Hopefully Freehold won't end with frostbites...
And here I was hoping they WOULD bite...
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...oh yeah. Letitsnow.
OK. Wow. My tastes might be a wee bit more mainstream than I thought.
"I give up. Spotify. Give me a punk Christmas."
Turns out that some user named Idiot (yours truly) asked Spotify to generate this list last year... and it has 63,486 likes.
Holy carp.
EDIT: LOL. Turns out it's a pretty crappy playlist. I'm an 80s punker. Calling Wheezer or the Dropkick Murphys "punk" is more of a stretch than I'm willing to give them. OK. I love some Dropkick Murphys, but they're about as "punk" as Chicago. But at least they claim to be punk -- the list has frickin' Paul McCartney in it. SIR Paul McCartney. If you've been knighted, you're not punk. Period.
EDIT 2: Now there you go: Reel Big Fish's Carol of the Beers. THAT is a "punk Christmas".
Dropkick Murphys are only punk insofar as they sound a bit like The Pogues if you don't pay attention to the difference in lyrics.
Nope, I take it back. They did do an album a year or two ago that was all Woody Guthrie covers, "This Machine Still Kills Fascists", and Woody Guthrie is the grandfather of American punk. They get props for that
All you have to do is type in Trans-Siberian Orchestra.It's really amazing to see the shortcomings in AI with very simple examples. For Christmas music, I like either instrumental or choral music; any Christmas song that has a soloist is likely not to my tastes.
And yet try getting an AI to understand that. "Instrumental Christmas Music" gives you elevator muzak. "Christmas music no soloists" gives you nothing but soloists because (as I saw in a talk on AI configuration just last month), the hardest thing to rule out in AI is the exact opposite because it's just one bit.
So all I want is a variety of orchestral, choral, and instrumental Christmas music. I don't think there's an easy way to do that. (I distinguish "orchestral" from "instrumental" to distinguish an orchestral playing Carol of the Bells vs. a pianist performing Jingle Bells, either of which I'd happily listen to.)
They're awesome and belong on every Christmas play list, but I like some variety. Listen to them for an hour or two and you realize you could use some other music mixed in there.
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Woody Guthrie is the grandfather of American punk. They get props for that
Thanks. Now I have a mental image of Woody Guthrie and Joey Ramone having a beer together at a bar in Heaven. And mental images like that just don't go away on their own...
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And here I was hoping they WOULD bite...Hopefully Freehold won't end with frostbites...
Take 2d4+18 points of damage and make Fortitude saving throw against DC of 10+damage to avoid being de... capitated.
In completely unrelated matters. Do the bards get regenerate? They should be getting regenerate because of professional risks reasons.
...oh yeah. Letitsnow.
It's raining now...
Woody Guthrie is the grandfather of American punk. They get props for thatThanks. Now I have a mental image of Woody Guthrie and Joey Ramone having a beer together at a bar in Heaven. And mental images like that just don't go away on their own...
If possible I would have them stop by lisamarlene house right now to wish her a Merry Christmas. And MAYBE throw a concert that would deafen her MIL.
Maybe.
...oh yeah. Letitsnow.It's raining now...
Woody Guthrie is the grandfather of American punk. They get props for thatThanks. Now I have a mental image of Woody Guthrie and Joey Ramone having a beer together at a bar in Heaven. And mental images like that just don't go away on their own...If possible I would have them stop by lisamarlene house right now to wish her a Merry Christmas. And MAYBE throw a concert that would deafen her MIL.
Maybe.
She's already deaf.
She's already deaf.Woody Guthrie is the grandfather of American punk. They get props for thatThanks. Now I have a mental image of Woody Guthrie and Joey Ramone having a beer together at a bar in Heaven. And mental images like that just don't go away on their own...If possible I would have them stop by lisamarlene house right now to wish her a Merry Christmas. And MAYBE throw a concert that would deafen her MIL.
Maybe.
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You raise ‘em, you gotta live with ‘em.
Watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with the family, Impus Minor piped up. “This show really has me wondering about the whole Who mythos. I mean, what happened to Who Jesus?”
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I. majori gets cookies.
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Merry Christmas to those as celebrate it! And to those who don't, enjoy the time off!
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MERRY CHRISTMAS
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Merry Christmas, EveryFaWtLite!
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Drinkin' British Fortified Wine, spoodee oodee, drinkin' British Fortified Wine bau'um baum.
Enjoy yourselves. I'm doing my best to.
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Hung over.
At work.
Wearing my new light up elf Christmas sweater my mom SWORE would be an amazing Xmas present for me.
*sigh*
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the best Christmas gift this year (apart from good times with friends and family):
not one, not two, but THREE shiny new dumpster fire t-shirts!!
"It's Fine. I'm Fine. Everything is Fine."
I'm laundering them now, and will serialize them on the back collar with some fabric paint (or something) so that i can wear them every day to work this week.
EDIT: and, of course, a belated Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to the FaWtLies! much love, folks.
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I got Hermione the Wednesday winter dance dress, because I had to.
BAKED MAACRONI IS ALWAYS BETTER THE SECOND DAY
Starches often are.
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No reheated food for me today, though. I ate a lasagna on Sunday, but I did eat it all at once (well, divided in three parts, but without meaningful pauses between pieces). One kilogram. I have no regrets. I haven't even have significantly notable heartburn afterwards, which often happens if I eat whole 1 kg of lasagna in one sitting.
Anyway, no leftover. I am cooking a pot of stew of pork meat, one sweet and a few regular potatoes, onions, carrots, celery root, and leek. I might add cream later.
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Well, I feel better.
The mechanics I trust went over the Celica's emissions system thoroughly, told me there was nothing wrong with it whatsoever, so it was probably the catalytic converter.
After the diagnosis I got home, did some research, and the catalytic converter is indeed responsible for reducing hydrocarbon emissions, so I ordered a new one. Shiro was skeptical and suggested other possibilities such as bad rings or a bad O2 sensor (I think the shop should've noticed either of those things). I shelled out for the installation anyway. The shop guy said he had a '92 Acura and he'd had to replace his catalytic converter twice, but it always passed smog after the replacement. He also said it was common for older ones to go bad after collisions, because the collision knocks all the rust and such off the pipes and all that gunk covers up the catalyst and you can't clean it.
Today was the acid test. I brought the Celica in to get smogged. The smog guy was skeptical, and said he'd seen too many people shell out for a catalytic converter replacement and see no difference to be hopeful. Then the numbers came in. 1/6 of what they were before the replacement. The Celica passed with flying colors, and, in the smog guy's words, "This car is running as good as new!"
I am pleased.
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I have reached the true final boss of Blasphemous. Ugh, what a boring, tedious slog.
You can't use prayers, you can't change your loadout (which probably doesn't work because of similar story reasons that you can't use your prayers). What's worse you can't pause, can't open menu, can't even quit...
There is no boss health bar, so you don't know how much longer that fight will continue. His attacks deal ridiculous amount of damage taking into account I had full health upgrade and lots of damage-reducing relics (which probably don't work in this fight anyway). There isn't really much finesse in this combat, unlike the previous combat I have been struggling with numerous times until I made some adjustments to my loadout.
I finally struck Alt+F4 just to end the misery.
I might actually cheat and move the game to the finished category without actually beating the boss. I am already watching the post-fight cut scene on YouTube anyway.
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I got one present this year, a cinematic adventure for Kong: Skull Island for the Everyday Heroes RPG.
But I also got to shame one of my brothers for not taking proper care of his hound dogs (they are obese from not getting enough exercise) and I made some pretty amazing Swedish meatballs and some killer pies and then spent Christmas day with Tiny T-Rex and The General and then walked the 7 miles home and engraved some names before falling asleep for 10 hours.
I have reached the true final boss of Blasphemous. Ugh, what a boring, tedious slog.
You can't use prayers, you can't change your loadout (which probably doesn't work because of similar story reasons that you can't use your prayers). What's worse you can't pause, can't open menu, can't even quit...
There is no boss health bar, so you don't know how much longer that fight will continue. His attacks deal ridiculous amount of damage taking into account I had full health upgrade and lots of damage-reducing relics (which probably don't work in this fight anyway). There isn't really much finesse in this combat, unlike the previous combat I have been struggling with numerous times until I made some adjustments to my loadout.
I finally struck Alt+F4 just to end the misery.
I might actually cheat and move the game to the finished category without actually beating the boss. I am already watching the post-fight cut scene on YouTube anyway.
It's supposedly hard but satisfying. Visit the facilities and hydrate riiiight before fighting them and you'll enjoy it a lot more.
Not this one. This is a true final uber-boss boss from the latest update that feels like a platformer from late 80s arcade. Keep jumping over the holes in the scrolling floor while he fires fireballs or poison orbs at you. It's not challenging-hard. It's just tedious-hard.
Every boss prior to that one was more interesting and more fun to fight, and there were a few that were already stretching the limits while others were indeed hard but satisfying, though there was a pushover or two among them.
Quiet morning.
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Quiet morning.
Hermione is at the DMA with a friend, WW went for an eeg, and Val and I are listening to music and play Scrabble.
Note: nothing is wrong. Because of his family history of dementia and his age, his GP ordered to scan to get a baseline.
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I read that at first as 'went for an egg'.
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Quiet morning.Hermione is at the DMA with a friend, WW went for an eeg, and Val and I are listening to music and play Scrabble.
Note: nothing is wrong. Because of his family history of dementia and his age, his GP ordered to scan to get a baseline.
That's good to hear. I had fun calling my GI center and cheerfully declaring that it was time for my Christmas colonoscopy.
It's rare you can make a nurse laugh out loud. I was proud.
Since Impus Major managed to screw up on his "First Year California" grant for community college (the first year of college is supposed to be free for all Californians attending a public college, but you have to manage to apply for it correctly), I'm applying for one for his transfer to a 4-year school.
And it's the usual horrifying nonsense. "Your parents make too much for you to qualify for any aid (pretty much true for anyone who can afford to live in the Bay Area), but here are all the pretty, pretty loans we're willing to give you. Look at the staggering amount of money you can get, and you don't have to pay until you graduate and get that plum high-paying job that'll pay off all these debts in no time! And all for this guaranteed ridiculously usurious interest rate!"
The usual. Tempt kids with loans they don't have to pay off immediately, but give them their money on cards that charge fees for every transaction ("You bought groceries? That's a $1 convenience fee!") and quote a monthly interest rate that sounds great ("Only 0.75% per month!") and you can guarantee massive profits for your lenders by scamming kids who still have any shred of optimism left in them.
Not that I'm bitter or anything, but applying for financial aid these days is like walking into a used car salesman competition. Back when I did it it was, "Fill out the forms, send them in, and in a couple of months you'll get a boring list of your options." These days it's all about pushing the loans and the accompanying high-fee debit cards.
Doing the annual fridge purge, but this time I'm throwing out all the stuff that "never goes bad" due to high sugar or acid content. The argument's pretty simple, in my mind: That sweet hot mustard with an expiration date in 2018 might technically still be edible, but we haven't managed to eat a single bottle of it in the last 5 years. That's a good indication it has no business taking up room in our refrigerator. So out it goes.
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That was the upside of getting a new fridge. Going to try and be more discerning about what stays in there now.
The pantry is going to be the next project. At least the alcohol never needs to be tossed!
Yeah, I blame Shiro. He LOVED coming up, buying all kinds of ridiculous things, and leaving them in our fridge. Brandied peaches, four kinds of maraschino cherry, three kinds of olive, four kinds of mustard, and so forth, and so on.
I think the most telling thing about the purge was that I pulled two 3-gallon green waste tubs, yet of everything I threw out only one jar was obviously spoiled. The other stuff was all "eternal food" that moves into your fridge and never leaves. Preserved by alcohol, sugar, acid, or salt, it remains edible for years (if not decades) in the cold. But if no one has eaten it in the last 5 years, it's a good indicator that it needs to go.
That was the upside of getting a new fridge. Going to try and be more discerning about what stays in there now.
The pantry is going to be the next project. At least the alcohol never needs to be tossed!
Yeah, I blame Shiro. He LOVED coming up, buying all kinds of ridiculous things, and leaving them in our fridge. Brandied peaches, four kinds of maraschino cherry, three kinds of olive, four kinds of mustard, and so forth, and so on.
I think the most telling thing about the purge was that I pulled two 3-gallon green waste tubs, yet of everything I threw out only one jar was obviously spoiled. The other stuff was all "eternal food" that moves into your fridge and never leaves. Preserved by alcohol, sugar, acid, or salt, it remains edible for years (if not decades) in the cold. But if no one has eaten it in the last 5 years, it's a good indicator that it needs to go.
Doesn't everyone have at least four kinds of mustard in the fridge? I mean different kinds go with different foods. I had to mix two different kinds with the pan juices from the standing rib roast I made for Christmas dinner because I realized at the last minute that I'd forgotten to buy horseradish and I needed to come up with a sauce quickly.
I don't have any mustard at all.
Doesn't everyone have at least four kinds of mustard in the fridge? I mean different kinds go with different foods. I had to mix two different kinds with the pan juices from the standing rib roast I made for Christmas dinner because I realized at the last minute that I'd forgotten to buy horseradish and I needed to come up with a sauce quickly.That was the upside of getting a new fridge. Going to try and be more discerning about what stays in there now.
The pantry is going to be the next project. At least the alcohol never needs to be tossed!
Yeah, I blame Shiro. He LOVED coming up, buying all kinds of ridiculous things, and leaving them in our fridge. Brandied peaches, four kinds of maraschino cherry, three kinds of olive, four kinds of mustard, and so forth, and so on.
I think the most telling thing about the purge was that I pulled two 3-gallon green waste tubs, yet of everything I threw out only one jar was obviously spoiled. The other stuff was all "eternal food" that moves into your fridge and never leaves. Preserved by alcohol, sugar, acid, or salt, it remains edible for years (if not decades) in the cold. But if no one has eaten it in the last 5 years, it's a good indicator that it needs to go.
That's specifically why I never threw them out. But then I had to make The Fake Russian's ex's mustard sauce to go with the Christmas ham and of course it was the one type NOT in the fridge. The mustards we use go quickly. The mustards we don't are wastes of space.
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Impus Minor: What's happening with the fridge?
NobodysHome: I'm cleaning it out. Just wait until you move out and you have to do all this!
Impus Minor: I've got you there! I'm never moving out!
Honestly, I cannot imagine the house without the joy, noise, and chaos of the Impii, so if they're going to be here forever, I'm not going to complain.
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I read that at first as 'went for an egg'.
I was wondering what an 'eeg' was, but then I realised (thanks to the next paragraph) that it was an EEG.
However, it's less clear what the DMA is, unless the place to be for Texan youth is in the Data and Marketing Association.
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I read that at first as 'went for an egg'.I was wondering what an 'eeg' was, but then I realised (thanks to the next paragraph) that it was an EEG.
However, it's less clear what the DMA is, unless the place to be for Texan youth is in the Data and Marketing Association.
Dallas Museum of Art
Aha! That makes more sense.
Turns out everyone in the family but me likes The Smiths, which means I'm going to have to put up with a lot more of their stuff in future (I don't mind the music so much - it's Morrissey's dreary groans that get on my nerves)
We gave Lethal Company another try last night, and yeah, we fundamentally don't understand the appeal. I described my negative experiences to the kids, and their response was, "Yeah. That's exactly what the game is. It's all about having fun watching your friends die in hilarious ways."
Lara Croft Guy put it really well: It has the lethality of Phasmophobia (new players die more than half the time; good players can get that down to around 10%), but none of the "plot": In Phasmophobia, you're trying to locate and identify a ghost, so there's a lot of focused searching, testing, and analysis. In Lethal Company, you're put on a small planet and told, "Find and pick up as much junk as you can without dying." It's not particularly interesting. As I've mentioned, picking up junk for the sake of picking up junk isn't my cup of tea; it's why I don't like Fallout 76: You max out your gear in the first 20-30 hours of gameplay, and the rest is an endless slog of collecting junk for no discernible reason.
Anyway, Lethal Company is a hugely popular game, especially among the younger crowd and GothBard's co-workers, but it's definitely not our cup of tea.
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Sigh. Pre-Christmas D&D game got postponed until tomorrow because DM's daughter had Covid, tomorrow's game is now canceled because DM is in hospital with kidney stones.
Only a truly terrible person would complain about the inconvenience of this, so I won't.
Instead I will just say that I miss hanging out with these truly excellent people and hope that the whole family feels better quickly.
I should be going for a post-Christmas party right now, but the host canceled it yesterday because he got sick.
Big family gathering down South. Fun times, though I get the distinct impression that my brother-in-law is now thoroughly sick of having a house full of relations.
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Well, I'm sure there's no way to write about it without someone feeling it's strongly political, so I'll just spoiler it and say it's more of a bemused observation than a political viewpoint:
Fortunately, my Google revealed the same thing I was thinking myself. "Really? Only now do you think Doctor Who has a political agenda?"
I'm watching the Third Doctor from the 1973-1974 seasons. Women's Lib, pollution, corrupt politicians, corporations putting profit over human life; it's all there. It's actually pretty depressing watching the arc from 1963 (all women must fall down and shriek if required to move at anything faster than a normal walk) through 1974 (asking the only woman in the room to make you coffee is offensive), and seeing so many other storylines that resonate today: Politicians who care nothing for their constituents, but only for power and glory. Corporations that will happily destroy the planet with pollution if it means an extra 10% profit margin. And so forth, and so on. It's all sooooo familiar...
...and so utterly "woke" for its time.
Doctor Who being "woke" isn't new. People being offended by it isn't new. They just have a much louder platform these days.