Whatever: The Open Lines Thread

[Billy Joe Mulgreavey]

I saw Lawrence of Arabia a few years ago. It wasn't on IMAX but if you've only seen it at home then you've only had half the experience. I thought perhaps this would convince me it was worth watching, since I'd never liked it before. Oh well, you live and learn and I've never seen anything on a screen that big before. Oddly, the bit that worked the best was the 'Dawn of Man' sequence, the space stuff hasn't worn well at all.

Lawrence,
Lawrence of Arabia,
He was an English guy,
Came to fight the Turkish


(The Hollywood Knights)

[Peter Wyngarde]

Starbucks is more like satanic than underwhelming.  But what a business plan. Buy the cheapest coffee available. Burn it so that the coffee is undrinkable. Then convince people to add stuff to it to make more of a milkshake and charge extra for the extra stuff.

The best chains near me are local and regional. And my Bernie supporting, far left college professor niece makes very good coffee.

I don't like going in there but I've got some reward points to use up. I only really drink black coffee but I'm going to have to order some calorific effeminate vanilla bullshit just to get my money's worth.

[Peter Wyngarde]

Lawrence,
Lawrence of Arabia,
He was an English guy,
Came to fight the Turkish


(The Hollywood Knights)

I was reading the biography of the actor Brian Blessed a while ago ('Gordon's Alive!') where he went into detail about what a genius O'Toole was but at the same time what a genuinely scary maniac he was as well. The other Hellraiser types like Richard Harris and Oliver Reid were just playing a part, O'Toole was the real thing. He'd just walk into restaurants and trash the place and start fighting people.

[Billy Joe Mulgreavey]

I was reading the biography of the actor Brian Blessed a while ago ('Gordon's Alive!') where he went into detail about what a genius O'Toole was but at the same time what a genuinely scary maniac he was as well. The other Hellraiser types like Richard Harris and Oliver Reid were just playing a part, O'Toole was the real thing. He'd just walk into restaurants and trash the place and start fighting people.

I guess Harris and Reid got all the press.  I didn’t know that about O’Toole.  I’ve also heard that the late, great Christopher Lee was a genuine badass.

[Peter Wyngarde]

I guess Harris and Reid got all the press.  I didn’t know that about O’Toole.  I’ve also heard that the late, great Christopher Lee was a genuine badass.

Yes. You've probably heard the story about Lee correcting Peter Jackson about the sound a man makes when he's knifed in the back - as he had seen it (and presumably done it) first hand. He was also related to Ian Fleming (I think his brother was his stepfather). O'Toole might even have been more deranged than Tom Baker - which is no easy feat since he's notoriously out of his fucking mind.

[Smokin Hot Bob]

I used to like making coffee with a Moka pot - it's like a percolator you put on the stove. But I lost mine and my ever got around to getting a new one. If you like strong black coffee then it's worth a try.

We don't have Folgers, but we have Maxwell House. The ubiquitous and iniquitous Starbucks sells their own brand. I like Illy, which is reassuringly expensive. I generally prefer coffee that's so thick and strong the spoon stands up on its own.

I'd never thought of coffee at McDonald's. I'll have to try it.

Even the common folk are well acquainted with the Moka pot and with freshly ground espresso beans. There was a scene in Black Hawk Down where someone insisted on using a coffee press and my preferred method to this day.

[Peter Wyngarde]

Even the common folk are well acquainted with the Moka pot and with freshly ground espresso beans. There was a scene in Black Hawk Down where someone insisted on using a coffee press and my preferred method to this day.

Some of the people posting here haven't even sat on chairs before so I tend to take nothing for granted.

[Billy Joe Mulgreavey]

Yes. You've probably heard the story about Lee correcting Peter Jackson about the sound a man makes when he's knifed in the back - as he had seen it (and presumably done it) first hand. He was also related to Ian Fleming (I think his brother was his stepfather). O'Toole might even have been more deranged than Tom Baker - which is no easy feat since he's notoriously out of his fucking mind.

Out of all those guys, O'Toole was the best looking.  I bet a lot of his hellraising had to do with women.

[Billy Joe Mulgreavey]

Some of the people posting here haven't even sat on chairs before so I tend to take nothing for granted.

Haha!  You can purchase a moka at Target.  I do like strong black coffee.  Maybe I'll give it a try.  My wife suggested a percolator recently, so I can probably slide this by.

[Peter Wyngarde]

Haha!  You can purchase a moka at Target.  I do like strong black coffee.  Maybe I'll give it a try.  My wife suggested a percolator recently, so I can probably slide this by.

OK, well I'd better just drop this information on you while you're reclining on your giant bean bag - you should get the Bialetti, which is the standard one to go for, not some shitty knock-off you'd get at the flea market.

[PB]

... As mentioned the other day, I went to see 2001 - A Space Odyssey in IMAX last night. Jesus Christ, that film is creakier than the prosthetic hip @Walks_At_Night got with that GroupOn offer. Seeing it on a giant screen does it no favours and overall it comes across as a load of old balls that must have looked good 50 years ago to a bunch of stoned assholes but it looks really pretentious now. Boring too. I thought that perhaps the last 20 minutes might benefit from being seen on a big screen but if anything it's even more annoying when blown up like that. And a few of the bits got some unintentional laughs...

The first time I watched 2001 it seemed sort of terrible and boring, but thinking I must have missed something I saw it again 10-15 years later.  I'm convinced it's one of those movies no one actually likes, but we're not supposed to say so.

... £6.40 for a beer that was barely more than half a pint. FFS!!

That's not my image of the UK at all.  Well, maybe the £6.40.  When he set it down in front of you, should've asked where the rest of it was.

Coffee?  I drink it at the local coffeeshop when I go there, since that's what they've got, and at the office since it's free, but I've never made it at home or had it any other time.

[Peter Wyngarde]

The first time I watched 2001 it seemed sort of terrible and boring, but thinking I must have missed something I saw it again 10-15 years later.  I'm convinced it's one of those movies no one actually likes, but we're not supposed to say so.


That's not my image of the UK at all.  Well, maybe the £6.40.  When he set it down in front of you, should've asked where the rest of it was.

I should have swiped the glass actually, got something for my money. They were selling beer upstairs too (I bought mine in the bar downstairs) in plastic cups so it was probably cheaper there. It was quite nice but not worth half that. The prices here are out of control. How much do they charge in a typical bar over there?

I definitely think there's a kind of critical wall of silence, with a few chin-stroking pseuds telling us how great it is even though it really isn't.

[Walks_At_Night]

I saw Lawrence of Arabia a few years ago. It wasn't on IMAX but if you've only seen it at home then you've only had half the experience. I thought perhaps this would convince me it was worth watching, since I'd never liked it before. Oh well, you live and learn and I've never seen anything on a screen that big before. Oddly, the bit that worked the best was the 'Dawn of Man' sequence, the space stuff hasn't worn well at all.

Lawrence and Ben-Hur were two older films that popped into mind regarding IMAX.  Perhaps Tora! Tora! Tora! as well.

[Ellsworth Toohey]

I definitely think there's a kind of critical wall of silence, with a few chin-stroking pseuds telling us how great it is even though it really isn't.

That's my job lad.

[Billy Joe Mulgreavey]

OK, well I'd better just drop this information on you while you're reclining on your giant bean bag - you should get the Bialetti, which is the standard one to go for, not some shitty knock-off you'd get at the flea market.

Thanks for the tip.  And, I'm sitting (was sleeping) on a futon, I'll have you know!  Wife has the flu, I'm in the den for the time being.