eleanor

[quote name='Drix D'Zanth']Wow, sounds to me like you are implying tha Bush is accountable for those people's actions. Sure, you can protest.. that's one thing. But throwing eggs and slandering is an entirely different matter. I hope this isn't the integrity that the democrats choose to acknowledge; I would be ashamed if I were one.[/quote] [color=darkslateblue] Oh, no. I think you got me wrong. I think it's dumb that George Bush has lead the nation in such a way that the nation is now completely divided, but in NO way am I saying it's his fault that the protestors there were so violent. Indirectly? Yes. You can't say he hasn't somehow affected their behavior, but trust me: I think protestors are sometimes just wasting their time. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I think it's sad that Bush is the first president (please correct me if I'm wrong) since Nixon that had so many opposers that obviously felt so much anger that they had to protest him at such a massive scale. I mean...didn't they pelt eggs at him at his first one? And not to mention the protests in [i]other[/i] cities this year. Or maybe we're all just getting rebellious.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] :3 I love this movie, too. I didn't really get it the first time I watched it, but I guess I figured most of it out after the second viewing. Some things in that movie just can't be explained... >_< I LOVED Jake Gyllenhaal because he seemed the absolute perfect actor for this role. His whole hunched-over-face-down-eyes-looking-up-at-you thing fits the character perfectly. I think I loved every inch of this movie...no wonder it was a cult classic. Although if I actually think about it, the film was a little redundant at times. Ah, well. I'm pretty excited about the Director's Cut coming out on DVD in February. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Freshmen at Centennial High School [Go Knights!], I actually enjoy high school. But then again my sister tells me that you don't feel the difference until junior year. *shrug* This year, all I do is orchestra [which is [i]very[/i] time-consuming because our orchestra is one of the best in the state and we practice like crazy] but next year I'm planning to join debate team and probably some sport. All of the colleges I'd like to go to are in New England, but I have absolutely no desire to go to the huge ones like Yale or Harvard. I'm pretty interested in Boston University because I feel it'll be really easy for me to get in, and I could probably get a good scholarship there. My sister goes to NYU [beast of all beastly high-tuition colleges] and so I have to shoot for a scholarship...and NO way I'm staying in Georgia. Colombia University is another school I'm interested in, as well as UBA and NYU maybe if I get a scholarship. I feel like majoring in either Journalism/Communications or English.[/color]

[i]I have only one word for the trailer I saw. Creepy. I mean, don't get me wrong I think it looks awesome and I do really want to go see it. There's just something kind of disturbing about Depp's portrayal of Wonka, I don't really know if I see the character that way. [/i] [color=darkslateblue] If you're read the book, you must know that Willy Wonka himself is just one very creepy guy. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] The whole orphan kidnapping thing is a rumor, but of course it is a very possible one. Sadly, I have no doubt it may be happening.[/color]

The sheet are tangled, your body warm and your eyes tired. A groan and you sit up; you never liked getting up in the morning. You find your shirt, pull your pants on. You?re about to leave, a hand on the door. ?Tell me I?m beautiful,? there?s a voice. Gorgeous blue eyes. And you leave.

[color=darkslateblue] So, now that the tsunami has come and gone, I just thought I'd bring up the topics of the results of the tsunami. (If this is a bad thread since there's already a topic about the tsunami in general, then by all means do whatever with it) Recently, most of the things I've heard of are all the homeless people (obviously), thousands of stray dogs wandering the streets, masses of dead bodies, and the rumor that orphans whos parents died in the tsunami are being kidnapped and sold into the slavery/sex trade (how vile and corrupted would you have to be to do that?). I've been watching Andercon Cooper's show for a while now, so I just though I'd make it a thread. >_> Any comments?[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Now that you raise that point, I do feel some regret saying what I did. Most of this spouted from my hate of the president. Which is mostly what I'm angry at. [this was directed to Drix.][/color]

[i]Why is it we get criticism from nations with smaller donations than ours?[/i] [color=darkslateblue]Ok, holy crap. It's because America is the most poweful nation in the world, and about 50 times bigger than the countries mentioned above. Yes, $350 million is nice, but we spend about $350 million each week in Iraq. Could we do no better? I suppose not, since we're just the poorest dang country in the world. Even in freaking recession we're still the most poweful nation in the world. I can see why some of you are angry at people like me saying the US is being miserly, but I'm sorry, I just think we could've given much more. And please take this to heart, I'm not one of those people who hate America for everything it does. If it gave more money I wouldn't parade around saying 'America is arrogant'. I love this country, but sometimes it has its faults. [/color]

[i]All this criticizing of America's contribution is more proof that the world isn't in love with us - we do something nice (we could have been total selfish jerks and not sent anything), and people criticize us anyway. Damned if we do damned if we don't (I'm not saying that we didn't deserve it, but we get criticized whatever we do)[/i] [color=darkslateblue]It's because we're a god-damned world power, the most poweful nation in the world, and we've done some pretty f-ed up things in the past. And the fact that $350 million is somewhat small when compared to how much more we could give them. Yeah, $350 million is nice, but that's like a billionaire giving 1,000 to a tradgedy. The niceness of it sort of wears away.[/color]

[i]I agree with absolutely Morpheus. You see, the difference between America and the rest of the world is that we know what is right and we do what we know is right. The problem is, most countries don't want to do what's right, it's human nature. Why do we drink? because it feels good, we don't want to think about kidney failure or anything, we just live for the moment. Just a little comparison to the world.[/i] [color=darkslateblue] Yes, because it is a known fact that Jesus came down upon the US and blessed us and only us to know what is right and what is wrong, and the knowledge that beer can destroy your kidneys.[/color]

[i]After the tsunami hit, world leaders rushed to help after the disaster. What does our dearly beloved president do? He resumes with his Christmas vacation. And then what? He proposes 20 MILLION. That's just about enough to buy a really nice house in Palo Alto. While, on the other hand, individual organizations in Europe alone are able to raise 70 million, and even a country as small as South Korea proposes 30 million - 10 million more than the United States. And yet, after the hurricanes hit Florida, Bush proposed 2 billion? And I'm not too happy about the way they're distributing the food, as shown on CNN. Tossing boxes of food like mardi gras beads out of a helicopter doesn't seem like the best way to distribute food to people who are homeless after a disaster. As for North Korea, why shouldn't they have anything against the US? Didn't Bush include their country in the 'Axis of Evil'? And that was RIGHT as North and South Korea were speaking seriously about reunification. Families were allowed to meet for the first time in fifty years on the border, and they were sending peace performances by children and popular singers to the other country. But I don't understand why the US is so concerned with such small countries having weapons of mass destruction. After all, which country owns the most?[/i] [color=darkslateblue]Rock on. The USA is probably the most poweful and rich nation in the world, right? Wait, I guess that means that highest George Bush can fork over at first is $35 million. Yes, that is just [i]collosal[/i].[/color] [i]On the second day of the crisis, America's $4 million pledge was increased to $15 million, Powell said. Three days after the tragedy, the U.S. aid was expanded to $35 million. By then many other nations had pledged millions more. France has promised $57 million, Britain $95 million, Sweden $75.5 million and Spain $68 million, although that pledge was partly in loans. [/i] [color=darkslateblue] The US has this ever-present layer of very strong nationalism, almost arrogance, and it shows up in the media. We act as if we have to go around and protect the world by ridding other countries of the nukes, and say that we're making the world better. But then George Bush decides to wait a bit and then says 'we'll give when $350 million' in the end. Whoop dee doo. Good for you, Mr. Bush. And the media isn't helping. Most of the sob stories are about white people, I've seen about two survivor stories about the natives. Good job, I guess we'll just lump all the natives into the massive death count, but Americans are just more important so they'll have to have their own sepreate thing.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] As a branch off of Shy's opinion of the characters... In the beginning, I also found it hard to like any of the characters. At first, I found the mother and Crake to be the most interesting, but then of course [spoiler]the mother leaves and you really don't see major character development[/spoiler], and then as I read further into the book, I found myself to dislike Crake immensely. The most heated dislike of Crake wore off as I finished the book, but I still didn't like him. But during the whole process I came to like Jimmy a bit. By the end of the book I just plain liked Jimmy. Although during the book there were always up-and-down points with Jimmy. At times he showed real emotion and responsibility, and we saw what he went through, but at other times, he's just a loser. A very crappy loser. But anyways. It was obvious to me, at least, that Jimmy represents the humanist [spoiler] (as he, like some others, felt maybe genetic engineering had 'gone too far' when looking at the results)[/spoiler] and with that I felt that I could connect with him the most. I felt Crake was never really explored deeply as a character, and came off to me as somewhat 2-D. The regular 'genious-boy who has no sympathy for humanity' or whatever, and Oryx was just someone I tolerated while reading the book. By the end [spoiler] when the end of the world comes, I was just like: 'well, see you later, I never really knew you guys so I don't really care, either'.[/spoiler] Overall, I have mixed feelings about the book. In my earlier post I said it was 'pretty good', because I'm a fan of Maragret Atwood's writing style, but I feel like her talent was sort of wasted here. Her strength is in characters, but where were the characters? They never really came to life for me, and by the end of the book I got this strong impression that the author got bored with it and just wanted to end it. Another thing I noticed was that...it seems as if she did no extensive research, despite this book being a sci-fi book. Though I can happily dismiss that, since it's such a dumb thing to criticize about when the book is about the three characters, which is where it fails. But it was a fun read. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I love threads like these, lol. XD The first thing I usually search for is humor, followed by personal preferences. Unlike men, a lot of women don't think physical looks are as important. *mutter* Anyway, like I said, I've never and will never be attraced to a guy who's not funny. And all of the guys I've liked are hilarious people, and most of them weren't that good-looking, I just liked them because they were funny. :3 And for some reason, guy who act like a stereo-typical guy turn me on. Although, this is a very thin line for me. What I mean by this is that guys that act like a basic stereotypical man (I know, very little people actually understand what I'm trying to get across, so don't worry if you're stratching your head, here). Examples: they're dull/thick-headed when it comes to women, they just have that 'manly' thing like when they're obsessed with football or some other sport and they argue over which team is better, they dress crappily because they have no sense of style, they eat like maniacs, etc. etc. I guess that part falls mainly under the fact that I like guys who look like they can physically/mentally protect me. ;) But I also need a guy who's intelligent as well. For some reason I dig guys who are smarter than me or more intellectual than I can be, and moral values and roots should be similar to mine. (ex: I don't want my boyfriend going around spewing insults to gay people or anything) Another important factor for me is confidence, because to be blunt I don't want to hang out with a guy who's caved in with his own emotional insecurities and begs for attention or something (which again falls under the whole 'protection' thing, I guess). And physically, all I really prefer is that they're taller than me and fit. :)[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] After a long while of forgetting about this manga series, I was bored so I looked up on some news and I found out that CLAMP decided to make an animated tv series. :3 I'm pretty happy, because I get to see Fai in animation. :D Anyways, it's planned to be aired in April of 2005, although I have no idea how long it will be. I hope it's not one of those overly extended anime that have like 90 episodes, though. >_> [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Um...it's impossible to get it in stores, because they only sell it oneline at [url]http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/index.asp[/url]. *scratches head* I'm pretty sure about that, anyways.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Hehe...I love this movie. It's so random. No plot+complete loser=genius movies. I thought it was pretty hilarious. It made me want to get a 'Vote for Pedro' shirt. Like Shinmaru said, there wasn't a moment that I felt bored and I laughed out loud a lot of times. :) I personally enjoyed the llama feeding line.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] *sigh* I just watched Saving Private Ryan last night. :/ I am being in two different directions when it comes to whether or not our soldiers should come home. On one hand, we can't just leave after putting Iraq in this horrible mess, but then again there are families here that are being heartbroken and destroyed because of the deaths. [/color] [i]"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."[/i] [color=darkslateblue]Geez oh man, I wonder what leader this describes here. >:[ Personally, I half-heartedly supported the war in Iraq when it first started, but I don't think our president planned **** for reconstruction.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] British accents don't really have an effect on me...but I fell in love with Sean Biggerstaff (guy who plays Oliver Wood in the Harry Potter movies) when I heard his voice. So, yeah...go Scottish accents! ;) But then again I have a thing for all-American guys. >_>;[/color]

[color=darkslateblue] I've finished the book...it was pretty good. I loved Margaret Atwood's writing style in [i]A Handmaiden's Tale[/i] and I loved it in Oryx and Crate. Her tone of bleakness with humor is similar with [i]A Handmaiden's Tale[/i], something that she balances with a good serving a talent. :) Although I'm not sure about what exactly we're supposed to discuss or anything... [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] What I Gave: [b]Mom:[/b] a pink long-sleeved sweater sort of thing...:) It was pretty so I got it for her. [b]Dad:[/b] A warm vest since he lost his old one this year. [b]Sister:[/b] LoTR:RoTK Extended Edition. She also got a Canon PowerShot 4.0-Megapixel Digital Camera from the family...needless to say, she was very happy. What I Got: -Uber-cool watch from Coach...it's very cute and pretty. ^^ -Epson 4180 Perfection Photo Scanner. If I talk anymore I'll start squealing and throw confetti everywhere... -A pretty hand-knit scarf (it's a mixture of blue, white, gray, and other such colors) -A nice hat. :) [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Augh! Yes! [b]74, baby![/b] I'm a freaking genius! I'm amazing! I'm going to tell the whole world about this! *explodes with happiness* [/color] [i]Hey, I've a question! Does anyone know Bush's IQ? I googled it and different numbers came up (91, 125,131+). So which one is it?[/i] [color=darkslateblue]I doubt that any score you'll find on the internet is really George Bush's IQ score. The high ones are from George Bush supporters and the low ones are from George Bush haters.[/color]

[i]Wow. Everyone's saying Fight Club is the best movie ever, the storyline's the best, and all that cal. Personally, I haven't seen it, but I have read the book (yes it was a book before it was a movie. 3 years before, in fact), and I can already determine that the movie won't even come close to capturing the book (do they ever?). [/i] [color=darkslateblue] I have read the book [i]Fight Club[/i], and I really enjoyed it, but I dare not compare the two. Movies and books are two different things...I don't enjoy comparing them because they shouldn't be, really. It's like comparing a sink with a microwave, it's two very different things. Movies are movies and books are books. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue] Just three movies! That's madness, I tell you! :P But here goes... [b]Fight Club[/b]: 1) Edward Norton. 2) Good director. 3) Awesome movie. This movie just plain rocks. Edward Norton is hands down one of my favorite actors, definately in my top three. ([b]Death to Smoochy[/b] and [b]American History X[/b] were both great movies) The storyline is great, and Edward Norton just makes the whole movie thousands of times better. It has this awesome gritty, dirty feel during the whole film (kudos to the director) and it's a must see for any movie fan. It's sad that so many movie fans haven't even seen it, when it was probably the best movie of 1999 (although [b]American Beauty[/b] and [b]The Cider House Rules[/b] give it a run for its money). Personally, I like it better than [b]A Clockwork Orange[/b] (and it has been compared with that movie a lot) and jeez...I just love this movie to bits. [b]Philadelphia[/b] So...I had to choose between this and [b]Schindler's List[/b], and I chose this. Why, I don't know. I love both the movies. Tom Hanks gives his best performance in this movie, and when I saw this movie, I was just like: wow. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen, no doubt about it. It has a very poweful and moving story, and is just open. We could all learn from the movie...and it's just great to watch anyway. [b]Shawshank Redemption[/b] *frustration* It was this or [b]Mystic River[/b], because I love Tim Robbins. I first saw this movie when my sister was watching it, and I was hooked. Tim Robbins did a great job with playing Andrew Dufresne, and James Whitmore did an excellent job with Brooks when acting out how his character dealed with life outside prison. Of course, Morgan Freeman was also good. I was glad when the movie didn't end sadly or anything...it made me happy. :) Yargh...I just can't post this without shouting out some other films I really enjoyed: [b]Memento, Saving Private Ryan[/b] (the first thirty minutes it just plain amazing), [b]OCTOBER SKY[/b] (I ADORE this movie to bits. It's not great, but for some reason I loved it so [i]much[/i]), [b]Mystic River, To Kill a Mockingbird[/b] (praise to Gregory Peck) [b]Ocean's Eleven, Dogma, The Bourne Identity/Supremacy, Snatch, The Sweet Hereafter, Schindler's List, Seven Samurari, 25th Hour, Life as a House, A Clockwork Orange, Kill Bill Vol.2...[/b] Wow, I got carried away. I'm still missing tons...movies are the greatest things ever. [/color]