unclevlad

You recall....or Google recalls for you? Either way...yep. But...not applicable. Euthanasia can only be performed on something living. Ahh, Asia. Masters of the excess known as stadium rock. The band you loved but would NEVER admit to listening to.

Yeah, but Coach Prime's goal...Colorado recruiting out of Texas and Florida??? Let's take another Asia song... Wildest dreams Wildest dreams Wildest dreams Wildest dreams Fly away... No, not in this world No, not in the next No, not in my wildest dreams Besides, it's old news. Oh the UNIVERSITY!!! OK, that's a little different...the players left months ago. (47 of em...in the spring window alone.) The Pac 12 is a dead man walking; the WAC and Mountain West are still probably considered little league conferences. Not sure that the Pac 12 of the last 5 years is *that* much better in the major sports, but WAC/MWC have even worse image problems. Big 10 is bloated. I'm not sure the Big 12 will really have great cred in its new alignment...at least not in football. ESPN is reporting meetings are scheduled for tomorrow...and suggesting the move may be announced tomorrow. Finebaum minced no words...if Colorado leaves, "you might as well give [the Pac 12] last rites."

Plus, I also saw an article that Musk's graphic may be too generic to be trademarkable. And the Daily Beast is reporting: a) Musk insinuates Bronny James' cardiac incident could be related to being vaccinated b) Fact checking statements about the tweet were quickly removed Antagonize LeBron? About a VERY!!!!! sensitive personal issue??? Beyond the irresponsible nature of the tweet, beyond the hypocrisy in removing the fact checking...LeBron is still a significant brand in his own right. The companies Musk is trying to draw back to his platform as advertisers, will consider this another sign that they can't trust Musk. The man is the world's champion at sticking his foot in his mouth.

Someone called a bomb threat into the Kansas Jayhawks football facility Monday. A few hours later, one of the players on the team was arrested for it. Kid, what were you thinking? Because if you did this? You just destroyed your chances at...well, pretty much anything good in life. He's facing felony charges that carry 31 to 136 months in prison, altho fines and supervised probation are possible too. Even at that, it's a felony record. Elsewhere...Jim Harbaugh is about to be suspended. Sporting News lists such egregious violations as too many coaches on the field during practice and unauthorized video observation of practice. But the big one?? Misleading investigators about another potential violation. This one...oh my, it's so bad. He bought cheeseburgers for a few recruits. The shame!!!! The PERFIDY!!! The punishment for this? 4 game suspension. That's ok, it's probably better if he doesn't coach the games he'll be suspended for, they'd be bad for his health. They're 4 total cupcakes...East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green, and Rutgers...all in Ann Arbor. Wow, that'll really deter other coaches...... Cheeseburgers, in a day of NIL. And 4 meaningless game suspensions. The NCAA shows again its irrelevance.

Like Watson has a solid postseason track record? And Burrow? It'll be even more ridiculous. The other part of this insanity is the ripple effect it'll have downmarket. This is the current state: https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback We need to go down a ways, as of course the big contracts are recent signings. Cousins and Tannehill are too old to be looking at big raises. Goff? If the Lions are respectable? Geno Smith and Jimmy G. will probably be too old to really cash in, as their contracts still have 3 seasons. Jordan Love's 'only' pulling $13M...he's got 2 years now to show if he can cut it. If he's halfway decent, tho...$30M? The insanity will show when Trevor Lawrence's rookie deal runs out.

The Braves may simply see things that say he might be able to do better, OUTSIDE of Coors. There's also a chicken and egg problem...are the pitchers just bad, or is some of it less than great coaching? I always looked at the D'backs...Scherzer never did anything in Arizona. Corbin could never get it together. The list of pitchers the D'backs quit on, is pretty stunning. So maybe that's some of the case with the Rockies.

The world is indeed coming to an end.........................

VERY scary stuff. I remember Gathers as well. Bias...that one, cocaine was considered a major factor. Reggie Lewis' case was...contentious, to say the least. I remember when that one happened, too...and the very first thought I had was, oh man...Celtics again. Drugs again??? I hope not!!! But that question was never clearly resolved. USC had a separate incident last summer, with another freshman recruit. Another cardiac event. The kid came back to play, but his season was strongly curtailed as the team medical and training staff kept a VERY!! close eye on things, as they absolutely should. The details matter in terms of how things will go moving forward, but the careful, methodical approach can be safely assumed, particularly given that Bronny has SUCH a massive profile. We'll all start with hoping Bronny's health is the top priority...which suggests there's no way he can be NBA-ready for 24-25. Makes ya wonder if LeBron will structure things to be a part-time player for THAT season, at a MUCH lower salary, so he can conceivably play in 25-26.

From the recipes I saw, the caramelization is one of the big features of the recipe.

I can only partially agree. Come on...base running 101, you tag up when a ball is caught. That started in little league. Much of it? I don't think it's so much that players haven't been trained to run bases, it's that they're trained to NOT THINK. To be mindlessly aggressive, throw out every runner, try for every base...even when there's no chance of it working, or a really slim chance. Even when the situation says NO. It isn't even the 3 true outcomes. Heck, I'd bet players never heard of that until quite recently...that's a stat geek's point. There's indirect applicability, in that hitters were mis-taught for ages. Always swing for the fences, strikeouts are acceptable as long as you can blast the ball. Pitchers taught to avoid contact...maybe that's 3 true outcome related, but I'd say blaming 3TO is putting the cart before the horse. 3TO is an attempt to isolate the pitcher-hitter interaction, separate from the defense. Condensed down: players are taught skills...not the game. Second point: the push to be noticed. Want to make your all-city little league team? You have to be good...but you have to stand out. Same with all-state in HS, or catching a scout's eye. The summer sports camps, run mostly by the sports gear/shoes companies? That's where you get those 3, 4, 5 star rankings you hear about ALL the time with football and basketball college recruiting. You have to stand out. And of course, you're ALWAYS!!!! taught to give 110%!!!!! Don't THINK, just GO!!! In part, because it's not just narrow aspects of baseball; it's not just baseball. What's valued more, a dramatic slam dunk, or adding 10-15% onto your free throw shooting percentage? In football...sticking the ball out to try for the extra foot...thereby exposing it, and sometimes losing it. There ARE times to do that...but more where it's wrong. There are roots deep in the overall culture of sports here.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/world/gulf-stream-atlantic-current-collapse-climate-scn-intl/index.html#:~:text=A new study published Tuesday,a giant global conveyor belt.

Welllllllllll............. I may just have to try one or two of these come holiday time. As a little indulgence. Not the best time of year, tho, to post the story, Eater. WARNING to those interested: IT IS PROBABLY TOO HOT TO SAFELY SHIP CHOCOLATE in many parts of the country.

EVERYONE botches the fundamentals, it seems. D'backs had a good handful of them over the last several games...runner tries to steal 3rd with 2 outs, was one 1 remember. There was a very recent game where the 2 analysts were former players. None out, batter smacks a ball, easy double...but then he tries to stretch, and he's thrown out at 3rd. The (@#$(&@#$ analysts are saying "well that's not so bad" even after a suggestion of "NOT GOOD play!!" Base running is THE PITS. It's by far the worst phase of the game, and has been for YEARS. That analyst reaction kinda set me off...because thinking it MIGHT be OK shows why things have gotten so bloody bad.

Perhaps a new low just now, for MORONIC base running. Bottom 7, visiting Rockies up 6-1. Nats have 1st and 2nd, none out. Line drive to 3rd, snared. Runners are in bad position; 3rd baseman tries to get the runner on 2nd. Not a terrible play but he doesn't have a good target...and throws the ball away. Runners move up. The runner on 2nd tags 2nd first...the ball *was* caught. The runner on 1st? Never gets closer than 20 feet to tagging back up. Everyone in the stadium knows exactly what's gonna happen. Yep. Appeal's made to 1st. Runner's out. Hoo boy....then the Rockies get runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Pitcher turns to throw to first...but the first baseman's not there, so he eats the ball. BALK!!!! SOME kind of comms breakdown. Terrible fundamentals. Happens way, way too often.

Some thoughts on LL's STR Adds To Damage. It's not that easy to use. In 6E, the dice added from STR have to be notably higher than what you'd get just adding more dice to the Blast itself. 25 STR, say...6d6 Blast with STR Adds, you get 2 more dice. Nice. 8d6? You only get 1 more. So there's a balancing act. Also, this is increasing the END of the base blast, THEN you have to spend the END for the STR. Not a big difference...and it's possible to play END Break Point games...but it's there. 5E would seem the more natural problem child...but...this is NOT!!! applying Ranged to an HA. HAs get a unique treatment...the HA increases the base damage from STR. In essence, that *is* saying it's STR, only to do damage. Energy Blast is an attack in itself, so that marks the upper limit of how much damage you can add from all other elements. STR is second only to DEX in value, because of figured characteristics, but if you want 35 STR, say, to take advantage of the figured characteristics, you have to buy a 7d6 Energy Blast, with a fairly expensive advantage. And, if only 7d6 Blast? You can't buy martial DCs, or maneuvers with +DCs, or convert levels with Blast to damage. You're capped. Note that it's also fairly expensive, and again, the END cost increase has to be addressed.

It's legal in 6E; in HD, I think it's the only way to do it. What is, and isn't allowed through a naked advantage is something to be discussed with the GM, tho, as RAW is extremely nebulous here. I wish HD supported a limitation on an advantage...but it just doesn't have the underlying structure needed, and to be fair, it would get rather complex. Imagine an MP with common mods, a power with standard advantages, a limited advantage, and a standard limitation. YOUCH! There'd also have to be a formalization of how this impacted the active points, so...it's not simple. EDIT: Duke...yeah, back in the day, I had a spreadsheet that handled MPs and ECs and figured characteristics and the like...I think it computed max velocity using the older non-com rules. If you're doing that, then it can be straightforward to simply convert every advantage to its point cost...and add them all up. Doing THAT, then applying a limitation to an advantage is easy.

What's the application? Cuz IMO this doesn't rise to the level of "equipment" unless your tech level is rather low. No points, no definition, in most cases. If I absolutely MUST define it? Images, sight group, with a -2 limitation of "what's in front of it". But why define it?

IMO, no. A movement mode suggests that you have control. Also, how are you thinking CE would apply? Rather than a movement mode...come to think, from a physics perspective...terminal velocity is the point at which the force exerted by drag, as you move through the medium, equals the force exerted by gravity. Drag points up; gravity points down. (Buoyancy comes into play, but would be negligible for this discussion.) Gravity is basically constant. Drag force is a function of velocity and drag coefficient...how does the medium affect your movement? A parachutist can adjust his drag coefficent before deploying his chute, by adjusting his position in the air. Upright, arms and legs in tight? Faster...even much faster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity#:~:text=Terminal velocity is the maximum,G) acting on the object. So if a power essentially alters your drag coefficient, it would, as you note, cap your terminal velocity. If your terminal velo is 20 m/s...note that this is 1/3 of the book's terminal velo (6E2 141) of 60 m/s. That's enough that I might adjust how long it takes to reach terminal velo, as the drag kicks in. (Drag increases with the SQUARE of velocity, so the high drag would become a factor once you start having some fall velo.) So maybe 10m in segment 1, 15 in segment 2, 20 in segment 3 and beyond...just to be reasonably simple. But also note that per 6E2 140, once you're moving 20+ m/s, the falling damage is 1d6 per 2 m/s of fall velo. That's still 10d6. So, a power that alters your drag coefficient? That would be fine. I'm NOT!!!! invoking Flight or anything else. Flight requires phases, which makes things a mess. Nope. Make a new one. Slowfall. Definition? Lots possible. Let's start with a relatively tight one, by my lights anyway: 1 CP reduces your terminal velo by 5 m/s....so 10 CP reduces your terminal velo to 10 m/s. The power is Constant, and costs END. You can abort to this power. Variants? 1 CP reduces terminal velo by 10 m/s, would be an obvious one. I'd probably keep the rest the same. If 1 CP for 5 m/s, then perhaps it's defined to be 0 END, like Clinging. This is nice, as END use is per phase...so we get back into the phases vs. segments issue. Note that on a longer fall, if you're only falling 10 m/s, you're something of a sitting duck; the rules about attacking a falling character still apply. Velocity-based DCV wouldn't help much. It'd also potentially take a rather long time.

Principally for Running and Flight, where 6E MegaScale is too much (in both cost and effect) High Scale +1/4 -- x3 NC +1/2 -- x10 NC +3/4 -- x30 NC +1 -- x100 NC High Scale DOES work with non-combat multipliers, including the baseline. So you get a net x6 for +1/4; net x12 if you buy a 5 point NCM and +1/4 High Scale. It is still, of course, non-combat movement with the standard OCV and DCV adjustments. Also, like MegaScale, you can't use High Scale to do a Move Through. High Scale works with NCMs because you're paying for the NCM anyway, and you're not getting the massive, crazy jump you get with MegaScale. A similar pattern can be used for the related Mega scaling like MegaRange, but this hasn't been a concern of mine often enough. For example: 5 SPD, 18m base flight. x4 NCM (+5 points). High Scale, 1m -> 10m, +1/2. 23 points with +1/2, 34 points. Net speed: 650 mph. Commercial jet level. Another one is Gate. This isn't new, so much, as repackaging a feature of Teleport. Gate combines Constant, AoE, and some form of UOO; the base level for "1 person at a time" should just be UBO. You can get AoE up to 4m for +1/4, so the net here is +1. Then, there's a mandatory limitation that it's a 2-way gate, that's -1/2. I'd rather keep it simple, and call the entire base construction +1/2. XDM is often conceptually similar to Teleport, so I also allow it to be expanded to that power.

I don't disagree, but it's not the point, IMO. They WANTED to strike these down. It's one of those pesky anti-business rules. That it will cost money, health, and possibly even lies, isn't an issue at all. So, it's not that they don't understand; it's WORSE. They DO.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/21/1189179220/amid-a-record-heat-wave-texas-construction-workers-lose-their-right-to-rest-brea

VERY rare occurence this evening, Braves vs. Brewers. Braves starting pitcher is a minor league call-up making his ML debut. Does pretty good too. BUT.... Brewers also call up a kid making HIS ML debut in this game. Sal Frelick. And OH MY, does he have a game!!!!! First AB...single. Against the other call-up. Nice start...but it gets better. Second AB...another single. Third AB...another single, that drives in the kid's first ML RBI...and ties the game, in the bottom of the 5th Top of the 6th...makes not one, but 2 excellent catches, robbiing a possible HR and a double, possibly triple. To cap it off...as if he needs to do any more... In his 4th AB with a runner on third, he rips a solid line drive to right. Pretty good chance of being his 4th hit, but not quite placed for it. Instead, it's "just* a sac fly that drives in the go ahead...and ultimately WINNING run, as no one else scores the rest of the way.

I could go for the Washington Swamp Rats.

The cheesecake recipe I used to have was a 2-layer cake. Bottom layer, cream cheese. Top layer, sour cream. Lazy me? Toss em together and do it as one layer. AB's recipe adds eggs and cream; I'm fairly sure mine didn't use cream, but it probably had eggs. Been a LONG time. I do know I used lemon juice in it. And this year, I've started using orange oil. NOT extract, the orange oil itself. Much cleaner, more honest flavor. It should work beautifully here. Thing is...if you use fake sugar, this is low carb. HIGH!!! fat, mind, but low carb. I don't have to be nearly as fastidious about fat.

Not disagreeing at all with what you're saying there, LW... But just pointing out...it's a problem because of the insistence on tying it to SPD, and therefore the SPD chart. DON'T Define a new mechanic altogether that doesn't have the overwhelming baggage. RAW is not, and has never been, complete. Not everything that you want to define is a good fit for what it has. There are several things where trying to cram things into the existing structure is seriously wrong-minded, IMO. The rules work well for MOST cases...but the power development model has major flaws at times.