The Syndicate

Long Con wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:48 pm Was it the President in Battlestar Galactica?

Golden

Yes and I love it but you really need to prevalent a lot of potential laws.

nutella wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:34 pm
Sloonei wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:28 pm Ride a dolphin to Australia, Golden.
The Whale Rider is a great movie set in NZ! (It was a book too actually I vaguely remember reading it when the movie came out)

I’m impressed.

I had to read it in fifth form English which is I dunno what to you Americans but I was about 15

I can't leave the country except by airport - the idea of a border crossing in a car is utterly foreign to me.

Long Con wrote: ↑Fri Aug 24, 2018 12:48 am So we're starting a restaurant.

What should we name it?

A world of plates

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Thu Aug 23, 2018 1:38 am @jaywimsattjr

If you follow my tweets I'll follow yours. It's a bargain, see.

(I was finally sold on making a damned Twitter and I have no idea how to find people such that it's even worth using)

Oh why the hell not.

You're going to find out how niche my twitter feed is lol.

juliets wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:59 am Why is Golden now sanggolden?

Daisy and I changed our user names for the Genius finals.

Epignosis wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 7:51 pm
ColinIsCool wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 7:42 pm I’d like to know what sort of childhoods the police officers involved in those cases had, but for them it’s probably more about being a bully than concern for the kids.
I think there's more to it than that.

We live in a shame-fueled culture. People seem to think they get "points" for calling somebody out. The definition of "hero" is soiled.

Police are stuck in an unenviable middle ground here in which a lawsuit awaits their department at any turn (and even if they make the right calls).

Some parents are neglectful, and some are intentionally trying to harm their children. Pretending to forget them is one way they go about it.

It's a shitty climate, but refusing able children their independence and ability to interact with the world freely is going to cripple them long term.

This is so very true. Our culture is one of blame instead of community. You cannot but stop risk at every turn in fear of public retribution. Everyone believes they get a say in everything without having to have responsibility for any of it.

I have struggled with this for a long time. I abhor the idea of going in to politics, but I deeply desire someone to go into politics with this very issue at its heart and give it importance and relevance. I think the root cause is the primacy of the individual right. It leads people to justify their own ego as the highest form of ethics and morality. But the individual right also has strong benefits. It's not easy to address.

I’m looking forward to rewatching episode 5 now that I’ve seen the end.

Kasius and Sinara are fantastic villains.

Yeah the Ghost Rider bit is the weakest part of s4 to be sure, except that it lays the table. By the end I think 5 is weaker than 4... the budget shows. But the storytelling and characterisations remain strong.

juliets wrote: ↑Wed May 09, 2018 6:02 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Wed May 09, 2018 3:56 pm Job interview today. Just to get my current job permanently. I'm not worried about it at all, or at least I wasn't, until yesterday my boss woke up in a cold sweat worried that the other two people she put on the panel won't appoint me. I still feel confident they will - I'm good at interviews and if I'm frank they need me. But now it's created a pressure to perform.
Wow Golden you've been doing this job for how long? Seems like a year or so, maybe less. How could they just now be interviewing you for it?

I'm on a temporary contract. This is for a permanent one.

Job interview today. Just to get my current job permanently. I'm not worried about it at all, or at least I wasn't, until yesterday my boss woke up in a cold sweat worried that the other two people she put on the panel won't appoint me. I still feel confident they will - I'm good at interviews and if I'm frank they need me. But now it's created a pressure to perform.

dunya wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 10:15 am air france worker strike means I might be stuck in Paris till the 9th...

'stuck in Paris' what a tragedy!

Although poor Lizzy

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:44 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:14 am For whatever reason, Agents of SHIELD scratches my Lost itch. I'm not sure it would be that way for everyone, but especially the last couple of seasons have just been so phenomenal. I think perhaps it's two things:

1) Each season feels different to me. I had that with Lost too, where I can actually imagine different colours, most important characters etc for each season, they are like 6 books in a series. I get that with SHIELD too.
2) The cast feels like a family (as the Lost cast did) dealing with the same kind of pseudo-scientific 'how the hell' stuff that the Losties did.

There's also the fact that they often like to begin seasons or parts of seasons with completely out of context scenes with characters we don't know yet - which Lost was amazing at, starting with Desmond in the hatch in season 2.

More recently, Westworld scratches the same itch as well - that did very well at recreating Lost's 'what the hell is going on' vibe.

It makes me realise that for the most part I judge everything scripted I watch against Lost.
AoS got infamous because the first half of Season 1 was subpar, so it never got quite a following. But after that it turns into a pretty great show.

I've watched the first 3 seasons. Need to catch up.

Yeah you do, because honestly, if you'd seen 4, you'd say the first 3 seasons were subpar

Seriously though, season 4 is one of the best seasons of anything ever in my opinion. Season 5 is also pretty damn good, although I think it isn't quite as universally considered to be as good as season 4 (I personally find it to be).

For whatever reason, Agents of SHIELD scratches my Lost itch. I'm not sure it would be that way for everyone, but especially the last couple of seasons have just been so phenomenal. I think perhaps it's two things:

1) Each season feels different to me. I had that with Lost too, where I can actually imagine different colours, most important characters etc for each season, they are like 6 books in a series. I get that with SHIELD too.
2) The cast feels like a family (as the Lost cast did) dealing with the same kind of pseudo-scientific 'how the hell' stuff that the Losties did.

There's also the fact that they often like to begin seasons or parts of seasons with completely out of context scenes with characters we don't know yet - which Lost was amazing at, starting with Desmond in the hatch in season 2.

More recently, Westworld scratches the same itch as well - that did very well at recreating Lost's 'what the hell is going on' vibe.

It makes me realise that for the most part I judge everything scripted I watch against Lost.

G-Man wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2018 10:52 pm Apparently GoC really is just for the champions who can play. The rest of us don’t even get to watch.

Sorry about that.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:44 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:31 pm Get ready for a game to start, DH. It’s happening.

In about two hours, probably.

Get ready for a game to start, DH. It’s happening.

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:17 pmSupertown JJJ is secretely color blind. He uses colors in rainbow lists because he needs to get a godamn challenge somewhere.

This is my favourite.

But you don't understand why he does game facilitation. It's so that he can observe human emotion without the hassle of having to reply to it.

G-Man wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:25 pm Just a reminder that grammar matters and so does punctuation.

Oxford Commas are a legislative drafters best friend. I'll never hear a word against them.

Just had my farewell at work.

After 10 years, it's impossible for me not to be a little nostalgic and wistful. It was a really nice moment but I'll miss this place, even though I'm looking forward to the next one.

Spacedaisy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:57 am Well... Harvey is coming. I didn't go grocery shopping earlier today or yesterday so we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants. Hope we don't lose power, but it's a definite chance. They are calling for somewhere between 10-20 inches of rain here in San Antonio. Insane. Glad we have a second floor apartment right about now. Ugh...

Good luck! Hurricanes suck. Our local rugby team is called the Hurricanes because of how famous we are for storms with strong wind, but really Hurricanes are the pits. I hope Texas weathers it well.

Epignosis wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:35 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:38 am Jay passed the Turing test.

OK, so he hasn't been perfected yet, but any robot could make that mistake with the stove.

That was the coolest thing today, to come on to the site and see the header! Awesome!

Jay passed the Turing test.

I just got headhunted for a job that I think I'd really enjoy and that will be a step up in seniority.

It's still in the public sector, so that means that getting the job is no sure thing - it has to be openly advertised and there will be a full selection panel. But being headhunted by the CLO (L = legal) is a leg up to that in that there's already trust there and so someone else needs to show something more important than that.

I won't say more for now, other than to say I'm excited enough to post here. It will probably mean less time, more responsibility, but I guess this is real life.

We went back to our old house for the last time tonight. Cleaned out the last of our stuff, did a final clean... it was the last day of our notice. I was feeling a little sad, even though a house is an inanimate object, I've really enjoyed living there and I will miss it.

It was while we were there that my aunt finally passed away. It's funny how sometimes life folds and reflects in on itself. Experiences intertwine and become forever linked.

There's one plane that flies out if Wellington three times a week. We have a chronically short runway so it's the only truly big plane we get, and it has the most wonderful sound. I always loved listening to it out on our patio, as we had a clear line of sight and sound to the airport. The plane took off ten minutes after my aunt died. It was such a beautiful experience just listening to that sound for the last time... I won't hear it at the new place.

Rob's heartfelt posts were very timely for me. I have an aunty who I'm very close to on the way out due to cancer and this morning she told my mother (who has turned into one of her closest friends) that she couldn't talk any more and it was their last conversation. It's heart breaking for me. She is a special woman - strong-willed, loving, a true force of nature. She could command a room when she walked into it. She's also a natural fighter, and so she has lived nearly two and a half years after being told she would have trouble getting to six months.

But now it's clear she isn't going to last the week - perhaps not the day. It's really meaningful to hear someone as good with words as Rob is say what he said, at just the right time. While his words speak for him and him alone, his heart speaks for many more.

Thanks Rob

speedchuck wrote:"It is Well (With My Soul)" is such a beautiful hymn. I hope things are well.

Indeed. A very good choice.

Epi, I really appreciate how well you are able to express the significant things happening in your life, the good, the bad. I'm sad to hear you've lost a close friend, and also it's very meaningful to me that you say something because I'm expecting to lose a family member I feel quite close to within a week or two.

juliets wrote:I was also in a piano competition and came in second. Scared the living daylights out of me. Never did it again and quit piano soon after.

Haha, see, you get where I'm coming from!

I once entered a piano competition.

I won.

Instead of spurring me on to greatness, it scared me away from ever doing anything like that again, lol.

It's ok, I liked percussion better anyway.

S~V~S wrote:Netflix & Nyquil, the new cool thing

Nyquil is better than chill anyway?

Sounds like the Fire Department did their job admirably. I'm very glad to hear that all is well in the house (and Mordor is a decent memento).

nutella wrote:Is it sad that I recognized the youtube code when I hovered on the link and knew not to click

It's the very first time I'd fallen for it.

Long Con wrote:WTF? It's gone already!!!

Oh dear.

S~V~S wrote:Well, I would imagine LT is gonna let RM go dark eventually. SO if there is anything you want to save over there, might not be a bad idea to do so. The Survivor game led me to read some old stuff over there, and it our history as a tribe, you know?

I agree. I've never thought about it before, but I think it's time.

I might have to go back and find Grease on STV and do the same.

juliets wrote:I'm glad you were able to get something saved LC.

Indeed.

Long Con wrote:
juliets wrote:I just read on FB that Lostpedia is gone. I don't have a link to it anymore so I don't know for sure but if it is, RIP.
I managed to get the first page of the A World Apart thread saved for posterity.

Oh wow. Things one needs to save to the Wayback machine...

Wish you'd managed more

G-Man wrote:Interestingly enough, I almost registered on this forum as ThunderSnow because the name is cool. But alas, I stuck with G-Man because it's what the folks remember me as.

You could change now. Everyone would be baffled. You'd probably also get lynched far less often lest people get smited.

But I'd probably still call you G.

We're putting in a conditional offer on a house tonight. There's two options so we aren't 100% sure which yet (maybe 95% sure), but it's quite daunting. I was planning for it but I wasn't planning for it to happen just yet.

nutella wrote:On that note, I was just finally looking up the games I've won to put them in my sig, and I realized that Heists don't seem to have banners? Is that intentional/not going to change?

gosh I've won so few games... but then I haven't even played very often so it's all relative. If I still had all my banners from the LP/Piano days it would be a monster sig.

It is going to change, but based on the time available for our graphics team. Keep looking at the museum of mafioso for updates.

Marmot wrote:My ears are burning.

Stop, drop and roll.

G-Man wrote:Astronomers confirmed the existence of seven exoplanets orbiting a nearby* star that are similar in size to Earth. Three of them are believed to be within the star's habitable zone. I read the full article for the gory details. It's a small star but the planets are in a tight orbit. Given some of the technical details, I doubt intelligent life akin to dolphins or primates exist there but lower levels of life seem plausible.

*40 light-years

Wrong. It's where dolphins came from before they moved here to take over the world.

I would say 5, and 4 on Fridays

Sorry to hear that, timmer. Despite it being amicable, I know that with these things comes upheaval and uncertainty and that it's not what anyone goes into life planning. I hope it all goes well for you.

Quin wrote:
Golden wrote:Wow, that's rough. I hope all of yours are ok.

It sounds bad there. I know that not very far from where Anita's family is it hit 50 (for you Americans, thats 120+)
It wasn't any of us, I had the place wrong. They were going to go there but they changed at the last minute. But yeah, way too hot, though we only got to about 40 at home. At least it's a dry heat, it's usually humid.

Yeah, that is lucky. I'll take 40 degrees in Los Angeles over 30 in Newcastle, frankly. I hate your humid summers, ugh.

Wow, that's rough. I hope all of yours are ok.

It sounds bad there. I know that not very far from where Anita's family is it hit 50 (for you Americans, thats 120+)

One of my birthday presents was an 'escape the room' experience, which I've always wanted to try.

What's particularly amusing, though, is when I looked at the 'plot' of the room. I quote "Your mission is to infiltrate and investigate the Syndicate’s headquarters, discover what their evil plans are, and put a stop to them."

http://www.escapemate.co.nz/index.php/booking/

MovingPictures07 wrote:
Golden wrote:
MovingPictures07 wrote:I have never watched the Super Bowl ever before, and I have no intention of changing that today. Not because I'm contrarian, mind you, just because I have pretty much no interest in doing so. Who else is in my boat?

I'll instead most likely be working on something.
I've never watched the super bowl but that's changing today.
Why this time?

Lots of factors. We're not always guaranteed a public holiday on Super Bowl day so often I'm at work. I wasn't always married to someone with American family. My best friend wasn't always into NFL but he really has been the last few years, and I've ended up participating in fantasy leagues and talking about American Football as a result. Hamish has a whole lot of Patriots clothes. So, we thought it might be fun.

Also, it's on TV. I can't say that it wasn't in recent years, but it certainly wasn't even ten years ago. NZ has had an underground NBA culture all my life, but super bowl culture is kind of new here.

You should join in MP!

MovingPictures07 wrote:I have never watched the Super Bowl ever before, and I have no intention of changing that today. Not because I'm contrarian, mind you, just because I have pretty much no interest in doing so. Who else is in my boat?

I'll instead most likely be working on something.

I've never watched the super bowl but that's changing today.

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