What did Santa bring this year?

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by Arroryn, Dec 26, 2007.

  1. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

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    Not a chance!
    Not because I'm not able to, but because the garage uses a pneumatic drill to tighten them - even the mechanic gave up on the manual approach and used a pneumatic drill!


    Looks like it may be here tomorrow morning via CityLink (see the last thread about couriers and you'll notice this is the company I wasn't impressed with!). Lets see if they can redeem themselves, failing that it'll be Monday morning, just in time for our New Years Eve party! :p
     
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  2. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    I got what anyone always wants for Christmas, a month off work
    of course i substituted a month at work for a a month of holiday that includes a few days of 'the big family Christmas' which doesn't always turn out so well lol

    I bought myself an Airport Extreme 802.11n wireless access point and another SB-800 flash unit and got plenty of clothes, aftershave, the normal stuff people who dont know you that well buy you, good old extended family and all that :)
    cant say i mind, im useless at buying my own clothes, only tend to do it when the old ones start falling apart

    I'm also dropping about 2000 bucks on a new mattress, me and the missis deliberated over what to do as our bed in england is a) a double and b) old enough to suck hard, decided to buy a new one here, we wont get to use it much for a while but unless things go tits up I should be enjoying a good nights sleep in a few months :)
    if not it will be worth shipping to england, god knows where I will find room for a king size bed in my place though

    The roads are pretty icey over here at the moment, and my wifes family are from Colorado, seems they are not overly impressed with how Idahoans handle snow (trips earlier comment can attest to that I imagine), most of them don't feel that an inch is dangerous when in fact its some of the worst kind (compacts and forms ice pretty quick) so were limited to what we do when the weathers that bad, as the wife has not driven much in the snow and doesn't fancy wrecking her mums car :)
     
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  3. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Welcome to Idaho, Ryan. :biggrin
     
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  4. GiddyG

    GiddyG Terabyte Poster Gold Member

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    I wrote such an in-depth reply, and then got kicked out before it got published... :dry Sooo, I will start again... :eek:

    Anyway... it is indeed the Alison Weir you are thinking of. It is the new Katherine Swynford one. I also have the Weir books about Isabella: She Wolf of France, Queen of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

    I enjoy all history, from early mediaeval through to late 19th Century. I do not like 20th Century at all... never have done.

    I have read a fair bit about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots too...

    My favourite reads are about lesser known historical figures, such as Katherine Swynford.

    I also like to read a lot of historical fiction, from Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight through to Bernard Cornwell. My hero, if a military figure can be seen as such, is Napoleon Bonaparte. He was both (arguably) a brilliant tactician and extremely charismatic.

    I have met Bernard Cornwell 3 times, the last being 2003, when we spent about 45 seconds discussing England's chances in the upcomingRugby World Cup. The main character in his 'Sharpe' series of novels has the (almost) same name as an England rugby international.

    I take it you're a big Tudor fan?
     
  5. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    I'm like yourself really - a fan of history in general.

    A lot of my focus at GCSE and A Level was the tudor monarchy - mainly that of Henry VII - and I became biased to it being one of the more 'interesting' periods in British history :)

    I will always and forever though favour ancient history, specifically that of the earlier Roman empire (thanks to Latin, mainly!)

    With Alison Weir, I do love the way she writes (and after A Level history, think Starky should be shot!). The only book I have of hers at the moment is her works on Lancaster and York: the Wars of the Roses.

    I know what you mean about 20th century history. Though a lot of it is undoubtedly interesting, it just doesn't draw me the way ancient history did. I have the works of Caesar and his conquest of Gaul, and love reading about battle tactics too. My most recent reads 'historically' were Carl Von Clausewitz's 'On War' and Machiavelli's 'the Prince' - rather unfortunate for my other half, who has no interest in history whatsoever!

    I used to read Bernard Cornwell's older stuff -his Arthurian novels. What's his newer work like?
     
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  6. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    I must say, it IS quite difficult to get published. :p:twisted:8)
     
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  7. GiddyG

    GiddyG Terabyte Poster Gold Member

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    ROFLMAO... :biggrin

    What I want to know is do you get a percentage for each book sold, or (merely) an initial authors fee? 8)
     
  8. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Every author can have a slightly different contract. Mine and Josh's specified that we would receive royalties, and a cash advance on those royalties. Basically, Josh and I receive a (small) percentage of what the book sellers pay the publisher. However, we won't start receiving a royalty check until the royalties equal what we were paid as an advance when we finished the book. By my calculations, I'm hopeful that we crossed that mark back in the 4th quarter of '07.

    If the royalties had never equalled the advance, we still would have been allowed to keep the advance.
     
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  9. GiddyG

    GiddyG Terabyte Poster Gold Member

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    This is my 3rd attempt to reply to this... I keep getting bombed out at Preview Post stage... :mad

    I did 1701 to 1852 (or thereabouts) for O-Level, which further fuelled my 'love' of earlier history. I didn;t do A-Levels, starting in full-time employment the week I was due to take my mocks.

    I too did Latin, but had to stop after year 3 of 'secondary' school. It was that or French... you couldn't do both for some strange reason.

    Heh... I know what you mean about Starky... he writes as he talks... rather like Schama. Mind you, I find Schama easy on the ear as well as an easy read. Starky is too far up his own backside...

    Did you ever watch that battle re-enactment series on BBC2 (I think)? The one where friends took on a computer? There were a few ancient battles in that, if memory serves me right. I haven't read On War or The Prince, but I have certainly heard of the latter.

    My wife isn't big on history either, but my younhest lad certainly is... which is excellent. He is currently reading about the Egyptians (bless him, he's only 8!) and is thoroughly engrossed in it all.

    He also wrote a series about Alfred the Great. I got the first one but it was too much like the Arthurian ones for me (and I have to admit I didn't really get into them), so I didn't bother with the others.

    In addition, he has written a trilogy about a bowman in the 14th Century (from memory) which was very good.

    The Sharpe series should be left as is now, but he is still churning the odd one out, which spoils it for me.

    The best work of his I have seen for a while is the novel, Gallows Thief, set in early 19th Century England. The hero is a guy by the name of Rider Sandman. I mean... what I name for a hero? It;s a bit like BosonMike don't you think? :twisted:
     
  10. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Nah, BosonMichael is not romantic and dashing and mysterious enough. :silly
     
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