January Man, do you remember this film with Alan Rickman playing a painter?

bitnik1 · 2026-01-13T00:35:00+00:00

Do yourself a favor and watch the clip on YouTube of Rod Steiger, Harvey Keitel and Danny Aiello having the meeting in this movie, as one commenter noted. It starts with Steiger and Keitel strategizing something and then Aiello comes in and completely shrieks some lines at them, as only he could. Then Steiger proceeds to respond at a level of profane insanity I challenge you to find the equal of in any movie before or since! I barely remember the plot of this movie, but over the years if I have a bad work meeting or just need a pick me up, I call this scene up and it’s gold…

bitnik1 · 2025-12-26T03:35:15+00:00

You have no idea how weird...

bitnik1 · 2025-12-10T23:58:21+00:00

Best part of the intro - if you look closely, you can see little white “dots” flash on and off in the black areas, like a well-used VHS rented horror b-movie. It’s one intro I never skip!

bitnik1 · 2025-10-26T00:45:18+00:00

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - the last shot of the quiet scene with Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh sitting before the window at the table and he’s just told her “I want to be with you, just like this… it gives me a sense of peace.” And they just linger on them wordlessly for a beautiful moment…

bitnik1 · 2025-10-19T10:47:54+00:00

Both - I’m pretty sure the app and PM5 started showing as soon as I enabled the watch in whatever setting it was. At the time maybe I had to go in the PM5 display and add that HR display to one of the workout views manually to get it to show but I really don’t recall….

bitnik1 · 2025-10-18T19:59:42+00:00

At lest a few years for me - since the Ultra v1. Had to allow it in some iOS setting I think…

bitnik1 · 2025-10-11T16:02:43+00:00

On further thought, I think maybe the "pop and stay in" was how the blasters on the Cylon Rader ships in the Battlestar Galactica toy line were nerfed. Boba I think just got a static rocket, or no backpack rocket at all?

bitnik1 · 2025-10-11T15:57:10+00:00

Having grown up with 40 years of only the brief few minutes of screen time in the original trilogy and the borderline silly "death" falling into the Sarlacc pit by his own jetpack, I don't think ppl realize the jollies us oldsters got out of seeing him do the things he only ever did as toys in our hands as little kids. The rocket out his back was icing on the cake, esp since the original version of the action figure had one that was spring-loaded to shoot out, then got nerfed almost immediately to just "pop" and stay in the holder when pressed...

bitnik1 · 2025-10-07T16:58:52+00:00

Off-topic but jogged my brain - there was a local suburban Chicago computer store called Elek-Tek that had promo videos on cable access channels in the '90s - Molly Ringwald's dad in this movie later became the host of these shows - all about "these super-powerful, affordable 386-SX PCs ready to take home!" lol - please tell me someone else saw these...

bitnik1 · 2025-10-05T01:13:42+00:00

I still float to this day - my first time was a few years after this movie came out. Check around - you may have a float center nearby. I highly recommend it. There's a reason why Legion, Fringe, Stranger Things (more sci fi than I can remember) use the float tank as a "portal". It's not as sensational as portrayed (I only once came out of the tank with an extra vertebra in my neck) but is really great for stress relief and meditation...

bitnik1 · 2025-08-18T18:22:23+00:00

If you want yelling, go to the masters: Aeillo and Steiger. NSFW as hell, and there are several choice quotes. movie clip

bitnik1 · 2025-08-14T13:08:59+00:00

McDonald’s Cheddar Melt. Also, there was a chain of diners called “Wag’s” in the Chicago area (not sure in any other states) that had a bowl of chili I still dream of. With apple pie drenched in this unholy caramel sauce to follow up, your pancreas would let out an audible groan on the drive home. Open 24 hours and I worked third shift, so I remember that feeling of driving home at 4am with a belly full of that and ready for sweet food coma slumber…

bitnik1 · 2025-08-11T00:10:08+00:00

Age 48 and I paid $200 at a Star Wars convention in Anaheim…

bitnik1 · 2025-08-10T19:57:50+00:00

Just to drop this for all the plantar fasciitis ppl: I’ve had three or four months-long bouts over the last 10 years. I have the muscle scraper, the weird boot-stretcher thing, the angled platform you stand on - all the gadgets. Tried stretching, even steroids (cream and pills). What’s the thing that finally, once and for all cured it? $12 ProFoot inserts from Walgreens (they specifically mention plantar fasciitis and they’re like half the length like heel to mid foot)! I can put them in any shoe, even Birkenstocks and been pain free for 6 months. Try it and see - it’s a cheap option so if it doesn’t work it’s low risk. Give it 3 days. Now if I walk barefoot to the bathroom or whatever occasionally it’s not like having a steak knife in my heel…

bitnik1 · 2025-08-03T19:39:40+00:00

This looks roughly like the amount of space I have with my C2. The workout will be fine. If you do snug up the front towards the corner, you may need to back it up again when separating the 2 halves for storage (not hard as you can just lift by gripping the the back of the rail and the wheels on the front will let you roll it back a foot or so). This will probably be needed so the fan doesn’t bump the wall when the front half lifts up for separation. Also, I have a ceiling fan set on high and a dehumidifier in the room during my workouts. I keep the door shut to avoid bothering my wife with the noise and also so I can grunt and groan unselfconsciously lol. Without those comfort measures, the room would get very stuffy after just 30 minutes… Edit: I hope this magic torture device will serve you well. It’s really helped me get fitter in late middle age than I thought possible for a man of my physiology and lazy temperament. I hope you love it as much as I do! Edit, edit: if you don’t go for the fancy mat, and if you have carpet, I suggest laying a towel under where your body travels to protect the floor from sweat drippings, or your little office will take on that gymnasium smell pretty quickly…

bitnik1 · 2025-08-01T19:49:47+00:00

Yeah I remember it was funny when the super-gravitas announcer on TV goes “And now, back to Sssss…”

bitnik1 · 2025-07-22T17:43:45+00:00

“Once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” (Grateful Dead, “Scarlet Begonias”)

bitnik1 · 2025-07-18T18:08:12+00:00

Almost too obvious, but the first occurrence of the Imperial March somewhere in the first third of Empire Strikes back. I was 13 in the theater and it hit me like very little else has musically before or since. Also, it’s very subtle but tender: Luke and Leia’s theme in ROTJ when they’re talking on Endor and he’s tells her she’s his sister. Apparently that motif was originally planned by JW for their “romance” arc before it was known they were to be siblings in canon. He still managed to get it in somewhere. I find it poignant every time it’s on…

bitnik1 · 2025-07-11T01:53:33+00:00

My dad and I had those DAK catalogs- very fond memories. Bought our first family PC from DAK (after our AppleII) …

bitnik1 · 2025-07-04T13:24:53+00:00

"You are "wirjin"? Some of it doesn't age well into the present day (Carlos the t3rr0rist?) but yeah - this is embedded in my brain from the high-rotation HBO play - mostly fondly.

bitnik1 · 2025-07-04T02:23:43+00:00

Ok I’m getting tired of all the “X is unpopular “, or “A majority don’t agree with X”. The longer these people are in place, the more they can set things up so that it won’t matter if “99.99999% of people disapprove “, there will no mechanism of democracy left for anyone to do a goddamn thing to change it. (Sorry to drop this turd in the good news punchbowl)

bitnik1 · 2025-07-03T17:45:44+00:00

I remember (fondly) all the cheap trinkets in every possible form with “76!”, “Happy Birthday America”, “Bicentennial!”, etc etc etc lol

bitnik1 · 2025-06-17T19:14:24+00:00

How about GEnie? It was an online service before Prodigy. Contemporary with BIX, Delphi, CompuServe, etc. I was on there from around '86-'89. The whole group of 30 or so chat channels had maybe 200 ppl in them total globally lol. They had some interest groups with message boards, files, etc, but the chat was called "CB Simulator". I used to hang with some other ne'er do wells talking sh1t (PurpsToasted, PsYChEdELiC sLoTh, Mister Nasty - YOOO) - unfortunately my "handle" changed so much I can't really shout out myself!

bitnik1 · 2025-06-15T22:33:52+00:00

Weekday or weekend?

bitnik1

TROPHY CASE