Discussion The Random Discussion Thread

[Dard Ball Get]

Catch-22
Breakfast of Champions
Heart of Darkness
Tree of Man
Vernon God Little
Cryptonomicon
In Cold Blood
The Chrysalids
A Confederacy of Dunces

Thank you, had a few of those on the list but that helps pad it out even more!

 

[gringo2011]

Missed poon completely. Not even any rain.
My mate in cairns said it wasn’t too bad at all. No wind damage only a bit of flooding. Even as far down as Ingham hardly got anything.

Yeah, weird howe the wind forgot to arrive and the rain came instead, very unusual.

 

[gringo2011]

Sticking with the classics only, gents.
9/10 for Brave New World, quite something.

Want to hear your recommendations, everyone is welcome in Dard’s Bookclub.
(Picture books don’t count, Lil G)

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Being a massive right winger try reading the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. She was a massive campaigner but it was a good read.

I reckon you'd love Hemmingway too. Old Man and The Sea is almost flawlessly written. You can knock it over in about 2 hours and it's almost like the Bicycle Thieves film, just really basic but elite.

All of his macho braggart stories are great reads too. Not many of his books were below average actually. Great Gatsby is probably a good read for you too.

 

[gringo2011]

The Road toll in itself doesn't paint a very good picture of what's going on, given it doesn't take into account how many people are in the country compared to 10 or 50 years ago. A high road toll this year compared to 15 years ago could still be less accidents per capita.

The roads are shocking, though. There are a few places near me, where instead of fixing the potholes, the council just slows the speed down to 40 when there are a few potholes coming up. Not a good solution when the speed limit is meant to be 100.

It seems to be region dependent. Up around Daylesford the roads are absolute shit but Gippsland has really good roads and rush to do resurfacing when needed. The heavy rains seem to get the roads up north more than down south. I'm guessing that local budgets are the reason for some areas being worse than others. Around Caulfield the streets are immaculate.

 

[Joffaboy]

Being a massive right winger try reading the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. She was a massive campaigner but it was a good read.

I reckon you'd love Hemmingway too. Old Man and The Sea is almost flawlessly written. You can knock it over in about 2 hours and it's almost like the Bicycle Thieves film, just really basic but elite.

All of his macho braggart stories are great reads too. Not many of his books were below average actually. Great Gatsby is probably a good read for you too.

Would rather gouge my eyes out than read who s.hite.

For some light reading am doing World War Z, an Oral History.
Totally different to the movie which is like a prequel to the book which is set 12-15 years later with the Brad Pitt character interviewing people around the world, starting with the great denial, The great panic, World War Z, the Aftermath.

The great denial eerily mimics our little adventure with covid.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dard Ball Get]

It seems to be region dependent. Up around Daylesford the roads are absolute s**t but Gippsland has really good roads and rush to do resurfacing when needed. The heavy rains seem to get the roads up north more than down south. I'm guessing that local budgets are the reason for some areas being worse than others. Around Caulfield the streets are immaculate.

Atlas Shrugged is also on the list. I know very little of Rand, but almost prefer that and just let the art do the talkin'

 

[gringo2011]

I know a road safety professor, he said it's just natural variability. This year there have been a similar number of accidents to other years, but each vehicle had higher occupancy so the total road toll is higher. More crashes with cars full of people as opposed to single vehicle things.

Covid sent the road toll right down and makes the 5 year averages all over the shop too. Cars are much safer than they used to be but population growth has made the death toll grow. My brother got T-boned in a Prius and walked away from it on a country highway because of airbags and structural improvements. Ended up flipped in a ditch, 20 years ago he wouldn't have been in the morgue.

 

[gringo2011]

Would rather gouge my eyes out than read who s.hite.

For some light reading am doing World War Z, an Oral History.
Totally different to the movie which is like a prequel to the book which is set 12-15 years later with the Brad Pitt character interviewing people around the world, starting with the great denial, The great panic, World War Z, the Aftermath.

The great denial eerily mimics our little adventure with covid.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

She's a pretty good read even if I hate her politics.

 

[gringo2011]

Atlas Shrugged is also on the list. I know very little of Rand, but almost prefer that and just let the art do the talkin'

Fountainhead is better. Real moment in time stuff. US at the peak of it technological advancement and financial explosion, campaignery Murdoch type character, visionary young modernist architect, pettiness, art over cash morality stuff. I reckon it was a great read. Really entertaining.

You should do some Dickens too. Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are really accessible and fun reads. Balzac is pretty good too if you want some French Dickens.

Try some Russian stuff too. The Gulag Archipelago or something not to big to start off with then go to Crime and Punishment or something a bit more ambitious.

For more modern stuff I reckon Barbara Kingsolver is pretty good. Puts some history in her novels and makes them good reads still. The Lacuna and Poisonwood Bible are both pretty interesting subjects. Donna Tartt is pretty good too I reckon.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Fountainhead is better. Real moment in time stuff. US at the peak of it technological advancement and financial explosion, campaignery Murdoch type character, visionary young modernist architect, pettiness, art over cash morality stuff. I reckon it was a great read. Really entertaining.

You should do some Dickens too. Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are really accessible and fun reads. Balzac is pretty good too if you want some French Dickens.

Try some Russian stuff too. The Gulag Archipelago or something not to big to start off with then go to Crime and Punishment or something a bit more ambitious.

For more modern stuff I reckon Barbara Kingsolver is pretty good. Puts some history in her novels and makes them good reads still. The Lacuna and Poisonwood Bible are both pretty interesting subjects. Donna Tartt is pretty good too I reckon.

Yeah I’ve read Gulag Archipelago and Crime and Punishment.

Oliver Twist I’ve always put off because of the well worn reference of the name. Stupid how the brain works really.

Fountainhead has been added for sure.

Started The Passenger by Cormack McCarthy on audiobook, but stopped very early and will get the hardcover. Making an effort to read physical books again.

 

[luca77]

Just wondering if anyone has used any kind of tracker other than Airtags (something I am actually envious of iPhones for) to keep tabs on their kids in Chaddy or Southland before.
My young boy thinks it's wild to p!$$ off on me when we go shopping, and he's not used to big-arsed places like that.
I might be able to stick a prepaid SIM in an old phone and get my kids to carry it, but wondering if anything else has been proven to work in those kind of places.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Melbourne's 'king of furniture' Franco Cozzo has died at the age of 87

www.9news.com.au

It is a grand sale no more.

 

[gringo2011]

Yeah I’ve read Gulag Archipelago and Crime and Punishment.

Oliver Twist I’ve always put off because of the well worn reference of the name. Stupid how the brain works really.

Fountainhead has been added for sure.

Started The Passenger by Cormack McCarthy on audiobook, but stopped very early and will get the hardcover. Making an effort to read physical books again.

Cormack McCarthy is good too. All the Pretty Horses and the Road are pretty good.

I re-read On the Road again a while back too. Still a good read.

If you want to try a bit of history try From The Holy Mountain by Dalrymple. A historian walked from Greece to the levant back in the 80s or 90s when the region was still relatively stable. Interesting to see how much it's changed since.

If you like classics the Outsider by Camus is pretty good. Got some interesting existentialist vibes but still hold together as a novel, probably better than stuff like Satre and Kafka. You couldn't have had American Psycho without the Outsider. He's the original literary sociopath.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Items at Coles, 2 for $6.00
I want just one. $4.00.

Look under the yellow specials tag. Normal price $3.00
ASSHOLES.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Cormack McCarthy is good too. All the Pretty Horses and the Road are pretty good.

I re-read On the Road again a while back too. Still a good read.

If you want to try a bit of history try From The Holy Mountain by Dalrymple. A historian walked from Greece to the levant back in the 80s or 90s when the region was still relatively stable. Interesting to see how much it's changed since.

If you like classics the Outsider by Camus is pretty good. Got some interesting existentialist vibes but still hold together as a novel, probably better than stuff like Satre and Kafka. You couldn't have had American Psycho without the Outsider. He's the original literary sociopath.

You know what you’ve just made me realise, it was The Road that I’d started, not The Passenger .
Saved me buying the wrong book, although should probably read both anyway

 

[gringo2011]

You know what you’ve just made me realise, it was The Road that I’d started, not The Passenger .
Saved me buying the wrong book, although should probably read both anyway

View attachment 1875540

I liked those Stieg Larson books back in the day too. Reading some Niestzche too boss. Impressed. Still have FA idea what he was saying most of the time. Two people can have polar opposite ideas of what he was saying from the same passage.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

 

[Saintos The ITK]

You know what you’ve just made me realise, it was The Road that I’d started, not The Passenger .
Saved me buying the wrong book, although should probably read both anyway

View attachment 1875540

Blood Meridian is the heaviest most depressing read I think I’ve ever plowed through.
Good read but.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Blood Meridian is the heaviest most depressing read I think I’ve ever plowed through.
Good read but.

Started watching a 5 hour YouTube video discussing it a while back, decided I better read it first hahaha. Has a lot to live up to!

 

[bergholt]

Started The Passenger by Cormack McCarthy on audiobook, but stopped very early and will get the hardcover. Making an effort to read physical books again.

I can't read ebooks, they're too disposable, only read physical. And I can only do audiobooks for non-fiction, otherwise the voices the narrator does interferes too much with my picture of the character.

 

[bergholt]

Blood Meridian is the heaviest most depressing read I think I’ve ever plowed through.
Good read but.

Yeah I find McCarthy too dark most of the time, great writing but his worlds aren't fun.

 

[George]

Imagine being a grown man and looking at prices of goods at a supermarket, lmao

Ah, sure is something to be sitting on this much moderator money

 

[Dard Ball Get]

I can't read ebooks, they're too disposable, only read physical. And I can only do audiobooks for non-fiction, otherwise the voices the narrator does interferes too much with my picture of the character.

Agree re: audiobook in some part.
However a few have really stood out with the voice acting for me, which added to the experience rather than detracted.
American Gods (Ian McShane is incredible) recently and Lord Of The Rings CD’s copped a hammering as a kid , both incredible audio wise.

Definitely depends on the subject matter.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Imagine being a grown man and looking at prices of goods at a supermarket, lmao

Ah, sure is something to be sitting on this much moderator money

Have never taken notice of food or fuel prices, farkin eggs costing $10 a doz did catch me off guard the other day though

 

[George]

Have never taken notice of food or fuel prices, farkin eggs costing $10 a doz did catch me off guard the other day though

Probably dinosaur eggs, better let Gringwoke in on it he'll be burning a hole through the national museum hotline