Wind Chaser

How much vacation time do you get?

There's a certain infamous part of it that I like to call the "Helix of Doom".

Good thing it didn't start with N. (don't kill me plz)

I always felt that the only reason Korra got with Asami was because Mako fumbled with both of them. I never really liked how any of the characters handled relationships in this show, but then again, they're teenagers, and very realistically written at that. How many successful relationships actually start at that age? How many times has love gotten in the way of the characters' work when it shouldn't have?

I'm not into shipping all that much, and in my opinion, much of the romance in Korra was more destructive than constructive. Most of the time spent mentioning love and relationships almost always put it at odds with the characters' duties. Just like Korra learned patience as the Avatar, maybe she and the others could have stood to learn more patience in a romantic context.

What a shocker, but this is where complacency gets you. Clinton is the poster woman of a society so high on social liberalism, culture wars, and delusions of its own righteousness that it believed it could snooze its way to victory. Its brush with Sanders was the first indication that something was wrong.

Though I favored Clinton for her policies, she never struck anyone as an exciting candidate. Obama was exciting. Trump was exciting. They both were something different. The only people I could see that were excited for Hillary were mainly the college-educated identity politicians who are much smaller in numbers compared to what the media megaphone makes them to be. On top of that, she could never stir the minority vote the same way their predecessor did, another major shock that Trump did so well with.

A protectionist message resonates so well with people who have seen their livelihoods gutted by the inevitable march of globalization and the availability of cheap supply, shipping, and labor. I live in the only borough of NYC that went Trump and I can tell you it feels exactly like a Rust Belt city here; blighted post-industrial neighborhoods, deteriorated infrastructure, and a massive drug epidemic. The economic policies, though Reagan-like, make some sense; replace the messed-up tax code here with tariffs for outsourcing.

After so many years of projecting power towards the outside world while rotting within, as nationalist movements swept so many other civilized nations over fears of destruction by overpopulation and the working people of this country felt disenfranchised by both moneyed and social special interests, change had to happen. This isn't exactly the kind of person I had hoped would bring it, nor did I vote for him, but the possibility of a total cultural transformation of Washington and this country keep me optimistic even amidst fears of losing funding for social programs and losing international alliances.

It's good to put things in perspective, for once. The fact is, I've been using this site less and less over time and I don't stand to gain or lose anything by making a decision now.

Nice guide. I was recently looking at small cars as I'm working mostly short-term jobs and live in a place where having a car is highly encouraged, due to sprawl and the fact that the buses here are highly unreliable, overcrowded, and run outdated routes and schedules. My price range is pretty low, probably less than $2000.

I absolutely adore the font they use on that D40LF's sign.

I hope he enjoys the ride on the Great Glass Elevator to the sky.

Rules are rules. I only wish they would apply more equally across the political spectrum. How many radical leftists have you heard of getting banned for harassment?

I've evaluated most of these vehicles and I believe the NV3500 and Ford Transit are the best value among passenger vans. The NV, though, has less available options, an old-style, truck-like design, and less fuel economy. The Transit starts off more expensive, but I think Ford is king of this market, striking a good balance between versatility, efficiency, and cost, especially against the Sprinter. Unfortunately, no passenger version of the ProMaster exists except aftermarket modifications. The Ford dealer network is also far more robust. I can't wait to see what Hyundai is capable of if the rumors prove to be true.

The NV200 is still sold in the US under its original name in addition to the Chevy version. It's better known as the Taxi of Tomorrow in NYC.

The painted bus is a Phantom.

Been watching and going to races since 2004.

This and NJT should be the examples for the rest of the region to follow.

As should the actions of paratransit driver Jean Jeune: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bus-driver-carries-wheelchair-bound-woman-burning-vehicle-article-1.2668483

This is an option I do wish the MTA or the NYC DOT would consider revisiting for the buses due to the strain on their budget, rising costs, and declining service levels on lesser-used routes. The NYC DOT used to have a public-private partnership regime in place but was taken over by the MTA in the mid-2000s due to poor oversight and poor service being rendered by locally-based private companies. I believe it should be re-implemented to fill service gaps, such as restoring off-hour service to cut routes or enabling faster implementation of necessary new routes with less of the hassle of red tape, but should be subject to strict oversight to ensure that the quality of service is not compromised.

The only contract New York City Transit currently has is on the X23 and X24 (southern Staten Island to Midtown Manhattan) with Perth Amboy-based Academy, the largest charter bus company in the NY region which also has contracts with the Port Authority (airport shuttles), NJ Transit (Hudson/Bergen County routes and commuter buses), and the New York University shuttle system. It was inherited from the former Port Richmond, Staten Island-based Atlantic Express that fell apart due to bankruptcy.

The county of Nassau used to have a contract with the MTA, but when the MTA failed to provide adequate service, they went to Transdev, which operates the former Long Island Bus as the NICE Bus now. NJ Transit has a great system in place, with a mix between direct and contracted operations depending on the location and system.

The character and nature of the government involved is also a big factor in quality of service as well. The bus operation in the DC area has been an object of envy to me - where NYC-area residents rely on huge, integrated, and often inefficient statewide agencies, the DC area seems to rely on a mix between region-wide (Metro) and local transit systems, often redundant but with different sources of funding, which seems to be a great way to maximize the efficiency of publicly-owned transportation systems. The unified fare structure under SmarTrip is also worth looking up to. PATH, NICE, Bee-Line, and the MTA railroads accept MetroCards, but good luck trying it on NJ Transit.

Contact a stockbroker or google how to be a Disney investor. The current price is $97.34 per share. That means you own part of a trash can in Epcot or something.

That'll be a hallowed trash can.

Your Disney?  Please! It's MY Disney.  I'm a shareholder!

 

 

Where'd you get that? I need some of that!

I never saw this movie and unfortunately I missed tonight's stream of it because I was on the mobile site all day and didn't see the ad until it was too late. But I can understand where you're coming from on the political messages. Most movies are not for everyone and not everyone wants to feel as if they're being sermonized or propagandized watching an otherwise fun movie. It can be strange seeing everyone and their dog praising this movie and being the odd guy out who doesn't like it, and especially distressing when some of the more hiveminded fans attack you for, God forbid, having an opinion (happens to contrarian critics on Rotten Tomatoes all the time).

I have theorized that politics are a huge influence on the critical perception of movies, especially with the Hollywood establishment's known liberal bias, since Mad Max: Fury Road swept 6 Oscars, at least a couple of which I think deserved to go to other films. That being a film that was hailed as "feminist" and "progressive" because it happened to have a badass, androgynous-looking female character in its lead and a sort of environmental message.

Zootopia still looks good to me, and I'm fine with movies having a message, all that matters is how good it is at portraying it (looks a bit on the ham-handed side from the trailers and clips IMO).

Also, I don't think any particular style is being supplanted here. Disney movies are still relatively diverse in style, especially compared to their closest rivals. That goes without saying that Disney is a highly diversified company with a lot of talent from different filmmaking disciplines. I think more films in the vein of the classics might be on the horizon, mixed with a little of their new age style.

Zootopia never has this, because it's our world, just with animals.

In all truth, from what I've seen of this world, it's been hailed as one of the more creative setups of this, visually speaking. Instead of grafting animal characters on the human world, our world has been substantially redesigned to accommodate animals of differing shapes, sizes, and characteristics. Concepts familiar to our cities have been applied to a city of anthropomorphic animals in a way that both makes perfect sense and is creative and fresh. Visually, the city takes a lot of cues from contemporary design, although the characters are very much the standard aesthetic for cartoon animals (some films, like Rango, did afford to be more creative on that aspect). If you want to see "animals in our world" by comparison, look at the trailer for Illumination's upcoming Sing, or watch an episode of Arthur if you're bored.

While I do agree that there are more creatively divergent setups that are possible, this is impressive for what Disney is giving us because of how well it's informed by contemporary culture and how nothing seems to have been lost in translation.

In the end, I'd hold my words before saying anything about Disney going forward. This is a very exciting time for them as no other entertainment company has ever had such a run of success as Disney is having right now. The best thing about it is that this company seems to eat, sleep, and breathe creativity right now; they have some of the best crews in the entire industry. No one seems to know for sure what to expect out of this company right now (besides more Marvel films and live-action remakes, but those just keep the money flowing in), but you can expect that a lot of people will be all over whatever they do next.

I hope you're anticipating Moana (or Vaiana or Oceania or whatever they're calling it in your region). Given your taste in Disney movies, you should give that one a shot when it comes out.

By the name, I thought it was fandom centered when I first saw it.

It's great to recognize the strongsuits of these episodes. Season 6 has taken it very safe in terms of premises and character development, which means that other elements of the show have to go to bat for it. In "A Hearth's Warming Tale", the visuals and sound design did that, and in this episode, the scriptwriting and editing did that. It's nice to see credit given where it's due, and this is definitely some of the best dialogue I've heard out of this show since probably "Make New Friends but Keep Discord". It feels very refreshing because, from my observations and opinions at least, the dialogue writing of this show was much stronger in Season 1 and has become weaker since about Season 3 when more exposition became necessary and the scripts went lighter on the one-liners and banter.

The squirrel waiting in line to enter Rarity for You when it opened.

(I have no idea how the cat got in there, though.)

We're a Frontier family, but that Ranger is looking promising.

I think I remember seeing a picture of one of the ex-NYCTA buses at some event in Washington, I think it was the Folk Life Festival or something like that. It's unknown who owned the bus at the time but I can assume at least one was preserved. They are unique in that they're the only BAE hybrids to use a Detroit Diesel instead of a Cummins.

At any rate, this explains why the bi-level, semi-low-floor design is the standard now, despite issues with crowding and less seating vs high floors.

Interesting story. Of course, it is what happens when corporations have too much power and protecting oligopolies comes before common sense. This pretty much could have been the Tesla of police cruisers, instead it's more like the Streetcar Scandal of police cruisers.

To be honest, I agree with many of the points except that I didn't initially make the connection to hazing. The only thing that really bothered me is the revelation that the Wonderbolts use their derogatory, incompetence-implying nicknames in public. That may amount to hazing to some, but I see it as an issue for practical reasons. This sort of culture could lower their ability to function as a team unit and lower public perceptions of them as well.

Rainbow Dash could have used the "Rainbow Crash" name as a badge of honor in a way, because of the fact that it was used before by the bullies in flight school. She overcame it once and she'll overcome it again. The episode doesn't take full advantage of that and the ending doesn't really do it justice. Overall, the episode has one of those solidarity type of endings and it doesn't really feel like it belongs.

The entire climax from the initial fallout to the resolution felt like forced chicanery. The episode could have done without it. It felt like the usual outburst you see between two leads in a buddy comedy. If you've seen enough of that kind of movie, you know exactly what it is.