AFriendlyFace

Mika - My interpretation

I've never seen the show, only been following along and checking out clips on youtube, as such I didn't realize just how talented David Cook is! Of course his rendition of "Billie Jean" blew me out of the water, but I had no idea his other performances were so good. There's no question that I like his style and song selection better than Archuleta. Archuleta is very good, but there's no doubt which one I'd be listening to if they each came on a different radio station in the car. Of course I'm more of a rocker myself, as I said Archuleta is very talented to go with the very cute

People always use the "you can kill with other weapons" argument, and it's true, but the fact is guns are designed to kill and kill quickly. How many people can you kill with a baseball bat in 30 seconds? How many with a gun? How close do you have to get with the baseball bat? How close with the gun? It's perfectly true that if "Tom" is determined to kill "Billy" he'll find a way and a weapon to suit his purpose. If on the other hand "Tom" is determined to go a rampage at his high school, well a hunting rifle isn't going to do as much damage as a semi-automatic, a knife isn't going to do as much damage as a hunting rifle, a stick isn't going to do as much damage as a knife, and a Winnie the Poo doll isn't going to do as much damage as a stick. That's all I'm saying about the 'different weapon' argument. Also, for the record, I may prefer to be killed with a gun than a baseball bat, but that's assuming I'm going to die. I'd much rather be attacked with the baseball bat, because I would have the opportunity to fight back, run away, or get beaten long enough for someone to come and help me. If I'm summarily shot execution style I don't have any of those options. No, I didn't say that at all The only thing I said is that the games were a part of the equation. I made no argument at all about completely banning or removing them. I also said that they were the smaller part of the equation behind good parenting, and also behind personal responsibility in my opinion. Of course we'd still have crimes and violence, I never tried to argue that we wouldn't. My only point is that some kids are affected by violence in video games. I didn't say most, many, or even 'a significant number', but some are. It's irrelevant that in most of these cases the major problem is still with the parents or the individual themselves, neither am I arguing that these kids would otherwise have grown up perfectly well-adjusted had they not played the video games. The only thing I said is that to some extent some kids are affected. If I'm 15 and always playing games that enhance my aim and reflexes, and I later use this skillful aim and quick reflexes (rather for 'good' or 'evil') it's an indisputable fact the video game played a role in my proficiency. It's irrelevant that I could have developed these skills in any number of other ways, or that perhaps I just did something terrific with my skills. I in no way meant to imply a value judgment or pretend that effects were paramount or exclusive on behaviour. I simply said they have some effect, and I really don't see why it's necessary to even debate that statement. Virtually nothing to me is in 'black and white' it all comes in 'shades of gray'. You would never hear me saying that video games cause violence. Nor would you hear me saying that any other one thing causes violence. In my opinion human behaviour is far to complicated to be attributed to one cause or motivation in most instances. I'm not saying in the greater scheme of things video games are bad for society or kids in general. Who knows, maybe overall they're good for society and kids. I dunno. All I'm saying is they have an effect and sometimes that effect is bad. Will big deal, everything is like that. In most cases it's a good idea for people to take their blood pressure medication, but sometimes it kills them. Seatbelts and airbags usually save lives, but occasionally they kill instead. I'm certainly not arguing that people should quit taking their meds or avoid safety precautions when driving. Neither am I arguing that video games should be launched into outer space. Take care all (I hope this statement makes people feel cared about and as such conduct life in a sensible, safe manner. However, I also concede that a statistically small portion of the population may under some circumstances instead feel a rebellious streak which leads them to risky behaviour just to spite me. In any case my signature probably won't have a significant impact on very many people, but I will say that I think it might have a marginal effect - either good or bad - on some.) -Kevin

Well, I like both, but I actually ended up opting for sex. ...But that could just be because I want to see Chase naked I guess the real question then is whether or not the person whose vote made it 69 really felt that way (presumably about the tech stuff since you and I seem to be the two sex voters and you voted first and I voted most recently) OR if instead he/she actually had such a big preference for the sex scenes that he/she did the math, saw the statement his/her vote could make, and elected to go that way to make an even bigger statement!

Well, I just bumped the old thread for purposes of comparison, I too was struck by Eric's surprisingly low numbers! However, in my case while I had originally voted for Eric in the other poll my new vote would tentatively go to Chase. I was kinda torn between them all along, and he's just grown on me alot. It's really a toss up though. I notice we have less that half the number of votes in this poll that we do in the original! I wonder if perhaps people are waiting until the very end to cast their vote this time. That way if Brandon decides to rip the transmitter out of The Scar's hand and take over the world himself, or if Eric ends up selling everyone out to Dimitri and Mario to avoid his own murder, no one will feel foolish for having voted for them Hmm, well he certainly foiled the assassination attempt and as such served his ultimate purpose and duty their security man, but it looks like he hasn't foiled all of The Scar's plans! Could Gunter perhaps win a poll as 'favourite martyr'? Take care all and have a great day! Kevin

Reviewing this poll and the major impact Eric has had on the storyline, I'm surprised to see what a resounding loss he suffered in terms of being a fan favourite. As it stands now we have 20 votes that are as follows: Brandon [ 7 ] Chase [ 6 ] Eric [ 2 ] Jon [ 1 ] Helen (manager) [ 3 ] Lump (former lead singer) [ 1 ] People who haven't voted please feel free to, or better yet go and vote in the other poll. I'm curious to see if this pattern will hold until the end of the story! So far, based on the other poll, it seems to be! Would anyone change their vote if they could? Interestingly enough I think I might. It turns out I was one who originally voted for Eric, and while I still really like him, I think I might lean a little bit more toward Chase now. Might not though, kinda a toss up, it's just I have a tough time resisting hot blonds for this long

Well, we all know who the accident was for now, and we also know what's going on with Lump, but what about Carlisle parents? Will they ever figure into the story as characters in their own right? If so, how?

LOL, famous last words! Looks like we readers guessed incorrectly (though only slightly 8-7) about Vlad's survival.

This seems like an excellent assessment to me.

I'd have more or less agreed with that statement if it had simply been "The game has little to do with the boy's actions". However, I think it's very clear that while the father is indeed the root of the problem, and should indeed be the target for a solution, the game is still involved. That's like the argument that people give regarding firearms, "guns don't kill people, people kill people." I certainly agree that the people are culpable, but again the fact remains that without the guns those people wouldn't have been shot. Drunk driving accidents do have to do with cars. Yes, they have to do with irresponsible, reckless idiots, but cars are still involved. The key here is "potentially dangerous item" + "stupid/careless/mean/crazy/psycho" = bad results Yes, we've still definitely got a big problem with just the 2nd part of the equation, but I'm all for keeping the first part of the equation out of their hands. That's an unfair, overly critical statement IMO. Believe me, I wouldn't have enjoyed seeing them act like that either, and I'd be annoyed and disappointed if I found out my son was behaving in that fashion. However, if you're talking strictly about an economic and resource drain on society then almost all teens (and younger, as well as most of the very old) are a 'drain on society'. Yeah, they're acting dumb and not exercising good judgment, but nearly all individuals have done something like that in their lifetime (especially in their teens), to say that they should just be removed society strikes me as a bit too far since no one would then be allowed to 'grow up'. For all we know in 10-20 years those boys might be doctors, scientists, politicians, lawyers, etc.

My answer would be a combination of these two. Email is a notoriously bad way to communicate with me (or simply communicate information to me) so subscriptions would be pointless. Several MORE chapters would likely be out before I got around to checking and reading the email about the first one On the other hand I check the forums frequently, so an announcement in the author forums is unlikely to slip by me.

When is the final night?

"It's all over but the crying" - Garbage

Thanks you guys, those comments really made me feel better.

Awwww I cried

LOL, well good for you, Jamie! Just play safe, okay Personally, I don't think I've ever 'regretted' it. It's probably because I've always stayed true to my 'sexual ethics' (only safe sex and no cheating), because I'm sure I'd regret it immensely if that weren't the case. I think the most important thing is to make good decisions about what you want and what is important to you and then uphold that. I hope things work out well with this guy! (rather that's an eventual relationship, or just lots more fun ) I think that's up to you to define. Do you consider your activity sex? That's sort of like a definition that my friend uses, 'anything which might reasonably result in orgasm'. What I personally define as sex varies. I always consider anal 'sex', but everything else is up for grabs. FYI, I think what you're referring to is properly (or improperly perhaps) called the Princeton F***

Added, thank you very much

Added, thanks for the submission!

"Life is Beautiful" - Sixx AM

Chardonnay is my favourite wine. My personal all around favourites in terms of price (not too expensive), convenience (easy to find), and taste (delicious!) would have to be Kendall-Jackson and Woodbridge. They're both very good, reasonably priced, and as I said EASY to find at most any restaurant or store that sells wine. Chateau Ste. Michelle also makes a delicious chardonnay. Surprisingly the Barefoot brand is also drinkable, it's not all that great and certainly something I wouldn't want to 'treat' myself with, but if someone is having some I don't mind having a glass. A word of warning though, drink it while it's cold! The longer it sits out the less palatable it becomes. Another good, economical option is Jacob's Creek. I've always been partial to this one because it's so delicate. It's hard to actively dislike it even if you're not a big fan. Those are some of my favourites as well! Indeed mudslides and margaritas have been two of my favourites for as long as I've been drinking. I would have to add Cosmos and pomegranate martinis to the list as well though. I'd love to have a screaming orgasm...sounds delightful.

I've done the less than 3 hour thing before myself. I'm kinda weird about sex, I'm comfortable doing it with people I haven't known very long, or people I'm dating. Anything in between is awkward for me, so really I'd have to know the person LESS than a day or two if I were going to have 'casual' sex with them otherwise the only sex I'd be having would be within a relationship, which would probably take a week or so minimum to establish, so yeah I'm unlikely to have sex with people I've known between 1-7 days. Once I've entered the 'friend zone' with someone I'm just not going to mess around with them unless we decide to give an actual relationship a try.

So Hott - Kid Rock

Personally, I agree with every word of the above two posts. Well, since you asked, I didn't care for the violence or the content the few times a friend talked me into playing the original GTA and GTA 2, a few years ago. I'm assuming I'd be even less inclined to like GTA 4 since undoubtedly the graphics and violence are enhanced and since my own tolerance for violence in entertainment has significantly decreased over the years. However, that said I'm all for you playing the game and having a good time; I just mentioned this because you asked Actually, while I agree with you to some extent about older cartoons and many of the ones from my early childhood, I think that there's a considerable and disturbing trend for modern day cartoons to be, what I at least, would consider to be too gross and immature. I felt this way about a large contingent of the ones from my own childhood (even when I was a kid) as well. Some of the ones from my childhood were 'ok', other's were just stupid, gross, and disturbing. Nowadays, almost all the ones I come across peripherally seem to be of the later ilk, but I concede that if I were actually still a kid actively watching and searching out cartoons I'd probably still find a sizable decent population. Anyway, I'll probably still let my kids watch standard, contemporary children's cartoons since I do just find them gross, stupid, and immature as opposed to 'poison' or something, but I confess I'd much rather them be watching the 'classics' and I'll probably try to steer them in that direction (doubt it'll work though). That's an excellent point. I'll try to be an involved parent who 'does his homework', but for the most part I'm sure I'll be relying on content labels as well. They're pointless if the clerks (or other parents) ignore them and allow my kids access anyway. This isn't a big issue for me in the first place. I'll probably be fine with allowing my 15 or 16 year old to play games with an M label because as long as the teens are mature and do know the difference between fantasy and reality I don't see much of a point with trying to hide all things with sexual or violent content from them (especially since if they want to find such things it won't be hard to do at that age anyway). I think the most important thing by the time they reach middle to late teens is teaching them that movies and video games don't equal real life, and instilling in them a respect for other people's bodies (rather their urges are to jump that person's bones or break them). Just my thoughts, Kevin

Awww LOL, were these serious proposals?

I had the most amazing weekend! I got back into Baton Rouge Friday afternoon and visited with my friend Mandi until Saturday afternoon. We relieved all the things we used to do and pretty much spent the whole time talking non-stop. We're both very chatty people, especially her, so it was a ball. I got really nostalgic seeing all the old places and how they've changed and how they haven't. Over dinner Friday night we went to our favourite restaurant, where we used to go about once a week before I moved, and we ordered our usual stuff, and we talked and laughed and at one point she said, "for a minute I forgot you didn't still live here." I'd forgotten that too actually. I can easily imagine that that Friday night and Saturday would have been a 'routine' evening for us if I still lived there. Then on Saturday evening I met up with my friends Claire and Josh in the area we all grew up and went to high school. That was both harder, but it felt more necessary. With Mandi it hadn't been quite as long (2 years as opposed to nearly 6 with Josh), and we'd stayed in touch, and we're both in a good place in our lives. It was two old friends who missed each other but were fine. With Josh and Claire...well first of all it was just wonderful seeing them! I'm not sure if I ever mentioned any of the drama going on with Claire, but we have stayed in touch over the years via phone since I moved away from Louisiana completely, and once she did come to Texas, so I still felt very close to her, but she's going through a rough patch. I think she's finally completely done with her girlfriend, and actually her future is looking brighter and more hopeful than it has in a very long time if you ask me, but while she's coping amazingly well she's still pretty much reeling from all that. Which is why she had to move in with Josh... Josh, is the one I'm most worried about. He had a rough ride throughout high school and college, and he's cycled between drugs and alcohol and ultra-religiousness. The guy's just so clearly in so much pain and turmoil, and right now he's kind of like stuck in both phases if that even makes sense, and the contradictions are taking their toll on him. Yet, he's still the same boy I knew in high school. He's still full of life and bright eyed, he's still slender and adorable, and he's still loud and out-going. Which really made it all the harder to bear seeing him like that. I almost think if he had just been a shell it would have been...well no maybe not. Being gay has always been such a burden for him, it's always been something he's hated but that's been so undeniably him. It just drives me crazy that all this time later he's still in this vicious cycle because of it. It's so foreign to me too. I mean I've known over people who've struggled because of it, and I can sympathize, but my general reaction and the course I steered my life as a result of realizing I was gay can best be described as, "okay, cool!" So even though I can see his position, maybe I just can't properly empathize. I guess I can't quite imagine why he didn't fight the things that said it was bad and channel his sexuality into a healthy outlet (instead of an unhealthy one ). I mean I can intellectually understand, and sympathize, but I guess I can't really know what it's like. Then I look at other people who overcame similar obstacles and I just really can't figure it out. I mean I can...but I can't, and it's driving me crazy. I really don't know if he'll ever be okay... I sorta have this guilt as a result. I'm f**king fine; I should have dragged him through as well. But we weren't close friends, and I never knew about most of the stuff he went through until much later. He also came out way before I did. I've thought it over many times. I think the closet was very protective for me. When I was ready to come out, I was READY to come out. I had my head together, and I was in a strong position. He just wasn't really ready and didn't know how to deal...apart from that I guess he was always in a more hostile environment. Ignoring all that though, I am sorry I wasn't there for him properly. That I didn't do much to directly help. I had similar feelings of, "I wish I'd done more to be there for you over the years" toward Mandi and Claire as well, the big difference of course is that while I feel I could have done more, I did do something, and since we were doing so many sentimental chats this weekend I brought this up to each of them, and they both said it was helpful just being able to talk about it wit me even if I wasn't physically there. Apart from all that they're both doing better in the first place. This weekend was really the first time I've had the chance to talk to Josh about all his stuff directly instead of just hearing it through other people. It's really even the first time we've related to each other as two openly gay guys. Still, I can't change the past, and there's no point in speculating about how things might have turned out differently. In many ways Josh would have been my first really viable candidate as a boyfriend. But while I've always found him cute, I never really felt that way about him, and for most of our history together it just wouldn't have been possible because of the different places we were in life and our journeys. I guess it's also just ridiculous to think that I could have helped him at all. Who knows, maybe he'd have dragged me in with him instead? Maybe I'd be strung out or thumping a Bible...or both. I realized too, that even ignoring any radical changes in our pasts, I could be living that life with Claire and Josh as well...I mean under different circumstances I could imagine what we did being a 'routine' Saturday night for us as well. But I left, I left and I moved to Baton Rouge, and then I left and moved to Houston, and I don't regret it, not any of it, not for a minute. As I said to them when they asked how I liked Houston, "It exceeded my expectations and I'd still be perfectly satisfied with it even if I were enjoying it considerably less." I truth is I don't have a lot of the problems that the three of them are facing simply because I did leave. I have more options and I have a wider range of very different friends, and while I'm not criticising their lives or our old cities, I haven't a doubt in my mind that I'm happier here. It's selfish I know, and I do love them and want to be there for them, but I don't want to be there for them.