Messages

Sorry limping fish, I reworded my post a little bit but you still nailed it all right.

I was motivated to ask my mom, at her workplace does she in fact deal with this minority crutch?    And yeah, she does she says.   She works for a women's clinic for ladies who have been through spouse abuse etc.   

She has to help women get back on their feet, or provide assistance and living space.   Many of the black women in her shelter bring up discrimination for almost everything.  This one time she offered a white woman a blanket (after being told multiple times about how she and her children are freezing), and as soon as the blanket switched hands a black woman started screaming "racism" at the top of her lungs.  She says this comes up all the time.

So I definitely see what you guys are saying, although I'm not exposed to it as frequently as my mother.   But she and I both agree that the type of people who scream "racism" are the poorest of the poor.   They're scraping for anything and if you've been there- you know you'll use anything as an excuse.

But who else besides the poor and Jesse Jackson are really threatening anybody?  If you are lazy, and you make a concious decision to grab at any excuse you can- say racism,  you certainly aren't putting yourself in a position of power.  You are submitting further to defeat.

So I ask again, where is the threat in this crutch?   

The sentiment that is forming about using racism to one's benefit, or a crutch---


Where the hell are you guys coming from? Ã,  hello? Ã,  How bout I just change my argument over to "Damn Kramer idiot! Ã, He's giving them negroids fuel for their fire! Ã,  Now they's going to whine more and reap the benefits them damn liberal democrats will shovel out like candy!"

OK, I kid.Ã,  Ã, You guys are making a point that some people try to take advantage of crap like this, right?Ã,  Ã,  But what are some actual cases where citizens were robbed of freedoms etc because of using race as a crutch?Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Equal rights in colleges?Ã,  Letting 1 black guy into a university over a white kid with better grades?Ã,  Ã, What else?Ã,  Food stamps?

Is there some black Rupert Murdoch out there who gets more block grants from the government simply because he's black?Ã,  Is the government shovelling millions of dollars his way?Ã,  Ã, Because I'm not sure what practical application this crutch has, other than whining.

Most people know that whining gets you nowhere.Ã,  MLK, Malcolm X for example.    As far as I can tell the black population has often had reason to advocate their cause.

Darth,Ã,  Ã, 

I don't disagree with you that the "n word" is just a word.Ã,  Add to that, you think Richards stepped over the line.Ã,  Ã, But it being 2006 is of no consequence.

The civil war began in the 1860's.Ã,  Ã, Not too many generations of families have cycled their opinions and values as to where white vs. black hatred has actually been abolished.Ã,  Ã, I understand many black people hate white people, and that should make it even right?Ã,  Ã, Well.. consider that the black college basketball coach had to fight to join a country club here in Knoxville, Tennessee.Ã,  Or that a black woman will be raped and mistreated due to racial reasons.Ã,  Ã, 

When we talk about language, a word, and its meaning - 150 years isn't all that long.


Consider the Bread riots of 1734.Ã,  Ã, Bread used to mean "baked and leavened food made of a mixture whose basic constituent is flour or meal."Ã,  Ã,  Today when I say the word everybody thinks I mean something totally different!Ã,  Ã, Come on people, it's just bread!

Yuf:  I think most people have come to distinguish between "nigga" and the harder "nigger" by now.   It's totally different context with the possesive "you're my (pal, bud, whitey, dolphin, whatever)

I've done a little stand up and I've seen a lot of comedians come through town.   Trust me, insulting the heckler by offending an entire race of people is NOT the best way to deal.

Doesn't matter what the guy did, suddenly you've got a percentage of the audience digging up American history and visions of plantation owners.  That bad, dirty US past no one likes to think about.

I do agree that some people go too far with P.C. and look for stereotypes wherever they go.    I can't write a black guy into a short film without thinking "will this be construed as innappropriate?"    But this Michael Richards thing is without question the most racist and unmerited offensive thing I've seen since...... FOX and O.J. Simpson collaborated.   

I'm the one that looks like John Favreau or Jimmy Kimmel!    You wanted me to say "the fat one" didn't you?  You ass! 

my last "That's Awesome!" meeting


Decided to dress in drag for the "Jesse is leaving... finally!" Ã,  party







*sigh* Ã,  Ã, I miss Texas.

I wish I could just go on enjoying Seinfeld episodes without thinking about this incident.  I hope that he is on drugs.Ã,  Ã,  That's a weird hope,Ã,  but to deal with a heckler in this way is pure career suicide.Ã,  Ã, 

I've heard people say "You know how there are black people and then there are niggers?"Ã,  Ã, It's beyond me what they are talking about because usually it gets down to some sort of distinction of character.Ã,  Ã,  "One's lazy and a thug."Ã,  Or something like that.Ã,  And they'll say "you know, like there are white people.. and then there's white trash."

The question always comes back around to "what does race have to do with it then?"   Just call both groups of people "Thugs" instead of going racist.Ã,  Its total malarkey.

And if white trash is an acceptable monicker, maybe those people should adapt the phrase "black trash"  because a word with such historical significance.... why use it even in jest?

Oh god.

I remember trying otu one other program and then seeing this screenshot of a sportscar next to a street.  And I tried a demo.  And i downloaded a graphics program, and tried to design rooms.

Jesus, I dunno.   When I joined the forums it did me well to meet eric and helm and las naranjas and butcher and gilbert and sylpher..... all while on eric's chat room sketch thingy.

When I first joined AGS I knew absolutely noone after I had moved into my sister's house in Austin, Texas.

-Posted on AGS and became regarded as a "nice guy who calms down arguments"
-I attended University of Texas despite doubting that I would get in
-Randomly met a guy who got me onto the sets of America's Most Wanted, 25th Hour, and a James Cameron documentary, Hustle and Flow
-Joined a foofy film club ran by a bunch of assholes at said university
-Became president of said asshole run film club
-Turned from a quiet opionated nice guy to an outspoken opionated asshole
-Regretted never making a proper game for AGS
-Attempted stand up comedy - instead became aqcuainted with alcohol
-Began writing for a sketch comedy program
-Returned home to Knoxville, Tennessee last week
-Now takes pride in being an asshole who begins online arguments

-Got an offer for an indie mini-dv feature "Power Trip" to act as the villain douche bag.
-Plan to move back to Austin, Texas

-oh, and some point in there I lost my virginity.

I just played through Prodigal to see what everyone was talking about.  Really friggin' sweet.  The rendered camera motions added so much to the game play.

Spoiler

The twist was sort of "Mysty" but actually carried through cinematically.  It was also reminiscent of the Calypso endings of the Twisted Metal games.  Again, more cinematic and meaningful.  I like!

[close]

The Ben Jordan endings have also been very satisfying.   It's done well for a series to end and leave the path open ahead.   Especially the witch hunt one & the haunted building one.  3 & 4 maybe?     Yahtzee's also done very well with endings.  Stories in general really.   

I'll dig up numbers for you if you want, but I've read Adage for the past year (a year after this book was published, and based on data from the year before at best) and been in fairly good contact with the industry that fuels TV (Hell, I got a bachelor's degree in it). Ad spending (particularly upfront buys) on TV space has declined due to a number of factors (accountability, availability of other media, etc.).

"the industry that fuels TV"

I don't know about anybody else but I resent advertising.Ã,  I took two college courses in advertisiing and the best excuse my professors had for why we need advertising people was "who else is going to do it?"

Who else is going to saturate my life with repetitive, annoying ads?Ã,  Ã, I think advertising sucks balls, and if less ads are being sold on TV - thank the lord!

We've gotten to a point where TV and the internet are soon going to merge.Ã,  Ã,  Companies like HP and Sony are all working on home entertainment systems that combine TV with the internet and I'm hoping the future of TV lies in subscriptions like HBO and services you renew online.

I can't stand commercials, and likewise think if anything lasts of advertising - that we get to a point of seemless product placement.Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Advertisers are the devil.

There's a great story arc in Ricky Gervais's new show Extras where his character is forced to sell out by manufacturing a sitcom "When the Whistle Blows"  for the BBC.   "Is he having a laugh?! Is he having a laugh!?"

The satire involved in this storyline and the fact Gervais trusts the audience to get the joke of a "sell out show" within his own show demonstrates to me that TV culture has come a long way.

The fact that intellectuals flock to his version of the Office rather than the watered down American version.  The fact that people watch the Office to begin with because its a fresh angle at comedy in a dumbed down and dying culture of sitcoms.

Audiences have more choices than ever.   The fact that TV intellectuals even exist should tell you that.   If you had nothing to watch but Fear Factor, and nothing to do on the computer or otherwise - but to watch Fear Factor.   Most likely you would watch it not to be left out in the water cooler conversations the next day.   You can piss and moan all you want about this show... or that show.    But ultimately you are being served an alternative, a quite satisfying one whether the Daily Show or the Office or the Apprentice,  and that's one thing audiences never had on the scale that we do.

I watched Cheers and Night Court and I don't remember hearing anybody bitching about it.

Even if you do use the choppy editing as an example, and that viewers are growing more impatient...Ã,  wouldn't you also have to make the argument that viewers were actually patient while watching Three's Company?Ã,  Ã, Or Full House?

If viewers sat through entire episodes, even marathons, of those shows - wouldn't that prove that television audiences were at one point - retarded?Ã,  Ã, 

Now I will say that most shows have made trade-offs with their chop shop editing.Ã,  Ã, Dialogue.Ã,  Ã, Television writers don't have to worry about crafting the english langauge anymore.Ã,  Its just one statement after the other, a couple a questions. and then someone gets shot.Ã,  Ã,  Ã, But I would argue that television is doing quite well compared to Theatre in this regard.Ã,  Ã, I've given up on going to plays anymore after witnessing multiple shitty productions.   MFA theater students write the worst plays from what I've seen. with monologues that are the stupidest drivel  on the face of the earth.  And that's when theater companies aren't reciting Shakespeare!Ã,  Ã, That's as creative as theatre will ever get.Ã,  Ã, People recycling the same plays over an dover again.Ã,  "Oooh, we'll set Hamlet in an insurane brokers office!"

Now you can blame the fall of theater on the rise of television.   But how productive is that?   Next you'll want to petition a collective agreement to ban TV.    But the dialogue has lost focus in TV and films. 

Instead of crafty rhetoric and flowing prose, most shows drown the viewer in technical or legal jargon.Ã,  Ã, I would even include X- Files.Ã,  Ã, "Scully, the pyschosphere of his brain appears to be shattered.Ã,  Maybe if I apply this benzine circusometer the wound will heal itself in the fourth dimension."  Miami Vice tried this shit and failed!  Michael Mann, and I still hate the movie!

oh, and it was brilliant when South Park called out Family Guy on the "Man, this is worse than that one time..."Ã,  gag.Ã,  Ã, More shows need good humor and good dialogue.Ã,  Its a hard thing to accomplish.Ã,  Ã, But I believe many shows are upping the ante even though they could take the "drown the audience in jargon or inside jokes" method.

The key technique was used by MacGyver in one of the first episodes of Season One.

Its during the opening gambit where Mac is stealing a map from some bad guys and all the macgyversims involve using the map.Ã,  Ã, He slides the map under the door, uses it as a pea shooter, uses it as a sled, conceals a baton inside it, patches up a hot air balloon with it, etc etc.


So even tho the key method was a lazy technique for MacGyver, they innovated nontheless.Ã,  I know I was impressed.

I'm pretty sure Johnson would have added a whole new chapter to his book if he had ever played or seen someone playing Monkey Island...

But yeah, he talks about the culture of video games and the countless dialogues and tutorials spawned from common interest found all over the internet.    Anyway, I'm glad people are debating.    And it seems the talk has gotten a bit more sophisticated since last time I checked.

There's a pretty interesting statistic that no one born since 1962 has voted in a presidential election without either a Bush or a Clinton in the running.


If Hilary runs in 2008,  the Bush/Clinton families will have covered a good 26 years of presidential elections.   

It's so odd that you should say that.   The area of my expertise happens to be film/television.

The voting turnout in the U.S. is around half of all voting aged americans.

I voted in the last presidential election (for Kerry)  and during this election period I suppose I can contribute to who is the governor of Texas.   

Have you guys heard of Kinky Friedman?   He doesn't really have a chance, but he's a jewish cowboy running for governor of Texas.   He's pretty novel:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RcRz_-NLWS4

DG:   careful with the argument that film has become complex.   Sure there are the exceptions: the occassional mind bender like Memento.  But overall Johnson stated that the medium has plateaued long ago.



EVERYONE ELSE:

What your arguments come down to, whether you are saying TV is not making anyone smarter, or that books are much better for intellectual stimulation..... is that all in alll-  you refuse to read A BOOK!

Please check out Johnson's book in a library and follow it from beginning to end.   I cannot adequately describe the "Sleeper Curve" which is the basic backbone to his argument.

You are stating well thought out opinions and facts,  but you have not allowed the author to flesh out his case with details, evidence, and rhetoric.   Try out the book and then come back and argue the examples he uses.   Not the generalities you'd rather make.   Is it because you are too busy with TV, video games, and internet forums that you can't read a book?   Or is your suggested reading list all ready too long?

We can all agree that the argument is worth discussing.  It's certainly worth a read.

skyfire:   subscribe to us on youtube and you'll get all the latest

minimi:  you watched all 11 videos?   sweet!   Oh, and Zach is not paralyzed.  He can crawl around on his knees or even swim if he wanted to.   He has cerebral palsey which was caused by premature birth.  He was born before his brain had developed important connections between the axons or neurons or whatever that controlled important motor skills.  Sometimes CP effects a person's speech and causes them to sound dumber than they actually are.   (anybody watch Ricky Gervais's "Extras"?)   But in Zach's case his CP had no effect on verbal ability, and I would argue- indirectly made Zach verbally and socially empowered.

Nikolas:    thanks amigo!