Dracula 2000

[NeverMore]

"Mom, what's Hannah doing?"



I didn't see it either. Saved a lot of time waiting till after and just watching the highlights. Lowlights?

[Pumpkin_Man]

Murf, believe it or not, that type of dancing at pep rallies actualy goes on in Catholic schools any more. We have very strict laws against certain types of physical contact with minors under the age of 18. Perhaps if we raised children with better morals and didn't teach them how to dance in a provocative way, there wouldn't be so many instances of things like that.

Speaking of tv vs real world, I can tell you that I have had a lot of disalussionments in life. When I was a kid, I was captivated by an old tv show titled "Jeffs Collie," one of the "Lassie" spin-offs. I thought having a dog was all happy go lucky hanging with friends and a cool dog to make the time more fun. When I got my two Irish Setters, I learned that being a dog owner was about 10% happy go lucky fun, and 90 percent cleaning up their messes, putting things out of their reach so they don't destroy them, and a lot of interuptions in my daily routine to take care of theri needs. I still loved my dogs, but it was a lot more work then protrayed on "Jeffs Collie." Then I saw another show titled "Lou Grant." It was about the daily lives and workings of a major metropoliten news paper. The photographer in that show, Animal, as he was called, seemed to have a very interesting life. He drove a Mustange convertable, walked around dressed like a beat nick, and had a lot of excitement in his life. Then I became a pro photographer and reality set in as I knew it would. I love my job, but I would never go to a meeting of the Board of Trustees with a long bierd, jeans and a tee shirt. In fact, most of the events I cover require that I dress up like Astor's Pet Horse.

Mike

[Kolchak]

In the Twilight series, the vampires don't have a problem with sunlight, but their skin sparkles unnaturally, like granite, so if human beings see them during bright sunlight, they will know something is weird. Consequently the Twilight vampires live in a cloudy place (Washington State) and don't go out when the sun shines.

Of course, Bram Stoker's Dracula could go out in daylight, too. It's just that his powers weren't at their highest during the daylight. I think the thing about vampires bursting into flame in sunlight comes from the film Nosferatu, where they wanted a showy visual effect.

AS for the TV portrayal of detectives, and how they falsely show people transitioning with ease from one locale to another--that is true of almost every profession they depict on TV. I remember one show where a family was traveling the country in a motor home, and whenever they needed money, they would stop in a town and the parents would get teaching jobs. That is such a crock! First you need a license, which is not necessarily reciprocated in every state. Then you have to go through a background check. But the real thing is, getting hired is tough. You basically have to know somebody. Around here you (usually) have to be kin to somebody.

And don't think that advanced degrees are enough to get your foot in the door, either. My husband has a BA and substantial course work beyond that, but no MA. However, he does have the teaching certificate. I have a Ph.D. but no teaching license. It would take a dispensation from God for me to get a permanent teaching job in a public school. The PH.D. is not interchangeable with a teaching license. Theoretically, I could teach in any college in the country, but I couldn't get hired to teach in a public school without a special, temporary license. For that to happen (and it actually did happen, once, about ten years ago), there has to be no one at all applying for the job who has the proper certification. Perhaps you can imagine how crappy the job would have to be for that situation to arise.

Your story about teaching brought back memories of a conversation I had with someone years ago. I was in the process of looking for another job at a different police department and was telling a gentleman about it.

He thought all police had to do to transit from one agency to another was submit a resume.

I explained a resume isn't accepted for police jobs, and proceeded to explain about the written test, physical fitness test, psychological test and meeting one on one with a psychologist, the polygraph and police assessment board, and after all that they still might send you through an entire 22-36 week police academy. Then you're on supervised probation for a year.

I guess he just figured you went down, put in a resume and they gave you a badge and gun and off you went.

[Murfreesboro]

I guess many people imagine that the police department is nationalized, rather than being local.

Mike, I grew up with an Irish setter. Beautiful, sweet dogs, but very skittish and high-energy.

[Pumpkin_Man]

There are many police officers who advocate the establishment of an actual federal police department. The FBI is more of an investigative unit, but they don't patrol the streets like state and local cops do. Personaly, I don't think we need a federal police force.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

Sounds a little bit too much like a standing army to me. Or maybe some Nazi thing.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Most countries do actualy have a national police force, but I still wouldn't want a federal police force here in the U S.

Mike

[Boogeyman]

Isn't it enough that nearly every federal agency has its own police force? Even agencies like the EPA.

[Murfreesboro]

America used to be special because it was not like most countries. We used to be proud of that.

[Pumpkin_Man]

That may be so to an extent, Boodyman, but those so called policing agencies are not crime fighting unites. They're mostly investigative for the most part. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only two federal agencies that can actualy make an arrest are the FBI and the DEA. The Faa can issue or revoke a pilot's loscense, and the FCC can issue or revoce a comercial broadcasters liscence, but that's about it. What we don't have, and what I really don't want is a federal police departmetn who actualy have patrol cars patrolling all the streets, setting up police stations and the like. I think a federal police force would be a very bad thing.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

I agree.

[Boogeyman]

Care to put that theory to test Mike? Why does the EPA need ammunition for anyway? The problem is the powers of the government are and have grown so much most people don't even realize it.

Especially when that agencies declares a puddle a protected body of water.

http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/20/e ... l-in-the-e

And another case involving the EPA: http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/15/t ... nstitution

Mike, you also forgot about Dept of Homeland Security. Do you really think they wouldn't arrest you if need be?

[Kolchak]

My friends we do NOT need a special federal police force. I don't particularly like the way our local agencies have been going for the past twenty years if you want to know the truth.

We've been spending too much time and money into making your local city, county, state agency into a paramilitary type force.

There is a huge difference between what soldiers do and what police do. I've done both, so I speak from experience.

Police are there to help and do so as a civilian agency. When we turn them into soldiers their jobs change from being there for you, to being there to control you.

[Boogeyman]

I hope no one misunderstood me. I am not endorsing the idea of a federal police force. I am saying, however, that we pretty much have it already with DHS and all the other federal agencies having their own police force. And I agree with you Kolchak, city and county police forces have definitely become more militarized. I can understand the need in Los Angeles, New York City, and other very large cities, but when it is happening in cities of one or two million people; it has gone too far.

[Murfreesboro]

I think the DHS is potentially very scary. Could get very fascist very fast.