Robin - What the hell were they thinking when they made this movie? Stupid effects, campy even for a superhero movie.
  3. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - Watched as a result of a dare placed after watching the #2 movie on this list. Which would be worse? We couldn’t believe what a close call it was.
  4. Plan 9 From Outer Space - You can’t have a list of bad movies without mentioning this classic from Ed Wood, can you?
  5. The Day After Tomorrow - Really lousy environmental disaster movie. The basic plot has been done over and over; only the details differ. Scientist makes prediction. He’s mocked. He’s right, but his child is in the path of danger. Blah, blah, blah. Nice special effects, although I don’t consider that a big accomplishment given current technology.
  6. The Core - Whimper, whimper. Anyone bring the jumper cables? The core of the earth has stopped spinning and we need to start it back up again!
  7. Broken Arrow - “Please do not shoot at the nuclear weapon” and other such gems for daily living. And of course that endangered mud. Guys, if you introduce that kind of factor into a movie, have it be more than a bit of throwaway environmentalism. Please.
  8. The Avengers - True torture for my stepmother, who grew up watching the show. Just a mess of a movie.
  9. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Make yourself a promise. You will never, ever watch this movie unless it is in a theater, at midnight, with a bunch of lunatics who have the whole thing memorized and are prepared to shout out lines and comments while dressed the part. It’s just not worth it any other way.
  10. The Puppet Masters - I’ve never really understood how they could call it modernizing Robert Heinlein’s story when they cut the technology down to mighty close to what we have now. And the characters, ouch!
  11. Starship Troopers - Take a novel. Cut it down to the most basic plot, but save the character names. Then claim your movie is based on the novel. That’s about what they did to this Robert Heinlein novel.
  12. Godzilla - Or perhaps just Godawful. The title might just work as well.
  13. Battlefield Earth - Bad even by bad movie standards. Psychlo? Can’t you get more creative than that, Mr. Hubbard? Travolta, the costumes needed a lot more work. A lot.

Of course, there are plenty more out there. We did this regularly for years, but I can’t remember all the titles.

And if you heard a scream as you read #11, that was when my fingernails hit an odd combination of keys and deleted the saved only up to #4 post.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 9th, 2007

Levitation

So it probably won’t work on a large scale, despite the many bloggers hoping for levitating skateboards. Just that scientists have made progress on the levitation problem is really interesting.

Basically, they reverse the Casmir effect, which is what sticks things together. But of course right now they’re looking at micro machinery that could use this. They’re a long way off from being able to do something like levitate a person.

What this means is that on a nano level they could get rid of friction. This could allow for the development of more efficient machines.

In the meantime, we’ll all have to settle for watching this.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 8th, 2007

How Are You at Photography?

I’m not a bad photographer, I figure. Not tops, but good enough. Wouldn’t mind being better, though.

The Digital Photography Success ebook seems like a good choice for improving my skills. I can take the casual pictures of my family and have a fair chance of it coming out adequately, but anything beyond that is sheer chance.

My camera is an old, 3 megapixel Sony. We got it back when 5 megapixels were still pretty expensive, and the 3 megapixel was actually a pretty good camera. If only we had waited six months or so…. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 6th, 2007

The Impossible Bridal Shower

Are bridal showers normally this hard to schedule? We’ve been trying to set one up for my sister, and been stymied at every turn. And I do mean every turn.

We want to hold a shower for my sister, who is getting married in September. Original plan for the shower was when all my sisters would be in town, and we asked the fiancee for info on how to contact coworkers and friends as appropriate. He gave us the information all right… two weeks after everyone had been in town and after dropping hints to my sister and her coworkers. It was supposed to be a surprise and that had been made clear…. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 5th, 2007

Green with Envy… or Blue?

I’m a geek. I’ve said it many times and there’s just no denying it. Fortunately, I also enjoy the status.

Don’t need ‘em, but I just love looking at laser pointers. Not the usual red ones; I have a few of those around the house already. They’re just so… normal.

But ThinkGeek has green ones and blue ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 4th, 2007

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Recent Odd News Stories

Going for something a little different today. 13 odd news stories that caught my attention.

  1. Untrustworthy Kidnappers
  2. Man cuts off hand for Hindu goddess offering
  3. Catholic dean on leave after YouTube outburst
  4. Sicilian mother cuts off 61-yr-old son’s allowance
  5. Flooded China warns of heat, drought - and snow?
  6. Monkey unlocks pen, eludes zoo staff
  7. Chocoholic squirrel steals treats from shop
  8. Woman kept dead husband by bed for a year
  9. Restaurant cheat jailed for binge attacks
  10. Granny becomes world’s oldest master
  11. Lottery player wins twice by mistake
  12. Burglars Use ‘Mission Impossible’ Moves
  13. No Time For Pets? Rent One

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Posted by The Chatterbox on August 2nd, 2007