The Anything Goes chit-chat thread (subject to tiny fine-print rules)

[Traveller]

Let's have a thread where we can connect and socialise and chat about literally anything, from your fall while ice-skating to your sick cat - I've missed being able to just chat with my friends, and a nice 'open' 'free' group like this, seems an ideal vehicle to reconnect and stay in touch. :)

[Traveller]

To break the ice - with just a 'whatever' comment, I had only been able to invite 198 friends to this group. I'd selected "all" friends, but when the invites went out, it notified me of only 198 sent, and I have no clue -which- 198. I sincerely hope the friends it 'missed' don't feel left out. It must be some kind of GR restriction on number of invites allowed per day?
Well, I'll try again soon. :)

[[Name Redacted]]

Anything Goes?

All right then. I purchased two cat-themed mystery novels that turned out to be utter rubbish, relying on the cat element to draw in a particular type of reader when the books themselves were virtually cat-free. They were so bad, it inspired me to start a blog in which my cat will review cat-themed books.

That's the state of my life right now. I need a real job! XD

[Traveller]

[Name Redacted] wrote: "Anything Goes?

All right then. I purchased two cat-themed mystery novels that turned out to be utter rubbish, relying on the cat element to draw in a particular type of reader when the books thems..."

That sounds hilarious! Reading your post, I was reminded of some books by an author called Lobsang Rampa that my stepsister had around our house when i was a small child. I remember peeking into them and reading about some fantasy where the protagonist imagined? himself as a cat. Now I'm curious to look that up again...

[Traveller]

Let's see: Lobsang Rampa is the pen name of an author who wrote books with paranormal and occult themes. His best known work is The Third Eye, published in Britain in 1956.

Following the publication of the book, newspapers reported that Rampa was Cyril Henry Hoskin, a plumber from Plympton in Devon who claimed that his body hosted the spirit of a Tibetan lama after undergoing an operation, similar to trepanation, in which a small hole was drilled into his forehead to arouse the third eye and enhance powers of clairvoyance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_...

...well, if that's not just downright weird, i don't know what is. Just for the record, that's not really the kind of book we're primarily interested in on this site.

Loonies and zombies are forbidden. :P Except if they're very famous loonies, heheheh. And we could maybe make a zombie exception for Richard Matheson.

[Nandakishore]

You don't want Lobsang Rampa here, I assure you.

Well, since anything goes on this thread, I recently wrote a short play based on Shikhandi, a character from the Indian epic The Mahabharata. He was a Eunuch.

[[Name Redacted]]

Traveller wrote: "Let's see: Lobsang Rampa is the pen name of an author who wrote books with paranormal and occult themes. His best known work is The Third Eye, published in Britain in 1956.

Following the publicati..."

I read an odd book a friend loaned me called The Nine Lives of Clemenza which, she and I thought, would involve someone living as a cat for at least one life. But they do not. I will describe the details of it in the thread about odd books. I will say, however, that it seemed like author had been experimenting with trepanning...

[Traveller]

Nandakishore wrote: "You don't want Lobsang Rampa here, I assure you.

Well, since anything goes on this thread, I recently wrote a short play based on Shikhandi, a character from the Indian epic The Mahabharata. He w..."

Interesting, Nandakishore, what are you planning to do with the play? (Yes, yes, I did not think to ban 'self-promotion' and you're a good friend anyway, so go ahead.. :P) Self-promotion is allowed in small doses. (Unless you're a total stranger).

[Nandakishore]

Oh, no self-promotion here... just the first thing that came to my mind. You know, just to get the ball rolling. :D

[[Name Redacted]]

Nandakishore wrote: "Oh, no self-promotion here... just the first thing that came to my mind. You know, just to get the ball rolling. :D"

Ha ha, and I'd have to be banned too since I brought up my cat-lit-blog.

[Nandakishore]

I don't know what to do with it. Maybe some group here in Abu Dhabi will be interested. I have to look around.

Getting back on topic... are we looking for seriously weird fiction here?

[Nandakishore]

[Name Redacted] wrote: "Nandakishore wrote: "Oh, no self-promotion here... just the first thing that came to my mind. You know, just to get the ball rolling. :D"

Ha ha, and I'd have to be banned too since I brought up m..."

That's what encouraged me. :D

[Traveller]

Nandakishore wrote: "Getting back on topic... are we looking for seriously weird fiction here??"

Well, that depends, i suppose, on what you would call "seriously weird". Seriously? I'm trying to do a balancing act to keep the old members of Mievillians happy - I want to try and continue the kind of discussion they (and i) had come to enjoy on that group, but without the restriction that it had to be linked to that specific author, and in an enviroment that would be more welcoming to those of my friends that are not fans of Mieville.

Why a balancing act? Because my interests lie wider than just strictly 'wierd' 'new weird' and the various genres associated with SF & F. For instance, there's a lot of po-mo that i have on my list to be read, and quite a bit of magic realism too, which would possibly have fallen outside the parameters there.

But also, i thought it would be nice to have a group where people with similar literary proclivities to myself and most of my friends can hang out and can fill in the gaps that are not filled by other groups which tend to stick to certain themes and genres.

[Traveller]

Looking at the bookshelf will give a good idea, btw.
Look at the menu on the top right, 'bookshelf' is the option under 'Group Home' . The dates on those books are arbitrary. They are suggestions, and will be adjusted to member's needs. We still need to work out effective means to have a fair exchange so that the needs of the group's members are adequately met.

[Derek]

Traveller wrote: "Let's have a thread where we can connect and socialise and chat about literally anything, from your fall while ice-skating ..."

That's "skating". "Ice-skating" (and the related but more hated "ice-hockey") are terms used by people who don't have much familiarity with water in its frozen state :-)

"that's not really the kind of book we're primarily interested in on this site. "

Sure, but secondarily...

I, too, would "make a zombie exception for Richard Matheson" but I've already read I am Legend with two different GR groups.

[Traveller]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: I, too, would "make a zombie exception for Richard Matheson" but I've already read I am Legend with two different GR groups. ..."

Tssk-tssk... we'll just have to wait, then, until you'd forgotten it again... ;)

[Allen]

That's funny Derek ... Being a government communicator (no boos please, I was a respected journalist once), and working for state transportation, we abhor reporters saying we are putting "salt brine" on the roads. As if brine could be something other than saltwater. Although I have not consulted the OED so feel free to bring utter shame on my wordsmithery.

[Traveller]

In my defense, I also used to roller skate as a child/teen, and thence feel a need to distinguish between the two types of skating. ;)

But yeah, salt brine is definitely a tautology, isn't it? Like wet water, heh heh. (Cold ice? Hot fire? Sour acid?)

[Traveller]

Just for fun, here is an interesting Victorian version of roller-skating:

[Sumant]

Here is my review of soldiers live for the black company series

[Puddin Pointy-Toes]

Allen, as someone who works in banking, where we have "going forward" as an adverb, "ask" as a noun, and all sorts of other horrors, I can empathize.

Derek is only cross because he doesn't like the idea that roller-skating and field- and roller-hockey exist, I'll bet. To us Canadians, "hockey" obviously implies ice, but honestly I'm not so sure about skating...

[mark]

Ok, anything goes.

This morning at work I've been complimented a lot on how cute & stylish I look today. The sad fact is that I'm wearing the same thing I wore last night when I went out drinking with a friend. I got home to my apartment around midnight and realized I didn't have my keys. I spent a half hour calling my neighbor with a spare set of my keys but he never picked up. I walked a dozen blocks or so to another friend's place who has another spare set of my keys and proceeded to call him for a half hour but he also never picked up. At about 1:00 in the morning I began to wonder if I would have to spend the night in the park and then freaked out and began calling everyone I knew who lived in walking distance from me. Fortunately one friend picked up and I walked to his place. Unfortunately he was still mad at me for berating him a couple days ago and so I fell asleep on his couch to sound of him berating me in turn, with much use of the word "karma".

Still without keys, I just went straight to work from his place very early this morning because I didn't want to be berated again when he woke up.

So this morning I am unwashed, my hair is a mess, I probably smell like booze & cigarettes, and I'm in the same clothes as last night - clothes that look like I picked them right up off the floor to wear this morning, which is exactly what I did. And yet I apparently look cute and stylish enough to receive a cavalcade of compliments. At least now I know the process required to finally get some compliments on my appearance.

[Puddin Pointy-Toes]

Mark, the same thing (getting compliments, not forgetting keys) happened to me recently, though in my case I had simply run out of shampoo. I've also been on the other side a few times: I have before complimented my colleagues on their appearance, and usually their response is something more or less like "I woke up late and had to rush out!"

I think people are so used to seeing the people they know trying to put on a good face that, when said former people are confronted with an appearance they haven't seen before, it's refreshing and surprising and, consequently, appealing.

I'm sorry you had such a rough night, though. :(

[Traveller]

LOL, guys! Sad as mark's story might be, he managed to convey it in a humorous enough manner for me to giggle more than once. Sorry, mark!

Well, mark and Puddin. I never wanted to believe that article i read that says messy hair makes you look younger. From now on, I'm going to worry less on those occasions when i get to go out with messy hair because time ran out on on me... (which seems to happen to me all the time.. :P)

PS, mark, i really hope you manage to find your keys! In fact, I'm starting to remember quite a few upsets I've had featuring lost keys... :S

[Robert]

[Name Redacted] wrote: "Anything Goes?

All right then. I purchased two cat-themed mystery novels that turned out to be utter rubbish, relying on the cat element to draw in a particular type of reader when the books thems..."

This sounds good; Flagon has reviewed a couple of Dragon books!

[Robert]

Traveller wrote: "In my defense, I also used to roller skate as a child/teen, and thence feel a need to distinguish between the two types of skating. ;)

But yeah, salt brine is definitely a tautology, isn't it? Li..."

In fluid dynamics, there's this set of approximations, incompressible fluid, zero viscosity, which is known as "dry water..."

[Traveller]

Robert wrote: "In fluid dynamics, there's this set of approximations, incompressible fluid, zero viscosity, which is known as "dry water..."

Trust the physics people to find all the loopholes... ;)

[Gregsamsa]

"Loonies and zombies are forbidden."

Oh sure, the come-on says "anything goes" but then here come the rules!

But anyway...

[Traveller]

Gregsamsa wrote: ""Loonies and zombies are forbidden."

Oh sure, the come-on says "anything goes" but then here come the rules!

But anyway..."

Yes, with anarchy comes exceptions... ;)

[Robert]

Traveller wrote: "Robert wrote: "In fluid dynamics, there's this set of approximations, incompressible fluid, zero viscosity, which is known as "dry water..."

Trust the physics people to find all the loopholes... ;)"

This is an example of "physics humour." It's largely incomprehensible to normal people...

[Paul]

Anything goes? Oh well.... yesterday I went to London and found myself on Mile End Road, sitting in a pub which was bang opposite the front door of the notorious East London Mosque. That was very unexpected. Later we went to Waterstones in Piccadilly, allegedly Europe's largest bookshop (open till 10 at night every day). Americans will be relieved to know that it's about two thirds the size of Barnes and Noble in Union Square. But it was still great & I discovered a load of interesting titles I'd never heard of. It was an odd sort of day in general.

[Traveller]

Paul wrote: "Anything goes? "

Okay, okay okay... you guys have forced me to bring in the fine print. ;)

Rule 1 of anything on the internet: cover your a33 with pages and pages of fine-print rules that take so long to read that even the most avid reader will give up in disgust before they get to the end of it...

Paul, you owe me a great many kicks under my behind - I have given you sooo much grief on your threads in the past... (maybe I shouldn't be reminding you of this, and maybe there really isn't such a thing as Karma. XD )

It's so nice to have all of you together on one thread, truly. :)))

[[Name Redacted]]

Paul wrote: "Anything goes? Oh well.... yesterday I went to London and found myself on Mile End Road, sitting in a pub which was bang opposite the front door of the notorious East London Mosque. That was very u..."

I'm told that Buenos Aires, Argentina has the most bookstores of any city in the world.

[Paul]

well, apart from Hay-on-Wye.

[[Name Redacted]]

Paul wrote: "well, apart from Hay-on-Wye."

I'm pretty sure that's only the most bookstore-filled of any city...in Wales.

[Traveller]

[Name Redacted] wrote: "I'm told that Buenos Aires, Argentina has the most bookstores of any city in the world.."

E-reading must not be big there. I did read somewhere that Cuba has such severe restrictions on their internetz, that they pass news on via flashdrive that exchanges hands physically. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014...

[Nandakishore]

Paul wrote: "well, apart from Hay-on-Wye."

Hay-on-Wye is fantastic.

[Yolande]

I would just like to add that here in South Africa we don't have a lot of ice-rinks so field-hockey is more popular, I played it myself in high school. So for us hockey means field-hockey and so we say ice-hockey to differentiate. I also roller-skated a lot in my childhood :)

(Love that Victorian picture!)

[Derek]

Traveller wrote: "Just for fun, here is an interesting Victorian version of roller-skating:
"

You know somebody was demoing things that look almost like that (and nearly as big!) at CES last week!

Paul wrote: "Later we went to Waterstones in Piccadilly, allegedly Europe's largest bookshop (open till 10 at night every day). Americans will be relieved to know that it's about two thirds the size of Barnes and Noble in Union Square. "

I used to shop at the appallingly named "World's Biggest Bookstore" in Toronto. It's almost thirty years since I've been there, though, and it apparently closed last November (thought it was still hanging onto the name).

[Derek]

Yolande wrote: "I would just like to add that here in South Africa we don't have a lot of ice-rinks so field-hockey is more popular,"

That's almost certainly true of most of the world outside Canada, Russia and Northern Europe. But here in Canada, it's one of the ways we know you're not from these parts—nobody would ever say "ice hockey" except to refer to the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation), and if they used it that way there'd be an implied sneer!

[Allen]

Anybody using an ipad/tablet and the Goodreads app? I like it, but unless I'm missing something I can't reply to individual threads and quote that thread in my comment. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas.

[Allen]

Wow, so much for the app ... Clicked the post button and wow. I'll have to get to a computer to delete unless one of you moderators beats me to it.

[Puddin Pointy-Toes]

The Goodreads app is, er, yeah, crap. As you've discovered. The mobile site is okay, but I expect on an iPad the desktop works pretty well.

[Derek]

Allen wrote: "Wow, so much for the app ... Clicked the post button and wow. I'll have to get to a computer to delete unless one of you moderators beats me to it."

OK, I got rid of those extra posts for you :-) I've seen that before from people posting from the iPad app. It's apparently much worse than the Android app, and that's no great shakes.

[Saski]

Oh, dear, I have an Android and that's all I will have access to for about 5 weeks of Feb-March. My apologies in advance...

[Traveller]

LOL, no worries, Ruth. In fact, that seems to have become quite prevalent on GR lately...

[Karin]

Allen, I almost always type from my iPhone, and it has the same problems you describe. I can't reply to someone, and (as Traveller knows from another thread :)), I can't delete double posts from my iPhone. I've learned I have to wait a minute to see my post rather than hitting "post" several times if it doesn't show up right away :)

[Saski]

Thanks, Traveller! Good to know, Karin, I'll keep that in mind. Any other hints from you tablet users?

[Allen]

Yep, finding out a few bugs the more I use it. But hey I'm using it more, meaning I'm commenting more than I have in a while :) Will definitely check out the main version in a browser as suggested. Thanks you all!

[Yolande]

I'll use this "anything goes" thread to post something that makes sense to me about buying books. Almost every time I buy a book I tend to start feeling guilty about getting ANOTHER book when I have so many on my physical and digital shelves that aren't read yet.

The points made in this video about the pleasures of being a reader also includes browsing through your collection to read something you're in the mood for and just the downright pleasure of buying a book goes along with the fun of reading.

Not that I have a huge amount to spend on books but I don't overspend and the money others will spend on their hobbies and other stuff, I spend on books. Therefore I will not feel guilty anymore for buying more books when I have a bunch unread since collecting books is one of life's few true pleasures for me (along with reading of course :) )

How To Bust TBR Guilt: http://youtu.be/8TSu4dlQAwc