Darth Drabek

Yeah, he's a man of contradictions, that's for sure. :D I'm watching a bit of Monday Night Football and lounging around the apartment.

I've been contemplating when to dual my berserker to a cleric in my grand plan for a Baldur's Gate trilogy playthrough. I'm thinking level four, so I get an extra "rage" ability per day. And I'll be able to reactivate that class sooner than if I wait until level six or so. That whole inactive class thing is the reason I've never dual-classed my PC before, but I've really been itching to try it. I mean Anomen can be a beast by the end of SoA, and he's only got five levels of fighter in him, you know? What would really be sweet is if I could dual to one of the priest kits once I got to SoA... a berserker/priest of Helm would be fannnnntastic! Sadly, I don't think the game lets you dual to a kit. Now I should be doing work, but that's what I've been thinking about most of the day.

It's bound for failure, if it has to be an exhaustive list; just think about the albums for the fortieth-plus states ... " <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream. Still, he's said he would then he's said he wouldn't. Either way, he's got two down, 48 to go. Wikipedia link about the 50 States Project. Todd Snider - Looking for a Job

Aw man... that's a bummer. I had a horrible History of the British Empire class that by all rights should have been interesting. The prof was dryer than rye toast though, the class met from 9 to 11 a.m., and the classroom was always a sauna - which made for ideal sleeping conditions. I think I ended up with a B.

Yep, Godsmack will kill your hipster cred every time. That Chicago song is the only SS tune I've actually heard. Like you, I have heard the yammering of the indie press about how he's the greatest thing since Wayne Coyne - but I haven't gone out of my way to make my own judgment. The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) ^ hipster

^ hipster I must admit, I am totally behind the idea of making an album for every state in the U.S. It would require a ridiculous amount of songwriting, and the possibilties really intrigue me. I mean, if there's going to be an album about Maine, you know there's going to be a song about lobsters. Maybe even rock lobsters... :ph34r: So regardless of whether he can pull it off, it's a cool idea. I'm just surprised Ryan Adams didn't think of it first. I guess he'll just stick to making three albums a year that aren't about states. Warren Zevon - I Was in the House When the House Burned Down

The Whigs - Written Invitation No, not the Afghan Whigs. This is a different band.

Pete Yorn - The Man He's got two of the Dixie Chicks singing with him!

(w00t) MOST excellent find Kor! Yeah, seriously - what is G.E. Smith doing up there with those guys? And now I've found a live vid of Dylan performing the song with my favorite Dylan song title: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry. Actually this is a much better video from the same show, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh: Billy Preston - That's the Way God Planned It Good to see the 5th Beatle out front for once, ya know?

Luna - Slash Your Tires that's one cool song. @Pidesco: I've never actually heard that version of the song. What's it sound like? I really like the band's name, actually. @Draken and Kor: I love me some Morrissey, but in small doses. Oh, look at those clothes!

Until someone tries to gouge out your eyeballs and detaches the retina with them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'd like to think that if it were that simple, it would have been done already. But I honestly don't know. I just know the school in the article seemed to be going after recess games and not organized sports. Maybe the controlled environment of a football practice or gym class leaves less loopholes in the system? On Rec Specs: I always told myself, "If they're good enough for Chris Sabo, they're good enough for me."

No to the first, yes to the second, meta. The schools are (rightfully) scared to death of the lawsuits, but this reaction will hurt more than it helps. Nobody's trying to ban organized sports because they are supervised and the liability is with the parents. But the problem lies with unorganized sports. Most kids that get into sports are going to try it on the playground first, right? I'd hate to see pickup basketball games outlawed because some kid (usually me) got their glasses knocked off and the parents were sick of getting new frames so they threatened litigation. Thank the Lord for Rec Specs! I was soooo happy when I got contacts.

I'm sorry bud, but I just can't let that slide. how did my eyes get so red? and what the hell is on Joey's head? Those are bad lyrics. Very bad. It's okay to be sentimental, but you can still do it with class, you know what I mean? Like that "Such Great Heights" song, by The Postal Service. I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles In our eyes are mirror images and when We kiss they're perfectly aligned Doesn't get much cheesier than that, but it's a whole lot more respectable. And the college girls just melt for it. If you don't like the electronic blips of the original, get this version of the song. It's just acoustic guitar and vocals, and he slows it down a bunch. I like it better than the original myself. Edit: To avoid confusion, I should note that the second link is not the original artist. He's a folk-pop songwriter I played some shows with in college, and he does a dynamite cover of the song.

Surr's got it. Parents sign the waiver allowing their child to play. There's also the check box for "refusing medical care," for Christian Scientists - so the school has all its bases covered. That's why organized sports aren't a concern: The school is safe from lawsuits... unless a parent can prove the school was negligent for purchasing helmets without facemasks or something. Coaches are there for supervision, and every team in our league had a team doctor on the sidelines on game nights, usually the local family practice guy. A pair of local paramedics would usually park an ambulance on the track and be ready in case someone needed to be carted off the field and to a hospital. We were a pretty small-to-medium size school, with a mostly blue-collar tax base. Many larger high schools (with healthier finances) have sideline operations rivaling college football teams. And yes, I'd agree with that, Wals. Edited to be a bit more concise.

Cool Dylan vid! Of course, thanks to YouTube I found Weird Al's parody of it... in which the song lyrics are all palindromes. Anyway, Prince - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man It's ... so.... catchy!

Honest pixies, I'd watch it - but I'm at work. Music in headphones is OK, because I can still (theoretically) be doing work. With a video onscreen, there is absolutely no chance of work being done. Fine Dining - Here Comes the Warm Jets Pretty good indie-rock/pop band from my college town. We played a show or two with them back in the day ... cool guys.

I think that by the end, the dude in meta's story realized the problem was with him - not the game. Sure, that was the story's sensational lead, but his actual account showed otherwise. So, he pointed out the addictive nature of the game. Nothing wrong with that. Anything is "addictive" if you enjoy it, right? You might as well be addicted to jogging (although you wouldn't gain 30 pounds from that particular addiction). He figured out the problem and fixed it, albeit after a year of immersion in the World... of Warcraft.

Johnny Cash - Like a Soldier

I wouldn't think a relative newcomer would care enough to post a few times in this particular thread... You gotta admit, it doesn't add up.

Beautiful. Thanks, meta, for providing this lovely condemnation of MMORPGs from an insider's POV. I love playing videogames, but I want to play them at my convenience; I don't want to wait around for hours for a raid to start. One of my best friends left my bachelor's party early because he had to go home to play. I appreciate that he came at all, but he clearly had WOW on his mind while he was there. Oh, and Tingeling - I thought his two Lvl. 60 characters was out-of-the-ordinary. Sorry, I didn't realize it was more commonplace.

:D Also, I had to laugh at the report's take on Ironsides. "You may remember him from such videogames as all of them."

The Killers - For Reasons Unknown The new album is very good. People are saying the album has a U2 feel to it, and that's pretty accurate. It still sounds like the Killers, though - just a little more Edge-y delayed guitar riffs and maybe even more bombastic then they were before... if that's possible.

I remember those books! They were very good, and worthy of being the next fantasy franchise to hit the big screen. It's been a long time since I read them though, so I can't recall too many game-like situations in my head.

Holy cow.... Chuck Berry is 80!?! Nice catch Kor.... Guess I should go play with "My Ding-a-Ling" in honor of one of the first rock and rollers. ... Wait, I meant I should go play "My Ding-A-Ling," you know, the Chuck Berry song! Really! Bob Dylan - Thunder on the Mountain

^ Am I the only one wondering how Hades was able to pull off eight harmonic combos in a row while delicately strafing out of the way of the resulting powerups? I hesitate to dredge it up again, but that ever-lovin' werewolf shouldn't have posed a challenge to someone capable of such feats of manual dexterity.