Gore Vidal!

[BLOWHARD]

The Blackman just posted in another thread that Gore Vidal died yesterday.
It's a sad day because he was the sharpest finest minds that I can think of.
I think he had the whole of world literature and history memorized and at his fingertips, and even more, he could make the most amazing and astute observations and conclusions about that knowledge.

For those of you who don't know him, and especially those of you who are writers, DIG IT!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph6P3jSvwro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zl-7Sp9jFc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore_Vidal
Unfortunately you can't really get the gist of Vidal unless you've read some of his books and especially his essays.
A GIANT of thought, not just a writer.

I'm sad just knowing he's not out there somewhere

[BLOWHARD]

No body hear has read any Gore Vidal? His historical novels about America ARE THE BEST of their kind...or at least as good as anyone elses.

[Paradoks]

I have never heard of him until now. But by looking at the information you linked I know that I will never read anything written by him.

[xzx]

If I didn't have a .001 synapse I'd just think he made shampoo.

[BLOWHARD]

by looking at the information you linked I know that I will never read anything written by him

Open mind?

If I didn't have a .001 synapse I'd just think he made shampoo.

Ali G made that joke already

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QPnQZ5YqzU

...you ain't just an historian and a writer and a speaker, you is also a world famous hair stylist

hehhehehe

[xzx]

Vidal Sassoon died awhile back too. Reminds me of this movie where this guy's been in prison for like 50 years. He gets out and he's always saying "Oh no, they''re dead?!" LoL! "Everybody I knew is dead!?"

[BLOWHARD]

Was Vidal Sassoon named after the Shampoo?

[Paradoks]

Originally Posted by BLOWHARD

Open mind?

I don't have an open mind for blasphemy.

[Corlagon]

Originally Posted by Paradoks

I don't have an open mind for blasphemy.

Not even in Legacy of Kain?

[xzx]

Originally Posted by BLOWHARD

Was Vidal Sassoon named after the Shampoo?

Yeah. He was 84 from British Columbia. Died May 9, 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidal_Sassoon

[BLOWHARD]

Yeah. He was 84 from British Columbia. Died May 9, 2012.

I was joking

I don't have an open mind for blasphemy

Not all of us are right wing religious people. Can you play video games and still be devout? I wouldn't think so. Or is it just that he was gay?
Most of his books are about history, even Newt Gingrich liked his books, especially Lincoln. Or does that mean Newt Gingrich is gay?

[Paradoks]

Originally Posted by Corlagon

Not even in Legacy of Kain?

I have yet to see a blasphemy in LoK.

Originally Posted by BLOWHARD

Not all of us are right wing religious people.

And not all of us are left wing non-religious people.

Can you play video games and still be devout? I wouldn't think so.

Give me one reason why not.

Or is it just that he was gay?

No, but the fact that he was promoting it is a factor. Yes, I'm one of those annoying conservative people .

Most of his books are about history, even Newt Gingrich liked his books, especially Lincoln. Or does that mean Newt Gingrich is gay?

I'm not telling anyone what they can or cannot like, nor am I judging anyone based on what literature they enjoy. I just stated that this is an author I'm not willing to read. When I want to read something ambitious - I'll read Chesterton.

[xzx]

Lol. My half uncle is a preacher. He's really religious and he's kinda out there. He'll get into a big argument over nothing just so he can block you out. Ha ha! To win with those people you just have to ignore them. Trying is useless too because they'll talk behind your back to build enemies against you.

So they'll make silly anti-you rules about stuff you like. So they can throw in the towel that you don't abide by their rules. Like they have this rule where you can't watch MTV. LOL! It's just like those senior villages that are against anybody over 50 to move in. He he!

[Corlagon]

Originally Posted by Paradoks

I have yet to see a blasphemy in LoK.

But the entire series revolves around two characters blaspheming against a thing that claims to be a god. I struggle to recall a point in those games where blasphemy isn't part of the underlying subject matter. You could make a compelling argument that every single character who shows faith in any kind of higher power is portrayed negatively.

[Paradoks]

Originally Posted by Corlagon

But the entire series revolves around two characters blaspheming against a thing that claims to be a god. I struggle to recall a point in those games where blasphemy isn't part of the underlying subject matter.

Perhaps I should say an actual blasphemy. I really don't have a problem with fictional characters conspiring against fictional supposed deities, unless the author admits that his goal is an actual anti theistic rhetoric (like Philip Pullman for example). Besides Raziel made a good observation: "Whatever he was, he was no god". That in my eyes is really an entirely different thing than "Live from Golgotha".

You could make a compelling argument that every single character who shows faith in any kind of higher power is portrayed negatively.

Even Janos?

[xzx]

Originally Posted by Paradoks

Perhaps I should say an actual blasphemy. I really don't have a problem with fictional characters conspiring against fictional supposed deities, unless the author admits that his goal is an actual anti theistic rhetoric (like Philip Pullman for example). Besides Raziel made a good observation: "Whatever he was, he was no god". That in my eyes is really an entirely different thing than "Live from Golgotha".

Not even Janos?

I think the point of playing a video game is to escape reality in a sense. They do not understand it because their perception is not altered, which is mainly done with mind altering substances. The bars and clubs all serve liquor and women dance but if it were still 1920 and prohibition were still going these clubs would all fail. This is where video games stand as also it is different in Canada and Europe to the US. There are about 1000 medically high shops in LA alone. Now though next month ALL of these in LA will be closed. A video game is just a car that needs gas to move. You do not have to do what a game tells you to do. Doing it is usually the choice of the gamer "because it's there". They also just climb mountains because "they're there". Do you remove the mountain? A lot of people are just really messed up in the head.

[BLOWHARD]

See? Gore Vidal is thought provoking

[xzx]

Anybody knows, except those who bend their minds, that reality itself can bend. When you die, you are in fact, hallucinating that you are going to Heaven by your brain administering drugs. This can happen to anybody at anytime, in any situation. You can see things as they don't really appear. Often though the unlucky souls are so unprepared for what happens they fall in head first. Games are simulations on a level of mental health. I would not be surprised if it's just a big secret and experimental to try to help people and avoid stacks of lawsuits. Just like I was reading about dental health. Dental problems can and are what causes most all other sickness as well and doctors and dentists often work together. If you just see a drawing of nothing you're fine but if you incorporate and "blasphemy" that they have some value as actual beings you have issues! Plain and simple.

[Driber]

Originally Posted by BLOWHARD

Can you play video games and still be devout? I wouldn't think so.

I think there are plenty of deeply religious people that play videogames. Paradox comes from Poland, which is known to be very conservative and where church and state are effectively not separated, and I doubt the gaming industry there only caters to the non-religious or moderate believers.

[BLOWHARD]

I did hear God gave the Polish the right to use coal to make power

[xzx]

Originally Posted by BLOWHARD

I did hear God gave the Polish the right to use coal to make power

I think when it comes down to it as they say 'the pole will shift when planet X appears'. These places with nuclear power plants are all going to be uninhabitable if they are destroyed like ***ushima!

[BLOWHARD]

Are you talking about unobtainium?