On Fri, 1 Feb 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > You?
My name's Marvin Scott Long, Jr. I'm 32 years old and have a BA in philosophy from the University of Texas. I work for a non-profit, the Texas Association of School Boards, and I sell & support an internet-based tool developed by the association, in addition to providing a fair amount of in-house computer support, web editing, and document creation. I'd call myself a tax-n-spend liberal in some respects, but few things are more galling than unthinking, reflexive liberalism: it's as bad as unthinking, reflexive conservatism. So I try to strike a balance, but I usually lean to the left. Hobbies have included piano playing, guitar playing, and martial arts. Lately I've had trouble sticking to any one hobby for long. Oh, and I like playing shoot'em-up games on the PC. Occasionally I feel ashamed for not being more into "thinking" games like Civ III, but these things sound too much like work to me. I just wanna blow sh*t up. Favorite games include Quake III and No One Lives Forever. I really loved Grim Fandango too, though. And of course, I like to read SF. Heinlein and Asimov were my favorite authors as a kid; now I'm more likely to read Bear or Brin, and it's possible that my all-time favorite author is Fritz Leiber. I wouldn't try to argue he's the best in objective terms, but I get an awful lot of pleasure from his work. Like many on the list, I have a "to-read" list a mile long. I love good kung fu movies, and I highly recommend hkflix.com. My favorite Star Trek movie is the first one, for reasons I won't repeat here. Despite my initial fears, the director's cut DVD is actually quite good, and I'd only quibble with one or two of the cuts, and then halfheartedly. The Matrix and Blade Runner are also favorites. Right now the movie I'm most looking forward to is Spider-Man in May, followed closely by the next installment of LotR. Gosford Park is an excellent movie, by the way -- I saw it Tuesday -- and its satirical examination of class is especially delightful in light of the recent collapse of Enron under its own incestuous corporate weight. My musical tastes run to folk and blues, plus some weirdness like Wammo (www.wammolovesme.com). I like a little bit of everything, actually, but if you were to carjack my vehicle on any given day, odds are you'll find some blues in the CD player. I was raised Episcopalian, but nowadays my connections to the religion of my birth are chiefly sentimental. I'm gradually convincing myself that Buddhist liberation might be an attainable goal, but that salvation probably isn't. YMMV, of course. :-) Next? Marvin Long Austin, Texas
