Hey all,

moderation problem fixed. Turns out group settings don't affect the
entire group, just the accounts currently IN the group. The people who
joined early were still in the old settings.

Short of it: nobody needs to wait for my moderation now, messages go
in automatically.


--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Helen" <helen@h...> wrote:

> > > I love the RSS feed option! Yahoo groups is way cooler than it
> > I like to think of it as "acceptably functional". My problem is
> Did you know google offers a similiar service now that has the same
> interface as google groups?

I didn't. But if I was gonna go that route, I'd want a gmail account
too. Hm.

I can't believe they call it "Google Groups". It's an interface to
USENET. I miss USENET. Ooh, look, there I am feeling old again. Sigh.

> -----Original Message-----
> > Lurkers shall be rewarded
> > with the usual punishment of being outed, and pointed and laughed
> at, with a
> > degree of malice heretofore unmatched by the ravages of time.
> geez louise josephine, way to go with the warm and fuzzies! ok. so.
> I'm here!

:-) I once said when it comes to warm-and-furryness, I was a kitten, and
someone who knows me rather well said, "you mean a tiger cub?"

> thanks for the invite Peter, will try not to lurk too much :-)

*grins*

Victoria here.  I'm interested in all sci-fi (Star Wars, Star Trek,
Farscape, SG1, etc etc), with the exception of cross-overs into
horror.  I'm mildly into fantasy on some days.

All the decent nicknames I could think off were taken (as always) I
once entered at chat room with the nickname "Spot" and got into lots
of trouble - the reference was of Data's cat from TNG (you'd think
people whould get it).




--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Joanne Jacobs" <joanne@j...> wrote:
> So who is in this forum, and can we continue with ranting about
Sith-related
> plot holes without resorting to email any longer?  Please raise
your digital
> hand and register your presence (and introduce yourself if you see
fit) so
> we can all continue with sheer geek pedantry.  Lurkers shall be
rewarded
> with the usual punishment of being outed, and pointed and laughed
at, with a
> degree of malice heretofore unmatched by the ravages of time.  So
you might
> as well 'fess up now.  Make your presence known, or die.  (Of
shame.)
>
> jj
> (here!)

> Lurkers shall be rewarded
> with the usual punishment of being outed, and pointed and laughed
at, with a
> degree of malice heretofore unmatched by the ravages of time.

geez louise josephine, way to go with the warm and fuzzies! ok. so.
I'm here!

thanks for the invite Peter, will try not to lurk too much :-)

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Troff" <p.petroff@q...> wrote:
> (Reading "Boing Boing" is becoming really bad for the health of my
> spare time.)

Have you read that guy's books (that guy being Corey Doctrow). They're
*really* good. I read his last book in about two sittings. You can
actually download them free from his website, but I think the cost of
a book is worth having something you can read on the bus or in bed.

He and Max Barry (http://www.maxbarry.com) are my two favourite little
known, newly discovered authors in the last year.

          Helen

> So who is in this forum, and can we continue with ranting about
Sith-related
> plot holes without resorting to email any longer?  Please raise your
digital
> hand and register your presence (and introduce yourself if you see
fit) so
> we can all continue with sheer geek pedantry.

*waves* I'm Helen. :) I know Peter because I used to work in Business
Tech Services at QUT (I think I met you there once or twice, Joanne, I
don't know if you remember). I like many things that are geek. :)


            Helen

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Troff" <p.petroff@q...> wrote:
> --- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Helen" <helen@h...> wrote:
> > I love the RSS feed option! Yahoo groups is way cooler than it used to
> > be!
>
> I like to think of it as "acceptably functional". My problem is though
> that I'd like to be able to more firmly delineate threads here. Wanted
> a Who thread, a Star Wars thread, and so on. I suspect that's not
> going to hold here, simply because there's no direct mechanism to
> force it. Shrug.

Did you know google offers a similiar service now that has the same
interface as google groups?

> Here's the question to Helen E. and everybody else, then:
>
> - Be George Lucas for a day. What edits would YOU make to Episode III?

I would have made the main conflict in the movie being Anakin choosing
between Padme and the jedi. I would have made him much more strongly
Jedi (rather than always a little being a little resentful of them). I
think then I'd make Obi wan do something a bit shady that made Anakin
start to question the Jedi way as he started to fall in love with
Padme and then when it turned out she was pregnant it would have all
come out and he would have had to choose between her and the Jedi.

At the same time I'd make something terrible happen (maybe to do with
the Obi wan thing) that makes her reject him. The Jedi don't want
someone with his power running around the universe with large amounts
of resentment, so they have to do something to neutralize the threat
(ie. kill him) but this is put forward in the movie in a way that's
very sympathetic to the jedi so it's much more tragic. Of course Obi
wan (who's consumed with guilt from the shady thing he did anyway) has
to be the one to do this.

After he starts questioning the Jedi, but before he's made an exile,
he gets into bad company and starts hanging out with the future
Emperor who always has a very sympathetic ear for his troubles. Since
he's already questioning his beliefs, it's easy for the emperor to
start turning him to the dark side. When he's being hunted by the
jedi, questioning his beliefs and nursing his grief over padme, the
emperor takes him in and turns him into his sidekick.

Finally, Obi-wan catches up with him near the volcano. There's
recrimination as Anakin feels Obi-wan has betrayed him and Obi-wan is
full of guilt because he feels he has failed his pupil. He knows he
has to kill Anakin, but he doesn't want to. Anakin says something that
hits a raw nerve and they fight (Anakin outclassing him obviously) and
then by some stroke of luck Anakin falls into the volcano and Obi-wan
thinks he is dead, says he doesn't want to be a jedi anymore and goes
into exile on Tatooine.

I think I might have him indirectly kill Padme after he becomes Vader
too before he battles Obi-wan. Just as a side note because he somehow
comes across her. Obi-wan happens to be there and saves the babies and
hides them. Maybe it happens because of him and he doesn't realise
until after and that's when his last bit of humanity dies because he
realises he can never go back to the point in his life where things
looked like they might turn out.

It's really quite a sad story. There's this kid who has heaps of
potential and ends up being one of the most evil guys in the universe.
He finds love and loses it. He ends up fighting his mentor and gets
horrible disfigured. He has a glimpse of happiness when he meets
Padme, but being in love isn't enough when the cards just stack up
against him.

It's a story about a person, not a universe. I think the rise of the
gallactic empire should have served as a backdrop for the real story
of Anakin, just as the fall of the empire served as a backdrop for the
story of Luke.

       Helen

Gosh, what a subtle way of putting it. :-)

I know there are five peopke so far (inclusively); one person only
really is on Saturdays; others, I expect will be on Monday; I've had
two promise to join soon.

Typing one-left-handed is not fun. RSI's impeoving, but still trying
to rest it. Sigh.

Let the pedantry commence.

Anybody notice that, maybe with Vader as the exception, their Sith
names tend to match their natures and methods?

So who is in this forum, and can we continue with ranting about Sith-related
plot holes without resorting to email any longer?  Please raise your digital
hand and register your presence (and introduce yourself if you see fit) so
we can all continue with sheer geek pedantry.  Lurkers shall be rewarded
with the usual punishment of being outed, and pointed and laughed at, with a
degree of malice heretofore unmatched by the ravages of time.  So you might
as well 'fess up now.  Make your presence known, or die.  (Of shame.)

jj
(here!)

I have no idea why this thing is still asking me to approve peoples'
messages. I'm positive I set them to no moderation. Nerts. Will look
again.

Even if something really offensively nasty DID turn up (and that's not
damn likely), I'd rather delete it after just having a look at it. And
frankly, I'd probably even put up with most offensive stuff just
because I'm not a huge fan of censorship.

Sigh. Apologies to anybody irked by the need for moderation. I'll look
at it.


--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Petroff" <p.petroff@q...> wrote:
> Fine, so there are none yet. Nothing like being prepared.

Frightening as it may be for your pooch to be wearing Leia's slave costume,
I think it's even more frightening when you see humans wearing Unfortunate
Star Wars costumes.  For a bit of hilarity, have a look through:
http://www.capnwacky.com/sw/sw01.html

:)
jj

The Darth Vader Lawn Sprinkler was bad enough.

Now it's worse. The Leia Bikini costume... for your pet.

I wish I was kidding. I'm not. Worse, it's not by some lame-ass third
party. It's being sold at the Star Wars Shop site.

<http://shop.starwars.com/catalog/product.xml?prod
uct_id=2698;category_id=332;pcid1=;pcid2=>

(Yeah, Yahoo is chopping links in half. I know. I'll look at it.)

Afraid?

... you will be. You will be.

(Reading "Boing Boing" is becoming really bad for the health of my
spare time.)

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Helen" <helen@h...> wrote:
> I love the RSS feed option! Yahoo groups is way cooler than it used to
> be!

I like to think of it as "acceptably functional". My problem is though
that I'd like to be able to more firmly delineate threads here. Wanted
a Who thread, a Star Wars thread, and so on. I suspect that's not
going to hold here, simply because there's no direct mechanism to
force it. Shrug.

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Helen" <helen@h...> wrote:
> Where's the "They all sucked because I've seen 2 minute super amart
> adverts with characters in them with more depth" option?

Removed because it was too obvious. Okay, no. Seriously.

Funny thing is, though... I read the novel and played the game first.
The novel had the capacity to explain and develop a lot of things the
movie glossed over way too quickly.

As a result, I'm quite happy to criticise:
- the acting and therefore also the direction
- the scriptwriting and therefore also the dialogue
- the pacing and the poor explanation that has to be left either to
the imagination or the novel

... very solidly. Sure. They all sucked. Totally.

I liked Natalie Portman a lot better in that movie
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/> "Léon" (aka "The
Professional"). I haven't really seen the other stars in anything
outside "Star Wars".

Well, except Samuel L. Jackson. I know he's done better. And yet, Mace
Windu just comes across as this very oddly reserved character... MAYBE
that can be excused because Windu has to repress his Korunnai nature
which only gets expressed through the "seventh sabre style Vaapad".



... and yet, I'm still okay with the movie. Still thinking of paying
for a second ticket.

Here's the question to Helen E. and everybody else, then:

- Be George Lucas for a day. What edits would YOU make to Episode III?

And that is a serious question. Especially in these days of fan film
production, the question is hardly outside the realms of possibility.

[insert repeat of previous comment about reading this with my RSI.]

Just been pointed out to me by [pending member] Dylan that the Time
Magazine article from last week has the following warning in the article:

"Readers who don't want to know the identity of Darth Sidious are free
to skip the next two paragraphs."

... have these people not SEEN the original trilogy?

... from TWENTY YEARS ago?

Due to my RSI playing up, this message is being typed one-handed. For
best results, please read slowly with left hand over right eye.

So, what'd everyone think?

In retrospect, I'm actually a tad ticked off at the ABC. They've aired
it the first weekend after Episode III opened. They aired it same
night as the damn Lions game. Thanks so much, ABC. Good one, you guys.

The primary reason this is bugging me is because I desperately want
this show to rate through the roof. I want this show to <i>thrive</i>,
not just survive; and even to survive, it needs good ratings.

That's why I get ticked off when I hear Eccleston quit after one
season (and a rumour that Piper [Rose] might quit halfway through the
season after). Show needs star consistency to ensure the continuation
of good ratings, and the stars are bailing left, right and centre.

UK scored 10.5 million. Anybody know where on the net to get ABC (or
general television) ratings?



The irony is almost painful though. I went through a huge "Star Wars"
phase from last December to about February or March, due to me being
given "Knights Of The Old Republic" for Christmas (and the gift giver
knows who she is). <i>Massive</i> "Star Wars" phase. I doubled the
size of my lightsabre and figurine collection. Got the ENTIRE "New
Jedi Order" series.

To psych myself up for Episode III, I started off with the novel, more
books and the PS2 game. Spent a week becoming one with the Force.

Literally, genuinely, honestly less than ten seconds into the new
"Doctor Who" theme and it all went right out the window, sucked right
back into a very British kind of SpaceTime.

I'd be ticked off if I wasn't so pleased. :-)

I love the RSS feed option! Yahoo groups is way cooler than it used to
be!

               Helen

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Troff" <p.petroff@q...> wrote:
> Nyargh. And the damn thing won't allow for RSS feeds if the messages
> are in any way private. Nrghraarghf.
>
>
>
> You'd be amazed how easy it is to pronounce the word "nrghraarghf"
> when you put your mind to it.

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Petroff" <p.petroff@q...> wrote:
> Evening all,
>
> I realise I'm most disgustingly remiss at being sociable. Any
> suggestions or requests for group sociability, let it be known.

I'm up for a movie next time you're in London.. :)

Where's the "They all sucked because I've seen 2 minute super amart
adverts with characters in them with more depth" option?

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, troff2k@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
> troff2k group:
>
> Worthiest character in "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of
> The Sith"?
>
>   o Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
>   o Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker
>   o Jedi Master Yoda
>   o Chancellor Palpatine
>   o Emperor Palpatine
>   o Darth Sidious
>   o Darth Vader
>   o R2-D2
>   o C-3P0
>   o Senator Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker
>   o Jedi Master Mace Windu
>   o General Grievous
>   o Senator Bail Organa
>   o Lizard mount Boga
>   o Baron Papanoida
>
>
> To vote, please visit the following web page:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/troff2k/surveys?id=1184247
>
> Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
> not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
> web site listed above.
>
> Thanks!

Nyargh. And the damn thing won't allow for RSS feeds if the messages
are in any way private. Nrghraarghf.



You'd be amazed how easy it is to pronounce the word "nrghraarghf"
when you put your mind to it.

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
troff2k group:

Worthiest character in "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of
The Sith"?

   o Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
   o Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker
   o Jedi Master Yoda
   o Chancellor Palpatine
   o Emperor Palpatine
   o Darth Sidious
   o Darth Vader
   o R2-D2
   o C-3P0
   o Senator Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker
   o Jedi Master Mace Windu
   o General Grievous
   o Senator Bail Organa
   o Lizard mount Boga
   o Baron Papanoida


To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/troff2k/surveys?id=1184247

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

--- In troff2k@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Petroff" <p.petroff@q...>
wrote:
> Fine, so there are none yet. Nothing like being prepared.

Okay, now there is.

I haven't allowed the hiding of members' e-mail addresses for one
reason: Yahoo Group poll functionality is disabled if I do so.

If anybody particularly requires privacy over poll functionality
(which I WOULD like to try, actually), please let me know.

Now that I look at it, I should've tried fixing the photo's brightness
and contrast before adding the sabres. I'll try fixing it later. Sigh.

<http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/troff2k/lst?
.dir=/Star+Wars&.src=gr&.order=&.view=t&.done=http
%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/>

Sigh again. I'm not sure linking works here in Yahooland. Just try the
photos section anyway.

Anybody got any photos they want rotoscoped? Or are you comfortable
enough with Gimp, Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop to just be sent the
instructions for your own rotoscoping fun?

Bearing in mind the category I ended up putting this group IN, maybe
it would only be fair...

Fine, so there are none yet. Nothing like being prepared.

Technology in all its weird and wo-

Okay. Technology. Recommendations and comments?

Evening all,

I realise I'm most disgustingly remiss at being sociable. Any
suggestions or requests for group sociability, let it be known.

Saturday 21st of May, ABC television; Australia becomes the third
nation to begin airing the new 2005 series of "Doctor Who".

Comments and posting here, please.

Episode III, the end of the motion picture saga and the latest
launching point for a new generation of novels, games, comics and the
like.

Here be the place for the posting of comments.