I was a little disappointed to see on Mythbusters that it would have been impossible to kill Jaws as depicted in the original movie:by exploding a scuba tank clenched in the shark's teeth.

This got me to thinking: what if Roy Scheider had tossed an old crt into Jaws' mouth? Surely shooting one of those with an M1 would have yielded some deadly force.

So c'mon Mr. Speilburg, you already used CG to alter really asinine things in your ET rerelease, surely you can smell the $$$$ in a Jaws rerelease with "new really awesome effects".

Oh sure, YOU'RE asking how Quint had a crt on board his booze-powered shark boat: well, I've got that covered-instead of those yellow float barrels to bring his catches up, he uses old picture tubes! Remember, those things DO float, after all. "One time I caught a sixteen footer off of Montauk. Had to stick two 21fb22s in him...."

and yes, I do have the flu, and most definitely this whole post was brought on by a fever dream I had this afternoon.

Mythbusters also "proved" a sniper couldn't be shot through his scope. Carlos Hathcock did it in Vietnam and the Marines have the enemy's rifle , and Hathcock's spotter as a witness. They also "proved" you couldn't blow up a toilet with gasoline fumes. Except they didn't seal the combustion chamber with a 200 lb. , ass-shaped cork. It's a fun show , but I try not to get my "facts" from Hollyweird....

Hope you feel better soon.

As an engineer, I like Mythbusters because they do actually use some decent science, physics, and engineering in their demonstrations. While I do not always agree 100% with their conclusions or methods, in general, they follow a pretty defensible procedure in their individual demonstrations.

I remember the sniper through the eye episode. If I was them, I'd have reached the same conclusion. When a guy fires a .30-06 steel jacketed round directly through a three piece scope from a distance of about 25 feet, and it doesn't penetrate completely, hey, what can you say? I believe they even tried the high-powered civilian model of the rifle used by Haycock as well. I believe the Marines on the Haycock Vietnam episode, but that doesn't mean it would happen every time.

As I type this, another thought occurs. In another episode, they tested being shot under (through) water with rifles and pistols. Turns out that you're much safer if the bad guy is using a high powered (supersonic) round than a slower sub-sonic pistol round. Seems the supersonic round breaks up and fragments due to a supersonic shock wave effect at the front of the bullet as it enters the water. With the slower pistol round, it can much more easily bore its way through the water without catastrophically breaking up on impact. I wonder if the same effect happened during Mythbusters' sniper test, and the high speed round fired from close in did the same thing breaking up immediately from supersonic shock wave disruption, while Haycock's much slower round from a long distance bored right on through. Hmmm....

I can hear the early scene now... (clink, clink of a couple of tubes together) "Dammit, Martin, that's THIN GLASS! You mess around with those tubes, they'll IMPLODE!" (Thus setting up the later shark-killing scene.)

However, to make the scene really more like my teen years, I want him, instead of using a rifle, to throw a half a brick into the face of the CRT in the shark's mouth. (Bavoom! tinkle, tinkle)

"Here's to Swimmen....with Bow-legged Wimmen...!"

Quint:smoke:

I can hear the early scene now... (clink, clink of a couple of tubes together) "Dammit, Martin, that's THIN GLASS! You mess around with those tubes, they'll IMPLODE!" (Thus setting up the later shark-killing scene.)

However, to make the scene really more like my teen years, I want him, instead of using a rifle, to throw a half a brick into the face of the CRT in the shark's mouth. (Bavoom! tinkle, tinkle)


Back in College Days, when I should have been studying, we used to go to this underground bar at UMass/Amherst called the Rathskeller. On Monday Nites, during Monday Nite Football, they used to have an auction. A Buck a Chance. The "Winner" got to toss a brick at a CRT Television when Howard Cosell came on the screen.

"Thank You Very Much, Dave ......!" <<< BOOM !!! >>>

In a darkened Bar, it made for quite an effect...

LJB:smoke:

PS: Did I mention we were smashed?

On Monday Nites, during Monday Nite Football, they used to have an auction. A Buck a Chance. The "Winner" got to toss a brick at a CRT Television when Howard Cosell came on the screen.

"Thank You Very Much, Dave ......!" <<< BOOM !!! >>>

In a darkened Bar, it made for quite an effect...


I remember seeing an article in Time or Newsweek, or maybe Sports Illustrated, about that. And they opinionated about why sports fans liked to hate Howard...

My college had a "Ratkiller" too. "Let's go to the Rat!" we'd say, to grab a beer (this was when 18 was drinkin' age) and some greasy fried food. A heart attack on a bun... :thmbsp:

---

Sounds about right...I do recall Real People doing a bit on a fake brick made of foam that you could use without destroying the set. Definately my favorite TV show at the time!

I remember seeing an article in Time or Newsweek, or maybe Sports Illustrated, about that. And they opinionated about why sports fans liked to hate Howard...

My college had a "Ratkiller" too. "Let's go to the Rat!" we'd say, to grab a beer (this was when 18 was drinkin' age) and some greasy fried food. A heart attack on a bun... :thmbsp:

You survived it ok, I see. You're still with Us...

LJB:smoke:

The worst Mythbusters show was when the "busted" the "myth" that one could have a radio that worked without a battery nor house current.

They "proved" a crystal radio doesn't work, by testing in their all-metal-walled building with an indoor antenna!

You gotta be kidding.........

As an engineer, I like Mythbusters because they do actually use some decent science, physics, and engineering in their demonstrations. While I do not always agree 100% with their conclusions or methods, in general, they follow a pretty defensible procedure in their individual demonstrations.

I remember the sniper through the eye episode. If I was them, I'd have reached the same conclusion. When a guy fires a .30-06 steel jacketed round directly through a three piece scope from a distance of about 25 feet, and it doesn't penetrate completely, hey, what can you say? I believe they even tried the high-powered civilian model of the rifle used by Haycock as well. I believe the Marines on the Haycock Vietnam episode, but that doesn't mean it would happen every time.

As I type this, another thought occurs. In another episode, they tested being shot under (through) water with rifles and pistols. Turns out that you're much safer if the bad guy is using a high powered (supersonic) round than a slower sub-sonic pistol round. Seems the supersonic round breaks up and fragments due to a supersonic shock wave effect at the front of the bullet as it enters the water. With the slower pistol round, it can much more easily bore its way through the water without catastrophically breaking up on impact. I wonder if the same effect happened during Mythbusters' sniper test, and the high speed round fired from close in did the same thing breaking up immediately from supersonic shock wave disruption, while Haycock's much slower round from a long distance bored right on through. Hmmm....

Also , Hathcock didn't intentionally make the shot. He saw the glint and reacted before the NVA sniper could squeeze the trigger. Mythbusters may have proved it's unlikely on purpose , but it is possible.
All things considered , it's a good show.

If I recall correctly, Mythbusters got so many emails about their sniper test that in a later episode went back and were able to duplicate the actual event.

But crystal radio sets?!?!? That's not a one-time story or myth. That's just history with so much obvious evidence. Now I want to see that episode!

Yes, that makes no sense at all. I have one upstairs that must have been built around 1920 or so; every once in a while I pick up the headphones and, yep, still working!

The CG cylinders were used in the movie likely because for every one person who knows that a CRT can be dangerous if mishandled there are countless thousands that know that gas cylinders can be dangerous if mishandled.

This is a rather elite subject--relatively speaking.

I'm impressed that this managed to turn into a fairly well visited discussion. I'm feeling much better now, btw.

Mythbusters has done some really cool stuff-I really liked how they worked out an elegant solution for their 'pole vault drive shaft' myth-where a car travelling at 25 mph has to drop its drive shaft into a small divot in the pavement at precisely the right moment to achieve the pole-vault effect.

I'm gonna have to look up the crystal radio one, though-I can't believe that with all of their research staff and the fact that these guys probably all grew up tinkering with stuff had never handled a crystal radio...I had two as a kid, and both worked fine!