Zombie

Thanks for the review. Not seen it, nor the original, and unlikely to - I'm kinda "off" Israeli films now. You "prefer life and movies to be honest about the problems in human nature and society". Personally, if I want realism I watch the news and current affairs or documentaries. For movies I just want to be entertained through escapism. Yes, Hollywood-style fairytale endings are often tiresome and can ruin an otherwise great movie, but they're not necessary - that's what I love about films like Le Fate Ignoranti where the ending, just as in life itself, is unresolved but subtle clues are given for you to work out your own satisfactory ending

I had nightmares last night

...but he won the 10m Individual Gold tonight! with a superb 102.6 back 3.5 somersault for a 516.55 total so domestic bliss hasn't killed his career duh, nearly-nekkid super-buff dripping-wet guys doing eye-popping stuff - I wouldn't like?? :funny:

nice guy, cool car

btw3 if you noticed Chris's abdominal scarring and don't know the story it's here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/diving/9091922/London-2012-Olympics-GB-diving-contender-Chris-Mears-near-death-experience-helped-him-focus-on-his-dream.html aside from his diving prowess and stunning looks he is truly an impressive person to have overcome such physical adversity [when he was only given a 5% chance of survival] and driven himself back to the top of his sport

I know none of you will be interested, but in the event of the remote possibility that some of you might be here are some more pics of Chris... which you don't have to look at... if you're not interested.... oh yeah, and that foursome thing? Shame on you! Get those nasty thoughts right out of your head...

"Best friends" English bad boys Jack Laugher and Chris Mears - "we spend all our time together" - have just won gold at the Commonwealth Games in the 3m Synchro Springboard diving Mears identifies as straight... ...but when he's not rearranging his hair he has admitted to “trying to steal” Tom Daley’s gay fan base in the January 2013 Gay Times where he posed completely nude, and Jack did the same in the October issue. Chris happily admits “I’ve had a couple of funny suggestions on Twitter - normally guys asking for foursomes with me, Tom Daley and Jack.” Phew, I need a lie down... or something... btw those cozzies - couldn't they have worn something skimpier? btw2 Tom's diving in the 10m synchro final tonight - Go Tom! .

make an offer and it's yours!

strange thing with music, it's not just about the song and the performer - it's the performance. The released Bed of Nails track and every other version I've heard does nothing for me... but this particular version performed live on a long-running TV music show I just love

you want me to evict the coool guy and the rat thing?

buy yourself a metal detector and come to England http://heathenhistory.co.uk/blog/2011/07/12/78/

stunning and awesome are routinely used for the banal but for this they are entirely appropriate - and I'm only looking at your pics!

Thank you for such an insightful distillation of human history. Now I can throw out all those stuffy old history books filled with irksome facts You made an objectionable statement that the schoolboys who bullied another schoolboy for wearing a dress in a school play "aren't homophobes, yet, they are just anti-feminine". The reason your statement is objectionable is because you are not commenting on such behaviour, you're adding your own acceptance of it by saying such bullying behaviour is "just" anti-feminine. In other words "just" modifies the whole meaning of your statement. Maybe you meant to say something else - just as you later, with considerable reluctance, corrected your mix-up between "feminist" and "feminine". Maybe you meant to say "These kids aren't homophobes, yet, but they are anti-feminine." That would be fine, merely an observation from you, not adding your own acceptance or endorsement of such behaviour. But if you insist on sticking to your statement as it stands then I'd say this. There is a big problem - including, as we know, within the gay world itself - with prejudice, discrimination and worse against males who display feminine behaviour. Your statement was not made in the context of macho team sports - Tetrefine's point, where another discussion could be had - you were saying it in the context of playground bullying. It is your stated acceptance of such behaviour in that context that is unacceptable. So if you in fact meant to say something else then tell us

hmm, so you believe bad things shown on the screen screw people up .

It's courtesy to make an "edit" when you go back and change a post - # 17 - especially where the meaning has been significantly changed and subsequent posts have been made. Otherwise it's confusing for new readers. So, you meant to say "These kids aren't homophobes, yet, they are just anti-feminine." "Anti-feminine"?? But what does this mean?? There is only one meaning. You mean "anti-feminine-behaviour-by-other-boys". And when other boys behave in a feminine way that is "effeminacy". And you're saying that's acceptable - hey, those kids, they're "just anti-feminine". No biggie. But as Graeme pointed out earlier [#39] "Anti-effeminate behaviour is not acceptable". So, even with the change, your statement is still unacceptable. .

Thanks for the OED dictionary extracts. Most helpful. Problem is, you didn't say "anti-feminine". You said "anti-feminist" - hence my original throwaway remark #18 So maybe it's you that needs to do a little more study on your word power

I have a love of English words and their correct usage - diction too, but that's a whole different kettle of worms... But you still haven't explained what you mean by "These kids aren't homophobes, yet, they are just anti-effeminate", like being "just anti-effeminate" is just fine and dandy .

Fair enough - and once you've done that you can get Merriam-Webster to update their definition

Just to return to your earlier post Graeme I'd add that such people seriously need to be educated on the reality of life because they are seeing a fiction - the all-American family consisting of Mom + Pop + 2 perfect white kids, that were standard fodder in US commercials of the 1950s, when the truth is that by age 15 only 55% of British kids will still have their Mum and Dad in the family home. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223176/percentage_living_with_both_of_their_parents.pdf

Well I'm sorry, Graeme but I don't find it "perfectly fine" - because we all know what "anti-effeminate" translates to in the playground. Of course you are right that effeminacy does not = homosexuality. We know that. But the kids in the playground don't. And when the poor kid is being bullied by his fellow pupils his life will be made just as miserable whether he is gay, straight, or any other colour.

All I would say is the perspective changes somewhat when you're on the receiving end. Homophobia encompasses a wide spectrum of behaviours - Wiki says it covers "a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality - obviously with violence at one end, but also ranging to, say, being made to feel unwelcome, which for some, and especially in some circumstances, can be very damaging to the person. The Merriam-Webster definition is "irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals." .

That makes more sense... but then the sentence becomes "These kids aren't homophobes, yet, they are just anti-effeminate". But this is inherently contradictory. Not all homosexuals are macho and butch, many are and always have been effeminate. To claim that prejudice and / or discrimination is not homophobic when it is only directed at effeminate gays is outrageous.

Like most things you need to understand the rules - in this case the law - if you're going to break them. Some authors / copyright owners seem relaxed about fan / slash fiction, which definitely breaches the law if copyright still exists - look at the huge amount of Harry Potter and other stuff on the web - but, as Mann points out, others like Anne Rice strictly enforce their rights under the law. This Wiki page is a useful overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction

"Gender roles" and "glass ceilings" - no-one's mentioned either of these so your last post's a non-sequitur. The term you actually used was "anti-feminist". This has a much wider meaning than the somewhat narrower terms you've just used and is very much about "gender politics". So when you posted "These kids ... are just anti-feminist" it was fair comment to point out that "I've never met a 14 yo who had the slightest interest in gender politics" btw if you're interested in learning about gender politics you could begin by reading Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch .

I've never met a 14 yo who had the slightest interest in gender politics. I agree with Graeme that "It's the fear of not belonging that is the primary driver at that age" which goes hand in hand with the rejection of difference. These feelings are instinctual and need to be addressed at an early age before they become ingrained.