bkev

I find your comments rather enlightening, Anchorhead. And don't worry - none offense taken. I'll try and address some of your points on the personal spectrum, but save you -- and everyone else -- the trouble of block quotes ;)

I consider myself in the middle ground regarding my generation's problems. I like to think I could handle myself better than Zuckerberg in an interview, but I'm certainly no expert. For me to reach eye contact with a person often requires serious attention to the idea on my end, for instance. Or on a lesser scale, casual conversation is kind of difficult for me. If I'm not interested in the conversation at hand you can expect a lot of "uh-huh"s or a sudden departure on my part. Even among friends, I'm this way; sometimes, I just always have to be doing something to be engaged. That's why I always fall back on multiplayer video games with friends: it's solid interaction without the fear of losing interest in the person. It wasn't a progression or anything due to technology, I've just sort of always been this way. Only recently did I honestly get a good grasp on the idea; I tended to place the blame on others not showing interest in me, or whatever.

However, my social skills are not a good measure of my intellect. You must understand, though, that more often than not you're seeing my best here. I tend to put a lot of thought into what I say, especially on a serious subject like this. That said, I like to think I'm a smart enough person that I'll be able to get by in the world regardless of whatever situations come my way.

What's really interesting on the global scale is that I've seen both in person and on the internet how people of my generation often lament the loss of their childhood despite the fact that so many elements of it are available at the tip of their fingers. I've been there. I was there for a very long time; only three years ago, I would have told you (given the time and agency) how much better cartoons were from the '90s, how this element of commercialism I'd never noticed really pisses me off, whatever. And I still reach that point sometimes. However, I think the difference between me and the aforementioned is I know it's not the right outlook. Of course, I'll slip here and there -- but as long as I acknowledge that it's a shitty way to look at life, always lamenting what you only think is gone, I'm above where I was before. I'm plenty mature, but there's still a lot of growing to be done and I (usually) understand that.

By starting out with what you told your high-school teacher, you really struck a chord with me. I don't know if you expected me to say right off the bat "I've been there" but I really have. In fact, I'm still there. Nobody else could understand what it's like to get a mohawk at 3 AM in your friend's bathroom the night before your graduation. Nobody else could understand the feeling of isolation spurred on by a lack of connection to anyone else's problems in my immediate life. Nobody else could understand WHY I missed my friends I hadn't seen in years so much. The problem with experiences in high school is, as interesting as they are in the moment and upon personal reflection, they're... well, personal. Your life's experiences, then and now, shape why whatever memories you wanted to highlight were so important and it would take a damn good writer to make them matter to anyone else. I'm tempted to link that monologue I mentioned in my first post; it discusses more personal elements than ones people could relate to, though. It's not really related to instant gratification or the like as much as it is a realization coming from a kid who probably wasn't in a good place and was falling back on times he wanted back.

Hm. This has got me thinking about hedonism in relation to instant gratification, but perhaps that's a subject for another time.

Well if those rights were what was holding up the release of the next damn season, hopefully it finally comes out!

That's actually part of the despecialization. While we'd love to think so, the original cuts aren't always perfect. This is meant to recreate the originals, flaws and all.

They wouldn't be too proud. We'd be stupid enough to give it to them.

There's more than just Texas.

But who's there to say no to him this time? Is he not still to be surrounded by yes-men?

holy fuck that's a lot of signatures and i can guarantee Ferris signed this if he saw it

On this subject, I have a similar problem with my old laptop (DELL Inspiron 5150) where the fan is nonexistent when it boots up and then once it loads up it goes insane. It happened after one last drop a few years ago. Would silverwook's fix be of any help to me? I'd like to avoid taking my laptop apart, as I have a history of being unable to put things back together (my first NES broke, I can't re-attach my Dreamcast's top without the disc being unable to spin, etc.) and I would like to keep it for both sentimental reasons and practical ones. Hey, native Windows is useful sometimes.

For reference, the model is known for having issues with overheating. I think I've had my parts replaced enough that whatever factory defects existed were probably fixed, though. If it's really a matter of replacing it, at least the part is cheap.

Where do you see Supershadow credited in this article at all? If this is a based on a treatment from George it is very possible he would want something like that...

I don't know about Express' reliability as I'm not from the UK so if it's a trash tabloid anyway just disregard my skepticism.

dr.olds said:

vbangle said:

You could actually learn about the Usenet or make the effort to contact walkingdork instead of whining and bitching about it.

you know , in forums i know how it works (there are several) i use to help people who don't . somebody asks where he can get something and i know it ? i show hin the direct way , i do not tell him to get a private investigator .

thank you very much for being so friendly to me .

I figured it would be safe when I saw a lot of the spoilers marked. It's all right though, I tend to do this a lot by accident anyway.

Dude, you have unmarked spoilers. Thanks for that, I expected to be able to read the parts of your review that didn't have capital letters preceding the parts :/. Whatever, I'm a glutton for punishment anyway.

she was ded.

I heard they weren't on the blu-rays. I certainly didn't see it anywhere in the options for L&LD or FYEO.

It was an extra feature on the UE DVDs that was removed when they made the jump to HD. Search me why they decided to cut it.

oh god not him why

What's this talk of a Civil War? It's the War of Northern Aggression to the aforementioned AWOL party ;)

^What Captainsolo said! I feel as if the Moore Bond movies struggled to remain relevant by picking up on recent trends in pop culture and trying to utilize them; while Moonraker is the most blatant example, you can see it a little in each. While Moore as Bond has a bit of a bumbling aspect to him (the first time I saw L&LD I asked myself why Bond kept ... losing,) his portrayal is certainly fun. He has a suaveness that I'm not even sure Connery ever pulled off. It always made sense why he got the girl. I love him for different reasons than other actors; in fact, the problem I have with picking a favorite is that in my opinion there never WAS a bad Bond actor. Just bad movies that went along with him.

^It certainly wouldn't hurt to get a quote, but unless it's your only computer on certain software - for instance, if it's your only Windows when you've made the switch to Mac or vice-versa - it might be best to recycle it. My 7 year old (wow!) Dell just sits in my parents' room back home, gathering dust. The fan is so loud it overpowers the speakers! I think it's the result of one last drop a few years back.

^An interesting perspective. "What now?" is a very positive way to look at this in terms of on a global scale. Definitely not the answer I was expecting, but a welcome one. I was coming from a more personal perspective, though. Hell, even home video is kind of part of what I'm talking about.

TV's Frink said:

You could have just posted three words.

"Do you masturbate?"

Hey folks,
I'd like to take this moment to ask you to take the following seriously. To expect it would be overestimating everyone's self control (normally my own included), so I'll just try and make it a humble request. Thank you for understanding.

I guess it's best to start with a concept: aesthetic resonance. My poetry professor recently spent a whole period trying to explain this concept, as it's quit a difficult one to truly put into words; I'll do my best here. Aesthetic resonance is the idea of words ,imagery, or what have you that can bring to mind certain feelings. Perhaps not specific memories, but the feelings associated with them. He was referring to written word when he described this. In fact, he might have even meant new experiences - like reading a beautiful piece for the first time. In this context, I do not. In my life, I think I've been... obsessed with that concept. I find myself always revisiting cartoons I once cherished to find those feelings I once had, whatever they are. That's the beauty of it: it's more than can be put into words. Not just emotion, but not quite a physical experience. It's recall, but more than a flashback to times long gone (though I have those as well.)

Tonight, I had a few drinks. OK, so I might have downed a whole bottle of wine. Whatever. What I have to say is so much more important than the mindset that brought it on. In the age of digital media, we have reached a crossroads. A serious one. People like me, who grew up during its infancy, now have access to practically everything on the pop culture spectrum that they grew up on. I can find pretty much any cartoon/any television show that I feel had a significant impact on me as a person online. And, in moments like now - where I'm a little down - I can return to them as solace: a reminder of what once was. The innocence I once had, how much this one life lesson mattered, whatever etc. I think it's kind of put me in a bit of a standstill in terms of growing up. This "instant gratification" - this ease of revisiting childhood - might actually have prevented me from properly growing up. Or maybe I've just got first world problems, take your pick.

How so? I've found I'm always looking for that aesthetic resonance. I have been for a long time. Hell, six years ago (I was 13) I wrote a monologue about all the people I missed who were once ever present in my life. I was looking for something I thought I had lost. However, when those people didn't work out... I turned to another solution: things I shared in common with the other kids lucky enough to have cable TV. And, unlike before where you might have had to look for something new to get whatever this... feeling you're looking for ... is, it's easy to find on the internet. Again - a simple look on youtube is all it might take to return me to whatever state of mind I keep looking for. This is on a personal level, of course, so I understand if you... uh, don't understand.

I wanted to write a lot more but I'm finding myself lacking the motivation. This is very similar to how I don't really finish things... video games, assignments, etc. Maybe it's because I want to be able to return to that feeling of discovery or whatever when I'm working on whatever project it is. I dunno. But why work when there's instant gratification available at the tip of my fingers? I guess that's what I'm getting at here. Have I strayed from explaining instant gratification? Not really, no. Thanks to it, nostalgia can be more than just a longing for the past. It's become a way of life for some people... look around on the 'net. I don't even have to point out where to go, it's true. You'll probably find a younger me in a few of those places.

Now, I turn this back on you. This question is for anyone, young and old. How do YOU feel about instant gratification? Has media made it too easy? Is our future screwed because of it? Will the manchild become the norm?

Discuss if you feel so inclined. I'm hoping you will, but I wouldn't blame you for looking down on me for thinking like this.

^MOON PIE! Jeez man. Come on.

I'm glad to see people remember that the Civil War was at its core about slavery. What a refresher from the attitudes frequently shown in the politics thread.

This should do it.