I don't really realize how often I check in at OO throughout the day until it's down.

I also don't realize how infrequently I come to GT until I can't remember the name of the site. 

Looks to be down. No morning Walking Dead analysis for me, it seems.

Yeah, downforeveryoneorjustme says it's down. So what's new around here?

Zeke is pushing a liberal gay agenda now.

Zekester posts here? I thought he'd disappeared completely.

Yeah, downforeveryoneorjustme says it's down. So what's new around here?

Seems like these threads are usually made by KD, but clearly it's the change, not the thread, that makes it official.

Anyway, the poster formerly known as Sith Lord is now Odin. No fancy reason, I've just felt at times over the thousands of threads I've participated in at forums where I used that older handle that on rare occasions I got a stronger, harsher reaction to my posts than I'd have otherwise expected. Occasionally it was implied that my evil-sounding name might have something to do with it. Maybe so, maybe not - it's hard to say, but to be on the safe side I finally decided to just make it something less commonly associated with blowing up planets and generally screwing people over.

Granted, if Anthony Hopkins comes off as a real prick in the new Thor movie I could have similar problems, but I doubt Odin will ever summon the same immediacy of dislike that Darth Sidious/Palpatine did. So there you go.

This mirrors my change on Octopus Overlords from a month ago.

It's down for everyone, not just me!

Why isn't this thread just stickied?

Eternal optimism?

Why do we have this thread?

For the same reason that somebody always posts at OO on the rare occasion GT is down. Because it's good to have confirmation that it's not just you and it's good to commiserate with others when you're bummed out that your forum is down.

Yeah, I remember getting past the poor punctuation eventually, but it didn't help me enjoy the story any better.I didn't hate it, I just didn't see what the big deal was. It was meh.

Nice! 

I have the DVD set and had my own little marathon a week ago. Just an absolutely top-notch series. Makes great watching alongside Saving Private Ryan (made by the same producers, IIRC). I've watched the series quite a few times and never get tired of it. What a remarkable time in history and what a fantastic retelling of their story.

Leave OO alone.  I'll miss it just as much as I miss GT if it disappeared.  Almost same community but very different vibe

Well, sadly at the moment OO has chosen to leave us alone. It makes us grumpy.

Bah, I used to be an English teacher so I've read enough literature to know that it is possible to like some of it (though I never liked as much of it as I probably should have as an English teacher). I just didn't like this. It seemed to be a story about a guy who made some really great "check for secret doors" rolls and not much else.

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one who was unimpressed by this book (though we're a pretty clear minority). I remember I found something about the writing style (lack of periods? Capitalization? Quotation marks? Something important was under-utilized, I don't recall what) bothersome, and the story itself just didn't do much for me.

It might be time to have it put down.

I never feel this way when the site's up - it still seems a vibrant, dynamic community to me with plenty of activity to hold my interest.

But when it's down like this, I turn traitor in a big hurry. It ain't fair, but feelings often aren't. I think I mostly just want the thing to work and I want to go somewhere (like here) to rant and bitch when it doesn't. Then when it works again, all is forgiven and I forget how annoyed I was until the next time it crashes.

Ah, we had a pilot on board. Who'd of thunk it?

He didn't have the fish.

So long and thanks for all the fish?

It's slow as molasses in January, but it's back up.

I always wondered why Rip had named OO's virtual server "yo-yo." Now I get it. 

I liked the original movie and was disappointed when the "johnny come lately" TV series didn't seem related to it at all. From the article, their basic premise makes sense - it's been a while, it's time for a new Slayer to take the job. The only real problem with it that I can see is the horde of rabid series fans who are going to freak out about it.

I'm glad Abrams wasn't dissuaded from making the Trek relaunch, it was an awesome movie. This movie could be great, too, but I'm betting there's a good chance that the fan reaction could kill it.

That's good advice. When I was unemployed, we used our HEL to pay off one of our cars, as the line was a) essentially borrowing from ourselves and b) had some insanely-long time period before we were even required to start making payments. It might have been as long as five years, I don't recall exactly, but it was a long time. We ended up paying ourselves back well before that timeframe once I got a new job, but taking the pressure off was a huge help. We didn't need to do it with credit cards since we've never not paid the balance each month, but I can see it working the same way, and I'd much rather owe myself money than some CC company charging me 18% or whatever.

We'll have to make minimum payments on credit cards

Just my $.02 here, but once you do find work (and it sounds like you've got a strong network that should help make that happen pretty soon), I'd suggest paying those suckers off pronto. Carrying credit card debt from month to month is just pissing money away, IMO. One of the main reasons that I was able to opt out of the whole workplace BS a few months back was that we live within our means and don't carry debt that's not critical (ie. a mortgage, car loans when we need new vehicles, and not much else).

Anyway, continued best wishes on your job hunt.

Woo hoo!

The producer has already called and told me that the Dinosaur won by a landslide when the current votes were combined with the anchor/judges scores. I've been told to report to the restaurant tomorrow morning at 6 AM for the follow-up segment. Woo hoo!!

If I understand correctly, the segment will air tomorrow morning (Sunday, 5/24) at approximately 7:30 or 8:30 AM depending on your time zone and which of the 3 live feeds your local affiliate has elected to air. Check your local listings, I guess.

Thanks a ton to those who cast their vote on my behalf.

Last bump here, just to provide the location of the voting link. I can't seem to direct-link to the vote page, but from the GMA Weekend website, about halfway down the page, there should be a link titled "Best Barbecue Contest." I was able to vote once with each of my two browsers. Thanks to everybody who votes!!

This contest seems a little odd, though. Only 4 contestants, and none from Memphis even?

Yeah, it's purely a popularity contest. If Memfus folks weren't persuasive enough or vocal enough in their entries, I guess that's their tough luck. 

Sorry to hear it Pete. Good luck and stay positive! Things have a way of working out.

Sadly, there are quite a few folks who will view this film as "Harry Potter and the Finally Legal Emma"....

According to my daughter's Time for Kids magazine, the actress playing Ginny Weasley is 18 now, too. And of course Mrs. McGonegal has been legal for years.

I'll be happy to help stuff your box.

Ahem. Uh, thanks? 

Bump so folks can see the new, hopefully more marketable title.

Cool! Definitely on my "must see in a theater" list!

Same here - and for the first time my kids are old enough to want to go so we'll need seats for 5. 

I'm going to need to see if I can get a home equity loan.

I don't remember the previous years' Idol finales too well, which I think is an indicator that last night's kicked their asses. I was surprised at what a cavalcade of great artists they had on - that show had to cost a fortune. Sure was fun to watch though, especially on TiVo when I could skip past the ones I wasn't too interested in. Speaking of Black-Eyed Peas, aren't they supposed to have a well-endowed blond hanging around? She was the only thing about that group that I ever found interesting.

Holy crap, that was a shocker. Way to go Kris!

I'm pretty sure we'd never see things like an entire episode dedicated to Picard playing his flute;

You do know that The Inner Light is widely regarded as one of the best TNG episodes, right? Certainly one of the most popular.

Yeah, there isn't much good BBQ in Syracuse, but what little we have we really cherish. The Dino is essentially a Syracuse institution - any out-of-towners are invariably taken there (or shame on their local hosts for not), and if a business wants to reward its employees with a catered lunch, they call the Dinosaur to really do it right.

I've visited the Dino with DELL, Microsoft, HP, and even an executive from India who (unlike most of his staff, who were vegetarian) refused to eat anywhere ELSE when he came to town. 

Hey folks, I could use a hand from anybody who's willing to help. It should only take a little time, but it's on Saturday, 5/23 which I know isn't optimal online time for most of the forum.

Anyway, the scoop is that I nominated my local BBQ rib joint as one of the "Best BBQ joints in the country," for Good Morning America weekend edition. My entry was selected and my preferred rib joint is now one of the final four BBQ restaurants contending for the "title" this weekend. If my local joint wins, my family and I will get a trip to NY, a visit to the GMA studio, etc., which would be pretty cool (I enjoy GMA a lot, especially the weekend edition).

All I need to do is drum up enough online support for my favorite rib joint for it to win - it's a popularity contest, nothing more.

So to any of the forum denizens here who would be willing to help, we'll need to visit http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/weekend on Saturday, 5/23 (and ONLY on Saturday - the polls are only open between 9 AM Eastern and Midnight Eastern) and vote for the Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse, NY.

If you're interested in the details, here's a local article about it: http://news10now.com/Default.aspx?ArID=472432

Regardless of what happens, I'm already a winner as I got to spend several hours hanging out with GMA Weekend Anchor Ron Claiborne, chatting and eating ribs. He was cool as hell - every bit the nice guy that he seems to be on TV.

Anyway, thanks in advance to anybody who's willing to take a few minutes on Saturday to help score the votes!

Edit: changed the title to something folks may find more interesting.

Edit: updated the title again to reflect the outcome!

As for chiropractors I am not really a fan.  I just can't see how popping your joints in your hands can cause arthritis but I'm supposed to expect something else when they pop the joins in my back.

I don't have much faith in chiropractors either, but I'm pretty sure that the myth of cracking knuckles = arthritis has been debunked.

Looks like they're fed up with Gordon Ramsey.

When I saw you write this, I figured Ramsey's show(s) had been canceled. But on the Fox press release I saw "HELL’S KITCHEN, KITCHEN NIGHTMARES" as returning in 2009-2010, so now I don't know what to make of your comment. Am I missing something?

As for what I'm excited about, not much. At least half of the scripted series I was watching on the networks were canceled - TSCC, Life, The Unit, Kings, Knight Rider, etc. I'm not too familiar with the new stuff, though what little I've read, Day One and V looked like they have potential. Otherwise, I'll just be watching Heroes and Chuck unless something strikes my fancy. It's possible I might give Fringe another try, though I didn't care for it after watching the first 6-7 episodes. I might also try to pick up on Dollhouse even though I missed the first season, but probably not. I haven't watched 24 in two seasons, but I suppose I might give that a shot if I'm really starving for content. Add in American Idol and Hell's Kitchen and that's probably about it for the networks. On cable, I'll watch the new Stargate, Eureka and Psych. Oh, and Doctor Who if it's ever on again. Without checking my subscription list, I think that's all. Possibly the lightest TV schedule I've had in years.

watch, he'll become the next Dark Lord of the Sith all because of you.  I hope you're happy.

I haven't seen him around the office.

Somebody in the comments called it "Must flee TV." 

I like that!

Otherwise I'm not thrilled with NBC. It may tie CBS as my least-watched network this season, as there's only 1 hour of programming (Heroes/Chuck) that I'm likely to watch at most. Ok, CBS still wins with zero hours, but it's a near thing. Although, granted, I don't watch ABC in primetime, either.

What the hell do I watch? I need to check my TiVo subscriptions some time to figure out where I spend my time. And delete TSCC. 

Not unexpected, but still unfortunate. It turned out to be a really good show. I'm glad they ended it in a way that left room for more story if needed but otherwise did a fair job of feeling like an ending.

What's the deal with this movie opening on a Thursday? I can't remember that ever happening before.