41

Arts & Entertainment / Eurovision

« on: May 09, 2023, 06:02:32 PM »

I don't want to make a new topic for this every year so here we go, generic Eurovision thread.

Who I want to win because it's 10/10 Eurovision shit:


Who will definitely not win at all but it is still ridiculous and weirdly catchy. And I just love that Germans seem to have this quality of flamboyancy and severity at the same time:


Honorable mentions this year:

42

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Biden is using American taxpayer money to pay off my loans

« on: April 14, 2023, 08:04:55 PM »

Supreme Court leaves student loan settlement in place  https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1169830188/student-loan-forgiveness

Just to be super clear - this is not related to Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

43

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Balloon Madness

« on: February 13, 2023, 05:14:59 PM »

It is kind of strange. Apparently we used AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles to shoot down the balloons...at a per unit cost of US$381,069.74. The payload on the first one was the size of a bus if the reporting is correct. Perhaps worthy of a $400k missile. Not sure about the others. F-22's have a 20mm Gatling gun. I would think you could just plink-plink a balloon with a few rounds at a fraction of the cost. Guess not.

We don't know that the others were balloons. Like Rushy said, they're being vague about it.

Descriptions of objects:
First object - Balloon over Montana

Second - "The object was very different to the balloon, the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, and was flying at 40,000 feet without any obvious system of propulsion or control, officials said."

Third - "Officials described the object as smaller than the first balloon and cylindrical. It was also flying at about 40,000 feet when it was shot down."

Fourth - "That object was an octagonal structure with strings hanging off it, but with no evident payload."

But then we have - "On Sunday, the US Senate majority leader, Charles Schumer, who was briefed by the Biden administration before the Lake Huron incident, said the second and third objects were very likely small balloons."

So who the fuck knows. But it's aliens.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/13/what-do-we-know-about-the-four-flying-objects-shot-down-by-the-us

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Balloon Madness

« on: February 13, 2023, 04:55:32 PM »

Conspiracy theories are abound, from the more tame "they're too embarrassed to admit they shot down weather balloons with expensive missiles" to the more extreme "it's aliens!".

Okay, but it is aliens.

45

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: February 09, 2023, 07:09:38 PM »

Bang Chan 🥵

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 31, 2023, 07:00:53 PM »

officially my new favorite kpop band after seeing this ridiculous shit

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 31, 2023, 01:57:25 PM »

48

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Now Playing

« on: January 13, 2023, 05:49:16 PM »

I dreamt in German last night and it was the first dream featuring Rammstein. Mostly Richard for some reason.

49

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: January 06, 2023, 05:23:50 PM »

it's got Ana Joy whatsherface in, who I quite like

Ah yes, I too do not know the names of people I like.

It's Anya Taylor-Joy.

50

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: January 06, 2023, 03:28:40 PM »

the wolf of wall street

tbh i don't get why this movie was so highly acclaimed.

Outside of the great acting and general entertainment, I think it played into a lot of male fantasies. All of the salesmen I worked with at my first job ate that shit up.

51

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Midterms 2022

« on: November 09, 2022, 08:51:31 PM »

Strangely, I did see a statistic earlier that white women turned out more strongly for Republican candidates this year than in previous cycles. That is a demographic that I would have thought would move in the Democratic party's direction

Democrats have the unmarried women demographic locked in.

https://twitter.com/bradwilcoxifs/status/1590409234818420737

lol what did I say? DeMoCrAt WoMeN aRe UnDeSiRaBlE

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Midterms 2022

« on: November 09, 2022, 05:53:16 PM »

All the incels shouting that educated democratic women are ugly are having an affect on them unfortunately. White women are highly susceptible to negging.

53

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Midterms 2022

« on: November 09, 2022, 05:31:49 PM »

I think we have Roe to thank.

And gen Z showing up.

54

Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: Midterms 2022

« on: November 09, 2022, 02:11:23 PM »

Also, jfc Tennessee:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slavery-banned-tennessee-constitutional-amendment-inmate-punishment/

It wasn't only TN

https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1590228362257391620

55

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 31, 2022, 03:19:30 PM »

I think it’s fine because he needs to have an arc through the series and I hope that he gets some kind of redemption since he is meant to be a tragic figure, rather than an antagonistic one.

Yes, I absolutely agree with this. We see his nature isn't as noble as Aragorn's but Isildur is also a very young adult. That's what I meant by we don't need to root for them all the time. I do think it's a fair setup for an arc where he matures into a hero after already establishing a weakness that tracts. And to be fair it's a weakness a lot of people have so it's not even a moral failing really. He's just a thoughtless kid.

56

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 31, 2022, 12:47:27 PM »

My problem is simply that the show goes too far and leaves us with nothing to root for. He's too capricious, too entitled, too selfish.

And I agree with you but I don't think we need to root for every character. Or at least not all the time. fwiw the writer I like wrote on Breaking Bad and we certainly don't or aren't supposed to root for Walt.

57

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 31, 2022, 01:05:43 AM »

Ah yes, this is why I hated the books. This is very boring.

So to reiterate, it's not a character flaw. But the audience is justified in disliking Boromir. But it's wrong to give Isildur character flaws. K

I also never got that Legolas or Gimli felt a pull during the council. Gimli went to smash it right at the start

Hobbits are very pure silly things. So again it kinda makes sense that it's most effective around selfish and/or ambitious men.

58

Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 30, 2022, 02:35:36 PM »

As for Boromir, well, he didn't simply refuse to destroy the Ring, he tried to forcefully seize it from Frodo, in stark contrast to other characters that were shown to be able to resist the urge to try and claim it themselves.

lol this is so hypocritical. Boromir was near it for a long time and he did apologize. He literally picked it up and still gave it back. He was fighting it. And no, we never see Legolas, Gimli, or the other Hobbits struggling with it in the first movie.

Personally, I have no problem whatsoever with the stories showing man's inherent selfishness and how that might tie in with why the ring has so much power over them.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 30, 2022, 03:56:55 AM »

And yet a lot of people hated Boromir. 🤷‍♀️

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: October 30, 2022, 02:01:26 AM »

He is their focus, he is their main character. That's generally not how movies and TV shows frame deliberately unlikable characters.

We all know him as the ass who just couldn't destroy the ring. Sure, they can build him up and make him more complicated and maybe we do want to root for the naive kid full of hope and curiosity. But I think his selfish privilege is absolutely intentional because it shows his flaws and makes his trajectory pretty obvious.