Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Ryu_Niiyama Until you start buying Pokemon cardboard for $60,000 you're still ok.

@HobbitGamer Oh absolutely, the history told on the US Civil War is disastrously incomplete to the point of being almost entirely fiction as a result. I've heard tell that the history taught in Germany about WWII is even worse than how they teach it here. It seems like whenever history is taught in the country where something happened , the first priority is making sure to save face for the winning side, and villainizing the losing side at the cost of reality and truth. Understanding the events is readily sacrificed to be sure everyone has the "right opinion", and no sympathy for the "wrong side."

Maybe instead of "sound byte storytelling" a better label is just "storytelling" - that's what it amounts to. It's interesting stories with heroes and villains, tightly packed with the most exciting and dramatic events, with an introduction, climax, and resolution. All the boring real life details and inner workings are stripped out since they're not the exciting parts, and the characters and events are all larger than life, such that the events that happened then were so much bigger than anything that could happen today, and thus it all stays safely in the past.

The Civil War is such a complexity going all the way back to the signing of the Constitution itself. You can't get to C without starting at A. All the threads started being woven there with the rejection of the Articles of Confederation, escalating until Fort Sumter. And worse is that most Americans believe the Civil War was about preserving/ending slavery, when it was never actually about that at all, it was about much more overreaching political/economic/fundamental conflict, of which the continuation or discontinuation of slavery was a critical component for each sides economic design, and political leverage.

If the basis of any discussion isn't even based on the actual causes, catalysts, and objectives of events in history, the conversation is doomed from the start.

(I thought I posted this like 3 hours ago...oh well!)

@NEStalgia wait what? 60K cardboard?

@Ralizah It's about the last place on Earth I'd imagine that sort of thing happening. I realize it was an isolated incident, no doubt by a single disturbed individual, and probably not related to any ideological message or anything, but the scale of it for a fairly "random act of violence" is unexpected. You expect that to be possible on something corporate/political/olympic/something with complications and implications...but a film studio?

I'd say it seems arbitrary but considering Pokemon fans....maybe fandom is becoming actually dangerous when it comes to art & entertainment?

@NEStalgia The problem is that, when something like this enters the public consciousness, it makes copycat attacks more likely to happen. It's why the media circuses surrounding mass shootings and whatnot are ultimately so irresponsible. Although I'm uncertain how the national media in Japanese covers events like this.

Hopefully it also pushes Japanese politicians to mandate new fire safety precautions for office buildings. It shouldn't have been so difficult for these people to escape. Although I'm guessing the huge amount of paper everywhere and the use of petrol probably didn't help in terms of giving people there time to make it to safety.

Considering the arsonist was reportedly screaming "Die!" as he set the fire, I'm guessing he was probably a few cards short of a full deck. He hadn't worked there, and he doesn't seem to be some irate super-fan.

Off-topic, but have you ever seen the film Perfect Blue? Its chilling dissection of obsessed fandom, the interplay between privacy and technology, and the exploitation of women in the idol industry was hugely ahead of its time when it released in the 90's. I was even more impressed when I read the original novel and found out that the source material was complete schlock. Satoshi Kon somehow took this baudy Silence of the Lambs knock-off and turned into one of the most intelligent thrillers I've ever seen.

@Knuckles-Fajita hello
I don't know if I asked you before .If I did sorry to ask again. But do you know an online company in Britain (I'm in ireland) that sells brand new Sinclair zx spectrum 48K games or can I get +2 games .when I say +2 games I mean actual +2 games you know probaly better graphics than a 48 k game or was there ever +2 games

@Ninfan Oldest I've seen is Master System/NES. Nothing in terms of traditional British gaming systems.

I just saw this. Wow. How can someone do this and live with themselves? People can't even let others just go to work and live their lives in this world. So glad tomorrow is payday, I'll be donating as soon as my check deposits. Thank you for the notice.

@gcunit

@gcunit sorry to bother you could you tell me anything about what I wrote to knuckles-fajita

@ThanosReXXX Ah, it's true, you did tone down your comment, and I should give you credit for it! Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I agree that tone and interpretation are an issue in online forums, and something I've fallen victim too (especially in my younger days). It's easy to fall into "argument mode" and lose sight of the other person's feelings (not that I'm saying you're doing that, just that it's easy). I'm into non-violent communication these days, and I try to be more mindful of how my posts might come across.

Perhaps I was being reductive about a complex issue. I would group a lot of the problems you mentioned under the broad umbrella of resource allocation (on a global scale), but I understand why some might disagree.

Just for context, I was almost a lawyer in one life, and I've grown weary of endlessly litigating things that people have written, lol. I was also almost a professional chess instructor, and in that sense I like exchanges that must necessarily reach a conclusion. And now, I'm a sort of a historian by trade, which informs my viewpoint that all of history is murky and all the evidence we have is unreliable.

@HobbitGamer, you said it, haha

@BougieBeetle - I like lore. What lore do you like? What histories do you keep with you? I’d say I’m generally interested in all strange and unverifiable human stories, but my specialties are probably pre WWI American primitive music, depression era hobos, mid century carnie culture, and pro wrestling.

@Ryu_Niiyama https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/ultra_rare_pokemon_...

@NEStalgia You know...I have no desire to be a kept woman. But sometimes I understand why some women make that a life goal. Although honestly I'd be afraid if I married some geeky rich woman. No checks and balances...it isn't like I'D be the responsible one. And if we shared the same hobbies/fandoms...That is the only time I can justify a house bigger than 4 bedrooms (I detest kids so to me anything large is excess)...gotta have the hobby rooms!

@Ralizah he must have had SOME connection to the place.... Or someone that worked there to have targeted an entertainment studio... It does sound targeted. If not a fan or employee, maybe a competitor, contractor, mailman, crazy ex of the receptionist.... Something connecting him. Still, that's not normally the Japanese psyche. Sounds like Western snapping.

Agreed on the copy cats. Not sure about office fire codes. If it's an old building I'm not sure it's right to force people to spend money to retrofit something that's been fine. Usually (here) that only applies to new construction and modifications.

As you said though. Art studio. Paper, acetone, oil, etc, by the gallon and drum. Ever see a tattoo or nail salon go up? Nasty.

No I've never seen that film. Sound fascinating but also probably not my idea of a good time

@bimmy-lee Lore is great! Right now I'm actually really into Nintendo lore (both the history of the company and the lore of the Mario franchise). I host a podcast (link in my sig, shameless self-promotion baby, lol) where we go through the history of SMB stage by stage and just go super in depth on the history and lore of the game. I've been reading David Sheff's book Game Over and Steven L. Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games, as well as various Nintendo comics, shows, films, etc.

IRL, I work at a history museum in the midwestern US, so we get into all kinds of lore about Lewis and Clark, American Indians, 19th century diseases, disasters, frontier life, the American Civil War, all that stuff. Also more contemporary stuff like the civil rights era.

But in general I love history, including the topics you mentioned! The stuff about hobos and pro wrestling sounds especially cool to me. What kind of stuff have you been grooving on lately?

As others have pointed out, I woke up to the news that the death toll from the Kyoto attack has tripled since I saw the breaking news yesterday. Hatred. That's what I feel toward the attacker. Actual hatred. I want him to suffer before they execute him. And I didn't even know any of the victims. I can't imagine what the survivor's and the family of the dead feel right now. The news said it was one of the worst acts of mass murder in Japan since WW2. They had to go all the way back to WW2 because this kind of violence is not normal here.

Damn the attacker. And I don't mean that as the swear word, I mean it in the literal sense. I hope he is damned straight to hell.

No excuses, no "mental illness get out of real punishment free card". Nothing short of God himself could forgive this. And I hope he doesn't.

@NEStalgia Trust me, as someone born in Virginia and then living in South Carolina and Georgia the majority of my life, that particular history is always told by the ‘winners’ 😂

@Heavyarms55 IIRC In Japanese law, accusation is effectively guilt, and there are no plea bargains and remittances. The accusation = guilt thing is actually one thing i do dislike about Japanese society... Trials are effectively theater..... However if it were any other society it would be a horror show, but in Japan it's generally on the level, and part of the reason is they spend far less on the legal system than we do, and prosecutors are underfunded, so they effectively don't actually try cases they aren't already certain they'll win, because they don't have the resources to spend on dead end results. This one seems pretty slam dunk. And there aren't any Johnny Cochran's there (unless Phoenix Wright is based on a true story...). I wouldn't worry about that... You're not in Kansas anymore..

I'm more curious about connection and motive and why that would suddenly happen in a place where that sort of thing doesn't really happen. Here if a few dozen people are killed you just shrug and carry on, it's normal. Bodies in the park is a daily thing. But that's result of our immensely conflicted and twelve way divided society. Not there.

Oh my nonspecific deity, I bought a notebook on amazon, and right after they charged and sent it, the price went down like 20%. Ugh.

Ugh I say.

@Ryu_Niiyama oh snap, she wants the 60k cardboard now. What have i done..........

@HobbitGamer of all the history teaching crimes, the us civil way is far and away the most egregious attempt at soviet style revisionism.... They've almost entirely rewritten history to tell a story that suits modern political agendas. Most people don't even know any part of the real history. Most don't understand the effect of the start of us involvement in wwI on the reconstruction in the South and it's event right through today, and on what was at the time the newly freed slaves and it's event right through current society and conditions. Nobody today would link segregation and Wilhelm II...... But they're intrinsically related. And above all everyone is taught to revere Lincoln.... The only man to declare Total War on his own country this side of Josef Stalin.

(Event = effect.... Darn phones..)