The Testing Chat III: The Time of Great Chatting

[Oxymoron]

Now that's kind of awkward...

[Crazedwraith]

heh 'accidently' heh

[adr]

remember the sdn website and the forums are hosted separately

[Aaron]

i can see most of the website just not the forum.

I vaguely recall that he has them hosted seperately and that the forum server is in his house. Last time some idiot didn't call before he dug.

[Losonti Tokash]

i can't even describe how disgusted i am with lindsey graham yet again

at least he waited for the funerals this time

[adr]

wat did he do

[Civil War Man]

http://www.advocate.com/politics/marria ... ality-bill

Looks like Rhode Island is going to be the 10th state to pass marriage equality. Basically just needs a procedural vote in the House (which already passed it in January, so it's not going to be stopped there) and then get signed by the Governor (who has already said he's going to sign it).

The reason it took so long is because the Senate President was preventing it from coming to a vote. It passed rather easily once she stopped blocking it.

Random fact: All of the Republicans in the RI Senate voted in favor, which is less surprising when you take into consideration that Republicans in Rhode Island tend to be more liberal than Democrats in a lot of other states.

[Civil War Man]

wat did he do

Quick google has him saying this recently:

All the information that led to the capture of Osama bin Laden came from enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay, interrogated over a long period of time.

Not sure if it's the specific thing Los is talking about, since he's a pretty shitty person in general, even moreso recently.

[Crazedwraith]

on only realises how often one casually clicks on to a site when its not working...

... i may have an addiction

[Flagg]

i can't even describe how disgusted i am with lindsey graham yet again

at least he waited for the funerals this time

And he's one of the respected party elders!

[magic princess]

If you'll indulge me, (or forgive me if you already explained) why's that?

Because evidence has shown that vast reordering of social structures in a short period of time as a forced effort from the top has time and time again caused large scale disorder which results in reductions in human health, happiness, and prosperity out of proportion to any conceivable benefit.

We're not talking about things here like banning the Suttee in India or mandating seatbelt laws; I'm talking about revolutions and counterrevolutions.

[RogueIce]

It's still down for me. Wonder if it's another server failure.

My theory is that DW turned over hosting to Kier.

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

Can't be. There aren't enough people complaining about board performance on a daily basis despite the fact they're members provided an essentially free service (which they complain isn't good enough.)

[Jung]

It seems to be working now.

[Oxymoron]

This raises an interesting point about fiction

My wife and I are currently plowing through all 5 seasons of Mad Men. We’ve been running an average of about 3 episodes per night and are about halfway through season 4 (NO SPOILERS!!!!). Almost immediately I knew everything I’d heard about the show was true. The acting, the writing, the believability of the world, ALL were superior to nearly everything else on TV (save for Breaking Bad). There are moments when the racism and sexism are TRULY and BRUTALLY shocking, but those elements are never used in a sensationalist way. Rather they just remind the viewer how far society has come in 50 years and occasionally how far we’ve left to go.

Consuming so much superlative TV in such a short amount of time (the same way I blasted through Breaking bad, 1-2 episodes a night, every night), I’m starting to really coalesce a Unified Theory of Television. What I mean is, I’m beginning to realize that regardless of genre, setting or subject matter, every television show geared towards me (a human person smack in the middle of all the prime demographics) either fails or succeeds based on the exact same successes or shortcomings. I noticed that not even 3 episodes into Mad Men, I was pausing the show to talk to my wife about a character’s motivation, how they really felt vs. what they were saying/doing, what their next actions might be and what repercussions those actions would have on their future and the other characters around them. This and THIS ALONE is the halmark of quality television.

I understand the formula is complex (writing, plus acting, plus directing, divided by budget, times network confidence and promotion, times Pi, etc, etc), and can rarely be duplicated with a resolvable, remainderless and equal solution, but my point is that all of these issues will have for the most part already been addressed before you and I, the viewers, see the end result. So let’s assume that all television shows have an equal opportunity of having a good premise, quality writing, and strong actors (which they do not, but let’s assume it anyway to simplify things). If, by the second or third episode, I am not either questioning or relating to a character’s motivation (which implies that said motivation is presented CLEARLY), then there is little hope that this show will hold my full attention. Let’s hope it has plenty of special effects and maybe dinosaurs (which we all know can’t always save a boring show).

My friend Amy Berg is a talented and successful writer in Hollywood machine and she always says, “What does your character WANT, and what is PREVENTING THEM from getting it?” While watching Mad Men, I began to think more and more about this idea. You see, at first I avoided Mad Men because I thought the whole “Period piece set in the 60′s” was a gimmick and would be overwhelming to the story or hokey in some way. I very quickly realized that, when executed correctly, the story and the characters trump the setting or the gimmick. As long as the show is telling a human story that explores wants, needs, hardships and triumphs then it will be relatable to the audience. Be it set in the 1960′s or a derelict spaceship during a robot war, a good writer can always tell a human story and a good actor can always convey emotions that will suck the audience in to their world.

I began comparing Mad Men to Revolution and that’s when my hypothesis really started to pan out. I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was I didn’t like about Revolution. It had most of the elements that typically draw me in to a televised work of fiction. It had a distopia and a dude from Breaking Bad and Katniss is there too. Lots of things to like. So why was I ready to give up after 3 episodes? I realized the premise, the show iteself WAS the character. Every human in Revolution acts solely as an extension of the premise and serves only to further the overall plot. “Where did the power go? Will it ever come back.” The individual characters are all replaceable and interchangeable. The thing needs to get from point A to point C, but only after it blows up the other thing at point B. ANY CHARACTER can achieve these goals. The plot still gets where it’s going and the audience is only attached to the action or the mystery rather than the characters. I would get just as much enjoyment out of an episode of Revolution if all I did was read the synopsis. In this case I think the failure is writing. I know at least 2 of the actors in Revolution are quite talented, but they are delivering less than captivating performances and I believe they haven’t been given much of a reason to think about what their characters really want. I could go on and on about Revolution‘s failure to impress me, but this is supposed to be about Mad Men.

Another thing I realized while shotgunning season upon season of Mad Men was how important the “show don’t tell” rule can be in television. Take another example of a show I try very hard to like, but can’t seem to stop finding fault with: Falling Skies. Every single character on Falling Skies speaks with the same voice. They all talk the same way, express themselves in the same way, get angry, get happy, get whatever in identical fashion. This starts to become super apparent when you realize that every character on Falling Skies explains their motivations with the same technique: the fond remembrance. Character 1 says, “Why did you let those aliens go? We’re at war.” Character 2 replies with a pause, then, “When I was 8, my dad used to take me to the batting cages to hit balls. There was this other kid who BLAH BLAH BLAH THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS WHATEVER.” They all do it. ALL OF THEM. Kill them all and replace them with a new cast on the next episode and I won’t notice because THE SHOW IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. Don Draper can raise or lower an eyebrow and it SPEAKS VOLUMES. Now again, is it fair to compare exceptionally bad writing to exceptionally good acting? It depends. How much of Draper’s eyebrow movement relies on the page saying “Don raises eyebrow as if to say…” and how much relies on John Hamm’s ability to execute those instructions. Obviously both are required, but I presume that neither works without the other.

So what’s my point? I’m not even sure I have one. I just know that high quality premises are being ruined by lack of attention to character detail, and high quality actors are getting shafted by sub par dialog and a lack of overall vision for what a show is, what story it is trying to tell, WHOSE story it even is and where the whole thing is going. Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Fringe, The first 3.5 seasons of BSG, Firely… these are the shows that prove the impossible is actually all too entirely possible and that everyone else is slacking off.

[Darksi4190]

So I got in a car accident yesterday. Now I have to pay a 120 dollar ticket for failure to yield and a 550 dollar insurance deductible, plus whatever I have to pay for a rental car to get to school for finals.

Joy.

[magic princess]

Can't fix it yourself? Relying on insurance is pretty stiff when it's your fault. Or the fault of the person driving the car at time.

[Darksi4190]

My passenger side door is completely caved in. It's going to be at least 5000$ worth of damage. There's no way in hell I can afford the repairs myself.

Also the dude I pulled in front of apparently has some great emotional attachment to his 20+ year old pickup, and flat out stated his intention to sue, so I need liability coverage from my insurance

[Flagg]

Drive better?

[magic princess]

My passenger side door is completely caved in. It's going to be at least 5000$ worth of damage. There's no way in hell I can afford the repairs myself.

Also the dude I pulled in front of apparently has some great emotional attachment to his 20+ year old pickup, and flat out stated his intention to sue, so I need liability coverage from my insurance

You're at fault and you got sideswiped? That just sucks. I was imagining front-end damage. Though there must be some kind of serious structure damage like to the B-pillar if "door caved in" is a bigger deal than "find a new door at a scrap yard from a matching car".

And it isn't the pickup, he's bound to sue you for "head and neck" injuries. I really have no idea what I'd do if I got sued by a fucker like that, and that kind of attitude in regard to crashes is more common in the Northeast apparently; I want to move back home...

(When my old ex-roommate, who is one of the most fail individuals ever at driving, rammed my car into the back of someone else by forgetting it was one of the last vehicles sold new in the US without anti-lock brakes, I refused to file a damage claim with the insurance and fixed it myself, and it turned out to only be a couple-hundred dollars instead of possibly totaling though I had to get really clever getting new bolts for the bumper brackets into the frame).

[Darksi4190]

the police report states "no injuries," and he was walking around waiting for someone to pick him up while his truck got towed, so i might have decent grounds to fight a lawsuit.

[Aaron]

Yeah, it's just another expense to swallow.

Marina has a good idea though, before you file, find out if there is anything you can fix yourself. Dad and I used to this when I was a kid, its a lot of work but its definitely cheap.

[Darksi4190]

just got off the phone with the body shop.

Damage is as follows

- Right front wheel was damaged and needs replacing
- right fender damaged and needs replacement
- right door damaged and needs replacement
- dash board damaged and needs replacement
- rocker molding damaged and needs replacement
- structural damage to something called the A pillar.

current estimate is 7000$ and a week and a half for repairs.

No way in hell I can pay for it without the insurance.

[Oxymoron]

$7000 ?

Wouldn't buying another used car and sell / donate this one to the scrapyard / the mechanic cost you only half of that ?

[Darksi4190]

I'm not sure. I don't know how much i'd be able to get for the car, so I don't know how much i'd have to spend on a new one.