OT: Star Wars and parsecs [was Re: Why not a Python compiler?]

[Jeff Schwab]

Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2008-02-10, mensanator at aol.com <mensanator at aol.com> wrote:
> 
>>>>> ? ? ? A Parsec is a fixed value (which, admittedly, presumes
>>>>> the culture developed a 360degree circle broken into degrees
>>>>> => minutes => seconds... or, at least, some units compatible
>>>>> with the concept of an "arc second", like 400 grads of, say,
>>>>> 100 "minutes", each of 100 "seconds")
>>>> It also presumes a standard diamter of that circle.
>>> Which is the Earth's orbit. ?So, long, long ago in a galaxy
>>> far, far away did they know about the Earth and decide to use
>>> it as the basis for length in the universe? ?Even before
>>> people on earth defined it? ?
>>>
>>> Or (ominous music builds here, switch to low voice) is it as
>>> some now contend? ?We are the decendents of a long, lost
>>> civilization who colonized Earth and used it as a base for
>>> their operations to the point of adopting it as their own
>>> home?
>>>
>>> ... ?You Betcha!
>>>
>>> :-)
>> How come they spoke English?
> 
> In some of the series, they sure didn't do it very well, but I
> presume they were forced to read what was written.
> 
> If you want to see a movie where the aliens -- at least for
> part of the movie -- speak an alien language (with subtitles),
> there's "Battlefield Earth".  It's amazingly awful. And not in
> a fun, campy, MST3K, way.  It's awful in more of a dull,
> aching, why-didn't-the-dentist-prescribe-better-painkillers
> sort of way.  Sure glad I didn't see that one in a theater...


http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29426