Hurlshort

I also thought season 2 of Umbrella Academy was a big step up in terms of fun. They embraced the dysfunctional family aspect and it was less drama-y. Plus the alt history stuff was great.

I harvested about a pound of hops this year from my hop vines, but I have no way to dry them, and all the brewing equipment is in storage, so they will simply be decorative for the time being. Still, it was nice to see them getting more productive. Next year maybe I will have a plan in place to use them.

Decided to give Start Trek Online another whirl. This time I'm playing the Enterprise timeline, because I've been watching that show recently. It seems like a good place to start since it is a bit simpler in terms of story, and my memory of Next Generation is super fuzzy.

Students are tested on Social Science in 8th grade, and the test breakdown was pretty much 4 questions on 6th grade content, 3 questions on 7th, and 4 questions on 8th grade content. It has actually shifted quite a bit in the last few years and is no longer the silly multiple guess format. I also teach in an area with a lot of parent involvement and it is predominately Asian, so I am spoiled by not having to really worry about the test scores. I have taught in lower socio-economic schools and it matches that clip from The Wire to a tee.

Yep, that's basically it. We have certain educational standards we have to cover. We have a textbook that covers those standards. How we teach it is going to vary greatly, and is why we all go to school for 5+ years, student teach, take credentialing tests, attend professional development, etc. New teachers lean heavily on the textbook. You have to figure a new teacher relies on it for about 80% of the year's content and instruction. As you get further along in teaching, it becomes easier to streamline the boring textbook content and introduce more varied sources and lessons to students. I'd say I was down to about 30% with the previous textbooks while still covering the standards. We just adopted new books, and I have less teaching time in digital learning, so I'm probably back up to about 60% on the textbook this year. I am sure some states, districts, and administrations are way more heavy handed in forcing lessons on teachers. I know it is a lot more stifling to do math and ELA in my district. But Social Science is a pretty magical subject.

I am the expert, asshat.

I'm mostly trying to figure out how to cover that story without sounding like a preacher, but also in a timely manner. Trying to find good material for it is a huge minefield. Are you trying to make my job more difficult?

Right now I'm trying to put together a lesson plan on journalism, censorship, satire, social media, and education. It started out as a lesson about the 1st Amendment and section 230. But then the Charlie Hebdo situation escalated. I'd love to chunk it up, but I only see these kids twice a week right now and the way the news is moving, I'll have some other massive stories to cover next week. Oh and of course I need to cover the curriculum as well.

I've never actually stood in a line to vote. I imagine it depends on what time you show up, but most of the polling stations around me move pretty smoothly. Granted I don't live in a dense urban center. I'm usually in and out in about 10 minutes.

Is avoiding jury duty the main reason you do not vote?

Every jurisdiction can be different, but not voting does not excuse you from jury duty. You would also probably need to forgo a driver’s license or ID card, filing tax returns, seeking unemployment, owning real estate, participating in the census, or getting your name on any of a number of government databases. So good luck.

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that we have a couple folks here who don't vote, given that 40% of the country does not. It just seems strange that they would deign to spend hours here bantering back and forth over politics but not take 5-10 minutes to be involved in the decisions that are being made. I get not caring about all the federal election stuff, but the local measures have a real and significant impact on your lives.

I wouldnt compare it to Rust, but it isnt a typical Obsidian RPG. I think Subnautica in your backyard is a good comparison. The writing is top-notch, world building is fun, and in that respect it fits the Obsidian mold.

Uh, it is an homage to an old pace picante sauce commercial.

Yeah, that always cracks me up. I am sure someone on his team is to blame for plagiarism, but this guy has a team of people preparing all of this for him. Of course, this is the same reason the Alleppo incident was overblown for Gary Johnson. Gary Johnson was the governor of New Mexico. The only reason he would be well-versed on the situation in Syria is if he had a team telling him about it. Which he should have, given his bid for President. It is a failure of him not having a good enough team. Trump stays out of this plagiarism stuff because he doesn't seem capable to stick to a script. Yay. Of course, people also drank bleach when he went off script back in March so...

TB mode made the gameplay way more engaging for me. I had finished PoE1, but kept stalling out on the starter island in PoE2 until TB mode was introduced.

The tears of Dodgers fans will sustain me throughout the day.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm had a fantastic ending. It took a bit of work to set it up, but it was well worth the wait. Part of the fun of these films is trying to figure out how in on it certain people are. Some of his appearances had already made news, so that was fun to see in action, but the way they tied it all together was really perfect.

In terms of the Supreme Court, Biden has no chance of making the changes that Trump has managed in his 4-year term. You are looking at a 6-3 conservative split, with Breyer being the only one likely to need a replacement in the near future. Even if they manage to pass a term limit of 18 years, this is going to be a very conservative court for long stretch. So yeah, I don't get all the conservatives bemoaning the future of the country. Everybody likes to cry wolf.

I didn't really see the reason to buy it on Epic when I could pay $5 to play it on the Xbox gamepass thingee. I just don't use Epic very much. I will probably buy it on Steam or GoG after I get paid so I have my own copy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54670269 So Biden said something surprisingly reasonable about oil and the environment, and now he has to backtrack or it will kill him politically.

Burger and Sausage aren't a type of food though. It's a packaging or presentation of food. Bread is supposed to be bread, not cake. I don't think they call it "Ham' burger either, I imagine it is just Burger.

That is a fantastic name for a game.

I wonder if they filmed Mank at Hearst Castle. I love that place.

Quibi shut down after 6 months. Pretty crazy after they raised a billion+, you would think you would have a bit more runway. Some of the shows looked alright, so hopefully we will see them elsewhere.