WordWolf

I think most of us can agree with those ideas without necessarily needing a heavy-handed textual insertion to hammer the points home. As for the veil being rent, and the earthquake happening, nobody's claiming those didn't happen, nobody's claiming those were insertions. The non-Christian, Roman soldier who commented saw those- probably specifically focusing on the earthquake- and came to his conclusion. He had to see SOMETHING, which was in the verses all agree on- an earthquake, the veil of the temple torn, and so on. There was no need to enhance the events by out-doing Julius Caesar. I'm certain the man who did so did not do so out of a desire to be disrespectful- I think his heart was in the right place. Nevertheless, I find it an unconscionable thing to do, and completely unnecessary, as well as counter to the purposes of the Christian seeking to understand Scripture. There's no REAL benefit to FAKE verses, no matter how well-intentioned they were who inserted them.

We ARE having an intelligent discussion on those. However, the GSC has always had problems of such discussions being interrupted by impertinence. It's hardly unique in that respect- on the day of Pentecost, there were scoffers saying the men were drunk on "new wine" (arguably not alcoholic.) I once was trying to have a discussion on a subject specifically omitting what vpw and twi taught- just what we saw from the verses or found from OTHER sources. I requested that specifically, a few times. I gave up because one of the busier posters on the thread (nobody who's posting on this thread, but I forget who it was) kept replying by consistently invoking vpw and generally disagreeing with him- in each and every post. Eventually, I just got tired of making the effort. (Not that I minded someone disagreeing with vpw, but that was specifically off-topic for the thread.)

I was going to try "Phantom of the Opera", because there was a different version besides the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, but you said it was based on a true story. Both versions had MUSIC, you say. The movie has music. More recent than 1776. I'm king of the thread! I'm going with "TITANIC."

Leaving Las Vegas Nicolas Cage Face/Off

"Dancing Queen", ABBA?

Based on the swearing, I'm thinking this was "PATTON", with Patton himself speaking.

That's it. Maverick was suspicious that Annie would steal from him if given 1/2 a chance. She also thought he could quick-draw enough to impress a gunslinger. Chief Joseph was cynical about being able to stay on his land without more settlers pushing him out- and he talked to the Russian about allegedly allowing him to shoot an Indian and kill him.

It was an Aramaic word. Mike's image preserved a printed explanation: "GMIR- from the Aramaic gmr - means "to perfect, accomplish, mature, complete; arithmetically to be divisible without any remainder." Even without an article, the 2 verses draw my attention for very plain reasons- they CLASH. We have verse after verse for chapters before and after this that exposit things in a very linear fashion. A happens, then B happens, then C happens. Then for 2 verses, that changes COMPLETELY, and we look at things that happen then and WEEKS later. Then, in the next verse, we pick up again right where all the other verses were, in a linear account. It LOOKS like it was just dropped in there. That's not a guarantee of anything but that something would make me suspicious. My second problem with that is that it is ANOMALOUS. In the remaining accounts in this and the other Gospels, in Acts, and in all the Epistles, this is NEVER mentioned again, this is never REFERRED to again. The "MANY" people they appeared to all seemed determined never to MENTION it again. I'd expect that most people I've met or who post here would have a lot to say if somebody DEAD was face to face with them- either bodily whole, or as an insubstantial ghost/phantasm, or as a walking zombie, or anything else. Certainly lesser events inspire discussion. That's not even getting into all the theological problems they raise, if they're legit. Finally, any fans of Shakespeare's play "HAMLET" may get suspicious at these verses. William Shakespeare was NOT a scholar. (Some people claim it makes him ineligible to have written his plays.) However, he had a general education, and that matches with certain anachronisms and so on in his plays. (Don't read them for historical accuracy, read them for entertainment.) They represented the best he knew with the limited academic resources at hand. (No Encyclopedia Brittanica or Americana, and no internet.) Why in the world do I bring up this play? Early on, Hamlet muses (WS wrote) that- when Julius Caesar was assassinated, the dead were seen to have left their graves and wandered the streets. It's a moment that's always left out of performances of Hamlet, but it's in the play. At the time WS was writing, it was taught that people in the time of the Roman Empire claimed that this happened when Julius Caesar died. In specifics, the 2 incidents seem the same. Do I think that happened at Julius' death? No, I'm confident people came along later and tried to jazz up his death by adding more dramatic elements. Do I think that happened at Jesus' death? Do I think people came along later and tried to jazz up his death by adding more dramatic elements- especially ones that make his death on par with the supposed overly-dramatic death of Julius Caesar? I have an opinion on the subject.

I think it's the difference between a post that's a lot of text typed in- there may not be a limit on that- and the limit on a file size for an image file of a page, or other document format. When trying to keep the files small, an image file of any type is wildly INefficient. Document formats vary in capability as well as how big the corresponding file ends up. (I prefer to use txt files for personal use for that reason- they're tiny. If I have some professional or other use, then I generally go with something bigger and less tiny.)

For those of you to whom this is actually news (I sometimes forget that this still true...) the death certificate for vpw states vpw's death was caused by "metastatic and ocular cancer." For those who need that explained, the body normally filters toxins and tries to keep going. This can be impeded by certain practices, or exposure to toxins. (If you breathe a lot in asbestos-filled rooms, your lungs are going to be in a lot of trouble.) In the case of vpw, he drank a lot of alcohol, which strained his body's liver and other defenses, and he smoked a lot of tobacco- a known carcinogen. DECADES of both are what set up vpw to die, Now, vpw liked to claim that his eye was damaged- not by exposure to carcinogenic smoke for hundreds of hours, but rather got cancer when he spent a few days a long time ago, filming pfal under bright studio lights. Now, bright studio lights DO NOT CAUSE CANCER. The closest report to that was that if a WIELDER uses his WELDING TORCH for long periods without his welding mask, he risks cancer. vpw was not exposed to welding torches. Furthermore, thousands of people a year spend extended periods working under bright studio lights. Those people don't drop dead of cancer upon spending A YEAR under those lights. So, vpw's claim about the 2 weeks is completely without merit. He lied- which, by now, should be no surprise. His vices and his addictions, over the long run, are what weakened his body and prepared it to die fairly young. All the talks about who made him want to die, why he "stopped believing", and so on, were all just a smokescreen.

Well, happy trails, T-Bone. I hope your journey only gets happier from here.

As I understood it, "gmir" was probably the only thing in the way's magazine that was worth reading. Certainly, it was the only thing I ever passed along to someone not in twi, when I was in twi. I'm not sure the criteria to such an article, but they were written by peons in the research dept- back when there was an actual research dept and so on. As they were written by people trying to do actual research rather than by vpw trying to copy research, they were significantly higher in caliber than other twi stuff you came across casually. In fact, since one dealt exclusively with something in the Old Testament, I lent that one to a devout Jew, who told me he agreed with their conclusions. Naturally, that went fast. Around when lcm was making his line in the sand and demanding an oath of loyalty to him PERSONALLY and "to follow him BLINDLY" (his wording, not mine), twi lost both Walter C (in charge of research), and, apparently, the entire research dept. That was in 1988-1989. If you were a regular reader of their magazine, it was easy to spot the difference, because the magazine now had articles with lots of spaces in them and LOTS of huge illustrations (padding out the page count with almost no text. Oh, "gmir" vanished without explanation when the research dept all walked. At the ROA right after that, the "Word in Culture" session wasn't about "word in culture" at all- it was guidelines for submitting articles for their magazine since they lost all their staff writers. Anyway, that's what "gmir" was, and when it stopped.

Pierce Brosnan Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief Joe Pantoliano

Seriously? Is George out of town?

"Now, there's something I want you to do for me." "Never. I am a lady. Not if you were a hundred years old, not if I was a hundred years old..." "Calm down. I don't want to go to bed with you, lady." "Why not?" "Why - Why not? I'd be too frightened. God knows what parts of me you'd steal. I'd wake up with all sorts of things missing." "Lord... whatever I've done to pi$$ you off... if you could just get me out of this and somehow let me know what it was I promise to rectify the situation." "You thought that was fast? I thought it was fast. Well, was it?" "You know the next time you people come and drive us off our land I'm gonna find a nice piece of swamp that's so God-awful, maybe then you'll leave us the hell alone." "What's greatest Western thrill of all?" "Kill Indians." "Kill Indians? Is it legal?" "Oh, white man been doing it for years."

That's him. He's been in a lot of stuff!

"South Park." "WHERE does he get those wonderful TOYS???"

I'm skipping ahead a few days and checking. Yes, he was in TWO theatrical movies. One was "Six-Pack" and the other was Longshot Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson Black Adam

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!" "STOP SAYING THAT!"

"The Top Gun Godfather."

"The celebration drew a crowd of over 600 people from all over the United States as well as other countries. Over 900 men, women, and children serving as Way Ambassadors were recognized for completing their nine-month tenure. These individuals reached out with the good news of God’s Word in Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States, and Venezuela." " For two weeks, 246 students from the United States and 11 other countries participated in the annual Biblical Studies seminar, the Advanced Class. This is the third of four Advanced Classes The Way International is running in 2023. Other classes were run in the Dominican Republic and Togo, while the final class will run in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." It's obvious, from the phrasing, that twi wrote this story for them. "In total, hundreds of individuals have received in-depth teaching in God’s Word, further equipping them to live God’s Word and to help others do the same." No newspaper writes like that, it's unique to twi. Running the numbers, twi is pushing hard to increase numbers in the Dominican Republic, Togo, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Venezuela. Cameroon and Venezuela are not moving as fast as the others, whether for local reasons or because twi isn't pushing as much. The DRC was formerly Zaire, IIRC, which makes this an old project for twi. I remember twi pushing locally in areas of the US, where people who were fresh out of the Foundational class were pushed to take the Intermediate, then pushed to become Twig coordinators, then pushed to try for the Advanced class... Results varied wildly, but meant a lot of Twig and Branch coordinators were brand-new people. Judging from how they're being vague about which are from where, it's obvious twi's hiding that most of the "over 900" were outside the US. Naturally, this also doesn't say these people JUST finished their term... they could be recognizing a few years' worth of people all at once by including all of them.

Correct answer. (Although they're not MY initials... so, not me, even in the beginning/initially.)

The Scottish-origin comedy troupe known as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" has had their hits and misses over the decades. Between their television show, their movies, and later their live specials, they've put together old material and new material, and just been funny in their own ways. While doing that, they've spoofed or poked fun at all sorts of things (like kidding Prince Charles to his face that his Mother was still on the throne.) All sorts of things of theirs have been considered quotable by various types of fans and geeks. They have fans all over the English-speaking world, and some fans in places where English is not the main language. One of their comedy skits involved a food inspector who made a visit to a chocolate factory. He was investigating claims that there were unsafe ingredients in their chocolate snacks. The company owner proudly pointed out how he used all natural ingredients- which didn't change how unsafe some of his all-natural ingredients were. Among the problem products were an actual dead frog covered in chocolate, and a "Spring Surprise" where the eater was surprised when blades sprang out to stab their mouth when they tried to eat the confection. A handful of years ago, another Scot was accused of ripping off an idea from that skit. Although they denied any connection whatsoever, I personally think they copied it ACCIDENTALLY but did so anyway. What made it worse was the later "amazing coincidence" of copying ANOTHER snack from that factory- "Cockroach Cluster." This Scot became a household name around the world, and very famous, for what they did which included these ideas (not that these ideas were particularly noteworthy in the final products.) They became incredibly rich, and world famous. It can be said that a multimedia franchise was inspired by a very long train ride, and the first book was partly written with the writer on Social Security. It was submitted to 12 publishers, and all 12 rejected it for publication. It was only accepted when someone's kid read the submission and wanted to know what happened next. What is this Scot's name?

"LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN." "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

"Now, there's something I want you to do for me." "Never. I am a lady. Not if you were a hundred years old, not if I was a hundred years old..." "Calm down. I don't want to go to bed with you, lady." "Why not?" "Why - Why not? I'd be too frightened. God knows what parts of me you'd steal. I'd wake up with all sorts of things missing." "Lord... whatever I've done to pi$$ you off... if you could just get me out of this and somehow let me know what it was I promise to rectify the situation."