Random Thoughts

[EvilShoe]

Luxembourg as well, and if you want good frites, swing by Belgium for a few days.

I also recommend our beers and K_Fan statue.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I also recommend our beers and K_Fan statue.

I knew you'd build it if I stalked you long enough! What's it made from?

[Mara]

I knew you'd build it if I stalked you long enough! What's it made from?

Mud. They call you "The Hero of Canton."

[Kurosawa Fan]

Mud. They call you "The Hero of Canton."

I'm getting weepy.

[EvilShoe]

I knew you'd build it if I stalked you long enough! What's it made from?

The bones of your murdered Belgian relatives.

[EvilShoe]

And some mud, yes.

[Sven]

The MatchCut Law of Boredom:

My level of boredom/need to read posts on MatchCut is inversely proportional to the number of posts here at any given time.

This is very true. I think I'll rep you for it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The bones of your murdered Belgian relatives.

Well. Guess I can cancel my future trip to Belgium.

And some mud, yes.

Thanks for being decent.

[Spun Lepton]

Jeff Goldblum, on the Colbert Report, reporting on reports of his death = hilarious.

[BuffaloWilder]

I'm nonreligious, but I do find it interesting that every other sentient, social species that we've been able to observe - the whale, the elephant, the ape and so on - have been revealed to have a base societal structure that isn't at all dissimilar to our own, with a quarter (or fifty cents) given here or there. And, this is especially true with elephants and whales - that the former has a sort of formalized 'funeral' ritual that varies culturally from group to group, or that the latter is even now causing debate as to whether or not they have what constitutes a developed language, or vicey versy.

What's even more interesting is how we're also seeing those very base, ubiquitous morals pop up among them, as well. This is a really interesting time, in the field of ethology.

[lovejuice]

I'm nonreligious, but I do find it interesting that every other sentient, social species that we've been able to observe - the whale, the elephant, the ape and so on - have been revealed to have a base societal structure that isn't at all dissimilar to our own, with a quarter (or fifty cents) given here or there. And, this is especially true with elephants and whales - that the former has a sort of formalized 'funeral' ritual that varies culturally from group to group, or that the latter is even now causing debate as to whether or not they have what constitutes a developed language, or vicey versy.

this random thought has too much weigh on it. :P
so does this have something to do with your liking happy feet?

[Duncan]

Orcas have also been observed to mourn their dead.

Scientists are even postulating emotions (thoughts) as advanced as forgiveness in gray whales. There was a really interesting article on it in last week's NYTimes magazine.

[BuffaloWilder]

this random thought has too much weigh on it. :P
so does this have something to do with your liking happy feet?

Not as far as why I posted it, but it is pretty interesting, now that you mentioned it, how Miller fleshed out the penguin society, in the film. It's completely allegorical, don't get me wrong. But, it does so in a way that isn't too much of a stretch - it's very primitive, but also very mythological - just like what we saw of the rabbits' culture in Watership Down.

Speaking of penguins, they're actually kind of interesting, too. Adelie penguins and a few other sub species actually have a rudimentary system of currency, and - hand in hand with that - prostitution, as well. I don't know that too much has been done on any sort of societal structure or culture that might be found there, but it seems like something like currency - with rocks and pebbles - would be an offset of that.

[BuffaloWilder]

Orcas have also been observed to mourn their dead.

Scientists are even postulating emotions (thoughts) as advanced as forgiveness in gray whales. There was a really interesting article on it in last week's NYTimes magazine.

Well, emotions don't necessarily equal thoughts, but I think the finding of one in a species is probably going to lead to the other.

Or, Theory of Mind in blue-jays. Also interesting.

[Ezee E]

Huzzah! I'm now at 10 on ESPNs "Streak for the Cash." A new record.

Do I bet on tennis with two guys I've never heard of? Or a Swedish soccer game?

[Duncan]

Well, emotions don't necessarily equal thoughts, but I think the finding of one in a species is probably going to lead to the other.

Or, Theory of Mind in blue-jays. Also interesting.

True, but I think that's, like, a huge question. In the case of forgiveness, I honestly don't know how you would separate the two. It seems to me an undeniable combination of both thought and emotion.

[Duncan]

Huzzah! I'm now at 10 on ESPNs "Streak for the Cash." A new record.

Do I bet on tennis with two guys I've never heard of? Or a Swedish soccer game?

I'd go with the Swedes. I am generally impressed with the Swedes as a people.

[Ezee E]

I'd go with the Swedes. I am generally impressed with the Swedes as a people.

I picked the Uzbekistan (?) over the Romanian in tennis.

[BuffaloWilder]

True, but I think that's, like, a huge question. In the case of forgiveness, I honestly don't know how you would separate the two. It seems to me an undeniable combination of both thought and emotion.

True. I think something like forgiveness is the big indicator, where something like 'mourning' might not be.

For me, it's never really been a question of whether these particular animals possess emotion, or cognizance. What's interested me is their societal development - at first, because of the general interest of, 'we're watching another sapient species slowly come into it's own,' but then it became, 'wow, this is really getting quite - eerie.'

Also interesting - dogs are capable of abstract thought. You heard it here, first.

[BuffaloWilder]

Also, somewhat related -

QUIT ASKING ME TO TAKE YOU OUTSIDE, DOG. YOU JUST WENT OUT HALF AN HOUR AGO. GODDAMMIT LEAVE ME ALONE

[Ezee E]

Also, somewhat related -

QUIT ASKING ME TO TAKE YOU OUTSIDE, DOG. YOU JUST WENT OUT HALF AN HOUR AGO. GODDAMMIT LEAVE ME ALONE

That's mean.

[Dead & Messed Up]

My first horror crush of the decade hit when Scarjo tased her boyfriend in the testicles. Not cause I'm into that (I'm not, I swear), but because she looked so damned good while she did it.



Those big Deschanel-looking eyes rendered me helpless. I think there was a monster in this movie or something.



The first film looked like a cornball Blade ripoff, but I saw it anyway. The second film looked no better than the first, but I saw it anyway. That is because Kate Beckinsale is drop-dead gorgeous in that tight leather. Makes things all the more frustrating in the sequel when she gets nekkid, but we only get to see her side. Lame.



Looking like nothing so much as Tim Burton's ideal woman, Sarah Brightman handled my favorite song in Repo ("Chase the Morning") and looked foxy as hell in process. In a film full of repossessing organs, Brightman repossessed my heart.



As an actress, she's a remarkably adept comedienne, with her convincing Southern accent and remarkably upbeat attitude. But when she's rocking that Hitchcockian blonde hair and plunging pitchforks into slug-zombies, my mind just melts.

[Derek]

Am I wrong for finding that supremely annoying?

Not at all. That's disgusting.

[Mara]

Not at all. That's disgusting.

There's a Dilbert strip about how annoying/disgusting this is.

[Sycophant]

Lot of anger and hostility on Match Cut lately. Think we could all do with a little more