unclevlad

Targeting has to be explicitly applied as a Sense Modifier...and it's +10 points for a single sense, or +20 for a sense group. So targeting Clairsentience starts at 30 points before *anything* else, which for, say, Megascale, is getting rather expensive. N-Ray does not exist in 6E. It was dropped. 5E has it as part of the Unusual Sense group, but that group is a total mess of standalone exceptions...a terrible approach to ruie-building. When the sense groups were normalized and made coherent in 6E, either a) everything was folded into its 'natural' sense group (UV, IR, night vision into sight, ultrasonic into hearing), or b) as an Unusual Sense, you have to *buy* Ranged, Sense, etc. The Unusual group comes with nothing built in...but it does mean the sense is basically immune to flash. This also makes sense, as Penetrative can be used for hearing as well. Penetrative also got split into the strong version, and a more basic, Partial Penetrative...so you could see through, say, the walls of a normal house, but not necessarily the reinforced concrete of a high-rise. I like Partial Penetration for a "health sense"...you can see exactly where the problems are. Clairsentience gets EXTREMELY expensive very, very quickly. For a high-end teleporter one time, I went with Penetrative and boatloads of Telescopic on normal sight...DIRT cheap, and it's a targeting sense. +10 to the Range Mod gives 250m with no range mod; +20 gives x1000. So, +30 gives 250 km with no range mods at all. On just normal sight...it's only 16 points. But as a targeting sense, it's usable with teleportation, with no issues. No concern with range mods, or knowing the location. Not limited to places you've been. Little concern with safe arrival points, or teleporting into a situation you'll regret.

I started doing fruit syrups on pancakes and French toast ages ago. Real maple syrup is delicious but pricey. The usual stuff is...bleah!!!!! Mostly corn syrup, one dimensional sugar taste. That's when I started on the fruit syrups. They're still rather sweet tho, and when that became...unwise, I started doing a simple home-made alternative. Frozen berries...my favorite is black/blue/raspberry mix. About 100 grams, bit of stevia, good couple shakes of cinnamon (or Chinese five spice, yum, but be careful, it's pretty strong), zap for a minute, mash to mix everything, zap for another minute, mash again. Pour over the cakes/bread. All of those berries are actually carb-friendly.

Detroit's 1-5, and they've got the flip side: tremendous offense, but by far the worst defense in the league...giving up over 32 a game. NO is at 28 and change. You may well be right, but I think it'll be a close race. That said, it's rather likely to be a top-5 pick. Yeah, it's looking like the Wilson move is going to cripple the team for several years. Has Matty Ice melted? Colts announce a) grade 2 separated shoulder, so out for now, but also b) Sam Ehlinger is elevated to #1 for the rest of the season. Ryan's got yards, but YPA isn't great at < 7, 9 TDs in almost 300 attempts is bad, and 9 INTs is horrible. Passer rating is 19th among QBs with at least 1000 passing yards (my threshold to avoid small sample size issues). For comparison: 6 QBs have thrown 9 TD passes. # of attempts...Tua has the fewest at 150, Trevor Lawrence has the most (other than Ryan) at 246. 9 picks is the most. Ryan's also tied with Joe Burrow for most times sacked at 24...and we've cringed seeing how many hits Burrow's been absorbing. And we can go a bit broader...has time caught up to Brady? Possible. Wilson? Possible, but more complex. Rodgers? Lordy, I hope so. But this is suggesting a potential *serious* upheaval among those perceived to be top QBs.

Oh man, circus peanuts are AWFUL!! Licorice flavor is intense; it's understandably divisive. Banana is rarely overly strong, but it just doesn't work for me. The only thing worse? PEEPS!

As was pointed out, the 4 teams in the 2nd round in the NFC last year are 12-15. Tampa Bay looked awful. Green Bay might be imploding. San Fran...unclear how they'll fare with McCaffrey. Rams got gutted, so this isn't that surprising. So it's gonna be mostly new teams...or teams with even worse history in the clutch, like Minnesota or Dallas.

And even more, I suspect they're facing largely packed-in defenses that don't give them much else. According to this: https://www.nba.com/news/5-takeaways-blazers-lakers-suns-clippers when the Blazers made their comeback, basically it was "let Westbrook shoot." Sounds pretty good to me, since he's 11-38 overall and 1-12 from 3. As a team, the Lakers have 1 player shooting over 30% from 3...and that's a guy who's only take 5, in 30 minutes over 2 games. Their 21% from 3 is 8 full points behind the next worst...Chicago and Minnesota are about even. It is UNDER HALF the percentage of the Cavs and Nuggets. The gap is so big that starting from the Cavs at #1, 44.3%...dropping 8% to 36.3%? That's #16, Phoenix.

Got to think the rumbling in LA is getting louder. Lakers are up 7, at home, under 2 minutes left...and lose. In the last stretch, Beverly misses a 3, a shot gets blocked, James misses a long step-back 3, Westbrook misses a mid-range, while Portland puts up 9 to take the lead. Lakers get a James layup, but Portland scores with only 3 seconds left. Lakers miss a James turnaround...likely rather contested. Lakers are now 0-3. They go 6-33 from 3 again. Westbrook continues to lay bricks...4-15. He went 0-4 in the last 4 1/2 minutes before being yanked with 12 seconds left, and the Lakers down 2. Which may turn out to be lighting the fuse on the whole thing blowing up.

And indeed we do. This was the first time the Yankees seemed to have a pulse, but the Astros came back, and came back. Judge grounds out to the pitcher to end the game, Astros sweep. And the weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Big Apple is absolutely deafening. It will be a fascinating off-season for both NY teams. Meanwhile, the Astros are 7-0...sorry Stro-haters. Of course, the WS STILL doesn't start until Friday. <sigh>

Watching baseball rather than SNF...wow, looking at the 2nd half play by play, glad I skipped it. It's really getting to be a major issue. Why is offense SO BAD on so many teams? 2nd half started with turnover on downs (4 plays) and 9 punts.

Doesn't count. Texans are inept across the board. They're pretty clearly a strong contender for the #1 pick...altho Detroit has the inside track right now. Well they should; it's been their DNA, despite a burst of respectability from 11-17. 7 seasons of 4 wins or less in this millenium. Texans, Panthers, Lions, I'll throw the Broncos in there because I think the defense won't hold up and have no reason to believe the offense can step up, not 7 games in. Oh, and just to make Mr. P's day...at least 2 sites are suggesting Denver as a big-time seller before the trade deadline, particularly as they've got a lot of UFAs, including Bradley Chubb...and I wouldn't hold out hope they'll stick. In part because the org traded Miller last year. They have 18 total UFAs from the current active roster...that projects to be a lot of turnover.

And Harper in the 8th. Didn't much care between em, but I'd rather have had the Padres, if only for virtually no weather risk. Rain in Philly for much of the game, and the game in NY's been delayed over an hour already. I'm basically assuming the Yankees are gone...as are the NY fans. Report was, tickets that went for $200 on the secondary market, dropped to $28 since they're down 3-0. That was before the weather issues.

To a degree...yes, probably so. Refocused, at least. But one has to be somewhat careful...they've beaten the incompetent Broncos and no-defense Lions in a shootout. Broncos...when are people gonna start ranking them properly? They're BAD, but CBS had em as high as 23. Lions, OTOH, were 31 this week. They've beaten a Cards team that may be weeks away from a coaching change, and were #24 this week. They do get credit for this one today. But they've also lost to the Falcons and Saints. So.....who knows? Bills. Chiefs, altho their defense is somewhat suspect at times. Eagles. These are the 3 front-runners, and IMO better than even money one of em will win the SB, barring injuries. Giants have grit, I don't think they'll be an easy out. Dallas, good gosh, who really knows? Jets...I don't think they're there yet. Vikes? I cannot trust Cousins. And THEIR wins are VERY suspect...Detroit, Saints, Bears, and Miami w/o Tua. The opening win against GB is looking shakier all the time too.

Not surprisingly, the Bronco offense was nonexistent after a bit of early activity. In 7 games, they've now gone over 16 points *once*.

Side note #2. Every team in the NFC South is below .500.

Or the Broncos. Amusing side note on the ESPN scoreboard. McCaffrey is the leading rusher for the Niners right now, 2 carries for 19 yards. His pic is in a BLUE uniform. OOPS!!!

Giants are playing old school. 79 yards mostly on the ground...Daniel Jones had a couple NICE scrambles, Barkley hammered for a bunch...to take the lead. Shut down the Jags. Get the ball with 4 1/2 minutes, run, run, run, run, run...moving the ball 50 yards, burn the clock and the Jags' time outs. They burn it all the way down to a minute...the refs said Barkley didn't go down in bounds quite right, he went OB before giving himself up. Debatable, and meaningful...gave Jags an extra 40 seconds on the clock before going for the FG. Bucs? Brady has no running game. At all. They had 2 running plays for 9 and 11...but otherwise, the backs had 12 carries for 23 yards. 16 total rushes, 50 pass plays. Toooooo many big plays...Carolina had 343 yards but only 14 first downs, which means chunk plays. Is it Brady and age, or poor line, or poor receivers? Dunno. Oh my, there's #2. WASHINGTON (!!!) over Green Bay. Story here looks to be the GB defense...Washington ran 72 plays to GB's 46. Wash went 7-16 on 3rd down. ToP was 37-23. Yardage was 364-220. Oh...there's another reason. GB 0-6 on 3rd downs. One of the GB scores was defensive, a pick-6. So issues across the board for the Pack. The last minute of Giants-Jags is taking FOREVER. Giants are getting called for flag after flag after flag, extending the Jags' drive...to the point where they've made it to the red zone with 20 seconds left. Giants kinda ESCAPE!!! at the end...pass complete to a receiver at the 1....but he's hit by multiple defenders and held out. Clock runs out. Giants win 23-17. Not terribly clean or pretty, especially at the end, but they're 6-1.....

Pretty good game, it's the one I'm getting from Fox. Infinitely better than the CBS game. PANTHERS (!!!) are up 14 in the Bucs, end of 3. Bucs are in the red zone, but they're showing nothing on the ground, so...who knows. Bucs have NO balance whatsoever, 41 passes to 14 rushes. Some other potential upsets teasing me..... EDIT: oh my. I shoulda bought lottery tickets... Bucs get down to 1st and goal at the 8. 3 short passes all fall incomplete; they settle for a semi-pointless field goal at 14-3, but I'd argue the play calls before this. THEN, the Bucs' defense gives up 75 yards in 7 plays, including 2 of 20+. THAT has been the story, along with the Bucs' terrible offense. Carolina has 3 TDs, all based on gouge plays...21, 23, and 20 yards on the first drive, 60 then 17 for the TD on consecutive plays, then this one. It's 21-3, and Carolina has the ball. Just running clock. Got it close to midfield, they'll have to punt, but they burned about 4 minutes. Pretty much over...

NMSU was scheduled to play tonight but the game was postponed. They were to play San Jose State here, but a freshman running back at SJSU was hit and killed in a traffic accident Friday morning. He was 18.

If TCU can't come back against K-State...down 11 at halftime at home...that'll mean the #7, #8, and #9 teams lose. Oregon was #10, they'll clearly rise to #7...but that still suggests the big separation is between the top 6 (OSU, MIch, Tenn, Clemson, Georgia, Bama) and the rest is potentially...pretty big. I put Bama with the top group because a) they're Bama, and b) if they can win out, they reach the SEC title game. Win that, and we'll have both Georgia and Bama in the playoffs. We can't have that in the Big 10. Michigan and OSU are in the same division...so they'll play each other, and only one of em can make the conference title game. OK, so TCU came back...I left this hanging. Oops. But again, I think they need help, beyond winning out. Elsewhere, Colorado returned to title form, getting chewed up by the Beavers 42-9.

That's OK, we'll just let you watch the UCLA-Oregon game again..........

Yankee bats turn to sawdust again. 8th inning says it. Reliever starting the inning walks the 7 and 8 hitters...gets the #9 hitter. Rizzo comes up, tho, 2 on, 1 out, down 5. Line drive to 2nd...easy. COULD have been dropped to try for a double play, it was close, but that'd be risky. 2 outs, Judge up. Swings at a ball well inside, squibs one to 3rd. Easy out. Threat over. Flip side: top 2nd, 2 out. Lazy fly ball in right-center. Bader in center, Judge in right converge. Bader's calling for it. They don't quite collide, but in football...Judge woulda been flagged for pass interference. Ball clanks of Bader's glove. Next guy up...homer. 2-0. Yankee stadium homer...JUST into the short porch in right. Top 6th, Astros load bases, then get a sac fly and a single that, with good base running, gives em 2 more runs. Yankees get 2 empty singles in the 9th, or they'd have been 1-hit. 5-0 Astros. And 3-0 in the series. Factoid: the Yankees have not led at the end of a single inning in this series.

I wouldn't call them pro-spam. They don't believe anything they send can be spam, because, well, it's from them!!! Spam is in the eye of the recipient, tho. That's something they will never understand. This is likely just another angle to their election-steal BS, and fodder for their whole, long-term anti-tech, anti-lib, anti....so many things...rants.

Oh, I get it. There was method to Oregon's madness. That color combination is bear-repelling.... Working quite well, I'd say...

Hades is Lawful Evil. That color combo is Chaotic Evil.

Please. We HAD that discussion, not all that long ago. Let's not repeat it.