Thyroid

I was watching episode three of Community. This tickled me. Arabic and English subtitles pop-up together to say: "I think the wrong person just left." However, the Arabic subtitles say, "I think the wrong person is left," meaning the direction. Hee. </probably stupid but whatever> Oh man the Arabic in this thing is the weirdest mix between Google translate and extremely accented classical Arabic. Kinda like saying, "Verefoor art thoo Roomeo innit." It's cracking me up. The show is also funny in a good way, mind.

Hmm, here are some recent stories that happened with my five year old cousin. I thought they might lighten the mood of some of you. Tomorrow I'll write-up a decent post on a funny and slightly sad love story that I went through recently. Anyway, my five year old cousin spends a good percentage of her time hanging around me (their family live upstairs) We watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic together sometimes. Here are some choice quotes from our viewings. She drops so many good ones it's hard to remember them all, but here are some semi-recent ones. -- "Woah," she says, "Rainbow Dash can fly? If I was a pony, I'd be her. Woah! Twilight can do magic! I'd be her! I'd also be her!" She points at one pony. "I'd be this pony! And that pony! And that pony!" She suddenly stops, gets off my lap, and announces to no-one in particular: "If I was a pony, I would be all the ponies." "You would be all the ponies?" I say. She comes over to me, stands on my knees, looks me intently in the face, and nods before staring off into space again. "I would be all the ponies." --- "When I grow-up, I'm gonna be a princess," she says. This annoyed me. I've never liked how cartoons and media in general seem to tell boys they could be awesome engineers or scientists or Action Man soldiers or whatever, but girls always get stuck with the princess angle. So I started telling her how cool it would be to be a scientist, like Twilight Sparkle, or an artist, or something. This was a five minute talk that ended with her concluding: "Fine. When I grow-up, I'm gonna be a princess-scientist." I gave-up, figuring that was, at least, a start. -- "Are you saying that Princess Celestia can fly and do magic? Woah, woah," she says, suddenly looking like her mind has been blown. "Woah." --- Another moment that blew her mind: "Are you saying even the SUN talks? Woahhhhh." --- "What's your favourite cartoon?" I say. "My favourite cartoon is Jim Jam," she says. "Jim Jam is a channel. What's your favourite show?" I say. "I like all the cartoons on Jim Jam that have shooting in them," she says, looking annoyed, "and all the ones that don't have shooting in them." -- Hopefully these are actually funny and not just to me.

Edit: everyone else's advice is better than mine. The essence is, chances are it'll turn to shit, so put up your emotional defenses and get some distance from it. I'd learn to row if I lived in Europe. Always wanted to row. No rivers here to row in. Original post (sort of): You need to start thinking that this won't work out at all for you - chances are, it really won't. Save yourself the heartbreak and try to start moving on emotionally. Get a hobby; hell, learn Russian or something. But begin putting up your shields and prepare for the worst. This might be the end of an era for you. It might hurt, but know it gets better and, with time, bittersweet. I wish I had more practical advice apart from "Try very hard to not feel bad", but that's the best I can do. Good luck.

You know: Community isn't bad. It's still trying too hard to seem quirky in an off-handed way, but it's funny. Three random things: 1. The Arabic Abed's family speak is weird. It's a super accented take on classical Arabic that nobody ever uses anymore. Also, the way people say "Abed" is, like, weirder. 2. Writing some of these scenes must have been very difficult. I can only imagine how hard it is to write something with seven or eight people in a room and give them all something fun to do. 3. I kind of wish the voice of reason would float in every once in a while. There's one particular scene in episode three that could have been resolved had someone simply said that different cultures sometimes clash. But good show. It's finally growing on me.

Nah. The original was fun. This was stilted and boring. The only genuinely good bit was .

Kinda related: the best HG101 article is probably the Final Fantasy one. The entire thing is on Socks Make People Sexy, but the HG101 guy said it'll be on the site soon-ish. I'd link you to the article itself, but it's blacked-out for PIPA and SOPA.

I'll try seeing if I can find that on my next trip through the Hall of Wisdom's secret library. Oh yeah. I'm not comparing them to Herman Melville here. I just think they could have had more flavour added to them.

I'm fairly sure Ben was being sarcastic, but I'll chime-in too: I think Rose Tyler is an a terrible character. I do like Amy quite a bit. That whole girl who waited/boy who waited angle is great.

I was reading The Real Barenziah yesterday. It's poorly written, but made for a fun story. I did spot a Biography of Barenziah I might peek through. It's interesting how some of those books add to the lore (which has been surprisingly rich), some add to the clarity to the storyline, and some are just pseudo-religious texts that make me laugh. The Citizen Kane of Elder Scrolls books is The Lusty Argonian Maid, obviously.

Yeah, it's very overwhelming when you first step out into the sunlight in a TES game. I've been playing Morrowind; the strange alien vibe of the place did not help. But once you get into it, it's very addictive. I've been pouring at least three hours a day into it, which is insane, considering I usually need to shut down a game and go do something else by the first hour. It's why games take me so long to play. (Oblivion is noticeably more generic, apparently; I wonder how playing that will feel after coming-off of Morrowind.) Such filthy lies. I agree about the epilogue of book seven. But the first five books were pure excellence. Books six and seven are not as fun and a bit too YA at times, but hey, look at me replying to a four year old post about a book I last read five years ago. (Filthy lies.) (Sorry.)

Ben: good theory. I'd hypothesized about . . This adaptation of it wasn't .

I had some problems: - The show needs to treat Molly Hooper better. For two series', they have yet to show her real compassion. To me, she's the unexpected hit of the show; I love that character. She seems really sweet. I was half-hoping she'd knock out Sherlock in the lab. - - The occasional "Huh?" moment. . As you said, though, they did a great job of updating the story. I loved most of it. Steve Thompson's previous work never impressed me much (he managed to write such a bland Doctor Who episode), but he did a good job here. I partially credit that to Toby Haynes's typically-confident and stylish directing, as well as excellent performances for all. Me too, though I'd be interested in seeing them change-up the game a bit.

My god. Steve Thompson wrote a good script. OK, sure, it had faults, but I liked it. Lovely series. I did not see coming at all. Nah. I like his take a lot, but he wasn't the ideal casting. He was quite excellent, and I grew-up on the Granada series, but I think Cumberbatch takes the cake.

Anything pre-1923, Sherlock Holmes included, is free of copyright and available to read online, and in some countries books even after that period are copyright-free. I hope you enjoy!

I'd take that as an opportunity to lessen my social circle by one or two people. I'm sorry you feel like shit, but you're better then them. Drop 'em. Who gives two shits about them now that they did what they did? Go do something else. Get away from it all. Process it in your own time. But don't get betrayed and let them feel superior to you. They decide to be assholes to you? Sucks to be them. Don't let them have the pleasure of your company, or the time of your day. Act like how you'd want to remember yourself acting in a few years, and not like how you imagine would get you what you want now.

Someday Jake will do something and not apologize, call it dumb, wonder if anyone cares, or throw in a "whatever" or four. I often want to give you a thumbs-up for moral support. Here. Take it. Take three. :tup: There's a lot of good stuff there. This especially. This, however, is broken. Or super minimalist. Not sure.

Apparently, most of Wodehouse is pretty funny and light-hearted. The little Terry Pratchett I've read was funny, and great for light relief. I hear Christopher Moore is great. A Confederacy of Dunces is the funniest novel I've ever read, but it's not going to make you feel better about life. The main character isn't the most pleasant man on Earth. But Christ, is it funny.

Moriarty is a central character in "The Final Problem," is mentioned in The Valley of Fear, and his right-hand man is the central antagonist in "The Adventure of the Empty House". Irene is, of course, the star of "A Scandal in Bohemia". Mycroft appears several times, and is well-defined as a character. The one very interesting thing the recent BBC modern-day adaptation added was that it implied Sherlock is the way he is because he's trying to be like his older brother. Unlike Mycroft, however, he does not manage to be completely logical and without emotion. I recently discovered the BBC radio dramas with Clive Merrison. They're quite good too.

What would be the point of the games press without the overenthusiastic previews, eh? They gave the "brilliant" game a 2/10 and also called it an "abomination". Fuck IGN, and fuck most media outlets for their bullshit.

The LGNPC mod does wonders for that. I'm like 15 hours into the game now. Heeeya. It is a good idea, but the problem is that the game forgets this part of the way through and turns princess Garnet/Dagger into a hapless, clumsy damsel. Assuming we ignore logic and are fine with the ending , the game simply loses its idea of fun and starts itself seriously. At one point, . However, like you said, the game does start out really cutesy and fun. The way they brought all the characters together to begin their journey was an especially nice touch. I suppose I've always loved the idea more than the games themselves - there's something in the beautiful preludes that hints at a mystical, mythological adventure of supreme importance that the games themselves have often failed to deliver on. I have, however, bought a sizeable number of them, and plan on finishing them all (I, II, IV, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII, and Tactics; I'm planning on getting III, V and VI at some point). There's something about the earnest clumsiness those games have that keeps bringing me back to them, despite my reservations. I mostly like them too - I just kind of wish the game didn't get so serious halfway through. Whatever, I guess. There was still a charm there, with the music, art and exaggerated animation, and on the whole I did end-up liking the game. It does have one of my favourite game soundtracks. For and .Your comments about FFVIII worry me a bit, but I'm sure I'll find something to like in that one too.

You should. It's great. However, you should install the necessary patches and maybe even some mods - you don't have to go with the graphical tweaks (though that certainly helps loads), but at least go with the stuff that updates the game's resolution, etc. I ended-up using the Morrowind Graphics Extender, the Morrowind Overhaul, and then some mods of my friend's to add some spice to the game. You have to be a bit picky about mods, but most are helpful (some, like "Animated Morrowind", take a toll on your FPS, but add some life to the game; not that you need it, mind). There's also the Morroblivion pack, but I haven't looked at that. It alters the game too much, and I don't think it lets you choose mods the way the MGE and MGO do. I'll gladly lend you any help you need to get the game running properly. You do need to at least install the patches so it doesn't crash like a drunken pilot's first trip on a Boeing.

Yeah, DQ has a reputation for being fairly difficult. Whatever. I own the eighth one and plan on playing it soon. 2012 will be my year of RPGs. Everyone tells me that the way I play games is unusual. I just tend to chase around whatever interests me. *shrug*: Hee. 12 hours into Morrowind, and I haven't even touched the main quest. I watched my brother play through the game this summer. It wasn't for me, despite the compelling serial killer story (I love a good mystery); I did, however, enjoy parts of it. For instance, the game has more than one ending, depending on whether or not you remember a certain thing at the end.

I was surprised too. This with a load of grinding on top. However, I did miss some large bits. Didn't see a single chocobo, for example. Ah well, I got what I wanted out of it! Moved onto the next thing... Morrowind.

I finished Final Fantasy IX maybe a week or so ago. 40 hours, spread over a little under a year. Overall, I'd say it was pretty to look at, enjoyable, and ultimately stupid. I don't think I have a lot of positive to say about the story or the storytelling, though I did enjoy some bits. Whatever. I'd describe the game as a "nostalgic RPG". It works best if you want to go back and try a PS1 JRPG for the sake of it. It feels like it was made for nostalgics, if that makes sense - though this marks the first time I've ever seen an RPG to some sort of completion, and consequently the first time I ever finish a Final Fantasy game, it feels like a retrospective of all the PS1-era RPGs. Decent game. I recommend giving it a shot if you can.

I found the episode very enjoyable, but it's weaker than the first one. I'd figured out the entire case 40 minutes into the episode - the only thing . Next week's episode should prove interesting. It's being penned by Stephen Thompson, who wrote last year's pirate episode for Doctor Who, and that was poor; his Sherlock episode, "The Blind Banker", was rather bland too. I hope this proves good.