Gavin

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well I've had seven different usernames on three accounts over four years, so I might as well give a run through them all rather than just simply answer that my current username is my actual Christian name and end the mystique. On to the listing of previous usernames and their respective explanations then, I'll go in chronological order from earliest to latest. [B]1] Majin Gogeta:[/B] I?m not a hundred percent sure whether or not there was a space between the Majin and the Gogeta but that was definitely my first OB username from either late September or early October 2001. The background to the name is fairly simple, I was a Dragonball Z addict at the time and had been reading up on season ahead of the Frieza Saga, the character Gogeta as well as the Majin process seemed interesting so I combined them to get the username. [B]2] Shadowed Demise:[/B] The second username and second user account was created a month or so after the first one after I got tired of the Dragonball Z styled handle, this was back before username changes were available. Where the name came from, honestly I have no idea or at least four years on can?t recall, it didn?t really matter anyway because the name itself would be retired like it?s predecessor a month later. [B]3] Red XIII:[/B] My third username and the username on the account which I?ve managed to keep for nigh on four years, I started the account and took the name on the 12th of December 2001. The explanation of the name is simple for anyone who has played Final Fantasy VII, and for anyone who hasn?t then I?d seriously advise you to because it?s a great game. I took Red XIII as opposed to say Barrett because Red XIII was the character I identified with the most in the game. [B]4] Outcast:[/B] I honestly don?t recall when I changed from Red XIII to Outcast, it was either in the first or second lot of username changes that were advertised, as to where the name came from, like Red XIII it came from a videogame, in this case Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. The outcast in this case is Kyle Katarn who is my favourite NJO Jedi, and I don?t think there?s really anything more to it than that. [B]5] Lynx:[/B] I chose this name in 2003 to replace Outcast which I?d been getting a bit tired of, this new username was taken from the deodorant and honestly until I actually submitted it as the new name I wasn?t even fully sure it was the one I wanted. There?s actually not a whole lot more to be said about this one, so I?ll move on to the second last one. [B]6] Kane:[/B] I had a conversation with my wife Raiha about where I got this username not so long ago and while one source had more influence than the others, there were in fact several. The first and greatest influence came from the Command & Conquer series, more specifically Tiberium Sun, the main villain in the game is called Kane and while he was undoubtedly mad, he had an eerie charm about him. The second source which I actually denied to my wife but is true enough is that it came from the wrestler in the WWF, bearing in mind that I was much younger when I followed wrestling and mainly took the name from the Tiberium Sun game. The same source for the name came from my primary school principal who had Kane as his last name. [B]7] Gavin:[/B] There?s really not a whole lot to this name, back in 2004 a good few of my friends started to take their first names as their usernames and as I was sick of being referred to as Kane as opposed to my actual name I decided to change it to Gavin and end the annoyance once and for all, plus after three years I was an Oldie and felt it was appropriate I have my Christian name as my username. After taking the name which is also Dragon Warrior?s first name one particular member tried to influence me into changing my name again and leaving Gavin as a possible choice for DW. My response was quick and irritated, I?m older than Gavin so Gavin was my name first, so if I want to use it, I?ll use it. Having had six previous usernames I?m happy to just stick with this one until I leave. [/SIZE]

[quote name='indifference][COLOR=Indigo']I might call you old fashioned, but not sexist. It is one thing to say you would prefer that she stay home versus the true sexist who would expect it and demand that she stay home. Nothing wrong with being a gentleman in my opinion I think you state it quite nicely.[/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]Thanks indifference, I've found in secondary/high school, especially certain classes with female teachers of a certain view voicing opinions such as mine can get you labelled as some kind of misogynist or dinosaur. Honestly if I thought I could take better care of the kids and do the housework I'd be happy to stay at home as a stay-at-home dad and let my wife be the main provider. It's only down to the fact that women often don't make the same as men in the same job that would make me more inclined to offer my wife the opportunity to raise the children, plus there's the whole bond the mother already has with the newborn. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. The overall differences between a man and a woman lie in the reproductive organs and the chromosomes, I think there's one other one I'm forgetting that also truly draws the line but for the life of me I just can't recall it. By reproductive organs I'm talking about the testes and the ovaries as well as the womb in the case of a woman, the most advanced surgeons in the field of gender change can create the appearance of the more obvious differences between a man and a woman, but cannot create these organs or change the chromosomes and that is what really separates a woman from a man who's had a gender change. That's the scientific definition of the differences, but we were asked what we considered the definition of our own gender to be. In my own case I think that to be a true man, you must be a gentleman in all aspects of your life, and all your dealings with other people. You must strive to be the pinnacle of virtue and honour, even if some others would find such principles in modern times to be old fashioned. By nature I'm an old fashioned kind of man myself, while I'd have no problem with my wife going out working and holding down a full time job, if finances permitted it I would prefer that she stayed home and raised the children. I know some of you will immediately think sexist when you read that, but my mother works full time and myself and my siblings were raised by our maternal grandmother who lived with us and took care of us from birth, I've never known childminders or babysitters because I always had family taking care of me and it gave me great respect for the role mother and in my case grandmothers can have in a child's life. As a man I think I would prefer sons as opposed to daughters, but this for me is down purely to the fact that I wouldn't be able to handle a daughter like my sister, and as a man I think it'd connect better with a son. I find it much easier to speak to my father about things than I do my mother, maybe it's a rapport, maybe it's down to the fact that we're both men but I know a lot of men want sons where as a lot of women want daughters. The ability to fight for and defend my family would be important to me, but the ability to fight full-stop wouldn't be important to me as a man, and nor would I consider it to be a trait men should consider important. Before humans formed civilizations and even after the formation of civilization men were hunters, not fighters, they took care of their families needs where as woman took care of the children and I think those roles are still important in the modern world. Call me sexist or old fashioned, but I'd like to take care of my wife and family because it's my job as a gentleman and as a man.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Let's see, a few more jokes to add to the pot.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=A man walks into a pub...][FONT=Trebuchet MS]A man walks into pub and orders three pints, he sits down at a table and drinks them one at a time until he has all three finished. He gets up from the table, bids the barman goodnight and leaves the pub to go home, the following night he does the same, and the night after that, and the night after that. Finally on the fifth night, the barman asks the man why he continuously orders three pints at the same time rather than one pint after another as to keep the pints fresh. The man responds by saying that he and two other friends were very close growing up and after leaving college for their respective careers and places of residence, they made the promise to drink one pint for each of the other two friends to always remember the times they shared together. The barman's question suitably answered returns to his duties and thinks no more of the man ordering his three pints. Months go by until finally one day the man comes in and only orders two pints, the barman pats him on the shoulder and tells him that the two pints are on the house on account of his recent loss. The man looks confused for a moment before smiling and shaking his head saying "Oh no, the two other lads are fine, I've just given up drinking."[/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]I'll admit the joke is better told in person, rather than written down.[/SIZE] [quote name='Bombu][color=darkred']Weirdsville. Gavin, my dad is always sending me jokes through e-mails and text messages, and that blonde joke was one of them... o_O;;[/color][/quote] [SIZE=1]Fancy that, though it's probably a fairly commonly emailed joke, as all blonde jokes are.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I thought the added Halloween graphics were excellent, and the morbid "Hang Around" joke provoked a small chuckle having seen the film Corpse Bride only a few days before. I must admit I was slightly disappointed my stomping grounds didn't get the same witty title change that the other Category Forums did, I suppose it being renamed Bedlam wouldn't be inaccurate.[/SIZE] [quote name='Raiyuu][color=DarkSlateBlue][font=Trebuchet MS]I reckon it would be cool to make this a seasonal tradition; temporary new graphics for important holidays, like what [b][url="http://www.google.com"]Google[/url][/b] does. So OB could get snow-covered at Christmas, and go green on St Patrick's Day![/font'][/color][/quote] [SIZE=1]I love the idea of some Saint Patrick's Day graphics, even the stereotypical and incorrect ones involving copious amounts of drinking and fighting with a handful of Leprechauns with be nice. Plus all those with Irish relatives or ancestors could get together for a right old time, reminiscing about the Emerald Isle. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I've never been a fan of the Smilies at all, though as a newbie I'll admit to having used them when the words to properly articulate my emotions wouldn't come. Just looking at the little things as I go to reply to this post is irritating as I've always considered them to be an enemy of good posting quality. One in a post to compound your feelings is OK, but a multitude of them is just asking for trouble.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Chabi I thought you're last set of jokes were great, especially the bat one. Here are two jokes sent to me by my father on my birthday last year. [/SIZE] [QUOTE=Understanding Women][FONT=Trebuchet MS]A man walking along a California beach was deep in thought and prayer. All of a sudden he said out loud: "Lord, grant me one wish." Suddenly the sky clouded over above his head, and in a booming voice the Lord said "Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish"; The man thought and said "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over anytime I want". The Lord said "Your request is very materialistic. Think of the logistics of that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little time and think of another wish, a wish you think would honour and glorify me" The man thought about it for a long time. Finally he said "Lord, I wish that I could understand women. I want to know how they feel inside, what they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment, why they cry, what they mean when they say 'nothing,' and how I can make a woman truly happy." After a few minutes God said "You want two or four lanes on that bridge?" [CENTER]----------[/CENTER] A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and says that her body hurts wherever she touches it. "Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me." The redhead takes her finger, pushes on her left breast and screams, then she pushes her elbow and screams in even more agony. She pushes her knee and screams; likewise she pushes her ankle and screams. Everywhere she touches makes her scream. The doctor says, "You're not really a redhead, are you? "Well, no" she says, "I'm actually a blonde." "I thought so," the doctor says. "Your finger is broken."[/FONT] [/QUOTE]

[quote name='Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f']Hmm, I 've been thinking the whole time that it was "Gay-vin".[/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]I had actually considered putting that down with the other two as a way my name has been mispronounced before, though in reality I've only had my name pronounced as "Gay-vin" when my brother wants to irritate me. I could see how it might be mispronounced as "Gay-in" given they way the letters G and A put together can be pronounced like "Gay", but in this case the A is pronounced "Ah thus "Gahvin" would be the proper pronunciation. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. It's been a while since that last joke thread and so long as there are no Irish jokes I'll be content. My joke comes courtesy of an email sent to my father at work which he sent on to me, I read it probably a week or two ago and it took me nearly ten minutes to stop laughing.[/SIZE] [quote=Joke: Money][FONT=Trebuchet MS]A young boy went up to his father and asked him, "Dad, what is the difference between potentially and realistically?" The father thought for a moment, then answered, "Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars. Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars, and then ask your brother if he'd sleep with Tom Cruise for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that." So the boy went to his mother and asked, "Would you sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars?" The mother replied, "Of course I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great university." The boy then went to his sister and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?" The girl replied, "Oh my God! I LOVE Brad Pitt! I would sleep with him in a heartbeat, are you nuts?!?!?" The boy then went to his brother and asked, "Would you sleep with Tom Cruise for a million dollars?" "Of course," the brother replied. "Do you know how much a million could buy?" The boy pondered the answers for a few days, then went back to his dad. His father asked him, "Did you find out the difference between potentially and realistically?" The boy replied, "Yes, sir. Potentially, you and I are sitting on three million dollars. But, realistically, we're living with two sluts and a queer." [/FONT] [/quote] [SIZE=1]I suppose it could be construed as being slightly offensive, but I personally was in tears laughing having read it.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=kuroinuyoukai]I have a joke to share. It is a dirty joke, though not explicit. It is a read between the lines. Ok here goes. It was the first day of school and the teacher had already started class. A boy walked in and the teacher said,"Why are you late?". The boy said ,"I was on Blueberry Hill." the teacher says whatever and tells him to sit down. Ten minutes later another boy walks in. He explains that he was also on Blueberry Hill. The teacher tells him to sit down. A few minutes later a girl walks in and hands a note to the teacher. The teacher asks her name. The Girl says,"Hi, I'm Blueberry Hill!". Sorry it's corny. Maybe the site police won't hurt me-much!! :flasher: :devil:[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Not to be a kill-joy, but as I recall the punch line of the that joke should actually involve the girl coming in and the teacher saying irritated "I suppose you've been up on Blueberry/Cherry Hill too", to which she replies "No I [B]am[/B] Cherry Hill".[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Dagger]Wow, this thread is turning out to be quite informative. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]I'm in definite agreement with you Dagger, so far I've found out that I've been pronouncing the names of four out the ten people here incorrectly, which makes me feel like a bit of an amadáin given I know two of those people who's names I've been getting wrong very well. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. To make a short story long, as is a special trait of mine, I joined Otakuboards probably a week or so after the unveiling of Version 3 under a username which is now buried somewhere in the grey matter I like to pretend in a fully-functioning brain. I believe it was either late September or early October 2001 when I joined the first time, given that I'm sure I held a username with a number between 1000 and 1100, I posted maybe seven or eight times under that username before abandoning it when I grew to dislike the name. Next a joined as Shadowed Demise in November and made some more posts before abandoning it two and rejoining, as this was the time before username changes were introduced. Finally on December 12th 2001 I joined under the name Red XIII after the Final Fantasy VII character whom I'd come to think was rather cool and started posting with a more purposeful approach, that being an attempt to understand that rather and sometimes unnecessarily complex story inherent to all Final Fantasy games. As Red XIII I moved into the forum I now frequent the most and have always felt the most comfortable in: The Arena or The Square as it's now called. Over the course of the next few years I built up many great friends in The Arena and rather than tax my poor memory to boiling point I'm merely going to say that you all know who you are. I changed my username in 2002 to Outcast which is probably the name I'm best known for, before changing it again to Lynx in 2003 and again shortly afterwards to Kane which I stuck with for a good while before changing it for the final time in 2004 to Gavin. I've had the honour of being part of some great moments on Otakuboards, including several really enjoyable RPGs, met some amazing people, had the privilege of being thought of very highly by many in the Arena as well as the staff, and for coining the use of one's nationality in the User Title and the phrase "Interesting, most interesting" which I will never ever stop using. I've always loved being on OB and I believe I always will be, and even after four years of great times and great memories I look forward to the future. [/SIZE] [quote name='Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]And yeah. I miss the old OB days.[/color'][/size][/quote] [SIZE=1]I doubt there's a single Oldie here who doesn't miss the good old days, I'd personally give my left arm to bring the quality we have in the Arena today to the energy we had in the Arena back then.[/size]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well given my current username, which incidentally is my actual first name one would expect most people to be able to pronounce it without any great difficulty. It has instead been my experience to be called "Ga-ven" and "Ga-veen" as opposed to just "Gavin", though even getting close to my actually name should be commendable, given the other names beginning with G I'm often called, and even some names that sound like Gavin, such as Kevin. [/SIZE] [quote name='Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f']I bet half of the members here have been thinking the whole time that it's "cha-bee-choo".[/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]Well I must admit I always thought it would be pronounced "cha-bee-chow", given it's similarity to the Italian word for goodbye. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. At nearly nineteen it's been probably three or four years since I last went Trick-or-Treating, and given that I live in a small village the rewards for the night have never really been great. I've never been one to wear anything very out-of-the-ordinary, even at Halloween though I used to put a fair bit of effort into actually getting them to look the part. Going from latest to earliest as best I can remember, the list goes something like this. [B]IRA Member:[/B] Having just entered Transition Year in High School, myself and a bunch of friends decided to put a military twist to the costumes for the Halloween party, with the exception of any idiots who thought coming as Nazis would be funny. Now before someone jumps down my throat saying that my being an IRA member wasn't all that different, my costume was based on the original IRA from the early Irish War of Independence and not the modern paramilitaries. Basically the costume itself was just some old style clothing borrowed from an uncle and a long coat belonging to my grandfather. [b]Vagrant:[/b] Like Annie's hobo costume this merely involved dicing up some old dirty clothing and mussing up my hair a bit, added accessories included a bindle and a torn hat belonging to my dad. The costume was a little too successful for my tastes prompting several "poor thing, here's some money" responses from people. That costume came two years before the IRA one, as I was ill the entire week of Halloween the year after my vagrant costume. I can't accurately recall the list in proper order beyond these two, but those costumes that I do remember wearing included a ghost, which involved a sheet with eye-holes. One of the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Leonardo I think, Dracula with a plastic mask and cotton cape and finally a zombie skeleton with a rubber mask which I found exceptionally hard to breathe in. All and all at eighteen I'm quite happy to give Halloween a skip this year round.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Alright so I have one hour to live with absolutely no hope of a cure being administered within that time period, and the question is, what would I do in that hour ? Well first things first I'd make peace with everyone I needed to make peace with, which would probably take far more than an hour, but for the sake of the discussion we'll say it'd take less than that. Secondly I'd say goodbye to my family and settle all my accounts as to who would get what when I die, there's nothing worse that people arguing at a funeral over who should be entitled to what. Thirdly and finally I'd go to my local Church, confess all my sins and be forgiven for them and pray quietly until the end comes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. First and foremost I think that the British version of Big Brother needs to go, I haven't a clue what series it was this year, but they just seem to be dredging the most pathetic individuals off the streets and calling them "the housemates". God knows we'd actually get a couple of intellectuals who are willing to talk about something remotely interesting. I mean the show is only ever remotely entertaining when people are ready to go nuts at one another, I say but drugs to increase their aggressiveness into the food (or perhaps alcohol) and just sit back and watch the consequences, though as I recall the actual idea on which Big Brother was based was something similar to the above. The Simpsons, alright Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, you've had eighteen seasons and done just about everything with the characters you can do, including turning Lisa Buddhist, having Bart and Homer become Roman Catholics and having aunt Patty/Selma come out as being gay. Enough is enough, the show isn't funny any more aside from perhaps moments from the side cast of misfits that inhabit the city of Springfield. As per the timeline, you can't have Bart being ten years old eighteen years ago and the same goes from everyone else, God knows how many summer holidays have we've witnessed and he's still in the Fourth Grade. This show just needs to vanish from our screens as soon as possible, perhaps with a quiet d'oh from Homer and an apology from Matt Groening. The final thing that needs to die, at least in it's current incarnation is Transformers, I grew up watching Generation One and loved it because it was a cartoon that wasn't afraid to pull it's punches in regard to content and characters. The newest Armada and Energon, and probably Cybertron but I've yet to see it are nothing short of a disgrace to their origins. It is the typical children's moral pulp that seems to just flood modern cartoons today, I mean in the Generation One movie we see Prime and Megatron properly tear into one another, we see Transformers actually die properly and not be rebuilt two episodes later and there are not crap children who just take up air time with their ********. Aside from those three and "reality TV" in general I can't really think of anything else that needs to vanish from our screens forever, rather than be repeated ad-infinitum.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [quote name='Sage']Actually, once upon a time there was a section called "Newbie Lounge" at these boards, but due to unfortunately immense amount of spamming it contained, it was brought down, and everybody has lived happily ever since.[/quote] [SIZE=1]I think the main reason that the Newbie Lounge became such a spam hole was because many newbies didn't realise that theirs would be the only content to the forum and it would be judged by their content. Otakuboards itself is the best run site in terms of post quality that I have come across on the internet, which is why so many new members find themselves at odds over their post quality. The NL being composed entirely of newbie posts was going to be a haven for very low post quality. [/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Shy][size=1]No. But be aware that Body Bags is done more by committee than member voting. Players will have a significant impact on who lives and who dies, but the final verdict is left with several players in particular. Thanks to everyone for sticking with this. I assure you that the next round of mission threads will have a much faster pace, and Body Bags will weed out a lot of the troubles we've been having with posting on a regular basis. -Shy[/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Sounds spine-tingly-dingling to quote Messer Ned Flanders, though honestly I can't wait for Green Team to finish up their mission so we can move on the Body Bags and end the suspense surrounding it. I trust Shy to pick completely impartial members to be on the committee, though until we actually see who's been picked there's going to be a little paranoia among the Legionnaires.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Lafleur][COLOR=DarkRed']Gavin, your an Irishman. You've doubtless heard of the IRA and their escapades. Now, I'm going out on a limb here, but I assume their views don't agree with yours. All well and good, until the IRA became not only a different view but a threatening one. Do you not feel outright disgust? Don't you feel that something nasty should befall them? [/color][/quote] [SIZE=1]Of course I've heard of the so called "escapades" of the Irish Republican Army, though to be specific there are several factions of the IRA including the Provisional, Continuity and Real IRA each with different leaders and different agendas. These IRA factions are also descended from the original IRA who were formed shortly before the Irish War of Independence, which had several members of my family as members, two of which died bravely delivering Ireland's freedom. However I'm getting off point, you asked me had I heard of the IRA and their exploits, the answer is yes. What you may not know and honestly I'm not surprised as it seems very few people have heard the news, is that the Provisional IRA which is the most powerful and oldest faction of the IRA has recently disarmed and decommissioned completely as accepted and witnessed by retired Canadian General John de Chastelain of the IIDC and two clergy members from the Catholic and Protestant Church. To get back on point yet again, no I never felt disgust towards the IRA and her members, I did not feel that anything bad should happen to them. I felt tremendous sadness that so many young men were joining and supporting a group who under a guise of liberating Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom used a campaign of violence and terror against normal people from the North because they were Protestants. I feel the same sadness for members of the UVF or UDA on the Protestant side, because all the people of Northern Ireland are human beings.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Lafleur][COLOR=DarkRed]My point is thus: The Neo-Nazis not only differ from my viewpoint, they threaten it. They aim to spread intolerant white supremacist views throughout society. Prussian Blue is especially disgusting - they target children, Gavin. [i]Children[/i]. They aim to turn the youth into some timebomb of intolerance, worse than it already is, through tried-and-true methods. We're lucky they're terrible - not that that's stopped certain artists from attracting legions of fans - otherwise they might get an honest fanbase for their white-supremist garbage. Neo-Nazism has been growing every year - it's still limited but every year more people desert reality and follow this fad. I don't know how it is in Ireland, it's likely a non-issue because of what happened on the Isles during the Wars. Now you might say death is a tad extreme. And you may be right. But I've had my dealings with brainwashed individuals (Separatists.. :animeangr ) and I know that, once you've been shovelled revisionist history your entire life, simply being proven wrong is not enough. Sometimes extreme measures are necessary.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]The fact that they target young children with their message is deeply saddening Ilium, but ultimately it is down to the individual themselves to accept the message of hatred and act upon it. You called Neo Nazism a fad, and I think you've hit the nail directly on the head with that statement, children are impressionable which makes it all the more distressing that they are the ones being targeted. However children grow and become adults and the beliefs we hold as children are not necessarily the beliefs we hold as adults, at some stage we grow up. There will always be supporters of this kind of misguided hatred, but their numbers will always remain small because the average person is intelligent enough to see the message of hate is wrong. What is saddening is that the message of hatred is mostly passed from generation to generation in families and among those poorly educated who sadly know no better. I still say however that to murder these people because they preach hatred is no better than what they are preaching, and should we turn and kill them we lose part of our civilisation when we do so. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. The first time I saw The Crow was on the island of Lanzarote a few years ago, and I couldn't understand a word of it because the film was in German. Then a couple of years ago, I rented it from my local video store and watched it in a tongue I could actually understand. As films go it was rather enjoyable, though sadly predictable as to the ending, Brandon Lee was in excellent form on that film and sadly was taken far too young in an accident shortly after the film was finished. I seem to recall though that there was a different ending to the German one I saw, involving thousands of crows colliding with the main antagonist at the end, though perhaps that was a different Crow given the three other sequels, though until I looked up Wiki I wasn't aware there was two other Crow films made before Wicked Prayer. As for Wicked Prayer, well to say anything other than it was a truly poor film would be to lie, the character, plot and acting was sub standard aside from Edward Furlong who managed a decent performance. The inclusion of David Boreanaz in any supernatural roles should not be taken lightly, or at all where possible. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I had the case back a number of years ago where a good friend of mine, not a best friend mind you but close enough, became a couple. Her name was Fiona and she was very beautiful, incredibly intelligent and wonderfully kind, we went out for the better part of six months very happily before deciding that we were better friends than a couple. At first I was very saddened that we wouldn't be together and it affected my relationship with her for a while, but I did realise eventually that she was right and that it was better that we were friends. That was a number of years ago and to this day we are still good friends, though since she has gone on to college I've lost contact with her. So yes I do think people can go from a couple to best friends again without too much difficulty, so long as not too much changed. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. While reading over the responses to this thread I recalled a memory of the bus journey from the airport to our holiday apartments in Turkey this year. My younger brother who was just after his sixteenth birthday was sitting with my younger sister who was thirteen at the time at the back of the bus. Beside them was a woman who was chatting to the pair, until I noticed a scowl on my brother's face after which the conversation was purely between my sister and the woman. On asking my brother about it, he responded rather testily that while the woman had placed my brother as being only fifteen, she had asked what year of college my sister was in. One that same trip I was also mistaken for my brother's father being aged somewhere "in my mid thirties", though that is another story. My sister has always looked older than she actually is, or at least has looked older than she is for as long as I can accurately remember. She dresses and acts far older than she actually is, though that seems to be the norm with young girls these days, and most certainly has the attitude of someone nearing the legal drinking age. It seems that acting and looking older than one's age is more prevalent among females than it is among males or at least that is how it appears in Ireland. I'm not really sure what the point is to this post, aside from agreeing that children are definitely growing up too fast for their own good. Children need to be children, we'll be or are adults from our late teens to the day we die and that comes with enough responsibility that we'll rue the day we ever grew up. [/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Lafleur][COLOR=DarkRed]There is a certain point where the line must be drawn. These people are targeting [i]children[/i], whom we all know are incredibly impressionable, with their hate and their beyond-revisionist history. That is really, really bad - well, maybe not because they really, really SUCK at singing, but that hasn't stopped a few others... - because than you'll have an entire army of followers thinking how great Hitler and Himmler were. That is an offense punishable by death, in my opinion. You can't be tolerent of everyone, and there are those who do not deserve tolerence. These two are an example of that. You can't simply forgive them - it doesn't work that way, unless you put the foot down they're message is going to spread, and if they somhow cease to suck who knows! Somtimes lowering to their level is the only way to eradicate them - because Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, al-Queda, etc etc simply don't deserve tolerence. They deserve the worst. [/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]Indeed Ilium, these people in their misguided views deserve to be exterminated like vermin because their beliefs don't conform to yours ? Now let me think, that attitude sounds highly like someone from the late 1930s to the mid 1940s, damn now who was it, small Austrian man with a moustache. You'll no doubt have already guessed where I'm going with this point Ilium so I'll leave it at that.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Manic Webb]I don't think they [b]should[/b'] die. I'm just saying they're making themselves targets. I'm sure Strom Thurman would've been taken out by somebody, were he not already old as dirt. Rest his soul, and may it find redemption from the fires of hell.[/quote] [SIZE=1]I wasn't referring to you in particular Manic, just the general consensus that they deserve to die, whether that be through accident or murder. As I have already said, if we lower ourselves to using violence against these poor, misguided souls then we have only allowed them a victory over our better judgement. Also in reference to person who brought Poland up, Prussia, the once power centre of Germany, after whom these young women have taken their stage name now lies within Poland's borders.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. It greatly saddens me to see that such hatred can come from people so young, both from these two young women and the view held by a number of you here who believe they should die for their beliefs, however misguided they are. In cases like these we must not preach hatred back against those who already do so, in doing such we only lower ourselves to their level. Instead we must forgive them for their views, and work to try and let them see how wrong their beliefs are, only then will the problem be solved. If these two young girls are killed, only martyrs will they become. As an Irish person I know very well what it is like to be considered beneath others, while I have fortunately never experienced racist against me, the stories of how Irish immigrants were treated is something the Irish as a people will never forget. Before the Famine, which wasn't even a true famine, we were considered sub-human by the British, ignorant, Catholic savages who knew nothing of refinement or civilisation. When the Irish went to America in the 1800s we earned a new name for the way we were treated by the rich, the term was "[I]bleached *******[/I]". I have omitted the last word out of respect for those who might find it as offensive as I do. And yet when we won our freedom from the British and worked hard to help build the United States, did we turn our collective anger back upon those who had mistreated us ? No, for hate only begets hate and hate and violence has never solved anything. The point to that small waffle was that we must always forgive those who mistreat us, whatever their reasons and no matter who misguided their beliefs, because whether or not they consider us human beings, we are and so are they. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. My greatest fear is without a doubt heights, though it's limited to when I can actually see the ground from way up off it. If I was on a plane for instance I would have absolutely no problems whatsoever, but put me on the top of a really tall building and make me look down at the ground and chances are I'll start getting very nervous. My only other true fear is a fear of failure in life, not little failures like I get a B on a project when I wanted an A or something like that, but failures that put my life off track and take years to fix. I've made such mistakes only once before and the consequences have been very severe, and as such I've developed a great fear of making big mistakes or failing.[/SIZE] [quote name='Cat14']1. Aliens as in UFO Aliens. Can't stand the thought of there being other types of beings in the Universe.[/quote] [SIZE=1]As a Star Trek fan since birth I can only say how saddening that thought is to me, the very idea that someone could hope there are no other beings or civilisations in the entire universe is baffling. I would certainly hope to be alive when the people of Earth make contact with another race and to see the benefits all mankind would gain from such contact. [/SIZE]