Here's a little bit of irony....

As much as I am happy that Eric has reached -- and fully deserves, many times over -- the great BRONZE CROWN on his MAGNIFICENT HEAD....

I am also a little sorry to see his diamond go away.

I took a deep pleasure in seeing that lone diamond nestled among the crowns.

It was a mark of his deep commitment to Quality Videos on the Sift, something that I know Eric takes very seriously.

If he ends up tossing some low vids to go back to Diamond status, I will be even more pleased. The Crown is deserved.

The Diamond among Crowns is a greater achievement.

All Hail The Sift Emperor!

>> ^flechette:

All I can say is, I want to like football (or soccer, whatever it is) more than I do, but I just can't fathom watching something for half an hour before someone scores. To be fair, I think baseball is more boring to watch, but for a different reason.


Ah, this is the beauty in football. Every match is different, you'll see different approaches, different styles, different attitudes, individual skill, teamwork. It's not just about scoring goals.

But it's not easy. It's a game of skill and if you're good or the opposition is very bad then you'll score lots. Or you'll enjoy one of those humdingers where either side might score at any time.

But often we're forced to endure turgid rubbish, it just happens sometimes, but the ultimate redemption is when finally, finally someone scores a goal. It's a satisfying release of energy and there is honestly nothing much like it even if your team has been playing like utter twits.

It is really, as much about the journey as the destination.

Hopefully it's a nice ride (I'd pay good money to see a mazey Messi dribble where he failed to score, rather than someone bundle one in) but sometimes it can be perversely enjoyable to see a bad team scrape a result.

On the other hand, going back to a U.S sport like basketball I see no particular thrill from seeing two sides trade baskets ad-infintum. It's just a relentless predictable, progression to the end at which point someone wins and players can crow about their "stats". I always loved playing basketball but it doesn't work for me as a spectator sport.

Meanwhile I love Football (American Football as we Brits tend to call it). That has more in common with soccer than any other U.S sport IMO. Players are still far too in thrall to coaches but it remains a magnificent spectacle.

Baseball I don't really get - but I respect it's traditions and iconic status in sport.

>> ^lantern53:

Any 'Occupy' event is protected by free speech as long as you are assembled in a lawful manner. When you 'occupy' an area in violation of the law, you risk arrest.
But meeting at the local church is out because these people don't like Christianity, and they won't meet any other legal place because it would not elicit the press coverage they desire.


you have no idea what you are talking about.
many of the rights you enjoy were hard fought by practices implemented by the OWS movement but they are in no way a "new" practice.
this is about clogging the cogs of the machinery of government and business and little to do with press coverage.
why?
because those in power will ALWAYS attempt to marginalize the voices of those who challenge said power.
as we speak the senate is voting on NEW restrictions which makes certain protest areas a felony and no longer a misdemeanor.
think that is a coincidence?
that the bill being passed just happens to coincide with the OWS protestor population rising?

and lets not forget st paul and the RNC convention in 2008 and the authoritarian practices implemented by the st paul police and the so-called "free-speech" zones set miles away from the actual events.

you can go all the way back to the early 1900's and find how protestors got their message across.the labor movement comes to mind.
or the civil rights.
vietnam protests.
there were deaths at the hand of police and hired security firms.
beatings and maimings.
intimidations and bullying.
but those protestors used the very same tactics being used by OWS...
hell,they perfected those tactics.
and they are extremely effective.

i could go on...
but you are obviously an authoritarian and the magnificent history of peoples movements in america are lost on you.
and the comment about the OWS movement disliking chritianity just seems fabricated,or at its best painted with an extremely broad brush.
it still smacks of you not knowing what you are talking about.

First of all I would like to give this MAN the Iron Balls of the Year Award.

Second of all: The form of presentation was magnificent. There is no reasonable arguing about that. I really enjoy the fact that he is using profanity to express his utter hatred for those officers who arrested him, without getting aggressive at all. The neutral manner in which he performs is what makes this vid so fucking brilliant.

Speech of the year. At least concerning the whole OWS thingy...

Thanks!!
In reply to this comment by Stingray:
This is magnificent. *promote

This is magnificent. *promote

Nice. I was just looking through previous what are you readings yesterday for suggestions.

Starting The Mote in God's Eye. Looks promising.

Skim-read The Reluctant Fundamentalist this afternoon - it's rather dreadful.

Finished Crime and Punishment a couple of days ago. Loved it. One of those few 'classic' novels that isn't all hype. It's engaging and enjoyable, and very rewarding. The ultimate message that we should stop trying to think for ourselves and just do what Jesus says is possibly not the best, but that doesn't overwhelm and the style isn't preachy. I have yet to read a novel more perfectly structured.
It was a little distracting that one of the characters is basically Columbo. When he did the 'just one more thing' routine I had to put the book down for a minute. Turns out Columbo was based on Porphyrius. Man, that makes it weird for the modern reader.
I'm developing a taste for golden age russian literature; I hope to read a lot more soon.

Before that I burned through I Am Legend in one sitting. It's electrifying.

Brave New World needs to be more widely read.

The Algebraist is notable for having one of the least likeable villains ever. Genuinely, I think that's its main literary achievement. I have huge respect for Iain Banks for writing a world-conquering, star-spanning tyrant who is in no way cool or enviable. Archimandrite Luseferous is like a parody of a fourteen-year-old's power fantasies; not a Magnificent Bastard, he's just a contemptible, nasty (occasionally terrifying) creature with no charisma or real intelligence and we need to see more of that.
There's great stuff in this book, but it does follow the standard disappointing SF novel arc of: 'big ideas, big ideas, oh no the plot is taking over, narrowing focus, narrowing focus, now it's just about this guy and his Quest, how did the galaxy get so small, inevitable convenient climax.' Very much worth reading to pick out the many great elements in this book, but those elements don't really come together.
I'll get round to the Culture novels eventually.

Oh, I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time since I was five, but couldn't carry the enthusiasm on to the rest of the Narnia books.

Thinking about Crime and Punishment reminded me, I really need to pick up a cheap second-hand ereader so I can stop paying for public domain books.

I like the sound of The Quantum Thief, that goes on the list.

Of course, if you wish to know why some of Earth's most magnificent structures (like grouped mountain ranges--looking at them from over head) many look peculiarly like pieces of fractals, then spend some time looking into the "Golden Number" or the natural number, but as science refers to it: Euler's number (the constant: e). It is related to a great many interesting things.

Beyond seeding fractals, it is used in math a lot, Golden Spirals and the Fibonacci Sequence are part of it. It can be seen in nature in many places: those mountain ranges, trees, our cardiovascular system, and even shells. It's one of the most interesting constants we have and it is related to many structures that occur naturally. Which sometimes makes it appear that natural origins--structurally--may have their beginnings through this number via things like the Golden Spiral and of course fractals.

Just a little information to help make a piece like this seem even more impressive.

To everyone for whom an hour is too long--go to 16:27 and watch until the end of the piece. (~19:40) Magnificent.

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

Looks like it's got a prettty big range, if the background is accurate - doesn't seem like a zoo.>> ^therealblankman:

Downvote is for having such a magnificent wild animal penned up in some shitty drive-through zoo waving at assholes in cars.
Nothing personal.

Downvote is for having such a magnificent wild animal penned up in some shitty drive-through zoo waving at assholes in cars.

Nothing personal.

Such a magnificent engine... a work of art really... wasted because it's installed in such an ugly car.

Please don't misunderstand me. I would never turn down the opportunity to test drive that machine, I'd just put a paper bag on it first.

How dare the audience boo Stephen's magnificent pun skillz!

That's a magnificent vid.

OMG! I was just wondering if I should promote this video. You are magnificent.
In reply to this comment by hpqp:
*promote the black mang thang!