[TimovieMan]

Had some catching up to do.

 

Happy belated banjo birthday!

 

The cake looked wonderful! But....

 

On 4/4/2024 at 1:33 AM, Laghail said:

Danish bakeries are superior. It’s just facts. 

 

I'm Belgian and I disagree. 😅

And don't get me started on Carlsberg... 😁

[Laghail]

4 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

I'm Belgian and I disagree. 😅

And don't get me started on Carlsberg... 😁

 

I would love to disagree with you based on data, but sadly I don't have a decent Belgian baking tradition in my region. Danish immigrants began settling in my city around 1840 and we've been shaped by Danish culture, especially baking culture, ever since. 

 

Belgian food culture in my region is primarily represented by your country's illustrious brewing tradition, and beer is a big deal here. Americans are not teetotalers overall, and Wisconsin people are arguably the heaviest drinkers in the country. Therefore Belgian cuisine and bakery is mostly overshadowed by your brewing in my region. We do have the Lowlands Restaurant group in nearby Milwaukee, and they do a decent job promoting Belgian, Luxemburg, and Netherlands  food culture. Sadly, very limited bakery! 😭

 

[Harriet]

The ceramics are incredible. 

[Sea-to-sky]

I am highly envious as it all sounds amazing. Need more awesome food places near me. 

[Sovalis]

15 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I am highly envious as it all sounds amazing. Need more awesome food places near me. 

Right? Me too!

[ViperN7]

 

On 4/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Laghail said:

nope, late is always welcome. 

Such kind words!

 

On 4/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Laghail said:

oh what’s trails into reverie??

Something I can (and have, repeatedly) talked about for many, many hours! 

OK, so, I'm going to try to give you the run down here: (This isn't a plot spoiler, it's thematic and mechanical. It just got to be a long explanation.)

Spoiler

Trails into Reverie is the 10th videogame in the jrpg Legend of Heroes: Trails series. The Trails series is high fantasy, epic, party/ensemble based. It deals heavily with technology, social change, politics, class tensions, military matters, and cultures in several neighboring countries on the continent of Zemuria. Each arc is several games and follows a protagist/party as events unfold in a particular country. Each party adds to your understanding of the complex geopolitical issues and also the workings of the as-yet-still enigmatic villains who weave through the conflicts. There's magic, religions, monsters, rapidy advancing technology, superhuman swordsmanship, and most of all amazingly compelling fleshed out characters whose stories show you the multitude of perspectives and far-reaching effects of the plot problems. Character backstories and motivations often reveal major family and class issues. 

Wow, I was gonna try to make this short, but here we are. Anyway, practical stuff: combat is turn-based. Player choices involve who you interact with and what jobs you take, which affect whose stories you hear. The first game is The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky. It was originally released in 2004 so that's the level of game engine, graphics, etc you can expect. If something that old is a barrier for you, another good starting place is The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. That's the 6th game in the series but the start of a new arc with more modern graphics. (Note: if you want to continue after Cold Steel II, that's the point where you'll really need to go back and play the earlier games in order to advance, as Cold Steel III and beyond more heavily weave the arcs together.)

Based on what I've seen you post about art and life, you may be interested to know: woman figure into it as much as men, and in many cases are the strongest party members. Some arcs feature characters who are deeply into their artwork. There are a few high-profile and totally awesome queer characters, but alas in the games where the PC has romance options, they're (so far) only straight options. 

 

On 4/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Laghail said:

thanks for the encouragement! Apparently Duolingo’s goal is for their courses to get a learner to B2 by the time they finish. Outcomes vary and not all Duolingo courses are equally effective, but this article has some interesting discussion on ECLF and Duolingo.

Indeed. Chinese is what I call one of Duolingo's "neglected" courses, lagging several years worth of updates behind their flagship courses. So I haven't experienced Duolingo going anywhere near that level. Someday, someday in the distant future, I'll get to Duolingo's B2 content in Italian. I'll definitely check out the article! 

 

On 4/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Laghail said:

ooh, this sounds like a story! Share if you’re comfortable?

Ah, fond memories for me, but idk if they really make an interesting story. I was introduced to Zen meditation in a school club setting, and then later at another school had Buddhist meditation courses and also secular meditation courses in the physical environment of a Buddhist meditation hall. Those were a few chapters of life ago, but it is nice to remember. I actually preferred the little kneeling benches (have you seen those?) when they were available, but I have spent many hours (not consecutively!) on meditation cushions! 

I haven't meditated in a while. These days if I'm going for something in that ballpark it's usually reiki. 

 

On 4/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Laghail said:

Did you ever do west wing? S2:E10 “Noel”, has a trauma therapist as the main plot and the quote kills me. 

I have not seen West Wing, but I have heard one of my best friends gush about it repeatedly. That's a really great dialogue ⬆️

 

[Laghail]

23 hours ago, ViperN7 said:

OK, so, I'm going to try to give you the run down here: (This isn't a plot spoiler, it's thematic and mechanical. It just got to be a long explanation.)

 

Color me interested! Should I start from title 1 in the serioes before I approach the latest game?

 

23 hours ago, ViperN7 said:

Indeed. Chinese is what I call one of Duolingo's "neglected" courses, lagging several years worth of updates behind their flagship courses. 

 

Good to know! I had two semesters of Mandarin back in the late 2000's and I daydream about returning to the language. I just found the calligraphy so soothing and the hiphop was very fun. 

 

 

23 hours ago, ViperN7 said:

I actually preferred the little kneeling benches (have you seen those?) when they were available, but I have spent many hours (not consecutively!) on meditation cushions! 

 

Pics plz!

[Laghail]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:40 AM, Harriet said:

The ceramics are incredible. 

 

They made me cry. This past weekend, I visited a friend in nearby St Paul to see the Tanaka Yu piece below at the Minneapolis Art Institute, but it wasn't on display. It was kinda fun to email them and ask for a private showing, even when they obviously said no. Felt like a big shot just for asking lol

 

 

[Harriet]

37 minutes ago, Laghail said:

 

They made me cry. This past weekend, I visited a friend in nearby St Paul to see the Tanaka Yu piece below at the Minneapolis Art Institute, but it wasn't on display. It was kinda fun to email them and ask for a private showing, even when they obviously said no. Felt like a big shot just for asking lol

 

 

 

Happy tears, I hope. I can't really see the object as it's too small but it looks like it's carved to look like a twisted sweet wrapper over a spherical giant toffee (I mean, it could be chocolate. Or a rock. But I think toffee.)

[Laghail]

1 minute ago, Harriet said:

 

Happy tears, I hope. I can't really see the object as it's too small but it looks like it's carved to look like a twisted sweet wrapper over a spherical giant toffee (I mean, it could be chocolate. Or a rock. But I think toffee.)

 

Sorry! Poor quality pic. Here's a closeup of a similar piece from Tanaka Yu. It's just clay and 4-6 layers of glaze. 

[Sea-to-sky]

14 minutes ago, Laghail said:

Sorry! Poor quality pic. Here's a closeup of a similar piece from Tanaka Yu. It's just clay and 4-6 layers of glaze

My question is, why do they not have that on display? It is sensational claywork. 

[Harriet]

Amazing! Such a mundane subject but rendering one material (cloth) with a very different one (clay) is wonderful.

[Laghail]

 

Quote

Amy Silverberg is a writer and comedian based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel "First Time, Long Time" is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing in 2024. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California, where she teaches.

 

Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The New York Times, TriQuarterly, The Southern Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other publications. Her short story "Suburbia!" appeared in Best American Short Stories, and is currently optioned for a tv show. Amy also writes for television, most recently "The Movie Show" on the SYFY Channel.

 

Amy's stand-up comedy has been featured on Comedy Central, Hulu, NPR, and Amazon Prime. She was selected as a "New Face" at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal.

 

Slaying for 7:35 on comedy central in 2020

Spoiler

 

 

2024 set of our slayer killing for13:39 on Comedy Central

Spoiler

 

 

[AI images generated via Dezgo AI with the prompt "The blond comedian Amy Silverberg as a vampire slayer, wielding a microphone as a weapon and wearing an oversized LA dodgers jersey."]

 

Slayer Training

• Lore 
  • Reading in bed by 11pm - 5x/week
    • 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲  
  • Duolingo streak by noon -  5x/week

    • 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲

• Meditation
  • Ass on meditation pillow - 5x/week

    •   ✅🔲🔲🔲🔲

  • Bodhrán meditation 3x/week

    •    ✅🔲🔲 

• Strength
  • Travel weekend

 

Life Stuffs

• St. Paul was lovely and the friends who hosted Liam and I were so gracious. Actually our first weekend away as a couple; some combination of extreme his and his introversion, and we started dating just before covid, it means the couch is everything in our relationship. I'd normally assure you that I am in fact a fun person, but that is a lie. I identify as a bummer and I mostly hate travel.
• Road trips mean audiobooks and we finished this Kingfisher novel and it was a delightful take on the fall of the House of Usher, with some Jeff VanderMeer influences.
  • 
• Road trips mean audiobooks and we did 60% of the below Emrys and this book makes me angry at other sci-fi that wastes my time, by comparison anyway. It's beyond good, it's beautiful and human and haunting and funny and a glimpse of what we could be as a species.  
  • 
• Some family emergencies had us head back a day early and our hosts were so gracious with the plan changes. But before we left, we took in the Walker Art Center and some lovely exhibits in their sculpture garden below. Also, I hate hate most plaques in a sculpture exhibitions. I want to know the medium, the artist, and maybe factual details I might have missed because I went to a state college and watched too many cartoons to know who is being referenced in the installation. I don't want to be told how a 7.5 meter blue chicken can stand for all kinds of things in the viewer's life. STFU and let me enjoy my chicken.
  • Spoiler

    

     

    I hate whoever wrote the shit below. They are dead to me.

     

    Quote

     

    Germany, b. 1956

    fiberglass, polyester resin, stainless steel, paint, artist-designed painted steel pedestal

     

    Towering nearly 25 feet over the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Katharina Fritsch’s blue rooster is at once lifelike and completely unreal. Animals and everyday objects have long been subjects for the artist, who makes them otherworldly and extraordinary through bold shifts in scale, color, and material. The rooster can be a symbol of pride, power, and courage or posturing and macho prowess. Fritsch has admitted that she enjoys “games with language,” and the sculpture’s tongue-in-cheek title knowingly plays on its double meaning. Like Spoonbridge and Cherry, Hahn/Cock presents an unexpected take on the idea of a traditional public monument. Together, these two landmarks show how ordinary objects can become iconic and deeply symbolic.

     

  • Spoiler

    

    

     

    

     

    Perfect informational plaque below. 5/5 stars. 

     

    Quote

    US, b. 1973
    brick, granite, Cor-Ten steel, concrete statue of Saint Laurence
    Standing more than 20 feet tall, Black Vessel for a Saint takes the form of a tempietto, a small, circular Renaissance temple. The bricks of its curved walls were custom-made using leftover materials from the brick-making process. This method of recycling reflects Theaster Gates’s practice of transforming humble, everyday items into new forms.
A statue of Saint Laurence, the patron saint of librarians and archivists, is housed inside the structure. Much like the bricks, the object was reclaimed, in this case salvaged from a church in the artist’s home city of Chicago. Gates describes his sculpture, designed specifically for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, as a secular sacred sanctuary—a place open to all for gathering and reflection.

  • Spoiler

    

     

    

    This plaque can be forgiven for saying too much. In this case, there was a lot to say.

     

    Quote

    The Netherlands, b. 1968
    bronze

     

    Mark Manders combines human figures and architectural elements to evoke the past and present, the familiar and unfamiliar. Three monumental heads recall classical Greek sculpture, yet seem to be trapped between boards or beams. With their delicately textured surfaces, these pieces at first appear to be modeled in wood or wet clay, but are actually cast in metal. The title September Room suggests a living space, which Manders also hints at by including more domestic items, such as a trio of chairs and a record player. Visitors are invited to take a seat to experience the sculpture and become, for a brief time, a part of the artist’s imagined room.

  • Spoiler

    

     

    An amazing piece and a mediocre plaque. I won't swear vengeance on the writer, but did you need to tell me how the figure appears?? I have eyes, fuck you. Maybe he doesn't appear proud or derelict to me, maybe he appears at peace and rejoicing over the process of surrendering his form to oxidization and erosion? Either way, fuck you, but I suppose this plaque could have been worse.

     

    Quote

    US, b. 1972
    bronze, stainless steel

     

    Drawing on such varied sources as archaeology, philosophy, history, and literature, Matthew Monahan creates sculptures that recall the symbols and relics of ancient civilizations. Standing 12 feet tall, Hephaestus portrays the Greek god of fire, metalworkers, and other craftspeople. With the gentle features of its mask-like face and outstretched arm beckoning to the viewer, the figure appears both proud and derelict. This sculpture anchors a grouping of works along this path by artists from several generations who have explored the human figure in their work.

     

• IOU a version of Jed Clampett tonight. I traveled with my banjo but didn't get a chance to play this entire weekend and I could use the motivation.

 

[Sea-to-sky]

T.kingfisher rocks. I have quite a few of theirs on my to read list. This one included. 

[ViperN7]

9 hours ago, Laghail said:

Color me interested! Should I start from title 1 in the serioes before I approach the latest game?

Definitely do not start with Reverie! 

It may help to think if it like a book series. 

Here's a more itemized write-up: (Spoiler tag because it's long) 

Spoiler

"The Liberl Arc" or "Sky": 

1) The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 

2) The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

(⬆️ Those two games follow one protagonist, set of party members, and plot problems in one country. They make up one complete story.)

3) The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Third Chapter

(⬆️ This wraps up the arc and gives you important lore information about the wider world. A party member from the prior game gets to be the protagonist of a frame story. The bulk of the game is a bunch of short stories about the characters from the previous games showing important moments and giving context that sets the stage for future games. The short stories are basically flashbacks within the frame story.) 

 

"The Crossbell Arc"

4) The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero

5) The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure

(⬆️ These two games follow a new protagonist with a new party in a new country dealing with plot problems particular to that country. These two games make up one complete story. However, characters from the Liberl arc show up and are somewhat important, including a highly emotional character arc. Political happenings from the Liberl arc are relevant.) 

 

"The Erebonia Arc" or "Cold Steel" 

6) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 

7) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II 

(⬆️ New protagonist, new party, new country, and that country's problems. These two games form the first half of this protagonist's story. These games also happen at the same time as the Crossbell arc. Whichever ones you play first will spoil some bits of the other. There's no way around it. Some characters travel back and forth and major events affect both countries. There are minor appearances and mentions of events from the Liberl arc.) 

😎 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III

9) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

(⬆️ The second half of this protagonist's/party's/country's story, including an expansion of party members. Together all 4 of these make a complete story. However, Cold Steel III and IV are also a continuation of the events and one main character's story of the Crossbell arc. This provides important emotional impact for several main characters. I highly recommend playing the Crossbell arc before proceeding to Cold Steel III. Multiple important characters from the Liberl arc reappear and are important characters in these two games as well.) 

 

"Reverie" 

10) The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie 

(⬆️ This is a wrap-up game focused on wrapping up unresolved storylines from both the Crossbell and Erebonian arcs. It features characters from all previous games and some new characters too. The storyline is divided between 3 protagonists, two of which are major characters from the Crossbell arc and Erebonian arc. The third is a mystery!) 

 

"Daybreak" 

11) The  Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak 

(⬆️ WILL  BE RELEASING IN ENGLISH IN JULY! I'M SO EXCITED!)

 

The best place to start is the beginning, Trails in the Sky, unless the older graphics are problematic for you, in which case Cold Steel can be a fine place to start (It's actually where I started just due to circumstance. I did have someone to explain important points from Sky to me though.) However, after Cold Steel II the prior games become very important so you'd have to backtrack. By that point, you won't care about the older graphics because you'll be in love with the world, the story, and the characters. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Laghail said:

Good to know! I had two semesters of Mandarin back in the late 2000's and I daydream about returning to the language. I just found the calligraphy so soothing and the hiphop was very fun. 

 

I thought I better check my facts before I elaborated, and I did find a pleasant surprise. 

The Learning Chinese From English course is limited  in content compared to the more popular courses. The learning tree/path currently has 3 content sections before a  review section at the end. For comparision, the Learning English From Chinese course has 8 content sections. 

Additionally, the learning Chinese course does not have Stories. As far as I can tell, it does not have Chinese-only reading comprehension questions (just translations). 

However, (about a year ago? Idk, time is fluid) they added a "learn to read pinyin" tab. And I just found out that in Dec 2023 they did add a hanzi practice tab, including handwriting (with the magic of touch screens)! As far as I can tell, that's just to drill characters on the side; it's not incorporated into the learning path. 

However, I set my phone to a Chinese handwriting keyboard and hand-write in the sentences that you're supposed to "type". 

I don't know what textbook you used or how intensive your Chinese classes were, but I think that with two semesters of experience, you'd find a lot of vocabulary that would be new to you. For comparison, I took 8 Chinese classes in college. I knew the majority of the Duolingo content, but there was vocab that was new to me, particularly in the business and net slang units which just weren't topics in my textbooks. There were other words that were new to me scattered throughout. 

 

I was sadly mistaken about Duolingo's Italian course: I assumed it would go further because it's a more popular course, but it looks like Learn Italian from English only has 3 content sections at this time, and they are all labeled A1. 

 

9 hours ago, Laghail said:

 

Pics plz!

It turns out there are many styles of meditation benches to be found on the internet, but the kind I'm familiar with looks like this: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1513723051/meditation-bench-is-a-seat-for?click_key=6d4253b99c3a96661132c41e97338dbc59c84f78%3A1513723051&click_sum=d1d3c59d&external=1&ref=pla_similar_listing_top-1&sca=1

It's a little slanted bench and you basically kneel in seiza so that you're actually sitting on the bench, not on your own ankles. I can make no promises about how that would work out for your hips and knees, but I liked it more than the cushion. 

 

 

I got so excited writing about Chinese and Trails that what was supposed to be a lifting break between sets has become more than an hour. Now, back to strength training! 

[Laghail]

Thanks for the download @ViperN7, I'll look for game 1! And sad day on the limited Chinese content, I wonder if the userbase for English->Chinese are suburban American mom's looking to enrich their kids out of school opportunities? That'd explain the limited content if the course is primarily used by grade-schoolers.

[Scaly Freak]

7 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

T.kingfisher rocks. I have quite a few of theirs on my to read list. This one included. 

 

She is a magnificent writer. I'm developing a level of fascination with her Saint of Steel series that hasn't really happened to me since the first time I read Terry Pratchett...

 

What Moves the Dead is actually one I have not read yet.... I did just finish reading Nettle and Bone though, and it was quite thought provoking.

 

[Sea-to-sky]

4 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

She is a magnificent writer. I'm developing a level of fascination with her Saint of Steel series that hasn't really happened to me since the first time I read Terry Pratchett

I have read sword heart, which is in the same setting, and the deep lore for that world fascinated me from the off. Saint of steel are essentially what im going to read next by her. 
kind of want to play a d&d character based on them to be honest. The lawyers/paladins would make prime d&d fodder and i also adore the idea of playing a paladin whose god is dead.

[Harriet]

20 hours ago, Laghail said:

Also, I hate hate most plaques in a sculpture exhibitions. I want to know the medium, the artist, and maybe factual details I might have missed because I went to a state college and watched too many cartoons to know who is being referenced in the installation. I don't want to be told how a 7.5 meter blue chicken can stand for all kinds of things in the viewer's life. STFU and let me enjoy my chicken.

•   Hide contents

  

   

  I hate whoever wrote the shit below. They are dead to me.

   

   

 

Oh, we have something in common. I like looking at art. I don't necessarily like talking or reading about art. I got an AI to write some pretentious gibberish about my art once. I think it elevated it from "cool picture" to "conceptual masterpiece". But I felt sullied and hated myself and the AI afterwards. 

[Laghail]

Here’s the IOU for Jed Clampett

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C50-8UeubKq/?igsh=NTNraGdpcDVyZGZr

 

[Laghail]

 

Today's slayer is a rare case of a triple threat talent whose slashes are actor/comedian/mathematician. Zainab Johnson first trained as a mathematician before moving into acting and production, then while working on a comedy show as a production tech, she felt the call of the slayer. Years later with comedy credits include Ramy, Black Lady Sketch Show, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, our slayer earned the crowning jewel of her own comedy special just last year.

 

Johnson's tight-ten 12:35 set on Don't Tell Comedy 2023

Spoiler

 

Johnson slaying with an efficient 5:41 set on Seth Meyers in 2018 

Spoiler

 

A 4:14 clip from Johnson's 2023 Prime special "Hijabs Off"

Spoiler

[AI images generated via Dezgo AI with the prompt "The comedian Zainab Johnson as a vampire slayer, wielding a battle-axe."]

 

Slayer Training

• Lore 
  • Reading in bed by 11pm - 5x/week
    • ✅✅🔲🔲🔲  
  • Duolingo streak by noon -  5x/week

    • ✅🔲🔲🔲🔲

• Meditation
  • Ass on meditation pillow - 5x/week

    • ✅✅🔲🔲🔲

  • Bodhrán meditation 3x/week

    • ✅🔲🔲 

• Strength
  • Bench 3x3 95% 
  • Chinup 3x3
  • Inverted Rows 3x3
  • Yoga

Life Stuffs

• Too sleepy for this shiz today. Much love, I'm going for a nap.

[athousandwords]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:56 PM, Laghail said:

• St. Paul was lovely and the friends who hosted Liam and I were so gracious. Actually our first weekend away as a couple; some combination of extreme his and his introversion, and we started dating just before covid, it means the couch is everything in our relationship. I'd normally assure you that I am in fact a fun person, but that is a lie. I identify as a bummer and I mostly hate travel.
• Road trips mean audiobooks and we finished this Kingfisher novel and it was a delightful take on the fall of the House of Usher, with some Jeff VanderMeer influences

 

Sounds like a lovely trip. Not to knock the couch, but getting a little travel every once in a while is good for the soul.  

 

And I just got Nettle & Bone from the library! It's been on my TBR list for a while so I'm excited!

[Scaly Freak]

21 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I have read sword heart, which is in the same setting, and the deep lore for that world fascinated me from the off. Saint of steel are essentially what im going to read next by her. 

 

Good thinking. I sort of messed up and read the Saint of Steel books before I read Sword Heart, and that is the wrong order, as I discovered when characters in the Saint series started talking about what they did in Sword Heart... ooops.

[Sea-to-sky]

2 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

sort of messed up and read the Saint of Steel books before I read Sword Heart, and that is the wrong order, as I discovered when characters in the Saint series started talking about what they did in Sword Heart... ooops.

Good to know. It was more fluke than anything on my part though. 
just gives you an excuse to reread them in the right order i suppose

[Mad Hatter]

Ahh so late so much to catch up on!

 

Happy belated birthday!

Look forward to trawling through the slayer clips 

Adding book recs to list...

Gooooorgeous clay work! 

Hope the family emergency is nothing too serious

If more people would "STFU and let me enjoy my chicken." be their life motto the world would be a happier place methinks.