A: Dear Forgiven,

I really enjoyed dance 180 and 280, so I'll put those out there. One of the fun things about the social dance classes is that you can use what you learn all the time. I also think Latin dances are really cool, so I'm going to add dance 185 to the list, even though I unfortunately haven't gotten to take it.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Public Announcement:

At BYU? Or of all time?

I love ballet and ballroom, and I like tap, jazz, and folk a lot; therefore, I would feel that any class in those is recommendable.

My best three dance classes ever were a year-long workshop with Jiang Qi; being on the folk dance team at BYU; and an independent study class in high school where I got to teach third- and fourth-graders and paint the set, among other things, for credit.

To make the most of a BYU dance experience, I would suggest to take a beginning class in something you never would have taken otherwise; an advanced technique class in something you're pretty good at already; and try to get on a team, if possible.

---Portia, briefly coming out of hiatus for a dance question

A: Dear Pacer,

Dance 185, Dance 285, Dance 382. Runner up, 386.

-Olympus

A: Dear Pace Amnesty,

Latin Dance for Beginners
Latin Dance Intermediate
Latin Dance Advanced

I love latin music. And who doesn't like someone who can shake their hips like none other?

-The Cheeky Chickie

A: Dear PA~

Well, I've heard of top 40's dances, but do you really think learning to dance to the top three songs on endless repeat is such a good idea? Sounds like it would result in a bloodbath to me.

~Hobbes

A: Dear Fredjikrang,

Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say about the noun form of wax (I love the OED!):

The root may be identical with Teut. *waχs- to grow; it seems not impossible that the etymological sense may have been ‘that which grows (in the honeycomb)́’. The view now most in favour refers the word to the Indogermanic root *weg- to weave, found in OIrish figim I weave, L. velum veil, sail (believed to be from prehistoric *veg-slom), and in certain Teut. words (see WICK); the advocates of this etymology appeal to the apparent semasiological parallel of G. wabe, honeycomb, presumed to be from the root of <I>weben WEAVE. Some other hypotheses have been proposed, but they are all unsatisfactory with regard either to form or meaning.

So it looks as though there may well be a link between the two, based on the common meaning of "to grow." Fun observation there.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Milk,

Gluten is only formed when wheat is mixed with water. As such, you can use any kind of flour that isn't made of wheat. I've used rice flour for pizza dough before, and it was pretty good stuff.

If you're in Provo, I recommend going to Good Earth Natural Foods. It's at 1045 S. University Avenue, right across from the Provo Town Center mall. They have a massive collection of every kind of flour you can imagine. They're not inexpensive, but at least you won't have to pay any shipping fees.

Oh, and while you're there, try the honey sticks. They're awesome.

-Claudio

A: Dear moose,

I seem to remember the Provo Macey's selling those flours, if you want to check there first. They were on free-standing shelves in the back near the yogurt.

-=Optimus Prime=-

A: Dear GG,

Two reasons: first of all, there's almost no gas inside the egg. Liquids and solids do expand when they heat up, it's true, but not by very much. And secondly, the shell is quite strong. It can take quite a bit of pressure before breaking. I remember my little sister did a science fair project to measure how much weight you could put on an egg before it would break (using curved cups to hold the egg), and they took a lot. If I remember correctly, one of them took over 100 pounds. So, yeah. Eggs are pretty strong.

—Laser Jock

A: Dearest Goldfish ~

For a fun time, bet some strong guy that he can't break an egg with his barehands. The catch? He has to press it on the ends, not the sides. You'd be surprised as to how much pressure that delicate little eggshell can withstand from that angle.

~ Dragon Lady

A: Dear Lisa,

Now, I've never seen the movie, so I don't know the context of that song. However, looking at the (translated) lyrics, I don't see anything that would make them unclean or objectionable.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Elfie,

Nope, fan sites abound, and creating one of your own is completely legal. However, you do need to be careful about including copyrighted material from the book or movie; small amounts may be acceptable as fair use (though I'm no lawyer), but if you start reproducing large passages or large parts of the movie, you could run into some trouble. Stay away from that, though, and you should be fine.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear traveler,

From a former missionary:

"The weather in northern Italy is the same as [the south/mideast] over here. Basically a moderate climate. So it will be stinking hot in Italy in June. And even hotter in Roma. So if they are gonna just go bum around the country and stay in hostels with no AC ... well, it goes with out saying."

There you have it. Shorts, skirts - yes.

-Olympus

A: Dear you,

I spent a couple of weeks backpacking through Italy some years ago. The climate is, understandably, slightly different across the country, but pretty much warm all over. It's hotter in the south, and there are frequent summer rainstorms. I would suggest wearing shorts and skirts and cotton tops - clothing that breathes well and dries quickly. I think I brought one long-sleeved shirt to put on for chillier nights (even those weren't chilly, per se).

One tip: take advantage of the beautiful fountains. Italians like to wade in them. You can enjoy doing the same.

Sincerely,

The Cleaning Lady

A: Dear Reader,

Prelude, Op. 3, No. 2 in C# Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

- Katya ex machina

A: Dear Mr. Left,

I happened to be walking in front of the Cluff building, and saw the trees you were talking about (I believe). They look like flowering plum trees to me.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Lefty,

I'm a lefty too. Isn't it great?

If you like knowing about the trees on BYU Campus then you should pick up the pamphlet "BYU Tree Tour" in the BYU Bookstore. It is only around $2.00 or so and it has pictures, names, and discriptions of all the trees that are found on BYU campus! Isn't that cool?

-The Cheeky Chickie

A: Dear endless,

Well, it has been at least 38 years. My guess is that if you go far enough back, when BYU was newer and smaller, they might not have had as much construction. But it's been a long, long time.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Camel Girl,

Um...probably about three times a day or so. Depends on whether or not I'm trying to stay hydrated or not.

-Claudio

A: Dear camel,

As someone who has suffered from bowel problems, I don't think your coworker's behavior is that strange (no more details here). There have been days when I've had to use the bathroom 8+ times in a day. I think now I am down to a more average number like five or six. I like using the bathroom before I go anywhere, so if I go lots of places in one day that would increase the number of times I would go. Also, maybe he or she likes taking a break and getting paid for it!

-Whistler

A: Dear Camel Girl,

I'm ummmm, pretty sure I don't have bowel problems. I had to actually pay attention to it and I realized that I go to the bathroom about 5 or 6 times a day. Of course, I also drink a lot of water throughout the day (and water just tends to run right through my system). So maybe you should drink more water and join the ranks of your co-worker.

-The Cheeky Chickie

A: Dear camel girl,

Yeah, you should probably drink more water. I've been sick lately, so a couple days ago I drank about two liters of water in two or three hours. I used the restroom every 20 minutes. Today I drank about 2.5 liters in about six hours (so far) and have used the restroom four or five times. (So far.) Normally I drink a half a liter every day or so, and use the restroom maybe 2-3 times per day (once in an 8-hour period). Two liters=about eight cups of water, and 8 oz.=1 cup, so really, you're supposed to be drinking about two liters of water per day anyway.

-Olympus

A: Dear old video gamer,

According to Blogger's page "Concerning the Historie and Nature of Blogs of Note," "Blogs of Note" started out as

[j]ust a simple, ongoing, irregularly updated list of blogs I've happened to come across and found interesting for one reason or another. This reason need not be substantial. It could be I liked a particular post. It could be the blog seems to have good writing, or good design, or original content or concept, or I just like the name.

So if you happen to fall into one of those categories, you too could be featured! I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you have to have a really, really good blog. But hey, even if you don't get featured, if your blog is that good, you'll have plenty of people reading it.

—Laser Jock

A: Dear Universe~

It occurs to me that this question could have been addressed: "Dear Humble Master" with equal effectiveness.

~Hobbes

A: Dear One of Many,

I also enjoyed the film immensely, I consider it to be one of the greatest superhero films of all time. It́’s good to see another superhero besides Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, or the X-Men become a blockbuster and enter the popular cultural consciousness in America. Í’ll address each of your questions, but not in order, because I can arbitrarily rearrange the order of your questions.

How accurate was the movie to the character and history of Iron Man and what are the discrepancies?

Pretty accurate. However, in saying that the film was true to the character and history of Iron Man, there needs to be an accompanying caveat about extreme complexity of the character and history of Iron Man. Iron Man was created in 1963, and has appeared in his own title and many team titles each month since his creation. There have been multiple writers and artists who have interpreted the characters, and there have been classic stories (Demon in a Bottle, in which Tony Stark battled alcoholism), and not so classic stories (at one point the Avengers traveled back in time to retrieve a teenage Tony Stark to replace the adult Tony Stark…that story was undone fairly quickly). Also, there are multiple continuities in the Marvel Universe. There is what Í’ll call the Classic Marvel Universe, which is what started up in the 1960s and has more or less run since then. Theré’s the Ultimate Marvel Universe, which was started in 2000, and was meant to restart comics with the classic Marvel characters, but updating their origins for modern times and tell stories that wereń’t weighted down with 40 years of continuity. Theré’s also Marvel Adventures, which are written to be all ages stories which are usually done in a single issue without many references to previous issues, so that children could pick up any issue and enjoy the story without being confused about all the character interactions.

At this very moment Iron Man has two monthly titles in the Classic Marvel Universe (Iron Man and The Invincible Iron Man), appears in one team book in the Classic Marvel Universe (Mighty Avengers), has one mini-series in the Classic Marvel Universe (Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas (which is written by the director of the Iron Man movie), one mini-series set back in Iron Mań’s earliest days in the Classic Marvel Universe (Iron Man: Enter the Mandaring), one solo title in the kid-friendly Marvel Adventures line (Marvel Adventures Iron Man), appears in a kid-friendly team book in the Marvel Adventures line (Marvel Adventures Avengers), appears in an Ultimate Universe team book (The Ultimates), and has a mini-series in the Ultimate Universe (Ultimate Iron Man: Volume II (written by Orson Scott Card)). That́’s nine different Iron Man comic books coming out this month, and they doń’t all agree in tone or interpretation of the character of Tony Stark.

But, the movie did get the key elements that are pretty consistently portrayed about Iron Man. He is a super-genius, especially with technology. He is the head of a company which his father started. He is a billionaire. He is a playboy bachelor. He did fight Obadiah Stane in the comic books, and Obadiah Stane wore a big honkiń’ suit of armor (and went by the name Iron Monger).

Pepper Potts ends up married to Happy Hogan (Stark's driver in the movie) in the comics, and Stark is pretty constantly a womanizer. Iron Man's classic villain is The Mandarin, who was a Cold War stereotype of Asians, so perhaps it is best they didn't use him in the film. However, the Mandarin is obsessed with ruling all of Asia, and has ten rings of power, so there were hints towards the Mandarin with the main bad guy leading the terrorists.

How did Iron Man in the comic universe get the electronic stuff in his heart?

In the original 1963 origin story for Iron Man, Tony Stark travels to Viet Nam to see how his technology is helping the war effort, when he falls prey to a booby trap set by Communists. Stark is captured, and his fellow captive, Ho Yinsin builds a magnetic plate that Stark must wear on his chest so that shrapnel will not enter his heart. Stark is supposed to develop weapons for the Communists, but instead he and Yinsin build a suit of armor, and Stark escapes while Yinsin dies in the attempt. That probably all sounded pretty familiar, because the film didn't alter the origin too much. The film updated the battleground to Afghanistan, but otherwise pretty much kept the origin intact.

As for the electronic stuff in his heart, at various times in his comic book history Stark has been unable to live outside of the Iron Man suit, had the suit's chestplate force his heart to pump, hé’s been pretty much healed from any heart damage, hé’s been able to live in computers, hé’s been turned into an android woman…so yeah, the origin about shrapnel in the heart is the same in the comic book and the movie, but it goes all over the place in the forty years since Iron Man was created in the comic books.

Did he ever work with SHIELD in the comics?

In the Classic Marvel Universe Iron Man is the director of SHIELD right now. So yeah, theý’ve been involved.

However, the movie seems to be referencing more of the Ultimate Universe version of SHIELD and the Avengers. In the Ultimate Universe Nick Fury (who is black and was modeled after Samuel L. Jackson (in the Classic Marvel Universe he is White and started fighting evil back in WWII before heading up SHIELD (yeah, hé’s old…)) starts up the Avengers to work for SHIELD. In the Classic Marvel Universe the Avengers are formed by accident, when a bunch of heroes are called together to face down the same threat, and then think it́’s a good idea to keep the team thing going. That seems to be the direction Marvel is going with the films they are producing (Marvel is now a movie studio as well as a comic book publisher). Marvel is also putting out The Incredible Hulk this summer, then will put out Iron Man 2 and Thor in 2010, and then put out Captain America: The First Avenger (working title) and The Avengers in 2011. There may be an Ant-Man and Nick Fury movie thrown in somewhere along there as well. From the title of the Captain America movie Í’m assuming it will be set entirely in WWII, and end with Captain America falling into the arctic ocean after blowing up a Nazi plane, and then hé’ll be pulled out of the ice in the modern day at the start of the Avengers movie, thus giving him the man-out-of-time element which is key to that character.

So, was Iron Man faithful to the comic books? Pretty much. They even brought in current comic book writers who are writing Iron Mań’s comic books to look over the script before they started shooting, and they had a popular comic book artist do all the armor designs for the movie. I doubt Incredible Hulk will be as popular as Iron Man, but I love that the Marvel Universe can be shared across films now that Marvel is producing their own movies (Nick Fury appeared in Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. is going to have a cameo as Tony Stark in the Incredible Hulk). Hopefully future Marvel films will be as solid as Iron Man, and as respectful of the source material.

-Humble Master

PS If anyone is really interested in Marvel superheroes, there was a fantastic essay written about the cultural relevance of Marvel superheroes in the 1960s in the December 2007 volume of the Journal of Popular Culture. It was written by Robert Genter, and titled "'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility': Cold War Culture and the Birth of Marvel Comics" (there was another solid essay on Captain America comics during the Reagan era in the same volume).

A: Dear ML~

No, I haven't seen it.

~Hobbes

A: Dear Movie,

Yes I have seen it (TV edit, if that makes a difference to your statistic); no, I did not cry.

-Whistler

A: Dear Less Movies,

Saw it, loved it, didn't weep.

Does that make me hard-hearted?

-Claudio

A: Dear Groat,

I had to think, first, if I've ever even heard of it. Then I decided: yes, I remember hearing of it once. No, I've never seen it. Clearly this means I did not cry while watching it.

-Azriel

A: Dear Movie Full,

I find it funny that so many of us haven't seen that movie. I'll join the ranks of those who haven't seen it.

Although I have cried over a situation involving that movie... does that count?

~Krishna

A: Dear Movie-Less,

I haven't seen it, either, although I've probably cried at the same time the movie was playing somewhere in the world.

- Katya

A: Dear ML,

Just to be different...
I saw it and I sobbed. But that's pretty normal for me.

-habiba

A: Dear Habiba and ML,

I haven't seen the movie either, but I cry like a little school girl over tradegies in movies.

Perhaps we should all get together and watch a really sad movie and have a good cry sometime. Or not... HA! I hate crying about movies, it makes me feel- well, like a silly little school girl.

-The Cheeky Chickie

A: Dear George,

Saw it, loved it, cried during it. Wept, really.

-Kicks and Giggles

A: Dear Maximus,

I teared up at the end. It's a great movie! And one, like Braveheart, that I think should be an argument to watch some R-rated movies.

-Cognoscente