Archived: Insiders Thread

[zed0118]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I’ll give a brief synopsis but, I don’t want to derail this thread to too much. Sometimes I think it’s just nice for a diversion from all this stuff that we read about day in and day out.

I don’t want to give locations because of personal privacy but, when I venture into the “wilderness” or *what’s left of it* ……. I always take the time to appreciate all aspects of nature.

One day while I was outs and about, I found “Maya” on a ridge at about the 3,000 -3,500 ft. level. She was but a wee young thing (several weeks old) and had gotten herself tangled up in what was the remnants of an old high mountain pasture. Specifically, she got hopelessly entangled in a ball of barbed wire and surely would have died from either starvation or septic shock from her deep lacerations.

After seeing her plight, I went home and got some gloves, barbed wire cutters and a tube of Neosporin and trekked on back up de mountain. She was obviously still there but, no longer struggling because of exhaustion. Her sister was but 10 ft. away patiently sitting by her and protecting her from other roaming critters.

I’m kinda good with dem animals so, long story short, I cut her out of the wire entanglement and copiously applied Neosporin all over her wounds while her sis was watching. Both of them never forgot my intervention and somehow installed my scent in their memories…..permanently.

Flash forward several years…………..
I kinda watch over them during tough times, i.e. fire, the current drought in SoCal. Maya had two pups earlier this year and her sister had one. At least that’s what survived of each original litter, I assume. So now they are a family of five.

Every so often, I enjoy giving people an update pic.
The pic I just posted was one I shot from last weekend.

P-man, I salute you.

[jknuss01]

Thanks for the story

If you ever get a chance... how about a "family" photo?

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I’ll give a brief synopsis but, I don’t want to derail this thread to too much. Sometimes I think it’s just nice for a diversion from all this stuff that we read about day in and day out.

I don’t want to give locations because of personal privacy but, when I venture into the “wilderness” or *what’s left of it* ……. I always take the time to appreciate all aspects of nature.

One day while I was outs and about, I found “Maya” on a ridge at about the 3,000 -3,500 ft. level. She was but a wee young thing (several weeks old) and had gotten herself tangled up in what was the remnants of an old high mountain pasture. Specifically, she got hopelessly entangled in a ball of barbed wire and surely would have died from either starvation or septic shock from her deep lacerations.

After seeing her plight, I went home and got some gloves, barbed wire cutters and a tube of Neosporin and trekked on back up de mountain. She was obviously still there but, no longer struggling because of exhaustion. Her sister was but 10 ft. away patiently sitting by her and protecting her from other roaming critters.

I’m kinda good with dem animals so, long story short, I cut her out of the wire entanglement and copiously applied Neosporin all over her wounds while her sis was watching. Both of them never forgot my intervention and somehow installed my scent in their memories…..permanently.

Flash forward several years…………..
I kinda watch over them during tough times, i.e. fire, the current drought in SoCal. Maya had two pups earlier this year and her sister had one. At least that’s what survived of each original litter, I assume. So now they are a family of five.

Every so often, I enjoy giving people an update pic.
The pic I just posted was one I shot from last weekend.

Wow... that's pretty phenomenal Penton-Man!!! I consider myself a lover of nature as well. However, I have never been fortunate enough to experience, what I would consider, a life altering bonding experience such as the one you describe here. I suddenly find myself with a totally new respect for you as a human being... instead of just a source of information.

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

Petra, Penton-Man has a couple of healthy looking coyotes as regular visitors near his house (I think he feeds them - so they like him). One of his "girls" may have had some pups.

On a personal note, I think Coyotes have adapted really well to humans in the environment. They've even started to be seen occasionally by folks in my part of Maryland.

Near me we have seen black bears. My daughter who lives in Bethesda, MD had a black bear in her backyard!

[MerrickG]

Penton, paidgeek, or any other insider,

Is there anything bluray-wise going on this week that we should be excited about and looking forward to hearing? Any announcements? Anything?

Thanks

[Deciazulado]

Pixar hits Blu-ray?

[akbungle]

Originally Posted by Seretur

I got bits and pieces of it since I joined the forum, but that's a lovely story, Penton.

It made my evening tonight.

+1 Quite sweet.

[WickyWoo]

Near me we have seen black bears. My daughter who lives in Bethesda, MD had a black bear in her backyard!

They're godless killing machines, they'll eat your book as soon as look at you

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

They're godless killing machines, they'll eat your book as soon as look at you

Well Wicky there bears and there bears. My fave bear be the Kodiak.
Kodiak bears are not carnivores but rather omnivorous me thinks.

There was a Kodiak bear that lived at the National Zoo (on Connecticut Avenue in D.C.) that I became friendly with back in the day when I was getting my expensive education.

The bear’s name was Kiska.
She’s probably passed on to bear heaven by now (any locals know?) but I will forever remember her.

[Dalese]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well Wicky there bears and there bears. My fave bear be the Kodiak.
Kodiak bears are not carnivores but rather omnivorous me thinks.

They're omnivores. That means they will eat you, your clothes, your tent, the beanie weenies cooking on your stove, the cherry pie, etc...

A carnivore will drag you out of the sleeping bag to eat you. An omnivore eats both you and the bag.

[WickyWoo]

Penton, I'm shocked you don't watch Colbert

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherl...l_video=118639

Watch the clip starting at 1:25 remaining

[Penton-Man]

This, courtesy of a PM sent to me from someone who cares about dem animals.
Alas, it appears that Kiska did indeed pass on.

See the last note at the bottom of the linked page…..entitled “Fun Fact”.
I don’t understand why they call it a “Fun Fact” though.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/publicatio...fact-brown.cfm

Oh well, I wonder what entrance paidgeek is going to try to breech tomorrow over at Sony Pictures.
Maybe I’ll go in as the telephone repair man.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Oh well, I wonder what entrance paidgeek is going to try to breech tomorrow over at Sony Pictures.
Maybe I’ll go in as the telephone repair man.

Any chance of this mess getting worked out anytime soon? The strike in '88 went on for like 22 weeks if I remember correctly. I'd hate to relive that all over again. Awful for everyone.

[Azumi]

Question to Paidgeek,

As it stands now, the format war is usually associated with the US, because the hi-def formats benefitted from an earlier start and the size of the market is much bigger.

However, if we look at the key international markets, it's not uncommon for Blu-ray to enjoy a 3-1 or 4-1 advantage over HD DVD on disc sales (and let's not even talk about Japan), and the rapid growth of flat screen sales might help those markets to catch up some of the lost time.

So my question is the following: today, to what extent do the main foreign markets play a role in the format war?

Do Sony, Warner, Universal and the other companies take into account the BD/HD sales ratios abroad, and the actual/projected growth in those markets?

I'm asking this question because the BD marketing seems to have stepped up a notch over the past few weeks. The hi-def formats were already marketed with 300, but that is nothing compared to Spider-man, where the BD editions are heavily marketed in the TV ads and enjoy an uncommon product placement in the endcaps at the entrances of the stores...

[sphdle1]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well Wicky there bears and there bears. My fave bear be the Kodiak.
Kodiak bears are not carnivores but rather omnivorous me thinks.

There was a Kodiak bear that lived at the National Zoo (on Connecticut Avenue in D.C.) that I became friendly with back in the day when I was getting my expensive education.

The bear’s name was Kiska.
She’s probably passed on to bear heaven by now (any locals know?) but I will forever remember her.

And I always thought Kodiak's with just Workboots...

[jsb_hburg]

To affect the Nielsen's better, should we purchase the box set or individual titles that comprise the box set?

[Kirsty_Mc]

Hiya,

If there is a writers strike, and it lasts for a while like the last one did, then at some point the studios will begin to run out of scripts which will affect the production of new movies, shows etc... The result possibly being that they will have a ratch round their back catalogue items as a revenue stream to tide them over. Possibly eying up the new HD formats as a target as most will already have their chosen titles on SD DVD, and an upgrade would sell.

What is the likelihood of the studios releasing a good many back catalogue items.

Also what is the likelihood of studios which support a somewhat unsophisticated format from smelling the coffee and grabbing a bit of the Blu pie.

Every cloud has a Sil... Blu lining???

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

Any chance of this mess getting worked out anytime soon? The strike in '88 went on for like 22 weeks if I remember correctly. I'd hate to relive that all over again. Awful for everyone.

I’m not optimistic for any rapid resolution. The consensus from people I’ve spoken with around “the town” is either a two or five months strike.

Worst case scenario, if it lasts until next June or so then you’ve probably got the actors (SAG) and the directors (DGA) getting directly involved as their contracts expire.

The only upside I can see out of this for Blu-ray forum members that are not in any business even remotely effected by this strike is that this thing will effect TV shows and their content (i.e. reruns) much more immediately in the eyes of the public than motion pictures. Rather than watching boring TV reruns, or who knows what “filler”, perhaps…… just perhaps Joe Sixpack will start to get more and more interested in renting and buying movies for his home entertainment and then by extension become more interested in the Blu-ray format with the holiday purchase of a player and discs.

If that scenario holds, maybe this whole mess will at least hasten a bit the end of the high-def format war.

[JBlacklow]

Originally Posted by Seretur

I got bits and pieces of it since I joined the forum, but that's a lovely story, Penton.

It made my evening tonight.

+1.

It was one of those Things That Make Me Go Awwwwww.

[Slapper]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I’m not optimistic for any rapid resolution. The consensus from people I’ve spoken with around “the town” is either a two or five months strike.

Worst case scenario, if it lasts until next June or so then you’ve probably got the actors (SAG) and the directors (DGA) getting directly involved as their contracts expire.

The only upside I can see out of this for Blu-ray forum members that are not in any business even remotely effected by this strike is that this thing will effect TV shows and their content (i.e. reruns) much more immediately in the eyes of the public than motion pictures. Rather than watching boring TV reruns, or who knows what “filler”, perhaps…… just perhaps Joe Sixpack will start to get more and more interested in renting and buying movies for his home entertainment and then by extension become more interested in the Blu-ray format with the holiday purchase of a player and discs.

If that scenario holds, maybe this whole mess will at least hasten a bit the end of the high-def format war.

Find good in bad. I like!
BTW: I really appreciated your Coyote story. Warm and fuzzy.

Anyhoo. I have a concern about the upcoming Panny 1.1 player and I was wondering if an insider, possibly Kjack, would be willing to help me out. I have done my research on Profile 1.1 and what that brings to the table, but I have also found (what I consider to be) a potential problem with this player, in particular. According to the specs of this DMP-BD30 Panasonic Player, this player DOES NOT have an on-board HD-audio decoder, but it can output the HD-audio via bitstream to an external decoder/receiver. The problem I see is with the PIP content's audio track. As far as what info I've been able to gather, it would seem that when outputting audio via bitstream the player WILL NOT output the secondary audio track. So, if we want to listen to the HD-audio track AND watch/listen to the PIP content (simultaneously) from a Blu-ray disc, then we would not be able to do that with this player, correct? If I am correct, then my next question is: Why would Panasonic do this?

Please don't tell me they cut corners so they could be the first company to have a 1.1 player at retail.