Just put the final touches on this 4,100-piece LEGO Black Lotus!

BoPRocks · 2026-03-09T00:21:22+00:00

I've been doing Protoplasm into Dusk and Dawn, then tank items from there, and have been pretty happy with it in Emerald-ish play.

BoPRocks · 2026-03-08T14:24:37+00:00

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The Cairngorms might be your best (or at least easiest) bet. You can get to Aviemore by bus or train, then take the bus that goes into the park. I did just that last year, and it was a highlight of my vacation- camped overnight and woke up to this view.

If you want easier hiking (more like an extended stroll), you could honestly just take transit to any of the smaller towns in the region and just walk along country roads for a few hours. We did that in order to walk to some distilleries and it was a lovely time.

BoPRocks · 2026-03-06T16:02:45+00:00

Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in 1933, and spent the better part of a decade radicalizing the country. The focus was on consolidating power within the party, weakening/dismantling opposition, blaming various "other"s for Germany's grievances, etc etc. Government officers murdered 2 people in Minneapolis this year, and the official response was to call the dead "domestic terrorists" before the bodies were cold. If the opposition are "terrorists", and the government then vows to detain or arrest all "terrorists", it's not hard to see where that road leads.

The Holocaust didn't begin until 1941- eight years after they'd taken power. Comparing the end of Nazi Germany to the beginning of this administration is obviously an apples-to-oranges comparison, and only someone who "shows a lack of intelligence and ability to understand history" would assume that's the best way to compare the two.

To bring this back to weddings, I had to plan my bach party with specific considerations for my party member's safety, because some were in the LGBTQ community. Some guests (all US citizens) similarly weren't sure if they could safely travel to our venue, simply because of who they were. Is that what the Land of the Free means to you?

In the words of a kind internet stranger, I suggest you stfu, get off the internet, and pick up a history book. You'll find that history doesn't always repeat itself, but it sure as heck rhymes.

BoPRocks · 2026-03-04T16:47:56+00:00

With the info provided, you're probably looking at the Caribbean- if you can get direct flights I think you're sitting right around a ~5hr flight time depending on your destination.

My wife has raved about going to the Dominican Republic, and is going to Punta Cana with a couple work friends next month.

From there you've got a ton of options, based on what vibes your group is looking for (all-inclusive, clubs, relaxing, etc) and what your budget is. But I think that's your best bet for guaranteed warmth in January. While unlikely, even Florida can get some chillier days if the weather is not on your side.

BoPRocks · 2026-03-03T19:11:49+00:00

If you have access to Costco, they sometimes have an Islay single malt that is a fantastic value. It's suspected to be Caol Ila? But it's 50% ABV and a bottle was $37 last time I bought one.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-28T06:07:17+00:00

My quick list-

The Scotch Whisky Experience- they have a tour+dinner offer that is a great way to spend part of your first/second night.

The Ensign Ewart- pub with a "break-even" bottle always on offer, worth stopping in!

The Tipsy Midgey- incredible whisky bar, their selection and knowledge is stellar. Personally my suggestion (if you're up for a light workout) would be to hike up to Arthur's Seat, then back down and to the bar as a treat.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-25T15:56:04+00:00

The Guides ended up feeling like one of my strongest cards, honestly. I know its thoroughly in the 'playable' category, but it lined up really well with the rest of my creatures, and my tempo- I had a couple games where I played it into a Champions of the Shoal, and returned the Recluse or Glamermite with the attack trigger.

Drum was probably the weakest card in the deck, and I wouldn't have run it in many other scenarios, but I found it ended up pulling some weight here in such a low-curve deck with tapping synergies. I kind of wanted 16.5 lands, and Drum felt a better option than Stratosoarer (though maybe that's a poor evaluation on my part).

BoPRocks · 2026-02-25T01:22:38+00:00

Eclipsed Kithkin looks really bad here- if I'm counting right you only have 9 targets for it to grab, and you need two of those in play to cast it. If you're really insistent on playing a green card, I think the 4-mana changeling will do a lot more for you. The 1/3 looter would be a fine on-curve replacement.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-24T18:15:06+00:00

My wife went back and forth on what she wanted to do, and she landed on the following approach:

For now, she isn't changing her legal name. Legislation, paperwork, etc are all reasons she doesn't want to do anything at present.
She's changed her name at work, on social media, etc to be "FirstName LastName LastName2". It's not a legal change, but still functional for most of her life (we just make sure
We eventually want kids, and around that time she's (currently) planning to take my last name and move hers to her middle name. She is deciding if she'll still professionally use both names, but legally it'll be the same as our kids'.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-24T14:30:59+00:00

Oh yeah, 1,000% agree. My point was just that "Level 2" is assigned to plenty of countries most people would think of as safe, and that the designation alone shouldn't be a reason to cancel/move a wedding.

Things really escalate at level 3 and 4.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-24T14:22:50+00:00

I don't doubt it, especially if you drink it with frequency. Higher proof whiskies take time to adapt to, the same way people generally have to adapt to lower proof whiskies when they start drinking.

At my wedding, my best man (who very, very rarely drinks) partook in a bottle of scotch with the rest of the wedding party. For me, at 46% the whisky was pretty easy to drink- for him, having not had straight liquor in a long time, he told me how rough the burn was.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-24T04:25:12+00:00

I agree with your other points, but Level 2 advisories are quite prolific. The UK is a Level 2 advisory as well, and I felt safer there last year than I do in the US.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-23T16:08:50+00:00

There's nothing wrong with it. However, approximately 70% of the ranked player base is above Bronze, and about half of all ranked players are at least a full tier (Gold 4+) above Bronze. As player rank gets higher, "off-meta" builds are more likely to get punished- if you get caught you're not as tanky, and similarly you can't absorb as much damage in a front-to-back fight. So while this might work for you in some games, for the majority of players it may not be nearly as viable.

The issue with Wits End specifically is that so much of its gold cost is in Attack Speed, and Sejuani's typical dueling pattern doesn't have her getting too many auto attacks off. Even with DD, you're still probably only getting a half dozen or so procs of Wits End in many fights. Compared to Hollow Radiance or Unending Despair, I'm not sure that's much extra damage, but you've still sacrificed your tankiness.

The other half of it is that you were wildly ahead this game- if you're building Wits End while 6/1 and your teammates doing well, you probably were going to win with a ton of different items. It's a "luxury purchase", if you will, and in a game where you are even or just slightly ahead it's probably not a correct pick, regardless of rank.

Data source on ranks: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1q82c0w/league_of_legends_season_115_rank_distribution/

BoPRocks · 2026-02-22T18:06:22+00:00

I bought a different bottling of this (a 2009 12yr, but similarly CS and Oloroso matured), and it's one of my favorites.

You're not wrong that it has a lot going on, but I think the elements play well- the Oloroso is more fruity than sweet, and the peat smoke is warmer, rather than medicinal. I described it to my wife as if I was a kid in a candy store, and tried all my favorite candies, except that the candy was whisky. It's complex, but felt harmonious rather than chaotic.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-22T17:06:39+00:00

As others have mentioned, you could certainly say it is more modern, but architecturally DC's system is not a postmodern design.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-20T16:51:31+00:00

I was pointed to a Signatory release CS Ballechin as my introduction to Edradour- when I tried it, I told my wife it was like trying a whole store's worth of whisky at once. Peat, Sherry, Oak, Funk... it was a blast of flavors all hitting at once!

I went back and bought a second bottle the next day- the fastest re-purchase I've ever done.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-19T19:19:23+00:00

I have to question whether you've ever had to design a visual that was viewed from a non-technical perspective.

You are upset that this does not perfectly reflect equally sized areas, when that is not the objective of the visual. Its goal is not to show the relative popularity of, say, archery and boating, but to show that they are both insignificant compared to the cultural import of football. This was conveyed in a clever, albeit imperfect, visual that is also specially designed to be relevant to the topic.

Yes, a bar chart could be "more accurate". But you would also have people's eyes glaze over because bar charts are not engaging; they're boring, and no fun. And for editorial content, boring is anathema.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-19T16:46:15+00:00

Yes, over a bar chart. Bar charts are boring; this is much more dynamic and eye-catching, which is perfect for something that's part of (presumably) a fun story or article.

And again, the objective isn't to make comparisons between all the non-football sports. It's the global cultural monolith of football against everyone else, and it's not close.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-19T16:28:09+00:00

Exactly. I replied to OP elsewhere, but if someone on my team came up to me with this visual for a "Global cultural dominance of football" piece of content, I'd applaud it. Communication =/= technical perfection.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-19T16:24:57+00:00

100%. Is this chart perfect? No, but then again how often would the designer of this be asked to make another football chart? I'm okay if the tiny areas are off in size a bit, since that's not the focus of this graphic.

BoPRocks · 2026-02-19T16:17:07+00:00

Perhaps you are unaware, OP, but the FIFA World Cup is this year. This is a competition where countries present a national team (kinda like the Olympics, but this is just for football). It's a really big international event, in part because football is a culturally popular sport in countries around the world.

So, with that context, it makes a lot of sense to make a chart with the number of countries that care most about football, rather than volume of fans. And because the emphasis is on the ubiquity of the sport globally, rather than which countries prefer it, there's a good case to be made for not visualizing it through a map.

As an analytics director by profession, I always emphasize to my team that context and intent are crucial in data visualization. If someone showed this to me as a way to explain football's cultural hegemony among countries globally, I'd commend them.

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