eleanor

[font="trebuchet ms"] [i]The Host[/i] was pretty terrible. lol I'm surprised you haven't seen movies like [i]Old Boy[/i] or [i]Sympathy for Lady Vengeance[/i]. They're pretty iconic when it comes to Korean movies, even though they're recent. If you're interested in Korean movies, those two are musts.[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] One of the other waitresses at the restaurant I work at completely blew off a table of guys asking for her to come over. So they motioned for me instead, and when I went over and helped them out, they ended up giving me a $20 tip. Except then the other waitress demands that I give the tip to her, because the table was in her area. It was sufficiently awkward and I ended up never talking to her again.[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] Go see this movie now. Is all I can say coherently. There's nothing better than watching a really great action thriller like Bourne, because so few of them exist. Ultimatum is probably the best out of the series, and whoever wrote that it was an action movie on crack was right. I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie, and I loved every second of it. The emotional aspect of the movie doesn't really level up to Identity, but the action is just superior. It's awesome to see a thriller that doesn't rely on things blowing up helicopters and demolishing cities. [spoiler]The part where Bourne is directing the reporter around the train station is was just [i]awesome[/i], which is incredible because the premise sounds so boring.[/spoiler] I'd say there needs to more movies like the Bourne series, but then I wouldn't appreciate the series as much as I so. Stuff like [i]Transformers[/i] and [i]Live Free or Die Hard[/i] doesn't come close to this movie. I liked the cinematography in this movie. It reminded me of [i]Children of Men[/i], and I guess I'm just more partial to the fast cuts/unsteady camera direction when it comes to thrillers. Damon is excellent in this movie. He gives what he needs to give and does a good job doing it. [spoiler]The revealing of Bourne's beginning[/spoiler] was rather stale, but it didn't really detract from the movie. The very end, though, was great. Everyone in the theater cheered or laughed, and it was just very Bourne. :) [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I would like to see a return to a more republic form of government. No sepcial-interest groups, no single-interest groups, no lobbyists. Just representatives that are elected by the people, but do what they think is best for the country, not what their constituents demands.[/font]

[quote name='Warmside'][COLOR="SlateGray"] This infuriates me. Have you ever [I]read[/I] Leviticus, the part of the bible where homosexuality is called a sin? It reads like a page out of Mein Kampf. Some highlights include a passage saying cripples may not approach alters because they 'profane it' and warning people to avoid wizards. Not to mention all the time it condones slavery. It's an absurd text. If you take the anti-homosexual passages literally, why do you ignore the rest? Do you think cripples and lepers are sinners and think owning people is A-OK? No? Than why do you think homosexuality is a sin? Hypocrite.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [font="trebuchet ms"] Yes, I have read the part in Leviticus -- the "homosexuality is a sin" bit -- to which you refer. And, yes, I'm familiar with various passages that forbid certain actions of cripples, lepers, slaves, etc. One very important thing, however, I think you fail to understand is that the first coming and death of Jesus Christ brought forth a new covenant between God and all the different peoples of the world. A new covenant whose purpose was to override existing traditions ("cripples may not approach alters") and discriminations ("warning people to avoid wizards"; slavery; leprosy stigma). How?, you might be wondering. The answer is love. That was Jesus' message to the world. The Bible clearly states that loving your neighbor is one of the most important commandments. An important thing to keep in mind is that Jesus didn't operate within the workings of human society, a society that condemned cripples and condoned slavery. Jesus came to mend the iniquities of human society, with (as I mentioned above) his message of love. One really good example: Jesus saves Mary Madgalene, a prostitute condemned by her society, from being stoned to death. Jesus also embraced the lepers, cripples, and all the outcasts of society. You'll most likely always see Jesus curing/healing the sickly and marginalized, not the rich and well-off. So, you see, you can't compare "homosexuality is a sin" to "acceptance of discrimination/social iniquities like poor treatment of cripples, gypsies, slaves, and lepers." Why? Because Jesus preached a message that condemned the acceptance of discrimination/social iniquities. I'm 100% sure that Jesus would condemn discrimination of homosexuals, too, as he loved all peoples. So. I'm not, in your words, taking the anti-homosexual passages literally and ignoring the rest. [/font] [quote name='Warmside'][COLOR="SlateGray"] "Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'." Words of a true prophet. If you can't change, you die. Just ask the woolly mammoth and sabre-tooth tiger.[/color][/quote] [font="trebuchet ms"] I'm not saying change in religion is bad altogether. Take Protestantism, for example. In the 40s and 5'0s Billy Graham was a fundamentalist protestant that pretty much condemned everyone as sinful and on their way to hell, but eventually as he rose in popularity his message became more subtle and more consoling. It has happened to protestantism everywhere- there's no more hell and brimstone preaching, but there's more focus on the people and retribution. And lastly, I never sad I thought homosexuality was a sin. Did I ever say I was a Christian? No. [/font]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]Tyler, I will hate you for the rest of our lives on OB, I promise you that. Error of their ways? Can you be anymore stubborn? It's the way they are, you can't say "have some god for breakfest, it'll show you you are bad." I believe in god and Jesus, and I believe he's our savior. But no way in hell do I think homosexuality is wrong. I mean "god made them that way!" from what I've learned. And god doesn't make mistakes, cause he's God. Am I right Tyler? I think it makes no sense to think homosexuals are errors, because if your homosexual, and god created you, obviosuly it isn't bad. Unless the devil is in on it, if so then run away! God teaches you to love and respect, not hate and banish. This maybe your opinion, but I disagree completely. You may have said no outrage, but I will not restrain myself from firing back about it. I may be straight, but I don't think homosexuality is wrong at all. In fact, any homosexual is cool with me, I only discriminate if the person is evil or good, cause really that's all that matters. I love god , I'm thankful for what he gave me and thankful for the earth he created, but to believe he thinks homosexuality is wrong? That is not the god I know. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [font="trebuchet ms"] Look, I don't really understand why some Christians adopt this "homosexuality is ok" standard. It's pretty clear in the bible that homosexuality is a sin. You can bring in "the Bible has been translated thousands of times" and whatever else, but homosexuality is a sin to Christians. Your argument is completely useless. It's like saying greedy people are ok because God made them. Tyler clearly stated that "although I do NOT by any means believe in or support homosexuality, I will not hate, but will love them as brothers and sisters (as they are) and pray that the Good Lord might help them see the error of their ways." How else is a Christian supposed to act? Disregard the bible and act like homosexuality isn't a sin because our present youth society is supportive of gays? If for some reason people started accepting murderers as good people, would Christians adopt a 'murder isn't a sin' idea? Religion isn't something that should change with the times. It does, but then it violates the roots of the faith. Do I agree with him? No. I think his arguments against educating people about gays is stupid. But you're being just as stupid. The biggest problem about arguers like Tyler, though, is that they use the bible to back up bigger accusations. A lot of people don't realize that being a gay isn't supposed to be a bigger sin than adultery. Sin is equal, and everyone does it. It's just that Christians use their 'homosexuality is a sin' to make it more than what it is. [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I don't want to come off as bitchy or anything, but I'd like to offer some advice. I remember being one of the regulators or something for the last handicap battles, and the handicaps were deicdedly lame. I'm just suggesting more challenging or greater handicaps. :)[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I have no idea why no one has posted anything already, lol. It looks really great, to say the least. I like the shading on her weapon, but I think adding more midtones/highlights to the skin would make the picture look more dynamic. Her arm seems to be drawn too low, since her armpit doesn't fit in with how she's popping her back. Ace job on the technical things, though. I really hope you post more things here! :)[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] Mostly I like guys who are guys. Guys who dress like guys and act like guys and look manly, but are also smart and charming. Not necessarily good-looking, but if they just have that masculinity it's a turn on.There's only several people I can think of that's like this at my school, so yeah, I know it's a minority. lol I would never consider an effeminate guy (ever), because I'm feminine enough for the both of us and it's just a turn-off when it comes to romantic possibility. Muscle mass has to be there to some extent. Beefy guys aren't my type, but neither are scrawny ones. I epsecially like nice arms. :) Physical features aside, the guys I like are usually smarter than me. They must must must be funny. Humor is probably the biggest thing I look for in guys.[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] Who says good frame rate isn't a part of good style? :) At least in some cases. To take away good fram rate from any kind of animation would make it go down in quality, but good character animation is still good character animation, I suppose. The depth and range of emotions and expressions can be a good indicator.[/font]

[quote name='Dagger'] So you're saying "style" is the sum total of whatever makes it look the way it looks--character designs, how it's animated, etc...? One thing I've realized I like about anime in general is the variance in frame rates. People complain about anime not being as slick as Western animation, but to me, unvaried smoothness is a much bigger problem. Animation doesn't have to duplicate human movement perfectly, but it should at least show an amplification of natural movement. And the thing is, people don't move smoothly. They stumble. They hesitate. They jerk around. When I see totally smooth animation, I can't get into it. That's also why I don't like full-CG anime, even when they're cel-shaded to look 2D. The movements don't feel right--they're too graceful and continuous and alien.[/quote] [font="trebuchet ms"]To me, style doesn't encompass animation quality. That's a technical thing. But it does encompass the animation's nature, an example being fights with still shots and line vs. fights that are pure motion and fluidity. I think they mean 'slick' as in more frame rates per second. Slick animation is always a good thing, but slick character animation is always something dependent upon the talent of the animator. I don't fully understand what you mean by 'totally smooth' animation, though. Do you mean in terms of character animation or just frame rate? In any case, US animation and Japanese animation both have its ups and downs. It's not like [i]Teen Titans[/i] is the pinnacle of western animation, it's pretty much the same quality as the anime coming out now. The high-end animation that comes out of both countries is all spectacular. Both for different reasons, but they're both amazing in their own way.* The [i]Mononoke[/i] picture you put up is gorgeous, though. I'll probably check it out now. *I'd like to address my opinions on the whole 'anime art sux western art is so much better' thing. Especially on DeviantART, there's just hate for the anime art that comes out and gets thousands of watchers just because it's anime and shiny. Pretty much, I'd like to say shut up and get over it. Yeah, there are tons of bad and popular anime artists, but there are probably a lot of bad artists who can only imitate famous western animators. Since anime has such a huge internet fandom, it's just inevitable that generic anime artists become popular, even if their art is dull and cliche. [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] The anime itself. Character design sheets don't really mean anything to me. Naruto style would still be bad if it was on a nice sheet and well drawn out, just because it's so incredibly dull. Even in the real arcs of the Naruto anime, the style is just, urgh. I did bring in quality, but it was a digression. I'm just talking about style, like how Bleach style is different from Naruto style. I always thought character design was very interdependent and interchangeable with style, so I brought that in as well. :) I'd also like to proclaim my love for this mystery anime style I see randomly: [center][img]http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07334/onepicemsbo.png[/img][/center] The [i]One Piece[/i] movie [i]Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island[/i] was randomly done in a completely new and streamlined style, and I just loved it. It happened in [i]Naruto[/i], too, during Naruto and Sasuke's fight at the Valley of the End: [center][img]http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07334/narutoms.png[/img][/center] [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I always take an anime's style into consideration first when I decided whether I should give it a try or not- it's that important to me. So I thought I'd make a thread asking what everyone else's preferences were. Be warned that I'm the pickiest person when it comes to this subject. :) I just detest old school CLAMP style, I'm sorry. I know a lot of people think CLAMP is great because everyone is beautiful and feathery and long-limbed, but I pull my hair out over their designs. And I'm not talking about recent CLAMP style, like [i]Tsubasa[/i] or [i]XXXHolic[/i], because I've taken a liking to those. It's the style used in older stuff like [i]Tokyo Babylon[/i] or [i]Magic Knight Rayearth[/i]. The Naruto anime was like a rare exception for me, because I pretty much hate the its style as well. Seriously, looking at this picture makes me want to seize something and shake it: [center][img]http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07334/NarutoTeam7.jpg[/img] [size=1]AUGHHH![/size][/center] I know I'm unreasonable when it comes to quality. Even though I'm aware that long-running anime like [i]Naruto[/i] and [i]Bleach[/i] are just prone to have less-than-stellar production, it just irritates me. =_= I pretty much adore GAINAX's style, though. Their OVAs are just spectacular in my eyes- everything is clean lines and solid style and *0* I just love it. OVAs like [i]FLCL[/i] and [i]Diebuster[/i] are complete eye-candy to me. Even their character designs are sexier. I can't get enough of them. Manglobe also has my kind of style, even though they've only made two anime ([i]Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy[/i]). But a lot of times character designs pull me through style. I love [i]One Piece[/i] for their characters, but I don't fancy its art. Same with [i]Fullmetal Alchemist[/i]. And sometimes overly generic character design kills my love for the style, an example for this case being [i]Romeo & Juliet[/i].[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I work. :) I've never gotten easy money, though. I've heard of the survey things that pay around $50 a session, but I never got around to contacting those people. [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] Dagger's link doesn't work anymore, so: [url="http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=jHahq1G4n6M"][u]link[/u][/url]. But oh, [i]Kaworu[/i]. Doesn't everyone love this guy? I got so excited when I saw him. :) I was actually more impressed with Shinji's character animation, since Rei usually...doesn't have an expression. =_= Not that anime is known for good character animation, lol, but it was all still awesome anyway. So excited for all of the rebuild stuff, I'm just sad it can't come any earlier! Also, the SD Eva (Petit Eva ~Evangelion@School~) will be adapted for video on August 10. Apparently it's a spin-off of the character set in a normal school. More info [url="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-08-06/petit-eva-super-deformed-series-to-be-made-into-video"][u]here[/u][/url].[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] Has anyone heard of/read Mousou Shoujo Otaku Kei? It's a stretch to put it in here, but I read about it on ANN and it sounded intriguing. I was just wondering if it was worth the read.[/font]

[quote name='vegeta rocker']I really HATE the Princess Bride but I love Neil Gaiman and I am looking forward to seeing Stardust. It looks kinda quirky and fun so I really can't wait.[/QUOTE] [font="trebuchet ms"] Argh, me too! I think the Princess Bride is the most overrated movie I've ever seen. But [i]American Gods[/i] is cool. Honestly, the trailer for Stardust make it look like a horrible movie, even Gaiman said so on his blog, I believe. But I've been hearing nothing but good things. It's definitely on my list after The Bourne Utlimatum. :p[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I'm almost done watching [b]Gunbuster[/b], which is a pretty good OVA. Cheesy mecha parts included, but hey. :p But right now I'm not watching any ongoing series, which makes things sort of boring for me. Mostly I haven't been trying any out either, though. v_v Anime takes too much time, lol. Any recs? (Other than Bleach/Naruto/One Piece/Death Note?) But I'm still actively reading the [b]Naruto[/b] manga and periodically checking up on the [b]Fullmetal Alchemist[/b] and [b]One Piece[/b] manga as well. [/font]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial] Statement. One-love. You seriously didn't catch that? :animesmil[/FONT][/QUOTE] [font="trebuchet ms"] That's tennis! I guess they use the same scoring for ping-pong, too. lol[/font]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial] That play was the best evar. Especially the ping-pong match. Seriously, guys. If you haven't read this, I highly encourage you do. It's great. So what if it ties into Hamlet?[/FONT][/QUOTE] [font="trebuchet ms"] I liked Albert, lol. But I don't recall a ping-pong match. :L [/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] By the time you're a junior/senior in high school, it's time to buckle down and take harder courses. If you're going to aim for a good college, you should get the ball rolling now. Don't think of taking AP courses or college courses as ways of getting credit, because most of the time it doesn't work out. They're things you do so it looks good on your transcript (and if you're "genuinely interested" :p).[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I'm proud of my empathy. It has, probably more than another other trait I have, defined my how I act and think on most matters. I'm proud that I've learned not to rely solely on god-given skills, and that talent can only grow when coupled with hard work and endurance. I'm glad that I've gotten rid of my 'some people are just elite' attitude, and realized that people who rub their noses into the ground trying are a thousand times better than any genius could ever be. And I'm proud of new shoes. :)[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] @ Clurr: That sucks, it truly does. I've never seen such a big summer assignment for AP Lang. Last year all I had to do for that class was read On Writing Well by William K. Zinsser and analyze our own writing styles. AP Lang is a ptetty slack class if you already know how to write timed essays, though. Everything else is sort of useless (at least, my class was). [b]AP Lit[/b] [i]The Poisonwood Bible[/i], Barbara Kingsolver [i]Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead[/i], Tom Stoppard Annotate poem anthology of choice This assignment surprised me. Incredibly light, and even though my reader journals are the devil, it's all just busy work. I had to annotate a book of Lucille Cilfton poems, though, and sometimes I was just stumped. [b]AP Gov[/b] [i]The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad[/i], Fareed Zakaria [i]The World is Flat[/i], Thomas L. Friedman This was actually an interesting book, as opposed to other nonfiction summer reading I've had. I actually enjoyed reading it, because I thought Zakaria was saying something worthwhile. It was a sort of a pain in the *** to write an essay analyzing it, though, mostly because I don't know much about international politics and Zakaria analyzes everything for you. Need I say anything about The World is Flat? I'm just glad my other AP classes didn't give our summer assignments. Now that I've finished, I have two more days to enjoy summer. =_=[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I was never isolated physically, even when I obnoxiously proclaimed how much I liked anime when I was younger. And I have a close group of great friends who wouldn't care either way. So I'm more mentally isolated. I'm not friends with anyone who's really into cartoons/video games/other nerdy things as much as I am, so usually the internet is my only outlet. It sucks just sometimes, but mostly I don't care. I'm sure I'll meet more people like me sooner or later.[/font]

[font="trebuchet ms"][url="http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57084"]This[/url] is OB's graphic worm. It's basically a long line of graphics that members contribute to. Thought you might be interested! :)[/font]