elfpirate

[b]Well, I wore what I had been wearing for days on end, but since most of my clothes are olive green, black, and grey, I did just happen to be wearing green... just not on purpose.[/b] [b]I went out for St. Pat's not just because I'm Irish ([u]McClary[/u] is actually Scotch-Irish) but to watch the bagpiper's and drummers, to dance a sprig with me brother, and to down a couple o' cheap pints o' Guinness.:beer: Oi, Oi ![/b] [b] My family was part o' the "snakes" that St. Patrick drove out o' Ireland... and more accurately, he made it impossible for my family to hold on to their traditional religious beliefs and more or less forcefully converted them into the Irish Christians o' the time.[/b] [b]Because o' this, a lot o' my Druidic history and many o' the Druidic traditions were lost.:( [/b] [b]So, I don't celebrate St. Patrick himself or his holiday, particulary- [/b] [b]I celebrate my ancestry, which is something I do every day o' the year. My bro an' I have been known to burst out in song and to spontaneously dance an Irish jig in the middle of any week of any month of the year.[/b] [QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=green] This goes way back to the time when the British were persecuting the Irish (thus some of the hostilities today, along with OTHER reasons). The English wouldn't let the Irish do anything - even dancing was forbidden. That's a dumb thing to tell the Irish. So instead, they would tap their beat to the rhythm of the music - technically not dancing. Gradually, it evolved into the step dance with those crazy feet movements. At least, I think that's the story (my mom may be lying to me - she does that ALL the time. V_V)[/color][/QUOTE] [b]She's not lying, but one of you has it a little bit mixed up. [/b] [b]The Irish had [i]all[/i] their instruments taken away and music itself was forbidden, as well as dancing...basically, everything Celtic, Druidic, and inherently "Irish" was forbidden.[/b] [b]With no instruments to be had, the Irish (the wonderfully stubborn ***** that we are) decided that they were going to make music anyway, creating the beat with their stomping and tapping-- and the melody with their voices... [/b] [b]I believe (though I'm not[i] entirely[/i] sure about this) that the stiff-back, arms- rigid way of performing the dance was to avoid the attention of the Brits... after all, from a distance, they appeared to barely move...so it wasn't likely for them to be accused o' dancing. :animesmil Yay, sneaky, stubborn, Irish folks![/b] On a side note, Irish dancing was the inspiration for the birth of tap-dancing. An African American man (sorry, but I've forgotten his name for the moment) watched the Irish immigrants in America celebrating and dancing. He thought it was really cool that such wonderful rhythms could be created with just the feet, but he thought it looked retarded to not move the upper body and arms-- thus, he came up with what is now tap-dancing.

[b]Okay, I'm seeing now that the way I began this thread was not very well thought out, and I apologize for sounding a bit like a televangelist... that was completely unintentional.[/b] [b]Of course I didn't mean that the old ways were better, with women and minorities of any kind being treated unfairly and suffering abuse (which they [i]still do[/i] to only a [i]slightly[/i] lesser degree-- it's not more open now, by the way, it's more hidden... and there's real danger in portraying it as something of the past, or even as something that is dwindling into non-existence, as it then becomes harder for people to believe that "it's still going on"... and people will stop taking action).[/b] [b]What I had in mind when I said "moral decay" was the shift in attitudes toward life and other people... the utter apathy that I see all around me everyday.[/b] [b]For example, it used to be that people were shocked and outraged by the violence in their communities-- now, they seem to just shrug and say "That's just the way it is...".[/b] [b]It used to be that our prisons were full of men and women-- now they are filled with young boys and girls, as well.[/b] [b]It seems that people are growing more and more isolated from one another and the bonds of humanity are breaking-- empathy has become a weakness and selfishness and materialism an ideal. Hard work is no longer embraced... and the quick-fix and convenient have become the standard.[/b] [b]I see this apathy in myself a lot of the time-- when I'm walking down the street and I'm passing the crack dealers and the hookers, their presence doesn't seem to affect me any more than does some person with a business suit and a briefcase walking into a bank. [/b] [b]It used to be that it was shocking and repellant to be exposed to that type of behavior, but now t[/b][b]hese things that should be socially unacceptable have become commonplace to the point of mass apathy.[/b] [b]The general reaction is a shrug and "This doesn't involve me...so why should I care?"[/b] [b]I believe that today, many more people than ever before have become egocentric, materialistic, and lacking in the desire for understanding. They are quicker to turn their backs on their neighbors in need, and would sooner buy a brand new SUV or a Rolex watch than to feed a hungry child.[/b] [b]Crack whores, "deadbeat dads", 12 and 13 year old gangsta thugs packing tech 9's, half-naked little girls emmulating Brittany Spears-- these are the things that I'm referring to when I say moral decay. All of these things have become so commonplace that we barely even blink at them anymore. [/b] [b]Progress has been made, I agree-- and "minorities" are a[i] bit[/i] more accepted and, along with women, have more opportunities these days than ever before. [/b] [b]But those freedoms were [i]fought[/i] for-- by the people. Now that we [i]have[/i] the freedom to be heard, we seem to be too self-involved to raise our voices... and we accept these things that should not be, even if they go against everything that we believe is right.[/b]

[quote name='_Hikaru_][b]Do you belive in ghosts, dragons, gnomes,faeries ect.?[/b'] [/quote] [b]I not only believe in ghosts, but know that they exist for sure, because [/b] [b]I've had many multiple-witness encounters (spontaneous encounters, not sought-after ones, mind you) with ghosts and other spirits.[/b] [b] I suspect that dragons [i]did[/i] exist at some point, but perhaps not like the ones in the fairy tails. It is far more likely that they were a type of dinosaur.[/b] [b]As far as faeries, leprechauns and gnomes, etc... I don't think they ever were anything more than hallucinations or at best, some form of spirit manifesting itself in a tangible state just to **** with people.[/b]

[b]Our morals seem to slip further into decay as time goes by, and it seems harder and harder to find people with a good sense of moral decency.[/b] [b]This has been blamed on so many different things, from media to the entropy of the nuclear family, but is there really just one cause for this? I really doubt it.[/b] [b]Why do [i]you[/i] think people have begun to accept the decay of moral standards, and is this a problem or does it serve to make things easier for peoples who weren't accepted before? [/b] [b][b](ie: the loosening of sexual moral standards, although responsible for the continuation of high teen pregnancy rates and the transfer of STD's, [i]also[/i] helps homosexuals to be able to be who they are with less fear of discrimination)[/b][/b] [b]Lastly, in your opinion, what do you believe the true cause/s of this moral decay really is/are?[/b]

[b]Ok, semantics aside, the atheist exists [i]in contradiction[/i] to the religious... it's the same thing as shadow and light-- as a shadow cannot exist without light, an atheist could not be atheist without religion.[/b] [b]To claim that atheism is a religion in and of itself is the same thing as saying you can cast a shadow in pure darkness.[/b] [b]That's my two cents.[/b]

[quote name='Morpheus']Theism means "belief in god", as in Monotheism(belif in ONE god) or Polytheism(belief in MANY gods).[/quote] [b]Meaning... religion.[/b]

[b]My first love was an Irish squatter... he was perfect... but I lost him after I hopped a train and was away for awhile... [/b] [b]It's not easy to track down a squatter...[/b]

[b]Um... if the prefix "a" , meaning non, anti, ect... is used in conjunction with "theism" which is derived from the root "theo" (or thea), meaning: "religion", then I suppose it would be an utter impossibility for atheism to be a religion, right? :animesigh [/b] [b]It is the [i]absence of religion[/i]... not a [i]belief [/i] in the absence of religion.[/b]

[b]I used to go to the arcades with my brothers and father when I was a wee lass, and that's where it began, but the first game that I really fell in love with and became addicted to was Ninja Gaiden on the NES... though I could only play it @ my friend's house. I was so obsessed that I named my new dog @ the time "Ryu".:animeshy: [/b] [b]After that, I was really hooked, but poor as hell, so I didn't actually get a system until a few years ago, and the first game I lost myself within was Zelda: Ocarina of Time[/b] [b]Since then, I've pretty much been an obsessive gamer... endlessly annoying people with my yelling at the screen and freaking out when someone plays one of my games and leaves it out (or puts it in the wrong case). Yeah-- obsessive-- thanks a lot, Ryu![/b]

[b]Hmmm... well, if I buy a game and play it for a while, and can't force myself to ignore its horrible gameplay enough to get into the storyline and enjoy the damned thing, then I'll trade it in for sure. [b]Why would I keep a game that I really couldn't appreciate? [/b]Some other gamer might find it interesting enough to play and end up enjoying it more than I could......[/b] [b]The way I see it is, the more games that are traded in (by those people who play for the sake of getting through the levels and nothing else), the more (cheaper) games I have to choose from in the "used" section.[/b] [b]There are games that I play over and over again and probably always will, and those you'll have to pry from the hands of my corpse, but I don't have a problem with the people that don't do that. I mean, to each his own-- some people never re-read books or rewatch brilliant films... it's their loss, not ours.[/b]

[quote name='boxybrown305][color=darkred']Band of Brothers is great! Very reallistic, i get quite drawn into it. Of course i couldn't actually say how realistic it is, seeing as durring WWII i wouldn't be born for over another forty years yet, but a really great series![/color][/quote] [b]Well, as far as the realism of BOB-- the men that were there (101st) all say it is so incredibly close to the reality of war and that even the characters were right on the money. After all, they were consulted on almost every detail during the film's creation. [/b] [b]They claim that nearly everything that happens in BOB is exactly the way that it truly happened...[/b]

[quote name='Sea Of Chaos666']I was talking to some of my friends the other day and we met a guy who said he was a goth. Later that night I was thinking "He dosen't act goth.." [/quote] [b]I just don't really get it... if you met him that day, I would think you would be trying to determine if he were a good person or whether he was intelligent-- you know-- something with a little more [i]substance[/i] to it rather than "Does he really fit my stereotype?"... it seems -um-shallow...[/b] [b]*shrug*-- that's just my opinion, though..[/b]

[b]Okay, I admit, I didn't begin the thread with a specific scenario in mind, but how [i]could[/i] I do so when there are such a variety of people on the boards? [/b] [b]I wanted to ask about going against your own personal code of ethics, and since everyone's varies, I couldn't think of an apply-to-all type o' scenario.[/b] [b]I also haven't answered the question myself, yet, either.[/b] [b]I do adhere to my own code of ethics pretty tightly [i]most[/i] of the time, but then, out of the blue, a situation will present itself where I feel that doing the "wrong" thing would be best for most (if not all) of the people involved. [/b] [b]In these cases, I am more flexible with my own morals (what doesn't bend breaks, neh?) and so I believe that I could be fairly easily bought.[/b] [b]Unfortunately, I can't weigh it out like a lot of you can... the whole "I'll go to hell if I break with moral tradition" thing just doesn't (and can't) apply to me... because I'm already going to hell, if it exists.[/b] [b]There's no misdemeanor hell, felony hell, etc... you're going to hell regardless of the intensity of your crime against God, or whomever you answer to, if that's really what's in store for us when we cease to exist on this plane.[/b] [b]That doesn't mean that there isn't anything I wouldn't do for money-- not at all... in fact, I do think that $$ is at the root of all evil.[/b] [b]If it were something that wouldn't make me live the the rest of my life full of regret, I'd probably say "screw the cognitive dissonance and bring it on!"[/b] [b]But if it were something like killing an undeserving person or truly hurting an innocent, I don't think my conscious would allow it unless the benefits greatly outweighed the guilt complex (as was mentioned earlier in the thread-- what with the charities and all).[/b] [b]My conscious is never going to be clear, so I think I can handle tagging on a few more crimes without hating myself for doing so...[/b]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']By "male resources" I meant food from hunting (when talking about prehistoric times). It probably meant double the protection too. And if staying alive to procreate was at the top of the list back then, it would be a pretty good deal.[/size][/quote] [b]Don't worry... you made your point quite clearly, I was just twisting your words for my own satisfaction... no harm intended, Retribution...[/b]

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1] I should read:[b]Warning!:[/b] [b]Contents under pressure! Handle with caution.[/b] Heh.[/size][/QUOTE] [b]*heh*- that's funny- my warning label reads: [/b] [b]Caution:[/b] [b]Do not play in, on, or around or occupy this container for any purpose.[/b]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1][size=2]Cheating on someone is a natural thing. Back in prehistoric times, it meant that for a woman, you got resources from [b]two[/b] males, not just one.[/size'] [/size][/quote] [i][b][size=2]Oh, goodie... just what I always wanted... twice the "male resources" to deal with... :animesigh[/size][/b][/i] [i][b][size=2] [/size][/b][/i] [b][size=2][i]*reaches for the extra Kleenex box*[/i] [/size][/b]

[b]I had this strange vision years ago that began with a thundering, cracking sound and became a vivid image of a thick sheet of ice breaking.[/b] [b]About an hour later, my brother came home and was freezing cold and obviously freaked out. [/b] [b]The car he had been in had cracked the ice on the lake and had begun to sink. [/b] [b]When he opened the door to get out, the ice that he stepped on sunk under his foot and soaked his leg up to the thigh, so he scrambled out the other side of the car and ran home.[/b] [b]I've had other visions that I'd rather not mention, but this one stands out, because it deals with one of my strongest phobias.[/b]

[b]I think, by far, the performance that most surprised me was that of Mark Wahlburg's in the Band of Brothers series.[/b] [b]I have to admit, I entirely cringed during the opening credits when his name came up on screen, but after watching a few episodes, I had to applaud his performance wholeheartedly, and by the end of the series, he was a whole new person in my eyes.[/b] [b]I mean, who would have thought that "Markie Mark" could so wonderfully portray a soldier in the middle of the biggest military invasion of the 20th century?[/b] [b]Surprised... yes... to the point of an absolute attitude adjustment toward the guy...[/b]

[b]I have no idea if there had been a thread on this subject before, but if there was, I never saw it, so ...meh.[/b] [b]In my opinion, the Band of Brothers series is by far the best depiction of the realities of WW2.[/b] [b]It follows the 101st Airborn division from boot camp to the end of the European campaign, and is based on the actual stories of the men of the 101st.[/b] [b]I watch this series obsessively (yeah, it's definitely worth the $90 or so) and never get sick of it.[/b] [b]Even Mark Walburg is cool as hell in this series...[/b] [b]So-- any of you as into this as I am? What are your favorite things about it and why?[/b]

[img]http://www.michigan.gov/images/m2_bradley_7100_7.jpg[/img] [b]"As soon as I'm done, I'm going to shoot whoever it was that put the laxative in my canteen!"[/b]

[b]For some reason, my neurons aren't firing the way that they should be, so I'm not sure if I'll word this properly, but here goes[/b] [b]If promised a large sum of money, say-- in the millions-- would you do something that you normally would be very opposed to (ie: something that goes against your personal moral code)?[/b] [b]If yes, how would you justify going against your own morals for the sake of cash-- even lots and lots of it?[/b] [b]And if not, why not?[/b]

[QUOTE=Nate]For the fakie flips part, I dont' think it would be a fakie flip if your standing still, the esance on a fakie/nollie flip is the moving backwards, or it's just a normal/switch ollie. My 2 cents... _-Nate-_[/QUOTE] [b]Does about a foot or two o' rolling even qualify as movement? Cuz I'd rather say that it's standing still...[/b]

[b]Though I'm usually more into film than television, I do own a couple boxed sets of good old fashioned TV programs.[/b] [b]1)[u] The A-team [/u](1st season)-- because I was feelin' the jazz, sucka...[/b] [b]2) [u]Dragonball[/u]-- because it's a classic, enjoyable anime...[/b] [b]3) [u]Ren and Stimpy[/u]-- because you gotta love the twisted, stupid humor o' that cat an' dog duo...[/b] [b]4) [u]Ghost In The Shell[/u] (SAC)-- because... i like it...and that chic is so...*purr*:tasty: [/b] [b]5)[u] Band of Brothers[/u]-- because it is quite simply one of the best series to ever be made, and because it [i]IS[/i] the best war series ever created, and I'm a sucker for those...[/b] [b]I probably have more than that lying around somewhere... under all those films and video games...:animeshy: [/b]

[QUOTE=TheBlackSkater] hey man how'd ya learn to darkslide? i wanna learn. and how do ya het the hardflips? i cant get it evn thogh i can popshvit both ways.[/QUOTE][b]*tee hee*[/b] [b]1) I'm not a man (not sure if that was a figure o' speech or not, but thought I'd tell you anyhow...).[/b] [b]2) Lots of trial and error and really hurting myself...:animeswea [/b] [b]I basically watched video after video, and slowed down every darkslide I saw and then tried to imitate as best I could. Eventually, I landed it. I still have a hard time landing them, though, and will be workin' on 'em this summer.[/b] [b]3) When I can land the hardflips, I'll let you know...:animesigh [/b]

[b]Meh. [/b] [b]I always [i]thought[/i] my posts wreaked of ovaries... till someone recently asked me what gender I am... [/b] [b]I'm not sure why it mattered to HIM. *shrugs* [/b] [b]*heh heh*[/b] [b]I don't think that anyone could object to a gender-marking option... though I'm sure that plenty would, anyway...[/b]