Just see it.

A Band of Others?

...
Ben, are you turning into one of THEM?.

There's plenty of sedate games. Puzzles and such. Strategy games, turn based, human or computer opponents

You haven't played Myst then.

The new Sherlock Holmes film was great I thought.
I wonder if Where the Wild Thing Are could have been any better in 3D.

Really? I thought the Really Big Fight At The End was brilliantly realised — or, as our in-house action movie expert put it, "exhilarating". I'm really not sure what recent action spectacle you'd be unfavourably comparing it to.

Giovanni pretty much covered it, although he was a bit harsher than…

Can I be your brother from another other?

A Band of Others?

Depends where you live BenWilson

True. I do find remote places a little freaky. People could go missing and no one would…

I think it was called "Myst" or something.

Funny story about Myst, I swear it is true. During my dissertation I wanted to look at it but I was having a hard time sourcing it, being already an ancient game at the time. At one point during the search I…

My usual part, the Other.

Just wait till the bio-ports are operational.

I used to like a very sedate form of game, don't know if there is an equivalent nowadays. I think it was called "Myst" or something.
Im not a shoot 'em up person, but I liked those arcade…

I can guarentee to disable someone very exactly

we call it recruiting

I'm sorry for your loss.

Dude, thanks for your concern, but my childlike sense of wonder is still intact for use during those pop-cultural experiences I deem worthy of it. Avatar was not one of them.

but I think the heart of the cinematic experience is the group experience. It's the psychology of sitting in a dark room with a bunch of people and reacting to something, and feeling like your reaction is the same as the rest of the group, a…

You can actually do non-porno sexuality in science fiction without drowning it in cheese sauce.

If you're not careful, I will criticize that movie. For a non-porno, I felt like I had cheese sauce on my face when I walked out.

Do I get a tally-whack for that? Only 3872…

Well seriously BenWilson, I dont think it *is* unhealthy!
It's just not I want to do with my strictly-limited time of being alive

Actually, most of your reasons are the same as my reasons for not playing games so much any more.

"Probably the film industry has been guilty" has…

Stick to R rated then man.

I'll stick to 'Star Trek', thanks. Zoe Saldana walking into a bar — supernova hot, fierce as a Klingon with a migraine and not giving a damn who's watching her working her supermodel strut — then proceeds to give space stud James Kirk a…

I like fucking — a lot. Reading prose sex scenes that are a danger to the lactose-intolerant and should be avoided by Jews, Muslims and vegans due to the lashings of ham? Not so much.

Stick to R rated then man.

O just waiting for the moment!

I'm a blunt instrument guy myself. I like to kid myself that death is not a necessary outcome from violence.

The 'bonding' scene is something people are determined to ick about (actually to quite an icky level I think). As I saw it, it was a betrothal, not a fuck. News Flash!: Even Humans Do This.

Thanks for that, Ben — all of us in the convent are picking our…

There's no doubt that the industry is in a weird position. It's not just Hollywood—it's international. The loss of the independent distribution companies and the finance companies, and the lack of ability to get medium-budget films…

Mortensen to deliver the awful "us people of the West" speech

There was me hating it because it wasn't in the book. I even remember the line "Men of the West", thinking "Eh? What about the hobbits, the dwarf and the elf, then?". But it wasn't Jackson's fault about the…

I'm surprised you ever found Asteroids playable – it was a complete flop at the arcades.…

"I still can't get past Jackson's observation that blockbusters don't even need to be good any more. I find this abdication of any sort of relationship between cinema and critical thinking somewhat troubling. It also comes from the guy who…

Mind you, I had read one of them before...

I actually don't play console games. I have a PS3, but no games for it. But that's mainly because I know I'll get hooked (again).

Funny, you know most of those criticisms you have of games apply in spades to reading books,…

And yep, I'm 62.…

I'm sorry if I'm a bit snappy, but FFS, is it OK for me to have had an average time at this movie and think parts of it were totally not-fun and really stupid? Because that's what happened.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Sure, but before that you said that…

Sure, but I said "if you don't like computer games". I didn't say "if you do like computer games then you'll love Avatar".

Sure, but before that you said that your reasons for liking Avatar were the same as your reasons for liking computer action games. Keep your Modus Ponens…

Ummmm it is possible to make a movie about a game, that uses movie techniques to address game themes. And vice versa.

Well, yes, and also no. One could no doubt make a film about Pong that was very accurate at being about Pong, but that wouldn't make it a…

And I know enough about the blurring between real & virtual – and disempowerment – to appreciate the power the film does have for many – and could have had, for more.

As the second highest grossing movie of all time, it's reached one hell of a lot of people. It…

Neither did mine, I just didn't let them get in the way of having a good time at the movies.

Oh, I forgot: now we have to do the 'but I like big dumb films!' disclaimer before any criticism, to prove that we aren't overly disconnected from our 'it is…

Why would I like Avatar? Why would I like a really good computer action game? Same answer.…

The sex scene didn't make the cut, so hard to say what it is, no?

Yes, we're allowed to use our imaginations.

But it still wasn't an actual fuck. IMHO. A pash maybe...

The sex scene didn't make the cut, so hard to say what it is, no?, but every indication is that it's indeed based on the braids.

That said, my critical faculties didnt roll over & wave their paws in the air.

Neither did mine, I just didn't let them get in the way of having a good time at the movies.

Not so. Here's what Saldana said about the deleted sex scene, which will be in the DVD extras presumably:

This would be in the commentaries that are always prefaced by a huge waiver saying that the opinions are not those of the actual organization?

I'm sure that there was sexual…

Actually I think you'll find that the imperative is that you should enjoy it and if you don't there's something wrong with you – read the comments to Calder's review. Pardon some of us for having differing opinions.

I think you'll find that cuts both ways.

But Avatar isn't a…

I thought it was blindingly obvious that it wasn't their sex organ, by the fact that they were sticking them into animals. It was a means of communication.

Not so. Here's what Saldana said about the deleted sex scene, which will be in the DVD extras presumably:

If you sync…

The 'bonding' scene is something people are determined to ick about (actually to quite an icky…

You are not meant to ponder these points. You're meant to directly experience them. If you can't or won't, fine. Don't. Be critical, it's really, really easy.

Actually I think you'll find that the imperative is that you should enjoy it and if you don't there's something wrong with you…

tEhhhhh.... if it was supposed to be primarily a game-referencing film, that argument would be triffic.

What argument?

I think it was primarily meant to make money off an appreciative audience. That audience is mostly young, has been brought up with virtual reality as a fact rather than a fiction,…

Coupla things: the wormy fibres in the French braid were Na'vi nerves I take it? Growing out from their skulls???

That was one of the interesting bits I thought, if you combine it with the idea that the whole planet is a big bionetwork. Like Sigourney says, they upload and…

And many thanks Giovanni for linking to the China Mieville comments: I love a lot of the man's work, and he's not wrong about CGI. There is sooo much more…

I'm feeling squicked out at the idea that the Na'vi use the same Frech braid for bonding with space horses and hot, sparkly only-on-the-Special-Edition-DVD hair-sex.

And by "bonding with", you mean "wrestling to the ground and forcing yourself upon" — eww-some barely begins to cover it. And then they start…

The messages in Avatar were about as understated as a Lady Gaga music video.

Oh farrrk, Steve! I just had a mental flash of James Cameron playing dress up at Lady Gaga's. Not. Remotely. Pretty.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent, but I've got to give the raging egomaniac props for…

Can I just poke him in the eye anyway? Please?

(Also, now that someone has pointed out the whole Anne-McCaffrey-rip-off thing to me I sort of want to poke him in the eye.)

I think the scene is too ridicolous to warrant a lawsuit from McCaffrey. This thing has happened what, three or four times in the history of the…

Really? I thought the Really Big Fight At The End was brilliantly realised — or, as our in-house action movie expert put it, "exhilarating". I'm really not sure what recent action spectacle you'd be unfavourably comparing it to.

Now you're asking the hard questions. But I suspect even having a…

I refer everyone to John Rogers' best post ever on Kung Fu Monkey, the moral of which is "Don't write action scenes. Write suspense…

I'm really not sure what recent action spectacle you'd be unfavourably comparing it to.

Other than the fact that it was trite, boring and predictable in its outcome, you mean? There is a difference between technically accomplished – brilliantly realised as you put it – and imaginative and memorable. Seeing…

It seems all his attention was on perfecting the spectacle from a technical angle, and in terms of the broad creation of the world/environment, such that nothing stood out as a memorable action set piece.

Really? I thought the Really Big Fight At The End was brilliantly realised — or,…

(And he should know, being a science-fiction writer and all. Cross-threading, just like that, look at me go.)

Where's that quote from, Andin? (Or is that you paraphrasing?)

I saw both Cameron and Weaver talk about the ecological backstory/message in the film in i/v's on tv and say it was subtle(not quoting directly). I guess in relation to the cardboard cutout characters and the emphasis on the technology…

the "understated ecological message of the film" ....

understated ??

Where's that quote from, Andin? (Or is that you paraphrasing?)

The messages in Avatar were about as understated as a Lady Gaga music video.

James Cameron is Canadian.

I take it all back then. Shows how much interest I have in JC.
The shit storytelling, and all the gushing about the "understated ecological message of the film" ....not my cuppatea.
Battle? It was a massacre.

Cameron's attempt to redress his countries disgraceful history toward the indigenous tribes.

James Cameron is Canadian. He has no more to do with the battle at Wounded Knee than you or I.

It was dopey as all get out, with a trite message and unoriginal story

The ending, with teh evil colonisers being shipped back to earth seemed like Cameron's attempt to redress his countries disgraceful history toward the indigenous tribes.
Wounded Knee still happened Jimmy, you can't fantasise it away.

The Junior Senator-elect from the great state of Massachusetts gets a poo facial of more than usual vileness.

Money quote:

I want a chastity belt on this man. I want his every move watched in Washington. I…

I just wish a fraction of the painstaking care and ingenuity expended on the FX had gone into the story.

BTW, I'll call bullshit on the idea that "fantasy" (or any other form of genre storytelling) gives you a pass on banal and lazy story-telling.

Quite. I had my hopes…

But that's a pretty effective ban from anywhere other than major cities.

With over a hundred cities with more than a million and a fair number around the 10m mark, that's not really a ban is it? The pricing thing more so, but there are hundreds of millions who live…

Socialism with Chinese characteristics: not so much quashing dissent, as overpricing it.

With piracy acting as samizdat?

This is priceless – you can see it, but only in 3D? Totalitarianism ain't what it used to be.

As a means of making sure that it's only being seen by those rich enough not to interpret it as a call to arms, it's fairly effective. The Imax in Shanghai…

The move comes amid government anxiety that many Chinese are making a link between the plight of the film's Na’vi, who face being displaced form their homeland, and that of those in China who are subject to often brutal evictions by…

Either the critics are making a powerful artistic statement about how these days motion-capture CG is essentially a form of makeup technique... or they didn't realise that the aliens in D9 are totally CG.

The prawns were, Wikus' extreme DNA make-over and a surprisingly larg amount of the splatter was…

For "Best Make-Up".

Either the critics are making a powerful artistic statement about how these days motion-capture CG is essentially a form of makeup technique... or they didn't realise that the…

You're using words like "reality" and "illusion" and "represent" in ways that suggest your thinking about this area is differently grounded to that of say Dr Tiso whose study specialised in that (and who therefore…

Nor does it matter. It's a fantasy movie. You either suspend disbelief, and enjoy it, or can't, or refuse to, and think it's ridiculous. Which it is.

I just wish a fraction of the painstaking care and ingenuity expended on the FX had gone into the story.

BTW, I'll call…

Because we don't understand reality except through fictions.

If you said it was an aide to understanding, I could maybe agree. But it seems to me that you are saying that reality is a fiction, and I don't agree with that. At least it seems a strange way to use…

Bugger. There goes my raison d'etre. And that of every writer (poets and non-fiction-writers included), film-maker & story teller & and other artist of any kind of stripe.
Because – for our kind of animal – we reflect upon reality: not like a mirror,…

If you want reality, why bother with fiction?

Because we don't understand reality except through fictions. Fictions tell us things about ourselves, and reflect our understanding of the world around us. When they are vacuous and stupid, it does mean something. And when people remark that it doesn't matter, that…

If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox — that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style.

Tails are, very commonly, for treedwellers, 'balance organs' – and the Na'vi…

The implication of "now you found yourself a woman" was that there is no homosexuality amongst the Na'vi,

That's a bad thing? On behalf of my people, I'd like to thank James Cameron for leaving us out of this heaving, throbbing hair-sex-ball of crazy.

It left me feeling like a…

More history hinted at?

I thought they talked specifically about bringing peace to the tribes, but I might be misremembering.

invent an interesting new kind of people and then -away we go! Cowboys & Indians and – gasp! – this time the Indians win. With the help of a cowboy.

It's…

(I'm not sure the tribes *fight* – they seem to…

they did have history! Well, I mean, the turok?

It's a ritualistic history, though, no? Based on a sort of cycle, not progressing. The tribes fight, the turok comes along and brings peace, then they fight until another turok comes around. Meanwhile, they remain hunter/gatherers, always and forever.

And the…

Its idealised society are a monoracial group with no minorities

...and their bluish appearance indicates their political persuasion? ;)

but, let's face it – Cameron wasnt at all interested in exploring the Na'vi as people: he wanted wolves…

just thinking – is "Avatar" racist?

Lessee. Its idealised society are a monoracial group with no minorities, extremely well defined gender roles (plus, they mate for life!), a rigid and immutable political hierarcy and no history. That's about as crypto-fascist an ideal as you can come up with without taking…

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female…

Well, it conforms to a tiresome Hollywood trope – brave North American eventually saves the winsome savages since they couldnt do it for themselves. (He also learns their language histories and mores in 3 months, and does what none of 'em – except a…

since he totally missed the East Village and Dupont Circle

In 1837 when Yellow Fever ravaged NYC, which largely finished around 14th Street then, most of those who could afford to escaped to the country villages north. The Pat's evangelical forbears in the city urged their not inconsiderable flocks to…

Share we organise a virtual (online) grave dance when he is finally taken from us?

Nah... I certainly felt like that after he took all of twelve hours to blame the 9/11 attacks on the gays (more proof that the vengeful Old Testament God has really shitty aim, since he…

My first (coherent) thought was, wow, I can't wait to see Rachel Maddow get her teeth into this one.

Or Sarah Palin?

[Redacted]

Sorry. This seems wholly inappropriate in hindsight, as this is in fact about people dying and suffering in Haiti, not about source material for comic relief. My…

Share we organise a virtual (online) grave dance…

As for Pat Robertson, well that's a whole new kind of desperate, and it really isn't funny.

My first (coherent) thought was, wow, I can't wait to see Rachel Maddow get her teeth into this one.

Not having seen it I suspect it might be a bit of the Jar Jar Binks and using a recognisable sterotype as space alien.

Galactically vile Christian cleric Pat Robertson told his CBN viewers today that Haitians are "cursed" because their ancestors "swore a pact with the devil" to liberate themselves from the French in 1804. "True story."

Someone needs to drag that piece of dirt down to Haiti and make him dig people's…

As for Pat Robertson, well that's a whole new kind of desperate, and it really isn't funny.

Don't know about that, I could see much comic potential in Pat doing the same shtick in a black church somewhere in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

Ugh... God really needs to start interviewing new publicists, because this vile little hob-goblin isn't working.

Yeah. After the St Matthew's billboard my rather lame comedic reaction was;

'God must be getting desperate if he's hiring Saatchi & Saatchi'.

As for Pat Robertson, well that's a whole new kind of desperate,…

Galactically vile Christian cleric Pat Robertson told his CBN viewers today that Haitians are "cursed" because their ancestors "swore a pact with the devil" to liberate themselves from the French in 1804. "True story."

Ugh...…

It translates as "Vatican Senses Real Opposition & Is Now Getting Truly Frightened."

(Saw "Avatar" in Oamaru finally, and while the script really sucks, and there's waaay too much blamblamblam, there were magic moments...I'll be buying the dvd.)

In fact, that's the default position, isn't it?

Saying that Avatar is anti-corporations is like saying that Tom and Jerry is anti-cats. Cartoonish villains and a brainless script don't a critique make.

Nice.

No. Really, no. The faces of the military-industrial complex (Giovanni Ribisi and a so-hammy-its-CAMP Stephen Lang respectively) don't bite the head off an adorable Pandoran puppy-analogue while cackling manically as they urinate in the bleeding stump, but pretty damn close.

Film now seen, pre-judgment confirmed. Saying that Avatar is anti-corporations…

Whether seen as the ultimate capitalists, Buddhists or communards, bees elicit fantasies and fears of social productivity and crisis by turns. This issue is not really about bees of course, but the ‘colony collapse disorder' which is currently threatening the global bee population…

Possible crap remake alert.

Everything is a pile of Schrödinger's cat poo until you open the box and see what's there. :) I'm pretty optimistic about this, because there's a solid bunch of talent on both sides of the camera and was pleasantly surprising how un-crap the film version of…

Edge of Darkness

Possible crap remake alert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LJKmWdJQc4

When Brit Hume is finished exhorting Tiger Woods to come to Jesus and be forgiven for his whore-mongering ways, do you think…

Edge of Darkness still kind of freaks my Cold-War-raised ass the hell out. What a great series.

Too bloody right. That was the first TV series I repeatedly taped and gave to people. And as for...

send gameshow contestants to evil aliens

The BBC did a fine job with Vonnegut's…

You would never see a British miniseries about government/corporate nuclear misdeeds.

Edge of Darkness still kind of freaks my Cold-War-raised ass the hell out. What a great series.

He inherited that, didn't he? And watered it down some.

Yes 'The Company' was the malign presence in the original Alien, but what exactly did Cameron water down? This time round, it isn't the seven man crew of a space ship that's the acceptable collateral damage to add a new…

Seriously, if James Cameron has managed to get a huge corporation to spend 500 million dollars to produce a film against corporations, I'm going to love to see it.

And not the first time either.

So yeah, it must just be an American thing.

The China Syndrome begged to differ.

Seriously, if James Cameron has managed to get a huge corporation to spend 500 million dollars to produce a film against corporations,

Seriously, I've come to the conclusion that presumes a level of political sophistication in James Cameron that is not supported by the evidence. Sorry for lapsing into parlour…

No. Really, no. The faces of the military-industrial complex (Giovanni Ribisi and a so-hammy-its-CAMP Stephen Lang respectively) don't bite the head off an adorable Pandoran puppy-analogue while cackling manically as they urinate in the bleeding stump, but pretty damn close.

Seriously, if James Cameron has managed to get a huge…

Britons don’t worry about a corporation controlling their lives.

Quite. I see what he means.

You would never see a British miniseries about government/corporate nuclear misdeeds.

They're not remotely interested in TV shows featuring corporations that send gameshow contestants to evil aliens, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Cybermen|turn people…

Although as many have shown – most lately Mark Fisher in Capitalist Realism – generally in Hollywood cinema when corporations are the bad guys if you scratch a bit you find the message is just the opposite.

No. Really, no. The faces of the military-industrial complex (Giovanni Ribisi and a…

the last words on avatar...
it should be obvious that Avatar's 'pro-ethnic', 'anti-imperialist' position is a form of bourgeois fundamentalism not a form of genuine solidarity with workers from outside the dominant capitalist nations...

Avatar perpetuates the urban myth of evil corporations?
Reprinted from the Times in The Press this…

That's Hone for 'Laugh My Arse Off!' You can fill in the blanks.

Classic, Steve. I'm in a comma coma...

iminanut'ole iminanut'ole iknow iminanut'ole...

Priceless.

__it should be obvious that Avatar's 'pro-ethnic', 'anti-imperialist' position is a form of bourgeois fundamentalism not a form of genuine solidarity with workers from outside the dominant capitalist nations – that is, the class domination imposed by both the noble savage's hierarchical leaders or the…

Storylines don't need to be original, they need to be compelling

I agree and I will quote (again) Phillip Larkin's dictum Every story has a beginning, a muddle, and an end.

I am not convinced, however, that Cameron's visual imagination is matched by an ability to construct a compelling and…

A certain irony in Cameron arguing that It's about storytelling, when he can't construct an original storyline to save himself.

Storylines don't need to be original, they need to be compelling. The two are often found together (you're drawn along with the story purely to find out what happens next),…

Some of the more literary amongst you may have noticed a surfeit of commas in my last post.

I thought you were just doing it for comma'cal effect. It worked by the way. Bloody hilarious. Comma, colon, umlaut. ,:ö

I feel sorry for the Germans

Boy do ve hav ze thread for you.

Great story, Steve.

I feel sorry for the Germans.

Great story, Steve.

It's just that, fundamentally... we don't care. :)

Like I said, me petty,and lets blame Dionysius Exiguus and his ilk who had no concept of zero.

It is odd to be in a place though where nobody, aside from the expats (who mostly are still staggering around Kao Sahn and…

Cameron arguing that It's about storytelling

Storytelling. I assume he means the startling originality of retreading a 'going native' plot, but using big blue aliens?

(Huh. I appear to be more down on this movie than I had anticipated. Maybe someone needs to swoop down on a big orange dragon…

I feel like this phrase needs to be more widely, uh, disseminated.

I'm not sure I can claim it, but while searching for the reference on Google using the search string "st matthews billboard semen", my little missive above was number 4 on the list.

Bloody hell, that was fast!…

No, no, no, no..at the risk of repeating myself (which I'm doing) , it's not a new decade. Not yet.

Yeah, we all know that we started numbering from one, so all the zero years are technically at the ends of decades, not at the beginnings. It's just that, fundamentally...…

But even that takes some skill, so I'm holding on to the idea that practice makes perfect.

God took a gap year between the BCs and ADs, in preparation for the whole cosmic semen thing, a year zero was inserted

You appear to be getting the hang of it...

[yes it's a slightly petty hobby horse of mine, but I'm celebrating 2553 where I am anyway, or 2552 if I'm a traditionalist..much less confusing]

Fortunately, new evidence suggests God took a gap year between the BCs and ADs, in preparation for the whole cosmic semen thing, a year zero…

Couldn't think of anything sensible to say for a week. I'm experimenting with keeping quiet during those times. I'm not so sure I like it, but I need to give it a good go to be sure.

Yes, but I'm accumulating, so I'm not letting a small detail of having…

Being the start of a new decade, do we make New Decade's Resolutions?

No, no, no, no..at the risk of repeating myself (which I'm doing) , it's not a new decade. Not yet. Hold your horses. We have another 364 1/4 days before we can raise that glass.

[yes it's…

Damn, Ben. You seemed conspicuously absent here over last week or so, and then you wander back in and go Bam! Still soooo much to learn about all this.

Couldn't think of anything sensible to say for a week. I'm experimenting with keeping quiet during those times. I'm not so…

It was not a wasted decade at all.

Damn, Ben. You seemed conspicuously absent here over last week or so, and then you wander back in and go Bam! Still soooo much to learn about all this.

I could sum up my decade similarly; 3 beautiful children, etc (although we…

It was not a wasted decade at all.

No, not at all. Rather special in fact, but all mine have been so far. Some very bad bits, some thoroughly shitty moments but on reflection at a personal level, yeah fine.

Phew--2000 word book intro done and now I can relax. Might crack open my gift bottle of West Indies Mount Gay Rum (my daughter sniggers every time she spots it)

Simon, Craig, Phil ... having spent most of the year wittering on about the marvelousness of social media, I just quite enjoyed getting the contrary case.

Of course it was just humor. Some grains of truth. There's a lot of crap on the net. There's also a hell of a…

That man shouldn't be allowed to write things. Things like dialogue, and plots.

It was really cool-looking, though. Which I suppose is the point.

In a funny way, I think the best thing that could happen to James Cameron would be a massive flop that turned him into box office…

I might not have ended up having a rather scary internal dialogue that came this close to becoming an internal knife fight.

And just because I can't remember where the original Avatar thread was, and I saw it yesterday, let me note here that I don't think a good film…

Simon, Craig, Phil ... having spent most of the year wittering on about the marvelousness of social media, I just quite enjoyed getting the contrary case.

I wouldn't argue with you there, but surely there's a more useful middle ground between the Scylla of the Apocalyptic Luddite and the Charybdis…

(how I pine for Bfm)

Try 95bfm.com Live streaming
95BFM
email address

And right on time

...that sort of stick gives hope to a personal revolution i'm planning for 2012 :)

Methinks the problem with the social media is that something which was the preserve of a few smarts is now open to everybody, leaving People Like Us with nothing to feel more clever than the…

Why a picture captioned UNDERWEAR WITH EXPLOSIVE PACKET is much less fun that you'd expect

Our old friends @ the London Sun have done the dirty work for us. :/

As much as anything musings like that expressed by Edroso irk me because their horizon seems so limited. As that link is evidence, there is is a big wide world out there that exists beyond the boundaries of the DC Beltway and the East Village, and…

Wow. Link propagated :)

Edroso does, it should be noted, cover quite a beat for the Voice and on his own blog: the wingnut blogosphere. Perhaps I'm just…

I'm gobsmacked. Thank you for that link.

Sure, but back in the day there were plenty of proto-pundits opining...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ghzomm15yE

I think there's a little devil's advocacy going there.

Sure, but back in the day there were plenty of proto-pundits opining that 'The high speed printing press and Mass Literacy are going to lead to the bloody fall of civilization into the paws of the mob", yet here are... :)

Edroso comes across as a journo with professional jealousy issues – that at least is understandable in human terms but is hardly cause for a recommendation.

I should probably have noted that Edroso has a good sense of humour, but it didn't seem necessary at the time. I think there's…

I am not entirely without sympathy for his argument.

His post is fairly American centric though,which I guess is understandable. In Indonesia I watched fascinated as Facebook gave real voice to the hitherto completely voiceless 220 odd million who are not part of the political elite and made not one…

i think mike king is fantastic.

You can see him in conversation with the Dalai Lama on MTS, Thursday at 10pm (straight after Media 7). Looks like time to free up some space on MySky.

Thanks for starting this thread, Russell.

Why a picture captioned UNDERWEAR WITH EXPLOSIVE PACKET is much less fun that you'd expect

What happens when Demi Moore sets loose the dogs of law — spectacularly missing the point, basically.

And, my personal favourite:

[[http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/29/five-storytelling-ri.html|Avatar…