Shinmaru

My jokey post from earlier probably states well enough how I feel about this, but I'll get serious now. :p [quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']The main reason censorship is around is because there's always someone who wants to push boundaries of violence, drug abuse, sex etc. just because they can. There are also people out there who's beliefs should be censored, Neo Nazis for instance, which should not be protected by the liberty of Freedom of Speech.[/SIZE][/quote] Honestly, that's a total crock. I disagree vehemently with the viewpoint of Neo Nazis, but as far as I'm concerned, they're as welcome to discuss their views as you and I. So are the Ku Klux Klan. So are Al-Qaeda. And so on and so forth. The main problem with deciding whose beliefs should be censored is this: Who exactly is qualified enough to actually decide for [i]everyone[/i] who has the "right" opinion and who has the "wrong" opinion? There are so many, many different views in the world about everything under the sun, and if someone thinks that he or she can shuffle certain views into one place and declare them absolutely correct and all others absolutely wrong, then I would say that person has a very naïve, self-delusional view of the world. The world does not run on an absolute, black and white basis. All views should be protected by the liberty of Freedom of Speech, because all views are worthy of discussion. You don't get anyplace by banning everything that you think is bad and pretending that the world is one big, happy place where people with "undesirable" views don't exist; rather, you advance via confronting those views by allowing people to speak their minds, after which you rationally discuss the merits of those views. Getting people to understand the rationale behind Neo-Nazism, and how utterly insane it is, is much more beneficial than censoring their views, which is basically the equivalent of clapping your hands over your eyes and ears and shouting, "LALALA IF I CAN'T HEAR YOU THEN YOU DON'T EXIST!!" As for pushing the boundaries in regards to violence, drug use, sex, etc., I'll defend that, too, and for the same reason. It gets people talking about those issues. Given the choice between being exposed to something that makes me a bit uncomfortable and being ignorant of something, then I would choose the former every time. My views on those issues have changed so much, and for the better, in my opinion, as I've grown older, because I've been exposed to them and my naïveté regarding them has disappeared. Children are a whole different ballpark, but even then it's just up to the parent to decide what he or she wishes to have the child exposed to. If you think something is too racy for your child to watch/play/listen to/whatever, then do your best to keep your child from doing so until he or she is ready to, and if the child somehow [i]does[/i] see something of "questionable" content (which is almost inevitable, really lol), then do your best to put it in context. Banning and censoring is a cheap substitute for discourse, since things that we'd rather not see still exist and will continue to exist regardless of whether we ban them or not.

This morning I watched [b]The Skeleton Key[/b]. It's an okay flick... the setting is probably my favorite part about the film. The plantation house is nice and unsettling, and the swampy New Orleans area is like something out of an old-fashioned horror movie. As far as acting goes, everyone is solid, with John Hurt being the standout. His character has maybe four or five lines in the entire movie, and his face is frozen in the same position due to his character having suffered a stroke, but his eyes are eerily expressive. Just one look into them tells you everything you need to know about how utterly terrified he is. The ending seems to be what most people talk about when they mention this movie, and it is a nice twist ending. There are clues everywhere, so I guess that you can see it coming if you pay attention to every little thing up to that point and are able to put everything together. I am not quite that observent, however; the ending surprised me nicely. :P Not really a must-see film, but it's a fun watch.

I didn't watch The Office last season, for whatever reason, but I'm definitely looking forward to joining the bandwagon, haha. I've heard tons of great things, and reading up on it, it definitely seems like the kind of show I'd love, especially since it seems to have an Office Space feel to it, albeit with more emphasis on the co-workers' relationships with each other. --- Watched the season premiere tonight. Hilarious stuff, I wasn't disappointed at all. Michael and Dwight were especially hysterical, easily my two favorite characters so far... their phone call to Jim about the "gaydar" was great, as was Dwight [spoiler]kissing Oscar after Michael did just so he could follow his lead.[/spoiler] What a dork. And the ending... hahaha. "Oh no." That cracked me up. Michael in the board room was great, too: "I don't care if you're gay, straight, lesbian, or overweight..." Ha. I obviously don't feel for them as much as someone who has been watching the series since the beginning, but the Jim/Pam stuff was definitely sad, most notably for me when Pam looks over at Ryan after Michael makes his "We're ALL homos... homo saipiens" comment, and doesn't get the type of shared reaction that she'd probably get from Jim. I need to see the first two seasons of the show so I can get the most out of those moments. :(

[quote name='John']Jericho looks somewhat interesting to me, but I'm also worried it's just a reaction to those other continuous-storyline drama/mysteries out there like 24 and Lost. I'll catch the premiere if I can (though it won't be for a while in America), and if I don't like it then oh well. lol[/quote] Actually, Jericho premiered last night. I didn't watch it, though, because I can't say that I'm very interested in it lol.

Great episode tonight. Euthanasia is of course a very delicate issue, and I like how it was handled here. Personally, I think that Cameron made the correct decision when she [spoiler]ended the patient's life.[/spoiler] It's nice to see her not only stating her principles but actually backing them up with action, even though it's a difficult decision to make. The ending with House patting her shoulder and telling her that he's proud of her is a hell of a powerful ending. And, yeah, House being cranky as hell during the first fifteen minutes of the show was awesome, and he was a total dick to the patient throughout, haha. He was noncommittal when Cameron asked him how he felt about [spoiler]the doctor's experiments irradiating children and the medicinal advances that came from them[/spoiler], but I'd like to think that at least [i]some[/i] of House's ire towards the guy came from a disagreement about that. Who knows if that's even the case though? He could easily have brought it up merely to manipulate Cameron into helping him, though, again, I'd like to think that House has some definite morals and isn't a total asshole lol. Oh, and it's hilarious how much of a horny bastard House is. First he gets an idea for a solution while staring at Cuddy's boobs, and this week he figures things out after staring at that one girl's thong. Ha. The sneak peek for next week's episode was great too. "You can't stop our love!" XD

[quote name='Bleeding Soul']WOW. Death note is an awsome seiries. I can't wait to get the movie. I'm only on book six since thats all that's been released here though.[/quote] Actually, Volume 7 was released a couple of weeks ago, and Volume 8 should be coming out in about a month and a half. :) EDIT: Unless you live outside of America, in which case I look dumb. :p

I'm slightly surprised that a thread was not already made about this show - I can't really think of another pilot that was more hyped this season than Studio 60's. For those who don't know, the show is about the behind the scenes activities of a fictional live sketch comedy show, Studio 60, that has more than a few similarities to Saturday Night Live (especially in the beginning of the pilot :p). The pilot begins with Studio 60's executive producer, Wes, fighting the network censor to keep a great, but potentially controversial, sketch on the show; the sketch is cut, and, in frustration, Wes storms onstage and delivers a rant on live TV about how awful his show has become and the dire state of television in general. He's fired, the studio needs a replacement for him, and so on and so forth. There's obviously much more to the episode, but I don't want to give [i]too[/i] much away, since if you missed it last night, you can see the repeat on Bravo at 8:00 PM tomorrow. Anyway, I was skeptical as to whether the pilot could actually come close to meeting the ginormous hype behind it, but it was pretty damn entertaining and set things up very well for the rest of the season. You can't really ask for much more than that from a pilot, and if Studio 60 keeps going at this pace, I could easily see it becoming one of the best shows on TV. The cast is great (Matthew Perry's character being "high as a kite" the whole time and Amanda Peet taking charge like it's nothing at all were the highlights for me) and the writing is sharp (Wes' speech was great, of course, as were the several points in the episode where various characters were verbally owned - Harriet putting down the rookie cast member was vicious, haha). I'm becoming addicted to this show already lol. Anyone else watch Studio 60? What'd you think of it?

The only covers that are any good are those in which the band approach the cover in their own style and offer up a fresh interpretation of the song, so, yes, the bands doing good covers deserve praise for their creative work. Really, the possibilities are nearly limitless when it comes to covers, because there are so many things that a band could do to tweak the feel of the original song: They could change the beat, change the tempo, add/take away instruments, or even just sing the lyrics in a different way so that the entire meaning of a song shifts in a different direction. Covers can become completely new songs depending on what the band does. For example, there's "Touch Me I'm Sick." [url=http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~ptn/mudhoney/lyrics/tmisick.html][b]Looking at the lyrics[/b][/url], it's obvious that the song is sexual in nature. The original Mudhoney version is played fairly slow, with a lo-fi, grungy quality to it, and is sung by Mark Arm with this weird, growling yowl. The song has a very dirty, sleazy feel to it lol. When Sonic Youth covered it, they sped the song up a [i]lot[/i], and with Kim Gordon practically singing herself hoarse by the end of the track, there's more of a desperate longing in the sexuality. It's a great cover. :) Sonic Youth did another great cover with "Superstar" (which was actually a cover when The Carpenters released it, though they made the song famous). I like The Carpenters version just fine, but I think that the low-key route that Sonic Youth took with the song connected much better with the kind of yearning that "Superstar" is all about. Karen Carpenter's singing is fantastic in The Carpenters' version, and it hits the heart of the song just right, but the music is too damn happy lol. It really takes me out of the song when I listen to it. So, yeah, good covers definitely aren't just a band riding on the success of more famous bands.

I never watch McLaughlin Group, but I remember the Saturday Night Live parody sketches from way back when with Dana Carvey as John McLaughlin. I love how ridiculous those were, with McLaughlin allowing like five seconds for each guest to answer the question, and then immediately shouting, "WRONG!" and giving his absurd response in return, haha. They were fantastic. :)

I'll say that you have three grandparents. I'm pretty sure that you mentioned [i]somewhere[/i] that you use some form of Photoshop, and the other two I just eliminated for the hell of it.

Thank God someone else posted in this thread lol. [QUOTE=JCBaggee][color=darkred][size=1][spoiler]"The lab couldn't identify the metal. It may not even be...terrestrial." "Really?" "No! You idiot!"[/spoiler][/color][/size][/QUOTE] That was fantastic. I also loved House quoting The Rock in response to Cameron's theory, with him and Foreman both doing the eyebrow raise right after. God, that ruled so much. The gag with House obsessing over larger and larger viewing screens and the dad from the season premiere [spoiler]wanting a bucket of Viagra[/spoiler] were also quite funny. Last week's episode was chock full of hilarious ****, haha. The solution to the kid's problem was awesome too. Watching House work through these obscure medical puzzles is great TV. Strong ending, too, with [spoiler]the friendship between House and Wilson definitely going through a bit of a strain.[/spoiler]

[quote name='indifference][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue']I think Sandy hit it right on with the statement that it?s not the words but the way they are said. And then once a word is associated with a certain negativity it just spreads until the word carries that meaning even if that isn?t what it originally meant. Or rather people start to see the word as having the negative meaning instead of the orginal meaning. [/COLOR][/quote] Bingo. I think a nice (reversed) example of this is the way that 'nigger' (or 'nigga' I guess) is used by many African-Americans now. The manner in which they're using it is essentially a giant fuck you to everyone who used it, and continues to use it, as such a horrid symbol of racial hatred. African-Americans are taking that word away from the racists and diluting its power. Obviously the word itself still holds some power (or, rather, the [i]feeling[/i] behind it holds the power), but a weapon is being taken away. In my view, anyway. The word's increasingly common use in comedy is reflective of that as well. More comedians are becoming less afraid of using it and treating 'nigger' (and the feeling behind it) as the joke it really is. Because, honestly, racial hatred is such an absurdity, and while it does need to be taken seriously, it's nice to know that people can also take a step back and laugh at how utterly bizarre it is. It's the same for other slurs as well. You have no idea how often (and how casually lol) I hear my friends drop 'wetback' into conversations. The term is just so silly to us lol. "Oh, those darned illegals - we'll show those bastards, why, we'll think up a stupid name for them all like they're some vague menace coming to destroy us! Damn wetbacks! Ooh, I should write that one down!" Forgive me if my ego isn't fazed by your idiotic phrases, buddy. :rolleyes: I'll give this to racial slurs, though - they sure as hell make it a lot easier to know who I shouldn't give a rat's ass about.

[quote name='John][[spoiler]Poster found guilty thoughtcrime. Minitrue mark post doubleplusungood. Miniluv make poster goodthink fullwise.[/spoiler']][/quote] Don't pollute this board with your filth.

[b][url=http://www.shinmaru-e.com/]It's just a random name I chose for my corporation.[/b][/url] I use it everywhere I go for advertising purposes.

You're a good man for bringing this thread back, Azure. [QUOTE=AzureWolf][COLOR=maroon][url]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5009207270086582589&q=Alizee[/url] She's French, 'nuff said. My only gripe with her is that she's hot enough that she doesn't need to dance or dress like a slut. In most of her performances, she either dresses very exotically, or dances really promiscuously, (like the video above), or both.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] And good god, yes, on this lol. Alizee doesn't sing the type of music I normally go for, but she's got a nice voice and she's gorgeous, so hey. Some things I can overlook. :p I'm tired right now, but you can rest assured that I'll add a bit more to the lust later on. :P

The Wii conference is going on in Japan right now. Apparently Wii's American release date is November 19th (my birthday, yay!); it's retailing for $250 and will be packaged with Wii Sports. I'm not really surprised about the price, even though most people seemed to be insisiting upon $199.99. It's still not a bad price at all. Wii Sports as the package game is sort of weird, but then again, it isn't exactly out of left field. It's a good game to ease people into the mechanics of the Wiimote. Hopefully there will be some sort of Twilight Princess package though. Also, Virtual Console Games will be sold for $5-10 each, which is also not very surprising.

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]I've only ever used Pandora to get listening reccomendations. Otherwise I'm more than happy with the stat counters at Last.fm, kids.[/font][/color'][/size][/quote] Same here. Nothing against Pandora (it's definitely good for some nice music recommendations), but I don't care for listening to online music stations in general (Yahoo!, Last.fm's station, or whatever else). It's just far more convenient for me to pull out whatever I feel like listening to in my own collection. Pandora is pretty nice if you don't have tons of music available to listen to, though, I'll admit (or if you're somehow bored with all of the music that you [i]do[/i] have). And, yes, I love stats too. Yay, Last.fm. :P

[quote name='Lady Katana][color=darkblue][size=1]I thought we did have an OB group over yonder. Chromosome Cowboys ring a bell? lol[/color'][/size][/quote] Eh, I see that as an unofficial OB group at best. It's more of a group for our blogroll, since most of the "recruitment" went on over there. Besides, Tony is the leader of that group, and he barely even goes to OB these days lol.

I was going to take a new picture for this thread but that's not possible at the moment. Die, technology. So instead you're all getting a bunch of older pics of me. It's not like my appearance has evolved at all since I first registered here anyway. [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/DSCN0127.jpg[/IMG][/center] My ghetto pirate costume from a couple of years back. I'm still proud of that hat. [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/DSCN0132.jpg[/IMG][/center] Posing on the ol' porch. My poor hat is falling. :( [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/Anime%20Expo%202005/DSCN0071.jpg[/IMG][/center] "I felt a great disturbance in the Internet, as if a million geeks suddenly cried out in pleasure and were suddenly silenced..." It speaks for itself. [center][img]http://shinmaru.250free.com/MyLordAndMaster.JPG[/img][/center] An old favorite. I'm like a son to him, really. [center][img]http://shinmaru.250free.com/DSCN0072.JPG[/img][/center] We both survived but I was traumatized to the point where I can never stick my head inside of a giant fish ever again. New picture tomorrow perhaps maybe.

[QUOTE=Boo][size=1]NevR!1![/size][size=1]I guess it makes it easier to find music and it may be an easier way to link you to artists that you might like. The tags just look messy to me, though.[/size][/QUOTE] Same here. I added tags for some of the bands I listen to, and it just got very annoying after a while lol. It's not really worth it to tag a lot... not to me, anyway.

I thought that there had been a Last.fm thread on OB before, but I searched for it and found nothing. Maybe I was thinking of a different forum lol. If you don't know what it is, [b][url=http://www.last.fm/dashboard/]Last.fm[/url][/b] is basically a site that keeps track of what music you listen to via a plugin that you can download for your media player of choice. The site also offers an Internet radio service, though I honestly have not messed around with that too much, and other somewhat nifty things that I also have not played around with much. As you can see, I take complete advantage of everything Last.fm has to offer. Anyway, I like the site because I enjoy being able to keep easy track of how much I've listened to certain artists. You know, sometimes I'll randomly scroll through my giant chart o' artists, think to myself, "Man, I haven't listened to Pelican for a while," and then give them a listen. And, really, charts are just fun. Or maybe it's just me who thinks so. Hm. I also like checking out other people's sites to see who they've been listening to lately. It's a fun comparison of musical tastes, though a person's Top 50 chart obviously isn't a 100% accurate glimpse into his or her musical preferences. The thing's pretty accurate on the whole, however. Plus, it's just a good opportunity to become clued in on some bands I might not have heard about before - if a friend has listened a ton to a certain artist who I'm not aware of, that's bound to get me curious lol. Anyway, who else here uses Last.fm? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Go crazy, everyone! [b][url=http://www.last.fm/user/Shinmaru/]Here's my site, by the way.[/url][/b] Add me as a friend if you like. Maybe we can get some sort of Last.fm OB group going. :O

My avatar is taken from the cover of Soundgarden's [i]Superunknown[/i]. I hadn't listened to the album for a few years, and I randomly decided to give it a spin recently. It's just as great as I remember it being - better, actually. Now I'm obsessed with it all over again. Yay! The ol' custom title is part of a lyric I like from the final song on [i]Superunknown[/i], "Like Suicide." Because the whole thing wouldn't fit, it's continued at the bottom of my signature and is randomly used as a link to my website (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL TOTALLY VISIT BTW). That 'banner' is something available to Last.fm users. Every one of you can see what I'm listening to and worship/deride me and my godlike/god awful musical taste. There's much more of the former, I'm sure. Lastly, I've had that dedication to Arcadia in my signature for ages now. I'm not about to take the darn thing out any time soon. When I say 'forever and always,' I mean it, no matter HOW creepy it may seem, damn it!! I sort of wish that I hadn't written it so that it reads like she's dead or something though. Whoops. :animeswea Then again, she may as well be dead what with how little she visits OB these days. I kid, I kid! EDIT: Also, there's now a plug for Koopa Cabana, a Nintendo fansite I contribute to. Visit, everyone![/shameless plug]

You're a hell of a guy, Des. Keep on rockin'. [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/DesbrekoLoveLetter.jpg[/IMG][/center] And, yes, my arms DO form right triangles whenever he greets me. Every time. [size=1][color=darkblue]Fixed your tags. Learn how to use the Internet, Shinmaroo. -Shy[/size][/color] EDIT: Yes, sir. :(

Quite a bump but whatever. The third season of House began tonight. I watched a few episodes last season and liked them, so I figured that I'd follow the show the whole way through this year. Tonight's episode was good. The story with the two paralyzed patients is the usual solid medical drama you get on House with a cool moment when [spoiler]the dad gets up from his wheelchair after Cuddy gives him the injection[/spoiler]. House himself is obviously the main draw of the show (pretty big travesty that Hugh Laurie wasn't nominated for an Emmy, by the way), though, and tonight's show did a great job of delving further into House's motives for doing what he does (especially in regards to his shift in personality and interaction with others following his recovery from the gunshot wounds) and into how House faces up to his own flaws. The ending is interesting since House stated before that [spoiler]his addiction to Vicodin is not a problem in his life - breaking into Dr. Wilson's office to secure a prescription would seem to prove otherwise, to say the least lol.[/spoiler] The image of House sitting alone in the dark room just before that is kind of sad too. His leg sort of masked the other problems he had; it'll be interesting to see whether Wilson's decision to [spoiler]not have Cuddy tell House that his treatment recommendation worked[/spoiler] will help or hinder things (probably the latter :p). By the way, for pure entertainment value, the visual of House on a skateboard is beyond hilarious. His use of "rad" is great as well, haha.

[b][url=http://www.personaldna.com/report.php?k=hIOlXRPPcgDRgXf-EE-CAAAA-dffa&u=e9f50dd269b4]Generous Idealist[/url][/b] I think it nailed down how truly great I am. As for you people who scored low on empathy... well, since I'm so gosh darned generous, I will offer you my friendship in the hopes that your interaction with me will someday heighten your appreciation for and understanding of the thoughts and feelings of the inhabitants of this great world.