Game: Ask the Person Below You

[Iain Sparrow]

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?

Definitely not.
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?

[Iain Sparrow]

No I don't think it is a moral responsibility.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I am totally addicted to the Impractical Jokers tv show, those guys are hilarious!

same question, what is your guilty pleasure?

[bounty]

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?

[Pompey Bum]

If I take pleasure in it, I don't feel guilty about it.

Do you wish you were more emotionally sensitive or less?

[Pendragon]

Less. I have emotional problems.

Do you find yourself compelled to avoid someone just because you don't want to go to jail?

[Pike Bishop]

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?

[Pompey Bum]

Do you find yourself compelled to avoid someone just because you don't want to go to jail?

No. I avoid people 'cause I'm too busy reading.

Do you think more people exercise for their health or because it lifts their butts?

[bounty]

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?

[Pike Bishop]

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.

[Pompey Bum]

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?

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.

What sports accomplishment do you take the greatest pride in?

[Ecurb]

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.

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.

What intellectual accomplishment do you take the greatest pride in?

[Pompey Bum]

Perceiving the folly of pride? ;-)

What book are you the most embarrassed about having read?

[tonywalt]

Nancy Mitford - Love in a cold climate. I was asked to read it by a girl - these things happen.

same question.

[Clopin]

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?

[tonywalt]

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).