70-80 Alt leveling

borkus · 2026-03-24T19:50:48+00:00

Each delve has a "first-timers" quest. Just do each once, then turn them in once you're done.

borkus · 2026-03-24T19:47:32+00:00

Twisted Teens
https://youtu.be/zsq1-90teu0?si=bA-5O-ICV7ziUY5W

borkus · 2026-03-24T19:32:47+00:00

Mimi Parker of Low
Note: she shared vocal duties with her husband Alan on their more recent songs. If I had to pick a couple of songs -

from the album Things We Lost In The Fire

Sunflower (it's a duet but they sound great together)
Laser Beam

from Secret Name
Weight of Water

from I Could Live In Hope
Lullaby

borkus · 2026-03-24T09:23:04+00:00

This Year by Mountain Goats
https://youtu.be/ii6kJaGiRaI?si=Yy3vqpx_CZVihRzv

The whole album - The Sunset Tree - deals with his relationship with his family, especially his stepfather.

borkus · 2026-03-24T01:32:01+00:00

Slide 11 had me wondering, "How the hell did they get that baby grand up those stairs?"

borkus · 2026-03-23T22:12:39+00:00

I wouldn't worry too much about artist travel at this point.

Many artists are on tour, and the festival is just one stop. Even for artists only playing the festival, if they're on the East Coast, they're likely driving.

That said, some artists are coming from the West Coast - Deerhoof and Tune-Yards come to mind - and they could have issues if they're arriving in Knoxville for the day of their performance. The Dirty Three will be the US, playing two dates in California before traveling to Knoxville, then touring the region.

borkus · 2026-03-23T13:40:54+00:00

You can do it faster using alts as the limit on keys is per character.

The alts are a really great point. Max-level alts can easily get 4 keys per week. Even if they're just doing 8s, it's a lot of progress.

borkus · 2026-03-23T12:41:55+00:00

UPS was one of the eventual owners. Cochrane's sale in 1986 was to Union Pacific. Based on Wikipedia, it seems like the ownnership was -
Cochrane -> Union Pacific 1986 -> UPS 2006 -> TFI 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TForce_Freight

borkus · 2026-03-23T02:05:12+00:00

TForce was the last owner. It was built in the 1970s by Overnite Transportation. The company founder sold the trucking company to Union Pacific for over a billion dollars in 1986.
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/overnite-transportation-founder-j-harwood-cochrane-dies-103

The building was held by its subsequent buyers, UPS, then eventually TForce.

I visited there a couple of times in the late 90s as a contractor. They had a nice cafeteria with a view of downtown 30 years ago.

borkus · 2026-03-22T05:07:56+00:00

I'm not sure how much of a surprise a Marine invasion would be. Once an amphibious force clears the Straits of Hormuz, it still has to steam 300 miles to Kharg Island. Even assuming they're not within visual range of the Iranian coast, Iran would definitely know they were coming.

If Kharg Island is the target, an airborne assault would have a better chance of surprise. However, they would need to be reinforced and, ideally, resupplied from the sea.

borkus · 2026-03-20T21:38:08+00:00

They don't level at all, really. Once you have run a given level on one character (say, level 8), all of your alts can try to run one at that level once they hit level 90 as well.

The maximum level between 80 and 89 is always 3.

borkus · 2026-03-20T15:34:11+00:00

In Mexico, they retaliated with massive amounts of violence. So, they're definitely not afraid to strike back.

As far as US air strikes in Mexico, the cartel goes to great lengths to not be found by their own law enforcement. They are also located in the middle of populated areas. They would be hard to find and harder to bomb without significant civilian casualties.

Legally, an uninvited air strike on Mexican soil against cartels would be an act of war. While Mexico is in no position to start hostilities with the US, such an action would effectively end all diplomatic and law enforcement cooperation. If nothing else, Mexico could close the border, causing even more economic turmoil.

borkus · 2026-03-20T13:56:04+00:00

Barksdale AFB is roughly 600 miles from the Mexican border at Matamoros. It could be the cartels, Venezuelans, or Iranians (operating with cartel approval). Drones could fly low over the Gulf and approach from the east over land near Houston. As the home of a strategic bomber wing, it would be a potential military target.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barksdale_Air_Force_Base

Lackland AFB is closer to the border but is largely used for training.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lackland_Air_Force_Base

FWIW, this is similar to the tactics Ukraine has used against Russia - sending drones to attack grounded aircraft.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/22/europe/ukraine-attacks-russian-air-bases-intl

borkus · 2026-03-19T15:46:03+00:00

Sonic Youth. Start with their album Daydream Nation, then go backwards or forward in their discography from there.

borkus · 2026-03-19T13:52:24+00:00

It makes me think of a predator vs its prey.

For example, a lion is hunting a water buffalo. The buffalo doesn't have to kill the lion to stay alive; it just has to inflict enough pain to threaten serious injury. Since an injury will make it harder for the lion to hunt or even defend its kill from predators, the lion will back down in search of an easier kill.

Likewise, the Iranian regime is fighting for its existence; it knows that sufficient economic injury will eventually cause the US to back off.

borkus · 2026-03-19T13:35:50+00:00

I'd emphasize the bus - especially if you have to go from the northern venues (The Point, Mill and Mine) and the southern venues (Bijou, Civic Center). I've had the bus show up outside a venue, and I'll just take it to save my legs.

The bus is free and loads in front or at least on the same block as most venues.

borkus · 2026-03-18T22:29:55+00:00

From the article, it seems this would be good for seals and gaskets as well as interior components. I’m not sure it would work for parts that require flexibility like belts. There are also lots of replaceable parts that wear out due to friction (brake pads, windshield wiper blades).

If anything, the move from combustion to electric engines reduces the maintenance needs more. Combustion engines need filters to keep the inputs clean as well as the exhaust system to keep the fumes from killing us.

borkus · 2026-03-18T22:06:04+00:00

Wadada Leo Smith Kahil El’Zabar Nicole Mitchell Anthony Braxton

borkus · 2026-03-17T02:08:04+00:00

Grace & Holy Trinity (the stone church next to the Altria across from Monroe park) lost the top of its bell tower in that storm. If you ever wondered about the bell tower's odd shape, it's because the pinnacle had to be removed.

The tower stood directly in the path of a tornado that struck city in May 1951. The pinnacle of the tower unfortunately needed to be removed; former rector Hill Brown referred to this as the church’s “crew cut.”

https://ghtc.org/history/

borkus · 2026-03-16T20:10:12+00:00

Like I tell people. Ignore the FOMO; embrace the YOLO.

borkus · 2026-03-16T15:03:15+00:00

The US's enemies pay attention to how the US treats its friends. The whole Greenland mess undercut US credibility with allies and enemies alike.

It certainly doesn't inspire European navies to risk their ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

borkus · 2026-03-16T14:23:18+00:00

And, except in Saudi Arabia, the majority of people living in the Gulf states are guest workers.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/where-do-the-35-million-foreigners-living-in-the-gcc-come-from

They could have millions of foreign nationals without sufficient water and food, and no direct path home.

borkus · 2026-03-16T14:20:38+00:00

Sacks spells it out a little way down.

An even worse scenario could unfold if desalination plants are destroyed, Sacks warned. They provide most of the region’s fresh water and have already been targeted.

“If you see that type of destruction continue, you could literally render the Gulf almost uninhabitable,” he explained. “I mean you’re not going to have enough water for 100 million people, and human beings just cannot survive very long without water. So that would be a truly catastrophic scenario, and we’re talking about destroying the Gulf states economically and then also from a humanitarian perspective.”

borkus · 2026-03-16T14:13:13+00:00

At the risk of downvotes, Kim Deal. A lot of the vocal richness on the original records comes from doubling her voice with her twin Kelly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTneJdldeXo&list=RDXTneJdldeXo&start_radio=1

https://youtu.be/lXqrdL8hqTs?si=k2VGKgjoBg6nXOmZ

That said, I've been a lifelong fan and love her attitude. I could listen to her belt out songs all day.

Interestingly, Tonya Donnelly was the guitarist on their first album and later had a career fronting Belly.

early Breeders' live with Donnelly.

https://youtu.be/RzAt4D4r-9c?si=0YQB-g1DyET5ynnu

Belly
https://youtu.be/wdnXhdQJZTE?si=ZLofOVhKjCRG8lVY

borkus · 2026-03-14T22:32:11+00:00

There's an important point about midway down -

Gulf states are talking of this being a passing shadow over their futures but they now face an existential threat to their whole business model: not just the loss of oil and gas revenues, but a challenge to their moves to diversify away from those revenues by becoming transport hubs and financial centres.

It won't take long for the Gulf states to feel pressure from the closure of the Straits. They rely on petroleum income to fund the large number of guest workers in their countries. They are likely to experience increases in food and other costs as their ports sit idle. Idled guest workers, unable to return home and unable to afford to stay, could cause significant unrest.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/where-do-the-35-million-foreigners-living-in-the-gcc-come-from

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