Wonderful words, spoken by a much missed character and actor of the trek universe.

Of course, Admiral McCoy was talking primarily about the Enterprise-D. But, as she was a Galaxy Class starship, I thought it was enough of a link to use the words for this MSD. I have made a fully detailed MSD for the Galaxy class, but the thing is so big, it just looks cluttered. So here is a simplified engineering display for ya’ll to enjoy.

   Once again the helmeted head hurry passed the gap of the parapet. The silence was sliced open by the hissing kick of the sniper’s rifle, Vasrac moved every nerve and muscle of his body ready for this moment as he swung around with the speed that was almost totally unreal his finger pressing hard on the hair-trigger of his R.F.2 rifle. The thunder of fire ripped through the mangle of roots behind Owain Moongazer sending splinters of wood dancing into the cold air. It was all too no avail, for the first time in Vasrac Lutron`s hunting life he unwisely chose the wrong side, the amphibian sniper blasted a hole right through his helmet.
   Before the life of Vasrac Lutron finally extinguished, Cass and Rowe-y-Bar rifles open up. Rowe following Cass`s lead with an intentness that tore the sniper’s hiding place to smithereens. Cass Hanrue was the one who finely took the life of a virulent sniper.
   With all thoughts of the sniper gone Owain dragged himself to his feet and stumble as he tried to move, his body limp and numb from the stillness it had endured. His heart beat with the rhythmic thump of a startle piston. The more he moved, the more the stinging sensation of blood rusting through his veins put his body slowly back to full function as what seemed to be a complete round of eternity. Moongazer clawed and scramble his way to Vasrac`s dead body trying to take in what just actually happened.
   Vasrac Lutron the hunter, the Prowler, a legend amongst warriors, a man now shrouded in mystery and legend where countless stories would be told on cold nights in the dugouts of Mire. A man suddenly gone for ever, but a cunning warrior that would never be forgotten.
   He lay back down in the mud both hands grip tightly on his rifle. One single shot had shattered his head and the mud was a sodden sticky muss of blood. Owain stood there, his body numb, his mind blank, with a vacant stare on his camouflaged face.
   Slowly, curiously Cass and Rowe rounded the end of the fallen trunk. The amphibian was propped sideward’s against a mangle of roots; from the chest up it was just a bloody pulp almost unrecognizable. The amphibian had taken numerous hits in the shoulders and to the head, death unquestionable quick, a fitting epithet.
   With a spiritless and an almost unemotional expression Cass turned to Rowe-y-Bar. “Vasrac is dead,” she spoke softly as a cold breeze licking at her sweaty face.
   The silence drew out for a while longer as Rowe turned to her friend with the same unemotional expression. “I know.”
 

CRYDAW   Call of the Blue Stone   Page 38

All Material is Registered with The Writers Guild of America, west, Inc.
All material is owned by the Author and can not be used, or copied without permission.

    Slowly as a carnivorous mammal stalking it’s pray, Cass began to turn her head towards the right a moment that seem to take forever. As the distortions hasten from the corners of her eyes, they began to clear as she started to study the whole area. Cass focused her clear blue eyes on the innocuous pile of roots surmounted by shrapnel torn trunk nothing stirred. Everything seemed to be perfectly right, that spot was the only hiding place available to the sniper, he must have settled there after they had move in otherwise they all would be dead by now.
   At that moment, a minute blur of movement fixed her eyes into a killer stare. It was so evanesced that many a specialist would have miss it, but it riveted Cass to attention. The stare stayed, not a blink, a movement, the realization of what she had just seen kept her motionless. Protruding from the tangle of roots was the tip of an amphibian’s rifle; the barrel was screened well amongst that mass. It had been wrapped with bark and smeared with mud to break the stark outline and this technique would prevent reflection of light off metal, nevertheless the deadly square mouth of the muzzle was uncovered.
   Slowly the minutes ticked by, Cass watched the tip of the barrel, but it did not move again. This situation she and the others found themselves in was going to be difficult, this sniper was patience and processed the stillness to go with it.
    Unbearable minutes crept by without any break in the heavy air of tension. Vasrac like the others, Rowe and Owain dared not to move. His rifle was in the firing position and he was aiming the muzzle towards his own line. Through the raised sight he pinpointed the position of that shot the amphibian had taken.
   He stared through the sight willing Grey to try the dummy `droid again. “Come on try Toby again,” Vasrac was almost muttering to himself. He witness the sniper take out the `droid with it’s first shot so he thought he had a good idea where it was; behind Moongazer, which side he was unsure of. Lutron knew that if the amphibian fell for the maintenance `droid again he would have the time to turn and fire. Which side of Owain he would decide when he pulled the trigger and he was banking on Cass or Rowe had pinned him by now. Vasrac did not like the idea of turning and firing wildly, but their options were running out, and this sniper was not going anywhere.

CRYDAW   Call of the Blue Stone   Page 37

All Material is Registered with The Writers Guild of America, west, Inc.
All material is owned by the Author and can not be used, or copied without permission.

CHAPTER THREE

   Under the helmet the wide turquoise eyes were fixed into an unbelievable stare, so violence was the hissing discharge of the amphibian’s rifle, so close, so intense that Owain’s eardrums rang a peal of realization bells for a few seconds afterwards. The stinging memory of the shot would instinctively make you shake your head, but such a movement for Moongazer would surely be his last.
   The four Prowlers imitated the stillness of the morning. The amphibian sniper was somewhere within eight meters of where Moongazer lay. Vasrac cursed deep within, he was a hunter with a hunters eye the coincidence of the ground he had chosen could not be put down to chance he and the amphibian were of the same blood methodically; hunters’ blood. They had selected the ideal position for their task to deliver death to any unexpected victim.
   Only seconds had passed, still Owain froze, not moving since the sniper’s weapon had fired. The adrenaline surged through his veins and his heart beat with a vehemence of a madden drummer in his ears. Beads of sweat roll from under his helmet into his eyes, but he dare not blink. Fear had taken over from the initial shock of the shot and fear was going to keep him still no matter what. The amphibian was to the right, slightly higher up the slope. The sniper rifle could take away any part of Owain’s right side from his head to his shoulder.    
   To his left Cass Hanrue trained her eyes around without moving her head, and in the circumference of her vision saw a fallen tree trunk close to where Owain was hidden. Cass did not move for another full half of a minute, watching for any movement in the corner of her eye. Nothing moved, and the silence became so oppressive it was as though time itself now ceased to exist.

CRYDAW   Call of the Blue Stone   Page 36

All Material is Registered with The Writers Guild of America, west, Inc.
All material is owned by the Author and can not be used, or copied without permission.

   Lieutenant Grey looked up at the sky then checked the instrument on this wrist. “Colonel it’s almost time.” he stepped forward between the two men.
   “Okay Grey, go get him.” Torren replied as he pointed with his chin to the darkened corner of the trench.
   “Him?” Joel asked clearly puzzled.
   The Colonel placed a hand on Joel’s shoulder coaxing him to turn to the corner of the trench. “I’m sorry General,” he smiled the first of the day. “I forgot to introduce to you our target for today.” he pointed a finger into the direction Grey.
   “General Thawbran meet Toby.” Grey expressed with a sweeping wave of his hand as a figure started to rise with a low droning from the shaded corner. The Lieutenant chuckled as he reached out for one of the arms that hung lifelessly down and lifted it to wave at the perplexed General.
   It was a manikin, yet from the shadows of the corner the features were realistic, the helmeted head, the face, the body armour. The model ended abruptly at the waist and below it was three internal thrusters propelling it into the air. Surprised the General could then see it was a converted maintenance `droid.
   “What’re you going to do with that?” Thawbran addressed the question to the Colonel, but Grey replied with a nod of encouragement from Torren.
    Grey pulled from his utility belt a small hand-held computer; he pressed the screen on it and handed it to the General. Joel quickly studied it and could see at once that it was a tactical floor-plan of the United Planets trenches. Two red spots of  light close to each other flashed in the same section of the trench, at these places the parapet were once low and the maintenance `droids had now raised this part with stone blocks. The United Planets military were; well some would say contemptuous of the amphibian Militia’s ability to fight. Until that is, four personnel were killed at these two spots, that’s when the parapet subsequently, and cautiously was raised and also it was about the same time the amphibians had gained a revengeful respect.
   The two flashing lights represented a distance of forty paces, and Vasrac Lutron realised that this skilful amphibian sniper had achieved such easy kills by waiting for an unexpecting victim to walk down the trench. It would get a glimpse of a helmeted head in the first gap, and would be aiming into the second with a wedded finger pulling on the trigger of its powerful rifle as the unfortunate victim passed it. Grey was explaining this to Joel as he pointed to the positions with his gloved finger, the General listen intently; realising at this was the point where Markus had met his end.        
   “Lutron wants us to draw the amphibian’s fire. The position he has chosen for himself and his team has the sniper in a line of fire from one or maybe two of them.”
   “It’s a bit hit-an-miss, if you don’t mind me saying.” Joel mused.
    Torren cut in. “These amphibian Militia are good, and that sniper is the best I ever seen.” It hurt him to concede what was true as he paused, then continued optimistically. “We believe that it has made a mistake though. It has found a good spot and is sticking too it…. This maybe it’s undoing.”
   The General looked at Torren convinced in the skill of the Prowlers. “Vasrac Lutron must know what he is doing…. I’ll be damned, he wouldn’t be out there otherwise.”
   The young office Grey picked up a waveperiscope then guided the maintenance `droid long side Torren and Joel. He turned it to face the two men who were waiting with anticipation. Then lifting a metal flap in the front of the `droid and then pushed in a tiny program disc for the task it was about to perform. To many individuals it may only be a machine designed for maintenance, yet like all `droids it was fully programmed for self-preservation the disc would override that command.
   The `droid seemed to pause, then suddenly began to move as it processed the information from the disc. The machine hovered half a meter higher than any of the natural personnel to compensate for the raised parapet, his shoulders rolled realistically as if he was hurrying along the trench he hovered tantalising passed the first gap.
   The tension of the moment ceased as a vicious harsh hissing crack of a high-velocity rifle echoed. The `droid whipped sharply the metal head kicked all too real as the maintenance `droid scented droplets of splintered metal and sparking internal modules flying as it dropped out of sight and hit the plastic coated boards with sickening realism, half of it metal face gone, and what remained sparked pitifully.
   “Damn!” Torren cursed bitterly as the waveperiscope focused with disbelieving evidence on the slope. “Damn his wart riddled hide!”
   “Torren what’s wrong?” Joel shouted over the Colonel’s anger.
   “Blast that amphibian!”  
   “Colonel?”
   Torren lowered the waveperiscope, the impression of hopeless written all over his face. “General…. He’s behind them. He’s among the trees, almost sitting on top of them.” He bitterly threw the periscope to the ground “They’ve picked the same stand.”
   Joel looked at the sparking `droid on the muddy floor boards and realised with cold bitter irony the predicament the Prowlers were now in.

CRYDAW   Call of the Blue Stone   Page 35

All Material is Registered with The Writers Guild of America, west, Inc.
All material is owned by the Author and can not be used, or copied without permission.

The stellar disk of the Milky Way Galaxy (where we live) is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter, and is considered to be, on average, about 1,000 light years thick.

It is estimated to contain at least 200 billion stars and possibly up to 400 billion stars, the exact figure depending on the number of very low-mass stars, which is highly uncertain.

And it is very pretty, too.

Isn’t this fantastic?  Astronomers and physicists from just a few decades ago would have sold their souls to see pictures like this, and you get it dropped in your laps when all you really wanted was another funny story about some small children…

]]> http://flintstonestargazing.com/2009/11/26/m31-andromeda-galaxy-on-112509/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:22:30 +0000 Ed http://flintstonestargazing.com/2009/11/26/m31-andromeda-galaxy-on-112509/

M31-Andromeda Galaxy on 11/25/09

I recently bought a 135mm f/2.8 lens off of eBay. It’s an old Soligar (it’s about my age) and has a manual focus, Because my DSI uses a T-mount as well as this lens, I just bought a couple spacers and now I’m able to use my DSI to take widefield shots like this one. With my telescope, I can’t get the entire Andromeda Galaxy into the frame with my DSLR, but with this lens, it fits on my little DSI just fine. I hope to do a more imaging like this soon.

I thoroughly enjoyed the MLS Cup Final this past weekend – and congrats to Real Salt Lake on their first trophy. I’ve got lots of thoughts on the game, but want to voice my opinion on what was in my mind the most unbelievable moment of the night – Landon Donovan’s penalty-kick miss.

I was extremely disappointed with Donovan’s performance in the 2006 World Cup. I’ve always thought his status as the savior of American soccer to be a bit overblown and a good deal undeserved. Seeing the negative reaction to this latest PK miss, however, I can’t help but speak out against what I see as much more overblown and undeserved criticism being heaped on Landon over the past few days.

First of all – Landon Donovan did NOT blow the MLS Cup for the Galaxy. His miss certainly didn’t help things, but it was his perfectly-executed cross that set up Mike MaGee for an easy goal to put the Galaxy on the board. Without that cross, the Galaxy would never have gotten to PK’s in the first place.

Second – although this miss was an unfortunate one, it cannot undo history: Landon Donovan is one of the USA’s most dependable players when it comes to penalty kicks, especially in international play. In any sport, the greatest players sometimes fall short – and Donovan is no exception. But to doubt the deservedness of his position as the designated player for penalty kicks for the national team – as some people have since this weekend – is foolish. Landon Donovan should and will continue taking PK’s for the national team – and given his past record, he will miss them very, very infrequently.

Third – despite the miss, and in spite of what his critics say, Landon Donovan is still the best player the USA has. Like him or not, the USA’s success in the 2010 World Cup will hinge largely on his performance. When he’s in form, he can control the pace of the game like no other midfielder on Bradley’s roster. His passing instincts are good, his speed and fitness are top-notch, and he has demonstrated the ability to convert scoring opportunities into goals rivaled only by the injured Charlie Davies. I can only hope that Donovan can rise above his critics – and any self-doubt misses like this are sure to create – and realize his full potential in South Africa next summer.

Today, I found myself in an internet debate over the topic of Religion. A certain blogger who shall remain anonymous has made it their duty to call out religion and any beliefs that one may have as ‘weak’ and an excuse for the ‘misguided actions’ they apparently have ‘no control over’ (because we’re all morally weak, right?). They explained that religion is like a ’safety net’ in which those who believe ‘find comfort in’ when they fall victim to peer pressure.

I’d like to say this right now – and I don’t want to sound like a freaky religious person nor do I want to force my beliefs upon anyone – you have just as much proof that God does not exist as I have proof that he does exist. This universal debate has been ongoing for centuries and I fear it will go on for many more. As much as I’d like for the world to be a simple and peaceful place, it never will be while debates like this still exist.

[Science vs God]

Anyone who raises a point on one side can always be rebutted by another point on the opposing side. Scientists have spent lifetimes trying to find breakthroughs and explanations for why things are the way they are. There would be no need for these findings if everyone believed that it was created by someone greater than we are – someone above all of humanity – someone like God. Unfortunately, there will always be people who do not believe – the ’seeing is believing’ people. To such a point; one could argue that the earth is evidence, the sun, the air we breathe, humans, animals, nature…which is what I believe. But to those who don’t it won’t do anything but spark up the debate all over again.

Likewise, man has studied the bible through and through trying to match up the pieces of info and history of our universe. Christianity is preached all over the world – in most countries – and it has the biggest population of followers. Clearly, it is most logical explanation for why things are the way they are, and most people can see that. Though, again, to the non-believers, it’s all a myth; so really there’s no way of convincing them nor is there a ‘logical argument’, they would say.

While I have read the various theories of evolution and of the big bang, and the scientific evidence that supports it; I still can’t believe that life can be controlled/occur as a result of two random atoms colliding. Something as perfect, complex and intricate as the human body surely could not have been created by accident; by anything other than someone like God. How about babies? How do they survive in the womb? How are they automatically born with the reflex action of suckling when stroked on the cheek? How can something as simple as the anatomy of spider create such versatile and complicated webs?

Lol; I’m preaching aren’t I? I don’t mean to. But anyways, back to my point. The earth we live on is but a tiny spec of dust in a vast universe which stretches out further than any horizons and expands across any of our imaginations. You cannot begin to comprehend how large it or what else exists out there. It really is amazing. I can’t seem to believe that this is all a result of an accident though – that once upon a time there was nothing, and now there is a whole galaxy and solar system.

To the non-believers who base their opinions upon real, hard evidence in front of them – the ones who let science take over their life – I would just like to say this: have. some. respect. We may not all be smart geeks like you, we may not understand the laws of physics, or the basics of chemistry and biology – but that is no reason to undermine our beliefs and faith. I am sick to death of people shunning the bible as a mythological fairytale that was created by middle-aged men with no lives; and religion as the ‘weak’ alternative to living life.

Putting your faith into something/someone greater than who we are is not at all weak. I do not believe in God because I am scared of being eternally damned or suffering during my second life. I am not forced to believe in God by my parents, nor to attend Church on Sunday mornings. This my choice.

Religion is choice. You can’t say you’re a Christian just because you’ve been to Church every Sunday of your life since the day you born and then go out and do everything the bible tells you not to do. Sure, you may have gone to Church your whole life, but by not following God’s law, you are making a choice – to not be a good follower/faithful.

I’m not saying that doing what you want and not following the bible is weak, either. Like I said, it’s a choice. I choose to follow God’s law and put my faith in Him – and because of that I feel strength, not weakness. Just like people choose not to follow Him because they don’t believe there is enough evidence. I do no fear of being eternally damned if I sin once because I know that God will forgive me if I am truly sorry. Likewise, I don’t say I’m a believer purely because I don’t want to be eternally damned – I’m a believer because I have gone to Church practically every Sunday of my life and I have listened. I read the bible and I see the evidence in my life. Believing in God does not make me fearful; but rather strong and proud. I know that wherever I go and whatever I do, I will always be safe because God will always be right by my side.

So, to conclude – this really was in retaliation to the blog I read earlier today and also an opportunity for me to vent my anger and feelings. To the non-believers – I have respect for what you believe, please have some respect for what I believe. To those who may wonder – why do good people suffer? Why is there so much evil in the world? Well I’ll tell you; these are God’s trials – tests, if you will, to measure your faithfulness and loyalty to God. Without bad, there’d be no good to separate it from. Without suffering, there would be no compassion or forgiveness.

Arguing about whether God exists or not/any religion for that matter – is always going to be a moot debate. No one will ever win. Stop doing it. Respect each other.

That’s all I have to say for now.

-Ania

[edit]

P.S I realise that in my last post I mentioned my love for the show ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Granted, my love stems only from the fact that it is an extremely hilarious show – I am not a psycho, hypocritical religious person.

Do you like collisions…big collisions? Is the LHC smashing together little protons just not enough for you? Then wet your citizen science taste-buds on something really big. Brought to you by our friends at galaxy zoo, and debuting today, colliding galaxies!

http://mergers.galaxyzoo.org/

“The analogy I’ve been using is that it is like driving past a car crash,” said Galaxy Zoo team member Chris Lintott from Oxford University. “You get a snapshot of the action, but there are two things you want to know: what caused the crash (or what did things look like before it all went wrong), and you want to know what the outcome is going to be. We’re doing the same thing. We want to know what the galaxies looked like before the mergers started disrupting them, and we want to know how they are going to end up. Just like our other Galaxy Zoo projects, humans are much better at doing this than computers, and lots of humans are even better.” (Credit , Universe Today)

Davidas Beckhamas.

Los Andželo “Galaxy” žvaigždė Davidas Beckhamas nuo vaikystės kenčia astmos priepuolius, pareiškė žaidėjo agentas Simonas Oliveira.

34 metų žaidėjas buvo pastebėtas naudojantis inhaliatorių MLS lygos finalo metu.

“Davidas jau seniai turi šią problemą, tačiau tai neįtakoja jo žaidimo lygio aikštėje”, – kalbėjo agentas.

Beckham and Galaxy coach Bruce Arena look dejected after the defeat to Real Salt Lake on Sunday (Getty Images)

(WFI) England star David Beckham misses out on winning his first piece of silverware with the Los Angeles Galaxy but looks ahead to buying a Major League Soccer club.

The Galaxy lost 5-4 in a shoot-out to Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final at Qwest Field in Seattle on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, MLS commissioner Don Garber said Beckham has the option to own the 20th MLS team.

“We didn’t talk about this until recently but David has the option for our 20th team,” said Garber. “That option can’t be exercised until after 2011 or after he stops playing so we have got some time to figure that out.”

The Philadelphia Union become the 16th club in the MLS next year, with the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps due to begin competition in 2011. Montreal could become the 19th team in the league. Garber confirmed last week that there are no active discussions under way with a possible 20th team and no timetable to bring them into the league.

After Sunday’s defeat to Real Salt Lake, Beckham said he would be exercising the option of investing in an MLS team, which was included in his Galaxy contract, and was already looking at different cities for a team.

“We’ve got options obviously at this stage I am not going to say what they are but it will happen eventually,” Beckham was quoted by Reuters.

Under MLS guidelines, approved candidates to invest in a new franchise would be required to pay a $40 million expansion fee and deliver a suitable stadium for soccer.

Beckham received three painkilling injections in his bruised foot before the MLS Cup final, but had an influential role. He played the whole match, including extra time, set up his team’s only goal and fired in the first of the Galaxy’s four penalties in the shootout.

After the match, Beckham restated his intention to return to he Galaxy following his second loan spell at AC Milan to play in the fourth season of his five-year MLS contract. The 34-year-old hopes to play for England at the South Africa 2010 World Cup next summer. His Galaxy contract finishes at the end of the 2011 season.

Written by Mark Bisson
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(Copyright 1992 – 2009, all rights reserved. The information in this report may not be published, excerpted, or otherwise distributed in print or broadcast without the express prior consent of World Football Insider and Around the Rings, Inc.)

WCW World War 3
November 24, 1996
Norfolk, VA
The Scope

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (10/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (10/27/1996)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes.

• J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono) vs. Rey Mysterio

For those unaware, the J-Crown is EIGHT lightweight championships combined from promotions all around the world. The funny part is and possibly the most annoying for the champion is that he’s got to carry around all those eight titles instead of having just one belt to represent all the belts. Needless to say, the J-Crown championship was short-lived and when the WWF came calling for their light heavyweight championship all of a sudden (which was one of the eight championships) in the fall of 1997, the J-Crown status was absolved and all the belts returned to be defended in their particular promotion. Anyways, this is match #2 in the three part series of the Mysterio-Dragon PPV matches. Mysterio won the first match at Hog Wild in Dragon’s debut and now that he’s got a boost of confidence in winning all those belts, maybe he can pick up the win here especially now that Rey has just lost the cruiserweight belt four weeks ago at Halloween Havoc. Alright that’s enough set up talk, let’s get to the match.

After a short feeling out process, they flip around to come to a stalemate. Enough of that, Dragon puts Rey down with his famous kick combo and corners him for some chops. Rey lands on the apron and looks for a springboard, but Dragon stops that with a springboard dropkick to put Rey on the floor. Awesome! Dragon hits a German suplex and then puts Mysterio in a lucha backbreaker rack drop. Rey outlasts a half crab, but then Dragon powerbombs him and lifts him back up for a hotshot! WHAT. Cover, 1-2-NO! Dragon gives Rey the Giant Swing! After so many spins, Dragon ends up making himself dizzy too. Fisherman buster gets two. Brainbuster gets another two. Tombstone piledriver gets a THIRD nearfall in a row! They go to the floor where Dragon drops Rey with ANOTHER tombstone! While Mysterio’s laid out, Dragon gives him a slingshot splash! Back inside, he hits the DRAGONSTEINER for 1-2-NO! RUNNING LIGERBOMB gets 1-2-NO! Mysterio catches Dragon charging in the corner and follows up with a springboard split-legged moonsault for 1-2-NO! Rey flips out to the apron off a whip and springboard dropkicks Dragon to the floor. He continues with the offense and wipes out Dragon with a springboard somersault plancha! Incredible. In the ring, Rey delivers a springboard sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Awesome cartwheel into a spinning hurracanrana gets 1-2-NO! Dragon comes back with a Dragon Suplex right on Rey’s head for 1-2-NO! He tries another Running Ligerbomb, but Rey sunset flips out for 1-2-NO! WHOA. So many convincing nearfalls. Rey calls for the SPRINGBOARD HURRACANRANA which always wins, but this time Dragon catches him in mid-air and bounces him off the rope into a powerbomb for 1-2-3! (13:47) Wow just an absolutely awesome match. I LOVE that finish too. A slingshot powerbomb? Who thinks of this stuff? Just incredible. Easily a MOTYC here. Next month, Dragon wants Malenko and his Cruiserweight belt. At the time, Ultimo Dragon held NINE total championships – that’s one other belt outside of the J-Crown. The cruiserweight belt would make a ridiculous ten championships at once. That’s insanity. But hey, when you’re a champ, you’re a champ all the way. ****½

In the back, DDP avoids Gene’s question about whether or not he’s got anything to do with Eric Bischoff since he’s his next door neighbor and all. You know what Gene, Page does in fact owe his great hair to Head & Shoulders. Don’t be jealous. BANG!

• Chris Jericho (w/Teddy Long) vs. Nick Patrick

For this match, Jericho has to wrestle Patrick with one arm tied behind his back. Nick Patrick comes out looks all sleazy. He wrestles in a sleeveless zebra shirt, black pants, white boots, and one of those soft collars. Jericho shoulderblocks and hiptosses Patrick around to start. He stalls and gets in Teddy Long’s face for a moment. Back inside, he slaps Jericho and then takes a slap to send him flying to the floor. Patrick finally gains an advantage when Jericho misses a clothesline up against the ringpost. Back in again, Patrick punches Jericho around in the corner, but charges into a boot and takes a bunch of turnbuckle smashes. Patrick leads Jericho in and out of the ring to stomp him on his way back inside, but then he gets slammed off the top (WOO!) and eats a superkick for the 1-2-3. (8:02) I know Nick Patrick used to be a wrestler before he hurt himself and became a referee, but he did pretty darn good since that was about fifteen years ago. Tony tells Patrick to go home to daddy. In case you don’t get the inside joke, his daddy is the Assassin who RULED the southern territories as a masked heel back in the day and in 1996, he ran the WCW Power Plant. Actually not that bad to sit through and it’s certainly satisfying to see Patrick get owned if you can forget about referees usually getting merely bumped and knocked out for five minutes. They’re usually so feeble! *½

Gene Okerlund brings out a rehabilitating Ric Flair. While this crowd was already molten hot, Flair comes out to help them become a little hotter. He promises the wrestling public that before it’s all said and done, he will dance all night and dance a little longer, stay all night and stay a little longer. Oh yeah and the new World order will belong to the WCW. WOO! Wait, what?

• The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett

Giant wears the US belt with him to the ring. Schiavone says that Flair is no longer the champ because of not defending the belt in 30 days. Jarrett spends the whole match trying to knock Giant off his feet. When he fails, Giant takes over and chokes and chops on him. Wait a minute, here comes STING! Meanwhile, Giant misses a pump splash (yep, even back then) and Jarrett takes him off his feet with a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! As Sting jumps the rail, Giant gets dumped. Jarrett doesn’t notice anything and takes this opportunity to do the Fargo Strut. While the ref is counting on Giant, Sting hops in the ring and gives Jarrett the SCORPION DEATH DROP! Once Sting leaves, Giant waits for Jarrett to stagger up to his feet and delivers the CHOKESLAM for the academic 1-2-3. (6:52) This achieved a couple things. It continues Sting punishing Jarrett for waltzing in here all of a sudden and demanding that he stop being a loser and become the leader for WCW against the nWo. Secondly it allowed Giant to finally chokeslam Jarrett when he said he couldn’t do it. And yeah, that pretty much ends Giant’s feud with the Horsemen. ¾*

It’s time for a contract signing! There’s a table with a plaid cover ready in the ring and Roddy Piper comes out with the contract in hand. Get out here, Hogan. Instead of seeing Hogan, Eric Bischoff comes out wearing an nWo t-shirt, Ted DiBiase, and Vincent. Bischoff says that Hollywood isn’t coming out to sign this because he’s a little busy looking over some scripts and has made Bischoff his power of attorney, so he can sign the contract in his place. First of all, Piper reminds Vincent that he taught him how to fight, so he better back off. Piper handles these three by being able to talk over all them. He doesn’t care about no WCW or nWo. To Piper, nWo means ‘no way out’. And somewhere Vince is thinking that might not be a bad name for a PPV. When Piper gets up in Bischoff’s face, Bischoff reminds him that he can fine Piper for whatever it is he’s about to do. O RLY? How much would it cost him? Piper gets a little off track and then tells Bischoff that this match against Hogan is no-DQ, no countouts – there must be a winner to find out who the real icon is. Piper doesn’t want to look at Bischoff anymore, he calls Hogan out again. And here comes Hollywood along with the rest of the new World order. First of all, Hollywood says he’ll sign the contract, but then he brings up Piper’s hip replacement. Show everybody the scar, Roddy! Hogan proceeds to call Piper a cripple and “Pegged Leg Pete”. Piper finally has enough and slaps Hogan away. Big mistake. The nWo swarms on him while Hogan blasts his scar with a chair and then spray paints the nWo letters across his hip! Before the nWo leaves, Piper gets to his feet and turns the table over to prove a point. He WILL NOT DIE! While the build towards this match is pretty awesome, it’s a shame that it can’t live up to it.

• Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) vs. The Amazing French Canadians (w/Col. Robert Parker)

If the Heat win, Sherri gets five minutes with Col. Parker. Hopefully this time she won’t bump her head and fall in love with him. During the Canadian national anthem, Sherri wonders if the AFC think they’re at the MTV music awards. SUH-NAP! Jacques kips up after a shoulderblock and nails Booker with a dropkick, but then eats a Hook Kick. Tag to Stevie Ray for a double clothesline. Jacques catches Stevie Ray with a jumping back elbow, but has to tag in Oulette to put him down with a clothesline. Stevie Ray nails Oulette with a back suplex and Bicycle Kicks him down for two. Oulette gets stuck in the Heat corner for a while. Scissors Kick connects. Booker misses an elbow and SPINAROONIES up into a Jumping Leg Lariat. Jacques pulls the top rope down on Booker to send him flying to the floor. Back in, Jacques slams Oulette on top of Booker and continues the double teams with a double hotshot. Boston crab/flying legdrop on Booker gets two. Stevie Ray gets a hot tag and press slams Rougeau on top of Oulette. It breaks down into a pier-six brawl and the ref gets sandwiched in the corner. Booker misses a Jumping Leg Lariat and gets crotched and falls to the floor. That leaves Stevie Ray alone with the AFC for a SPIKE PILEDRIVER! With the Heat all down and out, Oulette makes a scaffold in the corner with a table and then puts the ring steps on top of the table. He puts another bundle of steps down on the mat to make for a SUPER QUEBECER CRASH! OH MY GOSH! Too bad it completely misses. I mean it took all of a whole minute to set up. Jacques gets kicked to the floor while Booker delivers the HARLEM HANGOVER to Oulette for the 1-2-3. (9:15) Standard formula tag with a silly finish. Kind of cool, but kind of silly too. I mean, really guys? Afterwards, Sherri gets her alone time with Parker and beats him to the back after about a minute or two. About what we expected with that. **

Tony Schiavone is wiping away the TEARS of laughter. Yes, TEARS.

On the WCW Hotline, Gene says he’ll tell you who the latest superstar is that will be coming to WCW! Well whoever he is, I’ll bet he’ll be just perfect for WCW.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis

Malenko stretches Psychosis down on the mat to start. During the mat work, somebody apparently is getting kicked out of the building. Who knows. Finally, it picks up a little as Psychosis takes Malenko to the floor, but then he misses a leap to the floor and slams his face on the guardrail. Oww? Back in, Malenko returns to the mat with a headscissors. He changes over to a nasty vertical half crab and then levels Psychosis with a butterfly powerbomb into a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, but Psychosis is in the ropes. They fight to the floor while Malenko cranks on the knee. Psychosis mounts a comeback with a pumphandle backbreaker and then NAILS Malenko with a corkscrew senton on the floor! WHAT. Back in, Psychosis delivers a GUILLOTINE LEGDROP for 1-2-NO! Malenko avoids a charge, but gets caught up top and takes a rana to the mat for 1-2-NO! Whoa, Psychosis catches Malenko with a rolling Koppou kick. We see a DOUBLE REVERSAL on a tombstone piledriver which Dean wins. Cover, 1-2-NO! Malenko eats a boot off a corner charge, but avoids a leapfrog and gets the rolling clutch into a bridge for the 1-2-3. (14:34) Took too long to get where it was going to be great. However it did include quite a few awesome nearfalls. Certainly not as great as the Dragon-Rey match, but still a very good match. ***½

• WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders vs. The Nasty Boys vs. The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart)

I do believe this is the final WCW PPV for the Nasty Boys. While Knobbs would wrestle on his own later in WCW, I know this is certainly the end of PPVs for Jerry Sags. Anyways, they clean house on the Outsiders before the Faces of Fear even make it to the ring. Once the Faces of Fear make it to the ring, the Outsiders stand back while the other two teams beat the crap out of each other. As you might expect, there’s a lot of CLUBBERIN’. Knobbs gets cornered in the champs corner for a while. Hall kicks Barbarian in the head a bunch and that wakes him up. The Faces of Fear slug him around until the Nasties take over. Sags hits a PILEDRIVER on Barbarian and gets two. Nash lays out Barbarian with the Side Slam. In comes Hall, the Faces of Fear have some more fun with him. Back over to the Nasties, they concentrate on Barbarian some more. Eventually, Knobbs and Meng decide to stop fighting each other and they tag in both Hall and Nash. They think they are brilliant for making these two fight, but all they have to do is pin each other to regain the tag belts, says Tony. They hype the crowd up into a frenzy making them think they’re going to really fight, but then Nash lays down for Hall and they get a two count off that. Does that remind anybody of a certain Monday night in January of 1999? Just saying. The match breaks down with the Faces of Fear heading to the floor to beat up Sags. Meanwhile, Hall gets Jimmy’s megaphone and blasts Knobbs in the back of the head so Nash can give him the JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB for the 1-2-3. (16:11) I don’t normally like tag team triangle matches because they’re usually just a huge mess, but this felt like a good fight. The Nasties and the Faces of Fear are known for being tough dudes, but the Outsiders proved to be the smartest. In this case, being the smartest won them the match. **¼

• 60-Man Battle Royal – Winner Gets The Next WCW World Title Shot

The participants: Lex Luger, Eddie Guerrero, ‘Boston Bad Boy’ Tony Rumble, Diamond Dallas Page, Kaos, Rage, M. Wallstreet, Marcus Bagwell, Scotty Riggs, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Booker T, Stevie Ray, Big Bubba, Hugh Morrus, Konnan, Ron Studd, Lord Steven Regal, La Parka, Pez Whatley, Steve McMichael, Disco Inferno, Renegade, Joe Gomez, Meng, Barbarian, Bunkhouse Buck, Arn Anderson, Johnny Grunge, Ciclope, Galaxy, Syxx, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, The Giant, Scott Norton, Ultimo Dragon, Jimmy Graffiti, Mike Enos, Rey Mysterio Jr., Roadblock, Ice Train, Jack Boot, Jim Duggan, Chris Benoit, Juventud Guerrera, Jacques Rougeau, Carl Oulette, Prince Iaukea, Dean Malenko, Jeff Jarrett, Bobby Eaton, Jim Powers, Squire David Taylor, Chris Jericho, Alex Wright, Mark Starr, Mr. JL, Villano IV, Rick Steiner, and Kevin Sullivan. Our commentators for ring one – Mike Tenay and Dusty Rhodes; ring two – Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan; ring three – Lee Marshall and Larry Zbyszko.

A black-eyed and bruised Benoit meets Sullivan in the aisleway as he comes to the ring. They had a rematch from the Great American Bash in Baltimore the night before. A Horsemen/Dungeon battle ensues on the floor. Benoit and Sullivan fight into the crowd. Bubba tries to help out, but he gets beaten down the steps. Hard to tell if any eliminations are happening even with the three-way split screen because the commentators are all talking about the Horsemen/Dungeon fight. Somehow Lee Marshall gets swept up into the brawl. HA. Apparently everybody involved in the fight is disqualified from the battle royal. The jobbers and the luchadores slowly get weeded out. That excludes Rey Mysterio Jr. The new World order people are just standing around picking their shots. Giant gets into it with Roadblock and clotheslines him out. In one ring, everybody clotheslines Ron Studd in the corner. Once he’s down, they all dog pile on top of him for some reason. While the Amazing French Canadians have their problems with Duggan after they eliminated, Eddie Guerrero pescados out on top of Regal. Off-camera, it looks like Bagwell eliminated Riggs to further their problems with Wallstreet coming up behind Bagwell to send him to the showers. It’ll all become clear tomorrow on Nitro. In another ring, the nWo pretty much stand back and watch while Rey and Dragon make a little match. I thought Eddie was eliminated when he launched himself out on Regal, but he’s still at ringside beating up DDP. Eventually, everybody congregates into the same ring. Jack Boot, better known as Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, gets tossed out. I know everybody was DYING to know what happened to him. Luger tries to punch away on the Giant, but he can’t stay there forever with the nWo standing in his way protecting their own. Luger does manage to toss out a different giant in Ron Studd though. Now the midcarders like Rick Steiner and Chris Jericho get sent out. How is Regal still in the match? Finally when there’s nine people left, WCW stops fighting each other momentarily. Luger and Jarrett go after Hall and Nash while Regal, Mysterio, DDP, and Eddie continue beating on one another. I’ve seen everybody left from WCW on the floor at some point during this match. Regal backdrops Eddie out for a crazy bump. Rey charges Giant and gets hoisted up with ONE HAND. He pitches Rey on top of Eddie. That’s just ridiculous. Hall goes to give Jarrett the OUTSIDERS EDGE when Regal makes the save! Nevertheless, Nash clotheslines Jarrett out. DDP charges Regal and misses to crash and burn on the floor. Now that Regal is on fire, Nash and Giant swarms the guy and dumps him out.

We’re down to Syxx, Nash, Hall, and the Giant left to take on Luger. The crowd gets to their feet. Luger goes on the move and starts taking everybody down with clotheslines. All except the Giant. He whips Luger across and misses an avalanche to land himself up on the top turnbuckle. Lex gets Giant up on his shoulders to get rid of him, but Syxx kicks Luger in the gut. Hall kicks Luger for the OUTSIDERS EDGE, but Luger backdrops him out to the floor. Lex presses Syxx and throws him out onto Hall! Luger ducks a clothesline from Nash and then nails him coming back around with a running elbow! With Nash staggered, Luger lifts him up in the TORTURE RACK! As he moves over to the ropes to dump him out, Giant comes over and shoves them both out to win the match. (28:23) This actually turns out for the best because it creates an opportunity to weaken the nWo just a little bit. They were getting a tad too strong. Since Giant is part of the new World order and Hogan’s the champ, to ask for the guaranteed title shot for winning World War 3 would mean absolute treason. And boy, this should get a little interesting in the weeks to come.

Final Thoughts: What a fun PPV. Apart from who won at least from a booking standpoint, I’m not a big fan of the main event. It’s usually just a nasty cluster of a match, but the hot ending was just spectacular. Most people hate the undercard on this show aside from the cruiserweight stuff. I didn’t mind it and found those matches to be enjoyable. World War 3 ‘96 will get an easy thumbs up from me. November 1996 was just a great month for PPVs. For an interesting time in WCW, go and check this out however you can.

Estamos pressisando de novos membros para o site, eu e o Lelouch não estamos dando conta sozinhos como podem ter percebido.

Se estiverem interesados em ajudar deixem aqui um comentario ou entrem em contato comigo por um destes e-mails

zigfrid_ag@hotmail.com ou cauldronkeep@yahoo.com.br

Você deve estar se perguntando o que e nesessario para ser um membro do site, certo?

1. Deve ter tempo livre para postar no minimo uma vez por semana, porem não iremos ficar te enxendo para postar sempre, se estiver com problemas como provas, trabalho, vida pessoal, etc. Sempre que tiver que ficar ausente so pesso que avisse a mim antes ok ^^
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7. Quando nos enviar o e-mail por favor nos informe sobre qual categoria do site o intereça. Temos animes, filmes, ovas, tokusatsus, jogos, mangas…

Bem galera acho que e so isso por enguanto ^^ Aproveitrando para dizer que o Trinisete Fansub tambem esta com vagas abertas. http://trinisetefansub.wordpress.com/

Amazing …

This image of the central parts of Centaurus A reveals the parallelogram-shaped remains of a smaller galaxy that was gulped down about 200 to 700 million years ago. The image is based on data collected with the SOFI instrument on ESO’s New Technology Telescope at La Silla. The original image, obtained by observing in the near-infrared through three different filters (J, H and K) was specially processed to look through the dust, providing a clear view of the centre. The field of view is about 4 x 4 arcminutes.

November 15th, 2009: Twitter Fans Flock to Space Shuttle Launch… & Space Shuttle Atlantis Poised for Monday Launch…

November 16th, 2009: NASA to Begin Escape Attempt for Stuck Mars Rover… , NASA to Test Drills for Cutting Ice on Mars… , Space Shuttle Atlantis Blasts Off on Delivery Mission… & NASA Hails Fifth Shuttle Launch of 2009…

November 17th, 2009: Astronauts Inspect Space Shuttle for Damage… , Bubbling, Boiling Sun Photographed in Detail… , Vampire Star Is a Ticking Time Bomb… & Stuck Mars Rover Hits Snag In First Escape Attempt…

November 18th, 2009: Shuttle Atlantis Closing In On Space Station… , Hubble Spies Galaxy’s Big Bulge… , New Experiment to Test Super Teflon In Space… , Shuttle Atlantis Arrives At Space Station… , U.S., China, to Explore Cooperation In Space… , Meteor Explosion Lights Up Sky Over Utah… , Cosmic Triple-Play: Asteroid Flyby, Fireball Over Utah, Meteor Shower… , World’s Largest Radio Telescope Network Goes Live… & NASA to Try to Free Stuck Mars Rover Again…

November 19th, 2009: Astronauts Gear Up For First Spacewalk… , Dark Energy Search Could Aid Planet Hunters… , Astronauts Breeze Through Mission’s First Spacewalk… & Teams Compete to Build Better Astronaut Glove…

November 20th, 2009: Astronaut Stuck In Space For Daughter’s Birth… , Giant Cannibal Galaxy’s Last Meal… , New NASA Sky Mapper Heads For Launchpad… , Key Parts Returned from Hubble Telescope Now on Display at Smithsonian… , NASA Recruits ‘Planet 51′ Actor Dwayne Johnson to Spread Message… & Astronauts Unfazed by False Alarms in Space…

Astronomy Picture of the Day: November Twenty-First, 2009

Astronomy Picture of the Week: November 15th to 21st, 2009

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Most of the time I’m alone, I’m in love, I’m sleeping and dreaming, I’m in outer space…

The magnificent galaxy NGC 4710 is tilted nearly edge-on to our view from Earth. This perspective allows astronomers to easily distinguish the central bulge of stars from its pancake-flat disk of stars, dust, and gas. What’s striking in the image is a ghostly “X” pattern of stars. This natural-color photo was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys on January 15, 2006.

Source: HubbleSite

Read More: Here

La materia è vasta e spinosa, lo so. Ho sempre avuto una mente scientifica e ho sempre creduto nella forza del metodo scientifico, nato dalla mente geniale di G. Galilei. La scienza ufficiale, tuttavia, non è riuscita tuttora a spiegare alcuni fenomeni e tanti misteri legati alla “faccenda” degli UFO, o OVNI che dir si voglia. UFO è un acronimo che sta per Unidentified Flying Object e il suo omologo italiano è OVNI, Oggetti Volanti Non Identificati.

Non desidero affatto discutere sulla effettiva veridicità di tali fenomeni anche se, stando alle statistiche, non è possibile classificare il 100% di tali avvistamenti come “abbagli” di persone suggestionate o illusioni ottiche dovute a fenomeni atmosferici. Onestamente, non ritengo rilevante il processo cognitivo che si basi su varie segnalazioni di migliaia di persone, separate nello spazio e nel tempo, nel corso della storia umana. Mi sembra più interessante, piuttosto, ragionare sugli aspetti concettuali dell’esistenza di forme di vita che si siano sviluppate in civiltà progredite, lontane da noi centinaia, migliaia di anni luce e sulla possibilità che alcune di esse possano veramente aver compiuto viaggi così lunghi per giungere fino a noi.

La scienza stessa e (finalmente) il Vaticano hanno ammesso la possibilità che l’Universo sia pieno di forme di vita aliene. Si tratta di una questione di statistica, lo diceva anche il compianto Isaac Asimov nel suo bellissimo libro “Civiltà Extraterrestri”. Se pensiamo al fatto che il nostro Sole sia una stella di media grandezza, a metà della sua vita attiva (collasserà fra 5 miliardi di anni per poi diventare una “nana bianca”), ed esso non ha caratteristiche rare nello sterminato firmamento della nostra galassia della quale occupa una posizione periferica (ci troviamo prossimi alla periferia della Via Lattea in una zona chiamata “Braccio di Orione”), e pensiamo anche al fatto che la nostra galassia contiene circa 200 miliardi di stelle, e di queste almeno il 25% simili al Sole, allora dobbiamo anche ritenere possibile che alcuni di questi miliardi di stelle simili al nostro Sole posseggano un sistema solare simile al nostro, con pianeti giganti gassosi (Giove, Saturno, Urano e Nettuno) e diversi pianeti terrestri (di roccia solida come Mercurio, Venere, Marte e Terra). Come non pensare allora che fra alcuni di questi sistemi solari possa esserci un pianeta che si sia elevato a culla di un sistema di vita come noi la conosciamo? Ma scremiamo ancora. Di questi sistemi solari contenenti vita (come noi la conosciamo, ovvero basata al carbonio) alcuni avranno una storia molto più antica del nostro. Si, perché il nostro sole è nato solamente 5 miliardi di anni fa, ma la galassia è molto più antica: si stima che abbia circa 13,7 miliardi di anni! Pertanto, alcuni di queste sistemi solari avranno civiltà molto più antiche e avanzate della nostra, sempre che non si siano auto-distrutte a causa di guerre nucleari.

Ecco un po’ di numeri (fonte del professor Frank Drake (SETI):

Numero di stelle nella galassia: da 100 a 300 miliardi…prendiamo 100 miliardi.

Stelle a lenta rotazione: 93% → 93 miliardi

Stelle di tipo solare: 25% → 23,2 miliardi

Stelle singole 40% → 9, 3 miliardi

Stelle di popolazione 1 10% → 930 milioni

Stelle con pianeta in posizione opportuna 50% → 465 Milioni

Stelle con pianeta simile alla terra 10% → 46,5 milioni

Stelle con pianeta abitabile 50% → 23,2 milioni

Stelle con pianeta a vita batterica 3% → 697.500

Stelle con pianeta e civiltà tecnologica 2% → 13.950

Avete letto bene : solo nella nostra galassia vi “sarebbero” almeno 13 mila 950 diverse civiltà tecnologicamente avanzate.

Partendo da questi semplici concetti, la scienza ufficiale a questo punto (e a mio modestissimo avviso) inciampa sulla classica buccia di banana che la rende assai simile all’ottusismo dogmatico di medievale memoria. Ovvero, dato che secondo la teoria della relatività generale non si può oltrepassare la velocità della luce (per la quale occorrerebbe un’energia infinita per raggiungere tale velocità), allora gli alieni non sono mai potuti arrivare sino a noi, perché le distanze sono così proibitive che ci vorrebbero milioni, miliardi di anni per fare questi viaggi anche se si potesse raggiungere tali velocità. Giustissimo, però ci si dimentica che la scienza stessa ha cambiato il nostro mondo come nessuno o pochissimi in passato avrebbero potuto immaginare. Nemmeno la mente geniale e visionaria di Giordano Bruno aveva previsto il mondo intero collegato in rete, ed Eratostene non avrebbe mai potuto immaginare la complessità tecnologica di un moderno jet-liner. Cosa voglio dire? Voglio dire semplicemente che dovremmo imparare una lezione fondamentale che la Storia umana ci ha impartito: e cioè che è sempre sbagliato, nella scienza, porre dei veti legati allo stato attuale delle conoscenze, perché il cammino del progresso scientifico è sempre dinanzi a noi e le cose che l’Umanità potrà scoprire in futuro sono inimmaginabili. Penso, ad esempio, alla fisica newtoniana. Prima di Einstein la realtà era spiegata con le teorie del magnifico scienziato inglese, e le cose funzionavano! Poi arrivò quel minuscolo impiegato dell’ufficio brevetti di Berna, e il mondo cambiò radicalmente. Si introdussero concetti nuovi e rivoluzionari. Il tempo diventava una dimensione, come lo spazio, e la massa diventava energia e viceversa…e la velocità della luce diveniva una costante universale, a prescindere da dove e come la si osservava. Impensabile nel ‘700, non è vero?

Quindi, come si fa a chiamare in causa un dogma scientifico per negare la possibilità di poter viaggiare attraverso il cosmo con tecnologie a noi sconosciute? Per fortuna non tutti sono così oscurantisti, e leggo con molto interesse i lavori dell’eccellentissimo Stephen Hawking, detentore della stessa cattedra lucasiana di Cambridge che occupava lo stesso Isaac Newton. Molti scienziati illuminati compiono dei veri e propri miracoli di immaginazione nell’ipotizzare la possibilità di curvare lo spazio-tempo al fine di accorciare le distanze. Se alcuni alieni sono mai atterrati sul nostro piccolo pianeta, sono certo giunti con tecnologie per noi impensabili ed inimmaginabili.

Ecco perché non mi sento di escludere tale ipotesi. E poi, per quale motivo dovremmo limitarci a dover essere confinati nel nostro isolamento?

WCW Monday Nitro
November 18, 1996
Florence, SC
Civic Center

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (10/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (10/27/1996)

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko.

Before there’s even an intro, we see the aftermath of an Outsiders beatdown with chairs in-hand as they interrupted a Nasties vs. High Voltage vs. Ciclope/Galaxy triangle match that occurred prior to the broadcast. They head over to Tony and Larry Z’s ringside announce table to tell them and everybody watching that the new World order can make you laugh (as they did for Tony Schiavone last week) and they can also be extremely deadly. Nash flicking Tony on the head is pretty hilarious though. WHO’S LAUGHING NOW, FAT BOY? After they leave, Meng and Barbarian are waiting to attack them backstage as they fight out of the building!

After a short break, Larry Z tries to calm Tony down and reminds him that they didn’t hurt him or anything, but he’s got five kids (wow!) and a wife. He doesn’t need to put up with this kind of abuse, so he leaves the broadcast for the rest of the show.

• Juventud Guerrera vs. La Parka
  

Here is La Parka’s WCW debut. Mike Tenay comes out and joins Larry Z for the rest of the first hour. They do some kip-ups from chops to start. La Parka dumps out Juvi for a suicide dive. Back in, Juvi pushes La Parka off the top turnbuckle onto the top rope and then takes him down onto the mat with a springboard headscissors! Cover, 1-2-NO! Quebrada gets another two. Juvi sets up for another springboard, but La Parka dropkicks him in mid-air. Back to the floor, La Parka delivers the Eddie Guerrero stage dive. Back inside, La Parka delivers a powerbomb for two. Juvi escapes a surfboard and drills La Parka with a missile dropkick for two. La Parka misses a corner charge and takes a whole BUNCH of turnbuckle smashes. Another springboard headscissors out of the corner gets two for Juvi. Ugh, Guerrera delivers one ugly looking spinning hurracanrana for two. La Parka misses something off the top and takes a Tornado DDT for two. However, La Parka blocks the Dragonsteiner and nails Juvi with a CORKSCREW SENTON for the 1-2-3. (9:22) Great TV debut for La Parka with loads of neat nearfalls on him, but Juvi just didn’t have the weight advantage over the big luchadore. ***¼

Video package shown to hype Ultimo Dragon as he looks to defend his newly-won J-Crown (short-lived unification of EIGHT lightweight championships from promotions around the world) against Rey Mysterio Jr at World War 3. We see some clips of him vs. the Great Sasuke in the J-Crown tournament final back on August 5.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono)
  

OH SNAP. This should be good. Some nice mat stuff to start. Dragon hits the handspring back elbow, but Malenko immediately whips Dragon across for the corner clothesline. Some awesome counters lead to a nearfall sequence which leads to a Tiger Suplex from Dragon for two. They go to the floor for some guardrail action. Back in, Dragon elbows out of a back superplex, but misses the moonsault. Sonny Oono hops up on the apron once Malenko hooks on the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. Malenko lets go of Dragon and flips Oono into the ring. Dragon goes to save his manager and takes a backdrop over the top to the floor. Oops, DQ! (4:02) Oh WCW and your inconsistencies over what is a toss over the top rope and what isn’t. Good for what it was and it’s got me looking forward to their match at Starrcade that nobody knows about yet. **½

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it IF YOU WEEL! 6:05PM eastern! TBS! The Faces of Fear takes on Ciclope & Galaxy! TV Champ Lord Steven Regal defends his belt against Dean Malenko! Both the Taskmaster and Chris Jericho will be in action! Arn Anderson faces Bunkhouse Buck! Jeff Jarrett battles Mike Enos! Also, a match from the new World order! Don’t miss out! It’s the MUTHASHIP! PAY WINDAHS, CLUBBERIN, AND PLUNDAH, BABY!

Recap to last week where Sherri took a swing at her former lover Col. Robert Parker.

• Amazing French Canadians (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. The American Males
  

Parker debuts his new French Foreign Legion look. The American Males clean house to start so they can chant “USA” together. Back in, Jacques shows off a little bit. Riggs and Bagwell collide to cause a little problem. Oulette nails Riggs from the apron into a jumping back elbow from Jacques. In comes Oulette, as Jacques slams him on top of Riggs. Maybe they aren’t as good a gimmick as the Quebecers, but they’re still fun to watch. I’m a fan. Double hotshot to Riggs, but heel miscommunication ensues. HOT TAG TO BAGWELL! He completely owns the AFC with backdrops and dropkicks! DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Jacques backflips to avoid another backdrop, but then Riggs knees Jacques into Bagwell and their heads collide. While the ref tries to get Riggs out of the ring, Oulette puts Jacques on top of Bagwell for the 1-2-3. (5:25) Fun little formula match to continue the problems between the American Males. *½

For all you total nerds out there who are always typing away at your computers and using that new fad called the world wide web that nobody uses except complete geeks who live in their parents basement and never even talked to a girl before, check out wcwwrestling.com! It’s cool if you’re a NERD!

• Lex Luger vs. Hugh Morrus
  

Another week, another TORTURE RACK! (4:22) Luger is on a roll! Surely he’s the guy who will win the 60-man battle royal at World War 3! After the match, Sting quietly interrupts Luger’s post-match interview with Gene Okerlund. He points his baseball bat at Luger and then shoves him back into the corner with it. What’s Sting going to do? He turns the bat around, gives it to Luger, and leaves through the crowd. Luger has nothing to say about what just happened. *

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay.

Flashback to last week’s Saturday Night: Tony Schiavone conducts a meeting between Nick Patrick, his lawyer, Teddy Long, and Chris Jericho. Teddy says something about Jericho being able to beat Nick Patrick with one arm tied behind his back any day of the week. The lawyer guy takes him up on that and we’ve got another match signed for World War 3!

• Chris Jericho vs. Johnny Grunge
  

Seems like an odd match. Nick Patrick comes out to get a closer look at the match. Grunge ends the feeling out process with a back suplex. Jericho lands on his feet after Grunge moves away from a moonsault press, but gets nailed with a clothesline. We go to the floor as Jericho nails Grunge with a springboard dropkick off the apron. Grunge gets desperate and grabs a chair. He hotshots Jericho and sits him down in a chair for a running clothesline. Now Grunge slides in a table and sets Jericho up on it. Is he going to splash himself and the chair on top of Jericho? Nope. Jericho moves and hits a missile dropkick for the 1-2-3. (5:22) How is bringing a table and a chair in the ring not a DQ? Anyways, decent enough for somebody like Johnny Grunge who isn’t known to be a singles worker. ¾*

Hollywood Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Vincent, and Elizabeth all come over to take control of the announce table. Heenan gets the heck out of Dodge. Hogan gets on the mic and demands Bischoff to tell the world that he’s the bigger icon of wrestling than Piper, that he’s scared to death of Hogan, and that he’s a hundred times richer than Roddy Piper. Of course Bischoff says he disagrees but he’ll say whatever Hogan wants. That’s all Hogan wanted to hear.

Over to Gene Okerlund, he’s standing by with Diamond Dallas Page. He says he still refuses to be the eighth pick for the new World order. Hall, Nash, Giant, and Syxx stop by to tell DDP that he doesn’t get it. You don’t get it? He doesn’t get it.

Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay return to the announce position.

• Jeff Jarrett vs. Bobby Eaton
  

Extremely short. Jarrett struts and we go to the floor for some guardrail stuff. Back in, Jarrett hits the Bossman straddle and gives Eaton a suplex for the FIGURE-FOUR. That gets the win. (2:19) Here comes Ric Flair. Of course he’s got his arm in a sling. Flair says that no matter what Benoit and Mongo may say, Flair gives Jarrett his full endorsement as a member of the Four Horsemen while he’s away. We see Sting watching on from the rafters. WOO! ½*

• Big Bubba (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Jim Powers
  

During the match, Bischoff explains how he’s still unable to get Roddy Piper to sign for a match against Hogan. Bubba controls much of the match until Powers comes back like a good ’80s babyface. Turnbuckle smashes and the Knee Lift connects, but then he runs into a BUBBA SLAM for the 1-2-3. (3:54) Filler. ½*

• Chris Benoit (w/Woman) vs. Eddie Guerrero
  

This is a return match from the night after Halloween Havoc when both men were so banged up and couldn’t compete at the usual fast-paced high-impact level. Guerrero slows Benoit down early with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Eddie lands on his feet out of a monkey flip, but charges into the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! Luckily Eddie makes the ropes. Eddie comes back with a Hilo for two. Benoit comes back with a series of suplexes in order to keep Guerrero on the mat. He’s stretching Eddie like he’s back in Stu’s Dungeon! Commercial break. We return to see Eddie taking Benoit down with a headscissors. Benoit hangs Guerrero out to dry and gets a superplex. Delayed cover gets two. Eddie takes Benoit to the floor and Woman gets in the way to temporarily help her man. Back inside, Guerrero delivers a back suplex to set up for the FROG SPLASH, but Eddie rolls through when Benoit moves. Eddie goes for a hurracanrana, but Benoit rolls through that into a sunset flip for the 1-2-3! (9:23 shown) Nice finish. One of the best Nitro matches we’ve seen in MONTHS. ***½

Eric Bischoff is in the ring to tell the crowd that Roddy Piper still has not signed a contract to face Hollywood Hogan, but he’s going to do everything he can to make this- IS THAT BAGPIPES I HEAR? The crowd goes insane as Roddy Piper walks out the tunnel. Bischoff doesn’t look too happy to see him and Piper has got his FIGHTIN’ EYES going. He’s here to tell some truth because he’s never heard more lies in his life than when he was telling them. Piper calls Bischoff a liar and the crowd seems confused, but Bischoff looks 1000% guilty. Did you have a nice flight to Portland? Is the path to his ranch straight or crooked? He grabs Bischoff and calls him a “little piece of poop” as the Giant and the rest of the new World order grab Piper (except for Hogan who comes out when Piper has been stopped). Hogan embraces Bischoff and reminds everybody that Eric runs WCW and now he works for the nWo! Hogan continues to denigrate Piper by calling him a coward and how he was nobody before he fought Hogan. A bunch of policemen come down and have to restrain Piper while the nWo pose and watch Piper while they head to the back. Before we go, Piper says he’ll be at World War 3 with the contract for his match with Hogan in his teeth! No surrender! No retreat! Kiss his butt, Hogan.

AND WE OUT! Finally, a great episode of Nitro.

World War 3 goes down on November 24. Here’s the card as it looks right now.

MAIN EVENT: 60-Man Battle Royal – (Winner gets the next WCW World Title shot)
WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders vs. The Nasty Boys vs. The Faces of Fear
The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis
Harlem Heat vs. The Amazing French Canadians – (If the Heat win, Sherri gets five minutes with Parker)
Chris Jericho vs. Nick Patrick (Jericho has to wrestle with one hand tied behind his back)
J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.