Completely/Evenly Random Discussion 2: The Randomer Discussion Question

[CMB]

Personally I find SoIaF unreadable, I don't know why but I've never enjoyed GoT, I watched a couple episodes and read the first book and hated both of them. It's sad really, I normally am totally into that genre and they are so long, so much entertainment... I wish I could like it but I just don't. I do know the plot though, everyone was talking about it to that degree that I read the wiki articles so I could keep up lol.
Hope you like it! (Especially the TV ending, no spoilers but that one really split fans).
What is American Gods about? Never heard of.. Same with Imajica ...? (I like 'deep' books so the former probably isn't my cup of tea from what you said. It sounds like Percy Jackson...)
Oh Outlander! I have a friend who is a total fan (of the books), saw ads for it on Netflix earlier this week. I would watch/read it as I love those time-travel historical novels but as I said to her, I don't read books whose main plot is best described as "romance"... with maybe two or three exceptions out of ALL those that were created (uh, actually I can think of only one, The Time Traveller's Wife, ironically also about time travelling).

... yes, that totally sounds like something I'd read I will look that up and see if I can order it online, thanks!
Not sure if it is my #1 as I hate picking those, but definitely one of my favourite books of all time is "The Ringmaster's Daughter" (there isn't an English translation sadly, it is Norwegian originally, from Jostein Gaarder who wrote Sophie's World) about a man with too much imagination who ran an 'idea factory' that sold premises for books to bestselling writers with writers' block, then it got outed and now he's on the run, narrating his life's story to an imaginary companion. It's brilliant nonsense.
Another good book (for those of you who like absurdist-yet-grounded thinkpieces) is one that was loaned to me by a good HS friend when we did book swap of our favourite books a decade or so ago. The Suicide Club, about a man experiencing a midlife-crisis related slump who organises a meeting of likeminded people to try and find a solution to his lack of joy in life. Things get out of hand and the attendees end up creating a 'suicide club', hire and bus and organise a trip to the cliffs in the north of the country, that they intend to drive off when they get there, while the protagonist who feels guilty for causing this initiative join them to try and pursuade them that life is worth living.
Bizarrely enjoyable, just the right mix of dark humour and serious contemplation! Also Scandinavian, I don't know why but those people know how to write books!


Let me know what you think of it when you get there. Interesting though, so basically the movie was 'mainstreamed' for hollywood..

American Gods is basically what would happen if the American melting pot idea applied to gods and mythologies as well. It's set in a modern day America, where everyone who's come to the country in the past brings with them their own gods and beliefs, and those gods are then stuck in the country and end up mingling, fighting, and just generally pulling the sort of stuff you'd expect from older mythology type dieties. Great read, if you like modern/Urban fantasy style books.

 

[PascalKrypt]

American Gods is basically what would happen if the American melting pot idea applied to gods and mythologies as well. It's set in a modern day America, where everyone who's come to the country in the past brings with them their own gods and beliefs, and those gods are then stuck in the country and end up mingling, fighting, and just generally pulling the sort of stuff you'd expect from older mythology type dieties. Great read, if you like modern/Urban fantasy style books.

That actually sounds like a refreshing, original idea. I'll have to look into that! (and then hopefully not get disappointed about a cool premise getting wasted).

Oh btw--
Update on the Samurai, they are in the tank - I took a long time acclimating them after I tested the store/bag water and found a whopping ~500 TDS. I upped the TDS in the tank to 80 by mixing in some harder water and did eh, intermittent drip acclimatisation. The smaller one looked a bit stressed but the larger one was completely relaxed. When I put them in the tank I found out they have an enormous control of their pigments, very interesting! They swapped colours in a few seconds (from the image below to the negative of that, white head with brown bands) to look like floating leaves and hung out at the surface. Possibly stress colouration to camouflage against predators? The pictures I take still suck because the lights are still strongly dimmed, I'll probably leave them like that for a while since there aren't any plants in the tank.

I finally found a picture online of the juveniles that indeed looks exactly like mine (non-stress/camouflage colours):

Interesting that they have such a dramatic shift in patterns/colours as they grow up. I guess they do have very flexible pigments, that seems to be a thing with some of the smaller labyrinths (thinking of betta and honeys).

They have *ridiculously* small mouths btw, I think the problem with them not eating commercial foods for some people may have to do with that, they are probably not able to eat anything that isn't pulverised. For now I'm feeding them live cyclops and miniature crustaceans, which are getting swallowed very eagerly (so they are eating well, yay!).

 

[Magicpenny75]

Yeah, I get what you're saying about emersive descriptions. I love it when an author sets a scene so well you might as well be there. I tend to find that, for me, a good enough story can make up for a lack of emersion. That, and the fact that most modern authors I've read don't do the serious descriptions, so I've just gotten used to it. Though there are a few who can really rock it.

I've heard Stephen King is pretty great at descriptions, but so far I've only seen his movies. Great storyteller, but I find a lot of his stuff leaves me wanting more answers. I feel like in most cases, he never tells you what was going on, and that bugs me a bit. The exception I can think of being Bag of Bones, that movie was really great, even if it was insanely dark.

See that's the thing I think that stops people from reading his books is that the movies are just never as good. The way he writes you can't get inside people's heads like that on film. In the books, as people are doing things and going through things, you are reading their thoughts and motivations, not from the narrator's POV but from the same tortured/twisted/insane thought patterns of the characters. You gotta try one - I'd recommend something older and not the too-well-known, like Gerald's Game. That's one of my favorites. Man and wife in their remote lakeside getaway cabin, decide to have a little adventure in the sack. Man handcuffs wife to the iron bedframe...and has a massive heart attack and dies...

Personally I find SoIaF unreadable, I don't know why but I've never enjoyed GoT, I watched a couple episodes and read the first book and hated both of them. It's sad really, I normally am totally into that genre and they are so long, so much entertainment... I wish I could like it but I just don't. I do know the plot though, everyone was talking about it to that degree that I read the wiki articles so I could keep up lol.
Hope you like it! (Especially the TV ending, no spoilers but that one really split fans).
What is American Gods about? Never heard of.. Same with Imajica ...? (I like 'deep' books so the former probably isn't my cup of tea from what you said. It sounds like Percy Jackson...)
Oh Outlander! I have a friend who is a total fan (of the books), saw ads for it on Netflix earlier this week. I would watch/read it as I love those time-travel historical novels but as I said to her, I don't read books whose main plot is best described as "romance"... with maybe two or three exceptions out of ALL those that were created (uh, actually I can think of only one, The Time Traveller's Wife, ironically also about time travelling).

... yes, that totally sounds like something I'd read I will look that up and see if I can order it online, thanks!
Not sure if it is my #1 as I hate picking those, but definitely one of my favourite books of all time is "The Ringmaster's Daughter" (there isn't an English translation sadly, it is Norwegian originally, from Jostein Gaarder who wrote Sophie's World) about a man with too much imagination who ran an 'idea factory' that sold premises for books to bestselling writers with writers' block, then it got outed and now he's on the run, narrating his life's story to an imaginary companion. It's brilliant nonsense.
Another good book (for those of you who like absurdist-yet-grounded thinkpieces) is one that was loaned to me by a good HS friend when we did book swap of our favourite books a decade or so ago. The Suicide Club, about a man experiencing a midlife-crisis related slump who organises a meeting of likeminded people to try and find a solution to his lack of joy in life. Things get out of hand and the attendees end up creating a 'suicide club', hire and bus and organise a trip to the cliffs in the north of the country, that they intend to drive off when they get there, while the protagonist who feels guilty for causing this initiative join them to try and pursuade them that life is worth living.
Bizarrely enjoyable, just the right mix of dark humour and serious contemplation! Also Scandinavian, I don't know why but those people know how to write books!


Let me know what you think of it when you get there. Interesting though, so basically the movie was 'mainstreamed' for hollywood..

Imajica...I can't even tell you what it's about lol there are so many things going on that just defy rationality. Earth as we know it is the 5th of five Dominions, and certain people can travel between them...it's a parallel universe thing sort of... Wikipedia has an OK summary. It's just 1600+ pages of weirdness that you cannot put down.

Your Suicide Club novel sounds right up my alley!

 

[Crispii]

Question (in general to everyone): What was the last thing you read (leisure, not academic)?

Hmm.. I suppose I should answer it but .. I'm not actually sure? Oh! Half-Sick of Shadows, by David Logan. I haven't finished it yet, I only read it when I have to spend 2+ hours in the train (which is more often then you'd think). A rather bizarre book, I just googled the reviews and people either rate it 1 star (weird and pointless) or 4/5 stars (brilliant writing!). Question of taste
Regardless of what you think of the plot though, it is brilliant writing. The author adopts the point of view of young child in the first few chapters in a way I've rarely read before, really *thinking* absurdist thoughts because the kid isn't used to the 'rules' of the adult world yet. It was funny and I could definitely appreciate it The last chapter I read where the protagonist moves on to school is less impressive... we'll see.

This comment.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Those are kingly words. You have my sword.

I've visited Ireland in 2018.
Personally I think the Irish are extremely friendly indeed. Just like Arnold said : I'll be back.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Meanwhile I'm reading articles in the newspaper on how Dutch people need to learn to love and respect their own culture.
Interesting how things can be so different


And my ... cheese? clogs? liquorice? ... thanks a lot oh great ancestors

Uhhhh when I am proud to be Dutch : When Dutch scientist probably found the gendefect that causes Multiple sclerosis (this week !!!!! yahoooooo. Go Dutchies)

 

[Magicpenny75]

Uhhhh when I am proud to be Dutch : When Dutch scientist probably found the gendefect that causes Multiple sclerosis (this week !!!!! yahoooooo. Go Dutchies)

I didn't know that!!! My dad and my older sister both have MS. Dad's doing alright (for 75) but sis is in a motorized wheelchair and has lost a lot of function... I pray that their discovery leads to a biologic therapy sooner than later!!

 

[DoubleDutch]

I didn't know that!!! My dad and my older sister both have MS. Dad's doing alright (for 75) but sis is in a motorized wheelchair and has lost a lot of function... I pray that their discovery leads to a biologic therapy sooner than later!!

Radboud research offers new hope to MS sufferers, identifies key genes - DutchNews.nl

 

[PascalKrypt]

This comment.

??? am I missing something?

I've visited Ireland in 2018.
Personally I think the Irish are extremely friendly indeed. Just like Arnold said : I'll be back.

Had this same experience in Scotland (a shopkeeper at a gas station told us to take the fancy coffee for free when we said where we were from)! Wonder what that is about vs. the (IME) somewhat different UK attitude. Less history of being the big bad boss?

Uhhhh when I am proud to be Dutch : When Dutch scientist probably found the gendefect that causes Multiple sclerosis (this week !!!!! yahoooooo. Go Dutchies)

Ooh, thank you for that link! I hadn't heard about this yet!
It seems in general we are pretty good when it comes to medical R&D. Whoop whoop.

 

[CMB]

Radboud research offers new hope to MS sufferers, identifies key genes - DutchNews.nl

Medical research right now is insanely exciting, I think we're really getting somewhere with a lot of the diseases, genetics, and potential cures we're studying. If what they're researching here pans out, this could really help a lot of people.

 

[DoubleDutch]

??? am I missing something?


Had this same experience in Scotland (a shopkeeper at a gas station told us to take the fancy coffee for free when we said where we were from)! Wonder what that is about vs. the (IME) somewhat different UK attitude. Less history of being the big bad boss?


Ooh, thank you for that link! I hadn't heard about this yet!
It seems in general we are pretty good when it comes to medical R&D. Whoop whoop.

I was told why there are so few hikingpaths in Ireland (I was amazed cause I thought it was the hiking / cycling country).
When the Irish took / got their land back from the Brits they have sworn they would never leave ot to others.

There were even protests going on about "greenways".

 

[Crispii]

??? am I missing something?

Not necessarily. You said what was the last leisure thing that I read and it was comments by different people on the forum. You never mention anything about literature or something.

Oh btw, love your samurai gouramis!

 

[Feohw]

I've visited Ireland in 2018.
Personally I think the Irish are extremely friendly indeed. Just like Arnold said : I'll be back.

Glad you had a good experience. I remember you telling me about it before. You sent some lovely pics too. Always love hearing of peoples experiences here as I never seem to fully appreciate it enough myself.

Had this same experience in Scotland (a shopkeeper at a gas station told us to take the fancy coffee for free when we said where we were from)! Wonder what that is about vs. the (IME) somewhat different UK attitude. Less history of being the big bad boss?

The Scots are some amazing people. Those that I've met have been so much fun. They have great relations with the Irish too.

 

[PascalKrypt]

Glad you had a good experience. I remember you telling me about it before. You sent some lovely pics too. Always love hearing of peoples experiences here as I never seem to fully appreciate it enough myself.

The Scots are some amazing people. Those that I've met have been so much fun. They have great relations with the Irish too.

I've visited a lot of places and I'm very tempted to say that Scotland may be the most beautiful one. Breathtaking scenery, and they have some absolutely beautiful cities too! But then I've never been to Ireland so can't compare As HS friend of mine went to Dublin during her exchange for her bachelor's, she is always pestering us to plan our group trips there, a little obsessed so I'm guessing it is impressive too!
(Never actually followed through on it because some of the others *hate* any destination colder than the Mediterranean...)

Is it a little like you never tour your own country, for you? As in, it's around the corner so it doesn't feel like a Holiday, so you never take the time and effort to really appreciate it?

When I was getting my license for my job (in Austria) I spoke to some Irish girls that were having a discussion on Gaelic. Apparently their families pressed them hard to invest in fluency but they themselves thought that the tongue was doomed anyhow and that, despite some cultural pride they did take in it, it was all a waste of effort. I'm curious - do you speak it? How common is it over there for people to have decent fluency, or is it only spoken in the rural regions?

 

[Feohw]

I've visited a lot of places and I'm very tempted to say that Scotland may be the most beautiful one. Breathtaking scenery, and they have some absolutely beautiful cities too! But then I've never been to Ireland so can't compare As HS friend of mine went to Dublin during her exchange for her bachelor's, she is always pestering us to plan our group trips there, a little obsessed so I'm guessing it is impressive too!
(Never actually followed through on it because some of the others *hate* any destination colder than the Mediterranean...)

I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful places too. Never got to go myself, but my family has. Greece is the most beautiful place I've been, though that opinion may be biased by my love of everything Greek. I see a lot of tourists in Dublin, but I'm not a fan of the city myself. There are nice areas, but I haven't seen anything worth visiting there myself and being there often doesn't reflect well on the city. Does seem to be plenty of tourists, so maybe its just me. I tend to prefer holidaying to warmer places too, but I don't mind going to colder places.

Is it a little like you never tour your own country, for you? As in, it's around the corner so it doesn't feel like a Holiday, so you never take the time and effort to really appreciate it?

I have toured quite a bit of it. I tend to prefer nature, the country and natural sites to cities. I used to holiday down South to Cork every year. I occasionally camp in the Wicklow mountains too. I guess I don't really appreciate it enough as I've always lived here.

I will say that it was a bit of a let down when I visited Belfast up North and realized that its so much better than Dublin. The fish shops too. Makes me wonder what Dublin would be like if we didn't gain independence. Glad we did though.

When I was getting my license for my job (in Austria) I spoke to some Irish girls that were having a discussion on Gaelic. Apparently their families pressed them hard to invest in fluency but they themselves thought that the tongue was doomed anyhow and that, despite some cultural pride they did take in it, it was all a waste of effort. I'm curious - do you speak it? How common is it over there for people to have decent fluency, or is it only spoken in the rural regions?

We learn Gaelic from an early age here. I learned for maybe 12 years but never got very good at it, simply a lack of work on my part. Some people in my class were pretty fluent, but as time goes on after school we tend to lose more and more of it. I definitely don't think its a waste to learn, there are even parts of the country that speak mainly Gaelic. The Gaeltacht is mainly to the west and very sparse though. I can speak at a very basic level, but I'm much better at writing it.

 

[PascalKrypt]

I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful places too. Never got to go myself, but my family has. Greece is the most beautiful place I've been, though that opinion may be biased by my love of everything Greek. I see a lot of tourists in Dublin, but I'm not a fan of the city myself. There are nice areas, but I haven't seen anything worth visiting there myself and being there often doesn't reflect well on the city. Does seem to be plenty of tourists, so maybe its just me. I tend to prefer holidaying to warmer places too, but I don't mind going to colder places.

Hmm, Greece is definitely beautiful and as they say, the cradle of civilisation and all that. Very interesting to visit the historical sites (been there three times, I believe). On the hand I don't really like it as a visitor. The local economy is so terrible, you tend to get assailed as a tourist and the overall atmosphere... eh. I didn't really like it much, the scenery and the history itself is nice though. I had 6 years of ancient greek language and culture in high school, so not sure if I hate or love it, hahaha

I have toured quite a bit of it. I tend to prefer nature, the country and natural sites to cities. I used to holiday down South to Cork every year. I occasionally camp in the Wicklow mountains too. I guess I don't really appreciate it enough as I've always lived here.

Yes, that would be the main attraction for me too! I only love visit to historical cities that have impressive architecture when it comes to urban areas...

I will say that it was a bit of a let down when I visited Belfast up North and realized that its so much better than Dublin. The fish shops too. Makes me wonder what Dublin would be like if we didn't gain independence. Glad we did though.

I can imagine!

We learn Gaelic from an early age here. I learned for maybe 12 years but never got very good at it, simply a lack of work on my part. Some people in my class were pretty fluent, but as time goes on after school we tend to lose more and more of it. I definitely don't think its a waste to learn, there are even parts of the country that speak mainly Gaelic. The Gaeltacht is mainly to the west and very sparse though. I can speak at a very basic level, but I'm much better at writing it.

I see, interesting! Certainly a necessary skill if certain parts of the country have that as primary tongue, in terms of signs and written material and so on. I've listened to some irish folk songs that I like, but I can't for the life of me figure out how the written lyrics match with the sounds I'm hearing! It's like Korean, the phonetics and the spelling seem to have been invented separately

 

[Feohw]

Hmm, Greece is definitely beautiful and as they say, the cradle of civilisation and all that. Very interesting to visit the historical sites (been there three times, I believe). On the hand I don't really like it as a visitor. The local economy is so terrible, you tend to get assailed as a tourist and the overall atmosphere... eh. I didn't really like it much, the scenery and the history itself is nice though. I had 6 years of ancient greek language and culture in high school, so not sure if I hate or love it, hahaha

I've been 4 times, loved it. The history is one of the main draws for me. But I agree about the atmosphere and tourist experience. Wasn't a fan of that at all. I did get some free stuff though as they kept trying to get me to return to their shops again. I hate studying languages, so while I would love to learn Greek, I would hate the learning process. So not for me.

I see, interesting! Certainly a necessary skill if certain parts of the country have that as primary tongue, in terms of signs and written material and so on. I've listened to some irish folk songs that I like, but I can't for the life of me figure out how the written lyrics match with the sounds I'm hearing! It's like Korean, the phonetics and the spelling seem to have been invented separately

Haha. Its always funny to hear people try to pronounce Irish words. Even just names. I can see that it would be quite confusing, but having grown up with it it all comes naturally. I imagine a non-Irish speaker would be a tad confused by names like Ruaidhri, Caoimhe, Meadhbh, Siobhán and so on.

 

[CMB]

I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful places too. Never got to go myself, but my family has. Greece is the most beautiful place I've been, though that opinion may be biased by my love of everything Greek. I see a lot of tourists in Dublin, but I'm not a fan of the city myself. There are nice areas, but I haven't seen anything worth visiting there myself and being there often doesn't reflect well on the city. Does seem to be plenty of tourists, so maybe its just me. I tend to prefer holidaying to warmer places too, but I don't mind going to colder places.

I have toured quite a bit of it. I tend to prefer nature, the country and natural sites to cities. I used to holiday down South to Cork every year. I occasionally camp in the Wicklow mountains too. I guess I don't really appreciate it enough as I've always lived here.

I will say that it was a bit of a let down when I visited Belfast up North and realized that its so much better than Dublin. The fish shops too. Makes me wonder what Dublin would be like if we didn't gain independence. Glad we did though.

We learn Gaelic from an early age here. I learned for maybe 12 years but never got very good at it, simply a lack of work on my part. Some people in my class were pretty fluent, but as time goes on after school we tend to lose more and more of it. I definitely don't think its a waste to learn, there are even parts of the country that speak mainly Gaelic. The Gaeltacht is mainly to the west and very sparse though. I can speak at a very basic level, but I'm much better at writing it.

All this talk of Ireland and Scotland really makes me want to visit them at some point. It's the homeland of most of my ancestors, and I've heard it's absolutely beautiful.

 

[Feohw]

All this talk of Ireland and Scotland really makes me want to visit them at some point. It's the homeland of most of my ancestors, and I've heard it's absolutely beautiful.

I'd love to visit Scotland too. Everything I've heard about it is great. It always amazes me that there are more Irish-Americans than Irish in Ireland. Do you know where your family comes from in Ireland or Scotland or have you never found out?

 

[CMB]

I'd love to visit Scotland too. Everything I've heard about it is great. It always amazes me that there are more Irish-Americans than Irish in Ireland. Do you know where your family comes from in Ireland or Scotland or have you never found out?

I think we kind of come from all over the general region. According to the DNA test my dad ran, we've got some Irish, some Scottish, some Norse, might even have some English if I remember correctly. So, I think we kind of come from all over Ireland, though I believe that we haven't actually traced any specific ancestors back quite that far yet.