Aye for Westerns
Romantic comedies?
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Aye for Westerns
Romantic comedies?
No, I'm afraid not. Greek or Roman poets?
I think only you, of the people on the games threads, have read the originals.
But I've enjoyed a number of translations of Sappho, and a small collection of Pindar and some other Hellenes was nice too. So aye, and don't laugh.
Hayao Miyazaki?
Oh I'm not laughing. I'm sure you've read Ovid, too.
Like I said, the only anime I've seen (he did anime, right?) is Inu Yasha, and that just for language practice with the dub.
If you were teaching about Sappho to Middle School students, would you mention that she was gay?
Absolutely. Princess Mononoke is still my favorite anime film (though I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle or anything after it yet). I remember Nausicaa being a terrific manga as well.
Lone Wolf & Cub? (Manga, films, TV series, any or all)
Why not = parents :(
But no frowns about Ovid. Like me with Genji, it is a beautiful sea that awaits.
I'm afraid I don't know anime at all, Calidore, so which do you suggest?
Another question, though not aye or nay. What anime would you recommend that I can find on youtube?
Also, what was the name of the guy who established the genre in the sixties--the guy who did Astro-boy and Kimba the White Lion and Gigantor? I saw all of those (and others like Speed Racer) when they first came out in America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dME8uvdM8o
A classic TV show. Dubbed unfortunately. But if you have no problem watching copyrighted material on youtube, why do you have a problem pirating the same material? ;) :D
I'm not finding any Miyazaki on youtube though.
NPR but I don't like either much.
Scrabble?
E: Haven't played scrabble. Would like to, though.
I haven't read the classics yet either, partly because I don't know whether to read them in English or Finnish, as I don't think I'll ever learn Latin or Greek well enough to read the originals.
Also haven't watched anime, I tried a My Neighbor Totoro some time ago, but it was too, well, anime for me then. I recall liking Spirited Away when I saw it some years ago.
And I'd certainly not avoid mentioning that Sappho was a Lesbian.
Poker?
Thanks. :)
I only have a problem with downloading it, and it is based on the well established "Other Woman Principle": looking is not the same as taking. ;-)
Good answer!
Nay. Like chess, I've never played. I've never been all that into board games.
I should probably ask this one when Clopin is around, but: allowing college students to carry concealed handguns on campuses?
Nay. The likelihood of the weapons being used to defend the students & staff from an outside threat compared to the likelihood of random shootings is minimal. I'd certainly never teach somewhere where I might get a bullet for not giving top marks for each student.
E: Modigliani?
Yeah, plus--I don't know what kind of judgment freshman have in Finland, but over here...
Still, I'd like to hear if Clopin has a civil liberties take on it.
Aye. Love his nudes and their facial expressions.
Should tax money go to art projects?
No. I don't think money should go to art at all, really.
Argue with me! Prove me wrong! Please! Because I love art but I feel guilty because it's like, useless and it doesn't seem to add value to most people's lives.
Does having professional therapists around contribute to society's well-being?
^^Freshmen over here have much better judgement than in the US, for the age difference alone. Not nearly good enough to trust everyone with gun, though.
Art doesn't seem to add value to most people's lives? Did an architect design any buildings nearby? People with memory loss react to music they've heard ages ago, and beautiful pictures on hospital walls make the patients recover faster. The fact that most don't seek out art in their daily lives doesn't mean it's useless or doesn't add value to their lives. If it wasn't for Ansel Adams, would there be any nature left in the United States?
Of course professional therapists help, by treating those who genuinely need therapy to function at all, and by the discoveries made in researching their minds they help normal people.
Henri Rousseau?
I guess...
Aye.
Sam Cooke?
I agree with North Star on both guns on campuses and art. As to the guns issue, having an armed citizenry in public places is dangerous and terrifying enough; having an armed student body ready to shoot at every frat party fracas or emotionally charged breakup is insanity. And if anyone thinks having a classroom full of people shooting at a shooter is a justification for each insanity, they should re-examine realities of ballistics and the average shooting abilities of a college undergrad.
As to art, North Star covered a lot of the examples of its necessary place in our lives, so I won't give any more examples. We are, though, inherently artistic beings who--since our advent--have needed to express ourselves artistically in one or more of a plethora of mediums, and we are also inherent art appreciators with an appetite for art's beauty and sublime as legitimate as our appetite for food and water, if not as dire. And governments, for it and its citizens sake, should fund the Arts for the same reason it funds libraries and schools: to make our nation a happier, better-informed one.
Yes to Rousseau; I'm not a huge fan, but I'd take him over any Impressionist.
Mark Tobey?
Nah, nudity's not a public menace.
Buying stuff on Black Friday?
No way. Those bastards can give me money. (I told you I was a bad consumer).
Tails (on a tux)?
No, but I've never worn them, they just seem awkward.
Harpsichord?
Sure, I love harpsichord music.
Organ music?
A little overwhelming at time, but sure.
French horn?
I don't like organ music. Too many childhood church services. But French horns are sublime.
Situation comedies (on TV)?
No? I never watch TV really, though.
Mountain climbing?
Miyazaki for anime films, they are literally all good. Spirited away is his best, but I would also recommend:
My Neighbour Totoro (Iconic movie, cuteness and whimsy mask what is actually a fairly dark premise)
Howl's Moving Castle (Not beloved by critics, but I love the animation and art style, the dub is great too, unfortunately it gets a little preachy)
Princess Mononoke (Beautiful film, overboard on the preach, but that's how Miyazaki is)
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Preach city, but watch the trailer, it's an interesting world with a lot of beautiful animation)
Okay and as for series available on YouTube I would recommend the following.
The Tatami Galaxy
The series has a fun artsy style and the premise is pretty unique. A freshman in college attempts to reinvent himself through clubs, social activities, working out, etc and ultimately fails each time. In every episode he spends his first two years of college chasing a "rose colored campus dream life" and when he fails the clock goes back and he starts over again with something else.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Giant aliens periodically invade Tokyo III while a secretive defense organization fends them off with... what else but giant cyborgs piloted (reluctantly) by fourteen year old kids. One of the most iconic and well known series ever, the plot is complicated beyond belief and the ending is so awful the director received a stream of death threats until he remade it with the film End of Evangelion. A story more about personal struggles with depression, social anxiety, sexual timidity and parental issues than with giant aliens or monsters, he also bankrupted his studio and the last five or so episodes are noticeably marred by poor animation quality and editing.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
This one might be your jam, a long space opera based on a series of short novels (never translated into English) and one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time. It's politically deep and mulls over a lot of questions about human society, nations, nationalism, how to govern a state, how a democracy should function and why democracy is important among others.
Two factions exist in space, The Galactic Empire, an autocratic state ruled by a Kasier, and the Goldenbaum dynasty which has existed for five hundred years, now on it's last, decadent legs. And The Free Planets Alliance, an offshoot of rebels who escaped the Empire and run a democratic society. These two are fighting a sort of hundred years war, on and off, with no end in sight.
There are two main characters, one from each side, on the FPA you have:
Yang Wenli
A history student who enrolled in the army to pay for school and ends up as the alliance's star admiral and commander of their most successful fleet. He staunchly believes in governing society through democratic rule and refuses every opportunity of power. Pompey you once said that sometimes a democratic society means working hard for change which you know you won't see in your lifetime, so I think you would like Yang, who embodies this principle; if he can't win his war by acting through legal channels as ordained by the constitution written by his country then he doesn't want to win it. A thirty something year old bachelor/slob, who drinks a lot of alcohol and tea, and whose greatest ambition is to come through the war in one piece so he can retire, the character is also funny and charming, and the voice acting is actually brilliant.
And the imperial main character is:
Reinhard Von Musel
An ambitious and talented young man (based very clearly on both Napolean and Alexander the Great) born into a family of destitute nobels. When he was young, his sister (who he has sort of a weird obsession with) was taken as a concubine for the Kaiser and he has sort of borne a grudge ever since. Other incidents in his youth (such as witnessing the rape of a common girl by a nobleman) caused him to further dislike the Goldenbaum dynasty and system of nobility itself. He was promoted on a combination of merit and the favour owed to his sister by the Kaiser and is so heavily unpopular with the old guard nobility that their battle plans often include using his fleet as canon fodder. A political maneuverer and genius admiral, Reinhard is somewhat less likable than Yang, he embodies the autocratic system of government in the series. Throughout the show he enacts a lot of very good changes, but he's still a tyrant, and some of his actions are less than savoury.
So basically you have an autocratic empire with a very strong leader versus a rather realistic democratic state. There are incidents in both societies which raise moral questions; when Reinhard is fighting a civil war with the high nobility he intercepts plans they have of nuking a small planet of farmers (population two million) and instead of stopping this attack he and his advisor decide to let it happen so that the common soldiers in the high noble army will lose their will to participate and abandon their leaders, and the war will be won without expending many millions of soldiers, or even taking a few more years. When Yang captures a key strategic point, the Alliance council of leaders vote against negotiating a favourable peace treaty and instead vote to send an enormous invasion fleet into imperial territory; because their polls show they won't win the next election without a major wartime victory very soon.
The score is also entirely classical music with lots of Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, if you're into that.
Planetes
Hard science series about a sort of tech company in the near future, the main characters are all astronauts who work in the lowest paid and least respected section of the company; debris collection. It's mostly a lighthearted show with a romance story, but there's some drama in later episodes when the main character tries out for the crew of the first manned expedition to Jupiter, and a terrorist organization (concerned with the welfare of the poorest on Earth) attempts to halt the mission.
Trailers...
Evangelion (note, do NOT watch the dub)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8w1bVAHZ60
The Tatami Galaxy
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GpctdMcHhUw
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (crappy, melodramatic, low quality, fan made trailer, still shows off more of the series than the real trailer)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPc2DBe9tk
Planetes (trailer makes it look more dramatic than it is. Under absolutely no circumstance are you permitted to watch the dub)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zosnCjiXKbU
End of Evangelion
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk72E4qgEng
Ghost in the Shell (film, not series, cyberpunk, transhumanism and discussion on what makes consciousness and experiences real, this movie heavily influenced every aspect of The Matrix, if you have seen that)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SvBVDibOrgs
And concealed handguns on college campuses? I think no, but it doesn't really matter, I don't think someone carrying would be more likely to go on a shooting spree than someone who just brings one from home one day. Accidents would be my concern.
Wow, Clopin. Wow. And you accuse ME of being a weeaboo? Let's have some intellectual integrity around here.
To cover my own tracks I accuse people of being things I already am.
No mountain climbing for me, although I'd enjoy the scenery.
E. E. Cummings?
Also I don't remember Evangelion being complicated beyond belief.
EDIT: Cummings is good but not a favorite.
Hiking in the early-morning mist?
Well it's pretty complicated, maybe you have really good comprehension or something.
Hiking in the morning mist is aye of course, mornings are seriously amazing and I wish I were awake for more of them.
movie theatre popcorn?
I think Frasier was funny when I watched it. Popcorn is nice with jalapeño, which they sometimes offer.
Professional academia?
Nay to professional academia, though I guess it has its place.
And no tax money to fund any art project or artist of any kind, ever. I don't even understand questions like that, how can the role of government be so confused? Why would anyone be forced to pay for another persons conception of art? That is so crazy.
Working in a restaurant kitchen?