Elemental's Excitingly Excellent Random Banter: No.CLXXVII (177)

[Feytalist]

Yeah, I remember Shogun. It was always on the point of crashing even then.

[Teddy]

I've never played that game. But I've got Medieval: Total, Medieval II: Total War and Rome: Total War. They're all quite enjoyable.
And yes, bribing people is overpowered when you can double an empire within two years without actually invading anywhere.

Edit: And I'm hopeless at the battles. Though the ones in Rome: Total War are good.

Bribery in Shogun is quite expensive if you target anyone but the rebels, but it's quite helpful for securing land away from yours or breaking sieges. You should be ready to ship in reinforcements, however, because the AI sees a power vacuum and is pretty quick to invade, possibly sparking a war. Harbours are a must-have.

Rome is good, archers beat everything. I have Empire too, where the maps hates cannons and howitzers kill everything, and star fortresses are a liability that only are built to appease the unruly population.

[LaZodiac]

...

You're actually going to watch a movie that has incredibly low review scores and a whole slew of reviews urging people to not watch it?

Maybe she just likes bad movies?
A favourite past-time of one of my bros is watching B-grade or worse movies. He likes buying them, downloading them, or catching said category of movie at the cinemas. It's strange.

It's really bad.
It's terrible, jingoistic, clichéd, derivative, unoriginal, the acting is wooden or over-the-top, racist (r/l interchange all the time!) and just plain bad.
See it, but only with a friend.

It has Neeson in it. The alien ship shot pegs in the trailer. I am required to see it, to see how it ends up.

Of course it will be bad. But I'm seeing it with my Dad, who did serve in the military, so it'll be some good bonding I imagine.

And yes, it is probably just a cliched Micheal Bay Light esque film. But it's also a film about the game Battleship. Some things, you just have to do.

[DraPrime]

I've never played that game. But I've got Medieval: Total, Medieval II: Total War and Rome: Total War. They're all quite enjoyable.
And yes, bribing people is overpowered when you can double an empire within two years without actually invading anywhere.

Edit: And I'm hopeless at the battles. Though the ones in Rome: Total War are good.

Rome: Total War! I like that game! The expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion, was pretty awesome. I managed to make a Frankish empire that extended from Ireland, to the modern Baltic states, to Constantinople, to Carthage, thus replacing the Roman empire entirely. I love how much history got ruined there.

I've been trying to get the Europa Barbarorum mod for R:TW, but sadly my Mac keeps making it difficult. Stupid Macs.

[HalfTangible]

It kind of amazes me that my mother felt the need to ask 'how did the test go' after two Fs and a D -_-

Oh, AND burning rubber to get out of the driveway when she asked me to park in the street.

Observant!

[Cobra_Ikari]

It has Neeson in it. The alien ship shot pegs in the trailer. I am required to see it, to see how it ends up.

Of course it will be bad. But I'm seeing it with my Dad, who did serve in the military, so it'll be some good bonding I imagine.

And yes, it is probably just a cliched Micheal Bay Light esque film. But it's also a film about the game Battleship. Some things, you just have to do.

Neeson is enough to make this film worth watching. Too bad I have no one to go see it with. =P

[CurlyKitGirl]

Oh God.

. . .

That moment when, out of the blue post-exam you suddenly realise that you ended one of your questions talking about sex, which is fine, but then realise that your concluding sentence is a crude sexual innuendo.

[wadledo]

Oh God.

. . .

That moment when, out of the blue post-exam you suddenly realise that you ended one of your questions talking about sex, which is fine, but then realise that your concluding sentence is a crude sexual innuendo.

*slow clap*

......
Awwwww yea.

[Thufir]

Oh God.

. . .

That moment when, out of the blue post-exam you suddenly realise that you ended one of your questions talking about sex, which is fine, but then realise that your concluding sentence is a crude sexual innuendo.

Hopefully your marker has a sense of humour?


ION: Just realised. Hosting my birthday party at my own house, while convenient and home-y, means I have to tidy it.
Damnit.

[DraPrime]

Oh God.

. . .

That moment when, out of the blue post-exam you suddenly realise that you ended one of your questions talking about sex, which is fine, but then realise that your concluding sentence is a crude sexual innuendo.

Heh, well done.

Also, four pages of my Theology of Aquinas final are done. Five to go.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

That's brilliant Curly!

I wrote 4 1/2 pages double-sided double-spaced (foolscap size paper) on the Congress of Vienna, 3 pages on the unification of Italy, and 3 pages on the role of Balkan nationalism in causing WWI.

Add in the one page of notes, which I also have to submit even though they're not being marked and that's 12 sheets of paper, all completely covered excepting one side of the last sheet for the Congress of Vienna paper.

All this was written in 2 and a half hours.

I AM SO HAPPY that I don't have to be at school until next week tuesday!

[CurlyKitGirl]

*slow clap*

......
Awwwww yea.

It wasn't like I propositioned the markers guys! I just insinuated something, I forget what, and realised that in hindsight the precise phrasing basically implied full penetrative intercourse.

Hopefully your marker has a sense of humour?

Had better do, that was my favourite essay too. And our tutor said that conclusions were awesome because you could make barely related comments and then cut and run because it's a conclusion, and who needs to found your thoughts on actual 'fact' in one of those?
Eh, maybe I'll get one of those oblivious - oh right, Shakespeare.
Umm. Seeing as I really don't particularly think I did too well on the others, here's hoping eh guys?

ION: Just realised. Hosting my birthday party at my own house, while convenient and home-y, means I have to tidy it.
Damnit.

Haha. This is why I've never had a birthday party, only a meal. And a rather long meet-up, which I did have to clean up after.
. . .
At least you guys were tidy.

Heh, well done.

Also, four pages of my Theology of Aquinas final are done. Five to go.

At least it was only mostly implied in the precise wording (which thinking back on it, I may have done deliberately) in my typical way of making anything sexual.

And congrats on being halfway through Aquinas. How's it going for you?

IRN:
Argh. Revising for tomorrow's Old English exam. Who knew I had two dozen essays/similar saved to my laptop?
This doesn't include all my paper notes either.
DP (need to find a better nickname for you), you might be interested in some of the things I'm looking at. Old English homilies and saints' lives . . . most of which are translated too. It's all fire and brimstone and cross-dressing and dragons!

Note to self: seeing as you will be writing about something Biblical tomorrow, memorise definitions of patristic exegesis.

EDIT:

That's brilliant Curly!

Mayhap my crude wordplay enlightens the dreariness of the task our superlative scholars must face, bringing to their faces lined with boredom, a smile swift as that of the running hare.

(trans: here's hoping it brightens some poor marker's job, if only momentarily)

I wrote 4 1/2 pages double-sided double-spaced (foolscap size paper) on the Congress of Vienna, 3 pages on the unification of Italy, and 3 pages on the role of Balkan nationalism in causing WWI.

Add in the one page of notes, which I also have to submit even though they're not being marked and that's 12 sheets of paper, all completely covered excepting one side of the last sheet for the Congress of Vienna paper.

All this was written in 2 and a half hours.

I AM SO HAPPY that I don't have to be at school until next week tuesday!

Okay, officially naming this week Exam Week.
Your essays sound like they turned out much happier than mine. I'm assuming the Congress of Vienna is something post-1900 yes? Because all that history is blank to me.
Just had to google foolscap paper there, so that's probably about what I did then.
Averaged out five and a bit sides of A4 double-spaced. No plans though after the first one because . . . it didn't exactly work for me.

[DraPrime]

At least it was only mostly implied in the precise wording (which thinking back on it, I may have done deliberately) in my typical way of making anything sexual.

And congrats on being halfway through Aquinas. How's it going for you?

Not bad. I can't exactly explain what I'm writing about (forum rules) but the general structure is this:

2 pages on Aquinas' view of topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 2 to topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 3 to topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 4 to topic 1
1 page on what I think of Aquinas.

Topics 1 and 2 are done. I don't yet know what I'll be doing for topics 3 and 4. I've got a list of topics to pick from, but I don't know quite yet what I want to pick. Still, I've got time. This essay is due by midnight.

IRN:
Argh. Revising for tomorrow's Old English exam. Who knew I had two dozen essays/similar saved to my laptop?
This doesn't include all my paper notes either.
DP (need to find a better nickname for you), you might be interested in some of the things I'm looking at. Old English homilies and saints' lives . . . most of which are translated too. It's all fire and brimstone and cross-dressing and dragons!

Note to self: seeing as you will be writing about something Biblical tomorrow, memorise definitions of patristic exegesis.

Ooooh, I'm jealous. Also, crossdressing?

Also...you get to do patristic exegesis? I'm green with envy.

[Thufir]

Haha. This is why I've never had a birthday party, only a meal. And a rather long meet-up, which I did have to clean up after.
. . .
At least you guys were tidy.

Well, actually I meant I'll have to tidy it beforehand, 'cause I don't want my guests to come in to a load of mess. I don't expect anyone at the party to create a lot of mess. (Please don't take this as a challenge...)

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Okay, officially naming this week Exam Week.
Your essays sound like they turned out much happier than mine. I'm assuming the Congress of Vienna is something post-1900 yes? Because all that history is blank to me.
Just had to google foolscap paper there, so that's probably about what I did then.
Averaged out five and a bit sides of A4 double-spaced. No plans though after the first one because . . . it didn't exactly work for me.

The Congress of Vienna is 1815-ish. Post-Napoleon peace discussions.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Not bad. I can't exactly explain what I'm writing about (forum rules) but the general structure is this:

2 pages on Aquinas' view of topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 2 to topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 3 to topic 1
2 pages linking his view of topic 4 to topic 1
1 page on what I think of Aquinas.

Topics 1 and 2 are done. I don't yet know what I'll be doing for topics 3 and 4. I've got a list of topics to pick from, but I don't know quite yet what I want to pick. Still, I've got time. This essay is due by midnight.

Oh that's hours yet. It's five hours to go over here, so ten hours to go over where you are?
And that last page is going to go quick because you get to gush about one of your favourite saints' theories and beliefs and things.

Ooooh, I'm jealous. Also, crossdressing?

Also...you get to do patristic exegesis? I'm green with envy.

Cross-dressing saints. Probably not canon nowadays. Can you decanonise saints' lives? Anyway, the saints are Eugenia and Euphrasia. I quite like Eugenia, she was fairly badass in a pacifist way.
Well, what I call patristic exegesis is a way to structurally analyse and deconstruct Biblical poetic paraphrase and such in an early Christian light through basic exegetical terms. As far as I'm concerned, there are four ways to do it, and I have plans to analyse certain things in a literary and eschatological light.

If you PM me your email I can send you copies of the primary texts (homilies and lives) and essays on the same topics/Biblical poetic paraphrase if you like.
And don't worry, I translate everything in my essays! If you're interested in that sort of thing.

Well, actually I meant I'll have to tidy it beforehand, 'cause I don't want my guests to come in to a load of mess. I don't expect anyone at the party to create a lot of mess. (Please don't take this as a challenge...)

People going to Thu's birthday party: make a mess! If only because he asked you not to.

EDIT:

The Congress of Vienna is 1815-ish. Post-Napoleon peace discussions.

Why do you always post something to which I want to respond when I'm busy going mini-wall of texty and multiquoting people?
You have skill my dear.

Sounds interesting, not that I know much about it. I'm assuming RUssia got a lot of land, as did the German states and Napoleon's France got fairly humiliated.
That's usually how these things go.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Why do you always post something to which I want to respond when I'm busy going mini-wall of texty and multiquoting people?
You have skill my dear.

It's a talent. Why thank you!

Sounds interesting, not that I know much about it. I'm assuming RUssia got a lot of land, as did the German states and Napoleon's France got fairly humiliated.
That's usually how these things go.

Actually, completely wrong! France was given a seat on negotiations, due to the brilliance of Talleyrand. Almost all borders went back to pre-Revolution borders and rulers, with a few exceptions.
France had to give modest repayments and give most art back, but it wasn't really punitive.
Other than that, it was basically agreed that conservatism and reactionarism would rule the day, that the balance of power must be maintained, that principles of collective security would rule, and that all countries would help each other put out revolts and attempted revolutions, and also if any one country upset the balance of power than they would be dealt with.

Edit: there was minor re-shuffling of borders, some various border claims were resolved, and the German Confederation was created to replace the Holy Roman Empire.
Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife, even got given the Duchy of Parma and two other minor Italian duchies.

[wadledo]

Hey Curly, did you talk to that professor yet?

[DraPrime]

Oh that's hours yet. It's five hours to go over here, so ten hours to go over where you are?
And that last page is going to go quick because you get to gush about one of your favourite saints' theories and beliefs and things.

Well, a bit less than ten hours now. It's 15:36 over here. I've managed to get six pages done now. I've actually extended into a seventh page for one of the 2 page parts, so I now I need to try to cut down.

Surprisingly, the last page isn't just me gushing. I have actual criticism for Aquinas. Not enough neo-platonism!

Cross-dressing saints. Probably not canon nowadays. Can you decanonise saints' lives? Anyway, the saints are Eugenia and Euphrasia. I quite like Eugenia, she was fairly badass in a pacifist way.
Well, what I call patristic exegesis is a way to structurally analyse and deconstruct Biblical poetic paraphrase and such in an early Christian light through basic exegetical terms. As far as I'm concerned, there are four ways to do it, and I have plans to analyse certain things in a literary and eschatological light.

Did you just use the words "patristic", "exegesis", and "eschatological"?

I think I'm in love.

If you PM me your email I can send you copies of the primary texts (homilies and lives) and essays on the same topics/Biblical poetic paraphrase if you like.
And don't worry, I translate everything in my essays! If you're interested in that sort of thing.

You'll be a getting a pm with my email in it. Send me everything!

[Mutant Sheep]

Rome: Total War! I like that game! The expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion, was pretty awesome. I managed to make a Frankish empire that extended from Ireland, to the modern Baltic states, to Constantinople, to Carthage, thus replacing the Roman empire entirely. I love how much history got ruined there.

I've been trying to get the Europa Barbarorum mod for R:TW, but sadly my Mac keeps making it difficult. Stupid Macs.

God I love Civ and Total War for these situations.

It has Neeson in it. The alien ship shot pegs in the trailer. I am required to see it, to see how it ends up.

Of course it will be bad. But I'm seeing it with my Dad, who did serve in the military, so it'll be some good bonding I imagine.

And yes, it is probably just a cliched Micheal Bay Light esque film. But it's also a film about the game Battleship. Some things, you just have to do.

I want to see it for one reason.

HUNGRY
HUNGRY
HIPPOS The Movie.
Hippotamus maximus is REAL man! Its REAL!*dragged scream; screen cut: water ripple slowly being revealed to be humongous*

THIS IS WHERE YOUR MONEY SHOULD GO FOR ALL SPENDING.


Also, I friggen LOVE B movies. "I'm gonna go tell them where YOU are! Yeahahaha!*Bruce Campbell shoots with handmade minicrossbow* "I thought you healed people! Augh.." "Your stupidity was terminal. ... Consider yourself cured." *dumbass dies*

[DraPrime]

God I love Civ and Total War for these situations.

I'm reminded of when a friend of mine told me that in Civ he dropped a nuke on Germany, when he was playing as Tibet.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

G
Also, I friggen LOVE B movies. "I'm gonna go tell them where YOU are! Yeahahaha!*Bruce Campbell shoots with handmade minicrossbow* "I thought you healed people! Augh.." "Your stupidity was terminal. ... Consider yourself cured." *dumbass dies*

"Buckaroo, The White House wants to know is everything ok with the alien space craft from Planet 10 or should we just go ahead and destroy Russia?"
"Tell him yes on one and no on two. "
"Which one was yes, go ahead and destroy Russia... or number 2?"

Actually, just this entire movie. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Through the 8th Dimension was SUCH the best movie.

"Dr. Banzai is using a laser to vaporize a pineal tumor without damaging the parthogenital plate. A subcutaneous microphone will allow the patient to transmit verbal instructions to his own brain. "
"Like, "raise my left arm"?"
"Or "throw the harpoon." People are gonna come from all over. This boy's an Eskimo."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey-now. Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are. "

Oh god this movie is so goooood

[CurlyKitGirl]

It's a talent. Why thank you!

It is something that has often vexated me.

Actually, completely wrong! France was given a seat on negotiations, due to the brilliance of Talleyrand. Almost all borders went back to pre-Revolution borders and rulers, with a few exceptions.
France had to give modest repayments and give most art back, but it wasn't really punitive.
Other than that, it was basically agreed that conservatism and reactionarism would rule the day, that the balance of power must be maintained, that principles of collective security would rule, and that all countries would help each other put out revolts and attempted revolutions, and also if any one country upset the balance of power than they would be dealt with.

Edit: there was minor re-shuffling of borders, some various border claims were resolved, and the German Confederation was created to replace the Holy Roman Empire.
Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife, even got given the Duchy of Parma and two other minor Italian duchies.

So not even a slap on the wrist then? Well, that's superpowers for you. Who cares about the little people as long as we maintain our precariously established peace with one another in our native continent so we can go off and conquer foreign lands in relative safety!

Hey Curly, did you talk to that professor yet?

Not yet. Been a bit busy.
Will send off an email to my English tutors tomorrow to see if they can put me in touch with someone. Our main question is:
'What were the main reasons Western languages shifted from using a right-to-left abjab writing system to one that included written vowels and went left-to--right?'
Anything else to add onto that?

Well, a bit less than ten hours now. It's 15:36 over here. I've managed to get six pages done now. I've actually extended into a seventh page for one of the 2 page parts, so I now I need to try to cut down.

Surprisingly, the last page isn't just me gushing. I have actual criticism for Aquinas. Not enough neo-platonism!

See, oodles of time. I'll admit to not knowing why each section has to be a certain length, but I'm assuming it's just prissiness on the regulation's half.
And then be confused about neo-platonism. Not something I've ever really had to think about. Or maybe I have and just forgot.

Did you just use the words "patristic", "exegesis", and "eschatological"?

I think I'm in love.

I get that a lot when I surprise someone with my knowledge about something unusual.
It's not like I know any famous patristic exegesis (except some by Aelfric, and a few anonymous homilists), but I can talk the talk.

You'll be a getting a pm with my email in it. Send me everything!

One of the homilies has no translation on the computer at the moment (all hand done in my notes), so I'll write that up and send it along some time soon. Tomorrow probably.

[Mutant Sheep]

So not even a slap on the wrist then? Well, that's superpowers for you. Who cares about the little people as long as we maintain our precariously established peace with one another in our native continent so we can go off and conquer foreign lands in relative safety!

The people with brains already thought France suffered enough. That pre-Napoleon time was kindaaaa terrible. And Fire Nation logic is logical. We ALL know that.

[Thufir]

People going to Thu's birthday party: make a mess! If only because he asked you not to.

Overlap between people invited to my birthday party and people likely to read this thread is small.
In fact, it's... you, and maybe Cassie.
Wait. Damn. I'm screwed, aren't I. An Elder Goddess and an embodiment of Chaos are quite possibly going to come and wreck my house.
Well, at least it'll be an interesting time...

[Cobra_Ikari]

On B movies: Deadly Prey is probably the best one I've ever seen. Though I might change my opinion if I ever get a chance to see Surf Nazis Must Die!

[DraPrime]

See, oodles of time. I'll admit to not knowing why each section has to be a certain length, but I'm assuming it's just prissiness on the regulation's half.
And then be confused about neo-platonism. Not something I've ever really had to think about. Or maybe I have and just forgot.

I think it's just to keep it brief, or to keep a few people from under working and just writing out a single page for each topic. I've actually come to a screeching halt with my writing because I've hit the last big section, and I've just realized that I have something like four broad topics to synthesize into two pages. That's with double spaced writing, so it's not like I have much room to work with.

If you know anything about Plato's philosophy, then you know Neo-Platonism. Just throw in a bunch of mysticism, and you have Neo-Platonism. I'm not really a big fan, but I like the way that certain Neo-Platonic thinkers of the middle ages (Sts. Bonaventure and Augustine come to mind) have a very inward outlook. It's very cerebral. Aquinas on the other hand is an Aristotelian, so he's all about what you can prove using evidence from your surroundings, not truth derived from looking inwards into yourself. I don't really like picking either approach, and prefer more of a synthesis, which is what St. Bonaventure did since he was exposed to both Plato and Aristotle. That's pretty much my only criticism though. Besides that, Aquinas is clearly the man.

I get that a lot when I surprise someone with my knowledge about something unusual.
It's not like I know any famous patristic exegesis (except some by Aelfric, and a few anonymous homilists), but I can talk the talk.

Aelfric is patristic? He's from the 10th century though. I thought that all ended back in the 6th.

One of the homilies has no translation on the computer at the moment (all hand done in my notes), so I'll write that up and send it along some time soon. Tomorrow probably.

I await all this eagerly.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Overlap between people invited to my birthday party and people likely to read this thread is small.
In fact, it's... you, and maybe Cassie.
Wait. Damn. I'm screwed, aren't I. An Elder Goddess and an embodiment of Chaos are quite possibly going to come and wreck my house.
Well, at least it'll be an interesting time...

Doubt I'll be making it mate, you're safe there. Really it all depends on the date.

I think it's just to keep it brief, or to keep a few people from under working and just writing out a single page for each topic. I've actually come to a screeching halt with my writing because I've hit the last big section, and I've just realized that I have something like four broad topics to synthesize into two pages. That's with double spaced writing, so it's not like I have much room to work with.

Then get really specific with your topics. As tutors say, don't talk about women in Old English poetry, talk about how the violence used by women in Old English Biblical paraphrase can make them seem monstrous.

If you know anything about Plato's philosophy, then you know Neo-Platonism. I'm not really a big fan, but I like the way that certain Neo-Platonic thinkers of the middle ages (Sts. Bonaventure and Augustine come to mind) have a very inward outlook. It's very cerebral. Aquinas on the other hand is an Aristotelian, so he's all about what you can prove using evidence from your surroundings, not truth derived from looking inwards into yourself. I don't really like picking either approach, and prefer more of a synthesis, which is what St. Bonaventure did since he was exposed to both Plato and Aristotle. That's pretty much my only criticism though. Besides that, Aquinas is clearly the man.

I've not done Plato properly in years, but likely I read some things influence by Plato. Me, I tend to agree with you on synthesising various approaches because it makes more sense to look at everything rather than try to exclude some approaches.

Aelfric is patristic? He's from the 10th century though. I thought that all ended back in the 6th.

Can go as late as the C8^th. And it's a little tricky to explain.
Aelfric not only cites patristic exegesis, and builds upon them, but is also considered to be one of the founding fathers of the English vernacular Church, so many of his ideas were taken as word by other preachers who then used his reading as an (semi-) official reading.

Also, patristic exegesis more broadly is following the system of delineation used to help explain Biblical works, but applying it to literature in general.

I await all this eagerly.

Excellent. An now, an early bed for an early start.

[Qwertystop]

Look at this.
It is.

[DraPrime]

Then get really specific with your topics. As tutors say, don't talk about women in Old English poetry, talk about how the violence used by women in Old English Biblical paraphrase can make them seem monstrous.

The problem is that I'm supposed to be very general. I have to just say "Aquinas thought this about that" about a couple big things in a short period of time, so basically I just need to highlight the essentials and move on.

dataI've not done Plato properly in years, but likely I read some things influence by Plato. Me, I tend to agree with you on synthesizing various approaches because it makes more sense to look at everything rather than try to exclude some approaches.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. Though Aquinas was a great synthesizer (it's practically all he does in the Summa) he just doesn't give Plato enough love.

Can go as late as the C8^th. And it's a little tricky to explain.
Aelfric not only cites patristic exegesis, and builds upon them, but is also considered to be one of the founding fathers of the English vernacular Church, so many of his ideas were taken as word by other preachers who then used his reading as an (semi-) official reading.

Also, patristic exegesis more broadly is following the system of delineation used to help explain Biblical works, but applying it to literature in general.

Hmmm, and here I was told that Gregory I was the end of the Patristic era. Though I suppose Aelfric could be a heavily influential authority on the fathers.

Excellent. An now, an early bed for an early start.

Sleep well!