September 2

[Zeke]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]And here's that TJI. But first, IJD GAF has a new Classic Trek fiver for us: "The Man Trap (../startrek/themantrap.html)." Those who know a little original-series trivia will recall that this was actually the first episode aired, making it one of the three episodes with a claim on the title of TOS pilot. IJD has a little fun with that in the fiver.


The aforementioned TJI is a new one by me, "New Line announces endless LotR marathons (../thisjustin/35.html)." It turns out I'm really lucky to be a day late with this one, because today marks the 30th anniversary of J. R. R. Tolkien's death. Let's see how fast we can make him spin in his grave to honour the occasion....


Incidentally, the result of the TJI poll was a tie between the current look and one with a brighter background. (All contestants got respectable totals, including the original format.) I personally am very happy with the new look, and I've decided to keep it, at least for now -- we'll see how it ages.[/color:post_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Surely you mean September 2nd.

[quote:post_uid0]But first, IJD GAF has a new Classic Trek fiver for us: "The Man Trap."[/quote:post_uid0]

Ah, there it is. I must have checked while you were in mid-update.

Excellent TJI, and if I could figure out how to make ICQ run under Linux I'd tell you so there.

[quote:post_uid0]rite Your Own "I am the Walrus"-Era Beatles Song, in which each customer was provided with a dictionary and six pints of vodka.[/quote:post_uid0]

This appeals to my sense of the absurd.

[quote:post_uid0]However, this reporter hasn't seen or heard from his supervisor since New Line opened a test theatre in Saskatoon,[/quote:post_uid0]

Where is Kira, anyway?

[quote:post_uid0]Kirk: With such a creature around, our crewmen are fish out of water. We better find Green.
McCoy: Shouldn't be hard to spot in this desert.[/quote:post_uid0]

Was that a Canadian reference? Normally I'd assume it was, but the fiver was written by the only Floridian on staff.[/color:post_uid0]

[Zeke]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][[b:post_uid0]Supplemental[/b:post_uid0]] I forgot to mention -- in fact, I've been forgetting to mention this for three fivers -- that 5MST recently reached the significant milestone of 50% coverage. Â There are 104 hours of original material in TOS and TAS, and that section now hosts 54 of them. Â Congratulations, IJD!

[quote:post_uid0]Surely you mean September 2nd.[/quote:post_uid0]

Indeed I do -- I was just looking at all those August threads as I posted. Fixed now.[/color:post_uid0]

[Nan]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Nancy: Hello boys.
McCoy: Hello old flame.
Kirk: Hello old hag.
Darnell: Hello blonde prostitute.
Kirk: Excuse me?
Darnell: Forgive me Ma'am, but you look just like a woman I picked up on--
Kirk: You are so monster fodder.[/quote:post_uid0]

*cackle*

Good one, IJD GAF. ;)

I also liked the the TJI Tolkien quote. :)[/color:post_uid0]

[Kira]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"]Where is Kira, anyway?[/quote:post_uid0]

Kira's enjoying the tables being turned for once and having Zeke do all of the work. Most of the work.  The work that doesn't actually require being on time. Â

Whatever.

As to the matter of the TJI... for any [i:post_uid0]real[/i:post_uid0] LotR fans out there (::: glares at Zeke :::) Â who may not have heard, New Line's re-release of the first two installments of the LotR trilogy isn't something Zeke made up -- he got the idea for the article from mocking me when I told him about it. Â New Line is actually going to do this in selected theatres ("selected": defined as, not one within several hundred kilometers of Kira) and have a back-to-back-to-back marathon on the 16th for the release of RotK. Â (And no classes for Kira this term means no finals to interfere with LotR... BWAHAHAHAHA) Â Oh, and the re-releases are the extended editions, by the way. Â Mmm... LotR extended editions....

Ahem. Â Yes. Â Now, as for the fiver....

[quote:post_uid0]McCoy: Jim, this man has no salt in his body.
Kirk: Aha! Now the real question is: what kind of monster could do this to a person?
McCoy: Say, did I ever tell you the story of my break-up with Nancy?[/quote:post_uid0]

Woo, I just about hyperventillated. Â Great fiver, IJD, even for someone who's never seen the episode.

Um... did I say that I'd never seen it? Â I meant... er....

::: runs for cover :::[/color:post_uid0]

[Kristina]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Heh heh. I liked what's been listed, plus:
[quote:post_uid0]Dr. Crater: I don't need an examination.
Kirk: Forgive me, but I'm the Captain here; only Captains can dodge medical exams.
McCoy: That's right and I'm the Doctor here, so we can condense your name now.
Crater: Arg.[/quote:post_uid0]
and...
[quote:post_uid0]Mr. Jackson will make an official comment on the matter soon but is currently too busy editing Return of the King "to make sure Arwen is in every scene." [/quote:post_uid0]
Nice "gratuitous Arwen extra scene" bashing! Â :lol:
I'm a LoTR fan, but I personally didn't care much for the 2nd installment with respect to the book. I might amend my opinion when I get to see the extended version, though.[/color:post_uid0]

[Derek]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Great fiver, IJD. And great TJI, Zeke.

[quote:post_uid0]Captain's Log: We've beamed down to the planet to investigate the Crater of two evils.[/quote:post_uid0]
::groans::

[quote:post_uid0]Nancy Crater makes an impact on McCoy, who's unfortunately unaware of her fondness for a salt and battery.[/quote:post_uid0]
Nice blurb.

[quote:post_uid0]This notice void only if cast into Mount Doom; otherwise it will inevitably corrupt the reader, however pure his intentions.[/quote:post_uid0]
Nice disclaimer.[/color:post_uid0]

[Kira]

[quote:post_uid0="Kristina"][color=#000000:post_uid0]I'm a LoTR fan, but I personally didn't care much for the 2nd installment with respect to the book. I might amend my opinion when I get to see the extended version, though.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]You might at that. From what I've seen/heard, although they won't be editing the elves out of the Battle of Helm's Deep they will give some exposition and background that explain why Faramir was being such an @$$. Also more Treebeard, for those of you so inclined. Which also means more Merry and Pippin, for those of me so inclined. :D[/color:post_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Thoroughly funny fiver. I'm not sure I can pick out any passages that stood out for me, but

[quote:post_uid0]McCoy: Old? She didn't have one gray hair in her head!
Kirk: Right, she had several. Let's get suspicious, shall we?
Nancy: (from outside) AAAHHH!
Kirk: Right on cue![/quote:post_uid0]
and
[quote:post_uid0]Kirk: And what about those icky patches all over his body?
McCoy: Okay, okay. I'll run the tests for real this time.
Kirk: Slacker.[/quote:post_uid0]
were pretty funny. As was the blurb. :D




[quote:post_uid0]They'll come to think of Frodo and Gollum and Sauron as extra parents. Isn't that what you'd want for your own child?[/quote:post_uid0]
Not particularly... :smile:

[quote:post_uid0]Tartarus also capitalized on the popularity of Choose Your Own Adventure books to market a series called Write Your Own "I am the Walrus"-Era Beatles Song, in which each customer was provided with a dictionary and six pints of vodka.[/quote:post_uid0]
Wow, that one came out of nowhere! :lol: :lol:

And all the "cameos" at the end were very, very funny.[/color:post_uid0]

[Marc]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]>> Nancy: Salt you. I mean, Thank salt. Er.... <<

Reminds me of a certain long-running pie joke. :)

>> New Line's new line of business <<

Heheheh.[/color:post_uid0]

[Zeke]

[quote:post_uid0="Kira"][color=#000000:post_uid0]for any [i:post_uid0]real[/i:post_uid0] LotR fans out there (::: glares at Zeke :::)[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]I am so a real LotR fan. I'm a real [i:post_uid0]Voyager[/i:post_uid0] and [i:post_uid0]Enterprise[/i:post_uid0] fan too, but that doesn't stop me from using them for bazooka practice. :D[/color:post_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Which also means more Merry and Pippin, for those of me so inclined. [/quote:post_uid0]

I hope those two hurry up and develop separate personalities. I'm getting mightily sick of fools of Tooks (even thougb Merry's supposed to be the capable one).

[quote:post_uid0]I'm a real Voyager and Enterprise fan too, but that doesn't stop me from using them for bazooka practice. [/quote:post_uid0]

You have a bazooka? Where can I get one?[/color:post_uid0]

[Tate]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0="Kristina"]I'm a LoTR fan, but I personally didn't care much for the 2nd installment with respect to the book. I might amend my opinion when I get to see the extended version, though.[/quote:post_uid0]
Ditto (although, having seen TTT again on DVD, I like it a lot more than I did in the theater).

[quote:post_uid0]The theatres selected have unanimously agreed to this plan, which will be implemented on December 18 when the popular trilogy's final installment, Return of the King, is released.[/quote:post_uid0]
[quote:post_uid0]New Line is actually going to do this in selected theatres ("selected": defined as, not one within several hundred kilometers of Kira) and have a back-to-back-to-back marathon on the 16th for the release of RotK.[/quote:post_uid0]
Okay, I'm getting confused. On the official website for the films (LordoftheRings.net (http://www.lordoftherings.net)) it says RotK is coming out on the 17th. Is it different there in Canada?

In any case, great TJI and Fiver.[/color:post_uid0]

[Derek]

[quote:post_uid0="Tate"][color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]New Line is actually going to do this in selected theatres ("selected": defined as, not one within several hundred kilometers of Kira) and have a back-to-back-to-back marathon on the 16th for the release of RotK.[/quote:post_uid0]
Okay, I'm getting confused. On the official website for the films (LordoftheRings.net (http://www.lordoftherings.net)) it says RotK is coming out on the 17th. Is it different there in Canada?[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]On the 16th, they're going to show FotR at 3pm, TTT at 7pm, and RotK at 11pm. But I think that's only if you're doing the three-in-a-row. General audiences will have to wait another hour and see the 12:01am showing. (Why it's 12:01am and not 12am is beyond my comprehension.)

Is there a list of what these "selected theatres" are? Tallahassee may be smaller than some, but it's larger than anything within a couple hundred miles of it.[/color:post_uid0]

[Tate]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Thanks[/color:post_uid0]

[mudshark]

[quote:post_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"][color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]rite Your Own "I am the Walrus"-Era Beatles Song, in which each customer was provided with a dictionary and six pints of vodka.[/quote:post_uid0]

This appeals to my sense of the absurd.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]Rather liked that, myself. :lol:

[quote:post_uid0]This notice void only if cast into Mount Doom; otherwise it will inevitably corrupt the reader, however pure his intentions.[/quote:post_uid0]

And this, too. :D

Did the description of "generational theatre" remind anyone else of the rogue party in [i:post_uid0]Life, the Universe and Everything[/i:post_uid0]? ;)

IJD, good as usual, although I will confess to being puzzled as to why Sturgeon is in there, other than as a setup for the "fish out of water" line. :S[/color:post_uid0]

[catalina_marina]

[color=#000000:post_uid0][quote:post_uid0]Did the description of "generational theatre" remind anyone else of the rogue party in Life, the Universe and Everything? ;) [/quote:post_uid0]
Now that you mention it, it kinda is exactly the same isn't it? With the minor difference that the party was volantarily. :D[/color:post_uid0]

[mudshark]

[quote:post_uid0="Derek"][color=#000000:post_uid0]Is there a list of what these "selected theatres" are? Tallahassee may be smaller than some, but it's larger than anything within a couple hundred miles of it.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]In the copy of the announcement (http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1061833596) at TheOneRing.net, it says:
[quote:post_uid0]
From December 5 - 11, the studio will release 100-150 35mm prints of the Special Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring in cities across the country. On December 12 - 15, these prints will be replaced with Special Extended Edition prints of The Two Towers. On Monday, December 8, and Monday, December 15, both films will be presented back-to-back. Then, on Tuesday, December 16, participating theaters will show a one-time-only marathon of both Extended Edition prints followed by an 11pm screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The official opening of the film will commence at 12:01 AM on Wednesday, December 17, 2003.
Advance ticketing for the screening series is expected to commence this fall. [/quote:post_uid0]
I would guess that the "participating theaters" will be announced immediately prior to tickets going on sale.[/color:post_uid0]

[Marc]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]>> (Why it's 12:01am and not 12am is beyond my comprehension.) <<

This is a convention used (for instance in collective agreements and other such contracts) to make sure that one is referring to an unambiguous date and time. Â If one just says "midnight on the 24th," does one mean the night of the 23rd to the 24th or the 24th to the 25th? Â Contract language often solves this problem by referring to "11:59 p.m. on December 24" or "12:01 a.m. on December 25" to make sure everyone knows which day is being referred to.[/color:post_uid0]

[Zeke]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Thanks to both of you -- Shark for the official dates (I've fixed issue 35 now) and Marc for explaining the seemingly-inexplicable.[/color:post_uid0]

[ijdgaf]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Sturgeon was the actual name of the poor, poor sap in the episode. Â As was Green.

And was that a Canada joke?  Let's just say the only Canada jokes I'm qualified to make are about ketchup flavored potato chips (you lucky Canadian bastards you  :swear: )[/color:post_uid0]

[Derek]

[quote:post_uid0="Marc"][color=#000000:post_uid0]This is a convention used (for instance in collective agreements and other such contracts) to make sure that one is referring to an unambiguous date and time.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]Thanks for the explanation, Marc. I'm not sure how 12:01am makes the time unambiguous though. Isn't saying 2 in the morning just as ambiguous? If someone says to me that there will be a party starting on the 25th at 2am, do they mean the 2am on the actual morning of the 25th or the actual morning of the 26th? Doesn't the ambiguity come from the fact that people still consider early morning to be the night of the previous day?

Oh well. It doesn't matter much for me anyway. I'm not planning on seeing the first showing either way.[/color:post_uid0]

[mudshark]

[quote:post_uid0="ijdgaf"][color=#000000:post_uid0]Sturgeon was the actual name of the poor, poor sap in the episode. Â As was Green.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]Okay. I remembered Green and Darnell, and their names are found in the credits on any number of sites. It's just been too long since I've seen this (or [i:post_uid0]any[/i:post_uid0] TOS, for that matter. :( )[/color:post_uid0]

[Marc]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]>> I'm not sure how 12:01am makes the time unambiguous though. Isn't saying 2 in the morning just as
ambiguous? If someone says to me that there will be a party starting on the 25th at 2am, do they mean the 2am on the actual morning of
the 25th or the actual morning of the 26th? Doesn't the ambiguity come from the fact that people still consider early morning to be the
night of the previous day? <<

It's not ambiguous if you think of "dates" as opposed to "days". People often think of "days" as starting and stopping at unofficial points -- like when they get up and when they go to sleep, or in nighttime-versus-daytime terms. People who stay up past midnight are still in the same *day* as far as they're concerned (since their day ends when they go to sleep), but they've actually straddled two different *dates*.

For official purposes (and as far as the little clock at the bottom right corner of your computer's screen is concerned), a particular *date* (like December 25th, for instance) begins at midnight and ends the following midnight. So officially, 2 a.m. on the 25th can't be anything other than 2 a.m. on the 25th. It's vague time designations like "party starting on the morning of the 25th" (with no time given) that are open to misinterpretation and which could conceivably mean the 26th -- especially if you're already sloshed on eggnog at the time of the invitation.[/color:post_uid0]

[Kira]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Yeah, theonering.net is where I heard about it. Â (For the record, they get news out way faster than the official site; I highly recommend it.)

[quote:post_uid0="Guest"]I would guess that the "participating theaters" will be announced immediately prior to tickets going on sale.[/quote:post_uid0]

Yeah, New Line hasn't revealed which theatres will be hosting the re-releases yet but I suspect they'll do so before December. Â I think I read that it would be in 20 theatres in Canada, but I can't remember where I saw that.[/color:post_uid0]

[mudshark]

[quote:post_uid0="Kira"][color=#000000:post_uid0]Yeah, theonering.net is where I heard about it. Â (For the record, they get news out way faster than the official site; I highly recommend it.)[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]They have the added benefit of being [i:post_uid0]legible[/i:post_uid0], for those of us without 21" monitors. ;)[/color:post_uid0]

[Derek]

[quote:post_uid0="Marc"][color=#000000:post_uid0]For official purposes (and as far as the little clock at the bottom right corner of your computer's screen is concerned), a particular *date* (like December 25th, for instance) begins at midnight and ends the following midnight.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]Right, and my computer thinks that the start of a new day begins at midnight, 12:00am. If my computer understands the idea that midnight belongs to the domain of the following day, why don't movie theatres?

(Not attacking you, Marc. I appreciate you trying to defend them, but I don't see how 12:00am on the 25th is any more ambiguous than 2:00am on the 25th. People don't start New Year's celebrations at 12:01am; they start at 12:00am.)[/color:post_uid0]

[Kira]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]I think the reason they often play movies at 12:01am is that (a) it's the earliest they can do it on the given release date and (b) 12:00am could be argued as being ambiguous, i.e. actually still being the day before since it's the transition point. (Yes, common sense says otherwise, but since when is common sense actually common?) So, they use 12:01am, stay unambiguous, and play the movie at the earliest possible moment.[/color:post_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]It doesn't matter whether they mark it down as 12:00 AM, 12:01 AM, or 12:05 AM, because they're going to show 20-25 minutes of "previews" anyway. ;)[/color:post_uid0]

[Katy Jane]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]We had a problem with this at walmart, the night [i:post_uid0]before[/i:post_uid0]
the last harry potter book was releised. some smuck put on the sign "Buy it at midnight on June 20" so of course we had people showing up the night of the 19th looking for it. :eyeroll: what a headache. (couse the next night was worse.)[/color:post_uid0]