B5 used a naval + marine metaphor. Aviators and ship driving officers used most US naval ranks, up to Captain.

Marines used US marine ranks, up to Colonel.

Flag ranks both naval and marine go General, and I presume they differentiate generals on the number of stars in the usual way. There were no admirals.

Garibaldi was an NCO. His rank was Chief Warrant Officer at the point where B5 seceded from the EA and he retired. Thing is, Garibaldi always had more influence among the officers (mostly due to raw competence) than his rank strictly granted him.

The rank structure in B5 isn't difficult to grasp, so long as you realize that flag officers from both the marine and naval tracks both become Generals.

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[Dr. Horrible]___________________________[Penny]
Listen close to everybody's heart________And you believe there's good in everybody's heart
And hear that breaking sound_____________Keep it safe and sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering apart____With hope you can do your part
And crashing to the ground_______________To turn a life around

In the military, many times a Senior NCO will have more clout than a junior officer--it's based on the fact they have years of experience at their job while the junior officer is still learning. But at the end of the day, what the officer says, goes...

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

Wrapping paper that hasn't been taped into place. I'm watching Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), but it pops up in a lot of places. People get handed presents, and all they have to do is slide the paper off. Who doesn't tape the wrapping paper? (Also, if anyone can tell me what the title means, I'd appreciate it.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Stumbled onto this just now, EarthForce's rank structure.

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[Dr. Horrible]___________________________[Penny]
Listen close to everybody's heart________And you believe there's good in everybody's heart
And hear that breaking sound_____________Keep it safe and sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering apart____With hope you can do your part
And crashing to the ground_______________To turn a life around

How about when the box and lid are wrapped separately, so the recipient just lifts the lid off the box? Does anybody do that in real life?

As to the title:

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2008 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

Yeah. Also, everybody ties a perfect bow. Just like everybody makes perfect snowmen.

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Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Thank you kindly, Sean. And no, nobody does.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Spacesuits with lights in the helmets that are there just to light up the face of the actor. Nearly all movie and TV spacesuits have this feature, from Alien to the re-imagined BSG.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky

The old BSG had that, too.

__________________
[Dr. Horrible]___________________________[Penny]
Listen close to everybody's heart________And you believe there's good in everybody's heart
And hear that breaking sound_____________Keep it safe and sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering apart____With hope you can do your part
And crashing to the ground_______________To turn a life around

The point being that Alien came out in 1979 (at almost the same time as the original BSG) and the new BSG in 2003. Almost thirty years and they're still putting lights in the helmets that serve no in-universe purpose.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky

Dr Who had lights in the helmets in the last series and in the 'Impossible Planet' from the series before.

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'The eye can only see what the mind is prepared to accept'

It's done for the same reason that people in films drive cars at night with the interior lights on: so the camera can see the actors' faces...

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If our brains were simple enough for us to understand, we'd be so simple we couldn't

QQR

Right. And it bugs me when it's too obvious that that's exactly what the lights are there for.
I noticed it again recently while watching Space: Above and Beyond. Probably the last place you would want a light shining on your face is during a night battle on an alien planet, but there they were.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky

Without the lights, they could film all the night scenes with the stunt doubles rather than the stars.

Hmm, the producers would save money, the stars would get to sleep in and audience members wouldn't be annoyed: sounds like win-win-win...

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If our brains were simple enough for us to understand, we'd be so simple we couldn't

QQR

Exactly. Some go as far as having the character switch the light one.

I have seen it done well though. Just enough light to be able to make out the actor, and it was tied into a light on the outside of the helmet that almost made it look like that was the source of the light. Like some sort of stray light.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Ahh, but sometimes you might want to recognize someone in a space suit and be able to read facial expressions. It might be useful for conveying information without breaking radio or verbal silence. Although I would think a helmet could be sound proofed and a laser or LED could be used to send the conversation. Or just use hand signals... if you can make them out in the bulky spacesuits.

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

Only shapely women in tight space suits.
Yeah, that might be important in the vacuum of space.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Ah yes, that crazy stray light. Just like when I'm trying to make my bedroom dark so I can sleep at night, but the stray light from the pizza shop down the block always wanders in.

Not really pick'n on you, it just sounded funny. "stray light". Sorry...been a long day.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

FWIW I found it funny.