Weekend social 13/07/2012

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, July 13th, 2012 - 34 comments
Categories: weekend social - Tags:

Christmas truce 1914Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.

No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?

34 comments on “Weekend social 13/07/2012 ”

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  1. vto 1
    13 July 2012 at 2:22 pm

    half a metre of pluviality in 48 hours – so lush….

  2. mac1 2
    13 July 2012 at 2:25 pm

    Something I swore as a young man that I would never do- have to sit in an old folks home and be ‘entertained’ by some terrible singer and have to sing along with him songs such as “Roll Out The Barrel” and “Happy Days Are Here Again” while clapping hands and swaying to the music.

    Something very deep in my psyche about ‘crowd sway music.’

    And what am I off to do right now? Yep, entertain some lovely old folks in a rest home for their Friday happy hour with guitar and song book. I find fifties and sixties rock/pop/folk songs suit this crowd, and me, just right. However, singing along is optional and they’re the best audience I’ve ever sung to.

    Have a good weekend, all.

    • Bored 2.1
      13 July 2012 at 3:07 pm

      Can I express my delight (and probably all Standardistas delight) at your endeavours: if you spread even a little bit of happiness it will be top effort. Sounds to me like a really good way to spend happy hour.

      • Adrian 2.1.1
        13 July 2012 at 4:07 pm

        Happiness, Bored? God, have you ever heard Mac1 sing?

        • mac1 2.1.1.1
          13 July 2012 at 5:13 pm

          That’s the last time I sing at your birthdays, then? I’ll just drink your hooch from now on…… if you’re THAT Adrian :-))

          And now, after singing to the old folks, some of whom knew all the songs, I’m off to the launch of a new Renaissance beer. Oh, happy days are here again.

  3. ad 3
    13 July 2012 at 2:37 pm

    OMG the wife’s in Dunedin for the weekend visiting the folks. I’m free! I don’t know what to do!

  4. NickS 4
    13 July 2012 at 3:05 pm

    Sleeeeeeep.

    Finally falling back into a 10pm crash time.

    Also waiting for The Apocalypse Codex to turn up in the post, Book Depository is usually only a week for shipping times, but mines taking forever :/

    • higherstandard 4.1
      13 July 2012 at 3:55 pm

      Been taking closer to a fortnight of late, might have something to do with the weather and olympics I suppose.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.2
      13 July 2012 at 4:52 pm

      That’s why I tend to buy e-books – instant delivery and often cheaper.

      • NickS 4.2.1
        13 July 2012 at 4:56 pm

        Hardbacks = more money for the author 😛

        Also Aus/NZ occasionally gets pooped in terms of ebook availability.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1.1
          13 July 2012 at 5:52 pm

          Hardbacks = more money for the author

          Depends upon who the author is publishing through. Some places are giving the author better than 70% of the sale price which is actually a hell of a lot better than the return on paper books.

          Also Aus/NZ occasionally gets pooped in terms of ebook availability.

          That can be a problem.

          • NickS 4.2.1.1.1
            13 July 2012 at 6:26 pm

            The “hardbacks” thing is via Charles Stross who writes rather awesome sci-fi novels and publishes through Orbit :3

            And so gets advances to write novels…

            But yeah, in terms of author pay-backs, it’s hard-back>ebook>>>mass-market paper-backs typically, so I try to get either hard-backs or ebooks depending on what I can afford.

            That can be a problem.

            Aye, and it’s worse when it’s a midlist/niche author who the public library service ignores 🙁

            Tor’s the worst so far too, I can’t buy Ashes of Candesce in NZ yet and Thomas Harlan’s Land of the Dead is a pain in the butt to find an ebook of, so I ended up pirating it until I remember to order it (bloody good book actually, not in CHCH library system). Mainly it’s because they try and sell ebook distribution rights to book stores here in Aus/NZ as a sweetener to get the hard copies on the shelves, leading unto fun…

          • NickS 4.2.1.1.2
            13 July 2012 at 6:42 pm

            And Amazon’s self-publishing thing is badly flawed, with no filtering it’s prone to copy-right theft and really, really badly written novels pushed by armies of sockpuppets and spam-bots.

            Also editors can make or break some books, case in point, one Peter Hamilton badly needed one who’d cut the filler from his earlier novels and enforce better characterisation. Same with Ian Irvine, those’s current series is filled with waaaay to much bloat and hyperbolic characterisation, though unlike Hamilton can still weave a world interesting enough to make me want to keep reading his books.

            • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1.1.2.1
              13 July 2012 at 11:01 pm

              And Amazon’s self-publishing thing is badly flawed, with no filtering it’s prone to copy-right theft and really, really badly written novels pushed by armies of sockpuppets and spam-bots.

              Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of articles about that. It’s sad that it happens but I’m sure they’ll get the wrinkles sorted sooner or later. Although, some of those articles I read were about how hard it was to get Amazon to do anything about them.

              Still, it’s a young idea and will mature over time.

              Also editors can make or break some books


              Then look at hiring an editor – don’t have to go through a publishing house to do that.

      • higherstandard 4.2.2
        13 July 2012 at 5:26 pm

        Don’t think I’ll ever go down that path – I just love good old paper and ink.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.2.2.1
          13 July 2012 at 5:59 pm

          Personally, I can’t stand paper based books any more. They take up space, are inconvenient and have limited room for notes. E-books remember my place automatically even when switching between books, let me make copious and detailed notes, take up no space, and allows me to get comfortable while reading.

          • Herodotus 4.2.2.1.1
            13 July 2012 at 6:04 pm

            Thinking of going from paper to electronic any advicenon what hardware’s best have heard various fors/against for kindle and apple?

            • Draco T Bastard 4.2.2.1.1.1
              13 July 2012 at 6:29 pm

              I just use my PC and download the (usually free) app that the producers usually make available.

            • NickS 4.2.2.1.1.2
              13 July 2012 at 6:35 pm

              Depends, if you’ve already got, or are looking at getting an iPad or iPhone (warning, class four glamour, hence the “oooh shiny!” fanatical devotion and willingness to pay obscene prices), just use those, otherwise the Kindle is pretty much the pinnacle of ebook hardware due to usability, storage, battery life and cost. Sony also makes a good one as well, but stupidly over-priced it (NZ300+ if I remember) and so can’t compete with the kindle.

              Just convert ebooks from different providers via Calibre 🙂

              • Chris …
                14 July 2012 at 1:30 pm

                Even if you have an ipad or iphone I still think it is worth get a specialised e-reader. Mainly because if you read quite a bit the backlight can start to hurt your eyes.

            • rosy 4.2.2.1.1.3
              14 July 2012 at 1:04 am

              Samsung Galaxy Tablet it does so much more than just readers. It’s my second love and and because I live where english bookshops aren’t I wouldn’t be without it…

              The only trouble with readers is it’s far too easy to buy a new book so instead of saving money on cheaper e-books I’m spending at least as much at the open all hours shop. There are heaps of sites around with suggestions/reviews for books so I don’t miss the book shop too much.

          • Ed 4.2.2.1.2
            13 July 2012 at 8:25 pm

            I’ve been reading using a Kindle for about a year now, and I cannot understand why anyone would want to mark words or sections, look up words in a dictionary, or write notes. I’m thinking of getting the newer Kindle without a keyboard . .

            • NickS 4.2.2.1.2.1
              13 July 2012 at 8:43 pm

              If you’re reading non-fiction books notes are very, very useful for highlighting points of interest for future reference.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                13 July 2012 at 11:03 pm

                You should see the notes I put into my fiction books as I pull the politics of them apart 😈

        • NickS 4.2.2.2
          13 July 2012 at 6:29 pm

          I love it too, but hardbacks are too heavy to take travelling/tramping and I can chew through a 400-500 page book in less than 2 days, or one day if I’m not doing anything.

          I’m out of bookcase space too 🙁

  5. Bored 5
    13 July 2012 at 3:14 pm

    I was actually thinking off floating my chickens on the NZX as an IPO in the only currently positive investment prospectus showing a definite material return. But I am not going to because I love the deep rich orange yolks, poached on toast. And the whole idea of some mutual fund offshore on Wall St having an interest in my chickens does not appeal (to them).

    Added to which I think they (the chickens) own me..makes the whole transaction fraught with difficulty. Do I qualify for a TARP?

  6. the pink postman 6
    13 July 2012 at 3:46 pm

    A weekend for PP and wife just gardening . However I do recommend
    a couple of good films doing the rounds. “The Well Diggers Daughter’
    and “Royal Affair” go see,!

  9. NickS 9
    15 July 2012 at 10:30 am

    Om nom nom nom

    I’m so not going back to pre-ground coffee. Rescued a hand powered old-ish Italian made coffee grinder from the rubbish on a job and daaaaaamn.

    Also helps the local supermarkert is forever out of Hummingbird Oomph plunger grind.