Argonath Diver

Fuck cancer. I knew her best from Bosch, in which I find her a delight. I didn't realize she played the Borg Queen - I'm not much of a Trekkie - but a good buddy of mine is and he's just heartbroken over this. It sounds like she was a rare and beloved treasure in Hollywood and among fans.

I feel like any review's first complaint on the film was inevitably the derivative parallels to ANH. I agree that I still can enjoy that movie and imagine two very different sequels. I kinda do like some of TLJ, just not enough to want to rewatch it for several more years. And I'd be shocked if I ever even bothered to watch the last one again. Anyway, I went to see Avatar 2 a second time and had a total blast again. The movies are silly - though this one isn't as eye-rolling as some bits in the first. And the film is just gorgeous. I can't wait to eventually watch it on my Oculus.

Just want to name drop that I hung out with Oona Chaplin one night in New York among surprising mutual friends, ending up at a karaoke bar at 3am. It was my singular favorite night out there among many, and she is an absolute delight. I am going to have a very difficult time resolving her as a 7 foot tall red alien.

Naughty words and nipples can ruin a childhood according to many millions of households, but shocking violence is a-ok. Sanderson fits in that large subset of those of faith. Some of his action scenes are truly heckin' brutal, gosh gee dang! Beheadings, impalements, disembowelments are par for the course in his books, and he rarely addresses just how horrific those moments would be for his characters. That strange disconnect between gleeful representation of gore, and complete lack of sexuality among all his very-carefully-described-as-attractive characters is a big put-off for me. I should look up an extended plot summary of the Stormlight novels. I did enjoy the over-the-top anime style action as characters discovered their powers, but it could not overcome the unbearable amount of bloat. I am going to re-read the very fun Wax and Wayne series now that a new one is out - I'll just imagine an Ian McShane type of character in the background, because the wild west pastiche is very well suited to loads o' swearin'.

Sounds like something only a manchild would enjoy. You should grow up and enjoy more somber, grounded entertainment.

Every team has fans saying "sign Trever Bauer" and fuck those guys and fuck that guy too. Someone will sign that shit stain.

Anything past like a 6 year contract is super weird to me. I'm 100% about player retention on one team - I mean last year's entire Cardinals season wasn't about winning in the playoffs but more to celebrate Yadi and Waino being buddies for 15 years and all of us faithful clapping along. 13 years? What the heck? Ridiculous. I'd be 100% supportive of some crazy career-spanning deal for a homegrown passionate talent, but Correa is just some guy, and the Giants are just cutting some check. What the heck, again? edited to lighten some of my midnight confusion and anger.

Oh, man. The last act of MS+T, with a good 150 pages of action to finish out several thousand pages of measured buildup with occasional big moments was something else. Rachel's finale was the hardest see-saw swing into the saccharine I mentioned, but I am here for it every re-read and I couldn't care less if it's a corny finale. The Dragon deserved her finale. Otherland is somewhat similar for me. I'm not sure of the word count, but that series to me drags on more than MS+T - partially because I don't ever enjoy some of the worlds the characters visit. But then, holy cow, after 3000 pages, what a finale. I'll admit I've not enjoyed the newest series as much as those two beloved ones, simply because Williams invests so much into the payoff. I fully expect the final volume to be an incredible read, but I think the earlier volumes suffer a bit when we are getting to know these characters so intimately and want to see their resolution. I blame that wholly on my own impatience.

There's no doubt that whatever room or outdoor area I'm in when I'm reading the final 75 pages or so will become quite dusty more than once. Williams toes the line between saccharine and heartbreak just right with me. Seems like in each series, some character has an honorable death or heroic moment that has me cheering then blowing my nose. Specific to this series, I'm quite excited to find out the conclusion - I honestly don't have any idea which way this is going to go. I have a fair idea of some likely big plot reveals, but I might be completely wrong. Looking back, both Memory, Sorrow and Thorn and Otherland had final acts that were completely disparate from what I expected.

That Padres lineup is insane. The Phillies might also have a very strong one as well. The Central are going to be everyone's punching bag next year.

By my calculations that's going to add up to approximately 92.5 million per playoff game pitched.

I am in my 40s and I recognized the actor in the first bit of that trailer from meme videos about terrible retail customers. I couldn't finish the trailer, it's sent me into a hellish existential crisis.

I've faithfully used an Acer projector onto a 116" screen for years. I love it. The image is not as crisp as a 4k 60" screen but the sheer size makes for an amazing experience for movies and sports. I've wanted a 4k projector for years and the prices are becoming more achievable. It's not the best experience having a loud projector on a small shelf unit right next to my living room table, so those UST projectors are very inviting. I'm not sure they're in my limited budget, so I'd likely continue with a high quality traditional throw projector. Black Friday looms, and if I find a terrific deal (God bless Slickdeals) I will finally pull the trigger. Alas the truly great 4k projectors are still like $2k up simply because of the sheer engineering difficulty of fitting so many pixels on tiny lenses to project.

Agreed. I tend to think it quite likely, if not sliding the see-saw into "pretty obvious" territory. My assumption is that he's an outstanding criminal for regicide, hence his hiding as a bright-red-headed inn-keep. Since Rothfuss has a deft touch at early hints to a big reveal, I think there'll be at least one more zinger beyond that heel turn. Also tend to agree that the greater mythology won't be fully revealed. All that definitely has the makings of a second trilogy involving Kvothe's mid-life unveiling and fight against the Big Bad Guys.

So glad Bader is shining bright out in the Bronx. Monty helped pitch the Cards into the (utter disaster) of a post-season. I like a win-win trade. Still nervous about the plantar fascitis for a guy whose entire skillset is speed and agility, but if it doesn't flare up, I think he's a terrific fit next to Judge out there.

While not as entertaining as the Tairy threads of yore, I also am quite content that Rothfuss continues to show nothing more than an open-faced con for more than a decade. I don't watch reality TV stuff, but I am relatively sure I'm getting the same dopamine rush keeping up with this entertaining online author and fandom Maury Povich show than the real thing.

The Astros will be the unrepentant cheating team until my eventual death at an extreme old age. Fuck the Astros. I don't care who wins anything now as long as someone just beats them. Especially the M's because that'd be great.

I agree wholeheartedly! They already are having fun with a Tolkien adjacent 2nd age timeline. Why not mix it up in WoT-land! How about a friendly Trolloc and Nynaeve detective team? Whodunits are in this season.

The Blue Jay's collapse takes a tiny bit of the sting off the Cardinal's complete meltdown in the 9th last night. If they lose again tonight of course this doesn't apply, but for now it's how I'm coping. Hell of a game. DeGrom is dealing at Citi. So far it's a hell of a day for baseball! A 15 inning game and an 8 run comeback?! Edit Not going to dwell on it but what a colossal loss for the Cards. I'm gutted and fuck sports for winter. Good luck to you Dodgers and Yankees nerds. I'm rooting for the Mariners full stop.

It's been a singularly emotional season in Redbird Land (at least since the All Star Game). I cried with joy at 700 and definitely again when Wainwright went off the field with Pujols and Molina at his sides. Whoof. What a moment. Ask anyone wearing a Cards cap and they're going to say they'll never forget 2022. That said, boy are we in questionable shape going into the playoffs. The hottest hitter on the team is 42 (well, 44 really). Our pitching captain was so bad in September that they unequivocally need to leave him off the playoff roster, but won't. Now that I've said that, Wainwright will probably outpitch Kershaw in a couple weeks, because who the hell knows with this team. The Dodgers and Braves are looking fearsome and deserve to duke it out in the NLCS (I hope it's us though). I hope Judge hits 45 post season homers and Bader makes six diving outfield catches for the Yankees, because fuck the cheating Astros forever.

I bought an Oculus app called SkyBox that lets me stream my content from my PC to the Oculus, same as I use Plex to stream it over to my Fire Cube / projector setup. The app drops you into a virtual movie theater, you can choose front middle or back rows. If you're "up front", the screen appearing in front of you is so colossal that your head has to move to focus on the left half or right half of it. It's a bit much. The standard seat is fine. You can also swap the setting to you floating in space and can re-pin the image wherever you like - allowing you to lay in bed and look up at it, instead of a fixed vertical virtual screen. The Oculus itself is a bit heavy on my head, and it makes my brow sweat a lot - not the best experience. That said, the actual image absolutely appears to be a ~50 foot screen, and my 1080p content looks absolutely gorgeous on it. I adore my projector and 116" screen, but the Oculus is incredibly immersive once you trick your brain/eyes into the experience. My 3D files look bonkers on it, but a standard film experience is just fine. I watched Dunkirk the other day on it and was absolutely floored. Your mileage may vary - my best friend doesn't like the experience at all, and prefers watching content on a 30" PC monitor. I've tried keeping my readers on, but glasses+VR alas is pretty unsatisfactory. I figured I'd love the neat VR games and hoped to find a way to watch movies on it. Instead, I literally never bother anymore with the games and simply use it for a singularly immersive cinema experience - especially paired with excellent headphones.

I'm probably the biggest fanboy here of 3D technology. I just watched (well, fast forwarded to some action scenes since I've seen it enough) Battle Angel Alita on my Oculus Rift in 3D and it was incredible. Avatar on a huge screen with 3D goggles is an experience worth the ticket, even if the movie is really, really silly. I certainly wouldn't ever watch it again if it was, well, flat. I suppose the graphics will still be sumptuous in a standard screening, but eff that noise. I'm not sure if I have time this week, alas, but I'd really like to go, just because I've watched so much now on my own projection screen and the Oculus, and haven't actually been in a 3D showing in a theater in more than a decade.

I live across the street from a nice little subdivision lake, and every summer a few couples raise some goslings right on the lakeside. Quite adorable, certainly. As I look out the window now, there are approximately forty geese. 30 of which are milling around on the street. You're a New Yorker - I routinely tell people in my hometown here that ask about the city that my actual worst, loudest neighbors are not in Queens, they're Canada geese here in Illinois that refuse to get of the way of my car every goddamn morning all summer.

Regardless, I'm very much enjoying the third book so far (now that I've gotten a physical copy from their request network). Looking forward to actually reading this thread soon!