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| Dec-10-17 | | Alien Math: hoping the Nuklu could offer us a break a couple times, for old times sake anyways, our nearest used book store didn't have a few books, thankfully we were able to find a couple at least on Amazon, now to wait and hope they can find the right snowbank.. lol |
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| Dec-10-17 | | Alien Math: almost forgot, thanks for your kind words on the other page, even he deleted them as soon as he could, your thoughts are appreciated |
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Dec-10-17
 | | Domdaniel: <Alien> Not at all, no problem. I think you are a star in any case. I just read a very good SF novel by Charles Stross - he is British, living in Scotland, and very prolific. I've read several of his earlier books. One strange thing -- the big news story here is usually Brexit -- why did the UK vote to leave the EU? How can Ireland avoid a 'hard border' between EU and UK? Would such borders be in breach of previous treaties? And so on -- but a couple of Stross's books are set in a Scotland firmly tied to Europe. And Scotland voted against Brexit, as did London and Northern Ireland. Interesting times. The new Stross novel that I read is called 'Empire Games' - really excellent. And a sequel is due in January - I said he was prolific. Hope you're well. Is the winter very severe where you are? I really like the song "Anchored Down in Anchorage". |
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| Dec-10-17 | | MostlyAverageJoe: Hi, <Dom>. I noticed this: <*Sci-fi alert*: read "The Snail on the Slope" by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. > that you posted on User: Annie K.'s page, and thought that since you enjoyed so many Strugatskys' novels, perhaps you want to give a try to "Monday Starts on Saturday" -- which was finally translated into English (available on Amazon). It is definitely my favorite book by this duo. Some knowledge of the times during which it was written may be needed to fully appreciate it, but I recall that you're plenty qualified in this aspect. Cheers.
MAJ, sitting out this year's contest |
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Dec-10-17
| | Domdaniel: Hi <MAJ> = I've read 'Monday Starts on Saturday' and liked it. Recently I also read (in translation) 'The Doomed City' - billed as a semi-dissident work, a lost masterpiece by the Strugatskys. I thought it was very good, though not quite up there with Roadside Picnic, or Definitely Maybe (published under a name that translates as something like 'A billion years to the end of the world'. I also liked Hard to be a God. At one point, I considered doing a PhD on Russian and American science fiction -- but my Russian language wasn't good enough, and using translations would be futile. |
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| Dec-11-17 | | Alien Math: thanks <Domdaniel> and <MostlyAverageJoe> for the book recommends :) weather here in Anchorage was warmer than usual, with rain that started to freeze after encountering the cooler ground, to fog banks that had limited visibility to between half km and half mile, with house across the street being partially covered, here is one day when the fog was starting to lift and i thought the effect looked interesting https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQoG0Z4... |
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| Dec-12-17 | | MostlyAverageJoe: I haven't read 'The Doomed City' -- I'll have to check it out... |
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Dec-12-17
| | Domdaniel: <Alien> That's a great photo. Here in Cork it is also often foggy -- the city is a natural bowl, with a flat, marshy centre surrounded by hills. But Anchorage is more extreme. |
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| Dec-13-17 | | Alien Math: <Domdaniel> got battlefield earth on kindle today for 99 cents, not sure if that the type you like, just a heads up on a kindle book |
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Dec-13-17
 | | OhioChessFan: I have no hope of solving the Klus, so the best I have to offer is a song parody. Back on top of the hit parade after a year's absence:
To the tune of Don't Go Breaking My Heart- Elton John and Kiki Dee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwJ...
Don't go solvin those klus
I couldn't if I tried
Oh homey if I use Wiki
Maybe if I use TinEye
So don't go solving those klus
You have to wait there for me
Oh homey when you click on that prize
You took it from me.
Nuuuukluuuuuuuuuu
Nobody knows it, nobody knows
When I was stumped
I was your chump
Nobody knows it
Right from the start
Gave it my heart
Gave it my heart
So don't go solving those klus
I won't go solving those klus
Oh yeah
Don't go solving those klus
And nobody told me
Nuuuuukluuuuuuu
Cause nobody showed me
And now it's up to me maybe
I think I can fake it
So don't misunderstand me
You put the fight in my eyes
Oh you put the burn to the game
I've got your prize in my sights
Nuuuuuuuuuuukluuuuuuuuu
Nobody knows it
When I was stumped
I was your chump
Nobody knows it
Nobody knows it
Right from the start
Gave it my heart
Ohhhhhh, gave it my heart |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: <alien math> You're right, I'm not a Hubbard fan. I once lived in a house in Dublin which was divided into flats - several people who no longer lived there were getting mail from the scientology org. I used to 'divert' some of it - which gave me some insight into their methods. I also sampled Hubbard's SF which I found badly written, and pompous. There was a good biography of L. Ron by a guy named Miller -- Bare Faced Messiah. |
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Dec-13-17
 | | SwitchingQuylthulg: Congrats, nice work on #16! |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: <Switch> Thanks - I knew it had to be 'N choose 7' but had never heard of 29 Palms. Googled it, then found an 'N choose K' calculator and found the solution, all in about a minute. I'm sure I was in a close race... |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: <Ohio> Thanks for "Don't go Solvin'" ... though I should point out that (a) it's not really your best ... I mean it's quite good, but not your brilliant best, and (b) I've seen it in three places already. |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: I think #16 is the earliest win I've had in a few years ... maybe I can get a few more. This year, I've only been online for about five klus, and in each of them I was in the hunt. Apart from #16, I was very close in two others. When the winning banner came up, I found I couldn't locate my cursor in order to click on it. I was frantically hitting the touch pad, willing a cursor to appear ... and then it clicked. |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: There's an odd psychological process when a new klu appears. Sometimes - certain types of graphic or RPG or program-based content - I know I'll be behind in the race due to unfamiliarity with the core concepts. And other times, as with #16, I'll see the idea at once - and know that if I see it, so will others - so it's a race. A race I can occasionally win. |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: <alien math> I ordered a book today for an incredible "one cent" ... though when post & packaging is added it won't be so cheap. It's an SF novel by Larry Niven, one of the Ringworld books that I hadn't read. |
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| Dec-13-17 | | MostlyAverageJoe: <Domdaniel: I also sampled Hubbard's SF which I found badly written, and pompous.> I found his "Mission Earth" to be reasonably amusing, although more of Pulp SF than a real SF. A book, that a public library in some city in Georgia tried to ban, cannot be all that bad, right? The price was just too enticing to ignore it: $1 per volume, at some bookstore's closeout sale. |
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| Dec-13-17 | | Boomie: Back in the day when we were free to be ourselves, we routinely harassed the Scientologists who had pamphlets spread on a table in front of the post office. We would ask them if Dianetics was some kind of new fangled enema. In retrospect, I wish we had just opened fire on them. |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: <Boomie, MAJ> About 30 years ago I put together a collection of scientology pamphlets addressed to people who had moved on. Hubbard was still alive then, but I got some insight into the sheer scale of their operation. Much later, I worked for a magazine that sometimes printed stories critical of the 'church' of scientology. Whenever this happened, a couple of scientology operatives would arrive in the magazine office, demanding an apology and threatening legal action. They usually got the apology through sheer persistence. Just this year, the 'church' of scientology has invested millions in an amusement park and entertainment centre near Dublin ... to be continued... |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: Question: is Tom Cruise *really* that gullible, or is he cynically in it for the power? I don't know, and I've met the man.
I met Cruise in the late 80s or early 90s. I was much more impressed by Nic Kidman - for one thing, we were roughly the same height, and little Tom had to look awkwardly up at us. I could see he was unhappy. |
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Dec-13-17
| | Domdaniel: The author of 'Bare-Faced Messiah' (a title evoking 'bare-faced liar') was Russell Miller, formerly a writer with the Sunday Times (as was I for a few years). Miller later wrote the text on which the film Lorenzo's Oil (directed by George Miller of Mad Max fame - no relation) was based. George Miller told me that Russell M had come under severe pressure from scientologists - their usual response to what they regard as hostile media. |
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| Dec-13-17 | | Boomie: Scientiology is designed like a pitcher plant. A sweet odor lures the unwary inside from where there is no escape. People who try to escape are constantly harassed in every way imaginable including murder. This is an extremely dangerous cult. Kidman does seem to me to have way more talent than Cruise. However he does shine in roles where he plays a schmuck. Perhaps that is a clue... |
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Dec-14-17
| | Domdaniel: <Boomie> I find it hard to think of movies where Cruise was any good ... best, maybe, was The Color of Money with Paul Newman, directed by Martin Scorsese. Hard to go far wrong in that company... It was, however, a long time ago. His later Samurai and Mission Impossibles are forgettable. Worst of all is the 'Oirish' epic, Far and Away. |
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| Dec-14-17 | | MostlyAverageJoe: Are you aware that S Kuipers vs A Pijpers, 2007 (kibitz #36) is the only comment on chessgames.com where the phrase "Spooky Tooth" occurs? MAJ, listening to Evil Woman on Pandora... |
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