Useless Conversation

[JWIV]

My wife asked the same question as I was watching it online. Thankfully, Romania  ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA )rose to the occasion to answer her question.  And yes, Ukraine's song was terrible, but the singer was smoking hot and worth a vote.

[Numtini]

My second was a 1972 Ford Maverick Grabber which I wish I still had

I owned a 73 Maverick. Don't be lost in nostalgia, even my Renault was more reliable than that POS.

[lamaros]

My wife asked the same question as I was watching it online. Thankfully, Romania  ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA )rose to the occasion to answer her question.  And yes, Ukraine's song was terrible, but the singer was smoking hot and worth a vote dipped in fake tan, wearing almost nothing, and possibly worth a wank - but absolutely not worth a vote.

Fixed that for you.

Norway was very pretty, but that outfit was godawful.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of skintight dresses with plunging necklines on really pretty lassies.

 

And Ukraine, were they the ones with the leading lady from Fairly Legal ?

[lamaros]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of skintight dresses with plunging necklines on really pretty lassies.

 

And Ukraine, were they the ones with the leading lady from Fairly Legal ?

Actually I think I might have gotten Ukraine and another country mixed up. Ukraine lady was pretty.

Re Norway: I was more talking about the material and stupid shoulder etc that made her look like she was in some crappy neo-medieval tv series, rather than the shape of her. 

[Ironwood]

I even liked the Belarus entry, despite my wife and female friends hating her, and the fact that she pretty much just ripped off Holly Valance for both the song and the choreography.

Shiny, shiny, wibbly dresses.

[Merusk]

Because it's useless conversation I'm moving my reply here instead of the 'big giant gaming tv' thread.

He's a big proponent and can go over the drawbacks, tips and tricks he's learned over the last um.. 8 years of doing this.

10 years!

My setup is weird but it works for me.

Keyboard: I have a logitech wireless keyboard that I use on my lap, though I often prop my legs up on the coffee table (which apparently people don't have anymore!).

Good lord, has it been? I thought you got the grief title after a few years. 

And no, nobody has a coffee table anymore.  I've been trying to find one for 3 years now and furniture people look at me funny.  Apparently everyone has large sectionals or huge open rooms that accommodate 36"x36" or larger ottomans or 'curio tables'  So when a guy like me is looking for an 18" x 36-48" Coffee Table that isn't a pressboard piece of shit we're out of luck.

I want to know where these people are keeping their remote controls.

[HaemishM]

that isn't a pressboard piece of shit we're out of luck

I think this is your issue more than anything else. Furniture companies don't make non-pressboard shit anymore.

[Yegolev]

I want to know where these people are keeping their remote controls.

Side table.  This gets cumbersome with three active consoles, though, so I also have a basket near the TV.

[Merusk]

that isn't a pressboard piece of shit we're out of luck

I think this is your issue more than anything else. Furniture companies don't make non-pressboard shit anymore.

They do, you just have to go to the more expensive stores.  I'm willing to pay $300-$400 for a good coffee table but all I have around me are Ashely Furniture and a local chain "Furniture Fair."  All with different levels of terrible shit.

I think a good portion of the problem is fucking Ikea.  That's become acceptable level of furniture in the "throwaway, redesign/ remodel/ move every 5 years" homeownership cycle.  I'd hoped the great recession would have stalled it but no, it's only accelerated it as people can't move so they remodel.

I may just have to browse some of the high-end furniture catalogs here at the office.   Even Design Within Reach carries only $900 and up tables I find reasonable.

faked: Or I could Google for once. Oh look, a shitload of coffee tables.  I really am stuck in the 20th century. /sigh.

I want to know where these people are keeping their remote controls.

Side table.  This gets cumbersome with three active consoles, though, so I also have a basket near the TV.

My problem with the side tables is my family sits in the middle and then loses the damn thing in the cushions. 

I sound more like Al Bundy every day.

[HaemishM]

I want to know where these people are keeping their remote controls.

If you're my wife, it doesn't matter where I keep them, she will lose them within seconds. 

[Samwise]

They do, you just have to go to the more expensive stores.  I'm willing to pay $300-$400 for a good coffee table but all I have around me are Ashely Furniture and a local chain "Furniture Fair."  All with different levels of terrible shit.

I think a good portion of the problem is fucking Ikea.  That's become acceptable level of furniture in the "throwaway, redesign/ remodel/ move every 5 years" homeownership cycle.  I'd hoped the great recession would have stalled it but no, it's only accelerated it as people can't move so they remodel.

I may just have to browse some of the high-end furniture catalogs here at the office.   Even Design Within Reach carries only $900 and up tables I find reasonable.

faked: Or I could Google for once. Oh look, a shitload of coffee tables.  I really am stuck in the 20th century. /sigh.

When I want a piece of non-pressboard furniture and I don't have highly specific dimensional requirements, I go to antique/used stores.  Even stuff in really nice condition is usually cheaper than buying a brand new equivalent.  And coffee tables are extra fun to shop for because there are lots of things that can work in place of them.  This is what I've got currently:


When I bought it I was considering putting a glass top on it, but the uneven surface is less of a pain in the ass than you might think, so I've left it as is.  Also, bonus storage space!

[Numtini]

Also try Craig's List. It might be because we live in the land of the quickie estate sale, but there's a load of beautiful stuff in our area.

[ghost]

They do, you just have to go to the more expensive stores.  I'm willing to pay $300-$400 for a good coffee table but all I have around me are Ashely Furniture and a local chain "Furniture Fair."  All with different levels of terrible shit.

I think a good portion of the problem is fucking Ikea.  That's become acceptable level of furniture in the "throwaway, redesign/ remodel/ move every 5 years" homeownership cycle.  I'd hoped the great recession would have stalled it but no, it's only accelerated it as people can't move so they remodel.

I may just have to browse some of the high-end furniture catalogs here at the office.   Even Design Within Reach carries only $900 and up tables I find reasonable.

faked: Or I could Google for once. Oh look, a shitload of coffee tables.  I really am stuck in the 20th century. /sigh.

When I want a piece of non-pressboard furniture and I don't have highly specific dimensional requirements, I go to antique/used stores.  Even stuff in really nice condition is usually cheaper than buying a brand new equivalent.  And coffee tables are extra fun to shop for because there are lots of things that can work in place of them.  This is what I've got currently:


When I bought it I was considering putting a glass top on it, but the uneven surface is less of a pain in the ass than you might think, so I've left it as is.  Also, bonus storage space!

It also looks like you could store a body in there, in a pinch. 

[Sky]

I got my coffee table when the library was selling off some furniture from the attic. Mid-60s chic, it's probably in style again. There's a perfectly placed rail running under it, perfect for feet. Haven't found a better one yet. Something like Sam has with storage would be great, but....foot rail!

Ditto the consignment shop route, I've seen some decent furniture made of actual wood in a few. Also don't be afraid of craft fairs. Between all the kitsch and shitty jewelry, there are usually a couple of stalls of really awesome stuff some locals are trying to sell.

Once my budget recovers from the FJ, I'm hitting up the two local awesome places: Stickley and Harden. Stickley's craftsman stuff is my absolute favorite, and Harden is so local that some years my firewood is sourced from their cast-off stock.

[Yegolev]

I want to know where these people are keeping their remote controls.

If you're my wife, it doesn't matter where I keep them, she will lose them within seconds. 

Yeah, if you had asked this of my wife, the answer would have been "under the ass".  Not sure if it really is the same woman that yells at me for not putting things in their correct place, but they look similar.

[ghost]

Once my budget recovers from the FJ spending a gazilliion dollars on the Bones kickstarter and other gambling in the small business of miniature fabrication

Don't you mean this?

[HaemishM]

Don't forget your local Goodwill store. I found a great Ottoman that I use. Sure, you may find some butt ugly stuff, and you probably should fumigate it before use but still, it's as safe as Craigslist.  

[ghost]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

[Merusk]

Yeah, I live in an area with 3 Universities and another 3 sizable colleges.  Goodwill figured that market out years ago as hipsters raised their flag.

Antiques stores, on the other hand, might just have something.

[Signe]

I love old library furniture.  It even smells awesome.

[HaemishM]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

You need to shop at the Goodwill's in the shittier parts of town.

[Paelos]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

You need to shop at the Goodwill's in the shittier parts of town.

I find good Hawaiian shirts at mine for the lake all the time. North Atlanta housewives dump their hubby's stuff they hate there.

[Sky]

Once my budget recovers from the FJ spending a gazilliion dollars on the Bones kickstarter and other gambling in the small business of miniature fabrication

Don't you mean this?

Nah, KS is small change compared to truck payments, and it's not even that expensive of a truck! November can't come soon enough imo.

[ghost]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

You need to shop at the Goodwill's in the shittier parts of town.

I live in San Antonio.  It's all the shittier part of town.   

[Morat20]

We got our buffet table (we use it as a TV stand and to hold things like, you know, xboxes and cable boxes and stuff) at an antique store. Only most of what was there wasn't antiques. It was in an antique style, and made with actual wood, but the table we got had a "made in India" sticker on the back. :)

OTOH, the prices were quite reasonable. As they weren't actual antiques.

[Merusk]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

You need to shop at the Goodwill's in the shittier parts of town.

I live in San Antonio.  It's all the shittier part of town.   

Hey, stop by the new Steak 'n Shake on the I70 loop and tell me what you think.  Not of the food, just the Architecture.
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/39/1743493/restaurant/Alamo-Ranch/Steak-N-Shake-Signature-San-Antonio

[Selby]

Goodwill is too hipster. 

You need to shop at the Goodwill's in the shittier parts of town.

My ghetto resale shop unfortunately only has really horrible pieces of junk.  California tends to have really crappy furniture in the resale shops unless you hit up an actual antique store and those places tend to price things high enough and keep weird enough hours you wonder how they make enough money to pay the rent and keep the lights on.  There's a great one in Santa Cruz I love, but despite having all kinds of things I want it hits all of the above.

I'm still using an Ikea coffee table with all sorts of storage in it and it's actually pretty sturdy.  Not bad considering it's almost 10 years old now and has moved 3 times.

[Samwise]

The best source for antiques in my experience is antique "malls" where you've got a bunch of stalls operated by independent sellers.  There used to be a great one not far from me (it's where I got that coffee table thing) but that one has sadly closed down.  Flea markets can also be a good source, but they're even more of a crap shoot than antique stores, so you need to be flexible on either requirements or timeframe.

[Paelos]

Ikea makes good book shelves.

[Samwise]

Ikea makes good book shelves.

And some crappy ones too.     I do like their line of real wood shelves though.  That's what I've got most of my books on.

[Paelos]

Yes those. Not the balsa wood ones.

[Soln]

I fucking love Ikea.  I'd build a house of their stuff with bookshelves for walls.  And yeah, affordable.

[Morat20]

I've decided I need an iPad. I really need an iPad. I need an iPad so I can make a background that says "SHUT YOUR GODDAMN PIEHOLE" and I can hold it up in front of assholes at a choir concert.

Jesus Christ, the people behind me -- grown adults, not kids -- couldn't fucking stop talking for three minutes. Oh, and one of them HAD to have a fervent and whispered phone conversation. The guy in front of me? His 5 or 6 year old girl was yabbering and playing with his phone and one of her relatives had to tell him -- several times, each time more loudly -- for her to hush. NOT whomever's lab she was sitting on, but someone else.

The guy next to us? Texted the whole time. Didn't care. He had his screen dimmed, shaded it with the program, and was discreet as shit. I only noticed in between songs. Hooray for that guy. He was politely rude. I'm okay with that.

The chatty Kathy's behind me needed a slapping.

[Paelos]

Why the hell were you at a choir concert on a Monday?