DISQUS

glad to hear

Thanks for the dvd review, Mark, guess I won't bother with the US version (I already have the UK version which has more extras; wish somebody would've bothered including the director & stars' commentary track from the thai version, would've been intersting with eng. subs., I'm sure). By the way, I don't consider Chocolate quite up to Tony Jaa's standard, but for my taste it's still better, actionwise, than anything that's come out of Hong Kong recently.

When Martin Luther nailed his protest up to the church door in fifteen-seventeen, he may not have realised the full significance of what he was doing, but four hundred years later, thanks to him, my dear, I can wear whatever I want on my John Thomas,... [sniff]

That's what being a Protestant's all about. That's why it's the church for me. That's why it's the church for anyone who respects the individual and the individual's right to decide for him or herself.

I recall reading that it's not uncommon for Hong Kong action movies to be released in cut form even in theatres in Hong Kong, considering that they may've been initially released as a longer version in Taiwan; should we now demand only the longer Taiwan versions on dvd? I assume a company like DD releases the most complete versions of their films they could get their hands on, whatever they have the rights to.

I'm not familiar with Image Entertainment or Well Go USA; what titles of theirs' would you recommend checking out? Do you consider their stuff superior to DD's because their titles are uncut & in the original release language or what? What makes them better?

I don't get all this bitching about the quality of Dragon Dynasty's product. What other company are you comparing their work with? What other company distributing Hong Kong movies to the home video audience in the U.S. (or elsewhere, for that matter) has done a better job overall? Has any company in the U.S. come close to putting as much into Hong Kong movie dvds as DD has? Not that I'm aware of. I'm not saying DD is perfect but it seems to me they've tried to be by fans for fans, working with whatever material is available to them (while simultaneously having to worry about what releases will be profitable).
If you guys really feel such a need to gripe I hope you're also griping directly to DD at their website, where your complaints might actually be productive.
As for the scenes that were cut from Police Story 3: Supercop, I have a vhs copy of the uncut version; as I recall nothing of particular interest or importance was cut out for the U.S. edit... of course, the same can't be said for Miramax's cut (butchering?) of Armor of God 2: Operation Condor, that one deserved major dissent.

I agree on the experience side, but how should they deal with their logistics problem?

I took a Frontier flight a few weeks ago and asked about standby - the front desk was disappointed that they'd eliminated standy but the larger issue was that it was *too* successful. In an industry that expends a great deal of effort to make sure they've the right planes in the right place at the right time, they were finding it increasingly hard to accurately predict when and where they needed planes. They were frequently expecting full flights later in the day and would send larger planes only to find that huge numbers of people were getting onto the emptier earlier flights and that they'd end up over-resourcing the end of the day flights. While I find it frustrating, it was a argument that was hard to argue, especially with the increase over the last few years of high fuel costs and a tightening market. While it may not have been the best-solution from a user perspective, it's certainly a way to constrain the customer to follow through on their original intent that Frontier has planned for. Now, I'm not even going to try and defend the situation where Jeremy had an empty seat next to him, but the flip side is going to be that if they allow one exception to the change in policy, they'll need to keep it up and compromise their own efforts.

Guys Chicken,,,Donuts

Dude! Investors are *hot*! ... oh... wrong view. Damn.

Been a while since I looked at your blog JC, good to see you're still going strong. There's a word that comes to mind to describe your more relaxed approach to views you don't share: mellowing.


As I say quite a lot in discussion with Jonathan, Lee and Billy though, one of the problems I have with a lot of atheist thought I read is its tendency to polarise: science OR religion, God in control OR free will; God's power OR human effort. And I don't deny that religious believers don't sometimes fall into the same trap. In my reading and experience, though, mature Christian thinking has a capacity to reconcile and synthesise, recognising that reality is not one-dimensional but multi-faceted. And this goes right to the nub of the question of God: the epistemological q of whether scientific and rational enquiry are the only ways of knowing, or whether others such as revelation, mysticism, personal knowledge and others have validity too. I think they deserve exploration.



And I for one wouldn't say you were straight off condemned simply for not at present being able intellectually to believe in God. To my mind, salvation is rather broader in its reach and scope than that. God is love according to the Bible, and I think his love is greater and more profound than even some Christians sometimes realise.

Thanks for fixing!
Undomondo's still got the finest taste all over the blogosphere.

Greetings from Germany again!


Unfortunately "mp3space.com" reports "mp3 not found" for all of today's links.

The real live academic physicist who's a Christian has left a comment on the post 'A physicist on values' on my blog. It's comment 22. Welcome to read it (and surrounding comments!) when you're able. Plenty of atheist evangelism on my blog and others, so (in a good spirit) just doing a wee bit myself! Cheers.

Hi JC, knowing your interest in science, feel free to check out my latest post, a link to an essay on values by a Cambridge-educated physicist from my church who's taught in Glasgow University since the 70s. The essay itself's 4 pps, but it's sparked some comments from the atheists about evidence, in response to which he has pointed out that they 'ignore the fact that all evidence needs interpretation, otherwise it is just data. Interpretation requires a system of
meaning, which clearly is beyond "evidence".

An insight I think's worth pondering, and I've commented on further there myself.

I know from your recent comment n J's C&M; post that like me you're busy this week, but when you've a mo do drop by. I speak as a Christian who likes both to challenge and be challenged.

Peace at Christmas.

Interesting to get this perspective on Christianity in politics from your side of the pond. You may be aware how strikingly reticent Brit politics is about God compared with the US.

Golly, now I'm really curious to know about Tinky Winky and The Case of the Purple Purse. I wonder if JuleD could enlighten?
Informative post JC. And I'll try and get back with a fuller response on the 'C&M;' post on J's blog soon. Thanks for all the book ideas.

Hi JC, I'm sorry to hear of this too and, as with The Golden Compass (though my blog post may have slightly given the lie to this!), agree that knee-jerk reactions and assumptions aren't helpful.
I've finally just commented properly on Jonathan's 'Creationists v. moderates' - hopefully at least a little more measuredly than last time , so if you have a mo' do drop by and have a read (I read your comment there). Cheers.

Hi JC et al, bit late posting but saw the film last night and just posted on it, particularly commenting on the contrasting views of the church/Christianity between 'His Dark Materials and CS Lewis's Narnia Chronicles. Do drop by if you have a mo! Cheers.

I really didn't even notice the wrench thing until it was mentioned. It's not a huge problem (I'm using the theme right now - I'm still not sure if I like this or Solar 1.1 more), but I think I'd prefer the icons without the wrenches.

Anyways, keep making themes Spawn because they're awesome. Can't wait until you can add sounds like the official themes.

Spawn, your themes rule, definitely the best PS3 themes. I haven't downloaded this theme yet but I can already tell it's awesome. Looks like the same icons from Solar V1.1, which ain't a problem since those icons rule. And, of course, the background looks to be top-notch. Can't wait to try it out and figure out which background I like best, this or Solar V1.1.

Also, I love the fact that there's only one background per theme; I don't like when there's more than one background because there's always the one I prefer the most, and the backgrounds randomly change.

Awesome!!! Thank you so much for changing the icons, this will now be my PS3 theme for probably quite some time.

You'll see I unintentionally stirred up a bit of a storm on said blog; I hope we'll all be able to move forward more fairly and amicably! Cheers.

Hi JC (and Jonathan), I've checked out your blog a few times now and it looks interesting with lots of intriguing links too, so I'll be making a link on my own blog which you're welcome to visit any time.
We clearly disagree - I'm a Christian, you're an atheist - but I like to grapple with other perspectives. I'll be reading your Gratitude post in particular soon; just a little long to have been able to tackle yet.

On this post, all I'll say just now is that a feature of biblical teaching is paradox ie the truth may not be in either extreme, it can be in both - which I think is a perspective to take seriously.

I'm sometimes bothered when I see atheists supporting and egging each other on, and mocking or mishandling opposing views just because they agree with each other -at the expense of exercising proper critical reflection on each other's arguments. That sometimes seems to happen on Jonathan's blog For that reason, regarding you as a thoughtful sort of chap, I'd be keen to get your take on latter developments on the 'evidence & subjectivity' thread on J's blog - my recent comment is number 39. I just want to break up a little the perception atheists together can develop that reason and fairness are all on their side and not on the side of opposing views. The commentator I responded to is a friend so it's not personal attack ; I want to focus on the points made - of which, incidentally, mine were not comprehensive and can be expanded on in later posts and comments.

Cheers, I'll drop by again.

I really like the theme, definitely one of the better ones. The only thing I don't like the theme are the smaller default icons to the bottom right of the theme icons. For example, the music note icon, has another smaller music icon in the bottom right. If you can get rid of that and update it, I will definitely use the theme.