Best Ever Albums

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

drakonium — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 06:36:03 GMT

Author: drakonium

Posted: 04/25/2014 10:36

lethalnezzle wrote:

p.s. It's clearly a joke. I don't actually blame anybody. Except drakonium. It's all his fault.

OK, I think is owe BEA some explanation. I'm really sorry about my behavior and what I caused here, I know I've been weighing the site down for months now, with all my whining about language and not getting abstract forms of music, so here is my contribution.

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with annual rainfall between 250 centimetres (98 in) to 450 centimetres (180 in).[1] The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earth's tropical rainforests.

Around 40% to 75% of all biotic species are indigenous to the rainforests.[2] It has been estimated that there may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there.[3] Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the world's oxygen turnover, sometimes misnamed oxygen production,[4] processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and consuming it through respiration.

The undergrowth in some areas of a rainforest can be restricted by poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs and small trees, called a jungle[citation needed]. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest.

Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.[5] Average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm (66 in) and can exceed 1,000 cm (390 in) although it typically lies between 175 cm (69 in) and 200 cm (79 in).[6]

Many of the world's rainforests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough, also known as the intertropical convergence zone.[7] Tropical rainforests are located in the tropics, i.e., in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical rainforests exist in Southeast Asia (from Myanmar (Burma) to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and northeastern Australia), Sri Lanka, sub-Saharan Africa from Cameroon to the Congo (Congo Rainforest), South America (e.g. the Amazon Rainforest), Central America (e.g. Bosawás, southern Yucatán Peninsula-El Peten-Belize-Calakmul), and on many of the Pacific Islands (such as Hawaiʻi). Tropical rainforests have been called the "Earth's lungs", although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in few regions around the world. Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions. They occur in North America (in the Pacific Northwest in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California), in Europe (parts of the British Isles such as the coastal areas of Ireland and Scotland, southern Norway, parts of the western Balkans along the Adriatic coast, as well as in Galicia and coastal areas of the eastern Black Sea, including Georgia and coastal Turkey), in East Asia (in southern China, Taiwan, much of Japan and Korea, and on Sakhalin Island and the adjacent Russian Far East coast), in South America (southern Chile) and also in Australia and New Zealand.

A tropical rainforest is typically divided into four main layers, each with different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area: the emergent, canopy, understorey/understory and forest floor layers.

Emergent layer
The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees called emergents, which grow above the general canopy, reaching heights of 45–55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70–80 m tall.[11][12] They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas. Eagles, butterflies, bats and certain monkeys inhabit this layer.

Canopy layer
Main article: Canopy (biology)
The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres (98 ft) to 45 metres (148 ft) tall. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species. Epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches, and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer, but more diverse. A quarter of all insect species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, but have only recently developed practical methods of exploring it. As long ago as 1917, naturalist William Beebe declared that "another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon the Earth, but one to two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles." True exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows. Exploration of the canopy is still in its infancy, but other methods include the use of balloons and airships to float above the highest branches and the building of cranes and walkways planted on the forest floor. The science of accessing tropical forest canopy using airships or similar aerial platforms is called dendronautics.[13]

Understorey/Understory layer
Main article: Understorey
The understorey/understory layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor. The understorey/understory is home to a number of birds, snakes and lizards, as well as predators such as jaguars, boa constrictors and leopards. The leaves are much larger at this level. Insect life is also abundant. Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are present in the understorey/understory. Only about 5% of the sunlight shining on the rainforest canopy reaches the understorey/understory. This layer can be called a shrub layer, although the shrub layer may also be considered a separate layer.

The forest floor, the bottom-most layer, receives only 2% of the sunlight. Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Away from riverbanks, swamps and clearings, where dense undergrowth is found, the forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration. It also contains decaying plant and animal matter, which disappears quickly, because the warm, humid conditions promote rapid decay. Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste.

HAHAHA JK LOL YOU THOUGHT IT WAS ALL A HUGE APOLOGIZE POST BUT YOU SUCK MY EIGHTEEN DICKS

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:48:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 04:48

benpaco wrote:

Bro, I'm one of the most volatile and judgmental members here and I don't think I've ever considered you a nuisance.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:35:12 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 04:35

benpaco wrote:

Look, Ben, I know where you're coming from, probably more than you know. When I was your age, I was extremely sensitive to criticism, so much so that I would sometimes retreat into my head for an entire night if somebody said something negative about me. At the time, I thought I was just misunderstood, mistreated, or downright pathetic. I thought I craved understanding and compassion, but everybody just seemed to act like it didn't matter.

But the thing is that it didn't matter. I was right to be critical of myself, not necessarily about what they said, but for being so narcissistic. I didn't see it that way at the time, but I was really acting as if the world revolved around me and that people expected me to be perfect all the time. But the reality is that they didn't want me to be perfect, they wanted me to be flawed just like they were.

We're all flawed in some way and if we can't learn to laugh about it, life is going to beat us the fuck up. I'm not saying we can't better ourselves, we definitely can, but not if we spend all of our time wallowing in self-pity or making a drama out of every perceived slight.

When I started posting here, several people made fun of me for being old. That was a completely new thing to me, since 34 is a bit early for a mid-life crisis, but the reality is that compared to most of the people here, I am old. It's just part of who I am, my character. So roll with it, cause in the big picture of your life, our opinion about you doesn't matter one iota.

Now you kids need to quit yer damn scrobbling and mytexting and get back to talking about music in this here music forum.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

benpaco — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:17:30 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 04/25/2014 04:17

SquishypuffDave wrote:

I'll admit making this thread was kinda dumb (I have a lot of feelings, okay?), and it wasn't really intended to be taken so seriously. I guess analyzing and discussing music isn't really my thing. There are a few music threads I like to check up on occasionally, and BEA is still my main source of music recs so I'm definitely not gonna be leaving for good, probably just here less frequently. I don't have much to offer to this subforum.

Albummaster can we please just have an exception rule to the no lounge thing for Besteveralbumville? Please? I think we all miss that and it was healthy and kind to everyone, nothing much to discuss, just a wonderful ... webcomic-y thing, I suppose.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

SquishypuffDave — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:06:23 GMT

Author: SquishypuffDave

Posted: 04/25/2014 04:06

I'll admit making this thread was kinda dumb (I have a lot of feelings, okay?), and it wasn't really intended to be taken so seriously. I guess analyzing and discussing music isn't really my thing. There are a few music threads I like to check up on occasionally, and BEA is still my main source of music recs so I'm definitely not gonna be leaving for good, probably just here less frequently. I don't have much to offer to this subforum.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Defago — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 23:31:50 GMT

Author: Defago

Posted: 04/25/2014 03:31

English is easy if you watch Dora

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:17:02 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 01:17

As a non-english user, I agree with Drakonium: it's not so easy, etc.
But I always love reading people writing about albums they love. It's so lovely! If my prof of Math would have been so passionate in talking to us students about math, probably we all would like math now. And it works even more for arts.
But I also think that if a user here leaves a comment like "this is very good" or something like that, I wouldn't accuse him to be selfish, probably he really has nothing more to say about at the moment. And I know it's much more interesting reading more accurate or passionate comments, but it's not always possible, and those not-so-interesting comments are nothing bad.
Well, I find almost offensive a negative comment like "this is shit", but a positive one doesn't bother me.

And sorry for my english, always. 😄

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:12:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 01:12

lethalnezzle wrote:

p.p.s. You're a sweetheart, benpaco. One day you'll make a beautiful girl very happy.

And some say that Nezzle's heart grew three sizes that day.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:11:33 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 01:11

But seriously, it was a joke. You need to chill. Whatever you do, don't smoke skunk and/or listen to Maxinquaye.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:08:53 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 01:08

p.p.s. You're a sweetheart, benpaco. One day you'll make a beautiful girl very happy.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

benpaco — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:57:57 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:57

sp4cetiger wrote:

Come on, you're like the nicest person here. Do we always have to take ourselves so seriously?! #-o

Whether I'm nice or not, there was undoubtedly a time I was more of a bother on the site than I was a help, and that started a trend that has had less than great results, which I have to at least take partial credit for. I appreciate it, though, tiger, since, as Jhereko can attest to, I'm somewhat paranoid if people are just annoyed by my presence here.

EDIT: I don't want back to back posts, so I'm just going to add my response to lethal's post here:

I get it. The weird thing about it all is that I'm super sensitive in real life, but frankly, I don't particularly give a shit here. I think I've only genuinely been hurt by one comment on this site, and even then, I moved on in a few minutes, and the user who posted that comment apologized. I came to BEA and joined after scouting around the forums when I saw how everyone here was buddy buddy. And I think we still are, I don't think that BEA has reached some point of hypersensitivity it can't recover from. Yeah, there's some things that might be crossing the line for people, and while I personally wouldn't be bothered by some things, I get why others would be. I understand why swede was upset, and, albeit to a lesser extent, why Brandon was upset. There's a line somewhere. That said, hell, take your best shot, I think a lot of us here still don't give a shit, and still are willing to joke around at our own expense. Was it a perfect storm? Yeah, and I was a part of it, for sure, but I guess all I'm trying to say is that it's not too late now, the site may be in a down place, but we won't stay down. You're all still wonderful people with wonderful sense of humor as a whole, and I have faith that the site will recover.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:57:27 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:57

Back in the days before benpaco, BEA was a magical place where we all told each other (/Jhereko) we (/he) suck (/s) dicks, and called each other morons, and basically just fucked with each other like friends do, because ribbing people is fun and this is the internet, with the veil of relative anonymity that it brings. Sure, people occasionally overstepped the line, but nobody took it too seriously because we all knew, for the most part, that it was meant in jest, between friends. Then a user named benpaco came along, and he was really nice. Really nice. And because he was so nice, lots of other users thought they should be nice too. And so we got to talking about feelings. Now before, if a user talked about their feelings, we listened, but we also ribbed them and, as friends, told them they suck dicks. Everyone knew the program. But after benpaco's arrival, more and more users began talking about their feelings, and more and more users felt that instead of telling those users that they suck dicks, we should be nice to them. And, very quickly, this niceness eroded BEA's previously rhino-thick skin to a thin, flimsy film, and nobody could take a fucking joke anymore. BEA became too sensitive. Users were sharing their feelings more and more, but had lost the ability to handle jokes about those feelings. Sure, it wasn't all benpaco's fault. He just arrived in the midst of a perfect storm, with a userbase that was young and dumb enough to think that being really nice all the time was great, and a site administrator growing increasingly frustrated and grouchy with said userbase, which seemed to be getting younger as he got older. And so, after a few people weren't able to take a joke about their feelings, the site administrator decided enough was enough, and removed all of the users' right to express feelings at all, lest somebody may tell them to suck a dick and make them cry. So, when I say, "I blame benpaco", it is not just my sense of humour. It is not a joke. I genuinely blame benpaco.

p.s. It's clearly a joke. I don't actually blame anybody. Except drakonium. It's all his fault.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:54:44 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:54

Come on, you're like the nicest person here. Do we always have to take ourselves so seriously?! 🤡

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

benpaco — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:49:36 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:49

lethalnezzle wrote:

Who said I was joking?

I'll be the first to admit that I was a lil dickhead when I first got here. I had closed-minded opinions on music, and even then, when I did comment on things, they were stupid, circle jerky, unintelligent, or all of the above. My posts on the games forums were usually simply stating that I thought the math was wrong or the name of the band/song/album I was voting for, I often didn't even give a reason behind it.

I think most importantly and most noticeably was my early presence in the lounge. Christ on a cracker I was terrible. I think I'd so lost my outlet on forums that were more set up for personal problems and CONSIDERABLY smaller (4 or 5 regulars with only maybe 50 users a month total), and after not having any outlet of a lot of what I was going through internally, it just boiled and boiled. I really feel comfortable here, and once I felt comfortable enough, I opened up. This in and of itself was not the problem, the problem here is that I opened up in the same way that one would reach out to a few close friends, two or three tops, and hope for personal support and such. I was a whiny twat and went on and on dealing with problems that, in the long run, are entirely meaningless. But I still felt comfortable here, and I didn't realize I was doing anything wrong. So what'd I do? I went right on complaining. Whining. Asking for help about the same thing over and over, making choices that went against logic and the advice I'd been given here. It was Jack's post about how I was just ignoring the advice I was being given here that really opened my eyes to the persona I'd created for myself on this site. It wasn't me contributing, being interesting, or even getting needed support anymore - it had simply become me whining about nothing of any importance.

I'd like to think, especially given the "Comment on Users" thread, that people saw that I have been changing. I've made a concerted effort to try to make any comments on music more intelligent or at the very least that what I post was contributing something. In the games threads, the same story is there. Even in the lounge, I'd hope that people could see a mood shift, or at least a shift in what was getting posted. I've been joking. I've been rying to give support rather than simply whining to get it. I consider a lot of people on this site to genuinely be my friends, Frogger and Swede and Cuba and Brandon and Rocky and others, and even those who I’ve not interacted as much with, such as you, Jack, Squishy, Jhereko, Defago, etc, are people I really look up to for a variety of reasons, largely due to your tastes in music, but also for unique characteristics in each of you that just make you you. I really care about the quality and wellbeing of the site and I sincerely apologize for how I did weigh it down for a considerable portion of my presence here thus far, though I thought it had become clear that things are changing. If not, that’s only more sign to myself that I need to present myself here in a way that is more true to myself - I’m not just a heartbroken whiner, there is more here to me, and if I’m failing to show that, then that’s no one’s fault but my own.

TL;DR Everyone here is wonderful and I recognize I weighed down the site, but I’d like to think I’ve gotten better. I’m really sorry if I had any part in the overall degradation of the Lounge or of the site as a whole.

PS Lethal, you and Keith were the ones that got me started listening to hip-hop and accepting rap as an art form, and I never have thanked you for that. Not trying to kiss ass, but whether or not you like me, I do want to thank you for broadening my musical horizons. As this is a music-focused website and a music focused thread, I really do appreciate your impact on my musical tastes, and if you hate me, that’s fine, but thanks.

EDIT: I have no problem with the "I blame benpaco" joke, to clarify, though thank you for the sentiment Cuba.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:38:01 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:38

Ben is lovely and the joke was never funny, imo. And if it isn't a joke it's just mean spirited. Like, I get Ben was probably the one to kick-start BEA's habit of openness, but really now, blame me or something. I started that whole "BEA is full of evil fucks waaah delete account" trend.

benpaco wrote:

To put it quite simply, I care! More than I care about some silly magazine or a professional, I feel like I know your tastes based on your charts and some of what you talk about here, and I'm interested t see what YOU have to say about it. That's what makes Brandon and Antonio and some people's charts so interesting to me, largely, is the notes.

Lol, guess I'll need to work on rewriting some of them, eh? That'll be fun when I'm in the mood. Anyways, the music forum is awesome. I'm not as attached to the lounge as I thought I was since I don't really miss it. I really don't, weirdly. I miss my Bouncy Castle but that is about it. And Squishy's Besteverville thread. Regarding writing about music, sure it is futile but it's fun to do. Well, when you're writing about albums you love. Writing about albums you're meh about, or dislike, is tedious. I guess the music forum does require you to talk about albums you're not so passionate about if you want to be a regular of any sort, but I don't see how there is anyway to get around that...though the user pick of the day does do a lot to introduce more interesting albums for discussion which I'm super grateful for. Oh and the recs are great.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:29:41 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:29

lethalnezzle wrote:

Who said I was joking?

Meh, it's kind of obvious that it's your style of humour. Still though, I mean let's be civil. I mean it was funny at first but to make him BEA's scapegoat even in jest seems to be lacking in taste at this moment in time. Plus the fact, the joke peaked sometime around the parody avatar.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:19:40 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:19

Who said I was joking?

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:18:34 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:18

CubaZed wrote:

I feel like that joke died a while ago....

If it ever stopped being funny blaming benpaco for things... I just don't know what I would do. 😢

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:08:13 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:08

lethalnezzle wrote:

I honestly blame you.

I feel like that joke died a while ago....

But I kinda agree with what sp4cetiger said. It's about time, plus the fact it would put the complaining to the end.

Re: Frank Zappa would be ashamed

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:00:51 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/25/2014 00:00

I honestly blame you.