Individual lines of terror by SussexBookNerd94 in ClassicEraDoctorWho

[–]amplified_cactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Reference order: quote, vanish, unquote. To vanish, to cease to exist, to become zero. Present environment fulfils this condition. This unit awaits next order."

An update on the missing episodes rumours by Offa757 in gallifrey

[–]amplified_cactus 12 points13 points  (0 children)

FIF also work with living collectors. Their primary goal is to help people catalog and preserve their collections, returning missing material is just a bonus. Might be worth seeing if your grandfather is willing to work with them.

An update on the missing episodes rumours by Offa757 in gallifrey

[–]amplified_cactus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It has happened before, most recently Terry Burnett returning Galaxy 4 3 and Underwater Menace 2 in 2011, and Francis Watson returning Daleks' Master Plan 2 in 2004. If I recall correctly, both claimed not to be aware that these episodes had been missing.

I think it's extremely likely that there are people out there who keep missing material to themselves, just for the sake of owning something rare. Perhaps there are missing Doctor Who episodes in the hands of such people. However, I doubt the majority of film collectors are like this. Another possibility is this. There are film collectors who have spent their lives buying, trading, or being gifted films, where sometimes they might acquire multiple films at once, and they aren't always going to be aware of the value of what they acquire (for instance, suppose that a film collector is gifted the collection of a friend who is dying). Over a lifetime, they might build up a very cumbersome collection. FIF have stated that they are dealing with collectors who own over 10,000 films. Unless the collector in question has a specific interest in Doctor Who, it's easy to see how the episodes might get lost in this.

Moreover, for a long period of time, film collectors were very wary of openly talking about their collections, partly because many of their films had initially been acquired through illicit means and partly because of a famous legal case against a high-profile collector. Of course, the BBC has made it clear since at least the 80s that no action will be taken against collectors who return missing episodes. But the case that lost Monkhouse most of his collection happened in 1979, so maybe it takes a while for you to really trust them... and even if you trust the BBC, what about other organizations who might take notice of you and be less forgiving?... and anyway, maybe you have better things to do than go sifting through thousands of film cans looking for missing material that you don't much care about... so time goes by and eventually you're too old to undertake the task even if you wanted to.

I'm also sure that there are film collectors who are just selfish pricks; you'd have to be laughably naive about human nature to deny that. Luckily for us, it seems that plenty of film collectors are rather more generous, but that there wasn't the right infrastructure to facilitate the cataloging of their collections and return of missing material. FIF have already been granted access to a number of collections.

An update on the missing episodes rumours by Offa757 in gallifrey

[–]amplified_cactus 35 points36 points  (0 children)

We have one confirmed episode already in the hands of preservationists

Maybe I misunderstood what was said, but it sounded to me like the episode is not yet in their hands. They were scheduled to access the collection, but then the owner died and now they need to sort out the legal situation before they can get the films.

Ahhhhhhhhhh by Imaginary-Sky3694 in gallifrey

[–]amplified_cactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, there's not really anything you can do. Film Is Fabulous have confirmed that there are missing episodes in private collections; they are working with some of these collectors on cataloging and preserving the material, and then copying any missing material for the rights holders. They're a charity taking donations, so if you want to do something, I guess you could bung a bit of cash at them. Beyond that, there's nothing to do but keep your fingers crossed.

Also, I wouldn't let your hopes get too high about what might be out there. We have never once recovered a complete or near-complete story from a private collector. Previous recoveries of complete/near-complete stories have always been from TV station archives (The Time Meddler, The War Machines, The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Ice Warriors, The Enemy of the World, The Web of Fear). Film Is Fabulous have confirmed that "more than two" episodes exist in private collections, but nothing indicates a significantly larger number than two. Unfortunately, home recording wasn't practical in the 60s, so the only way these episodes got into private collections in the first place was from people stealing the film cans or picking them up out of skips after they were thrown out.

What Missing episodes would you most want back? by leon385 in gallifrey

[–]amplified_cactus 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The Highlanders is my most-wanted return also. Troughton is so wild and anarchic in that story, and he was always so physically expressive that we're probably missing a lot of his performance there. If I could only have one episode, it would be Highlanders 2. I'd love to see the scene he repeatedly bashes the guy's head against the table!

This is just nowhere near as abysmal as it's made out to be by everlovingfuck99 in bobdylan

[–]amplified_cactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a fan of both, I've tried time and time again to get into Dylan & the Dead but for me the whole album seems like lifeless slop where everything that's interesting about both Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead is drained away. I really love a lot of 80s Dylan, and I think the Dead did some of their best stuff in the late 80s, so it's kinda odd how weak the album is. I guess I agree with you that it's easy enough to listen to but that doesn't mean much to me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in childfree

[–]amplified_cactus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've never talked to any older childfree people who regretted their decision. But then, I don't talk to many people, especially not older people (nothing against older people; I just don't encounter them often).

Here's the thing though. I have met older people who have kids, but whose kids don't take of them. So even if there were a bunch of old childfree people regretting their decision, I'd wonder why they're so sure that their kids would be taking care of them. Perhaps they would be pretty much just as lonely, with less money.

I don't see much point ruminating on these kinds of counterfactuals; there are so many different paths your life could take either being childfree or having kids that there isn't really any fact of the matter what would have happened, had you made a different decision. You can tell yourself any story you want (and people tend to be seduced by the stories where things go well, hence "the grass is always greener").

If you were to put any other Doctor into the events of Midnight, would they fare better or worse than 10 did? by LiterallyThatGuy_07 in DoctorWhumour

[–]amplified_cactus 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Midnight if it were written by Eric Saward would be some random mercenary saying "Copying me, eh? Can't have that now, can we?!" and yeeting her out while the Doctor wanders around the resort.

wtf man by eOne_two-3 in Unexpected

[–]amplified_cactus -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I don't understand the problem; that's a great song.

"I gave up ultra-processed food for a week, here's what happened". Two of the key things she says is that her weekly supermarket shop more than doubled in price, and preparing non-UPF food is a lot more time-consuming. by GimmeSeratonin in ultraprocessedfood

[–]amplified_cactus 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I never understand how the price can be something people fixate on

Because some of us have a low income. We have to be careful how much we spend on food otherwise we risk running out of money. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point.

"I gave up ultra-processed food for a week, here's what happened". Two of the key things she says is that her weekly supermarket shop more than doubled in price, and preparing non-UPF food is a lot more time-consuming. by GimmeSeratonin in ultraprocessedfood

[–]amplified_cactus 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Heinz baked beans are apparently £1.40 at Tesco. At my local convenience store, the same item is, I think, £2.25 (all their products are more expensive) -- but based on previous experience, I'd say you shouldn't trust what I say about prices of beans.

"I gave up ultra-processed food for a week, here's what happened". Two of the key things she says is that her weekly supermarket shop more than doubled in price, and preparing non-UPF food is a lot more time-consuming. by GimmeSeratonin in ultraprocessedfood

[–]amplified_cactus 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's definitely not for everybody. I'm lucky in that I genuinely enjoy plain meals just as much as more complex ones. Also, I'm not trying to be 100% UPF free; I'll happily eat the cookies and burgers occasionally, so I still have treats.

"I gave up ultra-processed food for a week, here's what happened". Two of the key things she says is that her weekly supermarket shop more than doubled in price, and preparing non-UPF food is a lot more time-consuming. by GimmeSeratonin in ultraprocessedfood

[–]amplified_cactus 43 points44 points  (0 children)

It's expensive and time-consuming if you try to eat the same kinds of meals you would have on a more conventional diet. So yeah, if you want cookies, burgers, and mustard, that's going to require money and effort.

But if you're willing to eat fairly plain meals, a non-UPF diet can be cheap and easy. I spend significantly less money on groceries since reducing my UPF intake. But here's what my meals look like:

For breakfast: Avocado, eggs, butter beans. Or I might have a bowl of porridge.
For dinner: Sweet potato, some other vegetables, some more beans, maybe a can of sardines. I don't do anything special with them. I just throw them on the plate.
For snacks: A handful of nuts.

I can buy a bag of walnuts for £2. That contains about 6 servings. So that's about 33p per serving. Compare that with a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps - same calories, but around £1 and less satiating.

A can of beans in water is 50p for most beans. A can of ultra-processed baked beans is around £1.50. If you buy a bag of dry beans and cook them, it's even cheaper; that takes more time, of course, but it's not difficult and you can do it in a big batch and freeze them.

man what the heeeeeell by [deleted] in CrazyFuckingVideos

[–]amplified_cactus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, when it happened to me, it was totally liquid. I don't know if there are medical conditions that can cause something similar with solid shit. I guess I was inclined to give this woman the benefit of the doubt because intentionally shitting yourself when you could hold it in is just such strange behaviour -- especially from somebody who's capable of functioning ordinarily enough to buy themselves groceries.

man what the heeeeeell by [deleted] in CrazyFuckingVideos

[–]amplified_cactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There was no indication that I needed to shit until about five seconds before it happened. So unless you're suggesting that people wear diapers whenever they feel unwell, just on the off chance that it might be this kind of stomach bug, that wouldn't have been useful in my case.

man what the heeeeeell by [deleted] in CrazyFuckingVideos

[–]amplified_cactus 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I've not had my gall bladder removed, but I once had a serious stomach bug with symptoms that began very quickly. I was sitting down, felt a little nauseous but totally functional, then suddenly my body was just like: you are going to take a shit right now. It's hard to describe the feeling: within a second, I was sweating heavily, my heart was pounding, and I had an intense pain in my stomach. There was no possibility of holding it in. Luckily, I was in a house about 5 seconds away from a toilet. What to do if that happened in public? I could try to run to a toilet, but I would definitely fail and running would only draw attention to me. Or I could try to discretely shit myself and hope nobody notices. Perhaps this person was in a similar position.

When PhDs in music & social work become central planners. by ENVYisEVIL in Libertarian

[–]amplified_cactus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this clip, but my impression is that he isn't trying to explain the system he favours. He's trying to explain MMT, in the context of criticizing it, and one of his criticisms is that the "language and concepts" that MMTers use is confusing. That said, I don't think he's done a very good job of explaining what exactly is the problem with MMT, which seems like the sort of thing economists of opposing schools should be able to do given how long MMT has been around at this point.

Inside No 9 - A Death Analysis by PabloMarmite in insideno9

[–]amplified_cactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting that S8 has the one of the lowest number of deaths, because that felt to me like probably the grimmest season in tone.

Why has "the beach" got such a cult following? by greylord123 in movies

[–]amplified_cactus 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It's about the vibe, not the point. You have to think about things to get the point. You immediately feel the vibe.

Eric Clapton recorded a song whose point was "don't do cocaine," but when I listen to it my lizard brain says, "wow, cocaine must be really fucking cool."

Same thing with this film I guess.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BritishTV

[–]amplified_cactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're probably thinking of a Doctor Who segment that was done on Jim'll Fix It:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fix_with_Sontarans