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Sooo... Anybody got anything good to read/watch?


MrCurry

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It's summer, for most people, and I'm bored out of my mind. (EE=imba, so that's why I'm not whining over at the Tekkit forums)

I just finished the whole HIMYM in about 3 days, no life~

Anybody got anything else to read/watch? :D

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Depends on what you like. I can suggest a full weekly reading list of webcomics, and if you have netflix, there's a long list of things you should watch.

Watch the new Sherlocke, it's fuckin genius. Also, Birdy the Mighty: Decode is oddly good. If you're up for a long, long, LONG project, watch every episode of Doctor Who, starting with "The Ribos Operation"

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For books versus time,

  • The Wheel of Time series is a good fantasy with 13 books over 1000 pages each (and they are consistently good).
  • Dune was excellent, the first three books are a compilation of political intrigue and assassination. (better than I make it sound).
  • The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, brilliant.
  • This list.

Television series...

  • Scrubs, comedy, sitcom with at least 8 good seasons.
  • Stargate SG-1, Sci-fi, 10 seasons of 1-hour episodes (about a day per season if you go sleep deprived).
  • Stargate Atlantis, for when you finish SG-1.
  • Jay? suggested an anime, so I will too: Full Metal Panic! is surprisingly good/funny. Mech combat (not usually my thing) with awkward guy/girl thing going on.

Movies don't take very long, but I enjoyed LOTR; if you want to burn your eyes with description you could try reading that series as well (I read the first Dune book in the time it took to read 70 pages of Fellowship of the Ring.)

EDIT: Netflix has each of my television suggestions on instant, if you have it.

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Shadow, I must question the validity of that list.

The only Pratchett entries are Small Gods and Going Postal, and they're numbers 57 and 60.

How?!? Going postal should be in the top 20 atleast, and they completely left out Wyrd Sisters, Soul Music, Maskerade, Jingo, Nightwatch, Hogfather, Guards Guards!, Thud, Making Money, Thief of Time, and, well, EVERYTHING Pratchett.

And the miniseries they've done over the years, freakin awesome. I mean Christopher Lee voices Death, that alone makes them worth watching.

Netflix has Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music, the mid-90's cartoon miniseries.

Used to have the new live action ones, but they're gone now.

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I've actually got a suggestion to watch/read Nightwatch at least twice yesterday, so I'll second that it may be worth the read. The list is a collected amount of books that are established and extremely powerful in the communities it effected; it is also based on quality vs. applicability to the world. Notice Harry Potter was missing?

Good.

Also Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, book/movie are fantastic.

Ender's Game* is on the list as well, but it's pretty short. Fantastic, but an easy read. Orson Scott-Card is great at getting his point across.

watch every episode of Doctor Who, starting with "The Ribos Operation"

May god have mercy on your summer.

EDIT: We may need to find out if MrCurry wants novels, or something a bit lighter like a webcomic.

EDIT2: Neowulf, you seem versed in Pratchett; Which book should I read first?

*May contain trace amounts of Mormon propaganda/ideology

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EDIT2: Neowulf, you seem versed in Pratchett; Which book should I read first?

Depends on your story preferences. While they're all discworld and completely intermeshed, each book (save light fantastic, due to being a two parter with color of magic) is perfectly readable by itself, and yet they all belong to one of the main sub-storylines.

The Wizards storyline starts with the first book, and deals with both the adventures of magical bureaucratic academia and the adventures of the most cowardly and talentless wizzard alive, Rincewind. Later stories include The Librarian, an orangutang, definitely smarter than any of the human university staff.

The Death storyline starts with Mort, gets good with Soul Music, and follows Death and his Granddaughter Susan. Rather philosophical, and death is a really nice guy.

The Witches storyline kinda starts with Equal Rites, but really starts with Wyrd Sisters. The storyline deals mainly with deconstucted legends, fairytales, and popular stories.

The City Watch storyline starts with Guards Guards!, and follows Sam vimes and the rest of the city watch. Awesome detective-type novels, Lord Vetinari shows up a lot in these.

The Tiffany Aching storyline starts with The Wee Free Men, and follows a witch in training and her Nac Mac Feegle (WA HEY!) friends. The Nac Mac Feegle are best described as scottish berserker smurfs, and if that doesn't get you reading the series then you probably think Twilight is a good series.

The Moist von Lipwig story starts with Going Postal, and follows a suave con-man pressganged into civil service by Lord Vetinari.

My full suggestion: If you feel like watching a movie, try to find the live action Colour of Magic miniseries BBC did a couple years back, it's mostly true to the books and will definitely get you interested in the series. Then start with the book of the same name and go down this list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld#Bibliography

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magazines that i subscribe to:

Gameinformer - you can't really go wrong here, it's a good magazine, with an absolutely hilarious quoteable from notch in the last issue.

Popular Science - this magazine is cool if you are into that kind of stuff. I would recommend it.

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Another good thing to read, if Horror is more your style is Lost Souls, by Poppy Z Brite. Fucked up, sooooooo fucked up.

Love a good discussion on books. My horror suggestion: Richard Matheson. If you want a specific suggestion, I Am Legend (though technically a short story, good for an afternoon). Nothing like the movie, but almost everything this guy writes makes me feel uncomfortable and lose appetite for a day or two.

Also, for a good satire/comedy Catch-22 is a classic and fun.

Summer? Oh no, it would take all day marathons, every day, all summer to make it through that much. The "All of Doctor Who" challenge is best taken over the course of a year.

Looked into it; over 15 days of Doctor Who if watched straight.

Doctor Who: ~360 hrs; Stargate SG-1: 153.15 hrs; Stargate Atlantis: 56 hrs.

If you watched 6 hours of this a day, it would last over three months.

Achievement: Summer Get!

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it really depends on your interests, OP. I'm not much of a live action TV or movie kind of person, so anything I would recommend would most likely be anime. the Dune books are good though, Hitchhiker's guide as well. also, I'll second birdy the mighty: decode, that was a good show as well.

I wrote up a list a few months ago of awesome anime for a friend of mine, I'll repost it here for you. you might find something you like in there, who knows?

as a side note, Mythachu is my girlfriend in case you're wondering what the hell "Mythachu's favorites" means.

also, I made this list specifically excluding what I refer to as "power level anime". these are the ones where you could easily fit the "over 9000" dialog into them. notable examples include naruto (what do the ninja info cards say about his chakra level!?), bleach (what does the spirit pressure say about his bankai or whatever?!), and obviously DBZ.

this list will contain series names, general genres/categories/themes, and a link to anidb which should give you all the extra info you could want (synopsis, ratings, sequals, episode count, etc.) most any of these can be found on a site like tokyotosho.info, or other torrent aggregator of choice. worst case, there's tons of streaming sites out there for these if you google.

shakugan no shana

categories: action, romance, comedy, talking jewelery, school

anidb:http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3408

mahoraba (not maboraha, which is also a show and is TERRIBLE)

categories: romance, comedy, slice of life, multiple personality disorder

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=2443

seto no hanayome (AKA gangster mermaids)

categories: romance, comedy, fish, shows with awesome OPs and/or EDs

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4821

hayate no gotoku (hayate the combat butler)

categories: comedy, romance, action, the 1%, butlers, frequent references to other animes and/or games for comedic effect

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4917

goshuushou-sama ninomiya-kun

categories: fanservice, romance, harem, comedy, succubi, badass male lead, shows with awesome OPs and/or EDs, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5188

kaze no stigma

categories: badassery, comedy, romance, action, badass male lead, fanservice, Mythachu's favorites

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4891

shigofumi

categories: talking staves, action, mystery, drama, supernatural, twisted, postal workers, episodic

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5549

mushi-shi

categories: supernatural, episodic, twisted, cerebral, smoking, freakachu's favorites

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3433

clannad

categories: romance, drama, comedy, harem, manly tears, weaponized violins, record combos, supersonic dictionaries, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5101

nodame cantible

categories: romance, drama, france, music, school, comedy

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4691

kaleido star

categories: comedy, action, acrobatics, Mythachu's favorites, freakachu's favorites, unremarkable things made out to be totally badass, invisible perv spirits

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=635

fate/stay night

categories: action, comedy, romance, UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS, type moon, magic, proxy battles, drama

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3348

spice and wolf

categories: economics, romance, 10% rule, fox girls, dialog, slice of life, awesome characters, freakachu's favorites, supernatural

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5406

shinkyoku soukai polyphonica

categories: romance, comedy, slice of life, electronic organ motorcycles, school, relaxing

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4792

gargoyle of the yoshinagas

categories: comedy, teleporting statues, robots, grand theft brassiere, card tricks, shows with awesome OPs/EDs

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4068

magical girl lyrical nanoha (mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha)

categories: action, magical girl, IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZAH, friendship, slow starter, semi-automatic magical staves, vivio has two mommies

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=2430

macross frontier

categories: action, romance, drama, space battles, sci-fi, music,

, strangest haptic interface ever

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5415

lucky star

categories: comedy, slice of life, frequent references to other anime for comedic effect, freakachu's female anime clone, gotta have blue hair, shows with awesome OP/EDs, slow starter, skip to ep 3 at least, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4777

K-on

categories: comedy, slice of life, school, music, gitah,

, shows with awesome OP/EDs

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6257

higurashi no naku koro ni

categories: mystery, comedy, drama, MAYBE I'M CRAAAAAAZY, wtf japan, murder, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3574

suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu (the melancholy of haruhi suzumia)

categories: mystery, romance, action, sci-fi, god is a girl, out of order episodes, supersize me, endless 8, endless 8, endless 8, endless 8, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3651

puella magi madoka magica

categories: magical girl, wtf, twisted, action, drama, unlimited rocket launcher works, where does she keep those guns?, school

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=8069

da capo

categories: romance, drama, harem, comedy, wincest, catgirls, 10% rule, magic, careful what you wish for, freakachu's favorites

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=837

mahoromatic

categories: comedy, romance, action, sci-fi, android maids, boob missles

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=109

the world god only knows (Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai)

categories: comedy, romance, school, badass male lead, magic, demon maids, 2D ftw, eyes of ending perception

anidb: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=7568

I think this is long enough now. there's plenty more I could recommend, but I think this will get just about anyone who's not interested in power levels well on the path to eternal weeaboo status.

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Doctor who is only 360 hours? are you sure you're got that right?
Ignoring everything before 2005 should give something like that, yes.

For reading I'd suggest pretty much everything from Asimov. I've read most of Robots and a bit of Foundation stuff and it's incredible. Especially if you have half a brain and can think along with the story.

Ringworld, Diskworld and Rama are also pretty good, though from those I've only read the first books from each of the series.

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Nothing-There-Something-Rather/dp/145162445X]Universe from nothing: why is there something rather than nothing is THE source of information if you want to understand the latest and greatest discoveries of particle physics, cosmology and latest theories about how Universe came to be and how it has evolved and will evolve.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FA0LY4/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title]Death from the skies. Discusses the many interesting ways how life could end on Earth/universe.

For TV series I can suggest these:

Afro Samurai

Andromeda

Bad Universe

Big Bang Theory

Defying Gravity

Eureka

Event

Falling Skies

Farscape

Firefly

Fringe

Heroes

House

IT Crowd

Jekyll

Lexx

Lone Gunmen

Middleman

Odyssey 5

Physics of the Impossible

Sanctuary

Sherlock

Stargate SG1/Andromeda

Startrek in all forms

Torchwood

Warehouse 13

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Ignoring everything before 2005 should give something like that, yes.

That makes a kind of sense, but missing out on the Tom Baker years is inexcusable. Particularly (as i said) the arc beginning with "The Ribos Operation"

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Now for some !SCIENCE!:

Into the Universe with Steven Hawking,

How the Universe Works,

and the classic Cosmos, by Carl Sagan

Are all must see.

Don't forget Through the Wormhole, with Morgan Freeman.

Oh, and all the Nova episodes. Can't forget those. Insanely dry show, but full of interesting information.

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Well, once you understand how the stuff works on the small-scale a whole lot of things about macro world become intuitively understood :)

I'm not saying that isn't true, but the fact that it's true doesn't make me any more interested. Without sufficient curiosity to learn about a subject, you really just aren't going to soak it up.

That's why i can't stand how the U.S. teaches science. We don't try to give kids the sense of curiosity and amazement with science that we should be.

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I'm not saying that isn't true, but the fact that it's true doesn't make me any more interested. Without sufficient curiosity to learn about a subject, you really just aren't going to soak it up.

That's why i can't stand how the U.S. teaches science. We don't try to give kids the sense of curiosity and amazement with science that we should be.

God I wish they did that. Then again, I would be an even bigger science junkie than I am now. Not that it's a bad thing though.

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A few suggestions for passing the time.

Books:

The Night angel Trilogy is awesome assassin fantasy.

The black prism. Another book by the same author of the night angel series. I think its better than the night angle books, the only problem is that only the first book is out and its supposed to be a series (this is a problem for me because i'm going insane with impatience waiting for the next one).

Net shows:

TED talks are awesome!

Video game High School. Its pretty good, even has epic mealtime man as the principal.

TV:

Breaking Bad

Invader Zim

Samurai Jack

(Hoho has a very good list)

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