What are you watching tonight?

[Lord Kangana]

I have a hair here bish. I'm afraid my knife isn't sharp enough, any tips?

[thebish]

I have a hair here bish. I'm afraid my knife isn't sharp enough, any tips?

I'd go to that shop you recommended to Bruce... a sharp knife is a cook's best friend...


(actually - believe it or not - I genuinely did not recognise this story about a medieval brick tower that they thought could reach space - I had never heard of any such thing - and so - it WAS a genuine question! If this tower is some kind of common knowledge - then I've clearly missed out somewhere!)

[Gary the Enfield]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?



Towers
Various traditions similar to that of the tower of Babel are found in Central America. One holds that Xelhua, one of the seven giants rescued from the deluge, built the Great Pyramid of Cholula in order to storm Heaven. The gods destroyed it with fire and confounded the language of the builders. The Dominican friar Diego Duran (1537–1588) reported hearing this account from a hundred-year-old priest at Cholula, shortly after the conquest of Mexico.

Another story, attributed by the native historian Don Ferdinand d'Alva Ixtilxochitl (c. 1565-1648) to the ancient Toltecs, states that after men had multiplied following a great deluge, they erected a tall zacuali or tower, to preserve themselves in the event of a second deluge. However, their languages were confounded and they went to separate parts of the earth.

Still another story, attributed to the Tohono O'odham Indians, holds that Montezuma escaped a great flood, then became wicked and attempted to build a house reaching to heaven, but the Great Spirit destroyed it with thunderbolts. (Bancroft, vol. 3, p. 76; also in History of Arizona)

According to David Livingstone, the Africans whom he met living near Lake Ngami in 1849 had such a tradition, but with the builders' heads getting "cracked by the fall of the scaffolding" (Missionary Travels, chap. 26).

In his 1918 book, Folklore in the Old Testament, Scottish social anthropologist Sir James George Frazer documented similarities between Old Testament stories, such as the Flood, and indigenous legends around the world. He identified Livingston's account with a tale found in Lozi mythology, wherein the wicked men build a tower of masts to pursue the Creator-God, Nyambe, who has fled to Heaven on a spider-web, but the men perish when the masts collapse. He further relates similar tales of the Ashanti that substitute a pile of porridge pestles for the masts. Frazer moreover cites such legends found among the Kongo people, as well as in Tanzania, where the men stack poles or trees in a failed attempt to reach the moon .[11] He further cited the Karbi and Kuki people of Assam as having a similar story. The traditions of the Karen people of Myanmar, which Frazer considered to show clear 'Abrahamic' influence, also relate that their ancestors migrated there following the abandonment of a great pagoda in the land of the Karenni 30 generations from Adam, when the languages were confused and the Karen separated from the Karenni. He notes yet another version current in the Admiralty Islands where mankind's languages are confused following a failed attempt to build houses reaching to heaven. Some of these stories were later revealed to have derived recently from Christian missionary teaching.[needs citation]

Traces of a somewhat similar story have also been reported among the Tharus of Nepal and northern India (Report of the Census of Bengal, 1872, p. 160).





or

Space Tower
A space tower is a tower that would reach outer space. To fully replace rocket power and attain orbit, a tower would have to extend beyond the 100 km Kármán line (a common definition of outer space) to at least 23700 km above the Earth's surface. Release from this height will result in an elliptical orbit with the lowest altitude just high enough to prevent reentry. If the tower went all the way to geosynchronous orbit at approximately 36,000 km, objects released at this height could then drift away with minimal power and would be in a circular orbit at that height. The concept of a structure reaching to geosynchronous orbit was first conceived by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky,[14] who proposed a compression structure, or "Tsiolkovsky tower."

A parallel-sided structure made of conventional brick and stone cannot reach past 2000 meters as bricks at the bottom would be crushed under the weight.[15] Advanced materials would allow the tower to reach a usable height. A tapered structure could reach higher, but cost increases exponentially with construction height. A tower could form one component of a successful launch system, such as being the base station of a space elevator, or a support pillar for the distal part of a mass driver or the "gun barrel" of a space gun.

There are a number of other options to consider for building space towers: rigid, inflatable, kinetic, electrostatic and electronic structures

[thebish]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?

no - not in Babylonian times.

(plus - the story of the tower of babel is simply an aeteological story - it didn't actually happen - it's not the same as an historical event that actually happened.)

[Gary the Enfield]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?

no - not in Babylonian times.

(plus - the story of the tower of babel is simply an aeteological story - it didn't actually happen - it's not the same as an historical event that actually happened.)

...which is why I referenced stories similair to the Tower of Babel and not the story itself!

[thebish]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?

no - not in Babylonian times.

(plus - the story of the tower of babel is simply an aeteological story - it didn't actually happen - it's not the same as an historical event that actually happened.)

...which is why I referenced stories similair to the Tower of Babel and not the story itself!

and - do you think any of them actually happened?

[Gary the Enfield]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?

no - not in Babylonian times.

(plus - the story of the tower of babel is simply an aeteological story - it didn't actually happen - it's not the same as an historical event that actually happened.)

...which is why I referenced stories similair to the Tower of Babel and not the story itself!

and - do you think any of them actually happened?

Well, no. Do I think people tried? Probably, yes.

None of the accounts say they succeeded, most met with disaster or the wrath of God(s).

[thebish]

Towers to reach the heavens? That's similair to space, right?

no - not in Babylonian times.

(plus - the story of the tower of babel is simply an aeteological story - it didn't actually happen - it's not the same as an historical event that actually happened.)

...which is why I referenced stories similair to the Tower of Babel and not the story itself!

and - do you think any of them actually happened?

Well, no. Do I think people tried? Probably, yes.

well - I don't - I think they are all aeteological. And, anyway, they are not the incidents LK was referring to - he was referring to some kind of an event in medieval times...


and - your second example appears to be about a tower to raise them above potential flood water - it doesn't mention space or "the heavens" at all - in fact, it seems like an eminently sensible idea - and one which is also practised today (not least, in Bangladesh)

[Lofthouse Lower]

'The Road'

[General Mannerheim]

'The Road'

tonight or last night?

bored me to tears

[hisroyalgingerness]

Watching Robin Hood, the Ridley Scott version.

It's terrible. Crowe's gone through half a dozen accents to date

[kavalier]

Watching Robin Hood, the Ridley Scott version.

It's terrible. Crowe's gone through half a dozen accents to date

Argh it's awful isn't it. Utter garbage. Could've been so good as well.

I just finished watching License To Kill. Better than I remember it being. Terrible 80s soundtrack though.

[General Mannerheim]

Eclectic double header tonight, Polanski's 'Rosemarys Baby' followed by Banksy's 'Exit through the giftshop' - worlds apart but both sodding excellent in their own rights!

[Lofthouse Lower]

Watching Robin Hood, the Ridley Scott version.

It's terrible. Crowe's gone through half a dozen accents to date

Gladiator 2, in a forest. Rubbish and pointless.

[William the White]

Has anyone else seen Precious?

Watched it last night. One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen and profoundly depressing yet compelling as a movie.

[General Mannerheim]

Has anyone else seen Precious?

Watched it last night. One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen and profoundly depressing yet compelling as a movie.

Yes, im sure its been talked about in this thread somewhere.

but you are correct, it is one of the most difficult to watch films ive ever seen. Infact, i cant think of anything quite as upsetting! but as you also say, one you cant take your eyes off either. great film.

if i was an an actor, im not sure i could bring myself to 'act' as despicably as Mo’Nique does! definitely deserved of all her plaudits!

[Lofthouse Lower]

I thought it a rip-off of that Todd Solondo (sp) film about a similar issue. Interesting though.

The Road was incredible. Loved every second of it.

[KeeeeeeeBaaaaaaab]

Spinal Tap. UK Gold. Now.

[Bruce Rioja]

Has anyone else seen Precious?

Watched it last night. One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen and profoundly depressing yet compelling as a movie.

Precious? Is it about that dwarfy little rascal that used to ruck up on Blue Peter, and that had the equivalent strength of an ant? Him?

[clapton is god]

Pillars of the Earth on Ch4.

This was one of my top five books of all time, maybe top two. Can't wait to see how it transforms to TV and I've been looking forward to it all summer.