Battra92

It depends. If you mean in terms of comedy, it varies. Most American comedies are "laugh" a minute sitcoms where everyone insults everyone else in-between making jokes about sex. Seriously, see Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory for examples (though I'm convinced Jim Parsons if he gained some acrobatic skills could be the next Keaton.) Instead many Americans tend to like insult or gross out humor. For many, there has to be witty banter or they don't laugh. I'm ashamed to come from a culture where Adam Sandler and Jim Carey are considered funny. Outside of comedy, pantomime is practically dead as an artform (though The Artist, a French film, showed there is merit to the art form even today.) There are a few people who enjoy things like silent films, M. Hulot and his British doppleganger Mister Bean so the art isn't totally dead here but it's hardly a popular form of expression.

Obama claimed his parents met for the first time at the march on Selma (when young Barry was already 4 years old) and Hillary Clinton claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary. Politicians lie. I'm not sticking up for Romney here but pointing out that there are others just as guilty.

I was wearing a suit that they later told me that they commented on my suitcoat being too large for me. I had recently lost 25 lbs and didn't have the money to buy a new suitcoat. Maybe they thought I'd work cheap?

I don't have the option because I make more money than my wife. I suppose the option IS there it's just not viable at all. It's interesting how public opinion on the SAHM has changed so drastically. At one point it was more or less expected that women stay home unless they were quite poor or single. My grandmother (who would be 101 if she were still alive) used to complain about how women were "taking the jobs of the men and that many men wouldn't be poor if they stopped hiring women for men's jobs!" When my mom was a SAHM she said she received lots of criticism on the matter. Now many children who were raised by the daycare system are deciding to try being the homemaker. So it's interesting how times do change on that. I'd say now is really the first time there has been an actual choice. The pendulum is finally in the middle. I'm not sure if it's economy (day care is pretty expensive) or if society has finally found a balance. If it makes you feel any better my parents could never afford to take us to Disneyworld. We never went on any huge vacations. Our idea of a "fancy dinner out" was Friendly's. I never had a video game console until high school and that was an NES I got at a garage sale for $5! On the other hand, we hardly ever had store bought cookies (my mother probably would've been a pastry chef had she not had kids) and I have a lot of memories of good times with my family whether it be my dad and I playing pinball together at the local arcade or going garage sale hunting on Saturdays and getting all sorts of fun (but cheap) toys. I'm sure your kids will have just as much fun being kids despite not living in a McMansion with all the newest toys around them.

My wife has a job/career but has stated when we have kids she wants to be a home maker and a stay at home mom. What's sad is that she is making a choice (a choice I do not have the option of, by the way) and there are women out there who will look down on her as being backwards or whatever. An acquaintance of ours spends almost as much on monthly day care as his wife earns in her day job as a teacher. When I asked why she just doesn't stay at home with the kid her husband remarked "What? And waste her degree?" Okay, if you want someone else to raise your kid ... :-/

The biggest issue with many college classes is that you're simply supposed to regurgitate what the professor says. I had one professor (and this was for an English class) who would spend the entire class talking about Bush and why he hated him. I sent in a formal complaint to the College Prof and the response was to drop the class (which I did.) FWIW, the prof was an adjunct and wasn't hired back the next semester. Still, there was a lot of politics thrown into classes where it had no business. My Economics classes were mostly free of politics from the professor side but many of the students would try to inject whatever the Democrat talking point around campus was at the time (usually something against Jane Swift or Romney.) For someone not on the Left, this creates a hostile environment and many feel bullied by their professors to become Liberals. Add in the positions of authority (they're the professor so they must know what they're talking about) and you see where it's going. I wouldn't call them drones. I think we all have a place in society and whether someone's place is a butcher or chemical scientist or house painter or engineer, we're all important. I think you and I discussed this in chat before but the biggest way I would change the American education system is to drastically change the high schools into vocational training where people can learn some form of Industrial arts, whether it be carpentry, electrical work, machining, economics, applied science etc.

But hey, their women have giant breasts so they have that.

Not everyone should go to college. More people going to college effectively cheapens the degree. A BA degree from many state schools is akin to a high school diploma in the real world (unless you study something worthwhile like Business, Engineering or Science.) We put way too much emphasis on college and quite frankly I know people who would've been better off not going to college and instead going to a vocational school or taking an apprenticeship. Instead they are 40K in debt with a worthless degree that sounds nice when they're on break working at the supermarket.

Not quite an invasion. The other 12 States threatened to tax its exports as a foreign nation which would have bankrupted RI. In return for ratification they also promised a Bill of Rights (which was a popular idea in all 13 states at that time.) On a side note, Vermont originally wanted to join the Union but New York kept claiming they were part of NY and would block their entry. Vermont was acting as their own sovereign nation at that point with its own Constitution (the first to ban slavery and guarantee freedom of Religion) and it wasn't until slave holding Kentucky was poised to join the Union that NY dropped their resistance and allowed Free Vermont into the Union.

Yes, me too. $T are at a premium for me these days. Which is why I'm in no hurry to have kids. My wife is getting the itch though ...

Only 30% are sexually active at 19? I wish I could go back and tell my 19 year old self that. Still, very good news to hear.

Wouldn't it be great if we could discuss these things without personal attacks? I'm not attacking anyone here. I just don't have a high opinion of the anti-nuclear protesters. Believe me, if you lived near Yankee Atomic you'd see these morons out in droves. I have a hard time taking someone seriously when they protest an atomic power plant about a hundred miles or so away from it and they look like they haven't washed their hair in months.

This is my favorite Studio Ghibli movie and after seeing Arrietty I knew I had to own a copy of it. Since it's not on BLU in the States yet and I only have the HK DVD of it, I opted for the UK Blu.

Nope, you might be thinking of Deathsmiles 2. Either way, I don't buy digital versions when I can buy a disc.

The Marcellus Shale deposits in NY and PA alone could fuel the entire country for decades. Of course there are also deposits around the country and could last us for another hundred years. Energy companies, for the most part, prefer the "All of the Above" model. Solar panels and Windmills alone aren't going to power America or the civilized world and despite what the dirty hippie who should be occupying a shower, nuclear must be part of the solution. Hydroelectric power is great (see Niagara Falls and the Hoover Dam for some success stories) but there really aren't any spots left in the United States to generate any significant power. Plus there's the side effect that the dams have on the various streams and rivers. Unfortunately for the US, much of the massive amounts of power generated at these dams is lost along the power transmission lines. In short, supply isn't the biggest issue we're having it's the location of supply. Unfortunately there really isn't a better solution outside of gasoline to fuel cars (well, Diesel is nice but talk to California Emissions laws as to why we can't have the slick UK 70mpg Fords here in the States.) Electric cars are a joke unless you live in So Cal or drive about five miles a day - in which case you could get a bike for a lot cheaper. So until someone invents a car that gets 80mpg or something, we're kind of stuck with gas.

10GBP at Zavvi.com including the shipping (I had a 10% off code) Good thing it will play on US 360s.

And no one can say you didn't do your part.

What's sad is that all of Michael Bay's Robot Testicle movies still survive and will be seen for decades to come and 90% of all silent films and 50% of all taking films made before 1950 are lost forever. It's not just ancient history we lose but more but recent stuff is lost forever.

That was me in high school and college. Anyone want to buy 10 NES decks?

What's sad is the only way to play some games these days is to hunt down the cartridge or CD or pirate it. I'd much prefer to do the former but without the latter, some games will simply fade from memory.

$20 at Newegg and sold out PDQ! I'm not sure if this is out of print or what but a lot of places (including Amazon) are no longer stocking it and it sells most places for $40 still. The PC version ran like crap on my current PC so I opted for the PS3 version instead.

The way it seems to be reported is that Germany is going around cleaning up everyone else's messes. I guess I don't understand the need or purpose of the EU. I understand treaties and stuff but I wouldn't want any international laws to be higher than that of the laws of my own country. Heck, I prefer the laws we must have be based on my own state, county or town rather than our Federal government.

Believe it or not, I lost 75 lbs and the only exercise (outside of walking) was Wii Sports boxing and Wii Fit. It worked for me. I think a lot of it is just finding what you enjoy doing.

My wife went to an interview for a promotion (well to move up in another department where she works) and she asked me about her choice of attire. I mentioned this at work today to point out how I know absolutely zero about fashion and one of my female coworkers said (direct quote) "Have her wear the one that makes her tits look biggest" Oh and obligatory: True story: on the day of the interview my only dress shoes ripped. I fixed them with black duct tape and went on my way. No one noticed or they thought I was really hard up and needed the job. Either way, I've been there for five years now.