oh thank goodness I was starting to worrymichael_1234576

Hakuna matata, my friend.

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

[spoiler] With that greeting out of the way, I must say, the new change quickly lost it's luster. Many are using it as a free pass to be a jackass towards others. [/spoiler]

Mega-Mustaine

We can answer this by analyzing the song, Today Was A Good Day:

"Just waking up in the mornin gotta thank God
I don't know but today seems kinda odd
No barkin from the dogs, no smog
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog"

Well, he's clearly Christian, and God is uplifting. He's thrown off by the potential of the day, his street is silent for once and he can breath easily. His loving mother cooked him a delicious breakfast. This was NINETEEN years ago. So what has changed? Now he lives in a nice home in the hills, probably on a property with so much land even if his neighbors HAVE dogs he probably can't hear em.

"I gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And if I hit the switch, I can make the (bottom) drop
Had to stop, at a red light
Lookin in my mirror and not a jacker in sight
And everything is alright
I got a beep from Kim, and she can (do it) all night"

So here we can acertain that he's proud of his vehicle or "ride". He has hydraulics installed and can make the car move in a vertical motion. He's nervous because he's afraid that there might be a criminal behind him intent on robbing him of his possesion, however, there IS no "jacker" in sight. Moreover, Kim, a girl with whom he is intimately aquainted, has contacted him for what we can only assume will be a late-night game of strip-twister ...

So what's changed? Wellll.... now he can afford 50 "drop-tops" if he wanted to, and because he lives in a good neighborhood, he doesn't have to worry as much about crime. He's now married with children and its been shown that married people tend to be happier than single "players".

"Creep to the pad and hit the showers
Didn't even get no static from the cowards
Cause just yesterday them fools tried to blast me
Saw the police and they rolled right past me
No flexin, didn't even look in a brother's direction
as I ran the intersection

(...)

Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A.
Today was a good day"

Here we can see in the lyrics that he spits, that his life is surrounded by violence and bigotry on all sides. He speaks of "haters" who are yellow-bellied good-for-nothings who tried to gang up on him not more than 24 hours ago, but today who scurry away like a pack of vermin. Another noteworthy event is the advantageous apathy of the local peace officers who, while not exemplifying due dilligence, allow Mr. Cube to make the honest mistake of not stopping at a red light. Lastly, and most importantly, is his declaration that not a single individual with whom Mr. Cube is aquainted with lost their lives on that auspicious day of days. He surmises that, today is, in fact, one of the better days in his life.

His success and wealth have allow Mr. Cube to move "up outta the ghetto" and establish a fruitful career as a musician and actor. No longer does he need to try to spot "jackers" or enter into fisticuffs (or worse, a gun-duel) with those who wear different "colors" than he. If he accidentally transgresses against the local vehicular laws and gets stopped by a "po-po", the officer is more likely to request an autograph than to beat him senseless. Now that he has millions he can afford the best health care for those he loves, staving off the cold hand of death. In a word, his life has transformed. Before it was a perpetual battle against foes both seen and unseen, from all avenues and which put him in a state of mind that was survivalistic bordering on nihilistic. Today he can sit beside his clean, olympic-sized pool with some Hennessy on the rocks, gaze into the loving eyes of his wife, chew on a "blunt" and watch his kids play and splash. He can look past his estate and down into the Los Angeles basin into the smoggy and gloomy pit-trap that was his stomping grounds of yesteryear. He can look into the past, look back to where he came from and be reminded of how far he's really come.

In short; he's just had a LOT more good days ...

Thank you.

I can see the attorney's name being blanked out, after all he coulda sued for defamation (or is it libel?). Not sure about those other words, though.

So I'm back. (yay!!)

I know, I know. Wow, mortalcoil chose to bestow his unfathomable wisdom and gregarious, yet exacting personality upon the masses @ Off-Topic yet again? Yes. Yes I did. I know you missed me, so let's just get all the back-patting, ego-massaging and kudos outta the way, what say you?

Where was I? Well, good of you to ask. I took a hiatus to focus on school, play LOTS of video games and gain a wistful yearning to return to this oh so familiar place. The main reason I left, truth be told, is the second part of this post. So I read the new FAQS and I am downright amaz-za-zed ... WOW. It looks like GS admin took the proverbial stick outta their butts and allowed some much needed relaxation of the rules. They were, ahem, for lack of a better term, Draconian. I can't tell you how often I was modded for something silly, spastic or just a bit misguided.

So we can apparently now post about the hottness of such actor/actress, the validity of this religion or that, or even troll to our hearts content? WOW. :shock:

For those of you who were here during those oppresive, dystopic times, and who are still here now, I ask you; Is it too good to be true, or is it really that loose now? Can we now speak without fear of being admonished, punished, even banished?

Has Off-Topic finally realized it's true potential?

What's with metal music and their skulls, death, long dyed black hair, etc? Every album cover I see of a metal band has that kind of stuff. Does all metal music have to relate to anger and darkness, or is there any positivity in the themes of these songs? I mean I understand the appeal on Halloween, but why is it a trend? I'm actually just wondering, no other intentions. :P

rubber-chicken

I find your assumption mildly offensive. I understand that the general slant is towards darkness, but not all metal bands are preoccupied with death and skulls and **** Here are some:

Judas Priest

Mastodon (one of my favs)

Tool

There are many others. Depends on your idea of what metal means. Buckethead, Audioslave, Floater ... ect.

I'd also like to add that metal might be generally dismal or demonic; in a sense very "black", but why is that such a bad thing? I feel most music tends to be a little too chipper and deliberately uplifting. If you look at the landscape of music, it tends to be disproportionately "light" and airy. I feel you can't have light without dark, or know pleasure without knowing what pain is. Metal is the counterweight to keep things in balance.

It's like a ying-yang thing, ya dig?

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

God this charlie sheen stuff can't end soon enough.

BATTOSAI76

You said it.

Are you kidding me this Charlie Sheen thing is the best thing since Brittney shaved her hair off and attacked that car with an umbrella. If you're sick of hearing about it, unplug yourself. It's nobody's fault but your own. I myself rarely give mainstream media much attention, but Charlie is a f-ing 3-ring circus unto himself. I've rarely experience anything so entertaining. We as a society are psychic vampires and vicarious carrion-eaters. We love it when reporters regurgitate some theme for days, weeks on end 24 hours a day.

America is a overweight, overfed baby-bird that will NEVER leave the nest, and media is momma bird come home with a big, juicy worm that is Sheen -- eat up while it's still squirming.

Oh and that product is good to buy, once, as a gag gift for someone's desk.

I like rooibos the best - it's got the most pleasant flavour as far as I'm concerned, although I do like black teas once in a while. Green I can't stand - they all have a really weird, vaguely bitter aftertaste, even the expensive ones.DJ_Lae

I have a chocolate mint tea with rooibos. It's pretty tasty.

Me LOVES Earl Grey. I love most black teas. I have one called 9 Bend Black Dragon that's not as flavorful as Earl Grey, but it's surprisingly mellow and tasty for a tea with the cafeine equivilent of two cups of coffee.

I also love most green teas, but plain to me they have a weird fishy taste; I tend to stick with flavored green teas like paired with raspberry or mint. The one green tea I drink as often as black tea is called Genmaicha. It's a traditional Japanese tea with rosted rice added to it, which gives it a smoky flavor. Imagine green tea with a dash of sesame seed oil.

Mmmm good.