Agamemnon

Precisely.

Mine was ... mixed. Computer broke down again, got some excellent presents, had some excellent food. I am now the proud owner of a USB memory stick, the Two Towers boxed DVD set with the limited-edition Gollum statue, some not-so-bad books and one nifty computer game.

I'm there right now, in very mixed mood. Anyone feeling like joining me?

ALMOST 6 HOURS???

That'd be...

*Aga is speechless*

Aye! Rejoice!

I took my own advice and paused to think upon my answer a bit before typing it out.

In the past year, I went back to school after six months of laying about the house like a pair of dirty socks, I learned some things (including the revelation that I really loathe working with computers).

I've been pretty bad at times, mentally. On some days I did nothing more than stared out a window and waited for the night. On others... Helped out by words both gentle and harsh from people grown weary of my self-pity I have found a measure of if not peace then at least a momentary tranquility.

I said goodbye, this year, to something that has haunted me like an addiction, remaining tantalyzingly out of reach at the corner of my view. It is too early to tell, but i hope it will be gone for good.

All in all, I'm a different man to the one who sat in this chair a year ago, a touch sadder mayhaps, but definitely a touch wiser. Friends I have met, often in places and guises utterly unexpected. By any measure, I could have done better, done more, but yet...

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

So, I hope I have not bored you overmuch with these musings. I wish all of you a merry christmas and a most excellent year 2004.

So, it is Christmastime again. What actually happened in the last year? Are you happy with the things you did, choices you made? Was 2003 a "good year"?

Pause and reflect.

Piracy is an excuse to be lazy or greedy. Nothing more.

Where does it say we have these things?

I do not believe we do, in other words. On the other hand, I am wasting our time by this argument.

I think this is all just an indication of the fact that civilization is something that is fundamentally detrimental to both the planet and the human species. To make it "work better", I reckon about 90% of the world population ought to be exterminated. There are TOO MANY people in this world, period.

*shrug*

That's just a wild theory I thought up late one night when I was feeling self-loathing again.

an EXTRA HOUR!!!??

My gods... It will be....  

The Bestest movie ever!!!

Gaddaffy did stage that one PR stunt a few years back when Libya paid the ransom for a group of Western hostages held in Malaysia by Abu Sayyaf (including French, Germans and two Finns, IIRC).

I'll believe Gaddhafi's benign intent only after I see some definite results above a simple proclamation. I suspect outright necessity to be a bigger motivation than anything else. After all, the list of dictators is about to be deprived of its long-standing member, soon to be dead by firing squad (if he's lucky) or stoning (if not). Gad-daffy Duck needs some new pals, methinks.

How about just shooting this debate on the neck and be done with it? It's not like anyone ever changed their opinion on gun control based on arguments like this one.

I've already made my mind on the matter, and it seems to me that you all have, too. Just to stir up controversy (and because I'm bored), I'll say that I think Michael Moore got it right.

Yeah, make sure there will be no chance of anyone accusing you of impartiality or anything. Play it straight, play it hard.

Best. Movie. Ever.

Nuff said.

All right, there were some flaws and a couple of snags in the storyline that will hopefully be smoothed out with the extra minutes within the final DVD version, but all in all I have never spent three and a half hours better in my entire life. My biggest gripe was having to pay 11 eurobucks for my ticket. It was worth it, of course, but I couldnt afford the popcorn.

How about Overdrawn at the Memory Bank? Not really Cyberpunk, but such a horrible, horrible movie you'll be laughing about it for days afterwards.

LMAO, that was one of the more hilarious parodies I've ever seen. To the point, too.

My desktop is essentially full, no room for another icon. It is also very uninteresting.

So, since all criminals have weapons, all other citizens ought to have weapons too?

Well, I'm afraid of walking down city streets in daylight these days (yet I have to, every day to go to school). I'm terrified of being robbed, I suspect everyone I meet after dark of being a mugger and think every foreigner is a potential fanatic suicide bomber.  

If I carried a gun, the only thing different is that I would be additionally afraid of shooting myself in the leg.

BTW, I think this is a fruitless subject for debate.

On a conceptual level, the concept is an interesting one, but not something I can retain an active interest in for more than about 15 seconds.

Well, I sort of understand your point. Of course, you can't blame Finland for anything, because we've been a country for a mere 86 years. =)

Well, I'm better today, though still tired and feeling weak.

I'm going to agree with Arch on this one. We ought to be looking at the future instead of the past, and the UN must pull itself together to form a credible, active body on the world political scene.

I think having Saddam tried by an Iraqi court will be an important statement for the citizens and something that must urgently be done. After that, he can be imprisoned, exiled, take to an international court or slapped on an island somewhere, Napoleon-style.

I would like to point out that I do not think he should be executed, as is likely to happen when the Iraqi people judge him. I oppose the death penalty in all its forms, even for people like Saddam. Until we can give life to those who don't deserve to die, we shouldn't deal out death to those who don't deserve to live.

all right, now for another fragment of the same story.

--

Inside the dark shop it was almost quiet. Between the large stack of damp cardboard boxes there was a small table, holding a small electric lamp and a makeshift ashtray made of a broken wine bottle.

In the small, cramped and hot room there were three people, two sitting at the table, one pacing around nervously.

"Are you sure you can deliver?" asked the owner of the store, a man by the name of Severadze. "I have heard... otherwise," he continued, flicking his cigarette butt at the ashtray, but missing.

The woman sitting across from him did not answer right away. Instead, her hand shot out to grasp the arm of the third person, a young man who seemed unable to remain still for more than a second. Forced to stop by what seemed an unyielding grip, the man turned towards the other two.

"Who's been talking, Rado?" she asked, with a voice like velvet, but hiding an edge of malice. "Abell again?"

Wiping his forehead with a rag, Radovic Severadze took a moment to answer. "Maybe. Does it matter?"

"Yes," Anne Vescini replied. "We'll do our half of the bargain, you'd better do yours."

Having said that, she rose to leave, her silent companion at her heels. As they emerged from the gloom into the blinding radiance of a West Coast summer the young man spoke.

"We're being set up here."

"I know," Anne said, her eyes scanning the street. When they fell onto the huddled figure of a ragged man sitting across the street, her face broke into a faint smile. "There's someone we have to meet, darling," she whispered.