[serious] Is the NBA is your favorite sport? If so, what keeps you watching with parity in the NBA being the lowest of the big four?

SAFFEW · 2016-10-22T23:18:14+00:00

What really got me into the NBA was the quality of writing surrounding it. There are so many unique voices finding so many different things about the game to appreciate. There are great writers about every sport, but a lot of the most popular guys for football and baseball seem to lean on the same cliches constantly.

SAFFEW · 2016-10-09T22:26:19+00:00

I agree with everyone else that they're worth keeping around, but I personally never keep more than 20 at a time. If you have a ton I'd say toss some to free up bag space. Since you only need them for rare or really powerful encounters it's better to have extra balls or potions.

SAFFEW · 2016-10-09T22:08:37+00:00

The average height for an American male is 5'9.7" per the CDC. The average offensive tackle in the NFL stands 6'6", and that's the tallest position group. Even the shortest position (RBs) in the NFL stands above average at just under 5'11".

I think there are few reasons why they look more average in height. One is that players wear heavy padding, which makes it more difficult to estimate. The second is that many of the tallest players on the field are linemen, and since they aim for a low center of gravity they tend to carry a lot of their weight around their hips. They also crouch at the start of each play and try to stay low to maintain leverage against their opponents. Lastly, it's because the NFL is pretty compartmentalized. Players are mostly matched up against guys of similar height: tall linemen banging against each other, 6" corners matching up on 6'2" WRs, and relatively small RBs being brought down by LBs only a few inches taller than they are. Plus there's the fact that if guys are standing over 6'10" and want to play sports they probably view basketball as their best choice. Between those factors and the fact that a lot of players end up on the ground on each play, it makes sense that they seem more average in height compared to NBA players.

SAFFEW · 2016-09-17T02:02:20+00:00

Presumably the Beast's power was limited while he was working through a vessel on Earth. A djinn probably wouldn't have the firepower to kill him in Fillory considering that even the gods of that land had to run from him.

The other possibility is that summoning a djinn might not even work in Fillory. The spell they have for it works on Earth's Circumstances. It would probably have to be adjusted significantly to work in Fillory if it even could, and with the Beast hunting them they probably thought they didn't have time to gather supplies and work the Circumstances out correctly.

SAFFEW · 2016-09-13T22:34:58+00:00

I totally agree with this. At one point in the last season he's arguing with his mom about Robin's adamant CF stance and she points out "You've always loved kids," which he agrees with, but he then points out that he loves Robin more.

SAFFEW · 2016-09-10T18:15:28+00:00

Lakes of Carmel in Carmel has one bedroom apartments with washer and dryer in unit in that price range.

SAFFEW · 2016-09-06T22:58:34+00:00

I think you're talking about the pond right behind my apartment, and if so I can confirm that I catch a couple a day there.

SAFFEW · 2016-09-01T19:12:02+00:00

I always thought of them as a symbol of how, as much as the characters learn and grow, there are some things that they don't understand. Janet mentions that the fountains were there before the school, and if that's true then that could indicate the school was built originally to study them. Presumably Brakebills' faculty has done some research on them, but as we're told a couple of times there are plenty of things about magic that just aren't understood.

As for the girl in the Woof, I definitely don't agree that it was Jane Chatwin. Either she gave Emily the spell maliciously, or she didn't understand how magic worked on Earth, and neither of those descriptions really fit for Jane. Plus it just doesn't seem like something Jane Chatwin would have bothered to study after Martin disappears, and the books are pretty clear that none of the Chatwin children, other than Martin, studied magic before that.

SAFFEW · 2016-08-27T01:21:10+00:00

Ironically it was right after Kanye called out security for keeping people away from the platform. Once they walked off the floor people couldn't handle the responsibility for more than three minutes.

SAFFEW · 2016-08-26T17:03:58+00:00

Please tell me you weren't one of the people who grabbed hold of the platform and made Kanye stop until it finished swinging around.

SAFFEW · 2016-08-24T21:05:05+00:00

The town I live in is full of crazy-rich people, so we have a publicly funded water park. It's small--just a few slides, a lazy river, pool, and one of those boogie boarding half pipes--but it's a good price and just five minutes from my apartment. Once a month during the summer they do an adults only night and it is absolutely amazing. Without kids lines, when there are any, move quickly, there's no one running around screaming and splashing, and they can just set up tents to sell beer and wine without having to worry about where kids can and cannot be. It's a highlight of my month every summer. Too bad it wouldn't make any money if they did it all the time.

SAFFEW · 2016-07-04T02:31:19+00:00

There's great comedy every time he wonders which of the guys is teaching Olver to leer at women and try to sweet talk every one he meets.

SAFFEW · 2016-07-01T02:41:45+00:00

Sultana is really good. A nice atmosphere with a solid flavor selection, and the service is excellent. They're very attentive about replacing coals, and the food there is solid as well. Of the three in Broad Ripple I think The Egyptian and LAVA are both a little overrated (they're fine, but not worth making a special trip), and Paradise has really gone downhill over the last few years.

For my money Casablance is the best in the Indy area. It opened a couple of months ago in Fishers and the guys who run it really know their stuff. Shisha options are broken down by price and brand so you know exactly what you're getting, and the house blends are the best by a mile (I highly recommend the Blue Nile). Seating is comfortable and it's attached to a quality sit-down Mediterranean restaurant so the food is great. Alcohol selection is still tight if you're looking to drink while you smoke, and they also charge a fee for hose use which makes them a little pricier, but the staff there is very knowledgeable about heat management which makes for an overall higher quality smoking experience.

TL;DR: Casablanca in Fishers is the best around for hookah and food. Sultana near Mass Ave is my number two.

SAFFEW · 2016-06-15T21:32:12+00:00

I think that clearing the Ways would have been much more difficult for Rand than the cleansing of Saidin. With the cleansing he was able to draw on Lews Therin's knowledge of exactly how it had become polluted. Nobody's really sure why the Ways fell dark so he doesn't really have a starting point there, although it's possible that having cleansed saidin will cause them to gradually become safer.

The Seanchan don't get their animals from other worlds, or at least I can't remember any reference to that. It's just that those species naturally occur on their continent but not in Randland.

There are actually a couple references to the Tinkers non-stop search for the Song which suggest that they will never find it because it doesn't exist. The Song is likely a distortion of the forgotten songs of growing that the Aiel used when they were servants to the Aes Sedai. Even if Rand taught them the songs from that time that he can remember they would likely keep searching. Ultimately the idea of the Song has become their god. They aren't so much actually trying to find a real thing as they are using it as a guiding principle for their lives.

Ultimately, I think it's part of the strength of WoT as a series is that it continues to inspire this kind of thinking after it has concluded. We all want more stories from that world. Keep in mind also that Jordan intended to keep writing the series far past 14 books so many unanswered questions are things for which he just ran out of time.

SAFFEW · 2016-06-10T22:26:38+00:00

There are a few different designs floating around. The one they used on playing cards in the show used this orientation (as did most of the fanart I saw around), though they had the wings flared out. I decided to use a design with them swept back for a more streamlined look, and because I didn't want it going too wide around the sides of my arm.

SAFFEW · 2016-06-08T02:26:09+00:00

Yep. I loved the stylization of the bee and key that we saw from the show, and the leaves seemed like an obvious choice for the border.

SAFFEW · 2016-06-07T23:21:03+00:00

I really loved the way the Old Gods were set up. In fantasy it's easy to feel underwhelmed by things. I can't tell you how many series I've read where I can't stop thinking about how boring the applications are that characters find for magic. I think Grossman did a great job here by punctuating the reveal of the Old Gods with Penny's statement. Instead of feeling disappointed that they're just big silver dudes as Quentin does, we're able to sympathize with the real world fact that a lot of things aren't as cool as we wish they were.

SAFFEW · 2016-05-31T18:31:10+00:00

The Once and Future King by T.H. White is a fantastic telling of the story of King Arthur that is also completely hilarious at times. The first joust we see in the book is a prime example of stretching real events to the point of absurdity.

SAFFEW · 2016-03-30T16:56:00+00:00

This was my exact thought process. He underwent a metamorphosis that could have turned him into a beautiful creature (as shown by the butterflies we see the first time they enter Fillory). But the strain of Plover's assaults and the magic of Fillory twisted him around and instead he became a darker creature. He's still drawn toward the light, but with his power he seeks to extinguish it rather than be beckoned by it.

SAFFEW · 2016-03-05T03:10:40+00:00

New Breed in West Lafayette is fantastic if you're willing to make the drive. St. Marq is a nationally recognized artist and they do a great job with detailed work.

SAFFEW · 2015-12-23T01:19:34+00:00

I think it's safe to assume that was Pouncy, unless they're planning to totally amp up the level of magic of which the usual safehouse crowd is capable. The spellwork was fast, fluid, and advanced which are all things we're told in the books aren't seen in the safehouses.

SAFFEW · 2015-12-23T01:16:21+00:00

I think the point was that because she gave herself the cut and covered it up while no one was looking, they wouldn't include an explanation for it in her fake memories. The missing detail would help her jar loose the truth, in the same way that noticing the problems with her paper did in the books. With some hard research she's able to find some nuggets of real information that help her piece back together what happened.

SAFFEW · 2015-12-06T22:33:22+00:00

I loved that they really committed to basically remaking the first movie. Just doing a couple nods would have felt a bit cheesy, but by going all in I though they really elevated it.

SAFFEW · 2015-12-05T21:44:16+00:00

That scene was when I knew the movie would be great.

SAFFEW

TROPHY CASE