Hurlshort

I started a new game of Jagged Alliance 3. I was going broke in my previous playthrough, so I'm going to try to stick with one good squad until I get a couple diamond mines under my control. I also didn't do great job of making my own Merc, so this time I focused on wisdom and leadership, and dropped mechanical and explosives. My first character was too mediocre in everything. My new team is Hitman, Red, Livewire (she grew on me!), Thor, and a new guy, I think he's Mongolian. So far they seem pretty competent, but it also helps that I'm getting better at positioning and understanding how to flank. Also, be warned. I took a boat to a mine at the northwestern part of the map, and nearly got massacred! There are definitely harder regions out there. My team wasn't ready for that yet.

I just had my first real challenging fight in JA3. It was a defense mission, and at one point my rooftop sniper (Ice) fell through the ceiling after an explosion. To add insult to injury, our trained recruits then hit us with some friendly fire. Everyone survived, but it was touch and go. I'm very happy with the game so far. It nails the JA2 vibe and looks great. Livewire has also grown on me. There is a lot of merc chatter. This will be a very replayable game.

Ok, 2 hours in and I can give my early impressions on JA3. First off, they've captured the tone and feel of JA2. It's no surprise that Ian Currie is behind it, because it feels like Jagged Alliance. It starts out just like JA2. You create a character. You contract some mercs. You land in a hotspot. The AIM desktop is very well done. Moving around the map is pretty simple. I'm still working out the combat, but it looks like you are going to be able to set up some pretty good ambushes. It's weird not having percentages when you try to shoot someone. Right now Ice is basically my killer and then I have a bunch of specialists that are so-so. Barry and Red for bombs, Livewire for mechanicals, and MD for medical. Livewire is a bit annoying, but she will probably grow on me. Actually Ice's character is oddly off putting. Think C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man. Other than that, the Mercs all seem pretty similar to the previous games and the NPC's are decent. Anyways, I'm a couple areas in, so I'll post more as I get deeper later.

Jagged Alliance 3.

A week in San Diego with my wife on the government's dime? It sounded like a fun challenge. Most of my vacations revolve around exercise, so training with the Marines seemed up my alley. My wife is the one who got us on board. She teaches PE and interacts with her local recruiter regularly, so he set us up. Teachers don't get a lot of chances to get flown places and spoiled for a week, either.

Well he can't use it now. He'd be beholden to you for suggesting it.

I suppose we could have switched it form semi to full, but I think the range instructors were just trying to make sure we hit our targets. Military recruiting is a pretty massive machine. The days of the draft are long gone, so now they need to focus on the High Schools and Colleges and convince young men and women it is a good option. They also have a surprising amount of restrictions. For example, if you take Adderall, you are ineligible. Obviously there are a fair amount of Americans that can't meet the physical requirements as well. Really they seem to be targeting kids with potential that lack either purpose, discipline, or means. As an educator, it's usually pretty easy to tell who those kids are after a year or two in the classroom, so it makes sense that they want us to be on board. Am I now basically a Marine mouthpiece in the classroom? No. I'll be honest if I have a student interested in military service. They are going to spend 3 months breaking you down in order to make you a Marine. It isn't for everyone. It's also an infantry organization first and foremost. Other branches are probably safer. But we met with Marines at all levels and none of them sounded the least bit regretful. Was that just a clever show for us? On some levels, I'd say yes, but those Marines at the Warriors breakfast were pretty raw and honest.

My wife and I had an interesting week taking part in an Educators Workshop for the Marine Corp. They flew us down to San Diego for a week. On day 1, we stepped on the yellow footprints, got yelled at by a drill instructor, and then took part in a combat fitness test. We spent that day at the Marine Corp. Recruit Depot and got to observe a lot of training and speak to the Chief of Staff. On day 2 we went to Camp Pendleton and took part in Range training and a 12-stall obstacle course, which were basically team puzzles. You had to do things like evacuate a team member over terrain without touching the ground. It was like a souped up version of the floor is lava. My team did a lot of casualty laps, as we did not succeed. I was surprised they let us fire rifles. The recruits spend a week just learning how to hold the rifle. We got about 10 minutes of instruction and then we fired 10 rounds at 100 yard targets. I was pretty mediocre at it. My wife is a better shot. Day 2 also had us observe a group finishing the Crucible and receiving their Eagle, Globe and Anchor. They spend 58 hours out on the march and get pushed to their physical and mental limits on week 10 of boot camp, and this is the culmination of that. We got to eat with them afterwards at the Warriors breakfast and talk to the recruits. They were extremely wiped out, but everyone I talked to was proud of the accomplishment. That was a pretty powerful moment. Day 3 sent us to Miramar, where we got to see the Flight Line and talk to Marines on active duty. It was pretty crazy having the jets take off and land right next to us. My wife and I also had dinner with one of her former students at Stone Brewing in Liberty Station. The student is in the Navy and is stationed there, and it was great to catch up with her. She used to watch our little kids at sporting events in High School, and now she has her own son, so it was a very neat moment. On Day 4 we watched the Morning Colors and a graduation ceremony, and then flew home. It was a very unique experience and gave me a much better feel for the process of boot camp. There was a lot of emphasis placed on the educational opportunities available for Marines, and I was impressed by that. The leadership speakers like the Chief of Staff were very well spoken. They were all 30 years into the job and passionate. They were also surprisingly progressive in they way they answered our questions. There was an emphasis on the idea that the Marine Corp is not the same as it was 20 years ago. They focused on accountability a lot. A good example of this is when a teacher asked about transgender recruits. First, he said it isn't really an issue at the MCRD. It is an issue for old people, and the MCRD is filled with young people who are much more fluid in their thinking. They handle it simply. Your physical testing scores are based on biological sex, but you bunk with your identified gender. That was interesting to hear. We were surrounded by recruiters and a few drill instructors through the week and they were great. It was a very unique experience.

FF seems like they created the 'standard jrpg'. They certainly popularized it. FFIV was my favorite, I think. Which is the one where you take part in an opera?

I mentioned our Hollywood sign hike, but we also visited the new Mario World, went to the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum, and went to a extremely good Crab house is Korea Town while we were in LA this last week. Here are some pics:

We are on vacation for the week in beautiful Burbank California. My daughter wanted to hike to the Hollywood sign. There is an easy trail that is a mostly paved road to get there, or there is a technical and strenuous ridgeline trail that makes you climb in certain spots and skirts the edge of a cliff. You can imagine which one I chose. We had a great time on our 5+ mile hike and everyone survived.

Rogan seems like a good fight analyst and I'd say he is an expert on the MMA stuff. But on other topics, meh. He is a poor man's Howard Stern.

I'm glad you like the guy, but the idea that a Kennedy is "anti-establishment" seems unlikely. Just like the idea that a guy who literally lives in a golden tower is going to represent the working man. Pete Buttigieg isn't an old man, so I might back him. My wife's mom lives with us and she is 70+, and I have to make sure she turns off the burners off on the stove every time she uses the kitchen, so I'm not a fan of senior citizens running the country. When I'm 70 I hope to to have less responsibilities, not more. I want to enjoy retirement.

I don't think I've ever believed in a political candidate. It is basically always a least worse person scenario.

Podcasts suck and Joe Rogan is boring.

That seems like a good way to piss a bear off. I'm sure it may kill the bear eventually, but I wouldn't want to chance it.

Oh. Yeah, if you didn't like their Fallouts or their recent ES games, you aren't going to like Starfield. That seems like a safe bet.

One bad game isn't enough for me to give up on a developer. Fallout 76 was also built on the faulty premise that the wasteland was just missing a bunch of other players and an MMO feel. Starfield is a single player RPG, and it looks like it will be typical of the rest of their stable. Big world, good exploration, questionable storytelling. That's enough for me.

We actually have a ton of Indian pizza places in the Bay Area. Veggie Masala Pizza is fantastic. The one near my house also has a great craft beer list. Samosa bites beat wings every day of the week. https://www.parktownpizza.com/

What if it is 5 hours of awesome and 45 hours of meh, though?

Jagged Alliance 3 is like $35, so go get two copies of that instead of Starfield.

It's weird that anyone treats Trump or Obama as a friend. Don't trust tge politicians, people.

Most documentaries are fairly biased. This had him narrating the whole time, so no surprise it painted him in the best light. The Duggar family one was clearly a hit piece. Granted that was probably well deserved, but bias is inherent and all that.

Lots to unpack with all of this. I will start with the easiest one. Cyberpunk: Escape from Dogtown - I look forward to meeting Snake Plissken. Avowed - It looks like Outer Worlds with swords. Gameplay is always 2nd to story with Obsidian, so I'm not worried. Fable - Looks fun. I wish more of the Fable games were playable on the PC. Star Wars - It would be cool if this was basically Privateer in the SW universe. But that is probably not happening. I have no idea what it will be based on that trailer.

Flaming Hot - This was the best movie I've seen in awhile. I'd put it next to Dolemite is My Name in terms of fantastic biographical stories. Flaming Hot is a bit more family friendly, but still hits all the right tones. My wife is Mexican. Her dad grew up running around the vineyards of Santa Clara, where his family worked the fields. His dad eventually became a mechanic working on the crop dusters, and my wife's dad followed suite. This story had a lot of similarities. My kids also grew up running around a nursery and migrant housing, and eating the best authentic Mexican food. You can't find this stuff in a restaurant, you just have to hope you show up as the food come off the discado. Anyways, the movie tells a great true story. We also finished the Arnold documentary. The first two parts were fun. I loved learning about the Mr. Universe stuff, and it was a good time watching clip of the movies he did. The importance of Conan in his career was really emphasized. I thought episode 3 was good too. Sure, it was more politics, and they treated him with kid gloves, but they did get Gray Davis to speak and that was a surprise. It was clearly his side of the whole story, but he is still a pretty charismatic guy.