ps238principal ([info]ps238principal) wrote,
@ 2008-09-26 22:22:00
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Entry tags:bacon, puffed rice, shot from guns, stargate atlantis, supernatural

A garage sale find and other stuff...






Note: for the kids out there, "WTF" means "Where's The Fiber," a common phrase used when talking about breakfast cereal. Honest.

Recently, at an estate sale, I found an old copy of "The Funnies" from the Kansas City Star circa about 1950. If you click the image to the left (or this link) you can see the rest of the rather large ad. I just had to share it because to my modern eyes it just seems so wacky. I worked in Yellow Pages Advertising years ago, and I saw some pretty strange stuff. One law firm ad from Houston, Texas offered "slam dunk action" complete with a graphic of a basketball. Payday loan places seemed to be run by the same people who name lotto scratcher games. And then the escort services ads...

I usually got the method to their madness. But this ad, with Puffed Rice "shot from guns?" I'm not sure how that was considered a great idea (maybe one "had to be there"). I think the only guy I ever saw who used guns for food prep was the Swedish Chef, though I'd hate to have to fix his kitchen ceiling. Anyway, add the concept to stilted 50's comic-book dialogue, and you've got vintage weird. And a well-balanced breakfast, if you don't mind the gunpowder. :) Addendum: See comments for an explanation of the slogan. A World's Fair is involved.

As we all know, "Stargate: Atlantis" is coming to an end (outside of DvDs, that is), and this week's episode is frustrating with cancellation on the horizion. This episode, I think, is what they should have been doing all along. Forget saving the odd village from the Wraith or rescuing a kidnapped cast member, I want more stuff about what The Ancients left behind. And I think this show is the debut (in this universe, anyway) of the borg-like villains we saw a few weeks ago when our heroes were in a univese-hopping Daedalus. Given that we only have about a half-season left, whatever history/ideas the writers had for them are probably going to remain unaired (which makes me wish there weren't so many non-arc episodes this season).

Somewhat troubling is how the next series is getting the nickname "Stargate 90210" due to a "younger" cast. The producers say not to worry, which makes me worry...

And further worry on the TV front: Next week's "Supernatural" concerns time travel, it seems. Based on the trailer, it's probably one of those "change anything and you destroy everyone you love" premises, where Dean messes something up and has to fix it before time (pardon) runs out. Someone needs to put a blue police box in the background of just ONE of these shows, con-sarnit. Also upping the ante, last week's episode raised the Apocalypse as a possible outcome (I suppose it's to be expected, since angels are now involved). I wouldn't mind seeing Lucifer (if he shows up) played by Christopher Walken, or perhaps by Brimstone's John Glover.

These links, however, are guaranteed Armageddon-free (mostly):

- First, something to make you squirm the next time you have calimari: From National Geographic's "Best Science Photos of 2008" collection, here's a close-up of what one of Cthulhu's face-tentacles looks like. Shudder...
- For the cosplaying community (or at least part of it) and cartoon fans, they've finally made a Sword of Omens prop with light-up "Eye of Thundera." I'm sure it'll come in handy for the eventual re-mastering of this infamous fan-trailer.
- A quick run-down of some bacon-related links (strips?): Warhammer Online's producers declare their love for Bacon Salt in the first part of this interview about their new MMORPG. We also have instructions for making your own bacon tiara. Then you can wind up your day with a fine dessert: bacon lollipops. Lastly, from one of the final seasons of "Justice League Unlimited," comes an action figure of Batman with a pig on a leash (I consider pigs to be pre-bacon).
- If I must ever have a framed picture of a unicorn in my home, let it be this one.
- From our "cool art" files comes these samples of motorcycles made out of old watches.
- Fans of "Metal Slug" should have fun with the side-scrolling shmup game Commando 2.
- And puzzle-platformer players might like Never-End, a game where you rotate the playfield to collect keys and avoid falling into traps.

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[info]frustratedpilot
2008-09-27 04:58 am UTC (link)
Okay...Backward Compatible is working again, w00t--but IESB.net still hasn't updated their FFN strip(s). :/

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[info]fairest1
2008-09-27 05:43 am UTC (link)
. . .

I know someone who is rather a fan of Sgt. Preston. She wrote fanfic, even. So I'm giggling more than usual over that ad.

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[info]ps238principal
2008-09-27 07:00 am UTC (link)
Now I wonder how far back in literary time fanfic goes. :)

Perhaps they can do a "puffed rice" episode?

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[info]fairest1
2008-09-27 03:03 pm UTC (link)
Well, once it goes back far enough not to be affected by copyright, it gets published. See: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Before Green Gables, Fables, Lamb, etc.

Not to mention the unofficial stuff like Bible fanfic or fic based on the Epic of Gilgamesh.

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[info]nentuaby
2008-09-27 08:26 pm UTC (link)
Traditionally, I believe, the first "modern" fanfic community is considered to be the "Alternate Literary Agents" of Sherlock Holmes. Though of course, the actual tradition of expanding on other people's work goes right back to the first epics, when each generation of oral tradition would embellish things a bit...

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[info]signy1
2008-09-28 11:12 pm UTC (link)
Goes back at least as far as 'Don Quixote', because there's a wonderfully snippy little passage in the last part of the book where Cervantes complains about some of the Quixote-fic that was published in the ten years or so between the first half and the second.

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[info]spritelord
2008-09-30 12:01 am UTC (link)
Just a guess: Camwyn?

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[info]fairest1
2008-09-30 12:19 am UTC (link)
Seriously, is there anyone else out there?

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[info]spritelord
2008-09-30 04:24 am UTC (link)
There might be, but it's a smaller world than we tell our children, y'know?

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[info]fairest1
2008-09-30 03:56 pm UTC (link)
Anything parents might say contrary is balanced by a certain Disney ride.

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[info]grixit
2008-09-27 06:26 am UTC (link)
John Glover is my favorite on screen devil of all time. He had a face like a satyr without horns.


As for the Quaker slogan, "shot from guns", it was a reference to the process of making puffed wheat and puffed rice, which is similar to making popcorn in an airpopper.

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Worlds Fair
(Anonymous)
2008-09-27 06:29 am UTC (link)
The shot from a gun term is also a refference to their demonstration at the Worlds fair, where they made Puffed Rice by firing it from an air canon.

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Re: Worlds Fair
[info]ps238principal
2008-09-27 06:59 am UTC (link)
I'm envisioning the "The More You Know" star from my Saturday morning cartoons.

I guess that does fall under the "you had to be there" rubric. So did the cannon have some kind of heating element in it as well? Was the gun needed to the preparation, or did the "firing" have more to do with spectacle?

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Re: Worlds Fair
[info]gamingkitty
2008-09-27 01:05 pm UTC (link)
Extrapolating from the "steak in an air cannon" bit from a recent MythBusters, I don't think the firing would have done anything to puff the rice. It would have been a nice dramatic way to get the rice out of the puffer, though.

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Re: Worlds Fair
[info]blaisepascal
2008-09-27 01:42 pm UTC (link)
The cannon was a bit more complicated that just having a heating element, but it was used in the manufacture process. To make puffed rice or wheat (or other grains), you need to heat the grain under pressure with steam. That infuses the grain with superheated, high-pressure steam. When the pressure is suddenly released (by, say, opening the end of the "cannon", or more commonly by having the shell of the corn kernel rupture), the starches immediately balloon up and solidify, thereby "puffing" the rice or wheat or "popping" the corn.

I believe most production is done in pressure cookers, not cannons, but the cannon was dramatic for the Worlds Fair and commercials.

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Re: Worlds Fair
[info]zazu_yen
2008-09-29 10:49 pm UTC (link)
I think you can file that one under "discovered by accident."

"Man, the pressure cooker exploded! We're all OK, except for some hearing loss, but look what happened to the rice! I'll bet we could sell this stuff!"

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Re: Worlds Fair
(Anonymous)
2008-10-01 06:33 am UTC (link)
From what I understand, that's actually almost literally what happened.

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Re: Worlds Fair
[info]kittiethedragon
2008-10-01 04:11 pm UTC (link)
Noice XD

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[info]frustratedpilot
2008-09-27 04:24 pm UTC (link)
We have to shout above the din of our Rice Krispies
Can't hear anything at all!--"Synchronicity 2" by The Police

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Robocop on a unicorn?
(Anonymous)
2008-09-28 01:54 pm UTC (link)
Robocop's got a kid, so I don't think he qualifies to ride a unicorn, if you know what I mean. Of course his, er, lower torso might not be all there, so I suppose he deserves a pity-ride at the very least.

And if this was done on velvet, I've got wall space right next to my Elvis :)

- Mike

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Re: Robocop on a unicorn?
[info]ps238principal
2008-10-01 03:37 am UTC (link)
I wonder then... can all robots ride unicorns? Except R2D2, of course; he'll plug into ANYTHING, the little tramp...

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[info]st_evil
2008-09-28 05:45 pm UTC (link)
Glover made a great devil, but so did Roger Daltry! If you've picked up the Witchblade series on DVD recently, you'll catch him. I seem to recall that he had a couple other appearances around the same time where he played the devil too but a quick search of IMDB hasn't jogged my memory.

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[info]ps238principal
2008-10-01 03:39 am UTC (link)
Ah, yes! He did do a good turn as Old Scratch. His "disturbing Gypsy" was also quite memorable.

I wish that series had gone on for one more season.

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devil ???
(Anonymous)
2008-09-29 02:04 pm UTC (link)
nahh, walken's a better Gabriel.... s'kinda sad where they've gone with THAT series....

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[info]midnightvoyager
2008-09-29 02:09 pm UTC (link)
Am I bluuuuue... Am I bluuuuuuue... Ain't these teeears in my eeeeeyes tellin yooooou?

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[info]ps238principal
2008-10-01 03:40 am UTC (link)
I can't find it at the moment, but one fan of the series was almost crying with joy that his pre-teen daughter had decided that Kevin Conroy's "Am I Blue" was her favorite song and demanded a daily viewing of that particular clip. :)

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Baconeers!
(Anonymous)
2008-09-29 03:49 pm UTC (link)
There is a fun illustrated (psuedo)history of weaponry called Halbritter's Arms Through the Ages.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halbritters-Arms-Through-Ages-Introduction/dp/0670359084

They have the Baconeers! You really have to see the illustrations to appreciate it. I have often wanted to see someone create armies, even for Warhammer from this book. Imagine theatening your opponent with the Trojan Duck (and it's Quack of Doom!)

Rob

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Popped Rice Gun
(Anonymous)
2008-10-01 10:07 am UTC (link)
Actually, the popped rice from a gun thing isn't too far off from the truth.
They're cooked in a pressure cooker and when the pressure is released it makes a sound like a gun and the sudden release of pressure is what puffs the rice.
This you tube video shows how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWPfr9NTIc

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[info]songofnewday
2008-10-01 02:05 pm UTC (link)
There does seem to be this tendency for casts to get younger and younger in modern series. Presumably as an attempt to appeal to kids. Though if I remember all the tv I watched when I was young, it was actually the adult characters that were more interesting. Kid characters were just pushy and annoying and I had to put up with people like them every day at school.

We've just had the start of Merlin over in the UK and that has a young cast and is very much in the Smallville mold. Not entirely sold on it just yet, though it is nice seeing Anthony Stewart Head playing a morally ambiguous Uther.

It also struck me that TH White was correct in his story of Arthur. Every time I see Merlin on tv he's younger than the previous version. He actually does live backwards in time!

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