unclevlad

Stupidity is the flu. ABJECT stupidity is omicron.

I might not have blamed Harden for the OKC move, but he's proven *he* is the problem in every stop since, as you pointed out, so...yes, I blame him even for OKC. He's a petulant child who'll blame anyone but himself. The difference between Simmons and Kahwi is, at crunch time, Simmons runs away from the ball, while Kahwi welcomes it. IMO, Simmons' offensive stats lie; he gets them mostly when it doesn't matter. I still don't think Kahwi is best served by being the centerpiece on a team; I think he's more like Scottie Pippen, filling in anywhere needed and taking advantage of every crack. But Simmons? What exactly IS he? Also note: Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman were never ball handlers. Simmons *was* the point forward for Philly. So his limitations are far more impactful. BTW: https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/02/11/counter-report-james-harden-didnt-exercise-2022-23-player-option-in-conjunction-with-trade-to-76ers/ He still could. He could also walk at the end of the season. Granted: Simmons' value to the Sixers was squat. But they also had to send the 2022 #1 pick. Their return, then, for Simmons might be a net *loss* if a) they don't reach the Finals, and b) Harden then walks. And anyone who trusts Harden at this point is a fool. Oh, wait, we're talking Daryl Morey. Yeah, he'll be stupid enough to give Harden that mega deal, even tho it'll end up wrecking his team...again. But that is a good point. If Harden's planning to force a new max deal..he's so far from worth it, it's not funny. It'll be Russell Westbrook all over again, and Philly's going to be in the same boat they've been in, along with the Nets and Lakers.

It doesn't help that it allows such an enormous range of options. It becomes extremely confusing rapidly. Plus, I think there's a common disconnect between comics/supers fiction, and translation into rules...because the material allows things that become insanely expensive and/or powerful when it has to be converted to numbers. I think you make a good point that "starting" characters in Hero are closer to mid-level, seasoned characters in most systems...not just D&D, which is notorious for starting out as wimps. V:tM starting chars are wimps...unless the GM gives a LOT of bonus starting points. L5R...skills were just not good initially. Shadowrun...well, some of that was gonna depend on build priorities. So...yeah, stronger guidance would help. Start at a MUCH lower power level than the overall world level...maybe, if the world level is 500-700 (with 700 being seriously rare) then the PCs maybe start at 250, with reasonably fast XP accumulation for a while. Or 350 if you prefer. I've also advocated for a very streamlined build process...FEW!!! limitations allowed. Green Lantern's Power Ring isn't a focus. If some character types can't be done, like the power armor guy? Oh well. Or...sure, you can buy it, but again...you don't get to take even a 1/4 limitation on a couple hundred points. That's one of the issues that makes a big mess for any Hero game...raw character points don't tell the whole story.

I think the DC stuff probably will; they dominate the CW's ratings among current-run shows. I'm concerned that B5 won't; it feels likely that there will be belt tightening at least at first, and I believe the story was that B5 was gonna be up there, in budget. CW's never made money. Question is...who'll pick it up? NBC has Peacock, USA, NBCSN, and Olympic Channel. I'm not sure the last 2 are exactly cash cows; do they want another money pit? CBS has a ton of properties already; I could actually see anti-trust concerns there. Disney's moves tell me, they don't believe in cable/satellite...they see streaming as the future. So the CW doesn't seem to fit. So...it'd be nice, but I'm concerned it won't pan out in the end.

Yeah, just saw that on ESPN bottom line too. That always sucks.

In case you were wondering... Just saw on CNN Business. 30 second spot during the Super Bowl will run ya.... Wait for it... Are you sitting down? Sit down. Really. . . . $7,000,000 For a 30 second spot.

OK, so...National Snack Food Day is Sunday. Biggest day of the year for TV advertisers, second largest overall food consumption day (after Thanksgiving) but WAYYY more junk food. So who's got plans? I made up my mind today, actually...gonna get a pork shoulder, fire up the pressure cooker, and indulge in pulled pork...maybe as enchiladas, maybe as sandwiches, maybe both...sandwich for lunch, enchis for dinner. For a kick...got maybe a cup and a half of my oriental squeeze sauce...Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, bit of olive oil, heavy dash of sesame oil. Should dress a sandwich quite nicely.

Simmons' offensive limitations are extreme, tho, and makes it nigh impossible to be a primary ball handler. That may be well and good; I like the notion, mostly, of lining him up as the 5, but that's when Kyrie is the PG. If Simmons is at best the #3 option, that'll probably be OK. But I worry that you're just trading one set of dysfunctionality for another. Yeah, honestly, I don't care that Harden can score. His liabilities >> his *potential* contributions. He's the most toxic player in the league...and that's saying a lot. (James is #2, Irving is #3, Simmons is #4.) But as I said earlier, where is Simmons' head? Talent doesn't win titles without determination, and he's never shown that. One thing about Simmons' contract, tho? OK, yeah, Harden will cost several mill more this year ($11M a year difference, there's what, maybe 1/3 of the season left) and $12M more next...but it's not like Simmons is cheap. He's $32M then $35M for next year. AND, if he doesn't work out, there are 2 more years and about $78M guaranteed. So if this *doesn't* work out? Ugh. Durant's a UFA after THIS season...what will it take to sign him again? He should have at least 2-3 more good years (he's 33 now) and with his body type and style, 5 more wouldn't surprise me. So he's gonna cost an arm and a leg. Irving's contract has only 1 more year. Simmons doesn't work, IMO, without BOTH of them...well, if Irving works at all. Flip side: those 3 combined will run in the $115M to $120M range. That already puts the Nets up against the salary cap, and the luxury tax threshold for next year is expected to be about $147M. So there's not much maneuvering room. Personally, I think the Lakers have done the worst job with roster construction...it's plausible that an Irving/Durant/Simmons core could work, whereas the James/Davis/Westbrook core was never gonna cut it. (And we're seeing that big time, but Westbrook's contract for next year is at Harden levels. Lakers would have to eat a massive amount of it to trade him.) You might be right; and yeah, ok, push come to shove, Simmons has more potential to fit in, while Harden's pattern is very clearly known. So I'd rather have Simmons but that's a bar at ground level.

Of the seemingly-incidental kind. Had to have some decent force, but still.... I have a really terrible habit of smacking my shin against the (short) bedpost...much too often. Hard, at times. Makes ya go "oh u @*(#%&$@# #$(&@#$ B*@#$@#$ IDIOT!!!" But ignore after the pain reduces to a gentle throb. Bruise lasts a long time. But there's spots...I think particularly on the back of the head...where the bleeding would be similar...but doesn't have anywhere to go.... Ouch. Sometimes the littlest things..... Meanwhile TMZ and the NY Post are reporting that Jeremy Giambi's death is suspected to be suicide.

Kiss of death yet again... "No, we're not gonna trade James Harden." Boom. Simmons to Nets, Harden to Sixers. An exchange of problem children. If there's such a thing as a lose-lose trade, this may be it. It's one of those where everyone looks at the players involved with rose-colored glasses firmly in place. In practice? They have yet to show they really work. Does Simmons *really* want to play and win? I'm in the camp that if he truly did, he'd work on his abject weaknesses; he never has. Harden's backstabbed his team massively in Houston, and many believe with the Nets.

Good point. There's a reason why fattier meats are more common on pizzas, typically. I do use breast meat because it shreds easier...but I also pour the oil used in baking in along with the meat as it goes into the blender. Besides...the oil has some rendered chicken fat, plus any of the salt or seasoning (ground chiles, maybe garlic and herbs) that came off. I also frequently just toss boned/skinned chicken with some olive oil, soy sauce, and spices (no salt needed, the soy does that), let it sit, pop into the oven...but that's thigh pieces. I'm a little surprised that we don't see chile-based sauces offered for pizza very often.

Late Jan 2021: passed 100M cases Late July: 200M cases Early Jan 2022: 300M cases this week: 400M cases

BBQ chicken pizza has 2 common issues. First: the sauce generally is WAY too sweet in my book. Second...no one spices the chicken meat. I bake chicken for shredding, then use it for enchiladas and grilled sandwiches. The enchiladas can still use a bit of spice...but the sandwiches *need* it since I don't generally use a sauce.

Interesting interview with Andrew Miller, one of the players on the union's executive board. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33215992/shouting-cursing-mlbpa-rep-andrew-miller-where-mlb-labor-negotiations-stand

Stop me if you've heard this one before... A Russian athlete has tested positive for a banned substance. Oh, she's a figure skater. And 15. And the first female to land a quad. And whether the stuff actually helps performance or not, is unclear. But it is banned (and sounds dangerous in what it does) so.... https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33254263/russian-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-tested-positive-banned-drug-according-reports

More importantly, I think it's clearer and simpler. Building a character doesn't have to be complex if the player's not trying to squeeze out every dime. (I will grant that having help with scale considerations, until you're used to them, is VERY useful.) It takes more mental effort to work through the X-...most of us have simply gotten used to it so it feels reflexive, but IMO it isn't at first;. When you have to think about the mechanics...the mechanics have problems.

Not at all unlikely. Power skill is gonna ROUTINELY exceed 18 because there's a consistent penalty. (No, not all VPPs will need one, but many will.) Contortionist may well exceed 18 because every point of success adds a die to the breakout/escape roll. Granted this isn't *real* likely, IIRC, Acrobatics has a similar aspect.

As a slight, maybe personal tweak... I prefer to put my HD into a completely separate folder that I create...and preferably NOT on the system drive, if you have 2 drives. BAD places: -- the root of any drive, but particularly the system drive (C, for most). Believe Windows doesn't allow this any more, but the root should never have user files...folders, some *occasional* system files. -- yeah, the Windows and Program Files folders are system-critical folders, so Windows wants to manage them. I have a game where I like to zip the entire folder structure to make a big backup occasionally; it's in Program Files, and Win 10 says, no, you can't write the zip file there. And, it's NOT a great place to play with permissions. OK place: inside your user folder (c : \ users \ <user name> ) ... if you share the computer this is ok. But if that's not an issue? I put mine on my D drive...a 4 TB external (USB) drive. Since I made it, I have full permissions for it. Subfolders for different campaign-related builds, for PDFs, templates (HSMA for me), etc. Then I put a link to that folder on the desktop; it's a bit cleaner. You can also make a batch file in your HD folder like this: javaw -Xmx2048m -cp .\HD6.jar com.hero.HeroDesigner Yeah, I'd rather give Java plenty of room to work with, it's probably excessive. But you can put another link to that batch file on the desktop.

Wouldn't achieve that, even if it was possible, without disabling all the cell towers...and THAT would never fly, not just for this. The situation would need to be massively, massively more important, more time critical. For a protest? It's using a dozen sticks of dynamite to kill a fly.

Bored people do truly insipid things. Done...well, not anything THAT egregious, but pretty stupid. And I can see it, sort of...the "what is this, no one cares about it!!!" Yes, well... Also reminds me of the horror stories from the auto industry, and the...oh, let's just say, stunts...that bored assembly line workers did from time to time. The guard's just lucky he can't get anything more...but, that said, he'll never get a meaningful job again.

Does this make any sense to anyone? Far right Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers, from the article Mr. P found. Granted that I don't expect a Trumpist to make any sense, but...still.... And yeah, if there would be a better way to turn undecideds against you than interfering with the Super Bowl, I can't think of it. Football is the true American state religion, thus the Super Bowl is the High Holy day.

Family watch-parties are private. It is at least plausible that everyone was vaccinated and boostered. Still not as safe as you'ld like, but that's different. Masks are still required in stores, so that isn't personal choice, they're breaking the law.

And let's also note that Canadian Covid fatigue is likely far more justified than most US Covid fatigue...health care workers being a massive exception. Wahhh, wahhh, wahhh, I don' wanna wear a mask!!!! Yes, I'm belittling it. Intermittent working conditions, financial insecurity...those are huge. But hey, in most areas? There've been annoyances...not crises. Those same issues have hit Canadians, too. Too many of us feel too entitled and anything that denies us anything, no matter how small, is a personal insult.

Yup. Difficulty mods go to the right' bonuses go to the left. Everything is a positive number. Margin of success doesn't change. Made by 4 is made by 4. It's just "4 over" rather than "4 under." Complementary skills are also trivial. If you get a bonus from a complementary skill, it gets added to the left side for the next roll, like any other bonus.

Whereas down here there appears to be a slow but steady increase of the non-maskers. <sigh>