Blade Runner, Weddings, Election 2007, Online Modifications

[tcpip]

Excellent weekend; started Friday eve with Blade Runner: The Final Cut at the Astor with imajica_lj, kremmen, hathhalla, ser_pounce, caseopaya and Michael C. all in attendance. The new, digitally-enchanced film has a few minor modifications, perhaps most notable being the extra crowd scenes and the original, more graphic (but not gratuitious), violence. Personally, I still think it's a little weak on that regard, but overall it is still one of the greatest films of all time.

On Saturday severina_242 and _zombiemonkey did the marriage thing, at the Old Treasury Building. Unsurprisingly, they both looked fantastic in their Victorian-era clothing and with their many Goth-type friends, it was all a very appropriate scene. Small dinner gathering afterwards at Pure South was likewise enjoyable. The setting a little modern for my tastes, but with excellent food. Didn't go to the "drinks and dancing" afterwards, but I'm sure it went well. Congratulations to both of you...

Following the Auditor-General's porkbarreling revelations, an assesment shows the Coalition election campaign has been a debacle from start to finish. Just when you think they couldn't get worse, last night Howard brought out the most brain-damaged policy for the entire campaign. Meanwhile, AWA's in action: when you have few buyers of a product and many sellers the price goes down. That's what happens to hospitality and retail wages.

In recent weeks, I've ditched my membership to libertarianism and anarchists. With the former convinced I am some sort of communist and the latter convinced that am sort sort of capitalist and one full of aggressive frat-boys and the other full infantile punks, it is far better to spend time in the quieter, more mature, more pragmatic, socialists community. On a similar angle, having reached the point of boredom on Warbook and frustrated with Scrabulous timing out, I've ditched all my Facebook applications. Suddenly... I have more time.

Comments

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

"Could it be that Leftys go looking for alternate viewpoints, even if they do disagree with them, where the right tend to be happiest in an echo chamber?"

Perhaps it somehow reflects a collectivist vs individualist outlook?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You would think it would be in reverse, wouldn't you :-)

Perhaps contrary to conventional wisom the left is more individualistic and the right more collectivist!

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I was looking at it the other way - a desire to seek debate and try to win others over, versus not really caring what the other thinks.

Still, it's all a generalisation anyway, and i should try to remember to cut down on that whole pointless 'left' vs 'right' angle.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

Conventional wisdom is silly: the right is more authoritarian, generally.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Especially since the left has largely ditched Stalinism and it's derivatives,

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

Indeed, although not wholly.

I didn't involve myself in the local ALP branch after the last election because it's heavily infested with stalinists, however.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Stalinism can be a practise as well as an ideology.

One could certainly argue that the Howard government, for example, is Stalinistic with its rather cavalier disregard for the separation of powers, federalism and the independence of the public service.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

I use the word 'stalinism' for the practice!

Since the Howard government is of the right, I think of its behaviour as crypto-fascist.

The two do run together at the extremes, of course.

Me, I don't like authoritarianism at all.

[zey.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, Stalin never seemed all that leftwing to me anyway. Totalitarianism and fascism are both about concentrating power and wealth to the few, while destroying any dissidents, which seemed about as anti-left as it gets.