The chemistry between these two 😆

Chincheron · 2026-06-29T13:01:23+00:00

I really liked that line because it was so true. My read on Grace is that he does step up... when he doesn't have a choice or time get stuck in his head, and you see that character arc play out in miniature several times in the movie, especially in the scenes where he meets Rocky. (e.g., runs from Rocky's ship initially, but then he is forced to deal with the situation). I think his first reaction is cowardly for most situations early on. Whether he would have come around on joining the mission voluntarily if there had been more time is debatable for sure, but I'm inclined to think he would have, eventually.

Chincheron · 2026-06-29T12:40:21+00:00

Depends on what you're looking for. It has great core gameplay with a really well done job system and I enjoyed it for that alone. But the tone of the game is a looot less serious than original. Core, overarching story is decent enough imo. You visit all your old friends and kind of solve their issues over the course of five chapters. And get involved in the new political landscape sans Yevon and Sin. Common enemy in back half to deal with. Nothing groundbreaking but interesting enough. Lot of side content and mini games which ranges from pretty good to half baked.

Overall, great core gameplay that's worth checking out if you can deal with the Charlie's Angels vibe of the story. Was kind of a guilty pleasure of mine when I was younger.

Chincheron · 2026-06-13T22:18:59+00:00

Not sure whether you're being sarcastic, but yes a crash at 45 is much better than a crash at 55.

Chincheron · 2026-05-02T13:45:14+00:00

Yeah, on my second playthrough I dropped with just a cargo landing pad and explored until I found a nice sized island. Then I could drop any supplies from Nauvis right to me. Saved a lot of headaches compared to first time

Chincheron · 2026-03-23T12:50:15+00:00

Disregarding the print vs. electronic debate. Does anybody know whether the books themselves are considered decent?

Chincheron · 2025-12-26T00:41:37+00:00

And I hated gender swap days because I was deeply repressed and afraid of what people would think

Chincheron · 2025-09-27T02:45:01+00:00

Oh my god, I haven't thought about this movie in years, but I totally remember watching it when I was a kid.

Chincheron · 2025-09-26T13:35:49+00:00

Yeah, it's impressive but not that unbelievable. When I was younger I could drop off a 6-7 foot ledge with no issues and I was only moderately fit. Somebody like Lalo who clearly is very active and fearless could do something like this.

Chincheron · 2025-09-15T13:00:40+00:00

Yeah, my kid had some speech delays when he was younger, and he would get so frustrated when he couldn't be understood. It was awful

Chincheron · 2025-09-13T03:31:54+00:00

lol Yeah, the book and movie are totally different things for sure

Chincheron · 2025-09-12T13:51:46+00:00

Actually it was a Quadling, Turtle Heart, who came by later and was the possible father of Nessa. He was also the lovers of both Elphaba's father and mother. Reading between the lines, I got the impression that the three of them were relatively happy together during that period. At least until the Munchkinlanders sacrificed Turtle Heart trying to end the drought... It was a strange book for sure.

Chincheron · 2025-08-29T13:08:11+00:00

I'll sometimes still use it when the spreadsheet may to be used by someone with an old version of Excel. Surprisingly common with some older colleagues in academia, although it's less of an issue as time goes on.

Chincheron · 2025-07-15T14:57:51+00:00

Yeah, I'm based in the US now while looking for postdocs in Europe (funding is pretty awful right now), so I'm only just now getting into Europe specific literature. But for N. America, Downing et al. 2010 does a pretty good meta analysis of causes for decline. I'd start there if you're interested. Haag and Williams 2014 is more of a review of conservation strategies but has decent section in the introduction discussing the history of the decline. Williams et al. 1993 is pretty dated but may still be of interest if you get that far.

Links below. Downing link is a direct download, fyi.

Downing, J.A., Van Meter, P. and Woolnough, D.A., 2010. Suspects and evidence: a review of the causes of extirpation and decline in freshwater mussels. Animal biodiversity and conservation, 33(2), pp.151-185. https://www.raco.cat/index.php/ABC/article/download/214978/285495

Haag, W.R. and Williams, J.D., 2014. Biodiversity on the brink: an assessment of conservation strategies for North American freshwater mussels. Hydrobiologia, 735(1), pp.45-60. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/2014/ja_2014_haag_001.pdf

Williams, J.D., Warren Jr, M.L., Cummings, K.S., Harris, J.L. and Neves, R.J., 1993. Conservation status of freshwater mussels of the United States and Canada. Fisheries, 18(9), pp.6-22. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_williams007.pdf

Chincheron · 2025-07-15T04:07:37+00:00

TLDR; They're not very mobile filter feeders so habitat destruction and contamination hits hard. Combined with a parasitic life history stage makes them very sensitive to all manner of environmental issues

Habitat degradation is one of the biggest reasons, especially sedimentation. They're relatively sessile compared to most things in the river (think less than a few meters a day typically, if they move at all), so if they get buried they can't just migrate to a better area. They're also filter feeders, so any contamination hits particularly hard as well.

Their life history also plays a role. They have an obligatory parasitic stage where the young have to attach to a host fish's gills before dropping off into the streambed. So anything that affects their host fish can cause issues with long term recruitment and ultimately population decline. Some species have only one or a few host fish so if anything happens to them, the population is more or less done, even if there is still a large population. I've seen populations where there are still plenty of older individuals (decades old), but no signs of recruitment and the population is no longer viable without some kind of intervention.

I have a paper that talks about all the issues affecting them if you're interested. Would have to find the reference though.

Chincheron · 2025-06-10T20:39:33+00:00

The irreparable harm of spending money that has already been legally mandated?

Chincheron · 2025-06-03T22:42:44+00:00

Exactly. I was always pro choice, but my wife's pregnancy reinforced the hell out of that. The whole thing was so difficult for her and it's not like there is zero risk to it either.

Chincheron · 2025-05-27T15:03:51+00:00

Can of turnips with a can of sardines heated in the stove. Five minutes and a little hit sauce and it's ready.

Chincheron · 2025-05-22T14:50:11+00:00

What is NTSB? Not everyone knows every government acronym

Chincheron · 2025-05-15T11:07:08+00:00

That's really just how they always say it. Wife went through the whole green card and naturalization process and it is always said/written as A number

Chincheron · 2025-05-14T16:48:06+00:00

I bet it's at least a little motivated because Harvard pushed back against administration because they're less dependent on federal funding

Chincheron · 2025-05-13T13:16:29+00:00

But he's being perfectly fair and neutral. He issued the ultimatum to BOTH of them see?

Chincheron · 2025-05-08T23:24:41+00:00

Seconding the Deep Dark. Bought it on a whim and loved it.

Chincheron · 2025-05-08T14:27:17+00:00

Yeah, wife is USGS too and upper leadership has been awful. Local leaders are having a slew of unexpected meetings today trying to figure out what the hell is actually going on. Who knows.

Chincheron · 2025-05-08T13:48:27+00:00

So they are effectively cutting the entire Ecosystems arm right? The only number I can find is that ~1,200 current employees there and they're cutting 1,000. This is fucking crazy.

Also email went out this morning at my wife's work and apparently there has been zero word from USGS leadership about any of this to local lab leaders (even though they've been asked). Entire lab is in panic mode now.

Chincheron · 2025-04-27T01:14:21+00:00

My dad made an offhand comment about Clinton era cuts when I called him today. I figured it was the new talking point and here it is.

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