Linda was just kidding around with Stacey when she said a quart. She may have been naive about older men, but she knew about sex. In fact, when Stacey's eyes get all big when she says that, Linda immediately reassures her she was joking. Frankly, there were much better quotes you could've chosen for Linda in your poll. And don't worry Brad, your little sister ain't a slut. Like most girls her age, she sometimes confuses sex and desire with love and acceptance. Adolescence and high school is a minefield. As for Damone, since he is a high schooler, I'll cut him some slack...but just barely. Actually, it was because this was the first teen comedy to deal with things like oral sex and abortion that got prudes like Roger Ebert all in a lather. Every generation likes to think they discovered sex. People get all excited about oral sex between students today, when actually kidz have been giving each other head for as long as I can remember. You can't get pregnant from it, and for most girls, it's a surer way to orgasm than vaginal intercourse, which when you're talking about teenage boys, usually doesn't last long enough for the girl to get off. Oh, and Silver Rider suggested this was for over 17 and over. I think that's a bit late. I think 15 and over is suitable...14 even, depending how mature the kid is. There are many teachable moments a parent can have with their kid watching this movie, regarding personal responsibility and respecting others and sexual boundaries. You want to discuss these issues BEFORE your kid enters high school hell, not AFTER, when it may be too late. That's how I see it anyway...watched it with my godson with his dad before he started high school, and plan on loaning my dvd to my sister-in-law in a couple of years to watch with my nieces.

Didn't stop the military from using dolphins in warfare PRECISELY because of their intelligence. Conversely, I have yet to see any building as intricate and functional as a bee-hive or an ant-hill. And Steve, the "hair" crack directed at Magic was beneath you...it's something I would expect from Big Dan or Spidersandsnakes. You're better than that.

Always happy to help. Would've preferred to make you my strawberry waffles, but glad this worked for you as well.

^^^ Well done, led boots! Had a feeling Pink Floyd played more shows than Zeppelin but too lazy to do the legwork. Nice job...have a beer!

As far as I'm concerned, it's a way of thinning the herd by getting rid of all these zombie idiots clogging the streets.

I started high school in 1976, so this movie was right in my wheelhouse. They pretty much nailed it to a T, even given the cultural difference between Southern California and small-town Texas. Every character in the film reminded me of someone I knew in school. They even got the girl's bodies right...no over-aerobicized, no-hips, boob job aspiring porn stars that seem to populate so many teen comedies of the last 10-15 years. Regarding the hazing, maybe it didn't happen where you went to school, but this wasn't meant to be a universal paean to high school in the 70's, but a very time-and-location specific personal memoir of Richard Linklater's experiences in a small town in Texas, 1976. Having spent time in Texas, I can totally believe hazing took place in high schools there.

I'm feeling lousy so I shouldn't even bother jumping into this question... First off, whenever you get into these type of discussions, they frequently develop into shouting matches. Everybody has already staked out their position and they'll be damned if they are going to be open to another point of view. And the whole kerfuffle over intelligent design is ironic given that Darwin and most scientists of the time were men of faith, to varying extents. Darwin was not trying to prove there was no God when he was working on the Origin of the Species. But now he has been trapped in this tug-of-war between the creationists and the atheists, both groups ignoring the nuances of his thoughts and beliefs. And it is that same divisive dichotomy that dominates just about every social, political, scientific, and religious debate today. You are given two extreme points-of-view to choose from, with no thought given to alternatives. It's either/or with no inbetween. Take this thread...the question is between intelligent design or pure chance. Well, that's a false choice, because just because you believe in evolution doesn't mean you think it all just happened by accident. Maybe you believe in the design of Mother Nature. Besides, as someone noted above, natural evolution is not completely random. There are external environmental factors at work...an organism adapts, evolves or dies. Seen any dinosaurs lately? That's where I don't get the intelligent-design people; the more you look at the various species, the more you come across some odd ducks that don't seem to have much intelligence behind their design: dodo birds, anjin-san. But I grow weary. Frankly, at this point I'm less interested in how the world began than in where it's headed.

I admire your passion, and you are right; there's nothing like seeing a hockey game in-person, especially playoff hockey. But that wasn't my point. You are talking aesthetics, which is not a measurable trait. One man's art is another man's garbage. TV ratings are measurable and the ratings for football, basketball, baseball and NASCAR are all higher than hockey. Franchise values are also measurable and Forbes list of the Top 50 Sports Franchises includes soccer, football, baseball, basketball and auto racing teams. But no hockey teams. Anyway, about this year's playoffs...it would've been nice, as a Californian, to have San Jose in the Cup finals. But Canada has suffered so long, I can't begrudge Vancouver making it instead. Oh, and in the east, it's a no-brainer: Boston. It just feels weird cheering for Tampa Bay in hockey...or anything. Tampa Bay is one of the most unpleasant cities I've visited.

I realize OKC is a young team...but still, up 15 with less than 5 to go? That's a choke job. Westbrook still needs to learn how to be a point guard. And why is Durant settling for jacking up 30-footers. Meltdown city. With tonights win by Miami, it looks like the NBA Finals wil be a rematch of 2006: Dallas vs. Miami Only this time I hope the result is different. GO DALLAS! GO DIRK!

You two are like Chip 'n' Dale on crack. Where in hell do you get the idea Jimmy is 4'9"? Are you two completely blind, as well as oblivious? Hell, there's already been several pages of posts that pretty much establish his height as 5'11". Read it. Learn it. Live it.

I see you have the Wolfgang's Vault app, too...as that is the exact wording of their Bob Dylan birthday note. Happy 70th, indeed, Mr. Zimmerman! A birthday toast! Listening to Dylan and the Band, Boston Garden, 1974, that the Vault has up.

I'd love to be able to say I lost my virginity to a Led Zeppelin song...or any other cool music, be it Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, or Johnny Hartman. But, as I had snuck into the girl's room in the middle of the nigh, it was in total silence that our love was consummated. But that's a long story.

You see, there ARE good things that can come from internet message boards. Just when you think you've had enough of trolls, a moment like this happens. Brad, I had never in my previous viewings of the film conceived the idea that it was Ron, the Pacific Stereo jerk, that impregnated Stacy, not Mike Damone. You've given us all something to consider. I'm not ready to say it was definitely Ron just yet. I'll have to rewatch the film...I think there may be timing issues with your thesis. And even if it does turn out to be Ron, it doesn't TOTALLY absolve Damone. He still left her in the lurch at her hour of need, too chicken-shit cowardly to even face her. Ok, so he couldn't come up with his share of the money...but at least man up, and drive her there and stay with her so she isn't alone. And OH MY GOD!!! Hamilton, I know EXACTLY that spot off Mulholland Dr. you're talking about! Made out there a few times, myself. Small world.

Enough talk about song licensing and ice cream...it's making me hungry. Back on topic. Regarding your poll, BH, my favourite character on seeing the movie was Jeff Spicoli, and he remained so for most of my life. But now, I find myself liking Mr. Hand the most...Ray Walston is dead-on in the role. By underplaying him perfectly, he is hysterically funny in a way a Rodney Dangerfield-type wouldn't have been. Aloha, Mr. Hand.

I know his name and title. I was just being a smart-aleck because I hear so many people refer to Prince Philip as "what's his name" when discussing Queen Elizabeth. The second most asked question regarding the Queen's hubby is why is he a prince and not a king? The short answer being that marriage confers no royal rank or privileges upon the male. But it does a woman. Hence, a man marrying a Queen can't be King, but a woman marrying a King can be Queen.

Man, lots of newbies arriving lately. Reminds me of late-2007. Anyway, welcome to the board. We can always use new blood around here to help skew the age curve downward. Lovely name, by the way. Hope you enjoy your time here. For some reason, that photo does look photoshopped.

You called? Welcome aboard the board...welcome to infinate hours of lunacy!

Another of my favourite scenes is when the kids come and ask Damone if he has Blue Oyster Cult tickets, and Damone says "No I don't have any Blue Oyster Cult tickets...where were you 3 months ago? I was THIS close to working at 7-11."

Wow, I had no idea Swensen's was still around. Although, if they are still in LA, they're doing a good job of hiding. All the old Swensen's I remember in Santa Monica, Westwood and Hollywood are all gone. Haagen Dazs and Penguins wiped them out. Even when I'm in San Francisco I don't notice any Swensen's. Can't really recall how good they were and where they stand in relation to Haagen Dazs, Baskin-Robbins, Coldstone Creamery, Fosselman's, etc.

^^^ As any screenwriter can tell you, what's on the page and what makes it onto the screen aren't always the same. Swensons, Carl's Jr., All-American Burger...those are all Southern California specific locations. Who knows why they didn't use Swenson's or Carl's, Jr in the film. More location trivia...all the All-American Burgers are gone now. The last one left, on Sunset blvd. near where Hugh Grant got caught with that hooker, finally closed last year. Carls Jr. is still going strong, but Swensons bit the dust long ago in the 90's. Oh, and Ridgemont is a fictional place, but they used the Sherman Oaks Galleria for the interior scenes at the mall. Alas, the Sherman Oaks Galleria, while technically still there, is much different from what it used to be.

Teen-age angst may be universal, but the way it's expressed frequently depends on cultural mores. One reason Quadrophenia isn't hard for an American to understand is that the Mods were a clique that had interests an American could relate to: R & B, scooters, girls and drugs. But lots of American teen flicks of the 70's just didn't travel well across the pond...American Graffiti, Van Nuys Blvd., Hollywood Knights...and the primary reason is the lack of a "cruising" scene. When I was in Europe, the teen-age friends I had didn't see getting a driver's license as a big deal, whereas in America, every kid can't wait til they're 16 and can be FREE! For that is what the car signifies in American culture: freedom. The ability to just pick up and go...go anywhere. Away from your parents. Away from school. Away from work. Away from your worries. That's why so many European cars were ugly, tiny, boxy, utilitarian things, while American cars grew ever fanciful. Cars were often the repositories of our dreams and aspirations. Whereas just about every town in the US had a local car scene, the whole hot-rodding thing didn't exist in Europe. Oh sure, Europeans love their racing, F1, motorcycles, etc., but the idea of going down to the junkyard or used car lot, and buying an old 55 Chevy or 32 Ford or 66 Mustang, and building her up, piece by piece, into a road-chewing beast, is an idea foreign to most non-American cultures. Notice I said most...I'm well aware of the Japanese car scene, and I even met a cat in Heidelberg, who was obsessed with Detroit muscle, and had bought several already and had them shipped overseas. But the American high school rituals of Friday night football games and cruising the strip afterwards and on Saturdays don't exist in most places. That said, and as much as I love "Fast Times...", a couple of things still stick in my craw when I watch the movie. The Point. I realize the San Fernando Valley is not a hotbed of cultural sophistication, but are you telling me The Point was the best place those kids could find to make-out? Hell, I went to high school in Riverside, which was a hick town in the 70's. But even there, we had Make-out Mountain, where you could park and neck with the glittering lights of the Inland Empire below. Or there was the Grove, which was this secluded creek area near an orange grove, where lots of impromptu keggers happened. But to take a girl to some dirty old baseball dugout to score? No matter how much of a sexist, horny wolf I might have been when I was younger, I would NEVER subject a girl to that, virgin or otherwise. What makes it WORSE, the Pacific Stereo dude takes Stacy there! Dude, you got a job and your own place, theoretically...but even if you don't, spring for a motel fer chrissakes. I mean, she gave you her cherry and all you gave her was splinters in her back. Gauche, man...totally gauche.

Hey, at least she took a nip. Did you see that clip of the Queen and what's-his-name during their trip to Ireland last week? They both stared at the pint as if it was an alien. They looked ridiculous. If being a royal means you can't have a bit of Guinness in public, then you can have the job. One-half Irish, myself.

President Obama is visiting Ireland this week, beginning today. I was hoping that some of the Irish board members here could provide some firsthand reports. From what I've seen so far, it looks like the Irish love him. I just hope he doesn't wimp out like the Royals did and not drink the Guinness. Drink it, Barry! P.S. This thread is about Obama's trip to Ireland. You want to bash the President, take it somewhere else!

Silver Rider, the opening scene with Stacy takes place at Perry's Pizza, not an ice cream parlor. And Steve, wasn't it Rock and Roll used in the Cadillac ad, not Black Dog? Ok, enough with the nitpicking... If there's any movie I've seen almost as much as The Song Remains the Same(93 times in the theatre alone), it's Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I spent the 70's reading Cameron Crowe's pieces in Rolling Stone and the L.A. Times. I remember reading Fast Times in Rolling Stone, and even have a 1st edition of the book. But I don't think anyone was expecting the impact the movie had...Cameron Crowe(screenplay) and Amy Heckerling(director) were non-entities in Hollywood and the cast was full of young unknowns. The most recognizable faces in the cast were Ray Walston, Nancy Wilson, and Vincent Schiavelli. Of course, the movie's release soon changed that, as almost all the cast members went on to have careers in film, the most prominent being Sean Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh. And Phoebe Cates...oh Phoebe Cates. I don't think there's a man between 40-50 years old that doesn't remember the first time he saw that epic, ICONIC scene at the pool that Steve has kindly posted above. Of course, seeing it on youtube or video is one thing...but Phoebe Cates on a 60-foot screen is the stuff of legends. So many memories tied to this movie...and so many quotable lines. And it's an "American" movie, meaning you really have to be American to get the cultural subtext. I know this because I saw this movie twice with European crowds, one German and the other French, and there weren't as many laughs as you would get with an American audience. Some of the cultural references went over their heads, and that whole world of "high school and malls" was alien to them. But it remains an American comedy classic, and one I hope succeeding generations discover as well. "People on LUDES should not drive." ~ Jeff Spicoli "I hope you had a HELLUVA piss, Arnold!" ~ Brad Hamilton