I've read that electrical power would fail almost immediately (like within a day) if there were no one at the power plants to keep them running. I assume plumbing would work considerably longer, but eventually unrepaired mechanical problems would knock that out as well. Fortunately, a single person's waste would be pretty easy to manage, it's carrying supplies of fresh water that would be a bitch.
Low-acid canned food might get you through the first few years (high-acid and canned meats don't last beyond 18 months), but after that you'd need actual crops and some expertise in canning your own preserved food for the winter.
This surprised me:
SF&F Films Strong At '07's End
SF&F movies held strong on the last weekend of 2007, with Alvin and the Chipmunks taking second place with $30 million and Will Smith's I Am Legend in third with $27.5 million, the Associated Press reported.
Hollywood will finish the year with record revenues of about $9.7 billion, up from the previous best of $9.45 billion in 2004, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Alvin lifted its total to $142.4 million. Legend has climbed to $194.6 million.
What surprised me is that
Alvin and the Chipmunks
is considered SciFi/Fantasy....
What surprised me is that Alvin and the Chipmunks is considered SciFi/Fantasy....
Dear dog, has it come to that?!?! Alas, my poor genre....
We finally watched
V for Vendetta
on New Year's Eve (fear the old married couple). I was fairly impressed. I loved the book, and I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. They left out a couple things, but nothing major, and the changes for the movie I had no quibble with.
I'd heard Portman's performance was great, but I was dubious...however, great job. Some of her scenes were tremendous. Weaving did a yeoman's work communicating through that costume (and never once made me want to say "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.").
The relationship between V and Evey, which had been problematic for me in the book, came across in the movie as very Beauty and the Beast, and thus worked for me a lot better.
I really loved
V for Vendetta.
It took a few days and a second viewing to come to that conclusion.
Yeah, I gotta say, I loved "V for Vendetta". I was concerned because I'm a big fan of the book and wondered if it would translate or if they'd make it too much of an "action film", but they remained true to the heart and pace of the story and the "updates" made a lot of sense.
Portman as Evey just rocked IMNSHO. And the "prison scene"...man. So glad they kept that true.
This is one movie I just don't understand Alan Moore getting all pissy and Alan Moore-ish about. Of all his properties that have been turned into films, I thought this was the most true to the source.
the prison scene
Killed me. The back story of the "girl in the next cell" made me cry and cry.
What surprised me is that Alvin and the Chipmunks is considered SciFi/Fantasy....
Run into many talking/rapping chipmunks in everyday life, do we?
This is one movie I just don't understand Alan Moore getting all pissy and Alan Moore-ish about. Of all his properties that have been turned into films, I thought this was the most true to the source.
I think it was a straw/camel's back thing. One of the producers said something along the lines that Moore liked the film when he (a) didn't want to be involved with it at all and (b) hadn't seen it (my memory on b might not be reliable, but I thought he said he hadn't and didn't want to see it). I also get the feeling he's pissy on the idea of adaptations of his work, period.
I was looking at the nominations for the Golden Globes--is Charlie Wilson's War really a comedy?
(Laughs)
Gloomcookie, I cried at that also.
Part of the problem with waterworks, at least in the UK, is they need power to run. A few months ago we saw flooding in certain parts of the UK, which took out power substations - that in turn took out the waterworks. So during a flood, there were loads of places without running water as a result.
I actually kicked about the idea of trying to write a pilot for World Without People Story Thing. I'm glad I didn't, because I suck, but it started with somebody getting out of bed, having a shower, getting in their car to go to work, driving along with the camera pointing back down the road, as a 747 comes down... And crashes into the motorway behind the car (there's no pilot), taking out all the cars, whilst all the cars in front also veer off and crash into each other (no drivers).
