nudge

Nicotine enhances cognitive function, working memory and overall performance of the brain, and there's also evidence suggesting that it may act as a neuroprotective agent even. It is certainly not "the evil drug", it's all that additional shit in tobacco and byproducts of burning it (tar) that is bad for one's health...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Well nothing has changed, this is still the same masterpiece as it used to be. The movie has got absolutely everything, and it could just be one of the best movies of all time. Slow pace, wide open shots of the landscape, close up shots of the faces, sparse dialogue; it doesn't get any better than this. That last showdown in the cemetery is the greatest moment in cinema ever. 10/10

Well you didn't miss much, to be fair... TFF was dying, so we moved to a new place, haha.

Yeah I know Andre, I've seen them all before hehe. Want to watch more of Corbucci and Sollima this time too, there are quite a few great Spaghetti Westerns that do not get much attention.

American Gods (based on Neil Gaiman's book) starts today, hope it won't be a disappointment!

Welcome back, Alan. It's nice to see most of our old crew found their way here, but we're still missing a few people...

For a Few Dollars More (1965) Second movie in the Dollar's Trilogy and one of the best Spaghetti Westerns ever made; it has both style and substance. Brilliant acting by Eastwood and van Cleef, great directing by Leone, amazing score by Morricone and a very immersive story. 9/10

Welcome back!

I'm watching For a Few Dollars More tonight, and then The Good, The Bad and The Ugly tomorrow, haha. Watched Django (the original with Frank Nero) a while ago, it didn't age that well, but was still enjoyable. After The Dollars Trilogy, I'll just continue with other gems of the genre in random order, so many good ones that I haven't seen for at least 15 years...

I know it' basically rips off Yojimbo, I've seen it before.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) I'm currently rewatching most of the spaghetti westerns, and naturally started with this one. It's incredible how after over 50 years this is still such a brilliant movie, it really aged well, which is not the case with many films of the genre. Probably the "weakest" one in Leone's Dollar Trilogy, but it's still great. 8/10

Oh absolutely, I was talking from my own perspective only, and I do understand why people with families or those planning to have a family would want to own a home. It's not that either one of those options (buying, mortgaging or renting) is wrong, it completely depends on one's personal situation and needs.

To be fair, I wouldn't even care, I'd just move then. I understand though that it means less certainty and security for most people, especially for families with children, so there are definitely pros and cons of renting too, but for me personally, it's ideal. As for furniture, I have no idea of what it's like in the UK, but I've rented a home in four different countries so far, always found something properly furnished and only bought extra things I wanted (computer chair, etc), so I think it's just a matter of choice.

Mortgage isn't really for me as I like having flexibility and wouldn't want to make such a long-term commitment. I understand the appeal of owning a home, but the way I see it, it's basically taking a huge debt with interest (for like what, 15-25 years at least?) hoping that your personal and financial situation will be stable enough to keep up with repayments. Renting, on the other hand, gives you a significant amount of freedom as you aren't tied down to one place for years to come; there's also no maintenance costs, no unforeseen repairs, no property taxes, no need to buy furniture and other stuff if you don't want to, no debt. Personally, I'd only ever consider buying a home if I were able to pay for it with my savings without taking out any loan, and even then I wouldn't do it.

I know, everyone did

I pay 300$ for a spacious 2 bedroom apartment (ca. 100 square meters) with a balcony about 5 minutes away from the beach.

Have you read any Kafka before? Used to love his work when I first read it years ago; especially The Process, The Metamorphosis, and Letter to his Father. It's a shame he actually destroyed most of his manuscripts and drafts before his death...

Started reading The Feynman Lectures on Physics as I want to refresh my knowledge which is quite rusty at this point... Feynman had a great talent to explain complex ideas very simply and make it accessible to anyone; this must the best educational book ever.

Just watched the pilot episode of Oasis: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6268052/ It's a new mysterious and surreal sci-fi show with recognisable Solaris and Dune undertones, based on Michael Faber's novel The Book of Strange New Things and starring Richard Madden. Loved the pilot; very interesting narrative, good acting, amazing directing and cinematography. I hope it will be turned into a full series by Amazon Studios, as it really has great potential.

Both Ramayana and Mahabharata were on my school curriculum, hehe... Abridged versions, of course, but still. Kamasutra was a gift of my cheeky friends for my 18th birthday, I was also surprised how much of it was about the philosophy of love and relationships, contrary to the common perception of it being a wild sex manual, haha. It was so popular among my friends that I actually only kept the book for a week or two; everyone started borrowing it afterwards, and I'm sure that after 13 years it's still being shared in the circles of friends of friends Thanks for your recommendations, I'll google them and then order a few right away! UPDATE: decided on the Ibis Trilogy, found all three books for $33 on the Book Depository! Cheers again

Sorry, only saw this now, but thanks for recommendation! Any particular suggestions on which books I should try? No poetry please. Other than The White Tiger, the only Indian literature I've read so far is Mahabharata, Ramayana, some of the Pali Canon, Rabindranath Tagore and Kama Sutra Also Salman Rushdie, if it counts.

TrstntheGr1m, everyone thinks his name is Tristan

Oh wow, congratulations! Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet? Egypt sounds cool, too.

oh cool, I hope he joins, I need a HSV fan to laugh at when we thrash them on Easter Sunday Seriously though, there are still a few people missing; Chadwell, Torsten, Joel, jobosno. Teo is not joining us then, I take it?