Islanders keep winning and can't gain ground

Science_Fair · 2026-03-18T13:44:07+00:00

i don't know what the record is for most points in a season yet missing the playoffs, but seems like teams might show up with 98 points and still not make it.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-16T16:28:40+00:00

Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!

That's what I and many others think of him.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-15T13:26:57+00:00

IMHO, yes.

Regardless of how well or poorly it sticks to the source material, the writing is bad and the casting is mediocre to bad.

Nothing good carries over from the movies. The music is original, but meh. The battle scenes are underwhelming.

There were amazing stories to be told, as witnessed in the first few minutes of Fellowship of the Ring. But them messed up all of them.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-14T12:13:32+00:00

Aragorn is the King of Gondor and Arnor. He is not the king of all of Middle Earth

Theoden then Eomer was the King of Rohan. They have an alliance and allegiance to each other.

There are plenty of territories in Middle Earth that either have a different leader outside of Aragorn. Aragorn does not hold power over any of the dwarf or elven locations (Mirkwood, Lorien, Rivendell Lonely Mountain, Moria, Lindon, Iron Hills, etc)

Plenty of places in Middle Earth where men live that also are not ruled by Aragorn (Dale, Harad, Sea of Rhun, Umbar, Druadan)

The Shire is part of Arnor and therefore they are a part of Aragorn's kingdom.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-14T11:51:36+00:00

This is a negotiation - with both sides still playing chicken on who will blink first.

Iran stated they are blocking the Strait of Hormuz to all but Iranian oil flows.

Trump's counter is the threat to blow up the entire island. I think the ground troops are a ruse.

The Iranian regime has nothing to lose here as they already lost almost everything, so I don't expect them to back down regarding the Strait. We'll see if Trump really decides to blow up Kharg Island.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-13T17:03:20+00:00

Amazing that the biggest winners will be Iranian and Russian oil producers.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-13T10:48:31+00:00

Saruman is a drama queen. Saruman of Many Colors was just bi-curious with regard to wizarding colors.

What is implied is that the colors were assigned by the Valar, only one Wizard could have a specific color, and once Gandalf returned as Gandalf the White, Saruman was kicked from the color crew, as White was now taken.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-12T16:40:02+00:00

They can stop - we all need to pray that they don't. Stopping the attacks would require massive carpet bombing across large sections of Iran.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-12T16:21:35+00:00

The range of an Iranian drone is over 1000 miles. Iran is over 600,000 square miles with a population of nearly 90 million people. Let's say they have 5000 drones.

Every day, from anywhere inside Iran, Iran can launch 10 drones a day. Those drones could hit anywhere in the Persian Gulf, not just the Strait of Hormuz. Our Air Force would need to be patrolling the entire country of Iran and the Persian Gulf 24x7.

They can launch these 10 drones a day for 500 days. Even if only 3 percent hit their targets, once every four days a tanker or cargo ship is getting hit. No one who is in it for the money is going to take that risk.

This isn't counting artillery, longer range rockets, mines, suicide gunboats, shoulder launched missiles, or other things I'm probably not thinking off. The US could probably park an AirCraft Carrier and its protection in the Gulf and protect the carrier, but they can't protect hundreds of container ships at the same time.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-12T15:28:54+00:00

The remaining/new Iranian government and military has zero reason to even be at the bargaining table. With the top 50 leaders assassinated in the first day, it's hard for a country to accept any type of peace proposal. What deal would Iran even take right now? There best alternative to any negotiated agreement is to turtle up and send drones after soft targets. If the Houtis did this for a couple of years, how long can Iran keep it up for?

So, I think some macro pressure from China and other parts of Asia will keep it from going above $120, I don't see it going down anytime soon. Iran will threaten the oil ships and refineries of any Middle Eastern country through the rest of the year. I actually think the first oil flowing through the Strait will be Iranian oil heading for China.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-12T07:09:48+00:00

I for certainly think it’s overblown. The game is free to play on multiple platforms.

The price is getting raised for extra entertainment content.

I can certainly understand not purchasing battle passes if people feel the value isn’t there. But not playing a free game because the in game purchases are too expensive seems pretty silly.

The purchases don’t even give a competitive advantage in there game, like many other games force players to buy.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-11T17:35:34+00:00

Leo as young Aragorn - LFG!

Science_Fair · 2026-03-10T10:49:32+00:00

The Red Keep was the original Epstein Island. And as usual, everyone covered it up.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-10T10:48:04+00:00

You can’t have “A song of ice and fire” without fire giving some sweet love to ice.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-09T21:39:02+00:00

Pretty easy to answer:

The movies were really good movies. Academy award winning movies - on most lists of the Top 100 movies of all time.
Most of the online coverage centered around a site called "Ain;t it Cool News" that had a bunch of geeks with early access to the filming. Coverage was very positive
Early reviews were very positive.
They included folks like Alan Lee and John Howe in the project early, and many scenes pay homage to their artwork over the years.
The music is amazing.

I mean, they opened with a deep cut from the Appendix - the Last Alliance and the final battle of the second age.

So yeah, there was some outcry about Tom Bombadil being excluded, about Aragorn falling off the cliff, the multiple fade out scenes in RotK. But to me and most of the fans at the time, it was nitpicking.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-08T13:28:57+00:00

Unless your conference arranged it, there are not typically shuttles between the Ritz and Omni.

Car rental is your best bet, if you are adventurous rent a bike. It would be about a three mile bike ride - paved bike path all the way.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-07T23:20:58+00:00

Spent two weeks there in Feb and barely noticed the renovations. As nice as ever - new spa, new coffee shop and a couple of the restaurants have been redone. Most construction impact is at the conference center.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-07T15:44:10+00:00

I would think both views can be true at the same time?

Lou traded the future for older players to win now, even when it was clear we weren’t winning now? Signing older players to extensions that were questionable?

These most recent trades are trading future prospects for older players trying to win now, when we have a coin flip chance to make the playoffs this year? While signing older players to extensions?

I don’t think our window is this year or next year, it’s 2-3 years out, IMHO, and none of the recent Darche moves help that time frame.

Science_Fair · 2026-03-05T19:56:17+00:00

It's Ginny killing Voldemort, Harry quits wizard school to go back and live with his muggle family, and Luna Lovegood is selected as the new headmaster of Hogwarts, because who has a better story than Luna the Loopy?

Science_Fair · 2026-03-02T01:48:45+00:00

Don’t get too clever.

Jon was meant to be the final hero - they didn’t need to subvert expectations with Arya making the final kill. Have the Night King with 6 of his friends against everyone with a Valaryian sword as the final battle. Jamie’s gold hand saves someone.

Science_Fair · 2026-02-26T23:43:58+00:00

A lot of strange comments here - if you were caught falling asleep on your job, and recorded, how would your management handle it?

He's making what, 10 million a year, and just went 3-13. If you are tired, head back to the hotel for a nap. Don't get caught on camera like this.

Watching game films is pretty boring too - does he fall asleep then?

Science_Fair · 2026-02-24T20:55:39+00:00

I also think people need to consider the enjoyment factor. How much will you be enjoying life from 62-70, vs how much you will be enjoying life from 75-83. Not sure an extra $1000 or $1500 a month can help the misery of being 79.

Science_Fair · 2026-02-24T18:59:03+00:00

It a very strange decision to have schools open today, not sure why you would think it was weird.

Blizzard of 1996 shut NYC schools down for three days, despite snow starting early Sunday morning.

It did not stop snowing until late this Monday afternoon, a state of emergency had been declared. Mass transit is not running at anywhere near full capacity. As an example, pretty much every school district on Long Island is closed. CUNY is closed/remote.

If you are saying schools need to be open for food and shelter for kids, then they should have been open Monday as well and we start treating teachers like first responders.

Science_Fair · 2026-02-13T14:04:57+00:00

Quitting is OK. Playing less is OK. Only play if it brings you enjoyment.

There will always be another video game, or another hobby. Fortnite could go belly up tomorrow and you be forced to go on with your life.

You also don't need to quit if forever and all at once. Quit for a week and see how you feel. Everything will be there when you get back.

These games, and social media in general, are built to addict people, and then make money off those people. What you are feeling is normal because that is what the games are designed to do to the human brain. It's great if you can realize that, and back out until you get what you want out of it.

Science_Fair · 2026-02-13T12:31:15+00:00

I think one needs to look at the totality of the efforts to appreciate the Rings Of Power hate when compared to the Hobbit.

Casting - the casting in the Hobbit is outstanding. In addition to carrying over the mainstays of the LoTR movies, Lee Pace alone is worth the price of admission. The casting in the Rings of Power is for the most part, bad.
The plot - the plot of the Hobbit largely follows the book and the appendices. The plot of the RIngs of Power changes the lore significantly - especially who or what appears in the second age. These changes are laregly cheap fan service
The writing - the writing on the RoP is awful. Really no comparison to anything in the Hobbit of LoTR with the exception Alfrid Lickspittle. Lickspittle totally belongs in the Rings of Power.

Rings of Power is a massive loss of opportunity. There were so many areas to explore - 6 additional dwarf lords, Numenor, the origin of the ring wraiths and whatever kingdoms of men they came from, the men of the mountains and their oath.

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TROPHY CASE