The all new and only slightly recycled off topic thread (read post 1)

.ak

Just got to watch the American Oldboy. Not a patch on the original.

chupacabra

I cant seem to dedicate myself to watching things these days. Ive tried at various times to watch Sherlock,, The Walking dead, True detective, the vikings etc. etc.

Its not like I dont have the time. I have nothing but time! Nothing interests me anymore.

Swiwi.

chupacabra wrote: »

I cant seem to dedicate myself to watching things these days. Ive tried at various times to watch Sherlock,, The Walking dead, True detective, the vikings etc. etc.

Its not like I dont have the time. I have nothing but time! Nothing interests me anymore.

It must be true love...

ssaye2

http://www.sportsfile.com/blog/2014/04/aviva-time-lapse-leinster-munster-rugby/

ssaye2

ha

ssaye2

https://twitter.com/bernardjackman/status/451018017712132097/photo/1

Grimebox

I wish this was real

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89724689

chupacabra

Swiwi. wrote: »

It must be true love...

I wish that was the case! :P But she works 12 hours a day and I work from home so I have plenty time on my hands. The last show I watched the whole way through and became addicted to was Breaking Bad and since then ive found it very difficult to become invested in another television show. I mostly just watch Charlie Brookers weekly wipe and of course Game of Thrones this coming sunday.

justsomebloke

awec wrote: »

Coral are offering bayern at 3/1 tomorrow night for new customers. I think they are UK only

Like printing money that. Max stake a tenner, but basically a free 30 quid.

This is why he mods the rugby forum and not the gambling forum

Grimebox

3500 canadian visas just got snapped up in under 20 mins. I managed to get one :pac:

justsomebloke

Grimebox wrote: »

3500 canadian visas just got snapped up in under 20 mins. I managed to get one :pac:

Sweet, when you thinking of heading and where

Grimebox

justsomebloke wrote: »

Sweet, when you thinking of heading and where

Not sure when. I understand I have a year to begin the visa. I don't have it yet though. There are still a few more hoops to jump through. I just beat the rush so far. I'd go to Vancover more than likely. It's a big city with Whistler only 100km away for snowboarding. I could really see myself getting a job on a mountain for a few months at least. It's something I've always wanted to do. I have some family in Seattle too in the unlikely event that **** hits the fan.

awec

justsomebloke wrote: »

This is why he mods the rugby forum and not the gambling forum

Bayern were taking it handy tonight!

chupacabra

Grimebox wrote: »

Not sure when. I understand I have a year to begin the visa. I don't have it yet though. There are still a few more hoops to jump through. I just beat the rush so far. I'd go to Vancover more than likely. It's a big city with Whistler only 100km away for snowboarding. I could really see myself getting a job on a mountain for a few months at least. It's something I've always wanted to do. I have some family in Seattle too in the unlikely event that **** hits the fan.

Good luck man. Vancouver is a wonderful city and one of the most beautiful regions of the earth in Summer. If youre around in July make sure to take a brief trip to Calgary for the stampede.

CatFromHue

chupacabra wrote: »

I wish that was the case! :P But she works 12 hours a day and I work from home so I have plenty time on my hands. The last show I watched the whole way through and became addicted to was Breaking Bad and since then ive found it very difficult to become invested in another television show. I mostly just watch Charlie Brookers weekly wipe and of course Game of Thrones this coming sunday.

I'd be the same.

I did buy the first season of Breaking Bad before Christmas and sat down and watched the first 4 episodes. I thought they were good and I liked them but I still haven't watched the other 3.

Now The Hardy Bucks is a different matter.......

Fireball07

Built to Spill- I Could Hurt a Fly..... amazing song.



I'm reading the Stand by Stephen King at the moment, it's very enjoyable. However, I've heard the ending is terrible. I have no idea how it's going to end, but the whole thing has been building and building up, so if it's a real letdown, that may seem like an awful waste of 1000+ pages. As in, it's enjoyable, but it all feels like it's all for the delivery of the finish. But the characters are interesting.



Also setting questions for a quiz on Friday, I've been tasked with the GAA & General Sport round (it's for a GAA club). Hard to get the balance between too easy and too difficult right... 2 people have done my 2 rounds so far, and the average score is 5/10. But in teams, I think people should do okay. Might be doing a History round, and an Entertainment round as well. Any ideas for questions, send them my way :P

durkadurka

Avoid things that can be answered easily using a smartphone

CatFromHue

I read The Stand a while ago (over ten years now lol) and the journey towards the very end is great.

I was at a table quiz a while a go and they gave out a page with about 10 pictures of various celebs from when they were young and you'd to guess who was who. That's a hard one to find the answer for on the net in a few mins and would do well for Sport or Entertainment.

Grimebox

durkadurka wrote: »

Avoid things that can be answered easily using a smartphone

Any table quiz I've been to recently has a plastic ziplock bag on each table that everyone has to put their phones into

OldRio

Good luck Grimebox. Enjoy your adventure.

CatFromHue

The duration of the IEC Visa is great. At 2 years you can realistically look at a lot of professional jobs and employers will be interested in you.

In Oz the WHV is 12 months but you can only work for a max of 6 months with one employer which does make it pretty hard to get professional work. NZ is 12 months with no restrictions so it is a bit easier but you're still in the maternity/small project kind of area.

ScissorPaperRock

Grimebox wrote: »

Not sure when. I understand I have a year to begin the visa. I don't have it yet though. There are still a few more hoops to jump through. I just beat the rush so far. I'd go to Vancover more than likely. It's a big city with Whistler only 100km away for snowboarding. I could really see myself getting a job on a mountain for a few months at least. It's something I've always wanted to do. I have some family in Seattle too in the unlikely event that **** hits the fan.

I literally just left Whistler a few days ago. I was just there for a short visit, but it was f****** awesome. Caught what was probably the end of the snow season.

chupacabra

anyone remember the Dan bar? I miss em so I do

dregin

chupacabra wrote: »

anyone remember the Dan bar? I miss em so I do

I miss the teeth I lost to them!

Buer

Fireball07 wrote: »

I'm reading the Stand by Stephen King at the moment, it's very enjoyable. However, I've heard the ending is terrible. I have no idea how it's going to end, but the whole thing has been building and building up, so if it's a real letdown, that may seem like an awful waste of 1000+ pages. As in, it's enjoyable, but it all feels like it's all for the delivery of the finish. But the characters are interesting.

I'm not going to lie, the ending is an anti-climax. I suppose it ties in with the theme of the book and the bigger picture good vs evil etc. It really is an excellent book though. Stephen King's quality as a writer is often overlooked due to him being very much typecast as a horror writer. He has a great feel for dialogue and painting his characters though. I used eat his books up when I was a kid.

His non-horror books are among his best, for me. The collection Different Seasons was excellent (The Shawshank Redemption and The Body, better known as the movie Stand By Me). In terms of his actual horror books, I don't think he's topped Salem's Lot, in my opinion, just for sheer tension and story.

The number of his books that have been made into major films is pretty ridiculous at this stage.

.ak

Yeah, he's get an unfortunate rep for being a OTT horror writer when in fact he's actually a very good writer and has some real skill in terms of bringing the reader through the story of human nature. The setting, context and results are often secondary to him, and in a way that makes his stuff far more interesting and raw.

In terms of his book to movie adaptations you can see why he's got a rep for writing cheap horror, especially when a lot of the adaptions are just cheap TV movie ones. The adaptations are often quite poor in terms of translation from the book. The most famous one that he considers a failure is Kubrick's 'The Shining', as he felt the human nature was completely skewed by Kubrick's version. Personally I love the movie, one of my all time favourites, but I agree you get a completely different feel for the characters in the book.

Speaking of endings, if you haven't seen it, watch The Mist. What starts off as a what seems like a poor Stephen King sci-fi TV movie actually turns into a great piece of movie, once again the real sub plot is human nature and how and what we do to survive. The ending makes it though.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

I'm not going to lie, the ending is an anti-climax.

Is it me or is that something that happens with a few of his books? Under The Dome I thought was superb right up until the end. Then when we learned where the Dome came from it ruined everything. The book would have been far better leaving it a complete mystery. At that stage you'd have forgiven it not being explained because it was only ever really a plot device.

ssaye2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tVeciqrvfA

ssaye2

http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2010/01/10/the-amazing-rugby-match-in-antarctica/

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

Is it me or is that something that happens with a few of his books? Under The Dome I thought was superb right up until the end. Then when we learned where the Dome came from it ruined everything. The book would have been far better leaving it a complete mystery. At that stage you'd have forgiven it not being explained because it was only ever really a plot device.

I think the nature of the books make it quite hard to come up with the big finale that one may expect. I prefer his stories that deal with more realistic situations which can finish more as opposed to the supernatural tales whose endings can struggle to tie in well with the story. All of his books written as Richard Bachman were very enjoyable, I found.

His release last year about the funfair was quite a decent, easy read concerning a student's summer working at a carnival.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Any Wes Anderson fans here?

on the river

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Any Wes Anderson fans here?

ya you

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

on the river wrote: »

ya you

what's your favorite?

on the river

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

what's your favorite?

bottle rocket

Deano7788

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Any Wes Anderson fans here?

I'm guessing you're after seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel? Absolutely loved it.

CatFromHue

Deano7788 wrote: »

I'm guessing you're after seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel? Absolutely loved it.

I liked it too but the first couple of mins were tough. I really struggled to understand what the narrator was saying as it was a right assault of fancy language

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Deano7788 wrote: »

I'm guessing you're after seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel? Absolutely loved it.

Ya, loved it too. Although still doesn't touch TRT or the Life Aquatic for me

Buer

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Any Wes Anderson fans here?

Indeed. Me and a few mates meaning to go see GBH this week. I don't think it can live up to the expectation but still looking forward to it!

He tends to be one of those directors that there's quite the love in for and, if you don't enjoy his movies, you don't "get it" with a lot of people saying they love all his movies just to keep up appearances, I believe. I'm rather sceptical of the 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (being this cynical really sucks the joy out of things at times). I don't think he's come close to movies like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums in the last few movies.

I'm a fan but definitely think some of his movies have been disappointing with TRT being the highlight. Absolutely loved that movie and Gene Hackman was superb.

Swiwi.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Ya, loved it too. Although still doesn't touch TRT or the Life Aquatic for me

I liked the one with the scouts, name escapes me.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Swiwi. wrote: »

I liked the one with the scouts, name escapes me.

Moonrise Kingdom!

Deano7788

GBH is worth seeing just for Ralph Fiennes perforance alone; he's amazing in it.

Anderson's definitley a love it or hate it director though. He's got a very unique style.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

Indeed. Me and a few mates meaning to go see GBH this week. I don't think it can live up to the expectation but still looking forward to it!

He tends to be one of those directors that there's quite the love in for and, if you don't enjoy his movies, you don't "get it" with a lot of people saying they love all his movies just to keep up appearances, I believe. I'm rather sceptical of the 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (being this cynical really sucks the joy out of things at times). I don't think he's come close to movies like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums in the last few movies.

I'm a fan but definitely think some of his movies have been disappointing with TRT being the highlight. Absolutely loved that movie and Gene Hackman was superb.

I'm one of the ones who just doesn't get it. But the thing with those kinds of movies is you generally know roughly what you're getting before going in. As a result I don't tend to watch them, and I'd imagine most of those that do are people who "get it". That's probably at least one of the reasons why the rating is so high on Rotten Tomatoes.

There are plenty of hugely popular/culty films that I don't get though. I thought Crouching Tiger was one of the worst films I've ever seen and the only reason I didn't leave the cinema early (which I've never in my life done) during Lost in Translation was because I was with someone. I'd never been as bored in all my life. And the less said about Woody Allen the better IMO....

.ak

I really liked the pace of Budapest. It had a little more cohesion than his other movies and made no apologies for its eccentricity. TRT is still my fav though. Just for the Wilson brothers.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

I think the Life Aquatic is my favorite film ever. So many brilliant moments

OldRio

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

I'm one of the ones who just doesn't get it. But the thing with those kinds of movies is you generally know roughly what you're getting before going in. As a result I don't tend to watch them, and I'd imagine most of those that do are people who "get it". That's probably at least one of the reasons why the rating is so high on Rotten Tomatoes.

There are plenty of hugely popular/culty films that I don't get though. I thought Crouching Tiger was one of the worst films I've ever seen and the only reason I didn't leave the cinema early (which I've never in my life done) during Lost in Translation was because I was with someone. I'd never been as bored in all my life. And the less said about Woody Allen the better IMO....

Unfortunately, I'll have to disagree on Woody Allen. Manhattan is one of my all time favourite films. He can have some very sharp wit; I think the black and white and Gershwin music puts people off. And Diane Keaton. It's hard not to be irritated by her.

Loved LIT, thought CTHD was hugely overrated. People came out of it gushing over the fight scenes. I sat there quietly thinking to myself "Am I only the one who saw those lads running on leaves? Running? ON LEAVES, PEOPLE!"

Swiwi.

Buer wrote: »

Unfortunately, I'll have to disagree on Woody Allen. Manhattan is one of my all time favourite films. He can have some very sharp wit; I think the black and white and Gershwin music puts people off. And Diane Keaton. It's hard not to be irritated by her.

Loved LIT, thought CTHD was hugely overrated. People came out of it gushing over the fight scenes. I sat there quietly thinking to myself "Am I only the one who saw those lads running on leaves? Running? ON LEAVES, PEOPLE!"

I thought Blue Jasmine was one of Woodie's better films, I've seen about 6 or 7 of his, including the "classics" Manhattan and Annie Hall. But like Molloy & your good self I didn't like CTHD at all - yawn ++. Havent seen LIT, so can't comment.

Grimebox

I didn't realise Budapest Hotel was Wes Anderson. I've such a love/hate relationship with his films. I love Royal Tenebaums and Darjeeling Limited but then can't stand Rushmore or Life Aquatic. I think it depended on what mood I was in when watching them for the first time.

Fireball07

durkadurka wrote: »

Avoid things that can be answered easily using a smartphone

Don't think most people cheat at these quizzes. The team I've been on has won 4 years running and we definitely didn't cheat :P but we didn't get overly impressive scores, so if people had been cheating they'd have won.

CatFromHue wrote: »

I read The Stand a while ago (over ten years now lol) and the journey towards the very end is great.

I was at a table quiz a while a go and they gave out a page with about 10 pictures of various celebs from when they were young and you'd to guess who was who. That's a hard one to find the answer for on the net in a few mins and would do well for Sport or Entertainment.

Personally don't like picture rounds. Or audio rounds. So I doubt I'll use them, although one of the organisers does want a picture round


Maybe it's because I'm not very good at them, I had one like that before, and I had never heard of most of the so-called celebrities.

Buer wrote: »

I'm not going to lie, the ending is an anti-climax. I suppose it ties in with the theme of the book and the bigger picture good vs evil etc. It really is an excellent book though. Stephen King's quality as a writer is often overlooked due to him being very much typecast as a horror writer. He has a great feel for dialogue and painting his characters though. I used eat his books up when I was a kid.

His non-horror books are among his best, for me. The collection Different Seasons was excellent (The Shawshank Redemption and The Body, better known as the movie Stand By Me). In terms of his actual horror books, I don't think he's topped Salem's Lot, in my opinion, just for sheer tension and story.

The number of his books that have been made into major films is pretty ridiculous at this stage.

I think this is actually the first book I've read by him... I've always meant to, but he's supposed to be an excellent short story writer. Been dabbling in short story writing myself recently, and reading a lot, so will probably pick up a few.

Molester Stallone

Lavezzi seems to have some form of ocd, blessed himself 6 or 7 times at least after scoring against chelski