Patrick R

I LOVE this. Congratulations!

That's my podcast at number 5! Pretty cool, except at the time it only had one episode, 15 downloads, and one review? How does that work? Is it purely dumb algorithms where, for a brief time the way it calculated things projected that, with 100% five star reviews in under a week, that growth would maintain? Or something? Or is there an actual Apple person who personally picks these lists? Does anyone else here who has experience with podcasts know how this stuff works, and why a goofy niche objectively unpopular podcast like mine would top something like Filmspotting, even for a moment? EDIT: This was taken about 11 hours ago. It's already sunk to number 10 on the charts, whatever that means. Still beating Filmspotting, so take that NPR!

One of my first thoughts walking out of the theater was "This must have been what it was like to see Slacker back in 1991."

My new podcast started today! Every Friday, a new commentary track for a horror movie on Tracks of the Damned! My first episode is about the 1957 cult classic The Giant Claw!

I wear thick glasses and my eyes end up looking even smaller than they already are. My avatar is a photo of me taken at a party where I got someone to give me mascara and I think I look really good with mascara (and maybe eyeshadow, I don't remember?) but it seems like a lot of work to buy mascara and learn how apply it right and also someone will notice it and ask and honestly I would probably just crumple into a puddle if anyone noticed that I even cared about my appearance even a little bit because the concept is seriously gross to me in ways I probably couldn't properly defend. I almost put this in I Just Had A Random Thought but I thought better of it. You're welcome. I will update this post as it becomes necessary. EDIT: My partner is leaving for the weekend which means I can cook mammals. What food should I make? Anyone have a good pork recipe?

I Killed My Mother is totally amazing. Xavier Dolan's other work is definitely worth checking out, particularly Mommy and Laurence Anyways.

I think trying to look for people on Steam is the worst and I'm always convinced I'm in the wrong spot, BUT

Definitely a situation where the second half can't compare to the first, but it's a hilarious and wholly original work nonetheless.

Midnight Special was very disappointing. Great 70's sci-fi movie vibes, but no emotion or humor at all.

The slyboots game is a great example of why Idle Thumbs is great. Every handful of episodes someone throws some sort of knuckleball into the mix to shake things up. I just wish it was a less ostentatious word, so Chris could have pushed it further.

I want those pork skewers. Fast.

Oh God, I got into a thing with some queer customers at my store the other day. They were talking about it and they asked me "What country was the shooter from?" I told them "He lived in America" but they wouldn't let it go, like I didn't understand what they really meant. I just said "It doesn't matter, he's from here." to which they thought I meant "he's from Chicago". They said "No way. If he tried that in Chicago we would have stomped his ass down. We don't play." I just stopped responding to them after that. It's not my place to tell people how to process something like this (plus I'm too cowardly to confront someone like that), but it was really gross. Luckily, for a store with a predominantly queer clientele (most our income comes from lube and adult video rentals) I haven't heard anything else like that. Which is good because we also have plenty of Muslim (and gay Muslim) customers.

This is a real cocktail I made last night out of what I had available. It's fine. Badfinger named it on slack. EDIT: Important update! I didn't see that there was already a Blondie, Freckles and Glasses drink on record, so this is now the Chicago Blondie, Freckles and Glasses. Also, I just made myself another one and actually shaken is the way to go. EDIT EDIT: Ok ok, I made myself another and adjusted the recipe and now this is a legitimately a good thing. Also, due to it's flavors resembling a dreamsicle, this is now called The Dreamcast.

I never had a problem with melee attacks. You just hit someone when you're right next to them. And if a tranqd guard comes after you retreat until they pass out.

How many umbilical cords in the Last Guardian trailer? My stream broke during it.

Love it. LOVE it.

Yeah, it's cool on a conceptual level that you can get through this game without killing anyone but since "dead" and "unconscious" are basically identical states from a gameplay perspective, it doesn't end up meaning much. But I always recommend thinking non-lethally for the start of the game because I think trying to have shoot-outs isn't the way to go either. And there's always a ton of charges for the stun baton early on and every tranqulizer dart is a one hit kill. A good early strategy is to tranq people from the shadows, or get the jump on someone and take them down with either the stun baton or a point blank headshot. Most of this advice is just for the first level, because it seems to be the place where most people bounce hard off the game. Once you get to New York your combat options open up considerably, and once The Big Switch happens you have enough skills and augs to be a really effective fighter. But it helps to always first approach every environment with caution and stealth, even if it's only to work out a plan of attack. That's what the Ellis Island level is all about.

If you look around in the opening area there are binoculars which allows you to survey the area without shaking around, unlike the sniper's scope. The sniper rifle is very loud and even if you can line up a shot in that first level being as unskilled as you are, it often just blows your cover. And you will get a crossbow almost immediately. I think GEP gun is definitely the best choice for the start of the game. There is an actual kind of dumb secret to the enemy AI that kinda breaks the game that I won't spell out here, but you might discover that as you play anyway. Baton is the most powerful melee weapon for the first half of the game (when you find one more powerful you will know) so don't bother with knives or crowbars. Don't waste any skill points in environmental training. Ok, that's all the advice I'll give.

Naked Lunch on audiobook is good because it's important to hear the words spoken aloud but bad because it confuses the structure. "I have no clue what is going on" is an understandable response to Naked Lunch in any format, but I feel like with the book it's less confusing why that is.

Yeah, obviously gay bars are a different thing, I understand the need for safe spaces.

I am totally incapable of talking to strangers in any context that isn't, like, a wedding. And even then not really. The idea of meeting someone at a bar (or any public place) is so incredibly strange to me. So clearly, they serve purposes for the 98% of people who aren't broke neurotic messes like myself.

"That's it! Sorry, I left about 30 seconds of black on the end and couldn't be bothered to re-edit and re-export." Perfect end! I remember this game, but I never made it to the end.

If you want to do that for weapons that's one thing* but if you max out all your stats you will wreck the in-game economy of lockpicks and multitools. The whole idea is that you have to make hard choices about how you approach different scenarios because the safer route may cost you three lockpicks to open a door which means later on you won't have them and you'll need to think of something else for a side quest. But if you have lockpicking and electronics maxed out, you can hand pretty much any obstacle with one pick or tool and you'll never need to worry. *Still a bad thing, in my opinion. The shooting in Deus Ex never feels great and is never really supposed to. Maxing out your stats in weapons only serves to make the less fun part of the game easier than the more fun part of the game.

I was recently at a party where someone asked me what kind of films I was into recently and I said "Well, lately I've been really into Jean Renoir." to which he replied "Oh yeah, Double Indemnity is one of my favorite movies ever." I related this story to my partner and they said "You don't consider Double Indemnity noir?" and I realized that both my partner and this person at this party thought I said "genre noir". So anyway, guy at party, sorry I made a face like you were a lunatic. Double Indemnity is indeed rad. As is Jean Renoir! If you've never seen The Grand Illusion or The River or Rules of the Game you are missing out on some of the greatest films ever.

Man, all these games are so good. It's kind of moving to have this 4 hour stretch where you realize how many insanely talented people you know, or even "know".