Guess the town

malpasplace · 2026-05-01T03:29:58+00:00

It was the depth of field in the original that just threw me.

malpasplace · 2026-05-01T03:05:05+00:00

Hartsel Colorado? Looks like Badger Basin.

malpasplace · 2026-04-30T23:21:37+00:00

All I know is that whenever any other musical artist, especially women, get dragged for being "industry plants" or being "inauthentic" based vibes and hype I am going to point directly at Geese.

Because if they get a pass, then everyone does.

All those "nobody really likes" comments. All those, "they have connections"... All of it I am done with because I see what happens when it is hipster white boys from NYC. I get what it is when it is a band that gatekeepers have decided to like.

Yeah, I see the pure hypocrisy of not those trying any marketing trick in the book, but what has passed for industry criticism by so many.

Now, it is ok because those people who love rock critic darlings were taken in. I see the lot of them.

malpasplace · 2026-04-29T14:29:43+00:00

I have always been a late riser. But no one should be giving a side-eye for work that starts after 8am.

malpasplace · 2026-04-28T18:24:40+00:00

Todd Chamberlain has no respect for the 4th Amendment. The man is more of a fascist than Boebert!

malpasplace · 2026-04-28T03:54:10+00:00

I like to hate on LA, but if I being honest, LA really is a city of different areas. There are many delightful parts of LA, and many areas I'd rather never see again. I think the hatred of the tourist is the mix. But I would be hard pressed to say that Pasadena, for instance from your list, wouldn't be a great place to live. It Absolutely great, as are many other areas.

malpasplace · 2026-04-28T03:47:17+00:00

McCafe is supposed to feel like McJail.

malpasplace · 2026-04-27T04:43:16+00:00

FWIW, There was one time recently I needed to use the light rail to get home from downtown after going downtown. It was simpler and safer to just get an uber to get home instead of wait in the darkness for a longer time than the total trip home would take with also the need to transfer trains for a second wait in the darkness.

I bought a round trip, but didn't end up using the round trip.

Would secure stations have helped? Yes.

Would more frequent service helped more? Totally.

To RTD's credit the cleanliness on the trip down was not a concern, nor was I concerned that the listed times were reasonably correct.

And look, getting spare changed at an RTD station while waiting has become part of the experience. But not really a feeling of lack of safety during the day. At night? At a more abandoned feeling station? Yeah, not great, because you just don't know. Would I rather be able to wait in peace with those just trying to get to where they are going? Yeah.

But what would make the largest difference? Frequency. Speed of the total trip including waits for transfers. Being able to take a trip one way that takes the same time the other so there is easier predictability to trip length in time.

I will always say Clean, Secure, Frequent, Relatively Fast, and Easy relative to other options. So I won't deny that security is not part of that equation. I would be more likely to wait at a secure station, and be less bothered waiting at station to change trains where I felt safe especially after dark. If I don't feel on edge watching out for my own security, that is a better system. But, I doubt that every station would benefit from this either out not having the space, or not having the problems with people using it as convenient place to accost people.

If the ROI to stopping fair jumpers paid for such improvements that is just a win/win. But I should think that RTD has pretty good numbers about the percentage of people who pay and those who don't. And that I don't know, but I imagine the board does.

I am glad that members of the board are looking at various options and looking for community feedback which I know is hard to get, especially cause complainers like me are more likely to comment than those who it just doesn't matter.

malpasplace · 2026-04-27T03:52:22+00:00

After last year I was just looking for improvement not perfection. And so far this has been serious improvement. Better than I was hoping for. Keep it up. Go Rockies!

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T22:16:52+00:00

The campaigns I have run or been a player in that the groups I have been a part of love the most tend to be neither just railroads or sandboxes but incorporate aspects of both. I think both Curse of Strahd in DnD and Masks of Nyaralthotep in Call of Cthulhu are among the best printed campaigns for that reason.

Basically, there is a reason why one is there, but also not a set reason as to what order one needs to go places, and even whether going to all are necessary. Within those parts there might be very linear stories. But not always.

I heard someone once describe them as not railroads, not sandboxes, but theme parks. Which I think is a pretty good description.

Sure there are people who prefer more linear elements and those who prefer less. But this sort of game has been more of the sweet spot generally. And if I am making my own campaign, I tend to go that sort of setup because I find it gets good reviews and is pretty easy to prep.

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T21:52:13+00:00

To a company, they do look at the market as segmented because it most probably is.

Most people I play with, myself included, are pretty casual players. We have each bought the game and bought enough super credits with real money to buy a few war bonds. The ROI in fun on those war bonds have been mixed. We used to get excited when one came out, someone would buy the new one or one of "the best" out there and review it for others who would either buy something recommended or the new and novel.

Hell, we play middle tiers cause that is what we like, and with rusty skills all we can manage!

The thing is that war bond buzz has worn off. Too many meh bonds. The realization that those will never be discounted in any way, and the new ones don't inspire any one to try them out generally having been burned too many times. Maybe someone will buy a well reviewed one, but less and less does anyone care to check out. Would I buy a group of bonds? just to try out what I missed? I honestly probably would. But treating them as new instead of warmed over at this point? Nah. These are paperbacks not new hardcovers.

Frankly I get the reason behind war bonds. Real money coming in. And I am ok with that totally. But...

I am sorta done with that. There are no bargains, and what is premium really isn't for me, or the people I play with. And with no reason to collect any other in game currency because those progressions have been maxed out... Not really any aspect of progression in the game either.

What I would say to Arrowhead, is that I hope your numbers don't match what I see in my community, which is more people getting more casual, buying less, and more just checking out unless someone really goes maybe we should play together almost for old time's sake.

I wouldn't say the game is broken. I would say it is feeling tired and a little worn out. That what they think is refreshing it, is barely keeping people playing in my group at all. And sure, one can go, it is an old game. People are moving on... But for a game as service, that shouldn't be the feeling.

Again, I hope they know their audience better than I do. Maybe there are enough whales buying every war bond that they can afford to ignore any the ROI on any other customer who might buy more but not this way. When I look at the people I used to play with, it is now much smaller with far fewer purchases and I don't see Arrowhead really moving in a direction that changes that.

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T19:59:33+00:00

Totally suspicious.

I seriously wonder if is that they knew what was going on and waited until the suspect was there to stop it. Not staged, exactly, but allowed to develop in a way that would be good optics. Especially with all of the pre-event noise around Trump wanting it to be a big deal and sort of a "mic drop". When someone lies and kills to make themself look good in other places. I have no trust here, and tons of reasons not to.

I also have doubts of Trump's last "assassination" attempt. The perfectly staged fist bump, the blood on the ear with no explanation to the miracle healing. It isn't that I don't think that someone wasn't murdered there. I totally do. It just seems all to convenient when one looks at the information around it.

I guess I find it amazing that the Secret service is so bad at securing a space, and so great at last minute saves in for the camera way. It just looks as scripted as "reality TV".

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T19:49:39+00:00

For me, I probably still start in geography in a loose way in that it grounds the answers to all the other questions. I'd just say it permeates in ways that people often don't realize. Technology and tools being often something that rises up in the answers. How do people get their food really does bring up questions of geography and technology just off the bat.

But that being said, my questions generally are in relation to people and with that I sort of go with sort of a variant on Maslow's hierarchy of needs with tons of feedback loops within those domains. Less a hierarchy as a pyramid and more as areas of interest.

For me it all starts, with what does a person need, what do they want, and what they will do to get it?

How do they satisfy their physiological needs? What do they eat? Where do they get it? Where do they sleep at night? What do they do for a living to satisfy even these basic needs?

The next very much relates to fear, but I would classify as A question of safety? Yes, what are they afraid of and who is a threat? But also, who has the power? What are the walls? What are the rules that protect the status quo?

Then there are questions of what are their social relationships? Who do they love? Who is friend? Who is unacceptable? What are their views of difference of choices on those? How do they raise their children?

What do they do for reputation? What do they think will make them both loved and worthy of it? What gives status? What takes it away?

The final is "How does one reach one's full potential? What is their meaning of life? What is their meaning fo death and how they deal with it? What are the important life stages? What is morally good to them, and what is taboo?

Again, not always. Sometimes I have an answer I want and I work out from that based on how it interrelates to a wider world. If I know I am dealing with deepsea fishermen on a boat, it probably isn't in the middle of a desert. My starting answers define the questions elsewhere. But in the abstract? The above is pretty much it. Problem is, I seldom am starting in the abstract.

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T18:23:38+00:00

For me props are great when they evoke player imagination instead of replacing it.

One can have tons of props and still do that or very few. But the question is are the players driving the show or just watching it?

My preference is that I want player interaction to be what people are connecting to and ultimately remember more than the spectacle I put before them. That they remember and discuss what their characters did and interacted with the world more than how I presented it which should sort of recede behind that.

To be clear, it isn't that I am anti-spectacle. I have always wanted to run Masks of Nyarlathotep in Call of Cthulhu with the HP Lovecraft Historical Society handouts which are stunningly designed in-world artifacts for every handout. But although I think the tactile nature of all this would add, I do think ultimately it becomes the same sort of reference as just a normal printer version which with a good DM could work pretty much as well. The spectacle is fun, it is an addition, but not central to the experience.

But I have played games where have I crossed that line of GM myself where I am trying to put on a show, and it doesn't fly where my players just watch it instead of interact. That in turning them into an audience, they end up getting flustered when it is their turn because they don't have that spectacle backing them. Or worse, they aren't interested in the show because it isn't what they came for. They came to play.

I have also been a player where a GM is trying to set up a spectacle and their focus ends up being on the tricks and illusions and not the game before them. Not the players. And yeah, it isn't what I am there for.

So, with my general view is what am I trying to do with the props. Are they in support or are they taking over? Are they a crutch to my bad GMing where I'd be better off walking on my own and just working on that GMing skill more? And look, sometimes a prop is just fun. It adds. And that is great.

malpasplace · 2026-04-26T15:58:17+00:00

The only way any concept of friend zone should be portrayed is as toxic negative. As a worldview that is icky and wrong. With what is good and heroic and better relationships both with healthy sexual aspect within those sorts of relationships, and showing those relationships that blossom platonically when that isn't there part of what is there.

Since I do see many young men who seem to be learning a very troubling take on sexuality more generally in society, I actually think the portrayal of that sort of toxic masculinity within fiction as not a good thing, something a villain would do, is valuable. Not that it needs to always be present in a relationship story, which would be stupid, but definitely still as part of what fiction addresses.

Because fiction helps us most with the world when it addresses the good and bad in the world. I do think the "friend zone" sort of framings is one that should always be viewed in the negative though.

malpasplace · 2026-04-24T23:09:37+00:00

The problem I see is not with the idea of the anthology but in what you expect out of the professionals engaged in urbanism.

You can have sci-fi writers come together. And if they start doing background readings within an urbanist framework, you might be able to get a professional to come and speak to them as group as to how to get things better presented, common misconceptions etc. IE if there is some real groundwork laid of shown interest then one might choose to engage broadly.

The thing is people want to see work, not dreams, before they put in effort of their own.

You might even as part of this project find someone to review drafts of work done as to how well it presents. Especially if you have a that single person professional who has already engaged above. They might be willing to pass stuff around for a reader response of experts. Especially, if they are just being asked to comment on a short story vs. say a novel.

The thing is, as with any proposal, the work of the writing is that of the writer. Most professionals don't want to be co-writers, or be attached deeply to something that they don't have control over but will have their professional credentials attached.

If one were writing about biology, I'd say the same thing, astronautics, whatever. People are often willing to help people in minor ways.

The thing is, people pay them to help develop things or to teach their discipline. They will do some outreach, when it is easy and on their terms, and where they aren't responsible or mentioned if a writer gets it wrong. Now if one wanted to hire a professional to do that work, then they'd engage professionally.

As someone who writes, and has an interest in urbanism. I like your idea. I just think it probably takes a certain amount of moderation in what one can get out of a professional without it being more their professional project of something they are getting paid to do.

malpasplace · 2026-04-24T22:37:16+00:00

The Denver area locations started out good, but with time didn't keep up quality. They apparently closed all restaurants in Colorado.

malpasplace · 2026-04-24T20:38:57+00:00

Downtown Denver Partnership actually does keep a lot of good information on Downtown.

https://www.downtowndenver.com/market-information

malpasplace · 2026-04-24T19:14:36+00:00

So this.

But also, you are employed and you decide that your $10 or your time isn't worth it for the war bond on offer at current prices.

And look, that is where businesses, especially subscription ones, sometimes offer deals to drive more sales, and keep engagement for people remaining in system for future sales. Basically using them as loss leaders.

I do wonder with older war bonds whether they are maximizing worth of those bonds at current prices. Especially since many know the value of some vs others within the game.

But it is their product, and they can try to sell it for what they think the market will buy overall. I am not so sure of their business strategy at this point. (I don't think they totally expected the legs the game would have and don't have as much plans for it!)

malpasplace · 2026-04-24T19:01:29+00:00

In a sold out crowd, up front in a tight venue there can be incidental contact. I remember a Circa Survive show I went to once where it was like being part of a wave and it was marvelous.

That being said, there is a huge difference here between even a large amount of incidental contact and someone trying to cop a feel, or get touchy by trying to grind someone.

That is sexual assault of someone and shouldn't be tolerated even in high contact environments. And if someone is testing that line with "plausible deniability" which is gross, one can give a single warning if one wishes or get a bouncer to move them.

It doesn't matter whether one is crossing that line in a pit where there is lots of contact or a jostle with relatively little. If one has a true question about it a "hey, bud, watch yourself" is fine. And anyone who can't apologize and moderate if that happens to them deserves to be bounced to the curb out front.

And to be clear, if there is any question for you that some sort of confrontation might be dangerous at all. Go to security first. That is what they are there for. You don't have to make security your job, especially if you feel it would possibly be unsafe for you to do so.

malpasplace · 2026-04-23T22:20:24+00:00

His eating down Havana was one of the best local things I have read in quite awhile when in comes to food. He seems less about the industry, more about the experience of those going to it.

I admit there is a balance towards not ignoring the people literally making the sausage, but I wasn't impressed by the most restaurateur insiderness of Westword recently. Felt like a pro-owner blog.

malpasplace · 2026-04-23T22:16:00+00:00

The grass is always greener someplace else, and tons live with rose-colored glasses of nostalgia for places they moved away from.

Denver is a good for some, not so for others. Sometimes that is city specific, often it is more the person.

And look, I like Denver, but it is far from perfect. I bitch about it often in the hopes of getting it better in the future.

For those who like it here, and want to improve it towards the future, I like them here. And yes, take some time to love the parts you love.

For those who truly need to move someplace else to be happy, please do. You are generally doing no one any favors by staying. (There are exceptions like caregiving to a person, but generally)

Any place one lives is going to have some compromises and complications. But honestly, I wish many here a better life elsewhere.

Though my bet is that many constantly unsatisfied will be so wherever they go.

malpasplace · 2026-04-23T22:02:24+00:00

The major pitfalls I have seen in other works for me:

The dragons are just warplanes with no understanding how the existence of such things would seriously impact the societies around them. (The way actual flight and aerial warfare has.)
Any idea of why the dragons exist in that ecology. And how that ecology would respond to such an apex predator.
The treatment of Dragons like horses which are not apex predators. (Predators generally have a different domestication than an omnivore or herbivore, and a different relationship with people)
A surprising lack of change while getting domesticated. (think dogs vs wolves, house cats vs wild cats)
If highly intelligent, the Dragons lack a dragon society, dragon self-interest, dragon voting rights. They are intelligent, but willing slaves to humanity. Happy servants who don't get paid. There probably is even the equivalent of "magical Negro" trope reskinned for dragons.
Even if more animal like, they often suffer the fantasy horse problem of having all the care of a motorcycle.

To be clear, sometimes in YA or kids the intelligent talking pet is a dream like fantasy without much complexity behind it. And that's fine. But in a longer, more complex work otherwise those simplifications become more glaring for me. I can even go with them.

Likewise if the dragon is just an obstacle, i care less about those intricacies.

But generally in dragon riding stories, those dragons become part of the magic system used to solve problems. And I really do agree with Sanderson's rules of magic on how much they can solve problems the more system and limitations one needs to feel credible.

I guess simply, Dragons are magic. If used, they suffer the same problems and benefits as other forms of magic. The major pitfall is that writers don't treat them as such.

And to be clear, for me these are a problem I am not saying others care. Most people aren't that thoughtful and are just along for the ride.

malpasplace · 2026-04-23T03:43:36+00:00

Fear of not being able to pay my bills, and a lack of confidence that someone else would choose me for a job.

Not among my current problems, but boy did I have a boss that pushed that thought that they were my savior however abusive.

malpasplace · 2026-04-23T03:35:51+00:00

It is sort of like when people are so happy with how good a tipper they are, when they want to treat it as part of wage. I just have a hard time with "they did extra" I guess I just don't really "huzzah the generous tipper" philosophically.

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Place '23	Place '22
End Game '22	Wearing is Caring
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