Enderlord's Random Banter #230 (Friendly warning: Might teleport. Don't get wet.)

[Peelee]

At a complete guess (unfamiliar with UK laws except as they relate to Law & Order UK), I would imagine that as long as the name is legally changed, it is the exact same amount of "enforceable" regardless of whether it is in the public record or not.

[Rater202]

I'm considering the value in using Velveeta or a similar processed cheese product as a "base/starter" cheese for soups and sauces--it's designed to melt evenly and smoothly so I'm wondering if melting that first and then adding the other desired cheeses to flavor it would work out.

I've looked at a couple of cheese soup recipes and I think that finely diced white onion caramelized in butter added to a mixture of milk and chicken broth seasoned with salt, white and black pepper, and a hint of garlic powder brought to a boil with cubed cheese product and shredded sharp cheddar melted into it in that order then finished with diced and roasted potatoes would be a good test but I'm not sure.

[Peelee]

I'm considering the value in using Velveeta or a similar processed cheese product as a "base/starter" cheese for soups and sauces--it's designed to melt evenly and smoothly so I'm wondering if melting that first and then adding the other desired cheeses to flavor it would work out.

I've looked at a couple of cheese soup recipes and I think that finely diced white onion caramelized in butter added to a mixture of milk and chicken broth seasoned with salt, white and black pepper, and a hint of garlic powder brought to a boil with cubed cheese product and shredded sharp cheddar melted into it in that order then finished with diced and roasted potatoes would be a good test but I'm not sure.

Try and see! Also, do you have a mezzaluna? The second I read "finely diced onion" my first thought was mezzaluna. I may have an inordinate amount of love for mezzalunas, admittedly.

[Rater202]

Try and see! Also, do you have a mezzaluna? The second I read "finely diced onion" my first thought was mezzaluna. I may have an inordinate amount of love for mezzalunas, admittedly.

No.

Maybe if I ever find myself able to move into my own house or apartment I'll pick up one for my own kitchen but...

Honestly, I've never really had trouble dicing things with a regular knife--my group had the smoothest strawberry jam when my food chemistry course did that due to my skill with the blade.

...I've gotta make that jam again. That was some good ass jam.

[Qwertystop]

Try and see! Also, do you have a mezzaluna? The second I read "finely diced onion" my first thought was mezzaluna. I may have an inordinate amount of love for mezzalunas, admittedly.

...Huh. Looked that up, having not heard the phrase before. I've got something that's like that but with unsharpened blades, they called it a pastry blender. Hadn't thought of sharpening one for cutting things other than butter. Seems useful. Would be a pain to keep sharp, though.

[Rawhide]

Try and see! Also, do you have a mezzaluna? The second I read "finely diced onion" my first thought was mezzaluna. I may have an inordinate amount of love for mezzalunas, admittedly.

Slap Chops are easier.

[Anonymouswizard]

At a complete guess (unfamiliar with UK laws except as they relate to Law & Order UK), I would imagine that as long as the name is legally changed, it is the exact same amount of "enforceable" regardless of whether it is in the public record or not.

Basically if not enrolled organisations can refuse to accept it as evidence of your new name. English law is weird and the way it treats names is even weirder. Still, it is good that the actual legal change is easy and free even if definitive proof isn't.

[Peelee]

No.

Maybe if I ever find myself able to move into my own house or apartment I'll pick up one for my own kitchen but...

Honestly, I've never really had trouble dicing things with a regular knife--my group had the smoothest strawberry jam when my food chemistry course did that due to my skill with the blade.

...I've gotta make that jam again. That was some good ass jam.

Mezzalunas, at least for me, are less about having trouble without one than simply being way faster dicing/mincing.

[Rater202]

Mezzalunas, at least for me, are less about having trouble without one than simply being way faster dicing/mincing.

Time isn't an issue for me, honestly, when possible while I prefer to take my time when prepping ingredients.

Textures a big issue for me, so... Like, a lot of the recipes I've experimented with or want to try involve taking a stick blender to the sauce to make sure there the consistency is smooth.

So when it comes to things like cutting and mixing, I'll take my time to do it right when feasible.

[Peelee]

Time isn't an issue for me, honestly, when possible while I prefer to take my time when prepping ingredients.

Textures a big issue for me, so... Like, a lot of the recipes I've experimented with or want to try involve taking a stick blender to the sauce to make sure there the consistency is smooth.

So when it comes to things like cutting and mixing, I'll take my time to do it right when feasible.

I could cut each individual piece by itself, but en masse still does it right but faster. Mezzaluna still does it right, just faster (and easier/less effort, and more efficiently). I have nothing against anyone who doesn't want to use em, especially if they don't have em, but it's not an issue of not doing it right. It's simply, if I don't need to spend more time than necessary, I don't.

[Rater202]

I could cut each individual piece by itself, but en masse still does it right but faster. Mezzaluna still does it right, just faster (and easier/less effort, and more efficiently). I have nothing against anyone who doesn't want to use em, especially if they don't have em, but it's not an issue of not doing it right. It's simply, if I don't need to spend more time than necessary, I don't.

I wasn't saying that a mezzaluna wasn't doing it right, it's just...

Since I prefer to take the time to do it right, I don't really mind that a normal knife isn't as fast as using a mezzaluna.

[Rawhide]

Speaking of coffee...

[Form]

Speaking of coffee...

Ah yes, that reminds me, I still needed a cup of psychoactive drugs wet cigar/burning asphalt flavored brown water coffee.

[enderlord99]

Anydice.com treats "1d(1d4)" as "1d4" and gives a flat distribution, because it ignores the parentheses. Does anyone know where I could find a similar program that actually groups operations (including the rolls themselves) properly?

For reference, the distribution there should be:

• ((1/1)+(1/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 25/48 chance of "1"
• ((0/1)+(1/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 13/48 chance of "2"
• ((0/1)+(0/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 07/48 chance of "3"
• ((0/1)+(0/2)+(0/3)+(1/4))/4= 03/48 chance of "4"
  

I'd make such a system myself, but I can't code good.

[Rockphed]

Anydice.com treats "1d(1d4)" as "1d4" and gives a flat distribution, because it ignores the parentheses. Does anyone know where I could find a similar program that actually groups operations (including the rolls themselves) properly?

For reference, the distribution there should be:

• ((1/1)+(1/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 25/48 chance of "1"
• ((0/1)+(1/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 13/48 chance of "2"
• ((0/1)+(0/2)+(1/3)+(1/4))/4= 07/48 chance of "3"
• ((0/1)+(0/2)+(0/3)+(1/4))/4= 03/48 chance of "4"
  

I'd make such a system myself, but I can't code good.

Making the system itself isn't hard for a specific case. Making code that is both elegant and effective in the general case is, however, beyond my abilities.

[Anonymouswizard]

I just finished Dragonfall, getting what I guess is the 'canon ending', and yeah that game is punk. You spend the entire game facing an entity that is bigger than bot your team and the little piece of Berlin you get to know so well, and end up taking it down with a few (hundred) well place bullets, and then you get the very final choice of essentially whether to start worming your way into the power of society or reject it.

Unfortunately the penultimate run is annoying, and the final fight of the game forces you into dealing with a time limit which meant that though I had beat the actual boss I failed the mission because I was one AP short of doing the final action the first time I played it. Which is a shame, because alongside his flunkies the final boss is finally an actual challenge and took multiple members of my team from full health to dying.

The world needs more games with actual punk. And I hear Hong Kong finally lets me play an actual razorgirl, so I might drop my plan to play a decker and just build me another Street Samurai.

Oh, and I think my favourite line from the game has to be replying to 'are you high' with 'yes, but that's beside the point'. Just one of those little touches that makes you appreciate what the standard shadowrunner lifestyle actually is.

[Form]

Spoiler: About the Dragonfall ending

Show

I was a little tempted to go along with Vauclair's plan, because he does have a point about the dragons. But dragon genocide and the massacre it would take in Berlin were a bit too much. Besides, does it really matter that much whether the dragons are in charge or not? If it's not the dragons, then it'll be the megacorps. Either way, it'll be the rich and powerful crushing everyone else beneath their heels. Didn't really seem like a meaningful distinction.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler: About the Dragonfall ending

Show

I was a little tempted to go along with Vauclair's plan, because he does have a point about the dragons. But dragon genocide and the massacre it would take in Berlin were a bit too much. Besides, does it really matter that much whether the dragons are in charge or not? If it's not the dragons, then it'll be the megacorps. Either way, it'll be the rich and powerful crushing everyone else beneath their heels. Didn't really seem like a meaningful distinction.

Spoiler: Dragonfall

Show

There is actually one or two meaningful distinctions that I think are worth pointing out; dragons in this universe are typically representative of something and thus do have a purpose in society, and unlike a raw megacorp powered only by corporate greed a dragon has a personality.

A megacorp run by a dragon may not seem very different from one run by a board of directors, but one of these has a single individual at the top who decides things and can, if very difficult, be reasoned with. The other is beholden to so many outside forces that it is impossible to fix it in a way that isn't breaking it down from the top up. Dragons are, at the very least, Top Of The Food Chain, and thus will not be behold to anything but themselves, and that's a net positive compared to faceless corporations.

[Rater202]

This is just my opinion, but as someone who listens to a wide variety of music in a wide variety of genres, I have not come across a single "heavy metal" cover of a non-metal song that didn't sound good. Not a single one, in my experiance.

[Anonymouswizard]

Spoiler: About the Dragonfall ending

Show

I was a little tempted to go along with Vauclair's plan, because he does have a point about the dragons. But dragon genocide and the massacre it would take in Berlin were a bit too much. Besides, does it really matter that much whether the dragons are in charge or not? If it's not the dragons, then it'll be the megacorps. Either way, it'll be the rich and powerful crushing everyone else beneath their heels. Didn't really seem like a meaningful distinction.

Spoiler

Show

Dragons are also reliant on the mana levels, which cycle. In the long term leaving the Great Dragons in charge gives you a certainty that eventually they will have to bequeath their power, leading to a more orderly transition to a small number of metahumans, and giving you thousands of years to break their power bases while they themselves can't act.

And at the very least the immortal elves have a reason to ensure that happens. And honestly they're likely the harder problem to shake than the dragons.

The question to me is basically 'can you survive six thousand years or more of dragon rule'. Assuming that the system doesn't break down sooner, which is entirely possible when dragons love to horde in a system dependent on transaction, and arguably more than the people who'd replace them.

And if the dragons are going to fall anyway I see no reason for it to happen now, rather than in centuries as a consequence of their actions. The Flux State shall rise again (unless the remainder gets killed off) once Lowfyr has taken his last breath (especially as more Dragonslayer shaman begin fighting the Megas).

EDIT: with regards to metal covers, I've heard a couple of bad ones where the artist didn't bother natching the tone of the song. But that seems to be rare, and sometimes it just works because of the increased complexity of metal compared to most genres.

Unpopular opinion: this is why modern pop music borrowing elements from hip hop is bad. There is good hip hop out there, even some of the big stuff, but when pop music borrows from it it's always the elements that lead to less musical complexity. The best rap has always been to more complex rhythms, ideally with multiple backing instruments, whereas I feel like modern pop music is trying to leave out as many instruments as it can.

[Peelee]

This is just my opinion, but as someone who listens to a wide variety of music in a wide variety of genres, I have not come across a single "heavy metal" cover of a non-metal song that didn't sound good. Not a single one, in my experiance.

I loved the live version of Diamonds and Rust by Judas Priest, the one with the reverb and repeat on the intro. Find out if was a cover of an original by Joan Baez, which I loved even more. Then I found out Judas Priest did a liver version in Japan a few years ago, much closer to the original, which was even better.

Diamonds and Rust cannot be done poorly, I guess is the takeaway here.

Oh, and Metallica can't cover songs to save their lives.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Neither can Van Halen, for the most part. And yet that's a fairish chunk of their discography.

[Peelee]

Neither can Van Halen, for the most part. And yet that's a fairish chunk of their discography.

Eh, they got at least one on their debut album IMO.

[Rater202]

So my mother and stepfather left town last Thursday because his grandfather's condition worsened--stroke, pneumonia, total kidney failure.

They pulled life support once everyone was there to say their goodbyes... and then he didn't die.

When they came home they said they might have to go back this upcoming weekend becuase he was expected to pass soon, but last I heard the man was moved into a hospice for long-term care so who knows what's gonna happen or when at this point.

[Anonymouswizard]

So my mother and stepfather left town last Thursday because his grandfather's condition worsened--stroke, pneumonia, total kidney failure.

They pulled life support once everyone was there to say their goodbyes... and then he didn't die.

When they came home they said they might have to go back this upcoming weekend becuase he was expected to pass soon, but last I heard the man was moved into a hospice for long-term care so who knows what's gonna happen or when at this point.

Ouch. Won't pretend to have much experience in these kind of situations, but that's got to be emotionally heavy.


Decided to fire up Ultima VII today, because apparently I've become an antihipster who only plays things after they're cool. But honestly if a modern game came up that played like it I'd probably play the heck out of it, because there's something satisfying about the way it plays.

I'd also love to play an Ultima-styled tabletop game. Should probably play the game more before trying to write one.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Vibes Rater. It sucks waiting for a loved one to die, and it sucks more to watch loved ones wait for someone to die.

[Rater202]

My stepfather seems to be holding up well... Unusally well, he's not exactly the most stable of people, and my mom is sad becuase she befriended the man several years ago when my stepfather's grandma passed(toxic people were being toxic and stepfather had to help with arrangments, so mom was the only one to sit and talk with him when...)

But I don't really have much emotional attachment--I constantly had bad experiences when visiting with my stepfather's family(you ever have fleas?) so once I was old enough to have a say I didn't really go, and as far as I know I met my stepfather's uncle(the one handling all the arrangements) once and his grandfather never--of my stepfather's family, the ones I know the best are the ones that nobody wants to have anything to do with anymore.

I don't really have an investment here, I just... There's a problem, and there's nothing I can do to help. All I can do is offer hugs and nobody has taken me up on the offer.

I don't feel bad that a man's dying, I feel bad that there's not really anything I can do for the people he's leaving behind, ya know?

[Peelee]

Vibes Rater. It sucks waiting for a loved one to die, and it sucks more to watch loved ones wait for someone to die.

As bad as it is (and it is horrible), having experienced both, IMO it is infinitely preferable to having a loved one suddenly, unexpectedly die.

[Anonymouswizard]

I know the feeling Rater. Be there to offer hugs and an ear, and to put the kettle on if anybody breaks down.

It sucks seeing somebody you care for in pain and being unable to do anything (due to lockdown I'm going through a similar, if less death related, experience). At the end of the day sometimes the best thing you can do is just listen when people need to talk and keep the tea flowing.

Yeah it sucks when people don't need the help you can give, but sometimes you just need to be there in case they need it later


Talking about hugs, I seem to flip from 'stay at least one meter away' to 'cuddles!!!' based mostly on if I'm in a relationship with the person (if I'm attracted to turn but not in a relationship I'm willing to touch but awkward about it). I really can't tell how weird this is, partially due to British reservedness meaning people don't touch anyway without at least four pints of beer. But yeah, part of my brain seems to treat hugs as being as intimate as mouth on mouth kissing.

Although that eye contact thing people insist on doing is creepy.

[Form]

My stepfather seems to be holding up well... Unusally well, he's not exactly the most stable of people, and my mom is sad becuase she befriended the man several years ago when my stepfather's grandma passed(toxic people were being toxic and stepfather had to help with arrangments, so mom was the only one to sit and talk with him when...)

But I don't really have much emotional attachment--I constantly had bad experiences when visiting with my stepfather's family(you ever have fleas?) so once I was old enough to have a say I didn't really go, and as far as I know I met my stepfather's uncle(the one handling all the arrangements) once and his grandfather never--of my stepfather's family, the ones I know the best are the ones that nobody wants to have anything to do with anymore.

I don't really have an investment here, I just... There's a problem, and there's nothing I can do to help. All I can do is offer hugs and nobody has taken me up on the offer.

I don't feel bad that a man's dying, I feel bad that there's not really anything I can do for the people he's leaving behind, ya know?

You're there to provide emotional support should they need it. That's all you can do and it might very well be the most important thing anyone can do. That counts for something.