1,078 thoughts on “Natural 20 Scroll

  1. Yotes fans. I hope you get a chance to go see Alex Tanguay while he’s there. While he’s a far cry of what he used to be he’s still a joy to watch. I know Jack still has fond memories of him….

    In all seriousness do it. What a great guy. And a ledgendary Av

    • I do hope Boedker reaches his true potential in Colorado, and that – if the Avs get in – he can give them a solid playoff run. He was usually disappointing and streaky here in AZ. Since the Yotes and in build mode, I was hoping they’d deal Boedker for someone to help build for the future.

      … Not… a former star at the end of his career. Let’s hope Tanguay finds what he’s lost and can help Doan add some veteran leadership to a talented young Yotes team that should absolutely be a contender next year.

    • As a geek, I feel like I should be excited by this, but I find myself less interested in tinkering with stuff like this anymore. One of those things to add to the list when I’m retired and the kids are out of the house.

    • Speaking of Dark Sides, happy 43rd anniversary to Dark Side of the Moon. As the old man said:

      There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.

  2. Morning Pan

    Something’s been bugging me. You know the poem, As I was going to St. Ives?
    Why does everybody say the answer is one? Nowhere in it does it say the men were going in opposite direction. When you think about it, a lone person (the poet) would travel faster than someone with a bunch of wives and cats. Maybe they were going in the same direction. The poet caught up to the man and they started chatting as they were were both walking together for a short while.
    With this in mind, I postulate the real answer to this poem is (7*7*7)+2 which is 345.

    … or 9 people. Not sure how the cats are really counted. Also, I didn’t include the sacks as that would be just weird. :sideways:

    As I was going to St. Ives
    I met a man with seven wives
    Each wife had seven cats
    Each cat had seven kits.
    Kits, cats, sacks, and wives
    How many were going to St. Ives

  3. Today’s movie is Hellions.
    The PVR write up: A teen faces a night of terror when malevolent trick or treaters come knocking at her door.

    Because, who doesn’t need a Halloween tale on March 2nd

  4. I can’t decide if I liked this movie or not. I’ll give it extra marks for being different from the usual fare, though.

  5. Anyone else here have Annual Compliance Modules to complete for their job? Also, they affect your job performance review (ie pay raise).

    These modules suck every year.

    • For months, I’ve been seeing lots of gripes about the gender of the team. I’d assume those people are unimpressed with the new trailer for that reason.

      Me, I think it’s a good cast, and an all-female team is a great way to reboot (or continue?) the franchise. Unfortunately, I’m unimpressed with the new trailer for the lack of real laughs or new ideas.

      • I did feel that way about the new Star Wars trailer, but the film was much better than what I was expecting it to be from the trailer.

    • JF: United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas

      If this book was a film it would be directed by Werner Herzog and not Chris Columbus.

  6. I wonder if in some deep dark cellar, Steven Speilberg has a version of this film with all the cigarettes edited it out..

  7. Speaking of free games, I sunk a good hour+ into playing Star Realms on the tablet last night. The physical game is much more fun, but this is a decent intro to the game.

  8. Hi.

    So its time for honest conversation and not just because of Mr. Whiskey. This has been a long time coming and only now do I feel strong and safe enough to say it.

    I love my kids. You all with children know how much they mean to you. Those of you who have lost children know how much that affects every single future decision and announcement as well. It is therefore with a humble heart that I say my 5th child (including my angel baby TJ) will be arriving on this earth on the first week of June.

    i am FUCKING stoked, tho I have no idea how this happened. I guess Im the one shot king. HA! Barf…

    This is the reason I am very sketchy about being able to make the wedding. That plus an ill time car wreck have sapped the time and money. With all luck the pregnancy will go smoothly and Ill have the cash to come out.

    Why am I writing this? Case I respect most of you. And youre fam. And god bless the USA and fuck Trump in his butt. Thank you

  9. So some of the more conservative peeps on my FB news feed are getting their nickers in the twist over Obama choosing SXSW over Nancy Reagan’s funeral.

    Let the gnashing and wailing of teeth begin…

  10. Crap joke for the day:

    A little old lady , well into her eighties, slowly
    enters the front door of a sex shop. Obviously very unstable on her feet, she wobbles the few feet across the store to the counter. Finally arriving at the counter and grabbing it for support, stuttering
    she asks the sales clerk, “Dooo youuuu have
    dilllldosss?”
    The clerk, politely trying not to burst out laughing,
    replies, “Yes we do have dildos. Actually we carry many different models.”
    The old woman then asks: “Doooo youuuu carrryy aaa pppinkk onnee, tttenn inchessss lllong aaandd aabboutt
    ttwoo inchesss ththiickk…aaand rrunns by bbaatteries?”
    The clerk responds, “Yes we do..”
    “Dddooo yyoouu kknnnooww hhhoww ttooo ttturrrnn iittt
    offff?”

    • Agree with him or not, he articulates his case with civility and intelligent, non-partisan points. He’d never fit in at Fox. I absolutely support Bernie’s vision, but most of Kasparov’s cautions should stay in the conversation.

      Good link, Van. Even if it is about billiards.

    • He makes some really good points and he makes some bold assertions without cross examination. I wouldn’t consider Eisenhower era America socialist by any means, but with a top tax rate of 90 percent America was considered to be in its height of innovation.

  11. I’ve been instructed to read the book, “Basic Rconomics” by Thomas Sowell. If I read it and I still want to vote for someone other than Trump, then my coworker will give me $100.

        • Agreed. The Sowell book is good, but there is no correlation between it’s contents and anything that Trump has demonstrably done.

          • The consensus amongst the majority of my co-workers (surgeons, perfusionists, anesthesiologists, nurses) is that Trump
            trumps Hilary.

            They will take the “showboater for shock-value” over the pathological liar-crook.

            I have one co-worker who is supporting Bernie, only because she has lived in Denmark and has experienced his vision of politics there.

          • There are so many logical fallacies in their stance… I wouldn’t even know where to begin to deconstruct them. (e.g.: Trump is not a pathological liar and a crook??)

            These are obviously people with intelligence and rational thought on some level. I can only assume they’re caught in the zeitgeist of 30 years of Hillary-bashing and numbskull celebrity Trump has enjoyed as “real-life Robocop movie villain”, from a certain segment of the populace.

  12. Anyway… Finally took the young uns to see the final Hunger Games flick.

    I know it’s been said umpteen times: this is seriously grim stuff for YA.

    • Interesting. I guess the Wikipedia writer’s are probably correct. Since a slide rule has scales with indicated position marks along it, I would have thought it was still digital.

      I can see where nomographs would be analog computation, but man they are awful to work with.

  13. So it seems that Tiff and I picked a tough year for everyone to travel to a wedding. . . .

    We will continue to update and ask and hope because it’s important to us, and because we’re trying to plan – – but please don’t feel guilt tripped. We get it. But please also know that you matter a lot and we want you there for our big day!

  14. RIP Larry Drake. 66 years too young

    Dr. Giggles and Darkman were instrumental in my youth.

    “I abhor violence, especially when it doesn’t make me money.”

    An absolute icon of genre TV character bits.

  15. So that moment of realisation when you’ve waited decades for VR and realise your eyesight is no longer upto snuff to use VR…that.

  16. I’ve somehow never hear David Gilmour’s 1978 solo album until now, through the magic of Youtube. I’m digging it! Sounds like the posr-Roger Pink Floyd stuff (which would make sense).

  17. As much disappointment I had with s3 of Vikings I have equal amounts joy and love for s4. This is why I fell for it in the first place

  18. Also, “The Americans” is off to a promising start for Season 4. Though, the “coming this season” bit at the end sure seems like they are going to wrap up the story this year.

    There is also an official podcast for the show that posts about a day after each episode airs. The ones for Season 3 were most excellent.

  19. Okay, I’m trying to remember the name of a film, probably Disney, where three crooks are trying to get to a aeroplane to escape the country. A mini submarine is involved, and a large Salami gets gets fired from the sub at a coastguard ship.

    They get away at the end but have to dump the money to lighten the plane.

    Probably from the 70’s.

    Any ideas?

  20. Morning Pan

    Hubby seems to have hurt his eye so, instead of working like I should be, I’m sitting in a doctors office waiting on him

    Poor hubby

      • I haven’t finished the game. I’ve been meaning to replay it. I think you’d enjoy the comics, even if it leaves you hanging. Did you know Weta Workshop did the 3D compositing for the series? It looks pretty cool.

        • Nope.

          i remember flicking through some issues in a little comic book store in Aldershot when I visited my sister.

          It looked interesting.

    • Hair metal had become a parody of itself that is true, but as brilliant as “Nevermind” was it inspired a large amount of drek.

      • As any perfect and paradigm bending album does. Its really true. For every Soundgarden’s ‘Badmotorfinger’ (which Ill argue nearly superseded Nevermind) there’s Candlebox. For every Seaweed’s ‘Four’ there’s Days of the New

  21. As I feared, Dawn of Justice is getting semi-shat upon by critics. It simply looks a MESS of shoehorned in characters and unnecessary villains. You know what else it seems to suffer from (IMO)? Unlike the Marvel films I can SEE the CHARACTERS the actors are portraying. Its the exact opposite for this film. All I see are the ACTORS. That’s a problem. And I remind you i REALLY liked Man of Steel, so no DC hatred just to hate here. The DC film universe may be in trouble. That being said of course Ill see it… right after I see Star Wars 5 more times and Deadpool.

    • I’ll be seeing it for sure. From what I’ve read, the advanced ticket sales are so high, that if for some reason no one bought tickets, it’d still would have made enough money to warrant a sequel.

    • I saw “Man of Steel” a few weeks ago and I enjoyed it. As I recall, it got very mixed critical response, so I’m expecting more of the same with the new movie.

      • Agree. But at least Man of Steel stuck true to one hero vs one villain (yes I’m counting it as one villain). This new one.. I can’t count the amount of characters in it. It makes Spiderman 3 look subtle.

        • So very true. But you know what? Anything that gets us a real Wonder Woman movie is worth it in my book. I thought the trailer for WW looked promising.

  22. The reboots of the Marvel Star Wars and Darth Vader comic titles have become must reads. Theyre really impressive in both story and art. I’m still an Image guy by far, but these two titles are lots of fun

  23. I’ve been up for three hours. Hubby, still asleep. I have a feeling one of us will be going to bed sooner than the other this evening before the long weekend

  24. Crap joke for the day:

    Mick walks into Paddy’s barn and catches him dancing naked and wanking in front of a tractor.
    Mick says ‘fucking hell Paddy, what ya doing?’
    Paddy says ‘well me and Mary haven’t been getting on in the bedroom lately and the therapist recommended I do something sexy to attractor.

  25. Looks like Batman V Superman has a 44 rating amoungst critics but a 71 rating with average users. Considering how much I liked MoS, Watchmen and 300 I am still hopeful.

  26. The fact of the matter is that DC is still trying to get film versions of their anchor heroes right while Marvel is like “Oh look guys, here’s Ant-Man, Black Panther, Gaurdians of the Galaxy, and a bunch of other B comic heroes.” That’s impressive

    • Maybe the day is coming when something doesn’t have to be dark and grim for us to accept it as cool. Maybe DC will figure how that Batman is their only A-list character where a dark tone is appropriate.
      After all, The Flash tv series works– and it’s not constantly bleak.

  27. So what I learnt this week from a folk music podcast:

    What the Mason-Dixon Line was and what Mark Knoffler was singing about on a certain song.

  28. Watched Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday on Netflix last night. I was pretty good. Mostly the same thing as the other Pee-Wee movies. Definitely some laugh out loud moments.

  29. Almost bought a new iPad this weekend.

    Then I realised I would just do the same things on the new one that the old one is still perfectly capable of doing (watching videos, Spotify, Twitter and Facebook).

    So it goes.

    #smallpotatoes

    • Nope, nor do I plan on getting a copy. I can barely wrap my brain around Imperial Assault as it is. I’ll stick to X-Wing miniatures and Edge stuff for now. 🙂

    • And I don’t get the hate. There are lots of little critiques I can make, and I will, but nothing disastrous. The movie does exactly what it set out to do.

      • The most baffling to me are the negative reviews that seem to be based on something that the critics wrote between the time they heard that Affleck was cast as Batman and the time they saw the first trailer. “I’m going to hate this movie so hard and tell you lies about it so you can tell your nerd friends why this movie sucks without even seeing it and realizing that I fed you horseshit for reasons.”

        There are problems with it that I know we’ll dig into when BSP talks about the movie, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to more stories from this iteration of the DCU.

  30. Batman v Superman….

    I am still digesting the story. I do know that Jesse Eisenberg’s interpretation of Lex Luthor was obnoxious and it seemed to me, be out of character – but I am not a DC Comic know-it-all. I know nothing.

    There is one strange and out of place scene that lasts about 6 or 7 minutes, that left many of us scratching our heads.

    I LOVED WW!!! I cannot wait for her movie.

    I LOVED the glimpse of Jason Mmmmmm-Mamoa.

    I LOVED my afternoon-workday date even more! Squeeeeeee

  31. CP: Heading in the Direction of the Rising Sun — You Say Party

    YSP has become more moody, instrumental, and almost shoegazy on their latest album. I like, but they are almost the polar opposite from their earliest albums.

  32. What learnt today:

    The founder of the company that made Rickenbacker guitars was a distant relative of WW1 ace Eddie Rickenbacker and name the guitar after him.

  33. Well thank you Crucial, your Momentum Cache when installed and activated made the SSD in my desktop perform worse than usual.

    Still, at least it performed the firmware update ok.

  34. I do have to give a hat tip to Lo Pan – – and Roaming Asshat – – for the Darth Vader comic recommendation. I’m only a few issues in, but digging it. It feels like the perfect capture of what would have happened for Vader in the wake of Episode IV.

  35. From the latest Andible, written about BvS:

    ‘What are we to make of the gender codes in Batman v Superman? Is it confused or certain, modern or prehistoric? To reach a clear conclusion, I might have to tell you the end, or at least flesh out my analysis that the lasso in the final battle is a metaphor for the omnipotent but non-lethal vagina.’ (Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 23 March) [JCo]

  36. Stuck at the car dealership for repairs today.
    Gives me the rare opportunity to do nothing BUT catch up on emails and posts.

    Thanks for the Archer reviews Bond link. Made it worth getting out of bed this week!

    • He’s been pretty busy. He tours China every year and he’s been booking events for this year. He posted something to the DP FaceBook page the other day. Also, he and his girlfriend are coming over tomorrow, I’ll pass it along.

  37. So watched some of the first episode of Horace and Pete.

    Can I take a baseball to that fucking sign buzzing in the background?

  38. Crap joke for the day:

    An older gentleman goes into a bar and hears the other patrons discussing the ups and down of marriage.
    “Next week my wife and I will celebrate our fiftieth anniversary,” he tells them.
    “That’s great. What’s your secret for a long and happy marriage,” one asks.
    “Well, you have to do nice things for your wife.”
    “Such as?”
    “Well, for our twenty fifth anniversary I took her to Italy.”
    “That is nice. What are you going to do for your fiftieth?”
    “I’m going back to visit her.”

  39. So I’m installing the latest firmware on an iPhone 5 I’m passing along to a friend.

    Bloody hell it feels tiny and think I used to think it was big for a phone.

  40. *sigh*. I’ve actually been avoiding the subject but I don’t think I can any more. As much as we tried, I’m just not going to make it this year.

    On the up side, I’ll still be seeing Vanamonde’s, so that’s something, I guess

  41. http://nerdist.com/batgirl-will-have-a-larger-role-in-batman-the-killing-joke-animated-movie/

    I think I’ll skip this one, unless Tiff is really interested in watching it. I’m OK with dark, but this story is brutal. I appreciate the comic for what it is and what I think it’s trying to say about psychopaths like The Joker, but I don’t really want to revisit it.

    I shudder to think of parents letting kids watch, thinking it’s just a Batman cartoon.

    • That was a great come back. Really impressive.

      I cant believe I forgot to set my Monday line up AGAIN againt Tony. Once again my brain bites me in the ass. BAH!

      Should be a good final!

      • I was shocked when I saw that as we were on the way to the gym this morning. For a moment I thought that I was having some sort of hallucination caused by being headed to the gym at 5:15 AM on a Monday morning.

        • How am I supposed to win when Im playing against a good player AND Mr. Forgetfulness??? It dont seem fair! Waaaaa! Waaaa! 🙂

          Now as the underdog, Tony, go complete the mission.

          *coughnooffenseJackcough*

    • A couple of thoughts on this article. Stellar engineering should always be extra-solar. If one possesses the technology to move and alter stars, one probably has the ability to create stars from zero point energy.

  42. And finally, To TEB, Mr. TEB and to Essbee and Sly B,

    I am so sad that you all cannot join us in person for the M&M celly this summer….

    BUT, we will be thinking of you all and we will feel your love and good vibes across the continent, for sure! xo

  43. Hey all! For those who are coming out here this summer and need a hotel, I have a block of rooms at a group rate setup. Details to come in the next day or so- if you want to contact me privately, please do and I can also get you the deets!

  44. Ok, I’m looking for the technical term for the following:

    If I click on a website link in the Twitter app on iOS, it will go to the link within the app. However it’s coming increasingly common that as you view the website an ad will kick you out of the app and load up the App Store.

    Any ideas?

  45. Listening to a local program about cult movies. Seemed appropriate to ask this group. Obviously I know some of the cult films followed by this group, but what would you add to this list? They came up with The Big Lebowski, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ghostbusters and Somewhere in Time. I know some of my cult favorites aren’t going to be on your list.

  46. Synchronicity:

    As I watched the latest episode of Agents of SHIELD, the actor getting killed by the upgraded hydra boss was also in a film the Dragon was watching on TV.

  47. I belong to a survey site from Lucas Films called Obi Wants to Know Me and they just sent out a survey about the new trailer. I tend to throw in one Asshat remark to keep them on their toes. So, when they asked what I though of the trailer (with a big empty text box that I could fill in all on my own) I responded “It looks like it’s going to be a great movie and I’m really happy to see a strong female character. But, oh my goodness, was the one Asian actor in that trailer doing Martial Arts? one step forward, two back I suppose.”

    I was expecting to be able to come back from that half-joking statement later in the survey, but it turned out the initial response was the entire survey. Oh well.

  48. CR: The Man in the High Castle by PKD

    So 2/3rds into the ‘reread’ (audiobook) and reminded again how many scenes they did get into the TV and the revelation that Mr Tagomi did indeed see another Earth in the book. I had missed that plot point when I first read the book many moons ago.

    • I actually started that message several hours before I finished it, so anybody up to speed on goodreads will realise I’ve now finished the reread.

      • I think she’s the best vocalist that Draconian have had, but I will say the other female singers they’ve had on past albums are pretty damn good too.

        • The previous vocalist sounds like she’d had some classical training. Heike just has something special about her voice, though. The whole band deserve credit too, though, for writing great, haunting songs that juxtapose the lovely female vocals with the gruff male lead. One of their PR piece described it as “Beauty and the Beast.”

          I doubt if they had singing teapots in mind.

  49. Today, during my cold medicine-induced nap, I dreamt of Hawaii, getting lost at Costco, and watching a video about a cat that was wearing a corset that appeared to be too small.

    It is possible, that I inhaled cat litter dust today while cleaning out the letterboxes…

  50. I love love love the fact that I can go see The Force Awakens in the theater and then come home and watch it on Blu Ray. Or should I say Blu REY. Huh huhuhuhuhuh

  51. An excellent friend of mine has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. I write this not for sympathy but for a united “fuck cancer” from all and a small donation to your local cancer charity. I know how much this shit had affected folks on this board. Fuck. Cancer.

  52. The day:
    Daughter reunited with a friend, which I think is a good thing.
    Son actually wanted to hang out and talk with me. We had a great time together today. This should be how every day together goes.
    Zootopia was pretty forgettable. If you haven’t seen the DMV scenes, then it could be worth your while.
    Fluxx Dice adds a whole new dimension to the game! Fun stuff, and it’s compatible with every Fluxx version. I wish they’d added more than 5 measly cards to the expansion.

  53. Fear the Walking Dead S2 drinking game:

    In the first episode, if you see any character doing something stupid then drink a shot of booze.

    You should be well sloshed by the end of the episode…

  54. Man. There is absolutely n o team I want to with the cup this year thats not the Caps. What a wretched hive of scum and villainy this year is

  55. Hubby and I lead really boring lives. I was trying to think of places to take Van to eat while out here, but could only think of one place. Hubby and I don’t eat out much, and when we do, it’s usually fast food we grab while out and about on weekends. Actually, we don’t get out much, period. We are very much home bodies. I hope Van won’t be too disappointed on how low-key we are compared to what happens when we get together in Deadpan Land.

  56. Speaking of fantasies…

    CONGRATULATIONS, TONY MAST for your giant come-from-behind, came-out-of-nowhere, kicked-our-butts, WTG victory!!!!

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