Baby.Jude9

^ The Avengers are right up my alley and that picture is Though, I do see Iron Man as more of Paul person myself...

Hulk should have been the drummer too. Ringo SMASH!

& @katchitup: It's great to be back around! How have you been, sweetie?

I have been alright. Nothing to exciting going on....but Baby.Jude, you were just there and then you were gone! YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT! lolll (just kidding, I feel your pain with school) Are you almost finished with school?

Also who is that lovely model in your avi?

Eh, maybe I'll give it another chance, if I can drag myself away from Neopets for a long enough time to log into Pottermore. Needless to say, I guess the only really good thing I got out of Pottermore was assurance of Ravenclaw-ness.

And as far as recommendations go, I'd kind of recommend moving on. As weird as that sounds, I have a friend of mine who absolutely refuses to read any other series for the rest of his life because "Harry Potter had such a profound influence on his life and no other series could nearly touch his spirit as much as that one did." (Please, note that I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the idea.) I find that completely ridiculous and, although Harry Potter will always hold a special place in my heart, it's always good to explore new things. Have you read/heard of the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin? It's the series from which that TV that everyone (including myself) is raving about, Game of Thrones. It's an excellent, but sometimes disturbing, read so I totally recommend it. Just an FYI though, each book is about 900-1300 pages long, so plan on basically reading them for the rest of your life . (I've been reading the first one for like 2 months now. )

And glad to hear your doing so well. I totally understand about the whole insanity from everything, but just give it time and I'm sure everything will fall into place and you'll be able to move and what not. Anyway, I'm doing fine, just very busy. But thankfully classes are slowly coming to end and now I have more time to be on BZ and catch up on my TV shows.

I answered yesterday, but as everything got lost - I try to answer again

I too was sorted to Ravenclaw lol

As for the books - I meant more like internet HP applications (something like Pottermore) - if you know about some sites where you can interact in HP world

I´ve been a passionate reader since I was 5, so no need to worry about me not moving on from HP books it´s actually the other way round - I have too much books to read and too little time I´ve heard about Game of Thrones, many friends told me it´s great maybe once I will have time to read it - but considering the huge amount of books in my waiting list.... well, hope dies last

It seems you´re a fantasy books fan, aren´t you? Same here - fantasy and scifi stole my heart. My love life is Terry Pratchett and Peter S. Beagle, but I´m also stunned by Chris Moore and his Lamb. However, recently I´ve fallen for science and psychology books, currently I´m reading Freud´s Psychoanalisis and try to dedicate some time to John Taylor´s Black Holes. I´ve also got some Darwin books on my kindle which I am passionate about and just can´t wait to start reading it - then again, I also want to buy Freuds´ Three Sexual Theories - and amongst that are another 3 books from Terry Pratchett I would love to read and many other recommendations from friends, like yours.

Do you by any chance know Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke? Another book waiting on my list Everyone says it´s a masterpiece. And I´m like "I need a day to have 73 hours at least before I get to that!" Not even mentioning that I should dedicate most of my time to my Spanish classes

Oh, last thing I remember from my post - I never trusted and never bothered myself with bestsellers - so when Harry came I was quite reluctant. But I bought it finally, and then it was all - LOVE - I just could not resist I´ve read the whole series in Slovak and then in English, and this kind of thing I did only for Terry Pratchett - mostly I read the book in one language or another, not in both again so that speaks for it all - HP is addictive masterpiece also possesing high-quallity writer and editing skills. That is quite something.

I answered yesterday, but as everything got lost - I try to answer again

I too was sorted to Ravenclaw lol

As for the books - I meant more like internet HP applications (something like Pottermore) - if you know about some sites where you can interact in HP world

I´ve been a passionate reader since I was 5, so no need to worry about me not moving on from HP books it´s actually the other way round - I have too much books to read and too little time I´ve heard about Game of Thrones, many friends told me it´s great maybe once I will have time to read it - but considering the huge amount of books in my waiting list.... well, hope dies last

RAVENCLAW!

Oh, well, in that situation, uh... Yeah, I don't really know. You could try tumblr? I use it, but I don't really follow a whole lot of Harry Potter blogs, to be completely honest. I find that a lot of the uber Potterheads on tumblr are kind of... extreme? And stubborn, as well, about their opinions towards the series. Like, no ship is as good as their's, or their interpretation of the book is the only acceptable interpretation of the book, or their opinion about a character is the right one, or (here's my favorite) "You're not a real Harry Potter unless you've read all the books. If you haven't read all the books, don't call yourself a Harry Potter fan." To be completely honest, I found a lot of their comments and opinions and what not on their to be kind of unneccessary and just a lot of noncense and I actually think, in a little way, it's contributed to my waning feelings towards the series. Like I said in my last post, I'll always love the series but I've moved on and keep an open mind to new things, which is something I'd really suggest to a lot people on tumblr...

I love all kinds of books; I just love reading! I really do, but because of school lately most of my reading has been limited to textbooks and assigned reading. Not all of the assigned reading is boring though; considering that I'm a history major, a lot of it can actually be very interesting, or, well at least interesting me, somebody who very much enjoys reading about history. Though, I will say that Mein Kampf was a bit disturbing...

Ravenclaw!

Okey, that whole HP fans thing sounds just.... insane The fans I´ve encountered so far were indeed passionate but never in such way This is one reason why I try to avoid bestsellers - they seem to attract a huge fanbase full of stupid people, just look at the whole Twillight nonsense (HP series were at least high-quallity one, which cannot be said about Mrs. Meyers´ writing skills). It´s almost as with Lima or Candice fans lol

My fl - boyfriend - has read Mein Kampf. Disturbing - indeed it has to be I would love to read it purely from the psychological view, I have a serious suspicion that Hitler had a strong castration complex developed since his childhood. Who knows.

History is fascinating I don´t read many books on history - mostly watch documentaries - but when it goes to the history of our Earth, I´m all in but I consider humankind history very important - especially because time has a tendency to spin around and come back. One has to know where he came from to understand the nature of things

I think I´ve asked you this before - but what era is your favourite?

Hey girls, chiming in here ...

Ravenclaw!

Okey, that whole HP fans thing sounds just.... insane The fans I´ve encountered so far were indeed passionate but never in such way This is one reason why I try to avoid bestsellers - they seem to attract a huge fanbase full of stupid people, just look at the whole Twillight nonsense (HP series were at least high-quallity one, which cannot be said about Mrs. Meyers´ writing skills). It´s almost as with Lima or Candice fans lol (Y)

Tut tut, don't you go and diss around, you!!

The Potter Fan base is really passionate. I used to hang around at Livejournal for a long time - sadly I don't have enough time to go there on a regular anymore. I used to read a lot of fan fiction and was amazed by how clever and talented some guys are. I haven't met those hardcore fans though I have to agree, I don't feel one can claim to be a true fan if he hadn't read all the books (but what is a "true" fan anyway? Haha) - and I can't understand that anyone could stop reading after the first chapter, I've read the whole serie four times and haven't got the feeling I've had enough of it yet It always amazes me how well-structured and clever the books are and how JK Rowling combines all the strings in the last book. They're just flawless.

I haven't read Meyer's books yet. I've had my share of Vampire Romantic back in the 90ies with Anne Rice, I didn't feel the urge to revive it. Though I may read the books one time, just to get why people are so fascinated. I've seen the first Twilight movie and couldn't believe my eyes how badly it has been done. It would have been a good pilot to a new TV serie, but for a movie it looked awfully cheap and the dialogues were kinda

My fl - boyfriend - has read Mein Kampf. Disturbing - indeed it has to be I would love to read it purely from the psychological view, I have a serious suspicion that Hitler had a strong castration complex developed since his childhood. Who knows.

Haven't read it and am not planning to do so. Then again it's banned in Germany, you're not allowed to sale or buy it, but there are ways to get a copy. But to be frank I'm not keen to get a closer look at this lunatic and his Weltanschauung :x

Hey girls, chiming in here ...

Tut tut, don't you go and diss around, you!!

The Potter Fan base is really passionate. I used to hang around at Livejournal for a long time - sadly I don't have enough time to go there on a regular anymore. I used to read a lot of fan fiction and was amazed by how clever and talented some guys are. I haven't met those hardcore fans though I have to agree, I don't feel one can claim to be a true fan if he hadn't read all the books (but what is a "true" fan anyway? Haha) - and I can't understand that anyone could stop reading after the first chapter, I've read the whole serie four times and haven't got the feeling I've had enough of it yet It always amazes me how well-structured and clever the books are and how JK Rowling combines all the strings in the last book. They're just flawless.

I haven't read Meyer's books yet. I've had my share of Vampire Romantic back in the 90ies with Anne Rice, I didn't feel the urge to revive it. Though I may read the books one time, just to get why people are so fascinated. I've seen the first Twilight movie and couldn't believe my eyes how badly it has been done. It would have been a good pilot to a new TV serie, but for a movie it looked awfully cheap and the dialogues were kinda

Diss who? (Y) from what I´ve heard, the books are not too different from exactly what you have said I´ve never been a fan of romantic vampires - I like the old school Bram Stoker´s Dracula that had his elegance and deathly deep breath sparkling?? Seriously?

On the opposite - HP world was amazingly made. It was not based on wet dreams of teen girls and spinsters - it had a story in it. And not only one - what even more fascinated me about those books was not the actual storyline, but the storyline of Harry´s parents. Just like you said, so many strings culminating in the end - what a masterpiece :x

Haven't read it and am not planning to do so. Then again it's banned in Germany, you're not allowed to sale or buy it, but there are ways to get a copy. But to be frank I'm not keen to get a closer look at this lunatic and his Weltanschauung

I think it´s banned in many countries - not sure which ones though. I understand your feelings. It was insane.

^ Well, it's not banned here in the US. Or, at least, it's not banned in my university's library.

I actually read it recently as part of a case study final report for one of my classes. For the report we had to with historical context (Kinda vague, I know, but I think you guys get what kind of book I'm talking about) and analyze the book in two ways:

1. Considering the historical background and context of the book's author, how inevitable is the book's content?
   
2. Consider what cause, movement or idea the author is promoting with his/her book: under which the historical circumstances did whatever the author was promoting come true, if ever, and the inevitability of it coming true.
   

Which to put into simpler terms considering I was reading Mein Kampf:

1. Think about Hitler's life and childhood up to when he read the book, how inevitable was it that he would write about being a ferocious, racist dictator?
   
2. Hitler writes about Nazis: how inevitable was the rise of the Nazi part considering what was going on in Germany and the rest of the world, for that matter at the time?
   

I'm sure that when my professor assigned this project he expected most of the class to take the easy way out and just read The Prince and write all about how at the time Italy was divided in large, powerful city-sates and Machiavelli wanted Italian unity and the Italian unification amongst other nationalist movements and blah blah blah; which, not to my surprise, most of my class did do their report on The Prince but I've already done like 4 reports on that book and I wanted to change things up a bit.

I could actually go into paragraphs and paragraphs about my report itself, which, not to boast or anything (LOL JK THIS JUST BECAME A BOASTING PARTY NOW BITCHES), was an excellent report and I received I very good grade on it, but I won't do that unless you guys want me to because the would probably be mad boring and, I don't know why, I feel weird talking about the rise of Hitler with German friends on here.

I think I´ve asked you this before - but what era is your favourite?

Actually, I don't remember you asking me this question before, but I'll gladly waste paragraphs of writing boring you with it.

• The Dark Ages: I'm going to be entirely honest, my favorite part about the Dark Ages is that fact that it is the complete epitome of Western European bias in history. Western Europe was in complete turmoil where for centuries they could've even figure out how to build a building, let alone battle the plague or establish a somewhat stable government that could make any sort of mathematical or artistic or intellectual accomplishments. They were just kinda... stuck for centuries. Meanwhile, while this was going on, the Arabs under the dar-Al Islam and Chinese under the Tang and the Song dynasties were experiencing their Golden Ages, building empires larger than they had ever seen before and making advancements that Europeans wouldn't see for nearly a 1000 years or so in the future. Also note how I've said Western Europe because at the time the Eastern Europeans weren't even doing that poorly either, Byzantium and Kievan Russia had it pretty good. Seriously, even the Incas were doing better than they were in Western Europe! So, needless to say, I just love that period because to categorize the entire era as being the Dark Ages is just biased and narrow minded.
  
• The World Wars: Seriously, what's not to love about the world wars aside from vicious, left-winged dictators, massive civilian deaths, bomb raids and genocide (Or including all those things depending on which way you look at it)? I've been writing this post for about and hour or so now and so my brain isn't really working properly anymore so maybe another time when I'm more awake I'll explain extensively why I love the world wars but basically I love them because they were awesome and they're just so much to discuss with them.
  

I have wayyyyyyyy more but, like I said, I've been writing this post for a really long time now so I think I'm going to do something actually productive or take a nap or... something.

I really appreciate your attitude towards your classes and please, do not worry and post more - although I´m not going to be here for the whole week, but I´m looking forward to your post once I get back and can read something worthy

Put it simply - I want moooore

There is nothing better than a good conversation on interesting topics - and history is extremely interesting if you ask me.

So, more about the "Dark" Ages, more about your report - you have a whole week for writing it till I come here and I want to see it!!

^

I'm not going to lie though, I'm very impressed with that animation work. Gifs were never my strong suit...

Anyway, sorry it took me so long to get back here! I'm so lazy busy. Anyway so back to my report:

Like I said, I did very well on this report and I'm not surprised considering the fact it's basically the only thing I put any effort into doing this whole school year. Anyway, so Hitler: As far as his childhood goes, he had all the makings of someday being a genocidal dictator. He was a victim of child abuse and some say probably sexual child abuse, he had an estranged relationship with pretty much all of his family while idolizing his mother (Actually, his mother's birthday was national holiday in Germany during his reign. It celebrated mother's who'd given birth to a large amount of children who fit Hitler's "Aryan" ideal.) and a bunch of other crazy stuff that you always see when they describe the background of a serial killer on crime shows. Basically, it was bad.

As far as his hatred of Jews go, it's kind of hard to pin point exactly where it came from. It was no secret that antisemitism was probably the strongest in Germany out of anywhere in Europe at this time (And was also, ironically, the birth place of the Zionist movement to establish Israel as the Jewish state.). There's also speculation that his grandfather was Jewish or a bastard or.. something. I don't really know. Also, he blamed the Jews for not getting into art school because they like his landscapes or something, but that can't just be it because his blaming of the Jews for that had to come from somewhere.

As far as his rise in Germany itself goes, it's not fair to blame the Germans for that or say they were weak or anything. They just wanted to be stable again! After WWI, Germany basically lost everything: They lost all their colonies, their closest ally Austria-Hungary they had to severely reduce the size of their military and their arms holdings AND they were placed blame for the start of the war so they had to pay TONS AND TONS of reparations to rebuild Europe which basically made them dirt broke. The US helped them get their economy back on track, which took about 10 years or so to begin with, only to have the US economy get flushed down the toilet as soon as Germany became economically stable again. Germany was basically in a really bad situation with no one to blame, so they blamed their new government, the Wiemar Republic, which was basically Hitler's major major political campaign and one of the main reasons he was probably able to make it into office. Now, really, the Wiemar Republic really wasn't that bad, they also weren't just good either. Germany was just in a really sort of unfortunately bad situation and there was nothing anyone could really do about it.

Like I said, it's not Germany's fault. It could've happened anywhere if you think about the historical scenario surrounding it and it did: in Italy. Mussolini was just as left-winged fascist as Hitler and used most of the same techniques to rise and maintain power, people just don't seem as being so bad because his regime didn't include the antisemitic aspect of it (At least not until the end it didn't...).

So yeah I think that's it...

Umm...Jude, you gotta check this out. Came across this a few days back and I couldn't stop laughing at this.

IF POKEMON WERE REAL :|

Great retrospective, it was enjoyable to read I´ll add just few things that my fl told me when he read that book and my own point of view on the antisemitism.

He read that Polish Jews were actually those who "stole" work of the Germans, their jobs and working places. Hitler worked as a manual worker on some building, and he worked amongst Polish Jews as well. It´s written that they once even tried to throw him down from the staging because he was bitching about them all the time and, well, being a "basterd" on his own. Ironic, how many things they could prevent lol - or maybe won´t and someone else would take his place.

Just like Stalin, he gave the poor German people an idea and a pride, he really builded up the new German, I saw one document where they were talking about his architecture plans with the whole Germany - he wanted to construct a new Roman Empire.

Considering his chidlhood I agree with you - it´s no wonder he became a fascist dictator afterall. According to Freud, antisemitism (and also sexism) comes from a deep castration complex acquired in childhood and I´m almost sure that was a factor too.

I think that Andy (Cult Icon) has even much more to say, he studied both world wars and dictators You two could have a pretty interesting conversation on this theme

^

Jennka

Hi Jude Nice posts, here's my two cents:

There were Axis friendly fascist governments throughout Europe at the time, but none of them started a world war. There are a few major reasons why Fascist Germany did what it did to the world and why the rest did not do such things:

1. The Wehrmacht. Prior to 1939, the Germans always had a strong and world class military. By world class, it was cutting edge in WW1, and, from a qualitative standpoint, considered the best army in the world. The Germans just had a very formidable military system in place in their society. The German General Staff, The officer corps. Military intellectualism. So during the 1920s and 1930s, the German soldiers, who still remained in the army, studied the war they lost and sought to learn and improve on way modern wars were fought. So they were very innovative, and the rise of Hitler turned their ideas into reality. Modern combined arms warfare was born during the inter-war years. A very significant figure, for instance, is General Heinz Guderian, who was very crucial in the development of modern armored warfare.

So the Germans invaded Europe and North Africa with an unusually capable army.

2. The German economy. Germany was not truly destroyed in the Great War. Germans ceased the war not soon after the failed Michael Offensive 1918, when it was clear to Germany's generals and strategists that the war could no longer be won. Germany, while suffering from political disorder, hyperinflation, and very high levels of employment, still had a strong, highly developed industrial and manufacturing base. It had a bigger economy than either Great Britain or France. It had the biggest population in Western europe- some 70 million people and was still wealthier than its neighbors that it was eventually to invade.

3. The hyper-militarism/nationalism/peculiar structuralism of German society, people, and culture for two preceding generations. This has long standing roots, but it was fiercer in Germany than in most other countries. Historian Christopher Clark points out to this. It's what they liked.

4. The peculiar ferocity of Nazism and the Hitler myth. They did a better job selling Nazism and making it extremely compelling. They were much more successful than the other fascist movements. Hitler was more successful than, for instance, Mussolini, in centralizing and consolidating political power among the major power blocks in German society (military, industry, government, media). Only the Japanese matched them in authoritarianism.

------

Jennka, this was a response to your post on Goebbals, but I'll just add it here:

There was a repetitive theme with Goebbal's Fascist propaganda (Japanese propaganda was similar) that appealed very strongly to the male spirit. I stated earlier that Romantic literature/epics played a role, but here are a few telling posters that the portray the cycle:

1. Rebirth; the dawn of a new world

2. Comradeship and unity through family/group conditioning and solidarity.

3. Industry, labor, productivity, and Arms

4. Heroism and achievement in Struggle

5. Immortality and eternal glory.

"Even if the body dies, the Nation will live." This particular image was widely distributed in German press in Jan 1943. It depicts a German general raising up a gun to fight to the end with his soldiers. At the same time, the German 6th Army surrendered in Stalingrad, and Germany had, for purposes and intents, lost the war. It was only a matter of time now. The Reichsmarshall, Herman Goering, then gave a Rally comparing german soldiers to the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.

The second photo depicts a funeral rally. Whenever a national hero, high minister, bigwig nazi, great warrior (fighter aces, U-boat aces, etc.) or accomplished general died, he was granted an 'epic' funeral full of display and religious overtone. Troops and parades, all recorded for the newsreels. This is where the Nazis created their "Glorious Legends". In a way, it was the final act, the last thing they were selling.

Come to think of it, it was like a pagan ritual of sorts. Many ancient societies did this. There's some of this in that Prometheus movie, too.

It's hard for most people today to really understand how the above could be compelling to so many people, but it was. The Nazis gave their people- men and women alike- a 'social structure' and a part in a 'heroic epic'. "Life as a story". They promised them glory and greatness through struggle and united effort.

Goebbels was remarkably successful at selling that fiction.

Thank you

It´s really fascinating (and what´s interesting is the fact that this kind of propaganda was used to promote socialism too, just switch soldiers for labour workers) and Goebbels was a true dreamer. He lived his fantasy indeed.

He really believed that all.

Great points Andy

^

I love your avi by the way Jude

^ Thanks don.

^^^

^^^^ Wow, thanks so much for the fantastic insight, Andy! (Can I call you Andy? I don't know, it feels weird; I don't really feel like I know you well enough.) I'm obviously no expert on the subject (Still just a lowly student) and, I'm going to be completely honest, I'm usually like half asleep when I'm writing on the internet (), so your post certainly doesn't go unappreciated... Or, at least, on my part it doesn't. How long have you been studying history for? Also, feel free to stop by here whenever you like; We're always open and I promise I don't bite.

Thanks for the warm welcome Miss Jude, I'm around on members forums fairly regularly so you'll see me Wonderful AV and sig, btw, probably the best I've seen since I found BZ

So Daphne G. is Bridget Bardot? Come to think of it, BB looks a lot like Lara Stone

Wow, thanks so much for the fantastic insight, Andy! (Can I call you Andy? I don't know, it feels weird; I don't really feel like I know you well enough.) I'm obviously no expert on the subject (Still just a lowly student) and, I'm going to be completely honest, I'm usually like half asleep when I'm writing on the internet ( ), so your post certainly doesn't go unappreciated... Or, at least, on my part it doesn't. How long have you been studying history for? Also, feel free to stop by here whenever you like; We're always open and I promise I don't bite.

Yea, call me Andy!

I didn't study history formally. I was a finance and accounting major in college, LOL. What kind of history do you study at school?

As for history, I understand the 20th-21st century but not so much the times before that. I've been a 'student' of history most of my life. I try to integrate what I know about the past into better understanding why things are the way they are in the present.