Awesome Pictures Thread

[BoatApe]

.. I was an elphant trainer for awhile ..

What? Is there anything on this forum that people haven't done? Quick, who's been a porn star?

I was Chuckie Cheese once upon a time...

[Teleku]

What? Is there anything on this forum that people haven't done? Quick, who's been a porn star?

Uh.

They told me that my huge e-peen was not a valuable asset in the industry...

Haha, awesome.  I use to go to Marine world randomly as a child.  Kind of fun to see somebody who actually worked there post.  Is it just as easy to get a job swimming with the killer whales? 

[Prospero]

Yup. Piece of cake if you're smart enough to take orders and not jump in their mouth. If you can live on their wages, they probably have an apprentice position open. Also, once you have experience with any type of exotic animal it is pretty easy to move to working with a different one, as far as I can tell.

We used to play water polo in the killer whale tank after work. 

[Trippy]

We used to play water polo in the killer whale tank after work. 

With the killer whales?

I used to go to Marine World regularly as a kid. Then they moved to the furthest reaches of the Bay Area (ran out of room in their Redwood City location where Oracle is now) and I've only been there a couple of times since then.

[Aez]

[schild]

That man has the body style of one of Epic's space marines. Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

[Sky]

What? Is there anything on this forum that people haven't done? Quick, who's been a porn star?

Define "star". ^^

[Lantyssa]

^^;

[NiX]

I worked in a porn store. All my friends tell me I've had too many different jobs for being 23. Hodgepodge!

[IainC]

That man has the body style of one of Epic's space marines. Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

Looking at his ears I'd say he was a rugby player and probably a hooker or a prop at that.

Yes you can make the juvenile jokes about rugby hookers now...

[lac]

Know any good ones?

[Samwise]

The ones without teeth, amirite?

[Paelos]

I worked in a porn store. All my friends tell me I've had too many different jobs for being 23. Hodgepodge!

Porn store is pretty random. I've been a file clerk, land developer, golf caddy, staff accountant, writer, and bartender before I went to get my Masters at 26. I think a lot of different jobs before you settle on something in your later 20s is a good way to go.

[Oban]

The ones without teeth, amirite?

[Ookii]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/californias_continuing_fires.html

That entire webpage is full of awesome pictures.

[Teleku]

Yeah, good find.

I think this is my favorite.  Makes me think of Diablo for some reason....:

[Azaroth]

Makes me think of Diablo for some reason....:

Just a great place for a fire. And once the tree falls over on top of you while you're roasting marshmallows, a really sweet night time rain shelter for your crushed corpse.

[K9]

Can anyone explain this picture to me?

A firefighter uses a special gun to start a backfire on a wildfire burn in Big Sur, Calif., Thursday, July 3, 2008. The raging blaze near Big Sur was one of more than 1,700 wildfires, mostly ignited by lightning, that have scorched more then 770 square miles and destroyed 64 structures across northern and central California since June 20, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

[Selby]

Can anyone explain this picture to me?

Control fire started to burn an area while they can still control it before it becomes part of the giant wildfire spreading through.  Usually they burn ahead of time critical areas where the fire needs to move through to pass on to a place where, if it gets out of control, becomes a larger and bigger fire with the newfound material (be it a larger forest, homes, etc).

Basically using a flare gun to start a fire they can let burn a while, then put out.  Can be helpful at stopping out of control fires from continuing to spread.  Didn't work last fall because the winds were so strong a single ember could start a fire 1-2 miles away without much warning.

[Venkman]

Areas already burned do not burn again. I think the theory is that you pre-burn an area in a controlled fashion in front of where you think the fire will be eventually. This creates something of a wall because when the fire does get there it has nothing no fuel to continue.

Another tactic (though I don't think related to this image) is to use an explosive to get rid of the oxygen in the air so quick, the already there suffocates.

Edit: Selby wins

[Lantyssa]

Starting fires are cool.  So cool, even firefighters start them.

[Teleku]

Starting fires are cool.  So cool, even firefighters start them.

[Dtrain]

What? Is there anything on this forum that people haven't done? Quick, who's been a porn star?

I worked with a guy named Mike who went on to do porn. Nice enough dude. On the second day of training he accidentally used the women's bathroom.

He left and a couple months go by and I find out he's doing some transgender porn. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

[JWIV]

What? Is there anything on this forum that people haven't done? Quick, who's been a porn star?

I worked with a guy named Mike who went on to do porn. Nice enough dude. On the second day of training he accidentally used the women's bathroom.

He left and a couple months go by and I find out he's doing some transgender porn. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

My wife knows a guy from when she lived in LA that is a director/producer of porn.   That's the best I've got.

[Viin]

My wife knows a guy from when she lived in LA that is a director/producer of porn.   That's the best I've got.

... Does that mean she's in a couple of his films?

[Selby]

I worked with a guy named Mike who went on to do porn. Nice enough dude.

Supposedly there is money to be made in porn.  I hear the people who run the technology behind it can make a decent living, especially if you don't mind being associated with it.  Apparently the IT guy at my dad's old office in Santa Barbara used to run various companies websites and billing systems as a side job that paid pretty well.  But still... it's porn.  I can't ever imagine actually wanting to make money that way.

[schild]

It's depressing how fast they fix the suburbs and deal with fires in nowhere, california and New Orleans gets totally fucked in a matter of days and they're STILL trying to fix it. I'm sure there's some rationale for it like "oh noes white people have big houses must to save" and "what? new orleans has jazz and soul food, I'd need a time machine to care about that shit." I don't know. I just find it sad. Very, very sad. I also might be talking out of my ass.

[Nerf]

You're definately talking out of your ass.

[Teleku]

The many fires in nowhere California are burning weeks after they started.  Fire fighters are overwheeled and there has been a lot of damage already.  It was so smoky back up near where I grew up that another fire started in mountains, and they didn't even discover it until 6 days after it had started, burning several thousand acres already.

It's primarily a state response though.  It's the California fire fighting infrastructure (we have tons of bombers and helicopters sitting around the state ready to fight fires at any given time) vs. the fires.  With a good amount of manpower help from fire fighters across the nation, I will also add.

New Orleans has the Louisina government in charge of evacuation and disaster plans, along with rebuilding.  Frankly, a ton of it is there fault (even accounting for the horribly inept FEMA aid response after the disaster hit).

It's really just localized to your state government.

[Selby]

It's really just localized to your state government.

Yup.  California has chosen to spend gozillions on fire fighting equipment because while 300 years of history may go under water in New Orleans\Louisiana, if one (or worse, a block) celbrity's place in Malibu goes up in flames while Arnold and company snooze, they have a ton more bad press to fling around and money to sue with than the entire 9th ward.

I mean it took the national news several days to focus on San Diego when half the place was on fire because Malibu started burning first.

[Paelos]

It's depressing how fast they fix the suburbs and deal with fires in nowhere, california and New Orleans gets totally fucked in a matter of days and they're STILL trying to fix it. I'm sure there's some rationale for it like "oh noes white people have big houses must to save" and "what? new orleans has jazz and soul food, I'd need a time machine to care about that shit." I don't know. I just find it sad. Very, very sad. I also might be talking out of my ass.

Corrupt government, poor populace without the money to fix it, and in general the stupidity that is building houses BELOW sea level are all good reasons I hope they spend the money on relocating people instead of rebuilding.

[schild]

You're definately talking out of your ass.

Go play with your guns. There's enough other people here that cleared it up that you could've also, jackass.

[Oban]

Supposedly there is money to be made in porn.  I hear the people who run the technology behind it can make a decent living, especially if you don't mind being associated with it.  Apparently the IT guy at my dad's old office in Santa Barbara used to run various companies websites and billing systems as a side job that paid pretty well.  But still... it's porn.  I can't ever imagine actually wanting to make money that way.

I know of two major Telecom companies that would not exist today if it was not for porn. 

In 1996 the only companies with copper T3's and fiber OC3 connections were the banks, petroleum industry and the porn guys.

By 1998 the only civilians with OC-12 interconnects were the porn guys.

[JWIV]

My wife knows a guy from when she lived in LA that is a director/producer of porn.   That's the best I've got.

... Does that mean she's in a couple of his films?

Shush. No.

[Trippy]

So she's in more than a couple of his films?