Salutations to all my fellow goggers/goggites/goglodytes.....and welcome to the General Chat Thread for 202....4?!?

Feel free to discuss/post anything and everything you want(within the tos/coc, of course), and mingle with other posters...have a drink or bite to eat from our crafts tables as well, if you desire.....and once again, welcome :)

Update
check here for the latest posts....as most stuff already posted is a bit stale by now

(note to users/staff: all allowed topics are on-topic, nothing is technically off-topic here)

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Memorial List 2022

A short list of celebs and others who passed in 2022:
(if anyone knows more, lemme know and i'll add em' here)

Sidney Poitier
Betty White*
Bob Saget*
Meat Loaf

Gone, but not forgotten *salute*

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I read a really bizarre story in German magazine SPIEGEL, about sites in the dark net where you can allegedly order hitmen for contract killings (or arson, beatings, kidnappings etc.)..."The Albanian mafia has hitmen throughout Europe and North America, we can provide all the services you want". Payment is in bitcoin. Now most of those sites seem to be quite obvious con operations...but the bizarre (and disturbing) thing is there actually are people who seriously try to order hitmen on those sites and pay thousands of Euros for it! The story cited two cases: a German woman who wanted the new girlfriend of her ex-husband killed, and an Italian man who wanted to his ex-gf disfigured with acid and paralyzed. Both paid about 8000-10 000 Euros. I was a bit torn what to think, on one part really disturbing that people would do something like this...on the other hand it was really amusing that people can be so stupid to fall for such a con operation (order a professional contract killer for a few thousand Euros? Sounds a bit cheap imo). They had excerpts from a chat where the Italian man complained that he'd already paid four weeks ago, and yet no acid attack had happened so far...and the guys from the dark net site tried to rip him off even more ("The hitman assigned to you is in France, and has some trouble right now...but we can assign you another hitman in Italy, a real professional, but you'll have to pay more bitcoin for him..."), lol. One of the strangest things I've read this year.

Agreed, and also a bit disturbing tbqh.....here's hoping other future posts to this thread are perhaps a bit more G-rated** o.0
(**or whatever the German/EU equivalent to a G-rating is)

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My Daily Contribution

I am prepping for New Year's festivities....got most of the food and drink, and am now planning the music selections and whatnot. Anyone else prepping for New Year's Eve? If so: got anything special planned?

I watched second half of the matrix night before last (just caught it scrolling through). I remember when it came thinking it was cool and could see it being real. Watching it now though was a very different experience. It’s is plainly extremely daft throughout, really it’s just a platform for some good action scenes and posing in dark sunglasses. No longer seems smart or predictive. Funny how things age rapidly.

Yeah, it is a "blockbuster style action flick", so it's gonna be full of such scenes. As for me, I still enjoy bits of the films here and there.....even bits of the sequels.

Yeah, I know.....many don't think the sequels were as good.....to that i'll say one thing: they'll prolly be miles above the crehp in the remake.Not many things that are supposed to show futuristic society come to pass....or at least not in the time frames shown in said media.

As for things aging rapidly....well, as long as they don't age poorly ;)
(so far i've been fortunate in that many things I liked long ago I still like today)

Yes, I mention it because there is a difference though. I can still watch older sci-fi, read old sci-fi and it still has things you can relate to now. With the original matrix there really is t anything relatable, it wasn’t futuristic or prophetic in anyways. That’s how it stands out as different from a lot of the previous stuff. It just comes across now as a silly action flick with some computer jargon on and off to make it sci-fi. 1984 for instance is clearly already in progress across most developed counties already.

Anyways, change of topic. What are your plans, I see you are US, do you not have restrictions(/yet). In UK they are just discussing adding more.

Well I happen to be a big fan of both The Matrix and 1984, but that's just my opinion.

And imo this can be just fine and just what the doctor ordered in terms of entertainment......i.e. a good popcorn flick :) (keeping this post bit short for obv. reasons)

I am planning to sit in & watch some films/listen to music, and wait while we go from a shitty year to what I hope will be a good (non paranoia/fear filled) one.

As for restrictions: We have masking in my state, but I have an exemption, so I don't have to follow it in most places.
Elsewhere, though......we already have (more or less) segregation back in NYC.....anyone over 5 who hasn't been "medically treated" isn't allowed to enter most indoor businesses/etc. Crazy world, eh?

=-=-=-=-= Never seen 1984, but I did see Matrix and still like it til this day :)
(I also like the films Brazil and V for Vendetta, which are similar to 1984 iirc)

Well actually I was thinking of the novel, but yes there's also a movie of 1984 and it's really great too, though I would especially recommend the novel. Brazil is a weird movie which is sort of a comedy. It's alright but not amazing, though it has Gorden Kaye from 'Allo 'Allo! I'm not really that excited about it but the exclamation point is part of the title. V for Vendetta was made by the same people as The Matrix, but that's pretty much all it has in common with it, and is not really particularly similar to 1984 either, except in a vague way, because it could be considered dystopian. It's great though.

I've heard good things about it and other books....maybe some day when things aren't so hectic/busy i'll try to find a copy :) Yeah, Brazil is a bit 'zany'.....and as a result it (imo) highlights some themes(dystopian societies, etc) in some interesting ways. V for Vendetta does this as well to some degree(albeit not in as 'zany' a fashion as Brazil).

Every time I read about Brazil, I get this stuck in my head for hours if not days. If you can't easily get rid of catchy tunes, don't click on the link.

I took the risk, and am glad I did.....*GR dances around*
(also added your link to the OP post...thanks for sharing :))

*dances out of the kitchen with cake*

I bring Panettone - lots of it! Welcome to pick the crumbs & sultanas off the paper once it's all gone.

*sits in the corner watching the John Wick films*

Damn, now i'm hungry(we don't usually eat a similar cake in my house until New Year's Eve) :D

I just saw the most recent film a few weeks ago......didn't know it was the most recent film and still haven't seen the others, but I liked what I saw so i'm likely gonna go find the rest and watch em in time.

(liked the action/music, and also the appearance/performances of [among others] Lawrence Fishburne and Anjelica Huston)

Cambrey, if it's that old, slow song about Brazil then I wouldn't call that "catchy" exactly, but whatever.

gloombandit, wouldn't it be nice if food could be transferred through electrical wires?

GamezRanker, you thought it was the first one even though it's called John Wick 3? Well, ok. In any case, they're all pretty good as I remember.