Friday Post-Mourning Links

by | Jan 10, 2025 | Daily Links, I Am Lame | 116 comments

I was just thinking the other day, that if we are in a world where deities need prayer badly, than Frigg must be one of the more powerful deities. Look at how many people venerate Fridays. It does also seem right that SINs are usually held on Monday as well.

Niki hardest hit.

It’s looking like Cleveland won’t have Watson to kick around next year. And nothing of value was lost…

This sucks. It’s not like our home field advantage even did much for us this year.

I always have a moment of confusion when a local story gets picked up by bigger media. This is no exception.

There’s lots of reboots out there now, and few of them make me go “Why?” as much as this announcement. Reboot a decent six season show into a ~2 hour streaming movie… who is this for?

On the other hand, I know exactly who this is for. Me. It’s for me.

I can respect this.

Well, this can make things complicated for a lot of video game studios.

SCIENCE!

On the cocktail side, let’s go with a variant on a style of drinks called a cobbler. This does require one ingredient that would need to be made ahead of time, but it’s a good one to have on hand regardless: rosemary simple syrup. Simple syrup is just equal parts sugar and water simmered together, toss in a couple of sprigs of rosemary while it’s simmering and you make rosemary simple syrup (excellent for gin based drinks).

Rosemary-Pomegranate Soda

  • 1 part (1 ounce) pomegranate juice
  • 1 part (1 ounce) rosemary simple syrup
  • Club soda

Fill a collins glass with crushed or small cubed ice. Fill a shaker can with ice, add the juice and simple syrup and shake to combine. Strain that into the collins glass, stick in a straw, top with club soda (or flavored seltzer for more variance) and give a brief stir to combine and mix. Feel free to garnish with a rosemary sprig if you are so inclined.

Well, with that, I leave you to the weekend.

About The Author

Nephilium

Nephilium

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

116 Comments

  1. EvilSheldon

    “I can respect this.”

    Ditto. I wouldn’t mind seeing a re-release of Fallout 2 that was completed according to the dev notes. Apparently there was a ton of cool stuff that got cut from the published release, for time and technical reasons.

    • Nephilium

      Yeah. I’ve still got the full Fallout Bible kicking around somewhere with all of the notes (and the full TTRPG rules). I would love to see them do a version of Van Buren based on the notes as well.

    • rhywun

      I played the original for half an hour or so sometime in the aughts and never picked it up again. It just didn’t click for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      But enh OK, (don’t) knock yourself out, Bethesda.

      some games are perfect time capsules of their era

      I’m afraid I have to call bullshit. If they thought there was money to be made on a remaster, there would be a remaster. IMHO.

  2. Shpip

    The Browns will face their opponent at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – the only purpose-built NFL stadium outside of the U.S.

    Wha?? The limeys built a stadium to host one NFL game per year (and, I’m guessing, a few EPL matches)?

    • Nephilium

      The Jaguars have a deal to play at least one game in London each year, and the Jets are going over there too.

      • Shpip

        The Jags are playing in Wembley again. Jets go to Hotspur.

        For some reason, I thought that the NFL would move the games around the country to appropriately-sized stadia. Having some games at Old Trafford or in Liverpool, etc.

        Not the first time I’ve been wrong.

      • rhywun

        I can’t imagine the absurd amount of money that went into making that happen. SMDH.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        Non-sportsball guy here: Is there a reason they can’t just repaint the lines on the field and stick up some goalposts?

      • rhywun

        I can only guess that the NFL is really dedicated to turf instead of grass.

      • CPRM

        Is there a reason they can’t just repaint the lines on the field and stick up some goalposts?

        The surface they play kickball on is always shitty and leads to injuries when 300 pound guys are running at each other at full speed. It might me good for flailing around and acting hurt, but not safe to play an actual sport on.

  3. EvilSheldon

    One should also have Pomegranate juice on hand at all times, so one can make Grenadine whenever one wants…

  4. SDF-7

    So in the PC, obviously they’re there for people to go and get and play, and making sure that, you know, they run okay.

    1) Bethesda claiming to care about things “running okay” is funny in and of itself.

    2) But they don’t, really — you have to apply the Fallout Unofficial Patch for 1 if you can find it, and they both are still pretty crash-happy on modern hardware. I’m 100% behind not updating the graphics / artwork (I think other than the movies you can get them to understand higher resolutions anyway), but how about a supported stable patch set there, Todd? Something where somebody buys it on Steam and they don’t have to spend the next week tweaking .ini files and looking for 12 year old patch sets? That would be nice…

    Happy Friday all — try to give a Frigg’in damn…

    • Nephilium

      For stable versions of old games, look to GOG over Steam. They’re starting to focus on maintaining some of the older games to make sure they stay playable.

      • SDF-7

        To some extent — I’ve picked up a few (including Bridge Commander) from them, but stability is still very, very dicey. Usually that’s because there’s no clear owner — but Bethesda has ownership in this case and could put in a little effort for an “Anniversary Edition” or somesuch I would think. Might earn them some better goodwill than the craptastic Fallout 4 “next gen” patch (that was pretty worthless on PC) or Starfield.

  5. Tundra

    Niki hardest hit.

    That chick was wrong about pretty much everything.

    Shoveling the sidewalk is common courtesy. One of my neighbors did the whole block the other morning.

    • rhywun

      It’s the law in NYC. Which actually makes sense to me because who else is gonna do it and liability is a thing.

    • creech

      You know who else was wrong about pretty much everything?

      • R C Dean

        The Hyperbole?

        j/k This place would be dull indeed without its contrarians.

  6. ron73440

    Excellent song choice at the beginning.

    Tony Martin Black Sabbath is unfortunately forgotten about.

    • Nephilium

      I feel like that entire album is underappreciated. I’ve also got some bias, since the first time I saw Sabbath Martin was singing for them.

      • ron73440

        Headless Cross was one of my favorites, but I lost the cassette and can’t find it online for less than $50.

        Holy crap, I just checked and Amazon has it on CD for $13.

        It’s not Tony Martin’s fault he looks like Travis Tritt, the dude could sing.

      • ron73440

        I do have TYR on CD, but it’s been awhile since I listened to it.

  7. SDF-7

    Well, this can make things complicated for a lot of video game studios.

    Given I don’t trust the CCCP and their companies are arms of the State and all… “Good” is all I can think. Get back to us when you aren’t a shitty totalitarian regime (and hopefully we won’t have become one), China.

    • rhywun

      I had no idea the commies had their hands in so much of the industry.

      I was gonna say “I don’t play any of that crap” until the list kept growing longer and more familiar items started appearing on it.

  8. Sean

    I loved Grimm (well, maybe not the finale).

    So, of course, they’re gonna fuck it all up and make me mad.

    • rhywun

      That was on NBC?? I literally never heard of it until I moved last year and cable up here has Comet. I’ve watched it a few times – not bad. But every time I think to watch it’s in the middle of some story arc and I have no idea what’s going on.

      • Sean

        Just reset last night. On S1E4 right now.

  9. Suthenboy

    “Reboot a decent six season show into a ~2 hour streaming movie… who is this for?”

    My wife.

  10. SDF-7

    Well, with that, I leave you to the weekend.

    I am the only one who keeps expecting this?

  11. Shpip

    The Cleveland Browns quarterback ruptured his right Achilles again, further testing showed, and he had another surgery on Thursday to repair it, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday, per sources informed of the situation.

    I used to think that Tampa was the place that doomed quarterbacks to mediocrity at best, and “wasted talent” talk otherwise — witness Doug Williams, Steve Young, Trent Dilfer et al.

    But I’m pretty convinced that Cleveland has held that crown for at least the last quarter-century.

    • ron73440

      The Jets and Bears are in the running as well.

      • Nephilium

        The Browns have been through 40 QBs since coming back in 1999, that’s 10 more QBs than any other team in the league over the same time frame. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us up to 43 by the end of next season.

      • ron73440

        That is a different level.

        Until Baker Mayfield, Big Ben was the winningest QB in Browns Stadium.

        I like to remind my boss how good Mayfield is doing.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    Something must be done

    Larry Gross, executive director for the tenant rights group Coalition for Economic Survival, said he’s worried about thousands of relatively well-off refugees being forced into the region’s tight rental market.

    He said some landlords would probably try to take advantage of the situation by jacking up rent and evicting tenants in favor of displaced homeowners who could pay more. State price-gouging rules are supposed to prevent such situations, but Gross said more must be done to ensure enforcement.

    “We need to be thinking out of the box,” he said. “Both state and city officials need to take action to ensure that this crisis isn’t multiplied by profiteers.”

    Freeze rents and confiscate property for equitable redistribution.

    • EvilSheldon

      Fuckin’ sucks to be poor. If there’s any such thing as universal truth, that’s it right there.

      • Tonio

        Well, a lot of those displaced homeowners may decide to go elsewhere, perhaps permanently since the state is showing reckless disregard for their safety in many ways.

      • Tundra

        Word. I’ve done ok but I would tell 20 year old me to build as much wealth as I possibly could.

        Money can’t buy happiness, but it can sure cushion the punches.

  13. DEG

    the large dragon on the left side presents some interesting challenges. Stern told me that it can try and block shots and also it enables a wild eight-ball multiball mode, with the dragon actively trying to bounce your balls into the drain. I didn’t get to try this, but I’m looking forward to seeing it sooner or later. There’s also a gelatinous cube that can freeze your ball in place via magnets.

    This looks cool.

    • Nephilium

      I’m looking forward to trying it out.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Well hello there, Mr. 30yo Website! My mistress and I are thrilled to see you. Meet Ms. Windows 3.1. I’m sure y’all have lots of stories to share.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Rebuilding homeowners will face further difficulties vying among a constrained supply of contractors and dwindling construction labor force — key factors keeping L.A.’s housing production low before the fires, he said.

    “We don’t have enough already,” Green said. “That’s been one of our problems.”

    To get people into new homes, Gabriel said, the city of Los Angeles will need to revolutionize its lengthy permitting processes for development, which should have been a pressing demand even before the fires.

    In 2023, he co-wrote a study showing it took nearly five years to complete the average unit in a multifamily building, with a substantial portion of that time related to bureaucratic approval.

    But the shortage of nail-pounders is the real problem.

    The state should condemn those burned out neighborhoods and designate the whole area as a nature preserve.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I’ll be pretty surprised if they let people build on the beach again. The Coastal Commission is going to see this as an opportunity.

      • Tonio

        Cali politics are about to get very interesting.

      • Spudalicious

        This. I’m sure the Coastal Commission is already revving up the eminent domain machine.

      • rhywun

        surprised if they let people build on the beach

        There is that but from what I can tell only a small fraction of all the destruction was on the beach.

      • R C Dean

        The thing is, the destruction goes a long way back from the beach. Beachfront means there’s nothing between you and the beach. That could now go deep inland indeed.

    • rhywun

      dwindling construction labor force

      I’m sensing a complaint coming about the deportation troops that Trump is going to unleash later this month. Thank goodness for the California Resistance!

  15. Shpip

    *Now* they’re finally sending us their best.

    The president of Mexico confirmed the deployment of Mexican firefighters to Los Angeles, underscoring the importance of cooperation in battling natural disasters that know no borders. The contingent includes experienced forest fire specialists prepared to work alongside U.S. crews.

    Local TV station KNTE buttonholed a couple of English-speaking firemen as they got off the plane in LA. I’m paraphrasing, but the conversation went something like:

    Reporterette: What made you get into this line of work?

    Fireman A: We’re brothers, and our father was a fireman, so we followed in his footsteps.

    Reporterette: I see… and what’s your name, sir?

    Fireman A: I’m Jose.

    Reporterette (turns to other fireman): And yours, sir?

    Fireman: I’m Hose B.

    • ron73440

      I should have known, but you have a rare gift.

    • Nephilium

      Far be it from me to point out that one could add a splash of any clear liquor (tequila, rum, vodka, or gin) to that and still wind up with a tasty beverage.

    • Tonio

      Ich werde mich dir anschließen, sobald der Schnee zu fallen beginnt.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Peki ya kar hiç yağmazsa?

  16. R.J.

    $7,000 is par for the course for a new pinball. I am looking at $6,000 for the classic Godzilla Pro. Engadget is clearly unaware of pinball pricing.

    • Nephilium

      Yeah. The new Stern machines are common at the pinball places around here (and they bring dozens of them to the Cleveland Gaming Classic).

      • R.J.

        Now that particular one will appreciate. If you want one, you will want to get it new. It will only go up in price used. It might be like Batman ’66, that you can find for love or money now. The Godzilla classic I want will level off and decline over the next few years.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    I’ll be pretty surprised if they let people build on the beach again. The Coastal Commission is going to see this as an opportunity.

    I was thinking about that, too. I’m sure they wi put every roadblock imagineable in front of anybody who wants to rebuild on the beach.

    • kinnath

      I’ve never had any issues with the Z with stability even when I put my foot all the way down.

      • R.J.

        The Z has an independent rear suspension. That generation of Mustang has a rear straight axle like a Conestoga wagon and it loses traction if you sneeze.

      • DEG

        That generation of Mustang has a rear straight axle like a Conestoga wagon and it loses traction if you sneeze.

        I think also had no traction control to help you out when that happened.

        You really had to know how to drive it or you would be in…. trouble.

      • Tundra

        They always overcorrect. Always.

      • DEG

        I think also had no traction control to help you out when that happened.

        I should have read the comments. Someone in the reddit comment thread says this generation did have traction control.

      • kinnath

        They always overcorrect. Always.

        Foot. Fix the foot first, then steer.

      • R.J.

        Yes, and it is usually turned off. Definitely was in that case. You really need to know your limits when pushing a V8 with a straight axle.

    • kinnath

      It’s like these kids didn’t grow up driving a V8, rear-wheel-drive sedan in the snow and ice.

    • Spudalicious

      I had an ’89 LX5.0. I rarely used first gear.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        One of the two best Mustangs of all time. Fox bodies, and ’65-’66.

        Oh, hell, two of the best cars made in the states. Ever.

      • Tundra

        Neighbor had a Fox body that frequently won awards. It’s now in Iowa because the cat went to heaven and there were literally none available anywhere. And since CO is a stupid cunt state that has emissions tests, his daughter is now enjoying the car in a free state.

        I told him to pretend he was a “migrant.” They all have fake three year old temp plates and nothing happens to them.

      • Spudalicious

        I fucking loved that car.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Mustang! Look out!

    What a maroon. At least he got clear.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    I’ve never had any issues with the Z with stability even when I put my foot all the way down.

    But you need enough power to break the tires loose in any gear at any speed!

    • kinnath

      I need enough power to go fast enough that I need to shit my pants. I can control the throttle to prevent that.

      Anything more is a waste of money.

  20. Mojeaux

    Mom has decided everybody who wants her to fight to live and not “give up” (🤬) (her doc, her selfish cunt of a sister [🤬] and marginally, her other doormat sister) can sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up because she is fucking done and she’s tired of her sister and others disregarding her explicit instructions and ignoring me and my brothers. We are coming off as the villains here.

    Anyway, my brother decided the only way to get Aunt Selfish Cunt was to get her bishop on board (and he is) to listen to mom and deliver the final verdict becaise of course, it would be coming from a priesthood authority she will argue with less than she will argue with anybody else. 🙄 Also, he knows Aunt SC and knows her behavior.

    As for PCUNTP, he came in this morning with his tail between his legs. Good puppy. Learns from a couple of nose swats with a rolled-up newspaper.

    Mom has signed the palliative care papers and thus, we wait.

    • ron73440

      Sorry Mo, really rough situation.

      • Fourscore

        Old(er) people understand. Moj, I’m surprised your two Aunties don’t, because at some point they will be facing the same decision and won’t want anyone interfering.

        It is a sad part of life but every story has a beginning and always the same ending.

        I was at a funeral this morning for a classmate, he’d been not well for several years, the last two were tough on his wife and family. I talked to his wife, she was the most understanding of all.

        Come to HH this year, the clock is ticking.

      • Mojeaux

        My aunt is only interested in her own interests and her having a roof over her head depends on mom’s continued existence because the second she dies, the money stops.

        I’m not willing to ascribe ALL her insistence to her housing situation. Maybe 35% because it IS a legitimate fear and I don’t blame her for that.

        But she has also lost her husband and two daughters and so I’m sure she also just doesn’t want to lose anyone else.

        My other aunt kind of just goes with whoever’s loudest, thinking loud == right.

    • DEG

      Sorry Mojeaux.

    • Gender Traitor

      I hope your mom can be made and kept as comfortable as possible.

    • Evan from Evansville

      My sympathies, Mo. At least your mother’s wishes are underway. May they be peaceful.

    • SarumanTheGreat

      Fortunately never had that problem with my parents or my MIL. The family both nuclear and extended were all on the same page.

      May the end be peaceful and painless.

  21. Spudalicious

    Is it February yet? These cocktail recipes suck ass.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    These cocktail recipes suck ass.

    Add Everclear to taste.

    • R C Dean

      I could see some white rum working very well with this one.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Dead-enders, true believers, and the AP

    Around one-quarter of U.S. adults said Biden was a “good” or “great” president, with less than 1 in 10 saying he was “great,” according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

    It’s a stark illustration of how tarnished Biden’s legacy has become, with many members of his own party seeing his Democratic presidency as merely mediocre. About one-third described Trump as “good” or “great” on the eve of the Republican’s departure from the White House in 2021, according to AP-NORC polling, including about 2 in 10 who said he was “great” — even after he helped sparked a deadly insurrection that saw a mob of his supporters overrun the U.S. Capitol. Americans were similarly likely to describe both Biden and Trump as “poor” or “terrible” — about half said this characterized each president’s time in office — but about 3 in 10 said Biden was “average,” while less than 2 in 10 said this about Trump.

    Heckuva job, Joe.

    • Evan from Evansville

      “…after he helped sparked a deadly insurrection that saw a mob of his supporters overrun the U.S. Capitol.”

      Yep. Deadly for Ashlii Babbitt. Their lie is far too ingrained in many/most folk, those evil fucks. Yay.

    • Suthenboy

      “…a deadly insurrection that saw a mob of his supporters overrun the U.S. Capitol.”

      The lie that never dies. Do they still think they are winning people over with this?

      • Evan from Evansville

        It acts to placate True Believers so they ‘think’ they’re insane. After all, all these other ‘smart’ and ‘media’ folk keep saying it!

        “There, there, little cupcakes. Such loyal pets we have, darling!”

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Nah, roughly one quarter of people can be fooled all of the time and/or they lie.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    many members of his own party seeing his Democratic presidency as merely mediocre.

    He never rose to mediocre on his best day.

    • Suthenboy

      Among Senators Joe was a joke for his entire tenure. He was always known as the biggest idiot in the Senate, and that is saying a lot.

      • Fourscore

        He was the kid that always put his tongue on the play ground steel fence post when it was -15.

      • ron73440

        Biden getting outclassed by Sowell talking about affirmative action and being too dumb o know it was an early awakening point for me.

      • ron73440

        Biden getting outclassed by Sowell talking about affirmative action and being too dumb o know it was an early awakening point for me.

        But apparently I’m too dumb to spell *to* correctly.

  25. Sensei

    Ok folks, get out your decoder rings.

    Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!” or “Trans People Are Immoral”

    At times, the provided examples appear convoluted or contradictory. One page notes “generalizations” about any group remain prohibited if they make a comparison to animals or pathogens — such as “All Syrian refugees are rodents.” But comparisons to “filth or feces” are now downgraded from hate speech to a less serious form of “insult,” which violates company rules only if directed at a protected group.

    • Suthenboy

      They just cant help themselves.

    • SarumanTheGreat

      They’re only trash or immoral if they try to make me kiss their ass for being special, try and make me use their pronouns, or try to recruit non-adults for their drug and mutilation scheme. Otherwise they’re just weird narcissists.

    • Suthenboy

      We are going to stop censoring like that. Now we are going to censor like this.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        To be fair, if you flush out all of the censorship all the feeds and comments will be filled with various “gamer words,” words so foul that decorum prevents me from specifying them here.

      • Suthenboy

        I know but they aren’t censoring words. They are censoring ideas. That is what censors are about, forbidding the communication of unapproved ideas lest they spread.

    • Fourscore

      “wooden clamp”

      I couldn’t stop laughing. Uh-huh, a wooden clamp, found in most households and always if a female lives in said household. The mystery has been solved.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      They do the same thing for older actors who they’re trying to make younger for a film or whatever, don’t think they use clothespins though.

  26. Suthenboy

    Just heard on the news…two new fires started. Ya know….conspiracy theories look crazy up until they dont.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Homeless folks? Copycats? Emboldened firebugs? Miscellaneous assholes? None would surprise me.

      • Sean

        Terrorists.

      • Tundra

        Agree with Sean. Plenty of smart people have been screaming about this threat for years.

        But hey, dykes.

      • Suthenboy

        It may be worse than any of those. The newscasters were talking about plans for replacing those neighborhoods with high density housing – you know, Krushchevkas. The watermelons have been screaming about that and re-wilding for 50 years. Maybe they got enough powerful people onboard and are impatient. Hell, I dont know.
        See comment about Maui….who owns all that land now and who is running the recovery effort? That might tell us a lot about what is going on in LA.

      • Suthenboy

        Also, a few years ago they had fires like this and they were able to nail down what caused them. Downed power lines and then arsonists. They caught some or all of the arsonists.
        Has anyone been caught this time?

      • Sean

        Yes. One suspect in custody last I heard.

  27. Suthenboy

    Looking at the Maui recovery. It’s not so bad. It definitely looks like a new courageous Lahaina. They are even giving people their own pods.
    I shit you not, it looks like a ’70s commie hippie dream. Pods, communal gardens, very sparse population.
    I wonder what LA will look like in a couple of years.

    • Suthenboy

      Note: In the photos I saw the pods are not spread out on individual lots like the houses were. They are chock-a-block 20-30 feet apart.
      I wonder…is the architect that designed pods for San Diego directly or indirectly involved in this? He designed Morlock pods for San Diego, the Maui ones appear to be Eloi pods.

  28. R C Dean

    “I can respect this.”

    You could remaster them and preserve history by having an option to de-rez them back to the original, you know.