Lateralus

There's no doubt that Nirvana wouldn't have been as big if not for Cobain's death, but they were huge while he was still alive anyway. It's a tough pick for me. Pearl Jam are easily the more musically talented of the two, but I don't know, there's something about Nirvana.

I actually enjoy most of Load. It's not all fantastic, and there's some god awful tracks like Cure and Ronnie, but I really enjoy songs like 2x4, The House That Jack Built, Hero of the Day, Bleeding Me and The Outlaw Torn. Admittedly ReLoad isn't as good, but it has its moments. Fixxxer is probably the highlight.

The point he's making is that you can't judge an entire genre by how it's portrayed in mainstream media or by any one artist. If you like punk (was that you?) then that's great, but it has its fair share of Lil' Waynes too.

The two scariest moments I can remember were probably quite exaggerated since I was fairly young at the time, but scary anyway. The first was being caught in an undertow and being bashed against jagged rocks by fierce waves on a holiday in France. I don't know how severe it would have been if my dad hadn't saved me, but I ended up swallowing some amount of water and emerged covered in cuts. The other time was on a munro (3000+ foot hill/mountain) somewhere in the north of Scotland. We got caught in some awful weather and I basically had to lie flat and cling to some rocks otherwise I might have been blown off the top. A more recent occasion (though still a few years ago) was when I was attacked with some people with knuckle dusters and some blunt objects. I didn't really fear for my life, but I would rather it hadn't happened obviously. Managed to get away with only a few scars and a broken nose.

There's no war to be waged anymore, everyone seems set in their opinion which is sort of sad I suppose. All I will say is that some of the smartest people on this forum are known to dabble in soft drugs and hallucinogenics.

Warrior, Ginger, Astraline, Barihawk and Venomai I suppose. I have to say I like Jackattack a lot as well, despite disagreeing with almost everything he says.

It depends how "hardcore" you are. Plenty of hardcore metalheads and ex-Metallica fans would chastise you for including their self titled with their 'good' stuff. Other people won't even go as far as And Justice for All because they think it's too up it's own [wagon]. Load and ReLoad (to a lesser extent) are actually really good albums. I'd call The Outlaw Torn from Load one of the best pieces of music they've ever written.

I've been on a miniature Woody Allen spree after watching Annie Hall again. Watched Manhattan and then Bullets Over Broadway, and loved both of them. John Cusack playing a Woody Allen character sounded too good to miss.

Ha, I didn't think you knew much about current British music, guess I was wrong. Justice will obviously be fun, and Babyshambles will most likely be as brilliantly shambolic as ever. I really HATE the Last Shadow Puppets though, the music comes across as so pretentious. What do you think of the Yeasayer album? When I heard 2080 for the first time I absolutely loved it.

It'll be interesting to hear The Unforgiven III. I really enjoy II, though I think I might be in a minority. Terrible album title anyway.

Wow. Just curious, where are you from? Scotland.

Maybe it's a cultural thing. Police here never put too much effort into a chase if you were caught drinking on the streets when I was younger. I don't think I was ever caught, and I've had dogs set on me and been chased along a footpath by a riot van. I loved the day I turned 18 so much.

I don't understand why you posted this, it kind of pales in comparison to the rest of the topic, not to mention I would call it a sensible thought (depending on why they were after you). Running away from the police is just what kids do, especially drunk kids.

I've got no problem with the idea of tattoos, but sometimes the tattoos people get do bother me if they're cliche or just stupid in any way. Lots of people around here (including some friends of mine) get tattoos of some kind of Scottish flag or the Lion Rampant, and I think they look unbelievably tacky. When I tell them, they just say they don't care what anyone else thinks, which I suppose is the right attitude to have. That said, I have been considering getting "Over my dead body" tattooed somewhere, just because it'll be hilarious for anyone who has to see me dead and naked.

I wouldn't call it evil, more metally deranged. I'm assuming here that his ability to feel for other people (empathy) is mentally compromised. I think there could be something to it considering the details of the case. Real evil to me would be having a sound mind and still choosing to kill someone in this way. Having said that, I'm not trying to find excuses for this guy. He should be locked up away from society because there is every chance he will do it again (especially if he has no empathy and can show no remorse). Yeah, psychosis is the key word. My understanding of psychology is amateur at best, but I think random killings like this are associated with psychosis.

I found this in my bookmarks.

I thought Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack to There Will Be Blood was quite excellent.

It's not like meat comes in burger or hot dog form naturally anyway, it's just a delivery system we've invented.

Ha, I'd forgotten all about high school politics.

I really don't like any shoes other than leather ones. I almost always wear Chelsea boots.

But can't I say that adaptation is just "fate" in disguise? You can, and you have been, but why?

My point was that your reasons for believing in fate can be explained without having to use fate. Food tastes good because we've either adapted to like it, or we adapt it to suit our tastes, the earth's great for us because we've been here through our whole life as a species and have adapted to it. Why make the assumption that it's down to fate? I'm not trying to have a go or anything, just trying to understand your reasons. P.S. I can see this discussion being quite a close parallel to the bible and god threads.

You mean by thinking the world is perfect by accident? Not by accident. Things like evolution by natural selection explain why the world suits us so well without needing to bother with any kind of fate. Of course you can say fate set that into action, but there's no need for it.

It just seems like a complete non-sequitur. Couldn't you have exactly the same world and world view without putting fate into the equation?

You should read Candide by Voltaire, it's basically satire based on this position (which could be described as Leibnizian optimism). You sound like Dr. Pangloss.