I did catch part of the republican debate last night. Very interesting in a make me want to shoot my TV kind of way. Also watched my beloved Broncos beat the Steelers last night. The only thing I have to say about that was that if Tim Tebow were as a good a Quarterback as his press makes him out to be, Denver wouldn’t have needed to come from behind so many times recently. Again. Or to break a tie in overtime this game. I’m with Tbogg on this issue. I don’t hate Tebow for his situation. He’s doing the best he can, and living his dream, and praising God for what he honestly believes is God’s work in his life. Good for him. But everybody else who constantly fluffs the guy and makes some huge religious issue out of it can please just DIAF. My only issue with Tim is the idea that with all of the bad shit going on in the world, quite a lot of which happens to the faithful, is he really that conceited to think that God rewards him with victories on the football field while His believers die of disease, famine, and war by the millions each year?
The newest graphics card from AMD (formerly ATI), the Radeon HD 7970, dropped last week. From specifications, it looks amazing. I want one. I want one bad. Like most of you, however, at $549 MSRP, I just can’t afford one.
I don’t really need one, either. Even playing the most recent games, Skyrim and Star Wars – The Old Republic with all the eye candy turned up, I’m still getting very playable frame rates with amazing imagery. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last week or so while you’ve all been tearing each other apart over the ABL/GG/JC flesh feast.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Hey Sooner, what video card are you using right now?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
As I said in another thread about Tebow: If God has the time to play football, there are some Congresspeople that need lobotomies, which would go a lot farther towards improving the current situation in the US.
dmsilev
Since I use a laptop as my main computer, GPU upgrades are not exactly in the cards. Still, my Mac can handle Skyrim at reasonable detail (started with the High settings, and bumped up a couple of eye candy settings) without too much trouble. I get the feeling that as long as it’s necessary to produce things that will run on Xbox-360s and PS3s, any vaguely recent PC should do fine.
daveNYC
Dude, you don’t use MMORPGs or console ports to determine the performance of your video card. Post numbers from a maxed-settings Crysis 2 or whatever the latest hardware melting FPS game out there is.
Yutsano
I noticed your e-mail address was missing from the masthead. I was going to ask you a question re: the VA, and wanted to do a private communication.
Dave
I’m running dual 5750s and I can max out Total War: Shogun 2. You can buy a pair now for about 250-300.
ploeg
It’s a consequence of thinking that God is in ultimate control of the world and our lives.
Then again, a consequence of believing that God is omnipresent is that you believe that God is in the toilet.
blahblahblah
Who plays games anymore? A monster like that is for OpenCL calculations.
Shinobi
One of our PCs is doing fine with SWTOR, the other one is doing okay, except for PVP. Which I guess means we will need to upgrade before we can raid.
I wish SWTOR weren’t as good so I would be more motivated to finish Skyrim.
Though I am still getting my no money’s worth out of League of Legends.
Soonergrunt
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: I run a Radeon HD 6970–the top of the line from the last generation, which is an exceptional card. I just built a new computer right after Christmas, and the 6970 was on sale for $299, down from $349.
@dmsilev: You’d still need a discrete graphics card to get acceptable frame rates with decent imagery. I ran the beta test for SWTOR with my old system (before I blew it up–long story, that) with a triple core AM3 processor running at 3gHz, and onboard HD 4290 graphics that took 1GB from the 4GB of system memory, and I got framerates in the 30s only when I cranked all of the detail settings down to minimums. That system was only a year old.
@Shinobi: The new system breathed new life into Left 4 Dead 2, so there’s been that fun with friends, too.
Tone in DC
I still have my Geforce 8800 GTS (damn thing is huge, and barely fits in the PC’s case). Bought that card waaaaay back in 2008. I like older games, and my most recent game is Unreal III. So I can keep the 8800 for a little while longer.
As for Tebow, I give the kid this much credit: he put that 80 yard catch-and-run right on the money in overtime. I bet Big Ben is still shaking his head about that game.
eemom
Tim Tebow Based God
Soonergrunt
@Yutsano: My email for BJ is soonergrunt AT cox.net.
John hasn’t gotten around to adding me yet. Which, come to think of it has probably saved me a few nastygrams.
Comrade Javamanphil
Wrong type of gaming for this thread, I realize, but Wizards has announce 5th Edition D&D. I already am looking forward to the 4e players complaining about how Wizards ruined the game and they will never run a game with the new system.
Paul in KY
I wish someone would ask St. Timmeh if he thinks God is so personally involved in his life, what happened to the latest little kid that was murdered. Did God take any interest in that kid’s life or did God choose not to positively intervene?
He probably has some BS ready, I assume.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Uhm, the Broncos didn’t need to come from behind.
RobertB
I was running a 6770 last week, and SWTOR _really_ didn’t like it. I was getting repeated black-screen crashes.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had difficulties with ATI cards. I’m willing to chalk it up to something peculiar about my bioelectric field, but that’ll be the last ATI card I’ll buy.
SensesFail
This.
Dave
The Broncos winning that game had more to do with Ben’s bum ankle than Tim’s arm. If Ben doesn’t take those two sacks on the final drive, the Steelers were about in range for a field goal to win it.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Comrade Javamanphil: It’s going to be hard pressed to move me away from Pathfinder.
joes527
ah … another Tebow obsessed commentator complaining about all the Tebow obsession out there.
Pro tip: If you want people to just stop talking about Tebow, the most productive thing that you can do in that direction is to stop talking about Tebow.
Soonergrunt
@Comrade Javamanphil: I played a LOT of D&D when I was in Jr. High, High School, and later in the Army the first few years.
We used to get in trouble because we’d run games while digging in for a Defense exercise instead of pulling security.
Soonergrunt
@Dave: I’d suspect that Denver’s Defense had the most to do with the game outcome than anything else. Everything else is a contributing factor.
Schlemizel
YUP!
Got in trouble with a boss way back when after he went on about the Hairy Thunderer ensuring a Notre Dame victory. I said “Well, at least it explains why the world is so messed up – God spends His time ensuring the Irish beat the spread”
There should be a warm place in hell for people who believe their God wants one group of mercenaries to defeat an different group of mercenaries in some meaningless athletic competition. As in war it is amazing how often God sides with the guys with the most guns.
Soonergrunt
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): or tie and go into overtime. corrected.
eric
In an age of people ragging on overpaid athletes not putting it on the line, the guy plays all out and risks a very visible failure every time he comes up short. that is a level of pressure that most people will never face in ten lifetimes. Think about it: millions of people are rooting for him to fail every snap of every play. Perhaps it is faith and belief in a higher purpose that keeps the “game” in perspective. I dont like his ad for “life” as it was particularly offensive, but on the football field the guy is a gamer. I am not sure why there is such national animosity for him, while Big Ben gets a pass for his past conduct — and dont give me that “they didnt press charges nonsense.” Even my favorite player of all time (lawrence taylor) is a moral monstrosity off the field. Then there is Ray Lewis. And the list can go on. I am not a fan of thanking god every play, but there are some guys that cross themselves after every good play (Pujols) and get none of the grief of this kid.
Schlemizel
@Soonergrunt:
No, Denver was down 6-0, it would have been worse but the Steeler O looked messed up. You were correct.
handsmile
This post might be better categorized under “Readership Capture.” It offers up not merely football (the sixth thread on one game!) and tech geekdom, but even pokes the embers of a flame war.
A trifecta of my personal indifference I confess, but I do recognize that’s a very minority opinion here.
All that’s missing is a picture of kittehs.
jibeaux
Damn, I’m going to quit feeling guilty about my knitting habit. I might have $20 sock yarn but it makes a damn cozy pair of socks and apparently I could be spending half the mortgage payment on something to make games look better.
This is probably the wrong thread to talk about how awesome the Season 2 premiere of Downton Abbey was.
gaz
@Soonergrunt: Props to bethesda. Skyrim’s revamped game engine performs better on my machine than Fallout 3 does (a much older release). Maybe better even than Oblivion (an even older release).
Three cheers for bethesda for breaking the conventional wisdom that a new game engine will be more demanding of your computer’s resources than the older one.
RP
The first rule of Tebow is that you must talk about Tebow.
gaz
@handsmile: LOL
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6523340473_0ab1a66e7e.jpg
ROOOAAWR
And now the thread is complete!
kerFuFFler
Exactly!!! I have a born again friend who believes Jebus cured her bronchitis…. The narcissism in this attitude just floors me. Why does G-d hate amputees? http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/does-god-hate-amputees/34900
Soonergrunt
@eric: That’s why I don’t have a (edit) football-related problem with Tim Tebow himself. My one problem with him is the same problem I have with all self=obsessed God-botherers who think that the Almighty takes a personal interest in their lives, while millions of His believers from various faiths (but even–hell, especially their own) suffer and die by the millions each year.
The worst professional quarterback in the NFL is several orders of magnitude better at reading a secondary, throwing, and leading on the football field than I will ever be.
Soonergrunt
@handsmile: I don’t own a cat.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
By that standard we’d better delete Rogers, Brees and Brady from the list of good quarterbacks. All of them have come from behind to win games and have done so quite often. Anyway, isn’t the mark of a clutch QB that he wins you the game in the 4th quarter when everything’s on the line? The Flying Spaghetti Bieber Cthulhu Monster knows, I am not a fan of Tebow, but, if anything, the fact that he pulled it out late on (yes, yes, obligatory jokes here) ought to win him some credit for being tough and rallying his team.
dmsilev
@Soonergrunt: Fair point re: the need for a discrete GPU. We’re probably a couple of generations of processors away from having integrated GPUs that can keep up with today’s consoles (never mind the undoubtedly-forthcoming next generation of consoles).
Dave
@Soonergrunt: Fair point. I love Elvis Dumervil. I watched him play at Lousiville and prayed that Belichick would take him in the draft in 06. Instead, we took guys like Chad Jackson and Dave Thomas. Blech.
gaz
@Soonergrunt:
Be gone from me, satan!
Soonergrunt
@jibeaux:
Hell, no, it isn’t! Let your freak flag fly!
harlana
who is Tim Tebow and why should i care – if Perry thinks he’s Tim Tebow, that’s really all i need to know
Sentient Puddle
@Shinobi:
Not necessarily. Random framerate problems are a known issue and have been for quite some time. That could be what your second PC is hiccuping on, especially because I think a lot of the reported problems are from PvP.
Schlemizel
@eric:
Absolutely – I get a kick out of fans who are quick to point out the thugs, rapists and murders on other teams but seem to miss the ones on ‘their’ team. There are also these sky-pilots on every team though I have to say I have not seen them performing extended prayer rituals during the game (I saw Timmy doing that a couple weeks ago).
I think 2 things get Tebow called out. That ugly ‘life’ commercial and the constant fluffing he gets from the press. He is only responsible for 1 of those things but still.
I keep hoping that one of the Muslim players (are there any in the NFL now? Used to be a few) will bow towards Mecca after a touchdown. It would be fun to see the same people who are so moved by TTs spirituality go apoplectic over someone eleses.
Yutsano
@Soonergrunt: At this point you can have mine. She’s very cute but under all that fuzz and cuteness lies a Tasmanian devil.
eric
@Dave: as a UL fan, i am a big elvis fan and I am shocked has been this good at his size.
Schlemizel
@Soonergrunt:
OH Well that explains it then 8-{D
WereBear
@Soonergrunt: I actually understand Tebow; I was raised in a similar culture.
From Tebow’s point of view, he is being humble and self-effacing. “It’s not me, it’s God working through me,” and so he is setting a good example as so many preachers exhort their flocks to do. He is “witnessing.”
Of course, this violates what Jesus himself said about “go into your closet and pray” but modern Evangelicals know nothing about the Bible. This is why they are so bad at actually doing what Jesus said to do: they are only spoon-fed tailored bits of Scripture that suit their Handlers.
Ironic, when Protestantism started with “read your own Bible.”
Soonergrunt
@dmsilev: AMD’s new Fusion “APUs” are CPUs that incorporate Radeon HD 6550 (still relatively powerful and newish) graphics cores. They probably fall down on the slower system memory, but that’s got to be some powerful onboard graphics.
Expect to see these chips in midrange and lower PCs, and home theatre-type systems.
handsmile
@Soonergrunt: (#35)
Ah, that explains why I enjoy reading you.
@jibeaux: (#29)
Downton Abbey. Yeah, now you’re talkin’….
Steeplejack
@Soonergrunt:
Well, no one owns a cat. It’s more like
custodial stewardshipabject servitude.Soonergrunt
@gaz: And it looks freaking amazing, to boot!
Soonergrunt
@Sentient Puddle: True–PVP can drag down the best of systems. There’s so many variables, including, but not limited to, everything happening to ALL the other PVP participants.
eric
@Schlemizel: i dont disagree, but even the tebowing does not bother me insofar as he does it quietly….pujols does it everytime he crosses the plate and the world says nothing. guys gather for large prayer circles after each game. There are no reports that he aggressively recruits believers in the locker room and it sure looks like the other players like him as a guy and they would be the first to get a smell of bullsht. As for believing that god takes an interest in football, i found that view no different in kind from people believing in some american manifest destiny or american privilege which is far far more dangerous than a guy believing that his fealty to the Almighty paid dividends in the fourth quarter.
MikeJ
@jibeaux:
I was a bit disappointed with Sherlock s02e02 (The Hounds of the Baskerville). It was ok, but not as good as the other four, at least on first viewing. I’ll probably give it another shot tonight though,
jibeaux
@handsmile: So I loved it. Although Bates is sort of getting on my nerves with his relentless self-sacrifice. Matthew I think is even cuter. And I really like the way the lines of class are starting to blur, just a bit, and how the person most disturbed by all this seems to be the butler.
Aardvark Cheeselog
@Comrade Javamanphil: Everything after 3-book sucked.
Soonergrunt
@eric: Like I said, my main problem is with the press that loves him so much and fluffs him so hard when his work product hasn’t been that worthy of it.
Walker
Those games are specifically designed to not use the latest graphics cards. The higher the graphics card requirements, the smaller the potential market.
RobertB
@dmsilev: they do make laptops now with both flavors of video processing – the plain vanilla motherboard video, and a separate higher-performance GPU. The high-performance GPU only kicks in when it’s needed for 3D work. I browbeat my wife into buying one when we had to replace her laptop.
I think the ‘high-performance’ GPU could just about keep up with my GTX250, at least from my experience playing WoW on it. You’ll pay for that in heat and battery use though, so you’re not going to be playing Skyrim with all the settings turned up on your coast-to-coast flight.
jibeaux
@MikeJ: I don’t have cable or satellite but get 20+ digital channels over the air. Is there a way for me to watch the new season before it comes to PBS in 2015 or whatever that won’t cause horrible diseases on my computer?
eric
@Soonergrunt: “my main problem is with the press” is the mantra of my life as applied to every substantive area of the world and world events
Linda Featheringill
@Soonergrunt:
Humans do not “own” cats.
Countme In
“My only issue with Tim is the idea that with all of the bad shit going on in the world, quite a lot of which happens to the faithful, is he really that conceited to think that God rewards him with victories on the football field while His believers die of disease, famine, and war by the millions each year?”
How do ya know?
Maybe God is a fucking sadistic murdering psychopath sitting in His or Her LA-Z-Y God except when He or She gets up, breaks wind, and goes and sits in the toilet to get away from His or Her nagging creation.
Maybe It likes football, when it’s not watching genocidal Republican vermin debate the most efficient methods of maximizing all manner of suffering, including the above-mentioned disease, famine, and war, not necessarily in that order, given the difference in the profit-making opportunities of each.
Maybe Tebow’s (I like him, he wants to win, but I wish he would take the nipple-flashing of his faith off the field, a little like Bob Gibson might have thrown some high-cheese wishes at Barry Bonds’ empty noggin to get the latter’s fat ass around the bases and back in the dugout, had they played against each other) cheap, exhibitionist, reality show, yard-ornament, Elvisey, fried-food belt variety of all-American God-bothering is just what God’s doctor ordered.
Maybe the diseased, the famished, and the war-ravaged can fetch It a beer while they’re up, and then as far as It is concerned, shut the fuck up.
Maybe God’s a shithead.
Jesus Christ. Look at the evidence.
MikeJ
@jibeaux: I think the PBS release is just a few months from now. Of course part of that is up to your local affiliate.
ruemara
In the interest of something far more interesting than Tebrom and the footballs, plus to make up for Sooner’s intense moral failings–Kage Kitty would like to ensure you know you are not important, also too, photobomb!
Culture of Truth
I bet Romney has one those installed.
Hal
@eric:
I don’t like Tebow because of his anti-choice rhetoric, that ridiculous commercial he appeared in with his mother in 2010, and his associations with Focus on the Family, a virulently anti-gay group he supports.
In short, I don’t like him for his very public broadcasting of his beliefs, and his associations with groups I find hateful and discriminatory. He can bow all he wants and write as many scriptures on his face as he pleases, but he’s also put himself out in the public as a spokesperson for his beliefs, so I have no problem criticizing him for that.
Monkey Business
When Disney makes the inevitable movie based on Tim Tebow’s life, they’re going to call it “Angels In The Backfield”, and it’s going to star Zac Efron as Tim Tebow, and Gary Busey as John Elway.
daveNYC
@Comrade Javamanphil:
Pen and paper is always the right type of game for any thread.
Why the hell (or any of the three evil afterlifes) are they doing a fifth edition already? The differences between 3.5 and 4 are large enough that they might as well be completely different games, so I don’t see what sorts of changes they’d make to 5E to make it worth buying. Plus 4E came out relatively recently, there’s got to be more they can milk out of sourcebooks and settings.
Maybe they’re discovering that having such a streamlined system makes selling additional books to PCs difficult. There’s only so much you can do with anytime/encounter/daily powers that have a max range of around 100 feet (if that).
WaterGirl
@ruemara: Oooh, the second one is Halloween scary. Same kitty? If not, which one was your BJ rescue? (That was you, right, that rescued the black kitty?)
dmsilev
@RobertB: Yeah, that’s what I have (15″ MacBook Pro from about 9 or 10 months ago). Integrated GPU on the processor, and a Radeon 6750M discrete GPU. OSX switches back and forth depending on what applications are running and power adapter vs. battery. I’m not sure if Apple provided the needed drivers to let Windows do the same thing, but I only use Windows when bolted to a power plug, so defaulting to the Radeon is fine.
Mark S.
From listening to His followers, I’ve concluded that the Supreme Being of the Universe, All-Knowing and All-Powerful, who created this entire Universe and has existed forever, is completely obsessed about butt sex and zygotes. It’s completely logical.
Also, having your God-Son die a painful, horrible death makes up for two fictional people eating an apple. This also makes a lot of sense.
The only reason Scientology sounds more stupid is that it isn’t 2,000 years old.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemizel:
I seem to remember that the New York Times did a story one Ramadan on two brothers named Abdullah (I don’t remember the NFL team, sorry) and how they dealt with fasting and daytime training. But the bowing toward Mecca would be part of their five daily prayers, which they would not be taking care of during a game. A quick prayer of thanks after running in a ball for a touchdown would probably not last long enough, or be showy enough, for anyone else to notice.
Hubris
I too am puzzled as to why the arrogant Tebow cannot outline a satisfactory solution to the “problem of evil,” a question that has troubled religious philosophers for centuries.
rlrr
@WereBear:
“When it comes to humility, I’m the greatest.”
— Bullwinkle Moose
Brachiator
@Soonergrunt:
I just don’t get this. I am a furious agnostic, but acknowledge the reality of the mythology of religious belief.
I don’t understand why people get their panties in a twist over the notion that a deity might enjoy seeing His, Her, Its or Their creations having a good time.
Isn’t the whole point of the song, “The Little Drummer Boy,” that the baby Jeebus is as thrilled by a humble performance by a nobody as by all the gifts of the very important persons, the Magi?
The Old Testament speaks of David dancing “before the Lord with all his might,” and upsetting the squares, even though The Mighty Dude in the Clouds thought it was da bomb.
And, after all, one of the main times a deity is invoked is during sex. So, a lot of people presume that the deity wants us to feel real good.
Anyway, this will all settle down after the Broncos met the Patriots. The deity is particularly fond of the Samba, which is why he graced Brady with a Brazilian supermodel.
Catsy
I’ve been running an ATI HD 4870 for some time now. I haven’t really paid attention to hardware in the last year or two, so I’m sort of boggling at the Radeon HD series being in gen 7 now–the HD 4870 was my upgrade from a dying 8800 GTX, and even *that* was a top-of-the-line card when I got it.
And it still takes all comers as far as video games goes. My problem is that I’m badly CPU limited–I’m still running on a Q6600.
John Weiss
Golly, some of you all are really down on TT’s public display of religion. Me? I don’t care what antics he wants to display. It was a good game! Isn’t that what you all signed up for?
handsmile
@jibeaux: (#55)
Very much enjoyed reading your quick appraisal, though I myself find Bates to be the dramatic pivot of the series itself. The phrase “quiet desperation is the English way” keeps running through my head for some reason.
I too am deeply smitten with Downton Abbey. Which surprises me frankly, because melodramas of the British aristocracy usually leave me frost-bitten.
The quality of the writing is astonishingly good and deliciously witty. Among its many well-handled aspects, as you suggested, is its exposure of the fracturing lines of class privilege and identity both above and below stairs.
And Maggie Smith is sublime! One of her most glorious performances in a much-celebrated career.
Much more might be written, but I don’t want to try the patience of our host. Happy for this exchange!
Wapiti
@jibeaux: I think you can watch it from PBS’s site for the next 2 months, before it is removed. They did the same thing for the first season – I think it’s to let people catch up without killing long-term sales of DVDs.
hitchhiker
Let me be the 10th (or whatever) to quote this bit:
I thought that was EVERYBODY’S only issue with whatsisname. The patently stupid, self-referential, unChristian display of piety disgusts us all. He’s making a faith that’s supposed to be 100% focused on being last instead of first, giving up privilege on behalf of the poor, etc. into a sort of cheap voodoo act.
It’s like when a fat old ignorant racist tea-partier waves his American flag.
rlrr
My problem with evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity is, if one takes the Bible literally, than God, quite frankly is a monster.
ruemara
@WaterGirl: Yes, Ma’am. That is the Official Balloon Juice Rescue Kitty™. He has grown into the Nega-Tunch. Slimmer and more into attacking fuzzy balls, string, curtains, sofa, Takkun, your legs, your feet, bugs, air, invisible stuff… He’s a happy ball of terror.
4jkb4ia
@Soonergrunt:
It’s an incredible story, just from the ups and downs of the media. When Tebow won the Heisman everyone loved him in the sports media. Then no one in the sports media wanted to give this guy a chance–“They said” he would never play in the NFL. His own coaches did not want to give this guy a chance, really. But this guy has found a way to win just enough. It would be completely inspirational if this was Tom Brady and he gave all the credit to his teammates instead of the Almighty. And you would absolutely want to tune in next week just to see if he could keep this thing going. However, I am not looking forward to this game at all. I wish I could go to the dance party at the shul next door, but I blew the chance for that.
Mark S.
@Hubris:
Give him a break. He went to Florida.
Linda Featheringill
@ruemara:
Both kitties are lovely. And the human ain’t bad, either. :-)
Joel
I’m not sure if a Patriots loss to the Broncos this weekend would be a bigger kick in the nuts than losing to the Jets or not, but I’d rather not find out.
Joel
I’m not sure if a Patriots loss to the Broncos this weekend would be a bigger kick in the nuts than losing to the Jets or not, but I’d rather not find out.
eastriver
ABL? Who’s ABL?
(basking in the breath of fresh air)
Steeplejack
@ruemara:
I had a late reply to you in the thread last night.
cat
@MikeJ:
WTH??? You mean you LIKED the chinese circus final act of S01E02????
ruemara
@Steeplejack: Many, many thanks. That could be something he can listen to. I fully admit I have disengaged because everything becomes a fight, this really could help him work his own way out of it. Thank you so much.
handsmile
@Countme In: (#63)
Saints be praised! Christopher Hitchens has risen from the dead!
[Grateful for the laugh, especially the punch line!]
Comrade Javamanphil
@daveNYC: You got me. The nerd committee (of which I am a proud, card-carrying member) hadn’t had a good dust up in a while? My twitter feed is already over-run with both ecstasy and derision at the announcement. Me? I just want to find a local DM who’ll run a campaign geared toward parent / young teens.
(Oh and @Aardvark Cheeselog: Way to go right for the jugular.)
4jkb4ia
I guess as of yesterday that flesh feast really was over. I wrote an epic rant to post at Emily’s site, but I felt sorry for the poor woman having to deal with– well, “mania” is an excellent word.
rlrr
Sadly, Cougarton Abbey ended its first season in such a way as to guarantee no more seasons…
Brachiator
@jibeaux:
A valet’s gotta do what a valet’s gotta do. I appreciate the fact that Bates’ sacrifice is grounded in a reasonable motive, protecting Anna as much as he protecting the reputation of the family.
The biggest thing for me is avoiding all the spoilers and reviews of the episodes in the UK press. Good to know, though, that a series 3 has been commissioned.
@Wapiti:
The most recent episode of Season 2 of Downton Abbey, as well as episodes from Season 1 are also available for viewing on the PBS iPad app.
And I was recently pleased to find that first season is available for free streaming as part of the amazon prime membership, and also available on the Roku tv streaming device. Maybe a few other places as well.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
Perhaps Miss Lexie needs a kitty companion to keep her humble. I know the only thing that ever tired Keaton out was another cat.
Soonergrunt
@Catsy: 4870 was a great card. Yeah, I’m an AMD/ATI fanboy. I admit it.
If you were to upgrade your CPU (assuming your system could handle such, and you could find something faster in LGA 775), you would still likely be CPU limited.
If you were to replace your motherboard, CPU, and memory (assuming you could fit a new motherboard in your system (if it’s a Dell or HP you probably can’t) then you would rapidly be GPU limited on some of the newer stuff.
Still, my advice to you is the same advice I give to anyone–if you’re happy with your current system, then you have no reason to drop hundreds of dollars to change it, and buying new for the sake of buying new or for bragging rights is not the best use of your money.
Comrade Dread
@Linda Featheringill: My theory still remains that at the dawn of civilization, there were two attempted alien invasions. The first involved proto-dogs who arrived on scene, generally tore things up, took livestock and attacked humans, and were brutally suppressed until a treaty occurred whereby it was decided that they would serve mankind, perform demeaning tricks for our amusement, and be forced to wear ‘cute’ clothing and be toted around as ornaments in purses by shallow rich girls.
The second invasion succeeded and the feline victors were enthroned as gods by the Egyptians and humanity was forced to feed and shelter their cat overlords in exchange for frequent clawings, shredding of their belongings, and vomit on their carpets.
redshirt
@Joel: I was at that game last year. It was a kick in the nuts.
I’ll be at the Denver game this Saturday. I pray to THE MIGHTY FSM I don’t find out. If we get Tebow-Time late saturday night in Foxboro, they’re might be a riot. A SATANIC RIOT.
Countme In
Show me in the Bible where it says a baby can’t be sucked into and drowned in a fucking sewer at the same time a guy can’t throw an 80-yard touchdown pass for an overtime win:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9002698/Baby-dies-after-falling-into-Russian-sewer.html
God the sociopath can smile benignly and put his arm around you and show you the shiny baubles he produced just for you while he butchers babies for fun.
I notice Tebow wasn’t sucked down a sewer and drowned as a baby, and you may think it’s because God wanted to see that pass yesterday against the Steelers, but we agnostics will allow for the possibility that God is in it merely for the ratings.
I kid, which is what agnostics do so that we don’t go stark raving mad and and start killing people like the religious do when their worldview is not embraced, but I also notice the atheism of John Cole failed to prevent at least two things this weekend: the death of that Russian baby AND the defeat of the Steelers.
I don’t know. Do you?
Yutsano
I know she’s bored Mnem. She started life on the ranch with more or less constant stimulation. Plus she has the worst separation axiety I’ve ever seen in a cat. I might just pick up another furball for her. Except I’m worried she’ll make it a toy.
WaterGirl
@ruemara: Great description that left me with a big smile!
Countme In
“can throw” — first paragraph.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
Oh, the new cat will be Lexie’s toy, but a toy with even more inexhaustible energy than she has.
We really weren’t ready to get another cat so soon after Boris died, but Keaton drove us to it with his extreme neediness and boredom. And yet Annie managed to wear him out with her kitten drive to play! play! play! all the time.
Brachiator
@Comrade Dread:
Hmmm. Interesting theory, although it doesn’t quite explain Anubis, the Jackal or Dog Headed Deity.
And I found this little tidbit on a site about Egyptian history:
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: I have concluded that my new pup (well, got him in september) is bored, too. I think he’s really a dog’s dog, and even though he constantly tries to play with one of my cats, it’s just not the same.
It makes me really sad. I decided last night to take him to doggie day this afternoon so he can play with some other dogs. I should probably get him another dog but I don’t think I can afford it and 2 dogs and 2 cats, with one human, might be a bit much. I just don’t know what to do.
gene108
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Playing Pathfinder now and enjoy it. Started playing a 3.5 campaign a few years back after not having played, since 2.0 ADD in the mid 1990’s.
Big shock with the rule changes.
Anyway, I know a lot of folks, who have sworn to never play D&D again because of the 4e rule changes.
Since, I’ve never played 4e or really looked into the 4e rule changes, I’m not sure what the fuss is about.
WoC does probably need to make some changes to win people back after the backlash to 4e.
BGK
Rizzo, sassy or saucy, I don’t know which.
scav
@4jkb4ia:
Was wondering about that but, apparently, yes, it’s once again all about the quarterback, and in this case, his personal relationship with the almighty. Boy’s certainly got his shtick working. I think I’ll amuse myself with figuring out how to pronounce his name like Te-ah-tim-eh before the blessing of forgetting kicks in.
WaterGirl
@ruemara: Between the recommendations from Steeplejack and WereBear and the recommendation of Hyperbole and a Half Adventures in depression from Violet, I am really impressed by the quality of the suggestions you received from your BJ friends. What a great place.
Triassic Sands
The answer is “yes” Tim Tebow thinks he is special enough to warrant the personal attention of God on the football field.
I don’t know if that makes him an objectively bad person, but it certainly makes him an objectively stupid one.
Mnemosyne
@Mnemosyne:
Also, too, you should probably lean towards getting a boy cat to keep Lexie company. Putting two girls together can be … fraught, but you won’t have the same issues with a boy.
Lexie will be queen of the apartment and the new boy will be her minion, but they’ll both be okay with that.
Joel
@redshirt: OTOH, if the Patriots blow the Broncos out to the tune of 34-8, I’d like to see Wes Welker re-enact Shannon Sharpe’s National Guard moment.
Linda Featheringill
@Comrade Dread:
Two invasions:
LOL! I agree. Although throw-up is not limited to merely carpets.
Calouste
@Brachiator:
That is because God is a Brazilian.
Arclite
@Soonergrunt:
SG, you should probably protect your email in comments to prevent it from being scraped and added to spam lists. Instead of [email protected], try [abcde] at [cox] dot [net] or whatever.
redshirt
@Calouste: Indeed.
Schlemizel
@Amir Khalid:
Well theres yer problem right there 8-{D
Actually I was being sarcastic about the Mecca thing. At first I was going to say a satanist sacrificing a goat in the end zone but thought the mess would be too much.
My thought was the same people who praise one guy because of his prayers would be up in arms about someone eleses, just as deeply held convictions.
BGK
@Mnemosyne:
It can work well, though. Provided one is willing to put up with the occasional outbreak of smacky-face.
Larime the Gimp
I’m about to be able to buy a new system and could use some advice. I’m wanting to build something custom but don’t have a lot to spend – around $600. All I’m needing are the obvious bits, CPU, RAM, hard drive, and video card. Any suggestions?
redshirt
@Schlemizel: I’d love to see a muslim football player show overt faith not because I have any kind feelings toward any religion, but rather for the overwhelming, towering hypocrisy that would be on display from the Jeebus Freeks.
But then, don’t we see that every day pretty much already?
Schlemizel
@eric:
I happen to know people who worked with the Reverend Chris Carter while he was with the Vikings. He was identified as 100% phoney but you couldn’t tell that from the team reaction during the game.
The story I was told was that he really found religion when the wife walked in on him and some woman, and he was just as sincere about it as that would lead you to believe.
Comrade Javamanphil
@gene108:
They are in a real bind, imo, and I feel for them. The people, in general, that are attacking them are the hardest of the hardcore gamers and despite their passion, they are a fairly small and finite market. WoC decided to leverage the brand, make the game simpler and thus, grow the pie. If they reverse course now, they will drive that market away. But that market is probably the least likely to buy all the add-ons / supplements. It’s a real catch-22. Personally, I would love to see the market become a bit more welcoming and inclusive to less than hardcore enthusiasts. My friendly neighborhood game shop embodies only three of those words and I think it really makes it tough for people that want to play games but also have other interests in their lives as well.
Schlemizel
On@redshirt:
EGGS.ACK.LEE
I will add one more thought on the excessive display of prayer and I will quote the guy they pretend to follow. Here HE is speaking in Matthew 6:
5)And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6)But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mnemosyne
@BGK:
Dude, that’s freaky. Your cats are practically twins for Keaton and Charlotte. (Charlotte is the short-haired girl and Keaton is the long-haired boy.)
Charlotte and Annie (the middle cat) get along fairly well, but there’s definitely some smacky-face that comes up sometimes. Poor Annie is a social dork, and Charlotte gets a little Mean Girl towards her sometimes. But if there’s a chance of potentially killing something (like a bug), suddenly they’re a team.
Paul in KY
@Brachiator: I think the Pharoahs hunted with dogs.
Paul in KY
@BGK: How about ‘hungry’? As in ‘I’m feeling hungry & you’re looking mighty tasty’.
Triassic Sands
@Mnemosyne:
Now you tell me two girls won’t work. Eight years ago a starving, very ill female tabby showed up at my house in dire need of care. I already had two cats — a big, sweet ol’ male, and Nootka, the Queen Bee. Eight years later the two females still will not tolerate each other and have to be kept apart at all times.
I read extensively and carefully followed the advice for introducing a new cat to the home and met nothing but failure, broken furniture, and hurt feelings. Fortunately, I was able to prevent any serious injuries — at least to the cats — but my dream of having a tranquil household where everyone could just get along has never been realized. The aggression between the two females is so intense that the male can’t help but get dragged into the melee too. Cats are nothing if not adrenaline factories.
Three cats in a small house and they can never be in the same room at the same time. Sure, I probably could have found another home for the invader, but it turned out that she is a spectacularly affectionate cat…with me anyway. I’ve got a routine worked out that prevents any major confrontations, but I may have to move soon and the layout of the house I’m going to move into is not conducive to keeping the girls separate. I’m struggling to think of a solution. I’m totally committed to all three cats and because of their current ages and the Queen Bee’s auto-immune disease all three would be very difficult to place in a new home. And the idea of abandoning any one of these cats is unthinkable.
Question: if I just kill myself does that qualify as abandoning my cats?
Steeplejack
@Larime the Gimp:
Seems like every other month Maximum PC has a “build the best box” feature for this or that. And they’re not always bleeding-edge, expensive ones. You could start at their Web site for ideas.
. . . Okay, because I care, I dug up this recent article with a brief search: “Build It: A $340 Ultra-Budget Box.” Might be a good starting point.
In general, I have found their recommendations to be very good.
Mnemosyne
@Paul in KY:
The Mughals hunted with cats (cheetahs, specifically). Apparently they remain the only big cat that can be genuinely tamed and trusted around humans (though I think there’s also something weird like cheetahs are actually considered to be the largest of the lesser cats and not a “real” big cat).
Mnemosyne
@Triassic Sands:
Well, it can work, but once two cats take a dislike to each other, it’s really tough. My aunt-in-law had four female cats that got along reasonably well, but one day one of them decided she wanted to be the head cat and started trying to kill the other one. They had to be kept separate for the rest of their lives and poor Maggie became the crazy one in the attic. (Not literally, of course.)
Arclite
I’ll be building a new gaming system next month: Core i5 2500K, z68 motherboard, 8GB of RAM, 60 GB SSD, 2 TB data drive, and probably an Nvidia 570 GTX. PhysX is cool tech, and more and more games implement it. It’s not supported at all in AMD chips.
I bought Skyrim and Deus Ex during the steam sale, but I’m waiting to play them until my new system is in place.
Also, I probably bought enough during the Steam sale to satisfy me for the next year or so. >_<
Svensker
@Brachiator:
Maybe. Probably. But the Pats are notably weak in the secondary which is where Tebow strikes. (Why I know this and apparently the Jets coaching staff didn’t, we won’t discuss.) Palpatine is also notably good at adjustments, but ya never can predict…
Paul in KY
@Triassic Sands: I sorta have that situation, but my 2 girls can at least stare daggers at each other while being in the same room & mutually agreeing to act like the other one doesn’t exist.
Good luck!
Mnemosyne
@Svensker:
I have to admit, I will always and forever think of Tom Brady as the living example of why you should make sure to use a goddamned condom when having break-up sex. Dumbass.
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: Cheetahs are a ‘big cat’, although they are not closely related to Pantherinae, the family that lions, tigers, jaguars, etc. belong to.
Cheetahs are more closely related to cougars (and house cats). In fact there was an American cheetah, that died out in the last ice age (that is why pronghorn antelopes can run so fast).
bemused
We have two girl kitties that love, love each other but they are litter mates which cuts down the odds of conflict considerably. They get spayed this week so one less hormone crazed cat behavior issue to worry about. We had three cats at one time but learned that three is too many for us and vowed to never do that again.
Joey Maloney
@Culture of Truth:
I bet he doesn’t, because if he did he’d be rendered in a more lifelike fashion.
The Other Chuck
@Schlemizel:
Someone should totally hold up a sign reading “MATTHEW 6:5” in the end zones of every broncos game.
Brachiator
@Svensker:
Good point. Totally agree with you. But even though Palpatine is good at adjustments, he and his staff can be had, as has been demonstrated in post seasons past.
Mnemosyne
@bemused:
We didn’t mean to have three, but G found Charlotte and her sister in a parking lot when they were 6 weeks old. We found a home for her sister because 4 cats was WAY too many, but Charlotte ended up staying.
ETA: Charlotte looks so sweet and innocent there, doesn’t she? Little did we know that she had already launched her lifelong campaign of manipulating us.
Triassic Sands
@Mnemosyne:
@Paul in KY:
I’m reconciled to the situation. Sadly, one or both aren’t interested in detente. I can understand it though. The latecomer was on her own for some time and learned to fend for herself. That may have included being pre-emptively aggressive toward other cats (despite the fact, or maybe because of it, that she’s very small). The QB has always been “the boss” and she pushes the male around all the time, but they arrived within days of one another when both were about 5 months old and they coexist quite well. Nootka had ruled the roost for about two years before the invader appeared.
When the first two arrived, I hung a hammock from the ceiling (9 foot ceilings). It hangs down about two feet and is lined with a “featherbed” filled with 8″ – 10″ of down. It’s probably the best cat bed I’ve ever seen. The last time Nootka got access to Annie, Annie was asleep in the hammock. Nootka burst into the room, sped past me, and before I could intercede she was in the hammock and viciously attacking her sleeping target. They were so violent that they spilled out of the hammock and crashed to the floor. Nootka landed on a lamp crushing the shade and damaging the lamp beyond repair. In the process, she broke/dislocated her tail and I was sure she’d have a kink in it forever, but it eventually healed just fine. A small knot is palpable but it can’t be seen. Annie escaped with the loss of a bunch of hair (she’s a long hair) and probably some heart damage as a result of being brutally attacked while she was asleep. The male never got into the fray, but he spent a couple of hours or more walking around yowling and being generally agitated.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Very interesting. Some of the paintings of the Mughal rulers out hunting are stunningly beautiful.
Of course, while apparently cheetahs can be tamed, they (and similar animals) cannot be domesticated. Ran across this little tidbit about the training of cheetahs by the Mughals:
Soonergrunt
@Arclite: Good point. Not terribly worried, but I’ll change it nonetheless.
Samara Morgan
lol sooner.
the donkos will die on the road next year when they get a non-cake schedule.
get a clue.
its you like wanna believe our impending humilating LOSS in A-stan is from resource starvation.
such a naif.
Allah doesnt favor xtians OR muslims….or buddhist or atheists, havent you got that by now?
if some muslim quarterback took a knee to mecca after every touchdown, id say the same thing.
ostentatious piety, aka prancing and braying in the public square.
olbos, khoros, hubris, ate.
Mnemosyne
@Triassic Sands:
What is it about former ferals being named Annie? Our Annie was rescued from a feral colony and we think that’s the source of a lot of her social deficits. She’s a little awkward around the other cats and we can see that Charlotte gets annoyed with Annie sometimes because she’s Not Acting Right. I think the way ferals interact with each other is so different than the way domestic cats interact that it can definitely cause problems.
bemused
@Mnemosyne:
Just adorable.
We have chosen to be a 2 cat family (plus two dogs) but heaven help us if bundles of cuteness were abandoned on our doorstep!
Paul in KY
@Triassic Sands: Never had that situation. Interesting.
Have you tried any light disciplinary action when the Queen goes off on the other one? For example: Grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and showing your dominance while saying ‘No’ (right when it happens, the only time you can discipline an animal like that)?
Paul in KY
@Brachiator: Good point about being tamed vs domesticated.
Cheetahs in the wild are fairly timid. A honey badger can run them off a kill. That meekness must help make them more user friendly (or easily cowed).
Have seen a couple situations where a lion or leopard seemed to be tamed, but it is a case-by-case basis with those (and probably depends a whole lot on the entity attempting the ‘tame’).
not motorik
Is this guy an actual blogger here?
He sounds like John Cole’s retarded uncle.
Mnemosyne
@Paul in KY:
You have to be REALLY careful doing that with cats. They can very easily get so caught up in the fight that they will turn on you. My brother ended up in the ER by trying to push his cat away from a window where it was hissing and growling at a cat outside.
Polar Bear Sqaures
I don’t think believers like Tebow think that believing in God means you won’t get killed, go hungry, get raped or the like. Or even lose football games. He’s the Lord of his life. He thanks God for EVERYTHING that happens to him. There just happens to be a camera in his face when this happens. If Tebow were a janitor, he’d be thanking God for it. May sound weird but it’s true.
I don’t hate Tebow for his belief. I share them but just not his fundamentalist fervor. I don’t like him because he’s unbelievably lame. And there were a lot of blue collar black players, who also believe, and they don’t seem to get the same shine. Athletes with devout beliefs are nothing new, particularly in the black community. In college it was percy harvin and brandon spikes. now it’s demaryius thomas and champ bailey. Denver doesn’t win last night without those guys and all we talk about is Tebow.
His beliefs are weird but … so is everyone else’s. I’ve done research on shamanism, New Age, Buddihism, Islam, all forms of Judaism, the Dominion movement, mystery cults, Satanism … all very weird in some way. Same thing with agnostic, athiests. What they lack in weirdness, they more than make up in obsession with recognition and Christianity. That in itself, is kinda weird to me.
So everybody’s weird. And I would rather leave everyone to their own weird vices. But as soon as people start to oppose their own weirdness on others, that’s when I get concerned. But Tebow doesn’t seem to embody that. So I don’t begrudge him for that. Even if aligns himself with those who would want too. (There’s no evidence of that except his ad with Focus on the Family).
WaterGirl
@ruemara: @Steeplejack: If he is all more comfortable on-line, there is also an iPhone and iPad app with the same name, which they say includes the 5 hours of audio that comes with the book.
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: Good point. It is very important (IMO) to grab them by the scruff of the neck (like their mother would when they were kittens). You also have to do this firmly (in the sense that you can’t be timid or show any hesitation).
Gotta know your cat, I guess.
Mnemosyne
@Paul in KY:
I ended up getting severely bitten by that same damn cat a few years later and had my own very fun trip to the ER for wound lavage and heavy-duty antibiotics, so, yeah, KYC (Know Your Cat). My late cat Boris would never, ever, ever have bitten me even under duress, but I can’t say the same for our current cats.
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: Cat bit fever, duh duh duh
Cat bite fever duh duh duh duh ;-)
(Saw a Simpson’s episode last night that starred the insane rocker from Michigan)
I’ve taken care of the 1st 2 lines, let’s see if people more talented than I can some up with the hard ones.
handsmile
And all this because of a single snarky remark made hours ago that this post needed kittehs.
You felinophiles are a scary breed. Thank goodness Jacques Tourneur made a documentary to alert us to the dangers.
liberal
@The Other Chuck:
That’s a much funnier way of putting what I was thinking of these idiots that don’t even seem to read their own scripture.
Soonergrunt
@Arclite: That sounds like a great system you got planned there.
I should take a second job with those people for all the money I’ve spent with them in the last five years.
Mnemosyne
@handsmile:
Two documentaries. Though the second one doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the first since a big chunk of the plot revolves around a woman who today would be recognized as an Alzheimer’s patient.
BGK
@Mnemosyne:
Whoops, scrolled past your response earlier.
In my last post, the short-haired, mostly-white one is Ava, and the long-haired one is Sophia. I’ve seen multiple cats in the various places I post which look very much like Ava, so she must be some kind of template. Ava’s definitely the stronger personality of the two. She can be a total brat, and growl to make big dogs whimper, but she’s all talk and most times slobbery-affectionate to me. Sophia’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever met. I don’t think she’d know how to be bad even if she wanted. I think the big moderating influence in my house is Jack, my oldest. He’s very much the older brother to everyone, and is not afraid to lay on the big paw when things get screamy. That is, when he’s not slobbering on the others.
Comrade Dread
@Brachiator: Still works.
Anubis was the guardian of the underworld and death who would weigh the souls of the dead in a scale. The unworthy had their hearts devoured.
It would make perfect sense that cats would cast their Hades as a dog.
JGabriel
@Soonergrunt:
I’m doing just fine in Skyrim with a similar setup (4250 instead of 4290 onboard), except I added a Radeon 5770 (~$110) — and the fourth core of my triple core CPU unlocked, so I got lucky there.
The point being that you can still do pretty well with a low-end system and 1920×1080 resolution just by adding a graphics card in the $100 – $150 range. You don’t need to spend $300 on a video card for good gaming (it’s nice if you can afford it, but not necessary). The best deal right now seems to be an NVidia GTX 460, going for about $135 at New Egg, though that will undoubtedly change again in 1-3 months.
Hell, if you’re running a 1680×1050 monitor, you can do pretty well even in the $75-$100 range, between the Radeons 5670, 6670, or 6750.
.
Arclite
@Soonergrunt: I know, Steam is addictive, pandering to my worst consumerist tendencies. Luckily, I usually only blow $5 or so per game, so not spending a huge amount of $$, although I made exceptions for Deus Ex and Skyrim. But yeah, half my purchases remain unplayed, so I’ve obviously over-acquired.
As for my system, hoping to re-use a few parts I have now and keep it around $1000 (or a bit more) which is doable for a machine I’ll probably keep for 4 or so years. As hobbies go, PC gaming is actually pretty inexpensive and offers great bang for the buck.
Brachiator
@Comrade Dread:
Cats are atheists. They don’t believe in a power higher than themselves.
RobertB
@JGabriel: GTX460 is what I replaced that balky ATI 6770 with. It was a few more bucks, but seems headache-free so far.
Arclite
@JGabriel: Yeah, I currently have an Nvidia 460 and have no issues running anything, even on my ancient Core Duo E6600 processor, although I can’t run “ultimate” graphics settings for the newest games, I still run “high” with 4x anti aliasing, and it’s completely smooth and looks fantastic: Bad Company 2, Burnout Paradise, Starcraft II, etc. It’s a great card for the money, and I highly recommend it.
Mnemosyne
@BGK:
Yep, that’s how it is between Keaton, Annie and Charlotte, too: Keaton is the big brother who keeps an eye on all of them. If Charlotte tries to get too big for her britches, Keaton is like, “Well, fine, if you’re the boss, then you don’t need me to give you baths anymore, do you?” That gets her right back into line.
WereBear
@WaterGirl: I’d get another dog.
Because whatever you can give the new dog; it’s got the shelter beat, doesn’t it?
When the perfect is the enemy of the good.
JGabriel
@RobertB:
Yeah, I wish I could afford to make that purchase now but I just bought the Radeon 5770 six months ago, and I’m not experiencing any balkiness or other problems with it, so there’s no real need yet.
Obviously, the 5770 is not going to play Crysis 2 or Metro 2033 at 1080p resolution with maxed out settings, but it does okay at the next highest settings, which still look pretty good. And you can still max out the quality settings with less demanding games.
.
Shinobi
Speaking of SWTOR, are there any plans Balloon Juice guild yet? That should happen. (I actually find myself excited to level some other toons, it turns out plot is a pretty good motivator!)
Soonergrunt
@Shinobi: I would not be adverse to that idea. I’ll pop up another thread tonight and propose the idea.
EvolutionaryDesign
Sooner – glad to hear there is another Broncos fan on this blog! Just wanna add my appreciation that we are able to win again. I am no fan of Timmy but he actually threw the ball well yesterday. And our defense really doesn’t get enough credit. Hope we can kick McDaniels ass next week!
Samara Morgan
@Polar Bear Sqaures: making a commercial with FotF and flashing his christianity dick every touchdown isnt enough for you?
the christian radio stations in Fort Collins are just brutal.
they prey off of young soldiers like Jeebus vampires.
kids that are higher on the IQ spectrum go to college and become atheists.
but the young soljahs just have christianmingle.com.
James Probis
I’d suggest it is perfectly reasonably to hate Tebow for promoting a hate group that demands the reinstatement of sodomy laws and the imprisonment of gays. Beyond the television ad he did for the American Family Association last year he just released a DVD sold through the AFA.
Fuck Tim Tebow, he is not a “good guy” in any way.
Samara Morgan
@Schlemizel: @Schlemizel:
As far as im concerned, it would be the same. ostentatious piety. prancing and braying in the public square.
WaterGirl
@Triassic Sands: I don’t have any kitty advice, but I am wondering about the kitty hammock. Was that something you purchased? It sounds like soothing my kitties (litter mates, boy & a girl) would love!
Andrea Francine
If that is your only issue with Tim Tebow then I think your issue is with a false characterization of what he believes. Tebow will not shut up about Jesus because he takes to heart the straight-from-Scripture teaching to give thanks in everything. One might reasonably say that he would do well to take to heart how to speak a word in season but that is a different issue.
Win or lose, he thanks the Lord in all things, and it has nothing to do with being conceited or so arrogant as to believe that football victories are somehow a reward of his faith in Christ. (He also thanks the Lord after games in which he plays like a Pop Warner bench-warmer. Not sure how that gets missed in all the Tebow-Thinks-God-Loves-Him-Best nonsense.)
There are some who want to interpret special significance to the results of a football game (Tebow have I loved, but Polamalu have I hated?) or their own personal successes, but Tim Tebow is not one of them. And that is easily enough confirmed because he has publicly addressed and corrected the mistaken notion. With his public professions of faith working the nerves pretty much everyone save arch-Christian T-Bots, it is understandable that most do not want to delve at all into Tebow’s beliefs but if you are going to draw conclusions about what he believes, maybe consult more source material than the few words “First I want to thank the Lord.”
People understandably have had enough with all things Tebow, but the assumption that his giving thanks means that he thinks touchdowns and wins are rewards or proof of God’s favor (favor supposedly not enjoyed by those suffering and dying for their faith in Christ) is as irrational as the assumption that Tebow’s touchdowns and wins are proof of God’s existence.
The kid just really loves him some Jesus. It’s really that simple. And he loves Him in a big, bold way that would be little different than if he worked in an office building. Well, one difference is that he would have been called into to HR by now. Maybe that’s what will happen. Maybe he will start getting fined every time he Tebows or says the word “Jesus.” Then everyone will be happy. Some will be glad for the absence of public professions of faith, and others will be glad for the opportunity to be outrageously outraged.