I haven't changed anyone's mind in a debate, but I sure enjoy seeing people duke it out.
If you want me I'll be lurking the psychedelics thread.
Is preserving dying indigenous languages important?
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I haven't changed anyone's mind in a debate, but I sure enjoy seeing people duke it out.
If you want me I'll be lurking the psychedelics thread.
Is preserving dying indigenous languages important?
No, not really.
Is preserving the ethnicity of a geographical landmass (E.G Japan is populated by 95% ethnic Japanese, should it stay that way?) important?
I have no idea whether it's important, but what with globalization it's a lost cause anyways.
Do you go to your local library much?
No.They don't have a great deal of the stuff I read. I have quite a library of my own!
Don't you hate it when they advertise that a book will be available in Feb. and it still has not been released?
Yes that happens with a certain book series in the UK (an ebook novella is released in the states but not in the UK (even though Amazon lists it as being published), until 2 novellas later when a physical bind up of all 3 is released - then all 3 novellas get released. Its happened 4 times now). Its almost as bad as waiting for the last book in a trilogy when the author spends years getting it right (Kingkiller chronicles).Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendragon
On a slightly less serious note that some of the previous questions, do you have a favourite flavour of Jam?
Strawberry FTW.
What is the longest amount of time you've spent playing a game (of any kind)?
Oh gosh, finally we arrive on a favourite topic, and asked by Buckthorn, too. ;)
My favourites are all made by my mother, from the apples and sea-buckthorn from my childhood home, currants from my uncle's plot, and from cranberries and lingonberries (lingonberry/apple is a nice combination) picked in the forest. The apple jam is particularly nice when seasoned with cognac :) That and the cranberry jam are my favourites.
E: Longest amount of time playing a game? Many hours on some boardgames / cardgames with friends.
Who is your favourite writer older than Shakespeare?
Homer, if I really had to choose.
Is the Bruce Jenner story being over covered by the media?
I haven't heard a thing about it aside from one post a friend liked on Facebook. So no. Life is good underneath this rock!
Is reading the news and staying informed a moral responsibility?
No I don't think it is a moral responsibility.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Definitely not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lykren
The news is usually only partially accurate anyways. I just finished reading a book on the Columbine High School Massacre, and almost everything I thought I knew about that day turned out to be wrong. The two murderers weren't being relentlessly bullied, nor were they part of the Goth crowd, both had good grades and were socially active, the local police department had over 20 registered complaints against the two boys and a judge authorized search warrant which was never executed... so you see, staying informed requires not being lazy, and reading books written long after events have played out.
Best to remain blissfully ignorant.
If you were a journalist and could go back in time, which historical event would you want to cover?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
I am totally addicted to the Impractical Jokers tv show, those guys are hilarious!
same question, what is your guilty pleasure?
salty crunchy things like potato chips and corn chips and the prices at the local big lots are making the guilty pleasure even more difficult to resist!
same question...whats your guilty pleasure?
If I take pleasure in it, I don't feel guilty about it.
Do you wish you were more emotionally sensitive or less?
Less. I have emotional problems.
Do you find yourself compelled to avoid someone just because you don't want to go to jail?
I've never been there. I make it a habit to avoid people the moment they prove they aren't worthy of my attention.
Do you find that Karen Carpenter has been criminally ignored as a great singer just because most of her music was kitsch?
No. I avoid people 'cause I'm too busy reading.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendragon
Do you think more people exercise for their health or because it lifts their butts?
there's a t-shirt out that says "I run so I can look good naked"
hard to say for sure which reason is predominant without looking (there are studies on that very topic!) but im going to give the slight edge to the former. there are so many people for whom their behinds are not on their minds (no punning there)...smiles...but who still want to be, and can be otherwise healthy.
there are a handful of really popular books/movies lately where the major characters are essentially still kids---harry potter, twilight, hunger games, insurgent, enders game, and they find themselves in very adult situations. has literature/cinema always been this way, or is this a relatively recent trend? and if the latter, what do you make of it?
I'm not a film historian in any way, but I believe most "kiddie" films and teen films were always of lesser quality made with a belief the youth audience was both unsophisticated and too small of a ticket-buying contingent to merit high-budget, high-quality fare. They were probably wrong on the first account, but right on the second, as most kids and teens very often did depend on direct supply of money from Mom and Dad to be able to purchase tickets. Another factor is the YA fiction market wasn't nearly as big or of high quality as it has been in the last 25 years.
What has changed this is three things.
1. The quality of YA fiction from The Harry Potter books to Fault in our Stars to Colin Fischer has greatly improved in the last 25 years. Publishers are starting to realize what young people have known since the advent of the Neanderthals: kids aren't stupid and are, in many ways, smarter than the grown-ups.
2. Teens of all economic classes are working more now for spending money and economic independence, as much as they are for college and other necessities
3. Most YA fiction and films are savvily made and marketed to also appeal to grown-ups as well, so the market has greatly expanded. I saw The Maze Runner with my son and thought it was a very good science fiction film, as well as a teen struggle analogy.
It's a marketing trend, partially driven by the fact that children and teenagers love fantasy, but also because they go to a lot of movies, so fiction can be floated to them as potential franchises.Quote:
Originally Posted by bounty
What sports accomplishment do you take the greatest pride in?
I once climbed the North Face of Mt. Edith Cavell. http://www.summitpost.org/north-face-main-summit/649044 I was more accomplished in other sports -- but they aren't as cool to brag about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pompey Bum
What intellectual accomplishment do you take the greatest pride in?
Perceiving the folly of pride? ;-)
What book are you the most embarrassed about having read?
Nancy Mitford - Love in a cold climate. I was asked to read it by a girl - these things happen.
same question.
I'm not embarrassed by having read any book I don't think.
Considering the custom of culturally mandated tipping why is the tip set to a percentage of the cost of the bill? If I order a $200 bottle of champagne does it somehow cause the wait staff significantly more strain to deliver it to my table than their cheapest, $20, bottle? Because in both cases the exact same action of carrying a bottle of wine to a table has been performed, yet the tip should be ten times the size?
good point Clopin! The same argument could be put forth for an expensive dish, say...truffle. What if you ordered truffle and i ordered a fish salad. Your dish costs many times more. I suppose we conform to this custom.
Would you stop speaking to a parent or sibling (shunning) for long periods of time in order to inflict pain, make a point, or out of pure revenge? (I will snap my fingers and say, "damn, now that's honest" if someone says 'yes' to this question).
Global warming.
Oh sorry, tony, that was for Clopin. Yes, I'd do that, and have done it with a friend of about 35 years, but not to cause pain. It was just necessary and I didn't flinch from doing it.
Would you ever join the military (assuming there was no draft?)
Ugh I have no idea about whether man made climate change is real, I do however know that a few billion people in China and India as well as the rest of the developing world are going to want cars and homes and refrigerators and other luxuries we enjoy in the West, which contribute massively to pollutions, etc, and there's no way to stop that.
Yes I would join the military, but not in today's world.
Would you ever want a very exotic pet, like a lynx or a small deer?
I want a fennec fox all the time! Pandas would also be great. But I shouldn't have one.
What do you want for your next birthday?
Woah fennec foxes are cute!
I don't really celebrate my birthday, my parents will probably just get me some books.
Antique furniture or new?
Anything minimalist, so probably new.
Should an artist's education emphasize standardized practices or a 'do what you feel like' approach, if you had to choose?
Do what you feel. Then it isn't forced by any preconceived standards.
In art is realism or abstract more your style
Definitiely abstract and/or abstract realism. It is very difficult for realist art to actually be art. In painting or sculpture, realistic art usually just connotes a high level of craft without much, if any, artistic vision. In literature, it is often the same. Realist literature rarely involves artistic use of language, artistic use of narrative, or philosophical profundity. Of course, many--including me--would argue that abstract Modernist/Postmodernist art is a more accurate presentation of reality than "realism."Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendragon
How inferior to your taste could your significant other's artistic tastes be before you could no longer be with him or her?
I like both. That means twice the pleasure, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendragon
What is the largest animal you have seen in the wild?
Definitiely abstract and/or abstract realism. It is very difficult for realist art to actually be art. In painting or sculpture, realistic art usually just connotes a high level of craft without much, if any, artistic vision. In literature, it is often the same. Realist literature rarely involves artistic use of language, artistic use of narrative, or philosophical profundity. Of course, many--including me--would argue that abstract Modernist/Postmodernist art is a more accurate presentation of reality than "realism."
How inferior to your taste could your significant other's artistic tastes be before you could no longer be with him or her?
I've seen a blue whale and also some kind of huge ray when someone caught one while fishing off the wharf.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pompey Bum
Did you doodle when you were bored in school?
Definitiely abstract and/or abstract realism. It is very difficult for realist art to actually be art. In painting or sculpture, realistic art usually just connotes a high level of craft without much, if any, artistic vision. In literature, it is often the same. Realist literature rarely involves artistic use of language, artistic use of narrative, or philosophical profundity. Of course, many--including me--would argue that abstract Modernist/Postmodernist art is a more accurate presentation of reality than "realism."
How inferior to your taste could your significant other's artistic tastes be before you could no longer be with him or her?
That's awesome, Lykren. I've mostly seen humpbacks--what amazing lifeforms!
No because, um, I never got bored in school. :blush5:
Would you rather live in an ant farm or a bee hive?
That is more awesome.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pompey Bum
Ant farm? Both seem terrifying though.
What animal are you most afraid of?
Second from the bottom. Highly toxic, strike at anything, and like to hand around Taipei gutters. Really bad news.
http://www.formosanfattire.com/featu...ous_snakes.htm
Same question.
Wow, even the Latin name is scary.
I'm not aware of any animals I need to be scared of, but I'll go with Black Widow Spiders.
Would you keep a snake as a pet?