algroth

You recall correctly. I am slightly ashamed to admit I've only ever seen him live in the context of Asia, but even in that live show (and with a formation that essentially could have been a prog supergroup, including Carl Palmer, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes) they played a handful of tracks from their most reknown bands respectively and absolutely killed on each. No Tomorrow, U.K., Atomic Rooster or Crazy World of Arthur Brown though, unfortunately. ;_; (Not that I was expecting any though.)

John Wetton, bassist and vocalist for several bands including Family, Asia and most notably King Crimson, died today. Given the right band at least he was a monster. R.I.P.

I agree that it was motivated largely by the sovereigns' greed. It all falls down to power and money stands as a currency for such. Nevertheless the religious motivation proved successful for the larger mass of the army, and what I was pointing out to Ben was that had religion not been such a powerful ideological force back in those times, and had it been something else like, say, a political movement, patriotism, or even science, these would have provided the new necessity by which to justify the Crusades.

I like sneks more than puppies, so I approve. :3

For some very few, it indeed was about money. Yet for the thousands peasants and for many knights and nobles actually, it was about religion exclusively. So while yes, maybe some of the minds behind it (though probably not all) did it for the money, the common "soldier" who chopped of Muslim heads did it for his God. I feel a lot of it falls down to ideology in the end. Ideology can come in the shape of religion or else, and it'll still drive people to conflict. Human beings as a species don't handle disagreements very well.

Oh yeah, this is not indicative of Boorman's overall career or my opinion of him, just that the film is a notorious flop even amidst fans of the director and the saga. I have my gripes with Boorman myself, I think his disparagement of the more, err... Fantastical genres (to my awareness at least) are visible in the films he's made in each (The Heretic, Zardoz, Excalibaur), and I do think these feel like very lazy films because of it. Deliverance, Hell in the Pacific and Point Break are all very good though.

Based on what Sawyer and the rest of the team have said in the director's commentary and The Road to Eternity, it seems that unfamiliarity to the engine and to softwares such as Maya and the likes played a big part in the delay. You can hear Josh commenting on how certain sections, animations and the likes took them ages to figure out at first which would have now been pretty easy and straightforward to do. And I also feel it will largely depend on the stretch goals for the Fig campaign - I reckon that dealing with 15-level dungeons and a second big city was most likely a pain and a burden on the development time that won't happen this time around either. Of course, I'm only making suppositions with all of this. I reckon it could get delayed but I doubt it'll be for more than a semestre or so.

Best to avoid Boorman's Exorcist II: The Heretic, it's a travesty in every way. Haven't seen the rest I think, but all I've heard points to them being little better. For the sake of getting more people interested in The Ninth Configuration, here's the scene I watched that made me want to check it out in the first place:

True, I'd forgotten about that. The Ninth Configuration is excellent, and The Exorcist III, which he directed, is second in the series only to the original film (which may not be saying that, but it's still a very good film).

I'd be up for this.

It's nice to know we'll have a companion to take care of our boots. Now, what menial tasks should the rest of our party be assigned with?

Right now listening to... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzN1avEgtKM

Trust me, being from Argentina I know the feeling. You can imagine the arrogance with which we come into every match in football.

The issue is that a slogan like that can be an indicator of either patriotism or nationalism based on the rest of the campaign and propositions. When Trump threatens to deport all Muslims and build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, the slogan only becomes a further indicator of the latter. This aside I personally have a huge disdain for nationalism and patriotism because I've experienced first-hand the effect it can have on the masses, and the way it can be used as an incredibly cheap and false rally cry. I also do not believe I owe the patch of land I was born in anything, so I often see nothing but sensationalism and demagoguery when faced with such campaigns.

Hi algoth Sorry I haven't said hello until now What are your concerns, please be very honest Hey Bruce! I don't see what isn't concerning about the way things have gone in the Trump administration of yet. You have the president to the most powerful nation in the world acting as an autocrat with complete disregards for human rights, facts, science, or the very values that his country's based on. His combative, disdainful attitude to everyone else both in and outside the US is only bound to cretive further conflict, not lessen it. Okay, its several things. Where do you live if you dont mind me asking ? Argentina. Which is all the more worrisome because I'm feel like I'm reliving a lot of what went on during Kircherism and what I see in Peronism and populism in general, with Trump now. And in Argentina's case, at least our woes don't affect the rest of the world despite our delusions of importance; but you know what they say about America sneezing...

Hi algoth Sorry I haven't said hello until now What are your concerns, please be very honest Hey Bruce! I don't see what isn't concerning about the way things have gone in the Trump administration of yet. You have the president to the most powerful nation in the world acting as an autocrat with complete disregards for human rights, facts, science, or the very values that his country's based on. His combative, disdainful attitude to everyone else both in and outside the US is only bound to cretive further conflict, not lessen it.

In light of these deportations and immigration bans, I feel this article (and the film it is based on) bears even greater weight: http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/children-of-men-alfonso-cuaron-c-v-r.html

Nazanin Zinouri, Clemson PhD professor, writes on her Facebook:

No, it's fear. The likes of Asghar Farhadi will do nothing against the USA and yet they are banned from entry based on these laws only because they're Iranian. Much as I dislike it, the request for travel visas is prudent because it evaluates the individual and the threat they can present and doesn't merely cast a blanket prohibition that nonsensically bans everyone of a given region or religion, even a figure that is respected worldwide as one of the finest in a perfectly legitimate profession, from entry. That is irrational, and that is the product of fear.

Iranian filmmaker and 2017 Oscar nominee Asghar Farhadi may not be able to attend the ceremony over Muslim ban. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/asghar-farhadi-donald-trump-oscars-9709430

Oooof! I've never played that before. Already acquiring... Heh, it's when you check out the imdb of Privateer 2 and see just how many names turn up in it. Clive Owen as the protagonist, with supporting roles from the likes of John Hurt, Jurgen Prochnow, David Warner, Amanda Pays, David McCallum, Brian Blessed, Christopher Walken... Some glorious overacting and scene chewing. Indeed, I was seeing just that. I'll definitely check it out if only for the pedigree alone. We'll see how it turns out!

http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2017-01-27/polman-time-consider-25th-amendment-trump

They keep coming... http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/emmanuelle-riva-french-star-hiroshima-mon-amour-amour-dies-age-89 Emmanuelle Riva, in my opinion one of the greatest actresses of all time and best known for Amour and Hiroshima Mon Amour, just died. Of course she was of a very advanced age by now, but all the same it's sad news. R.I.P. Between Leibezeit, Hurt and Riva, this week's been devastating. Real shame, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, what with the 50s through 70s having presented such a huge boom in the arts it's only likely that we'll experience more of these huge losses in the coming years.

Oooof! I've never played that before. Already acquiring...

Jaki Leibezeit also died earlier this week. He was one of rock's greatest drummers and performed with a number of great pioneers in the scene, and was a founder of Can. To those who don't know the band, go check it out, it's fantastic. R.I.P. to one of the greats.