Hello there everyone....what game are you playing now?

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AuthorTopic: Hello there everyone....what game are you playing now?
Agent
Member # 366
Profile #50
I quite liked Lord of the Flies, but then I never had to read it for school. Books are always better if you don't have to write essays about them afterwards.

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I say never be complete. I say stop being perfect. I say let's evolve. Let the chips fall where they may.
Posts: 1277 | Registered: Sunday, December 9 2001 08:00
Infiltrator
Member # 3040
Profile #51
Not always true. I read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, The Metamorphosis by Kafka, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for English class and enjoyed all of them.

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who?
Posts: 508 | Registered: Thursday, May 29 2003 07:00
Bob's Big Date
Member # 3151
Profile Homepage #52
The Victorious Opposition. Don't bother with it.

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In a word, gay.
--Bob the Impaler

Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 521
Profile Homepage #53
Is that why you named yourself after the illustrious general?

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I am not really here.
Posts: 956 | Registered: Wednesday, January 16 2002 08:00
This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
Profile #54
As a general rule, I read everything I can get my hands on and even if I don't enjoy it, it's quite possible I'll reread it (this especially applies to Anne McCaffrey, because the plots are so forgettable I can can read it a hundred times and if it weren't so predictable, I wouldn't be able to guess the ending.)

I'm not going to try to remember all the books I've read recently, but I did particularly enjoy The Bear went over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle, Where was Rebecca Shot? by John Sutherland, a trio of Iain Banks books (never mind which ones, they're almost all good) and Cancer Ward by Solzenhitsyn.

I also made an attempt at reading some of the works of Albert Camus. Terrible writer. So boring I couldn't even begin to decide whether or not he was right. His best act was probably playing goalie for Morocco's premier soccer team, and this if from someone with no fondness for football.

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Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
I'll tell you my story, man
Though I wish I'd never been born
I'm loose at the seams,
I've broken my dreams
And my hand it shakes the pen
Come on, come on now baby,
Let the good times roll again
Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #55
You don't read Camus like a fantasy story, you know. I thought it was pretty boring too, when we first read it in school, but finding out the philosophical backgrounds from his biography (and that of Sartre too) was quite intriguing, even if it was for an essay. IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/tongue.gif)

I like fantasy far better than any of that stuff, but you have to read them in different ways to appreciate them - you don't take the story literally, but look for symbolisms and analogies. The only three writers I have really hated after reading their works in school were Willa Cather ("My Antonia"), Anne Tyler ("A Slipping-Down Life"), and Hemingway (basically everything). It's all so dusty and dry that Camus seems like a cartoon story by comparison... IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/biggrin.gif)

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"And all should cry, Beware, Beware!
His Flashing eyes, his Floating hair!" S. T. Coleridge
---
"It is as if everyone had lost their sense
Consigned themselves to downfall and decadence
And a wisp it is they have chosen as their beacon." Reinhard Mey.
---
Quote of the Week: "I have a high opinion of myself, which makes up for my total lack of intelligence." Anon.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Bob's Big Date
Member # 3151
Profile Homepage #56
quote:
Originally written by Kakashi:

Is that why you named yourself after the illustrious general?
More the American Front than American Empire at work there, dear IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/tongue.gif)

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In a word, gay.
--Bob the Impaler

Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Shaper
Member # 496
Profile #57
Camus' fiction was pretty good--esp. 'The Plague' about the German occupation, though he cheats in 'The Outsider', still introducing emotions when it suits him--but you should check out his philosophical essays to get thinking. Probably because of Algeria, he manages to equivocate in 'The Rebel' in a way I felt ultimately weak and disagreeable, but definitely worth arguing with. 'The Myth of Sisyphus' has delightfully positive conclusions, given it opens so incredibly depressingly ('Why live? Why not kill yourself now?', etc - he comes up with a 'why not?', of course).

EDIT: That'll teach me to read the thread more closely - Kakashi, there are no real saviours at the end of 'Lord of the Flies'. In the suppressed opening of the novel, a nuclear war is described devastating the Earth just as the boys devastating the island, so the Navy officers who arrive at the end are just seen as 'big boys' tainted by the same Original Sin as the school kids.

[ Tuesday, September 02, 2003 05:50: Message edited by: X ]
Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 87
Profile Homepage #58
The dryest book I ever read would have to be a toss up between Vanity Fair (which I read too young btw) the metamorphosis and white jacket.

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Tip of the Day: #13 Stand clear the closing door.

That's treason.
(THNIK)(Peculiar James, FP productions co, inc)
Posts: 816 | Registered: Friday, October 5 2001 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 3320
Profile #59
Sorry if I have been gone for several days. My modem got fried in a thunderstorm over here in PA. Then I found there was shortage of modems over here. I live out in the middle of the countryside and all major shopping centers are more than 30 miles away. My parents won't go to one, even in an emergency. So I had to find a private seller of computer parts and even they were out of modems. I had to order one and that took more than a day.

I still don't know any of the authors you people have been talking about. Boy, I feel like a real cad. I don't read anywhere near a s much as everyone else here. I am more of a mystery movie person. I don't normally have the time to read a book. I get the same effect watching a movie that most people get reading a book.

I just got done watching Agatha Christie's: Murder On the Orient Express for the second time. A very good movie. If you can find them, I suggest buying on the internet or borrowing from the library, "The New Advenbtures of Sherlock Holmes". This audio tape set plays episodes from a radio show from the 1940's starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They are some of the best I have ever found. You can also find some of their movies online also.

I have found that some Sherlock Holmes movies are very appealing. Mainly the older ones are the best, in my opinion.

Bye.

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Mrs. Peacock: "Everything all right?"
Colonel Mustard: "Yep. Two Corpses. Everything's fine."

"Keep your wits about you, the game is afoot!!" - Sherlock Holmes
Posts: 935 | Registered: Friday, August 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #60
Strange. uranusalien fooled us. He edited the title of the thread, so now it's games, not books.

Anyway, I never saw any Sherlock Holmes movie, but I read plenty of 'em... IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/tongue.gif) I really suggest reading books, murder. You might think it's the same effect, but when reading a book you get a lot more freedom with imagination. It's fun really. IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/biggrin.gif)
(the other benefit I get from reading, for example the LotR books almost two years before the movie came out, is that I get to laugh about people not knowing who Tom Bombadil is, and wondering how much money this Tolkien fella paid to Peter Jackson for the rights to write the book... IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/tongue.gif) )

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"And all should cry, Beware, Beware!
His Flashing eyes, his Floating hair!" S. T. Coleridge
---
"It is as if everyone had lost their sense
Consigned themselves to downfall and decadence
And a wisp it is they have chosen as their beacon." Reinhard Mey.
---
Quote of the Week: "I have a high opinion of myself, which makes up for my total lack of intelligence." Anon.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3417
Profile Homepage #61
Well, I was very confused by the title of the post. So I will post current games:

Avernum 2
Divine Divinity
Heroes of Might and Magic 4
Aplha Centauri
Morrowind

I've also read a lot of the books mentioned as well. The "constants of nature" book that someone mentioned is probably "The Constants of Nature" by John D. Barrow?

I'm casually working my way through Steven Baxter and Gregory Benford right now, a few books a week.

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Posts: 70 | Registered: Monday, September 1 2003 07:00
Babelicious
Member # 3149
Profile Homepage #62
*is amused by Bob's statements on Camus*

Albert Camus is my favorite author. Two things: first, you should read with an eye towards the allegory, not the actual events of the book; second, he's much less dry in la langue de Moliere.

I try not to read whenever possible. A thoroughly unproductive pastime.
Posts: 999 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #63
readyman (can I call you that?) IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/tongue.gif) , with Camus you're saying exactly the same as I did earlier... IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Hello there everyone____what game are you playing now (3)_files/biggrin.gif)

Why is reading unproductive btw?

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"And all should cry, Beware, Beware!
His Flashing eyes, his Floating hair!" S. T. Coleridge
---
"It is as if everyone had lost their sense
Consigned themselves to downfall and decadence
And a wisp it is they have chosen as their beacon." Reinhard Mey.
---
Quote of the Week: "I have a high opinion of myself, which makes up for my total lack of intelligence." Anon.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 3320
Profile #64
Yes, I can agree with you that reading books instead does open up a world of imagination for the reader. Still, I recommend finding a good radio show on cassette tape and listening to it. Books on audio tape and stories on audio are a lot like reading a book. The story is usually laid out exactly as it is in the book and everything is still left to your imagination.

Really the only difference is that someone else is doing the reading for you. It can relieve the strain of constatly looking at pages, turning them, and you can get through a book a lot faster. There really aren't any downsides to listening to an audio tape, you really only have to have a cassette player and a good imagination.

Try borrowing any Audio book out of the library and trying it. I guarantee that it will make you want to look for more of them in the library.

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Mrs. Peacock: "Everything all right?"
Colonel Mustard: "Yep. Two Corpses. Everything's fine."

"Keep your wits about you, the game is afoot!!" - Sherlock Holmes
Posts: 935 | Registered: Friday, August 8 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3377
Profile #65
"The Riven Shield" by Michelle West, Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", and several textbooks and journal articles you don't really want to know about.

As for games, I don't really have the time at the moment. When I feel the need to blow stuff up I use Escape Velocity: Nova.

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From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant fins the slumbering green.
Posts: 356 | Registered: Saturday, August 23 2003 07:00
Infiltrator
Member # 2669
Profile Homepage #66
I just finished reading 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan. Very well written (if you like revisionist psychology).
I tried reading 'M: The Man who became Caravaggio' by Peter Robb, but it was a piece of crap. It's amazing someone could screw up a book about a crazy homosexual painter who hung around thieves and whores and was killed in a duel before he was 40.
Currently working on 'John Adams' by David McCullough, which is a bit fluffy, but he weaves a nice story.

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Posts: 647 | Registered: Wednesday, February 19 2003 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #67
quote:
Originally written by Murder, She Wrote:

Really the only difference is that someone else is doing the reading for you. It can relieve the strain of constatly looking at pages, turning them, and you can get through a book a lot faster.
Agreed about eyestrain, but I don't think turning pages is much of a strain. I've also found that I read faster than I can listen and I can't concentrate on listening and something else (or reading and something else), meaning any speed would come at the cost of appreciation.

—Alorael, who also can't walk and chew gum (or sip skribbane) at the same time. Really. It's a slightly aged but standard insult, and it's true for him!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 3320
Profile #68
I have been able to take walks through the countryside without ever having to look up from my book. And on a winding road as well. I think I will go and borrow some more Sherlock Holmes books from the Library. You people have me wanting to read more again. I miss being reading. But I have been too busy to read lately. Maybe I will take some time to do it again.

Bye.

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Mrs. Peacock: "Everything all right?"
Colonel Mustard: "Yep. Two Corpses. Everything's fine."

"Keep your wits about you, the game is afoot!!" - Sherlock Holmes
Posts: 935 | Registered: Friday, August 8 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3252
Profile #69
I've always enjoyed Orson Scott Card's "Ender" books, especially as I moved through the series and the books became more philosophical in content. I liked the mix of various conceptions of spirituality that he uses, as well as the diffrent cultural sorces for diffrent elements of the story. Although, I've had to reread them several times to get any sort of deeper meaning, seeing as how I've only recently learned how to read with any sort of intospective analytical purpose in mind.

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Learn About The Man Behind the Messiah.
Posts: 137 | Registered: Tuesday, July 22 2003 07:00
Babelicious
Member # 3149
Profile Homepage #70
Arancaytar: You may call me by my given name, Matt, or by my common handle, Djur.
Actually, I didn't say exactly what you said earlier, I translated it from Fatuous.
Reading is unproductive because it has no purpose other than the dissemination of knowledge and entertainment.

Murder: Some of us do not have hearing as a primary sense. Myself, for example. I am mostly unable to focus on a purely aural medium without something visual to occupy me. That's fine for music, which requires a more intuitive listen; books are much more concrete.

CaseyJones: One of my eternal philosophies is "Never try to get meaning from a Mormon."
Posts: 999 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 87
Profile Homepage #71
amen on the last one Djur! I did find the philosophical content amusing though.

MSW, which Murder on the orient express? the one set in the present kind of stunk. Have you read mysteries with titles like Death of a ... Man set in scotland (I think), could be wales.

Anyone, what is the name of the actor who plays Poirot?

Mort8: yeah, that's it John D Barrow. How do you get around the bugs and lack of quick travel in Morrowind?

I would guestimate that I have read literally tons (at least) of books in my life. I read a good 400 page book or so a week, and when I was in school I read more. In grade 5 I read a book a day for a while.

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Tip of the Day: #13 Stand clear the closing door.

That's treason.
(THNIK)(Peculiar James, FP productions co, inc)
Posts: 816 | Registered: Friday, October 5 2001 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3082
Profile #72
Excellent! People talking about books, one medium of entertainment I can actually usually get my hands on for free! I must remember to mark this page.
Anyway, most of my current reading has been required. Has anyone here read Brave New World, Anthem, or The Count of Monte Cristo? I'm just finishing the last one.
Posts: 54 | Registered: Saturday, June 7 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3417
Profile Homepage #73
I've read all three and liked all of them, but for different reasons obviously. Count of Monte Christo is an absolute classic.

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Posts: 70 | Registered: Monday, September 1 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3417
Profile Homepage #74
Od,

For Morrowind once you donwload the official patches, the game runs a lot smoother. Obviously a good video card is needed as well.

I've also installed a lot of the user mods that improve the graphics, such as the one that makes new heads for the elves, and that really improves the game.

As far as travel goes: use Mark and Recall. Set up your Mark at Creeper's house in Caldera. You can now teleport there from anywhere to sell stuff. You can walk quickly to the Caldera Mages' guild and teleport from there to the other Mages' guilds. Then you can use Stilt Striders and Boats to get almost anywhere quickly.

Also if you boost Athletics and Acrobatics you can jump/run anywhere very fast. I made a constant effect shirt to restore stamina just for this purpose.

Obviously a good map such as the one in the Strategy Guide is useful as well.

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Posts: 70 | Registered: Monday, September 1 2003 07:00

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