Never had one that came close to being accurate, just random saying that could in a broad sense apply to anyone
Do you check your horoscope each day?
Never had one that came close to being accurate, just random saying that could in a broad sense apply to anyone
Do you check your horoscope each day?
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
No.
Do you get irritated by casual imprecisions in language?
Yes, to varying degrees, and not as much as by causal imprecisions.
Same question.
Bit by bit I am losing my patience.
Do you feel emotionally affected by disasters like the Kathmandu earthquake, assuming you don't know anyone who was nearby and were not there yourself?
Can't say that I do that much. They are often things that can't be helped, and it's better to direct our energies to preventing man-made tragedies, or curing diseases.
What are you most looking forward to from this week?
On Sunday we're having a barbecue for employees at the bookstore I work at, since we're closing. I'm also having coffee with two friends tomorrow, that will be nice.
Same question.
Yes, much more now than when I was younger.Originally Posted by Lykren
I'm looking forward to reading more Plutarch. I'm really having fun with him.
Will private drones be used for murder or terrorism in the next five years?
now that is a tom Clancy or Jeffery deaver book waiting to be written; I say yes.
does hot air ballooning sound like a good time? would you go?
It looks amazing I would love to!
Do you like bright light and heat, or cool temperatures with dimmer lights.
Also Pomp did you ever see the anime I recommended you in the aye/nay thread?
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
I know you didn't give this option, but warm temperatures and dim lights. Summer nights in a big city are awesome.
Count me in for ballooning, too. One thing I've never done.
No, I didn't Clopin. Repost the thread if you like, or I can go fish it out myself. I loved the cartoon about Herodotus and Thucydides, by the way.
Would you rather travel to a prosperous but relatively tame place (like London) or a more adventurous place, but with shocking poverty (like Cairo)?
You should skim through the Hark a Vagrant archives if you liked the cartoon, Kate Beaton is a history graduate who just does cartoons about (mostly) historical figures.
And okay I will repost it here.
Oh, and adventurous, but I do plan to get to Europe eventually.
Would you rather own a yaht or a lot of horses, a stable and country to ride in?
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Miyazaki for anime films, they are literally all good. Spirited away is his best, but I would also recommend:
My Neighbour Totoro (His most famous 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 influential 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 authorized 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.
Last edited by Clopin; 04-27-2015 at 09:28 AM.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Thank you so much, Clopin. I really appreciate the effort.
Given that choice, I'll take the equestrian life. I think I would have been a good 18th century country squire--maybe like the crazy one in Tom Jones (which I can't believe Lykren didn't like, by the way).
Should a fraternity have its charter revoked (or however they do it) because its members shouted insults at parading combat veterans?
Without having any idea how fraternities or their charters work, or who is in charge of revoking them, I really can't say, but I lean towards not... I mean, big deal, insults; I'm sure combat veterans can handle it.
Should people serve jail time for non violent drug offenses?
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Haha also this one is sort of funny and silly.
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=375
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
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