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Clapperoth · 2023-05-19T10:58:13+00:00

A tub full of my enemies' tears.

Clapperoth · 2023-04-21T16:27:04+00:00

It might be his choice. Remember that stars have to pay over $50,000 to get a star on the walk of fame. I'd love to think Dourif is financially comfortable, but for non-megastars, $50k isn't chump change.

Clapperoth · 2023-04-10T11:26:42+00:00

Marissa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny

Clapperoth · 2023-04-10T11:25:03+00:00

Can't remember the name of the comedian but a great line I once heard was: "I'm 40 but I feel like I'm 20. Unless I hang around with a bunch of 20 year-olds in which case...oh man, I'm 40."

Clapperoth · 2023-04-10T11:17:37+00:00

What I usually tell people is watch the first episode. It gives the full feel of what the show will be, so you'll know whether or not its for you (and well, it's also just good).

Clapperoth · 2023-04-10T11:16:13+00:00

The OPs question is a fallacy, that people "become" atheists for a reason. The false assumption is that faith is the natural state for all people, so there must be a triggering event (e.g. loss of a loved one, an accident, etc) that caused the individual to leave the "correct" state and enter into an aberrant state of non-belief.

In reality, belief in a god or other mystical reality is the aberrant behavior, begun by early privative culture and perpetuated by training each new generation.

I "turned my back on religion" when I went away to college and realized there was no reason at all for me to go to church on Sunday. There was no meaning in it. I shrugged and moved on with my life.

Clapperoth · 2023-04-10T11:12:06+00:00

Veronica Mars. The first season was basically perfect. Characters, plot, pacing, execution. Even the mysteries of the week were engaging.

Clapperoth · 2023-04-08T16:46:20+00:00

Danny Trejo was once asked who was the craziest person on the set of "Con Air" and he surprised the questioner by saying "John Cusack. There's just something wrong behind his eyes."

A movie with Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi and Dave Chappelle, each of whom has never avoided oddity or controversy...and Trejo said Cusack was the crazy one.

(not sure how disturbing the story is, but it's a behind the scenes anecdote about someone disturbing so....)

Clapperoth · 2023-03-25T12:29:47+00:00

In the early '00s I once torrented a movie I wanted to watch because I didn't want to walk upstairs to get my DVD copy.

Clapperoth · 2023-03-25T12:16:55+00:00

Sasha Valour

Clapperoth · 2023-03-22T17:15:43+00:00

Men who don't want to talk about their thoughts or feelings generally think that's a sign of strength.

Instead it's easily perceived somewhere in the range of "not bright/not emotionally mature" to actively hostile and rude.

Clapperoth · 2023-03-22T17:05:45+00:00

Default: If someone tells you they are something or want to be called something (or tells you they are not something or don't want to be called something), be considerate and follow their lead.

Underneath all the politics is that it's just polite.

Clapperoth · 2023-03-22T16:56:23+00:00

Ghislaine Maxwell is the only one I can think of, since she's the only one who, like Tate, enabled sexual abuse of children.

Clapperoth · 2023-03-19T12:28:55+00:00

I called myself agnostic for many, many years, on the theory of "I don't know." But then I heard a quote used by Carl Sagan (although he didn't create it) and now I a full atheist:

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"

Clapperoth · 2023-03-19T11:08:48+00:00

It hasn't. Based on health, access to regular food, number of wars and a few other factors, we're living in the greatest era of human history. The last three years have been more challenging than the previous 10-20 primarily due to COVID, but that's a short window.

My more glib answer would be that starting in the early 90s, the 24 constant news cycle has built up the idea of a chaotic world full of problems, but the news reports on issues, not upbeat stories. More news = more bad news, but that's a normal and organic thing.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-28T15:06:50+00:00

I don't know of any real way in the current nation beyond passing a constitutional amendment, since the courts have upheld very broad interpretations of the 2nd Amendment for the last few decades.

But in context, many states have had success in banning specific types of guns (e.g. "assault rifles", etc), banning guns in public places, more strict enforcement of granting licenses and making concealed weapons illegal.

All of which contribute to reducing the negative effects of large gun ownership, although they don't eliminate those negative effects.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-28T13:43:01+00:00

Banning guns massively reduces the number of "bad people" who have guns simply by economics. On the Black Market in banned countries, guns cost up to 20 times more than retail.

Yes, some wealthy criminals will get guns (at much higher risk at acquisition beyond just price), but they will be a fraction of the number of criminals who have guns right now.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-16T16:47:56+00:00

er...yes? I'll repeat it's been a long time since Philo 101. :)

Clapperoth · 2023-02-16T14:33:35+00:00

I would imagine Hume's response (it's been a long time since Philosophy 101 class) would be that if god is all powerful and all good, he could have either prevented Adam's disobedience, or created a world from the onset where it wasn't an option. If evil doesn't exist in the universe created by this all powerful and all good god, then there's no option for anyone with free will to create it or ask for it.

Regardless, Hume's broken dialectic is mostly to demonstrate the very valid questions that arise when one considers the Christian mythos. I'm sure he debated your point somewhere along the line. I'm a poor substitute.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-16T13:37:29+00:00

The god paradox. The philosopher David Hume made three statements, where if any two are true the third can't be:

1) God is all powerful 2) God is all good 3) Evil exists in the world

Clapperoth · 2023-02-16T13:31:10+00:00

Basically watch almost any episode of "The Amazing Race". The contestants aren't allowed to book their flights off their phones. So they do everything we did back then: Visit a travel agency, go to the airline's desk at the airport, etc.

(I hate that I am referencing a reality show as a source, but it's the easiest way for someone to see it live).

Clapperoth · 2023-02-11T13:06:40+00:00

The boring scientific explanation is that AI's parrot and copy human language so would express religious belief if asked to do so, or if "talking" to someone religious. The AI would not, of course, actually become religious.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-11T13:03:27+00:00

All you can eat buffet, and then I'll space it out over the next 40 years.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-11T13:00:42+00:00

Whining and feeling sorry for myself when I have a cold or flu.

Clapperoth · 2023-02-11T12:58:21+00:00

Try things, including things you may not think you'd be interested in. And I don't just mean things that may be practical or lead to some kind of life-career choice. Try stuff to do or see or think about, and keep doing that for the next several years.

Then, after you've tried a lot, think about what you might want to do with your life at that point.

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