Author Topic: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)  (Read 814705 times)

mkenuk

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #690 on: April 25, 2018, 05:17:19 PM »
My fave author in the genre probably remains Asimov, though Bradbury and Clarke are nearly as good.

I've never been a great fan of sci-fi, although I read all the usual Jules Verne and H.G.Wells titles many years ago. I've taught some of the twentieth century classics to students - Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, for example.

From my limited knowledge of the genre, I would agree with TRex's ABC - Asimov, Ray Bradbury (especially) and Clarke and add a D - Philip K. Dick, an H -Frank Herbert's Dune novels and a W - John Wyndham.

American writer Ira Levin is probably best known for writing novels which became classic films -Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys from Brazil for example although he did write one other excellent sci-fi novel which, as far as I know, has never been filmed called This Perfect Day. Well worth reading if you can find a copy.

Finally, let's not forget that one of the greatest and earliest of sci-fi novels recently celebrated its 200th birthday - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
What an achievement for a young lady barely 20 years old!


Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #691 on: April 25, 2018, 06:12:28 PM »
G'day Mike,

My favourite has to be Arthur C. Clarke, most likely because I have read more of his books than the other authors that both you & TRex recommend.
I think that I got hooked on Clarke with his " Space Odyssey " & " Rama " series.

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #692 on: April 25, 2018, 09:05:12 PM »
G'day Jack & Pen,

Good Evening, Leslie, I trust you are feeling well and not tired and emotional.

Quote from: Les303, the sensitive Aussie from Brissie
Les303 is most indignant at the suggestion that he would accept a slab of VB

Les, if I had even the slightest inkling that you would identify with the Les in the story, I would, of course, changed the beer in the story from VB, the beer that all real Australians quench a hard earned thirst with, to XXXX or what other inferior commercial beer you drink in Queensland these days.  

I will admit that when I was there last, Brisbane had several boutique breweries (as is the custom in many cities and towns in Australia) which could give the commercial breweries a run for their money.

In the spirit of disclosure, I must admit to a possible degradation of my taste buds because I have already confessed to developing a liking for unrefrigerated English ales.

Enjoy the rest of your ANZAC day, digger.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2018, 09:22:47 PM by Ozzyjack »
Regards, Jack

Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #693 on: April 26, 2018, 05:11:19 AM »
Quote

Damn, I must have missed reading the names when I posted it in. Of course it was a coincidence, Pen.  >:D You don’t think the shoe fits, do you?


At 10:30 am (my time) with any luck.
Good Evening Jack
Had another long day at work today so just a quick visit for me this evening!
Hope you enjoyed your golf this morning &, indeed, you did drive & put like a demon!
I was sure it was a pure coincidence that you used the name Les but I don't think our Les thought so judging by his post :laugh:  I wouldn't dream of suggesting that the shoe fits >:D
I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning & they played the Australian National Anthem in honour of Anzac Day.  Very rousing & enjoyable it was too :)
I will follow your tip about posting & previewing & hope to avoid future mistakes....
all the best
Pen
If life gives you lemons, add a large gin & some tonic...

Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #694 on: April 26, 2018, 05:20:28 AM »
Quote

G'day Jack & Pen,
Pen, just to clarify for yourself & any other readers who may not be aware ; when we say gooday in Australia we are not actually saying " have a good day " we are just saying hello. The good part is almost silent & the word is pronounced more like giday. So when you are first introduced to an Ozzy, no matter what time of day or night & no matter if you are male or female, young or old, the response is likely to be " Giday mate, howrya going. "

G'day Les
In times past the Brits used to say Good Day as a greeting for hello.  Maybe g'day is just a shorted form of that possibly?
Glad to see you're back amongst it on the Forum :)
Pen
If life gives you lemons, add a large gin & some tonic...

Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #695 on: April 26, 2018, 08:11:16 AM »
G'day Jack & Pen,

Good Evening, Leslie, I trust you are feeling well and not tired and emotional.

Quote from: Les303, the sensitive Aussie from Brissie
Les303 is most indignant at the suggestion that he would accept a slab of VB

Les, if I had even the slightest inkling that you would identify with the Les in the story, I would, of course, changed the beer in the story from VB, the beer that all real Australians quench a hard earned thirst with, to XXXX or what other inferior commercial beer you drink in Queensland these days.  

I will admit that when I was there last, Brisbane had several boutique breweries (as is the custom in many cities and towns in Australia) which could give the commercial breweries a run for their money.

In the spirit of disclosure, I must admit to a possible degradation of my taste buds because I have already confessed to developing a liking for unrefrigerated English ales.

Enjoy the rest of your ANZAC day, digger.


Good Morning John,

I have to admit that on more than one occassion, i have been to events or parties where the only beer available was V B.
Rather than be unsociable, i did imbibe & quite enjoyed it however i don't think that i would ever be desperate enough to try an unrefrigerated beer of any description.

Cheers Les

TRex

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #696 on: April 26, 2018, 08:49:40 AM »
I am afraid that the excessive use of expletives went out of control many years ago to the point that a lot of swear words have lost their original impact.
Dropping an " f-bomb " today is more like dropping an " f-firecracker ".

Too true. Several years ago I worked in a place with a bunch of chaps who regularly used such language, one or two of them every sentence or two. Of course, as you say, lost all impact. But one day, frustrated with a problem I was working on, I let loose with a 's---' — and other than a couple of 'whoa' comments, the entire room went quiet. Not using such language meant it had an impact when I used it.

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #697 on: April 26, 2018, 08:21:55 PM »
Hope you enjoyed your golf this morning &, indeed, you did drive & put like a demon!

For the last two days, the weather here has been perfect for golf.  My performance has been pretty average but very enjoyable none the less.

I have been looking through comedy sketches but have found none to make the shortlist.  Most have been funny but not of the same level of quality as the one we have already talked about.

the Two Ronnies - The Australian falls into that category but may amuse you because of the subject.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2018, 09:12:33 PM by Ozzyjack »
Regards, Jack

mkenuk

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #698 on: April 26, 2018, 09:04:47 PM »
re Comedy sketches,
Difficult to know what to recommend, since most of the real classics - The Two Ronnies' Four Candles, for example -  have become so well known.

Two  that always make me laugh are the Moose's Head scene from Fawlty Towers  ('The Germans') and Rowan Atkinson as the Schoolmaster taking the roll-call.
I saw him do that sketch live about thirty years ago - hilarious. His facial expressions coupled with impeccable timing brought the house down.

Some of the Morecambe and Wise 'plays wot I wrote' are still worth a look -  the one with Glenda Jackson as Cleopatra, for instance.

Another comic who always made me laugh was the 'Great Dane', the late Victor Borge.
I think his 'Phonetic Punctuation' sketch must be available on YouTube - very funny if you haven't seen it.

 

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #699 on: April 26, 2018, 09:19:25 PM »
Good Morning John,
I have to admit that on more than one occasion, I have been to events or parties where the only beer available was V B.
Rather than be unsociable, I did imbibe & quite enjoyed it .

G’day Les

Bravo,  I thought I could get you to bite by insulting your beer and talking proper to you but you were too clever for me and never took the bait.  You just talked proper back. ;)

I haven’t tasted XXXX for about 25 years, but I really liked it and I guess it hasn’t gone downhill in the meantime.

Whatever, the qualities of their beers, I reckon breweries make the best commercials and I am considering running a contest to test opinions on which is the most amusing. Do you reckon it would fly?

Quote from: Les being inflexible
however I don't think that I would ever be desperate enough to try an unrefrigerated beer of any description.

Les. take a leaf from the Northern Territory tourist ad “You’ll never never know, unless you never never go”.  Unrefrigerated doesn’t mean warm.  Depending on the Ale, the recommended temperature varies from 8o C -14o C.  Perhaps our UK imbibers can give us some clues on this.  In the Southern Highlands you can achieve these temperatures without refrigeration for most of the year.  In Brisbane’s climate you might have to cheat and slip the beer into the frig for 20 minutes before imbibing.
Regards, Jack

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #700 on: April 26, 2018, 09:28:27 PM »
re Comedy sketches,

Mike thanks for the tips, I will look them up.  One of the problems I have found is that some gems are only found in much larger compilations.  I might have to teach myself video editing but then I'd need a URL to put the results in.

Any further suggestions from forumites gratefully accepted,
Regards, Jack

TRex

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #701 on: April 27, 2018, 04:03:09 AM »
For the last two days, the weather here has been perfect for golf.  My performance has been pretty average but very enjoyable none the less.

Since this thread is about anything... The use of none the less sent me to the Ngram Viewer which has an interesting graph comparing none the less (three separate words) to nonetheless. Ngram Viewer's default is to stop at 2000. If I hadn't pushed it to the latest available year (2008) I would have missed what appears to be the beginning of a reversal of the trend which began circa 1920 — which reflects my (anecdotal) observations.

Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #702 on: April 27, 2018, 04:46:44 AM »
Quote


For the last two days, the weather here has been perfect for golf.  My performance has been pretty average but very enjoyable none the less.

the Two Ronnies - The Australian falls into that category but may amuse you because of the subject.
Evening Jack.  Pleased to hear you enjoyed your golf.  Weather here has plummeted from hot & sunny in the 80's to cold & wet & barely scraping 50f :(
The Two Ronnies sketch did amuse me very much.
Have a look at Victoria Woods "Two Soups".  Julie Walters is brilliant & you can see Celia Imrie & Duncan Preston struggling not to laugh!  The ballad of Barry & Freda is very funny too. She did a lot of skits on awful daytime telly programmes.  Not sure how well they'd travel to your part of the world.
Pen
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Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #703 on: April 27, 2018, 07:17:55 AM »
Since this thread is about anything...

Hi Trex, do I detect the very slightest note of disapproval? ;)

Quote from:  Trex continuing
The use of none the less sent me to the Ngram Viewer. ….I would have missed what appears to be the beginning of a reversal of the trend which began circa 1920 — which reflects my (anecdotal) observations.

I used the expression without giving the meaning of the words any thought at all.  However, your observations tweaked my curiosity {as you may have gathered an easy thing to do  :)} and I came across this discussion from another forum which may interest you.

It also encouraged me to add nevertheless to an Ngram to get this graph]

Good to hear from you. Keep Well.
Regards, Jack

TRex

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #704 on: April 27, 2018, 09:42:52 AM »
Hi Trex, do I detect the very slightest note of disapproval? ;)

Not at all. My anecdotal experience is that I'm seeing none the less more often than I recall years ago (but with age comes questionable memory!) and seeing it used in this free-for-all thread prompted me to go to the Ngram Viewer and take a look.

I notice what seem to be changes in language, such as replacing awhile with a while, people in the U.S. using cancelling more often (especially in airports), and other things that, for some odd reason, jump out at me. Strangely wired brain, I suppose.