Michael Hopcroft

Blood Bowl is an incredibly popular game of "fantasy football" with an intriguing set of rules of play. If I were to take those rules of play, remove the more extreme violence, and place the whole thing in 3D and microgravity, we would have a potentially popular and lucrative sport for sci-fi campaigns, especially on orbital habitats as posited in various Mobile Suit Gundam series (like Wing and 00). In Starfinder's Pact Worlds, where much of the "human homeworld" of Absalom Station is trapped in grinding poverty, sports remains a way to crawl out of poverty and get your name in all the newsfeeds.

An interesting note about the Draft: second overall pick Nick Bosa has a colorful family history. Not only is he a third-generation NFLer, but his great-grandfather turns out to be Tony "Joey Batters" Accardo, a major figure in the Chicago Mob. Accardo rose up the ranks after Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz for tax evasion. Eventually, he became the head of the "Outfit" founded by Al Capone and retained power in the mob for forty years. He preferred to keep a low profile, eschewing a fancy lifestyle to concentrate on accumulating wealth and power. As late as the 1970s, Accardo demonstrated he was not a man to cross -- when his Chicago home was burglarized in 1976, he found out who was responsible and had their throats cut. He lived to the age of 86 and died of natural causes. The first generation of football players in Bosa's family, linebacker Eric Kumerow, faced scrutiny in his four-year career about his grandfather's ties to the mob. He himself turned out to have no personal connection to Accardo. The full story can be read in the current Sports Illustrated.

Q: Didn't anyone ever teach you how to set the table? A: A surprise around every corner!

The Portland Trailblazers radio feed of Game 4 of their playoff series with Denver (they lead 2-1 in the best-of-seven, and can really put the Nuggets over a barrel with a win tonight).

Did anyone see the entirety of that four-overtime thriller in Portland a couple of days ago? A friend who was there told me it was unbelievable, and I told him he had seen a grandfather moment (having seen or done something to tell his grandchildren, although he actually is a grandfather). This playoff will be part o Blazer lore for decades. And if they can beat the Nuggets in the series they go to the Conference Final where they have a puncher's chance. The odds are still against them, but the odds were against the Blazers in 1977 too, and any Portlander knows what happened then.

Bump.

...a secret Cthulhu cultist, and suddenly you no longer have a dog or a cat -- and every one you adopt disappears within hours. NT: Subtle signs that choosing the lesser evil was a poor move.

Almost certain not to pay their fair share of the rent. Sucker!

This has become a bit of an earworm -- and for a Cartoon Network series, it's a surprisingly grim song.

The question is does he resent his summoner? In the Aladdin movie, for example, Genie liked Aladdin and was willing to fill his requests, but he recognized Jafar's ego and wickedness and despised him for it. He obeyed reluctantly and was more than willing to push Jafar into Aladdin's trap. If the summoner is a villain and views the Genie as his slave, the Genie will seek ways to rid himself of his burdensome "master" -- you tell him to do something at your peril.

Trademark Infringement (the band had to cut the T.A. out of its name in the face of legal action from the City).

Youtube artist Caleb Hyles covering Queen. Draw your own conclusions.

Innocent

Half-Life

Q: Can you make bread out of this scorched grain? A: While you may be skeptical, I assure you that this pill will definitely make your enemies see red, even when nothing red is actually there!

Severe protein and calcium deficiencies.

...but you really don't want to mess with those splotchy brown flowers. Bump

I wonder if the way the film was mis-marketed as a comedy was a form of deliberate sabotage.

Terrorism in Saudi Arabia is whatever the Crown Prince says it is. Why we hate the Iranian theocracy and are firm allies with the Saudi theocracy is beyond me. The two countries are involved in a sort of Persian Gulf Cold War, with fingers in pies throughout the Middle East, and neither is particularly fond of Israel. (Then again, I'm no fan of the Netanyahu regime either.)

Q: Using time travel to open new Domino's locations is a great idea, isn't it? A: In space, no one can hear you whistle "Waltzing Matilda" off-key.

Q: I can understand Steve Carrell wanting to do the crossover episode, but isn't Leonard Nimoy still somewhat dead? A: Oh, I died several years ago. Bubonic plague, I believe. But I'm all better now!

Q: What is that tall half-human, half-dog monstrosity doing at the hockey rink? A; In this universe, everyone is Goofy.

Q: Does Squaresoft's new Disney Princess game look a little too rodenty for some reason? A: What a Mickey Mouse operation!

It's an unpleasant day when you realize you just paid a bill twice when you had just enough money to pay it once. The stupid it burns...