Bad beat/Moaning/Venting thread - Wordle Gummidge

[Solksjaer!]

Couldn't disagree with any of that, my point was about what I was seeing from fans, on the day that Man Utd had their most momentous win in years, was far more crowing at Liverpool's loss than celebration of their own victory.
I don't see any problem with professional sport being professional. I do think there is an important debate to be had as to whether the kind of professionalism displayed by Rugby and Soccer
is a more or less positive example of sporting culture than the exhibition of codified faction fighting that was on show in the GAA yesterday where a couple of good footballers put on an exhibition amidst a field of inept thugs.

Hard to brag about that match. A redic goal allowed . The rules suck. Offside is offside , they've added too many maybes in now. PEP was rightly fuming

Still though LOLLIVERPOOL - like old times

[Dice75]

my point was about what I was seeing from fans, on the day that Man Utd had their most momentous win in years, was far more crowing at Liverpool's loss than celebration of their own victory.
.

I'd find it hard to believe that any Man Utd fan did this

[Raoul Duke III]

Couldn't disagree with any of that, my point was about what I was seeing from fans, on the day that Man Utd had their most momentous win in years, was far more crowing at Liverpool's loss than celebration of their own victory.
I don't see any problem with professional sport being professional. I do think there is an important debate to be had as to whether the kind of professionalism displayed by Rugby and Soccer
is a more or less positive example of sporting culture than the exhibition of codified faction fighting that was on show in the GAA yesterday where a couple of good footballers put on an exhibition amidst a field of inept thugs.

You know what, even if the standard might not be great, it's real, relatable people playing a game for the right reasons. We should all get out and watch some live, amateur sport each week - standard regardless.
I think I got more enjoyment out of watching a fat, rather uncoordinated young fella score a lucky winner in a recent fifth division hockey match I was umpiring than almost all pro sports I've watched recently. It's so much closer to what sport should be about, proper authenticity and enjoyment.

[Solksjaer!]

It’s all relative. You can get enjoyment watching any competitive game. The trick is in it being ‘competitive’. Now matter what the sports, there is no enjoyment in a one sided match.
However you need a skin in the game to get some proper tension filled enjoyment out of it. I had my 1^st punt on NBA recently, it really added to the tension. I have no interest in watching Billy Bunter knock a mishit shot in off some other feckers arse and scoring the winner in a 1-0 game though. If I do need to watch some average players flogging a dead football, I head to Newbridge and watch the Lilywhites do their thing. The Spurs of the GAA

[Raoul Duke III]

It’s all relative. You can get enjoyment watching any competitive game. The trick is in it being ‘competitive’. Now matter what the sports, there is no enjoyment in a one sided match.
However you need a skin in the game to get some proper tension filled enjoyment out of it. I had my 1^st punt on NBA recently, it really added to the tension. I have no interest in watching Billy Bunter knock a mishit shot in off some other feckers arse and scoring the winner in a 1-0 game though. If I do need to watch some average players flogging a dead football, I head to Newbridge and watch the Lilywhites do their thing. The Spurs of the GAA

Surely you pick up sp en route and stand beside him at the game. Best free entertainment show on earth I'd imagine.

[Raoul Duke III]

I wouldn't contradict any of that other than to say the idea of Ireland being better for producing homegrown talent doesn't really rub up against my disinterest in watching Pare, Aki, James Lowe etc representing Ireland. Maybe even makes it subconsciously more unedifying when the drop in quality between the project player and the best home grown player may not be very big.

It doesn't sit great with me either tbh. Whatever about a province signing a foreign player, said player getting the chance to play for Ireland after quite a short time is problematic imo.

That said:

1. Our homegrown talent pipeline is now so strong we actually don't have much need for adopting Plastic Paddy types.
2. We do it far, far less than other countries (Scotland in particular is a jokeshop, and NZ steal talent from all over the South Pacific)
3. The foreign players seem to really buy into it. Maybe it's just his personality but Aki in particular seems to be someone that everyone loves. He also had a chance to move for nearly 3* his current money and turned it down to stay at Connacht so that speaks well of both him and the system generally.

[Strewelpeter]

You know what, even if the standard might not be great, it's real, relatable people playing a game for the right reasons. We should all get out and watch some live, amateur sport each week - standard regardless.
I think I got more enjoyment out of watching a fat, rather uncoordinated young fella score a lucky winner in a recent fifth division hockey match I was umpiring than almost all pro sports I've watched recently. It's so much closer to what sport should be about, proper authenticity and enjoyment.

I agree but there is room for both. I think the really interesting question is for the GAA who have a particular struggle with the divide.

[Solksjaer!]

Surely you pick up sp en route and stand beside him at the game. Best free entertainment show on earth I'd imagine.

Ha, I can imagine it would be a most pleasant afternoon. The Lillywhites forge ahead to a 10 point lead and he slowly unravels as point after point is pulled back and with each point a glaring mistake by the referee at the cost of the Whites is roared. The Christy Moore accents from the stands. A cousin of his plays for Rathangan, a cousin of his plays for Ballymore - Jaysus ref, howagoing there, you appear to have some issues with your eyesight or maybe the jackeens have left some spondulixs in yer locker to swwaaaay the gaaame. Jaysus stop the clapping will ya, I can’t concentrate

[6starpool]

I'd find it hard to believe that any Man Utd fan did this

I'm sure there was plenty of both, and why wouldn't there be? No reason to let the facts get in the way of the rant though. Sometimes some people like to ascribe the actions of a very small number to be representative of an entire large group of people.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Trying to do 15k steps a day at the moment, on top of being a few weeks into couchto5k, and having a new morning exercise regime. Its really difficult to fit all the time needed into the day and still get other things done. Like its hours of effort.

[Solksjaer!]

I'm sure there was plenty of both, and why wouldn't there be? No reason to let the facts get in the way of the rant though. Sometimes some people like to ascribe the actions of a very small number to be representative of an entire large group of people.

Bizarrely though the rivalry has been overrun with Muslin types and African types and the broadsides are vicious yet entertaining. Also watching the golf last night from the commentary , a lot of Arsenal fans have come out of the woodwork in the US. They must have emigrated there and kept the head low for the past few years waiting to strike when the moment was ripe. Too soon lads, get back under the covers. Yer no Leicester

[Raoul Duke III]

Trying to do 15k steps a day at the moment, on top of being a few weeks into couchto5k, and having a new morning exercise regime. Its really difficult to fit all the time needed into the day and still get other things done. Like its hours of effort.

Do running instead of walking and you'll get it done quicker

[eamonhonda]

It even says in the article that it is a different Japanese comic book artform!

Oh ya I didn't mean otherwise, just posting semi related weirdness

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Do running instead of walking and you'll get it done quicker

Need to be quite careful on the running due to the heart, hence building it up gradually. No sudden shocks!

[Keane]

I made this for the lads on work last year when redundancies rolled around

https://github.com/James-Poland/RedundancyCalculator

Simple but effective

Any chance you could give me some idea how to use this?

[Ed]

Folks who've been to Vietnam - what are the 'must visits'?

[6starpool]

Bizarrely though the rivalry has been overrun with Muslin types and African types and the broadsides are vicious yet entertaining. Also watching the golf last night from the commentary , a lot of Arsenal fans have come out of the woodwork in the US. They must have emigrated there and kept the head low for the past few years waiting to strike when the moment was ripe. Too soon lads, get back under the covers. Yer no Leicester

Social media is often a cesspool, but I generally try not to read comments under the tweets of those I follow on there, usually kept fairly sane that way. I only use twitter of the various social media bits.

[Raoul Duke III]

Need to be quite careful on the running due to the heart, hence building it up gradually. No sudden shocks!

could you do less steps but at a 'fast walk' pace? Probably get more out of that.

[dobby]

I'd find it hard to believe that any Man Utd fan did this

Assume he's referencing what can be seen on the social media cesspit. "Fans" who have never even been to Manchester/Liverpool, let alone Old Trafford or Anfield. I'd be fairly certain in saying that proper match going fans were busy celebrating a win to be bothered about another teams loss.

saying that, who gives a bollox really. I was at the Man United v Liverpool 5-0 in Old Trafford last year. Walked out shrugged my shoulders and went for pints with my brother. Looking back now, I got to see a Salah hattrick and the result had absolutely no bearing on my life and had a great night out with some friends.

Most lads are on social media looking for clout, a lad from Ashbourne called Paddy Murphy has garnered quite a following as a "die hard" Liverpool fan but I'm not sure he's ever been to a game. A video of him went around celebrating England being knocked out of the World Cup and then a few days ago he posted a video about Jordan Henderson saying how great his career was having come through the England ranks and clubs he played for. All of a sudden England mattered when he was trying to defend a player that plays for the club he's a fan of.

All nonsense really.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

I have a fitness question:

Been a bit worried that I'll end up a hunchback due to spending the last three years working on either the bed or the couch. I think planks are best for building that core back strength, so been doing them in the morning. But, then I was reading that back braces are also useful. So, on one of the big walks per day, I strap into that and walk around like I've got a pencil up my ass. The thinking is that the combination of the brace plus exercise will additionally strengthen and straighten the back. Am I a walking mockery, or is that likely to be of any actual benefit?

[Murdrum]

I have a fitness question:

Been a bit worried that I'll end up a hunchback due to spending the last three years working on either the bed or the couch. I think planks are best for building that core back strength, so been doing them in the morning. But, then I was reading that back braces are also useful. So, on one of the big walks per day, I strap into that and walk around like I've got a pencil up my ass. The thinking is that the combination of the brace plus exercise will additionally strengthen and straighten the back. Am I a walking mockery, or is that likely to be of any actual benefit?

I’d say a brace is most beneficial for simply making you conscious of your posture.

Your slumped shoulders will largely be impacted by a tight chest & lats pulling on your smaller weaker posterior delts, traps, rhomboids, weakening them and resulting in shit posture. I know the feeling.

Given what you said about your constraints on high impact stuff, you really seem like an ideal candidate for some yoga, most likely Yin or even some men’s Pilates classes (I was too self-conscious to attend the mixed).

I think you could get a lot from it.

[Solksjaer!]

1 vote for the walking mockery.

[zuutroy]

I started following a 50-video dumbbell series on YT from a northern Irish girl in September...30 mins, 5 days a week...done wonder for me.....Finished it just before Christmas (only managed about 3.5 sessions a week). According to my Garmin watch my VO2 max went from 39 to 46, and fitness age went from 42 to 20. Lost around 10 lbs while building a decent bit of muscle...esp lower body.
I used to do a bit of lifting a couple of times a week but this is serious effort for 30 minutes...not for the feint hearted (sorry Hitch!). Doing another one of her programs now with heavier weights and slower movement.

[dinekes]

For a man who hadn't really done any running in 2 years Im now the slightly bemused owner of two pairs of running shoes, running top, leggings and a running hat
Only went in to buy a pair of bog standard tracksuit bottoms!

What I said = "do you have like just regular tracksuit bottoms, not those tight contoured ones?"

What she heard = "I need something that will get me arrested for public indecency on my next run"


Holy Jaysus, feel like I should prancing around to the score of the Nutcracker () in these yokes.....although they are fairly comfy ...hang on a sec just let me adjust there and move that over a bit.. aahhh that's better

What's the etiquette with these ball squeezers anyway??

[Theresa]

Walking is probably the best exercise weight loss tool outside of heavy lifting.
It's also an incredible tool to get someone who doesn't move, to move. Plus its great for the oul noggin.

Hitch, pull ups or chin ups will rid you of the hunch backedness and build core strength, slow to start though.
If you can't do that, then rows of any kind will help.

Never been to a yoga class, or pilates, but have heard great things.

[Theresa]

Folks who've been to Vietnam - what are the 'must visits'?

Been genuinely 10 years since I was there, and thats quite a time for a country like Vietnam so grain of salt, and I was 23 so theres that:

Hanoi - Old Quarter, I loved it. Bustle. Dirty. Pho on the street. Westlake is a cool area. Take a trip out to Ba Vi park west of the city.

Ha Long Bay - do a cruise, do a little bit of research on this, there is some horrendous cruises and some excellent ones. Try get one that has you out of the boat kayaking, visiting the fishing villages and caves and other bits and pieces.

Cat Ba Island - good place to base yourself for Ha Long if not doing a cruise, loads of awesome rock climbing/free water soloing.

Sa Pa - you can do homestays here, rice paddies and trad vietnamese living, good lols about the Chinese.

Ninh Binh - if you wanna do some dirt bike tours, good spot.

Hue - sleepy little village, some great food, Pho Bun Hue came from here.

Hoi An - great spot. Wander, sit, enjoy.

Hai Van pass - top gear prob brought it the most publicity, scenic and beautiful.

Da Nang - beach place, resorts and russians (well before they were all conscripted).

Ho Chi Minh probably the most western city, big, loud, progressive.

All I will say for sure is, you have to sit on the side of the streets and eat pho and drink beer. The food is incredible, the beer is average.

[Denny Crane]

Did you find one when you were in the Lidl in East Wall this morning?

Not sure if this is mistaken identity or if you're trying to accuse me of being a racist

[Raoul Duke III]

Seeing as it's been three years, might as well put up a La Rochelle TR:

Our Brussels man couldn't make it so our flight was into Paris CDG at the comparatively civilised time of 10am on Friday. We had a bit of breakfast after our one AL Platinum cardholder talked the three of us into the Aer Lingus lounge (wouldn't pay for it if asked, fairly mediocre) and hopped onto the plane in good order, feeling quite ebullient at the prospect of what lay ahead. Had a single beer on board and, with AL taking the long way round to Gay Paree, had to make a fairly swiftish transfer via RER\Metro to Gare Montparnasse. We barely had time to stop off in a wanky supermarket to stock up with provisions for the train journey, including a sharp knife for salami\cheese cutting purposes. Suitably equipped, we necked a quick beer in the station bar and boarded the (insanely long) double-decker train and located our seats in a top-level 4-table. I think the poor woman who sat with us did quite the double take when she saw us dumping various cheeses, salamis, bottles of wine and other accoutrements onto the table. Sadly for her, the train was packed so she was stuck with us and retreated behind her headphones for the duration. Smart choice imo.

It's flat agricultural country all the way to La Rochelle with not much to look at so we busied ourselves with demolishing our lunch and ensuring we remained well hydrated with vino. A pleasant three hours was passed in this manner. Rolled off the train into La Rochelle at about 6 and first impressions were of a highly self-confident, bourgeois city with some beautiful old buildings and plenty of inherited wealth. Pretty accurate as it turned out. We wandered through the historical centre ville to our airbnb which was located a stone's throw from the market. This was a fine three bedroom spot with a very voluble lady owner who assumed we cared about sundry topics like what day was bin day, or how to use the dryer. Clearly not an astute judge of character, given we were all visibly swaying. We eventually shooed her out, dumped our shit and went out to explore. Hit a few bars in the city, in the first of which we sucked down a restorative cafe corretto (get an espresso in a large cup, dump a brandy on top, consume) which gave us a fresh hit of energy that propelled us through several more bars, a restaurant where I had a great rabbit main course and some studenty nightclub place where we may well have been the oldest people ever allowed in. Finished up about 2am and considered we had experienced a reasonable warmup session.

Woke up the next day at about 10am and I went out to the market to procure some croissants, chaussons and other baked goods all of which went down fairly well with the other two sofa-lolling lads who seemed to have lost the usage of their legs, the lazy fucks. Eventually got them out of the apartment by 11 or so and we returned to the market in a somewhat fragile state but knowing full well what would rectify the situation. Oysters and white wine naturally. The hangover cure of the Gods. Had a dozen fine examples standing up at a nice indoor bar and this, plus some more coffee loosened us up sufficiently such that we were ready to face the day. We split up momentarily to search for shiny objects - I got a Stade Rochellais beret (which came in very handy later in the day, more on this anon), wine was purchased for the next day’s train and cheese supplies were topped up. This commercial activity successfully concluded, we returned to the apartment to dump same crap, don some Irish rugby shirts for ease of identification and then returned to the very fine market for further consumption. I found a very friendly little bar at the side of the market and madame seemed fully ready to engage with all our needs, feeding us a steady stream of wine, beer and another cafe corretto apiece. We also our encountered our first sign of actual real live Ulster fans, looking very rough round the edges but who gave us the info that McNultys pub was the pace to go to (a) watch rugby and (b), was the place to source flags and other such paraphernalia.

We duly pointed ourselves in that direction and came across a properly packed Irish bar, with probably about 150-200 Ulster fans. Contrary to the popular perception, they were very welcoming and we had some great chats over a few beers (and one final café corretto). We even got to experience the wonders of the President of the Ulster Branch give a speech. As it was so emotional, I will reproduce it here in all its glory:
“We’re really going to get stuck into these lads today. Lets go out there and SUFTUM*. Thanks lads.”
(*Stand Up for The Ulstermen)
Who couldn’t be moved by such stirring oratory? After half-heartedly watching Leinster thrash an English team, and a bit of Munster too on the pub’s tellybox, it was time to leave for the match. Upon stepping outside we noticed that the previously pleasant afternoon weather had changed to something more akin to Hurricane Katrina. It says something for our moral turpitude that our first reaction was ‘good, this’ll really level up our chances’.

We walked out to the Stade by the sea, noticing that the tide seemed to be raging faster than your average F1 racing car. This could of course have been just the drink talking but the horizontal shower rain conditions also backed up our theory that this was some properly shite weather. At that juncture, my indestructible Austrian umbrella literally ripped in two with a particularly vicious gust of wind and I knew this was going to be quite the experience. Luckily my SR beret came to the rescue and remained jammed on my noggin for the rest of the day keeping me shielded from the elements. We got to the Stade just before kick-off, managing to secure some beers on the way to our seats. There was a definite feel of the lions den about the place with the small pockets of white Ulster flags being dwarfed by vast swathes of yellow. The match itself was not one for the purists, given the ball had all the properties of a bar of soap but we dully yelled ourselves hoarse, SUFTUMed at the given times and had a rare old time, washed down with several more beverage. Ulster suffered a fairly heartbreaking loss right at the death, we shook our soaked neighbours hands all around and told them we would see them in Dublin for the final against Leinster. I’d say the home crowd were quite subdued but that was probably a tribute to Ulster’s fighting spirit as well as the overall mankiness of the weather.

The walk back was a windy blur but we did manage to accidentally find a restaurant Libanese that fed us a large quantity of middle eastern things that revived us mightily together with some very nice red wine. A poor lost Ulster face appeared at the door looking sad so we beckoned him in to sit with us – very nice man, or at least we thought he was until he revealed he was 62 years old. I’m not kidding, he didn’t look a day over 30, one of the most youthful men I have ever met. Although he paid for the wine so it all worked out for the best. We took our new BFF off to the General Humbert which was a kinda bar\nightclub\allsorts place where we replaced our lost fluid contents with sundry cocktail concoctions and even engaged in some moderately ambitious boogie with all manner of new-found friends. This all ended at about 3 and we somehow managed to navigate the maze of streets back to our apartment where we collapsed face down into our respective duvets.

The next morning mandated one further trip to the market where we caffeinated ourselves and acquired far too much food. We then meandered to the gare unexpectedly early but this meant that the rugby ball found by us the previous night could be employed for its intended purpose upon the station concourse. Some semi-impressive kicking and catching was ended by a particularly wind-assisted boot that took the ball into the harbour, never to be seen again. Duly chastened, we boarded the train where I had secured us a four seater first class area. Swanky indeed and we dumped all our gear and began the usual eating\drinking activity, albeit with far less alacrity than previous days. Until we were interrupted at the first stop by a rather unusual character.

She was a Polynesian (from Tahiti) who swayed down the aisle, saw us and just sat down in our spare seat. Over the next two hours she:

• Told us she was a special forces soldier
• Told us she had stage 4 cancer
• Told us her father had a gun held to his head at a party the previous night
• Told us she rented her place in Tahiti for 3,000 Euro a night
• Told us her sister was a former Miss France
• Told us she was going to Montpelier to punch somebody and would then be off home to Tahiti but via Las Vegas.
• Various other tall tales.

Even more extraordinarily, some of these things turned out to be true and she was able to show photographic and other evidence as proof.

She had the most amazing level of self-confidence I’ve ever seen. Helped herself to loads of our food and then basically told the conductor lady to fuck off when she came round checking tickets. Which she did.
I told her that the guy she was sitting beside was very famous in Ireland as a tv chef. She swallowed that so I told her that his big shtick was making soup on his show while dancing around the studio and insulting a celebrity. She didn’t bat an eyelid. I told her the other guy had played in the rugby match the night before and that explained why he was tired. Of course. She then told us her cousins played for New Zealand, but couldn’t supply their names. I told her I was very rich and had five wives but I only married ugly women. Not a flicker.
It was the single most surreal train journey of my life. She then got tv chef superstar to give her his phone number and, stupidly, he did. We managed to ditch her at the station and, within 30 minutes he had six missed calls. I would not be surprised if she turned up on his doorstep tomorrow.
After that, the remainder of the trip home was an anticlimax.

TLDR. Would do again.

[Denny Crane]

I have a fitness question:

Been a bit worried that I'll end up a hunchback due to spending the last three years working on either the bed or the couch. I think planks are best for building that core back strength, so been doing them in the morning. But, then I was reading that back braces are also useful. So, on one of the big walks per day, I strap into that and walk around like I've got a pencil up my ass. The thinking is that the combination of the brace plus exercise will additionally strengthen and straighten the back. Am I a walking mockery, or is that likely to be of any actual benefit?

https://mobile.twitter.com/AJA_Corte...36681336332288

Superman's are meant to be good too

[Denny Crane]

Ha Long Bay - do a cruise, do a little bit of research on this, there is some horrendous cruises and some excellent ones. Try get one that has you out of the boat kayaking, visiting the fishing villages and caves and other bits and pieces.

I'll try and dig up the name of the company we went with - they were pretty good.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

https://mobile.twitter.com/AJA_Corte...36681336332288

Superman's are meant to be good too

oh wow - that kyphosis thing is the exact thing I'm worried about* as it seems a classic middle-aged man-who-sits-a-lot look. The slightly protruding stomach despite not being overweight.


* uncle has some horrible debilitating back thing, and it seems like one of the worst things (absent cancers and other killers obv)

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

I’d say a brace is most beneficial for simply making you conscious of your posture.

Your slumped shoulders will largely be impacted by a tight chest & lats pulling on your smaller weaker posterior delts, traps, rhomboids, weakening them and resulting in shit posture. I know the feeling.

Given what you said about your constraints on high impact stuff, you really seem like an ideal candidate for some yoga, most likely Yin or even some men’s Pilates classes (I was too self-conscious to attend the mixed).

I think you could get a lot from it.

Must look at the pilates / yoga! That could be quite nice actually.

[dinekes]

Must look at the pilates / yoga! That could be quite nice actually.

Injured my back a couple of years ago and the MRI revealed spondylolisthesis. Physio was big into Pilates based excercises and they worked well for me anyway. Certainly improved posture and range of motion.

Think Pilates better than Yoga for your needs. Yoga is great but they can get you doing some excercises that may not be the best for joints.

[Lao Lao]

Folks who've been to Vietnam - what are the 'must visits'?

Been genuinely 10 years since I was there, and thats quite a time for a country like Vietnam so grain of salt, and I was 23 so there's that:

Hanoi - Old Quarter, I loved it. Bustle. Dirty. Pho on the street. Westlake is a cool area. Take a trip out to Ba Vi park west of the city.

Ha Long Bay - do a cruise, do a little bit of research on this, there is some horrendous cruises and some excellent ones. Try get one that has you out of the boat kayaking, visiting the fishing villages and caves and other bits and pieces.

Cat Ba Island - good place to base yourself for Ha Long if not doing a cruise, loads of awesome rock climbing/free water soloing.

Sa Pa - you can do homestays here, rice paddies and trad vietnamese living, good lols about the Chinese.

Ninh Binh - if you wanna do some dirt bike tours, good spot.

Hue - sleepy little village, some great food, Pho Bun Hue came from here.

Hoi An - great spot. Wander, sit, enjoy.

Hai Van pass - top gear prob brought it the most publicity, scenic and beautiful.

Da Nang - beach place, resorts and russians (well before they were all conscripted).

Ho Chi Minh probably the most western city, big, loud, progressive.

All I will say for sure is, you have to sit on the side of the streets and eat pho and drink beer. The food is incredible, the beer is average.

Echo what Theresa said except I was there just over 20 years ago and I was 24 at the time

[Opr]

oh wow - that kyphosis thing is the exact thing I'm worried about* as it seems a classic middle-aged man-who-sits-a-lot look. The slightly protruding stomach despite not being overweight.


* uncle has some horrible debilitating back thing, and it seems like one of the worst things (absent cancers and other killers obv)

This is an interesting counter take on the links between the two.

[Theresa]

This is an interesting counter take on the links between the two.

Who would have thought that getting stronger is the solution. Rows, Pull ups, Stronger posterior chain.

[Strewelpeter]

Not sure if this is mistaken identity or if you're trying to accuse me of being a racist

Mistaken identity, you have a doppelganger hanging out around there.
ONly realised today that's exactly where all the SF types are out protesting.

Weird part of Dublin, feels like an outsize version of one of those Bord Na Mona villages, with even less facilities.

[dinekes]

@RD3

Which were the true stories? Father with gun to head and sister former Miss France are my random guesses

[Wombatman]

Must look at the pilates / yoga! That could be quite nice actually.

Don't overthink it. Just get off your ass and do something.

I do these about three times a week at home. Love that WFH . I do some jogging, HITT, stretching and weights too. Probably not the perfect, optimum of optimal for a 52yo but it works for me. The hardest part is staying motivated and sticking to the program. Eating pretty well is a must too obv.

I hold each pose for 45s and rest\reset for 20s. Beep timer on phone. Some poses have to be done on both sides. For me that's 45s each side. Some zen music on with no lyrics through the session. Nice soft lighting. I feel like I'm glowing in mind and body afterwards.

You might find some poses difficult to start with but if you stick at it you'll be surprised how your body starts to open up and out. Get the kids and missus to join for something to do. If you put as much effort into cultivating you body, as you do your mind, you'll be a ninja warrior mofo in no time

https://www.verywellfit.com/essentia...inners-3566747

[MysteryGuest]

Even rugby fans can’t face sitting through a match without numbing the pain- heard it’s brutal atmosphere wise in Landsdowne road even for big enough 6 nations games.





Almost 70% of people would not support alcohol ban at Aviva, says IRFU survey

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rug...s-irfu-survey/


mind you I’ve had to up my alcohol intake due to the pressure occasionally having to pretend I care about rugby at work with my new boss- fortunately have kept my hatred under wraps at work so he’s none the wiser- tough living this double life though

[Denny Crane]

Mistaken identity, you have a doppelganger hanging out around there.
ONly realised today that's exactly where all the SF types are out protesting.

Weird part of Dublin, feels like an outsize version of one of those Bord Na Mona villages, with even less facilities.

My doppelgangers do tend to be unsavory characters.

[Raoul Duke III]

@RD3

Which were the true stories? Father with gun to head and sister former Miss France are my random guesses

1. Special forces (had a backpack full of military gear, plus uniform)
2. Former Miss France (lots of pics on phone, seemed quite keen to show us swimsuits shots )
3. Renting villa for 3k a night (showed us the website she uses)

It was a lot of fun but I was acutely aware she was off the charts crazy and beyond. Like to the level of discreetly moving the sharp knife out of her reach.The superstar tv chef does have a history of attracting genuinely insane women (was briefly married to one) so he must secrete some weird pheromones.

[Gimmeabreak]

1. Special forces (had a backpack full of military gear, plus uniform)
2. Former Miss France (lots of pics on phone, seemed quite keen to show us swimsuits shots )
3. Renting villa for 3k a night (showed us the website she uses)

It was a lot of fun but I was acutely aware she was off the charts crazy and beyond. Like to the level of discreetly moving the sharp knife out of her reach.The superstar tv chef does have a history of attracting genuinely insane women (was briefly married to one) so he must secrete some weird pheromones.

[DeadParrot]

Any chance you could give me some idea how to use this?

Which part?
Do you need me to publish a compiled version for you?
Or you could just copy past the sql version into sql fiddle to play with
http://sqlfiddle.com/#!18/ca0fb/1

[DeadParrot]

oh wow - that kyphosis thing is the exact thing I'm worried about* as it seems a classic middle-aged man-who-sits-a-lot look. The slightly protruding stomach despite not being overweight.


* uncle has some horrible debilitating back thing, and it seems like one of the worst things (absent cancers and other killers obv)

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Upright-C...irect=1&sr=8-5

Something like this?

[Raoul Duke III]

2019.

[Denny Crane]

Folks who've been to Vietnam - what are the 'must visits'?

The first thing is that Google Maps ratings mean nothing. You'll look around for a place to eat and everywhere will have 5 stars and thousands of reviews which is just impossible. It's all gamed. Tourism has been decimated since covid so they're extra competitive. Tbh I wouldn't go out of my way to eat in any particular spot. Everywhere is pretty good, the best places were places we happened across off the beaten path.

Internal flights are incredibly cheap.

Tour guides and hotel staff in places like Hoi An will try and recommend you go to different shops (esp tailors) cause they get 20% referral fee.

We did a food Food tour on first day in Ho Chi Ming (Saigon). We were with a triple-jobbing student driving us around on mopeds. Good way to get a feel of the city and insight into the food. The guide asked us to make a reference to him on TripAdvisor because they fired the bottom rated.

Country is still divided across the old lines. North is poorer and more conservative. People will generally give clues about which way they lean (e.g. whether they call it Saigon or Ho Chi Ming)

Anan Saigon is a higher-end restaurant - with spruced-up local dishes.

Nha Trang - Few Russians are there now, very cheap to go scuba diving and snorkelling. Some of the best beaches. Just avoid the South Park themed bar. All the drunk aggressive Russians were there. The only time in the whole country felt in any way unsafe.

Sapa maybe if you want to get into the mountains and countryside and drink opium wine. Cat Cat Village is a bizarre mini-Hollywood place where visitors come to take Instagram photos in traditional dress.

Halong Bay - we went on the La Casta Regal via getyourguide.com. Food and staff were great. Activities if you wanted to do them. Amazing scenery.

Da Nang - Dragon Bridge, Buddhist Temples in the Marble Mountains

Cham Island was a waste of time.

You have to visit Hoi An.

And the water puppet show in Hanoi. We just got front-row tickets from the box office (I think you pay something like 4x the price if you get them via Tripadvisor)

I went with the slightly more out-of-the-way but supposedly more authentic Ben Duoc tunnels. In my naivety, I thought we would spend more time in the tunnels than we did. Amazing insight into what ingenuity and lengths they went to win. There's a gun range there too.

Eat loads of pho obv, but there's way more to Vietnamese food.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

TIL 'opium wine' is a thing, presumably for when wine by itself won't give you enough of a hangover

[Opr]

The first thing is that Google Maps ratings mean nothing. .

I wonder, is ChatGPT just trawling this or how it comes to its recommendations as it is supposed to be very good for this kind of stuff.


1.JPG


2.JPG



3.JPG

[Raoul Duke III]

One last thought on crazy special forces lady. She had absolutely zero sense of humour. Nada, none.

Is that a classic sociopath tendency?

[Denny Crane]

One last thought on crazy special forces lady. She had absolutely zero sense of humour. Nada, none.

Is that a classic sociopath tendency?

Not the ones I've met

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Yeah, I'd say a tendency towards being superficially highly-social would be more of a sociopath trait.

[dinekes]

Do you have to pay for Chatgpt?

[Opr]

Do you have to pay for Chatgpt?

No, currently completely free although they have muted it somewhat from when it was first released. They have a paid version coming for sure as they need to monetize it in some way. I read they are currently spending £3m a day in server costs to keep it running.

It is a really interesting question though that when they do start charging who does the data they are using belong to? It is using someone else's data to produce answers so if you start charging does the creator of the underlying data not needed to be cited and compensated?

Someone sent Nick Cave a song :

Dear Mark,

Since its launch in November last year many people, most buzzing with a kind of algorithmic awe, have sent me songs ‘in the style of Nick Cave’ created by ChatGPT. There have been dozens of them. Suffice to say, I do not feel the same enthusiasm around this technology. I understand that ChatGPT is in its infancy but perhaps that is the emerging horror of AI – that it will forever be in its infancy, as it will always have further to go, and the direction is always forward, always faster. It can never be rolled back, or slowed down, as it moves us toward a utopian future, maybe, or our total destruction. Who can possibly say which? Judging by this song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’ though, it doesn’t look good, Mark. The apocalypse is well on its way. This song sucks.

What ChatGPT is, in this instance, is replication as travesty. ChatGPT may be able to write a speech or an essay or a sermon or an obituary but it cannot create a genuine song. It could perhaps in time create a song that is, on the surface, indistinguishable from an original, but it will always be a replication, a kind of burlesque.

Songs arise out of suffering, by which I mean they are predicated upon the complex, internal human struggle of creation and, well, as far as I know, algorithms don’t feel. Data doesn’t suffer. ChatGPT has no inner being, it has been nowhere, it has endured nothing, it has not had the audacity to reach beyond its limitations, and hence it doesn’t have the capacity for a shared transcendent experience, as it has no limitations from which to transcend. ChatGPT’s melancholy role is that it is destined to imitate and can never have an authentic human experience, no matter how devalued and inconsequential the human experience may in time become.

What makes a great song great is not its close resemblance to a recognizable work. Writing a good song is not mimicry, or replication, or pastiche, it is the opposite. It is an act of self-murder that destroys all one has strived to produce in the past. It is those dangerous, heart-stopping departures that catapult the artist beyond the limits of what he or she recognises as their known self. This is part of the authentic creative struggle that precedes the invention of a unique lyric of actual value; it is the breathless confrontation with one’s vulnerability, one’s perilousness, one’s smallness, pitted against a sense of sudden shocking discovery; it is the redemptive artistic act that stirs the heart of the listener, where the listener recognizes in the inner workings of the song their own blood, their own struggle, their own suffering. This is what we humble humans can offer, that AI can only mimic, the transcendent journey of the artist that forever grapples with his or her own shortcomings. This is where human genius resides, deeply embedded within, yet reaching beyond, those limitations.

It may sound like I’m taking all this a little too personally, but I’m a songwriter who is engaged, at this very moment, in the process of songwriting. It’s a blood and guts business, here at my desk, that requires something of me to initiate the new and fresh idea. It requires my humanness. What that new idea is, I don’t know, but it is out there somewhere, searching for me. In time, we will find each other.

Mark, thanks for the song, but with all the love and respect in the world, this song is bullshit, a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human, and, well, I don’t much like it — although, hang on!, rereading it, there is a line in there that speaks to me —

‘I’ve got the fire of hell in my eyes’

— says the song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’, and that’s kind of true. I have got the fire of hell in my eyes – and it’s ChatGPT.

Love, Nick

[dinekes]

No, currently completely free although they have muted it somewhat from when it was first released. They have a paid version coming for sure as they need to monetize it in some way. I read they are currently spending £3m a day in server costs to keep it running.

It is a really interesting question though that when they do start charging who does the data they are using belong to? It is using someone else's data to produce answers so if you start charging does the creator of the underlying data not needed to be cited and compensated?

Someone sent Nick Cave a song :

He makes the AI sound like a sociopath ....gulp

Most get on it and get it to write my Sci-Fi novel for me!

[Opr]

He makes the AI sound like a sociopath ....gulp

Most get on it and get it to write my Sci-Fi novel for me!

Don't delay. The market is about to be flooded with AI books

I wrote a book in 24h during Xmas. Just received the print!

[dinekes]

Don't delay. The market is about to be flooded with AI books

I wrote a book in 24h during Xmas. Just received the print!

It would only allow a limited use there. Was asking for email and CC details and I baulked when that came up. They must have introduced a fee since you got on it ...you can pay X per month or a once off fee for unlimited access

Had a bit of a difference of opinion with it over what constitutes Cormac McCarthy's style but ran out of goes.
Hope it doesn't come after when it reaches singularity stage

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

Yeah, they monetized DALL-E fairly quickly, so presumably the same for ChatGPT. I'd say it might be something like: everyone gets a few free generations a week, and usage above that is charged at €20-40 per month. Probably a bargain at whatever price they choose, as they'll want as much mass-market usage as possible. Filled in a form for premium access last week.

[zuutroy]

I was asking it some probability questions earlier on, and it got them all spectacularly wrong.

[dinekes]

From the little I've read about it one of the problems is that it can give plausible sounding answers that are factually incorrect.

Intriguing all the same.

Edit What Zut said