Senate I Want to Believe-The Senate's Social Thread and Secret Society Roundtable

Speaking of the Austro-Hungarian empire, there's a delicious Austrian dish made from mashed bacon and bacon fat, aged in the cellar for 3-4 weeks, then eaten spread on bread like peanut butter. Sort of an open-faced cholesterol sandwich.

Yeah, that sounds par for the course. Put a dollop of sour cream on top and serve it between dark bread, and I'd wager you'd have a representation of 90% of the cuisine.

Superman - how could I forget? Still maybe the best of all comic book movies.

I would have completely agreed with you up until 3 weeks ago. Christopher Reeve was the de facto comic representation, until Iron Man came long. I thought it was that fitting.

 

Hello everyone.

Just wanted to let you all know that the Air Force is sending me to Minot, North Dakota. Starting tomorrow and continuing for the next two or three weeks, I will be traveling and house/apartment; consequently, you probably won't see much of me.

However, I did finally update my cell phone after sticking by my first one for five years. My ATT Tilt has internet capability, so I may show up intermittently with some short posts when the withdrawal symptoms get too much for me.

 

I think Superman is a better overall movie, but I agree that Downey is probably the first actor to be instantly synonymous with the comic character he portrays since Reeve. An even more impressive feat, IMO, since Downey was already a known actor.

 

No question: Downey was perfect as Iron Man. Whether he's more iconic than Reeves was as Superman is another issue.

The only problem with Iron Man is the movie wasn't quite as memorable as the actor. Reeves became iconic in part because the first movie was nearly flawless pop entertainment from start to finish. He gets tied to that amazing Superman theme music that comes within spitting distance of the Star Wars theme in its emotive power.

That's of course another thing that made those mid 70s - mid 80s movies so good. The theme music of Star Wars, Superman, Raiders stays with you forever. As good as Iron Man was, I'm not ever going to be humming the melody from the title credits.

 

No question: Downey was perfect as Iron Man. Whether he's more iconic than Reeves was as Superman is another issue.

Absolutely. But the obvious statement is that Reeve portrayed Superman during a different time, and was allowed to cultivate his iconic status. Superman wasn't a complicated movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it utterly represented the source material-which is basic escapism.

Is there anything more iconic and emotionally based that Reeve flying with the flag and delivering it to the President? (granted, that was Superman II, but the image is a representation) Emotion such as that is unapologetic and pure.

The only problem with Iron Man is the movie wasn't quite as memorable as the actor. Reeves became iconic in part because the first movie was nearly flawless pop entertainment from start to finish. He gets tied to that amazing Superman theme music that comes within spitting distance of the Star Wars theme in its emotive power.

Yep, that's the key. And I agree 100% about the theme.

That's of course another thing that made those mid 70s - mid 80s movies so good. The theme music of Star Wars, Superman, Raiders stays with you forever. As good as Iron Man was, I'm not ever going to be humming the melody from the title credits.

Exactly. I've gone and seen John Williams 3 times now when he's come to Chicago to conduct the CSO. The first time, he saved the Superman theme for an encore, and the orchestra hall was silent until those first notes of Superman- dun...dun.. dun dun dun dun... started to ring out and everyone literally went nuts. I think the reaction was stronger than the Star Wars theme, but then again, everyone expected the theme from SW.

 

John Williams is in his mid 70s now and won't be around for ever. Seeing him conduct in Chicago was a once in a lifetime (or in your case 3x in a lifetime) opportunity. I wish I'd been there.

 

Yeah, they were all incredible.

None like that first time....It was basic and powerful, much like the emotional response to Superman described above.

The last time, he actually conducted in tandem with a giant drop down movie screen which was showing movie clips from Indiana Jones and such. It was neat, but almost too big of a production in relation to what his music represents on its own.

 

What about the song from the end credits (Black Sabbath's Iron Man)? Even though the original lyrics have nothing to do with the comic character, the music of the movie seems to be built around that hard rock foundation. It's kind of like Ghostbusters where, yes, there is a separate "main theme" in the score, but the pop song is what really comes to be the main title of the movie.

 

What about the song from the end credits? I don't remember the melody. But your point is taken. A pop song e.g. Ghostbusters or something in between e.g. Beverly Hills Cop can definitely fit the bill. John Williams however defined the era of great programmatic cinema scores. No one is really filling his shoes right now.

 

Currently looking forward to when the Hollywood Bowl with John Williams this summer. And hundreds of lightsabress appear for the SW music.

 

New pics up from Berlin.

Oh, and I've been having someone spamming the comments for the pictures. Hi-frakking-larious! The fact that someone (most likely someone who used to post here, and now lurks) would take time out of their lives to do this monumental waste of time...it's quite flattering, actually. Brings a tear to my eye.

Too bad I'm almost out of space in the album. Though I think I might have taken all the pics I plan on taking.

 

Nice pics! Berlin is quite beautiful. And you totally captured the essence of that piece of bread. This summer I'll be in France and Austria and will try to take some pictures of croissants and Bauernbrot and post them for the crowd here.

 

LOL, yeah, those kinds of pics are for a friend of mine who wants to see the kind of stuff I'm eating. That was this morning's breakfast (Schokocroissant = deliciousity!) before heading to the zoo.

 

Gentlemen, I'm kinda jealous of all the travel. I haven't been out side the good ol' US of A since '92.

I think we could hang!

It'd be interesting to see how that small third world country known as The Rest of the World has changed. J/K

 

Then I suggest Berlin (yeah, yeah, I'm a total sell-out). It's a good blend of American awesomeness (Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, and Starbucks) with that good Cold War eastern bloc feel.

Aslo, you can survive here on the cheap if you want.

"Berlin ist arm, aber sexy." ("Berlin is poor, but sexy.")

 

The good news for us is that we earn some of our business income in Euros - so we don't have to exchange money when we're over there. That's the only reason I can afford to go every year. Also, some of our travel costs are a business expense.

 

Yeah, the exchange rate is sucking for Americans. I lucked out some though, because I just give my parents a check in dollars, and they pull an equivalent amount out of their German bank in Euros. I don't have to pay fees.

 

The exchange rates are killer. When I was in London in January it was just painful, what with the exchange rate combinging with London being expensive in general. So financially unplesant.

This is why I stick with Australia, where my dollar rules... and even that's hardly happening anymore.

 

Anyone else going out to see a midnight showing of Indiana Jones tonight?

 

Just FYI, I would be willing to bet that whatever bank you withdraw the Euros out of is going to charge some kind of fee for the conversion. Most often what happens is the fee is just included in the exchange rate, and is usually somewhere around 1% of the amount withdrawn.

Anyways I've been working 10 hours a day and don't have much goofing off time at work now as I am actually required to work for once, and that is a long time in front of the computer so it kills my desire to come here.

All I have to say is that talking to rich people all day only strenghtens my liberal economic desire to take it all away.

 

I would've said yes, but when this got posted, I'd already been lined up outside the theatre for 3 hours, roughly. just shy, I think, of 8 hours out in line getting back to my fan roots seeing it at one of the last big screens left in the L.A. area.


Espaldapalabras, at least if its a U.S. based bank, they can't include the exchange rate there. I've received paperwork for a class action lawsuit against the banks for NOT showing the fees seperate, and about a year ago, they switched over to hiding the fees in the exchange rate to listing them seperately. Had to do with something about if they were being competitive in getting exchange rates or something like that.

 

Mr44, what's the verdict on Indy 4? I'm seeing it tonight.

 

I would go see it tonight, but I have something else to do instead.

My Wii is being delivered today. I will be setting it up and enjoying it, along with some homemade sushi.

I might do Indy on Monday.

Kimball Kinnison

 

Re homemade sushi - I've been working on my maki technique for about a year now, and I'm still not very good* at rolling the ******* nori.



*my 4 year old is better at it than I am.

 

I actually went to see it on yesterday afternoon. The Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz was showing it in English.

Went to the 2 pm showing. Berlin time.

That's Thursday, 8 am EST.

My friends are gonna lynch me.

Yeah, that stuff's a pain in the butt. I just leave it to the professionals.