Gromnir

and am having some regret that our 80s self weren't appreciating stewart copeland in a manner befitting his contribution to the police. at the time we thought mr. copeland good drummer. fool. HA! Good Fun!

not that it makes one movie better than another, but roald dahl's book were more creepy than the burton movie. in his movie adaptation, burton added a bit o' character development insofar as family interactions which were not in the book, but many o' the creepier scenes left outta the 1971 film were included by burton. maybe not too well known nowadays, but something like a half-dozen dahl stories were used by alfred hitchc0ck for his tv series and dahl rare pulled any punches when writing for a younger audience--creepy and dark even by 2024 standards. dahl's book were also a bit less cultural sensitive than either movie depiction. fair or not, burton's film were predictable measured by the 1971 film standard but am suspecting the director were more interested in adapting the dahl book than remaking the 1971 movie. master of the obvious observation: roald dahl's book were not a musical. the 1971 movie included numerous tunes which is pop culture mainstays even after 50 years. HA! Good Fun!

am s'posing you have never taken a graduate course. spend more than twelve hours on a chapter from gravity's rainbow is hardly out o' the norm... and is not just 'cause pynchon's work is so much more complex. is hardly outliers neither. one case study on the development o' saturn auto. one film by orson welles. one scene from a shakespeare tragedy. is not a matter o' quality neither. phantom menace got a large cast o' divisive characters, and lucas can't help self but do significant and trivial homage to past films, so is hardly a shortage o' material for film geeks to obsess 'bout. HA! Good Fun!

having done just that, stacking azata attribute and mind effecting boosts as well as all the enchantment/illusion gear in the game w/o resorting to expanded arsenal quirks, am less ambivalent than @majesticabout viability. am assuming azata kineticists remain kinda op. is more than a couple skald/bard builds we used for every hard and unfair boss battle, but regardless, an enchanter/illusionist is more than viable on any difficulty even without the expanded arsenal schtick. aside: is not to0 much undead in the game, but we nevertheless take the undead in addition to the functional requisite fey bloodline. sepentine might make more sense, but undead is typical our choice. (edit: you do not need play as a sorcerer caster to make an op azata enchanter work, but am highly recommending at least one level o' crossblood sorc if you choose to go wizard or whatnot.) furthermore, am gonna suggest that folks reflexive using unfair as a yardstick for mythic powha is misleading. @majestic is no doubt keen aware that the most difficult unfair content is early game and before you acquire mythic path specific powhaz, particularly ambush encounters pre mythic. insofar as late game, any mythic path has at least a few op builds. angle and lich (and only merged spell book angel and lich is arguable broken op) is not making the most challenging early content any easier, and by late game the angel and lich relative advantages decrease substantially. late game aeon and demon has a few builds we would place on par with merged spellbook angel or lich. the main advantage o' lich and angel for unfair runs is they do not require you to follow an uncompromising build path or discover every bit o' build-specific loot needed to achieve requisite ab or dcs. angel and lich has spells and abilities which ignore sr or obviate the chore o' generating improbable dcs. play angel and you don't need to consider adding a court poet companion to buff your caster, or adding the madness domain to sosiel. merged spellbook angel and lich make the game far more simple, and there is a mid portion o' the game where they is undeniably op. even so, every mythic provides possibility o' op builds capable o' roll-stomping unfair late game, and no mythic makes early game easier. as an aside, and for any who hasn't played the game in awhile, am suspecting a few folks is gonna be surprised by a recentish playful darkness change--like ulbrig, playful darkness is now equipped with a swarmbane clasp. HA! Good Fun! ps we did go with a merged spell book angel build for the inevitable excess dlc but less 'cause it were so powerful (although it certainly was a powerful choice) but 'cause encounters were simplified by having a functional immortal character able to one-button wipe the screen o' opponents w/o any o' the rock-paper-scissor considerations which is ordinary the cornerstone o' overcoming difficult d&d/pathfinder opponents.

giving our self a much needed rest from family after making jibarito for a troop. is a fair amount o' effort for a sandwich, so is a once-or-twice a year event, but is worth it. admitted we didn't think the meal through as we got young relatives visiting and they always hang out in our kitchen while am cooking. ordinary we avoid anything requiring a deep fry when kids is underfoot. that said, nobody suffered 3rd degree burns today, so am calling it a win. last night we had chicken vesuvio. (edit: we use yukon gold potatoes even though russets is traditional. yukon gold is a better braising potato. also, we hate when the peas in this dish is over cooked, so we add 'em near end of oven time.) the chicago inspired menu theme were coincidental. ... maybe we make brownies for our young cousins. am not much into baking, but is easy and the kids can help. also, as the brownie were invented in chicago... HA! Good Fun!

maybe just a little bit different as peacekeepers remain members o' their original national military or police force even if the UN has operational control. *shrug* the following is not directed @Elerond is always good to wait for info, but the fact the UN ain't denying allegations and they has public condemned the actions o' more than a handful o' staffers should give a few obsidian board champions o' the oppressed pause. and again, we are contemplating the possibility that multiple UN personal were somehow embroiled in a terrorist attack... is a fair bit different than one-off acts o' unforgivable moral turpitude. the defense is that so far less than two dozen un staffers has been fired? serious? if more than a dozen un personnel were having organized sex slave rings servicing un peacekeepers, then maybe we are getting a bit closer to analogous and is pretty terrible regardless. so ask self if the current kerfuffle were genuine analogous but it involved the malfeasance o' uk diplomats, cia agents, catholic priests or some other group you is justifiable suspicious 'bout. would you be defending all the innocent cia agents who the cia did not immediate fire when the story went public? would you be defending the larger organization who fired the folks caught doing something wrong? is ok to admit the situation looks terrible. is ok to admit that given the lack o' un defense o' those staffers accused it is likely those folks did more than make mistakes or blunders. is ok to admit that oct 7 was pretty f'ing terrible and that if multiple unrwa employees were somehow involved... you folks do realize that if you admit the situation looks absolute fubar for the UN, it doesn't mean you need sudden support israel, right? when a similar situation arises and is handful o' bad israelis, US intelligence agents or new england patriots fans, are you gonna rush to defend? is a not zero chance some will recall and remind. HA! Good Fun!

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https://www.facebook.com/NASAJPL/videos/thanksingenuity-nasas-mars-helicopter-team-says-goodbye/258448413947046/ HA! Good Fun!

am not a fan o' this guy's showmanship, and for some reason his voice is like nails on the chalkboard for us, but in spite o' those negatives, he does an excellent job o' presenting legit Italian dishes in a manner which is not difficult to replicate. HA! Good Fun!

excellent animation with a unique style. the narrative might not work for everybody and we got plenty o' complaints, but is worth seeing just 'cause o' the animation efforts. however, and perhaps unfortunate, am recollecting mfkz also bombed. c'est la vie. HA! Good Fun! ps after @Agiel recommended, we saw dofus and the animation were indeed manifique. perhaps oddball videogame origins explains some tonal quirks, and the fact the title were planned as a series might explain why the raison d'etre for major character motivations and plot events were sadly left as macguffin. maybe. even so, the film looked and sounded great. too bad it bombed.

gonna post here 'cause is less football... but not politics either. whatever. if mods move the post, am not gonna complain. HA! Good Fun!

am realizing some hyperbole is being indulged in your response. after all, and is indeed ironic, most maga folks believe trump is their last best hope for a champion who will fight for them against tyranny, and the laundry list o' hobgoblins trump convinced them they is needing to fear-- illegal immigrants, globalists, mail-in voting, windmills, etc. sure, they believe trump needs to be strong to take on the deep state and the corrupt system, so they is ok with trump breaking norms, but maga unironic sees itself and trump as the last gasp hope for american democracy. is kinda a shame that many o' the trump voters disappeared from this board following the election and insurrection, 'cause am certain they would pushback on your simple (and slight tongue-in-cheek) dichotomy. that said, imagine same absolute immunity statement by trump in 2015, during his first campaign, and even during the first couple years o' his Presidency. of course maga folks woulda' made excuses for trump's embrace o' dictatorship, or they woulda' suggested he were joking, but the reaction from maga folks to the above tweet would not have been same even in 2018... and libs also woulda' been vocal outraged by such a statement in 2018. today? a collective sigh from the left and a hearty cheer from the faithful. Gromnir couldn't figure out why so many libs shrugged off the trump muslim ban promise in 2015, and has been a whole lotta shrug moments since then. it took hundreds o' thousands o' unnecessary US covid deaths, and trump's arguable criminal mishandling o' the pandemic to convince democrats and left-leaning independents to vote for an uninspiring biden -harris ticket in 2020. does @Bartimaeusfeel confident that the above tweet, and so many others similar signs that trump is looking to shatter whatever illusions people got left that US republican democracy will prevent 45 from doing the previous unthinkable, and convince enough people to vote against him in 2024? how many will just shrug? am genuine baffled by how easy post ww2 US norms has been subverted since 2015. a c-list tv huckster selling fear and grievance to working class whites evoked shrugs and maybe even mild laughter from libs in 2015. how many collective shrugs led to this point, 'cause recall that while trump beat clinton, the 2016 election saw extreme low voter turnout and exit polls showed that many who voted for trump did so not 'cause they liked him but 'cause clinton were such a terrible alternative. the don't blame me, i voted for kodos joke were funny in 2015? the truth is most libs didn't bother to vote for kodos, so kang didn't need many votes to win. pretend it didn't really matter if clinton or trump were possible 'cause people shrugged at muslim ban, pu$$y grab, attacks on gold star families, etc. the old quote attributed to ben franklin feels more apt today than at anytime since the civil war. the thing is, americans were a smidge more engaged in 1787 and 1861... recognizing how only the opinions o' white and male americans mattered at the time. HA! Good Fun!

is it possible a post from the star trek mirror universe slipped over to this side? then again, this don't seem out of character for 2023 trump, many o' his maga adherents, and a few obsidian board posters. near as bad, many people will read and just shrug off the fact that the former US President, likely gop nominee for the Presidency and possible future President just suggested he should be able to do crimes while in office with no possible future repercussions. trump also has a curious notion 'bout cop legal responsibility. gerald ford took considerable heat for pardoning nixon. sucker. as an aside, the original post from trump were time stamped at 2:00 am. HA! Good Fun!

first time we played wotr, we kept camellia in our party through her entire story arc. our certainty we were watching a trainwreck occur in slow motion were not enough to overcome our completionism. our dogmatic playthrough o' rogue trader is an almost unique exception to the manner in which we typical play crpgs with joinable companions, but we just couldn't bring our self to suffer xenos or those who has already succumb to warp madness. purifying fire is our solution when confronting the enemies o' humanity and agents o' the archenemy. HA! Good Fun!

our jae was dual wield deadly... until the most recent patch. we were having her use overcharging plasma pistols which were great as long as party members stayed a square distant. gunslinger jae were almost as effective as our argenta sniper for dps. 'course now jae is as likely to self immolate as kill heretics and xenos. *sad face* am gonna have difficulty doing anything but sniper for argenta in future runs as she makes early game encounters a breeze, and early game is, as is typical for crpgs, the most challenging content. quit on our officer and started over with a dogmatic, fortress world, ministorum priest leaning hard into flame weapons. is kinda over-the-top fun, but am definite doing iconoclast next so am able to keep a few more party members alive past the early portions o' the game. HA! Good Fun!

am not having confirmed the source, but if true this is intriguing, however... on january 7, 2021 am betting few would guess another battleground nailbiter 'tween trump and biden were gonna be how one would describe the 2024 Presidential race, but here we are. a percentage point or two in georgia, pennsylvania, michigan, arizona, wisconsin and a couple other states is gonna decide the Presidency, so is gonna be a tendency to read too much into the poll du jour. is far too early to make grand predictions based on curious data points, and am having no idea what were the actual question asked in the des moines poll, but we were nevertheless surprised by the info. take for what little the linked tweet is worth. did we add enough qualifiers? HA! Good Fun!

so is an open-face gyro on pizza dough instead o' pita bread? sure. why not? ... chances are we would do chicago tavern style 'stead o' typical pizza dough, 'cause if am gonna have a gyro then why not just use a pita? am doubtful anybody is curious, but tavern style is easy to make at home 'cause the curing o' the dough is pretty much fool proof and you cook at 500 fahrenheit, so no need for a special oven. for the tavern crust, you is for all intents and purposes making failed bread, and is nothing more simple then failure. once you get a little practice at making the tavern-style dough (which admitted does involve at least an overnight step, but am finding that letting the dough over ferment/rest three days in the fridge is ideal,) you may use the resulting crust for pretty much any topping you can imagine... much like pizza, but far more simple. btw, tavern style is a guarantee win with guests who will think you did something complicated and special when in reality you chose a path o' least resistance. HA! Good Fun!

... we had same reaction to the patch as bruce campbell's character did to peter parker's diamond in spider-man 3.. what genuine shocked us were an owl cat person reacting to queries in the steam thread for the patch. is nice to see that imperial world characters, including companions, not getting the benefit o' common talent attribute improvements were addressed, but am thinking am gonna wait a bit before we go beyond chapter two. am gonna take two dogmatic and one iconoclast characters to near end o' chapter two and then wait for a couple more patches. HA! Good Fun!

will check it out... but isn't a french person reaching for a bottle of wine to solve a problem kinda cliché ? just sayin'. HA! Good Fun!

highly recommend the following: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC122061BDC373B4B not all in the playlist is win, but is fantastic production at work and the pop song covers which typical leave us flaccid is intriguing to us precise 'cause o' masterful contributions o' artists whose instruments and voices go largely unheard by Gromnir in his everyday music selections.... and 'cause is so many cameo contributions from giants o' music. HA! Good Fun!

yeah, that aligns with our earlier observation, though am most definite not a pro cook or chef. the reason why am disappointed when family or friends ask us to cook well-done is cause doing so makes cut/grade choice and skill o' the preparer largely irrelevant. those prime cut ribeyes is wasted on cousin bobby (much like from goodfellas, all our east coast male relatives has names which end in a hard "e" sound--paulie, bobby tommy, etc.) who asks for well done. coulda' given him a select grade chuck steak and grill it to death and it would taste same as our careful prepared ribeye. in fact, chuck on the grill might taste better well done than our pan sear and infrared broiler efforts. at least the grill might add a smokey flavour to the meat. HA! Good Fun!

actually, is multiple becauses. yeah, we mentioned the sauce in your pictured steak appeared to be ketchup, but perhaps a year latter when we shared an atk video, you brought up the ketchup on steak guy all by your lonesome. have personal shared the dirty harry clip regarding ketchup on hot dogs a couple times. the curious fascination o' scandanavains with ketchup has occurred multiple times on this board, usual with @Azdeustaking a few well earned shots regarding what foods is so not improved by ketchup and resulting in numerous tangential ketchup observations-- we did share our personal and labor-intensive ketchup recipe. collectively we can be a bit predictable at times. HA! Good Fun!

our personal feels is good steak don't need to be dressed up with anything other than salt and mayhap a bit o' pepper, but the problem with seasoning with pepper before cooking is that scorched/burned pepper can be slight funky. am s'posing am not averse to a smallish quantity o' herb butter on a steak and we always got a few variations on hand in the freezer. for steak sandwiches am making a sauce from the pan drippings-- add a fair amount o' butter, worcestershire sauce and perhaps pepper to the pan we cooked the steak. we would never personal add ketchup to a decent steak, but our guests may do no wrong at our table, so if they wanna over salt or add ketchup am ok with it. however, if Gromnir cooks, than am less likely to indulge requests which we see as sacrilegious. put ketchup on your steak or burger? sure, go ahead, but please don't ask us to cook 'em well-done. yeah, chances are we will go ahead and burn away all the flavour from their meat if they so request it, but we will grumble 'bout it. we spend all the effort to hand grind short rib and chuck to get perfect hamburger, or purchase prime grade ribeyes and then we get a well-done request which makes quality o' the meat and the skill of preparation irrelevant? is unfair to ask us to do well-done... but is tough to say no to guests. HA! Good Fun!

gonna trigger @majestic with the ketchup redux. kinda groundhog day material. in the US, almost all ketchup is a variation o' heinz tomato ketchup. when folks not in the US talk about ketchup, they may be referencing something which is a fair bit different than what an american would expect. regardless, we personal embrace the chicagoan/dirty harry dogma regarding ketchup and hot dogs-- is no less verboten than ketchup on steak. as for dipping... cheese is always win. @Gorth has his remoulade, and if am doing cajun/creole am likely gonna think remoulade is appropriate. real mayonnaise, which is different than any shelf stable brand available in the US, is kinda tasty and quite customizable. we do like carolina gold, but am almost never making it... which is kinda weird. am not a fan o' over sweet, but for asian dishes we like peanut sauces and a honey sriracha which is maybe less sweet and a bit heavier on the ginger than is traditional. is all knida gravy variations-- poutine got a mention in this thread not long past. is a whole lotta pan sauces which is technical gravy. maybe a cheap response, but best is gonna depend on what am dipping. fries? ketchup, cheese, gravy-- 's all good. ask us on a tuesday as 'posed to a friday and maybe you get a different answer as to what we most want with our fries. HA! Good Fun!

we mentioned earlier how broken builds is an owlcat thing and they clear indulge the powergamer impulses o' their fanbase with the 40k title. pathfinder, particular with all the splat book material, allows for broken, but human dm/gm near always prevents such behaviour in rl-- makes campaigns and gaming sessions boring when one or more players is able to destroy every encounter without any effort. owlcat took potential busted pathfinder and then added their own take on mythic content which leads to stoopid busted builds, particular when combined with stoopid busted gear. curious, owlcat fans like busted and defend it. is nothing wrong with liking busted, but am personal thinking such diminishes the value o' having many character development and gear options when there is clear a handful o' best/right options. even so, is no shock busted builds is a thing for rogue trader 'cause that is exact what many owlcat fans want/expect. am also having observed how the challenge o' owlcat encounters would appear to be premised on players embracing broken content. normal difficulties in owlcat games is frustrating challenging unless you embrace broken. not all encounters will be frustrating difficult for a more casual or role-play oriented player, but there will be enough such obstacle battles as to discourage players less focused on exploitive gameplay. we chose to play an officer for our first rogue trader run. we chose officer not 'cause it is our favorite build concept but 'cause we expected there to be threshold encounters in the game which would make the game decided unfun if we didn't have a powerful character/party. the owlcat approach is kinda odd from our pov. crpgs rely on maths which invariably lead to exploits being discovered by gamers no matter how hard a developer trys to balance a title. am s'posing the difference is that in a more balanced game there will be a handful o' exploits whereas owlcat offers players more choice... maybe? regardless, owlcat's rogue trader exploit or fail approach comes as little surprise to us. as for bugs... there is a reason why we rare play a title until six months has passed following release. particular for complex crpgs, there is always gonna be broken content both obvious and subtle. am thinking owlcat has actually improved insofar as the stability and quest integrity o' their titles at release, so credit where credit is due. however, we expected later game quests (content not available in the beta) would be problematic and am suspecting it will be a couple years before the vast majority o' minor and major mechanics bugs in rogue trader is fixed. am not making excuses for owlcat, but their design approach which promotes broken builds and the bugginess o' rogue trader is predictable and were expected based on previous owlcat releases. not exact caveat emptor, but... and again, our personal rogue trader experience is more stable than we expected. yeah, the mechanics bugs is legion, but am genuine pleasant surprised by how few broken quests we has suffered given the fact the game is an owlcat title. 'course we only just finished chapter 2. regardless am thinking is fair to say, based on our admitted limited rogue trader experience, that each owlcat release has improved quest integrity and stability issues at release. progress? HA! Good Fun!