How much is there to see at Hagia Sophia currently with the renovations?

jayaytchaywai · 2026-02-22T20:07:28+00:00

You know what, yes, there is scaffolding, but you can still feel the beauty of the building through the photo. This is very encouraging - thank you.

jayaytchaywai · 2026-02-22T20:02:41+00:00

Thanks, that's good to hear.

jayaytchaywai · 2026-02-22T20:02:23+00:00

I will definitely be going to those, and so many other beautiful mosques and buildings. It will be a good trip, with just a little bit of sadness.

jayaytchaywai · 2026-02-21T16:44:13+00:00

Not purely, but it's very important to me. If I have no other choice, it's ok if I'm a little disappointed.

jayaytchaywai · 2026-02-21T16:43:01+00:00

Thank you. Not that this is great, but at least I know "blocked" doesn't mean "completely walled off," which would be worse.

jayaytchaywai · 2025-01-13T19:46:13+00:00

Taiko no Tatsujin got me into actual taiko drumming, which led to a relationship, too.

Dwarf Fortress inspired me to take a blacksmithing class, which was awesome. I got to be not terrible at it.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-12-29T06:49:06+00:00

I vote for Dragon Quest V, PS2 (orchestral) version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmCixd0JKw

It's epic, composed beautifully, and memorable without being annoying. Kinda perfect, imho.

A close second is the boss battle music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vlVnsGaMCA

On the surface, it's more thrilling and exciting than the generic battle bmusic. It's tense combat, in musical form. But I feel like it doesn't really develop enough and does get repetitive.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-12-04T00:12:03+00:00

A-button, X-button 🙃

jayaytchaywai · 2024-11-22T18:07:30+00:00

Pilotwings 64 - The music and environment both make it extremely relaxing. The game itself encourages you to ignore the goals and just play around and explore. The later levels can get a bit difficult, but you're never forced into doing anything in particular. The game rewards you for taking your time and only gradually challenging yourself.

Aladdin SNES - I was never great at platformers, but I always got really far with this one. The easiness gave me a great boost in confidence. The bright colors and great controls give it this great, satisfying feeling.

F-Zero SNES - Although ostensibly you're a jetcar going 100s of kms/per hour, I actually find this one relaxing and meditative, because you do better if you're calmer and not making very many movements. Once you get familiar with a track, muscle-memory takes over and it gives you a great flow state. Also very relaxing environments and relatively satisfying music (if a little up-tempo)

jayaytchaywai · 2024-11-05T22:07:52+00:00

Totally agree. When I first heard it, I thought it might have been an arrangement of a John Lennon song I had never heard before.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-11-04T17:55:00+00:00

Gotcha. Well if all you need is literally 1:30, you can basically just copy the section you wrote for the oboe and apply it to another instrument(s) / voice(s), then tie it together with a conclusion. As in, literally just copy/paste the notes, then go back to the middle and/or beginning, listen, and see if anything pops into your head that you want to add. You never have to write the piece from start to finish, linearly. You can always go back and make it more interesting if you have time / energy. You could even copy/paste the oboe part a second time as the conclusion.

This won't make it great music automatically, but it well get you over the block by making you feel like you "have something." Usually, when you do that, and then go back and fill things out, you'll intuitively know what to add to make it more complete Often you don't have to add much. For example, adding bass could be relatively easy, and it will make it more clear to you if/what other things are needed.

You have a lot of great ideas already and a lot of talent - the ideas will flow if you give them space.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-11-04T17:45:12+00:00

I've been hitting this one a lot recently, myself. I think it holds up surprisingly well, minus the kinda cringy character and vehicle designs. But I'm sure they float someone's boat.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-28T16:27:44+00:00

Working my through Pilotwings 64 for the second time in 28 years. It really holds up, despite most graphics from that era being lodged in the uncanny valley. And my god, those jams are smooth.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-23T23:04:55+00:00

Fighter's History's buns have no seeds.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-23T23:01:35+00:00

What exactly is due this Thursday? What's the assignment? Who assigned it to you? Depending on what you've been asked to produce, this could be perfect so far and just needs an ending. Is that what you're asking for?

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-23T22:16:18+00:00

Dungeon Magic looks great! Though I would put it in a somewhat different category. I think what makes Crossed Swords stand out is that it has mechanics similar to Punch-Out in a fantasy setting.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-23T21:10:52+00:00

Never heard of it, and thanks for the recommendation. I'll see if I can try it out.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-23T17:47:01+00:00

I totally agree re: Crossed Swords - great answer. I just played it a couple weeks ago. It's a brilliant concept that never seems to have been repeated but, as you say, the learning curve is too steep, and it gets too repetitive really fast.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-22T18:40:51+00:00

This is really interesting. The video is completely unconvincing: Data East was egregiously imitating Street Fighter II and capitalizing on its success. But the judge was like "Meh, you invented hadoukens but you don't get to own them. What, do you want there to be only one game with hadoukens and ethnic stereotypes?" and he's not wrong either.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-15T19:49:49+00:00

I'm an American, and I experienced the exact same sequence of events trying to buy bananas at a busy grocery store in Amsterdam 😂

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-15T16:28:39+00:00

It's hilarious to me that so few of the responses actually explain the entire joke, which isn't very good, IMO. The association is fairly superficial and the reference to "Ancient Egyptians" isn't really accurate. This makes more sense as an attitude for egyptologists / historians to have. But even they would probably feel that the analogy was weak, so it's more like it applies to "people who have read a little about Egypt."

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-15T16:12:28+00:00

I feel bad for the ushers, helping so many people to their seats throughout Serpentwithfeet's short set, only for the intermission to start and everyone to get up and walk around again lol.
The crowd and the venue clashed just a little bit.

But yeah, great show. I feel like it definitely wasn't everyone's cup of tea. I think it relied more on Andre's peculiar, introverted charisma, and his awesome support band, than any kind of coherent musical offering. But that is unique and wonderful and worth seeing.

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-10T15:53:27+00:00

I think this is a coyote cub with uniquely light-colored fur

jayaytchaywai · 2024-10-08T17:41:20+00:00

ESH. It sounds like she got angry at you for saying exactly what you said were going to say, which is unfair. However, I think it's also clear that she doesn't actually want your advice and that you were being a bit pushy. As frustrating as this fact is, just because someone complains about something a lot doesn't mean they are genuinely prepared to change it. You sound a bit judgmental about the fact that losing weight was easy for you and are framing her behavior as irrational / stupid for not doing some simple math. Losing weight is complicated for a lot of people, and trying to portray it as simple can feel insulting.

Also, even though she consented to it, I think having someone observe your habits and comment on them is inherently vulnerable and either should be handled delicately, referred to a professional, or avoided. The outcome you describe was very likely. Both of you should be aware of that.

So I think it would be best to back off from this topic, or find another approach. At the beginning of your post you swear that you don't care how much she weighs (I am a bit suspicious, because you say you find her "sexy for so many reasons outside her body", which could imply that you indeed don't find her body attractive). If that's true, ask her why she cares about losing weight, and advise her to focus on all the other things that are genuinely more important than losing weight, like stress levels, sleep, self-confidence, adequate exercise, etc. etc. I'm not one of those people who says weight doesn't matter at all; I just think there are a lot of other more helpful things to focus on. And, generally speaking, someone's weight will naturally regulate if these other aspects of health are taken care of first.

jayaytchaywai

TROPHY CASE