the thing is it's so easy
i don't know what the law says, but there should be checks like this annually and shop closure if privacy violated

but they marked the one place as bad that checked that the memory was working
that's something that they SHOULD be doing
i would have probably looked around if there was a game or some other heavy application that i could use to test it - or use a custom tester app - but still, a valid excuse if nothing else
though, i would have probably noticed the recording app - a process running in the background, eating all cpu

I never play Duke Nukem, but did anyone really think Duke Nukem Forever was going to be any good? Especially after watching the "gameplay" footage that came out after the closure of 3D Realms.

BsG had a slim chance of a satisfactory closure, Lost has even less or none.

But they both had fantastic runs. Better than probably most series.

I think I've never bonded to tv characters as I did in the first couple of BsG series. I felt like I was a cat lady watching a soap.

I wanted more.. I have to admit, I don't remember all the details from the whole series. And lots of the time I watched, I was very tired and a bit drunk, so I might have forgotten a lot.

Though wyhen I heard that there was going to be a Galactica remake, and Starbuck would be famela, I was not happy. I had a majot crush on Starbuck when I watched the original series, and a female Starbuck, wtf??

But I nreally grew fond of Kara! I love Aeryn Sun in Farscape, and Kara was like her.. kick-ass hero, who was soft inside. I really would have wanted to know more about her.

I really did not care much about Baltar.. He was way to weird and cryptic and crazy the whole series long. This Adama was way more human.,, and in the end, I wish he could have lived happily ever after with Roslin..

Oh, and what is the life span of a cylon like Tigh? Obviosly he eventually dies without resurrection. And what about Heras?

And what do Cylon Centurions do for fun anyway? Cruise the galaxy and.. ?

Like I said, I probably have forgotten more than I remember right now. I just wanted to know aboiot Starbuck!

I hope 'Lost' gets some better closure and explanation.

I think you are scared of spiders. I think your demise is near. You, like humans, see your own death and fear it. I think you need to let go of that attachment. You cannot escape the closure of the universe, so what are you really afraid of?

In reply to this comment by siftbot:
20 Questions: What am I thinking of?

In case you needed closure here's a little more of the clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1XOfHax6Q8

Now dft, you're being unfair towards BSG, up to the point of being hypocritical. If one values the show for its merits in terms of allegory, the ethical and moral conflicts and noir like you say you do (extrapolating from your examples), one could be expecting a fitting finale in terms of closure and retained style, not in terms of traditional (and utterly unoriginal) "awesome-go-out-with-a-bang" type of storytelling (which will, of course be served, come on, this is television, the industry of entertainment we're talking about).

I haven't seen the 19th episode yet, but the very idea of Galactica 'dying' - doesn't it have enough finality and noir to it for you? And what are the loose ends that are left? I for one feel like they're addressing these too excessively. They're obviously tying the Hera/Shape of things to come/Opera motif up, as well as the Roslin/Dying leader prophecy by entwining her fate with that of the old girl. No, leaving storylines up in the air isn't something they'll do.

And I'm quite sure they won't do a Sopranos ending, that's just cheating when one can't write themselves out of a corner, which the Galactica writers have already shown they're capable of doing just fine.

As for Daniel - I agree with timtoner that him being Kara's father makes more sense in the universe's mythology, but I'm also assuming they wouldn't introduce such a major character on-screen this late in the series when they're perfectly capable of finding other, if less-rational explanations for Kara's destiny. Again, I might be wrong, not having seen the 19th episode yet.

I like his comments on game sequels. As much as I LOVED Freespace 2, the lack of an ending really, REALLY sucked. Was Volition really THAT confident they'd be able to make Freespace 3? Even Decent: Freespace offered more closure, probably because they weren't sure they'd get a sequel.

Thanks Radge,
That was very informative and gives an excellent description as to what is happening in this video.

In reply to this comment by radge:
See this report too:


http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/shooting-at-farmers-what-gives-israel-the-right/



I was fairly certain that one of us would be shot today.

This morning, farmers from Abassan Jadiida (New Abassan), to the east of Khan Younis , the southern region, returned to land they’d been forced off of during and following the war on Gaza. The continual shooting at them by Israeli soldiers while they work the land intensified post-war on Gaza. The Israeli soldiers’ shooting was not a new thing, but a resumption of the policy of harassment that Palestinians in the border areas have been enduring for years, a harassment extending to invasions in which agricultural land, chicken farms, and the houses in the region have been targeted, destroyed in many cases.

Today’s Abassan farmers wanted to harvest their parsley.

Ismail Abu Taima, whose land was being harvested, explained that over the course of the year he invests about $54,000 in planting, watering and maintenance of the monthly crops. From that investment, if all goes well and crops are harvested throughout the year, he can bring in about $10,000/month, meaning that he can pay off the investment and support the 15 families dependent on the harvest.

The work began shortly after 11 am, with the handful of farmers working swiftly, cutting swathes of tall parsley and bundling it as rapidly as it was cut. These bundles were then loaded onto a waiting donkey cart. The speed of the farmers was impressive, and one realized that were they able to work ‘normally’ as any farmer in unoccupied areas, they would be very productive. A lone donkey grazed in an area a little closer to the border fence. When asked if this was not dangerous for the donkey, the farmers replied that they had no other choice: with the borders closed, animal feed is starkly absent. The tragedy of having to worry about being shot once again struck me, as it did when harvesting olives or herding sheep with West Bank Palestinians who are routinely attacked by Israeli settlers and by the Israeli army as they try to work and live on their land.

After approximately 2 hours of harvesting, during which the sound of an F-16 overhead was accompanied by Israeli jeeps seen driving along the border area, with at least one stationed directly across from the area in question, Israeli soldiers began firing. At first the shots seemed like warning shots: sharp and intrusive cracks of gunfire. The men kept working, gathering parsley, bunching it, loading it, while the international human rights observers present spread out in a line, to ensure our visibility.

It would have been hard to miss or mistake us, with fluorescent yellow vests and visibly unarmed–our hands were in the air.

Via bullhorn, we re-iterated our presence to the soldiers, informing them we were all unarmed civilians, the farmers were rightfully working their land, the soldiers were being filmed by an Italian film crew. We also informed some of our embassies of the situation: “we are on Palestinian farmland and are being shot at by Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border fence.”

For a brief period the shots ceased. Then began anew, again seemingly warning shots, although this time visibly hitting dirt 15 and 20 m from us. Furthest to the south, I heard the whizz of bullets past my ear, though to estimate the proximity would be impossible.

As the cracks of gunfire rang more frequently and louder, the shots closer, those of the farmers who hadn’t already hit the ground did so, sprawling flat for cover. The international observers continued to stand, brightly visible, hands in the air, bullhorn repeating our message of unarmed presence. The shots continued, from the direction of 3 or 4 visible soldiers on a mound hundreds of metres from us. With my eyeglasses I could make out their shapes, uniforms, the jeep… Certainly with their military equipment they could make out our faces, empty hands, parsley-loaded cart…

There was no mistaking the situation or their intent: pure harassment.

As the farmers tried to leave with their donkey carts, the shots continued. The two carts were eventually able to make it away, down the ruddy lane, a lane eaten by tank and bulldozer tracks from the land invasion weeks before. Some of us accompanied the carts away, out of firing range, then returned. There were still farmers on the land and they needed to evacuate.

As we stood, again arms still raised, still empty-handed, still proclaiming thus, the Israeli soldiers’ shooting drew much nearer. Those whizzing rushes were more frequent and undeniably close to my head, our heads. The Italian film crew accompanying us did not stop filming, nor did some of us with video cameras.

We announced our intention to move away, the soldiers shot. We stood still, the soldiers shot. At one point I was certain one of the farmers would be killed, as he had hit the ground again but in his panic seemed to want to jump up and run. I urged him to stay flat, stay down, and with our urging he did. The idea was to move as a group, a mixture of the targeted Palestinian farmers and the brightly-noticeable international accompaniers. And so we did, but the shots continued, rapidly, hitting within metres of our feet, flying within metres of our heads.

I’m amazed no one was killed today, nor that limbs were not lost, maimed.

While we’d been on the land, Ismail Abu Taima had gone to one end, to collect valves from the broken irrigation piping. The pipes themselves had been destroyed by a pre-war on Gaza invasion. “The plants have not been watered since one week before the war,” he’d told us. He collected the parts, each valve valuable in a region whose borders are sealed and where replacement parts for everything one could need to replace are unattainable or grossly expensive.

He’d also told us of the chicks in the chicken farm who’d first been dying for want of chicken feed, and then been bulldozed when Israeli soldiers attacked the house and building they were in.

My embassy rang me up, after we’d managed to get away from the firing: “We’re told you are being shot at. Can you give us the precise location, and maybe a landmark, some notable building nearby.”

I told Heather about the half-demolished house to the south of where we had been, and that we were on Palestinian farmland. After some further questioning, it dawned on her that the shooting was coming from the Israeli side. “How do you know it is Israeli soldiers shooting at you?” she’d asked. I mentioned the 4 jeeps, the soldiers on the mound, the shots from the soldiers on the mound (I didn’t have time to go into past experiences with Israeli soldiers in this very area and a little further south, similar experience of farmers being fired upon while we accompanied them.).

Heather asked if the soldiers had stopped firing, to which I told her, ‘no, they kept firing when we attempted to move away, hands in the air. They fired as we stood still, hands in the air. “ She suggested these were ‘warning shots’ at which I pointed out that warning shots would generally be in the air or 10s of metres away. These were hitting and whizzing past within metres.

She had no further thoughts at time, but did call back minutes later with Jordie Elms, the Canadian attache in the Tel Aviv office, who informed us that “Israel has declared the 1 km area along the border to be a ‘closed military zone’.”

When I pointed out that Israel had no legal ability to do such, that this closure is arbitrary and illegal, and that the farmers being kept off of their land or the Palestinians whose homes have been demolished in tandem with this closure had no other options: they needed to work the land, live on it… Jordie had no thoughts. He did, however, add that humanitarian and aid workers need to “know the risk of being in a closed area”.

Meaning, apparently, that it is OK with Jordie that Israeli soldiers were firing on unarmed civilians, because Israeli authorities have arbitrarily declared an area out of their jurisdiction (because Israel is “not occupying Gaza” right?!) as a ‘closed area’.

Israel’s latest massacre of 1,400 Palestinians –most of whom were civilians –aside, Israel’s destruction of over 4,000 houses and 17,000 buildings aside, Israel’s cutting off and shutting down of the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ election aside, life is pretty wretched for the farmers and civilians in the areas flanking the border with Israel. Last week, the young man from Khan Younis who was shot while working on farmland in the “buffer zone” was actually on land near where we accompanied farmers today. Why do Israeli authorities think they have an uncontested right to allow/instruct their soldiers to shoot at Palestinian farmers trying to work their land?

If Israeli authorities recognized Palestinian farmers’ need to work the land, Palestinian civilians’ right to live in their homes, then they would not have arbitrarily imposed a 1 km ban on existence along the border, from north to south. What gives Israel the right to say that now the previously-imposed 300 m ban on valuable agricultural land next to the order extends to 1 full kilometre, and that this inherently gives Israel the right to have bulldozed 10s of houses in this “buffer zone” and ravaged the farmland with military bulldozers and tanks.

Furthermore, what gives Israel the right to assume these impositions are justifiable, and the right to shoot at farmers continuing to live in and work on their land (as if they had a choice. Recall the size of Gaza, the poverty levels?)?

Nothing does.

See this report too:


http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/shooting-at-farmers-what-gives-israel-the-right/



I was fairly certain that one of us would be shot today.

This morning, farmers from Abassan Jadiida (New Abassan), to the east of Khan Younis , the southern region, returned to land they’d been forced off of during and following the war on Gaza. The continual shooting at them by Israeli soldiers while they work the land intensified post-war on Gaza. The Israeli soldiers’ shooting was not a new thing, but a resumption of the policy of harassment that Palestinians in the border areas have been enduring for years, a harassment extending to invasions in which agricultural land, chicken farms, and the houses in the region have been targeted, destroyed in many cases.

Today’s Abassan farmers wanted to harvest their parsley.

Ismail Abu Taima, whose land was being harvested, explained that over the course of the year he invests about $54,000 in planting, watering and maintenance of the monthly crops. From that investment, if all goes well and crops are harvested throughout the year, he can bring in about $10,000/month, meaning that he can pay off the investment and support the 15 families dependent on the harvest.

The work began shortly after 11 am, with the handful of farmers working swiftly, cutting swathes of tall parsley and bundling it as rapidly as it was cut. These bundles were then loaded onto a waiting donkey cart. The speed of the farmers was impressive, and one realized that were they able to work ‘normally’ as any farmer in unoccupied areas, they would be very productive. A lone donkey grazed in an area a little closer to the border fence. When asked if this was not dangerous for the donkey, the farmers replied that they had no other choice: with the borders closed, animal feed is starkly absent. The tragedy of having to worry about being shot once again struck me, as it did when harvesting olives or herding sheep with West Bank Palestinians who are routinely attacked by Israeli settlers and by the Israeli army as they try to work and live on their land.

After approximately 2 hours of harvesting, during which the sound of an F-16 overhead was accompanied by Israeli jeeps seen driving along the border area, with at least one stationed directly across from the area in question, Israeli soldiers began firing. At first the shots seemed like warning shots: sharp and intrusive cracks of gunfire. The men kept working, gathering parsley, bunching it, loading it, while the international human rights observers present spread out in a line, to ensure our visibility.

It would have been hard to miss or mistake us, with fluorescent yellow vests and visibly unarmed–our hands were in the air.

Via bullhorn, we re-iterated our presence to the soldiers, informing them we were all unarmed civilians, the farmers were rightfully working their land, the soldiers were being filmed by an Italian film crew. We also informed some of our embassies of the situation: “we are on Palestinian farmland and are being shot at by Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border fence.”

For a brief period the shots ceased. Then began anew, again seemingly warning shots, although this time visibly hitting dirt 15 and 20 m from us. Furthest to the south, I heard the whizz of bullets past my ear, though to estimate the proximity would be impossible.

As the cracks of gunfire rang more frequently and louder, the shots closer, those of the farmers who hadn’t already hit the ground did so, sprawling flat for cover. The international observers continued to stand, brightly visible, hands in the air, bullhorn repeating our message of unarmed presence. The shots continued, from the direction of 3 or 4 visible soldiers on a mound hundreds of metres from us. With my eyeglasses I could make out their shapes, uniforms, the jeep… Certainly with their military equipment they could make out our faces, empty hands, parsley-loaded cart…

There was no mistaking the situation or their intent: pure harassment.

As the farmers tried to leave with their donkey carts, the shots continued. The two carts were eventually able to make it away, down the ruddy lane, a lane eaten by tank and bulldozer tracks from the land invasion weeks before. Some of us accompanied the carts away, out of firing range, then returned. There were still farmers on the land and they needed to evacuate.

As we stood, again arms still raised, still empty-handed, still proclaiming thus, the Israeli soldiers’ shooting drew much nearer. Those whizzing rushes were more frequent and undeniably close to my head, our heads. The Italian film crew accompanying us did not stop filming, nor did some of us with video cameras.

We announced our intention to move away, the soldiers shot. We stood still, the soldiers shot. At one point I was certain one of the farmers would be killed, as he had hit the ground again but in his panic seemed to want to jump up and run. I urged him to stay flat, stay down, and with our urging he did. The idea was to move as a group, a mixture of the targeted Palestinian farmers and the brightly-noticeable international accompaniers. And so we did, but the shots continued, rapidly, hitting within metres of our feet, flying within metres of our heads.

I’m amazed no one was killed today, nor that limbs were not lost, maimed.

While we’d been on the land, Ismail Abu Taima had gone to one end, to collect valves from the broken irrigation piping. The pipes themselves had been destroyed by a pre-war on Gaza invasion. “The plants have not been watered since one week before the war,” he’d told us. He collected the parts, each valve valuable in a region whose borders are sealed and where replacement parts for everything one could need to replace are unattainable or grossly expensive.

He’d also told us of the chicks in the chicken farm who’d first been dying for want of chicken feed, and then been bulldozed when Israeli soldiers attacked the house and building they were in.

My embassy rang me up, after we’d managed to get away from the firing: “We’re told you are being shot at. Can you give us the precise location, and maybe a landmark, some notable building nearby.”

I told Heather about the half-demolished house to the south of where we had been, and that we were on Palestinian farmland. After some further questioning, it dawned on her that the shooting was coming from the Israeli side. “How do you know it is Israeli soldiers shooting at you?” she’d asked. I mentioned the 4 jeeps, the soldiers on the mound, the shots from the soldiers on the mound (I didn’t have time to go into past experiences with Israeli soldiers in this very area and a little further south, similar experience of farmers being fired upon while we accompanied them.).

Heather asked if the soldiers had stopped firing, to which I told her, ‘no, they kept firing when we attempted to move away, hands in the air. They fired as we stood still, hands in the air. “ She suggested these were ‘warning shots’ at which I pointed out that warning shots would generally be in the air or 10s of metres away. These were hitting and whizzing past within metres.

She had no further thoughts at time, but did call back minutes later with Jordie Elms, the Canadian attache in the Tel Aviv office, who informed us that “Israel has declared the 1 km area along the border to be a ‘closed military zone’.”

When I pointed out that Israel had no legal ability to do such, that this closure is arbitrary and illegal, and that the farmers being kept off of their land or the Palestinians whose homes have been demolished in tandem with this closure had no other options: they needed to work the land, live on it… Jordie had no thoughts. He did, however, add that humanitarian and aid workers need to “know the risk of being in a closed area”.

Meaning, apparently, that it is OK with Jordie that Israeli soldiers were firing on unarmed civilians, because Israeli authorities have arbitrarily declared an area out of their jurisdiction (because Israel is “not occupying Gaza” right?!) as a ‘closed area’.

Israel’s latest massacre of 1,400 Palestinians –most of whom were civilians –aside, Israel’s destruction of over 4,000 houses and 17,000 buildings aside, Israel’s cutting off and shutting down of the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ election aside, life is pretty wretched for the farmers and civilians in the areas flanking the border with Israel. Last week, the young man from Khan Younis who was shot while working on farmland in the “buffer zone” was actually on land near where we accompanied farmers today. Why do Israeli authorities think they have an uncontested right to allow/instruct their soldiers to shoot at Palestinian farmers trying to work their land?

If Israeli authorities recognized Palestinian farmers’ need to work the land, Palestinian civilians’ right to live in their homes, then they would not have arbitrarily imposed a 1 km ban on existence along the border, from north to south. What gives Israel the right to say that now the previously-imposed 300 m ban on valuable agricultural land next to the order extends to 1 full kilometre, and that this inherently gives Israel the right to have bulldozed 10s of houses in this “buffer zone” and ravaged the farmland with military bulldozers and tanks.

Furthermore, what gives Israel the right to assume these impositions are justifiable, and the right to shoot at farmers continuing to live in and work on their land (as if they had a choice. Recall the size of Gaza, the poverty levels?)?

Nothing does.

Sadly, this isn't the first time 103.1 and closure have been in the same sentence. This has the be the most contested/flopped station on the dial, having been flopped a good number of times in the last 15 years. Going from memory:

MARS FM (Dance/Techno, never knew it existed until Groove was on the air and mentioned it)

CD 103.1 (Adult Contemporary)

Groove Radio (Dance/Techno, possibly the first time I really loved a station format. But it wasn't until KDL that I was into dance/electronic music)

Super Estrella (Spanish Music. Entravision owned KDLE and KDLD at the time)

KDL 103.1 (LOVED the station. Dance/Techno. Rico Banana has yet to be topped in morning radio IMHO. Used both KDLE KDLD sticks/call signs)


Independent Radio (ClearChannel <read: assholes> bought KDL, fired staff, set up station to specifically compete with KROQ. They had to ditch/sell when the FCC complained they had too much of a monopoly in Southern California)

Indie 103.1 (What became of the above after ClearChannel left. Listened in a few times, but admittedly never was a fan because of the bad taste ClearChannel left me at the killing of KDL)

And now, like before, 103.1 is a Spanish station. To shorten the drama, I pray to ever god that has ever been worshiped that it stays like that. Miss dance stations, but can't for the life of me want to go through more pain/drama.

[Edit] Something to add to the story at this point: I remember the actual shutoff of KDL and the starting of Independent because I actually held a vigil, staying up until midnight and having a shot of Cuervo in memory of the fine station. Really left me bitter about ClearChannel.

You're right. I have about 15 or so that are floating around in my favorites list. My top movies are not neccesarily the best ones I've seen. Like you said, they are the ones that I have an emotional connection to.

Wes Anderson is awesome but I haven't seen all of his films yet. My favorite so far is also The Life Aquatic. I love those covers. The Mark Mothersbaugh numbers are awesome, too. The scene where Steve introduces his boat and crew, accompanied by Mothersbaugh's "Let Me Tell You About My Boat" is one of my favorite scenes. I also really liked The Royal Tenenbaums.

Oh, underappreciated and overrated actors. It is relatively easy for me to rattle off some of my favorite actors. Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Ingrid Bergman are definitely in the top 5. Other actors I love off of the top of my head: Gary Oldman, Anjelica Huston, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Bruce Willis (most people love him for the wrong reasons), Bill Murray, Charlie Chaplin, Helena Bonham Carter (I love how much her older stuff contrasts with her more recent roles. She's great.), John Goodman (I have always had a thing for this guy. He is a pleasure to watch.), James Stewart, Topol (I've only seen him in Fiddler but it is one of my favorite performances EVAR), Henry Fonda, Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Oliver Reed. This list was about 5 times as long before I cut it down. You're welcome.

I'm sure you're the same way that I am with actors. Sometimes I love them because they are truly great actors and sometimes I love them because they are good actors and you just enjoy watching them for whatever reason. I admit that one of the reasons that I love Newman, Brando, and Bergman is because they are all incredibly sexy. They also happen to be exceptional actors. Who are your favorites?

Severely overrated: Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton (used to be okay, now I can't stand her), Nicolas Cage (liked him in Matchstick Men...which reminds me that I love Sam Rockwell), Keira Knightly, and there is something about Mel Gibson's acting that seems...is it insincere? Affected? All I know is that something is off with him and I'm not a fan.

I'll rent The Big Lebowski one of these days.

In reply to this comment by poolcleaner:
You probably already know your top movies, you just haven't declared so boldly what they are. Like I said though, most of my tops are in contention, I just happen to have an emotional connection to two films which may always reign supreme.

If there's anyone to be jealous of it's Wes Anderson and his siblings. Must be awesome to make films with your family and best friends. Loved and own every one of their movies. I think Life Aquatic is my favorite... yeah, definitely Steve Zissou. I mean, you can't go wrong: a movie starring Bill Murray, filled with brilliant sets and costumes, and a soundtrack comprised of David Bowie cover songs by Seu Jorge? Is it wrong that I'm salivating right now? I also really enjoyed Darjeeling Unlimited, despite it's lack of closure. I was hoping Murray would tie in at some point.

As far as people and their movie tastes... You didn't feel the gripping suspense of Armageddon?! Didn't it make you weep when -- I honestly, cannot remember a thing about that piece of trash, except Liv Tyler. (Typical.) I have a friend who once told me The Marine was his favorite film of all time. It was really obnoxious because he was interrupting my first viewing of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; kept complaining that he needed an explosive hook.

Now, Big Lebowski... is one of those movies you either love or hate. I've only known people who are one or the other. Probably due to over 200 f-bombs. If you can get over that, you'll realize it's a brilliant homage to Philip Marlowe and old screwball comedy. (And the soundtrack is amazing.)

(I completely agree about Goodman. Thank god for the Cohen Brothers. At least they recognize talent and put him in most of their films.)

In reply to this comment by thepinky
In reply to this comment by poolcleaner
In reply to this comment by thepinky

You probably already know your top movies, you just haven't declared so boldly what they are. Like I said though, most of my tops are in contention, I just happen to have an emotional connection to two films which may always reign supreme.

If there's anyone to be jealous of it's Wes Anderson and his siblings. Must be awesome to make films with your family and best friends. Loved and own every one of their movies. I think Life Aquatic is my favorite... yeah, definitely Steve Zissou. I mean, you can't go wrong: a movie starring Bill Murray, filled with brilliant sets and costumes, and a soundtrack comprised of David Bowie cover songs by Seu Jorge? Is it wrong that I'm salivating right now? I also really enjoyed Darjeeling Unlimited, despite it's lack of closure. I was hoping Murray would tie in at some point.

As far as people and their movie tastes... You didn't feel the gripping suspense of Armageddon?! Didn't it make you weep when -- I honestly, cannot remember a thing about that piece of trash, except Liv Tyler. (Typical.) I have a friend who once told me The Marine was his favorite film of all time. It was really obnoxious because he was interrupting my first viewing of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; kept complaining that he needed an explosive hook.

Now, Big Lebowski... is one of those movies you either love or hate. I've only known people who are one or the other. Probably due to over 200 f-bombs. If you can get over that, you'll realize it's a brilliant homage to Philip Marlowe and old screwball comedy. (And the soundtrack is amazing.)

(I completely agree about Goodman. Thank god for the Cohen Brothers. At least they recognize talent and put him in most of their films.)

In reply to this comment by thepinky:
I've seen North by Northwest and It Happened One Night and loved both of them, but I've never seen The Big Lebowski. I love John Goodman (underappreciated, in my opinion) and I really love Jeff Bridges, and I don't know why I haven't seen it. I watch lots and lots of movies and I think that I have above-average taste, although that is easy when the average person loves Armageddon and similar crap. You seem to have good taste. I'm sort of jealous that you have your top movies all figured out like that. I have a very vague idea of which movies are my favorites.

I love Hitchcock, too. And good old sweety-pie Frank Capra won my heart many, many years ago. Do you like Wes Anderson movies?

In reply to this comment by poolcleaner:
The Big Lebowski. I'm a bigger Cohen Brothers fan than I am Kubrick -- though, I am an even bigger Hitchcock fan, despite Hitchcock taking fourth with North By Northwest. (My third pick being Capra's It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable.)

In reply to this comment by thepinky:
What is your first favorite?

Ah, my dear Rasch. I don't really want to pick on the guy, 'cause, well, we've been (rather unfortunately and completely by mishappenstance, or so I've been re-re-reassured) been blood-tied...

No, seriously, I just wanted to remind rasch, my man, that you're late for transfering past 14 months' alimony payments to my second-degree cousin Ilsa, dude. And by the way, it's also her 13th birthday next month, so, I dunno, maybe send a card or give her a call. You do know the number of the spousal abuse victims' clinic she's in, don't you? I think she's ready to hear your voice now, at least her doctors say she needs closure after that animal-sacrifice thing sent her over the edge.

Oh yeah, and that reminds me, have you divorced the six goats yet? If not, tell me how those public hearings go. Yeah I know, I'm surprised the 'liberal Norwegian society' hasn't embraced human-animal marriage as part of a doctor's thesis research yet, those hypocrites.

Best of luck on your animal-related law proposals and try not to kill anyone in the next week or so.

Playing devil's advocate here, why does the concept of human life supersede any possible imaginable suffering absolutely? What exactly makes life so sacred? Hell, I'm inclined to think this way myself but I can't help suspecting it's almost an instinctual gut reaction, which is not necessarily moral in all applicable cases.

The notion of life in and of itself may be clearly definable and homogeneous but surely anyone can agree that the standard of life various people enjoy varies. So surely the satisfaction derived from that life does not originate purely from being alive, but from enjoying the time you spend on this earth. Going by that argument and considering the notion we have considerable power of when to bring new 'life' into the world surely it's not too much of a leap of faith to argue we also have the power to ensure that when we do so, we leave that child with the greatest potential to accomplish whatever they wish within society? In an ideal world sure, every unwanted baby will be handed over to a loving family, but until that comes to pass why should an innocent child have to suffer through a life of lovelessness, underachievement and perceived inferiority that could potentially occur as a result of being adopted or left to fend for themselves as an orphan? Sure you could argue this is a result of underfunded or failing government programmes, or social inequality but the problem still stands.

Totally off that topic, the abstract notion that 'life' is morally sacred and precious questionably defies our preordained instincts. Women in third world countries tend to have more children, arguably as a unconscious reaction to the relative decreased chance of each child's survival and the need to pass on their genes.

^thepinky:
For example, my stance against the death penalty is a matter of principle. It is a fact that the death of a murderer often gives the family and friends of the victim closure and a feeling of justice. To deny the death penalty is to cause many people to suffer for the rest of their lives. But the death penalty is wrong because if even one innocent person is executed, it is too many. Monsters may be living semi-comfortable lives on our taxpayer dollars, families may be constantly harrowed up by the thought that their loved-one's murderer is still living, but the death penalty is still WRONG. I carry the same logic into the topic of abortion. Many children may be born unwanted and unloved and have to live off of taxpayer money, women may have to suffer even more pain by carrying a child and then knowing that it is living, but abortion is STILL WRONG.


I suspect what you're really talking about here is revenge not justice or potentially closure, in which case I'd disagree. As I see it justice should not be about punishment but about be about protecting social order and the public good, it would be seeing to it that the perpetrator never commits whatever they did again, so I don't see it as being analogous to an eye for an eye kind of thinking. Sure punishment is an inherent side-product and deterrant aspect of say getting jail-time but it's not the point of it. So in that sense unless you're considering any crime an in-mate could commit against another as a result of not being put to death, applying the death penalty serves not judicial purpose.