Open Thread: A Modest Proposal Continued…

I propose we move to new thread. The 90 posts make the last one hard to open. I don't know how your browser likes it but mine shows empty space instead of the last comments and I have to highlight them for display. So, I propose from now on, anyone who posts 60th post opens immediately a new thread (all of us have guest writer privileges, right?).

To recap what's going on:

1. Hints about IKEA in films: indeed it's cheating, but you are not going to tell, are you? So post them! ;^)
2. Hero: very controversial and beautiful film, I'm eagerly awaiting when you all see it. Dimarec, I think for now I'm the only one here fascinated with wuxia.
3. Venn indeed had a website and we may have a link to it in the archives, which I didn't have time to work on, but I'll do it and soon.
4. Posting info about us on Lem website – very good idea. And then we wait to be slashdotted. (Which reminds me, could you post a counter on the page Glimmung? – I'm just curious how many times I hit reload ;^) )
5. Lots of comments on astronomy due to "the giant Mars phenomenon".
6. Schrödinger's Cat paradox – indeed a philosophical paradox, except not as it was stated in the article on multiverse.
7. Lots of LOTR discussions, which I can't comment on because I completely don't understand the fascination...
8. Jury duty discussion: revealed a deep dissonance between Justice and everyday American practice. And lots and lots of juicy details about Glimmung's personal life. };^)
9. Lots of engineering jokes that exposed me as a party pooper. An honor I am willing to bear with dignity! :^D
10. The animals: especially the giant rat. But also cats, buzzard, coyotes and turtles. This led us to politics of Baghdad zoo and Glimmung's another personal revelation that the dogs in his care are for Dean… I still resent his statement that my cats are apolitical... ;^)
11. The blackouts: we still don't have an answer to Dimarec question (was Milky Way visible during the blackout), but we can confer with Italians now...
12. Obituaries of people we admired, liked, or simply heard of. Mondrian, indeed Plimpton... What are we going to do without wisdom?
13. But, there is no more "us" Yeti, the barking moonbats from Bush's administration made sure of that... There is only America with The New Europe against The Old Europe. This is why proliferation of nukes (including and perhaps foremost in the US) and continued devaluation of their threat in mass media is really worrisome...
14. Actually, Yeti, your IKEA experience reminded me of George from Seinfeld: "Every time I think I'm out they pull me back in..." ;^)
15. Lem's "Peace on Earth" - some of us are reading it now...

Anything I forgot?

P.S.: Michael and anyone who is into Anime topic, could you post the most famous films in the genre again – without comments? I've been looking thru the posts trying to find where they were listed and I had hard time locating them. A list should stand out more and be a useful reference later on. Thanks!

What's a repuse? ;^)

Comments

[Glimmung]

Gryka,

Point-by-point reply to follow tonight (after tennis and critter duty).

Quickly though: no one but you took me up on the Authorship Privilige, I'll check my archived topics for Venn (need to get more of those up here), I'll look into getting a counter, and I recommend you edit this post to utilize the "continue reading" option so the numbered list doesn't take up main page space.

We are experiencing normal forum behavior. A topic is started, and the regulars soon begin talking about whatever the heck they want! Which is fine with me - I'm not into censorship. Topic discipline only matters if you're getting tens or hundreds of posts a day. But your point about long threads is well taken, and is also a good reason not to overburden the site with graphic images (or even demure ones :^) ).

[michael]

Okay, here are the anime titles:

"Spirited Away", "Princess Mononoke", "My Neighbor Totoro" by Hayao Miyazake

"Grave of the fireflies" by Isao Takahata

"Ghost in ths shell" by Mamoru Oshii

"Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo (I post this one with some doubts)

"Metropolis" by Taro Rin

Mondrian, what else have I forgot?

[michael]

It's Hayao Miyazaki, not Miyazake. Sorry.

[Gryka]

I still have one archive topic to post – Glimung. Sorry for delay, I'll do better from now on.

How do I utilize "continue reading" option? I didn't see any such option in the menu. I could code it but the code creates a small file that pops up when clicked on and I'm not sure how your site is organized... So, I can't really put the raw code in... Either send me, please, detailed instructions or, can you edit it? Keep in mind that I may not have all the options that you have at your disposal. Thanks.

I also don't mind messy. I actually like it. I just got tired of highlighting the last posts and reading them in reverse so I decided to "gray-goose" here a little. "To gray-goose" is a Polish expression and means to behave like one owns the place although that is not the case. Sorry!

I was looking for the list of Anime films for the longest time. And 90 posts is hard to read in short time. Lists are very good. Thank you, Michael. Very, very much!

Now, I better go to archive that topic I have before our host gets a little less demure... ;^)

[Yeti]

Repuse:

I'm not sure I could give you a formal definition of it, but an example of someone being repused would be along the lines as follows:

Some friends are hiking in the woods having a casual discussion, and one person says to the other, " Those are some pretty clouds, aren't they?". Person number 3 then says, "Actually those are contrails that have dispersed in a pattern that makes them appear as clouds". Person 3 has repused the first person.

Or, perhaps a better example, A guy is working in a ticket booth to a parking garage, and two of his friends walk up and start talking to him. One of them happens to notice that there is a small puddle of stagnant water sitting in one of the parking spaces nearby, and he jokingly says to the ticket guy, "Hey, you better get innoculated against malaria working in this dump!" At which point the repusive person says, "Actually the atmospheric conditions combined with the general water quality make it impossible for malaria to grow in that stagnant pond". Again , Person no. 3 has repused the first guy.

Or someone says, "I've seen Solaris a hundred times!". The repusive response is, "Actually, you've seen it 94 times."

Perhaps the best way to define it would be to say that to repuse is to volunteer information in an attempt to correct an inconsequential fact or idea expressed during the course of a casual conversation.

[Gryka]

I walked right into it, didn't I Yeti? ;^) Thank you for your explanation, it was very enlightening... ;^)

[Glimmung]

So, a noted example of a " repuser" would be Cliff Clavin. Is it important that the repuser be correct, or is it the thought that counts? Although, to correct a would-be repuser would be to become a repuser oneself!

[michael]

So is a repuse a form of a put-down?

[Glimmung]

Michael,

I hope you don't mind the Anime list I added to the RH column. Makes it easy to refer to for Gryka! Clicking the DVD image will take you to the Amazon entry. I was interested in the comments on Metropolis I saw over there - that one has moved up my list of things to see. I stopped at 5 entries, but I can add more if you like.

If you would like me to add any comments to them (like I did with my "Artifacts") drop me an email. Ditto if you prefer another name for the list - I have to edit it anyway so it will fit in the column!

A reminder to everyone that if you would like a personal list of any kind (movies, music, books, website links) I'd be delighted to add one for you.

While I'm discussing housekeeping, expect some more archived "Channel One" topics to appear soon...

[Yeti]

I think a repuse can very easily be taken as a put-down, although in its purest form a repuser does not intend for it to be that way. I took issue with the person that first introduced me to this word. I thought it should be spelled with a "c" instead of an "s", but he informed me that the root word is "pus", which is very unpleasant, and to spell it with a "c" would remove that visceral element from the word. I'll consult with him to see if he can give me a better working definition.

You did walk into that one, Gryka. But, I don't think you are a repuser in general. Just an occasional party pooper. You do, however, insure quality control on this site ;)

[Yeti]

Cliff Claven is an excellent example of a repuser, although a true repuser interjects the "tidbit" in the midst of an ongoing conversation. Cliff, as I recall, offered up his pearls of wisdom as kind of an afterthought to things that others would say.

[Gryka]

You do, however, insure quality control on this site ;)

On that note: Glimmung, could you open a new topic for Leo's post? I think it deserves a new topic don't you? And I love the Anime display! Thanks!

[Glimmung]

On that note: Glimmung, could you open a new topic for Leo's post? I think it deserves a new topic don't you?

I had actually thought of doing that. It's true, great minds think alike! :^)

[michael]

Glimmung,

I'm sorry - I thought I owe Gryka this cool privilege of having my own anime section. Well, I redirect the praise I expressed on the Anime thread to you, Glimmung, although if it wasn't for Gryka I wouldn't have anything to thank for in the first place! :)

[Yeti]

I consulted with Sasquach on the definition of repuse. This was his response:

"I'll send your request to The Abominable Snowman for a better definition but it's basically the unnecessary correction to a non-essential fact.

For example, if your telling a story that you were eating a Big Mac the other day when suddenly the neighborhood around you was being carpet bombed by a squadron of B-52s it would not be necessary to have someone correct you were really eating a Quater Pounder at the time not a Big Mac."

[michael]

Thanks to Sasquach ;) for the explanation, Yeti.

[Glimmung]

Or that, technically speaking, those were actually B-52H's...

My pleasure, Michael. And you're right to thank Gryka too, without her we wouldn't be here.

[Gryka]

Yeti, you made BBC news

[Yeti]

Yeah. I've always been fond of the Patterson picture. Rather a handsome figure, wouldn't you say?

They'll never catch me.

Never.

[Yeti]

Ok. Here's something that was sent to me, and after reading it I thought you all might appreciate it:

This is a real clock.
Every now and again there comes a graphic so good the fresh concept
blows you away.
The University of Poland science students have finally finished their
digital clock they have been working on for 4 years. Go to this site to
see the results:
Polish Digital Clock

[michael]

Those damn stereotypes... D:)

Polish science does lag behind - not because we don't have smart people but because we don't have money.

[Gryka]

Can someone explain to me what was appealing about Ahnuld to all those voters that voted for him? They couldn't have been all star struck, could they? Is that is what you have to do today? Run your election campaign from Jay Leno's office? What is going on with the Republic?

I've been watching TV in complete shock (mind you the fact that Cubs are in World Series is already an ominous sign) in complete incomprehension. I understand they didn't like Davis. So they chose Kindergarten Cop instead? What has just happened?

P.S.: Michael, I'm sure Yeti meant Poland, NH. He must have had some money invested in the show and now that it turned out stereotypes don't sell after all, he's attempting to promote it any way he can...

[michael]

Gryka:

;)

I guess Arnold won because there wasn't enough good competition. Probably if there was someone out there with real merit, Arnold would have a much harder time and even Jay Leno wouldn't prove so helpful. I hope I'm not overly optimistic here...

While we are on the topic of stereotypes: they contain the element of a mental model. Mental models are helpful, because for example if you know that in general tigers tend to have people for dinner, you don't stick around if one appears but, based on this common knowledge, you run like hell (unless you're Siegfried and Roy - and we know how that ended). Mental models give you this way of interacting with the world based on generalized knowledge. Then, if you receive additional, more specific information, you modify your behavior. So mental models are in fact very good for establishing a way to approach a new situation.

[Gryka]

Michael, tigers DON'T eat people (if they do, that means they are sick or some idiot is parading them thru Las Vegas – come to think of it, if I had to live in Las Vegas I'd maul people too). ;^)

Funny that you mention modeling, I do a lot of that at work. It's called "data modeling" and I must tell you if the data requirements aren't recognized properly the db model generated is always GIGO (garbage-in-garbage-out). So, if you don't mind, I'll continue to act with appropriate care and dismiss stereotyping as a tool all together.

Hmm, since tigers that happen to eat people are known to be sick, do we refer to them as sociopaths? ;^)

----

Seriously thou, I don't believe the lack of competition thing. Firstly, Davis won last (real) election (i.e. proven himself to be a good competitor). Secondly, there were over 100 people running and there weren't good competitors among them? Thirdly, Ahnuld has pectoral muscle, no brains, no experience, no expertise, no plan on how to govern, likes to harass women and is close friend with Kurt Waldheim. He is also obnoxious, annoying, in-your-face jerk driving Humvee who thinks only about his career and has never, ever, ever shown any interest in society, social work, or politics and, most of all, he has never voted in this country! If it was anybody else (except for that other nincompoop) he wouldn't stand a chance...

Is mass media coverage everything in this country? Do people believe anything they hear on TV? BTW, how many of you believe this was a high-turn-out election? Are we really split into two-class society (haves and have-nots, internauts and snailers)? Are we becoming India?

Look at the recent history: Clinton's impeachment televised and publicized until we all got physically sick of it, the last presidential elections – my God!, no follow-up on 9-11 investigation like it didn't require any investigation, the war with its imbedded journalists and virtually no independent eyewitnesses, no follow-up on the blackout what-so-ever, the recklessness of recall supported by media, the recall elections with one candidate supported by media. What are we dealing with? A flux? Or a consorted effort to abolish democracy? Why are people so gullible? Is this becoming direct democracy (read: tyranny of easily manipulated sheep)?

Please note that I really tried to stay away from partisan politics. I want to discuss acceptance of idiocy in government not neo-cons. This phenomenon seems bigger than partisan politics anyway, although, I don't think the same criteria of qualifications are required of both parties (i.e.: Dems are required to be better qualified and smarter).

What is going on? How do we stop it? We are short on money and resources and we need to reinvest in our society now like never before, we can't afford idiots. We simply can't. Is there a remedy? If there isn't what do we do? Please don't take these for rhetorical questions. I'm really troubled by these developments as I'm sure you are, whatever side of the alley you reside on.

[michael]

Some tigers are man-eaters and they are not sick. When food is scarce and human settlements near tigers can change their diet. But the tiger example was more of a joke anyway, so it has been proven again that Gryka is a party pooper! D:)

I agree that the monopoly of big corporations on the media is bad. I have only regular American tv and the only place where I can hear something different seems to be Bill Moyers on PBS and Euronews from my satellite dish.

I don't reside on any side of the political fence. Frankly I hate politics and would never become politically involved. I cannot vote here in the US, so it doesn't make much of a difference anyway. I don't like those Democrats vs. Republicans discussions either. I think that trashing someone just because they are Republicans or Democrats is, well... stereotyping. Just like trashing women because they are women. All women are the same: no good, lying, weak retards, right?... I'm sure that guys who believe that are very convinced about the truth of that statement and their own superiority (moral too of course). It's interesting that the same sort of invectives tend to pop up time after time no matter who the target is.

If I were to choose I'd probably become a Democrat but that doesn't mean I'd pack every Republican into the "evil" bag. I haven't met each and every one of them, so how do I know they are all bastards? There probably are certain traits that predispose you to become a Democrat or a Republican but does that mean that everyone on the "wrong" side is bad? Isn't that the dehumanizing we talked about before?

I have heard on both sides the same sort of rhetoric built on stereotyping, using arguments that are convenient, omitting facts that are inconvenient and a need to hate, dressed up as smug self-righteousness. It's always the other side that is evil and "we" want only the best... Maybe if I cared for politics I would be more prone to get worked up but because I'm not I just look at those discussions in terms of human psychology. Splitting and projection. The basis of scapegoating and lynching.

I wouldn't have a problem with a statement that all Neo-Nazis need a serious head-check, though. And I don't think that would be stereotyping.

As for Arnold having no brains - did Maria Shriver really marry an idiot? She seems pretty smart to me, not the type to put up for over twenty years with a knucklehead.

But you're right Gryka, that monopoly is anti-democratic and because of that the news is very biased and obviously serves someone's agenda, not journalistic objectivity. That is indeed very, very dangerous.