I’m sitting here in my recliner, kinda-sorta watching a bad science fiction movie (certainly the protagonist has done better movies) and preparing to MUD. Yes, I know, MUDs are outdated, crude, primitive, and, well, they just suck. Deal with it. I’m unwinding from spending a rather lengthy and only halfway successful stint in the attic, wiring up (or, more accurately, attempting to wire up) the surround sound speakers and running cable, and I just need a break, containing pure, stupid entertainment. And I have to say the newly-completed roof (today, in fact) looks much better from the outside.
Anyway, things have been getting a bit testy around here of late, and I’m just as guilty as any of you. So, the purpose of this thread (other than to crush your heads: I am so crushing your heads. Especially you, felix.) is to suggest that the collective lot of us just get the hell off our high horses and converse a bit more civilly.
Oh, and open thread. It just wouldn’t do for me to actually post in some way other than an open thread.
Have I mentioned that Mick Jagger isn’t quite the cream of the acting crop? I probably don’t need to. Anyway, good night, and I suggest the lot of you take as large a dose of your favorite painkiller as you can stand without holing your GI tract, because your heads are so utterly crushed.
Slart, you’re just making excuses. Where is our Phantom Tollbooth thread? I even went and re-read it in anticipation.
Thank the mice for Slart.
(Warning: micro-spoiler for the Hitchhiker’s movie.) Anybody else catch the startling Philip Glass reference or more accurately 16-bar theft in the soundtrack at the end?
Re Mick, “Sympathy for the Devil” was on the radio this morning, and he so doesn’t go anywhere with “But what’s puzzling you, is the nature, of, my, game”.
Mrs. D and I still like to say “Get the meat” like Mick Jagger does in this classic example of the cinema du suck.
Is this constitutional?
Better SF films will come. I torrented the high res trailer for “serenity” and WoW!! I am soooooooooooo counting the days.
And Slarti: congrats on the new roof.
Is this constitutional?
Good question. My first thought, as a non-lawyer, is that California has a legitimate public-safety and homeland-security interest about discharging unattended weapons. But as I re-read it, it seems more likely the guns are being discharged in Texas, in which case that’s not a California issue.
As for the second amendment, it talks about the right to “keep and bear” arms, not (explicitly) to shoot them off. Arguably, if you are in California and the gun is in Texas, you are not keeping or bearing it.
As to the interstate commerce clause, it gives the Congress authority to regulate interstate commerce, but does not deprive the states from regulating it too, before Congress weighs in on a particular question. So Congress could override this law by passing an overarching federal law, but that federal law would not be retroactive.
On the importation of animals, states can be and are aggressive about controlling the import of plants and animals. But I don’t know if they need a public health or other compelling interest to do so. Nor is it clear how such a law could be enforced.
Disclaimer about legal expertise: IANAL, and I am ignorant about precedent, and legal interpretation, in these matters. This is just my common-sense reasoning. (Side question: would it be possible for a judge to decide this case either way without being accused of legislating from the bench?)
Disclaimer about hunting: IANAH, and I cannot conceive of myself going into the woods to shoot animals. But I have friends who do, and I live near and drive through an area where hunters are a big part of the tourism business keeping these little mountain towns alive. And every deer they take out is a deer that won’t jump in front of my car. So come to the Catskills, boys, and good hunting, but bring your butt here too — don’t do it remotely.
Let’s talk Alex Cox (he of Repo Man
famebare public awareness). Favorite movie? He’s such an idiosyncratic filmaker – documentaries about as varied subjects as Emmannuelle and Akira Kurosawa, Sid and Nancy; the sci fi/surreal aspects he slips (or shovels) into films like Repo Man and Walker (which escalates wonderfully from period piece to anarchy – and Ed Harris is great in it); and now, recent movies no one has heard of, of which even IMDB is poorly informed.… Just found his website, and blow me if he isn’t making party political broadcast videos with Franz Ferdinand for the Green Party UK! Oh, and the description of Death and The Compass, based on a Borges story, forces me to order it forthwith. Not least because it features our current Dr Who, Chris Ecclestone! The site is pretty interesting, and includes an interesting essay on ‘Fair Use’.
Oh and to answer my own question, I remember Highway Patrolman as being moving, funny, moral and starkly beautiful, so I think I would reluctantly pick it over Repo Man.
I thought Mick was rather good in Bent, actually.
Jagger? let’s all try hard not to think about that horrid remake he and David Bowie did of Dancing In The Street.
that was the gayest thing i’ve ever seen.
(i’m using the 9th grade meaning of “gay”, of course)
Don’t beat yourself up over MUDding, Slart. I originally met my fiancee on a MUSH three years ago. :>
I am not normally enamored of the Stones, but they had a knack for making songs that are good for movies (best uses, I thought, were in Fallen), and they did produce Paint it Black, a song of which I have an inexplicable need to collect covers.
Serenity will own. I just wish they were making another series! Wah. </whinge>
(i’m using the 9th grade meaning of “gay”, of course)
FYI…it’s still offensive.
Ah, someone beat me to the mention of “Sympathy for the Devil” and its excellent use in Fallen. Drat.
So instead I’ll recommend The Rook, a police procedural set in an alternate England, which is fairly Puritan in tone and Gnostic in state church. (This isn’t really spelled out, but if you know gnosticism you can spot it in the iconography.) It’s quiet, beautiful, and very dark indeed. Perfect rainy-day drama, whether the rain is outside or just in the hollow tree that is your soul at the moment. 🙂
here’s a nice one. George Lucas had the temerity to mention F-9/11 in an interview and a gang of reflexively-anti-Moore sub-literates went nuts.
the thing is, Lucas is clearly saying F-9/11 is the kind of movie that causes people on all sides of the issues to put on their blinders and ignore opinions they don’t want to hear. and what did the righty bloggers do ? they skimmed, saw a statement that wasn’t a clear denunciation of Moore and his politics, put on their blinders and ran out of the room screaming. Lucas sure is smart.
(Lucas’ F-9/11 remarks are at the Q/A link)
Not all that smart, though: if he saw it, the blinders were off.
:p
FYI…it’s still offensive
accept my apologies, then.
On Edward’s behalf, it’s time to start referring to ‘that’ word as the ‘g’-word. And only gays can use the word ‘gay’ or ‘queer’ because, well, they deserve it. And by ‘deserve’ it I mean they’ve lived the experience and suffered through the consequences. And by consequences I mean that they are persecuted for being what they are. And by ‘are’ I mean, well, what they are. And they are what the feel. And what they feel must be different from what others that don’t feel what they feel must feel. And by ‘they’ I don’t want to group everyone that has these feelings into one pigeon hole, only that they share certain feelings, sometimes toward each other. The rest of us can only refer to the word gay as the ‘g-word’ and only when referring to those that actually use the word. So when we use the ‘g-word’, it’s descriptive of the situation and not the person. And if some otherwise good human being, well respected in their circles and is otherwise God fearing, but imperfect happens to mention that someone doesn’t have any gay in them – well they just should have known better.
Blogs:
Please accept my apologies, as well.
It’s got to hurt to be that PC, even once.
As for the g-word, is it really anything at all like the n-word, in that it’s OQ (offensiveness quotient) is a function of who utters it?
Am I tho only one who thought that that Dancing in the Streets video was sweet? Esthetically displeasing, bordering on grotesque, but there was something really endearing about watching those two horrible withered little homunculuses enjoying themselves — it really looked like a couple of old friends goofing around.
On Edward’s behalf, it’s time to start referring to ‘that’ word as the ‘g’-word. And only gays can use the word ‘gay’ or ‘queer’ because, well, they deserve it.
I disagree actually, and should explain why I find the usage of “gay” Cleek offered offensive.
Suppose it was reversed…and the word “straight” connoted seriously uncool, dismissable, or embarassingly odd. Suppose 9th graders derided a lame music video by spitting out “that’s the straightest thing ever” and definitely meant that to sting.
That usage didn’t come about until AFTER “gay” was recognized as synonymous with “homosexual” and as such was definitely intended to be a slur. I particulary despise that usage because it was just about the time I came out that I first started hearing it…somehow it had replaced “queer” in that sense. It’s origin is unquestionably homophobic.
I know that I am new here, and I know that I am woefully uninformed about popular culture.
So what exactly does talk of “crushing heads” mean? It sounds grotesque and repellent. Presumably this is some clever new small-talk, and I shouldn’t find it offensive.
Oh–and MUD means what?
I realize that the employment of cants and jargons always has a social-bonding effect, i.e. it excludes outsiders and gives insiders a greater sense of cohesion. So if this is a closed club, I won’t continue pestering its members.
But if anyone is willing to explain (and can do so without losing membership privileges) I would be grateful to hear the explanations.
Kids in the Hall was a Canadian sketch comedy TV show that had a bit with a man who would hold up his thumb and forefinger, look through them at the head of a distant person, and close them so that from his perspective he appeared to be crushing them, saying to himself “I’m crushing your head.” Trust me, it was funny when they did it.
LizardBreath–
Thanks so much. And I do trust you, both about comedy, and about constitutional interpretation and its relation to common law.
It’s clear enough that California could ban standing in California and shooting an animal over the line in Oregon. I don’t see how they would be precluded from banning shooting an animal in texas.
I don’t see a commerce clause problem, especially if California is banning internet hunting, regardless of the location of the animal.
Trust me, it was funny when they did it.
It was priceless!
Here you go, Tad. Consider yourself one of the gang…
I agree that’d be absolutely Republican of them.
Ah, MUDs — I recall once, over a decade ago, when I read about a MOO, and it sounded interesting, and I tried it, and it was the most boring thing imaginable. Sort of like a really bad party, only without any actual human contact.
Suppose it was reversed…and the word “straight” connoted seriously uncool, dismissable, or embarassingly odd. Suppose 9th graders derided a lame music video by spitting out “that’s the straightest thing ever” and definitely meant that to sting.
honestly, i wouldn’t be a bit surprised if i learned that kids somewhere do use “straight” in that sense.
That usage didn’t come about until AFTER “gay” was recognized as synonymous with “homosexual” and as such was definitely intended to be a slur.
you’re right.
but, i personally never thought of it as much of a slur. i always thought it’s OQ (ref Slarti) was more in the same range as “geek” – a kind of goofy stereotype – not really something that made anyone want to do any kind of, i dunno, persecuting or whatever. sure, it’s offensive at heart, but in typical 9th grade* usage it’s just a shorthand for “seriously uncool” – which that video certainly is.
anyway. still no offense intended.
* – i was in 9th grade when it came out.
I recall once, over a decade ago, when I read about a MOO, and it sounded interesting, and I tried it, and it was the most boring thing imaginable. Sort of like a really bad party, only without any actual human contact.
There are various different kinds of MU*-type servers, and generally speaking the only thing they have in common is their use of a text-based medium for a realtime multiuser environment, and more narrowly, certain kinds of server software that provides those environments.
I personally find MUDs completely boring and pointless, but that’s because the vast majority of them are essentially a chat interface combined with dungeon-hacking. There are MUDs where this is not the case, and there are people who enjoy them precisely because this is the case.
I used to be into MUSHes (and their close relatives, MUXes–the only real difference is in the software that runs on the server) because their emphasis was on roleplaying and storytelling within a theme, rather than killing monsters and gaining experience points/items. “Rooms” would be created by the game owners that had text descriptions telling you where in a given world’s theme you were, and you took on the part of a character with a text description of your own appearance, and “posed” your actions by taking turns describing them in text as if you were writing a paragraph or two of a novel. And indeed, a half dozen players cooperating on a scene could churn out a novella-length log of roleplay in a few hours, with the quality of the writing necessarily depending on the improv and writing skills of the roleplayer. I still have some ten megabytes of RP logs sitting on my hard drive, and I was pretty lax about logging.
It was a lot of fun. Provided a great way to kill a night when I was working graveyard. Eventually I burned out on it and moved on–but not before gaining a well-beloved fiancee.
Must…resist…temptation…
Suppose it was reversed…and the word “straight” connoted seriously uncool, dismissable, or embarassingly odd.
Edward_, you are Totally Square, Daddy-o.
Me, I am totally hep to the keen and gear things that kids are into nowadays.
I’ve done a great deal of MUSH/MUXing (still do a little), but MUDding leaves me cold. It’s basically a video game without video.
How about ‘twee?’ Can we use twee instead of gay?
Must…resist…temptation
give in. let your bad self run free.
It’s probably funnier this way, cleek. Which says…what’s the opposite of volumes? about what a funny guy I am.
Speaking of better science-fiction movies (for those of us who can’t wait for “Serenity“), my wife and I were totally blown away by Robot Stories, which we rented from Blockbuster last night. The sci-fi elements were only at the level of an average book in the genre (which still puts it ahead of most movies). In terms of human storytelling, though, it was remarkable. The writing, directing, and acting were all top-notch. The second story (it’s a collection of 4 separate stories) actually made me cry. I can’t remember the last time a movie made me cry.
Like ral, I’m still waiting for the Phantom Tollboooth thread.
With regards to the “g-word”, I think it’s only offensive when used in the grade-school sense of “stupid/uncool”. When used to refer to a person’s sexuality, it’s just a straightforward descriptive with no inherent judgment value.
With regards to the “g-word”, I think it’s only offensive when used in the grade-school sense of “stupid/uncool”. When used to refer to a person’s sexuality, it’s just a straightforward descriptive with no inherent judgment value.
Which is why I don’t believe it’s reached the OQ of the n-word quite yet–which is not only offensive when used by anyone who is not black or included within a specific cultural in-group (and even then its acceptance is by no means universal), but is offensive to the point of being dangerous to use when you’re not “entitled” to do so.
Being referred to as “gay”, OTOH, still has common coin as a value-neutral term descriptive of one’s sexuality.
Wow tonydismukes, another Firefly fan? Shiny! Have you seen the full trailer that’s up now? September is way too long to wait.
As far as our “Phantom Tollbooth” thread, the Humbug has some ideas for us:
Pass a law
Offer a reward
Send for help
Drive a bargain
Pull the switch
File a brief
Lower the boom
Toe the line
Raise the bridge
Bar the door (Shouted while jumping up and down and waving arms)
Has anyone seen Rhyme and Reason?
Heh.
After I went to bed I realized I should have said, “I re-read it in expectation“.
Slart, don’t fret. Some humor is an acquired taste. Believe me, I know.
Opus – the trailer for Serenity looks promising. My concern is that one of Whedon’s greatest strengths is the ability to develop characters over time in an extended series. Even if the movie is wildly successful and leads to more movies, it’s still only the equivalent of a couple of regular episodes per movie, or 2 episodes every 2-3 years. I’d rather see it get back on tv. (Actually I don’t have cable, so I’d have to collect the episodes on DVD, which is how I found the series in the first place.)
tony, I agree about Whedon, but with Firefly, I felt he had his best-established set of characters, right from the start.
I’d rather see it on TV, too (Gorram FOX), but it’s not going to happen. Movies are our only shot to see more of the crew.
Wow tonydismukes, another Firefly fan? Shiny!
And I can just imagine Opus (the commenter) saying this, too, in her best Kaylee voice.
Not that I, y’know, know Opus. She just always reminds me of Kaylee in some way.
I’ve heard the g-word used in contexts where it seemed like it was actually the 8th graders & their linguistic choices being made fun of, the way Jon Stewart uses “Jew-y”–and actually, the Daily Show also “gay” that way sometimes.
Maybe that’s off limits to everyone who doesn’t belong to the group (though you do run the risk of people converting “for the jokes” like Tim the Dentist on Seinfeld), &/or maybe expert satirists can inflect it just right but those with fewer skills should not attempt.
Amusingly, the only person around whom I actually tell Jew jokes is my Jewish fiancee. Except that she’s worse than I am, particularly when she starts channeling her mother and doing the exaggerated accent.
Thanks, Catsy! I suppose I like to think of myself more as Zoe, but you’re probably right.
Thanks, Catsy! I suppose I like to think of myself more as Zoe, but you’re probably right.
Take it as a compliment. I have an /enormous/ crush on Kaylee. It amuses the hell out of Jess.
Being referred to as “gay”, OTOH, still has common coin as a value-neutral term descriptive of one’s sexuality.
I wonder if that’s because the proper term is so long, and its shortened form seems to be more insulting than “gay”?
By the way, speaking of “Must not give in to temptation”, did anyone else’s PBS channel show Sometimes in April last night? It was followed by a discussion that included Mr. Wolfowitz and a number of people that probably disagreed with his ideas regarding Iraq…
States have very broad police powers, so the restriction on internet hunting will be upheld. Because this involves interstate commerce, the federal govt could pass a law specifically allowing internet hunting. this (unlike, say, partial birth abortion bans) would be within the scope of federal powers. Under the Supremacy Clause, the federal law would preempt the state law, allowing californians to hunt in texas.
p.s. standard disclaimer – iaal, but this isn’t legal advice, you aren’t my client, etc.
“Oh–and MUD means what?”
Multi-User Delusion. It’s World of Warcraft without any of the redeeming features.
That said, I wrote enough MUSHcode in a two year span that I could still put together a spreadsheet or an email server in it.
Catsy, did you play on any of the Dune or Battletech MUXen?
Catsy, did you play on any of the Dune or Battletech MUXen?
Nope. Mostly Transformers (and one or two ElfQuest) around 1995-1998, then took a hiatus for a couple of years, and returned with a vengeance to play on Firan and a Harry Potter MUX (where I met Jess) before quitting altogether a year and a half ago. I say “altogether” even though I’ve gone back to Firan once or twice in fits of RP withdrawal, but I think I’m over that.
Jess, on the other hand, still plays, presently on a Buffy MU*.
…as I realize that this reveals me to be King Geek of Geekistan.
…as I realize that this reveals me to be King Geek of Geekistan.
Past experience suggests that them’s fighting words round these parts…
… [fighting words] …
I am the Bishop of East Anglia.
This also brings to mind an episode of Monsterpiece Theater, introduced by Alistair Cookie (a.k.a., Cookie Monster): tonight’s show, Me, Claudius.
You can imagine the scene. Afterward, we hear from our host, “well, me still not sure who Claudius, but this Alistair Cookie saying, ‘goodnight for Monsterpiece Theater.'” He then eats his pipe.
The silver cup for obscure Python references goes to…ral!
Give ral cover fire, boys.
ral gets cover fire only if he’s (she’s?) learned the first rule of hiding.
Please — this is the ‘net, nobody can see.
For the record, “he.”
I can’t believe all this blathering about trivia in the face of the shocking injustice of last week not even touched on — Constantine was robbed!
re Freejack, what’s with Mick Jagger wearing that stupid thing on his head? If they were trying to make him look menacing, they failed big time, and I’m saying this having been a Stones fan since the late 1960s. However, a movie can’t be that bad when Rene Russo is sashaying around.
On the g-word, a fraternity brother of mine retired from Microsoft and decided to teach high school. In class last year, one of the kids said “that is so gay” about something or other. Brian objected to the kid’s words, saying “how would you feel if I said that something was so niggerly” or something to that effect, trying to get the kid to be aware of what he was saying. Soon after, the incident worked its way into media via disgruntled parents and then the local NAACP came a calling. Brian was pretty much forced out of his job after that.
The teacher g-word n-word link. It’s a sad story because I know Brian, and there’s no racist in him.