Smitty

Had to wait until my schedule cleared before I could commit to going. So when I went to register, 2 of the workshops I want to go to are sold out! Bummer. Really wanted to see Phil Rowley's 2 hr bit on stillwaters. They should have repeated Phils. Course, that will teach me for waiting till the last minute. Smitty

I understand what you're getting at, but please point out the 2 Flames forwards comparable to Crosby and Malkin. Not quite apples to apples, but hey, you can always hope. Smitty

Thanks Dax, although I'm not sure what you just said. I am familiar with bit torrent, are you saying you found a copy of the movie - extended edition (not special edition). Anyways, appreciate your help! Smitty

Compelling arguments. Nearly enough to sway my vote that's for sure. But I also think he was so way ahead of his time, his opposition was not as strong as today. Especially with that first expansion... Smitty

Well, I assume you're addressing the problem of fitting into one disc. That's not my main problem anymore, in term of whats done is done. The dvd recorder I used is very old and only accepts a certain disc, and so I needed to use 2 discs. The laserdisc player has been returned, and so I need to address the main issue, which is the editing part. Even if I had a dual layer, it doesn't solve the black scree thing as you wait for the laserdisc to play side B. No, I am sure once I get the movie file on my comp, it will easily fit onto a disc. The problem is the editing/formatting to get it to be one continous file. Mike [Edit: Noticed the other reply got deleted; too much advice from the 'dark side' perhaps? lol]

Hi, I'll try to shorten this story as much as possible. Got a buddy, one of his favorite movies is Dead Poets Society. Especially the directors cut - which, is not the special edition (readily available), its the extended edition only ever released on laserdisc. So, he's been feeling blue lately so I went out and got him a copy. Ok, so I have done about 2/3rds of the work here. Borrowed a laserdisc player, rigged it to a dvd recorder, and was able to transfer it. The disc was an RW, so I finalized the disc, in hopes it would work on any player. It does work on my regular dvd player. So far so good. Here's where I don't have any expertise. I had to span the recording over 2 discs, to maintain the highest quality. Plus, with laserdisc, as it flips from side A to side B, there is a blank, black screen while it prompts the viewer to wait. So I would like to know if there is a super easy way to get this recording onto one disc, smooth, uninterrupted play. Got to (1) eliminate the "please wait" transition 1/2 way thru the movie, and then (2) glue the 2nd disc to where the first disc left off, so that it plays exactly like a store bought dvd. Better yet, I am coming to the FF Expo this weekend; if any guru's out there want to do this, I would leave the discs with you and then (1) give you the alcohol bvg of your choice and (2) give you some cash to ship it back to me. Frankly, I still looking for a job, I would prefer not to dick around with this. I think it would be an easy job for someone who knows what they are doing. Thanks in Advance, Mike

Referring to the girlfriend? Smitty j/k

I noticed the question is not a debate about who is the best, but just your favorite. For a real sparky conversation, you should try "Who is the best ever?" Fortunately, my pick is both my favorite and best: Gretzky. Although I do listen to arguments for Orr or Howe (or even Messier). It was easy, since I grew up watching the Oilers. But for non Oilers, its still easy: Yzerman. 155 points one year that would have / should have garnered more attention, except for 2 blokes named Gretzky and Lemieux. Sakic is also very high on my list. Smitty P.S. I like Iginla too, but he's somewhat streaky. For sheer skill, Datsyuk is unbelievable. But boringly enough, I like Crosby and Ovechkin. Although Ovechkin is one dirty SOB. But still, there has been no other player since Richard that plays with as much sheer joy and passion (well, perhaps Messier). P.P.S. Lidstrom is constantly overlooked in terms of steady, consistent skill. P.P.P.S. Who the hell mis-spelled Coffey's name? LOL

RickR / Biker: I was going to bring the butter! But would you like me to stick to cake? I know cake is not normal for breakfast, but this isn't a normal breakfast, if you know what I mean. Plus it will have my Grandmother's special brown sugar icing. If you want. Otherwise, just say the word, and I'll bring something more...practical. (Biker, you can bring the butter, I better stick to something that isn't needed at 7:45 am!) Smitty

I was going to make so much fun of the Flames last night...until I checked the Oiler's score. I have learned now to do that. Only difference between the Oilers sucking and the Flames sucking is that one of those teams will make the playoffs. However, in consideration to keep the suspense, I won't spoil it for you and tell you which one... So Brian, in a 9-1 game, can we blame it on the refs? Perhaps they were responsible for only the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th goals or something? Smitty

Hope this link works in terms of pointing it exactly where I want it to; fish consumption guidelines in AB: http://www.albertaregulations.ca/fishingregs/ It is a good point; I think the regs should be clearer or updated on this point of reservoir impoundments on river systems that have warnings. To be safe, I would follow the consumption guidelines for that river. Recall too that, according to my understanding, mountain whitefish were more susceptible to the dioxin and furan thing due to pupl mills. Lake whitefish - even those coming from river system reservoirs shouldn't be too much of a concern - I could be wrong here - because of a mainly insect diet. Its more of a normal situation to be wary of eating pike and walleye. Smitty [Edit: Attached is word doc of consumption guidelines] AB_Fish_Consumption_Warning.doc

Been fishing the province all my life; have been selectively eating fish from many different lakes or rivers from AB. No third eye or limb sprouting from me yet. Pretty judgmental, don't you think? That's the problem with imagination; we imagine the fish are full of whatever we make up. However, I have never fished Devil's lake; I do hear its pretty soupy in there. Living in Edmonton, I must agree with you there, but what if I caught a brook trout near the headwaters? Same deal? Not really, I am sure you see the difference. Trout quality and taste varies from lake to lake. I have had no problems with perch or trout from Dolberg, as an example. We ate one out of Swan early in May and it was fine too. (A small hush comes over the reader as I have publicly admitted to eating trout). Ditto with the Ram; ever had a cutty out of there? Delicious. Course, everyone wants to shoot me now, probably assuming I caught it in the C&R section, not realizing (1) that's not where I usually fish, and/or (2) I ate said fish before C&R regs was enacted. Want a safe fish that blows a salmon out of the water? Try a brook trout for shore lunch out of Maligne. You'll take home a limit of 2, I guarantee that! Had the chance to go see the Monterey Bay Aquarium (near Pebble Beach California). It was awesome! They had a safe consumption guide; here's the web page. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_s..._resources.aspx And, http://seachoice.org/files/pdf/SEACHOICE_alertcard09.pdf I know that consumption guide doesn't really address fish eating issues locally out of this province, but its some info to peruse. The color chart hangs on my fridge. Want to really avoid the issue. Do what Sun does; lots and lots of perch (generally, not high enough on the chain or a big enough fish or not enough of a piscivore to accumulate toxins). Bottom line is that Kennedy, as per usual, likes to talk out his arse. Most of the fish in the province is edible; much of it protected by C&R and/or strict regulations and/or relatively inaccessible and/or lightly fished (think far north). And Robert, I have followed the consumption guidelines for the mercury thing. I have eaten fish (walleye), for example, out of Moose lake. No problems yet, but I kept the meals very small, and spaced widely apart. After reading Michael Pollan's books "In Defence of Food" and "Food Rules" I have come to realize there are, pardon the pun, bigger fish to fry when it comes to eating habits. Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Occasionally, its a good thing to actually harvest - yes, kill - your own food. Smitty P.S. And honestly, despite the impression from above, I'm not a big fan of fish! lol I'm more of a beef, chicken, and pork kinda guy, but darn it, the doc says keep eating more of the stuff that swims...

I was going to bring cake. But I'll bring anything else Rickr needs. (But I'll need directions to his house, if ya want to pm me, Rick). Looking forward to meeting you Calgary cowpokes. Smitty P.S. Do your very best to skip the Oiler jokes, or...at least make them original.

Read the paragraph again. It makes sense grammatically. The key word is "or".

Ummm...you meant Sundance, yes? Hey, it looks like I'll be down next week for the FF Expo. Can I still show up for breakfast? Smitty

Sun: Its not necessarily apathy. People do care. But you remind me of me in my first year of teaching; best way to turn someone off a given topic is to hammer away until burnout is reached. now, of course, its natural for you to expect adults to have a little more appetite than a 13 yr old trying to learn algebra, but I think my point is valid. You've been a massive and productive contributor, especially on this topic, but its kinda like getting forced fed a delicious steak. The steak is indeed delicious (the analogy is that GW and science corruption and reductionism is truly an important issue), but a steak is best enjoyed bite by bite. You don't agree? Fair enough, but everyone here knows your passion for this. Why not lobby the mods for a special forum dealing with just GW, if you're looking to get the info out? Do you have your own website yet? Seriously, you should consider it. Your influence on FFC can only be so much. A blog - you're a knowledgable guy, that should be on your radar... Just saying there is an art to this... Smitty If you think I am totally missing the boat, again fair enough, I might have my head stuck in my rear end. But I bet it would be an interesting poll to put up, including a choice like "Who think GW science is an important enough subject and yet is just a little tired of it". Course, I the alternative is I could just get a life too, and reduce the time I spend reading this stuff...

Sun: I thought one of your New Year's resolutions was to take every urge to start a climate change topic and substitute it with the topic of "Why are Blue Footed Boobies feet blue?" Smitty P.S. Just sayin' that I think every forum may reach a point where topic exhaustion sets in...

[edited, since my previous comment made my point] My best friend is Philipino and his sister has cousin helping her out with her child. So yeah, Philipino's are viable alternative. Obviously, it depends on how many hours per week and expected duties. My sister has one too, I'll edit my comment again if I find out how much she pays.

I strongly urge you to tell your tale to the media; both print and tv. These guys don't like bad press - usually. Also, most local tv stations have a trouble shooter reporter that love these kinds of stories. For sure this warrants a letter to the editor. Anyways, I sympathize with you the whole way, I do urge to go beyond the FFC to share your story. Of course, up to you though... Smitty P.S. Absolutely ridiculous that our gov't and the CRTC doesn't allow more competition into this country. Canada has one of the highest rates for tv, phone and internet, and its directly caused by our protectionism. Same thing I saw today about not allowing foreign competition in our airline industry.

-sigh- No, Kris, once again, its how and what you communicate. Mostly how. Your continual challenges in realizing this will lead to further frustration on your part. That's unfortunate, but what can the FFC community do(?), except tolerate you, then ban you, then tolerate you, then ban you. Ask yourself, why does this happen to me? How come I (Smitty) or Sundance, or literally hundreds of other FFC members don't seem to have too many problems functioning as a contributing member here? If you come up with some answers to those questions that entail a moderately lengthy discussion about self responsibility, you will have learned something about yourself. Smitty P.S. Reminds me of the kid who keeps thinking they're misunderstood, and wondering why do the teachers pick on them, not realizing of course that behavior, attitude, responsibility, their ability to get along - or lack of any of those aforementioned things - in the same sandbox with other kids just might have something to do with it.

Sun, why the determined need to somehow tie US's victory to Canada? Can't we just let. it. go.? Or, how about this sentence; "Still...without US trading 1 billion dollars of goods with us daily...the Canadian economy would struggle to function." I mean golly gee, wow, the US won because they adapted some Canadian concepts. Big deal, and we're flattered. By the way, what does that say about us, who, upon realizing the level of hockey instruction in Europe and Russia in the 70's in regards to skating, passing, shooting, and team play was eclipsing our own, decided to "borrow" concepts employed by European and Russian teams. I remember attending hockey schools where our instructors where giving credit to European and Russian play, systems, and drills. Or, as the English say, "how dare the rest of the world play football! (soccer)." Or, finally, will we try to strike down as hollow when China beats us (inevitably) in a curling match (their women's program is completely dedicated to building a world class team that plays over here the majority of the year). Of course their skill will have come by playing in the best tournaments in the world - right here in our own backyard. Countries having been 'borrowing', 'stealing', 'plagiarizing' winning sports systems since the dawn of frickin' time. Get over it. Of course, I should too; the 1994 Rangers had 7 ex-Oilers on their team, so I like to think of that as the Oilers 6th cup! Smitty The US fully deserved their victory and the credit for playing so well. Kudos to them.

Reh: lol. You should try reading what I said; not apologizing to anyone, and I don't speak for all Canadians; I'm just correcting your misrepresentation of the US team. But go ahead, continue getting your back up. Smitty

Don't worry about it Rickr, surely you realize a couple of things: 1) Canadians are insecure, 2) Hockey is our passion, Beat us in hockey and you get 1+2+defeat= tres, tres bitterness. Smitty I agree with our local radio talk show host: sucks that we lost, but it will definitely boost hockey in the US, especially considering that the US plays host next year.

Don't know what tourney you were watching Reh, but saying the US was a distant 3rd is blatantly false, or at least not giving enough credit where credit was due. The US was a strong skating, hard working team, and they deserved their win. Smitty

NOTE: I HAVEN'T READ THIS THREAD, HAVEN'T READ THE ORGINAL POST, HAVEN'T READ THE REPLIES. The reason is, I am crossing my fingers, and hoping I am the first person to take note: blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, fish handling is poor, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda fish are on redds, whaddya stupid or something, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, my ethics are superior to yours, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, how dare you post this, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, what do you think this site is, and who do you think you are,blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, yeah well I'm rubber you're glue, everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, where are the mods, DAMMIT, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, I thought you were banned, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, yeah well, I got another user name so take that, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda, b*tch, b*tch, b*itch, Dave's mom can't bake a cake to save her life... Did I win? Was I the first? Oh pretty please... [tongue firmly in cheek] Smitty