wet nellie redux

xirdalium Posted on by

A white Lotus Esprit S1 sportscar transformed into a submarine, gliding along the surface of a scottish lake, mountains in the background, in the computer game Forza Horizon 4
It is my conviction that all of us who ever saw the 1977 James Bond film “The spy who loved me” were fascinated by “Wet Nellie,” Bond’s (Roger Moore) Lotus Esprit S1 sportscar able to transform into a submarine. And subsequently we fantasized about Bond using the Lotus not only in the Mediterranean near Sardinia, but elsewhere, too – or, even better, owning it ourselves, exploring all kinds of waters. With these fantasies we not only strive to relive, but to augment what we felt when first watching the movie. And that is the point of the virtual photography pictures ↑I post to Instagram – gaming screenshots recreating the ambience and atmosphere I felt when watching a certain movie, reading a book, looking at a picture, or playing a computer game. The above picture is one of my takes on “Wet Nellie” – aficionados will recognize the number plate.

GILBERT, LEWIS. 1977. The spy who loved me [motion picture]. Beverly Hills: United Artists.
PLAYGROUND GAMES. 2018. Forza Horizon 4 [computer game]. Redmond: Microsoft Studios.
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who is fighting?

xirdalium Posted on by

Zeph’s pop culture quiz #62

In the spectacles of a gentleman—who is sporting a quite ↵distinctive tie knot, by the way—two people fighting are reflected. Who are they?
    Simply leave a comment with your educated guess—you can ask for additional hints, too. [Leaving a comment is easy; just click the ‘Leave a reply’ at the end of the post and fill in the form. If it’s the first time you post a comment, it will be held for moderation. But I am constantly checking, and once I’ve approved a comment, your next ones won’t be held, but published immediately by the system.]

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who is inside?

xirdalium Posted on by

zeph’s pop culture quiz #61

A warplane in camouflage flies over snowy mountains. But who is inside? What I am asking for are the names of the two leading actors … identifying from which movie the screencap stems helps, naturally ;)
    Simply leave a comment with your educated guess—you can ask for additional hints, too. [Leaving a comment is easy; just click the ‘Leave a reply’ at the end of the post and fill in the form. If it’s the first time you post a comment, it will be held for moderation. But I am constantly checking, and once I’ve approved a comment, your next ones won’t be held, but published immediately by the system.]
 
UPDATE and solution (17 March 2019): I do apologize for the substantial delay! Already on 11 January 2019 kyperpunk solved the riddle: Inside the plane are Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.
 


The screencaps stem from the opening scenes of ‘↑Where Eagles Dare‘ (Hutton 1968). Fun fact: The castle in the movie is Festung Hohenwerfen in Austria—the very same castle which served as the first inspiration for the ‘↵fictional castle atop Reichenbach Falls in ‘↑A Game of Shadows‘ (Ritchie 2011).

HUTTON, BRIAN Geoffrey. 1968. Where Eagles Dare [motion picture]. Beverly Hills: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
RITCHIE, GUY STEWART. 2011. Sherlock Holmes: A game of shadows [motion picture]. Burbank: Warner Bros.
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quake champions resources

xirdalium Posted on by

Just a collection of helpful resources for Quake Champions, created by members of the community:
The ↑Guide for Optimizing Fun in Quake Champions is a nicely done infographic pamphlet especially for those completely new to Quake games.
Going more in-depth all the numbers: health, armor, speeds, weapon damage, and, and, and … are collected in the spreadsheet ↑Quake Champions—Quick Info.
For information on improving and ensuring the technical performance of Quake Champions, Mike Martin’s ↑Gaming Guide for Quake Champions is the place to go. Beyond the technicalities there’s a lot more useful information on how to play Quake.
Ever wondered what settings, mouse sensitivity and so on the professional Quake players use? This ↑spreadsheet has a ton of progamer settings for Quake Champions. If that’s not yet enough, the ↑Graphical FOV Converter and ↑Universal Esports Sensitivity Calculator are two tools to help you out. Not to forget the Quake Champions Mouse Settings Guide.

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which movie?

xirdalium Posted on by

zeph’s pop culture quiz #60

A man is sitting in the cinema. Which movie is he watching? Mind, I am not asking from which film the screenshot is taken, who the man is, what he has done, or not done … although you may have to find out all that before you can answer the question.
    Simply leave a comment with your educated guess—you can ask for additional hints, too. [Leaving a comment is easy; just click the ‘Leave a reply’ at the end of the post and fill in the form. If it’s the first time you post a comment, it will be held for moderation. But I am constantly checking, and once I’ve approved a comment, your next ones won’t be held, but published immediately by the system.]

UPDATE (01 January 2019):
All right, Velvet just recently revived this, yet unsolved, installment of zeph’s pop culture quiz. It already has been found out, or guessed, that the man in the above screencap is watching a Hitchcock-movie. Velvet guessed „Rear Window,“ but I’m afraid it is not, and asked for a ‘damn hint’ if she is wrong. So, here are new hints, but I do not want to make it too easy ;) So the hints are going towards the movie within the Hitchcock-movie is shown. :) During the movie show our above protagonist attends, a man is murdered in the cinema. When the dead body is found, a book is also discovered (see new screencap below). The book’s, well, ‘title’ is a part of the title of the movie in which the murder takes place. Incidentally, or not so incidentally, the book’s ‘title’ is the name of the circuit of cinemas which for the first time showed the Hitchcock-movie in question. Said cinemas circuit also was a part of the Hitchcock-movie’s production company. From here on it still is a bit of work, conceded, but remember, Alphabet Inc.’s subsidiary Google is your friend …

UPDATE and SOLUTION (09 January 2019):
A couple of days ago Maddieman over on facebook solved the riddle—congratulations!—thanks to the help of the BBC who over the christmas days did a rerun of the movie in which the movie in question is viewed. The man in the first screenshot is Alexander Bonaparte Cust (Donald Sumpter). His initials read A.B.C. … and the screenshot is from „The ABC Murders“ (Grieve 1992), starring the incomparable David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. The book found in the cinema in the second screenshot is an ABC railway guide. The movie Mr Cust watches in the cinema is „Number Seventeen“ (Hitchcock 1932). The production company of said movie was the Associated British Picture Company (ABPC), formed in 1927 by merging a couple of companies, among those the ABC Cinemas circuit …

GRIEVE, ANDREW. 1992. The ABC Murders [TV series episode]. Agatha Christie’s Poirot 4(1). London: LWT.
HITCHCOCK, ALFRED. 1932. Number Seventeen [motion picture]. London: Wardour Films.
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crouchsliding tutorial with slash

xirdalium Posted on by


A crouchsliding tutorial with keypresses visible, slow motion, freeze frames, and explanation in voiceover. The tutorial aims at conveying an understanding of the basic principles, and suggests ways to start. Step-by-step instructions are given, and quite some opportunities of where to practice the techniques are shown.

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the congo dandies

xirdalium Posted on by


Description by RT Documentaries: ““La Sape” is a unique movement based in Congo that unites fashion-conscious men who are ready to splurge money they don’t really have on designer clothes. Dressing in stark contrast with their surroundings, these elegant ambiance-makers become true local celebrities… but this fame comes at a price.

The Republic of the Congo in Central Africa can’t boast of high standards of living. Yet, there are men here who are prepared to spend a fortune on designer suits. They call themselves “sapeurs” – members of the “La Sape” movement. “La Sape” comes from French and stands for “The Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People”. For its adherents, it’s all about style and elegance, the right combination of colours and textures, brand-names and the highest quality materials. They derive true joy from showing off their attire on the streets of Brazzaville – the country’s capital and the centre of the “La Sape” movement. Walking down dusty streets lined with clay houses, they turn heads and feel like kings. And there’s no price they won’t pay for this.

In fact, behind the image of success these dandies project, there are often stories of significant financial troubles caused by their extravagant hobby. To afford the price tag of their designer clothes, “sapeurs” have to save, borrow and even steal money, sometimes bringing ruin to their families. But even the grim consequences of their indulgent dressing habits often don’t stop “sapeurs” from spending money they don’t really have. They are in constant competition with each other and investing in their image is more important to them than improving their living conditions. Dressing smartly becomes a true addiction that is very hard to conquer.

However, some “sapeurs” do strive to find a balance between looking chic and being reasonable with their spending. They insist that the “La Sape” movement isn’t about designer suits but rather developing impeccable taste. They make an emphasis on learning to dress well but within one’s means. This way, style and elegance will demand fewer sacrifices from their devotees and will be accessible to more sophisticated men.”

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bridge to rail backward and forward

xirdalium Posted on by


The Bridge to Rail jump done backward and forward with all champions, without using their respective special abilities. Plus a tutorial on how to do it – with keypresses and speed visible, slow motion, and an explanation of the circlejump and strafejumping. In between a little reminiscence of Bridge to Rail in Quake Live and Quake 3 Arena.

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