LadyCrimson

2 brief things: somewhere I read how you can tell if a panel is TFT or not by some measurement...but I can't remember how. Anyone know? Supposedly this one I bought is, but I don't always believe what they say. This thing seemed awfully cheap ($229 on sale), but what do I know anymore. Two...never mind, I figured this one out...

@Aristes - It's a vegie garden, not a flower garden. I bought a cheap (supposedly TFT...) LG Flatron monitor at Best Buy to see if I could stand it. I like the size (23") and the resolution (1920x1080) but that's all I've tried so far. Now to fiddle with the settings/color/brightness. Default is way too bright but the color is at least ok/moderately acceptable. It might work for a while. But so far, I still like the old CRT monitor for clarity (image and text) better. The ones we have just weren't working anymore for fine color adjustments of photos tho.

@213374U - your avatar makes me nauseous if I look at it for very long. Today (and yesterday, and maybe tomorrow) I'm in a good mood, but also rather manic. Which means I'm either really charming/fun or really childishly annoying, depending on one's perspective. Our garden is coming along nicely, my camera is getting a lot of use lately, we can still pay all the bills, and I am younger than Brad Pitt. Life is good.

I didn't say he stunk...just he's over-rated. imo he plays essentially the same role in the same way almost every time. He doesn't, for me, add anything to the movie by being the actor chosen. He's vanilla. And no, it's not just luck...I consider him to be a very smart business man as far as his career is concerned...I'd say the same for Arnold Governator. In terms of movies that I think are terrible or at least not very good: Vanilla Sky ****tail Legend War of the Worlds (nice eye candy but that's it) Far and Away Top Gun Days of Thunder Mediocre to kinda decent: Eyes Wide Shut Risky Business Jerry Maguire (zzzzzz) Mission Impossible's (1st one was the best one) Few Good Men Color of Money (Newman was good, movie not so much) Born on 4th of July (to me a case of over-acting) Decent to Good: Minority Report Rainman The Firm The Last Samurai Collateral I know it's all relative/opinion...and that's just mine.

I consider Cruise to be extremely over-rated as far as acting goes. He's passable, but usually he's surrounded by actual stellar actors/chr. actors who are far better than he is that somehow manage to hide his flaws. When he makes a movie where that isn't the case, more often than not, it sucks. The one role where I actually did like him as a chr. was where he played the assassin guy.

Oh ok...the aiee smilie was confusing me w/it's frantic/freaked out face. heh And yeah, I guess the 23rd date was for the pre-order (in the US) shipping date or something...I think store date is actually tomorrow...assuming a store's shipment is on time, of course. :/

Fantasy book I'd recommend: Tad Williams, The Dragonbone Chair. Only problem is it takes about 150-200 pages before it gets going and I was tempted to put it down, but once reaches a pivotal point, I really loved it. The second in the series was also pretty good, but when the last book was so huge it required being split into two separate 800 page 'books' I wasn't able to finish. But the first one is great! heheh. I don't read much post-apocalyptic fiction, so can't help there. I read Robots of Dawn & Robots and Empire first, which were written much later and allowed more pages to tell the story...and I fell in love with Daniel & Giskard's robot chrs. The first two were a lot more limited in size...the later two were better. The first three robot novels are also, at heart, largely mystery novels in a sci-fi setting - whodunits more in line w/Holmes, say. The last one distantly tied in with his Foundation series, as well. But yeah, Asimov is a very dry-style writer...and he's terrible w/even any hint of the notion of romantic relationship, or female chrs. in general. Yet somehow I connect w/his robot stories (not much else of his, tho). If you read the whole series, you'll discover his settings are often (imo) about human prejudice/lack of self-control/suffering for greater good cultures - hence the lack of freedom you perhaps noted. Over the robot novel series, you'll see his chrs. start a movement against both the 'City' and 'Spacer' way of living. I'm not sure I agree about the lack of futuristic insight. You have to remember Caves of Steel was written in the 50's. The notion that they'd one day have chips the size of a fingernail tip was too much for most people of the times to imagine actually being possible. Almost all sci-fi/fantasy is like that to a degree - Star Trek and Star Wars (original one) among them.

Valkyrie - Gets a B-, despite Cruise being in the movie (and being a bit slow). Some good chr. roles for some other good actors. Starship Troopers - Each time I watch this movie, the more I like it and appreciate the over the top propaganda satire, which always slays me. Edit: oh yeah, also saw 'Defiance' w/Daniel Craig & Liev Schreiber. WWII refugees-in-hiding drama. Liev is outstanding, Craig good. Thumbs up/A-.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

Is that a bad thing? To be honest, I barely noticed it was there, or if there was a way to remove it. The demo has very limited options available tho so even if there is, it might not be in the demo. And minions chasing baby seals made me laugh, because I'm evil, or something.

Yup...it's just the demo tho, which is only long enough to make me want MORE. Going to the store tomorrow to see if I can snap it up. Demo has it being much like the first one...with new touches. Humor's the same, which I love. Still can't stand the glowy bloom effect(1st pic), I turn it off. And for some reason it's one of those games that looks 100% better while playing. Esp. on the big tv. Oh well.

Yesssss....... It doesn't look pretty because I installed it on my ancient pc first to see if it would even run. It does...mostly. Haha Now to put it on the somewhat better PC...

Ok, it's not technically a car...not to mention, not technically invented yet...but I'd like one of these. If I had the money, I'd get the guy to make me one. Forget those 30-second old style things...7-20 minute flights would be more than enough for quick trips to the store! Micro Turbine JetPack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lcMHfJoY_M

Is this real? It's like what The Onion would do, or something. Worried about swatting a fly? Fly abuse, oh noes? Oh PETA....have a grand old time going after all the fly-swatter companies. *snicker*

Wasn't there a time where you could see the tally of your WoT posts? Or a percentage number, at least? I kinda miss that. Heh Most of mine are probably from the Kotor forums, way back when. I shudder to think what it'd be including WoT.

@Gorth - lol Boneless beef ribs are relatively cheap --$3-4 a lb vs. $6-8 a lb for the better sirloin/t-bone/ribeye steaks-- and taste pretty good (ie, like ribs) when BBQ'd. More tender than the cheapie steak cuts, too. Don't laugh, I never tried buying them before. I'd see them, but think "if I want ribs, I'll just buy the rack o' ribs..." And they cook faster/easier w/out all that bone. The gas-grill is working out nicely. Just leave the crusty stuff on the burner covers/drip pan area for the smoke effect and it starts to taste something closer to charcoal grilling.

Life is a mystery...

Oh yeah, hubby also liked the Oldsmobile 442's. I can't think of any new/modern cars either of us would have the hots for. The 50k+ sports cars are all so mundane...and only good for cruises down beach roads. ...but assuming I could comfortably ride one, I wouldn't mind getting one of these, because they look fun for casual riding. Piaggio MP3 500

I wanted a 911 for a long time...or a early/mid 60's Mustang...but I probably couldn't reach the pedals and see out the window at the same time. Problem w/most sporty cars for me.... Hubby used to want a mid-60's Ford Falcon - actually he had a very beat up one, but he wanted one in good condition, heh: He also liked Chevy Impalas.

I think hubby and I spent $20 on some sterling silver bands at a jewelry convention. Hahahaha. No engagement ring, we were poor then and I'd just lose it anyway. We haven't worn our rings for a while now...took them off one day while swimming and just never put them back on. Someday I'll get us some titanium bands or something, tho. And congrats, Kor. May you be blessed with decades of hall-sex bliss!

Agree about too many sub-genres. It's reaching ridiculous heights that I consider unsupportable. But that's just me. At this point in my life, I don't really have favorite genre of music....or even favorite bands, really. I hear and like an individual song, one at time, and that's it. I like music with varied rhythm tracks and melodies (think Stomp or Kate Bush)...or music that makes my "spirit soar" (Celtic/Gaelic/orchestra). Songs from any genre may fit either of these categories at some time, so just about every genre will have an album or three worth of songs that I might really enjoy. What I don't like is when music is instrumentally too "busy" or mixed/tortured to death, or too monotonous over the entire song. I don't typically like screaming as singing, either. In other words, usually I like melody over cacophony. I always dig my 80's roots. Lots of 60's rock n' roll and 50's/60's folk rock too. Modern rock/metal music mostly escapes my notice, except when TV/internet points it out to me.

Fever Pitch. Yes, I watched it because it's a Red Sox themed film...kind of. It was ok. I think While You Were Sleeping made a better romantic comedy, since Fever Pitch didn't really hit my funny bone that often. But it was watchable. Although I have to say...I can be an obsessive nut at times, but even I wouldn't go as far as Jimmy Fallon's chr. in the movie.

Still waiting for summer to arrive. Apparently it's on vacation.

Don't know of a 'best' method...not even sure there is one, for actual live streams (vs. prerecorded videos). Try a desktop video capture program. I'll let you Google.