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Diary of a B+ Grade Polymath ([personal profile] tcpip) wrote2007-11-19 10:05 am

Blade Runner, Weddings, Election 2007, Online Modifications

Excellent weekend; started Friday eve with Blade Runner: The Final Cut at the Astor with [livejournal.com profile] imajica_lj, [livejournal.com profile] kremmen, [livejournal.com profile] hathhalla, [livejournal.com profile] ser_pounce, [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] severina_242 and [livejournal.com profile] _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 [livejournal.com profile] libertarianism and [livejournal.com profile] 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, [livejournal.com profile] 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.

[identity profile] jadine.livejournal.com 2007-11-18 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Your brain-damaged policy link has gone away...

[identity profile] lardarsegreg.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Why do people like Facebook so much, to the point where I've been asked several times if I'm on there?

Mini-rant. (sorry)

[identity profile] catsidhe.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
... when you have few buyers of a product and many sellers the price goes down.

I'm sure that [livejournal.com profile] erudito would dispute that, and claim that the amount of demand is independent from the number of individual buyers. I would, in turn, point out that a monopoly/oligopoly of buyers is just as bad as a monopoly/oligopoly seller. And he would retort that the data (dredge deep into a statistics web site, link to some abstruse policy website or four) actually says that this isn't the case. I reply that actually, it says that it is strongly proportional, and therefore there is heavy influence between the number of players and the price they pay, even if it is not the only factor, and he says that it is more complicated than I had posited and I was therefore wrong, and I point out that he had himself simplified and was prey to the same criticism, and he says that I am misunderstanding him deliberately and calling him evil, and I go WTF and stop playing, and he gets email wondering how he puts up with those evil abusive stoopid leftys.

I particularly like the comment suggesting that he filter his economic links to those who will agree with him, because when so many people reading his blog disagree with him, it must be them. That so many people who disagree with him read his blog anyway, because they find his arguments interesting, yet worthy of debate, is somehow embarrassing. Or inconvenient.

Why is it, by the way, that I see Leftys (social progressives, anti-xenophobics, non-economic-fundamentalists, however you define it) commenting on Rightwing (social conservative, militaristic, economic unleashed, lunatic liberatarian, whatever) forums, but rarely the other way around unless the Lefty has been brought to special attention. 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?

No, I couldn't possibly say that. Any comment which disparages a Righty is ipso facto abusive, it seems.

[identity profile] tempusfrangit.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
Facebook is a black hole. :D

[identity profile] mr-figgy.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
I might log on to Facebook once a week, and it would be less frequent if I didn't have constant messages saying someone attacked my vampire or zombie or whatever million other games people begged me to join. The Existere Editors remain perfectly happy with a closed facebook group as an editing roundtable, though, and vehemently opposed to having an e-mail list instead...

[identity profile] cluebyfour.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
The main problem with [livejournal.com profile] libertarianism is that too few of its members are (IMO) true libertarians.

Of course being an anarchist myself I am often reminded by others that libertarianism != anarchism or some such nonsense. I got tired of providing them history lessons a long time ago.

[identity profile] seanr.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
I think most of the regulars in /libertarianism appreciated your contributions, despite the inevitable contention when two (seemingly) opposite viewpoints collide. Anyway, I'll look forward to your insights in this journal. See ya

[identity profile] shorxrore.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
i actually never saw bladerunner before until i saw the new release in theaters a week or two ago. i gotta say i didn't really like it that much. obviously it was hyped up cuz so many people looooove it but i don't think the hype ruined it for me or anything. i thought it was going to be really intelligent and interesting but instead i just thought it was a moderately fun campy movie like star wars (which is also very overrated in my opinion). i thought the plot hade huge holes and the acting was poor and the storyline didnt really make any sense with little to no character development. i just dont get it. meh.

also, i refuse to add any facebook applications cuz they're so goddamn annoying on people's pages. i think i may add one or two eventually but i also don't really care that much and it's easier to say no to all of them :P

oh also add me on facebook my email is lehrer.jesse@gmail.com woooooooooha

[identity profile] neonchameleon.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 09:33 am (UTC)(link)
quieter, more mature, more pragmatic, [livejournal.com profile] socialists community

Quiet, mature, pragmatic. On LJ? Say it ain't so! (Or is that only a comparative)?

Blade Runner

[identity profile] laptop006.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 10:37 am (UTC)(link)
How could you ignore the lack of narration?

I went on thursday and found it the best projection I've ever seen, so good in fact that I found it made the Cars trailer look a little plastic and not like a film.

Of course given it's a half-million dollar projector I'm not surprised.

[identity profile] zenicurean.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
As much as I periodically despair over [livejournal.com profile] libertarianism, I have to say that reading [livejournal.com profile] socialists has only convinced me that if I were to habitually comment on it, I would have to spend my entire free time arguing. (This even though I'll give the community the benefit of the doubt here, and assume that the majority of it does not seriously lionise Hugo Chávez's crude rough-and-tumble socialism.)

[identity profile] lindsay40k.livejournal.com 2007-11-19 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
In recent weeks, I've ditched my membership to libertarianism

Oh, man, no wonder I feel like the only Lefty in the village...

Leaving Libertarianism means you miss out on brilliant gems like this...

[identity profile] lindsay40k.livejournal.com 2007-11-20 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
http://community.livejournal.com/libertarianism/2167166.html

I tell you what, this warrants x-posting to socialists...