Posts by BenWilson
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Not only are their coffees weak as piss, they're expensive. Even my 4 year old turns his nose up at Starbucks. It only takes one tasteless muffin to lose a lifetime of trade.
That article is hilarious, it's like NZers will live to rue the day that they didn't suck it up and drink shitty coffee and eat shitty muffins. I don't care if they even start drinking Starbucks by the gallon in France and Italy, it's not crossing my palette again.
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Curious, Rotten Tomatoes agreed with my ordering of the merits of the films. From Wikipedia:
Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 80% based on 250 reviews, making it the highest rated out of the prequel trilogy and the third highest-rated film of the entire Star Wars saga: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Return of the Jedi are rated 62%, 66%, and 78% respectively, while A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back are rated 94% and 97% respectively
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Just when I was building up a good head of loathing, Lucas would whip out a bit of imagery, or design, or short sequence that would really....just... work, and which was recognisably Star Wars.
Yup, the action sequences were still very well done. I don't think anyone's really captured the "titanic space battle" quite so well as Lucas.
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That cracks me up, John. Is it the first time that sort of thing's happened to you?
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Joe Wylie,
It's not like there's no room in the Australian constitution - the fucking thing is a book.
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We havent even scratched the surface of what went wrong.
Heh, I'm not actually that bitter. I think we still live in a paradise. Technology and the steady improvement of things generally has counteracted the decline of Western capitalism. Perhaps that's all tied into the decline - when life gets basically reasonably comfortable for even the poorest members of a society, it's hard to keep driving it so hard.
To that end, I'm reasonably optimistic about the future of the world. It will continue to improve technologically, and rich socialist countries will not grow at the same pace as poor capitalist countries. This will lead to wealth slowly balancing out, which is actually a better thing from a global perspective. It does involve a change in perspective, though - we have so much public rhetoric about some sort of international rat-race, how shameful it is to slip behind the wealth levels of other nations. I don't see it as simply a matter of that. As in our private lives, most people don't strive to be the richest, they're happy enough with comfortable remuneration, and fulfilling lives.
The whole thing about catching up with Ozzie gives me the shits. It's like trying to keep up with the wealthy neighbor on your street, who has already paid off their house. Unless they fuck up badly, or you have sudden wealth, it's not going to happen. Nor is it any reflection on the paucity of your decisions - so long as you are improving your lot day by day, you're going in the right direction. It's a stupid thing to put in your head, and will most likely lead to misery, even when you really don't have anything to be so miserable about.
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That is, if MMP wins, consideration will be given to making changes to MMP, such as the threshold, overhang, etc.
I like the way you're thinking. Vote for review and select MMP as your preferred option?
We all have these moments of madness.
It's in my nature to suspend disbelief when considering options.
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Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Steve Parks,
Happens in Episode III. The Wookie battle is actually quite cool.
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As Lucy says, though, it's a story about boyz. If you're a girl playing Star Wars, there is only Leia. I don't think Star Wars would pass the Bechdel Test.
I think Episode I would come closest - at least we have Amidala and her decoy. But not a pass, I don't remember them conversing. First time I've really thought about it, but the Jedi seemed extremely short on females - I can think of one outside of the younglings - a blue one who is shot in the back during Order 66.
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Legal Beagle: Coalition of Losers, in reply to Steve Parks,
No, my reasons were much worse. I was an ACT supporter and I felt it likely that MMP would mean a center-left coalition that would undo the glorious changes of the 1980s. This madness lasted about a year. But even then, I did think it was more democratic.
I'm somewhat disappointed that making minor reforms to MMP was not one of the options in the upcoming referendum. I'd go along with I/S in lowering thresholds, personally. Seems the simplest solution to overhangs and unnecessarily tactical voting. Ultimately you want the system to be "Vote for what it is you want", rather than "Vote for what you think might maximize the value of your vote".
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