Is it time for Random Thoughts - Part 4?

[DennisN]

Just stumbled upon this very powerful clip (I had not seen it before)

Also here: http://www.upworthy.com/they-took-a-camera-to-a-remote-area-in-greenland-and-what-they-recorded-is-simply-terrifying?g=2&c=upw2

 

[zoobyshoe]

Anyway, I fell asleep yesterday afternoon and dreamt a really, really huge boa constrictor was curled up behind some bushes. These cats I feed were trying to drive it away, and a second later, it's head emerged from the bushes with a cat in it's mouth. I laid down and started pounding on it's head with my fist trying to make it let go of the cat, but my arm seemed to have hardly any strength, and it's head was very tough. It went back into the bushes with the cat and I was afraid the kitty was a gonner. I tried to stand up but it turned into a paralysis dream. I couldn't get anybody parts to move. I was paralyzed on the ground with a huge snake less than three feet away. I tried so hard to call for help, and it seemed I had actually succeeded in making some noise, but no one heard me. I was sure the snake was going to come back out, swallow one of my legs and bite it off. I willed and willed myself to move. Finally, there was a kind of simultaneous realization I was dreaming and the return of my ability to move, and I woke up.

I read something somewhere that laid the cause of sleep paralysis to lack of potassium. So, when ever I get dreams like this I go get some bananas.

I'm creeped out because one of the cats has actually disappeared. I haven't seen it for days, and it is the very cat the snake ate in the dream.

 

[TumblingDice]

I'm creeped out because one of the cats has actually disappeared. I haven't seen it for days, and it is the very cat the snake ate in the dream.

Just out of curiousity, have you emptied your vacuum cleaner lately...?

 

[collinsmark]

Gotta keep reminding myself to finish coffee before posting. Otherwise I get all crabby.

 

[ChiralWaltz]

The fireworks are about to begin…

 

[Enigman]

Not satisfied with ruining Sherlock Holmes, Downey Jr. is now making an attempting at Perry Mason... Don't you dare mess this one up, Bob.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Not satisfied with ruining Sherlock Holmes, Downey Jr. is now making an attempting at Perry Mason... Don't you dare mess this one up, Bob.

You have to understand that actors don't make the decisions about how the characters they play are going to be portrayed. That's generally the director's decision (but ultimately the producer's, since the producer hires the director). An actor's job is to be as flexible as possible, to do whatever the director requires. It's a liability for an actor to have a strong idea of how some character should be played. It would just put him at loggerheads with the director.

Given that the writers and producer of Sherlock Holmes didn't understand the character and thought it should be reworked, Downey actually did an excellent job.

It is a mystery to me why writers think there's something to be gained by reworking old material when it would be much more interesting if they would work to better capture the essence of the original, but it happens all the time. Everyone's grasping at a new "take" on old stuff when the original "take" has never actually been successfully translated to the screen.

 

[Enigman]

Oh, I completely agree. But Downey Jr. has got to have some kind of pull if he is the lead and his wife is one of the producers.
IMO Downey could make an excellent Perry Mason in view of his Tony Stark, but I just have this feeling he is going to screw this up.

 

[Borek]

It is a mystery to me why writers think there's something to be gained by reworking old material

Oh come on, don't you know you are the only person in the world being right and everyone else is an idiot? How could this medieval moron of Conan Doyle (or was he even earlier?) know what he was writing about?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Oh, I completely agree. But Downey Jr. has got to have some kind of pull if he is the lead and his wife is one of the producers.
IMO Downey could make an excellent Perry Mason in view of his Tony Stark, but I just have this feeling he is going to screw this up.

Being the lead really wouldn't get him any pull. His wife being one of the producer's might, but that only matters if he has some interest in shaping the film, which he might not.

Personally, I don't see any point at all in redoing Perry Mason. It would be easy enough to outright create a whole new modern lawyer character. Courtroom drama is a perennial favorite.

 

[Astronuc]

'Tis the time of 'Raking of the Leaves'.

However, it is better to mulch the leaves.

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/wait-actually-mistake-rake-leaves-233015886.html

 

[Astronuc]

Personally, I don't see any point at all in redoing Perry Mason. It would be easy enough to outright create a whole new modern lawyer character. Courtroom drama is a perennial favorite.

I think part of the allure is drama, but another part is something like a detective novel in which one tries to discover clues, or particularly the key clue, that solve the puzzle.

I think it would be difficult to reinterpret Perry Mason, since Raymond Burr would be a hard actor to replace.

 

[nsaspook]

Mulching is great unless you live downwind from a few monster maple trees. We blow them off the yard and street to near the sidewalk for bagging and the cities leaf truck gets them weekly.

We can also burn them.
http://fairvieworegon.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=199

 

[zoobyshoe]

I think part of the allure is drama, but another part is something like a detective novel in which one tries to discover clues, or particularly the key clue, that solve the puzzle.

I think it would be difficult to reinterpret Perry Mason, since Raymond Burr would be a hard actor to replace.

Perry Mason was certainly more than courtroom drama, and relied heavily on the detective element. But, as you say, Raymond Burr made Perry Mason what he was, and any new version has to be so good it will make people forget Raymond Burr, or else it will just disappoint. It would be easier to start from scratch with a new lawyer/detective. I thought The Lincoln Lawyer was a good example of this. And there's room for more, since the genre is so popular.

 

[Borek]

any new version has to be so good it will make people forget Raymond Burr

My bet is that there are already several generations that have never seen him.

I am basing this on Junior and his friends - they are definitely over the average when it comes to knowing books and movies, but things we (Marzena and I) take for granted are quite often completely alien to them.

 

[zoobyshoe]

My bet is that there are already several generations that have never seen him.

I am basing this on Junior and his friends - they are definitely over the average when it comes to knowing books and movies, but things we (Marzena and I) take for granted are quite often completely alien to them.

You may be right, but here many old shows are rerun incessantly on cable. I haven't seen Perry Mason being played on the San Diego system, but every area is different. One thing they do show over and over here, for example, is the old, original Twilight Zone, and everyone of all ages was able to compare the new Twilight Zone to it, and the new one was a disappointment. But you're obviously right that, in the event most of the audience has no clue about the original, they won't be comparing.

 

[OmCheeto]

'Tis the time of 'Raking of the Leaves'.

However, it is better to mulch the leaves.

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/wait-actually-mistake-rake-leaves-233015886.html

This is the first year I've tried mulching my leaves.
In the past, even though the city provides us with 65 gallon yard debris carts, and weekly service, it took me 3 months to get rid of just the leaves from my trees.

My new electric mower, which I put together myself, is shredding the leaves quite nicely.

before the carnage
​

I'm not sure, but I think the motor is from my mother's circa 1955 wringer washer.
I've googled the nameplate data, but can't find a match.

C 795. 1/3H.P. 115V.A.C.
60CYC. TYPE S.P. 1725RPM
3.8 AMPS. 50°C. CONT
S.F. -1 CODE P. L-59
THERMAL PROTECTION A
​

It has a melamine(?) output shaft, which made it very problematic to duct tape the mower blade to. I added some baling wire and tie wraps to improve dependability. Along with wearing high top leather boots. As a former nuke, I'm quite aware that one can never take too many safety precautions.

 

[collinsmark]

[...] which made it very problematic to duct tape the mower blade to. I added some baling wire and tie wraps to improve dependability.

? oo)

 

[Enigman]

Ah, duct tape the savior of worlds.

 

[OmCheeto]

? oo)

I did take the mower to the breaking point, two weeks ago. I purposely mowed over some 15 year old, 2 inch thick, chunks of rotting tree bark, in a corner of the yard.

The blade simply fell to the ground. Which, kind of makes sense, when you think about it.

The boots, in hind sight, were more for the 1 inch diameter tree branches full of leaves which I'd lopped off, and had been mowing over for several weeks.

I did though, subsequently, make some minor improvements to the system. The blade is no longer so loose that it bashes against the mower frame, which always made me a bit nervous.

It is now, the Tesla, of redneck electric mowers. :D

 

[collinsmark]

[...] The blade is no longer so loose that it bashes against the mower frame, ...]

? oo) ?

 

[zoki85]

​

C 795. 1/3H.P. 115V.A.C.
60CYC. TYPE S.P. 1725RPM
3.8 AMPS. 50°C. CONT
S.F. -1 CODE P. L-59
THERMAL PROTECTION A
​

Even thou this is an electric motor, 1/3 HP looks pretty weak to me for a serious grass cutting. Killing motor by overloading it is to be expected.

 

[OmCheeto]

Even thou this is an electric motor, 1/3 HP looks pretty weak to me for a serious grass cutting. Killing motor by overloading it is to be expected.

We are no longer in the realm of random thoughts. If you would like to query me on how awesome my mower is, and why it works perfectly, please start a thread in the "General Engineering" forum.

Thank you.

 

[OmCheeto]

? oo) ?

That's kind of the face I made, while mowing.

Though I wore eye protection too.

I may be insane, but I know I don't have health insurance.

 

[Enigman]

I may be insane, but I know I don't have health insurance.

Well, as long as you are not inane...

 

[OmCheeto]

Well, as long as you are not inane...

Inane!

I used to love that word. Not that it isn't still a good word. I remember, it was one of the best. But I don't think I've needed to use it in about 20 years. hmmm... I am a bit senile...

inane mumbo jumbo​

Only off by 14 years.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Even thou this is an electric motor, 1/3 HP looks pretty weak to me for a serious grass cutting. Killing motor by overloading it is to be expected.

I made a grinding wheel out of a 1/3 hp clothes dryer motor, and it is often overheating and shutting down. Can't put much of a load on them for too long at all. I'm surprised he's cutting grass with anything less than a 1 hp. So, he's probably raised a demon and imprisoned it in the mower.

 

[OmCheeto]

I made a grinding wheel out of a 1/3 hp clothes dryer motor, and it is often overheating and shutting down. Can't put much of a load on them for too long at all. I'm surprised he's cutting grass with anything less than a 1 hp. So, he's probably raised a demon and imprisoned it in the mower.

I think lawnmowers are probably over engineered, for various reasons.

A. Procrastination = letting the lawn go wild ==> yields a hay mauler, vs a lawn mower.
B. Why sharpen the blade, if it still cuts? (I have never sharpened a lawnmower blade in my life, until now)

With a 22" blade rotating at 1725 rpm, I come out with a tip speed of 113 mph. (I assume most of the work is done at the tip.)

If the blades are kept razor sharp, and my lawn doesn't look like a wheat harvest when I mow, I don't see a reason to need more power.

 

[Borek]

if it still cuts?

To some point it cuts, but later it starts to tear the grass, sometimes even leaving fluffy brushes at ends of grass blades.

 

[Medicol]

I have had in my mind ideas to open a company producing and selling stuff like this
But my finding about that video depresses me, why are my ideas always out dated ?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I think lawnmowers are probably over engineered, for various reasons.

A. Procrastination = letting the lawn go wild ==> yields a hay mauler, vs a lawn mower.
B. Why sharpen the blade, if it still cuts? (I have never sharpened a lawnmower blade in my life, until now)

With a 22" blade rotating at 1725 rpm, I come out with a tip speed of 113 mph. (I assume most of the work is done at the tip.)

If the blades are kept razor sharp, and my lawn doesn't look like a wheat harvest when I mow, I don't see a reason to need more power.

If it's working for you, you're good. I'm just surprised such a small motor doesn't overheat before you're done with the lawn.

 

[zoki85]

Florica Leonida
Now, I can't stop thinking of all the impossible things she can do...
Dirty male mind I know I know but I admit I am weak

 

[Borek]

@zoki85 is that Sveti Ilija seen from Brist?

 

[zoki85]

@zoki85 is that Sveti Ilija seen from Brist?

Indeed it is:)
Do you know who is actually Sveti Ilija?

 

[Borek]

Do you know who is actually Sveti Ilija?

Not sure. I mean - it was always obvious to me it is one of the saints, but which one precisely I never checked, up to now. Elijah (in Polish Eliasz)?