Stopharage

On 01/03/2021 at 09:34, Boothjan said:

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1. Cibola Burn by James S A Corey - 4/5

 

2. How Not To Be a Professional Football by Paul Merson

 

I only paid a pound for this in a Kindle sale and it's really not worth that much.  The reason - Paul Merson is a prick.  This book has anecdote after anecdote from his life as a professional, but there are 2 glaring issues with them.  1.  It's so incredibly badly written and 2. there's no hint of remorse or guilt whatsoever.  Some of the pranks he played, and some of the strops he had over not being selected etc etc are so puerile and in some cases just downright nasty but it's all 'bantz' innit.

 

I like to read these kind of books to see how these ex pros managed to turn their lives around despite struggling with fame, pressure or in Merson's case a dangerous combination of alcohol, drug and gambling addiction.  By the end of this, I wasn't really bothered because Merson seems too concerned with the 'hilarious' pranks he played on people, or the amazing fun he had during his more hedonistic period.  His annoying cockney rhyming slang is littered throughout - there's even an attached glossary.  Yawn.

 

Wasn't massively keen on the guy before reading this - dislike him even more now.  I wouldn't bother reading this sensationalist nonsense.

 

1.5/5

I was 23% of the way through this on my Kindle and really getting very bored and irritated by it. Your review was the death knell and so I’ve deleted it. Plus, I’d just reached a chapter that was called something like ‘Why you shouldn’t wax your dolphin before an international game’

I really have zero interest in the wanking habits of Paul Merson. 

I hope Dom Bess gets a wicket soon, he's looking defeated at the moment and the Indians are targeting him. 

Was reading an article on The Athletic about Leicester's injury crisis and the medical staff's routines and initiatives. Apparently Harvey Barnes already had a knee injury before getting stretchered off against Arsenal but because of injuries the club were having to use him and manage his fitness more closely. Players have now had 38 Premiership games in 5 and a half months, so no surprise that there's so many injuries now. Was a really interesting read and there was a graphic that was pretty informative. 

If you look at the 'Big Six', it's only really Liverpool that have been severely hampered by injuries, both in terms of numbers of injuries and the profile of those injured. Tends to support Chris Wilder's POV that increased substitutions would help the larger teams that have greater squad depth. However, his view didn't appreciate that increased subs would allow the smaller squads to make more in-game changes that might protect them from the injuries that a load of these teams are now facing. Looking at that list, you'd have to worry about Newcastle and in Leicester and Villa challenging for European places. There's also an argument to be had that at least 10 teams have their best player injured which is where we'll see how managers adapt their formations, approaches and strategies over the coming months. No Grealish, Maddison, Zaha, Rodriguez, Lamptey, Phillips, van Dijk, Phil Jones..

If there’s a more charming opening to a game this year than Maquette’s I’ll be amazed. 
 

A wonderful 5 minute slice of escapism to make you forget all about bloody COVID. 

15 minutes ago, 5R7 said:

i mean, it IS available in 4k 60fps! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrj2Hq7xqQ8

 

Thanks for that, really looks to be pushing the boundaries. Excite!

17 minutes ago, Strafe said:

Found it

 

https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

 

Disappointed it's not 60FPS. 

3 hours ago, DirkCrisis said:

I think over our last 3 games we have had 65 shots with 20 on target and 1 goal. Horrendous really considering we had 2 penalties and our forwards were in front of an open goal twice yesterday 

Please can you take Iheanacho off us, I’ll drive him to Brighton and give you a 48 pack of Walkers Crisps too. 

I make naan on the wall of my kamado which are great but they're way more labour intensive than sticking a couple of those in the oven/toaster. Thought the 2 pack would be perfect for a family curry but the eldest will demolish one on his own. He now asks if we can have naan's with all manner of dinners. 

On 20/09/2020 at 15:35, MarkN said:

Clay Oven Naan breads - specifically the large garlic and coriander ones.

Morrison's

£1.50 for 2

 

These are the best naans I've had outside a restaurant. Huge, tasty, and a great texture. Proper nom!

 

 

 

 

These are spectacular. Filled the freezer with them now. Thanks @MarkN - the family asked if I'd made them or got them from a restaurant!

5. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson.

It's a story about multiverses and initially delivers; really engaging and interesting premise as the protagonist has the job to flit between various versions of the Earth, interacting with various versions of herself and her acquaintances. In some worlds these acquaintances are good in others they're not so pleasant. I really enjoyed it until about 40% of the way through and then it became quite dull, with some flimsy internal logic and character behaviour that just seemed out of kilter with what went before. 

Now reading the Bellingcat book, which is really interesting but just throws names, places, events etc. at you with a fierce intensity. Not one to read to switch off to or read before bed..

Previously:

31 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

You can’t use regular edition saves on the Ultimate Edition. Don’t know about using a PS4 UE save on the PS5 UE.

That's annoying. I might leave it a year or so before starting all over again then. Cheers.

Apologies because it's probably been asked before, but I can't use my PS4 save on my PS5, right? I have had a quick Google and that seems to be the case. 

Root has 3-0. What on earth is going on?

Glad I chose to teach from home today..

Now you've discovered roasted broccoli, sesame oil with sesame seeds is great. Actually keeps well as a pretty healthy snack with a bit of sea salt or sriracha. 

I'm becoming increasingly unconvinced that this chopping and changing approach to team selection (despite its good intentions) is ideal. 

Got to keep the faith though; in Bess we trust. 

1 hour ago, Loik V credern said:

My only point was that these were not hard film questions

To you. 

Your posts are an exercise in solipsism. Pixar doesn't feature in the lives of millions of people in the UK, despite what you might think. 

Let's just agree to disagree on this. 

I just want to know when Disco Elysium is coming out. Supposedly in March, which is ever-nearing. 

1 hour ago, Loik V credern said:

Soaps aren't generally world renowned though, Meryl Streep films, Pixar, Cronenberg are. When a film or an actor or a director wins an oscar it's broadcast and reported around the world. There are loads of daytime and evening soaps, how many actresses are there who have had a 5 decade film career so good they've been nominated for an Oscar 20+ times? Streep is the biggest actress in the world. That doesn't mean someone could have seen all her films (even though the guy had seen 3) but the producers clearly thought that was a reasonable question given how famous and prominent she is for people to have a good idea of her films. The answer The Hours also had two of the other most prominent actresses Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in it, it won awards. 

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. 

We're discussing quiz questions on UK TV. The fact Pixar is known world-wide is neither here not there. Soaps tend to have been around for ages and have huge terrestrial audience, consistent and vast media coverage and are part of the national psyche. My point is that for millions, knowledge of soaps is ingrained and for me not to be able to answer questions on them would be as alien to that audience as a lack of knowledge of Cronenberg is to you. 

I'm with @Majoraon this; I think you are vastly overestimating the film knowledge of the general public and then doubling down and stating that because Meryl Streep is known world-wide that somehow negates soaps cultural coverage. I know I'm crossing media types now but look at the amount of people that only pick up and play Fortnite and/or Call of Duty. Their breadth of gaming knowledge is minuscule and this populist consumer is the norm, not the folks like you and I that lap up Lynch and Cronenberg.

14 minutes ago, Loik V credern said:

 

I don't think i am really, especially in comparison to Pointless where (and i watch it very rarely) name a pointless film of an actor takes a lot of thinking to go through their filmography. And as Jake Gyllenhaal shows there are apparently people on the streets of England who can name his early obscure films. I would have been content in thinking that Bubble Boy would be a good guess, and that maybe a handful would get Donnie Darko if we just expect ordinary folk to not watch films considered 'cult' even if it's one of his big films. And some out there must have watched Love and Other Drugs. 

 

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire isn't even asking for people to dredge up some long forgotten film 278 people have ever watched, but go through a logical process of elimination. The person in the seat didn't even do that. I don't think it's something where you either know it or you don't.

 

That Finding Nemo question should have been at most the £1000 question surely. It's not like 'What was the 8th film of this well known director'. Surely everyone in society has some awareness of two of Pixar's biggest hits without having seen them. Just recalling any clips, adverts, posters. It's not like 'Who voiced Dory'. Pop culture questions you're always drawing on vague stuff you pick up, i just expect films to filter through more. 

 

What next? What colour is Mike in Monsters Inc? Oh god which one was Mike etc. Actually there was also another Pixar question that was around £4000, in Up what was the house attached to that gave it flight? The person knew that one though but only just. In Ratatouille what rodent likes to cook? Is it A mouse, B rat, C squirrel or D hamster. 

 

I do consider film to be THE shared medium/culture of the world, not like books or music where people delve into their own tastes. Generally, i think if there are big notable films (like say Get Out that had big word of mouth, made loads of money and won an Oscar) then i expect everyone to be familiar with them and try to watch them eventually. There is a sense with films and tv shows mainly of shared experiences, socially excluded until you watch what everyone else is watching. 

 

There was another question about Argo which given it won the oscar everyone expects it to turn up in quizzes in 15 years anyway. Can't remember the question exactly, i only remember Clarkson was sure Ben Affleck directed Good Will Hunting which annoyed me because everyone knows he only co wrote it right right??? His whole career arc was one off writer, actor, Gigli, exile, director. Everyone is familiar with that.

That's a pretty myopic take on knowledge and personal interest though. 

I mean, if I was on a quiz show and any question came up about soaps, I wouldn't have a clue. Zero interest in them. As some of the most popular cultural products out there, millions would be on their sofas shouting at me and saying I'm thick. But I genuinely don't know a Barlow from a Mitchell. They're just not part of my cultural landscape.  You can see this writ large in the 'stupid things other people say' thread on here; some of the brightest folks you know have no understanding or knowledge of Harry Potter, football, Taylor Swift, the Marvel universe etc. Their faux paux seem stupid to us; however, my cursory knowledge of Eastenders or Call the Midwife probably makes me ripe for a stupid comment for two. 

I disagree with your point about films as well. People delve into genres all the time in regards to films. I know lots of people who won't watch sci-fi or horror or rom-coms etc. Expecting everyone to be familiar with a film is totally unrealistic - take Parasite for instance. Won the best film Oscar; millions won't touch it because it has subtitles. We have a thread on Titanic that proves this point too. 

Just now, skadupuk said:

Fucking jokes....

Contract extension for Roy and Christian...

15 minutes ago, skadupuk said:

They're fucked now, we've brought Benteke on (when what we needed was the hard bastard McCarthy on in the midfield)

 

I hope Roy fucks off after this, watching this boring shite week after week really is making me (more) miserable. 

Hahaha! Whodda think it?

10 minutes ago, dr_manhattan^ said:

Bit of a bogey side for us, but I've been a couple of times.  Nice stadium, but a nightmare to get away from.

 

We're actually considering moving to Brighton too.

My mum has a holiday place on the sea front so we're down there as much as we can. 

I bet Leto put up one hell of a fight when he was asked if he wanted to pose as Jesus. 

This is all pretty desperate stuff. Releasing into a world where there are no new blockbusters to divert attention from this and Snyder still has to encourage lowest common denominator banality. 

Just now, dr_manhattan^ said:

Spot on.

 

I really want Brighton to stay up because I like how they're developing and would like to see it continue.

I really want them to stay up as I'm down for 2 season tickets next year (despite being a Leicester fan)!