What's your main other entertainment?

[Brian Boru]

if I can't play, I'll probably just read a book

Excluding mostly social interactions, what do you like?

Been a long time since I read a fiction book for pleasure, maybe ~15 years. I guess I 'got over them' or something, I used to devour all kinds of fiction, heck I have English in my degree.

Music was a big thing for me when I was young, but not these days—I'll take silence in preference most times.

I've seen lots of movies cos I've been around a while, altho going out to see one wasn't a frequent thing at any time. I've seen 2-3 movies live this century, and of course plenty more on small screen, but not a deal for me anymore—eg I'll catch the latest Bond sometime on TV, or not.

TV has become a far better medium than movies this century imo, so my main alternative entertainment is watching shows which have already finished. We generally watch a couple of episodes over dinner, so a long show can take months to get thru. Also watch some sports during the season, if they get on YT—can't get them on local TV.

We would take up our board game pastime again if we had the space for it, current living conditions are a bit cramped.

 

[Pifanjr]

My wife and I usually watch one or two episodes of something after our kid is in bed. We're currently slowly making our way through The Blacklist.

We also play board games every week with a friend of ours. At least one scenario of Gloomhaven (which now has a digital adaptation) and usually some Dominion matches. Once we got our living space more cleaned up we can start inviting more people again too, since covid restrictions here have almost all been lifted.

I am also slowly making my way through The Chronicles of Amber, which I've been reading on and off for probably around 4 years now. I was pleasantly surprised to see elements of it turn up in Frogcomposband, an offshoot of Angband, which got me to read a bit further in the series.

 

[ZedClampet]

I can't do TV or movies. I get bored after about 5 minutes and start doing something else. It's not the fault of the TV or movies, it's my ADHD.

My main entertainment when I'm not gaming is doing art, writing music, playing music and fiddling with Unreal Engine. If I'm really tired mentally, which happens a lot these days, I'll listen to music or read a book.

How can I read a book when I can't watch a television show? No idea. I think the main thing is that I get more immersed in books

 

[Brian Boru]

making our way through The Blacklist

You're kidding! We're doing exactly the same!!
Currently in season 8, the last one for now—James Spader is wonderful.

PS the butler did indeed do it

 

[Alm]

I tend to watch YouTube, listen to audiobooks, or play the guitar (really badly) when not gaming.

 

[DXCHASE]

Hm, right now im going to school for a Biotechnological Science Degree in Cannabis. (Cannabis was legalized here in NY and the state offered a program for anyone that wants to get a high paying job when establishments move in, so its like a work related degree, but doesn't hurt to add to my Bachelors degree in Communication Arts! )So thats pretty much my other source of "entertainment" right now.

But outside of that its being a dad who enjoys i guess dad things like grilling and asking everyone about the weather.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I must admit I have too many hobbies and not enough time. When I don't play myself, I...

- watch others playing
- listen to music
- write stories
- read books
- watch movies / shows (Squid Game atm!)

Sometimes the YT rabbit hole annoys me. You watch one video about A and three hours later you end up somewhere completely different about things you never even thought about or yet alone knew existed. It feels like wasted time (although I probably learnt a thing or two)

 

[sambouwie]

Hiking, yeah hike a mountain will make me feel so free, not just about the great view, but we learn for togetherness and friendship, such a nice experience

 

[Pifanjr]

You're kidding! We're doing exactly the same!!
Currently in season 8, the last one for now—James Spader is wonderful.

PS the butler did indeed do it

We're about 3/4 into season 2 I believe, so we have a long way to go. Does the quality stay the same throughout?

- watch movies / shows (Squid Game atm!)

We watched some of the first episode, but it took way too long to get going and once we skipped ahead it was a bit too gory to watch as something to wind down and relax before going to bed.

 

[Zloth]

I am also slowly making my way through The Chronicles of Amber...

Oh, that was a good one! Be certain not to stop reading once somebody starts walking the Pattern until it is completely traversed. Doing so may prove fatal.

 

[Brian Boru]

going to school for a Biotechnological Science Degree in Cannabis

That's gotta be High School, right?

Does the quality stay the same throughout?

Pretty much. We often stop watching previously good shows after the standard Season 3 executive-on-the-make grabs hold of it and decides to spice it up. But we've never had a "Should we…?" discussion about The Blacklist. Spader remains exceptional throughout.

Mind you, if James Spader ever left, that would be it—the rest of the cast wouldn't carry it. I'm surprised it got a Season 9 contract, since the viewership figures have tanked. They should announce a Last Season, or it'll join the long list of unresolved shows—they keep dragging out and drip-feeding the central relationship in obvious response to 'Oh we got another season'.

 

[DXCHASE]

That's gotta be High School, right?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I am also slowly making my way through The Chronicles of Amber,

Oh, that was a good one! Be certain not to stop reading once somebody starts walking the Pattern until it is completely traversed. Doing so may prove fatal.

A good friend gave me a copy of Lord of Light a few years ago and its been on my book pile of shame since. I just looked up the wiki for that series and it seems really interesting. Does the series overstay its welcome? I've at some point come to the probably wrong blanket opinion that fantasy series that go on for a long time are only doing so because the author had bills to pay and didn't want to to cash in their meal ticket. So that makes me wary of a 10 book marathon. I've found the series that I've loved most ended well before I wanted them too, although compared to many I haven't read a lot.

Last series I really liked was The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, I loved the way it was so dream like and how the words and creatures he used seemed fantastical but when you looked them up they were real words or creatures from history and mythology. It seems Roger Zelazny might have a similar style?

I love good fantasy and sci fi stories but I'm much harder to please as I've gotten older, to the point where I have a sort of readers paralysis on starting a new author or series. I really need to get over that hump!

Maybe a 10 book series isn't the place to start with that, but who knows

 

[Pifanjr]

But we've never had a "Should we…?" discussion about The Blacklist. Spader remains exceptional throughout.

That's good to know, thank you.

I must admit I looked up who James Spader was, just to be sure. I did not expect learning he also played Daniel in the first Stargate movie.

Does the series overstay its welcome?
[...]
Maybe a 10 book series isn't the place to start with that, but who knows

So far, I don't think the series overstayed its welcome, but then again I've been reading it in bits and pieces over several years.

I'm about halfway through I think (I have all 10 books in one big book) and I think it's after 5 books that the story arc basically finishes. The next book is more like the start of a sequel. So it's really just starting a 5-book series that has a sequel

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

So far, I don't think the series overstayed its welcome, but then again I've been reading it in bits and pieces over several years.

I'm about halfway through I think (I have all 10 books in one big book) and I think it's after 5 books that the story arc basically finishes. The next book is more like the start of a sequel. So it's really just starting a 5-book series that has a sequel

I'll have to give the first book a try and see how it goes. I've tried to read Lord of Light a couple of times and bounced off of it, but it can be I'm just reading it at the wrong time for it to hit me, or didnt give it enough.

More on topic-ish I've been watching Squid Game to see what the hype is all about, I was enjoying it well enough and then I hit the marble episode and I was in pieces . Its a lot of setting up to get to that point but damn it really hit.

 

[Yggdrasill]

We watched some of the first episode, but it took way too long to get going and once we skipped ahead it was a bit too gory to watch as something to wind down and relax before going to bed.

Yeah I can see your point. I have a some SAW-vibes as these games are so brutal and unfair. I think we have two episodes left, so I'm curious how it will end. I hope it will be a good ending.

 

[mainer]

Outside of gaming, I love to read, especially in the Fantasy/Science Fiction genre. I often read for a couple hours a night before I go to sleep. I got rid of my TV well over 20 years ago, and similar to what Zed stated above, I get far more immersed in a good book than anything on television. I do like to watch movies, but I often find the new "blockbuster" releases to be mainly CGI and glitter, with little substance; much like the "AAA" game releases. Definitely not always, but most of the time.

Currently re-reading the Wheel of Time series (14 books) by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson (due to unfortunate death of James Oliver Rigney Jr - aka Robert Jordan in 2007). Still one of my favorite book series, although the Stormlight Archives would have to be my current favorite.

Some of my book collections (can't get everything as my book shelves are kind of helter skelter):

I also like to hike a bit, or walk along some of the beaches here, and still do a bit of freelance photography; I like the physical exertion, and need to get away from all electronic devices from time to time.

 

[Johnway]

Apart from gaming? very little. I would love to say i enjoy travelling but i'm tight fisted and recent lockdown basically reduces the opportunity to zero. I do enjoy going to different places for work (sometimes i get work placements the other office in the uk and if i'm really lucky, poland) but thats not going to happen anymore. I compromise by enjoying walks around town just to clear my mind and brainstorming. A lot of the time i day dream up awful, embarrassing fanfiction in my head.

i do enjoy reading. Mainly Sci fi, but then again, i've mostly been reading the Horus heresy books and there are a LOT of em to go through. Other things i read are also rule books or their lore. I use it as a template for story building and character development mainly.

I suppose Art/drawing is my other hobby. But its very much a love hate relationship. The amount of effort, practice, fortitude you need to get good at it is huge. So much so there are times that you're not having fun/enjoyment and its very much work. i probably would enjoy it a lot more if i wasn't so creatively bankrupt and/or so inept in certain areas. i don't commit enough time to studying it because of work and (of course gaming). So yeah.... love/hate relationship of my own creation.

 

[Zloth]

I'm about halfway through I think (I have all 10 books in one big book) and I think it's after 5 books that the story arc basically finishes.

Yeah, that's right. The first 5 are about Corwin, the next 5 are about Merlin. It's got a lot of great world building.

Currently re-reading the Wheel of Time series (14 books)

14 very large books of about 1000 pages each, plus New Spring, which is a normal sized. And, in one more month...

View: https://youtu.be/qvfrXwjedao

An awful lot of head cannon is going to fall that day.

 

[Brian Boru]

my book collections

Are they ALL hardbacks? Quite a collection!

I used to have over 1,000 books in the GOD, about half of them in a TBR pile of course—a mirror image of my gaming collection, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the other apple They were at least 90% paperback tho, and ~half second-hand.

If you ever run out of shelf space, consider transferring to the 21st century and the thing called ebooks

Great photo, looks more like a painting.

 

[SWard]

Oh my gosh all those books!

Movies, music and Tv for me - love me some American Horror Story, a Supertramp Vinyl and (back when the world was normal) sitting in the Everyman Theatre with a banana milkshake.

It's basic I know, but I don't drink so inside stuff works best My couch is a member of my family.

 

[ZedClampet]

Does complaining count? I love to complain. I could entertain myself for hours that way.

 

[mainer]

And, in one more month...

View: https://youtu.be/qvfrXwjedao

An awful lot of head cannon is going to fall that day.

I saw that when looking through movies on Amazon, and truthfully, it scares me, mostly for the reason you stated. I don't think there's any way they can capture all the character's personalities, all the events and interactions, and the magic and all the political turmoil of the Aes Sedai in the White Tower. I'm always skeptical when a book or book series is produced as a movie or movie series (much like games to movies). So many fall short or end up being painfully terrible. At least Uwe Boll isn't directing it.

There are exceptions, as the Game of Thrones turned out great for the most part, although after Season 1 HBO started to veer off in their own direction. Not that they had much choice towards the end, since the last book in the series, A Dance with Dragons, was published in 2011 (the same year that Skyrim was released); GRRM doesn't seem inclined to finish the series.

Are they ALL hardbacks?

Not all of them, probably about 70-30 roughly, the rest being paperbacks. A lot of the hardbacks I bought used that cost less than the price of a new paperback. There's just something about holding and reading a hardback book: I can't really explain it, but more like a work of art (if that makes sense).

If you ever run out of shelf space, consider transferring to the 21st century and the thing called ebooks

Yeah, I know. I have a friend who always reminds me of that. I'm just kind of old-school I guess, at least when it comes to books. There's just something about holding & reading a book that I find relaxing.

Great photo, looks more like a painting.

Thank-you. It's a low-res scan of an image I shot years ago at Popham Beach in Maine. I working with a couple of friends to get some of my work which is on film, either transparency or negative, scanned at high-res so I can get a web page established. It's a long process, but I'll let you guys/gals know when I do; as I value your opinions.

Does complaining count? I love to complain. I could entertain myself for hours that way.

It does. Complaining is a certified and healthy (usually) hobby. I always complain daily about something.

 

[FreezerBurn]

Books!

 

[Zloth]

Movies, music and Tv for me - love me some American Horror Story, a Supertramp Vinyl and (back when the world was normal) sitting in the Everyman Theatre with a banana milkshake.

Wait, how is the world normal AND theaters have banana milkshakes?? If it were normal there would be chocolate, vanilla, and (for the fancy places) strawberry. Esoteric milkshakes flavors in a theater!? That's just, well, bananas.

I saw that when looking through movies on Amazon, and truthfully, it scares me, mostly for the reason you stated. I don't think there's any way they can capture all the character's personalities, all the events and interactions, and the magic and all the political turmoil of the Aes Sedai in the White Tower.

Definitely no way they can do that! Well, maybe they could, but the actors playing the parts of the 3 Rivers young adults would likely be in their 60's by the time it finished. I'm sure plenty of characters are going to go the way of Tom Bombadil, others will get merged together, and so on. In fact, there's already something missing: the "ageless faces" effect isn't there.

What will be rough on me are all the names. I ignored the index and pronounced things however I wanted. The Seat is "Swan Sanchay" for me, for example. Now there shall be a reckoning...

I just started switching to e-books, myself, because keeping the proper books in order was getting too annoying. I swear, it's like publishers figured the best thing about Asimov is that his name is near the start of the alphabet and they've been favoring that half for decades since! It shows up in your shelves, too. That shelf on the left is a big one, but it only gets to the J's. If you get a book by Asprin, you're going to need to shove a bunch of books around. With an e-book, no problem!