Gavin

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I would say that it is only logical that freedom of speech must be tempered with the wisdom and restraint to avoid abuse, however given the very nature of people wisdom and freedom of some description rarely go hand-in-hand. The levels of freedom of speech in different countries vary, and America seems to be the most generous with it's definitions of what you have the freedom to say. In the case of the young girl in class I would say her buttons were perhaps closer to slander than normal speech though that does not given a teacher nor his/her aide the right to demand their removal so long as it does not disrupt the learning environment, and if they do disrupt said environment then I think the staff have the right to ask for the buttons removal. As for the case with the Neo-Nazi's, such people prey on fear and ignorance and to ignore them is a test of character because those same poor misguided souls prey off the outrage and attention their ideals draw. As I have stated below I think there should be a law against those who advocate the ideals of hatred the Neo Nazi and other racist groups stand for.[/SIZE] [quote name='Godelsensei]Additionally, I would like to point out that Neo-Nazi demonstrators ought to be [b]gunned down in the streets.[/b'] People like that have no right to exist.[/quote] [SIZE=1]The right to exist is a far more fundamental right than the right to freedom of speech Godel, though for what that group preaches and stands for I do think there out to be a law against it.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Dagger]Actually, the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party are precisely those who are most grumpy about Bush's choice to nominate Miers. They were ready to wage a big nomination battle on behalf of someone with judicial experience and a solid, proven conservative record. All Miers really has going for her is Bush's word, as others have mentioned, and this hasn't made the right-wingers any happier than the left-wingers. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Ah I was unaware he didn't have the blessings of his ultra-Conservative backers, and I can only sympathise with their position given that all the nominee has done is given her word she's the material. It is only expected that the left-wingers wouldn't be pleased with the choice given that for some reason the two political parties in the United States seem to be diametrically opposed to each other's ideals and there are no neutral parties. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [quote name='Boba Fett][COLOR=DarkGreen']I'd be more concerned that Bush is picking someone so close to him.[/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]I would say that Dave has hit the nail on the head with that statement, most people will be less concerned with the nominee's experience as a solicitor and more concerned with her political standing. President Bush would appear to make no secret of his association with the ultra-Conservative wing of politics and most people will be more worried that this is an attempt to further reshape the law in his fashion.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well given my activity in the Arena over the last four years I was wiping my forehead when I saw I wasn't one of those listed. While to don't necessarily get embarrassed when people bring up some of the really old RPGs I've created, such as the one Bill continuously shows me, I often do sigh and wonder how I could have written stuff like that. But Corey is completely right when he says that people shouldn't be bothered by their old work, my work now is the way it is because I've had four years to get better at it. Look back at your old work and appreciate that you've got better, don't feel bad because we were all newbies once.[/SIZE]

[quote name='indifference']The system is already in place for the school to monitor the clubs and the students are required to apply to just the school directly. Which is what they did. Anyway, I?ll add this to my initial post as I think I didn?t explain it properly. Sorry about that.[/quote] [SIZE=1]No need to apologise, it would appear to have been my mistake in the first place. Reading over the thread again I can't help but agree that this seems to be an attempt to prevent the formation of a GSA group, though if we look at this on a broader scale it also appears to be an attempt to prevent the creation of any group contrary to that which is comfortable. I myself know very little about the Gay-Straight Alliance, other than the small pieces of information I have gleamed from other threads, but if the formation of this group is going to cause this much trouble is it really a good idea to try and form it ? I'm not saying that it shouldn't be formed, but if it's going to cause trouble or people aren't happy with it being formed then I just don't think it's a good idea to stir up trouble. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well while I'm not going to play Devil's Advocate, I am going to disagree with the trend of opinion here on the subject of having a school group apply for permission from the school itself before being formed. I say this simply because I think schools should have some say in what kind of groups are formed within their walls. I'm not saying that when someone goes to form a group they're interrogated as to it's purpose and intentions but some oversight is generally a good thing. I'm my old high school, we had no such student groups that weren't formed without the permission of the principle and without a teacher participating as what I would dub liaison to the staff. In the vast majority of the cases these groups, such as Debating were lead by a teacher and provided valuable aid from the staff because it was a student/teacher endeavour. I know groups like the GSA mightn't benefit in the same way, but I still feel that some level of oversight would be beneficial. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. As I read the poll and the original post the first thing that stuck out at me is the fact that Christian is spelled without a capital letter, I know some people will sigh and think it's a trivial thing to notice but to me it isn?t. There was of course the matter that several very large religions were left out of the poll, though people have already mentioned that. As per the question of the thread, I'm Roman Catholic like over 90% of all Irish people, I'm proud of being a Roman Catholic, proud of what it stands for in the world even when some groups seek to vilify us because we don't agree with their philosophies. Unlike the previous two ?Catholics? to reply to this, I accept the dogma of the Vatican and the Holy Father as true interpretation of the Bible and God?s Will and those who would care to examine said doctrines would find that no part of the Catholic doctrine preaches hate against any group or any person. I think the truest essence of being a Catholic person lies not only in accepting the teaching of the Pope and the Catholic Church but incorporating those teachings into your daily life to improve yourself as a human being. Despite the fact that there are a number of splinter groups to Christianity, they all share the same message of love that Christ sought to teach mankind two millennia ago, the same lesson of love can be found in almost every other religion across the world. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. As René has already stated, the minimum age to join Otaku[B]Boards[/B] is supposed to be thirteen, however we do have a good number of members who were under thirteen when they join and are under thirteen at this moment. Personally I think it's a good idea to have a minimum age for the site, even if it can be easily overcome, as it prevents very young people from being exposed to either subjects or details which they are too young to be exposed to. I don't even recall there being an upper age limit to OtakuBoards and I don't see a need for one, if a person of forty wanted to come to the boards or any other part of the The[B]Otaku[/B] network then age doesn't really matter. Off the top of my head I have no idea who the oldest member is, and until I started to learn a few years back that there were people older than James and Adam here I would have said ether of the two. I'd take a stab at who I thought was the oldest, if I thought it wouldn't end in my bloody torture and death for being wrong.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well if it is true that Craig is the new James Bond then I'd be interested to see where he'll take the character in terms of style and development. Craig himself was one of the more recently dubbed "next Bonds" and I thought originally he was a pretty unlikely choice for the role, given his last film [B]Layer Cake[/B]. Still it's unofficial so until it is actually officially stated that he will be the next James Bond we are really only spit-balling. As I said in the last James Bond thread, it's not the Bond that matters, rather they really need to improve the scripts. I honestly wouldn't care if the next Bond was blind, lame and deaf so long as the script was able to compensate. [/SIZE]

[quote name='sbrebaby']Thanks but she died last night, I felt totally helpless. I held her hand and spoke to her and she died. :animecry: :animedepr That is now even more of a hurt. I am going to see a councilor this week. My parent and i both descussed it last night. I am now running on two hours of sleep. I talked to some really trusty friends yesterday and feel a little better but i still feel like crap. :( I have been throwing up and still havnt eaten anthing since suday. I can barly consintrate at all. i just feel bad.[/quote] [SIZE=1]She may have died last night Sbrebaby, but thanks to your intercession she had the opportunity to get medical attention and probably say goodbye to her family. If you hadn't helped her she'd probably have died alone and never had the chance to say goodbye to those she loved. You did that woman a great service and never forget that, so long as you live never forget that you saved that woman's life, even if it was only for a few hours. I'm very glad you're going to see a counsellor, these people are trained to help you through these dire emotional situations, and I promise you that given enough time you will be able to make peace with what you experienced on that day. It will take time, I know this from personal experience, but you will get better and you must never forget the great thing you did for that woman, both in helping her and being there for her when she passed away.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]I've just been watching the Sky News headlines and the official death toll has now reached over twenty thousand with it to rise to possibly double that as the final figure for the number of fatalities caused by this earthquake and it?s after effects. That so many people could lose their lives to a natural disaster is truly saddening, and that people are gone so desperate for support that they are now assaulting the same convoys sent to help them is equally saddening. I hope that given enough time, enough assistance can be given for all those affected by this tragedy. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]The first thing I would advise you to do my dear is to look to speak to a councillor as soon as possible over what you have seen, if it has had this bad a psychological effect upon you. It is not surprising, given the no doubt horrific scenes which you witnessed at this accident and for it to manifest itself as you try to sleep means that you need to speak to someone about it. While perhaps it may seem easier to speak to friend or parents over what you have seen, I really would recommend someone who is trained to help people in these situations. As for your feelings, you probably have never witnessed a scene as horrific as this before and you're in a state of shock even now, in time you emotions will return to normal and you will feel a plethora of them, which makes it all the more important to see someone who can help you work through them. I myself have been lucky enough never to witness a car crash, nor ever see someone severely injured or dead from critical injuries. In such situations I would hope I could draw the courage enough to be able to properly aid those injured from the accident, because seeing someone terribly injured and in pain is often enough to cause people to get so fearful they cannot summon the will to help people. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well at the moment I'm listening to a [B]Queen: Greatest Hits[/B] CD that I received from Christmas last year and on said CD, there's a track called [I]I Want to Break Free[/I]. Now while anyone who has seen the music video to the song will see the entertainment to it, the true entertainment when listening to the song for me comes from the TV ads for Eircom (the main Irish telecom provider) used the song as well as one of Ireland's funniest comedians in it's ad campaign. Unless you were to actually see the ads themselves you probably wouldn't fully get the joke, but those ads spawned a comedy show on RTE One every Sunday night which is now among the most watched and enjoyed TV shows in Ireland. Another Queen song I find amusing to listen to would be [I]I'm Going Slightly Mad[/i], the song itself seems morbid enough but truly there in lies the humour. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well I only heard about it on the radio this morning when I was having my breakfast, and so far the death toll has risen to over nineteen-thousand people including a school full of children. The Pakistani President has requested international aid, though more specifically additional air-support in order to reach those affected by the quake that cannot be accessed by road. Sky News has been giving details of the quake and it's after-effects during it's bulletins every hour. In response to your question as to why we act as if we don't care, well bluntly it's because most people don't actually care, let alone act as if they don't. People by their very nature don't concern themselves with events that occur outside their own sphere, and natural disasters which have no effect on them personally are exactly such events which fall outside their sphere. It sounds harsh I'll admit but it's the genuine truth, people feel badly for those who've been injured or killed in natural disasters but there's nothing that they themselves can do to prevent these things from occurring. I'll agree with Dagger's last point though, when events such as this earthquake or the tsunami occur we should care, because those people dying are human beings too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. My best retaliatory prank came about due to a friend maliciously putting broken biscuits, or cookies as you call them in the States, in my sleeping bag when we were camping away from home. My response was to simple and yet brutal, while he slept, I got two pieces of straw and super-glued them over his eyebrows, In order to remove the straw, he had to remove his eyebrows which left in near tears from laughing.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Corey][size=1]Methylene blue dye in Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid. My friends urine was bright blue for three days. He has yet to get back at me with the proper calibre of prank to equal mine.[/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Most excellent payback Corey, though I would be interested to here what prompted such a retaliation in the first place.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Sage']I've got a feeling that this game's eviction system won't be one of those "fair and just" ones...[/quote] [SIZE=1]I doubt it, I wouldn't put Shy down as someone to create an unfair system when so many people have put in the effort in joining and writing for this. It just seems to be too half-assed to be something Shy would do, but we won't know until he shows us.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Well since the wrapping up of the current Gold Team mission is only one post away, the Body Bag section can't be that far away. If one person per team is killed off, might I suggest that Break's character be forfeit from the current roster due to inactivity. Break himself hasn't been online in nearly seven weeks and so either he has just stopped coming to OB, or God-forbid something has happened to him, but either way it would seem that the death of his character would be fair given the circumstances. I'm not saying this out of any kind of animosity or an attempt to safeguard my own character, and given that we know nothing about the Body Bags section yet I could be just waffling, but should one character per Team die I feel personally that Break's character be the most obvious one to be killed off. I think I've said enough so I'm just going to be quiet and wait for other people's (particularly Gold Team members) response to this.[/SIZE]

[size=1]A fascinating RPG Ken, it reminds me very much of the movie No Escape. [center]---------------[/center] [b]Name:[/b] Birth name withheld, assigned codename Loki. [b]Age:[/b] Exact age unknown, appearance indicates early fifties. [b]Gender:[/b] Male. [b]City of Residence:[/b] Cadmus, Jotun's Pit. [b]Loyalty:[/b] The people of Nadine, in Loki's mind governments rise and fall but the people are always there and thus his loyalty should be to them. [b]Job:[/b] SDF Operative. Loki's assignment is the infiltration of The Guild to relay valuable information back to SDF High Command and later orchestrate the destruction of The Guild itself from within. His cover for the last decade is that he is a highly talented mercenary and assassin for hire to the highest bidder, which is in reality not too far from the truth, given his past. [b]Abilities:[/b] Before arriving on Asgard, Loki was a intellectually gifted and very promising recruit in the Argosian Army?s Black Ops division. He was trained to be silent, remorseless, intuitive and above all, lethal to an extreme degree, he was conditioned to be near impervious to mental and physical methods of information extraction and increased resistance to physical pain and injury. His combat abilities were increased ten-fold, excelling in areas such as close quarters and unarmed combat, marksmanship with a variety of light, medium and heavy weapons, strategic insertion and extraction. After his exile to Asgard Loki was one of those who was to undergo genetic experimentation, due a leak or possibly even a deliberate betrayal, the files on Loki?s previous occupation came to light and the brass in charge of the Asgard facility saw an opportunity to try and create the next generation of special operatives. He was to undergo as much genetic alterations as were possible, as his free will was to erased in the process, he would become a weapon with no control, a mindless expert killing machine. His physical enhancements came first, his strength, agility and endurance were increased many fold, though amplification to superhuman levels was not a option due to the mental ramifications. His intelligence, hand-to-eye coordination, recollective abilities and perception were all augmented, though much of his conditioning to physical and mental torture could not be increased upon. The cost of these enhancement would mean than any further attempts to augment the subject would result in full neural collapse, his levels of Extra Sensory Perception, telepathy and other psychic abilities dropped to a point where they are negligible at best. Attempts to irradiate the subject?s free-will failed completely, due probably to the escalation of his intelligence, and would seem to have increased Loki?s emotional quotient instead, reducing his capabilities as an effective operative in their opinions. Finally and most distressingly for the researchers, Loki seems to have displayed resentment towards the enhancements given to him, explaining that he had little interest in continuing his previous line of work under them. Loki stated with absolute clarity that he would never again be a murderer for anyone, and thus his effectiveness as a successful operative dropped to below 2.374%. [b]Weapon of Choice:[/b] Loki has no particular penchant to any one weapon, as is equally comfortable using any weapon that comes to hand, however smaller arms, particularly suppressed semi-automatic pistols have become his most commonly used form of arms. [b]Appearance:[/b] [url=http://www.players.de/40/bild1k.jpg]Most recent photograph of operative[/url]. Loki stands just over 1.8 metres at full height and weighs somewhere in the region of seventy five to eighty kilos, his body is athletically tone with well-developed muscles spread throughout. His shoulders are broad, giving him a distinguished and someone intimidating physical presence, augmented by his engineered strength. His eyes are a piercing dark blue, making hold eye contact with him someone unnerving for those unused to such things, though they take on a softer appearance when Loki laughs or is otherwise content. His method of dress is not limited to any one particular style, though between assignments his attire is usually dark and somewhat formal as to indicate his professionalism. He is most commonly seen in long black fabric coats, sunglasses, dark trousers and highly polished black shoes. [b]Personality:[/b] As a man who has been an operative most of his life, Loki has learned the value of silence the easy way. He customarily does not speak unless addressed and will then reply in as few words as possible without sacrificing clarity, he will not break eye contact with the person speaking to him and his demeanour is usually a faux-pleasant to mask his true emotions or intentions. He is entirely emotionless usually, his "pleasantries" merely a distraction to allow him to actively assess those he engages conversation with while drawing conversation either to either topics he seeks information on, or away from topics he does not wish to discuss. His true intentions are rarely revealed until he himself chooses to reveal them, and those who should discover those intentions without his permission will see the icy lethality of Loki firsthand. He is calculating and entirely ruthless in pursing his objectives, showing no signs of viciousness, anger or other dark emotions during his work, such things he believes leaves one vulnerable as they interfere with logic and commons sense. [b]Biography:[/b] Loki was born over five decades ago in the Republic of Argos, one of the major opponent powers to Arcadia. There is little information about his parents that is of consequence, they were normal civilians with normal civilians jobs who fell in love, got married and began a family. Loki was their first child and only son, whom his parents dotted on because they were his parents and it was something parents do, Loki doesn?t particularly care whether or not his parents dotted upon him so long as they ensured his health and welfare. Upon entering primary education, Loki was observed to have above average problem solving skills and intelligence, he was fast-tracked as to increase the effectiveness of his education and moved into honours classes with other gifted children. His educators commented on how he was a quiet child who preferred to work by himself and spend his recreational time alone away from other children. His parents concerned about Loki?s mentality sent him to different specialists in the hope that it was something that could be cured with a dose of medicine every day but were disappointed when it was revealed it was just his nature. With the birth of their second child, a daughter just after Loki?s fourth birthday, it would seem they gave up on him and began to focus their attention of a child that would actually respond in kind, if asked about this, Loki would respond that he doesn?t care whether or not his parents wished to lavish all their attention on his sister. Over the next fourteen years, Loki continued his education at the same rate, or perhaps and even higher rate than he had as a boy, after his successes on several government and military monitored examinations Loki was approached by several army officers with the proposal that he join the Argosian armed forces. Loki retorted that he had little interest in seeing frontline combat against the like of the Arcadians, but he was rebuffed when they revealed that he would be no mere grunt but a highly trained Imperial operative working directly under the highest echelons of the military. Intrigued by the offer, as well as bored with job offers he?d received from civilian corporations Loki accepted and his training began in earnest. Twenty-four months later Loki was one of the most dangerous weapons in the Argosian military and dispatched to eliminate threats against Argosian national security. However on one of his most difficult assignments he was captured in enemy territory and interrogated for over six months without any success, the Argosian government as they had warned him would happen should he be caught, denied all knowledge of his existence and terminated any links they had with him, links than included his family. Unable to extract any information from him, Loki was transferred to Asgard for further analysis, genetic augmentation and if possible reprogramming for government use against Argos should the need arise. Primarily Loki was to be the template for an entire legion of operatives, mindless, remorseless killers designed to attain information and eliminate threads to the government. Due to some fortune of his part, Loki entered at the tail end of research facilities life, only days after finishing his genetic augmentation it?s existence was uncovered to the public, and the Asgardian governments attempts to use him as a template were terminated. Loki?s stay on Asgard was extended indefinitely when the facility was transformed into a prison, though it meant that for a change he?d actually be the master of his own destiny again. Loki made acquaintances of a number of prisoners during his time in the Asgardian prison, probing the remaining guards to find weaknesses that might be exploited at a later stage. When the uprising against the severely reduced guards occurred, Loki knew that ?later stage? he?d been planning for had arrived and willingly took part in the insurrection. During the ?civil war? among the different factions on Asgard, Loki decided it was best to stay low and out of sight, only removing targets that threatened his own personal safety. As he had though, after several months of slaughter one faction emerged victorious and Loki swore allegiance, in a way, to that side ensuring his own survival. Over the next two decades with the aid of the ?benevolent? Arcadians, he watched as the city of Nadine grew and thrived while Loki himself opened a small but respectable clothiers simply named ?Threads?. However Loki could no escape what he was forever, as much as he might prefer to, and when the SDF uncovered the details of his experimentation they politely but firmly insisted that he work for them as an operative on the condition that after several years work he would be released from his military obligations and compensated with a handsome monetary reward. He was given the codename Loki, and his past in Nadine was erased. Loki has since then spend the last decade on Cadmus, watching it grow from a cesspit of degenerate criminals into a haven for the black market and other illicit activities. His reputation as an assassin and mercenary has grown to the level that he regularly accepts contracts from many of Cadmus? most influential people and at times he even receives work offers from The Guild itself, though he has yet to work his way into the organisation. Over the last ten years he has successfully averted the assassination of several high profile Nadine targets without arousing suspicion, usually by eliminating the assassin themselves before they can reach the target. However until he has actually been able to provide the SDF with information capable of crippling The Guild itself, his stay in Cadmus appears indefinite. [/size]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I'm by GBA SP hadn't developed a nasty case of dead-pixels a while ago I'd probably be more excited about IV's re-release than I am. However that is not to say I'm not interested, as I personally regard the Final Fantasy series as being one of the best RPG series out there. I never bought the Anthology nor owned a SNES so I never had the chance to play Final Fantasy IV, however this time around I may just give it a go if I pick up a DS at some stage.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I've never actually tried any of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, for fear I might gag, keel over and die after eating the wrong flavour bean. My sister however bought a box of them once when the second Harry Potter movie came out, or was it the first one. Anyway she bought a box of them before we went into the cinema as we always go to movies as a family, about a third of the way into the film she offers my brother David a jelly bean giving to excuse as to make him eat it. Well he didn't have the thing in his mouth three-eights of a second when he shot out like a bullet, striking a man about five rows down in the back of the head. Well he leapt up out of his seat and rushed off to the bathroom, where presumably he made use of the facilities before returning and sitting down again. After such an exhibition by my brother you can imagine how I'd be reluctant to eat one of the beans if it were offered to me straight out. Still they do make for great practical jokes. [/SIZE]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=2]Sorry about the delay, trying to write something of quality for this was akin to drawing blood from a stone. [CENTER]---------------[/CENTER] Jack's knives were leaving his hands faster than he could replace them, he was purposely aiming for non-vital areas of the body so as to avoid fatalities but that didn't mean he couldn't throw them were they'd cause intense and debilitating pain. The spray of bullets coming from the cultists had lessened significantly in the last two minutes, though their greatest danger was posed by the cult leader himself rather than his minions. Two more knives left his grip, the first spun through the air slicing through the trigger finger of a cultist taking aim at Unhate, the second which he?d thrown over his right shoulder embedded itself into the shoulder blade of one of the Arabian ?Djinns? as Pygmalion had called them. The scimitar wielding fiend merely ripped the blade from behind his back and dropped it to the floor with a clatter. ?[B]Sam how in the name of Christ are we supposed to kill these guys again ?[/B]? Jack?s voice was tense, he didn?t like it that one of these individuals should be able to just rip a dagger from his shoulder with no ill-effect, and he liked it even less than the same individual was now making his way over to Jack, sword raised and grinning. Exhaling deeply, he tried to anticipate which way the blade was going to go, but something about these fellows prevented him from being able to read them, cursing silently waiting for an answer from Sam, and sharp. ?[B]Bladed weapons, knifes, swords, sharp spoons even.[/B]? Sam?s response made Jack growl in frustration, this was absolutely no time to be making jokes. ?[B]I meant is there any particular way in they need to be killed, as in dagger through the heart or decapitation ?![/B]? ?[B]Either or[/b]? Sam replied, ?[b]though you may find decapitation has the more immediate effect.[/B]? Jack hadn?t even time to sigh at the old man?s attitude before having to quickly duck and roll from the slash of one of Djinns, his knife soared upwards toward the robe wearing, sabre-totter. The Djinns reaction was faster than Jack had expected, and instead of meeting with the soft flesh of a neck, he met with the hard clang of steel against steel, before being pushed again off balance and having to go on the defensive. His attention shifted over to Unhate for a moment, the man was a walking army, his special ability had already kicked in deflected bullets en-masse and even the odd unparried strike from the other Djinn. Sam seemed to be holding his own against several gunmen, though Jack?s attention was rudely returned to his own opponent when a blow that would have resulted in decapitation for a slower man sailed dangerously close to his left ear. Seeing a moment of advantage, Jack tried with his knife again, the Djinn seeing he was going to be caught by the knife moved as to try and avoid the worst of it, however Jack was keen to press his advantage and lashed out cleanly with his right leg tumbling his enemy onto the flat of his back. One of his smaller knives dive-bombed into the Arabian?s chest, drawing forth a pool of crimson blood and a deathly hiss, before his eyes rolled up into his head and his head itself slowly laid against the golden floor. ?[B]Care to fight this one Augur ?[/B]? Jack looked over to see Unhate give him a quick grin before returning his attention to his own assailants, Jack smiled himself now seeing the joke in Sam?s previous comments to him, as good as these Djinns and cultists may be, they were no match for The Legionnaires. ?[B]Nah, I?m OK for the moment. Besides, you?re the one with the nigh-impenetrable skin so you shouldn?t have any of the trouble us mortals have.[/B]? Jack?s tone turned serious again before he continued parleying with Unhate. ?[B]Do you want me to go after the leader before he gets away ?[/B]?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well as I never watched Lost, I can only accept Manic's explanation that it is indeed responsible for the new flood of what I suppose you'd call realistic Sci-Fi, though I have yet to see any of them, as they've not aired on this side of the Atlantic. Stargate being the last of the "Star" trio of Sci-Fi?s, the others being Star Wars and Star Trek which have both ended for the moment is coming back this month on Sky One UK with what is believed to be the final season of SG1 and the second season of Atlantis. I'm not aware of any other new "full" I suppose would be the best word, Sci-Fi series either continuing or starting of late. [/SIZE] [quote name='Hells Fire']Now that there is no more StarTrek on television (for the first time in 14 years), I would think that Scifi is dying out, but now they are launching all these new shows. [/quote] [SIZE=1]Well actually this is the second time there's been no Star Trek on television, the first time occurring when The Original Series (TOS) and The Animated Series (TAS) ended, as I recall there was a full seventeen years before The Next Generation started so it's not the first time this has happened. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. And a fantastic review it is Alex, though coming from you that's not some much a compliment as it is an affirmation of your usual journalistic and analytical quality. Now while I could dissect the entire post, quoting it bit by bit and saying how I agree with everything you've said and am very impressed how you've managed to delve though the movie and expose all it's subtle points I'm not going to do that. The main reason for this is there's very little point in doing it, as all it really will do is significantly lengthen my post without actually adding anything to it, the second reason is that I don't have the time or energy to do so. As I have told you before, I'm not very good at looking beneath the surface of films to see the subtle similarities, criticisms and other messages there in. Thanks to your post I have been able to see many of those subtle comparisons and points in [B]The Incredibles[/B] which I missed the first time around, and of course you've put it all so much more eloquently than I could have. If you'd be willing, I'd hope you post more of your reviews or analyses to use your own word, in the future. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I've always loved Halloween , there's just something immensely fun about the night that burns itself into people's memories and nostalgia throughout their lifetime. There's no real tradition to my family when it comes to Halloween, my siblings and I used to go Trick-or-Treating in the local village about a mile up the road as we live in the countryside and then just come home and enjoy the spoils of the night. Most Halloweens though there'd also be a party for the kids in one of the people's houses, where the kids could gather and exchange sweets if certain ones weren't liked. Bobbing for apples was definitely the highlight of the night, because I used win most of the time where as others would constantly go at the apples like a shark on a seal. When I was part of the Cub Scouts, one year for Halloween we all went camping and late in the night they got everyone up to do a Ghost Train, which basically involved everyone holding into a very long rope and going down the road until you were eventually taken by one of the older people dressed as monsters, or you made it to the end and won a prize. I simply can't describe the excitement in the air when we did that, it was electric and so much fun. I was caught by a neighbour of mine, though I didn't realise it at the time and kicked him in the shin, he yelped and I ran back to the rope and kept on running until I got to the end of it with the others, it was terrifying for me because I was only about twelve at the time. It's just the fear and excitement mixed at Halloween that I love, and the sweets only sweeten, pardon the pun, the deal.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well I've only ever had two breakdowns since being in high school, and really the two came about directly relating to the accident with my neck two years ago. The first time I had a complete breakdown I can't really remember, it was just all the stress I'd bottled up over the months and months just exploding out in one instance. After it I just decided to pack everything in and take a crack at it next year, though that was to lead to the second breakdown, or at least contribute to it a good bit. My second breakdown, like my first was due to bottling up stress, though changing schools and losing contact with nearly all my friends and generally having a really bad time in the new high school helped get the ball rolling. The second breakdown was a lot worse than the first and I found it hard to even get up in the morning, let alone try and get on with life. It all came to a head one morning when I broke down on the toilet, which many people will agree they do most of their thinking on, and just cried my eyes out for over half an hour. But in your case my dear, I hope things will get better and if they don't, know that you will always be welcome and cared for when you log on to Otaku[B]boards[/B],and I know this from personal experience.[/SIZE] [quote name='Imi][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1]High school is horrid and stressful and mean and smelly. [/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote] [SIZE=1]The best description of Secondary/High School I have ever heard, nicely done Jamie.[/SIZE]