Nihil's Stream Of Insanity

[Nihil Obstat]

Leaving this here for future use:

 

[Nihil Obstat]

Neat little surprise today: tomorrow I've been offered the chance to meet Ron Paul here in Calgary.

[Nihil Obstat]

[Oremoose]

for some reason this perks my curiosity!

 

What is it?

 

Edited April 6, 2013 by Oremoose

[Nihil Obstat]

for some reason this perks my curiosity!

 

What is it?

Toradora! Would you like a short review?

It is top five material for me.

Edited April 7, 2013 by Nihil Obstat

[Nihil Obstat]

Found an awesome video. I'm sure everyone enjoys it as much as I do. :|

 

http://youtu.be/o_zFgPK6V8w

[Nihil Obstat]

I think the Korean version is better. Maybe it's just that I find the English lyrics pretty dumb, but I think that it sounds nicer in Korean.

[Nihil Obstat]

Awwwww yiss, that was a good one. I said:

 

 

We may now ask what minimal features of an event are entailed by this substance-change criterion. Clearly there must be at least one substance, and at least one change. However, if we accept Davidson's argument that a symmetrical relationship between events and objects does exist, then I believe we must also conclude that a change in a substance necessarily entails that we refer to a second substance, even if we are able to avoid explicitly referring to it. If we say “substance X changed”, then it must logically follow that substance X changed into a substance that is not identical to substance X. Therefore it seems that the minimal features of an event, by this view, are: two non-identical substances, and some manner of change from one to the other. Davidson describes this as follows: “A sentence like 'John struck the blow' is about two particulars, John and the blow. The distinction between singular terms and predicates is not abolished: rather, striking is predicated alike of John and of the blow.” (pg. 175) So our two non-identical substances are “John” and the “blow”, and the change between them is “striking”. Other particulars may be involved, such as if John struck a blow to Jack, but a minimal conception of the event makes a third particular unnecessary. On the other hand, we cannot say that “John struck”, without at least implicitly assuming the actual existence of another particular, in this case a “blow”, and likewise we cannot say “a blow was struck” without implicitly assuming the actual existence of some particular which affected the strike.

[Nihil Obstat]

Check out this gif of a pit stop by Red Bull Infiniti Racing. Pretty incredible.

 

[MIKolbe]

[Nihil Obstat]

So last night I watched a masterpiece of Korean romantic comedy called Hello, Schoolgirl.
If you think American rom-coms are stupid, formulaic, and ridiculous, then you absolutely need to see this, because it's worse in every conceivable way, and yet, infinitely better.
 
THE PLOT:
 
 
Kwon Yeon-woo (권연우) is a somewhat naive 30 year old low-level civil servant who works in a city hall branch office. After moving into a new apartment, he encounters a high school girl, Soo-young (수영), and sees her on his way to work every morning. She is a cheerful and eccentric 18 year-old who lives with her mother downstairs from him. Over time, the two begin to develop feelings for one another.
Meanwhile, 22 year old Kang Sook (강숙), has just started working at the branch office. He falls head over heels for 29 year old Kwon Ha-kyeong (권하경), a melancholy woman who wanders around taking pictures. She is still holding onto an old flame, and keeps looking for traces of that lost love every day. Kang Sook continues to woo her, regardless of her living in the past.
Can these two relationships ever lead to a happy ending?
 

The only reason I watched it is because of Sooyoung, who is a member of Girls Generation. And she is adorable, and annoying.

 

Basically, the movie is a stupid and vapid waste of two hours, except it's also pretty much the greatest thing ever.

 

 

 

 

Srsly, isn't she cute? Lol.

[Nihil Obstat]

For posterity's sake. :hehe:

 

[truthfinder]

Only you would say a movie is vapid and a waste of time and yet also the most awe.some movie ever.  Thanks for keeping it contradictory

[Nihil Obstat]

Only you would say a movie is vapid and a waste of time and yet also the most awe.some movie ever.  Thanks for keeping it contradictory

Some people can get too serious about their entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I love a movie or show as much as the next person that challenges me, makes me think, explores unique themes, etc.. But I also have lots of room for a movie or show that embraces cliche and convention, and just sets out to make something cute or silly.

That is why on the one hand, some of my favourite anime are Serial Experiments Lain, or Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, both of which were, in their own ways, fascinating and of the very highest quality. But at the same time I legitimately enjoy something like Kimi Kiss or Hidan no Aria, neither of which are particularly unique or ambitious. In fact they're usually pretty cliched and over-the-top.

On the other hand, sometimes there's a show like Sword Art Online or Guilty Crown, which can never quite decide if it wants to push conventions and make something unique, or stay within them and just make a solid, if unoriginal piece of work. Varying success in a show like that, but more often than not they get confused and fall flat. It's all the more frustrating because they'll often have moments of genius, and then never use it properly.

And then, even on top of that, there are a rare few shows that stay entirely within genre conventions, like True Tears and Toradora!, but using the genre conventions and cliches, they play with them so well, with such a perfect combination of elements, that the show itself rises above the definition of the genre and becomes something special all on its own. It makes the stereotypical conventions its own, uses them so flawlessly, that it transcends the need for originality. If the show itself wasn't just right, it would end up firmly in the second category of fun but nothing special, but something just clicks that makes it so much more.

 

All of that is just my own reading of things, at any rate. Lots of people would disagree with some or all of my classifications. :proud:

Also, "Hello, Schoolgirl" very much belongs to that second category of being unoriginal, cliche, and silly, but not trying to pretend it's anything else, which is why it's not so bad at the end of the day.

[truthfinder]

 

 

Also, "Hello, Schoolgirl" very much belongs to that second category of being unoriginal, cliche, and silly, but not trying to pretend it's anything else, which is why it's not so bad at the end of the day.

 

My slightly teasing tone didn't come through too well. I agree with your last statement about cliche movies that know they're cliche and that's what makes them okay.