I grew up on my family's non-industrial cattle ranch (we weren't a meat factory). Almost every night for dinner for my entire childhood: home-grown steak, burgers, and whatever else you could make out of cow-chunks.

I. Had. No. Clue. How good I had it then.

(edit: I have empathy for animals and hate the meat-industry, for what it's worth)

He is really trying to relive his childhood, isn't he?

Can't wait for this film though.

Part of Cap's WW2 force, and friend from childhood. Last seen as "The Winter Soldier", a memory-wiped, experimental super soldier created by Hydra.

I think if someone is in a particular church -- or not -- or whatever they are personally drawn to -- IT IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS TO JUDGE THEM.

If they need it, they need it. Whatever happened to them in their childhood, or whenever -- the church -- whatever church -- or non-church -- fits them.

You are an atheist, right? I don't know if you grew up in a church or not. I don't know why it is so terribly important to you to be an atheist.

But it FITS you.

It is the height of judgmental righteous behavior to look at anyone else's choice and say it is wrong.

Am I a Mormon? No. I agree with you. How this church started is the height -- or the depth -- of religious absurdity. How anyone can choose this church as an adult? How can that be.

And yet. My brother -- who has a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from USC, military pilot, history buff, wide stripe of artistic urges and talents -- this guy chose the church in his early 20's. For his own reasons. Because he needed it, coming from our family of origin.

To quote Jerry Maguire -- it completed him. And like love, it is illogical and not for anyone else to judge.

You don't like religion being all judgey? I recommend you stop doing it yourself, and let people be.

Now, the Mormon church getting involved in the laws of the land? I got a big beef with that.

But as for individuals, making individual choices, for individual reasons.... I gotta say I don't see much difference between your judginess and any Catholic priest laying down "God's law" about how people are "supposed to" believe and behave.

You see that, don't you? There is no difference between your judgement and any religious person's judgment?

I absolutely love how he sums up becoming an adult as "whatever's nutty about me, was nutty about <whoever raised you>..."

That tickles me more than I can describe; living in an era where if you have problems with your childhood you go to a therapist about them.

When was the last time you hit the random button and got flashbacks of your awesome childhood? I bet it wasn't tonight, like this here fella.

Other than maybe Fred Rogers, Bob Ross has to be the best influence on my childhood/young-adulthood that there ever was on television. I think his personality was his masterwork, and his paintings and show are just the medium that allows us to see it. His calm, persistent, confident, kind, and joyful example have carried, (not always successfully,) through my entire life and his voice has been present in my head at some of the most stressful times I've had to deal with. SO THANKFUL to have been able to spend so many hours listening to Bob Ross while growing up, and SO HAPPY to see his work resurfacing online for a new generation to find.

Thanks, Bob Ross! You are missed but never forgotten.

Ah, sweet childhood memories of flashlight lightsaber fights, Star Wars toys and Halloween costumes, now cut to you playing Battlefront and having some 13 year old brat screaming obscenities in your ear that would make a demon blanch.

It was fun, very limited. But god damn, the music, the sound effects, people flying through the air when their jump packs malfunction. It's like crack for your childhood memories.

A part of my remaining childhood innocence just died a little bit.

Actually, it probably wont.. All the stats point in the same direction: reducing childhood/maternal mortality, eradicating poverty and educating people seems to have an interesting side effect: People have less kids. Typically a poor, uneducated population with 10-15% child mortality theres 5-6 kids per woman, whilst rich, educated populations CM less thand 0.2% or so, 1-2 kids per woman. So the population growth slow down or stops as countries move from developing to developed.

So flippin awesome and cute. Nothing beats this kind of overwhelming excitement in childhood innocence. It's a beautiful thing.

Childhood's End is the first, and - I loathe to admit - at this point the sole, Arthur C. Clarke book I have read.
It struck a chord in me so deep I hesitate to pick up another of his works for fear of no longer being able to function in modern society.

What a nice explanation of the "magic" my childhood self perceived.

the 2-minute MS Paint version of that minimalist poster i made 30 years ago, for Childhood's End.