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I'm also watching the current season of What We Do In The Shadows, and it just seems to keep getting better. But I just finished episode 4 of Rings of Power, and it just seems to keep getting better. They've got a few different storylines going and they are all pretty engaging. The Dwarven parts are arguably better than any of the movies. They've given a glimpse into the day to day life of the dwarves that I really only got from LotR Online. Speaking of which, I'm now playing LotRO again. It's not like GoT. It's not like WoT. It's like the bloody movies, so if you enjoyed those, you will enjoy this show. Unless you get hung up on race in a fantasy series, apparently. *shrug* There is a kid named Theo that has an absolutely fascinating story arc going on. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm on the edge of my seat to see how that turns out.

Oh, they are definitely better off in Martha's Vineyard. It's reprehensible that families were promised help and opportunities and then loaded up on a plane to be used as a political stunt, but it sounds like they are already getting amazing support from the community. You would think that would make the stunt look bad, but I have no doubt they will just spin it as a win. "Look at these dumb libs helping people in need! They'll probably give them jobs and educate the children."

Rings of Power is a million times better than WoT. Honestly they aren't really comparable. It's like comparing the CW superhero shows to Nolan's Batman. They aren't even close to the same tone. I've said it before, Rings of Power feels like the Hobbit movies, which might have been better served if they were broken into a series. It definitely captures the feel of Middle Earth. Amazon has been fairly hit and miss, though. I have no idea if they can pull off a Blade Runner series. People thought the movie was too slow, I thought, so I don't imagine a 10-part series is going to improve the pace. I will happily give it a try.

Those look exactly like the Pathfinder Kingmaker portraits.

I was hoping for Tom Bombadil, but I don't know much of the lore outside of the main books, so I've got no idea. Don't ruin it for me!

The defensive shift has been banned and there will now be a pitch lock in the MLB. I support both changes. I'm bummed that they had to ban the shift. I would rather hitters figure out how to adjust. I imagine if it was left in place, young hitters would get better at laying down bunts. But apparently the batting average is lower than it has been since the 60's, so I'm not surprised they did something. I love a long day at the baseball park, but I get that a pitch clock will help keep the games more manageable and hopefully keep more fans engaged.

I mean, it's a dumb question. What would you expect her to say about the leader of another country on a criminal matter that the UK has no jurisdiction over? I guess I'd need more context as to the setting of the question, but it just looks like a political gotcha moment.

Jack Del Rio got a raw deal there for sure. I hope he is a bit vindicated by the way Gruden was shown the door.

I don't care all that much about any teams, but I am back on the fantasy football wagon after years of not playing, so I'll be paying some attention. The 49ers are a big deal around here, and all my friends live and due by them, so naturally I enjoy it when they struggle. I'd like to see Derek Carr do well since he went to Fresno State.

I try to get my kids to play that game in real life. It is stuck on the hardest difficulty.

I just watched an episode where the creature that crawled out of Colin Robinson is obsessed with Roblox and I now call my own son Colin Robinson.

You are alone. My unpopular opinion is that What We Do in the Shadows is better as a TV show than it was as a movie. I tried to get my family to watch Highlander. My son was getting into it, but my wife and daughter were rolling their eyes a lot. The soundtrack still holds up, but I don't think I helped my cause by singing loudly along with it. edit: I did forget how bad Highlander is in terms of fight scenes. We had watched Predator 1 and 2 recently and those held up better.

Yeah, I told my wife what a nice summer it has been, and how we barely needed our small pinguino AC unit until this week. She glared at me as we moved our mattress into the one room where we have AC. Kids slept on the couch, and we slept on the mattress. Good times.

Zero Hedge definitely has a gimmick. Its basic philosophy is to always bet on the drop and then celebrate when it happens. It's a weird way to live.

I was a big fan of the Warhammer Online when it first came out. Also I thought there was a new version of Dark Ages of Camelot in the works? I think I heard about it years ago though, so it is probably languishing somewhere. MMO's ain't easy to develop.

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord - I think it is pretty much feature complete at this point. It releases on consoles soon, so I imagine they are pretty much locked in. I'm enjoying building my warband, and I've decided to back the rightful Empress and help her rebuild the glory of the old age. I took part in my first castle siege. That was pretty chaotic, but it is amazing how well the engine handles all the chaos of hundreds of troops and siege equipment. The game runs very well on my mid-range laptop.

Who?

Ring of Power Episode 2 was even better for me. I enjoyed the dwarves quite a bit. Although I might be a bit biased because I swam in the ocean all morning, and then watched Galadriel swim in the ocean all episode long, and so I was sympathetic to her situation. No massive sea serpents for me though, just curious seals and grumpy pelicans.

I watched episode 1 of Rings of Power. I enjoyed it. It is fair to say it is closer to The Hobbit films. But it was still a nice trip to Middle Earth and I thought the acting was well done.

I played Conan no issue in single player mode, but I was not in offline mode. To be fair, every big update breaks everything and messes up mods, so I don't think it is a battle pass conspiracy. This too shall pass.

I grabbed it. I don't know why, I'll never play it.

I enjoyed it. The world building was surprisingly complex for what really was a Vampire B-movie. If you enjoy Snoop Dogg, you will enjoy this. He is the star. Is this connected to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter?

I did 5 different batches. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, and the beer was surprisingly better than what you typically find in stores. But it was also an expensive hobby and pretty time intensive. When I moved, my brewing buddy got all of the equipment we bought and he put it in storage, and so we haven't brewed in a few years. Top-notch ingredients seems to be the real key. Avoid the cheap ingredient kits. Fresh grains, fresh hops, and good yeast make a difference. We made 2 IPA's with Citra hops (one had been fermented with orange rinds), a Centennial and Chinook Pale Ale, a dark Weissenbock, and an amazing Vanilla Oatmeal Stout. The vanilla came from vanilla beans soaked in scotch, and it was by far my favorite beer we brewed.

I loaded up Conan Exiles with the new massive Sorcery update. A lot of people are worried about the Battle Pass system turning it into a microtransaction hell. I can't speak to how this will affect multiplayer folks, but as a single player, it doesn't seem to have much impact. There are a lot of positive changes coming with the update that don't cost any crom coins, and it looks like I have access to all of the DLC stuff I have purchased over the years. The two positive changes that stood out immediately to me: - The trait system is reworked. When you reach a certain level in an attribute, you get to choose from a list of perks. For example, when leveling up my expertise (harvesting attribute) I got to choose whether I want a boost to how much I get of a resource, or a better chance of a rare material. It adds some complexity to a stagnant system. - There are challenges to complete. These are separate from the storyline stuff. Some are exploratory (go pray at a certain altar), some are combat related, and some are harvesting related (harvest 10 iron sources.) It seems pretty simple, but it's another way to stay engaged. I didn't play long enough to get into the rewards. Anyways, I haven't even gotten into sorcery aspect, so I'm looking forward to that. But I was happy to see all of my DLC was still active and the single player game has only really been enhanced at this point.