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Ask 'Junkyard Wars Diva' Cathy Rogers
Posted by
Roblimo
on Mon Oct 21, 2002 11:00 AM
from the where-welding-skills-trump-coding-prowess-every-time dept.
from the where-welding-skills-trump-coding-prowess-every-time dept.
Junkyard Wars (and the British Scrapheap Challenge) have long been popular with Slashdot readers. Now Cathy is co-host of a new show, Full Metal Challenge, that also involves teams building strange machines out of this and that. Take a look at this 'Cathy' fan site (and possibly her less interesting official biography), then ask away. (Usual Slashdot interview rules.)
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Time... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Time... (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Time... (Score:4, Interesting)
Was there ever a time when a team had ABSOLUTELY nothing worth sending into competition?
Yeah, every British built contrivance in the US vs. UK competitions.
I have very fond memories of the VW bug with a rake mine clearing device going up against the giant American diesel powered beach beater bar. The distctively USian machine was so destructive to the course that it was entirely obscured by sand while in operation, and utterly destroyed the mines rather than detonating them - which led to glowing and egregious anti-American Brit praise of the bug's rake having popped two mines during its run - until the fragments were counted. hehe.
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Re:Time... (Score:5, Funny)
It seemsed to me that the teams would submit an idea prior to being cast. Once a team was selected, they already knew what they were going to build, and the basics were then planted around the junkyard.
I'm just waiting for the team that submits an idea involving a Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan. Yep, that's over there next to the '82 Fiat.
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Motivations for new series (Score:5, Interesting)
Which team is you favorite? (Score:5, Interesting)
What was the degree in? (Score:5, Interesting)
Side questions: what did you play in the band and what sort of music did the band play?
Sounds from the indie records ... (Score:4, Interesting)
-/-
Mikey-San
Vision for these shows (Score:5, Interesting)
Why Rollins? Why!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Your popularity (Score:4, Interesting)
When you got off of the show we both lost interest. Yes, it was fun watching people build big machines, but much of the dynamic that we enjoyed was gone. It was then we realized just how important you were to the show and that dynamic that we enjoyed so much.
Are you getting any feed back about going back to JYW? Would you if they asked?
Roll of expert (Score:5, Interesting)
What's with the name change? (Score:4, Interesting)
Internationality (Score:5, Interesting)
rOD.
Your various co-hosts (Score:5, Interesting)
massive disruption to geeks everywhere.... (Score:4, Funny)
If not, are you tempted now?
hmm... (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh, and congrats on being one of TV's foxiest ladies.
Rollins (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Rollins (Score:5, Funny)
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Why do you think Engineering is so male dominated? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why do you think so few women are interested in technology?
On Science and Music (Score:5, Interesting)
Off screen testing? (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, the episode where participants had to build a diving bell, descend to the bottom of a small pond, and retrieve a chest of gold.
I don't believe that this was not tested off camera, if for no other reason solely to insure you didn't inadvertantly end up making a snuff episode.
Same thing goes for pretty much any device where explosives were used, or even the airplanes.
Re:Off screen testing? (Score:5, Funny)
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Mutliple hosts (Score:5, Interesting)
Rejected challenges (Score:5, Interesting)
What are some of the challenges that were rejected for the show, and why (too dangerous, too easy, too hard to do in 10 hours, etc)?
BTW, love the show, and glad to see you back on US TV with FMC....
Going with the current polling question... (Score:5, Funny)
Not A Question but... (Score:5, Funny)
"Smart Women on TV" and Short Locks (Score:5, Interesting)
Extra credit: Do you prefer mousse or gel?
Funniest Moment (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks,
-stu.
I don't know who you are (Score:4, Interesting)
doesn't the the guy who made that fan site scare you? What about the people on this site? Do you really think Henry Rollins can protected you from a horde of obsessive, sex-starved American nerds?
Changes to the show format? (Score:5, Interesting)
Cathy,
Junkyard Wars is the only show I watch on TV - my girlfriend tapes it each week, and we watch it together later. Over the years, we've noticed some unfortunate trends in the format of the show.
In the earlier Scrapheap Challenge episodes, two teams competed against each other for the entire season, and we got to know and love them. Each episode dealt with a basic scientific or mechanical process (hydraulics, bridge building, etc), and a good bit of the airtime actually focused on the science involved.
In later seasons, and especially this season, the teams almost always have a gimmick - usually a flamboyant leader who dyes his hair or gets in fights with the other team. The challenges are almost always car-oriented, and most of the airtime deals with cutting down the cars to make them lighter. There's very little explanation of the science behind the challenge, and the difference between the two vehicles is usually just "light and fast vs. big and heavy". Several of the shows this year have devolved into "bumper cars" matches as both teams realize their design works better as a battering ram than as their original plan intended.
We find ourselves getting less excited about the shows, and suspect others have lost interest as well. So, my question for you is: How do you feel about the way Scrapheap Challenge and Junkyard Wars have evolved over the years? If you had complete control over the way the show is run today, what would you change?
Thanks for entertaining and educating us over the years, and best of luck with Full Metal Challenge!
Buckaroo Banzai (Score:5, Funny)
First, you ROCK! . Thanks for creating the only worthwhile TV in a long time.
After watching a Junkyard Wars marathon last year, I realized that you're a female version of Buckaroo Banzai. [banzai-institute.com] You both play in a rock band, you both have PhD's, you both appear on TV, and you both have a fascination with science. About the only difference is that he's a surgeon and you're a nurse.
Did you purposely set out to become a real-life comic book hero, or was it just fate?
how do you do it? (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of people don't realize that not only do you work on all of these shows, you help conceive the initial ideas behind them. How do you do it? Did you just one day have an idea and present it to a network, or did you work from the inside to have your concepts realized? What in your past got you interested in the whole build things from junkyard parts concept?
Semi-serious question (Score:5, Insightful)
American vs. British contestants (Score:5, Interesting)
As a musician, what do you think of .... (Score:5, Interesting)
As a musician, what do you think of the music industry these days, specifically about the slave-labor-like recording contracts, industry ownership of copyrights, Peer-to-peer song sharing (MP3s), and the current fruitless atempts to copy-protect CDs?
Is there anything that you can do in your current position to help change any of that to the betterment of recording artists and consumers everywhere?
Ok, it was two questions. So sue me! ;-)
Your outfits... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm really really surprised that noone has asked about this yet, and I really want to know; what's the motivation?
--theLime
(here comes the inappropriate
British v. American teams and behaviour (Score:5, Interesting)
Once the American episodes began to be produced, the teams really seemed terribly obnoxious and offputting. The "Young Guns" teams is of particular note in this regard. In fact, the team behaviors began to become so bad that my freinds and I simply stopped watching.
Was there any pressure from the American side to introduce more conflict into the show, or was the change simply the nature of the American teams?
Experts assigned to the teams (Score:5, Interesting)
Rollins rules (Score:5, Interesting)
Real Junkyard? (Score:4, Interesting)
On a related note, my girlfriend (yes, she love the show) is curious about one thing: It seems that on every show both teams attack the same problem with very different designs. Is it casual, or do you somehow make sure that they won't try to build exactly the same thing?
Because (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Because (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Are you interested at all.. (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Why choose a jock to host a show for 'nerds'? (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because he lifts weights, doesn't mean he's dumb?
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Re:Why choose a jock to host a show for 'nerds'? (Score:4, Informative)
I find it interesting that you place Battlebots in the same tradition as Junkyard Wars. I fail to see what they have in common. JYW is an entertaining show with a lot to teach about engineering and science concepts. Battlebots is just an update of the demolition derby. They are NOT in the same league.
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Kryten speaks (Score:4, Funny)
What if the team isn't able to find, or the show didn't provide the necessary parts?
The show always provide everything that could be needed, but you're right, they have to find them and sometimes they don't. I have actually, on camera, been talking to a team member while I have been kicking a working engine and coughing and pointing to it, and still the guy ignored it and found a much worse one.
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Re:Are critical parts "planted"? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ever noticed how they also always take two different approaches to solve the same problem? I would argue that a more interesting question is
"Do the teams get to pick which of the two solutions they implement or is it assigned by the producer"
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Re:Henry Rollins (Score:5, Informative)
I KNOW Henry Rollins. It is obvious that you are an idiot troll and are also totally clueless about Rollins and his work. Rollins is NOT a, quote: "muscleheaded retard". In fact, he is one of the most intelligent and sensitive individuals I have ever met.
Is a person who not only is physically but mentally fit, in spite of being 40, an impossibility? Were you dropped on your head a few too many times by jocks in High School?
Why don't you sit down and actually WATCH some footage of Rollins doing his spoken-word stuff? Someone dubbed him a "Stand-up Poet" and that's actually pretty close to the mark. He's FUNNY. He's clever. He's sensitive, amazingly enough.
I also know I'm being trolled, that I've lost, and I should have a nice day. But man, when someone who is of your acquaintance who you know to NOT be a "muscleheaded retard", you have to respond. Rollins is a national treasure. I'm glad he's successful. You, sir, are obviously jealous of his status.
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Re:Henry Rollins (Score:5, Funny)
1. Had you written "black" or "Jewish" instead of "40+" in your post, you would have been mod'd down somewhere approximate to Dante's 8th Ring. Of course, since you're obviously young and hip, you probably don't think of yourself as prejudiced as some tobacco-chawin' no-neck Cracker. Here's a Newsflash, Moby -- You are.
2. Even without his celebrity, his published poetry, and his status as a Famous Rock Star, Henry Rollins would still be getting way more girls than you, 'cause he's good-looking and erudite. It's a TV Show, Milton, not a University intranet feed. Viewers like good-looking and erudite. The producers can hire the Long brothers or Stephen Hawking to write the damn thing if they're afraid of losing the SlashDot crowd.
3. And finally.... [eek!] Hey, errm, Seth, I just clicked on your webpage. Forget I said anything, kid. You've obviously got a lot on your mind, saving the world and all. Never mind! (Just don't set me on fire, 'kay? Please?)
[walks out of forum, slowly, backwards, hands where all can see them, smiling sweetly...]
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