Hurlshort

JK Rowling is a total troll, for sure. She isn't the first artist to try and ruin her art with dumb crusades, but she seems to be trying to be the best at it. That being said, I do believe in separating art from the artists, which I know sounds trite. But JK Rowling is an expert in children's fiction writing, and that's all she is an expert in. As an educator who began teaching around when the series debuted, I saw first-hand how the books got kids to read. We can criticize the literature all we want, but it was effective at captivating a generation of young readers, and that is not easy to do. With that said, her opinion on trans-rights shouldn't weigh more heavily than anyone else. The Harry Potter world has outgrown her. It isn't just a book series that she wrote. It has taken on a life of its own. Sure, she gets credit for creating it, but that doesn't mean she has control over it anymore. The movies were created by passionate creative teams that deserve credit. The theme parks were designed by artists. The Lego sets, merchandise, games, etc. are all much bigger than a single person. I get boycotting her. It's unfortunate that she gets to cash in on this world and then chooses to use that cash to be a bigot. But there is a point where a product becomes bigger than the creator. Volkswagen was created by the Nazi party. There are people that boycott their cars because of this, and that is justified, but it is also fair to say the company has moved past that complicated origin. So yeah, just my two cents as I watch the Harry Potter flicks this holiday season.

Yeah, it's pretty weird how the whole WB games stuff has gone down. They've published some amazing games that seem like they've done well critically and commercially, and yet it doesn't seem to be enough. I mean the Middle Earth series has the nemesis system, which should be a license to print money, and they seem to be burying it. Then Hogwarts Legacy nails the setting of one of the biggest IP's out there, and there is no follow through on it. *shrug*

You neeed the crafting hammer, I believe, and the workbench.

Oh no, don't use the tiny blocks! You can switch between 1x1, 2x2, and 4x4. I think you use alt to switch sizes.

Enshrouded lets you rebuild an entire world. It's probably the best crafting/building game out there right now.

Not too surprising. That trailer didn't exactly show anything. I'm going to pretend I didn't watch it for a couple years.

Time. So I've been averaging 6ish hours a week. It wants me to be closer to 8, so I need to up my training a bit.

My training is going pretty well. The run came back quickly and I'm feeling fast again. It's still a grind to get out on a Sunday and put up a 7+ run in an hour, but it is definitely the discipline I am most comfortable with. Biking is tough right now with the cold. I've done a few rides in the garage on the trainer, but I definitely need to put more hours in when it warms up. The swim has been the most fun. I swim at an outdoor pool in the mornings twice a week. I get up and out there around 6 and then jump in the shower around 6:45, and I've been getting to work with no issues. I started a program called Tridot that gives me swim workouts. My watch actually tells me what to do and beeps at me when it is time to go, and vibrates when I'm on the last lap. It makes it easy to follow. Unfortunately my watch has crashed a few times mid-workout. I don't really want to buy a new Garmin, but we will see. Also Tridot gives me grades on my workouts and weird graphs like this:

Star Wars: Outlaws - Pretty interesting so far. The world looks great and it is busy with lots of NPC's. The story and characters are solid. Your furry sidekick is adorable and useful. The controls are weird. It's a game designed for a controller but really doesn't need to be. I prefer M&K, and it is way better for looking around and firing the blaster, but it has some awkward bits. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, plenty of 3rd person games already have good keyboard layouts that you can copy. The stealth is a bit sloppy too. It plays a bit like the Hitman games. It is serviceable. Anyways, should be a fun game to play over winter break. I'm watching Solo as well, which is a good companion movie to the game. Honestly the game makes a lot more sense if you've watched all the animated stuff. The Pikes and Crimson Dawn aren't exactly mainstream Star Wars lore.

I picked up Star Wars Outlaws for about $20 on Steam. That seemed like a good deal. I haven't started it yet, but hopefully it goes well.

I've noticed Google is trying to get me to verify my age on Gmail. My 2 email accounts have been open longer than 18 years, so maybe just use that to figure out my age.

Boots on Netflix - I guess the Pentagon released a statement calling this woke garbage, which of course led to a spike in viewership. But the show was great. It actually seemed a lot more pro-military than most of the media out there. Yeah, the main character is gay and he's dealing with a time in history where that would get you discharged, but he's also recognizing that the boot camp experience is changing him for the better. Anyways I read up on the true story a bit and the guy behind it seems to be a lot more secure in himself than Pete Hegseth. Greg Cope said in response to the Pentagon's criticism that thankfully the Marines taught him not to care about that stuff.

Clippy RPG confirmed

Mines of Moria released DLC that adds NPC's to the game. This is a big addition, as the game is a pretty great survival builder, but pretty lonely in the dark with just you and the orcs. Now we have people to drink with.

I watched Phantom of the Opera with the family (the movie) so clearly we are all in a musical mood. I also started Plur1bus with my wife. It was nowhere near what I was expecting. It is great though.

Playdate - This was a strange buddy comedy with Reacher and the King of Queens. It didn't turn out like I expected. There was a lot of absurdity. That being said, the 12-year old kids were realistic. I think they were supposed to be absurd as well, but as a middle school teacher, I can tell you that preteens on energy drinks do actually become crazed heat seeking missiles.

The guy wasn't really a foriegn actor. He spent 10 years working for the CIA. This administration loves to point fingers at other people, but this is our problem and the CIA is the responsible party for turning him into an unstable individual. It's the same thing with us trying to deport people who have lived in this country since they were children. If they have turned to crime or gangs, the fault lies with the US, not some foriegn country they might have lived in for a couple years. This administration is afraid of accountability.

Amazing that the pedophile scout leaders didn't kill the scouts, but girls getting badges is going too far. Hegseth is such a thin skinned tool.

Finished Outer Worlds 2. I put a lot of hours into it, I'd say about 50, and I felt like I searched most corners to get content done. There were some collection quests I didn't finish, but the story stuff was good and I liked what happened to all my companions. It was a fun universe to explore. I'll probably wait for some DLC before playing again. It felt bigger and more epic than OW1 and Avowed, so that was good. Now I'm playing Xenonauts 2, which just released Milestone 6. This makes the game feature complete. The next milestone is full release, so I'm planning on trying to get through a whole campaign before that drops. I've only lost 1 soldier so far, and that was due to a bad explosive throw. Lesson learned, propane tanks go boom.

I think I've done this before, but Amazon did make The Boys, Bosch, Jack Ryan, Good Omens, Invincible, The Expanse, etc. The only thing they've messed up that I can see is The Wheel of Time. I know you dislike Rings of Power, but even with that, they aren't doing too bad with that track record.

Next they will be pushing the algebraic agenda!

The choice is actually a fairly minor choice in the grand scheme of things and basically amount to whether you want to talk or fight to solve problems on the first planet. It doesn't align you with a faction. The faction alignment stuff plays out over a much longer timeline and multiple planets.

Fantastic Four - Different enough to be interesting. Also it moved pretty fast and didn't overstay its welcome. Galactus was well done. Pedro Pascal was great.

My wife has been dealing with back pain and neuropathy in her leg, so she ended up getting a cortisone shot in her back. It didn't fully take, so she is getting a second shot for Thanksgiving. It's tough because she really needs to rest it to allow the cortisone to spread. I'm also a terrible nurse maid. But I'm glad she is doing this now, as the goal is to start training fully around the New Year. We also bought her a new bike. It's very fancy, a Cervelo Soloist. It was pretty pricey, but it flies.

Man, you made some very different choices than I did. My first planet played out quite a bit differently.