@Doctor-Phibes said in Who am I?: I know the main actor. Not sure about supporting actor ***=NSFW content***click to show Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca Supporting actor - I'm guessing Paul Henreid, because I can't imagine it being Peter Lorre or Claud Rains. I guess it could be Peter Lorre. Thought you would get it.

Movie making, as a craft, has passed the phase where small teams of people with limited budget can make significant breakthrough. They need high tech that need big money to truly push the envelope. Happened to Physics, happened to medicine, happened to the car industry, happening to AI … not really new. Films with smaller budget? Look to China. They keep churning out these so-called “vertical screen dramas”, where you watch them on cellphones in portrait mode. In their original form they were released as short episodes, each a few minutes long, and a “complete” story arc would span dozens to 100+ episodes. But on YouTube you can fine “complete compilation” that you can binge on, usually two to three hours per “movie.” Quality is usually between “mediocre” and “quite good” but never “great.” Very little originality with the big story arcs but a lot of creativity in creating variations within similar story arcs and cross-pollinating elements from the few distinct story arcs that are there. And oh so entertaining, you can sit through them well-entertained without doing much, if any, thinking — like Lifetime and Hallmark movies but can also be exciting, edgy, and actually interesting. Tons of these on YouTube, multiple “new releases” of complete “movies” every day. (And as far as I know, viewers here can watch them tariff-free.) Looking across the world and across history, I cannot think of an even more productive or prolific production of “low budget movies” than this.

Thought it interesting that he started with a recipe in Bon Appetit and then thought, "I can do better".

@LuFins-Dad At some point would it be cheaper to move to a different district? That’s insane.

@Renauda, jon-nyc You cracked it, leather working. Many thanks for the information. I'd wondered initially if it was for shaping lead or tin, Cornwall being famous for those, but it's too light for metals so was thinking maybe for trimming slate roofing tiles. Hence been in the axe drawer. It is a vicious looking thing until you feel the edges. Sharpened and fixed to a 4' staff it would be like a Game if Thrones weapon for Aria to weild.

New to me. Maybe Mik will give them a go...

@Mik @Renauda @blondie Thanks. I missed the excitement, but heard about it and saw all kinds of crazy videos. They shut down the metro for safety reasons, and traffic was just standing. A aquaintance had to walk about 5+ miles home in her work clothes (skirt, heels, etc.). She said that she had to go into a store and buy a cheap pair of gym shoes because she never could have walked all the way in her regular work shoes. LOL Fortunately, BKK had a similar earthquake about 20 years ago, so the building instructions were made much more strict after that, so most of the buildings are now in pretty good shape. link text The building under construction that collapsed, killing a bunch of workers was being built by a Chinese company (LOL). Kind of a scandal as a newspaper filmed some of the project managers taking boxes of files out from the project office through a back fence and driving away with them!

Minister of Ag -Talked about how tariffs will help farmers and ranchers Trying to figure this one out. Where are farmers going to go with their excess crops since they will now be more difficult to sell overseas? [image: percentofusagricultureexported.png?itok=P3i9ng0v]

Good deal? Bad deal?

@Wim said in It's really bitter...: @Horace Ah, never eaten belgian endive a.k.a. 'chicons belges'? It's not that evolution taught a hard rule, just that it suggested something advantageous for not dying.

@jon-nyc said in This is impressive.: Imagine what that would do to a large animal. I seem to recall that’s how the Bond villain’s henchman (played by Anonio Banderas) died badly in License to Kill.

Go for it. COVID was five years ago.

Thanks for sharing. Quite interesting. I dont think that it is any surprise that the world will look for alternatives. This is a big long term problem for the US. Even if things go how president Trump wants them to go, it could very much be a case of "we won the battle but lost the war"

They seemed fine but I had a 20m ride in the back seat of each and was more interested in looking outside the window.

Mine is 100% for FT work

I imagine the Trump blamethrower is being powered up as we speak.

The law provides for a one time 90 day extension if a deal is in the works. Trump didn’t invoke that, he just said, twice now, that he’s not going to enforce it for 75 days. This is arguably in violation of the so called ‘take care’ clause of the constitution but someone with standing would probably have to sue him to stop it. I’m not sure who besides Congress has such standing. Maybe a TikTok competitor? I don’t know.

This reminded me I need to put HP on my shopping list. I ran out a while back and had to put ketchup on my burger last night. O tempora, o mores!

Wow, those poor kids. That is just awful. There are people that need to spend a long time in jail if they are found to be at fault.