The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[FutureCEO]

Yikes, did your son suddenly became a PhD in Rose Studies?

Throughout the whole first half of the movie, I thought 'just sink already'.

 

[Cesar R M]

For some odd reason, everyone of your pictures have an odd yellow tint to them as if there were almost aged on purpose or sepia tinted.

Perhaps your white balance is off on your camera?

What kind of camera are you using?

That is very usual when the autometering of a camera has to fight 2 different types of lightning (sodium vapor, normal sun light, incandecent or other types ) at same time.

 

[unkadug]

That is very usual when the autometering of a camera has to fight 2 different types of lightning (sodium vapor, normal sun light, incandecent or other types ) at same time.

Perhaps Gabe has Sodium Vapor lighting in her house and is using a LED flash on her camera.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Too bad you couldn't go into the first port, especially since you were to go to Margaritaville! I'm a big Jimmy Buffett fan so that would have been a stop for me too. Sounds like you took it in stride though. The taco bar sounds great. What cruise line and ship did you cruise on?

We had two rooms on the Carnival Breeze.

 

[FutureCEO]

I've seen maybe 2 episodes of that new show. What I've seen so far, I really enjoy. It's a little hard to get beyond the decision the writers took about casting the queen as a younger, attractive woman (Elizabeth Hurley), and completely changing up her personality as well. Regardless, It all does make for a fun show, and I enjoy the scandalous behavior of the family. I like the filming as well; there does seem to be a quality in the sets, some location shots, the lighting, etc. It's an attractive show.

The prince is from the Lion and Witch and Wardrobe movie, High King Peter. I had to look up Elizabeth Hurley and realized she was in Austin Powers but for 49. Still has it going on.

 

[Cesar R M]

Throughout the whole first half of the movie, I thought 'just stink already'.

speaking of "unsinkable". As far I know.. the Titanic had one of the most "sinking" resistant compartment systems.

The issue was:
a) cheap metal were used in the ribbets and some panels (they broke easily on hit, if they were high quality, the damage would have been less extensive).
b) the angle of the hit, if they had managed to keep the engines on at full speed (and not reverse) the ship might have turned enough to barely dodge. Instead they did reverse + turn (the rudder needed the impulse and flow of some of the engines to turn more efficiently)
Also they could have used full back power and attack the ship directly, causing only 2compartments to be completely damaged, instead of the 4-5.
c) some "automated" doors didnt close completely... and the water managed to move thru the funnel system once it invaded the engine area.

 

[JenniferS]

Yikes, did your son suddenly became a PhD in Rose Studies?

The kid can discourse for hours about most Oscar winning films, and a wide array of classic literature.
He is a natural sponge, who spends hours every day researching whatever catches his fancy at that particular moment. He writes plays, essays, and articles for fun.

You have no idea how heart-broken I was when he had his breakdown after my mom's passing. This kid was going places! Every teacher and every principal he ever had was convinced they would be answering to him some day.

He mentioned last week that he would like to start some counselling. I did take him twice about three years ago (before my mom died), but he refused to participate. With a waiting list of at least 80 kids, the counsellor reluctantly cut him loose.

Not sure what next year holds for him either. He's either going to college ... or I kill him. Whichever.

 

[JenniferS]

For some odd reason, everyone of your pictures have an odd yellow tint to them as if there were almost aged on purpose or sepia tinted.

Perhaps your white balance is off on your camera?

What kind of camera are you using?

I think she's using an iPhone, if memory serves.

 

[Gabe1]

Not being in education or having any children, I'm probably the least qualified here to comment on this. But, I am, anyway!

I thought back to some books I read as a kid, and some were tear-jerkers, for sure. However, I think that perhaps a combination of happy books and intense books would be find for kids. The reason is that life isn't always pretty, and by shielding kids from all the less-than-happy aspects of life, doesn't really contribute to their emotional growth. So, my vote would be for a "balance" of both type of books for kids to read.

Yeah, I was never in a hurry for my kids to experience in sadness and depressing topics. There was time for all that later. I was the same way when my DD was in 4th grade, I told her next to nothing about 9/11 and kept her away from the TV. I gave her a brief war type explanation. Years later she knew more, don't think it hurt her growth. My DS on the other hand we spoke quite a bit, 5 years made a big difference in being able to process that type of information.

 

[JenniferS]

You were up before me, I was up at 545. I fell so far behind in my laundry. I had ten loads. I can't wait until the clothes get smaller, jeans and sweatshirts take up so much room. Need summer. I took it all to the laundromat when they opened at 7am and was home with everything but the whites folded and sorted. Done.

Then I celebrated my Birthday the rest of the day.

Happy Birthday. Looks like you had a great day.
And of all the housework out there, laundry is the least egregious.

 

[donaldtoo]

Really? People sell jerky on the roadside in Texas? Now that's something I've never seen!

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I was thinking of rereading them too, but that means digging them out of the boxes they are in which are somewhere in the basement. It might be easier to just watch the movies, those are good too. Where are you going in Hawaii? It is so beautiful there.

Oahu. Five days in Waikiki and then 9 at Aulani. Going in June. I'm starting to get my reading list together.

 

[Gabe1]

Terrific way to get your iron requirement as well. Even back then there was multi-tasking!

Ha! True and a little Lead for flavoring back then.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Oahu. Five days in Waikiki and then 9 at Aulani. Going in June. I'm starting to get my reading list together.

Sounds great, a lot of us are going to be on vacation in June so we will have a lot to share. You will definitely have to report back about your trip, especially the Aulani! Make sure you check out the North Shore and the Eastern side of the island. Lanikai and Kailua are great beaches, there is a fun place to pick up lunch near the Kailua beach. I can't remember the name, it was a green building though. Hubby and I picked up huge sandwiches and then walked along a trail to the beach.

 

[Gabe1]

For some odd reason, everyone of your pictures have an odd yellow tint to them as if there were almost aged on purpose or sepia tinted.

Perhaps your white balance is off on your camera?

What kind of camera are you using?

Ha! Camera? It is from my iPhone. Not likely to ever see me tote a camera to take photos for our daily foodie pictures here.

 

[Gabe1]

The worst class I ever took was a World Literature class. The professor was an atheist and almost the only thing he did every class was bash Christianity. The professor can believe anything he wants but he shouldn't have tried to indoctrinate the class with his beliefs when it had absolutely nothing to do with what we were reading. Rather than lecture on what we were supposed to be learning about he would just go on these long rants about how stupid Christians are. We even had to watch a Christopher Hitchens video that was completely irrelevant to the class. I would often speak up in class and disagree with him and thankfully that didn't affect my grade. I have to at least give the professor credit for that.

My worst was Bible as Literature. It was painful. The lady was a tad nutty.

 

[FutureCEO]

OMG worst goal ever!!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

OMG worst goal ever!!!!

Are you watching the NCAA National Championship too? That was crazy that he dropped it in his own goal!

 

[JenniferS]

And these are the conversations I have with Adopted Son:

 

[donaldtoo]

Okay, I did say "discuss", not discourse; but here you go - Son #1's take on "Did Rose change?"

The question of whether or not Rose "changed" as a person is more complicated than it seems, because in this case "changed" is not tantamount to "developed as a character". Character development refers to a marked shift in a character's motivation or behaviour that has a clear and identifiable catalyst within the narrative. Rose's motivation and behaviour, however, did not undergo a shift so much as simply become externalized. And even then, while Rose seems to romanticize herself after the fact as having been "trapped" and forced to be at all times the picture of elegance, composure and restraint, this is at odds with scenes as early as her first lunch aboard the Titanic, in which she mocks Bruce Ismay and blows smoke in her mother's face. In fact, she has almost no interactions with her mother in which she is not insubordinate or downright rude, which kind of robs "Oh, mother, SHUT UP!" of some of its bite. Still, it's hard to argue that Rose is not repressed by her environment; being an intelligent, perceptive and ambitious woman would do little for her in the 1910s, and her mother outright admits that she's being married off to Cal because it's economically advantageous and that she feels they have no other "cards left to play". In any case, it's clear that deep-down Rose always was the adventurous, career-driven woman she became later in life.

But the fact is, many people have unrealized potential, or dreams and ambitions that are never acted upon or even addressed. Rose was in an arranged marriage that, if she'd gone through with it, surely would've robbed her of the opportunity to fully realize her autonomy. The question of whether not Jack Dawson was the catalyst for her becoming a more assertive person and escaping her fate is an important one. Rose takes to Jack immediately because he lives a carefree live of travel and adventure. More than that, he treats her with respect, expresses interest in her ideas and opinions, and challenges her perception of the world and her role in it. Jack's function within the narrative is to help Rose break her metaphorical chains, and this is difficult to dispute. Saving Jack is the motivator for many of her boldest actions (which are also her most violent actions, but that's another debate), and in their last conversation, he encourages her to live a long, fulfilling life, with or without him. However, that's not where the scene ends. Jack dies, and Rose, seeing the lifeboat that has come to save her rowing away, jumps into the water, swims a short distance, takes a whistle from a corpse and blows it repeatedly to alert the lifeboat of her presence, despite being nearly dead from hypothermia. Before doing this, she physically "lets Jack go", and we are treated to an extended shot of him slowly sinking into the water.

Now, consider for a minute who wrote and directed the movie. James Cameron doesn't have a subtle bone in his body (we've all see Avatar), but chose to begin Rose's most empowering moment with her "letting go" of Jack. For all Jack did for her, saving her live ultimately came down to her and only her. Despite the litany of factors working for and against her, Rose's defining moment came at the one brief point in the narrative in which she was completely and utterly alone. Like many of Cameron's other iconic heroines, Rose found the strength to save herself when she had no other options or allies, and there can be no doubt that she would've found this strength whether or not she'd ever met Jack Dawson.


P.S. - This was all typed on his iPhone and sent to me as a text.

There are actually many quotes in the film that can be interpreted in many ways. Here are a couple...

Old Rose: But now you know there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me... in every way that a person can be saved.

But, also...

Rose: What do you mean, "No, I won't"? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do, you don't know me!

Jack: Well, you woulda done it already.

I grew up with strong women all around me, and am also married to a very strong woman. I just always thought Rose would make it, no matter what.
But, if you look at so many quotes and instances in the movie, that sometimes seem to contradict themselves, I think Cameron and the writers were, cleverly, leavin' it up to us to make up our own minds...was it Jack, or would she have eventually gone there herself, no matter what.