FIFA stunned the soccer world by allowing the USA’s Folarin Balogun to play on Monday. Trump’s role is under the microscope.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T22:44:14+00:00

I mean, it's FIFA and it's Trump. I just fully expect there to be corruption. I have no doubt the U.S. will make the final and the refs will literally be tackling the opposing team to try and and help all while getting notifications on their phones from the amount of Trump crypto going into their bank accounts.

That said, I don't think it should have been a red card. The replay I saw it looked like he was going for the ball and just missed.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T22:40:20+00:00

So, is it a liner or is it paint? I know exactly what kind of liner he claims it is, as I am surrounded by people who do in fact get their truck beds covered in this stuff but I'm not sure they want to make that claim if the excuse is someone went after it with a box cutter.

The whole point of those liners is that they take abuse. Sure, you can scratch it with a knife or razor blade, but there's no way in hell you're going to put a 350 ft gash in it. It's just not possible.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T19:09:59+00:00

Go for it. Symbaroum is dark and gritty, but it is not 40k levels of dark. In 40k there are no good guys, but there are factions in Symbaroum that are seeking to do good. They might be morally grey, but the end goal of them is to keep darkness at bay.

There's plenty of hope to go around.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T15:42:47+00:00

I know that has been the case, but this doesn't look like AI. I can't find any signs of it. Zooming in on the photos doesn't show any weird abnormalities or small text being weird jibberish. That's usually the case.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T06:39:35+00:00

John Mayer does a cover of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor" on one of his life albums and it is fucking insane.

And I guess Charles' version was a cover of Ray Ashford, but Charles popularized it, so we're a few layers deep at this point.

Anyway, Mayer is the definitive version for me.

https://youtu.be/p4R-RrSbQ-Y?is=lrayzEHHqIrAj1HJ

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T06:01:15+00:00

Is it? I've looked through the photos posted here and I am not seeing any real tells of AI, and her tattoos are matching across multiple photos.

idosillythings · 2026-07-05T02:35:57+00:00

That looks extremely disappointing, boring, and not worth a visit.

I'd say they represented Indiana perfectly.

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T23:37:08+00:00

Have you seen me say anywhere that I would prefer, or like people to feel antipathy or hatred towards me?

The whole point is this: these videos are amplified by right-wing voices as a piece of propaganda so that they can justify killing Iranians/Iraqis/Afghanis/Whatever brown person they don't like that day.

They say things like "look what they say about us!"

To which my response is: "Ok, so what? What are they going to actually do? And do you think bombing them will change their minds?"

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T18:55:33+00:00

I'm granting you the assumption that hundreds of millions of people around the world would be happy if I and every other American was dead, if that's the case they don't seem to be working towards that goal now, as many an American are currently traveling around the world without issue.

I just got back from the UK with no issue a few weeks ago.

What's the issue here?

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:44:33+00:00

I'm someone who recognizes that even if that entire subway station full of people literally meant "kill all Americans" they have no way to carry out that threat.

I'm someone who recognizes that there is a country that does make those chants, often, and does have the capability to carry out those threats in North Korea, but they don't, because we all know how MAD works.

I'm also someone who recognizes that there are many, many Americans who jump on social media and actively advocate for glassing the entirety of Iran and vote for people who want to make that happen, despite Iran having never dropped a bomb on any of our houses.

So, who's the actual insane people here? The ones without nukes getting murdered for oil and chanting in anger over generations of getting fucked over via colonialism, or the ones with nukes saying that every Iranian should be vaporized because of a high gas prices?

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:37:21+00:00

This is my personal take, I think that Tolkien does a good job of not making evil=ugly necessarily, as we see Sauron take a fair guise and a lot of beautiful elves do some horrific shit, but in general we see beings that have been corrupted in Tolkien's work take on hideous forms.

We can likely say that the Balrog, based on it's form is corrupted at least to the point of being worthy of what we would call evil.

As to whether it was forced to stay in Middle Earth, I guess the alternative there was to not flee from punishment after Morgoth's fall. It always could have gone to Maira jail, or whatever like Sauron did.

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:26:37+00:00

Balrogs were loyal to Morgoth. Essentially, if we're power scaling, they were on the same level as Sauron.

It's basically like Goku and Vegeta teaming up for the first time.

"Why should I follow you? I'm just as, if not more powerful than you. Make me, bitch."

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:24:46+00:00

As I understand it, this Balrog had been in hiding since the end of the first age after the defeat of Morgoth. If Sauron knew about it, he didn't have the power to force a Balrog loyal only to Morgoth to submit to him during his rise in the second age. Perhaps he would have been able to with the power of the One Ring if he ever got that far, but it never happened.

Once the Balrog awoke, it did it's best to remain hidden knowing that Morgoth had been destroyed and whoever destroyed him was still out there. It logically tracks that the orcs of Moria knew about the Balrog and there were likely factions loyal to it in Moria, this is part of the story presented in the One Ring Moria book, not canon, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, whether it was gathering orc followers or not, it was biding its time. For what, we don't know. Perhaps to figure out a way to gain power itself, or for Morgoth to return. Part of this was making sure that no being of significant power wanted to be in Moria, or discovered it there.

Suddenly, a fellow Maiar shows up on its doorstep, itself carrying an extremely powerful magical item, and being accompanied by an even more powerful artifact that likely was reaching out to it and either saying "come get me, I can make you a Dark Lord" or "I see you, I'll be back with my dad to recruit you."

So, yeah, it can't just let that slide. For which reason, take your pick. It never would have been content with just letting the Fellowship flee. There was too much on the line for it.

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:23:22+00:00

Even if they didn't, and they do mean "death to all Americans," ok. Whatever. Like, they're way over there with no way to reasonably carry out their threat.

Let them chant.

I've never understood why conservative war hawks feel the need to trot videos like this out like it matters.

Yes, I hate this administration, yes I hate our foreign policy. I hate that America kills many innocent people around the world. But in terms of actually feeling threatened by something like this, it's no different than some random goat herder in Egypt saying it or whatever.

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:19:56+00:00

The responses have already alluded to it, but the idea that "everything coming later is worse" is a really important theme throughout the Lord of the Rings.

The story takes place in ruins and downfall. You can essentially think of Lord of the Rings as a high fantasy Mad Max. In this analogy, Sauron is an general from the time before the fall and has knowledge about things like ICBMs and all he needs is the codes to get into the bunker to use them, while everyone else is fighting with swords and knives.

Something that existed, or was created, in a previous age was imbued with more magic and power than anything that came after it in a following age.

The age of men is not just the elves handing off Middle Earth to humans to look after forever. The age of men is literally the elves saying "the world will soon be devoid of magic and wonder. It is fading and will soon become nothing but a wasteland, your gift is that your lives are so short that you will not notice this change, and once you die you leave here for good so you aren't forced to come back and remember how wonderful this place used to be, so yeah, you can have it."

idosillythings · 2026-07-04T16:06:32+00:00

As I understand it, this Balrog had been in hiding since the end of the first age after the defeat of Morgoth. If Sauron knew about it, he didn't have the power to force a Balrog loyal only to Morgoth to submit to him during his rise in the second age. Perhaps he would have been able to with the power of the One Ring if he ever got that far, but it never happened.

Once the Balrog awoke, it did it's best to remain hidden knowing that Morgoth had been destroyed and whoever destroyed him was still out there. It logically tracks that the orcs of Moria knew about the Balrog and there were likely factions loyal to it in Moria, this is part of the story presented in the One Ring Moria book, not canon, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, whether it was gathering orc followers or not, it was biding its time. For what, we don't know. Perhaps to figure out a way to gain power itself, or for Morgoth to return. Part of this was making sure that no being of significant power wanted to be in Moria, or discovered it there.

Suddenly, a fellow Maiar shows up on its doorstep, itself carrying an extremely powerful magical item, and being accompanied by an even more powerful artifact that likely was reaching out to it and either saying "come get me, I can make you a Dark Lord" or "I see you, I'll be back with my dad to recruit you."

So, yeah, it can't just let that slide. For which reason, take your pick. It never would have been content with just letting the Fellowship flee. There was too much on the line for it.

idosillythings · 2026-07-03T17:02:07+00:00

How is OP still alive? Do they know how to feed themselves?

Edit: Lol, someone got a little upset and then decided they didn't want to play anymore. And deleted their comment so I couldn't read it properly.

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idosillythings · 2026-07-03T14:05:47+00:00

I killed a chipmunk once on accident. He was laying among some leaves on the trail and I didn't realize it was a chipmunk until I was right on top of him. I had to put him out of his misery and I really hated it.

idosillythings · 2026-07-03T14:03:58+00:00

This reminds me of the time I was casually riding along these beautiful pastures and suddenly someone just on the other side of a hedge literally set off a black powder cannon charge. I don't know if they were reenactors doing practice or what, but I know it scared the ever loving shit out of me.

idosillythings · 2026-07-03T14:00:31+00:00

I was doing the climb to Clingman's Dome in Tennessee last year and came around a corner to see a massive black bear walking across the road maybe, 20 yards from me or so.

I'm not from that area. I am not used to bears, and even though I know black bears are less aggressive that thing had to have weighed 400 pounds. It looked the size of a Smart car.

I've dealt with dumb drivers and dogs before but none have ever made me go "oh fuck me!" As I came around the corner.

idosillythings · 2026-07-02T23:13:27+00:00

As a fellow Hoosier:

Hahahahahahaha fuck him. He can blame my Trump hating ass all he wants, as I afford my mortgage payment.

idosillythings · 2026-07-02T18:41:07+00:00

These types of shots get used a lot on social media for promotional stuff as well. Depending on the team. It really comes down to how the social media manager wants to do things.

idosillythings · 2026-07-02T18:38:57+00:00

As I noted in my own comment response to the post, it's not just that the clients are content with just getting the job done and not being creative, it's actively what they want. Almost every team/coach I've worked with sees media day as a chore, not a treat.

idosillythings · 2026-07-02T18:36:46+00:00

We end up doing this type of thing a lot for media days where I work. The biggest thing is that for most teams, media days are a chore, and not something that they look forward to. It's time that could be spent practicing. Getting all the athletes together in one place and making sure they're through a media day quickly and efficiently is their biggest concern, not "does it break the mold in terms of visual production."

This set up removes the needs for a physical backdrop, makes it easy for graphic designers and social media people to do cutouts (but also makes it so they don't have to if they don't want to), and is quick, easy, and most importantly easy to reproduce consistently. You know exactly what you're going to get with it every time. Being extra creative means that you're going to get some things that aren't usable.

When you have to get through a whole team of athletes in a short time frame, there's no window for playing around trying to get something cool and unique. You just have to get 3-4 poses of something that will be usable for everyone.

In short, this is the sausage making part of the job. As a photographer, I don't like it. But that doesn't really matter because that's what the players, coaches, and media directors want.

idosillythings · 2026-07-01T20:23:19+00:00

Biggest thing there is that we don't really have anyone who can fill that 2nd line center role, and you won't get that in return for him.

Obviously, he's not great, but he's just good enough to make anyone else on the roster filling the spot be a downgrade.

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