Donward

In a world gone mad, this is what it has come to. The rebooting of every single movie franchise, whether they need to be remade or not. In an industry where Mel Gibson is too fucking crazy to play his signature role of Mad Max and where movie pacing, character development and practical effects has been replaced by CGI-special-effect-Kerplowy-HOLYCOW-HOW-MANY-EXPLOSIONS-CAR-FLIPS-ELEVENTY-THOUSAND-FOOT-HIGH-MOUNTAINS-CAN-YOU-PUT-INTO-A-MOVIE-WHAT-IS-THIS-IS-EVERYONE-TRYING-TO-OUT-DO-PETER-jACKSON-WITH-PROLONGED-CHASE-SCENES-THAT-RESULT-IN-THE-DEATHS-OF-HUNDREDS-OF-NAMELESS-BADGUY-ORCS-HENCHMENT-I-MEAN-YOU'D-THINK-AFTER-THE-FIRST-100-OR-SO-BADDIES-DIED-THE-REAST-WOULD-SAY-"FUCK-IT"-YOU-GET-THE-SEXY-CHASTITY-BELT-WEARING-SUPERMODELS-WHO-SOMEHOW-STILL-HAVE-ACCESS-TO-BEAUTY-AND-SKIN-CARE-PRODUCTS-IN-A-POST-APOCALYPTIC-WORLD!!!!!!! Watch as this trailer literally incorporates every single scene from the previous three movies including having a god damn chainsaw like "Beyond Thunderdome". Watch the triumphant return to the big screen of the Gremlin from the 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie who plays the Humungus! Wait? He doesn't play the Humungus? Well fuck you, then why is there a car chase involving a semi-truck trailer with a victim perched to the front of the Humungus' car? Watch as Mad Max fights the Australian pole vault team who use their pole vault skills to pole vault from vehicle to vehicle because that completely fucking making sense. I mean, where the hell do they get the poles? They live in a tree-less desert? Watch as Mad Don completely loses his fucking mind after watching the trailer to this reboot? Sequel? What the fuck is it? Either way, I know I'm going to watch it because its Mad Max and I've grown up watching this series, multiple times. Watch as Mad Don ignores the advice of Lord Humungus by not walking away. Mad Max: Fury Road. I still bet the first three movies are better.

Who knows? Maybe there were instances of Germans using blank rounds as a way to distract enemy troops or cover a retreat. And with the supply situation being as dire as it was for the average German infantryman at the end of the war, maybe there were situations where they had literally nothing left. Or, given the quality of some of the SS and Volkssturm units, it's possible they didn't know the difference. I can imagine the reaction, though, of some canny American NCOs when they realized that the machine-gun nest in front of them was using blanks.

It's fairly clear that a growing number of states are no longer keen on depending on the outcome of American elections for the preservation of their national sovereignty. In the case of the Middle East, the Iranians will get the Atom Bomb and a means of delivering it. Furthermore, I don't see the Saudis having the military capability to stand up to the Iranians in any sort of conventional (or non-conventional) war. And they certainly don't have the domestic stability (from what I can see) to sustain the casualties and loss of treasury needed to fight Iran and its proxies. So nuclear proliferation is a "cheap" way of balancing ledger thus ensuring that the House of Saud can continue to enjoy a lifestyle filled with Italian sports cars, French champagne, Swiss watches and Eastern European call girls. I'd try to work up some crocodile tears except I keep remembering how the fuckers left us in the lurch 12 years ago.

I believe they meant traditional Fall of Roman Empire.

I've enjoyed looking at the photographs and kind of chuckle at the lines of bikers being sat down and watched over like recalcitrant (fat, old) children. Also lots of SS lightning bolts on the Cossacks vests and tattoos. And I learned that the Twin Peaks restaurant where the shooting took place is not a themed-eatery based on the 1990s David Lynch series based here in the town where I live but is in fact a glorified Hooters. Who knew? Finally, I would pay to see footage of hundreds of bikers opening up on each other with fists, knives, chains, handguns and rifles surrounded by Texas police officers who opened up with their weapons onto the bikers.

That particular Cracked article wasn't terrible and is probably the best thing that website has published in two or three years.

That post is NSFW (Not Safe For Wife). Seriously. She doesn't like spiders. It is a particular strain since I'm not a fan of them either. But guess who gets to be the one that wields the shoe whenever an eight-legged intruder enters the house?

I was going to do a review/send up of Mad Max in the Movies I Haven't Seen thread in the forums. I still might...

See, I've always felt the term "Ornamental" to be the appropriate appellation when describing a heathen Celestial... I've never been to Waco, Texas. But judging by what I see on the front page of the local paper, the Waco-Tribune's website, the news consists entirely of biker gang shootouts, road rage incidents, pharmacy burglaries, house fires, sex offender sentencing, editorials on Muhammad, Ted Nugent concerts, high school sports, underage sex trafficking, the installation of a new design of flashing stop light to stop people speeding downtown and the birthday of a woman who somehow has lived to be a 100 despite all of the above.

Today has been an interesting day for firearm news and pretty much jives with what I've said. Sunday Biker Gang Shooting Leaves Nine Dead, Several Injured. If I am attending an outlaw biker gang rally, then having a semi-automatic rifle handy would be a smart idea. And it is one of the few instances where having one makes sense in terms of using it for self defense against lawless behavior. On the other side of the coin, why would you want to attend an outlaw biker gang rally if you are concerned about getting shot? My favorite passage in the story... Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said... the fight quickly escalated from fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives, then to gunfire. And for bonus material. Up-and-coming rapper Chinx shot and killed. Chinx? Now that is a classy name.

A little follow-up information on the wolf sighting. Looks like there might be some video evidence. http://mynorthwest.com/108/2761425/Video-evidence-wolf-has-crossed-west-over-Cascades

I don't really have an issue with guys who Open Carry handguns. I think context is the main issue when it comes to Open Carry of rifles. Is it in a rural or small town setting? Or is the guy trying to carry his AR into an Applebees or his local suburban shopping mall. Of course there are some pretty tough Dairy Queens out there and you never know when some middle school girls soccer team will get rowdy after losing their quarter-final playoff game. Getting slightly towards the original topic, with all fantasies from our survivalist/prepper friends about repelling hordes of rioters, I'm constantly surprised there hasn't actually been a massive shooting incident at one of these protests/riots. It's probably because the type of folks who have those fantasies don't live anywhere near the hoods where people burn down neighborhoods during Black Lives Matter rallies.

It's an interesting lead. Now if we can start finding some wartime Zippo adverts. Thanks Marsh!

That's the trouble with game design with a World War 2 theme. You have to gimp the Allies and buff the Germans so each side has a chance of winning. Or else have a medley of different victory conditions. I am looking at my copy of Advanced Squad Leader. And while I enjoyed playing with friends, I do realize that the game design is flawed from a historical context.

That would be the logical assumption. A lot of those interviews and bios started coming out with great frequency in the 1960s and 1970s like the BBC's "World at War" (which was great for the time but also very flawed).

Great work Toxn. I saw an ad for the Bic Clic pen from 1968 (allegedly) which has as its final line "writes the first time, every time". And cause this section needs more sex appeal, here is the ad. Somebody's grandma was HOT!

See. That's why this guy is a keeper.

Hey. What I wrote was about as mild as you could get short of fellating Luigi's uncut pipe wrench. That's what is so frustrating.

The Warhawk actually jumped into the fray. About time really.

And just for the record for this posting, here is the link to the glorious Ronson collector website that has hosted images of so many Ronson (and other lighter) ads. http://www.toledo-bend.com/VCL/index.asp?request=ads4 I'm sure we're responsible for the majority of that guys' traffic. It will probably behoove us to upload as many as those images as possible in the eventuality that site ever becomes defunct. Or not. At any rate, I am to the point where I am 95 percent certain "Lights the First Time, Every Time" is not associated with Ronson. Although a stroll through the trademark office would confirm that.

Road wheels? Clearly Stalin Putin is planning on invading Berlin by driving these tanks down the Autobahn!

I made it to God Emperor of Dune before calling it quits. If that is what was waiting for me later on, I'm glad. Honestly, all the sequels are so bad they retroactively make each previous book worse. Granted I watched the 1984 movie first before the book which caused me to like it. But only the action parts and bits with Duncan Idaho and none of the weird drug trip space dimension crap.

Oh man. We are gonna get into so much trouble when everyone wakes up to find this topic is now a Dune conversation. Also. Cheesy 1984 Dune is best Dune.

Chani: Tell me of your home world, Usul. Paul: More like smell me of your home world. Amirite? High five! ... If Donward was Frank Herbert's editor...

I guess it's good that Taco Bell doesn't exist in a future where humans rely on Stillsuits.