Cameron H.

Same. When I first posting on the EarWolf boards, the only place I post anything online (I don't have Facebook or anything), I made two promises to myself. One, I would use my real name, because if I ever say anything stupid or offensive, I'm going to take responsibility for it. Of course, this is nothing against clever usernames, just me saying, "This is me saying this." The other promise, which I teeter on once in a while, is to never be a troll. I told myself if I ever let the Internet infect me with its vileness, I'd excuse myself and never return. Fortunately, we have, for the most part, good people around these parts so I think the risk of my going overboard is relatively slim. But, if one day I'm suddenly not here, just know I probably said something really fucked up. So--no, we're good, man...for now.

In regard to use of religion and what this movie "means." I've got a theory... I'm just warning you all, it's going to get weird. It's going to get uncomfortable. It's going to be challenging. It's...probably not going to make much sense. And it all hinges on this scene: They way I see it, this movie is really about man's attempt at murdering God and usurping his rule over the Earth. Disregard for a moment any idea of the comet or aliens being a cause of what happens in the movie. I think those text crawls were added in post at the studio's behest because they were afraid of that audiences wouldn't "get it." If either of these were legitimate reasons for the happenings in this movie, I'm sure it would have been mentioned somewhere in the short story--and based on the audience member's description of the short story--I think it's pretty clear that it isn't. Once tasked with giving the audience some sort of explanation as to the goings on in the film, I think King then wrote the explanations to be deliberately ambiguous to further illustrate his overarching theme, that being, the mysterious will of God. That is: no one really knows the answer to life's big questions. We can theorize and hypothesize all we want, but ultimately, we won't get the big answer until we die. So let's take it back a bit, the people at the Dixie Boy Truck Stop represent the many faces of God. They represent Love, Bravery, Loyalty, Justice, Injustice, Capriciousness, Innocence, and Anger. They sit in Heaven (the Dixie Boy) where they preside over and care for their creations (the Machines/humanity). Now, once the Machines gain sentience, or Free Will, they immediately rebel against their creators and soon God's Kingdom becomes his prison. At first God (think Old Testament) lashes out at his creations and smites them to the ground. But there are just too many of them, and God's actions do little to deter the Machines from their sinful ways. They threaten God. They hold God hostage. They harm God though deeds. They make demands (prayers) to God--i.e. give us gasoline or we will destroy you! Ultimately, the Machines lose all connection to God and force him out Heaven, razing it to the ground. But, in King's mind, there's still hope for God. God is immortal and can never truly be destroyed. "The Survivors of the Dixie Boy are still survivors." So, in the end, God destroys his rebellious creations, and theoretically, goes on into the unknowable future...

God damn it! I was stuck in traffic when the hullabaloo went down and couldn't respond! I was literally banging my hands against the wheel and cussing at people to move so I could get in front of a computer. Auden and Taylor Anne, if I could "like" each of your posts a million times, I would do so. Just know, that had I made it in time, it was about to get lit in here. Oh well, I guess the situation is diffused now, so there's no reason to reignite it. Fuck, now I'm all full of piss and vinegar and have nowhere to direct it...

I think we all win just by being witness to it.

C'mon guys! Don't make me be the guy to defend this flawless movie's logic... I assume that since he was hit head on by a truck into a ditch and has been suffering from exposure for the better part of the day, they aren't sure what condition he will be in when they get to him. If he can't walk, they can put him in the sleeping bag and carry/drag him back to the truck stop. I get where you're coming from, but I don't think that is something that particularly interests King--coke or not. I get the feeling he doesn't want to show us aliens being fought tooth and nail by hardened military guys. He wants to show how some strange, paranormal, apocalyptic event would effect the normal person. You see, in King's mind, we're the inbred, sexist, dummies trapped in the truck stop. How would we handle the situation?

I have some questions regarding the scene where the man who is blinded by gasoline decides he has to go save his son. Everyone tells him that he's crazy since his vision is shit.* He insists on going anyway. As he casually saunters away, he drops his keys and is run over by a truck. I think the obvious question is: "Did the gasoline make him deaf too?" I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to hear a gigantic semi careening headlong toward you. However, I think the craziest part of this scene is he gets hit by a truck while trying to pick up his keys!!! He's effectively blind! Was he planning on driving to pick up his kid? If so, the trucks needn't have bothered killing him as he would have most assuredly taken care of that himself. *I also thought it was hilarious that Bubba threatened to fire this man for going to save his son. Let me think about this, save my son's life or save my shitty gas station attendant job. Hold on a second--I may need a minute to mull this one over...

This is similar to the question posed by the audience member during the episode. I also had a question about it, but when I really thought about it, all that would reslly do is result in the truck stop-ers grisly demises. Yes, they seem to have a ton of weaponry, but there is also a shitload of trucks. Due to what I'm sure were budgetary constraints, we only really see six or seven trucks, but during the fueling scene, we see trucks backed up for what seems like miles. They aren't just fueling the trucks that are there, but a whole slew of these demonic trucks--hence why it takes so long to fuel them. In the end, there is only so much damage an untrained rabble of riffraff would be able to inflict before being overwhelmed. Honestly, I found this movie to have far less logic flaws then it appears at first blush. I think it's real flaw was in its inept execution, which makes you think there are logic leaps when, in actuality, it does make some degree of sense. For example, see wyldride's post regarding automatic sprinklers. I'm not saying everything is perfect and that Maximum Overdrive should be viewed as a documentary, but compared to a lot of the films HDTGM does, I found it to be better than most. *sniffs a line of coke off the forehead of a Road Twitch*

Like Paul, I also did a little research into the term “road twitch” and got the same result: nothing. However, digging a little deeper, I think I have come up with the answer. I looked up the word “twitch” (having somehow forgotten what the word meant) and came up with this definition: Twitch—verb—give or cause to give a short, sudden jerking or convulsive movement. Given this definition, I think we can assume “road twitch” would be like saying “road jerk” and would be something akin to getting or receiving “road head.” In this way, “road twitch” acts like a gerund--a word that can be used as both a noun and a verb. As a verb, it would mean jerking someone off while they are driving, and as a noun, it would be like a hitchhiker who might give a handjob to a driver in exchange for a ride. For example: The Road Twitch gave me road twitch for a ride to Atlanta. Boom, bitches! What do I win? (Who says an English Degree is worthless?)

UGH!!! Don't even bother! Star Wars is just a shitty Krull ripoff. Besides, if I'm reading your post right, it sounds like you have watched Episodes I, II, and III--those are the only ones that matter anyway.

I don't like Ewoks because they look like teddy bears...I LOVE them for it!!! Look how cute they are!

Here's the issue I had to come to terms with in regard to Nerd Poker. If they just re-branded it as Brian Posehn & Friends, and left it as an informal, pop culture joke podcast, I think that would be fine and would attract its own audience. But when I originally subscribed to Nerd Poker, it was to listen to a bunch of funny people role play through a D & D campaign. That's what I wanted to listen to, but that's no longer what it is. It's like if I went to an ice cream shop and ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream, but instead I was given a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Yes, it's still ice cream, and yes, it's still chocolate-y, but it's not what I ordered. It saddens me that I can no longer listen to what was once one of my favorite podcasts. I unsubscribed a couple of months ago, but I still lurk these forums to see if I should dip my toe back in (again, because I did enjoy it so much). From the look of things, that hasn't happened. My breaking point was when I listened to an episode and they were heading to the blue (?) city and then I had to miss a couple of weeks. I didn't bother to listen to the episodes I missed and just jumped back in with the most current episode, and they were still MILES away from getting to the city! This isn't even counting that they were already heading to the blue city for a couple of episodes prior to my having to not listen for a couple weeks! Lately, I've been listening to The Adventure Zone and Campaign, and they have been more than able to sate my desire for comedic RPG podcasting. In both of those podcasts, nobody is expected to trek across country in real time. If they need to be somewhere, the Gamemaster says, "Okay, now you're there--let's get back into the story."

Yeah, but on the minus-side, I've gotten into cutting...

I guess that's a start...but I'm still gonna be in my room being Emo until you guys work it out.

Taylor Anne and Fister, can't you see you're tearing us apart?! It's like listening to my parents fight. If you guys break up, you can't make me decide who I'll live with. I won't do it. Don't you two make me go emo...

Thanks for the head's up, Fister! After reading what she had to say regarding quips replacing storytelling and using the opening scene from A New Hope as a benchmark for an effective establishing shot, I can only assume Gail Simone is not only a HDTGM fan, but has been lurking on these message boards for the last couple of days. Yub nub, everybody! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLt0GaIBMIs ETA: Based on what Ms. Simone wrote, does Maximum Overdrive pass the test of good writing? They establish the Hell out of that truck stop...

Look, as much as I enjoy seeing kids eat dirt or get hit in the ass with soda cans, nothing beats this shit:

You're right. I think work is getting in the way of us posting on the forums. I say we all quit. I concur. I love Manhattan Projects! East of West is pretty good as well. It's been awhile since I read the 1st trade, but I have the 2nd in my nightstand--I may need to re-visit the 1st before I dive into the 2nd. What's fucked up about this?

Did I gif wrong? Isn't he the baddest dude in the Galaxy?

First of all, I don't appreciate your revisionist history--I won that shit fair and square. Secondly, I like the Ewoks--they are adorable. Thirdly, watch what you say. I can be a powerful ally or a fearsome enemy.

I legit started to read this post and thought, "What comic is he talking about?...Oh! Riiiiiight...."

I'm the exact opposite. Aside from Batman & Family, I've never been able to get into DC books. I think some of their stuff is good, but I feel they are consistently inconsistent. Like, I'll read a great arc of Superman or Wonder Woman, and then the next arc will (in my opinion) be utter garbage. I mean, I've tried on a few separate occasions to get into Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run, but it could never hold my interest. I haven't given up on them completely, but now I just collect their TPBs of "classic" stories and forget about the rest. I totally agree with this. I wanted to like Casanova so bad, and it feels like something I would be into, but I just found it obnoxious. As much as we've sang Fraction's praise on this thread, I have to say, there's a lot of his work I don't like. But when I do like something he does--I love it. Hey man, you gotta do what you gotta do. I had to move away from floppies for the same reason--well, that and the fact the LCBS in the town I moved to is a sweaty gym sock reeking den of misanthropic, uber-nerds (seriously guys--fight the stereotype, okay?). Now, as much as possible, I try to go for Omnibuses. Having 20 or so issues of a run in one place satisfies my need for instant gratification and keeps things pretty compact. Otherwise, I've gone digital on most other books. I had to when I realized (after moving for the 4th or 5th time) that I had something around 30 boxes of books and I had no desire to ever lift them again.

As a matter of fact... http://forum.earwolf.com/topic/25464-questions-forum-edition/

Oh, fuck that then. HDTGM fans are the best fans and the only ones I wish to have dealings with.

I also enjoy our off-topic conversations. Honestly, I like to keep the "movie of the week" discussions for the episode proper. I see minisode episodes as a free for all, wherever the conversation takes us, kind of thing. Although, toward Wednesday/Thursday before a mini-episode, I don't mind if the main episode thread derails a bit too. Usually by that point, everything that is going to be said has been. By Wednesday we're usually flooded with posts of the "this-is-my-first-post-and-I-didn't-bother-to-read-any-of-it-and-I'm-not-sure-if-this-has-been-brought-up-but..." variety.

I hate that I missed so much of the conversation over the last couple of pages--but y'know work, traffic, other things not as important as crappy movies and comic books. As always, I admire all of your tastes! Would it be strange if we started a HDTGM comic book club thread on the forums? I don't want recommendations and discussions with those Internet weirdos out there--I trust all of your opinions and can expect an engaging conversation with you all. Or is that idea abusing the HDTGM message boards?