24 (day 5)

[Adnan]

Quite literally the best thing on tele ever. Seen all of them and every one is first class; intelligently and cleverly written, with enough action and suspense to last a lifetime...

The fifth installment is already shaping up to be excellent tv. The characters are great and again it looks like the story is going to be a belter!

I <3 Jack Bauer (but not in a gay fashion) (however I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being gay)

...

(or criticising fashion).

8)

[eLhabib]

24 huh? quite entertaining, yes, but do I have the time, willpower, and lack of social life to waste each and every friday night to this series? No.

I'd really like to get into it more, but the way it is spread out over so many weeks just doesn't do it for me...

[Adnan]

Ahh, it's on Sundays evenings in the Uk... Perfect time as there is f**k all else to do and it takes your mind off the fact that another week in work is only 12 hours away.

[Tomahawk]

I borrowed the first to seasons of 24 on DVD from my dad a couple of months ago. After watching the first 2 "hours" of the first season I just couldn't stop. I spent a whole night watching all of the first season of 24 and spent the following sunday watching the second season... Brilliant stuff! I couldn't be botherd watching the series on TV with all the commercials, but on DVD it's just great. Just take half a day off and watch a whole season... :D They're showing the third season on TV right now here in germany - I'll wait till it's available on DVD and then... whooops, there goes another sunday :dizzy

[Lance]

i like the series but have somehow never watched it regularly. i watched the first few episodes this year, but then the Olympics started and i haven't watched anything else. but 24 really is excellent.

---------

[really off topic][and in which Lance gets socio-politically active for a change]

''(but not in a gay fashion) (however I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being gay)''

maybe not openly saying so, but implying so. otherwise there would be no felt need to say this: ''(but not in a gay fashion)''.

ordinarily i let remarks like this pass by without comment, but currently i'm just not feeling like allowing myself to just accept these sideways insults to who i am. often people don't even realise that this sort of remark is an insult, yet the whole context of such remarks is an implication that who i am is wrong and unacceptable, otherwise why would one feel the need to deny being gay? [what conceivable need could there be to deny loving a fictional character in any way ?]

people who say such things think that they're being openminded and tolerant, but they're not. just because i haven't been shot or tortured or burnt at the stake yet doesn't mean that i'm not being hurt. not just by the comment, but by the whole social context of laws and attitudes that support such remarks.
[back on topic]

[Lion]

the preceding offtopic branch stems from limitations of the english language
I'm sure Adnan meant no slight and was simply clearing up that he meant love in the sense of "agape"(sp) rather than "eros" meaning a love that stems more from respect and admiration than from desire.

back to 24 though...

I have only caught bits and pieces of this show, but it just hasn't managed to hook me and I can't figure out why not.
but that is probably why it annoys me when I see "Jack Bauer is the new McGyver", which is a statement I have seen on more than a few sites

McGyver was much cooler

[Shem]

[....off topic again]
Lance, I know that you might feel offended but aren't you overreacting? What if he really didn't mean to offend anyone, but to say that he's not gay, before anyone wished to ask him that (if he didn't say that, leaving us all with 'I love him'). Is he supposed to feel bad about his good intentions, or is it you who are considering him not tolerant and 'so called openminded'? Lance, i'd like to talk to you about these things, reasonably.
[...and on topic]

24? what? :)

[Lance]

[not a limitation of the language. no language was necessary after ''I <3 Jack Bauer''.]

man, i loved McGyver; what that guy could do with a Swiss Army knife and some chewing gum was just awesome. using brains to get the job done instead of unavailable military-style firepower.

edit: [shem, no, i am not overreacting. i am sure he meant no offense, but nonetheless, he offended. why would anyone making remarks about liking a television character need to disclaim gayness? he's talking about loving a fictional character, not loving an actual human being. there was no need to clarify his state of love orientation. the remark was driven by fear of being perceived as the kind of person who is innately bad. or at the very least, fear that people whose opinion he cares about would think he is something he isn't or doesn't want to be and that that something is inherently undesirable. the remark also assumes that the readers of it would be stupid enough to think that saying ''i <3 jack bauer.'' meant anything other than that he likes the character. so the added qualifying remarks actually are insulting, no matter what their conscious intent may have been. they were driven by highly negative subconscious conditioning, which is something we should be aware of, which is why i commented on this. i've been negatively affected by this kind of social conditioning for 62 years. there is no reason for me to happily allow it to continue to exist unopposed by something more rational and loving, and less ignorantly judgemental. please note that i am not calling adnan ignorant, i am saying that i and he and most of us have been conditioned by a social attitude that is based on ignorance.]

[and please note that when i said ''i loved McGyver'' in this post, that says absolutely nothing about my loving either the character or the actor who played him in a romantic or sexual way. there are many kinds of love.]

[Shem]

belive me, there are 'stupid' (or curious, or simply not familiar with the series) people out there, who would ask him wether he's gay or not. such a pre-emptive strike (saying he;s not gay) is the thing I can understand, and I think that it's driven by the need of just telling these people that he;s not gay, not because he's afraid of being taken for a gay and being offended because of that afterwards. Call me naive, but i belive that people are tolerant, but it all still boils down to the social attitude that makes people act like idiots.

[Lance]

-continuing off topic: the social attitude that produces such actions is exactly what i have a problem with. it has been tolerated too long. that should no longer occur.-[i hope that what i just said actually made sense. i am quite drunk, having consumed approximately one ounce of 80 proof Castillo rum with Coca Cola Classic and one Michelob Light. yes, i know, light. blech. but that is what was available at the time. someone else's house and therefore someone else's taste. their taste in rum is good, though. much better than Bacardi.][yes, i know i am not good at absorbing alcohol {due to light weight, approx. 125 pounds and metabolism of Tasmanian Devil Weed Eater}, so it doesn't take much to produce a large drunk effect.]
[adieu for now]

[Asayyeah]

on topic : I ve bought season 4 DVD in english with subtitile english when i was in Scotland, i must say i really like the serie, tremendeous action , good writing. ( and a good practise for my english/us )

off topic : i would like to see a season 6 based on a terrorist flying attack on Kai system . Jack Bauer vs FFF team :pirate. Will he be as fast as us ahahah

[eLhabib]

offtopic (sorry)

I have to totally side with Lance here. The point is, if I say 'I love XXXmale character', and someone therefore thinks I am gay, why should I care? I don't think there's anything wrong with being gay, so if someone thinks I am gay because of my statement which he misunderstood, that's fine with me. He can think that if he wants, and I am not offended by that. The fact that Adnan had to clarify his sexual orientation implies that he does care if people will think he is gay, and therefor says (without actually saying it) that being gay, for him, is wrong. Hence the offense.

Hope that's clear now.

[Adnan]

Whoa there! :cowboy Firstly, I certainly didn't intend to open such a can of worms!

Lance, I'm sorry that you took my post as "sideways insults" as no offence was intended. Reading your comments I can see where you are coming from, and I apologise for the offence I have cause. :redface:

As Lion said, I was purely clearing up what I meant by "<3" as I have known it to be taken the wrong way in the past.

Also, if we're being pedantic, I didn't state my sexual orientation (eLhabib) or my sex, so why would someone assume I am male??? Perhaps a little sexism there, girls play video games too!

It all boils down to the issue of knowing what can cause offence to someone without being in their position / having their experiences / knowing their background etc.

For example, with the issue of the Danish cartoons in the news recently, from a non-religious point of view, some people fail to see how a Muslim can be offended. A "they should just rise above it" tone is often taken but unless you are a Muslim how can you understand what offence has been caused? :?

Very interesting debate, with some interesting opinons and arguments. As someone who is relatively new here I hope I haven't alienated myself to anyone.

PS - 24 was bad ass again last night. Best thing on tele by a country mile imo. :D

[Lance]

[on topic]i've been watching the olympics for the last 17 days and have missed 2 or 3 eps of 24. pity.

[off topic]
i've stated earlier here and in a reply to your PM that you did not insult me on purpose and owe me no apology for such a thing. i commented so that people can see something of what such remarks do to 'us'. for many years, i let such remarks pass without comment and therefore contributed to the maintenance of a wrong cultural attitude. i figure that if i'm going to help change things before i die, then i better get the **** started. :)
i do get tired of hearing every day of my life that i'm lower than ****.

[back to topic again]

[Lance]

wo, i paralysed that thread for days, hm?

i watched 24 tonight, double episodes, and CTU headquarters is in biG trouble. invaded by a terrorist. some personnel killed. and that includes some longterm members of the team. and of course all of this upsets their efforts to find the toxic gas and which targets it will be used against.

[Adnan]

I would like to add at this point, that if someone is going to discuss plot / story elements they should probably warn of potential spoilers.

This could potentially ruin someone's enjoyment...

[Lance]

i forgot that you may not see these episodes in other countries for a while yet. sorry about that. i gave very little away but perhaps still too much. [though it is only the sort of thing that would be shown in previews for upcoming episodes]