Posts by George Alvarez3

@ analogpilot16: Wow, another absolute stroke of genius from an eleven-year-old.

I mean, just think about the sheer math of it... what are the actual odds stacked against Batman?

David Price5 said:we're talking about comic books and superpowers here. You know damn well they belong on this list. 😁

Yeah, whatever, but look... besides, what about the others I mentioned? Are you really putting Spiderman, Hulk, and Fantastic 4 in the same bucket as Unbreakable, V for Vendetta, and Hancock? Or maybe The Dark Knight, who's actually close to them. Don't think so. 👎

What’s even the point of having Unbreakable here? That movie doesn't belong in this conversation at all.

Anyway,

Unbreakable, Hancock, the first Batman, The Dark Knight, and V.

Gladiator was an absolute knockout. Just straight-up lethal. I’d honestly throw my vote toward American Beauty, but if we're picking just one... well...

From this specific lineup, obviously, because my own personal list of the decade's best looks a little different.

Yo, that's actually a killer idea. I'm gonna go ahead and check them out. Thanks.

If there’s already a thread about this somewhere on this forum, please just route me to it because I honestly can't find it—and I don't even trust myself when I say it isn't here.

Anyway, the time has come for my brother to check into a proper recovery commune for detox. He's basically a total pill addict, a real lowlife. He's been home for over six months now and progress is practically zero. Sure, they're tapering his meds, but in direct proportion to that, his weight is ballooning and his laziness is hitting levels I didn't think were humanly possible. Then comes the manipulation and the sheer negligence. Once he convinced everyone he could handle his own medication, he pulled a fast one: he found where Mom hides the stash while she's out, swiped a blister pack of every single pill he's prescribed, and wolfed them all down in a single day. So, I've been trying to hunt down some actual lists or websites with decent info, but I'm coming up empty. Plus, I have no clue what people actually mean by a "rehab center" versus some "Mickey Mouse" setup.

The kind of commune we need for him is the strict, locked-down type. You know, places with a rigid schedule, mandatory work programs, constant supervision of his movements, and zero chance to slack off wandering through cities. Most importantly, he shouldn't be able to hoard hundreds of pills; he needs the bare minimum, nothing more, and definitely no methadone.

We don't have the cash for high-end private facilities or sending him halfway across the country unless we can find something free. We thought about looking into those quasi-religious communes where faith is the foundation, but he'd hate it because he's an atheist and can't stand that stuff. Still, the place absolutely has to be outside of Washington, D.C. We heard there might be a good one out in California, but I have no idea how to search for it or who to talk to.

So, I'm asking if anyone knows of any lists of communes, any solid sources of info regarding this—or better yet, specific recommendations. Please start a thread. Everything I've managed to dig up in this short window is:

http://www.recovery-info.org/FO/index.php

And honestly, I don't even know if that site is worth anything.

Brandon Newman95 said:We used to play Border Patrol, but I can't even remember how you did the field subtractions—was it something like that math game Schoolhouse or what? And man, those Hershey bars we never actually had here, they were always imported from Austria, so when those old guys would bring home a whole pack, you were only allowed to grab one single piece.
We actually respected our parents and teachers back then, but now you hear professors complaining that every new generation just gets progressively worse. They say they’re genuinely relieved when they get a decent class instead of a total circus where everything and anything goes (I mean, things weren't perfect before either, but it felt less extreme). Everything feels so much more depleted now, and there's more poverty among the students too. Honestly, I think my generation, born between '95 and '99, was actually one of the wealthier ones compared to kids today, even though we dealt with all that war chaos and students being displaced or fleeing... we still managed to pull it together.

My old elementary teacher lives in my neighborhood, so we run into each other sometimes. She tells me she has six classes, and every single one of them has at least 15 kids living in extreme poverty. These kids are so desperate that she literally doesn't know how to motivate them to even try anymore. (On the bright side, she absolutely loved our class because our monthly behavior grade average was basically a perfect score, and we were untouchable in sports and always the most creative. Ha ha. Long story, whatever, not really relevant).

shadowtrucker18 said:A little pee-pee!?

I’ve always felt a bit embarrassed watching that, mostly because it just reminds me of... well, peeing. I suppose I've never actually given that soda a try myself.😁

For me, it just looked like... well, you know. And that’s exactly why I ended up drinking it. 🤣

Gerald Walker7 said:So why aren't they playing? Seriously, kids play in preschool or maybe during those first few years of elementary school. For me, being grounded by my parents was death—not being allowed outside with my friends hanging out in front of the apartment building. But how am I supposed to punish a 14-year-old who just stopped playing and going outside back when she was 9? Trying to force her out is harder than trying to spot Bigfoot!!! And honestly, almost all her peers are the same way; it's just that kids living out in the rural areas are a bit different. It doesn't matter if my husband and I tell her she needs to move around, that she needs to socialize, that staying inside isn't healthy... Sometimes a few of them will gather in front of the building and just sit there for two hours straight. Sometimes I want to call them in, but I won't because I've got my hands full with the baby and the weather is beautiful, so I just tell them, "Go for a walk." You know what she does then? 🙄 And I don't even let her hang on the computer, so that's not even the reason she's stuck inside. She and her friends talk every single day on the phone or texting instead of getting some fresh air, so I know she isn't the only exception.

(This new Firefox is killer, blew my circuit breaker, and it even remembered everything I wrote)

Well, actually, while I was typing that stuff above, I had kids aged 1 to 7 in my head. I don't know how old yours are or where exactly you guys are located. It would take me some time to pull together arguments for that specific situation since, over here at the local park, hundreds of neighborhood kids pass through every day (and five times that on weekends...) who have all that stuff psychologists and church groups claim distracts kids (computers, PlayStations...) and ruins them. That is NOT true. It's just a small number of kids finding interest in that stuff, just like in any other era. Look, there really is a chance that a certain group of people just happened to end up in the same place. The question is, what kind of people are they in contact with? Like, schools and stuff. Personally, I'd always rather stay home and do something than go out. Man, when I was younger, I was outside more, but now that I'm older, I'd much rather be home. My whole social circle feels the need to head out at least three times a week. Definitely on Saturdays. Guys love hitting the sports fields, for example.

Dana Miller2 said:So, you’ve officially become your parents. It happens to the best of us... we all end up complaining about how spoiled kids are today like we weren't the exact same way back then. 🙄😁
If you’re actually sane and level-headed, you'll set some real boundaries, and everything will turn out fine... I'm just sick of people blaming the schools, the Secretary of Education, society at large, TV, or even big banks for how kids turn out... at the end of the day, it's on the parents.
The sad truth is most people—including parents—are just idiots 🙂.
Honestly, the only real difference between parents now and parents back then is that nowadays there are more ways to fail and way more stuff to buy at Target.

Exactly. Like the other day, I’m standing in the hallway at some state university waiting for a professor. Guy is retiring next year, so he’s basically checked out. Suddenly, these mom and dad types swoop in, begging him not to let their twenty-year-old (!!) daughter face the review board, but to just give her one more retake instead. The guy tells them, "Look, don't get mad, but your precious daughter was screaming in my face and insulting me after failing an exam four times—exams everyone else passed—so I’m not doing her any favors."

Not even five or six minutes in and the mother is already in tears, acting like it’s not her kid’s fault she had a "hard childhood" (!!) because once (!!) when she was three years old (!!) she spent three days (!!) alone in a hospital while sick, and they feel so bad for her and love her so much that it's not her fault.

My whole group is just watching this drama unfold. We’re ranging from 18 to 42, and we all pretty much agreed she’s just a spoiled brat. Honestly, if we had the chance, we'd slap some sense into her rather than giving her another shot. And this is just one twenty-year-old woman; don't even get me started on the stuff I see with kids aged 10 to 14. I’m standing at a bus stop and hear some third-grader threatening to beat up other kids just because they were talking to his little girlfriend(!!), and it’s a girl who was just standing right there. It goes everywhere. Besides, this entitlement shows up in tiny ways too, like how young gamers don't care about actual game development anymore; they only care about graphics (which is cute—pleasing to the eye, satisfying to the brain—hence, the definition of being spoiled).

And btw... someone typed above that kids don't know how to entertain themselves or play alone... khm, that's just wrong. Play is innate to a child; it happens naturally and a kid always finds something to do. The problem is solely and exclusively the parenting.

Roger Morgan4 said:Honestly, the concept itself isn't half bad. If implemented correctly, it could actually provide a way to keep online predators under control. It might even offer a genuine layer of protection for kids navigating the web, keeping them out of harm's way.

That said, we run into a massive hurdle: any such test would need to establish clear criteria. How exactly do you define "proper" behavior? Who gets to decide what constitutes acceptable conduct versus something else? It’s one of those ideas that sounds brilliant on paper—theoretically perfect, really—but when you look at the practical application, it seems almost impossible to pull off.

...not...

Besides, people, everyone has an IP address. Once things go south, they just track your IP and boom—you're done.

Hey. Anyone got the lowdown on what a vasectomy actually runs me here in Chicago?

(Tried hitting the search button but for some reason, the site doesn't seem to care about the word vasectomy at all.)

Oh great, yet another remake. Just what we needed—more absolute garbage. Thrilling.

It’s just a cultural thing, honestly. Or maybe even just down to the creator.

Yeah, by the way, I honestly think it’s just plain rude and low-class to walk out of a movie theater halfway through, no matter how bad the flick is.

They freeze the frame and slap an English subtitle on it? What kind of crap is that? Just let the damn movie play. Why do you have to interrupt every single time someone speaks?

Omg, it’s all about emphasizing the rage and the chaos. Pretty original stuff, honestly—instead of just mindless destruction, loud music, and typical action tropes.

In my humble opinion, this flick is absolutely beautiful. I don't usually dig thrillers. I hate shaky cams, constant zooming, and those over-the-top portrayals of insanity. Honestly, I'm not even big on simple plots like this, and there are scenes that actually reminded me of Terminator or a million other movies where people are just gearing up with weapons,

but man, this movie is just fantastic. I caught it this summer and I was blown away, especially since I watched it at home—usually, movies I watch at home don't really stick with me. As far as the cast goes, Denzel Washington is pure charisma. He’s got everything an action hero needs, the face of a thriller lead, and that adventure movie charm. And little Dakota Fanning? I love watching her work. Those shots are surrealistically good, playing with symbols and vibes. This whole idea of the "lost man" is presented so powerfully, sprinkled with religious motifs set right in the middle of hell. The music is weird and inconsistent, and the camera work is too, but it works. All that visual disturbance and saturation is the best use of visuals I've seen in films in years because this specific movie—with its bloodily true themes, raw but emotional characters, and people whose minds are naturally fractured in some American abyssal void—demands exactly that kind of presentation. Nothing else would work. The savagery and madness are brilliantly woven together, pushing every human aspect to the absolute edge. And the ending? Obviously blew me away and left a massive impression. It’s easily in my top 3 favorite movies ever. Hats off.

Like... nah, you've got it all wrong.

Samuel Smith5 said:😂

So, what exactly earned it a nine in your book?

Because it’s a perfectly packaged movie that’s just going to be total garbage to those people who think their "understanding" of cinema means they've moved past basic storytelling—you know, the types who think a good film has to be some meta-intellectual puzzle, or just people who don't actually respect film as an art form. On my own list of stuff I actually enjoyed, Armageddon would be one of the last things I'd ever suggest to someone, but the movie is so brilliantly woven into its own... let's call it "simplicity"... that it honestly deserves to be called a good piece of work. Regardless, it sits right at the top of the disaster movie genre, whether people want to admit it or not.

eBay. LOL