mike carey

Oh he was quite the hottie at the time! You have to admire a couple who have been married for 68 years.

I love those arms on #2.

I'm glad you didn't say that we are all rooting for you, as that would have given a most unfortunate impression to your Australian audience!

Uber is about to start operating in Canberra at the end of October, and unlike NSW where Uber drivers are having their vehicle registrations cancelled, the Australian Capital Territory government has announced regulations under which Uber will be allowed to operate. Uber drivers will have to undertake police and health checks and vehicles will have to be inspected. At the same time the ACT Government has announced reductions in the annual fees for taxi plates (from $20k to $5k over the next two years).
 
One critical restriction will be that Uber is banned from using surge pricing during emergencies. During the terrorist siege in Sydney in December last year Uber's automatic surge pricing kicked in when, in fear that there were bombs elsewhere in the CBD, people were trying to get the hell out of there. Uber had significant damage control to do that day, and as I recall they made the rides free.
 
Uber trips will have to be booked via the app (taxis can park in taxi ranks and can be hailed on the street) and cannot be paid in cash. Regular taxis will also be allowed to use the Uber app to book rides. Suddenly, now that Uber will be legal in the ACT, the insurance industry has come out and said they will launch insurance products for Uber drivers!

Imagine the taste of Sodomite.
 
http://benstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vegemite2.jpg
 

JD is such a sweetie, Marylander! I've also chatted with Killian outside the public view over the last couple of days, and although he does not fit into this thread, he is indeed a nice guy.

I saw Stonewall recently. I was simultaneously disgusted by the liberties it took, the credit it took away from the activists that I've heard about and known, and the stereotypes it utilized - on multiple levels, even down to the protagonist's midwest house details.
But - I was also happy that the story of Stonewall was being told. It's a turning point in LGBT history. I am proud to have had it touch my life, and I hope those who don't know of it learn about it in their pursuit of understanding LGBT rights worldwide.
 
I hope the clients whom I've previously taken to The Stonewall Inn get to see the movie. Yes, it's rubbish on many levels but hey, it's our rubbish... (just kidding). What I mean is, even though it's a bastardization of our story... it's still has an essence of being our story.

Having read a number of reviews but not seen the film, an observation. Mr Emmerich seems to have made a fundamental error in making an historical movie, and that is you can't change the basic story of what happened. The way he characterised the white boy from Kansas or Indiana (depending which review at the top or the thread you believe, and that is an indictment of one of the reviewers, but that's a separate discussion) does just that, it didn't happen that way and there are plenty of people still around who know that it didn't happen.
 
There are two ways you can inject fiction into an historical film that will work. One is what Peter Weir did in The Year of Living Dangerously where a fictional story was wrapped around a depiction of the Soeharto coup in 1965. The other is the way Costa-Gavras made Z and State of Siege that respectively told the stories of the colonels' coup in Greece in 1967 and the kidnapping of a US Embassy officer by the Tupamaros in Uruguay in the 1970s. He didn't misprepresent what happened, rather he told a story that fitted into a realistic protrayal of what had happened. Emmerich could have set his story against the background of what really happened but instead chose to change the history. I wish he hadn't.

Brian, you're a lovely guy, I hope we can meet when I'm in the US.

Diver, I'm sure I could manage some sort of ice cream event with Brian!

I read a review (and I will try to find it) that said it was also just a bad movie...

Having read a number of reviews but not seen the film, an observation. Mr Emmerich seems to have made a fundamental error in making an historical movie, and that is you can't change the basic story of what happened. The way he characterised the white boy from Kansas or Indiana (depending which review at the top or the thread you believe, and that is an indictment of one of the reviewers, but that's a separate discussion) does just that, it didn't happen that way and there are plenty of people still around who know that it didn't happen.
 
There are two ways you can inject fiction into an historical film that will work. One is what Peter Weir did in The Year of Living Dangerously where a fictional story was wrapped around a depiction of the Soeharto coup in 1965. The other is the way Costa-Gavras made Z and State of Siege that respectively told the stories of the colonels' coup in Greece in 1967 and the kidnapping of a US Embassy officer by the Tupamaros in Uruguay in the 1970s. He didn't misprepresent what happened, rather he told a story that fitted into a realistic protrayal of what had happened. Emmerich could have set his story against the background of what really happened but instead chose to change the history. I wish he hadn't.

Mike, I understand your point, but for me the subject matter is too sensitive for poetic license. Thanks, again.

Following up from Frequent Flier's comments, some observations based on my reading about and using Sydney taxis, which seem to have some similarities with NYC (although certainly not on scale), and no, I haven't used Uber either.
1. I agree that Uber would not be well served publicising net earnings.
2. Once the reality of what net earnings are sets in, the take-up of Uber by drivers is likely to level out and won't put all the regular taxis out of business.
3. Taxis have the 'hail from the kerb' market to themelves in inner Sydney, and I doubt that Uber has the potential to take much if any of that. I suspect NYC is the same. Maybe not in some other cities.
4. Potentially, Uber's surge pricing will act as a safety valve in busy times, drawing in extra drivers. The tendency for taxis not to turn up in busy times (they get a better fare etc) is a source of profound passenger annoyance. Extra Uber drivers in such times could paradoxically reduce this taxi PR fail.
5. Sydney has a 3 o'clock driver change over (am and pm). No amount of complaints has convinced them to change that (hey passengers, you have no choice, suck it up). See #4, plus, 'Hey we do have a choice, fuck off', may just kick in.
6. While yes, it's unfair to owners of NYC medallions and Sydney taxi licence plates, my sympathy is limited. Most drivers here aren't owners and often get a raw deal from owners. Based on #2 and #3, Uber is not likely to devalue the owners' investments but only to reduce the rate at which it appreciates. Even if it goes down some, welcome to the free market.
7. Yes, Uber needs to be suitably regulated, but that doesn't mean that the existing taxi regulations are the right ones for either taxis or Uber. Instead of asking governments to save them by regulation, taxis should look at why people use Uber (and it ain't just price) and work out what they can do to compete.
8. I follow a cabbie in Guelph ON on twitter. He's a vegan and straight but pretty hot anyway. He tweets what he really thinks about Uber, but also on things his taxi company is doing to make riding easier, like rolling out an app.
9. Taxi companies, it's not all about Uber, it's about you too!

And it's only funny because that's exactly what many of his critics sound like!

And it's only funny because that's exactly what many of his critics sound like!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wZkVv9fGRFs/VKVlQqdH_KI/AAAAAAAAZSA/CNiJBX7Sqrs/s1600/obama-birthday-meme-53.jpg

Whatever music you want to have playing, Mike! Not sure about the TV, Curious, Fox News in the background might not be ideal.

No, Gman, don't know why that is. As you said, there are some singers who don't slide into a North American accent, and others who don't do it in all their numbers. It's not limited to the ones you've listed, regional US accents tend to be 'normalised' too.

ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2015 EUROPE
From JOHN CLEESE
 
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists ha...ve been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
 
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
 
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.
 
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
 
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."
 
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels ..
 
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
 
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.
 
Regards,
John Cleese ,
British writer, actor and tall person
 
And as a final thought - Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.
 
Life is too short!
 
TruHart1

I am a little late to this thread but I remember a travel guide stating that if you have three men sitting at dinner where one is Portuguese, one is Spanish, and one is Italian. Then the Portuguese could understand both the Italian and the Spaniard when they spoke, the Italian would only understand the Spaniard when he spoke. The Spaniard would understand only Spanish.

Gman, there is virtually no accent difference in Australia. There are some differences in vocabulary, but they are minor. There are accent differences between Australia and New Zealand, but none between the east and west coasts of Australia.

I forgot to mention... sometimes they invite me so that I can do the honours for the two of them. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.
 

 
Thanks man. It does work well for everyone. =)