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sailor moon

At the Timezone in the local shopping centre, they had a Simpsons pinball table. I loved that machine and played it constantly over the last two years. I had that thing all mapped out and had gaming strategies planned (like I knew which ramps were the high-scoring ones). I was getting good scores but a few months ago the fuckers at Timezone replaced it with a South Park machine. Bastards!

Yeah, I was mystified and engaged. I was hoping Grapefruitologist had posted again with the explanation or the mystery banner was going to keep me thinking about it all night.

OOh! I'm from Brisbane!!!

Too bad I live in England at the moment.

Although I must say, I met DG, and he is lousy in the sack. He only lasted like a minute! I want my money back!

pffft you said it was the best sixty seconds of your life

Also, I like how you pretty much written that you paid me to fuck you in the arse/let you suck me off. Yeah, that's right, people PAY ME to be the BUTCH.

P.S. layabout has a soft skin

There are two things that Helm said that stuck with me.

Most of the things we say every day to each other are unfounded lies that serve many many different things than the persuit for truth. They're about feeling better, extinguishing social anxiety, about coming out on top or playing an angle, all about personal survival, that occur deep within your mechanism, uninfluenced by 'you'.

Agreed. For example, I've found a lot of the time people compliment others to make them feel better. Really this has no effect whatsoever. I believe praise should only be given to people who have made an effort to do better.

Although this discussion is getting into a bit of a predeterminalism/free will debate, I'll just say I do believe that people have choice, but I think with depressed people (and I speak from my own experience and from interacting with others) have trouble seeing their choices.

I do think it's helpful for some to highlight options for depressed people when they need advice, like someone visiting a therapist. But ultimately, yes, you can't just say, "Try and be happy" because it essentially acts as a mask for the problem without actually rectifying it to any degree.

I don't think putting pressure on sick people using a lie such as free will helps them at all though. It's no longer fun and games. When you are late for a date and your date tells you "please don't do that again", and you say 'I will do my best', though you know you're not in such fine control of your intention, that's fun and games. When one is constently feeling awful about themselves and can't stop crying and all that, and you tell them 'try to be more happy!' then you're a jackass.

Agreed also. Saying "Try to be more happy!" puts an expectation on a person that they MUST... BE... HAPPY... Like I said, I think a depressed person must put in a certain degree of effort to actually rectify the problem, such as understanding their self, communicating with others (or in some cases, learning to better communicate with others), choose certain steps to rectify the problem.

And especially with chemical inblances. If I remember correctly, Yufster's friend has been perscribed medication that he should be taking. If he's choosing not to take this medication, okay, fine, his choice. But as Yufster mentions it's seriously affecting his personal health and relationships with others.

"Try to be more happy!" does diddly-squat, and in some cases has a negative impact.

Well, I meant 'lead' in the Hollywood sense of "can open a major film", rather than as a criticism of his acting ability. I've seen him in earlier stuff that is possibly less well known than some things mentioned so far (I've not watched 'Full Monty' right through, but recognised him in the trailers from other TV work).

But I've provided examples where he's opened films. In The Bedroom was made for under a million and made $35 million in return. That's a proves he's a profitable lead.

In indie circles, I'd say he's quite popular. I think what you're talking about is him being A-list. In that instance, I'd agree. He's not an A-list actor.

But currently, yes, he can lead films and go head to head with Sissy Spacek.

I imagine it would be a lot like this one... But with a slight increase in penis and fart jokes.

In other words, paradise.

(On-Topic: Tom Wilkinson is an excellent background or 'character' player, but he's not a lead.

Rubbish. He starred in a low-budget film called In The Bedroom and got an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor for his performance. This in the same year that Billy Bob Thornton starred in The Man Who Wasn't There and Gene Hackman starred in The Royal Tenenbaums, and they didn't get nominations.

He also starred in the telemovie Normal and got an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actor.

I think he makes an excellent lead. He's got a great pressence. The problem is not very many people know who he is. He just needs a good defining role. Most UK actors need a role like that to capture attention. Look at Anthony Hopkins, he was mostly a supporting/character actor until Silence of the Lambs. Likewise, Sean Connery had ten years of supporting/character roles in films under his belt until Dr No made him famous. No one knew much about Ben Kingsley until Gandhi. Or Daniel Day Lewis until My Left Foot. Or Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.

In fact, a lot of American actors are like that too. Harrison Ford became famous with Han Solo. Samuel L Jackson didn't become a major player until Pulp Fiction. De Niro with Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Even Walken became most memorable for The Deer Hunter (or, depending on your age, the skit in SNL where he says, "Needs more cowbell!").

I reckon Tom Wilkinson just needs a meaty role -- a character to truly define who he is as an actor.

Has anyone tried some "tough love"?

Is that code for "masturbation"?

We went to a restaurant together (me, a friend, my boyfriend and this guy) and he spent the whole time being depressed and not involving himself in the conversation. When we were leaving, my boyfriend and I gave him a hug and he was still silent, and then when I tried to hug him again (because he looked miserable) he pushed me away and told me to stop trying to make him happy.

Big mistake. Do not hug him if he's acting depressed for this long. If he's not involving himself in the conversation and acting really silent or not taking his medication when he's supposed to, hugging him validates his behaviour. He thinks, "If I act depressed and distant, that means people will show me affection."

What you want to do is not validate this kind of behaviour. What you want to do is wait until he actually makes an effort, then hug him. It's fine to hug people when they're depressed, but just as long as they have a focus upon rehabilitation. It sounds like your friend is making no effort whatsoever.

A small effort would be him voluntarily participating in conversation. A bigger effort would be him going back on medication. But so far, he's not doing anything like this. So don't hug him until he does.

What you want to show is basically that you sympathise with his situation but you'll only put in the same amount of effort that he's willing to put in himself. If he puts no effort into himself, you shouldn't put any effort in him either. Reserve your efforts for another depressed friend who actually deserves it.

It's similar to what LimpingFish said and what some of the others said about attention-seeking. What you basically want to is essentially reward him when he actually invests proper time and care into himself. And, most importantly, you've got to make this clear to him. You've got to be clear in your communication with him, along the lines of: "I care about you, but I'm not willing to invest my time in you unless you're willing to find a healthier frame of mind for yourself." And suggest ideas, akin to what I've mentioned above.

It sounds harsh, but you've got to be assertive in this situation. The whole "hugs to the emo guy for being so emo" is making things worse.

i like the bit where you say "usually correct"

gives me a boner

I sure am, Santa With Squiggly Shit Behind Him!

Listen up, DG. blah blah blah blah blah yadda yadda insert some bullshit here etc etc blah blah blah blah

Let's see. You started getting pissy with me after I made a joke about this thread's subject. Sure, you're right, it was sarcastic. Naughty, naughty DG! What have we told you about being sarcastic! No ice cream for dessert!

I mean, seriously, lighten up!

at least darth mandarb appreciates my cutting-edge, topical and sometimes mysteriously sexy sense of humour

oh i see, youre a huge nerd

OHHH SNAP

You've been getting a lot more sassy lately.

I like it.

yer mother's a great connection

I saw an ad that had an octopus and it reminded me of Day of the Tentacle. I also saw an ad that had a girl in it and it reminded me of the Laura Bow games because she is a girl. I also saw an ad that had things in it, which reminded me of Space Quest 3 because that had things in it too.

My entry:

"This is a picture of two animals holding each other. They are quite furry. The picture was most likely taken by a person and with a camera. It was posted on the AGS Forums by TheVintageDemon."

I think my caption is most appropriate.

Honestly though, what invasion/occupation is looked on favorably at the time? This is one of those situations where we don't have the luxury of hindsight. This is something that will only have a full effect impact in a decade or two, when people will have hindsight.

Are you kidding me??

Dude, at the time (I'm talking March 2003) the Bush Administration had a 70 per cent plus  approval rating. (http://www.pollingreport.com/bush.htm)

Likewise, most polls of that time indicated a 70 per cent plus favourability rating for Iraq War. (http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm)

I think that's a fairly good indicator of invasion/occupation being looked on as favorably at the time.

And if you really want to talk hindsight, look at the public response during the Iraq War compared to now. In fact, speaking of hindsight, four years ago Cheney was saying the US would be greeted as liberators. Bullshit!

I mean, c'mon, you gotta be kidding me with this "hindsight" nonsense.

victory ares mine lol