Re: Oye Suzanne
> at least with a movie like Slingblade, it was scaled down to realistic
> expectations.
Don't know this movie.
> but he could borrow from Stephen King. if there is a child or a mentally
> slow person in any of his books or movies, usually they have supernatural
> powers that could rise up and kill. otherwise, i wonder what someone who
> is 45 years old and all they can do is sack groceries for a living is
> going to accomplish by themselves against an entire band of merciless
> killers.
You can be sure the killers won't be expecting him. It's the element of surprise. I don't know how he does it, maybe he just calls the police?
> i prefer to think of him as a person who thinks he is smarter than what he
> is.
I wonder what retarded people think of themselves.
> just like in england where it was wrong to be irish or scottish or
> pakistani....
Exactly, the Americans are known for taking things and refining them to perfection.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's very bad.
> just like the upperclass in england playing croquet on the lawn while the
> lower classes are slaving it out in the mines....
Yeah, but again, Americans do it better.
> hmm.. just like the cruscades....
> its not like americans woke up one day and decided to have slaves on their
> own. there was a european culture behind it...namely the dutch....which
> extends back into the Roman empire, and so forth.
Again, everything they took from others, they brought to a new extreme.
> as Billy Joel said, "we didn't start the fire"
I don't know if he meant America, but if you didn't start the fire you
certainly added fuel to it.
> and has there been another shakespeare in europe since then? just one guy
> out of thousands of writers is enough for you to put down america?
Shakespeare is unique.
I'm not putting down America, but I hate it when Americans try to claim they are better at everything and diminish other countries' contributions.
> Completely forgetting Elvis, aren't you?
I'm not sure what exactly was the impact and influence of Elvis.
> There wouldn't be any sort of rock scene without blues, jazz, and country
> music...it had to be exported before bands like the Beatles could emerge.
> Otherwise, they would have still been playing skiffle music in the school
> yard.
Music that the black slaves started playing, because they were exploited,
discriminated against and miserable.
> it was about social change coming to the fore. that, and the northern
> states were highly dependant on the south for agriculture.
Well nothing new here, they had an entire continent, by they wanted more.
> or maybe their music sucks...
That's a misleading generalization.
You wouldn't say that, if you knew French, would you?
> sharecroppers as well...which were basically the free blacks taking on a
> new role that was almost the same as what they were doing before the
> war...
I think all the parties lost this war.
> most new immigrants didn't go to the south. they tended to stay in the
> north and work in factories.
A lot of immigrant at the beginning of the 20th century, were slaves in assembling the US railroad system, or working in mines.
I think now America has cut costs by making China its slave.
> just like there are thousands of other cities that aren't like the rest of
> them.
Most other cities, which are similar in size, are the same.
NYC is just not the same.
> that's when imagination comes in...TNG is also looking very dated these
> days.
Yeah it does, but back then it wasn't.
I guess I would have watched the original, had I been born 5 years earlier.
> somewhat, but from what i understand, the publisher didn't really see much
> hope in Harry Potter turning out this way....
Can you blame him? He's no magician himself.
> still, books aren't something that are successfully marketed until people
> already know who they are. they;re not like movies and video games where
> you can see or know from ads on TV.
I think that books became a redundant medium, when TV and motion picture emerged.
> the back jacket doesn't really say too much, if you really think about it.
> "there is this kid who is a wizard that battles the evil creatures
> lurking in his school..."
I would like to believe, I would have never bought such a book as a child.
> i can see why the teachers would have picked this one up to read to their
> students. they're desperate at this point to do anything that makes the
> school look like a place of adventure.
I haven't read the books, or seen the movies, but usually in books of this
kind, there needs to be a nemesis. Does Harry have one?
> as i said, i can't imagine the first kids who read it picking it up and
> saying, "yay! i've always wanted a 500 page book!" and most
> parents would have been, "is there something in the 30 page area? i'm
> really busy and don't have time to read this to my kid."
I wonder if she couldn't write only 250 page book, without leaving anything
out. It just seems excessive, what is this, an encyclopedia?
Think about the trees, damn it!
> i think he admitted to a lot of borrowing.
How does the old saying go? "The great (writers, etc.) steal"?
> unless you are missing a guitar player....
The Smiths played as a 4 piece, only later did they add Ganon.
> i think he actually named a figure much bigger than that.
Well, maybe he didn't want to sound like he was easily bought.