Chris

Please email this to questions@idlethumbs.net!

Idle Thumbs 204: The Reader's Pleasure Hey, does that ladder have your blood echoes? Just checking. By the way, that reminds me of a dream I had. I think it was about cyborgs. Or lesbian dinosaur cyborgs. There were definitely cyborgs. But look—we all serve at the pleasure of the readers. Am I right or am I right? Things Discussed: Bloodborne, Cities: Skylines, Ori and the Blind Forest, Spirits of Xanadu, cyborg bloodsport Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Video "Spaff" James Spafford

I hope to contribute to this if I have time!

Welcome, new folks!

The End of Mad Men 2: New Business Don's life is emptying out as quickly as his apartment, and just like him we're left wondering where everything's going to end up. The end of Mad Men has just begun and its final trajectory is unknown; join us as we discuss "New Business," and try to figure it out ourselves. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Subscribe to the RSS Feed Subscribe in iTunes

I see what you're getting at but I don't think it's quite the same thing. Song lyrics are sung with melody, in harmony with the music of the song. When sung, lyrics literally become music; the voice is itself a musical instrument. It blends together (for most people, and for most reasonably well made music, anyway). I think narration or captioning on top of unrelated video game gameplay comes off as much more artificially inserted much of the time.

Totally but what I meant was also the urbane/cosmopolitan air they (especially Megan and her mother) carry, not just the conservatism. That's why I said French specifically, the combination of Catholic heritage and appreciation of elegance and cosmopolitanism. I'm sure it's still not uniquely French but I think it's a particular combination of values that isn't universal among all Catholics.

This tracks pretty well to me. I think this is probably because Blizzard seems really obsessed with the idea that everyone should be identifiable and relatable. Everyone is a power fantasy for the player, you imagine yourself in their shoes and think how awesome it would be to be them, even if tragic. Whereas Warhammer offers some of the power fantasy, but a lot less of the relatability; it's much more distanced. Individual heroes are the stuff of legends, whereas in Warcraft they are meant to seem much more personal.

I agree with you. I understand Sean and Jake's reaction but personally I didn't feel quite the same way.

I lived almost exactly in between Davis and Porter for a couple years and really liked it a lot. It's a great area, and the Red Line is one of the better subway lines to be near. In terms of Cambridge/Somerville, I also would have loved to live in Central Square. It's scuzzier than Davis/Porter and certainly Harvard/Kendell, so some people I know weren't as into it, but I like that kind of thing.

Oh barf, thanks. It's spelled correctly in the MP3 metadata, on Soundcloud, etc., but not on the Thumbs site. Fixed.

Whoops, I forgot to update the thread with the podcast episode information. Now it's updated!

Oh man that's the best. That Cars Land video really represents everything that is conceptually cool about Cars and its setting. It's a bummer I found the actual story and characters to be garbage.

What's crazy is I can't even find the one I meant. There are apparently tons, I now realize. But this is the closest to the one I saw:

Idle Thumbs 180: Wars and Pieces Through examining the clues laid before us, interrogating everyone in sight, and making mental leaps heretofore unperformed by man, we deduce that no matter what they tell you, in video games you'll never be the Sherlock Holmes of the story; you're always Watson, and you always have been. Plus, Danielle attends IndieCade and takes two side trips: one to an incredible haunted house, and one to Hell. Things Discussed: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, IndieCade, Vietnam Romance, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Murdered: Sole Suspect, Desert Golfing, Desert Bus, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Los Angeles International Airport, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Night Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

I am idiot

Idle Thumbs 156: The Holo-Violator Listen, dear readers, and I will tell you wondrous tales of a strange world—a world not so different to our own. A world of media conglomerates run rampant, of cavernous pulsing synthesizers, of long-buried digital treasure. Of legendary heroes and notorious agitators, and epic contests of three-laned skill. A world where nobody has time to play video games. Things Discussed: FRACT OSC, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Dota 2, The International, The Unfinished Swan, Mad Men, Derek Smart Listen on the Episode Page Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Idle Thumbs 202: Poopwater, New Mexico Take a right at Normal and cruise on down past Weird and make your way to Poopwater, New Mexico, where the streets ain't straight and your water don't flow like it should. Things Discussed: Cities: Skylines, Hotline Miami 2, Far Cry 4, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed

I don't believe this is how I operate.I'm obviously fine with people having opinions about whatever they want, but a relatively minor anecdote on the podcast ended up spurring a totally dominating discussion that to me went far beyond the scope of the actual content and completely pre-sidelined any ability for discussion about anything else. If, as claimed, the discussion wasn't actually about Danielle and her experience, maybe this thread isn't the place for it. If it was, it was probably more than sufficient to communicate everyone's views that were showing no sign of being changed in any direction.

I really don't want to extend the legality/morality/health discussion any further but I DO want to point out very briefly that Danielle is probably the single healthiest and fittest person I know, and she also pointed out that she hardly even drinks alcohol; this was an unusual occurrence for her. I don't know that, even for those who object to recreational drug use, this is actually a particular case for concern along any axis. She's not a notorious weedlord. Surely the notion of someone going outside their typical daily experience on an occasional basis in a way that doesn't harm or affect others is nothing to get too worked up about. Everyone is free to their own opinion of course but it's been a slight bummer to see so much judgment-inflected debate over a minor choice made by one of my friends.

Oh cool

Are "sexing down a house" and "big bad" terms specific to Buffy or are you guys just using crazy phrasing to describe things I don't know about?

I haven't started a new city since watching this, but I found this video guide to creating a very traffic-conscious city extremely eye-opening. I've never thought about traffic management this early on:

lol. (Welcome!)