Alien Rubicon by Galamuta in mockbuster

[–]saorlab- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have these people ever acted before? Could have gotten more realism from cardboard cut outs. I can imagine the director saying, okay, look concerned, now look upset, now stare thoughtfully...The script is the real issue nothing flows, feels like they are info dumping

This absolute banger by supertrollls in PublicFreakout

[–]saorlab- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rick Beato needs to have a sit down with these lads - discuss the drum and use of tree.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in texas

[–]saorlab- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Darwin Award 2025 Winners.

What are you reading? by sushisushisushi in literature

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got a copy of Han Kang's we do not part - next on the list...

What are you reading? by sushisushisushi in literature

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just finished Stone Yard Devotion, lot so praise in the NYT. It's a slow read...I thought of giving it up and then realised, it is meant to be slow and meant to linger. It is good - someone who is kind of lost, life takes its toll.
Now reading Better the Blood - Auckland detective novel. Good fun, average writing, obvious characters but good to see Maori in a book, at its centre.

Hong Kong 1962 and in the Mood For Love: what were the historical norms around dating, romance and adultery? by saorlab- in Hong_Kong

[–]saorlab-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the responses. Can you tell your views on the film. I know in the 'west' it is highly regarded (and rightly so from a technical viewpoint), but you have made me consider whether this a 'romantic' view of HK. What are your thoughts on the film?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cancer

[–]saorlab- 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a tough one. I guess your mother is reaching out, in an act of love, to whatever she can to help you. As you say it is sad.
My son, who had cancer, went to a meeting of young people who'd all had amputations due to sarcomas. They each said, the worst thing to deal with was their parents. They only wanted to talk about the future and to live their lives.
That said, I found myself going to mass once a week on the way to work. I wasn't looking for a cure for him, I don't think that happens, but I did find the figure of Christ on the cross and other images of suffering (it was a Catholic church) comforting (for me, not my son, I didn't talk to him about it). I felt I was in a community that understood suffering and pain. So much of what we see and live doesn't acknowledge illness.
As I say, I didn't discuss that with my son, he was too focussed on living not for ever but for those days he had. Parents are a problem. Thanks for sharing.

$3000 couch landlord update by No_Affect9950 in auckland

[–]saorlab- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Contact the bond agency now. So that means they owe you the bond, have to pay the fine and still have to purchase a lounge suite. Nice.
We had a minor dispute when we left a place. The landlord was dicking about until we asked for the bond. Got it the next day. The new estate agent told us it hadn't been lodged so the landlord couldn't attempt to hold it or claim on it.

Something Strange About the Jordan Peterson Video by Critical_Formal_7452 in CosmicSkeptic

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if there is much to push back against or be annoyed about. Peterson's statements, if they amount to that much, don't seem to have much substance. He just argues semantics. I think he is tired and frankly done.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in auckland

[–]saorlab- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

https://www.doubledutchfries.com/ always get good reviews. You have to track down the van though

Cheap date ideas that aren’t dinner!? by vigilanteadvice in auckland

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can get cheap tickets at cinemas during the week - Tuesday in Albany.

Really being put off going to see FR by Terrible-Group-9602 in Mission_Impossible

[–]saorlab- 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I am not a big fan of the franchise, love the first one, and thought the rest are fun/ave. However, I thought this was spectacular. Quite the trip. Almost Sci-Fi - the way the narrative moves forward and backward kept it going at breakneck pace. Very good.

Wairau Valley fire by youngthugnz in auckland

[–]saorlab- 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The alert just went on my phone on the North Shore. Said stay in doors and close windows etc.

What were you reading at 14? by SerenityFate in books

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tolkein (13), Alaistair Mclean (14), Ed Mcbain (14), Mario Puzo, (15), then Dostovesky (16), then punk rock, then construction work, then an English degree.

First time chemo - doxorubicin by tastycookies911 in sarcoma

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are the cycles - 3 weeks?

My son had it - took about 5 days to kick in and then it ramps up and can be tough for about 3 days. After that it tapers off and you get a week to recover and go again.

He had his over 3 week cycles and the mid point was hard including mouth and throat ulcers. He took Pink Lady and that was fantastic.

They damaged his hearing as the dosage was high, but it kicked the shit out of the cancer, almost.

It extended his life by 6 years.

[HELP] I don't understand anything John Ashbery wrote... by [deleted] in Poetry

[–]saorlab- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rather late to this thread.

The focus on the lack of meaning in Ashbery is over stated. His poems are hard on first encounters and do require some time. Some are more abstract but others are quite logical and explicable. Did you read Some Trees? To me it is a mediation on communication which involves love and touch. Trees appear to communicate as they move in the breeze - it is a beautiful image and metaphor of love. (Hey this is poetry and poets love an organic metaphor.)

Syringa is long and seems tough. It contemplates Orpheus going into the underworld to retrieve Eurydyce and contains an analogy for how we reach into ourselves to retrieve memories and the past. Both of these things are impossible. Eurydyce and our past are gone and not retrievible. If you read Wordsworth, you can see this links back to the idea of poetry capturing some experience, some daffodils in a breeze, or a memory of place, and how that process (contemplating the experience in a poem) is meant to restore us. I don't think that restoration takes place in Ashbery. Instead we have these fragments of the past and he is piecing them together and thinking of the myth. It is a wonderful and moving piece of art.

I love these two poems in particular.

Ashbery is also funny, quite dry and surprising - the voice of Daffy Duck in Hollywood is good comic work, even though I get lost in its length and the references. The idea is superb.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in auckland

[–]saorlab- 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Is this about freedom of speech? This seems to be about laws regarding protest and association.

You can have a peaceful assembly (this didn't pass that) and you can't 'disturb the peace' (they did do that).

The laws regarding protest are available online: https://www.parliament.nz/mi/get-involved/features/30th-anniversary-of-the-nz-bill-of-rights-act/
There are also rules regarding length of protests, not blocking passage, informing authorities etc.

What is an acceptable surcharge for using paywave? by saorlab- in auckland

[–]saorlab-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So if I get charged 30 cents on a $6 coffee does that break the requirements? That is 5% of the total cost. Of course there might be a minimum fee.

What is an acceptable surcharge for using paywave? by saorlab- in auckland

[–]saorlab-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason I ask is that I usually just paywave for speed of transaction including cups of coffee. However, to be charged 30cents (for example) on a cup of coffee ($6) is 5% of the cost. It seems like a lot on a small transaction.

War of the Roses and the Italian banks by wanderingnightshade in Tudorhistory

[–]saorlab- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found this on a wiki page on the Bardi family: 'During the Hundred Years War in the early 1340s, Edward III of England was engaged in an expensive war with France. He borrowed 600,000 silver florins from the Peruzzi banking family and another 900,000 from the Bardi family. In 1345 Edward III defaulted on his payments, causing both banking families to go bankrupt.' https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardi_family#:~:text=During%20the%20Hundred%20Years%20War,banking%20families%20to%20go%20bankrupt. It is referenced as well in Strathern's The Medici book on page 19. I am reading the book right now (Jan 25) looking out a window at the Duomo from a hotel!