VFTF1

I'm watching season 2 of Haruhi Suzumiya. And in the meantime, I'm rewatching Neon Genesis Evangelion for the 20th time Pete

It's because on Dolza's homeworld, you give a girl a protoculture flower of life BEFORE kissing her. Actually - now that I think of it... this is a good point. How did Robotech explain the whole culture shock thing and the whole protoculture thing if in Robotech protoculture was just this fuel? maybe I shouldn't ask... Pete

That was a good review. I guess I'm not as excited as that guy was... but it sounds like they took a cue from the first Transformers film not to go too far out left field. And I really like that they start in 1641! That's good! Pete

I think the only way to get back at the people behind Endless Eight is to just write the same fan commentary over and over and over. Therefore, I hereby announce that this post will be the only thing I write in this thread - over and over - until we actually see something "truly" new in Haruhi Suzumiya. Pete

I think this is an unfair generalization. First of all, Rand herself wrote that the characters in the Fountainhead were archetypes that in their own ways were closer and further from the ideal of human happiness. However, the ideal of human happiness is itself a general thesis which never makes any pretense to contain specific requirements (aka - you don't have to be an architect who dresses like Roark, likes the same food as Roark, has the same hair style etc). These are just the particular trappings. I think the problem you're having here is distinguishing between "choice" and "happiness" or freedom and rationality. You see, obviously Rand would never say that "any way someone chooses to live will be good, as long as they choose it htemselves" because a person can choose ANYTHING. In fact, in Atlas Shrugged, Rand makes explicit (in Galt's speech) that one of the dinstinguishing features of man is that he has no "instinct" that pre-programs his actiosn throughout his whole life like most animals do. Most animals cannot deviate from their nature. Man CAN. Man can, for instance, choose suicide, collectivism, Man can choose to believe that a rock is actually a God and needs to be worshipped. Man can, in short, choose a whole host of absurdities that are contrary to his nature. But - Man can also choose to use his mind to think about what it is that would be BEST for him out of ALL possible choices? Rand's ideal is a Man who thinks rationally about the best possible choices that are in accordance with what is truly good for him, rather than what is conventionally held to be good, or thoughtlessly pursued through "herd mentality." It is a false contradiction to say that Rand is actually against individualism because she wants "everybody to be like Roark" and then, on the other hand, suggesting that individualism is just "doing whatever you want." In fact, "doing whatever you want" is an empty shell. Praxeologically speaking, everybody ALWAYS "does whatever they want" because in the end, they always chose their actions based on a host of factors and subjective whims. Rand's only "requirement" for true individualism (which I would suggest should be understood as meaning "autonomy" or simply "freedom") is a thoughtful, rational consideration of all possible alternatives - and choosing in accordance with your real desires - your "heart" if you will - and not being afraid of it. Finally, just to pre-empty any "well what if I sit down and rationally come to the conclusion that I want to rule other people, be a dictator, thief, murderer etc" - Rand, like Aristotle and Plato (although she probably wouldn't like to admit her link to the first...but then again it's impossible really to "prefer" Aristotle who was, in the final analysis, a STUDENT of Plato) - would argue that there is no rational, logical justification for the idea that being a "parasite" (crook, murder, tyrant etc) would lead to human happiness. This is a vey sublime argument, and unless someone insists on pursuing it, I will leave it at that and hope that most people are sensible enough to understand why.... Again, I would take the books themselves into my defense. I think what is really the problem is the Ayn Rand Institute itself, and the entire aura of a radical cult that has grown up around it, and their "banishment" of people who are not "like minded" - and the fact that they basically treat Rand's books as some Fundamentalists treat the Bible - as a basis for exercising their own personal excentricities rather than as food for thought and happy living. The books themselves do not trivialize the problems of the real world, except insofar as all fiction does that by being an "open-shut" case where the author has final say as to how something proceeds and therefore, the role of "chance" or "fate" is zero. I do agree that there is a bit of a "revenge fantasy" lingering in the works - but...so what? Who wouldn't want to write a revenge fantasy against fascism and communism? That's kind of like blaming people for wanting to write a "revenge fantasy" where their loved one WASN'T killed by a drunk driver, or where they DIDN'T get cancer. It's natural that people want to dream up ideal worlds and road-maps of how to get there. It's natural that people want to think about how to be happy and how to live together in a way that is just. I think that if people actually sat down and considered the merits and demerits of the books, the actual characters and the situations therein - they would see that there's a lot of food for thought. Again - the problem is (IMO) not the books, but the somewhat cultic and excentric personalities who have taken up the mantle of Ayn Rand. The "banishments" and the subsequent descent into pettiness... But...I guess that's also a generalization... See - I have the same feeling. I also always loved her romantic view of life. The notion that life does not have to be mundane and boring, and that the passions and dreams of young people aren't things you "grow out of." I think on the whole, her books are important and her ideas are correct. The problem starts when professional philosophers try to build a system out of Objectivism that is divorced from LITERATURE. This is my opinion of course, but I think that you need to always consider the FORM that something is presented in, and that FORM always to some extent DICTATES content. Example wise ... Look at Plato's dialogues. Notice they are not a treatise. Plato didn't just sit down and write "My Theory of Justice." He wrote a dialogue between numerous people presented numerous views about this. Same with Rand - she didn't ever write "Objectivism 101: Here it is from A to Z." She wrote a literaly work of fiction putting different human archetypes into a situation which compelled them to make fundamental choices about good and evil, and to really think hard (or resign from thinking about it) about what will make them happy. People like Lienord Piekoff, on the other hand, love to spin webs - to create these vast abstract philosophical systems. These of course have their merits and I am not saying they are just wrong - but they are a completely different item. They lack the dramatism that literature or theatre presents (and yes, Plato's dialogues are just basically theatre plays). In this sense, they are far removed from the human experience, which actually has more to do with fictional literature and theatre plays than with dry treatises. Pete

I think the only way to get back at the people behind Endless Eight is to just write the same fan commentary over and over and over. Therefore, I hereby announce that this post will be the only thing I write in this thread - over and over - until we actually see something "truly" new in Haruhi Suzumiya. Pete

I agree! That stupid Superdimmensional Fortress Macross with its' Minmei shower scene, Hikaru grabbing Misa's butt, Misa and the bridge bunnies checking out Panties and thinking Hikaru is a pervert, close up shots of Minmei's sexy legs while she is singing, Warera wearing a dress, and all that other stuff is just so juvenille! Things should be gritty, like in Robotech. Pete

I think that this is what should happen: Holywood stops putting crap live action movies on screen and instead fills the cinemas with anime. EVA 2.0 instead of Transformers 3. Stuff like that. I'm tired of seeing PEOPLE in movies Pete

TR2N sounds like it's going to be good. It's almost as if they're basically making everything I loved as a kid just for me. Pete

Personally, I prefer blue berries to cranberries, even on Thanksgiving. I like my turkey without the cranberries, because cranberries are too bitter. This is of course odd, since I am generally a conesuer of bitter tasting foods. But that's the exception to the rule. Beyond that, Monday is not as bad as it is made out to be on Three's Company. Pete ps: this was my attempt at humorously showing Kieth that his post was possibly off topic/posted in the wrong thread?.... If not, please feel free to educate me as to what FM Alchemist has to do with Haruhi Suzumiya

I actually own a beagle who is black and white. His name is Oz I'll put his picture up next to some Valkyrie in the strike a pose thread when/if I ever get around to it:) He's alot like Ranka insofar as his ears serve to signal his state of mind Pete

Thanks for that and congrats on the new additions ! I failed in my attempt to acquire Victory Saber last month. Hopefully will manage it soon Star Convoy actually looks good when he's on display with the rest of that crowd. Oh. And I must again start tearing my hair out, because not only do you have such a fantastic collection of Japanese TFs, but I noticed... POSEIDON!! on the shelf!! I so desperately need to add Poseidon and his Getter Dragoner friends to my collection!! Pete

I think I noticed one slight variation yesterday - but I can't remember it today. Ok - so now I have to...download the rest of them. But thanks for confirming - there are basically two new episodes, out of which one of those "new" episodes has 8 possible, and nearly identical looks. Great I am loving this! Pete

I read that that rumor was not true - and read it a couple pages back in this thread... or in a link from this thread or something like that. Pete

I also got the feeling that the GI Joe "jumping to dodge missiles in slow mo" was a total rip off of TF movie where Ironhide did that. But you must admit that the suits are no less cheesy than people with NO ARMOR shooting machine guns at each other at close range and never hurting one another. Or people firing RPGs at vehicles, blowing them up, but having the drivers or pilots jump to safety. The suits are the only plausible way I can see GI Joe working in live action/real life. Although it is kind of stupid to consider that Cobra can't come up with GI Joe suit-armor piercing bullets... Pete

I love toilet paper manga! As for that picture of Minmei on Hikaru's laps... at first I was like "man - she's blocking half his view"... then I realized Hikaru's hair already does that Pete

I.... am confused. Ok... because...I... I'm trying to..um... watch these in the correct order... but... are there like three different titles for the same episode? Because when I download Bamoo Rapsody I get the same episode as when I download Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2? And when I download Endless Eight I... get...er...the same thing... That is...I keep just getting the same two episodes... no matter the title... It's always either the summer fun episode with the cicada hunt or it's the one where they write their wishes to the gods and Kyon time travels with Asahina... I'm... very confused. I think I'm going to have to go...watch something else... Or... Is there...more than 2 episodes in this..season>?../... e... help. Pete

I think he means the fanservice non-censored version of the erotic spa resort wear-wolf sex girls episode Pete

Well - I found my dream car - kind of It's a Toyota Land Cruiser from the year 2000. Used, but in good condition. 10 thousand bucks. It's got a heck of a lot of miles (200 thousand Kilometers, which is like...um...I dunno... 130 thousand Miles? 150? Something like that?)... But it looks good, runs well and is projected to live for another 5 years (although for the price, I'll be happy if it lives for three years). Now I just have to hope that some bank will give me the money as a loan, since I can only make a 20% downpayment on this thing... we'll see. Meanwhile, still waiting on my drivers license... Will probably not have it in the flesh for another couple of weeks... everything here works so slow Oh well... I felt like Homer Simpson when I saw the Land Crusier though, and in my heart I heard "CANYONARO! CANYONARO!" Oh - and the CD player doesn't work - but that'll be like 50 bucks to replace/fix. And it has air conditioning, four wheel drive and is BIG! Pete EDIT: Here's a picture. The one I (hope) I'm getting is a two-door landcruiser for the European market - not a four door. The one I'm getting is silver and doesn't have the tint thing in the window, nor the mirror... But I'll probably customize it - I'd love to put "Call Monster Girl" on my doors Or Minmei or something arrr... I really hope I can get this thing Can't wait to drive all over the place Yay!

My translation: HAH HAH HAH!! NO VALK PERIPHERALS FOR YOU GAIJIN!! BWAHA HAHAH! LOOOOSER!! HA HAHA! WATCH ME AS I PLAY WITH MY VALK PERIPHERALS!! I MIGHT JUST SELL YOU ONE ON EBAY FOR A MILLION YEN!! HAH HAH HAH HARDY HAR HAR!! Pete

You're probably right, but I just like her for the wonderfully slurmty smirk on her face Which....come to think of it... is very unlike Sheryl - but this girl I like, and also, her face has a hardness and harshness to it that fits perfectly with the Dominatrix image that the costume (and Sheryl) project. And speaking of which... this kindo f makes me think about how totally un-Dominatrix like Sheryl was. I mean, yeah yeah she tried to boss Alto around and called him slave and the like - but by and large I got the impression that Sheryl was head over heels in love with Alto and didn't so much dominate as annoy him. Nothing as dominating as Haruhi Suzumiya to Kyon... Err... anyways... If you guys don't throw up some new cosplay images soon, I'm gonna have to put on a chinese waitress dress and take a picture of myself! So...be warned! Bring me cosplay or you will have meee!! pete

I too saw the trailer and was pleasantly surprised. Mind you, I still don't like those special suits they've got for GI Joe, but the Ninja scenes look great, as do Cobra. I'll probably go see this. I STILL haven't gone to see ROTF. I hate the toys and am sore at Hasbro. That and my girlfriend insisted we go see Bruno instead, which was educational, but the concept is kind of worn out by now... anyways... GI Joe might actually be good. In a...er...kind'a sorta way... I also looked at pictures of the toys. Not sure I like what they've done to Cobra Commander. In fact, all of the masks and uniforms look too fluid and CGI rendered... actually - heck... it almost looks like they decided to cover them up in all that armor so that they could then get away with the classic GI Joe visuals (lots of people shooting high caliber weapons and nobody even getting a scratch:) ) .... I dunno... it certainly has cheesy posters. But then again, so did Transformers... I'm trying to put myself in the mentality of fifties SCI-FI horror/camp on a summer afternoon or something... Will probably waddle my way into the cinema to see both of these eventually... Pete

So - I finally started watching season 2. Why? For the best of reasons: I was bored. Anyways - got through the first and second episode - by which I mean the "summer vacation" and then Melancholy Part 2 episodes. Summer Vacation: It was strangely endearing. You were just waiting for something to happen - and it didn't. I liked the suspenceful moments that weren't. Every time Yuki Nagato gives that blank stare of hers in any situation, I get the feeling she is analyzing something important which we can't recognize... I was somewhat surprised that Haruhi persists in being the best at doing everything. It must be horribly depressing sometimes to be around someone who brags AND also accomplishes pretty much everything they set out to do. Homework? Done. Cicada hunting? She catches the most. Baseball? WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Speaking of baseball - This series is really making me appreciate that game more and more. It is such a lethargic, long-lasting and melancholic game now that I think about it... Anyways... The next episode was a tad crazy - or at least very much of a contrast - almost like a real continuation... However - it does make me wonder: Is it any wonder that the time traveling and other fantastical events happen when they go back to school, while during summer all they do is have fun? Could it be that the freedom of summer means you don't need to liven things up with aliens, espers, dark-space and the like - but once you get back to "real life" (school,work etc) - then these things start to be necessary as escapes from the grind of the day-to-day? Looking forward to Rhapsody tonight. Pete

I agree with Kieth. She looks way too anorexic - although I guess she looks just right with the face. But the thing is, Yoko is a bit puggy. I mean - there's a reason why Kamina keeps complaining about her "big fat butt" Not to say that Yoko is "fat" - she's not. But certainly her femininity is proportionally more pronounced than more slender/skinny women. And the face is just not Yoko... I still have my eyes on the 1/5 statue - it's the best IMO. Pete

Gee whiz. I just happen to have an MISB MP Grimlock just for you... PMing. Pete