darkobserver
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I've just registered at the official "Watchmen" movie board. Anyone else already there? They have a guy there who's running around telling people to do a search before they post new threads all the time. It's kind of funny, actually. Otherwise I could discern some die-hard Watchmen fans discussing all kinds of its aspects.
Let's just hope the movie will be more faithful to the comic than "Constanine" was...
btw: Did anyone else read the end of the book like myself: That although Veidt's plot might even work it's still wrong to sacrifice New York -or even a single individual like Rorschach- for the common good? Manhattan may know everything but he's just a tool in Veidt's plan and apparently not very bright. That Rorschach's diary is about to be published at the end is sort of a consolation that the truth will always get out, sometime, somehow. Beware of all people having a plan to change the world for the better, it seems to say. I mean Ozymandias could even be read as a Nazi-like figure being overwhelmed by his admiration for himself and this great deed he has planned that will amend all the discord among peoples around the globe..no matter what the cost.
Cheers
D. O.
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Interesting that no one here has yet mentioned the "Knightfall 1-3" collections, neither in the good nor bad category. I mean Bats being defeated and ending up with a broken back, forcing him to have this nutcase Valley step in for him and then forcefully taking back the mantle of the Bat after recovering is no small package? Personally I disliked Vol. 3 the most, because the lunacy of Valley was depicted endlessly although there was this great "Oh"-moment when Robin and Nightwing really believed that Batman has killed someone only to find out that it was a trick. On the whole, the story reminded me of the testosterone-filled action movies of the Schwarzenegger ilk, it's lots of violence and not a lot of brains.
What does anyone else think?
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As Red has said: "You speak the truth" Peace, mate.
But you gotta admit that it's confusing nonetheless because the dictionary entry about the Emperor still stands and his name is written in the same way. So it may be that the creators meant it in a certain way but it is far from obvious IMHO.I've seen and heard the Emperor's name pronounced both ways, by people who know far more about it than me. I honestly don't know which is more 'correct'.
Wholly agreed that it's not entirely clear from the spelling of the name how to pronounce it, though. That was the point of my first post in this thread.
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Humankind never ceases to amaze, huh? I've noticed that they're already discussing this in another thread here...
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@Red: Of course it's the general climate of fear and uncertainty being nurtured by certain media. But then America has always been a violent country, more so than others. Nutcases will find ways to kill everywhere, but if guns are generally not as easily available it's one more hurdle to take and the number of deaths is certainly smaller, too. Or have you heard -outside of fiction- of someone committing multiple killings with a butter-knife? ;-)
It appears to me that the Norwegian gun laws are quite similar to ours, with hunters and people belonging to a gun club being allowed to own firearms albeit not to carry them in public.
@CharlieK
Okay, he took the weapons off his grandfather, the cop. Did the latter have them lying around in the open? Why weren't they locked away? We need more details here.
And that the guy was a Nazi stands on firm ground -at least according to BBC World and the German Spiegel Online site -both are usually reliable. It's kind of funny though that an Indian should become a Nazi, because those bastards would have sent him and everyone else not fitting their bogus "purity of race" theory to the gas chamber as not being "Aryan".
Just a point of clarification: The kid that shot up the school was the grandson of a cop. He killed his grandfather the cop, took his grandfather's weapons, and did the horrible deed. Also, his alleged Nazism has not been confirmed as of this writing. -
*lol* Red. I have no idea who Scott Adams is (will know in a few secs, after asking Google) but I like his attitude. I presume the gun laws in Norway are as strict as the ones here in Germany?
Cheers
D. O.
I like Scott Adams' approach to that problem:”I believe everybody in the world should have guns. Citizens should have bazookas and rocket launchers too. I believe that all citizens should have their weapons of choice. However, I also believe that only I should have the ammunition. Because frankly, I wouldn't trust the rest of the goobers with anything more dangerous than string.”
-Scott Adams
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Okay, I guess you guys are right then. I admit it.
And sorry for confusing the terms "spelling" and "pronunciation" in the previous posting. And yes, that's the panel I meant. I have all of Moore's Swamp Thing TPBs too and they tend to "melt" with the HB issues in my mind ;-)
But you gotta admit that it's confusing nonetheless because the dictionary entry about the Emperor still stands and his name is written in the same way. So it may be that the creators meant it in a certain way but it is far from obvious IMHO.
Well, we should be doing less nit-picking and just enjoy the comics I guess
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Con-stan-teen is absolutely correct. Why? Because a couple of months ago I checked the American Heritage Online Dictionary for it and they should know, shouldn't they? Of course they were referring to the Emperor, but nonetheless...
Ah, and Mark: There's an issue of HB in which someone spells out JCs name and it's written exactly as I did at the beginning of this post. So the comic's creators meant it to be spelled like that, not -tyne as in Valentine. I can dig up that issue, if necessary. If Animajor is right, we have the same conflicting spellings in the comic itself. I guess it's rather a regional thing...
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Um...what we usually do in such a case is boot with a special Linux CD and reset the password in the registry. The images for such CDs are easily found on the Net.
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Christian and all others: I agree with your assessment of the Terri Schiavo situation. But why is nobody referring to the latest highschool shooting obviously committed by a guy favoring Adolf Hitler of all people? I think one of America's biggest problems is that there are so many guns around which can be easily obtained. And all that because of an obsolete amendment to the constitution that should have been erased ages ago - or does the NRA expect the British to invade again any time soon? Guess not...
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Got one, too. I forwarded the msg to John, because I hadn't seen this thread yet *duh*
"Can't respond" Huh? Suspicious...This guy can't be for real, I believe.
I never answer to unsolicited questions out of prinicple. They tend to be marketing scams or even worse attempts to "profile" you as a consumer.
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I also like "Judging Amy" but also "Gilmore Girls" which I watch with the 2 women in my life. Hey, it's apparently a show aimed at modern women but I dig the twisted humour of it and the older Loreley is not just a real looker but also a movie-buff to boot. And then there's the character of Luke, of course, the male character to root for, so I have an excuse :)
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You're referring to this gentleman here:
http://hellblazer.ipbhost.com/index.php?showuser=9
Well, our paths haven't crossed so far, no.
Douglas Adams, yeah. He was really someone "in the know" about a lot of things, wasn't he?
Cheers
Ralf
Hmmm... I seem to be missing the joke? Why did you mis-quote my Rogues as Rogan?New to the forums, eh? So you don't know Roganovich... yet.
You'll do soon. You'll know the suffering soon :ph34r:
MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
Respect. I love your Answer: 42. Good books, friend...
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Hmmm... I seem to be missing the joke? Why did you mis-quote my Rogues as Rogan?
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If Benjamin Franklin said that it must be true, right? While being an atheist, I'll try to go to an Irish Pub tonight (we have lots) nonetheless because on Paddy's Day they're always packed with...well, exiled Irish people but then....also lots of American soldier boys and girls, coming to think of it.
Hmm..I'm in no mood to get into a drunken brawl because of the Iraq situation. Maybe I'll stay home after all ;-)
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone
Update: Wow, there's a band from Dublin playing in the "An Sibin" tonight:
Redkid, with supporting act: Piss Rogues.
Does anyone know them?
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Hi folks
Although I own all the TPBs and lots of the single magazine issues it appears to me that some really defining moments in our favorite bad luck magician's life are contained in single issues I haven't been able to get a hold of.
They are:
- No. 10-40 (except those issues now collected in "Rare Cuts")
- The last issue of "Critical Mass"
Plus some others I'll fill in when I'm at home again ;-)
Maybe anyone here is able to help me? I'll pay for the postage of course.
Please contact via private message or the forum
Cheers
D. O.
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Hi Oldmoore
Great to see that I'm not the only German here. I wonder how many there are? I understand that your perception of what's currently wrong in our otherwise quite free-wheeling country is along the lines of what I think is wrong with it. Let's see what the big-wig meeting of Schröder and this ugly lady from the other side will bring. My guess is: Not much and more of the same. Jobs are created by the entrepreneurs and their conglomerates not by the government and not by the opposition either.
By the way: You should take note of the difference between an employer=someone who gives people jobs and employees=people who work for someone else or who are simply employed. I guess everybody got your meaning anyway, but I thought I'd point that out just in case.
Cheers
D. O.
Hello Im german and I read the "WELT" article just 10 minutes ago. It´s dangerous when someone says that what we need is another war. Most of the people on the street don´t think so, I´m sure. But we have a lot of problems. We´ve got about 5,2 millions of unemployers, companies don´t pay their taxes, managerearnings grow, employers are fired in fact for profit, our immigrants are going to subculture because they don´t get another chance, our children in school don´t seem to learn or don´t want to and the polticians can´t handle all of this.These are nearly the same problems like in the U.K or U.S.A. We´re just tying to handle this but it´s a shame to think to got to war to handle.
We would be happy if the politicians could handle one of these problems. We´re confrontated with a constant bad situation growing that makes the people on the streets angry and afraid. Then there´s someone shouting in a german newspaper"WAR! WHAT WE NEED!!. It´s the trying to solute the problem like sixty years ago. But I don´t think it will happen!It´s just a wind of change in our social system (every german or immigrant who´s unemployed gets financial help and sometimes his whole lifetime and this is a important diference to other countries; equal what or if or how long he worked before). And there will be no history repeating.... the social system is in change and that´s all. Many people are afraid of that changes and someone´s trying to use these situation and make some hardlines. Better a newspaper than a politician!
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@Mojopin
Nah, it wasn't you. If it was anyone it was Josh with his lengthy, sarcastic essay about what America is like apparently meant to reflect my point of view...
Anyhow.. Since more than one of you has asked me to stay, I will. Haha, there you go, now you'll have to live with that. Don't you dare complain later :wink:
@Christian: I really welcome your opinions since they seem closest to mine at times. Being labeled "official forum communist" is quite cool too in fact :cool:
Did you give that title to yourself or did John assign it to you? I'd like to be called "Official disturber of the Peace" then *lol* because that's what I often do..although to me it's the peace of the docile and ignorant people I disturb. I used to call them the "sheep people". In this context I'm rather a wolf or a dog then and sometimes I bite...despite the fact that there's no real offense. I'm working on that.
But then there's the English saying: "Ignorance is bliss" or in other words: Dumb people lead happier lifes.
Well, I've often wished I could be happy with just going from day to day without the need for seeing, exploring, analyzing...but hey, I'm just not like that. I can achieve such a mindset of course, but it's either with booze or by Zen meditation. The first gives you a headache and the second demands strict adherence to practice.
Cheers
Ralf (that's my real name, btw. what are yours?)
Well, there's certainly no need for you to "shut up" or have to vanish, and I apologize if I'm the one that pushed you to think that way.I may disagree with you on certain things, but that doesn't mean you're wrong about anything you've said. Just my opinion vs. yours, nothing more and nothing less.
I hope you reconsider, and again, I'm sorry if I came across too overbearing in my posts!
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You know, MojoPin...I am quite saddened by the fact that I came into conflict with you guys here while I originally came here to converse with fellow HB fans and got such a warm welcome. I even asked John to delete my account...well, he's not done it yet.
All I did was to speak bluntly what was on my mind but that's of course not always a good idea. The world is a bleak enought place already to someone who's not blind so why increase the level of discord? I should remember that more often, I guess.
But I've not been treated entirely fair, either. Instead of trying to invalidate my assertions with logic and facts my replies to Timmmy were read as a collective insult of Americans, which it wasn't. I mean it's quite easy to hate America these days -which I don't- and that you felt the need to suddenly unite against me says a lot about the current situation and feelings. Maybe we all need to be less oversensible...
Anyway, thanks for at least trying to understand.
Will shut up for a while...
Cheers
D.O.
Alright, alright...fair enough. I don't necessarily agree with some of your points, but I can see where you're coming from.You're right about the Asian languages...I learned quite a bit of Thai when I lived over there, but when I tried Japanese I couldn't wrap my head around that. Still, the hardest language I ever came across was Russian.
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[
Can you speak Chinese?
A little...
How about Spanish?
Some...
I'm not trying to be a prick, but the reason so many people know English these days is business, plain and simple. In the future, it'll likely be the above two languages.
Sorry, but that' not true at least not entirely. You are right about British imperialism of course, but here in Europe, speaking about the generation(s) I did, it's simply the cultural dominance of U.S.-made entertainment.
anything. It would be more practical for Americans to learn languages like Chinese or Japanese or Spanish...it would be practical for EVERYONE to learn those languages.
I agree with that. I'm a language buff and every year or so I tackle a new one, just for the fun of learning. I know some Japanese but Chinese is really the toughest to learn I think.
And people basing some or many or most or even all of their assumptions of America primarily on American TV/music/movies (though the observation about the
Please re-read my post. I used those shows as examples for how American pop-culture has dominated European youth culture. That they are works of fiction and not to be confused with reality is a given. But that they project American ideals in sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways is also true.
doesn't strike me as very fair. I've lived around the world, and if I based my perceptions of a country and its people on the entertainment fare put out there, we'd ALL be looking at the entire world sideways.
True, but as I said I've been to the States, I didn't judge from a distance.
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First of all: I never said Timmy was a religious zealot himself.
Secondly: What you Americans can't know and therefore understand is this: Any generation in almost any other country that grew up after WWII has been overexposed to YOUR culture by the dominance of your movie/TV industry from an early age.
I grew grew up in den 70's and 80' and what did I watch on TV? Rockford, Kojak, Columbo, Remington Steele etc. Then came MTV and so on. Your movies spread the idea of individualism around the globe, the notion that a single individual can change the big picture by showing great courage or force of will (and more often than not: superior firepower) Nowadays it's all hip-hop and R&B culture most kids adhere to, again something that was lifted from the African-American big city subculture and turned into a profitable business by someone else.
Some have called that cultural imperialism and it is of sorts. I never did mind that, though. So saying that you don't have to travel to the U.S. to know its culture is in part true. I mean, why is it that I know YOUR language so well but most of you can't even compose a single correct sentence in German or French or Italian?
As far as myself is concerned, I've been to your county more than once and have been studying its language, culture, music etc. for decades. From experience I know that your news media -even if they're not FOX news- are really crap in comparison with European standards. Where else do you get a news broadcast calling itself "World News" not even featuring a single foreign news item? Of course since the BBC became available the situation has improved for people trying to get a real glimpse of what's going on elsewhere.
Look, guys: I am not Anti-American but I'll fight everyone who asserts to be in possession of absolute truths -like all religious people do. For there is no such thing and I think we can all agree on that, can't we?
To quote one American writer I admire:
"No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof"
(Henry David Thoreau)
Amen to that
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Timmy, I am sorry but you're beginning to make less and less sense. When everything is religious than nothing is.
That you went to a College is supposed to say what? That you "accepted Christ" as an adult and as someone with some education makes it even more sad. At least I wouldn't kill anyone for their belief (or disbelief), as Christians and other religious zealots have done all the time. I wonder why you even read HB? To me all those angels and devils and demons and God are just folklore, elements from fairy tales like any other, to be used and enjoyed. The way John C. sees the two sides is: They're all a bunch of wankers, heaven and hell alike. I would see it that way, assuming all these things really existed and I could somehow perceive them.
Maybe you like to see your precious religion twisted and tortured like that. Okay, Chrisitianity has a tortured man as its symbol, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.
Aside from all the philosophical and theological arguments I could raise I'll just ask you to think about two things:
The Bible was conceived by humans. It was translated back and forth, cut, changed, and what have you. And even if it wasn't it'd still be just a bunch of stories on paper. If we'd bury say a collection of "The Sandman" and some 1000 years later someone discovers fragments of these books in the desert he could found a new "Religion of the Endless" based on that. That's all there ever really was -humans with ideas. No gods, no nothing. If you want to base your life on such a thing, fine.
And secondly: Have you ever, besides what your priest or peers say and aside from the scripture gotten any sign of supernatural, metaphysical presence or entity? I bet you haven't. And if you have...
I won't continue this particular discussion after this posting, because it's useless anyway. Don't want to hurt or insult anyone, would defend religious freedom against anyone trying to remove it, even.
darkobserver- I came to my opinions through 4 years of University and 5 years of graduate school. I didn't accept Christ until I was in college. My family is not very religious, and I grew up in a large metropolitan community in South Florida. Your stereotyping of me is pitiful. To be blunt of course. Your child like adherence to your presuppositions that religious people are simpletons is telling. Any cursory study of the history of humankind will reveal that the religious have outnumbered the secular by thousand's to one. Your position is Western elitist, and what is more it that you are so duped by your blind adherence to secularism that you can't see that that too is a religious position.How's that for stereotyping?
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Sorry, but anyone who brings a god or even THE God into any discussion immediately loses his footing in my book because all his judgements are based not on facts but on belief -which is not debatable by definition.
Phew, I am so thankful I was born in a society, family and country where you're not indoctrinated and brain-washed with religious stuff from childhood on but you're free to choose whatever religion you see fit or none at all.
Timmy, if you told most people in Europe that right and wrong stems from the "ruler" they'd tell you that ethical standards are not set by any entity other than what your parents, your peers, your society as a whole taught you. I am always dumbfounded by how many Americans choose -or were taught to choose- to think like small children instead of like adults who can make their own judgements.
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Hi Christian
Although I am very much in the same boat with you and Josh I wanted to contribute this small science fact that popped up just recently: Current results of neurological examinations seem to support the theory that "free will" is an illusion. All the important decisions a human makes are really decided subconsciously and whatever reason we may find for a particular behavior is just a subsequent rationalization. A neuro scientist over here would like to see the justice system reformed because of this, removing the question of "guilt" as a whole.
What do we make of that? I mean, it IS possible that that's how we work internally, isn't it?
Cheers
D. O.
Humanity has the "free will" (to steal these loaded terms) to CHANGE their nature.
Watchmen movie in 2006 whether you like it or not
in Comics in other media
Posted
I beg to differ. If what you say were entirely true, the story wouldn't end like it does. The end would be more open. And honestly: Every decision is difficult but if we didn't have at least some set of morals we would be even more similar to animals than we are now. There is no humanity without morality :-? Every decision has consequences and we simply can't escape that. There are acts of compassion, of love and of caring that are simply "right" even if you're an existentialist atheist like myself. It's the freedom of choice that makes us human.If someone could assume such a neutral position in life as you expressed I'd say that person hasn't had to face tough decisions yet.
Well, good art is when everyone can reflect himself in it. I guess one can read numerous things into this work of art, depending on where you're coming from.
Peace
D. O.