Thomas-n-Elena

I'd stack Lord of the Rings up against the original Star Wars trilogy any day of the week though. I don't think either trilogy is better, but they're both worthy of adoration. Especially if you grew up on the books like I did. Jackson wasn't 100% faithful to the books, but he got as close as anybody could have ever gotten to doing the books right. I can only hope that del Toro does the upcoming The Hobbit justice.

<meganerd>

OK, first, let me state that I love LOTR: books and movies... but... I think Jackson could have done a better, more cohesive job, if he had framed the story with Aragorn's story instead of Frodo's. The reason i say this is his story could have begun and ended with the two stories in the apendices, and that would have made for a unified and linear story that didn't need weird editing at the end of the 3rd one... and no need to lie about Arwen becoming mortal or anything, but nicely could have ended with her death. Basically, it could have begun with the stories of Beren and Luthien, then moved into books 1-3, then ended with the story of Aragorn and Arwen in the Appendix, Aragorn's death, then Arwen's death. Most things in the middle could have been kept the same, and it would have eliminated the need to cinegraphically alter things for Frodo's story line to make more universal sense.

</meganerd>

Wow I guess I should have read the books, none of that makes sense to me. Mox do you agree with the above statements. I watched the movies first because I was curious and second because I like a good epic movie, movies with scale are just awesome in the theater. Since I didnt read the books, I found the stories to have a cohesive timeline it didnt seem to jump around any more than any other movie. Its always difficult to adapt a book into a movie, authors can paint such a vivid picture with words where screenwriters are thinking scenes and transitions.

I would think there must be a way to adjust her status, this is not a totally unique situation plenty of people come here for work meet someone and get married. My advice

First contact an immigration lawyer and explain to them the situation.

Second contact the embassy of her home country or look it up on the web and see if there is any info there you can get.

A little monday morning quarterbacking, did you consider any of this stuff before you got married?

Everything will be fine relax and have fun

Come on, nobody got the Cast Away reference?!

No what is a "Cast Away"?

Its a song by Green Day

I understand all that the only problem is why if it is a representative democracy is the electoral college an all or nothing proposition? If 60% of a state votes for a particular candidate why do they get 100% of the electoral votes that isnt very representative is it? This is supposed to be a government

OF the people,BY the people,FOR the people. If I choose a 3rd party candidate and all of my states votes are given to the democrat how does that represent my vote?

If its all about keeping states rights then why did the federal government force states to abandon slavery(I dont condone slavery), this is what the civil war was about states rights. States rights have been flying out the window for years, if you believe that the electoral college is some bastion for proof of states rights your fooling yourself.

china eastern has the hottest stews in the world. air china is not far behind. they are all in the 48Kg club, all size 3-4 or less. they are all polite and friendly, and all young. they make american stews look like fat old wrinkled up prunes.

Thats wonderful news, Next time I fly to China I will check that out.

hotter than the delta girl????

What delta girl?

Sting - Roxanne

Next

Chew your meat for you, pass it back and forth

In a passionate kiss from my mouth to yours

I like you

Nirvana Drain You

Umm

You can bring whatever you wanna bring baby

Each and everyone of your friends

And if you want a dog or a big bullfrog

Hell I've even got room for them

no longer googling lyrics,and do not have a clue

a clue - also a 19th century poet

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince Americans they had to vote democrat or republican.

Good adaptation of a quote from a movie. To think its been over 100 years since a 3rd party was given a fair chance in an election. The democrats and republicans have done a masterful job of plunking people into two categories. Its like that episode of the simpsons when the two politicians are exactly alike and they are aliens. When a person stands up and says Im going to vote for a 3rd party candidate, they both laugh and reply go ahead and throw away your vote. The last scene is the entire population is enslaved and Homer looks at Marge and says dont blame me I voted for the other guy.

It makes me laugh but it is trully sad, our election process has turned from voting for the best candidate to vote against the guy you dont want to get elected. Vote the lesser of two evils. Its shameful.

Ahh, but you forget the 1992 Presidential election. Ross Perot had a very good chance of winning, and was even the front runner at one point, polling at 40% between the 3 parties. It was only becase he torpedoed his own campaign by dropping out and ranting about some kind of CIA plot against his daughter's wedding that he lost the momentum that could have made him President. He wound up re-entering the race, but the damage was done. He still finished with about 20% of the popular vote, but I don't think he carried even a single state in the Electoral College. It's really a shame. Not because I supported Perot--the dude was a buffoon--but even if Perot had lost the '92 election, he would have made major inroads for a 3rd party. Sadly, all he really wound up doing was solidifying the stereotype that the 3rd candidate is usually a nut job. So-called 3rd party candidates like Ralph Nader just reinforce the point. To be fair, Perot might have even stood a chance when he re-entered the race if it hadn't been for his VP pick. If you've never seen the

debate, it's a hoot. (the Youtube I linked has Stockdale's opening remarks at about 7 minutes...it's painful.) In any case, it was only 15 years ago that a 3rd party candidate stood a real shot at the White House.

We shouldn't be thinking about 3rd party candidates in the Pres election at this point though. We need to think about local politics and build up from there. If you want to see a 3rd party candidate, then stop voting in Republicans and Democrats for your local offices. Vote for a Green Party dog catcher, mayor, school board, whatever, for instance. You can't compete with them on a national level unless you have local level support.

Actually even if Perot had one the popular vote that still leaves the problem of the electoral college which is a group of people appointed by the parties to determine where all of the states votes go. This is the first thing that should be eliminated from out election process. It was put in place because at the time of the writing of the constitution most of the populace couldnt read. Today we have instant news all the time so to think that the voting population cant make an informed decision(albeit not always well informed) is preposterous. Most of the democracies around the world have direct voting by popularity even the greeks of the ancient world, why cant the oldest modern democracy drop the stupidity of the electoral college and allow elections to be determined by popular vote. I think you would see turnout go up and a greater opportunity for the 3rd party candidates, even having candidates who didnt win the nomination in their own party continue to run.

Come on, nobody got the Cast Away reference?!

Got it! Ignored it! Moved on.

I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies just from the pure cinematography and I never read the books so the story was interesting as well. Which part is Del Toro doing in the Hobbit? I just cant imagine the guy who was in "Snatch" pulling off a middle earth character.

del Toro is directing. He also did Pan's Labrynth, Hellboy, and The Orphanage. I expect he'll do a pretty good job on The Hobbit.

Whew I thought for a minute he was going to star as Bilbo Baggins, although his ability to mushmouth dialogue would make him an interesting Golum

I didn't realize he'd done any acting, I thought he was just a director. I've liked everything I've seen him do, although Hellboy II wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. I have high hopes for The Hobbit. Each of the Lord of the Rings films cost around $90 million. The two Hobbit films will each cost about $150 million, so it's gonna be pretty big. Not that ginormous budgets guarantee a good movie, but at least it's gonna have some serious backing. Rumor has it that Daniel Radcliffe is in the running to play Bilbo (no joke). I might just have to kill myself if that happens.

Hmmm Harry Potter and the his adventures in Middle Earth, will they get the blond evil kid to play Golum?

IIRC, it's called a Cossack. Never had one, the thought of Vodka and beer churns my stomach.

What's it called in Po-russkiy, tovarish?

Ive never been one to enthusiastically mix beer and liquor

I know better, but she insisted and who am I to say no?

And when in Rome!

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince Americans they had to vote democrat or republican.

Good adaptation of a quote from a movie. To think its been over 100 years since a 3rd party was given a fair chance in an election. The democrats and republicans have done a masterful job of plunking people into two categories. Its like that episode of the simpsons when the two politicians are exactly alike and they are aliens. When a person stands up and says Im going to vote for a 3rd party candidate, they both laugh and reply go ahead and throw away your vote. The last scene is the entire population is enslaved and Homer looks at Marge and says dont blame me I voted for the other guy.

It makes me laugh but it is trully sad, our election process has turned from voting for the best candidate to vote against the guy you dont want to get elected. Vote the lesser of two evils. Its shameful.

I agree telling your SO is right letting the rest of the family in on it is a discussion you should both have and decide mutually. She is a much better barometer of her parents reaction than you can estimate. When things cool down a little more and you are moving forward again, talk to her about discussing it with the parents, if she thinks its a bad idea than go with that.

china eastern has the hottest stews in the world. air china is not far behind. they are all in the 48Kg club, all size 3-4 or less. they are all polite and friendly, and all young. they make american stews look like fat old wrinkled up prunes.

Thats wonderful news, Next time I fly to China I will check that out.

Yeah, my two kids are Wilson and Spalding.

Are they any good at sports?

Is ranting and raving a sport?

I like the quote too.

Slim - A lot was said and done not just by me but many other folks in the area. It got swept under by the local DA who decided it just wasnt worth the trouble. In a nonrelated incident the local police did spend 2 months trying to get a legitimate massage parlor shut down. All it took was a deal with a hooker who posed as a masseuse and then offered the cop when he came in a special service. The manager gets arrested, the person who offered the service and everyone else was let go, big huge article in the paper along with the managers picture, no charges filed she was released because a bunch of people made a lot of noise about entrapment. No apology given to the manager who was unaware of what was happening until they arrested her. I live on the far right side of a blue state and the christian right conservative nutjobs are ruining a perfectly good place to live. Believe me they have tried to shut down the local indoor firing range because according to reports they allow straw buyers to purchase handguns for criminals.

We have gone so far past the original intention of the founding fathers the constitution and the laws it helped inact have been warped by political one sidedness and special interests. I wish they could figure out a way to get the money out of washington dc, we are turning into a corporate run state and once the corporations take over we are all doomed. Ill have to run to canada and pray the canadiens can win the cup. The trouble with creating a reasonable standard is we need reasonable people to come up with it and there arent any reasonable people in dc. Sure you can try and run as an independent but it just wont work until they create an atmosphere where anyone can legitimately get elected to any office without have to give a zeig heil to the left or the right. If most of the people in this country are in the middle(and I believe most are), why cant there be a repulocrat party that is just about ideas and making things work for the benefit of everyone here. Just a thought.

By the way my wife made a chocolate cake today and its delicious. YUMMY

I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies just from the pure cinematography and I never read the books so the story was interesting as well. Which part is Del Toro doing in the Hobbit? I just cant imagine the guy who was in "Snatch" pulling off a middle earth character.

del Toro is directing. He also did Pan's Labrynth, Hellboy, and The Orphanage. I expect he'll do a pretty good job on The Hobbit.

Whew I thought for a minute he was going to star as Bilbo Baggins, although his ability to mushmouth dialogue would make him an interesting Golum

Yeah, my two kids are Wilson and Spalding.

I thought maybe Nike and Tom Mccan

Ive never been one to enthusiastically mix beer and liquor(I prefer to drink them separately but on the same night)

As far as the wing thing goes, my mother just doesnt like them. Dont know why she just doesnt but she will eat pickled beets out of the jar so there is no accounting for taste.

Still no pie baking from the wife but she is making a delicious from scratch homemade chocolate cake.

We have had a good discussion; we have a better understanding. She understands better why I felt I must tell her. Mostly, she was worried for parents and their impressions, they are very old country and this is not accepted in their culture.

Many of you were correct; long distance relationships are difficult; take lots of understanding and finesse (I am not good at finesse, I am like a steamroller or sledge hammer).

We have made great progress

Communication is always the key, it gets you into trouble and will get you out. Just dont let her find pictures of ex girlfriends in the trash in your basement you will be answering questions for day. "Why did you keep them?, Do you still think about her? Why didnt you throw them out?, Why were you hiding them in the basement?" My head is spinning. Sorry had a little tangential thinking going on there. Good luck and give it some time.

I'd stack Lord of the Rings up against the original Star Wars trilogy any day of the week though. I don't think either trilogy is better, but they're both worthy of adoration. Especially if you grew up on the books like I did. Jackson wasn't 100% faithful to the books, but he got as close as anybody could have ever gotten to doing the books right. I can only hope that del Toro does the upcoming The Hobbit justice.

Everybody needs to see Buckaroo Bonzai at least once.

I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies just from the pure cinematography and I never read the books so the story was interesting as well. Which part is Del Toro doing in the Hobbit? I just cant imagine the guy who was in "Snatch" pulling off a middle earth character.

Totally agreed but I have several hundred people covered if they havent seen it. I even own the comic books that came out after it as the "merchandising" as mel brooks would say.

Sting - Roxanne

Next

Chew your meat for you, pass it back and forth

In a passionate kiss from my mouth to yours

I like you

Nirvana Drain You

Umm

You can bring whatever you wanna bring baby

Each and everyone of your friends

And if you want a dog or a big bullfrog

Hell I've even got room for them

2 of my kids were born in the UK...

No good hospitals in the Pitcairn Islands?

2 of your kids???????? OMG!!! you have more than 1 The Pitcairn Island population is EXPLODING!

Pretty soon they will be leaving on rafts made from flotsam found washed up on the beach, crossing borders illegally to take advantage of government provided health care, education and social services. Where will it ever stop!!!!!

Yeah, but what service does "eye candy" really provide the passenger? They're not going to sleep with you, or even sit down and have a drink with you.

Great now Im never getting on another Aeroflot flight!!! It will be like my Junior prom all over again. Spend a lot of money, sit in uncomfortable seats and Im getting nothing but taken for a ride when its all said and done.

I dont care what the flight attendants look like, I have an idea if you want to make your customers happier give them more room to stretch out on 11 hour flights. Ask the flight attendants to watch as they push the cart down the aisle to not break my arm which is not hanging over the arm rest. And if you cant get a plane somewhere on time do something nice for the customers you screwed over.