First, ignore "THree". I missed. (I can't correct the thread title):o

I Just watched this movie,"A Matter of Life and Death" on DVD. This is soooo fantastic movie.

In 1945, British Squadron Leader Peter Carter (David Niven) got shot down. But before he crash, a young radio operator June, she picks up his signal, and in the final moments of the young flyer's life, a special bond is formed. The next morning washed up on an English beach, Peter Carter is alive, he finds June, and they fall in love. Somehow he survived. It's a miracle, or is it.....?

Well, I talked too much. Anyway, this is wonderful movie. I recommend it to all people.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/

Uh ohhhh (but I'll be tuning in)...

http://www.bladetrinity.com/bbs/printthread.php?t=911

http://www.horrordvds.com/vb3forum/showt...hp?t=11407

I can't find anything solid regarding whether or not this is a remake or a sequel.

I just received notification from Barnes and Noble that "The Last Rakosh" will not be available and that my order will not be filled. Today is the publication day. Any ideas where it is available? :mad:

I just read a brief review in The Rocky Mountain news for this new collection and discovered everybody's favorite has a new short story "Part of the Game". The book didn't get a great review, but it did say that FPW's story was a well done slice of poetic justice.

Jacob's Ladder

AC

P.S. But I liked it anyway, and would buy the dvd. The movie was a M. C. Escher painting directed by Luis Bunuel. Wow. Visually messes with your mind.

Hi,

I'm just curious, does any know or have any ideas what would happen if one did as Jack did, and just walked away from their identity?

I mean specifically with respect to state and federal government. I'm wondering if the state Dept of Taxation and/or the IRS ever cross-reference dates of birth with tax returns, to find our who hasn't filed a return. (When you do have to start paying taxes, at 18? I forget.)

If this happened, I assume they'd make some kind of effort to track you down, presumably first by writing to the last address they have for you, which would probably be your parents.

I have no idea if that's right, but if it is, then presumably Jack's dad would've been contacted by the revenuers at some point, and thus would have become aware that Jack at the very least wasn't paying taxes.

I'm not criticizing/nitpicking how Jack's escape from society was portrayed, I'm just curious how this would work in real life.

-oss

I'm so excited! I had forgotten to re-subscribe to the newsletter after my email addy changed, so I just found the link to preorder The Christmas Thingy! WooHoo! I can't wait! Now I can start Matthew out as an FPW fan early!
BTW, FPW, we happen to be almost obsessive in collecting children's books, especially when we find a new, favorite author.......If this is as good as I'm expecting it to be, Thingy MUST have new adventures soon! Chop, chop! His current favorites are his "How to draw monsters" book and his monster coloring book. This is awesome

I read this and the first thing I thought was "Repairman jack"

Quote:ON SHEEP, SHEEPDOGS, AND WOLVES

By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman,
RANGER, Ph.D.,author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've updated my two Repairman Jack movie teaser trailers. The content hasn't really changed much (a few subtle changes) but they are now higher-res and better quality. I realize these are somewhat obsolete since HWMNBNUPOD entered the picture but they're fun to watch anyways. Of course, you'll need the latest version of QuickTime to watch them.

They can be viewed at:

RJ Teaser Trailer 1

and

RJ Teaser Trailer 2

NOTE: They're 5.8 and 6.8 MB in size so, if you're still on dial-up, you've been warned!

P.S. If you need to download the latest version of QuickTime, stop by QuickTime Download

Anyone who has read Infernal might want to go to Amazon and do a review. I was checking on the shipping status of my copy and there are only two reviews and they aren't pretty.