I know what the end of the world looks like (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

I'm also looking forward to see how badly the Cthulhu mythos is mistreated in:
Call of Cthulhu: Dark corners of the Earth
http://www.headfirst.co.uk/files/con...es/cthulhu.htm

 

[StephenK]

Cthulie,
Glad you're ok.
My mom actually had to drive through the fires in NJ last week, the one that crossed the Garden State Parkway. She made it through shortly before they shut it down. Not the same as watching one from your own home, but she was still pretty shaken by it.
In terms of "end of the world" scenario's. I think the most likely scenario is that we die with a whimper and not a bang. Sooner or later, some high mortality emerging virus will come out, mutate just enough to be airborne and we're screwed. However, since it will make parking in Manhattan easier, it's not all bad
Then again, a meteor the size of Texas, (it's always the size of Texas), is not out of the question either.
Steve

 

[DaveBB]

However, since it will make parking in Manhattan easier, it's not all bad

There will be more spots; but will they still charge $45 a day?

 

[Julie K]

Sam,

some high mortality emerging virus will come out, mutate just enough to be airborne and we're screwed.

Well, I'm taking the stance that it will still match my little description. After all, if we do get hit by some virus like that, massive quarantines will be instituted and doubtlessly riots and panic will eventually break out. Fires always follow riots and panic
BTW, I should probably ask you this in the thread you started, but I'm lazy. I'm curious if you had a chance to read any HPL and if so, how did you like him?

 

[StephenK]

BTW, I should probably ask you this in the thread you started, but I'm lazy. I'm curious if you had a chance to read any HPL and if so, how did you like him?

Absolutely,

Picked up 2 short story collections, Bloodcurdling tales of Horror and the Macabre and The Road to Madness. Almost finished the first one. Definitely liking the first one though the style took a little getting used to. Oddly enough, my favorite story so far is The Music of Erich Zann, with the Call of Cthulhu and The Dunwich Horror next.

Plan to finish the second while on vacation. I'll start on the rest when I get back.

The main reason I was interested was that one of my favorite Stephen King short stories is Jerusalem's Lot. I loved the "feel" and sensibility of it. Later found out that it was an homage to Lovecraft so I decided to finally check him out. Turned out pretty well so far.

 

[Julie K]

Stephen,
I'm glad you're enjoying Lovecraft. His style does take some getting used to, but you'll just more and more accustomed to it the more you read (and enjoy) the stories.

Anyway, the fire is pretty much out and the skies are once again clear. There will be more though, and I'm sure that I'll once again end up in a frantic drive home while huge red and black clouds loom overhead and flames race over the hillsides.

This is going to be a bad, bad summer.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I believe Julie has hijacked her own thread. What started out as an evocative, well-written eyewitness report on a devastating brushfire in Saugus, California, has now mutated into an insiders' discussion about Mr. Lovecraft.
Expect the unexpected from this thread's originator!
(Anybody want to talk about when hi-def DVD will arrive?)

 

[Jack Briggs]

But she has returned to her theme. I just now noticed how Julie has skillfully moderated the thread back on target. And you are correct, Ms. K: This summer is going to be a humdinger. I mean, look at Colorado at the moment. California always gets it worse.

(Remember the Malibu fires back in, oh, 1993? The skies over Hollywood were cast in an eerie amber glow. Apocalyptic, indeed!)

 

[RobertR]

Anybody want to talk about when hi-def DVD will arrive?)

Should I brag and say I have a hidef copy of X-Men after visiting WSR on Sunday?

 

[Julie K]

skillfully moderated the thread back on target.

Hardly that! More like desperately, and despite all her inclinations, gone back to the subject.
But hey, who knew that a little throw-away line about a certain end of the world scenario would have generated such discussions?
As for the cause of the Copper Hill fire, it seems to have been due to construction work at a new home site. Everyone needs to be exceedingly careful this summer.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Robert--you went down to Temecula last Sunday? How was it? Which staffers were there? Gary, Perry, and Michael? And how was the demo? Did they use the Runco 1101 or the Sony 90? And just how do those Dunlavy speakers sound?
Julie, can Robert and I talk about this for a couple of posts? Won't take long!

 

[Julie K]

Go right ahead Jack

 

[RobertR]

Jack, they had a BUNCH of people there. Gary, Perry, Reps from Runco, JVC, Stewart Filmscreen, Joe Kane....the JVC people were very anxious to get feedback on how the system looked.
Both the Runco and the Sony were used. The Sony was used to show a 1080P picture using a Faroudja 5000. The unfortunate thing was that they hadn't calibrated the Sony in awhile, so it didn't look its best.
How did it all look? To be honest, I thought it was a mixed bag. The U571 demo looked very good, but not as far above 480p as I expected. When the switch was made, I wasn't startled by the difference--it was rather subtle. The sound was excellent. The Dunlavys are superb speakers (although I'll still take my Ribbon VMPS towers over them ). The immersiveness of the sound field was great. People even commented that they mistook voices in the movie for real people in the room. I got to sit in the "sweet spot"
T2 seemed to have a lot less EE than the DVD, so that made a nice difference in addition to the increased resolution. The biggest disappointment was with Independence Day. I thought it looked downright soft. I will state flatly that it would be a waste of money to buy it over the DVD. DVHS is obviously subject to the same variances in transfers as any other medium.
The most impressive demo to me was given by Joe Kane. He showed a DVHS tape mastered in 1080P and downconverted to 720P. He's always been a strong advocate of progressive, and I can see why. It was SUPERB. He's in the process of making a calibration tape for the DVHS system. It should be excellent. Oh, one OTHER VERY interesting thing Kane said that fascinated me:
He talked about the fact that due to the desire to reduce interlacing effects on DVD, 30% of the vertical resolution is filtered out, ie DVD is NOT shown at its full potential typically. He said he is in discussions with Warner about producing TRUE progressive DVDs that will NOT be vertically filtered. These DVDs will be superior to Sony's Superbit. So at the same time I was seeing the next iteration, Kane was saying DVD can be even better.
The food was good, the WSR people were their usual knowledgeable, friendly selves (Suzanne is a sweetheart), and AllenD (who drove me there) is a SUPER nice guy. It WAS sneaky of them to give me a tape when I don't have a machine though.
Thanks for the indulgence, Julie. Jack, feel free to copy this post to a new thread in a more suitable place.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sure thing, Robert. Excellent report.

Julie, by the way, the Paragon Shopping Center in Santa Clarita was sold to a private investor who used $1.68 million in financing. The financing was arranged through Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a commercial mortgage banking firm. Jerryb Wise was the broker who arranged the fixed-rate loan. Total consideration in the transaction was not disclosed.

See, I get to read all sorts of things that come in through the newswire.