Victoria

I tend to be a little heavy-handed, for which I apologise, Lyndonville. But I am an Historian by training and profession. Religion is a contentious topic, and one which there are many reasons why people ask questions. Some are genuine because they are curious, like I think Demon is, but others, because they wish to tear down religion because they don't like it (specifically Christianity). I don't care about any of that. I just want as much fact as I can muster. If it's in the Scriptures, I'll take it, as flawed as they are. If not, then we're all just shooting the breeze, and one person's information is another person's factoid. Is that cool with you?

http://www.painsley.org.uk/re/signposts/y8...ent/c-hindu.htm I have, of course, read the Bhagavad Gita in school.

Dr. Khalid Muhammad and the Nation of Islam being cited in this thread trying to bring information not disinformation? Wow. That's like me trotting Dr. Mengele about anthropological insights...Demon, I'm a little nonplussed. May I ask why you are asking these questions, friendly-like?

Speaking of bonking, and all that good stuff, the Hindus have several Universe creation stories, but the prevalent one goes like this: "Before time began there was no heaven, no earth and no space between. A vast dark ocean washed upon the shores of nothingness and licked the edges of night. A giant cobra floated on the waters. Asleep within its endless coils lay the Lord Vishnu. He was watched over by the mighty serpent. Everything was so peaceful and silent that Vishnu slept undisturbed by dreams or motion. Vishnu From the depths a humming sound began to tremble, Om. It grew and spread, filling the emptiness and throbbing with energy. The night had ended. Vishnu awoke. As the dawn began to break, from Vishnu's navel grew a magnificent lotus flower. In the middle of the blossom sat Vishnu's servant, Brahma. He awaited the Lord's command. Vishnu spoke to his servant: 'It is time to begin.' Brahma bowed. Vishnu commanded: 'Create the world.' Brahma, God of Creation A wind swept up the waters. Vishnu and the serpent vanished. Brahma remained in the lotus flower, floating and tossing on the sea. He lifted up his arms and calmed the wind and the ocean. Then Brahma split the lotus flower into three. He stretched one part into the heavens. He made another part into the earth. With the third part of the flower he created the skies. The earth was bare. Brahma set to work. He created grass, flowers, trees and plants of all kinds. To these he gave feeling. Next he created the animals and the insects to live on the land. He made birds to fly in the air and many fish to swim in the sea. To all these creatures, he gave the senses of touch and smell. He gave them power to see, hear and move. The world was soon bristling with life and the air was filled with the sounds of Brahma's creation." I had read a saltier version once. Vishnu ejaculated and thus were born the oceans, etc. But snakes and lotus flowers are pretty cool.

You have no sense of showmanship! I bet she wowed the Dalmatians for years with that.

I'm not there yet. I would like to have the exact reference for you to say that though. Everything I have said, including that bit of fluff on Queen Marie, can be backed up with noted historical sources. I'd just like to read the passage which allows you to state your claim with such validity. And then I'd like to read why it was excised. In short, give me history, or give me Cheetos.

Oh God...Demon, ask Pugwash to provide the source. The exact source and then read up on the history. Mentioning the Da Vinci Code in this context is well, more than a little forced. Next, the Priory of Sion will be mentioned, and there we go.

It isn't only somewhat true, that is the case precisely. Jesus' so-called "Lost Years" which no one knows where he went, or what he did, range from the age of 12 to 30. @Doc: "The date Christmas is celebrated was actually moved by the Roman Catholic church from January to December to compete/coincide with the aforementioned pagan holiday, which is why some orthodox churches (Greek, Armenian) still observe Christmas in January. " Did Matt Stone and Trey Parker really say that? That's wrong, and I'm surprised since I love them. They celebrate later because the Orthodox Christian churches are on Julian calendar time, not on the revised Gregorian calendar which we use, in the modern-day. They are 14 days behind us, presently. In Russian History as well as Greek History, you will see annotations of (OS) which means Old Style. The last Queen of Yugoslavia was called "The Child of Two Centuries" because she was born in December 1899 in one, and January 1900 in the other. She was born Romanian Orthodox.

I LOVE the indian! And of course, the construction worker. Everyone else looks gay.

No, I do not. It's pretty much accepted that 25th December was his birthday. Because the calender was changed many times, it is also thought the year of his birth is closer to 3 BC, but who knows. We're going by Claudius, the Roman Emperor and Historian, who wrote that. Recently, I read of Christians or more specifically, a proto-Christian sect in Iraq, who venerate John the Baptist, not Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Now that's interesting. There are Jews and Catholics in Iraq (Tariq Aziz was RC), of course, but that I didn't know.

A lot of people will tell you that it piggy-backed on a pagan festival, already in place. In the "mockumentary" Zeitgeist, his birthday is one of the underlying points to undermine Christianity. It suggested that Jesus didn't exist, and he was merely the continuation of the Egyptian God, Horus. Zeitgeist says that's because both were born on 25th December. Needless-to-say, there is nothing in Scriptures which specifically says the month and day Jesus was born. I need not tell you that no where is it written when Horus was born, so it is a logical fallacy to connote the two. To answer your question, here is an interesting timeline I found of when he could've been born: http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/sukkoth.htm September-October? Eww. Santa will look a right pillock wearing a cardigan. @Demon: "Why doesn't the Church now celebrate his original birth date instead? (if they know it that is)" Because no one knows for certain when it was. Just like we cannot know for certain if 72 black-eyed virgins will be awaiting certain men in Heaven, if they be Martyrs. Religion is about faith, and tradition, not about certainty and denigration. Having said that, I'm glad the Holy Roman Catholic Church, of which I am an adept, kicked St. Christopher off their saint rolls. He got on my nerves.

Handsome bugger, too.

Your original version was better! I remember our beloved Ryyannon included it into his .sig. Classic! Lately, I've been observing men who wear Breitling. And Breits just give off a very macho air. I recall someone saying on RWI, that they went into an NHL meeting, and it was wall-to-wall Breitling. I can believe it! @Prince: Hmm? Ah, this isn't showing up! "Vic .. not really into checking out other guys wrists for watches ... but am secure enough to strike a conversation if it is a very unique watch that i have not seen before .. or if it is a watch brand / model that i may have interest For eample ... Dave123 with his hublot and BCE bling ... would spark some curiosity from me" Because he gives off a very macho air, but those are rather flamboyant watches? It would intrigue me too.

I'm afraid I agree 100%. One of the first things one is taught when writing a dissertation or thesis (as it was in my case), is not to show your hand to your subject too soon. You'll soon see them clam up, and a vital source of information will be withdrawn to you. -- Mine in part, was on Nazi Cinema...so you can imagine -- That is simply impossible in a forum whose purpose is to talk, but Phdguy, you shouldn't have delurked publicly. Instead, you should've approached a Mod, told them of your intentions, and asked privately if one or two members would like to speak to you. No matter if we all know, in the back of our minds, that we are being observed by many "types" of people, no one likes being under a microscope. EDIT: Just re-read the post. You were another "user"? Oh dear. That contravenes forum rules, at that. And to think, if you had asked me nicely, I would've told you all about camel

The forum has thunderclouds today, but let's allow sunlight to peep through. Here's a question for you gentlemen of the forum: Do you judge a guy's machoness based on the kind of watch you see him wearing? I know a lot of so-called "fashion watches", like Bvlgaris, Jacob & Co. & even the Rolex Cellini are often winked at by certain guys. The latter are usually wearing tool watches, or Panerai, the bigger the better. Are you that kind of person, or do you just not care what type of watch is on the other guy's wrist? I'm sure there must be some stories of two guys wearing the same watch, striking up a conversation in public.

I'm not sure I follow. I stated that he is doing these things for me as a gesture to me, for free (BTW, I paid for the watch back in August. Don't think the 190/183 themselves were free, just to clarify). And that I'm a difficult position overall, having to rag on his work, since I could see it was not up to snuff. But that I was grateful to you guys for getting my back, and to him for his overall generosity. Was that clear enough, V? Until that time, I hadn't opened my email with his explanation. If only I had...

Again, I ask Lanikai, calmly, politely, what favourable review for free mods about TWP's work are you talking about? Because if you're talking specifically about me, there is none. There will be none. No deal, explicit or implicit has been "struck". A ) I don't have the expertise to review rep watches. B ) I'm not a fool nor fool-hardy. The last point is crucial, because to review his watches (something I have never attempted on any forum) would be suicide for me and for him. We had a very long thread about sponsored reviews, and Admin made his point clear. Whatever else I am, I'm an intelligent lady. The first point is fundamental. How can I post a review about his work in the same vein as Seadweller4000 did about the Breitling Heritage, full of specs, and technical details? I cannot. The most I could've attempted was a Pictorial Review, like I did twice about the A. Lange & S

What favourable review for free mods about TWP's work are you talking about?

I'm not discounting that what you guys are saying is wrong, Jsmith. But I am going by the email timeline. I got that BEFORE he posted this, not after. Hampered I also am, by not having seen the "deleted" posts about his other mod work. It seems to me he was chagrined with the replies about his "real work", and thought this might turn into an avalanche, I'm in a hurry, let me delete them all. If he just wanted to be sneaky about his job, he would've left the 4 posts which V assures me were okay mod jobs, and deleted/set as private just the bad ones. But he deleted them ALL, no? Again, I'm as in the dark as all you are, and all our explanations are conjecture or invective. I can just go with the quick private email. Sorry that I cannot offer more info. I'll return to the thread after TWP posts.

I thought Rolecs was in the USA, and I was going to reply, this is entirely normal. But he's in the Kingdom of Belgium. It is still normal, Rolecs, that your package goes through Customs. Doesn't mean NECESSARILY that they will open it. When you see "Seized By Customs", then start to worry. But perhaps a Belgium-centric RWGer might comment further. Good luck!

Leonardo Da Vinci's Ornithopter, 1490 B-2 Stealth Spirit, 1989 Imagination and fruition need not be contradictory. It just takes time.

I'm not sure. If you know you are busy during the day, and cannot "husband" the thread properly with replies, would you let a thread stay there without you there to explain? Because all people will see are those photos. If you delete the photos, same thing will happen. This is my only guess about what happened. Please note that this thread remained on RWI. But RWI isn't RWG, where people are much more serious in their manner, with respect. Yes, that is true. That's why I am not as outraged as others, and mind you, that's purportedly MY WATCH there. If there is anyone here that needs to be outraged, it is me. And I'm not. I'm hopeful. I told him that in no uncertain terms. I also teased him asking if he's a surgeon, because this is just the type of balls-to-the-walls attitude surgeons with Type-A personalities have. Clinicians are far more mousey.

I was just about to reply saying you had said it was the Ritmo Centurion! Here is that earlier thread, Flamemax (with pics of Randy J): http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=402294 I know that's right about Simon. I've seen him wear that ratty old Chopard MM many times. But what's this? Vintage Piaget, I think! And I tried going to the Ryan Seacrest site for photos. God, what a waste of 5 minutes of my life. He's weird, his site is weirder -- in a Celine Dion kind of way. Here's the only photo of him wearing a watch, I found:

Ask yourself, not you personally Flamemax , but in general: WHY would TWP post this particular thread of a watch which so clearly contains smudges, and the like? As I said on RWI yesterday, if he were emailing photos to a newbie, maybe he could get away with it (if he were that type of person). But in a forum FULL of experts? It was obviously a joke, because I doubt he is as self-deluded as that. I just emailed him asking him to come to the thread. I said I am neutral, but I know he will do what he can to clear up this unneeded mess. Since he's a medical practitioner, his time must be compromised, but I'm sure he'll come around by night time. @V: No, I got you. Agreed.

I understand. I cannot comment because I didn't see either this thread on RWG (it had been "removed" by the time I got up) or those other threads. I can only comment on what I know, and that's what I know. Please read my subsequent reply for a look at the greater picture, since we're so insistent on good eyesight.