Chris

Idle Thumbs 178: CS Losers

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As we're talking about Sherlock Holmes:

 

 

Is this true? I'm surprised not even the violin was in the original stories (I read them up to Reichenbach Falls about ten years ago).

 

Its not entirely true.  The famous phrase "Elementary my dear Watson" is never said in the books.  Although he has periodically said "elementary" and "my dear Watson" they never appear together.  He was a known drug user but probably not an addict.  This excerpt is from the opening chapter of The Sign of the Four

 

Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case

....

He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. "It is cocaine," he said,—"a seven-per-cent. solution. Would you care to try it?"

 

Holmes was known to play the violin in the books, although it doesn't come up a whole lot.  This excerpt is from A Study In Scarlet where Watson talks about Holmes' abilities and knowledge

 

10. Plays the violin well.

...

I see that I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin. These were very remarkable, but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments. That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well, because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favourites.

 

While Holmes was known to smoke, the calabash pipe often associated with him is not from the books.  Neither is the deerstalker cap.

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I just now got the pun that is in the 'cast title. 

 

Tell me. I need to know.

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20 minutes of CS talk? This is already the best episode in ages. Also gives me an excuse to post a CS video.

 

That 4 man human tower defusing the bomb through the roof is just fantastic.

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Chris watched Trials And Tribble-ations, his very first Star Trek episode, this week. Coincidence?

Hopefully I didn't overstate this. I'm just new to DS9. I've seen the original series, a few episodes of The Next Generation, and a couple of the movies.

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When Chris said "flashbang smoke screen" my mind just instantly went to "UHH EXCUSE ME FLASHBANGS DON'T CREATE SMOKE IN CS" in classic Chris overzealous nerd voice. I didn't even play that much Counter-Strike...

 

Regarding Uwe Boll, I remember when Loading Ready Run, who are Victoria-based, did an interview with Uwe Boll who was living in either Vancouver or Victoria at the time. It was actually an inspiring take of him as an example of just getting the thing you want to make made despite industry roadblocks and critics. His stuff is all terrible, and the boxing thing was uh... weirdly vengeful, but it was an interesting angle on his career at least.  As for boxing, I saw some critic boxing a young filmmaker recently. I guess the video is like 2 years old. The critic was clearly in much worse shape and much older and got beaten really soundly by the filmmaker. It's a super weird thing to just be a trend, but also an incredibly weird thing to agree to do. At least Lowtax was entertaining in his Uwe Boll match.

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Hopefully I didn't overstate this. I'm just new to DS9. I've seen the original series, a few episodes of The Next Generation, and a couple of the movies.

 

Just in case you're interested, I'm going to repeat myself again

 

Repeating myself and tooting my own horn: The skip list for Star Trek that BigJKO mentioned above was actually developed on this forum, partially by myself but also others.  TNG Skip List Additional TNG Episodes Voyager List DS9 List (I recommend reading more of the thread for other episode recommends but those are the big lists)

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Regarding TF2 vs. CS respawning n'stuff -- does nobody play Arena mode in TF2, which is basically Counterstrike Mode? I often play this mode, usually when I see my brother is playing TF2 and decide to join his game. (On the rarer occasions when I start it up and choose a server myself, my choice is usually, inexplicably, some 24/7 Insta-Respawn 32-man 2Fort game).

 

Regarding the strange and subtle mysteries of Desert Golfing -- all that desperately wondering why he drew a face on that hill or put a cactus there, and if he meant anything by it, and what does it all mean?! was a nice counterbalancing effect on the discussion about criticism vs. authorial intent a few episodes ago. ^__^

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Hopefully I didn't overstate this. I'm just new to DS9. I've seen the original series, a few episodes of The Next Generation, and a couple of the movies.

 

Oh yeah, sorry, pretty sure you said "first DS9" episode now you mention it. Still, I'm proud to have definitely been the cause of you watching that episode.

 

SAM: actually, come to think of it, wasn't the deerstalker from the illustrations in The Strand? Weird that the article just erroneously attributed all that stuff to this actor...

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Sean is wrong, the inner Richmond is awesome. But don't move there.

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Even apartments in the Richmond is so fucking expensive now... I don't think I will ever get to move from my rent controlled 1 bedroom apartment in the Mission (and at this point I hate living in the Mission) without leaving San Francisco. :-(

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Regarding TF2 vs. CS respawning n'stuff -- does nobody play Arena mode in TF2, which is basically Counterstrike Mode? I often play this mode, usually when I see my brother is playing TF2 and decide to join his game. (On the rarer occasions when I start it up and choose a server myself, my choice is usually, inexplicably, some 24/7 Insta-Respawn 32-man 2Fort game).

 

I haven't played TF2 in a while, but during my last period of play I spent most of my time playing the co-op MvM mode.  I'd occasionally join a payload or capture point server, but I've never played arena before.  It seemed counter to what I like about TF2.

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I also have a hard time playing anything other than MvM in TF2... it's just too much fun.

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I have played TF2 Arena mode, but I find it fits poorly with the class system, given that some classes seem to be designed to survive easier than others. Though it's probably also to do with my play style being highly reckless. The CS talk did get me intrigued to possibly play my first non-TF2 FPS since Timesplitters.

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Which one of them really liked the Golden Child?  I'm playing XCOM Enemy Unknown Iron Man (Classic) with various names and Golden Child is going to be someone's nickname.

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"The thing that's great about it is that there are just no mechanics"

 

The most Sean thing Sean has ever uttered.

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how dare you

 

"The thing that's great about it is that there are just no mechanics"

 

The most Sean thing Sean has ever uttered.

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Your description, Sean, of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective made me mega sad that it is a board game that requires a one hundred dollar investment and a group of like-minded friends. I really am not a board game person, but I'd definitely sit around and solve a silly case with some smart folks. Thanks for talking about it! 

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Your description, Sean, of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective made me mega sad that it is a board game that requires a one hundred dollar investment and a group of like-minded friends. I really am not a board game person, but I'd definitely sit around and solve a silly case with some smart folks. Thanks for talking about it! 

 

!!! so, i didn't realize the game was temporarily out of print so it's in it's grey-market-price-gouge span of its life BUT you should know you can play this game alone. you can sit there with all of the materials and enjoy it like a choose your own adventure game, absolutely. maybe not the best way to play but you can play, enjoyably, with 1-infinite number of people (although 2-3 has been what i've done and it was great)

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!!! so, i didn't realize the game was temporarily out of print so it's in it's grey-market-price-gouge span of its life BUT you should know you can play this game alone. you can sit there with all of the materials and enjoy it like a choose your own adventure game, absolutely. maybe not the best way to play but you can play, enjoyably, with 1-infinite number of people (although 2-3 has been what i've done and it was great)

 

I mean, the game dates to 1985, I think, so it's drifted in and out of print as Sherlock rises and recedes in the cultural consciousness. I remember describing premise of the game to my friend after I saw the Shut Up & Sit Down review, and he cut me off to describe perfectly the only case about which I knew anything, because he and his siblings had played it with his father when they were kids. Upon further interrogation, it seems some of the other cases were different, so each printing might even have a different mix of cases. It was pretty cool and keeps me from being crazy mad that I can't get a copy right this very moment.

 

Also, you should make some waves in the CS:GO multiplayer thread here, Sean. I know it's better to play with people you know, but I haven't gotten into Counter-Strike since college and I know I'd like a regular group with which to be/kill terrorists.

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