Walsingham

That is pretty cool. Not sure how they did the lightning effects in game...

So you haven't seen the NOOO! yet at the end of Return of the Jedi? George Lucas has to be the only film director ever who I'd cheerfully lock in my basement and beat with dead racoons. It's as if he's deliberately attempting to destroy his own creation. I can't explain it any other way.

Holy crap. This really is the future, isn't it? As in 'the fuuuuutuuuure'.

I certainly don't (tend to) get into fights on my own account. But there's a bloody minded streak in me which won't (normally) back down. Plus I have an incredibly dumb streak which I'm quite proud of which catapults me into situations where I reckon one side is being bullied. Apparently my Irish grandad used to do the same thing. So I guess if I get knifed up doing it at least I'm carrying on the family tradition. On the other hand I can usually see the other guy's point of view, even when he's a drunken idiot. Scratch that. BECAUSE he's a drunken idiot. And I am too. ~ We don't have fraternities in the UK, as such. But I have been told by Americans that a lot of my stories from uni sound like frat stories. What I'd say in defence of it, which isn't very obvious to people who were more retiring at uni is: free application of energy. A lot of the things you probably think of as being good about uni come from free application of energy. All that thinking and drug taking and *ahem* experimentation comes because you have the courage and momentum and raw energy to do them. 'Frat' behaviour means doing dumb stuff, which loosens the ties which bind. It also gives you a bunch of like-minded goons who have done the same stuff. It lends courage, and comfort to the process. And yes, some bloody weevil-brained asshats will often try and hijack the system and turn it all fascist. But it isn't always that way. At least, that's my theory.

I don't just believe in evolution as an explanation of species development, but as a powerful paradigm for understanding other phenomena, such as the spread of culture and ideas. However, as Numbers says, it is far from 'proven' as such. It's not mental to disbelieve it. But I would say it is mental to assert that there is a rational competitive superiority in theories like intelligent design over evolution. I also think that if the truth is something other than evolution it is going to struggle unless it incoporates large parts of evolutionary theory. Thee are just too many good bits, such as apparent evolutionary trends in fossil records, to account for. I also find it ferociously ironic that anyone 'believes' in evolution at all. It's not a faith. Evolution, like all science, is a component of well organised _doubt_.

False dichotomy, Krez. If you need to make sure you get a call, then switch it to vibrate and hold it in one hand. The point with the training, BTW, was that one learns to check things, not assume things. Is there a round chambered? What time is parade? Are my socks on top of my gear? Is my phone actually off? I'm not making a big deal out of it, just saying.

But then it's too late, because if you fix the typos, your post is forever tainted with that ugly little edit message. I wish they'd make it like on other boards where the edit message doesn't pop up if you edit within a few minutes of posting. It's unnecessary. Nay, the edit message separates the men from the boys. How else are we supposed to know who kept rewriting his post into something eloquent and who's a bona fide natural at it. I have to agree with Orogun.

Still scratching my head and trying to puzzle out last night. Bloke I know had a pint of beer spilled over him by some other's fellah's flung shoe in the pub. Man whose pint it was got a new pint bought for him, but man A was soaked. No real apology, so man A gets shirty. Tells the offender to do the proverbial. Offender gets highly aggressive in return, nearly goes to a fight outside. Landlord and others had to restrain us. My own reaction was to pitch in on the side of man A. Firstly cause I know him,an d secondly because I know he's havinga rough time, redundancy etc. But it occurred to me today that I probably didn't help calm things down. Plus I simply can't cash the physical exertion IOUs any more. Bloody close shave. I can't work out if I did the right thing or if I'm going to have to be more cowardly now. Pretty grim thought.

Now it will only get worse from here on out. Miserable bugger. It's Saturday!

You left out point 7. 7) Murdered by jealous forumites. And Shryke, who basically joins in to be sociable.

Good idea. We can kill Three Dog's grandchildren.

I don't mind the aggressive bears. I just mind them spawning every twenty feet. I particularly object to them doing so right in front of my eyes. I mean, if they're going to do that, at least animate them tunneling out of the ground or something!

Ah, there is a certain arrogance that comes with the title "brightest mind". Turn off our phone, surely he did not mean me? Or maybe it wasn't that exclusive after all. I mean, they let Wals in! Somebody has to serve the tea! EDIT: I think it's partly the (very limited) Army training I've done. If some bugger tells you to check your phone is off then you check your phone is off. You don't assume it's off. You certainly don't just ignore him, although that's as much manners as anything else.

That's pretty cool. Hope we continue being entertaining for another six.

Cab Calloway The Fuehrer's got the jitters but bizarrely I can't find a single video or clip online.

There's a thought. If recyclable material is useful material on long missions, maybe future missions should aim to leave as much as possible? Incidentally, I was at a conference on Wednesday with some of the nations brightest minds. And two people failed to turn off their mobile phones having been explicitly asked to do so. We are all ****ing doomed.

Speaking of Great Wars, is it just me, or is the final battle at Hoover Damn getting increasingly silly with every DLC? I strongly encourage Obsidian to consider adding in more dimensions to the battle, including maybe some tactical choices actually inside the damn. Do you have to sacrifice allies? Do you need to move against rising water? Rads? What if some gigantic supermutant was wedged in one of the side tunnels and woke up. ANYTHING.

I agree that the battles in Sharpe do look a bit daft. But the acting is surprisingly heavyweight. Shot at a time when British actors just didn't get to the States, I think. Having a throughly moody evening. I know all I need to do is tog up and head out to a club and I'll feel right as ninepence, but I'm sitting here chewing my lip and listening to old playlists.

I'd like to remind everyone that i've been answering 11/11/1918 to all those queries. This is my coded message that regulators should grow up and concentrate on more important issues, and look to our future. Rather than pretending those age checks do anything whatsoever. EDIT: And I meant to say that we should ALL do the same answer. When EVERYONE is answering 11.11.1918 to everything maybe the point will be made.

Predictably, iirc you must have stopped before it got silly/funny.

Knowing my luck it'd be cleaning up the parade square after them... EDIT: Colleague of mine has agreed to help out with a project I'm working on. BUt I jsut realised that he's got a degenerative disorder which means he'll probably never see the bloody thing built. Damned depressing.

I like the longbow ones, but the Sharpe ones only ever echo the series for me. Limited imagination, on my part! Still, I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy the Sharpe books at least enough to justify the borrowing from a library (if you have one nearby).

I believe you may mean 'regimen'. Unless you dragon chaps do things VERY differently.

Dude. Austin Powers? "The details of my life are quite in consequential" Best soliloquoy ever.

Beer and a hot bath, mate.