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Bruce Benedict

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About Bruce Benedict

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    FF Geek
  1. Bruce Benedict

    I have won the forum

    My work here is done for now, but I will return in your hour of greatest need, like King Arthur, or syphilis.
  2. Bruce Benedict

    Ellen Barkin: American People belong to Obama

    Liberalism is the acceptance of the idea that we must all be beholden to one another if we are to thrive and survive as a species. Conservatism is the ironic coupling of the idea that we are all essentially free, together with the absolute mandate that we pledge our lives in voluntary servitude to wealthy white men. It's honest cooperation versus slavery masquerading as freedom. Ellen Barkin's no scholar, but she has the substance of it right at heart, and the hatred and vitriol of the republican backlash against her just highlights the irony of their own position.
  3. Bruce Benedict

    Enlightened Liberal Hitchhiker Saves Woman...

    Only an enlightened liberal can be. Where's the confusion?
  4. Bruce Benedict

    Recommend a science fiction book

    Holy Christ, go out of your way to read Blood Meridian.
  5. Bruce Benedict

    Recommend a science fiction book

    Right. You like plot. Plot-driven fiction is, by necessity, forced into and centered on a type of writing that necessitates tying things up into neat little bundles in ways that rarely if ever happen in real life. It will always have a discernible and (hopefully) satisfying "ending," or it is of no value to anyone. Character-driven fiction develops through the exploration and interaction of the characters with each other and their setting. It can't be formulaic if it's going to be the least bit successful, and it ends when the story is told. Which may or may not have anything to do with tying it up in a neat little bundle and achieving a plot-style "ending." But which always happens when the story of the primary thing happening to the primary character (or characters) completes. There's nothing whatsoever wrong with plot-driven fiction. It's a lot easier to write, a lot easier to read, and leaves some people feeling very contented with a book...while it leaves others going, "why did I bother?" Lit fic scratches a completely different itch. It is what it is. I can see why a big fan of plot would think The Road blows. But there's a reason Cormac McCarthy wins Pulitzers. It isn't because he can't tell a story.
  6. Spoken like a commie pinko Anti-American heathen without Kroger in his portfolio.
  7. POT AND SOCIALISM! Thank you again, Obama.
  8. Bruce Benedict

    Enlightened Liberal Hitchhiker Saves Woman...

    Surfing > Jesus. Hatchet > Conservatism.
  9. Corporations hate it when they're told that they can't continue to fock over the people in a way that maximizes profits. See also: Wall Street, 2008. The mandate that a corporation's primary obligation is to its shareholders, and that that obligation invariably means taking unethical advantage of the customers, is why capitalism will always be, at its heart, an evil ideology. Thank Goddess creeping socialism is here to help grant us a protective buffer from the Krogers, Monsantos, and Chase Banks of the world.
  10. Bruce Benedict

    Recommend a science fiction book

    Likes: Plot driven fiction Dislikes: Character driven literary fiction Puts you in good company. But there are real and valid answers to the, "I don't get why people like it," idea. McCarthy and Atwood are, quite literally, considered among the best living writers in the English language. McCarthy is dark and heavy to be sure, but has a skill level with language and character-building craft that can evoke landscapes (of both setting and psychology) that a guy like Larry Niven couldn't hope to match in his wildest book-writing dreams. That kind of writing is going to bore you to tears if you go in hoping for Dragonlance. Because it forces an author to use a lot of his words to investigate nuances beyond plot. It creates works of far greater depth, that by necessity move far slower. If you haven't read it, you'd love The Stand.
  11. Since they discovered they get better ratings covering named storms.
  12. Bruce Benedict

    Wicked Tuna - do you watch?

    No!
  13. Bruce Benedict

    Enlightened Liberal Hitchhiker Saves Woman...

    Already in favor of tossing Hagel overboard and making Kai SecDef.
  14. Bruce Benedict

    Seahawks Vs Patriots in the Super Bowl!

    Or vice versa.
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