DYN:
* New Hampshire's landmark "Old Man of the Mountain" fell into a pile of rocks just over a year ago. "The Simpsons" maintains its stranglehold on timliness!
* Lisa wears a red dress and the name of her paper is "The Red Dress Press". Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
** Captain Infinity
Captain Infinity wrote in message news:...
Although I know it was a plot convenience: If PC computers exist in the Simpson's world, (as shown in Simpson's basement when the power went out) - then why didn't principal Skinner just let Lisa use a computer/printer at the school to print her paper? If she was printing in the basement, she probably had a floppy/cd with the info that she could of just brought to school. She actually wouldn't even need Skinner to just use the library or whatever.
Being that it was a major plot vehicle, that part about having to use a manual mimeograph machine was not credible - especially considering that Lisa's paper had, at that point, made her famous and you would think that there would be someone to offer their printer to her.
I did wonder about that. All she had to do was move the computer and there are various places she could go. Next door to the Flanders, over to Patty and Selma's, or to the retirement home and Abe's room. It is not as if Mr. Burns had smashed the computer. Now, if Lisa had moved her computer, I can imagine Mr. Burns tracking her down and turning off the power at each location she visited, but that would take time to track her.
On the other hand, how many times do they have a chance to fit a mimeograph machine into the show? It seems like they wanted to get it in there, rather than because they had no other solution for Lisa's problem.
Let's not forget (well, actually while I don't forget, I've never found the reference again) that Abbie Hoffman once said that "he who has the mimeograph machine wins" or words to that effect. Obviously, he was talking of the "power of the press". In this day and age, most people have printing capacity far beyond that mimeograph machine, which thirty years ago was pretty much the only means most had for publishing, and even then it was too expensive for most people. Now, many have the internet as one means of publishing, and the same people pretty much all have printers. The laser printer I paid fifteen dollars for a year ago used is infinitely better than any "home printing" mechanism anyone had before home computers came along.
Of course, old Abbie stole from the Diggers.
Burns would simply have cut off the power to anyone giving assistance to Lisa. The beauty of using the mimeograph was that Burns could do nothing to stop _that_.
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Not really. Most NYC schools have them, although they aren't used as much as the were when I was in school (the 1980's).
Anyone know what the difference is between a mimeograph and a rexograph, which is what the machines used in my school were called (but looked and operated much as we saw in the show)?
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On Tue, 25 May 2004 22:46:22 -0400, [email] (Chris �) wrote:
The rexographs (usually known by Ditto(tm) name or as "spirit duplicator") used an original sheet backed with something like carbon paper. Typing on it would deposit ink on the back of the original. You then put the original in the Ditto machine, where sheets dampened with a solvent (alcohol) were pressed against the original. A little bit of ink would be deposited on each copy. The main limitation was they'd start to fade after too many copies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_duplicator
Mimeograph machines used a wax-coated stencil. Typing on it (using the ribbonless "stencil" mode of a typewriter) would displace the wax. Ink was forced through the stencil onto each sheet. The main problem was the messy ink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimeograph_machine
Both were killed off by cheap photocopiers.
Thanks. That also explains why papers made from these machines were refered to as "dittos". I hated that word. Usually meant homework :(
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The truth is out there...
Did you know that Dr Pepper and Mr Pibb don't spell their names with a little dot thingy. And they both start with P. That can't be a coincidence!
And isn't Lisa's dress more of an orange-y color?
"Yama" wrote in message news:[email]...
coincidence!
A little dot thingy?
You mean a period?
Oh, and Mr. Pibb does...and it's sort of hard to miss on the old can...the period is HUGE...
http://www2.coca-cola.com/brands/brands_pibb.html
i would bet a lotta money that you're the only person here who thinks those are periods on the can and not part of the "wacky" design. It's almost "zany" . . .
JQM
"Yama" wrote in message news:[email]...
coincidence!
Is that an intentional 8-Bit Theatre reference? Or was 8-Bit Theatre referring to something else, maybe?