Gorth

Completely off topic, but when I see GNU, I usually associate it with one of two things... the GNU license or this animal https://www.britannica.com/animal/gnu Yes, I know they are most likely called Wildebeest in SA

I liked Enid Blyton as a young teenager, never dug the Clarke stuff But the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant? Yeah, that’s where I got off the bus. Despite several genuine attempts including when I got to my late twenties, it was just more work than rewarding for me. So I ditched them for good halfway through the second book

Wot? Dang... when I was 11, my favourite books form the school library was by someone named Alistair Maclean. I especially remember Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra. Good stuff (these were all Danish translations in case anyone wonders) I did struggle with The Silmarillion though. Took me quite a few more years to get through that one and appreciate it I have shared the story in the past, I think, how I got into reading Tolkien in English. Bought this adventure game "The Hobbit" from a publisher named Melbourne House. I was hopelessly stuck and the only help to find in the game box was a paperback edition of The Hobbit. I read it and worked out why I kept getting killed by the goblins in the caves (you have to fool the three trolls first, keeping them out in daylight, then raid their cave and get "Sting", which provides a light source

Assuming Marlins is a baseball team, I remember we had a dedicated baseball thread a while ago As can be seen from the title, it's a bit outdated though. Didn't help GuardDog got a girlfriend, so not hanging around on the internet discussing baseball anymore You're more than welcome to create a new, updated 2024 baseball thread if feel like it (no obligation, it just feels like a sport that warrants its own thread)

Some old British... "something". Not really sure what it is. I remember buying Floodland when the CD came out in 87. Liked it enough to pick up a few more of their back catalogue. Floodland was produced by Jim Steinman iirc, which probably explains why an unknown band suddenly turned out hits edit: almost forgot one of my favourites of the late 80's, just before the music died

Who knows? She may appreciate @melkathi doing the Haka..,

New video from my favourite Faeroese songbird...

Never underestimate the (domestic) propaganda value of such things. We offered them peace, they rejected it, what are we gonna do? Fight to the bitter end!

I know, BBC is BBC and not necessarily correct etc., but at least I thought it worth raising an eyebrow when they claim Russia's economy is doing better than Western economies atm... 3.2% annual growth as of June 2024 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nn7pej9jyo I can remember Western officials and commentators describing the sanctions as “crippling”, “debilitating” and “unprecedented”. With adjectives like these filling the airwaves, the situation seemed clear. There was surely no way that Russia’s economy would withstand the pressures. Faced with the prospect of economic collapse, the Kremlin would be forced to back down and withdraw its troops. Wouldn’t it? Twenty-seven months on, the war rages on. Far from being crippled, Russia’s economy is growing. The International Monetary Fund predicts that Russia will record economic growth of 3.2% this year. Caveats aside, that’s still more than in any of the world’s advanced economies. It runs counter to most things I hear online

I might just reinstall FO3 again... if nothing else, to try out the "Fat Man" in that cave Thanks for the heads up

I would argue the first one sort of skirted the line of dark fantasy. They dropped that like a hot potato in DA2 though. Together with most things that made the first game good. Varric and Isabela feels like they’re “wasted” on DA2

The day someone releases a mod, that allows you to nuke the brats at Little Lamplight (was that the name?) I might give Fo3 a second try

@Azdeus remember my joke above about the two female Primarchs?... turns out I wasn't the first “You brothers-such a nest of rivalries. I warned him to make you sisters, that it would make things more civilized. He thought I was joking, I wasn't." - Malcador (from one of the HH novels, 'Scars', by Chris Wraight)

They do show off third person views too, so I guess it's like the Bethesda games? I.e. can zoom in and out, switching between first and third person view

Not playing Guild Wars 2 so much these days, but I think I might have taken some screenshots from when the previous expansion came out (the "Cantha" continent). Being no expert in Asian aesthetics, I suspect it's very much Korean inspired (the parent company of ArenaNet being South Korean)... it's not competing with state of the art FPS single player games, but I think for an MMO, the visuals are actually pretty decent

Just a few pics from my current project. Will make an effort to take some photos of my paint jobs from up to almost 40 years ago and upload later My "work place"... the blue guys are Alpha Legion tactical marines after getting the metallic blue colour (using an airbrush for first metal, then a few thin layers of transparent blue on top). Currently getting an "oil wash", which the black stuff in the little tub. Black oil paint thinned with mineral spirit. The capillary reaction of the resulting liquid automatically flows into recesses and provides a bit of shading on the blue areas. The guys behind them are my "Death Korps of Krieg" Kill Team, getting a few colours. Only just started on them at that point. Behind them some 30 year old Dark Elves from Warhammer Fantasy, barely done more than undercoating in black at that point More Alpha Legion... the rear 5 have had gravel added to their bases and the painting part is mostly done. The bases will get a layer of base coat and then dusted with layers of pigment powder Alpha Legion, Lernaean Terminators. Specialty is infiltration and holding remote objectives. Power Axes and Volkite weapons, except the big gun, which is a Conversion Beamer Will try to make some decent pictures of my old undead, dark elf and Epic Ork armies

It's almost a reflex... LOAD"$",8 SEARCHING FOR $ LOADING READY. LIST

Went to a birthday party yesterday. Nice and cozy, in an old brewery. We were (I think) about 11 people. Listening to the two Estonian girls talk to each other was a bit "weird", because even if the language is different, it reminded me a lot of the half day spent in the airport of Helsinki, while doing a stopover there (on my way from Australia to Copenhagen, 8 years ago). She "melody" and the sound of the language was just so similar to the local, Finnish conversations I listened to in the airport. edit: not understanding a word in either case, but the sound of the language was very similar

@melkathi sadly I never got to play BloodBowl when it was new, a few decades ago. But, afaik it's still a "current" game. Awesome gobbos!

Little seems to have changed since 1939. I wonder if they still have NKVD officers and commissars?

Disclaimer, not trying to start a religious war nor done any fact checking on his claims. I just listened to it the other day as background while painting miniatures. But his history of theology in this case was intriguing enough that it made me want to dig a bit deeper into the origin of the Abrahamic religions at a later date I.e. from a warrior god in a larger pantheon to a god in small Caanite pantheon to a single god for the tribes of Israel....

Meh, enough with the Marvel stuff already (isn't that all they do these days?)

@BruceVC are we still waiting for your contribution?...

I think a lot of “democratically” elected governments gets toppled by either military coups or uprisings because of rampant corruption… i.e. being “democratic regimes” in name only, not functionally. No easy fixes for deep rooted cultural problems

Politics... politics never change More politics here