Coconut Monkey Cornerclub

[ZedClampet]

Kakapo IGN gives Invincible Season 3 Final Episode a 4/10. I have seen it, it is one of the best (if not best) episode in the whole series. On IMDB it is on 9.9/10, just to put it in perspective. I'm not even going to click or read such a kakapo post, it does not deserve my attention anymore than me just realizing such a kakapo post were made.

Reading reviews of something you've already enjoyed is dangerous. It can sow doubt and ruin the whole thing.

It's kind of irresistible, though. You want to see people heap the praise on it that it deserves.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Kakapo IGN gives Invincible Season 3 Final Episode a 4/10. I have seen it, it is one of the best (if not best) episode in the whole series. On IMDB it is on 9.9/10, just to put it in perspective. I'm not even going to click or read such a kakapo post, it does not deserve my attention anymore than me just realizing such a kakapo post were made.

They may as well call themselves Cacapoo I tell ya!

 

[ZedClampet]

A friend of mine I used to work with lives in Arkansas. He told me they had a storm last night that spawned 7 tornadoes. Said the closest one to his house was a couple of miles, so he didn't take any damage, but the city has a lot of cleaning and rebuilding to do.

Feels like the weather is getting more severe.

We people in east Tennessee still have to take the LONG way to go east after the hurricane took out a dam and wiped out the road through the Appalachian mountains last summer. They estimate it will take years to rebuild the interstate through there.

 

[ZedClampet]

My daughter just called. She got a summer job as a park ranger. She's very excited. She changed her degree from biology to environmental engineering, so that's right where she wants to be right now. She graduates next fall. She's applied for graduate school, but says if she gets offered a decent job that she'll just do that in the evenings.

 

[BeardyHat]

Finally got motivated to take a look at the FDM printer my friend gave me many months ago. Looks like it's pretty ancient, from 2018 and in order to actually update the firmware, you need a separate Arduino based programmer; after doing an hours worth of research, it looks like the best solution is to spend $40 to update the motherboard in it to something more recent.

I'm fairly content to do that, but just looking at the FDM side of the printing hobby (I use only Resin currently), it looks like another hobby entirely. I don't really need another one of those, but I'd like to be able to print stuff with plastic filament because it would be significantly more sturdy for my RC application.

Soooo, I gotta convince my wife that I need to spend $40 to update this board...

 

[Frindis]

Started feeding the local crows some hazelnuts. They were pretty shy and only flew down to start eating after I had walked away. Probably not used to the locals feeding them. I'll try to do it at least once a week around the same time/day and see how long it will take before they get more comfortable around me. Crows can remember faces for several years and can even teach their chicks about nice or bad people, so hopefully I did a good first impression.

 

[ZedClampet]

Started feeding the local crows some hazelnuts. They were pretty shy and only flew down to start eating after I had walked away. Probably not used to the locals feeding them. I'll try to do it at least once a week around the same time/day and see how long it will take before they get more comfortable around me. Crows can remember faces for several years and can even teach their chicks about nice or bad people, so hopefully I did a good first impression.

I'm assuming you've already seen this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpg3VvoIVfA

 

[March's Ghost]

Started feeding the local crows some hazelnuts. They were pretty shy and only flew down to start eating after I had walked away. Probably not used to the locals feeding them. I'll try to do it at least once a week around the same time/day and see how long it will take before they get more comfortable around me. Crows can remember faces for several years and can even teach their chicks about nice or bad people, so hopefully I did a good first impression.

I've seen stories about crows that will follow people they like around town. One story claimed a girl lost a lens cap from her camera and it showed up on the family's windowsill the next day.

We don't get any crows in my part of the city, but I put up a bird feeder off my balcony. Really don't know what kind of birds are eating save for three: cardinals, pigeons, and a woodpecker. The woodpecker is almost as big as the feeder and hangs off it causing it to swing a whole lot. I am genuinely surprised it hasn't take the feeder down. The pigeons are gluttons. They'll sit at the feeder for 5 minutes at a time several times a day.

 

[Frindis]

@ZedClampet Not seen that one, but all the videos he refereed to. One smart crow!

My theory is that the crows are a bit more hesitant since the area if fed them in was an open park, so there are more people walking around. When I fed some crows in the forest, they were more bold, so I think it might be because it is more closed off, making it easier for them to conceal themselves or get away using branches and such.

I've seen stories about crows that will follow people they like around town. On story claimed a girl lost a lens cap from her camera and it showed up on the family's windowsill the next day.

We don't get any crows in my part of the city, but I put up a bird feeder off my balcony. Really don't know what kind of birds are eating save for three: cardinals, pigeons, and a woodpecker. The woodpecker is almost as big as the feeder and hangs off it causing it to swing a whole lot. I am genuinely surprised it hasn't take the feeder down. The pigeons are gluttons. They'll sit at the feeder for 5 minutes at a time several times a day.

I should start teaching the local crows to steal from the local jewelry shop and perhaps snacks from the local supermarket

Pigeons are smart, they know it is more energy efficient to be sitting close to the feeder. Every pigeon in the proximity probably know that you are the nicest person with the best food.

 

[ZedClampet]

Birds are amazing. I watched a pelican sneak behind a fisherman on a pier and grab a tasty fish out of the guy's cooler. The guy turned around, and the pelican started looking around as though he were trying to figure out what the fisherman was looking at because he, the pelican, was obviously just standing there innocently. The fisherman turned back to the water, so the pelican immediately helped himself to another fish. One interesting thing was that the pelican wasn't at all concerned that I was standing right there watching him, and rightfully so because I wasn't about to tell on him. On the attempt to nab a third fish, the fisherman turned around right as the pelican was grabbing the fish. The pelican knew he was caught and flew away, actually brushing against me as he went.

I did feel a little uncomfortable standing there watching the pelican eat the guy's fish, but apparently I wasn't the only person who did that or the pelican would have worried that I was watching him. Somehow he knew that he only had to worry about the human who was fishing.

 

[Frindis]

Those poor cats!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt-pB1R64mI

 

[March's Ghost]

@ZedClampet

Pigeons are smart, they know it is more energy efficient to be sitting close to the feeder. Every pigeon in the proximity probably know that you are the nicest person with the best food.

I am definitely not the nicest person, but I most definitely give the birds the best food. And I mean BEST.

 

[ZedClampet]

I am definitely not the nicest person, but I most definitely give the birds the best food. And I mean BEST.

In Atlantic City, you don't even need to feed them. Just buy some food and the seagulls will come take it out of your hands.

We have a tornado alert for the next 4 hours. My wife is sitting in the basement, but I figure if I have to die that having the wind fly me into a brick wall 2 miles away at 200 mph is at least as interesting as any other way to go.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Finally got motivated to take a look at the FDM printer my friend gave me many months ago. Looks like it's pretty ancient, from 2018 and in order to actually update the firmware, you need a separate Arduino based programmer; after doing an hours worth of research, it looks like the best solution is to spend $40 to update the motherboard in it to something more recent.

I'm fairly content to do that, but just looking at the FDM side of the printing hobby (I use only Resin currently), it looks like another hobby entirely. I don't really need another one of those, but I'd like to be able to print stuff with plastic filament because it would be significantly more sturdy for my RC application.

Soooo, I gotta convince my wife that I need to spend $40 to update this board...

Curious as to whether there's any downside to the convenience of merely placing filament in a machine, vs using resin, which I assume can be messier, and possibly have the tendency to thicken over time when stored for long periods, or gunk up the printing head. I'm guessing the filament is less of a mess even at the heated printer head?

I would think the filament would cost more though, but the sturdiness alone might be worth it as far as not having to reprint broken parts, AND not having to spend the time doing so.

My personal Monkey business for the day is fine tuning my new daily workout routine with more affordable nutrition. I've been using 11oz bottles of Atkins protein shakes thus far, which you can't get any cheaper than $2 per bottle. A friend of mine uses ON brand whey protein powder. He buys it in 74 serving 5 gal jugs for a bit over $70. I ordered a smaller 28 serving jug just to try it out. It's only got 24g protein per serving vs Atkins' 30g, but if I mix it with milk it should be about 32g.

The main reason I ordered a smaller jug is some say it's got a different formula now and lacks the digestive enzymes it used to have, which a small percentage of reviewers say can cause a bit of stomach discomfort. Basically 1100 spoke on the "Stomach Upset" rating category, and 2/3 of them said it digests fine, and 1/3 said they had issues with it. There are 241,000 reviews total though, averaging 4.5/5 stars.

I've been getting by with my 10mm thick heavy duty bungie cords for resistance band training, but the resistance band set I want that's still out of stock is sorely missed. The spin bike has been great though, it's plenty sturdy enough and very smooth and quiet, and also can give you a very good workout in as little as 15 min.

 

[March's Ghost]

In Atlantic City, you don't even need to feed them. Just buy some food and the seagulls will come take it out of your hands.

Yeah, that's a common coastal town problem.

We have a tornado alert for the next 4 hours. My wife is sitting in the basement, but I figure if I have to die that having the wind fly me into a brick wall 2 miles away at 200 mph is at least as interesting as any other way to go.

I had several severe weather alarms go off, but so far it's been only slightly windier than normal.

 

[ZedClampet]

Yeah, that's a common coastal town problem.



I had several severe weather alarms go off, but so far it's been only slightly windier than normal.

Whatever happened, if anything, I missed it. I fell asleep right after I posted.

 

[ZedClampet]

If you have lots of free time, read this about abstract art and give your own thoughts.

I've been talking to myself (on the forums) this morning about art games where you paint pictures and sell them (like Passpartout), and it reminded me of listening to a debate between my father, who's an actual genius, and an unknown patron at the National Art Gallery in Washington DC.

All three of us were standing together looking at a modernist abstract painting of a blue square on a white background when the other person said, "It's wonderful, isn't it?" to which my father replied something along the lines of "No, it's a blue square that we've all agreed to pretend is wonderful because we're afraid that saying the truth makes us look uncultured and unintelligent."

This was followed by a debate where my father explained the misuse of the word "abstract" and conveyed the traditional definition of art as an abstraction of some part of the human experience and said that the person who made the square was, instead of an artist, simply a painter who, if he showed any real aptitude, should get a job painting houses in a nearby subdivision. I don't remember much of what the other person said. I remember him saying something about the particular shade of blue used to make the square, but that's it.

To be honest, I kind of wanted to side with the other guy, otherwise the implications of us having filled a good part of the National Art Gallery with this stuff were a little too much for me.

My uneducated opinion now as an old guy is that these artists were actually rebelling against the human condition by rebelling against art. and the statement they were trying to make could be childishly summarized as "this whole thing sucks" even though they may not have understood this is what they were saying at the time. The uglier and more banal they were able to make their work, the stronger was their complaint about the human condition. After all, the 20th century was filled with strife and philosophical and religious disillusionment. Framed this way, it's possible that blue square really was wonderful.

But this is just a retrospective interpretation by someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[Pifanjr]

If you have lots of free time, read this about abstract art and give your own thoughts.

I've been talking to myself (on the forums) this morning about art games where you paint pictures and sell them (like Passpartout), and it reminded me of listening to a debate between my father, who's an actual genius, and an unknown patron at the National Art Gallery in Washington DC.

All three of us were standing together looking at a modernist abstract painting of a blue square on a white background when the other person said, "It's wonderful, isn't it?" to which my father replied something along the lines of "No, it's a blue square that we've all agreed to pretend is wonderful because we're afraid that saying the truth makes us look uncultured and unintelligent."

This was followed by a debate where my father explained the misuse of the word "abstract" and conveyed the traditional definition of art as an abstraction of some part of the human experience and said that the person who made the square was, instead of an artist, simply a painter who, if he showed any real aptitude, should get a job painting houses in a nearby subdivision. I don't remember much of what the other person said. I remember him saying something about the particular shade of blue used to make the square, but that's it.

To be honest, I kind of wanted to side with the other guy, otherwise the implications of us having filled a good part of the National Art Gallery with this stuff were a little too much for me.

My uneducated opinion now as an old guy is that these artists were actually rebelling against the human condition by rebelling against art. and the statement they were trying to make could be childishly summarized as "this whole thing sucks" even though they may not have understood this is what they were saying at the time. The uglier and more banal they were able to make their work, the stronger was their complaint about the human condition. After all, the 20th century was filled with strife and philosophical and religious disillusionment. Framed this way, it's possible that blue square really was wonderful.

But this is just a retrospective interpretation by someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

From what I understand, there are two things to keep in mind.

First of all, even if a piece of art looks really simple, like a single line or square, there might be more effort behind it than you'd think. I know there's one big painting that's just one colour, which seems simple at first. However, despite being made entirely by hand, you cannot see any brush marks or variations in shade.

The second thing is that art does not necessarily have to be realistic, complex or even beautiful. As gamers, we know all too well that the most realistic, complex and beautiful graphics aren't necessarily the best.
And I don't just mean that stylised graphics can look better than realistic ones, I also mean that sometimes you want to mod Thomas the Tank Engine into your game even though it clashes with the art style of the rest of the game.

 

[ZedClampet]

From what I understand, there are two things to keep in mind.

First of all, even if a piece of art looks really simple, like a single line or square, there might be more effort behind it than you'd think. I know there's one big painting that's just one colour, which seems simple at first. However, despite being made entirely by hand, you cannot see any brush marks or variations in shade.

The second thing is that art does not necessarily have to be realistic, complex or even beautiful. As gamers, we know all too well that the most realistic, complex and beautiful graphics aren't necessarily the best.
And I don't just mean that stylised graphics can look better than realistic ones, I also mean that sometimes you want to mod Thomas the Tank Engine into your game even though it clashes with the art style of the rest of the game.

Yay. Thanks for responding.

We're making a distinction between painting, the act of crafting your work, and what it is to be an artist, the act of revealing something about human existence. To be an artist, you have to do the latter, otherwise you are just a painter, though you can be a very great painter.

Complexity doesn't have anything to do with the merit of art, so how complex or difficult something was to make doesn't make a difference, but it does make a difference in painting. Same thing can be said for the art style, be it realism, cubism or whatever. Unless the art style is saying something, the easiest example would be expressionism, then it's just an aesthetic. In this sense, realism could perhaps be seen as the worst style for art.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yay. Thanks for responding.

We're making a distinction between painting, the act of crafting your work, and what it is to be an artist, the act of revealing something about human existence. To be an artist, you have to do the latter, otherwise you are just a painter, though you can be a very great painter.

Complexity doesn't have anything to do with the merit of art, so how complex or difficult something was to make doesn't make a difference, but it does make a difference in painting. Same thing can be said for the art style, be it realism, cubism or whatever. Unless the art style is saying something, the easiest example would be expressionism, then it's just an aesthetic. In this sense, realism could perhaps be seen as the worst style for art.

I think art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I don't think art is an act, but rather anything that reveals something about human existence to someone is art to that person.

 

[Zloth]

Wow, the things you miss when you get to playing your games too much...

Feels like the weather is getting more severe.

It is, though it seems to have pushed "tornado alley' a little east. We don't get nearly as many tornado warnings sending me down to the basement now. Maybe one or two a year, with a 30% chance of going a year without any! (A warning means there's a tornado on the ground. A watch just means conditions are good for forming a tornado. A watch just means "don't isolate from the outside world" while warning means "quit gawking at the cool sky and get in the basement NOW. )

I'm assuming you've already seen this:

I am now living in fear of crows turning on my outside faucets when I'm out and about.

 

[BeardyHat]

If you have lots of free time, read this about abstract art and give your own thoughts.

I've been talking to myself (on the forums) this morning about art games where you paint pictures and sell them (like Passpartout), and it reminded me of listening to a debate between my father, who's an actual genius, and an unknown patron at the National Art Gallery in Washington DC.

All three of us were standing together looking at a modernist abstract painting of a blue square on a white background when the other person said, "It's wonderful, isn't it?" to which my father replied something along the lines of "No, it's a blue square that we've all agreed to pretend is wonderful because we're afraid that saying the truth makes us look uncultured and unintelligent."

This was followed by a debate where my father explained the misuse of the word "abstract" and conveyed the traditional definition of art as an abstraction of some part of the human experience and said that the person who made the square was, instead of an artist, simply a painter who, if he showed any real aptitude, should get a job painting houses in a nearby subdivision. I don't remember much of what the other person said. I remember him saying something about the particular shade of blue used to make the square, but that's it.

To be honest, I kind of wanted to side with the other guy, otherwise the implications of us having filled a good part of the National Art Gallery with this stuff were a little too much for me.

My uneducated opinion now as an old guy is that these artists were actually rebelling against the human condition by rebelling against art. and the statement they were trying to make could be childishly summarized as "this whole thing sucks" even though they may not have understood this is what they were saying at the time. The uglier and more banal they were able to make their work, the stronger was their complaint about the human condition. After all, the 20th century was filled with strife and philosophical and religious disillusionment. Framed this way, it's possible that blue square really was wonderful.

But this is just a retrospective interpretation by someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

I feel like the simplest explanation is that art is intended to provoke a feeling and feeling disgust or frustration at a piece that might appear simple means that it's doing its job. I mean, I've certainly had more thoughts and feelings about this type of art than I have, say, Thomas Kinkade, which is just kind of a resounding, "meh."

Though, I once took an Aesthetics (think that was the name) class as part of my degree field. We had to study and write a short paper about a piece of art that, as I recall, was three different colored shapes, pushed up together, floating in white space. I had no clue what to say about it, so I remember just making up utter tripe, like what you might read in a fancy book or magazine about such a piece. I got an A on that one, but also that Professor was completely checked out and a bit of a joke amongst the people Majoring, so I'm not sure it even got read.

Anyway, this is worth listening to about Thomas Kinkade

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n1DO5mswnbw

 

[BeardyHat]

The worst part of having children is having to put up with your children's friends parents.

I absolutely cannot stand this one kids Dad. I'm hoping after this semester, things really dwindle and fade. If I never had to speak to this person again, I would rejoice.

 

[BeardyHat]

Went on a little "hike" today, which was really more of a long walk in the Foothills with some elevation. Neglected to put on sunscreen and paid for it. But, I packed my RC and my oldest RC car so we could play with them out on the trail; felt like a dweeb, but who cares, I had fun and got some smiles and compliments from a few other Dads. My favorite part is that I asked my wife if she wanted to give it a go and she did, ending up driving my little truck longer than myself and having a great time. She mentioned she'll have to come out and try my crawler course in the backyard next time my buddy and I are out there. This pleases me.

Gratuitous picture from the trail.

https://imgur.com/a/8dPznNC

 

[Frag Maniac]

I'm having a bit of trouble with the spin bike I bought. Yesterday the felt brake pad on the resistance unit shot out the front of the bike only 5 min into my spin workout. I had sprayed some silicone on the underside of it as is recommended by most manufacturers of these type bikes when the pad starts getting a bit dirty and less smooth feeling. It was not glued to the plastic brake shoe adequately.

I feel they really should attach these via industrial grade, outdoor rated Velcro strips. I've used that stuff before to attach a hide-a-key pouch for my car, and it held up for years through all kinds of weather. I actually have a new 2"x4" strip of the stuff on hand I plan to replace some loose zipper rain flap Velcro on my rain jacket (would require cutting into thin strips), but it would cause a problem adding a fair bit of thickness and affecting when the resistance pad engages (might be touching all the time, making it hard to spray with silicone).

I was ready to have the bike picked up by Pilot/Maersk, a heavy box service Amazon uses for returns, but I managed to jerry rig a way of reattaching the pad. It's 10mm thick, and I cut two 7mm deep slots on the side that touches the flywheel, then put it on with zip ties. These pads generally wear at the front end first, as they are mounted to a piece of flat metal that acts as a spring arm, which does not allow the curved brake shoe to align perfectly with the flywheel at lower resistance. I believe this is to yield a gradual build in resistance levels as you turn the resistance knob.

In my testing today, it works fine, and since that zip tie in the back is fitted in a slot at the back of the brake shoe, there's no way it can slip forward. I can also just cut the zip ties, and reverse the direction of the pad when the front end of it that touches first wears down to the zip tie. Most just replace their pad at that point, so I could get even longer wear this way. You can buy the compressed wool pads pretty cheap in lots of ten, but I'm not sure I want a high maintenance bike. It was in need of the silicone spray less than 2 weeks into using it.

Right now I'm looking at a used spin bike that uses no contact magnetic resistance, which a guy bought for his wife and is in like new condition. She said she never wanted it in her ad, but has yet to respond. It's one of the better rated bike brands and is very heavy duty, and also has pretty strong magnets. The latter is needed if you want to do serious workouts, as the no contact resistance units generally cannot produce as high a resistance as the friction type. I've had rollers before, which you actually ride on top of with your bike without being attached to anything. It had a mag resistance addon unit, and it was plenty powerful enough.

If I refund the bike I bought and buy that used bike, I'll be ahead by about $93. I have a strange feeling though that if I pursue this used bike, I'll be getting between a couple that's having one of those typical arguments about weight loss.