Leferd

Ideal path for GSW moving forward is to keep everything in CA until the finals. Sac -> LAL -> LAC. Only because GSW's core trio are old fogeys who hate long travel. I have no idea who they'll face in the Finals. Hope MIL, BOS, and PHI wear each other out.

The closer they hew (within reason) to GRRM's source material, the better the outcome.

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/game-of-thrones-prequel-series-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-hbo-1235578466/ GRRM's Dunk and Egg greenlit. This is the ASOIAF prequel series I really want to see.

I remember everyone but Pyronius but I like his taste in cars. ps Whatever happened to that J.E. fellow?

Legitimately good livery.

I can accept that. I think short of winning a championship, this could very well be Draymond's last year with Golden State. And when/if that happens, that'll be the end of their dominance.

With a minimum sample of 300 min played together, the GSW starting 5 of Curry, Klay, Wiggins, Draymond, Looney have (and by a significantly wide margin) the best NET Rating of any 5-man unit in the NBA this season. GSW (Curry, Klay, Wiggins, Draymond, Looney) +21.9 DEN (KCP, Murray, Gordon, MPJ, Jokic) +13.1 PHI (Maxey, Harden, Harris, PJ, Embiid) +12.5 BOS (Smart, DW, Brown, Tatum, Horford) +12.2 I am not worrying about GSW's abysmal home/road splits. I think it is far more relevant that in the Steve Kerr era, GSW is 18-0 in playoff series against Western Conference opponents. Also during that timeframe, when healthy and not suspended - the big three of Curry, Klay, and Draymond have not last any 7-game series during that same span. I'd still take this team over the field especially when there are no dominant contenders in either conference.

I got GSW at 6/1, pre-season. I suppose I can still feel good about it.

Yikes. Haha I guess all-in or nothing. I actually haven't been on two wheels since I was still in my teens. Once I got my license, the only wheeled death trap for me is with a wheel on each corner and an enclosed roof over my head.

Non-traditional Tea Leaf Rice Salad using iceberg, cabbage, and avocado.

Tuners have been known to "K-Swap" the Subaru boxer with a Honda V-TEC K20 or K24. Ken Gushi's GR86 Formula Drift race car uses a 4.0L FJ Cruiser motor tuned to push 1000HP. I am comfortable enough with socket/torque wrenches and impact drivers, but I am too much of a coward to even consider touching the powertrain (due to lack of competency, potential warranty issues, and eventually passing inspections). How strict are the inspections in Sweden? What sort of modifications are allowable?

So anyone here still play RPGs? If so, what's at your table? During the pandemic, I started to GM a few games online. I really hadn't played since the AD&D 2E era back when I was a teenager. Now I'm playing in-person again. I initially got myself the 5E set and immediately disliked it. Characters are essentially superheroes and I dislike the overtly complex mechanics. Eventually I started following OSR and modern OSR circles. Games I've run and really like: Hyperborea (AD&D retroclone inspired by the stories of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and H.P. Lovecraft) Old School Essentials (Retroclone of B/X D&D - the best D&D) Traveller (Classic. Favorite character creation system, Science Fiction or otherwise) Mothership (Survival Space Horror) Shadowdark (Played with the quickstart set and just backed her $1.3m Kickstarter. Combines old school style with modern ease-of-use mechanics. My favorite and will be the game I run permanently)

A Mirai? NICE! Now that is exclusive. At this year's Tokyo Auto Salon, Akio Toyoda showed off a prototype classic Levin AE86 with a hyrogen fuel cell. They gave its twin, Trueno AE86 a battery electric engine. Toyota was exploring the feasibility of essentially converting gas-powered vehicles with carbon neutral powerplants. Yeah, I will admit that the weak point of this GR86/BRZ is the boxer. It's not very refined and doesn't sound good. But it does lower the car's center of gravity. 450K! Impressive. How many of those are Azdeus kilometers?

I haven't really been keeping up with video games as of late, but I can get behind Lamplighters. I enjoyed HBS's previous work - liked the Shadowruns and logged well over 300 hours in Battletech.

I like cars. After 112,000 miles, my Mk VI Golf R was starting to add up in upkeep costs, giving me a frowny face. I felt it was time to change, and since I already have a 160K+ mile J150 GX for Japanese-Amerikan practicality, I felt like it was time to get in front of my pending near mid-life crisis and get a USDM J-Vin'd front engine, RWD sports car. Hence, I got a ZN8 GR86. I love it. It has a six-speed manual transmission with a LSD. It's relatively low-powered with a 2.4 liter boxer engine producing 228HP and 184 lb/ft torque. But it is by far the best handling car I've ever driven - especially after some tastefully modest modifications: CSG-Spec Tein FLA coilovers, Cusco braces (strut towers, front and rear side members, steering rack + bushings), Ikeya Formula lower control arms, TRD door stabilizers, Spoon rigid collars, and Essex/AP Racing brakes (last one is, admittedly overkill). I am quite pleased.

I will freely admit that along with the Twitters and Discord, YouTube is by far where I spend most of my online presence these days. Doesn't help that I am also subscribed to YouTube TV. I suppose my leisurely pursuits haven't changed too much over the years. Hoops, cars, and RPGs (though more analog than digital these days).

The beauty is that the 3-Run Home Run strategy is still the most viable way to score runs, but you also can't discount stealing second base at a better than 83% clip. Plus the new rules have the added benefit of actually correcting the inherent faulty geometry of the game. Each base now being exactly 90 ft and at 90 degree angles. https://www.mlb.com/news/basepath-measurements-with-new-bigger-bases

It’s so much more watchable. There’s far less time-wasting nonsense and more balls in play. Whitey Herzog approves.

All well and good. But why does my fantasy baseball team still on have 1 stolen base??

The algorithm thinks I like JDM cars, JDM hand tools, OSR TTRPGs, pro hoops, noodles, pasta, and Initial D. Checking my open tabs seem to indicate that this is correct.

Mostly it's because I enjoy the discourse surrounding other teams in their futile attempts at beating GSW. I miss that.

There's too much parity in the league this year. I don't like it.

Boston just really matches up well with Golden State in general, and neutralizes most of Draymond’s strengths. Hoping Steph continues to be sublime.

Watching Draymond’s gradual decline is leading me to come to terms with my own pickup game.

So it’s Sawyer’s Name of the Rose Sierra game? I dig it.