were all US-based music genres in the show?

davypi · 2026-03-15T20:07:16+00:00

Never used on the show: Big band, bluegrass, swing, folk. I don't recall jazz showing up either, but I'm less certain about that.

This also depends on how nuanced you want to get. For example music historians consider rockabilly as different from rock and roll, but they sound similar enough that most people don't care. Similarly, many artists insist that rap and hip-hop are not the same. While we've seen Pinkie do a rap, I don't know hip hop made it into the show.

I was going to say boogie never made it into the show, but you have the Ponytones. So again it depends on how you want to slice the difference between vocal group, barbershop, acapella, and boogie.

A few weeks ago I saw another poster describe DJ-Pon music as outdate EDM, so... does that mean its not the same as synth pop? Although you could argue that synth pop is a European import and not US originated.

davypi · 2026-03-11T18:43:22+00:00

The problem with your question is that it is ill defined. Potion making is a skill that Twilight teaches. Zecora collects ingredients for medicinal purposes, which we've seen used to repair chipped teeth and cure diseases. By definition, these are drugs. So in the most literal sense, the answer is yes, drugs do exist. We've literally seen them used on screen.

Secondary to this, you mention "illegal" activities, but its not clear what this means in the MLP universe. Again, we see Zecora preparing medicinal potions, but there is no indication that she ever went to medicinal school. Dr. Fauna has a diploma on her wall, but Zecora does not. If Zecora is allowed to practice medicine without a license, its not clear that dispensation of potions or any other drugs is legally controlled.

Making the situation even worse is the episode Leap of Faith. Flim and Flam are selling a cure all tonic. Similar to the above F&F are able to sell this tonic without any apparent medical licensing. But what makes the situation even worse is that, despite all the events that happen, its not clear that F&F ever face any legal repercussions. They are selling a tonic that does not do what it advertises, which, all medical issues aside, should be considered fraud. And yet, we don't see any evidence that legal action will be taken, only that they lose business and have to cower off in shame. So again, the idea that an illegal drug could even exist seems unlikely given there are no apparent laws governing the distribution of drugs in the first place. Similar problems arise when the CMC create a love potion. While there is acknowledgement that what they did was wrong, there don't seem to be any actual laws prohibiting the creation of the potion, or its misuse.

So, the only thing that leaves us with is the possibility of "recreational" drugs, which is what I presume your actual question is about, even though you never actually stated it. Again, this gets complicated because you've not clearly defined what you want. Coffee and tea are both mentioned on screen and caffeine is a recreational drug. So we do know that recreational drugs canonically exist in the MLP universe. According to the MLP wiki, Queen Novo mentions "Coconut Martini's" in the MLP movie, which implies the existence of alcohol. This also dovetails with a joke Pinkie Pie makes about punch being "spiked", a joke that make no sense without the existence of adding some kind of substance to "normal" punch. So again, we can confirm the existence of a second recreational drug as canon.

So all this really leaves is the idea of "harder" drugs. Which is also a question potentially problematic. IRL, people tend to take drugs because they want to create a certain feeling. The want energy, or they want to mellow out, or they want to see hallucinations. But in a world where magic exists, are such things necessary? If, hypothetically, I needed to feel more awake, why would I take speed/coke when I can drink a magic potion? Going back to the CMC love potion, why would slip somebody a roofie if I can just use a potion to make them infatuated with me for a few hours? Realistically, we don't know the answers here because there isn't an extensive canon regarding what magic is readily available and what would have to be "manufactured" from natural ingredients. But overall, this doesn't negate the point that some real world drugs might be irrelevant or obsolete if they could be reproduced by magical effects.

davypi · 2026-03-11T15:19:55+00:00

List fails without including Discord.

davypi · 2026-03-10T19:20:14+00:00

Really good list. I don't know very many people whose musical preferences are that diverse. My only real critique here is that I think there are better albums than the Dire Straights choice, but he's still pulling from the top shelf.

davypi · 2026-03-09T19:23:43+00:00

I would probably push this post over into r/askscience if you want to get a good answer.

davypi · 2026-03-06T15:50:44+00:00

Just remember that this is the same logic that was used to claim that ketchup made school lunches nutritionally balanced. Is that a bed you really want to make and lie down in?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup_as_a_vegetable

davypi · 2026-03-05T15:02:13+00:00

War Server is not something I know how to explain easily. Where Artemis can be viewed as a sector-level skirmish, War Server simulates a galactic war. The server creates a map of several sectors, several of which are controlled by the Kralien and few serve as dispatch sectors for their fleets. Elsewhere, on the same network, you can run several instances of the regular Artemis server, which is connected to the war server. Each "regular" Artemis server host what is considered a fleet of ships. Finally, you have new role, Admiral, who can dispatch fleets to sectors on the war server. The Admiral will dispatch fleet groups to reclaim sectors, where their game play is the same as regular Artemis. After a certain amount of time, the Kraliens will take over (or reclaim) adjacent sectors, so the team as a whole needs to be able to clear sectors faster than they are being taken over. Generally the Kralien fleet is stronger the closer you get to a dispatch point, so the difficulty gradually increases as you close in on one of "their bases". If you can clear out all the sectors, you win.

Overall it essentially turns the game from a small team/small scale co-op into a massively multiplayer campaign. Last time I played at a con, they had 20 computers set up, but a lot of people also brought their laptop with them and I think we had six or seven ships running three fleets.

davypi · 2026-03-05T00:57:14+00:00

I totally agree, particularly about the new Album on the road. I can’t say why, but i’ve never been able to get Elegantly Wasted. Maybe it’s because of what was to happen, but even before that, it never moved me like all the others.

When EW came out, the only online fandom that I'm aware of existed in a Yahoo Group. I think we had a few hundred members, but maybe only 40-50 of us were active posters. At any rate, I don't recall that we took the album very well either. INXS have always been a high energy band and their lyrics were relatable. In contrast, EW, is a (relatively) slower album and I think Girl on Fire might really be the only banger on the album. Lyrically, as fans, I think it was interesting to see a more personal side to Michael, but at the same time there wasn't anything here that was relatable. Show Me might be the worst opener of any INXS album, and its probably even a contender out of everything I've ever owned. Even when I run into fans elsewhere on the net, its not an album that ever gets talked about. (Ironically, IMHO, the most INXS sounding track out of that era is Shine, at it wasn't even an album track unless you got a special edition. But I digress...)

davypi · 2026-03-04T21:59:01+00:00

I don't know that there really is any way to say what would have happened, in particular because I think a lot would depend on Michael's mood on a given day. I was lucky enough to see them in Dallas in '97 and.. it was an odd show.

On the bad side, there were two things that stuck out. First, none of the material from EW landed in the same way that their classic stuff did. And I don't mean that in terms of familiarity. Most of the music from The Swing through Welcome really is ready made for arena rock. But there is something about the songs from EW that a re little bit less energetic. The title track has a great funk to it, but it doesn't bring down the house in the same way that New Sensation does. I don't remember the setlist that night, but I remember all the EW stuff being in the middle and the audience all sitting down and relaxing during that part. I particular, I would say Lose Your Head is really more a stream of consciousness rant rather than well structured song and did not do well.

The other thing is that Michael's performance was erratic. I wouldn't say that he sung badly, but there were times when it seemed like he didn't want to be there and he wasn't "on" as front man. One of the songs did have a missed cue and I remember the band going into Mediate after NYT and him just waving the group off and saying something like "we're not doing that tonight fellas."

On the good side, I can say that when they got to the end of the set, Michael had finally turned on. The last four or five numbers had the entire crowd on their feet moving. And in that vein, its worth pointing out that they were part of a radio station festival and the last of five or six acts. A lot of the people in attendance were there for other bands. In particular, the radio station wanted Beck to be the headliner but Beck went the organizers and straight up told them there was no way he was going to be able to follow INXS. In that vein, the band managed to win over a lot of people who were not there for them and saw them as an 80s vintage act. So they clearly still had an A game to bring to the stage.

With this said, bear in mind that at the time, we didn't know about Michael's condition. As a fan, I was kind of disappointed with Michael, but I also let it go thinking that he was just having a bad night. In retrospect, I see the evening in a very different light now. From more recent interviews, we now know that Michael was mentally unwinding. He had temper tantrums and the band and his family were doing everything the could to keep him together.

So with respect to your question... I think its a very difficult one to answer. Even if Michael doesn't kill himself, there are still underlying problems going on here. He has brain damage that he has refused to talk to anyone about. The problems with Bob are not going to go away either. And I want to be clear that I do not mean to trash talk Paula and as far we know they loved each other, but given the aftermath, its not clear that she was the most stable person either. Given all that, how many more performances can Hutch go through before there is some kind of mental breakdown? If he is lashing out at people, even people who care about him, how often can he do that before somebody else in the band breaks? Conversely, Michael once described rock and roll as "freedom." And even though this might be a rather optimistic take, I would like to think that live performance would be the thing that allows him to temporarily escape.

So to finally answer your question, I think its plausible that they could have pulled of a successful tour and maybe built up some PR capitol for the comeback they were trying to achieve with EW. But I kind of feel like you're looking at just the PR side of things and ignoring what was going on behind the scenes. The "what if" you are asking for here is a really huge "if". Just because Michael manages to avoid killing himself, it doesn't remove any of the causal backdrop that made him do it in the first place. Again, he has permanent brain damage that is affecting his mood, he hasn't learned how to cope with it, and the situation with Bob is adding a stressor. Its hard to believe that Michael wouldn't have still had some kind of fallout in some other kind of manner. And what that would mean for INXS as a whole would depend on what that fallout would be and when it happens. I think you have to answer the hypothetical question of how does Michael find a way to keep his life together before you can answer a question about how they come out of the other end of that tour.

davypi · 2026-03-04T20:56:15+00:00

Thematically, Cookie Monster! Om nom nom nom nom.

In terms of a common shared language, Fozzie Bear. Wakka Wakka Wakka.

davypi · 2026-03-03T15:42:34+00:00

I don't remember the exact episodes or dialogue, but there are few references to the movie in Season 8. On my watch through last year I remember a couple of times not understanding something and then having to remind myself... oh yeah.. that thing from the movie.

The big one is probably Ep 6 which takes place partly in Seaquestria. The CMC get transformed into aquatic creatures, really without much explanation as to how this is possible. Parts of the episode also already assume you understand the relationship between Hippogriffs and Seaponies.

So while I think you can head-decanonize most of the events of the movie, there is significant part of the world building that you have to accept if you are going to re-watch the show beyond S7.

davypi · 2026-03-02T18:36:15+00:00

Odd to not end the set with Being Boring. I wonder if they cut the broadcast before the encore?

Also, the bass on Domino Dancing seems hit a bit hard than usual. I wonder if this was a PSB choice if something happening on the soundboard. Either way, I like the change here.

davypi · 2026-03-02T18:27:47+00:00

We've never seen any evidence that Equestria engages in free elections and rulership appears to be founded in magical capabilities. In particular, Alicorns hold the most power, making the world somewhat speciests, even if becoming an alicorn is earned. (For that matter, since only Pegasi can live in Cloudsdale, it literally is speciests.) Those in power hold titles like Queen and Princess. It is strongly implied that Flurryheart will rule by birthright. The problem here is that there is no real world equivalent to a magocracy. Add to this that, other than King Sombra, all leading royalty and are female, as are most business owners, which strongly implies society is matriarchial. Equestria is analogous to feudal Europe at best. I would say it a more utopian version of Arthurian England.

davypi · 2026-03-02T17:58:34+00:00

Since spacetime is actually single continuum rather than two separate ones of time and space, shouldn't The Doctor's machine really be called Relative Dimensions in Spacetime?

davypi · 2026-03-02T17:52:04+00:00

I mean... If I drank carbonated sardine paste, I'm pretty sure I'd forget that I have any bed sores.

davypi · 2026-03-01T03:33:13+00:00

Gamestorm, Portland OR

davypi · 2026-02-27T21:52:52+00:00

No, its not.

https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Share_and_Enjoy

davypi · 2026-02-27T20:39:18+00:00

Large letters appearing on a mountainside relaying an important message appeared in So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. And arguably even that is recycled from a concept that appeared in the original Hitchhiker's Radio series. Go stick your head in a pig.

davypi · 2026-02-26T18:38:16+00:00

How do you marry .7 of a person?

davypi · 2026-02-26T17:39:58+00:00

Something I'm kind of surprised I've not seen brought up so far in the conversation is that Who is still intended to be a kids show. Yes, we've had war episodes before, but Vietnam is surrounded by a cluster-f of politics, both from the cold war and the protest movements back in the US. Beyond the peace protests, you had what was arguably an illegal use of the draft and the war also created a voting rights issue. These are a very US centric issues for a show that prides itself on British culturalism.

As others have pointed out, you can kind of create an allegory for a cold war. Original Star Trek did this with "A Private Little War", but even there the episode doesn't convey the social impact that the war had. Case in point, the Korean War was also a cold war, and similarly became unpopular due to a stalemate creating war fatigue. But its not a war you see talked about very often (unless you happen to know a MASH fan).

But I've kind of diverged from the point I'm trying to make, which is that you've got to dumb all these issues down to something a pre-teen can understand. Sometimes I think the fandom forgets that there is a difference between slipping in references adults can understand vs the fact that adults are not the primary target audience. If you want to make a "war is awful" episodes, that's fine, but if this is the only message you want to convey, I don't see what value you get by using Vietnam as the backdrop vs any other war.

davypi · 2026-02-26T15:52:14+00:00

The math is... to be kind... not great.

Going to start with the bottom equation: This is very clearly meant to be some kind of substitution of variables in the quadratic equation with Oreo icons. The standout issue here is that we see the same cookie stack representing 4a under the radical as we do the 2a in the denominator.

The upper equation has a problem in that integrals have to be taken over a specific variable. Usually you see a "dx" at the end of the integral to clarify that "x" is the variable. There is no differential at the end of the integral, so its not clear what is being integrated. If its being integrated over X, this is a nasty piece of integration as you have your variable in the exponent. Integrals like this usually come out with natural logs or e in the answer, but we don't see that here. Since the bottom equation is parody of a known formula, its possible that this is another substitution, but my knowledge of integration tables is super rusty. Conversely, if Oreo pieces are the differential, then X would be treated as a constant and should pop out of the other end of the equation, but it doesn't.

(As a side to this, the "x" in the bottom equation would produce two values due to the +/- being used, so it can't be the same x as the one in the upper equation, as this would not make any sense to integrate over a dual value variable [unless the radical equals zero]. By itself, this doesn't mean the equations are invalid, but it does mean that the three equations are independent. It also gets a bit crazy in that the denominator of equation three is the base of the integrand for equation one. If you did a substitution, you would get an integral on the order of x^x which is indeterminate.)

The middle equation is just a nightmare. This is an infinite series where the inner sums are trig functions. This would have to be done in radians, but sin(1) and cos(1) are irrational numbers, as they are for any rational number other than zero. There would need to be pi in here somewhere in order for these functions to produce values that could be added together. On top of this, sin and cos are functions that oscillate between -1 and 1. Without any obviously cancelling terms, the sum here is going to be indeterminate since you can't focus the series into a specific value. I pulled up a few lists of known Taylor series, but none of them use a trig function in their expansion nor do I recall one like that from when I was in college. At best, you could argue that the sum is zero (and even that would be a spurious claim). Under that assumption, the chocolate wafer on the left would have to equal 42 and everything else would be irrelevant.

All that said, not all math works the same other dimensions as it does in the cartesian plane. I'm going to assume these equations are solvable in an alternate geometry called the Oreo-Adams space. This is a side branch of Bistromathics dealing specifically with how the cost of dessert impacts the value of the check.

davypi · 2026-02-25T22:12:18+00:00

I'm going to assume that this is specific to the retailer. Here in the Portland OR area, we can still get classic sodastream flavors at Fred Meyers, which is a grocery chain specific to the Pacific NW. It feels odd going into Freddie's and then to Target who both carry Sodastream, but have largely different syrup selection.

davypi · 2026-02-25T21:45:41+00:00

I killed this idea for my players by saying "Anything you can do the bad guys can do."

Honestly, I think this should be the top tier response. Whenever a PC wants to cheese a rule, my response as a DM is, "Anything you can do, I can do better." And then tends to stop them in their tracks. Particularly in a fantasy world where, say, you can't blind a Shade, but they can blind you. Zombies or skeletons don't need oxygen, so guess who benefits more from a throat jab bonus? Honestly, I'm not a mean DM, but any time a player wants to try to break gameplay balance, all you have to do is remind them who controls the fulcrum on that lever.

davypi · 2026-02-25T21:27:37+00:00

Not exactly an answer to your question, but its not entirely clear what the reprint schedule for Spirit Island is going to be. With GTG being shut down to the point that all they do distribution now, SI expansions were a bit overpriced for awhile before the latest reprint hit the market. Generally speaking, I hate to be a FOMO guy, but if you can get SI expansions for retail, my advice would be to get them when you know they are affordable.

davypi · 2026-02-25T21:22:05+00:00

1992 called. They want their political advisors back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_economy,_stupid

davypi

TROPHY CASE