The Chat Thread

[ibanezmonster]

Surely you are more influenced by the virtual worlds (such as FF14) than your natural environment? Hmm, this year - how many hours have you spent in a virtual world versus being outside in the natural environment?  Just asking...     

Would be hard to say... I work outside, so probably close to even?
When I was a kid, probably a bit more outside than playing video games (was limited to an hour a day). Tons of time spent playing basketball outside.

But FF14 (and especially FF11) would probably be a more inspiring environment unless I drove far away. Nothing here but old people, hospitals and Wal-Marts. 

[Moonfish]

Would be hard to say... I work outside, so probably close to even?
When I was a kid, probably a bit more outside than playing video games (was limited to an hour a day). Tons of time spent playing basketball outside.

But FF14 (and especially FF11) would probably be a more inspiring environment unless I drove far away. Nothing here but old people, hospitals and Wal-Marts. 

Yes, an outdoor profession does change the equation!     Otherwise the numbers are pretty dismal.  I think I would pick FF14 over Walmart and roads anytime, butI rather be out in the mountains or the forest...
Pretty wild weather pictures by the way!

[ibanezmonster]

Yes, an outdoor profession does change the equation!     Otherwise the numbers are pretty dismal.  I think I would pick FF14 over Walmart and roads anytime, butI rather be out in the mountains or the forest...
Pretty wild weather pictures by the way!

Mountains are nice. That was one of things I enjoyed most about traveling to Kentucky- more interesting than constant flat lands. Forests can be fun, especially if you are pretending to catch wild Pokemon. 

Lack of basements makes Florida storms more intense in a way, because when there's a tornado, we don't have a storm shelter to go to, but instead just have to sit in the safest room possible and hope we don't die. Can't even count how many times at school and at home years ago...

[Moonfish]

Mountains are nice. That was one of things I enjoyed most about traveling to Kentucky- more interesting than constant flat lands. Forests can be fun, especially if you are pretending to catch wild Pokemon. 

Lack of basements makes Florida storms more intense in a way, because when there's a tornado, we don't have a storm shelter to go to, but instead just have to sit in the safest room possible and hope we don't die. Can't even count how many times at school and at home years ago...

Hmm, do the schools in Florida (and in other storm affected areas in the SE) have specific storm shelter rooms within the schools? Just curious? I guess you must have had a lot of storm drills when you were at school?

[ibanezmonster]

Hmm, do the schools in Florida (and in other storm affected areas in the SE) have specific storm shelter rooms within the schools? Just curious? I guess you must have had a lot of storm drills when you were at school?

Not really, more like areas that they thought would be the safest to put a bunch of kids. This might be the library or some other room- mainly just getting out of the portables and into the brick building. Some kids would freak out- I remember one kid saying, "Are we all gonna die?" lol. And I believe we did some storm drills, though that is such a vague memory... we had enough real life experience hiding from storms and tornados to need them, though. 

Though after elementary school, schools get too populated for anything like that to be feasible. The only place that 4000 high schoolers would be able to fit is outside in the football stadium. 

(though really, for tornados to hit schools is a rare thing, but the danger was kind of fun)

[kishnevi]

Would be hard to say... I work outside, so probably close to even?
When I was a kid, probably a bit more outside than playing video games (was limited to an hour a day). Tons of time spent playing basketball outside.

But FF14 (and especially FF11) would probably be a more inspiring environment unless I drove far away. Nothing here but old people, hospitals and Wal-Marts. 

I've always found aquacentric scenes to be invirgorating, so beaches and canals are my favorites, and there's more than a few of them around here.  Further inland,  the tracts of houses can be depressing, and the Everglades is hit or miss.    But there's plenty of standard greenery in the middle of the state, around Ocala and Gainesville and points north,  albeit with no hills.

The most depressing scenery I've seen recently would be the marshlands of northern New Jersey (along the New Jersey Turnpike coming out of New York City),  relieved only by miles of transportation infrastructure of various kinds and oil holding facilities.  Perhaps it's different outside the immediate area of the Turnpike,  but  I can't see how anyone can actually want to live there. 

[Henk]

Only 3 users active!

[ibanezmonster]

Everglades

That's a place I've yet to visit...

Ocala and Gainesville

This, too. Made plans a few years ago but never went; always heard Ocala didn't have much to see at all (it's the only direction I haven't driven to within an hour radius of my house). 

[Todd]

My favorite quotable quote for this week comes from Lierre Keith:

Liberty and a living planet will only be won when masculinity, its religion, its economics, its psychology, and its sex is resisted and finally defeated.

The best part is that Ms Keith's speech was given at a library only a few miles from where I live, yet I read about it first in The Guardian.

[kishnevi]

That's a place I've yet to visit...

This, too. Made plans a few years ago but never went; always heard Ocala didn't have much to see at all (it's the only direction I haven't driven to within an hour radius of my house). 

There is not much to see in a tourist sense,  but that part of Florida is pleasant on the senses, a nice break from urbanism.

[Moonfish]

The most depressing scenery I've seen recently would be the marshlands of northern New Jersey (along the New Jersey Turnpike coming out of New York City),  relieved only by miles of transportation infrastructure of various kinds and oil holding facilities.  Perhaps it's different outside the immediate area of the Turnpike,  but  I can't see how anyone can actually want to live there.

I feel as if more and more of such anthropogenic landscapes are accumulating in the world. It is quite depressing and disturbing....

[ibanezmonster]

Warning: potentially very offensive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa6qf7avM1s

Saw this a long time ago, still hilarious.

[EigenUser]

I was power-washing the deck and patio earlier today. All I could think of was "...and how can you possibly have fun with an oversized water-pick?" (from SpongeBob, except on that show it was a leafblower/oversized hairdryer).

Like this!

[Szykneij]

Warning: potentially very offensive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa6qf7avM1s

Saw this a long time ago, still hilarious.

Note to self: Never click on a link Greg warns is potentially offensive in a crowded Starbucks.

[ibanezmonster]

Note to self: Never click on a link Greg warns is potentially offensive in a crowded Starbucks.

Glad to hear you're still alive...

[ibanezmonster]

New Ibanez 9 string guitar, Ibanez RG9:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--IBARG9




It's only $799... lowest string is the lowest C# on the piano, so it'd be easy to tune that down to match the lowest note on the piano.

[Todd]

Yesterday, I attended my son's high school graduation, and the valedictorian has the most splendid name: Tristan Schubert.

[Todd]

For the second summer in a row, I got to spend a lot of quality time driving through the great and gorgeous state of Montana.  It's a driver's paradise, with 75 mph speed limits, which masks the fact that with few police and thousands of miles of freeway and highway, the practical limit is closer to unlimited.  Anyway, along with the crosses placed at sites of fatal crashes, the State of Montana has a few electronic reader boards that flash the sobering stats that last year there were 195 fatal crashes.  In the interest of promoting the use of seat belts (something I religiously adhere to), they point out that 54% of the victims didn't use seat belts.  Perhaps someone should have told the State that publishing that a given driver's odds of a fatal crash are close to even when using a seat belt doesn't really help their cause much.  Just sayin'.

[Karl Henning]

195 fatal crashes in a year. Yikes.

[Henk]

Feeling not quite well after posting all day long, putting on music, eating when I want to eat, looking at Facebook and Twitter. I feel "the media engraved in my flesh".