the no yelling sock

I don't know much about parenting, but she seems to have the right idea.

She's actually got a lot of great clips on vine, just search for Anna Blast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKgMZBCV2ko

If this isn't already in your codebase...it should be. I'm temped to add the /cancer and /mylife operations.

If this isn't already in your codebase...it should be. I'm temped to add the /cancer and /mylife operations.


http://www.foaas.com/

671 – Not Now

It's the story of my life writ large:




http://www.twogag.com/archives/3672

Hey

Hey,

Leah Bloom and I are doing another ad hoc book club for May. This month, we're going to check out Sex with Shakespeare by JIllian Keenan. The author discusses her fascination with Shakespeare and being spanked. It's gotten pretty good advance reviews and a quick skim through the kindle sample seems promising.

If you want to play along, just snag a copy of the book and read it over the month of May. At the end, we can talk about it.




http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062378716/

Leah Bloom perhaps for kinky ad hoc book club? It got a pretty favorable review in AVClub and looks interesting.

Leah Bloom perhaps for kinky ad hoc book club? It got a pretty favorable review in AVClub and looks interesting.


http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Shakespeare-Heres-Much-Pain/dp/0062378716/

Unknown Armies Third Edition Roleplaying Game

There's a Kickstarter out for a new edition of Unknown Armies . It's a modern-day occult/horror RPG and the original edition was one of my favorite games (though sadly, I never got to play much of it).

As a backer, I've already been reading through the "gamma draft" of the manuscript and I'm completely sold on the game from the writing alone. The text really conveys "dodgy magical practitioners scraping by to make ends meet". The underlying mechanics are solid and completely support the game's premise.

I particularly like that you main skill is called your Identity. So if you've got an Identity as "Cowboy" you can roll your cowboy skill every time you can say "Of course I can [blank], I'm a Cowboy!" -- which remains a wonderfully intuitive and efficient mechanic. This time around, it's supported by a few mechanical tweaks to better lay out the parameters of those identities.

The other really great mechanic is the Madness Meter. Your sanity can be attacked in five different arenas and failures are bad (as you'd expect) but successes mean you get "hardened" notches which make you immune to that level of stress in the future. Basically, if you didn't lose your cool when the dog started talking to you in your dead grandmother's voice, only something freakier than that will cause you to test again. There are some long-term downsides to having a lot of hardened notches, but I like how you can adapt to crap and shrug off low-level stuff.

Anyway, it's got a few days to go and has been smashing stretch goals so you'll get a lot for your money even if you only get the pdfs. Well worth checking out.




https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atlasgames/unknown-armies-third-edition-roleplaying-game/

So on the one hand -- yay for sport bringing people together and providing recreational outlets, but on the other...

So on the one hand -- yay for sport bringing people together and providing recreational outlets, but on the other hand -- this smacks of bread and circuses like whoa:


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/sports/soccer/world-cup-qatar-laborers-workers-cup.html

Do I know anyone going to PAX East who might be willing to pick something up for me at the con?

Do I know anyone going to PAX East who might be willing to pick something up for me at the con?

ETA -- All set. Thanks.

Nebraska Just Abolished Civil Forfeiture, Now Requires A Criminal Conviction To Take Property

Oh hey! Nebraska just greatly restricted civil forfeiture in the state.

#GoBigRed


http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2016/04/20/nebraska-just-abolished-civil-forfeiture-now-requires-a-criminal-conviction-to-take-property/#2aa54449159e

Chyna, pioneering female pro wrestler and ‘9th Wonder of the World,’ found dead at 45

So, Chyna (aka Joanie Laurer) was found dead yesterday. She was 45.

First off, holy shit that's way too young. When I saw her on TV, I figured she was at least 10 years older than me.

Chyna was a pro wrestler in the mid-90s and she was always one of my favorites. Mostly because at the time, women's wrestling was something of a joke. It almost never got airtime and it was really more of a T&A show than anything else.

Chyna was ripped and absolutely ready to wrestle -- and she wasn't afraid to go after men in the ring. Although she actually had a match with Eddie Guerrero she almost never got a proper match with a guy (because that's too unbelievable for wrestling) and don't think she went after the women's title because, as mentioned above, it wasn't given any real consideration. She wanted to wrestle -- seriously wrestle and when she got some time in the ring she proved she had skills as a brawler

I always thought she was wonderful and amazing (and tall!) and I always had a tremendous amount of respect for her and what she was trying to do. Alas, she was born too soon -- over the past couple of years women's wrestling has really stepped up its game and thanks to the efforts of female wrestlers (and a huge groundswell of support from the fans), it's gotten a lot more airtime on the main shows. If she had been up and coming she would've been the Andre the Giant of women's wrestling and it would have been awesome.

Sadly, her personal life was pretty rough. One of the reasons why I don't follow pro wrestling more closely is that it chews people up physically and mentally. There were no signs of foul play and her death hasn't been ruled a suicide, but she went through a hell that would've crushed most people long before 45.

Chyna will always be my ninth wonder of the world and I'm sad that she's gone.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/21/chyna-former-professional-wrestler-turned-adult-film-star-turned-esl-teacher-dead-at-45/

Like It Is: Bob Dylan Explains What Really Killed Rock ‘n’ Roll

An interesting article about Bob Dylan's thoughts on the death of Rock and Roll.


https://medium.com/@brentellesmith/like-it-is-bob-dylan-explains-what-really-killed-rock-n-roll-f6a4b6587a1a#.6p4l661my

Inuit Cartography

Writers! Steal this idea for your next book!


https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/inuit-cartography/

Traitor! A chess variant:

Traitor! A chess variant:

Set up pieces as normal. Each player is randomly assigned a number from 1 - 8 which they write down and keep secret.

That number identifies a pawn of the opponent that is secretly a traitor working for the player.

1 = Queen's Rook Pawn
2 = Queen's Knight Pawn
3 = Queen's Bishop Pawn
etc. etc.

The traitor is used in one of three ways:

1.) On your move, you can reveal your number and the appropriate pawn of your opponent is replaced with a pawn of your color. It's now a pawn under you control and moves and acts like any other pawn you have.

2) When your opponent is about to use a pawn to capture one of your pawns/pieces, and it's your traitor pawn, you can reveal your number proving that pawn to be a traitor. Replace the traitor pawn with a pawn of your color. The pawn now moves and acts like a normal pawn of yours. The intended capture never takes place.

3.) Should your opponent advance the traitor pawn to the back rank, you must reveal it to be a traitor. The pawn is replaced with one of your color as above.

I had the idea that you could also reveal the traitor and then immediately capture an opponent's piece, but I think that would cause games to grind down -- you'd be trying to make space for your pieces to avoid getting traitor'd. Plus, you'd mostly want to use it on turn 1 to wipe out a piece.

Obviously, it's going to suck if you get a flank pawn for a traitor while you opponent has one of your central pawns, but I think it would be fun for the uncertainty factor.

Check this out for cook day.

Check this out for cook day.

Originally shared by Michelle W

This is in the crock pot right now for dinner. It smells WONDERFUL! However, I failed to read the instructions all the way through before starting. There is an optional step to marinade the meat in yogurt first for hours before making it. I was delayed in being able to start the prep, I could have marinated the meat. Ah well, I'll know better for next time. 

(Yes, it could be improved by marinating the meat. But it is still tasty).
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-masala-recipes-from-the-kitchn-211284

Of possible interest to Boston-area foodies.

Of possible interest to Boston-area foodies.

April 17th from 11-3, Journeyman is having a yard sale at their restaurant. I have no idea what a high-end kitchen would have for sale at their yard sale, but it might be fun to check out.

How do people get earbuds to stay in?

How do people get earbuds to stay in? I've tried a couple different tips, the large ones (duh) seem best but as I run/jog they pull out of my ears.

Lake Street Dive - Side Pony [Official Video]

Ericka Crouse I think you'll like this. I think most people will honestly...

#itIsAlwaysADancePartyInMyOfficeChair 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlEGalPJm7Y

Sabbatai Zevi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's why I love reading history books. I'm currently reading about Albania in the 16th century. They're talking about the small town of Ulcinj which is not especially notable, though it was the town Sabbatai Zevi was exiled to and where he died.

And who is Sabbatai Zevi? He was a rabbi living in the Ottoman Empire. At the age of 22 he declared himself the Messiah. He gathered quite a following and even after he was imprisoned in Constantinople (not Istanbul), he still had a devoted following.

Eventually he was hauled up before the Sultan who said he'd either face a trial of his divinity (shot at by archers, if they missed, he was god), impaled, or he could convert to Islam.

He converted.

The book I'm reading isn't even about Sabbatai, this was just a throw-away line, but man do I want to read a book about the Jewish Messiah who converted to Islam. History is full of wonderful little sidelines like this and that's why I love it so much.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#Proclaimed_messiah

Dungeon Explorers - 28mm Miniatures for Gamer's and RPG's by Andy Taylor — Kickstarter

Are you a fan of Old School D&D? You might be very interested in these miniatures:


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1997544829/dungeon-explorers-28mm-miniatures-for-gamers-and-r

Well...this seems a bit ominous...

Well...this seems a bit ominous...


http://comicsalliance.com/suicide-squad-undergoes-expensive-reshoots-to-make-it-more-fun/