For almost the first year I lived there I paid rent in person by cheque to a management company office. It was a midtown manhatten apartment in a nice ish building less than a decade ago. They also forgot to cash the bankers draft I had written up for my deposit (five fucking figures that they just didn’t notice for years). Real Estate has a surprising number of absolute clowns still for some reason. I guess because it’s been easy money for asset owners so they chaff wasn’t being squeezed out.

Perfect example! Quarks taking their name from finnegans wake! Sure, science is more than poetry, but the poetry of it is pretty important to scientific culture (and therefore to making progress).

Sorry to disappoint you. Most scientists love poetry. People that can express the principles of our fields beautifully are our heroes. Watch talks by eminent scientists: they are more often than not exceptional communicators as well as thinkers.

It’s models all the way down. We don’t have access to some ultimate truth. Rather as you delve deeper the model is able to predict more accurately esoteric corners of reality, and/or more parsimoniously tie together the empirical facts we know.

“what really happens” is for dogmatists. If your model has no blind spots you probably haven’t been imaginative enough.

Right, pretty funny that this is parroted so thoughtlesly. I mean i see where it comes from but also… so obviously false.

Exactly, you think it’s all personal responsibility. That the economics of culture have no impact (or are desirable?). Totally ignoring that access to culture is not deliberate. There are massive network effects and constant, unavoidable advertising. Your very tastes are shaped by society around you.

And lol at lemmy as an example. Social media and content aggregation is even more homogeneous than film/print/music/food. The fact that tiny countercultures exist doesn’t disprove that.

“stop importing American culture” - you blame the consumer here no?

“diverse” so long as you like the ubiquitous: hamburgers, Taylor swift, marvel movies. Increasing American cultural dominance is the opposite of diversity.

“It’s the free market” is honestly just such an American argument it’s spectacular. Chapeau to you and the others riding that particular horse. You illustrate the point perfectly.

So has lobotomy for certain mental health patients. What’s your point?

Yeah, what was legal/feasible 100 years ago might not be the best guide today. I mean no reasonable person would deny it would be better for public health.

That’s actually an interesting question. All the people I know who still smoke are left leaning and probably pro vaccine. I guess I don’t know many of the main smoking population (older lower socioeconomic status) so maybe there there’s more than coincidental overlap. It would be coherent I guess for the freedom over everything type people I suppose, depressingly.

Everyone who chooses to drive in a city centre has a directionally similar impact (potentially bigger magnitude because vehicle traffic is pretty lethal). I don’t think anyone disagrees with the principal, they just have different thresholds for personal freedom vs impact on those around you.

I think it’s hard not to see a culture/class aspect to this when wood burners continue to be used without much limitation.

That’s not a terrible analogy, but doesn’t resounding support a ban. It’s virtually unimaginable (and I suspect more or less legally impossible) that vaccination would be obligatory.

Use of “coronate” can only be a nerd trap. Not today Satan!

I really enjoyed them too, which I guess I could have made clearer. I felt like my enjoyment was heightened by my knowledge and nostalgia for the books, but interesting yto hear another positive perspective without that aspect. I suppose what I’m trying to say is not that they aren’t or can’t be good, but that they aren’t and can’t be a faithful and complete adaptation.

The world building aspect is why I tend to think TV series are generally the better screen medium for scifi than feature film, having more space to explore the causes and consequences of a fantasy premise. But yeah, I love a spectacle. The setting and soundscape of the new movies are top. Like I can’t rember feelings like that in the cinema since Lord of the rings.

It’s impossible to adapt, see all previous adaptations. I think you’ve pretty accurately summed up the shortcomings of the medium for that story. Watch the movie to marvel at the setting brought to life with a nice soundscape, ideally see it on a big screen. If you read the book you’ll have some attachment to the characters and universe anyway so pacing and skipped detail shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you. Just don’t expect it to be perfect. IMO the second part is a bit stronger, maybe because the scope is tighter.

“bOtH sIdEs”. no. absolutely not. Criticise starmer, sure, but it’s a joke to even begin to compare him to the decade of enablement by the tories.

Thought process of a child, that scans at least

You think fear of immigrants and fear of fascism are comparably illegitimate? Oof

None of our bank accounts really pay interest, 0.01% come on.

? It was pretty clear that the male characters’ behaviour was not being celebrated. Porco is troubled and self-hating, and Curtis and the pirates are explicitly villains. Sexism is real so I think depiction of it is necessary, so long as it’s not applauded or encouraged. I might even use it as a start point for talking about misogyny with my daughters one day.