ozoneocean wrote:
The original dollars were all coins of course! We have Spain to thank for the origin of the “dollar”.

Im prtty sure that the tipping culture in the US keeps the dollar bill alive. That and strip clubs.

Which is why they get so greasy and sweaty and won't work in a vending machine.

We kissed goodbye to pound notes in 1983. I miss 'em, but tipping has never been much of a thing here. Not sure about strip clubs.

After watching the Incredibles with my nieces, I decided to look up insurance companies to see if they operated like Insuricare in the movie. Insuricare used every loophole in the book to keep from paying any claims, even if the claim was legitimate.


From what I've read so far, the movie is not too far from the truth…

Ironscarf wrote:
We kissed goodbye to pound notes in 1983. I miss 'em, but tipping has never been much of a thing here. Not sure about strip clubs.

As in stopped printing them or collecting each one and burning it? There were still a few in circulation I encountered on my visit to Britain in 2006. But my friend got a bunch of silver notes dating back to the 1930's to pay for refueling a car. (they don't say Federal Reserve Note across the top are a slightly different green and a bit larger than later currency. Paper currency before WWII was all slightly larger than later bills) .


Back in the 1990's World War II and Depression coins were not uncommon and Bicentennial 1976 stuff could be found in just about every cash drawer. US cash drawers did have a slot on the end for dollar and half dollar coins. It's just that it had devolved into a "junk' drawer with keys and paper coin rolls in it. Old timers would point this out to newbies. Back from the days when Kennedy and Eisenhower dollar/half dollar coins were still used.


The cashiers who don't know their currency are the ones you can hand a laser printed copy of a hundred dollar bill too and get $99 in change but they won't accept a Jefferson $2 bill or a Susan B. Anthony dollar.

I haven't seen a pound note since the mid eighties.



https://youtu.be/eW1Ibql101E

A video from todays outing.

bravo1102 wrote:

As in stopped printing them or collecting each one and burning it? There were still a few in circulation I encountered on my visit to Britain in 2006.

Destroyed quite quickly as I recall. They seemed to disappear within weeks and like Genejoke, I haven't seen one in 30 years. You must have landed in Brigadoon!

—

Sad news to report. Remember the ornamental carp in the inflatable pool? They are still there. Well, some of them are. Three have been taken, allegedy by a fox, but I suspect the window cleaner.

—

Cool storm drain Genejoke.

In the sewer where you belong! Hahahaha!
That was great Genejoke. Why were you down there? Escaping from alien zombies?

I think it was the annual Stranglers Fan Club outing.

Lucky he didn't find anything golden brown floating down there.

So exhausted…

I had two batches of exams to mark for Wednesday. Yesterday I decided to just sit down and work through all the remaining exams for one of the two classes. Then today I found out that the exams for the other course are actually due for tomorrow. So basically I've been marking exams for two days solid and I still haven't done any work on my final essay due in a week.

I did find time for an episode of And Then There Were None yesterday, though. It has a dark-haired dramatic broody handsome man, which is pretty much my favourite thing.

Just exploring and doing some photography.

A pivture my mate Dave took doing some light painting.

That's a great image.

HippieVan wrote:
I did find time for an episode of And Then There Were None yesterday, though. It has a dark-haired dramatic broody handsome man, which is pretty much my favourite thing.

So you're a “Heathcliff” sort of girl then Hippie? ;3

One of my favourite musicians is currently running a pledgemusic campaign for his forth coming album. Why am I telling you this? Well one of the options is to have a personal song written and recorded for you, which I went for and the track was sent to me last night. The song is about my battle with anxiety and depression. The song is called Dandelion and is going to be given away as a pledger exclusive on the campaign from later today. I'm not usually one to plug things so shamelessly buy Paul is a great bloke and genuinely independent.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/paul-miro

ozoneocean wrote:

HippieVan wrote:
I did find time for an episode of And Then There Were None yesterday, though. It has a dark-haired dramatic broody handsome man, which is pretty much my favourite thing.

So you're a “Heathcliff” sort of girl then Hippie? ;3

Haha! Absolutely. With the exception of Heathcliffe himself, who is an unbearable character.

HippieVan wrote:

ozoneocean wrote:

HippieVan wrote:
I did find time for an episode of And Then There Were None yesterday, though. It has a dark-haired dramatic broody handsome man, which is pretty much my favourite thing.

So you're a “Heathcliff” sort of girl then Hippie? ;3

Haha! Absolutely. With the exception of Heathcliffe himself, who is an unbearable character.

Cirhan Hinds.(among others) Great darkly handsome brooding kind of actor who did all those Gothic romance parts in his younger days. Just get those wonderful A&E romance boxed sets and have at it

Nah, Rufus Sewell.
If I was a woman that's who I'd go for.

Why is it the fashion for people in modern historical and historical fantasy film and TV shows to always be dressed in browns, greys, and blacks?
It's so stupid!
It looks so dull and boring.

All through time people dressed to show off in bright colours or augmented their bodies with jewellery, hair, metal, bone, and feathers. The history of civilisation, culture and commerce is tied to dyes, fabrics and furs.

I think that basically the people working in the costume departments of these productions are morons.

It's marginally better than back in the 1950s where everyone seemed to be wearing bright fluro pinks, disgusting pastels and mustard yellow with gold lame trim en-masse.


SPEAKING of which! There was a theatrical queen's type dress up for auction the other day on this great eBay store I often use, clearly of 1950s origin, probably from Pinewood studios or even Hollywood. It was in good shape and a good style but included glaring hot pink accessories and gold lame trim on the shoulders with a gold chain at the front.

Surprisingly it may be a relic of black and white film. You'd be surprised how often older costumes are reused. In BW film you just got light and dark, hence a dull palette in color. I noticed this in a historical film from the 1950s which reused preexisting 18th century sets without repainting and they were monochromatic. It looked really bad in technicolor considering how bright and cheery real 18th century decor was. Look at Williamsburg and its museums of American furniture. Heck bright wallpaper was a big thing.


Especially if imported! Wow that's rich opulence! And a genuine imitation Japanese lacquer chest from Italy!


By the way the gold lame shows up as real gold cloth on screen. So it represents something much richer and historic on a tight costume budget.

ozoneocean wrote:
Nah, Rufus Sewell.
If I was a woman that's who I'd go for.

Goddamn.

The funny thing is that in real life I much prefer guys who are soft-spoken and good-humoured (although I still dig dark hair). I guess the whole dramatic broody thing really only holds any appeal when you don't have to actually deal with it.

—

My dog Buddy is sick - we're not sure how bad yet. We took him in to the vet because he was being oddly lethargic and they found a mass in his abdomen. The reality is that he's 14, deaf and arthritic. Even if this doesn't turn out to be something really bad he probably won't be with us much longer. Really sucks. I've always kind of felt like he was the core of our family.

Dark and brooding? Syd gets my vote.



My thoughts are with you on the pet situation Hippie. We had a siamese cat like that. He died over 30 years ago, but is still regularly remembered at family gatherings. This usually begins with “Do you remember the time when…” and ends with good vibes all round.

Ironscarf wrote:
Dark and brooding? Syd gets my vote.

https://anglophiliaisanstd.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/tumblr_kti52cjgpa1qa1iiqo1_500.jpg

My thoughts are with you on the pet situation Hippie. We had a siamese cat like that. He died over 30 years ago, but is still regularly remembered at family gatherings. This usually begins with “Do you remember the time when…” and ends with good vibes all round.

Thanks scarf! The thoughts are much appreciated. We've been spending lots of time lately reminiscing about what an amazing dog he's been. I was actually afraid of big dogs when we adopted him after being attacked by one(we went to the shelter looking for a small dog). He was playing in the yard when we went to see him, and he stood there so calmly waiting for me to pick up his ball so I could throw it for him - little me nervously reaching for it, afraid he would snatch it and bite my hand. He was such a gentle dog I got over my fear almost right away.

I've started taking Russian lessons one-on-one and my teacher is super awesome so far. He's always coming up with creative ways to help me learn, telling me little jokes and telling me how great I am. It's really fun, actually, although I hate making mistakes and it's kind of inevitable when learning a language. But he also knew me before this so he has a pretty good insight into my weird anxieties that might hold me back - one of the first things he told me was to curb my perfectionism, which I should probably just get tattooed on myself. (Plus he's pretty handsome which never hurts.)

HippieVan wrote:
… one of the first things he told me was to curb my perfectionism, which I should probably just get tattooed on myself.

If you do, make sure they spell it slightly wrong, just to really make the point. I must curb my pefrectionism, for example.

So, a nice-to-do suggestion for upcoming DD improvements: An “oh yeah” button for posts, ala Facebook's “like”.

Because so many posts ring true and it would be fun to acknowledge them without being redundant.

ayesinback wrote:
So, a nice-to-do suggestion for upcoming DD improvements: An “oh yeah” button for posts, ala Facebook's “like”.

Because so many posts ring true and it would be fun to acknowledge them without being redundant.

iirc that was on our list of suggestions already! I don't think it's happening in this round of fixes though. But it's a really good idea.

I want like buttons on everything.
And include actual Facebook likes for the comics and newsposts, Quackcasts etc.
We need it!


I had a meta, meta, meta dream the other night.
It started out with me musing about an idea for a TV show (in the dream):
-So what would it be like if he flimflam merchants who led people astray and took their money with their fake cancer cures and bulshit evangelicals like the Bakers and Jimmy Swagarts of the world were actually demons?
Not talking the crazy bastards who really believe in their own mythology, no, I mean the cynical bastards who know very well they're conning people.
What if they were literal demons in human form and I could spot them and get them to stop?
Just by looking them in the eyes it would break the spell they had over people and no matter what they said or did after that no one would be fooled anymore.

Next thing I know I'm in a situation where I'm helping out this poor woman who found herself mixed up in a dodgy real-estate scam. She's working extra shifts as a nurse trying to pay off the money that shoe owes, thinking that she'll make it all back. I go with her to the office of the guy in charge, look at him in the eye and it's all over- the office closes, his staff go home, he sublimates to his true form and slinks off. The woman is left broke and sad, but relieved.

Then I'm in the TV version of the show idea:
I've gathered a group of misfits around me, friends with weird hair and sexy punk clothes, we walk the streets like a gang looking to fight for justice. With our individual powers we can see the elemental evil spirits possessing people in rival gangs who we fight. The fights are vicious, we have to beat the possessed people to a pulp or else they will kills us, but if you manage to damage them enough then the spirit creature escapes from their body in a glowing form- maybe a little bird, maybe a snake with a human head and spider legs- then we have to catch and crush it before it can get away… then take the poor ex-possessed person to hospital…
That was violent and hardcore, it left me exhausted.

Next thin I know I'm in the house of a bunch of people who love the show and want to be in it! The uncle of the guy who I'm apparently friends with wants to represent me as my manager… Then we bond over a shared love of 1980s toys and I show him my highly detailed inked Robotech drawings and Valkyrie jet toy that I have from when I was a kid and he loves it (In reality I never had any of those things).

If I'd have slept longer instead of waking up with an agonising growing pain like ache in my lower leg I suspect that dream would have kept going forever!

An “oh yeah” button and a “Hell yeah!” button.

but do we need a WTF button?

Genejoke wrote:
but do we need a WTF button?

Maybe make it polite and specific, “please clarify” and “oh dear!” “Golly!”