Random Thoughts Thread

[pinetree]

Based.
I do enjoy cooking my own rice though, so I don't have one either.

[Skull]

It's a brand new day, let's see what's in the newspapers and...

Fat, ugly and flabby are among the hundreds of words that have been removed from Roald Dahl’s children’s books so the stories “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”.

Publishers have made a string of changes to Dahl’s work, primarily around language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race. They have also inserted sentences into the books which were not written by the author.

In "The Witches", 59 changes were said to have been made, the publication said. One paragraph explaining that witches are bald beneath their wigs ends with the new line: “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.”

...I don't want to live in this world anymore.

[pinetree]

I'm not entirely against changing stuff in old children's book. Their original versions won't be erased from history and as society changes, the notion of what is acceptable or desirable to show children obviously changes as well.
That said, a lot of these changes to Dahl's books are changes to stuff that's virtually harmless or could be solved by talking with the children instead of changing the text. Silly stuff.

[Deathhappens]

So I had an argument with my girlfriend a few weeks ago about the merits (or in my case, lack thereof) of a rice cooker. "I literally have saucepans," I said.

I wake up this morning to find she bought me a rice cooker as a birthday present.

I've used it once.

Immediately ricepilled.

Task failed successfully.

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It's a brand new day, let's see what's in the newspapers and...


...I don't want to live in this world anymore.

I should be angry about this, but honestly all I can muster is weary acceptance. Yep, this is the world we live in now. It's still better than the one Roald Dahl lived in, so cheers for that at least?

[SpoonyViking]

Not the first time this has happened, actually: in early editions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the oompa-loompas were explicitly described as "African pygmies", while later editions changed them to have "rosy-white skin" and "golden-brown hair" (changes made by Dahl himself, as a matter of fact, exactly because of the criticisms levied towards the early descriptions).

I may not be a fan of specific changes, and I'm generally opposed to changes made post-mortem - particularly when there are a bevy of writers that could be published instead of sticking to the *same damned authors and books* -, but I don't particularly see why such a common practice now causes such weariness in you gentle souls. :-P

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ETA: As a fun fact, Dahl's books have long been subject of discussion regarding their general nastiness. Don't get me wrong: I liked the few I've read, and my wife is generally a fan of his work, but let's try to not fall into the trap of assuming they're some kind of sacred cow being butchered by "wokescolds", or whatever the hell is the term conservatives have come up with for their fantasies of a "culture war".

[Deathhappens]

I mean, to me and I assume many other people they are just that. Books like B.F.G. and Matilda are precious childhood memories to me, and the thought of cutting and sewing them apart to make them conform to the everchanging spectre of political correctness sits ill with me. Not just because it's pointless, but because I very much doubt the people who would be willing to do this care about the books or the children reading them so much as fear "The Board" or whatever other nebulous organisation threatens to fine them for selling rude books.

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Of course it's not a new process, the Tales of the Brothers Grimm have changed so much over the ages as to be almost unrecognizable, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

[SpoonyViking]

[...] so much as fear "The Board" or whatever other nebulous organisation threatens to fine them for selling rude books.

Oh, please, there's no "board" involved. Dollars to donuts the *publishing company* is just doing this because they think it will sell better, like basically 99% of so-called "politically correct" measures.

[Formless Creature]

It's a brand new day, let's see what's in the newspapers and...


...I don't want to live in this world anymore.

Dumb change I think, but it's really not so terrible of a thing.

[Deathhappens]

Oh, please, there's no "board" involved. Dollars to donuts the *publishing company* is just doing this because they think it will sell better, like basically 99% of so-called "politically correct" measures.

Either/or, pick your poison.

[Random]

Thinking about that scene in James and the Giant Peach where he sails across the ocean and slaughters an island's worth of oni...

[Walnut Sparks]

Ran out of vanilla, so I added some imitation almond flavoring to the last batch of chocolate chip cookies. Somehow it makes them taste overpoweringly sweet.

[Skull]

I have sunk into that corner of Youtube where I watch nothing but meme videos and I stumbled across this.



I am wheezing after laughing so hard. Joe Rogan is right, waifus are a cancer upon the YGO franchise.

[Deathhappens]

Traptrix Sera (like all Traptrix monsters) isn't even a she though.

[Mattias]

I just learned that Yoda has a first name.

It's Minch. Minch Yoda.

I hate it and wish I never clicked that video.

[Deathhappens]

I just learned that Yoda has a first name.

It's Minch. Minch Yoda.

I hate it and wish I never clicked that video.

I'm just going to forget I ever heard that.

[Random]

I love it and I'm going to ruin so many conversations with this.

[Rafflesiac]

PLAY MY GAME

[Deathhappens]

Having had the opportunity to use ChatGPT for work the past week, it is almost frightening how efficient it can be as long as you're making sure to doublecheck everything it says.

[Random]

My dad has been using it to optimise code for work over the past few months. There have been occasions, apparently, where it has managed to optimise it so well that it starts sourcing from libraries that don't actually exist.

[Ratman]

In a bus coming home from the Protomen concert in Berlin.

This is forum related, because we are still all the Dead until food is unbanned.