Posts by Josh Addison

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  • Field Theory: Things that go bump in the…,

    I borrowed Silent Hill 2 off a friend - played it up until the first encounter with Pyramid Head, thought "yeah, I don't need to do this to myself", gave it back, slept soundly....

    Re: "Blink" - very much so. Reminds me of the old Buffy episode with the Gentlemen, where everyone loses their voice. That one managed to be both the funniest and the scariest episode of the season - possibly the series.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Things that go bump in the…,

    Yeah, The Exorcist would probably be top of my list. I saw the Director's Cut when it came out in the thertres - and by "saw", I mean "peeked at through my fingers".

    That viewing contained some of the best audience reactions I've ever seen. The bit when the priest is sitting at home alone at night listening to the spooky backwards talking he's recorded, which is then interrupted by the telephone ringing VERY LOUDLY made the entire theatre jump, followed by a round of nervous laughter...

    And the first time Regan starts acting genuinely weird in front of doctors (huge bulge forming in her throat, lifting her dress and screaming obscenities, etc) - as soon as that scene ended, there was complete silence, broken shortly after by someone up the front exclaiming "what the FUCK?" Cue more nervous laughter...

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Cullen investment,

    Two years ago, the inorganic colelction came just after we'd moved into our house, giving us the perfect opportunity to haul out a lifetime's worth of rubbish the previous owners had stuffed under the deck.
    We also put out the old BBQ they'd left behind, which was little more than a heap of rust. We were then a little surprised when the heap was snatched up right quick, but the perfectly sturdy and serviceable wooden trolley it was mounted in was left behind. Weird.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Island Life: The Prime Minister will see…,

    "The sky is blue!"
    "Yeah, but grass is green!"
    "No, the SKY is BLUE!"
    "God damn it, GRASS IS GREEN!!"
    "BLUE! BLUE, I TELL YOU!"
    "GREEN! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

    I think I've got the hang of this - can I play, too?

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: Nerd Dad,

    Back when I was at Uni, and there was more than one comic shop in the CBD, I wandered in to Pop Culture and saw that they had a decent chunk of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run for $50 and the complete set of Miracleman/Marvelman for $75. Cash-strapped student that I was, I had to choose between the two - that was difficult. I went for the Swamp Things in the end (more comics for less money), but kind of wished I'd chosen the Miraclemans once I found a few issues of that elsewhere...

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: Effectively Friday,

    But isn't there a point at which 'he deserved to be yelled at' morphs into 'whoa, but not *that* much yelling!'?

    I agree, and I think it may be that the difference betwwen justified and unjustified yelling may just be a quantitative one - it only takes so long to communicate that you're A) angry and B) justified in being angry - after that, you're moving into "being a dick" territory.

    That said, Bale's rant did seem to be qualitatively dickish as well - the sarcasm, threats and "seriously, we're done professionally" stuff couldn't be written off as just venting. I, of course, MHO.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Island Life: Vendor says sell!,

    I'd intrigued to know what the banks are saying to people who say "I know I signed up for this break fee, I know you are entitled to charge the break fee, but if you do then my business and all of that interest is going elsewhere."

    Yeah, that's Plan B - my first attempt to feel things out resulted in a call to the bank that basically went:

    "Hi, look, I've got a fixed mortgage with you, is there anything I can do to take advantage of these stupidly low rates? Like, anything?"

    "Well, your break fee is [ridiculously huge sum of money], so, um.. yeah..."

    He literally just trailled off at that point, leaving me to ask "so nothing, then?" I had kind of expected that - I acknowledge that it is unreasonable to expect a bank to go back on a contract in a way that disadvantages itself - but the fact that the guy wouldn't explicitly say to me that I had no options makes me think that perhaps I do...

    (My personal situation: partner and I bought our first home just under two years ago, when rates were starting to shoot up. Obviously, fixed was the way to go at that time. We fixed for 5 years on the advice of various people, who said that as first timers, we'd want to fix for a good while to begin with so that we could budget and there wouldn't be any surprises. As a whole bunch of people will doubtless be saying at the moment: if I knew then what I know now...)

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: Trading Trade Me?,

    I bought Bishop Berkeley's doormat on TradeMe. It says "there's no place."

    See, I get that one, as well as the geek jokes. Finally my MA in Philosophy is earning its keep.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: Trading Trade Me?,

    Lately I've been using Trademe to get a few bucks for stuff I want to get rid of - eBay's not much use for that unless both sides of the transaction are local. That said, the people you meet on Trademe can be bloody annoying. I sold off a bunch of old PlayStation games and other crap last year to help pay the Xmas credit card bills - practically every auction I put up was met with questions starting "Would you consider..." asking for something other than what I was offering. I sold one large and heavy item, having specified "buyer to pick up", to have the guy I sold it to e-mail me and say "hi, I'm in Tauranga..."

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

  • Hard News: Trading Trade Me?,

    Imagine how bad John Key's cast will smell when it comes off.

    It will smell of victory. Or sweat, I guess.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report

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