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Hey Guys,

The other day, I watched a bit of “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Both the original and 1978 remake are great movies. Part of that greatness is the title. It’s fun, cool, ominous… everything that the movie aims to be. It got me thinking about other movies with awesome titles.

The one that immediately came to mind was the Sam Peckinpah classic, “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.” Now, this isn’t a great movie (in my humble opinion), but darn if the title isn’t one of the all-time classics. It’s a bit hard to explain why, but I think most people with a sense of humor and a certain immunity to cinematic ultra violence would agree.

I posed the question to some of my friends, and they came back with some more inspired suggestions. “Revenge of the Nerds,” one friend said. Another said, “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly,” while yet another chimed in with the film noir classic, “The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

Of course, this is all subjective, but most people would agree that those titles are bold. And with boldness, I argue, comes coolness. There are also those movies that have such bad titles that they’re almost good. “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo” is the textbook example. As a friend of mine pointed out, the film always seems to get mentioned whenever anybody makes fun of an unnecessary sequel.

What do you guys think about cool movie titles? I’d love to hear your opinions. A few more possibilities to get the juices flowing: “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “The Last House on the Left,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” and, and, and… Sound off with your own favorite movie title in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hey Guys,

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy against gays serving openly in the military is over. The web is full of renewed interest in the phrase’s history. Who, folks want to know, coined the expression?

Credit goes to the late Charles Moskos, a military sociologist and professor from Northwestern University. The phrase came about during the first term of the Clinton administration. At the time the policy was viewed as a kind of compromise. It allowed gay men and women to serve in the military, provided they did not openly admit to their sexual preference. It also prohibited other military personnel from asking questions. In other words, don’t ask, don’t tell.

When the policy was instituted, it was seen by many as a step forward. It allowed all Americans to serve, regardless of sexual orientation. After the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was enacted, recruiters were banned from asking applicants about their orientation. However, it also put limits on gay military personnel. Should they openly admit to being gay, they could be discharged.

Beyond the controversial policy, Moskos was seen as a highly influential voice in military policy. The Wall Street Journal called him the country’s “most influential military sociologist.” Though he was the person behind the policy, Moskos did recognize its shortcomings. “I always say about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ what Winston Churchill said about democracy: ‘It’s the worst system possible except for any other,’” remarked Moskos in an interview.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Here on Yahoo! Answers there’s always lots of activity in the Computer and Internet section asking for help on how to use certain devices and programs.

Keeping up with changing times, technologies, and events requires time, effort, and patience.  So when you’ve lived through various decades sometimes learning something new can seem confusing, frustrating and just plain annoying.  But if you’ve got someone that has your back then it can be fun, humorous and downright silly as shown in this adorable video of an elderly couple trying to figure out how to use a webcam.

When Bruce Huffman, 86 says to his wife Esther, 79 that “whatever you do honey, you do fine, you just have to learn” is something we all can learn from.  No matter how frustrating something can be it’s nice to know that if someone believes in you, you can manage to learn something even if it’s unintentional like in this case!

A compliment, showing appreciation and the jokes this couple share show that even after decades of being together you can still be in love and as the husband suggestively says to Esther “just drop your dress a little bit…” desire and intimacy doesn’t have to fade.

It’s encouraging and uplifting seeing a husband and wife so positive and funny after what looks like many years of marriage.  So what do you think makes a relationship last?   Are their certain qualities in a mate that keeps a marriage healthy, happy and loving?

Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

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**Secret Revealed**

When a recording artist sells 500,000 units of an album or a single, their “record” is eligible for “gold certification” by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). There are also platinum, diamond and other levels of these awards that indicate even greater sales.
If you couldn’t tell from the name, the RIAA is a US organization and it only tracks sales in the US. Similar awards are administered in 70 other countries by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, although the number of sales to achieve each award varies by country.

In 1958, the cast album from the production of Oklahoma! was the first album to receive the official gold record award. Back then, records were records. There were no CDs, MP3s, etc… albums were really only available on vinyl records. Magnetic tapes were not popular for consumer use and 8 Track cartridges were about six years away from creation.

To make vinyl records, an original “master” record is created and depending on the exact process used, the vinyl records are stamped from a master, mother or stamper record.  In those days, these masters/mothers/stampers were generally made from metal. Stampers are used to literally stamp the groves into the records that are distributed. Stampers are generally good for about a thousand uses, so many stampers are produced for popular records. Originally, the used stampers were treated with gold to create the gold record awards.

Today, vinyl records are far from the most popular media for music, but some albums are available on vinyl. Although many albums are not available on vinyl, gold records may still be awarded if they reach their sales goals. The gold records are no longer made from actual records, masters or stampers. They’re now made by specific trophy and plaque makers who are certified by the RIAA.

Today, the award symbolically represents a high number of sales. But originally, it literally represented that many records were sold because the actual production stamper was worn out, gold plated and awarded to the artist.

In the last couple decades, the term “gold master” has transcended the recording industry. The phrase is also used in the computer industry to identify a software product version that is ready for distribution.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Sources: RIAA, EIL , RecordPressing.com, Wikipedia (Gold Master), emusician

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Hey Guys,

If you’ve ever been bumped from a flight, you’ll appreciate this. The United States Department of Transportation has recently changed the rules on what sort of restitution the airlines have to give inconvenienced passengers.

Airlines regularly overbook flights because, on average, a few passengers don’t show up for each flight. But when everybody does show up and there aren’t enough seats, something’s gotta give. New rules aim to make getting bumped a bit less painful.

If you are traveling internationally or taking a domestic flight that is longer than four hours, get bumped from the flight and are then delayed for two hours or more, you are eligible to receive a refund of four times what you paid for your ticket, with a max of $1,300. That’s a 63% increase over the previous max.

Additionally, new rules require that airlines refund luggage fees should they lose your bags (that’s on top of what they’d owe you for the luggage itself, your clothes, and whatever else you had inside).

Hopefully you won’t get bumped from a flight anytime soon. But if you do, remember that the airlines have to compensate you. Almost makes you want to hope to get bumped and delayed. Almost.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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