Jim

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" would be the consumate guy flick, based on how much I like it and my wife hates it. "But they're so *dirty*" she complains... Any Jimmy Stewart western. His initial indecision coupled with his ultimate resolve and violence is great. "Firecreek" would be a great start. I'm not much of a John Wayne fan, but the western "The Searchers" would be my favorite. Decent acting, intense storyline and great suspense. "Shane" is a pretty good western. Here's my favorite line... "Will, let's keep the smell of pigs out from where we're drinkin'." ... when a dirt farmer comes into the bar. "Cool Hand Luke" excellent man-flick. I love the movie because it's so damned believable. You are totally convinced you're in the middle of a chain-gang. The whole cast did a superb job of acting. My wife also hates it, especially the egg-eating scene. As far as war movies go, most of the WWII stuff seems staged and somewhat phony. The one exception is "Das Boot" or The Boat" in english. Excellent, excellent movie, but it does run 3+ hours. Watch it with the audio set to German and English subtitles for the full effect. My wife hated it. "why would you want to feel like you're in a submarine?".. Patton was ok, but I've seen it too many times. I've never seen a decent Korean war movie. There's several good Vietnam-era war movies. "We were Soldiers" and "Full Metal Jacket" were my favorites. "Apocalypse Now" has some absolutely stunning scenes, but I think the ending kinda falls flat. "A Bright and Shining Lie" and the book of the same name is not so much a man-flick, but a biting and compelling social and political commentary on the war. I highly recommend it. As to science fiction man-flicks, the original "Rollerball" and "Bladerunner" are my favorites. Also good is the Mad Max trilogy. Other recommendations, though not precisely man-flicks would be "48 Hours", "The Untouchables", "Pulp Fiction", and "Runaway Train". Ok, a couple more. "Falling Down" - great movie and the Clint Eastwood westerns "Unforgiven" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales".

Battery acid is available. Lab grade sulfuric acid used to be and now isn't. Which just shows how stupid the laws are. Battery acid can be concentrated by boiling the water out, giving you any strength you want. Don't try this at home, kids... Oh, and I'd rather chew barbed wire than set foot in a Walmart, if that's what you mean by Wallyworld.

I was working in rural Mass about 30 years ago. Some of my friends went to a local restaurant and asked the waitress what the soup de jur was. She ran back to the kitchen, came back to their booth and said "It's the soup of the day". Back to the topic, whatever happened to packaging products in nice little cardboard boxes? I am so sick of buying products in these giant anti-shoplifting sealed clear plastic skins. The stuff is almost impossible to open without slicing a vein, takes up a huge amount of garbage space and is useless for storing the item. I hate it. Other things I miss, 10 weight non-detergent motor oil. Makes a great all-around oil for bearings, motors, etc. I asked for it at the biggest parts store in town and he doesn't carry it anymore. I have to buy a gallon of spindle oil mail order. Decent Craftsman tools. They aren't much better than the import junk. Popcorn salt. Had to buy *2 quarts* at Costco. At least it was cheap. Hushpuppy shoes. Still around, but I have to drive 50 miles to get them. The only shoes in the world that don't hurt my feet, and they only last 6 months to a year. Oh, and what about decent spray paint? Try to use the low emissions junk they pedal today? It never drys, even in an oven. I'd sure like about 5 cans of the old Krylon flat black. Somebody asked about Stroh's beer. They were bought out by a large brewery chain many years ago. The changed the process or formula and the result was awful and nothing like the old Stroh's. I don't think even the new Stroh's is around anymore. Dot asked about mercurochrome. It's a topical antiseptic for cuts and scrapes. That red stuff that your mom might have used, the one that didn't sting. Merthiolate was the one that stung and it's not the same. Anyway, mercurochrome is absolutely the best thing for cuts, scapes, cat scratches, etc that ever existed. Put it on a cut and it *never* gets infected. Unfortunately the FDA and the Clinton folks deemed it "ineffective" because it is a mercury compound, and hey, any heavy metal thing is bad thing, and made it illegal to sell. As it only costed a few cents to make, the drug companies weren't making any money off it anyway. So screw us. There's a whole raft of chemicals that individuals can't buy post 911, either because they can be made into bombs or drugs. No more sulfuric or nitric acid, no iodine crystals, no strong ammonia, etc. Walmart has a limit on the number of lithium batteries you can buy because the dope cookers use the lithium to make speed. None of this is a problem for me, but something of a bad sign of govenment control. The sad thing is that a determined person can work around all these issues.

My wife has had the bathroom dreams, very similar to what you describe, Dot. She also has what she calls her "ski dream". Before the snows come but after she's gotten the car and the equipment ready, she dreams that she drives up to ski, but there's always something that keeps her from actually getting to the slope. Wrong lift ticket, no parking, etc. She has the dream at least a couple of times each year. When I can remember my dreams, which isn't very often they tend to be warrior-like. Things like wading in chest-deep water holding a rifle over my head, being chased by people with guns. A couple of months ago, I had an incredibly vivid dream of a large airplane crashing and exploding across the street from me.

Mercurochrome. It's been gone for about 10 years. I have a couple bottles that I very carefully keep and use. Nothing keeps a surface cut free from infection like it does. It was banned because it has mercury in it and it is "ineffective".

I never know what to make of these discussions. I've been reading a lot of history lately and it's clear that not too many generations ago, people died much younger, lived in constant fear of infection and disease, and in many cases, ate a far worse diet than we do, especially during the winter and spring. Today everyone in first-world countries at least has the choice to eat good, healthy food. Indeed, for most of us, the real challenge is to *not* eat so much food. So back to the question "Has our Opulant lifestyle Created Problems?". No. I don't think so. We live better and longer despite cancer, heart disease and old age than we ever did. If we were were to go back to a better time, what would it be? 1956? Lots of canned food and pork. Also lots of DDT. Doesn't seem that great to me. I think the real problem is fast food/junk food, overeating and lack of exercise. There's probably some truth to the omega-3 stuff as well. I eat salmon a couple times a week. I just don't believe the pesticide issue holds much water. Farmers do not use much of them because they are very expensive, and most pesticides are designed to affect very specific bugs and to degrade quickly after being applied.

I would think that involuntary manslaughter might be a possiblilty. But then, unlike the victim, I am not a lawyer.

On Comedy Central, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" offered a little historical perspective, noting that Whittington was the first person to be shot by a vice president since Alexander Hamilton. "Hamilton, of course, was shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering," he said. "Whittington? Mistaken for a bird."

It's in bad taste and illegal in the state of New Jersey according to these flag laws.

Well, the first thing you do is an online search here. Next you search the web for the name. I have a small business and I've had to come up with about 8 new names in the last 10 years. On my very first product, there was no online search resources so I went to the San Francisco City Library where they had the trademark database on CD-ROM. I searched the name I wanted to use and came up empty. I released the product with the name and a nice warm feeling. Lo and behold a *major* company released a product of the same type with the same name. They had registered it between the time the CD-ROM was released and the time I checked. I had put quite a bit of work into using the name so I kept it thinking I would change it *if* they complained. They never did. Their product was not sucessful and was discontinued. That large company was bought out by a larger company and the division that created the product is long gone. As to where to get help, Nolo Press has a nice series of self-help legal books covering patents, trademarks and copyright. If things get really bad, you can always buy an hour of time from an intellectual properties lawyer. The last time I did was about 7 years ago and it cost $300. Well worth it for the advise I got. I'm wondering if your concern is purely academic or you have a new product that you're thinking of making? If so, I've been down that road a few times and would be happy to give you what advice I could. PM me if you don't want to discuss it here.

Happy birthday Radar. Wishing you many more happy ones and the best life has to offer. Love you.

You need a neck-up from the check-up.

Eight hours of sleep can be as restful as five minutes of speaking in tongues. A king belongs to all the women of the kingdom. I looked out the window and there was so many gas pumps I couldn't see the snow.

You should have stuck to the easy stuff, like "there will be great sadness and there will be great rejoicing".

What a frigging coincidence. I saw my doctor today and he wanted me to take stantins. My cholesterol is 330. I told him that all my male relatives generally lived to 70 then drank themselves to death, without drugs thank you. Given a choice between a nice quick heart attack and cancer, I'll take the heart attack.

How about this...

Thanks Belle, Radar and DM. Love you all.

On the everpresent subject of bad clergy, here's a preacher in California that got 18 months in jail for selling his church and using the money to buy a BMW.

I don't know how we missed it, but what about the works of James Herriot, the British veterinarian? http://www.jamesherriot.org/works.php Belle, did you know that Herriot's last personal pet was a Border Terrier?

I'm no expert, but geneally you'd get a 1099 instead of a W2 if you were self-employed. Best to talk to an expert about this. I know employees can deduct certain job-related expenses such as uniforms, but advertising sounds like it might be a stretch.

Thank you. And on a sadder note... Kind Hearts Destroyed By Demigod Craig Martindale

Kilts hide Druid balls during Celtic Madness

Was it just me or did the woman that said: "When I'm in the church service, can my car get a buff and a wax" Look and sound like Rosalie Rivenbark?

Old Stuff Ball of Fat by Guy de Maupassant, a biting satire about class hypocrisy during the Franco-Prussian war. Moby Dick by Melville, the "Star Wars" of the 19th. century. See also Redburn, White Jacket, and Bartleby, the Scrivener Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Anything by Joseph Conrad 'Men against the Sea' The other half of 'Mutany on the Bounty' Not Quite so Old Nevil Shute's books, especially 'No Highway', 'Around the Bend', 'Slide Rule', and 'On the Beach' Das Boot: by Lothar-Gunther Bucheim, the book that inspired the movie All the US submarine WWII books, so many I can't remember them. 'The Fountainhead' and ''Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand Sci-Fi Anything by Larry Niven, especially the Ringworld series, 'Destiny's Child' and the Man-Kzin Wars series. 'Childhood's End' by Aurthur C. Clarke was pretty thought provoking, but not particularly enjoyable. I much preferred the Rama series. Non-Fiction Tracy Kidder's 'The Soul of a New Machine' and 'House' Richard Rhodes' 'Dark Sun' and 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' Ansel Adams' three book set 'The Camera', 'The Negative', and 'The Print' 'The Art of Electronics' by Horowitz and Hill 'Failure is not an Option" by Gene Kranz 'People of the Lie' By M. Scott Peck 'The Bell Curve' by Herrnstein and Murray 'The Death of a President' by William Manchester And lots more, but I'd be here all night... Ok, I forgot Steinbeck and Hemingway. Add 'Of Mice and Men', 'Cannery Row', 'Grapes of Wrath' and my personal favorite 'In Dubious Battle'. Hemingway is a little hard to get into, but I did like 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'