Your video, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD - A Love Letter To The Movies, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

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I remember when I had an early day at work, being the first one in my office - and I got an email with an attachment "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs".

I spotted it for the virus it was, and sent out warning notices to the other colleagues. Some of them still opened it, though.


And then I understood the morale of it all: Early bird gets the worm.

ALSO:

THAT'S HOW YOU WRITE A LOVE LETTER!

Your video, Love Letters to Richard Dawkins, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

A Love Letter to NdGT.

Wow... from Wikipedia:

Williams had first attempted suicide in 1993 by hammering a knife into her chest; the knife lodged in her sternum and she changed her mind, calling Swenson to take her to hospital.[5] She attempted suicide again in 1997 with an overdose of ephedrine.[5]

Williams died at age 48 on April 6, 1998 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area near her home. Rod Swenson, who had been Wendy's significant other for more than twenty years, returned from shopping to the wooded area where the two had lived since moving to Connecticut from New York. He found a package that Wendy had left him with some special noodles he liked, a packet of seeds for growing garden greens, some oriental massage balm, and sealed letters from Wendy. The suicide letters which included a "living will" denying life support, a love letter to Swenson, and various lists of things to do set Swenson searching the woods looking for her. After about an hour, and after it was almost dark, he found the body in woods near an area where she loved to feed the wildlife. Several nut shells were on a nearby rock where she had apparently been feeding some of the squirrels before she died. Swenson checked the body for a pulse, and there was none. A pistol lay on the ground nearby, and he returned to the house to call the local authorities. "Wendy's act was not an irrational in-the-moment act," he said, she had been talking about taking her own life for almost four years. Swenson reportedly described her as "despondent" at the time of her suicide.[13] This is what she is said to have written[14] in a suicide note regarding her decision:
“ I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me, much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm.

LOL.

Mumford & Sons is one of the few bands I would pay good money to see... and that list is shortened by the fact that some of them simply can't tour with the proper lineup (Pink Floyd, the Beatles), others likely would never (classic Genesis with Gabriel, among the few single acts I would see)... Some I might see only if they were part of a larger festival, but these guys I would see on their own... if the unique combo of time, money and location ever came together.

Discovered them here on the Sift a couple years ago when The Cave was first posted and have been a fan ever since. So thank you Sift.

>> ^carrot:

>> ^GDGD:
Wow. WOW! Can I give you a NON-GAY-FOR-THEM love letter, to pass on to them?
>> ^carrot:
Have to upvote - I know the bango player!


No sorry I am under strictest instructions to only pass on gay love letters...

Do you know what a love letter is, fucker?

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said Wrroonngg so quickly--but you presume that your readings about Rome are more extensive than mine.

Nero, Caligula and many later Emperors are examples of the human psyche let loose. Psychopaths with no restrictions on their behavior.

The Roman Republic lasted for almost 500 years--during which time--homosexuality was looked on as a vice and shameful behavior. Emperor Augustus imposed strict modesty and morality edicts--including homosexual activities--which didn't apply to him. So even in the later, Empire Era, Rome was hardly be considered, "one big, gay death machine."

"Marcus Aurelius was straight at least..." This one gave me a laugh.


The Love Letters of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Cornelius Fronto
Excerpts from My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries (1998), Edited by Rictor Norton

From Marcus Cornelliius Fronto to Marcus Aurelius

Your lover, too, as they say, composes some amatory writings about you in the hope of enticing you with this bait, if with no other, and attracting you to himself and catching you; but such things are a disgrace and an insult and a sort of licentious cry, the outcome of stinging lust, such as those of wild beasts and fed cattle, that from sexual desire bellow or neigh or low or howl. Like to these are the lyrics of lovers. If, therefore, you submit yourself to your lover to enjoy where and when he pleases, awaiting neither time that is fitting nor leisure nor privacy, then, like a beast in the frenzy of desire, will he make straight for you and be eager to go to it not the least ashamed. . . .

"But then they went through the phase where prostitutes could fuck any man they wanted, even while wed and in plain sight, and the Christian empress would have the man executed if he said something..."

The role of prostitution in other societies varies--ours is not the only moral way. And the actions of the Christian church are--during most of it's history--atrocious. I thought you were talking about early Rome with it's outright destruction and pillage.

"You get the point. Rome was confused but definitely bi with a leaning more towards homosexuality--despite their 'laws.'"

A whole country was BI? Wow--just wow.


>> ^Lawdeedaw:

@Boise_Lib
Now now, don't say I am wrong quiet yet. I just read up on Rome and have the advantage here (I read like fucking two days’ worth...)
Nero was more than gay (He married a man as his husband and a man as his wife...see slit in lieu of vagina,) and Caligula (Who was fucking a man while in the arena in front of everyone, then had that man beheaded during climax) was bi and Tiberius (Who was fucking Caligula after murdering his family) was bi and the typical soldier, and...wait, yeah, there were many more. Basically, 14 out of 15 were gay or gay-ish at least. By that I mean some were open, some closed. Commodus? Yeah, gay...
(Most were simply bi just to have a son btw. Otherwise it would have been just man on man.)
The whole conflict with homosexuality came in later--after the Roman Catholic Church gained power... Now, that's not saying it wasn't against the law in the early days--but that's the same as adultery, yet then orgies were common even though they were illegal... let's pretend the law doesn't matter here---because it didn't...
Marcus Aurelius was straight at least...
And yes, this was the early Rome, when it was brutal, but then that's what I was talking about when I said the world hated them. Later, yes, later they began to hate homosexual behavior. But then they went through the phase where prostitutes could fuck any man they wanted, even while wed and in plain sight, and the Christian empress would have the man executed if he said something...
You get the point. Rome was confused but definitely bi with a leaning more towards homosexuality--despite their "laws."
@shuac I meant the crimes of Rome itself, not homosexuals. It's kind of hard to forgive a nation that captured and enslaved your city and then raped your male children with abandon.
@hpqp
I don't think homosexuality is girly, but that's their reasoning... Sad, so sad because it is not true.

My upvote is a love letter @blankfist.

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:

Explain to me. How does ticketing & arresting people for dancing promote safety?
Explain how raiding the houses of War Veterans with para-military police, instead of just serving warrant promotes safety.
Explain allowing an officer to walk free after murdering a helpless older citizen promotes safety.
>> ^bareboards2:
Oh my god, thank you for posting this, blankie!
I had no idea how much of an idiot this guy is. "The police force in America does not exist for public safety." This is so laughably stupid.
Even The Stranger, a bastion of alternative news weeklies and no fan of "the man", vigilant at calling out the cops -- and in Seattle, that is a full time job -- recently ran love letters to the police who are there to help.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cops-we-have-loved/Content?oid=820

5798


So.. wait.

You're taking her point the wrong way, she never said ticketing and arresting people for dancing promoted public safety, she was making fun of the people who think that cops exist solely to antagonize people.

The rest of your post is irrelevant, the law is in place so that people can't be disruptive in a place of A) Respect, B)Reflection, and C) a tourist spot. The law is there so people aren't disturbed in a public place, not to mention that those that DID protest, did so without a permit.

I'm not taking the time to respond to the other two "Explain to me" questions, because you seem to just be trying to pick a fight unrelated to the topic at hand. Good day, sir.

Explain to me. How does ticketing & arresting people for dancing promote safety?

Explain how raiding the houses of War Veterans with para-military police, instead of just serving warrant promotes safety.

Explain allowing an officer to walk free after murdering a helpless older citizen promotes safety.

>> ^bareboards2:

Oh my god, thank you for posting this, blankie!
I had no idea how much of an idiot this guy is. "The police force in America does not exist for public safety." This is so laughably stupid.
Even The Stranger, a bastion of alternative news weeklies and no fan of "the man", vigilant at calling out the cops -- and in Seattle, that is a full time job -- recently ran love letters to the police who are there to help.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cops-we-have-loved/Content?oid=820
5798

Oh my god, thank you for posting this, blankie!

I had no idea how much of an idiot this guy is. "The police force in America does not exist for public safety." This is so laughably stupid.

Even The Stranger, a bastion of alternative news weeklies and no fan of "the man", vigilant at calling out the cops -- and in Seattle, that is a full time job -- recently ran love letters to the police who are there to help.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cops-we-have-loved/Content?oid=8205798



>> ^blankfist:

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

You'll probably like Source Code. It's a tight SF thriller- a bit on the short side - and a little more mainstreamy than Moon - but still good and validates Duncan as someone who can direct a fairly complicated movie and have it make sense to to a general audience without dumbing it down.

I wish someone good would do a reboot of Bladerunner making a version more true to the original book Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep which had so much more in it:

Rental Animals

Dial-a-mood

kipple

nuclear holocaust

Buster Friendly


>> ^spoco2:

>> ^dag:
I have high hopes for Proyas as well. I think our best bet though, for smart speculative fiction on the screen is Duncan Jones. Director of both Moon and the recent Source Code - his next film is supposedly a homage to Blade Runner set in Berlin - which sounds just awesome.
>> ^spoco2:
>> ^dag:
Nobody ever wants to watch Logan's Run with me - but I love that movie so much.

Oh! Great movie, I downloaded it recently to watch again, but it has to be one of those I watch alone as my wife has only so much ability to watch dated Sci Fi (current sci fi no probs).
Knowing had good bits, but I disliked the resolve. Also had high hopes because it was Alex, and, well, shot in Melbourne Yeay for the museum that me and the kids go to regularly.
Alex has done some stunning work, Dark City and the Crow, some ok work, iRobot was pretty good as long as you didn't actually expect it to be anything to do with Asimov, and some dribble... Garage Days was pretty crap.
I'd love to see him get back on top with an awesome, high concept, visually thrilling film again. Dark City is just so damn awesome.
Oh, but yeah, the plane crash scene in Knowing was awesome, very awesome.



Moon was pretty darn awesome, proper sci fi, dealing with 'concepts' rather than just flying cars and lasers. Source code looks cool, haven't seen it yet. But a 'love letter' to Blade Runner sounds ok by me

>> ^dag:

I have high hopes for Proyas as well. I think our best bet though, for smart speculative fiction on the screen is Duncan Jones. Director of both Moon and the recent Source Code - his next film is supposedly a homage to Blade Runner set in Berlin - which sounds just awesome.
>> ^spoco2:
>> ^dag:
Nobody ever wants to watch Logan's Run with me - but I love that movie so much.

Oh! Great movie, I downloaded it recently to watch again, but it has to be one of those I watch alone as my wife has only so much ability to watch dated Sci Fi (current sci fi no probs).
Knowing had good bits, but I disliked the resolve. Also had high hopes because it was Alex, and, well, shot in Melbourne Yeay for the museum that me and the kids go to regularly.
Alex has done some stunning work, Dark City and the Crow, some ok work, iRobot was pretty good as long as you didn't actually expect it to be anything to do with Asimov, and some dribble... Garage Days was pretty crap.
I'd love to see him get back on top with an awesome, high concept, visually thrilling film again. Dark City is just so damn awesome.
Oh, but yeah, the plane crash scene in Knowing was awesome, very awesome.




Moon was pretty darn awesome, proper sci fi, dealing with 'concepts' rather than just flying cars and lasers. Source code looks cool, haven't seen it yet. But a 'love letter' to Blade Runner sounds ok by me