Guard Dog

Wow, a love letter to Obsidian. You know in all the years we've been camping on their forums I don't think anyone has ever done that. Well for what it's worth PoE is just f-----g AWESOME. So was Fallout NV. NWN2 was good. KOTOR2 & DS3, well... no one is perfect. In all seriousness I'd say thanks to them for keeping these forums around and not running us all off because we seldom talk about them or their games around here. And thanks to the rest of you nuts that post here and make this an entertaining place to come.

I watched "Going Clear" on HBO this morning. The truth is no matter how absurd something is, someone will buy it.

Less than 24 hours to go. I'm excited about it. I'm a fan of all the major pro sports in the US, as well as soccer & Rugby when the national teams are playing. But of all of them I like Baseball the best. I've always wondered why that is. Football and Hockey are certainly more exciting to watch. But to me they are like watching a movie. It's short, intense and over quickly. They are about the action. Baseball is like reading a book. The season does not explode in front of you then flame out in a few short weeks. It unfolds slowly. And while it does have plenty of action it's driven more by the characters. I like watching it on TV. I prefer it on the radio while doing other things but it's always best when you're at the park. Sportswriter Geoff Young once wrote "To be at a baseball game is to be outside the confines of time—at least for a while. Yes, time is always present, inescapable in the long run. But in the short run, there is only green grass and the false promise of eternal youth." You know exactly when a football game will end. A baseball game ends when it's over. I think the reason I like it the best is because it's the game I played with my brother. It's the game our dad taught us. It's what I used to talk to my grandfather about. He lived his whole life a fan of the Braves, from Boston, to Milwaukee, to Atlanta. He must of told me a hundred times about the time he met Hank Aaron. I used to take my father in law to Marlins games and he'd spend the whole game talking about the Dodgers & Ebbets Field. I don't know why but the NFL, NHL, & NBA who all have long histories are never remembered the way baseball is. I guess it's because the athletes of bygone days for the most part could not compete with the players of today in any sport other than baseball. Jim Thorpe was good enough to be in the Olympics and play pro football. But today he'd be lucky to be a third string tailback on a bad team. If Mickey Mantle in his prime were playing CF for the Yankees on Monday their odds of contending would double. Every magazine and paper I've read tell me the Rays are going to have a terrible team this year. They hit the "self destruct" in the offseason no doubt. But I'll have the game on at 2:00 PM on Monday when they play the Orioles because you just never know.

You know who I feel sorry for the most? God. Put yourself in His place for a moment. You have created the heavens and the earth, performed feats of engineering that stagger the imagination. You pick the third planet of a run of the mill solar system and put humans on it. You give these humans a soul, self awareness, and the capacity to love and ask for nothing but that they USE that capacity to love one another and what do they do? They rampage around killing each other and to add insult to injury they say they are doing it all for YOU!

Just an observation here. There is a bill passed in Indiana that MIGHT lead to a handful of shop owners to serving a gay couple. None of that has actually happened yet mind you and everyone is going bat**** nuts about how terrible Christians are. These people where slaughtered by Muslims for no reason other than that they were Christians yet all you hear are crickets. I'm not singling out this forum or anyone on it. Just in the world in general something that might happen but hasn't has energized a lot more fury than something that did happen.

I stated this a few months ago and got away from it. But I picked it up again last week. It's The Heart of Everything That Is by Bob Drury & Tom Calvin. It's about Red Cloud and the Lakota Sioux during the late 1860's beginning with the founding for the Bozeman trail and ending with the fight over the Powder River country. What history calls "Red Cloud's War" For anyone with an interest in history or how an inferior military force can defeat a superior one it is worth a look. So far I have thoroughly enjoyed it, Red Cloud was a remarkable man. I was curious if he had any living descendants. His great, great, great granddaughter is a high school student in South Dakota. From her FB page she looks like a typical American teenager doing typical teenager stuff. I wonder what Red Cloud would have thought of that.

I don't think that was too much in the way of spoilers. All I gave away is Jon got a letter and who's not dead... yet. Now a REAL spoiler would be what happened after the letter. But I won't give that one up.

C'mon folks, let's hear some predictions here! I put mine out there.

To follow up my comment on legislation being a blunt instrument, that is yet another reason my any governmental body should be restricted to clearly defined roles and never be allowed to get so big you couldn't drown it in a bucket.

Another thing, if Stannis was really dead the only person at the Wall who matters is Shireen. Selese has no value since her family is in Stannis's camp. Val is of no use to anyone, nor is Mance's son (even though it isn't even his son) or Melisandre. And aside from Selese & Shireen how would the Boltons know anything about any of them? But whoever wrote the letter asked for all of them. Whoever sent that letter had been at the Wall recently and had an interest in provoking Jon.

Everything seems easier to understand after a few drinks.

I thought that too but 1) How would Ramsay know Mance was executed? 2)Ramsay didn't behead prisoners, he flayed them. 3) Why would anyone from south of the wall refer to the NW as crows? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Here are my predictions: World Series: Tigers defeat the Nationals in 6 AL East: Baltimore: Only team that did not get a complete upheaval or lose a major piece to injury Toronto: Decent pitching, good hitting and a weak division means a wild card game north of the border. Boston: They will make some noise but pitching depth will be a hindrance New York: Could easily finish 3rd but won't factor in the pennant race. Every position is either too old or too young. Tampa Bay: Gonna be a long year. My team was dead last in runs scored last year and nothing changed to improve that. Lot of other changes though. AL Central: Detroit: Offense? Check! Pitching? Check (1-4 in the rotation at least. 5 is iffy). Consistency in the clubhouse? Check. They are going all the way. Cleveland: Cluber leads a solid staff. But I'm not sold on the Tribe. Finishing second depends on what KC & the White Sox do more than what the Indians do. Kansas City: The team is more or less intact minus two key pieces from the World Series team. They can easily work their way into a WC game, Chicago: You have got to love this teams future. Sale is a Cy Young candidate and the line up is full of young talent. If they put it all together the can be a factor. But there will be growing pains. Next year is more likely. Twins: Can you name one player on this team not named Joe Mauer? Me neither. AL West: Los Angeles: The Angels are loaded in talent again. As they are every year but never seem to put it all together. But this year their division is in shambles. Seattle: They would be good in any division but with 19 games against the Astros, Rangers, & A's, a WC is not out of the question. Oakland: Leferd's boys had a disappointing end to 2014 and only went backwards during the offseason. Houston: Getting better, but will still battle the Rangers for "Worst Team In Texas" Texas: What a mess NL East: You know, I've picked them every year for the last three years and they have screwed me every time! No this year. They are going all the way. To Detroit anyway. Miami: Once again the Marlins have mortgaged their future for today. A good chunk of their farm system has been traded away. Lets see if it was worth it. New York: They were looking a lot better until Wheeler tore his UCL. They have the makings of a good club but are still a year away. Philadelphia: an object lesson in the folly of big contracts to old players. Atlanta: Even their GM is admitting this season is a throwaway. NL Central: Cardinals: This is the best division in baseball this year. And the Cards should be the best team in that division. Pirates: Still a one man show bur good enough to keep pressure on the Cardinals Cubs: New manager, same roster problems. Yeah they got Lester but they also have Edwin Jackson. But the future is bright and they will make noise. Milwaukee: Did they even sign anyone this off season? They will win 81 games and might come in third, but not much more. Cincinnati: Now here is a big bowl of vanilla pudding. NL West: San Diego: The new-look and loaded Padres will either win big or implode. I'm glad I don't have money on this pick. Los Angeles: If the Padres stumble they will be good enough to win. San Francisco: Sorry Hurlshot, it's an odd number year. they won't suck though. Arizona: Some new arms on the mound this year, but no new bats to compliment them. Colorado: Let's see. They have Tulowitzki, Gonzalez, and....

For folks who have read Dance of Dragons. Who wrote the letter to Jon at the end? I thought it was Ramsay Snow. Now I'm not so sure. Any thoughts?

I'd so love to wade into this. But I just don't have the time or mental energy. Let me sum up my position on it this way: Scenario 1) If a gay couple go to a bakery and order a gay themed wedding cake and the owner of the bakery refuses to make them one on religious grounds, that is fine. Scenario 2) If he refuses to make them ANY theme wedding cake, that is bad. Laws like this come into existence because in scenario 1 above the gay couple walk out, hire a lawyer and sue the baker out of existence. That is bad. In scenario 2 they might have case, but the way thing are going the court is not drawing a distinction between the two. So not the legislatures are here to correct this great wrong. The problem is legislation is a blunt instrument. It is ALWAYS too broad, to open to interpretation and seldom fully understood by the people who pass and sign it. Now the way all of this could have been avoided is if the gay couple in scenario 1 took their business elsewhere without a legal fuss. I am a Christian and I'm not gay but if I were the baker in scenario 1 and the aforementioned gay couple had a valid credit card, the only question I would ask them is "Whipped cream or butter cream"?

I got my PoE box today. I'll spend the next five minutes looking through it, the next five considering playing PoE for a it, but I won't. Then I'll spend the rest of the night with a bottle of 9 year old Knob Creek and two of my college textbooks relearning what a Spearman Correlation analysis is and trying to figure out how that applies to what I'm doing for work. The job is very interesting but I'm in over my head at the moment. This was like hiring an electrician to fix a plumbing problem. But there is no difficulty that cannot be worked through with diligence, hard effort, and a little premium quality whiskey.

There you go. Dissenting opinions will not be tolerated. And since you can't block selectively you are not interested in anything said by anyone on any topic if you don't agree with their politics. Good job.

Starting new job tomorrow. From reading some of the material they sent I think I'm wading into some deep water. Pun intended.

Someone made a thread about PoE in their forums. One of the developers replied:

Maybe Oby has a point. Did you guys ever play the first Medieval Total War game? For some reason the Rus generals always had 5-6 stars. Of course it didn't help because they were all wiped out by the Mongols in mid-game anyway. Much like in real life come to think of it!

We all know you only vote for the Communist Party USA, GD.

This is funny. MMORPG.com posted an interview with 2 of the dev team:

Supporting a 3rd party for it's own sake it all well and good. But it's not about finding the right candidate, it's if you can get behind what the right candidate is all about. I know the US Green Party gets a lot of love on these boards but I'm sure you guys can see why you will never get me to support or vote for something like that.

I do hope this will not be a "one and done" project. The world, the setting, the atmosphere and the level of detail and craft that went into it are outstanding. I hope you guys keep building on this IP.

I am not sure which one Wals is referring to, to be honest. We seem to have an abundance at this time. Always gets his shorts in a knot over oby, so that must be it. Yeah it must be Oby, Wals always use to take him far too seriously and get annoyed. Community standards create communities. Mod policy has confused simply having a rule with the messy confrontational business of actually enforcing it. Great pubs let anyone in but they also throw some people out. Encouraging a fictional racist on the forums isn't just wrong, it's ****ing weird. And on balance I'd rather go into any number of pubs and talk to an actual racist who has the courage to at least be offensive in person. Too busy chasing girls in bikinis