Hermie

The feeling usually invoked in me by These People is confusion. Usually when someone is being an idiot about a subject, like say fundamentalist religious nuts, you can sort of see how they turn out this way (upbringing, e.g.). But when men come to the conclusion that "women have become too powerful", I just cannot grasp their train of thought. How can anyone look at society and decide that "hey, women are taking over the world"? It's a scary feeling, someone's mindset being so far removed from my own, when they are my peers in many other ways.

Since this has turned into the "Hermie brags about his town" thread, my girlfriend wrote about going there on her Uni's blogg: http://www.swedenintouch.se/Daniela-Farias1/Blog/?entryid=4146

I have a spare Torchlight if anyone hasn't played it yet.

I never read them, but I of course know the character through the media aether. In fact, all the recent adaptions have made me very curious to read the original books. I noticed many of them are free on iTunes/Kindle, maybe I should make it a project and post about it?

I want it also as well.

Indeed, it's in the middle of the island, looking in towards the mainland. The yellow dot up on the mountain is the cable car, where you can look out over the city. Here's another picture she took:

My girlfriend spent most of Christmas chasing aurora, but it was cloudy for most of our stay, then, on one of our last days, she got to take this picture:

Yes, look up Wordfeud. Better UI, no Zynga, and random boards.

Indeed a cactuar. ^^ We're kicking ourselves for a) forgetting to make Minecraft stuff, and forgetting to make an Android gingerbread.

Me and my girlfriend spent way to much time to craft nery gingerbreads, that wont even be edible because of all the sugar. At least they turned out pretty cool: http://www.thegamingvault.com/2011/12/the-gaming-vault-wishes-you-a-merry-christmas-with-gaming-gingerbread/

@TP: Play Bastion. @Mike: You keep getting new weapons throughout the game, that each function differently. I found the combat lackluster too, until I started discovering my favourite weapons and upgrading those. And even if it never completely clicks, it's worth playing through for the narrative and presentation. There's a big discussion on this in the Bastion thread, as I recall. Also, you can even play it in your browser now.*

I keep thinking of how great the writing and atmosphere in Portal 2 was, and how much Skyrim opens up for such great, personal experiences, but there's one game I keep coming back to in every aspect, and that's Bastion. Great art direction, great soundscape, a deep, fascinating fiction, and plot and storytelling that just knocked my socks clean off. It's the only game I can think of where I haven't just experienced intellectual conflict, but emotional conflict as well. Sure, it has flaws, but this is a game that captured my mind, heart, creativity and imagination more than anything else this year.

Remember to bring back some butter.

What the Beetlejuice video doesn't mention is that that's one clip from every season.

Yes, Psych! I've kinda given up on recommending it, because it seems it's either not someones "thing" or they know about it already. Don't watch it if you can't stand serialized crime series with a 'twist', but that makes a great framework for putting two hilarious and likeable characters in crazy situations and have them riff on it. The show is also great for deep, deep 80s/90s references, as well as guest actors from that era. (It helps that Shawn and Gus are carbon copies of me and my best friend when we hang out together.)

TP describes pretty much how I feel about HIMYM, though the show has kind of lost its drive and spark in the later seasons. I still enjoy watching it. But you really must watch Community. It's true what they say about the first season, but once the writers and actors lock into the characters properly, the show elevates above and beyond. Not only is it hilarious, some of the episodes are profound in redefining what half-hour sitcom storytelling can do. It's hands down my favourite TV show right now, and it's quickly becoming one of my absolute favourite TV shows period. ...#sixseasonsandamovie

Sorry, his book says Kent, UK.

Yeah, Herzog is boss. Cave of Forgotten Dreams was wonderful in 3D. I could listen to him talk about a milk carton for two hours. The term Murray Smith uses to describe what we feel for antipathic main characters is actually "fascination", our desire to get a glimpse into a world so different from ours. He also stipulates that we are more likely to forgive characters that we have subjective access to, i.e. we see Tony punish members of his gang that disrespect him, or merely to show strength, but we also see go to therapy, have trouble with his family and so on. The article itself has many weak spots (the biggest of which is asking "why do we like Tony Soprano?" instead of "do we like Tony Soprano?"), but it's a really interesting subject nonetheless. Bonus feature: Reread this post in Werner Herzogs voice to make it sound profound.

This is actually part of what my current classes are about. One article about this issue in particular, argues that a character doesn't have to be morally good or appealing for us to be drawn to them, as long as there are worse characters around, that we have even more antipathy for. Note: This article was about Tony Soprano, and I haven't watched Breaking Bad, so it might not apply at all. There's also the issue of subjective access, alignment and blah blah, but I'm currently writing a 15 page final paper on the subject due tomorrow, so I wont waste words on it here. But it's fascinating nonetheless.

Yup, Norway is hella 'spensive. Also, what brkl said, darkness for six months gets kinda oppressive. On the other hand, it's fun to go out drinking in summer, come out of the bar, and have the sun in your face. Beer in Norway is cool, but not as great as say Germany or Belgium. Fact: Tromsø is home to the northernmost brewery in the world. They have their own bar, but it closes like at like 3 in the afternoon. Though I suppose that for an Irish person that's not a big problem. Also, guess what's NASA's picture of the day?

Sure thing! Here's the stuff I recommended for Kolzig last year: Tourist companies arrange aurora hunting trips, but honestly, as long as you come in the right time period (between November and February/March), and pay attention, you'll probably see it somewhere. There's also stuff like reindeer sleighrides and whale safaris. Another cool way to go is taking the Coastal Express (Hurtigruten). It travels up along the Norwegian coast from Bergen in the west to the very top, at Nordkapp. It's kinda pricy though, even if you only go for a city or two. But it's a great way to see Norwegian nature and potentially northern lights. Any particular interests outside of Aurora?

Tromsø, Norway, quite far north of the arctic circle.

aaaah noo I need that for thinking about things

Where I am currently (Trondheim, Norway) doesn't have a lot of aurora, but where I grew up there's a lot, and that's also where I'll be come Christmas.

Why not, I will troll a presentation if I'm around at the time.