6 ms·

I was so angry listening to all those delusional council members who thought that suddenly their town could be silicon valley. Nothing wrong with thinking big,

by wyxuan 7y ago

I was so angry listening to all those delusional council members who thought that suddenly their town could be silicon valley. Nothing wrong with thinking big, but to reasonably believe that you could start many multi billion dollar tech companies just with one plant is just loony. It left me at the end of the episode thinking, foxconn came in like a fox and conned everyone involved.

cosmodisk 7y ago
There's a very good Russian film called The Twelve Chairs- an adaptation of a book with the same title.There,the main character, a professional con artist,ends up in a small town, in a middle of nowhere. In a matter of days,he convinces the entire town that because of chess games some of the residents often play,they could turn the town into the world capital of chess.They will host international tournaments, conferences,and etc.The Soviet government will build a rail link directly to Moscow and it will ultimately become a super city in no time. The film is 50 years old,but looks like the today's world hasn't changed that much...
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Is this the inspiration for the Simpson’s monorail episode?
  - __david__ 7y ago
    No, that was the very popular musical, The Music Man, which is a very similar story.
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      Thank you!
  - cosmodisk 7y ago
    Oh,the monorail! What a great episode. Nowadays they go around offering hyperloop technology to naïve city councillors..
- js2 7y ago
  I only know the Mel Brooks version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs_(1970_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs_(1970_film) But reading the wikipedia description of the book, it's the same premise: characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden in a chair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs Are you thinking of a different story? Edit: ah, apparently that's a part of the novel, which if it's in the Mel Brooks film, I don't recall: "bamboozling a village chess club with promises of an international tournament."
  - cosmodisk 7y ago
    It's the same story- I'll need to watch this version to compare the adaptations. The Russian adaptation is unique in a few ways: 1) I'm not sure how,but in times of heavy propaganda and censorship, these films got green light.The concepts they show were absolutely crazy at the time.I never really understood how soviet machine allowed this to be made to start with. 2) The film became an absolute cultural phenomenon that influenced generations. Some of the phrases used by lead characters continue to be used in wider context even today( I.e. "why do you need money? You've got no imagination!) https://youtu.be/P8t2dbJ7YXY https://youtu.be/P8t2dbJ7YXY (1:44:00 the scene where they arrive to the town of gullibles.There's English subtitles option)
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    > attempting to obtain jewelry hidden in a chair. Is also the plot of the infamous eponymous Gaslight.
- lazyant 7y ago
  And yet a small Spanish town in the middle of nowhere was the world capital of chess for many years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linares_International_Chess_Tournament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linares_International_Chess_To...

by wyxuan 7y ago

cosmodisk 7y ago

There's a very good Russian film called The Twelve Chairs- an adaptation of a book with the same title.There,the main character, a professional con artist,ends up in a small town, in a middle of nowhere. In a matter of days,he convinces the entire town that because of chess games some of the residents often play,they could turn the town into the world capital of chess.They will host international tournaments, conferences,and etc.The Soviet government will build a rail link directly to Moscow and it will ultimately become a super city in no time. The film is 50 years old,but looks like the today's world hasn't changed that much...

toomuchtodo 7y ago
Is this the inspiration for the Simpson’s monorail episode?
- __david__ 7y ago
  No, that was the very popular musical, The Music Man, which is a very similar story.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Thank you!
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  Oh,the monorail! What a great episode. Nowadays they go around offering hyperloop technology to naïve city councillors..
js2 7y ago
I only know the Mel Brooks version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs_(1970_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs_(1970_film) But reading the wikipedia description of the book, it's the same premise: characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden in a chair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs Are you thinking of a different story? Edit: ah, apparently that's a part of the novel, which if it's in the Mel Brooks film, I don't recall: "bamboozling a village chess club with promises of an international tournament."
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  It's the same story- I'll need to watch this version to compare the adaptations. The Russian adaptation is unique in a few ways: 1) I'm not sure how,but in times of heavy propaganda and censorship, these films got green light.The concepts they show were absolutely crazy at the time.I never really understood how soviet machine allowed this to be made to start with. 2) The film became an absolute cultural phenomenon that influenced generations. Some of the phrases used by lead characters continue to be used in wider context even today( I.e. "why do you need money? You've got no imagination!) https://youtu.be/P8t2dbJ7YXY https://youtu.be/P8t2dbJ7YXY (1:44:00 the scene where they arrive to the town of gullibles.There's English subtitles option)
- lonelappde 7y ago
  > attempting to obtain jewelry hidden in a chair. Is also the plot of the infamous eponymous Gaslight.
lazyant 7y ago
And yet a small Spanish town in the middle of nowhere was the world capital of chess for many years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linares_International_Chess_Tournament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linares_International_Chess_To...