Shuff's General Chat Thread ... #73 - Talk about anything and everything...  

Gene Wilder dead: Mel Brooks leads tributes to acting partner after sad death age 83

Mel Brooks has lead the tributes to Hollywood acting and writing partner Gene Wilder .
His death was confirmed on Monday by his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman saying he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease earlier his month at his home in Stamford, Connecticut.

The news of his death led to an outpouring of grief from Hollywood with his friend Mel Brooks leading the tributes. The director said: “Gene Wilder - one of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.”

Rob Lowe wrote: “Gene Wilder as one of my earliest heroes. Blazing Saddles, Willy Wonka, are CLINICS on comic acting. Sad to hear of his passing.”

Russell Crowe said: “I saw Blazing Saddles 7 times at the cinema with my school friends . George St. Cows outside. Gene Wilder, you were a genius. Rest in Peace.”

Oscar-nominated Juliette Lewis added: “Thank you for the beautiful words”.

Britain’s own funnyman Ricky Gervais simply used one of the star's most famous quotes from Willy Wonka writing on Twitter: “Good Day Sir!’ RIP Gene Wilder.”

The frizzy-haired actor was often cast as characters who showed signs of neurotic or hysteric behaviour.

“My quiet exterior used to be a mask for hysteria,” he told Time magazine in 1970.

“After seven years of analysis, it just became a habit.”

Twice nominated for an Oscar, his glittering career faltered after the death of his wife Gilda Radner, who he starred alongside in The Woman in Red, which left him devastated.

Friends say he never really got over her passing from ovarian cancer in 1989 and Wilder only worked infrequently after she died.

He married again in 1991 to Karen Boyer.

He returned briefly to television in the US with the sitcom “Something Wilder,” in 1994 and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.”

Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1933, he began acting at the age of eight when his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever.

The family’s doctor told the then schoolboy to "try and make her laugh” to take her mind off the pain she suffered.

After studying drama for two years when he turned 13 his mother Jeanne Silberman felt her son's potential was not being fully realised and sent him instead to Black-Foxe, a military institute in Hollywood.

Following his graduation after studying Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa, he was accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol in 1955.

But his time in the UK was short lived after he was drafted into the army the following year.

He adopted Gene Wilder for his professional name at the age of 26, explaining, "I had always liked Gene because of Thomas Wolfe's character Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River. And I was always a great admirer of Thornton Wilder.”

Following a short stint off-Broadway in 1961 Wilder won critical acclaim in Graham Greene’s comedy The Complaisant Lover.

It saw him awarded the Clarence Derwent Award as most promising newcomer but more importantly brought him to the attention of Mel Brooks.

When Wilder performed with the director’s future wife Anne Bancroft in Mother Courage it became the start of a long and famed friendship between the two men.

It led to the actor being cast in the 1967 film The Producers, in which he played the hysterical Leo Bloom, an accountant lured into a money making scam by a theatrical producer played by Zero Mostel.

Directed and written by Brooks, the film brought Wilder an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor spring-boarding him into more Hollywood roles.

In 1971 he stepped into the shoes of Willie Wonka.

Based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was not an immediate hit but became a children’s favourite over the years.

Now established in Hollywood Wilder achieved further stardom in two other Brooks comedies, both in 1974.

Western spoof “Blazing Saddles” and a wacko adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous book entitled “Young Frankenstein,” in which Wilder portrayed the mad scientist with his signature mixture of hysteria and sweetness both enjoyed box office success.

The 1980’s movie Stir Crazy starring Richard Pryor became the then biggest grossing movie earning more than $100 million.

Wilder is survived by a daughter, Katharine whom he adopted in 1967 when he married her mother Mary Joan Schute.

Australian Confederation of Motor Clubs
6 hrs ·

· Politics
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

THE NSW MINISTER FOR ROADS THE HONOURABLE DUNCAN GAY HAS TODAY HAS SIGNED OFF ON THE APPROVAL FOR THE CLASSIC VEHICLE SCHEME CONDITIONAL REGISTRATION.

This scheme is to run in parallel with the Historic Vehicle CRS and will be available to vehicles 30 years and older which may have been modified.

There will now be a process to actually finalise the forms so we can get this up and running for enthusiasts.

The Minister's office has agreed to allow us to make the announcement to our members and the public.

Congratulations everyone and thanks for your patience this has been frustrating at times but the outcome is what matters.

Congratulations must go to Alan Hay, Patron of the ACMC, to Tony O'Donnell President of ACMC and Terry Thompson ACMC for their unwavering support for this scheme and their persistence in pressing the matter with RMS.

Congratulations must also go to all the Committee members of the ACMC past and present, you know who you are big pat on the back!

Thank you to all ANSMA Inc. members who have been so gracious and patient in waiting for this scheme to be approved. Just be patient a little longer whilst we see the fine print of how the scheme will be implemented.

'This ends his attempts to smear Allison's name': Tearful friends and family applaud decision to keep Gerard Baden-Clay behind bars for the murder of his wife

High Court of Australia reinstated Gerard Baden-Clay's murder conviction
He was found guilty in 2014 of murdering his wife Allison in Brisbane
His murder conviction was controversially downgraded to manslaughter
High Court ruled on Wednesday that he deliberately killed Allison in 2012
Family and friends of Allison said the decision was a 'relief' and 'justice'
Baden-Clay's lawyer Peter Shields said the decision would have 'massive' consequences for every trial held in Australia, beginning Thursday

Australia's highest court has reinstated Gerard Baden-Clay's murder conviction and ruled he did deliberately kill his wife Allison, a decision one of her supporters has called 'relief', 'justice', and a 'good day for the good guys'.

The High Court handed down its highly anticipated decision to reinstate Baden-Clay's murder conviction on Wednesday after Queensland prosecutors appealed a controversial decision to downgrade his conviction.

Allison's friend, Kerry-Anne Walker, said outside court: 'Today's decision in the High Court comes with both relief and elation.

'Despite many Queenslanders being labelled as ignorant when they protested the downgrade to manslaughter, the common sense of the original jury has prevailed and justice for Allison has finally been realised.

'Today's decision brings to an end Gerard’s attempts to smear Allison's name.'

10% off just means that youre selling stuff at the same price as Bunnings. i've stood in Masters before and looked up prices at Bunnings on my mobile and seen the latters prices as being lower on items.

Lift your game Masters, shitty Dick Smith type 'sales events' aren't going to attract people into the shop to buy your over priced crap.

for the full story click on the link

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-37...h-bargains.html

I was at the Morayfield store on Monday just after lunch, no obvious bargains at all, I have stitched them up way better over time, but bunches of muppet older shoppers filling their trolleys all the same, apparently after pension day it will go made people buying crap.
Dick smith was the same, dribs and drabs clearance, only good at the 70% and the staff were hooking into that to flog later,
Will see how it goes come Novemebre when the liquidator get some pressure.

I used to just go to masters look at the price from bunnings, show the mongs,

then gyp masters the 10% anyway, so 10% is the norm 30% would be getting better, that $1200 hitachi kit would look good at home :-)

EVE ONLINE GOING FREE-TO-PLAY AFTER 13 YEARS

Historic space-faring MMO, EVE Online will become a free-to-play game this November, following 13 years as a subscription-only service.

After its next expansion, the game will split players into two types, Alpha and Omega clones. Existing subscribers who continue to pay will make up the Omega type, able to use the entire breadth of the game's skills, ships and items.

Alpha clones will be non-paying players, who can play indefinitely but will have restricted access to skills. The skills they do have allow them to fly early-game Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers.

Developer CCP makes clear that this will allow Alpha players to mine, explore, run missions and take part in the game's huge fleet fights (i.e. all the baseline EVE content).

Omega players who stop paying will revert to an Alpha state, but can unlock restricted skills again by reactivating their subscription.

The specifics are a little vague right now as CCP is entering open development, asking the player base for its opinions on what skills should be locked and unlocked for Alpha clones. Its player-elected Council of Stellar Management will collate and report feedback directly to the developer at a real-life summit in Reykjavik.

CCP is touting this move as one of the biggest changes to the game in its history, opening up its mostly player-shaped world to a potentially much larger audience.

It's not hard to see how they could be right; EVE has become famous for its almost peerless player freedom, rewarding those who invest time in understanding the hugely complex game by letting them own galaxy-spanning corporations, perform heists for items worth thousands of real-life dollars, and even assist ongoing scientific research in their downtime.

Explosion rocks SpaceX launch site in Florida during test

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred Thursday morning. The test, considered routine, was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Buildings several miles away shook from the blast, and multiple explosions continued for several minutes. A cloud of dark smoke filled the overcast sky.

Additional details were not immediately available. But sirens could be heard in the aftermath.

The rocket was supposed to hoist an Israeli satellite this weekend.

Details were scant immediately after the explosion, but initial reports posted on Twitter suggested that there were no injuries. Images shared on the social media network showed black smoke coming from the launch pad.

The rocket that exploded was a Falcon 9. It was reportedly five minutes before a main engine test when the explosions occured, according to Twitter posts by William Harwood, a reporter with CBS news.

Secondary explosions could be seen on video of the launch pad posted to YouTube Thursday morning.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Son Recreates Classic TERMINATOR 2 Scene

It looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger's son, Joseph Baena, wants to get in on the family Terminator business. Schwarzenegger played the T-800 Terminator in four films over the course of 30 years. Now his son takes on the character in a recreation of a classic scene from James Cameron's 1991 film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The recreation of the scene was directed by Ben Hess, and it starts right after the Terminator beats the living hell out of a bunch of bar patrons and takes the clothes from one of them. Baena may not be as huge and muscular as his dad was, but he's definitely got his dad's look. I included the original scene from the movie below the recreation so you can compare the two if you want.

Been sitting on the side of the road playing Pokemon, hazards on, charging my phone, and now my car has a flat a battery. Lol

The Legend of Falkor: Remembering Your Favorite Voice from the '80s
Great Big Story

Published on Aug 30, 2016
Alan Oppenheimer is responsible for some of the most iconic voiced roles of the 1980s. He brought life to several characters from 'He-Man,' including the villain Skeletor, as well as Falkor (the flying dog) from 'The NeverEnding Story.' His IMDB profile reads like a Saturday morning cartoon dream and the iconic characters he has made along the way are a trip down memory lane

500 homicides. 9 months. 1 American city.
A visual guide by Amanda Wills and Sergio Hernandez, CNN
Updated 0117 GMT (0917 HKT) September 7, 2016

"There are 500 more people that were in the city that are no longer here because of useless violence ... People don't have regard for life anymore."
Chicago resident Stephanie Armas

Chicago's 500th homicide of the year happened over Labor Day weekend, according to the Chicago Tribune.
That number carries a lot of weight for the city -- not just in quantity, but in meaning: 2016 is now the deadliest year in two decades.

McLaren F1 designer makes ‘world’s first flat-pack truck’

Gordon Murray, the brain behind McLaren’s famous F1 supercar, has designed a vehicle that is far from a supercar but, in his own words, “ranks above anything else I’ve ever done.”

Murray’s creation, the Global Vehicle Trust OX, is billed as the “world’s first flat-pack truck“, a light-weight kit vehicle that can be assembled in under 12 hours and travel for 1,000 kilometres before needing to be filled up.

The two-wheel-drive, pop-up off-roader is made of marine plywood and can fold within itself. It will come equipped with all the parts needed for assembly, like something you’d buy from Ikea.

The innovative design promises to provide a low-cost, basic all-terrain truck that can be used to help transport water, food and medicine to remote regions in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

Global Vehicle Trust is now seeking investors to help bring the OX to full production.

This Ford Granada’s 1700hp Koenigsegg heart transplant will blow your grandpa’s socks off