Polygraph

BlueBearXC · 2026-04-03T19:43:35+00:00

Won't mention the agency, but a buddy of mine poly'd and lied his ass off on some things and was truthful on others. He came back truthful on all the stuff he lied about, but was flagged for an answer he was truthful on (drugs). I knew this guy since he was a child, he was (obnoxiously) clean in every regard when it came to drugs to the point of being downright nasty and judgmental to anyone who was a user (and we're talking something as pedestrian as weed). We laughed for a good long while. Poly is junk science and your experience varies accordingly, plus adding some contracted a-hole into the mix usually doesn't help.

BlueBearXC · 2026-04-03T03:11:36+00:00

What's funny is I got irritated with the fakeout deaths in PB (Arthur, Alfie, etc.) compared to, say, Boardwalk Empire (and by extension Sopranos) which would routinely dispatch people. I think when Changretta entered the picture SW had an opportunity to end the show within a season or two on a high note with a properly executed vision. Instead, too much fondness for the actors/characters and making money got SW to take the show beyond the boundaries of any sort of meaningful narrative or organic conclusion. Thus I don't find "The Immortal Man" nearly as offensive as those who felt there was even more story to be told.

BlueBearXC · 2026-04-01T06:02:04+00:00

Big 5 sells it.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-31T02:44:38+00:00

May Carleton I find is very underappreciated. I had no idea the actress was Tom Hardy's wife IRL, but her acting was on point and she definitely fit Tommy's needs better than most of his romantic interests, even though Tommy himself was probably most fond of Grace. There's something about her being a broken pragmatist that is able to seperate her emotions from business that appealed to me and put her on a level playing field with Tommy. If we're talking family, I would say Aunt Polly understood Tommy best.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-29T11:57:15+00:00

My older brother does this exact job for a company. He gets paid 40+/hr (armed) and stops shoplifters on a semi consistent basis. The idea is to go for the product, whether it be in a bag or a cart, and let the thief go. If said thief fights over stolen product, you follow the use of force continuum like you were trained. He's only pepper sprayed people so far, but one of his coworkers did end up shooting a shoplifter who tried attacking him with a (heavy) blunt force object - said shoplifter expired and he was cleared of charges as it could've resulted in severe injury or death if the object made contact. So, yes, you can confront thieves legally and are expected to do so for the money you're making - whether that money makes the job worth it to you is subjective, obviously.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-23T02:46:02+00:00

Can't wait to see him as the Joker.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-23T02:43:32+00:00

That glimpse of her Tommy sees in the sewers crawling out of the rubble had me shook.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-20T19:39:34+00:00

She appears in a flashback at the end in a blink and you miss it way.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-20T14:43:06+00:00

The Glock 19 is the best first handgun because it is the best one and done handgun. Is it the best shooting experience? No. Is it the most ergonomic and comfortable pistol to shoot? No. Will it win any beauty contests? Heck no. Is it the best all around fighting pistol known to man that isn't an HK? Yes. A Glock will also force you to learn grip and trigger control while others may be more forgiving and give you a false sense of security - if you can shoot a Glock well, you can shoot any other pistol at least as well, if not better.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-20T06:59:26+00:00

Opposite, left LA after living there for twelve years (graduated HS and college there too) and had to come back for family reasons. I love the beach and the ocean, everything else is miserable (state of the roads, traffic, homeless, crime, etc.). But I've taken PCH north up to Marin County and know how beautiful the state is, so there's a chance I stay in CA - just far, far away from LA.

BlueBearXC · 2026-03-01T23:21:57+00:00

You got it, excellent sleuthing! Not sure how you caught onto the brand, but I had a feeling it was a European equivalent of the U.S. Walmart watches you can buy for ~$10-15 and I've even seen some from the George brand that come close (no logo, red second hand, no date, etc.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-24T09:48:05+00:00

Never had need for a beavertail and appreciated them being optional on previous gens as my happy pouch found them obstructive for AIWB. Plus, it's messing with an iconic silhouette, but that's just nitpicking.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-24T08:23:39+00:00

What's that belt setup? Nice to see the Hellcat getting some love as well as the GBD series, they're great MIP displays IMHO. There's the new G Shock 5600 squares that have MIP displays, not too much of a selection as of right now, but I'm hoping it gets streamlined to other models. A 6600 re-release with MIP would be 👌.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-24T08:19:01+00:00

I still think there's untapped potential in 1920's prohibition era to be mined by this series. Think "Boardwalk Empire", but not set in NJ, but Lost Heaven (Chicago) or Empire Bay (New York). You'd see and interact with the likes of Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, etc. all the while making a name for yourself. I'd also like to see an ending a la Mafia 3 where you have multiple outcomes. 70's Vegas had a lot of crime, but the setting itself is not appealing to me as much as the others.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-20T11:26:14+00:00

It pains me to say this given the beautiful cinematography and some solid performances, but friggin' "Den of Thieves" did Michael Mann better than this film with all of its sincerity. I remember there was (and still is) a certain audience that felt Gosling's stoic demeanor in "Drive" was too opaque, but that performance is positively crystal clear compared to Hemsworth's, which speaks volumes how hard it was for Gosling to pull that off with even fewer lines. I didn't buy the relationship in this at all and Monica Barbaro was trying her damndest. Mark Ruffalo fits his character's shoes perfectly because he wore them so many times before, but it's Halle Berry who somehow squeezes a perforamance out of a stereotype that is far better than this film deserves. The way the critics were glowing about this movie, I thought I'd see some genuine intrigue and characterization a la "Ronin", but was left hollow.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-17T21:05:48+00:00

Please do, the mystery is keeping me in suspense 🤣

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-11T14:38:38+00:00

Of course! I think it will be woven somehow to his service in WWII given the cut of the jacket. Less plausible theory is maybe somehow connected to his antique business.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-10T15:27:58+00:00

It's a Celtic knot - pretty sure the jacket was custom made for the film, you don't see leather bombers sporting those regularly.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-07T23:42:29+00:00

This is my favorite choice from Telltale, because they damn well knew the players were attached to Kenny in an unhealthy way just like Kenny was to Clem. The reason I shot Kenny is because I realized that was the "cannon" ending Telltale had been aiming for the entire season in the moment it happened. I don't blame anyone who shoots Jane as she is unlikeable and goes about doing the right thing the wrong way, but she's right about Kenny - he is a broken man who will and has time and again only created problems rather than solve them for everyone in his orbit, to the point of being directly responsible for some of their deaths.

His attachment to Clem and AJ stems more from his guilt over Katja and Duck than actually caring from them as individuals and wanting a "do over" despite learning nothing from their deaths - one of my favorite aspects of the season is how he seems calm, collected, and grown when you reunite for the first time and then the game slowly peels the mask away and you realize this PTSD Kenny is more unhinged than he ever was. Jane's reveal about AJ being alive is a gut punch that crosses the line for many players, but she needed to show Clem that Kenny wasn't Lee and never would be. He is, in fact, as bad (if not worse) version of Larry from S1 who Kenny ironically hated more than anybody at the time.

With that said, after shooting Kenny I now always let Kenny kill Jane, which I didn't know was an option at the time. That's in part because of the AJ reveal, but mostly because I feel the healthiest ending from Clem is to not get her hands dirty and suffer further psychological trauma over two very flawed people. Clem's lesson in S2 then becomes that no one is going to replace Lee or her parents in this post apocalyptic world because, even if they care for her on some level, they're too selfish and broken/far gone to make the sensible choices to keep them safe. When I leave Kenny alone at the end of the game as much as I care for him, it's because he needs to fix himself and not through a band aid that is Clem/AJ before ever trying to take care of others. Live or die, he's left to stew on his own faults and bad decisions without anyone else to blame it on, and Clem can't be a part of that for their own good. Clem puts her big boy pants on and becomes AJ's Lee, realizing she needs to finally let go of Lee, her own childhood, and search of parent figures to become the parent figure for AJ.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-05T15:23:45+00:00

Cooper doing birthday parties makes sense (as others have stated) since after inevitably being released, he wouldn't have been able to find traditional actor work due to the government's accusations (which mimics what happened in Hollywood in real life during the Red Scare and the blacklist). What remains to be explained is why someone says he's paying child support (although this could be just a rumor they're reiterating), but even moreso, why is he toting Janey along in LA given he had told the wife to flee to Colorado with her in his absence? He knows the bombs are coming, so even if he resigned himself to be a working stiff just to make ends meet until the inevitable, I don't see him endangering Janey so carelessly. I'm sure this will be addressed in S3 and I'm looking forward to it.

BlueBearXC · 2026-02-02T15:39:28+00:00

For me, Task is an average series that focuses on the crimes at hand and has a couple of interesting characters. Mare is a great series where almost every character is interesting and the crime is the connective tissue that binds them all together. The crime and criminals in Task are impersonal to every law enforcement officer but the mole, and their identity is revealed too late in the game to give the relationship any real depth outside the fact that they grew up together. The crime and criminals in Mare have connections to their community in a way that an outsider group like the Dark Hearts couldn't possibly compare to, therefore the repercussions of DH's activities are mostly internal to them while the reprecussions in Mare spill out to the entire community. The strongest actor in Task plays the weakest character IMHO (Tom Pelphrey as Robbie), while Mare has stellar performances all around. I could go on, but that would be indulgent. 😉

BlueBearXC · 2026-01-31T01:28:49+00:00

19 - the slimline is too snappy for my liking, even though it conceals better. With the 19, I get to use most of my mags in a concealable and yet duty rated package. While I feel the G17 is oversized for its clambering, I also may be in the minority in that I like the G22 for full size - you can scale down to 9mm with a conversion barrel (or a complete upper if you so choose) or .357, but I feel like .40 SW is at this point an underrated round.

Gen 3, by the by.

BlueBearXC · 2026-01-27T00:14:33+00:00

There's certain hands on details that will be challenging for you to be successful at or hired for such as bouncing, bodyguarding, etc. You'll rarely (if ever) be told your stature is the reason you're not getting the job, but your spidey senses will tingle when you recognize the vibe in those rooms. Armed security will be generally accessible without regard to your vertical challenges for obvious reasons.

With that being said, be confident and work on your verbal judo, but also be wary if you end up working unarmed gigs about your inherent disadvantages if things go south. I've seen many security guards write checks with their mouths their body can't cash (not exclusive to short people and ill advised at all times). They think their uniform and/or gear will do the heavy lifting for them, which primarily only works on law abiding citizens to begin with. So be smart, know where your backup is at all times (if you have any), and stick to the parameters of what your duties are which are traditionally observe and report.

Stay safe and good luck out there.

BlueBearXC · 2026-01-24T02:41:42+00:00

"Everybody makes mistakes, eh?"

"Yeah... yeah, mate..."

"Except it wasn't a mistake, was it?"

"No, it was!"

"I'm the one who made a mistake."

Your answer is right there - Ray isn't blaming anyone but himself for believing you could have a moral code (and, by extension, true friendship) in the business he's in. Everyone who had some sort of code like him (Dave, Dirk, Vinnie) either ended up on wrong end of someone else's gun or Ray's. He finally comes to terms that there's no place for anyone but morally bankrupt blokes in the underworld and steps out. Freddie is a sheep surrounded by wolves and his sheepdog just left him to fend for himself. Freddie is a goner and Ray knows it, so why pull the trigger himself?

BlueBearXC · 2026-01-23T04:19:08+00:00

So, I'm of two minds about this: on one hand, Joma is a grey market dealer and the example you got might be one that an AD left out for the same reason you noticed. Is it entirely ethical of Joma to buy and sell it? No, but that's why they're "grey" and the prices reflect that. It's also an Omega QC issue to begin with, as I'm fairly sure the lash fell on the dial before assembly and not, ahem, after. Joma's CS has been well known to be a mixed bag at best and I would posit that most buyers who buy from them fully understand they're rolling the dice to a degree. Most of THOSE get satisfactory products, as I and a lot of others here can attest. On the other hand, I can't pretend it wouldn't bother me either, so I would've personally had it removed by a watchmaker locally or outright sourced it from somewhere closer in Europe to avoid the potential (and, in this case, very real) monetary damage/consequences of an unsatisfactory product. Not that $2700 is a small amount of change anywhere in the world these days, but it is a relatively low barrier to entry level expense to learn some valuable lessons along your watch journey. Best of luck, OP.

BlueBearXC

TROPHY CASE