unclevlad

A few musings... I agree that the mega-overarching, split between 9 titles over 8 months and 20-odd issue, story lines turned me totally off, especially in conjunction with the massive decline in artistic effort. Cripes, the newer stuff looks like elementary-school doodles sometimes. I think another potential explanation is, the existence of a build path is inherent in fantasy RPGs; they were designed with that as a core assumption. So yeah, fine, 1st level is WIMPSVILLE, but we can approach the power levels of at least a good chunk of fantasy heroes. Trying to pull off the more popular comics heroes is really tough. Power levels are hard to translate. The versatility one tends to see is tricky to pull off, and generally expensive. Thus, the fantasy RPG leads to wish fulfillment better than the supers RPG. Something else that hasn't been mentioned. Complexity and support. Point buy is inherently more complex than level-based. Mechanically, a level-based character takes little time to build. (Well, possibly in later D&D 3.5 it got messy because of the explosive proliferation of PRCs that you wanted to plan for.) Never true in point-based. Plus, I find I need a more complete concept for point-based, because there are so many more options. Support...monsters. Items. Locations. Plot hooks. TONS of everything for D&D that you could use or adapt pretty easily. Not so much for supers. That said, I also strongly suspect that the freedom to act as you bloody well want to act, with no repercussions whatsoever quite often, and the more concrete rewards system...the sense of moving forward steadily and consistently...are central points.

We are sooooo weird. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2809849-lyle-erik-menendez-photographed-on-former-knicks-pg-mark-jacksons-hoops-card?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial In a nutshell: a basketball trading card apparently has 2 famous murderers in the shot as they sit courtside...so the price for the card has gone up from squat to 15-20 bucks.... We are celebrity-sick....

There's a few basketball and volleyball courts where they did different colors, and yeah, some of them are fugly. Back to the NFL...looks like several teams will have their backs against the wall. Bucs have to win at home against the Saints; Redskins need to staunch the flow against the Giants who are playing better; Colts have to try to stop the Texans. Then on Monday...gods, we kinda have to watch too. Or perhaps not. My satellite receiver pipes the audio to my stereo amp, and from there to the speakers. It doesn't actually need the TV to be on. Cuz loser of Vikes-Seahawks will be in pretty bad shape for playoffs....

Those green jerseys rate up there with the couple of college fields done in *red* turf. Boise State's blue is not great but the red ones? AHHH!!! Eye pain. There are some worse ones out there. Baylor University's basketball teams do these High Output Neon Yellow and green combos that are almost literally painful to me. Not a fan of the Broncos' all orange...and I love wearing orange, but that shade is awful as the central color.

Those were my takes, too. It's not RAW in relation to Explosion, but it fits both the general interpretation of Explosion as a limitation, and does behave reasonably similar to a real-world light. NOT taking Explosion becomes a D&D Light spell, where you hand wave and say "don't worry about it, it's magic." And it's not like the power is made 'cheap' by doing this. Base cost for a Sight Images, plus 12 points for the PER...ouch. 22 point baseline before advantages...nothing crazy, of course, but for the equivalent of an LED lantern. That's the annoying part.

So to set the specifics: Images, +4 to PER (to counteract darkness as per 6E1's sidebar). AoE radius 16m, Explosion. Only to produce light. So how would you interpret the light level? Simplest would seen +4 to 4 meters, +3 from 4+ to 8, +2 and +1 moving out to the boundary.

So is Giuliani trying to make lemonade, trading on his "I'm a security EXPERT!!!" to sell this, or is he just a complete, utter MORON? Willful ignorance or malicious misrepresentation? Or both. I avoid Twitter almost 100%. Not quite; I sometimes like to make snarky comments during Poker After Dark streams. But that's about it.

IDIOT!!! How many basic principles can you ignore? Punt returner for the Titans just cost his team a safety. Tried to catch the ball on his own 5...WRONG!!! Tried to run with it after getting it back...not inherently wrong. Lost track of where he was and danced around moving backwards...on his own goal line! With a swarm of Jags all there. Of course he's tackled in the end zone. Special teams coach should be reaming him thoroughly. THINK!!!! Of course, we're talking football. Not all of em are social promotion and non-academic curriculum beneficiaries...but quite a few of em are.....

Ugh. Alex Smith's dealing with an infection nasty enough to drop him back into the hospital, related to the injury and surgery. Probably not uncommon but can't make the recovery timetable shorter. Nice thing is, great access to care for it. And they're clearing out junk and fragments and stuff as part of fighting it...which indirectly means the damage is extended. And so is the recovery time; gotta think the clock resets at least to some degree each time they have to go in. I still contend all football players are prima facie insane..... Luck to him.

So CNN is reporting the NFL had the arrest report in February...and basically did nothing until the video. No requests for the video, no follow-on. Passive-aggressive inaction. Again.

On the long snapper...he's claiming something in a legal supplement, but that of course has to be taken with a tablespoon of salt. JUST a bit self-serving. Thing I can see is to somehow help recovery, if it was intentional. I have no issue with trading away an overrpriced flake. But wow...out of the blue. And Achilles too; that used to be a near-certain career-ender. Don't think it is any more but it's still bad. This season seems to be turning into a Cthulhu story...the good teams scrambled up the ladders already, and there's a whole bunch of secondary teams trying to scramble up...only to slip as the shoggoths arrive.....

This could never happen in the NFL...but it's related to the NFL's worst nightmare. Granted, any form of solo competition is easier to fix. https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/46411743 10 YEAR suspension. For what he did...heck yeah. Works for me. Now let's do this in MLB for PEDs, and I'd even like to see it in the NFL for, say, a James Harrison type who so repeatedly engaged in egregious, illegal hits. Granted, a 10 year ban in the more intense physical sports comes close to a lifetime ban, and therefore should only be reserved for the most severe infractions, but I'd love to see it on the table more.

I think scandal can destroy a candidacy; re-election is easier than winning the first time. The voters are less invested in you before you win. It's also somewhat easier to lose in a primary as an incumbent, rather than lose in the general. And avoid video!!! If it's just talk, you'll survive a lot more often. The greatest casualty of the Trump presidency has been Truth, but Truth with Pictures??? That's tougher to slough off.

Yeah, I think it's a bit too strong to say Meyer represents the worst, as that seems to single him out. He's another in the long line, is how I'd rather put it. Barnett, going back a ways, yes. More recently, Rick Pitino. A different aspect, but the North Carolina academic scandal. And yes, college sports has serious, core problems. They've been there for decades, but the explosive proliferation of broadcast time, translating into massive growth on the financial side, is much more recent. We can't ignore, at the big schools, the influence of mega-donations...Phil Knight with Oregon, T. Boone Pickens at OSU, etc. They expect success. They also tend to force all the other programs to upgrade...expensively. Whether through broad fundraising or a big-time SUGAR DADDY. It's a money game now. That inherently invites cheating and/or unethical behavior because the rewards are too great NOT to. (Ryan Braun.)

Not much needs to be added to this one... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/us/politics/trump-mueller-lying.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fsharon-lafraniere&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

...after McCoy suffers a broken leg.

And now he's got another excuse. AJ Green is going to be put on IR, according the the Fox crawl. So we can totally write them off the rest of this year.

Good read. There's also a response from a UK political philosopher, linked at the bottom, also worth a read.

Surprising only for the timing...Packers fire McCarthy. Next? I still think it's gonna be Marvin Lewis, and I'll even predict it's after next week...unless the Chargers are beat up after tonight's game. They have a theoretical shot at a playoff berth, albeit not a practical one with Dalton out, but they have to win out. 8-8 is not gonna make it in the AFC. Vance Joseph and Jerry's Boy are safe for the time being.

So the Giants are still the Giants. Kick a FG inside 2 minutes to go up 10. Bears warp downfield for a FG, helped by a roughing the passer...then pull off an onside kick, which is almost impossible. Then drive right back down to tie it on the last play. Don't care who wins; OT is just starting. That's just the Giants in a nutshell, it seems.

Yes, well, Iuz, send your thank-you card to Kirby Smart. Sheesh. Tie game, about 4 minutes left (?), 4th and 11 at midfield. Georgia tries a fake punt...in a textbook situation where the defense is in punt-safe. They're gonna let it go. Play does nothing. Bama gets the ball back, Hurts smartly moves Bama down for the go-ahead with about a minute left. Georgia got into position for 2 shots, but....not to be. So barring Clemson laying a major egg, looks like the playoffs are set. Bama/Sooners, Clemson/ND. How dull. Georgia winning would've made for a field day for predicting...both who's in and in what slots.

Nice gut check performance by UCF after an unexpected, mistake-riddled first half.

If law enforcement held it up, then OK. That's not something they can control...maybe. My seriously cynical side still says, law enforcement may have not right yet, it's too early, while the investigation on their end was still hot... Then the Chiefs and the NFL simply never asked later. It's too much in the interests of the team and league to NOT investigate, that this scenario has to be left on the table. And why I'll still doubt the integrity of the process.

HOLY *#$@. UCF game. They're talking about Milton's treatment. 3 operations *so far*...apparently now the blood flow in his leg is back to where it should be. Yes, it did cause some nerve damage but hopefully not much, and that shouldn't be getting worse. Still faces reconstructive knee surgery in 4-6 weeks, and it's still not clear if he'll be able to play again. GAH!!! I was really afraid that the bend way up by the knee was Very Bad Juju.....

OY!!! That safety made me go YEEEP!!! Not the Clowney hit from his bowl game but OUCH!!!!! Smart kid, too. Lifted his head, brought his arms forward, avoided the penalty that could've happened all too easily.