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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   3762 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 24, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Started The Killing Star as my falling asleep reading last night, and it reminded me how huge Titanic-mania was in the 80-90s, with the 1997 film release hitting what seems like the crest of the wave.

For a solid decade you'd see raising the Titanic as a random "as you know, we are living in the future" infodump, there were endless books and documentaries about it, people invested millions in building replicas. As late as the 2016 the Chinese were building a full size one (in Sichuan of all places) that seems to have been abandoned during construction.

It was striking because of how absolutely the meme died since 2015 or so. "Draw me like one of your French girls" is the last relic.
A good warning of the dangers of making big investments jumping on cultural bubbles only to be left holding the bag when they burst (cough Sega)

Is anyone old enough to remember the start? Did it just build steadily from the discovery of the wreck? "Raise the Titanic!" was late 70s, and Clive Cussler isn't known for original ideas...

Is it best to try and avoid presentism in your writing, or embrace it and write for your audience/profitable fads rather than for future readers?

Also read Jasper Fforde's "Red Side Story" last night, and regret the wasted time. Dreadful sequel 15 years too late to use the original ideas of the first book.

Also read Jasper Fforde's Red Side Story last night, and regret the wasted time. Dreadful sequel 15 years too late to use the original ideas of the first book.

I'm enjoying it, personally. But I wouldn't call myself a literary connoisseur.

Let me know if you want to compare notes when you finish it. Won't say anything that might spoil you now.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood for it.

I just finished it. I'm only an unthinking consoomer of product with no deep literary opinions, but I thought it was very enjoyable, and I can think of nothing to complain about.

If you want to air your grievances, I'm sure they would be interesting to hear. (Remember that this website does have spoiler functionality.)

Update. Do not read "the killing star", it is a very silly mish-mash of unconnected silly plots, weird obsessions of the authors, and silly name-dropping + self inserts about persecuted science fiction authors.

It was actually worse than Red Side Story, so looks like I'm batting 0 for 2 this week. Time to read some non-fiction for a palate cleanser.

On the flip side, Titanic Belfast opened in 2012 and it's a really well done museum. Maybe it's not as broad of a cultural touchstone, but it's still fascinating history.

Went to see it in January, having received several recommendations over the years. Far better than I expected it to be, definitely worth spending two or three hours if you're in the area.

It’s an excellent museum but it also benefits because it’s like the only major attraction in Belfast, so everyone who visits the city for any reason (tourism in NI in general, business, visiting friends or family, any kind of event) and has a spare half day is going to go. On Google reviews it has 33,000 ratings while the next biggest attraction in Belfast has under 10,000.

Ahem, we also have the Europa hotel, the "most bombed hotel in the world".

Well it was during the Troubles. I think some Bosnian hotel stole that accolade.

It's also #1 on lonely planet for Belfast.

Were there some Titanic developments that recently popped up?

It does slightly bother me that most of the (remaining) wreckage will be consumed by sea creatures in the coming years/decades.

Some discussion we previously had on 90s Titanic-mania, albeit more focused on the film.

I had completely forgotten about the imploding submarine until you said that. There's only so much current thing you can cram in your brain before it starts leaking out.

I went on a big Titanic binge after that happened. Part of the intrigue is that there is just so much content out there. You can read the transcript of the official investigation. Apparently they had stenographers back then?

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