Off Topic Thread 5.0

Bazzo

Buer wrote: »

A good biography is always interesting, rugby or otherwise. In terms of fiction, John Irving, Stephen King or have always enjoyed the classic literature like Orwell, Steinbeck etc. although I don't really want something too demanding.

Haven't actually read it but a fan of the occasional Stephen King novel and have had a few people recommend American Gods to me.

Dave_The_Sheep

Bazzo wrote: »

Haven't actually read it but a fan of the occasional Stephen King novel and have had a few people recommend American Gods to me.

American Gods is excellent. Plus one there.

errlloyd

I'm a non fiction sort of guy.

The three best non fiction books I've read recently are Say Nothing (about the ra), Golden Gates (San Francisco housing crisis), and Evicted.

But possibly not very fun reads.... 😕

Buer

Appreciate the recommendations, folks. For the record, I generally dislike science fiction/fantasy. Probably should have clarified that when I mentioned Stephen King; his best works are the character based stories for me e.g. The Shawshank Redemption.

Plenty of good options there to pick up. Appreciated.

Buer

Synode wrote: »

At some point Boards is just going to stop. It's been creaking for far too long at this stage. I'm guessing there's very little if any money being made from it

I think it's quite close and we're already seeing the demise of the site. How many regular new posters do we see here in the past year? I'm not sure I can think of any, to be honest.

People will drift away and nobody new is posting. I can see this forum becoming largely dormant in the next 2 years.

The site and format is quite dated at this point and the number of technical issues are growing. There seems to be a breakdown of some sort on a weekly basis now.

clsmooth

Dunney848 wrote: »

And if it’s an absolute unputdownable classic of literature “ The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas is the best book I’ve ever read

This, brilliant brilliant book. Just make sure it’s the ‘Buss’ translation version as it reads best compared to other translations. Stephen King wise, ‘The Stand’ is brilliant as is a book called ‘Swan Song’ by Robert R. McCammon if you like a post apocalyptic theme. ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker is a cracking read too. And if you’ve never read it, ‘The Borstal Boy’ is a excellent by Brendan Behan. They’re probably my top 5 favourite books in no particular order.

stephen_n

Buer wrote: »

Even if people can work from home, I don't see many rushing to move. They should but people are stuck in their ways. The decentralisation of government departments failed because nobody wanted to relocate.

But they really, really should. Hopefully, in time, we see more people being able to stay in their home town along with a smattering of people relocating whilst being employed in Dublin. It would be brilliant for the economy of many towns in rural areas which have seen a chronic lack of investment in recent years.

I think it very much depends on where they live, 75% of the people I work with have a minimum of 1 hours commute to work. Our offices are city centre, so fairly accessible by most pubic transport. Though with people living in places like Port Laois, Naas, Virginia and Athy, work from home has been a revelation. It’s already been decided that we will permanently be 50/50 at most.

Zzippy

Buer wrote: »

Well done, Zzippy. Sleep and money are overrated. Hope all are well and any this period of working from home for many allows you some time with the family.

Now go get the snip.

They are indeed! Will be low on one or the other for 20 years I reckon. This one is definitely the last

mfceiling

Congratulations Zzippy...a bit of good news in this time of seemingly endless difficulty.

Book suggestion...I'm currently reading "poverty safari". Written by a Scottish author/rapper/activist it gives reasons as to why governments have failed in their efforts to eradicate poverty. From education, housing, nutrition and everything in between it shows that poverty is now an industry, and despite the well meanings from certain groups and from governments themselves the problems are getting worse. Very good read.

aloooof

Buer wrote: »

To provoke a different discussion, does anyone have any decent recommendations for a book?

If you're looking for a something sports related, Richie Sadlier's and Andy Lee's autobiography are both excellent reads, and good holiday fare.

Zzippy wrote: »

But just to change the topic and introduce some good news which is probably of at least as little interest to anyone else, my long suffering better half has now outmanouevered yours truly by outnumbering the male side of the family with a second daughter. Momma and baby home since Wednesday and doing great ��

Congrats Zzippy!

thomond2006

Buer wrote: »

I think it's quite close and we're already seeing the demise of the site. How many regular new posters do we see here in the past year? I'm not sure I can think of any, to be honest.

People will drift away and nobody new is posting. I can see this forum becoming largely dormant in the next 2 years.

The site and format is quite dated at this point and the number of technical issues are growing. There seems to be a breakdown of some sort on a weekly basis now.

The archive format has actually been great while watching our games on my harddrive during lockdown. It's interesting to watch a game from years ago and read its match thread alongside. You can't get this with the social media platforms.

AH/CA has become a mess in recent years. There's too many posters who are permanently outraged/miserable who make threads depressing to read.

CatFromHue

World War Z is one of the best books ever written imo.

When I finished reading it the first time I flicked back to page 1 and just started again.

Bridge93

I see Israel Folau continues to try draw as much attention to himself for the wrong reasons as he can

stephen_n

Bridge93 wrote: »

I see Israel Folau continues to try draw as much attention to himself for the wrong reasons as he can

Which is a great reason not to talk about it.

jacothelad

Buer wrote: »

To provoke a different discussion, does anyone have any decent recommendations for a book? Surely someone has read something good over the last 5 months? No particular genre. I'm happy to read anything once it holds my attention.

I'm camping the next two weekends and I'm in danger of having to play eye spy for about 6 hours on each occasion if I can't demonstrate my attention is being held by a book.

Martin Cruz Smith is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including the Arkady Renko thrillers: Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square, Havana Bay, Wolves Eat Dogs, Stalin's Ghost and Three Stations.


Great.....

Clegg

Buer wrote: »

To provoke a different discussion, does anyone have any decent recommendations for a book? Surely someone has read something good over the last 5 months? No particular genre. I'm happy to read anything once it holds my attention.

I'm camping the next two weekends and I'm in danger of having to play eye spy for about 6 hours on each occasion if I can't demonstrate my attention is being held by a book.

Consider giving The Yiddish Policeman's Union a read. Has a rather interesting setting; an alternate history America where Alaska was set up as a safe haven for Jews fleeing Germany circa 1940. As a result it's basically the preeminent Jewish colony on Earth. And without Israeli/Palestine conflict Jewish culture has wildly diverged from what we know today.

The actual plot is a burnt out detective investigating the murder of a young man. Really good book. About 400 pages long so not too lengthy a read.

molloyjh

Congrats Zzippy!! And my thought and prayers are with you.

Stheno

Richard North Patterson is also pretty good fiction wise around American politics

bilston

John Hume passed away today after battling dementia in the final few years of his life.

Speaking as someone who comes "from the other side" in Northern Ireland I can say without fear of contradiction that he was a truly great statesman and without his courage I am certain Northern Ireland would not be in the place it is today.

RIP

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

Richard North Patterson is also pretty good fiction wise around American politics

I also like Lwrence Rees and his non fiction books on WW2

Stheno

bilston wrote: »

John Hume passed away today after battling dementia in the final few years of his life.

Speaking as someone who comes "from the other side" in Northern Ireland I can say without fear of contradiction that he was a truly great statesman and without his courage I am certain Northern Ireland would not be in the place it is today.

RIP

One of the cruel things about this pandemic is not being able to celebrate the lives of those who die during this time

mfceiling

bilston wrote: »

John Hume passed away today after battling dementia in the final few years of his life.

Speaking as someone who comes "from the other side" in Northern Ireland I can say without fear of contradiction that he was a truly great statesman and without his courage I am certain Northern Ireland would not be in the place it is today.

RIP

Absolutely. Held in very high regard from both sides of the community.
RIP.

Neil3030

Hume and Trimble, two true greats.

Dave_The_Sheep

Stheno wrote: »

One of the cruel things about this pandemic is not being able to celebrate the lives of those who die during this time

One of the things I've noticed today across various message boards/comment sections/reddit is the pretty much universal respect and admiration for John Hume. There's barely a negative comment anywhere, where normally you always get at least a few to many. That's the esteem the man is held in and it's worthy of notice and celebration itself, given the way things usually go these days. Giant of a man.

CatFromHue

Stheno wrote: »

One of the cruel things about this pandemic is not being able to celebrate the lives of those who die during this time

eh..........

dregin

Has boards been utterly hosed for others for the last week or so? Seems to be having serious DB issues.

Stheno

dregin wrote: »

Has boards been utterly hosed for others for the last week or so? Seems to be having serious DB issues.

Yep. Brutal over the weekend. Seems a bit better today

errlloyd

dregin wrote: »

Has boards been utterly hosed for others for the last week or so? Seems to be having serious DB issues.

I am getting a lot of issues on mobile. Is that the same for anyone else?

kuang1

Yup.
It keeps showing me that your post about the house party at 5am is the most recent in this thread.

errlloyd

kuang1 wrote: »

Yup.
It keeps showing me that your post about the house party at 5am is the most recent in this thread.

Thought that was just me. I'm glad that houseparty continues to annoy people.