Hurlshort

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.

Yeah. After Wheel of Time, I expect very little.

Whoa whoa, The Island is more than just some cruddy action flick designed around her in spandex! It also features Ewan McGregor in spandex.

I had no idea he was still alive.

I don't have any problem with banks earning a profit and charging interest, by the way. I appreciate my local banks and the service and security they offer, and they tend to be transparent about interest rates and costs. But when we are talking about necessities like housing and education, there needs to be controls in place to keep the average person from being fleeced by the profit machine.

Are salaries increasing 12%-18% every year? How does the average homebuyer keep up with those profit margins that the banks are expected to get off their home loans? If I borrow a million dollars at 4% for a home loan, which is pretty normal in the Bay Area, I will pay the bank $700,000 in interest over the life of the loan. That is considered a good rate. It's not a great system for the homebuyer. It is massively profitable for the banks.

Ah, look at the defensive banker. "If I can't make obscene profits, I'll take my ball and go home!"