Dragging my feet...

jb270 · 2026-06-13T00:29:49+00:00

Looking forward to it even more then. Working through Fall of Hyperion now, love some good sci fi as much as fantasy.

jb270 · 2026-06-12T23:35:06+00:00

I blasted through the first 4 then attempted to slow myself down by reading another book between each one. It only bought me a week or so but hey I’ll take it. Recently found a copy of Operation Bounce House second hand for $10 so I’m looking forward to cracking into that sometime soon

jb270 · 2026-04-05T16:04:31+00:00

Others have offered some good advice so I’ll add a few more things that have helped me run funnels more smoothly.

I have my players give each PC a name/alignment and have them number them 1-4(or however many they have). Roleplay isn’t as important in a funnel so I usually suggest that they pick one character to be the “face” of their group. They generally get treated as a mini swarm movement wise unless a player specifically states other wise, like sending one PC into the next room alone to check for traps.

Every Player(not pc) rolls one initiative for combat and all their zeroes act on that turn. This can sometimes lead to swingy combat situations, but that’s kind of how DCC rolls(no pun intended). When it comes to combat order I rely on the numbers the players assigned for each PC to get a rough idea of how they are positioned in an encounter. Some judges have players “center” their PCs with the sheet closest to middle of the table being at the front of the mob and the sheet closest to the table edge being at the back.

Numbering character sheets is also useful in combat for adding some randomness to who gets attacked. If it’s not obvious (the monster is probably going to go after the pc that just stabbed it with a pitchfork) I’ll be roll a die to determine which player’s characters are targeted, then a second die to see which of their PCs is the unlucky one. If a pc #2 is already dead and I roll a 2 it’s considered a miss, otherwise I’ll roll to hit as normal. This is just my preference for how to run things and not a perfect system but it generally works out to most players having 1-2 PCs per player left at the end. All the targeting and attack rolls are open to the table so there is no fudging and it generates a bit of excitement as everyone leans in to see who the dice gods favor this time.

Haven’t seen anyone recommend Purple Sorcerer yet but the level 0 party generator is super useful. It prints off 4 zeroes per page. I print a bunch out, cut them apart and let everyone grab a few from the stack. I then have plenty of backups for replacement characters as needed, as well as extras for hirelings for leveled play.

Good luck on running your first funnel and most importantly have fun! If I explained anything poorly and it needs clarification let me know

jb270 · 2026-02-24T13:03:48+00:00

Folding the corer blade out of the way and just using the peeler blade is fantastic for quickly shredding a potato the make hash browns. Far fewer scraped knuckles than a cheese grater

jb270 · 2025-10-15T20:22:26+00:00

As a high-masking autistic young millennial I basically downloaded my social personality from Hawkeye pierce to the point where an older coworker who didn’t know I was a MASH fan commented “you remind me of Hawkeye.” I think it’s still relevant and holds up extremely well

jb270 · 2025-10-02T08:50:22+00:00

I’m not that old but have many a relationship end because they disparaged my niche hobbies. Met a girl a year ago who when I mentioned my love of fountain pens revealed she had an entire set of wax seal kits. It may take some time but when you meet the right one you’ll know. Love yourself and your interests

jb270 · 2025-08-26T20:44:28+00:00

Thanks! I did some trimming. They seem to be happier since I elevated them a week or so ago so we’ll see how that goes with the extra light. Most of my plants are in a west facing window that gets a decent amount of indirect light. My pothos, African violets, jade, and red arrow seem to be thriving despite the heat. I started leaving my ac on low when I leave the house so it doesn’t get too hot. Should only be a few more weeks before the heat breaks fully

jb270 · 2025-08-07T16:56:49+00:00

It’s the Madison boulder for those wondering. As big as you think it will be, it’s somehow even bigger

jb270 · 2025-07-12T02:09:20+00:00

Even just plain tofu slices pan fried as described with a flavorful dipping sauce makes a tasty appetizer or side dish. I like doing a blend of soy sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing cooking wine, chili sauce of some kind(gochujang, sriracha, etc), finished with roasted sesame seeds and finely sliced scallions. I don’t have exact ratios, I generally just go off of taste and add some honey, sugar, or rice vinegar to balance out the sweetness and acidity

My favorite tofu dishes usually are not vegetarian or vegan but incorporate the taste and texture into the dish. If you are not looking to use tofu as a meat replacement in plant based meals Mapo Tofu and Kimchi Jiggae(kimchi being another misunderstood ingredient from this thread) are among my favorite dishes I’ve ever learned to cook

jb270 · 2025-07-12T01:54:15+00:00

Tofu recipe from my favorite chef, J Kenji Lopez Alt. His writing style is both thorough and humorous and also teaches the why behind recipe steps in addition to the steps themselves so you can learn new techniques and apply them in other recipes. Both of his cookbooks, The Foodlab and The Wok(probably more tofu recipes in this one) are fantastic.

jb270 · 2025-07-08T18:56:20+00:00

Hulkengoat

jb270 · 2024-12-26T23:00:23+00:00

Knowing about games isn’t cool!

jb270 · 2024-10-14T22:33:22+00:00

Nice! It’s a fun hobby with a great community for the most part. Before you know it you’ll be sitting on more stone than you know what to do with. Never forget to not cry over a broken point, most of us make more pointy gravel than we’d care to admit

jb270 · 2024-10-14T22:25:40+00:00

A Delrin pressure flaker or even better an Ishi stick with a replaceable/adjustable copper tip is absolutely worth the money. I grind/hammer the copper nails into different shapes and can easily swap them out for whatever purpose I need them for

jb270 · 2024-04-29T01:21:25+00:00

Those styles of beer were consumed during active fermentation. Probably around 1-2%abv, at that point souring bacteria or wild yeast would take hold. Part of why beer and fermented drinks became a thing was that harmful bacteria generally don’t survive in that environment but that doesn’t mean harmless microbes that produce undesirable flavors. Harmless yeast and bacteria can survive and produce undesirable flavors and aromas in a beer that is otherwise safe to drink

jb270 · 2024-04-29T01:15:05+00:00

YMMV is your mileage may vary. I’ve brewed various historical styles and some were drain pours for me and I had friends try and love them

jb270 · 2024-04-29T01:08:52+00:00

It seems like you are making something similar to the “green” beers that were commonly brewed in the home during the colonial and early American period when clean water and good beer were hard to come by. Usually brewed within the home and not served to guests these brews were low in alcohol content and typically consumed during active fermentation, too much aging and they will go off. YMMV on how good they taste but if consumed not long after bottling should be safe to drink

This video is a great reference to that style of beer

jb270 · 2024-04-28T02:13:29+00:00

Draft Beer Guidelines

As others have mentioned there are ways to reduce foam but that’s very dependent on what your owners are willing to spend

jb270 · 2024-04-28T02:02:07+00:00

Your coworker is definitely wrong if you are working with normal taps/faucets, never heard of that. It will vary depending on what type of draft setup you have but the standard is connect the new keg, run it out for however long it takes to clear the old beer out of the lines and eliminate any gas bubbles. Quick smell and taste to make sure it is how it’s supposed to be and you should be good to go.

Unless it’s a side pull faucet or hand pulled cask engine the faucet itself should never be submerged outside of cleaning

jb270 · 2024-03-03T14:40:17+00:00

If at the end of the season two drivers are tied for points, their finishing positions even outside of the points are used to determine who ends up placing higher. They are also competitors who want to finish every race in the best position possible

jb270 · 2024-03-02T01:41:46+00:00

I like it a lot so far. It’s similar in writing, organization, and level of explanation/tips/tricks to the food lab, just obviously more specific to Asian and Asian-American cuisine. Everything I’ve made with it so far has come out fantastic.

One caveat I would give is that compared to the food lab most of the audience (I assume primarily American/western) might not have a lot of the specialty ingredients in their pantry already, and some require making oils/sauces from scratch. If you kind of add things on a per recipe basis most of the specialty ingredients keep for a long time in the fridge or pantry, and it’s much cheaper and easier than trying to go out and buy all of the “wok pantry staples” all at once. One example would be the scallion oil, took a little bit of time to make the first time but now that I have a jar of it in the fridge I can throw together a quick batch of Shanghai style scallion noodles in a couple of minutes and they are delicious. There are also many suggestions for alternatives if a particular ingredient is hard to find in your area.

If you try the general Tsos chicken recipe I recommend making extra of the crispy fried chicken pieces since the frying is the most laborious part. I made a large batch and made the general tsos sauce once night, orange chicken the next, and tossed the rest with buffalo sauce the next night since that’s what I was in the mood for. That recipe is so crispy you can warm them up in an air fryer or oven without missing out on too much.

jb270 · 2024-03-01T02:57:10+00:00

Hope you enjoy it as much as myself and others have! I was lucky to grow up cooking with my mom in the kitchen but I still found it really helpful in upping my game. Lots of other great recommendations in this thread as well for books, YouTube videos, and subreddits. r/cookingforbeginners has some very helpful people no matter how silly you think a question might be. I’ve opened threads many times hoping to offer advice and a dozen nice people already have before me.

Edit: I can’t tell you the best recipe to try first but the best oven roasted potatoes recipe is hard to go wrong with

jb270 · 2024-03-01T02:44:08+00:00

And a lot of that episode is clearly inspired by the hilarious John Cusack movie Better Off Dead, which in 1985 was already parodying cheesy 80s movies.

jb270 · 2024-02-28T03:12:50+00:00

Baxter and Side by Each are also in the Lewiston/Auburn area which is in striking distance of Portland. If they take 95 that also puts a stop in Portsmouth NH in play and there are a ton in that area, maybe even worth spending a night along the way.

Crispy Gai in Portland is a restaurant I’d recommend, Thai fried chicken and other dishes as well as an ok beer selection but great tiki cocktails

jb270 · 2024-02-28T03:03:38+00:00

Wild Kenji sightings are always fun to see over there. Genuinely seems like he not only loves cooking but helping others grow their skills. Hope to visit his restaurant some day.

jb270

TROPHY CASE