Penultimate Pre-Thanksgiving Friday Afternoon Links

by | Nov 15, 2024 | Cocktails, Daily Links | 152 comments

The weather here has finally started to turn. We’ve actually had a freeze… still no snow yet. I was having issues deciding on what to run with for a theme, and decided I don’t need one. I can do what I want.

In local news, CWRU says FAFO (yet again).

Continuing local news, it is Cleveland Pizza Week. We hit up one place earlier, and will likely be hitting up another tonight. The question for the commentariat, is this pizza:

Homemade honey mustard as the base, and swirled on top, packed with chicken tenders, bacon, and fresh cut fries

As a side note, those asking about the Thanksgiving dinner pierogi:

Slow-cooked turkey, homemade stuffing, sweet corn, and delicious mashed potatoes all inside a pierogi,

Trade wars starting, gamers hardest hit.

Bioware, pretty sure you’ve reached your end. I mean when the AV Club slags your game

Oh wait. I think I see the bottom of this hole. (Yes. I know I’ll probably end up hate watching it)

Speaking of publishers trying to regain their credibility

Of course, sometimes nostalgia can be good for a brand.

You know, I have the feeling that put an AI LLM in it (and make it gay) is perhaps not the winning play everyone thinks it is.

For Sensei: A chain of convenience stores is rebranding, killing thousands of jokes.

I’ve only seen two of the movies she was in, and one show, but she’s beginning to grow on me.

It’s still fall, but let’s shift away from warm drinks to a seasonal one.

Apple Cranberry Mule

  • 8 parts vodka (2 ounces)
  • 4 parts cran-apple juice (1 ounce)
  • 1 part lime juice (0.25 ounce)
  • Ginger beer to top

This is a basic change to the Moscow Mule (a drink that has an entertaining story behind it’s creation, but that’s another links post). Grab a copper mug (if you must) or a rocks glass, fill it with ice, add the vodka and juices and give a quick stir. Top with ginger beer, and feel free to garnish with a couple of cranberries and an apple slice.

Well, with that, I’ll be wrapping this up for now at least. And let me leave a bonus song, one of my niece’s favorites when she was a small child (and did not understand what the lyrics were about).

About The Author

Nephilium

Nephilium

Nephilium is a geek of multiple types living in the vast suburban forests of Cleveland.

152 Comments

  1. The Other Kevin

    “I’ve only seen two of the movies she was in, and one show, but she’s beginning to grow on me.”

    I’ve only seen two of her pieces myself.

    • SDF-7

      Wait… are we talking Sydney Sweeney? I haven’t made it far in the links yet, but she seems best know for her two… pieces… lately.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Don’t worry, we are saving Julia for you.

  2. Sean

    Homemade honey mustard as the base, and swirled on top, packed with chicken tenders, bacon, and fresh cut fries

    Ick. (Not even considering the carb aspect.)

    • Nephilium

      Oh. It was definitely garbage food, but it was damned tasty.

    • SDF-7

      All the cooking shows I used to watch insisted pizza is simply dough as a canvas — so yes, that could conceptually be pizza.

      Damned well not a pizza I’d want to try personally… but I suppose someone likes it.

    • juris imprudent

      That might actually have been improved with pineapple.

    • rhywun

      Also, not pizza by any stretch of the imagination.

  3. The Other Kevin

    “Speaking of publishers trying to regain their credibility…”

    I feel old. I used to play those when they were new. Plus side, I finally recognize one of the games you talk about.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Except they were shilling out cosmetics for $90 a pop. They were on the right track for their 30th anniversary and then…back to that.

  4. SDF-7

    The weather here has finally started to turn.

    Slowly it turned?

    But yeah — less snark… we’ve started having some nights in the high 30s (no freeze yet, I think) and days in the 60-70s. Much nicer than the 110+ days or even the 90 degree October. I’m enjoying the 3 or so months of tolerable climate, no doubt.

    I can do what I want.

    Obligatory — and I expect you knew it when you wrote it. Manipulator of random pop-culture references in our heads!

    • R.J.

      It hit 48 degrees this morning in Dallas. Finally! It’s back up to 71 again now. I’m heading to Shreveport for Thanksgiving next week and I expect to wear shorts still.

  5. R.J.

    Feel free to arrest the vandalizing assholes. Make them pay for cleanup, some jail time, maybe even help clean up. I am for all of that. I am not for charging them with a felony. That is wrong. What part of the vandalizing rose to a felony? Please don’t say “hate crime,” because that is B.S.

    • SDF-7

      I’d be fine with expulsion assuming their students though.

      • Nephilium

        The Students for Palestine group has already been banned from campus for previous vandalism, protests, trespassing, threats, and general cuntyness. Most of the useful idiots doing this appear to be non-students.

      • R.J.

        I figured as much. Seems to be the case all over.

    • Nephilium

      None of the local news stories have the charges. But the pro-Hamas group is already protesting the arrests.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Right with RJ, and add removal of any ancillary monies such as scholarships.

      Make it hurt, but not kill.

    • Ownbestenemy

      ‘member when we’d say “geesh dad! Its not a federal crime or anything!” We lost our way, everything is a felony or a Federal crime someway or another. I am with you RJ. Restitution and rehabilitation is probably warranted here. Make them go clean up a neighborhood that is predominately of the [insert whatever here].

    • rhywun

      What part of the vandalizing rose to a felony?

      It is odd – maybe we aren’t being told everything.

      Here in equity-land where almost nothing rises to the level of felony anymore, I’ve seen way worse misdemeanors.

    • Not Adahn

      Maybe there is a dollar threshold which modern inflated university cleanup crew costs now exceed?

    • SDF-7

      “The new Fuck Donkey University was unavailable for comment…”

    • Nephilium

      I still remember Beaver University over in PA.

      • Rat on a train

        Yet there are still women named Beverly.

      • creech

        My mother’s sister in law was a graduate of the all-women Beaver College in Jenkintown, PA. She never understood why folks would laugh about the name. The trustees finally renamed it “Arcadia University” in 2000.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        I await South Carolina and Oregon State to schedule an annual Coitus Bowl.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Do they sell sweatshirts?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        More importantly, do they have a Kum-and-Go on campus?

      • Ownbestenemy

        *ZWAK sets up the largest tee up in the history of the internet*

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        That’s probably one of those freaky Japanese vending machines.

  6. SDF-7

    Trade wars starting, gamers hardest hit.

    Not even starting — still just “wild speculation based on what might happen if he does tariffs like we think he might!”

  7. SDF-7

    Bioware, pretty sure you’ve reached your end.

    ME3 and Inquisition were both “Meh” enough for me (ME3 for the ending yes – but also that it was made clear it didn’t matter what you did in prior games… Let Wrex die (or kill him?) — Surprise sibling Krogan appears! Save the Rachni Queen so you could ally with them? Nope — they’re indoctrinated anyway! Kill them? They’re clones and indoctrinated! Lazy as shit… Inquisition was just MMO-style fetch quests that felt flat), so I haven’t really bothered with anything since. Most definitely I’m glad of that based on the pushback, that’s for sure.

    • Ownbestenemy

      ME3 overall wasn’t bad. I can actually understand the ending; the cycle and all that, didn’t matter. However you are correct with the prior choices really not making things matter.

      • Nephilium

        The ending to ME3 pissed me off to no end. Congratulations! Everything you’ve done so far is empty and meaningless, even after we made a big deal about it in each of the previous games.

        /points again to the Shamus Young critique of ME3

      • Ownbestenemy

        But isn’t that life sometimes? I know for a video game, that isn’t the best thing to do since it is escapism, but is it wrong?

      • LCDR_Fish

        I didn’t play till after the 3 ending patch came out. I think I would have been pretty irritated if I only had the 1 initial ending with no “good” option.

      • Nephilium

        LCDR_Fish:

        Pre-patch, you got three options, but they were basically a distinction without a difference. Meanwhile, the final mission in ME2 is (in my opinion), one of the greatest missions I’ve ever played. It was built up appropriately, there were twists that were telegraphed but not expected, and needing to properly plan the mission all came together perfectly for me.

        First time running it, I saved all of my companions, but lost most of the crew of the ship.

    • UnCivilServant

      Fun fact – if you Kill Wrex in ME1, you can save Mordin in ME3.

      • Ownbestenemy

        But does he ever go on to run studies on seashells? For all the missteps in ME3, his death was done quite well as a minor arc.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t know, because he goes into hiding so the effect on gameplay is the same.

  8. Tundra

    I’ve only seen two of the movies she was in, and one show, but she’s beginning to grow on me.

    Never seen her in a movie, but I just watched the SNL monologue. Cutie.

    The mule sounds tasty!

    And let me leave a bonus song, one of my niece’s favorites when she was a small child (and did not understand what the lyrics were about)

    Hilarious! And excellent tunes.

    • Nephilium

      Mules are a nice easy flexible canvas, and lend themselves to all sorts of seasonal twists. For me, I’d stick to using a gin (or a flavored vodka… which is also gin) for some extra flavor notes.

  9. SDF-7

    Oh wait. I think I see the bottom of this hole. (Yes. I know I’ll probably end up hate watching it)

    Oh, fuck…. Please tell me it isn’t the same fucking writers at least… “We nuked the Turians because hell… no one cares about them! And Earth was always right next to the Citadel!” Style over substance, thy name was the Fallout TV show.

  10. SDF-7

    You know, I have the feeling that put an AI LLM in it (and make it gay) is perhaps not the winning play everyone thinks it is.

    So far my non-work AI experience has been “How do I turn this shit off” so… yeah. (My work experience unfortunately has been “Management wants us to use this!” so I use it enough to keep the metrics happy… I seriously have not seen anything approaching usable from any of it… :shrug:)

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      So, now we get GAY-I?

      Not for this great guy!

      • Ownbestenemy

        I am going to quickly rewrite the script for Eagle Eye to Gay Eye; which is just Queer Eye for the Straight Guy but with robots. And lasers. And sharks.

      • SDF-7

        That sounds like you’re on a Bender, OBE.

    • rhywun

      But developers love to have something shiny and new to play with. Won’t someone please think of the developers.

  11. Ownbestenemy

    Penultimate Pre-Thanksgiving Friday Afternoon Links

    Thanks Neph…I cleared out cookies, reset my browser and reset Windows thinking it was stuck in the past.

    • Ownbestenemy

      As in…I for some reason was thinking we were in December…so you reset my internal clock 😉

  12. DEG

    Kum & Go, the Midwestern gas station chain that gained national fame for the immature snickers its name often receives, is making a change.

    Maverik, a rival chain that bought Kum & Go in 2023, announced that it’s in “process of rebranding Kum & Go stores, with the intent to unify our entire combined footprint under the Maverik brand,” marking an eventual end to the 49-year-old naughty name.

    NOOOOOOO!!!!!

    • Tundra

      Yep. The one down the street is now a Maverick. Sad!

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Well, you can always go out to California when you get the In-and-out BURGER!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Maverik was great in Vegas. Only place you can get straight gas.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        What do you have against gay gas, you homophobe!?!

      • Ownbestenemy

        It was dirty and caused the internals to pop and sputter when I put it in

      • R.J.

        I could do so much with that, but I won’t….

      • mindyourbusiness

        Why resist the temptation, R.J.? When they come in a little high and outside, SWING!

      • R.J.

        Must resist…
        Must be… better… person….
        Oh crap!

        STEVE SMITH MAKE YOUR INTERNALS POP AND SPUTTER WHEN HE PUT IT IN!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Funny you say that RJ, I also said “Oh crap!”

      • trshmnstr

        What do you have against gay gas, you homophobe!?!

        Those particular rods don’t appreciate a reacharound.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Pours one out for the ejaculate and evacuate.

  13. kinnath

    https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/pr-stonehenge–just-stop-oil-protest/

    Our experts have already removed the orange powder from the stones. We moved quickly due to the risk that the powder would harm the important and rare lichens growing on the stones and that if the powder came into contact with water, it would leave difficult-to-remove streaks. And while we are relieved that there appears to be no visible damage, the very act of removing the powder can – in itself – have a harmful impact by eroding the already fragile stone and damaging the lichens.

    Yes, even just “cleaning powder” off stone henge has the potential for long term damage to the monument.

    And, I think people willing to damage rarities for political messaging deserve severe punishment even if they don’t actually product severe damage through their acts.

    • Tundra

      I seem to remember someone trying to fuck up the Trevi Fountain. I’m OK with woodchipper therapy for such cretins.

    • R C Dean

      The punishment needs to be sufficient to deter other ideological/religious fanatics from vandalizing cultural monuments.

      Fanatics take a lot of deterring, is my understanding.

  14. Ownbestenemy

    Mass Effect has the makings of an epic Space Opera but they won’t go to the source material, we have to make it different, blah blah blah. Hollywood — just make the game a movie and you’ll have millions wanting to watch it.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Also…we doing Shepard or FemShep cause if you wanna make money, make it FemShep but with Sydney Sweeney or de-age Kara Thrace somehow.

      • Nephilium

        You know it’s going to be FemShep.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Damn, so go the way of Borderlands and get an aged out actress it is.

  15. ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

    Well, it isn’t deep dish, so, no. It isn’t pizza.

    • Tundra

      And zero pineapple. No bueno.

    • The Other Kevin

      What time are you logging in? I plan on having that Tyson fight on at least in the background.

      • Ownbestenemy

        What is the over/under Tyson bites his ear off and is this sanctioned or just exhibition?

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        9ish probably

      • Nephilium

        OBE:

        Mike Tyson to bite Jake Paul’s ear
        Best odds: +10,000

        Surprisingly Tyson is the underdog in the fight.

      • rhywun

        Assuming that is PPV?

      • Tundra

        Rhy: I just got an email from Netflix – it looks like that’s where it is going to be broadcast.

      • Ownbestenemy

        How in this day in age with Jake Paul’s genesis would you not just stream it to YT? Gonna make money either way.

      • Old Man With Candy

        OBE: This was an actual extra credit question I put on my freshman chem exam today: “Will Paul or Tyson be the first one to bite an ear in this fight?”

  16. Ownbestenemy

    Boomer Shooters are the hot thing right now on games. Old school, Doom-like 3D environment. At least what my research has told me.

    • rhywun

      Sounds more like happy hour at The Villages.

      • Tundra

        *Golf clap*

        (literally)

      • juris imprudent

        Midred! Don’t touch that putter.

  17. rhywun

    Also AV Club…

    Imagine your first inkling that Kamala Harris lost the election was Jon Stewart staring straight at you and yelling “FUUUUCK!”

    LOL never change

    • SDF-7

      That sounds more like a recruitment video from Kinki University.

      • rhywun

        Jon’s pretense at being somewhat less of a partisan hack was cute while it lasted.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        True. But at least he’s mad at he right people.

  18. Ownbestenemy

    In one corner, we have the amazing comment from ZWAK:

    ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE! on November 15, 2024 at 04:42 PM [+]

    More importantly, do they have a Kum-and-Go on campus?

    In the other, the down and dirty OBE:

    Ownbestenemy
    Ownbestenemy on November 15, 2024 at 04:39 PM [+]

    It was dirty and caused the internals to pop and sputter when I put it in

    Play ball! Its Friday, I started early so forgive me.

  19. Suthenboy

    “Free Palestine Sudan Congo Haiti Lebanon”
    Each of these things are not like the others. Schizophrenia is essentially the human mind making connections between unrelated things. It is a fine line between genius and loony.

    I think even pot-luck has developed a standard recipe now, hasn’t it?

    Extinction leaves niches open. Someone always steps in to fill it, i.e. if there is money to be made, a demand to be met, people will step up.

    Who would name a store Kum and go? WTH?

    Hollywood feminism is fake says the woman who got famous for her exquisite rack. Ok then.

  20. Brochettaward

    On Rachel Ziergler. She went after Gina Carano when Disney canned her. I find it pretty amusing that Gina was fired for refusing to bend the knee, but Rachel caved and issued a bullshit forced apology for her retarded comments.

    Really reveals the character of the two.

    • Aloysious

      +1

  21. The Other Kevin

    My birthday is a week from Saturday. I hope I get a mention in the birthday section. “A guy who spends a lot of time playing with his stick.”

    • Tundra

      “A guy who got rubbed out in the corner by a chick”

    • Old Man With Candy

      If I can figure out how to link to you… maybe I’ll have the link go to a midget porn site instead, but *we’ll* know.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Last time I was at a strip club the midgets pulled in more than the Playboy cover model who was dancing. Midgets won hands down.

  22. R C Dean

    “The question for the commentariat, is this pizza:”

    No. Just because you piled stuff onto a flat piece of bread doesn’t mean you have made a pizza.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Slightly amused by LLM ChatGPT

      Debate on What Makes a Pizza

      Culinary evolution has blurred lines:

      Is cauliflower crust pizza? It’s unconventional but marketed as pizza.
      Does pineapple belong on pizza? Controversial, but it’s still called pizza.
      What about dessert pizzas? They use a base dough and toppings, so the form is there, but they challenge traditional definitions.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Secondary applause

        Libertarians often discuss divisive issues, but pineapple on pizza is a low-stakes, humorous debate that mirrors the larger principles of tolerating differences.

        It highlights how people can disagree passionately over trivial matters while still coexisting.
        The debate itself reflects the broader principle that choice doesn’t have to be universal—one person’s favorite topping doesn’t have to be yours.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Of course, for some, it might genuinely reflect their passionate dislike of pineapple, but that only adds to the fun. After all, if libertarians can’t agree on taxation, zoning laws, or public roads, why should pizza toppings be any different?

        ChatGPT is our digital God!

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        From slinging pie back in college, the best pizza was anchovy, jalapeno, and pineapple.

        FIGHT ME!!!

      • Ownbestenemy

        If pizza is about balance, you’re not wrong ZWAK. Salty, spicy, sweet

      • Tundra

        FIGHT ME!!!

        No way. I’m buying next time we go out for pizza.

  23. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Cooler weather is giving the dog a severe case of the zoomies. We went for a 20-minute walk then he got to run around the patio for an hour. I can’t possibly hope to exercise him enough. Ten pound ball o’ fury.

    • Tres Cool

      Marta got her junk ripped out today.
      Im hoping she can stay calm for at least a few days.

      • Tundra

        How old is she? We are debating when to have Indie spayed. She’s been through one heat and I’ve read that it’s good to have them go through at least a couple.

      • Tres Cool

        She’s 2. And I feel the same way you do- letting them go through menses insures their growth isnt stunted.
        However, Im not a vet and my vet is ready at 6 months. A smaller doge saves money….I walked out $800 lighter in my wallet.

    • Tundra

      Indie loves it so much. She went crazy in the snow. Today she’s looking around like “where the fuck did it go?”

    • R.J.

      Tiny zoomies! Arf arf!

  24. Aloysious

    “Is this pizza?”

    That’s an open faced baked sandwich, and it sounds wonderful.

    That being said, it violates my totally not arbitrary rulez for the definition of pizza.

    • R.J.

      Of I ever make it to Sweden I will try a slice of curry pizza with bananas

      • Nephilium

        On the cruise there was a Tuna Corn Pizza one day. I did not touch it, but I did notice there were slices missing.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Japanese tourists

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Celebrity’s normal, non-weird pizza was surprisingly cromulent

      • Aloysious

        Be sure to wear UCS’ pizza eating gloves. You don’t want to burn your mouth on something that hot.

      • Nephilium

        KK:

        There’s a reason I saw the weird pizza. I was looking for a slice.

  25. Ownbestenemy

    I am conflicted by young YT’ers ‘reacting’ to the music of my generation or upbringing. On one hand..you were there you shit stain! Its ours! On the other…bask in all its glory on what life in the 80s/90s was like and beg for more.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      I love watching Duran Duran reactions

    • rhywun

      Vandals are some of the lowest scum so I kind of approve.

    • Fourscore

      So he’s 19 going on 32? Or 32 acting like a 19 YO?

      New math, I guess

    • Brochettaward

      But with the White House appealing for leniency, Singaporean authorities reduced the sentence to four lashes.

      Based as fuck.

      I don’t have much sympathy here. You go to a country like Singapore and decide to engage in random acts of vandalism, well, you get what you get you little cunt.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m tempted to think we should be caning people for shit instead of just letting them go or locking them up.

    • Evan from Evansville

      This amuses and confuses me. I worked in Singapore 2014-2016. Best food in the world; best airport in the world; and fantastic and country-hopping options. Their economic model is brilliant. (Though shit is expensive.) Politically? Hrm. No one does shit cuz they damn well know what’ll happen. Just possession of weed can get ya… “Up to 10 years in prison, A fine of up to $20,000, and Caning.”

      Coworkers talked about upcoming elections affecting local garbage, school funding, etc being reduced/slashed if a community didn’t vote ‘The Right Way.’

      It’s a tricky place for me to classify. Shit does work there. Just don’t play Stupid Games. Best play along. It’s size helps that continue, but a strange mix of cultures more-or-less going along with it. They like the results they’re seeing. It’s like paying a really well-run Mafia Family to keep things in line. The soup kitchens and what else they bring is (usually) fucking outstanding.

    • Homple

      My hometown newsrag at that time suggested that its readers write a letter (remember those?) to the Singaporean Embassy in DC protesting the young man’s caning.

      Of course I wrote a letter saying I thought a brisk caning was just thing vandals need to put them back on the righteous path.

      I got a letter back that said almost all the letters received by the embassy suggested the same thing.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Possible three to five inches of snow tonight/tomorrow.

    • Fourscore

      We’re only getting rain out of it, at least in the forecast

      • R.J.

        Yes. Rain on Sunday here.

  27. Ownbestenemy

    Have we come full circle to the 90s with the kids these days? NSFW

    • Ted S.

      Ain’t nothing gonna break my stuff,
      Nobody gonna slow me down.

      • rhywun

        He didn’t say 80s.

      • Tundra

        Teds’, that’s a good song. Are you OK?

      • Ted S.

        Remember, I post songs that are lyrically appropriate. Whether they’re musically good is an exercise left to the listener.

      • Tundra

        Fair, but I think you delight in sharing excruciatingly bad songs. Which is fine trolling.

      • rhywun

        If you’re going to be pedantic….

        Well… fuck me.

      • Ted S.

        I didn’t know Tundra is into Eurodance, either.

      • Tundra

        Bullshit. You know I’m into everything that’s interesting!

    • Ownbestenemy

      This has to be the anthem of 2024.

  28. Q Continuum

    In honor of Sydney Sweeney*, the current big tits Queen of the Universe, I bring you Friday Funbags.

    https://archive.is/AEUAF

    *and she *is* gorgeous, and *can* act, and *of course* Hollywood is full of virtue signaling, back stabbing shitheads. Come join us Syd.

    • Brochettaward

      She has a great rack and I would with extreme prejudice, but she’s not a 10.

      • Tundra

        Honestly, her not-10 ness is an asset.

      • R C Dean

        Tundra gets it. It’s not (just) the meat on the bones, it’s the, I dunno, spark.

    • MikeS

      She’s next-door-girl cute and her tits are too big. I don’t get all the hub-bub about this chick.

  29. Ownbestenemy

    I am not sure where this world will be without Weird Al

    • MikeS

      Now I’m mumblin’
      And I’m screamin’
      And I don’t know
      What I’m singin’

    • The Hyperbole

      I’ll take things that didn’t happen for 1000 Alex.

      • MikeS

        Yeah, I like owning the libs as much as the next sane person, but I’m with you on this one.