Scipio

I don't know who that is. Edit > Oh the television people mentioned earlier. Did they have separate commentators? If there's not a language barrier, why not just broadcast the bbc feed? Or not talk over it at all more to the point. Breaking News: Michael Phelps worst swimmer ever

I like it because it uses the word 'revolution' 5 times, then directly addresses the idea of a shining tomorrow, then talks about social progress through industrial progress. I mean shit Boyle, dogg, you've got to have some subtlety about it.

Yeah, probably. I thought the start was one of the better bits. It was just the speeches that I didn't like thinking about it. Though Mccartney bashing out a couple of songs was a ordinary way to end it, considering the rest.

that was alright, decended into shit v. rapidly though. alcohol required.

I think it happens after this sequence, but the moment when you work out who Joelle is, and how she fits in with everything, is fucking fantastic. That was the moment when I realised 'oh this is why you make it hard'.

But you'll still miss out on his D&D Monster Manual. I have never really got on with Borges, which is odd, I think, when Calvino is one of my favourite writers.

"beep ... beep ... beep ... beep ..." - Sputnik 1

Sorry about that, it was the first time i'd used it, and it wouldn't stop! There were minecarts wizzing across, and pistons going and sand piling up, and then not coming out at all and it was fucking terrifying.

Considering the names that keep coming up (Barnes, Wallace, Mitchell, Eco), I would say A House for Mr Biswas, The Wind-up Bird Chronical, and If on a winter's night a traveler, would all be pretty good fits. however, I'd really endorse whole hearted off piece excursions into non-fiction, or authors like Achebe, Jean Rhys, Dangarembga, Caryl Phillips, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Nadeem Aslam. (book cast needs to be more then one a month)

I forgot that I can't be in public when listening to Idle thumbs, I think people thought I was having a stroke when Treasure Goblin arrived. I'm surprised Fallout:NV didn't come up during the single-player-narrative-driven-game-as-platform talk. To me it's that, rather then GTA, that's the prime example of doing it well. It would of also been interesting to hear you talk about something like Civ V with it's leader packs, or Rock Band, where because of a lack off narrative structure, it makes it very easy to create a more seamless modular style.

Olympic sponsor ATOS is another good example of the wonderful reign of privatization. I think you're right about how the attitude towards London feels, when your in the provincials. Though I end up less level headed when talking about the city generally.

I don't think this is really true, largely the majority of Olympic coverage in the papers is feel good fluff stuff - except on the odd occasions where the story is too big to ignore, like in the last couple of days. Even then, the main piece in today's grauniad supplement is 'our art critics look at sports!'. Then on the BBC, which I think is where most people get their news, any attempt at a critical view is over ridden by relentless DREAMS AND HOPES coverage to an insane degree. And also, I wouldn't call reporting on corruption, incompetence and some of the biggest pushes of privatisation we've seen 'complaining'. Edit. although your right that the broadsheets often do unbelievably twee editorial bits that do complain and moan in a hilarious self knowing way that sort of makes me want to stab someone.

Clean the undesirables! Move them off the streets! Wenlock knows all!

but adam west is really old? Why make a new one now?

Jumanji is a pretty interesting film. If you watch it with the relationship between fathers and sons and Peter Pan in mind, it's a fairly rich experience. Also the contrast between the chaotic stampedes and the almost Shining ​like movements of the camera in the big quiet empty sets is fun to see. Also, I may of misheard, but I think Chris said you needed a mod to change your religion's name? You can already mess with it when its founded.

Julian Barnes did a fairly big piece in today's Grauniad about owning/reading books. I think the line "We didn't go to church, but we did go to the library." is the shortest, most accurate, summation of him as an author you can get. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/29/my-life-as-bibliophile-julian-barnes

Lego Frodo is freaking the fuck out.

I saw it today, and thought it was fucking fantastic. A great exploration of using abstract thought, or trying to use it, how people talk to each other, this sense of tension being built through out the film - without ever worrying about any of the characters, creating a mood and tone with such a limited tight focused camera. Cronenberg has an unbelievable understanding of the human body, and how to show it on film, a super obvious thing to say I know, but I was so, so impressed with it. In terms of what we actually see, its a technically restrained area, nothing as overt as his older stuff, but it never feels held back. I got the exact same notions of people as these sweaty stinking meaty things, Juliette Binoche writhing about in the limo felt real, along with people eating, or fucking, or whatever. I'm pretty sure that there aren't many other directors that could have created the idea of that big old phallic limo being such a human part of Eric Packer. Two very specific instances that I loved, one, when Pattinson's wife told him he stunk of sex, he does some great little facial twiches, and somehow the image on screen so obviously conveys a smell that I'm sure you could take that clip out of context and people could still tell he was lying. Two, there's a shot after Pattinson gets pied when he approaches the basket ball court, and he's lit so perfectly that the lemony whip on the side of his face is just enough in shadow that his head gets turned into this two-face style mushy-body-horror mess, like a burn victim or something and it's fucking great. I walked out the cinema wanting to re-watch The Fly, or Videodrome, or something, it was such a good reminder of what a director Cronenberg is.

As punishment for forgetting about him, tonight Sid Meier will visit your nightmares.

If organising across different time zones wouldn't be too much of a problem, I would be down for this.

Is there a thread for Gods and Kings anywhere? It seems odd that there isn't one already.

I would whole heartedly recommend you read Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, (if you haven't already). It's the basis for some of Rorty's stuff, language and view of science are the ones I would point out. Also, (this is a little on the nose) Rorty and His Critics is a great collection with some super philosophical heavyweights in it, I figure that your uni library probably has both.

Have a new thing and and old thing that I just found out existed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SOz4T5QWCI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SOz4T5QWCI http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=URq7m3-SOtA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=URq7m3-SOtA Both these things look incredible.

Sharks!?! I thought Jaws was the one about the dinosaur theme park?