dougefresh

As a few people were nice enough to enlighten me, I now understand that the TE smooth cap involved creating a duplicate cap mold from the original, which was then filled and sanded quite a bit to create a nice smooth finish, which a lot of trooper customers were requesting, as they were interested in having a more idealized version. Judging from photos, it also looks like TE had someone sharpen up the ridge in the back a little bit, as well as enhance the traps. To me, the bumpy version seems more like a "used" object, and stays truer to the screen, but the smooth cap looks more homogeneous and mechanically produced, like something you'd expect a cold, implacable Empire to manufacture. I like 'em both, but I think I lean more towards the bumpy version-- I like all the little quirks. Again, my thanks to those who responded and taught me something new!

Thanks for filling me in, guys! I knew I had seen photos of smooth-cap TE's before, and now I know the back story. I appreciate you passing on your knowledge-- it's always fun to learn somethin' new about trooper stuff!

I apologize if this is answered somewhere else, but do the smooth and bumpy caps originate from two separate helmets, or did someone just extensively clean up the bumpy mold to create a derivative smooth version? Also-- I know the AP (and earlier GF) cap is smooth, and TE had a smooth cap as well. Are those the only two from the screen-used lineage with the smooth cap? Has there ever been a TE2 or GINO smooth cap version? Just curious.... been scratching my head about it for the last couple days. Thanks to anyone who can set me straight on this!

You gotta check out Hard N' Phirm-- they do a piece called "Rodeohead" that's an all-bluegrass medley of Radiohead songs... it's utterly BRILLIANT. I could listen to it over and over.

If anyone likes Old-Timey country, here's a great online station: http://www.customchannels.net/player_pages....php?page=ranch Tex Ritter, Gene Autry... good stuff.

Hehe -- I don't even know why I'm given you a hard time... I don't even really like Country music that much. It's just fun to razz you. My iPod's kind of all over the place too. Everything from Claude DeBussy to Iggy and The Stooges to Woody Guthrie to Radiohead, to Dieselboy, to The Pharcyde. And yes-- AC/DC does indeed bring the rawk.

That looks pretty slick, man.

I'm gonna have to disagree with ya, buddy. Country *USED* to be real music, about normal people. Now it's about glamor and artifice, and is basically pop music with different instruments. The vast majority of popular country nowadays is performed by a bunch of beautiful dilettantes, posing as people who are somehow relate-able. The songwriters who ghost-write their stuff *might* be salt-of-the-earth and hard-scrabble folks, but the performers are largely just subtle variations on acts like Brittany Spears and the Jonas Brothers. Shania Twain and Faith Hill have very little, if nothing in common with Patsy Cline, or even Dolly Parton. (Other than fashion, maybe) Can you see Kellie Pickler in an unemployment line? Think Carrie Underwood would last two seconds as a Coal Miner's Daughter? Coal Miner's Wife? Coal Miner's Next Door Neighbor? Do you think she'd even *talk* to a coal miner? I look at groups like Rascall Flatts, with their friggin' girl-hair and their $500 designer jeans and I want to rip my own arm off... just so I have something to throw at them. Everytime they get on stage, it looks like a Hot Topic exploded. Say, "CHEEZE"! The material may be about working-class life... but I'm just not buying it from a bunch of preening pop stars, my friend. Fess up, Nathan -- Waylon Jennings would stomp the living CRAP out of Keith Urban, and you know it. :P I do like the Traveling Wilbury's though. How can you not?-- SO much talent in one band! PS-- can you tell I'm *mildly* opinionated about music?

Oh yeah. Bryner was supremely creepy in it. The sequel, "Futureworld" was terrible though. I remember being a little wary of the animatronics at a childhood Disneyland vacation because of that movie. I thought James K. Polk was gonna jump out of The Hall of Presidents and punch my sister in the throat.

I liked Big Country too! I spent a good portion of my Middle School years rocking out to "Fields of Fire" on my walkman!

She knows it's from Blade Runner, and is totally onboard with it. She's a big sci-fi fan, and her husband designs fantasy board games. Lots of geekery in that family. The conversation started off as a joke-- "Let's think of a super macho, MANLY name for your kid so he can score chicks.... something like Brick, or Stone, or Dirk Mantooth!" I mentioned that if I ever had a son, I wanted to name him Decker, or Deckard-- it must've struck a chord, 'cause she upped and stole it, that fink.

I'm not a fan of most contemporary country music-- it all sounds like bad '70s arena rock to me, with the addition of a pedal steel guitar and some twangy vocals. Like awful Foreigner songs with a couple lyrics about pickup trucks thrown in. Yuck. I like the old stuff though -- Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Sr., George Jones, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, etc. The only new-ish/contemporary guy I like is Junior Brown. That guy is a MONSTER pedal steel player. I highly recommend checkin' out a song called "Peelin' Taters". I defy anyone to be in a bad mood while listening to it. Can't be done. I do like a lot of alt-country, though -- Wilco, Old 97's, stuff like that.

I'm a huge Blade Runner fan as well-- crazed enough that I convinced my coworker to name her new baby boy Deckard. How awesome is that kid? Some of my all time faves: (besides SW) The Usual Suspects, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Glen Garry Glenn Ross (I worship David Mamet), Rushmore, Royal Tenanbaums, Life Aquatic, Henry V (Kenneth Branaugh version), Pulp Fiction, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Shaun of the Dead, Ronin, Bridge On the River Kwai, E.T., American Beauty, Airplane!, The American President, A Few Good Men (I'm an Aaron Sorkin junky), It's A Wonderful Life, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Better Off Dead, Caddyshack, City of Lost Children, Se7en, Amelie, Princess Bride, Cool Hand Luke, Zulu, A Fish Called Wanda, Swimming With Sharks, American History X, Snatch, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, High Fidelity, Lord of the Rings, Saving Private Ryan, Brazil, Lawrence of Arabia, Grosse Point Blank, Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, The Out of Towners, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Last King of Scotland, Goodfellas, Heat, Casino, The Untouchables, Children of Men... The list goes on and on and on. I'm a big film geek. For TV, I have no problem whatsoever defending Band Of Brothers as the single greatest project ever developed for television, EVER. I'm also a big fan of The West Wing, Firefly, LOST, The Unit, and M*A*S*H. The Young Ones, Flying Circus, Sarah Silverman, Daily Show, Colbert, and about a billion other comedy shows.. I could rattle on forever... in fact, I kinda did, huh?

Only on the FISD would you see a juxtaposition of Patty Loveless and Obi Wan Kenobi.

That's an interesting outreach program. I don't know how many pews they're going to fill, though -- unless Washington has some large, underground populace of fat, Intergalactic gangsters we're unaware of.

Best of luck, Charlie! We'll all be pulling for ya'!

Nice going, Aaron! Your armor looks great, and the blaster is outstanding! Well done!

That was a fun read, Paul-- thanks for bringin' it to our attention. I'm really glad they didn't go with "The Power". Just doesn't have the same ring as "The Force". Although, I think James Earl Jones still could've managed to make it sound pretty cool, I bet. And in the later movies, you know Samuel L. Jackson could have made that sound bad-a$$ and militant as hell.

Nice goin', Colin!

Hehe... You wacky Scotsmen, with your hip lingo. In the States, "Snap" has come to be used as a slang word that indicates you've been insulted... As in, "I don't want to imply that your Mom is trashy, but when they bury her, they'll need to use a "Y"-shaped coffin." "OH, SNAP!" It's just one of many wonderful ways Americans have found to completely defile the English language. We're good at that over here. It's kind of a hobby for us. So-- here I was, thinking you were razzing me, when you were just tryin' to empathize. My bad. Sorry, mate!

We are all TERRIBLE influences, fellas. We should be deeply, deeply ashamed of ourselves.

Haha! You caved like a cheap house of cards! Awesome!

I'm comparatively ignorant to most of you guys when it comes to props, so I'm keepin' my mouth shut about the helmet debate... But let's go easy on the charity/sick kids stuff, all around, shall we? It's not cool to belittle another's charitable works, nor is it cool to evoke a dying kid as leverage to make someone feel guilty about having different rooting interests in the hobby. That's a live wire I think we're all better off not touching. I'll shut up and go back to lurking now.

Doh! But then again, I'm the dude who can't use simple tools without hurting myself, so my advice is probably best ignored.

You bust me up, Smitty. I think Ulyseses S. Grant could possibly be substituted with a young Kenny Rogers, in a pinch. And the dude on the bottom left is *clearly* Twiggy from Buck Rodgers. Bedabedabeep. I mean c'mon now-- Duh.