Looking back what I said about Habermas in the last post, it reads like a lame attempt at pigeon-criticism. I was pretty burnt out at the time I wrote it, and I guess I just wanted to say something about reading it. Claudia had an interesting idea about applying his theory to the last century of the Republic, which endured two dictatorships before settling into the Principate. She said that as the people lost their power to represent (their actual political effectiveness) during the dictatorships, the public sphere contracted as authority was located in one individual. As it could no longer mobilise the public opinion into debate with the sphere of public authority, its abstract form - the public sphere of letters - found a new space in the libraries of Rome, where the intellectuals could still engage in rational-critical debate over the regulation of the social sphere. What I enjoyed most about her theory was the idea of dynamic spheres contracting and expanding in relation to the shifts in constitution. Of course, the libraries idea was based on a single passage of Cicero. And how many libraries were there in Rome, anyway?

I finished the single-player campaign of Halo 2. The game was certainly a blast. What I said about added carnage in multiplayer holds true in single. I think they spent a lot of time streamlining the engine so they could get more bodies, vehicles and explosions on screen at any given time. What everyone else has been saying about the ending also holds true. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew Halo 3 would turn up within a year, but I worry it will be another three before Bungie can squeeze another one out.

Saw 3 movies recently: Spartan was reasonably enjoyable. Some of the dialogue is dumb, and Kilmer's character is not so great at times (the idea is better than the execution). But it's a pretty solid, if predictable, thriller. Intolerable Cruelty was a lot better than I was expecting, though it still felt rather...small. I think I liked it better than the Ladykillers remake. It was very funny in places, although Clooney seemed just to be hitting a lot of the same marks from O Brother Where Art Thou? Lost In Translation really surprised me: it was really good. Very light and interesting. I guess I'd bought into some people's anti-hype too much (though thinking back on who they were, I don't know why). And now I finally understand all the fuss about Scarlett Johansson. Hubba-hubba.

I do not like the new dub they did for Akira.