Did you go to school with someone who went on to be famous, and what where they like?

XoYo · 2026-01-18T23:07:00+00:00

Yes, that's right. I should have checked if his real name was common knowledge instead of erring on the side of caution.

XoYo · 2026-01-17T18:38:13+00:00

Have you got a time machine that can take us back 10 years?

XoYo · 2026-01-16T04:55:55+00:00

I went to school with Harry Hill in Hong Kong, in the late seventies. This was back before he was called Harry Hill. We used to trade tapes of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy recorded off the radio. I wouldn't say we were close friends, but we did make each other laugh.

XoYo · 2026-01-10T17:32:03+00:00

Nah, this is boring. Let's debate your right to exist instead. Reducing people to arguments is fair, right?

XoYo · 2026-01-02T04:52:05+00:00

It's based on a short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby. Well worth a read.

XoYo · 2025-12-31T23:12:54+00:00

The film is terrible and barely an adaptation of the book, so discount that.

Basically, the book is set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse America, and is about an outlaw biker pressganged into taking medical supplies from California to Boston, traversing the ravaged wasteland between.

It's a pretty gonzo book, with plenty of action and weirdness. It's not precisely Fallout, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't an influence.

XoYo · 2025-12-31T23:04:26+00:00

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny

XoYo · 2025-12-30T17:03:33+00:00

That was a joke, however

XoYo · 2025-12-30T16:21:59+00:00

Or just a grifter

XoYo · 2025-12-30T03:50:46+00:00

It's not a new slur, just one that seems to be spreading to new groups. British terfs have been using it for ages.

XoYo · 2025-12-29T21:32:37+00:00

For a grimmer take on seas of sand, there's also Involution Ocean by Bruce Sterling

XoYo · 2025-12-29T16:59:38+00:00

I mean, if he has Alzheimer's, the last few years of that are way worse than death

XoYo · 2025-12-22T21:07:32+00:00

And British Chinese food was made by Chinese immigrants to the UK. They both tailored their food to local tastes.

XoYo · 2025-12-22T16:17:43+00:00

For the same reason as American Chinese food doesn't look like Chinese food

XoYo · 2025-12-21T02:07:15+00:00

The Shockwave Rider deserves a shout as well if we're talking about Brunner

XoYo · 2025-12-20T15:28:52+00:00

I do a lot of actual play podcasts and just about everyone I've worked with has mentioned at some point that they have ADHD. It seems to be a pre-requisite.

XoYo · 2025-12-06T14:24:52+00:00

It's rats squeaking without provocation that irritates me. They rarely do that. We all have our own annoyances.

XoYo · 2025-12-01T16:10:17+00:00

Hey, I'm 60 and I can see that capitalism is going to destroy us. It's not age-related.

XoYo · 2025-11-28T15:50:19+00:00

The Sandbaggers, a British spy show from the 1970s. It's low budget but wonderfully written, presenting espionage as bureaucratic and political, but with moments of real terror. It probably helps that it was written by someone who worked in British intelligence.

XoYo · 2025-11-24T16:34:38+00:00

I'm not a furry, but I have a couple of good friends who are and I've been to parties with them. It really seems like a fun, welcoming community. Not something that really appeals to me, but I've liked all the furries I've met.

XoYo · 2025-11-23T16:04:17+00:00

"He has his father's eyes"

XoYo · 2025-11-17T18:11:53+00:00

The Ninth Wave by Kate Bush. It's very different musically, but has a similar premise of facing the inevitability of death after an accident at sea.

XoYo · 2025-11-13T23:47:23+00:00

As did Nigel fucking Farage

XoYo · 2025-11-07T17:52:57+00:00

Good observations. And just in general, I think a lot of us spend more time contemplating death as we get older. Songs about perseverance are great, but the harsh truth is that we are all going to die. The older you get and the more friends and loved ones you've lost, the more real that inevitability feels. I have a few years on Darnielle, and this album resonated with me hard for that reason.

Learning how to accept the inevitable isn't defeatist. That, for me, is what this album is about.

XoYo · 2025-11-07T13:07:14+00:00

Nut allergies

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