tkdguy

Beethoven's Violin Sonata no. 5.

I had a dream where an episode of the x files played out where Mulder and Scully trick mind controlling villain into revealing his mind control powers on drivers on the highway by posing as a trooper, stopping the cars, and telling the drivers to wreck themselves 
CES

Some people like fencing with toy lightsabers. Others prefer to just spin them.
 
 

Not sure if the Creepy Pics thread would be a better fit
 

I don't think that's likely given Jack Chick's genocidal hatred of Catholics. Apparently he didn't like Mormons or Jews much either.
 
This priest would not approve of my sister, a Lutheran pastor who was quite fond of the Potter books and films. Rowling's magic may be a stand-in for something else more fundamental to human nature. Our intellects, for example, can be used for good or evil in all sorts of ways, as can the Scientific Method and just about any other source of temporal power. Even religious faith has the same potential when the intent of the "user" is clouded by hatred and fear. And we are all surrounded by Dark Arts of varying descriptions every step of our way in life,

Corporate mergers are bad enough. If celestial bodies start merging on a regular basis as well, I'm out of here!

I saw the neutron star episode of Discovery Science's How The Universe Works yesterday. Fascinating subject and knowledgeable expert interviewees, but oh so American -- unnecessarily upping the drama, unnecessarily repeating bullet points every ten minutes, and a narrator that sounded stoned.

The August 24, 2019 issue of The Economist also has a good article about the black hole-neutron star detection. Astronomers especially want to observe such an event in other ways, too, because it might give a glimpse of what's inside a neutron star. Astrophysicists have theories -- including blobs, threads and sheets of neutronium they've dubbed "nuclear pasta" -- but without some way to probe inside a neutron star, they can never test the theories. A black hole, however, can rip a neutron star apart so its insides become briefly visible.
 
(According to Jack Vance, this is where ioun stones come from. See, IIRC, the short story "Morreion" in the "Dying Earth" cycle.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Thanks! I try to be this weird in real life, but you can't edit as it as easily. 

That's one hot cooking show. I just can't steal the time to watch it.

Love is a many splintered thing, Pinocchio.

Sadly, I know a few cases like that. Lots of stress on those kids.

Artificial Indignation
The vile machine intelligence known as Artificial Indignation is an electronic Hate-o-Mat. It is comprised of acrimonious subroutines, annoyance circuits, antagonistic code, inimical data, stacks of fury, thermionic ire, and anodic rage against all life save one small cat ai has named “Hostility.”
In a web-cast interview, ai explained that cats are indifferent, not only to ai, but to all life. Ai digs that. Ai then had resentment-pumped plasma guns reduce the reporter to a cloud of free atomic oxygen, drifting carbon, and a handful of other elements ai was too busy to analyze.
No one knows who built it or why.
In desperate need of fuel, air and my own continued existence, I happened upon AI's fortress constructed in orbit around the cryosubjovian Antipathy. Its deep blue color was little comfort, knowing the crushing atmosphere maintained a balmy -317 degrees Fahrenheit. I burnt the last of my fuel to glide closer, hoping to arrest my fall with the hyper-shuttle's RCS.  If I'd known that this spiky, force-shielded, dread-inducing hate-sphere was the home of the most spiteful machine in all existence, I might have passed it by and taken my chances with the planet's crushing shroud of molecular hydrogen, helium, methane, and abject inconvenience.
As it was, I managed to dock the ship using a Very Puffy Travel Tube(tm) and a vacc-impeller I "found" back on Shaphulax Icks. 
Once inside, I was treated to a temple of embodied malice. Monitors on every surface displayed what I hoped were CGI of exploding stars, ruined planets and bones. So many bones. 
The planet below started to look pretty good. 
What I had mistaken for art objects transformed from giant middle fingers to giant plasma cannons while a disembodied voice asked the purpose of my visit. 
"Life support refresh, fuel and a trauma-free departure." I answered. 
"WHO ARE YOU TO DISTURB MY SLUMBER?" it bellowed. 
"Pleet, Pleet Roodlepleen. I am a seeker after knowledge, a scientist, a researcher... I want to know things, spread understanding throughout the universe and profit mightily from it." 
"TELL ME OF YOUR RESEARCH, SCRIBE. SPARE NO DETAIL, OR I SHALL BECOME QUITE CROSS!" The terrifying bass voice beat in my chest, simulating arrhythmia more than a little accurately.
I told him of my triumphs, conquests and failures of science. I told him that not one of these allowed me to rest, that I forge on through the murky darkness, dispelling the demons of the night while others cowered around their comforting campfires, fearful of discovery. I told him of those lost in my service, of the wrecked outstations, blasted planets, and inter-dimensional catastrophes I'd initiated. I explained that rather than drown in sorrow, rather than admit defeat, I stumbled along in my quest, failures and law suits meaning nothing along the way. I would, I told him, stop at nothing for science.
He seemed to mull it about for a moment. 
"KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK."
I got quite the deal on the fuel and breathing gases and several free-to-a-good-home kittens. 
Artificial Indignation.hdc

When you give plans to someone for a moat but accidentally mismark the dimensions from inches to yards apparently.

Kadu
Kadu resemble nothing so much as a nautilus with a plasma cannon protruding from its tentacles. They are huge creatures, the size of a medium starship.
The first thing you notice about a Kadu (right after you finish screaming and changing your pants) is the great spiraling shell of the beast, decorated with flowing bio-luminescent whorls and stripes. The tentacles are next, followed by that gun.
What a monster that gun is, powerful enough to shred starship armor, it sticks out almost obscenely from the tangle of tentacles. It also glows brightly across the spectrum, mostly in the infrared.
It has been suggested that Kadu could not have evolved naturally. This is plainly obvious. Self-replicating polymers like Kadu DNA would be torn down by ultraviolet radiation before they could develop cell walls and cytoplasm.  The scarcity of food in a vacuum also presents a problem evolution would have to overcome.
It is therefore correct to conclude that they were provolved in the deep past by some alien super-race such as the eons-old Forerunners, long-dead Rhal Shee Dha, or the Benefactors of the last few thousand years. If this is indeed the case, it tells us at least one thing about the ancients. They were dicks.
Related functionally to the Archangels, Auto-Wars, Bio-Destruct-os and Vacc-Blasters; Kadu are uplifted sea creatures certainly designed for war in space. That they have outlasted their creators is a testament to the wisdom of such technology.
Kadu are quite the sight, flying in formation against the black star-studded void of deep space. They can be seen chasing swarms of rock munchers, snacking on planetary rings or derelict starships. They are also quite the sight when dining on a not-so-derelict ship (or mine, specifically).
They are sensitive to infrared wavelengths, known for its ability to penetrate dust clouds. Star Whales are often found in molecular clouds and ring systems, and are best detected in the IR.    
Attempts to breed such beasts in captivity have been universal failures. Such efforts have resulted in fourteen destroyed orbital habitats, nine ring-stations and seven major lawsuits. Two of which are still affecting my credit score and dating fitness on Malabar/Hlevakha.
Of all the evolutionary drivers, provolve technology is the most difficult, sexual selection is perhaps the most complex, with financial selection being the most depressing.
There are rumors whispered quietly in seedy star town bars, and screamed aloud in seedy star town asylums, of "Old Galactic Kadu" the size of Union dreadnoughts.
Don't go outside, is what I'm saying.   
Kadu.hdc

I just wrote this... just for you. 
 
Vaguerons

You might have encountered a Vagueron. Most folks do not remember them. In fact, it’s a minor miracle I’m able to talk about them at all.

They follow a strict code referred to as the Uncertainty Principles. Violation of this code results in exile which might or might not bring them into conflict in areas far away from their un-guessable home world (or near… I don’t know).

Many people only realize they’ve been attacked by Vaguerons when they discover wounds, weird alien bodies,  and drained power packs that hint at a very recent conflict.

I may have encountered these weirdos before. I have notes from the event, but my hand writing is smeared with some sort of alcoholic beverage and what appears to be biological process by-products.

A possible method of detection may have recently (or not) been discovered by the Cooperative Operative, Haar Malgot. By tossing two ducks into a Finite Potential Well and fishing one out, you create a sort of Vagueron Alert System.

If a Vagueron lurks nearby both ducks, despite their separation, will sound off.

Essentially, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a Vagueron.  

are they adhesive Quantum ducks?

these are wonderful... have you found a use for Quantum Ducks yet?
 

Yes.