Fallout 4 Mario 60 - Defend the Castle

Fallout 4 Mario 58 - Mass Fusion

Skyrim 24 - Journey to Karthspire

Skyrim 20 - A Night to Remember, Part 3

Skyrim 19 - A Night to Remember, Part 2

Skyrim 18 - A Night to Remember, Part 1

Fallout 4 Nena 41 - Vault-Tec Among the Stars

Fallout 4 Mario 52 - The Battle of Bunker Hill

Dishonored 6 - Learn About Weepers

Blind let's play of Dishonored continues.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Abridged)

Found where this was hiding on Vimeo. I need to have a convenient link to it.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Abridged) on Vimeo.

Skyrim 15 - A Blade in the Dark

Well, if YouTube is going to make it easy to share my goofy gaming videos to my blog, that' works for me.

Why Have a Car There?

This is a little meme going around on Facebook which gave me an excuse to put something on the sorely neglected blog.

Why would someone have a car on this tiny island? It makes no sense! What kind of insanity is this?

It's the kind of insanity that realizes...

• The boat dock is on the far side of the island from the (light)house for some reason.
• Sometimes you might need to move heavy things from the dock to the house.
• Sometimes the weather is cold and wet and nasty when you need to go from house to dock or dock to house.

That said, I hope the car is electric and they have solar power or wires to the mainland or something, because carrying gas is probably a bitch.

Note: I have heard suggestions that this might be photoshopped. I doubt it (for reasons listed above), but it's certainly possible.

Also: There's clearly no good place to dock a boat on the house side of the island. It may need to be on that side though, since it does appear to be a lighthouse, so the separation of the dock from house may be unavoidable.

New Facebook Nonsense: Expert says Humans are Aliens

Expert says Humans are Aliens—and we were brought to Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago

This came up in my Facebook feed. I love the person who posted it, but this is complete bollocks. The evidence that humans originated on Earth is so plentiful that it would take extraordinary evidence to prove otherwise.

What if Humans are the aliens we’ve been looking for all along? According to experts, humans were most likely crossbred with another species, perhaps from the star system Alpha Centauri –which is one of the closest solar systems to Earth—in the distant past, giving birth to modern humans.

I can’t wait to find out who these “experts” are and what expertise they supposedly have.

Tell Al-Uhaymir modern day Iraq, where the ancient Sumerian city of Kish used to be, archaeologists found one of the oldest ancient documents on the planet, the tablet of Kish which is believed to date back to the year 3500 BC.

That is a pretty old document.

The Sumerian king list states that Kish was the first city to have kings following the deluge, beginning with Jushur. Jushur’s successor is called Kullassina-bel, but this is actually a sentence in Akkadian meaning “All of them were lord”. Thus, some scholars have suggested that this may have been intended to signify the absence of a central authority in Kish for a time.

It sure would be nice if the author of this article would provide references. Who are these scholars and what are their reasons for making these “suggestions”?

This ancient document is believed to precede the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians, and the Egyptian hieroglyphs for almost one hundred years.

Cuneiform writing dates back to around 3600 BCE, a century before the King list (which is written in cuneiform) was created.

Developing the ability to express thoughts through written language is one of the first ways in which man differed from the animal kingdom.

Five thousand years since, humans have developed electricity, divided the atom, developed computers, and led man to the moon. We have achieved things that other species have still not. No other species on earth can attribute such unique achievements in such a short period of time. Interestingly, compared to other species of the earth, our ‘evolution’ is relatively short.

Our period of evolution is about 3.8 billion years, the same as for all other life on Earth. We didn’t emerge from nothing just a million years ago.

It has been a short period of time, most likely a few million years since the first hominid walked on Earth. Precisely this is one of the biggest scientific questions of all times: Why have only our species emerged to this truly advanced technological intelligence?

A key reason is a genetic flaw in the genes that make our jaw muscles develop. Our jaw strength is much less than that of other great apes, but the reduced force means our skulls can be larger. That’s just one piece of a large puzzle, but there’s no evidence that extraterrestrials were involved.

Evidently, there is nothing more advanced than humans on planet Earth.

How do you define “advanced”? Every other species that currently exists is just as evolved as humans. Human intelligence has allowed us to modify the environment to suit us instead of adapting to the environment, which has resulted in some impressive feats, but it also seems to be on the verge of biting us in the ass.

While there are different ‘intelligent’ species on Earth, none of them makes use of technology like us.

Just imagine for a second, if for some reason, mankind had to return to the jungle, and survive there. Many experts agree that most of them would not survive for a very long period of time.

One of the disadvantages of humans is that we need to learn just about everything about survival, unlike animals that instinctively know how to survive. The skills needed to survive in modern society are quite different from those needed to survive alone in a jungle, so someone used to living in a city could easily die in a wilderness survival situation, since they wouldn’t have time to learn what they need to do.

Many scientists agree that humans, in addition to their intelligence, are not very capable to occupy a wide range of environments. In other words, we are very limited when it comes to our planet.

Humans settled a wide variety of climates and habitats long before we had advanced technology. With NO tools we have problems, sure, but even with simple tools we can settle anywhere from Norway to the Polynesian islands.

In addition to our fascinating intelligence, biologists have also noticed contrasts between human physiology and that of other animals on earth. Many scientists agree that compared to other species on earth, humans are rather strange. For example, a baby horse when born, is able to walk and function almost independently, but this a human baby can not do, which makes us quite helpless. In other words, we are born before being neurologically ready for life.

We share that trait with all of the other Great Apes and many other primates.

Many researchers agree that there are many vulnerabilities that accompany our intelligence.

None that you care to name or reference, but I’m sure that there are many. I already described one disadvantage.

Humans on earth eventually became bipeds, which freed up our superior extremities allowing us to manipulate objects, create tools and much more. But for all this, experts believe that our species has paid an expensive price. Lumbar pain a sign that according to many experts could tell us a lot about our species. Curiously, other animals on Earth do NOT have this problem. It’s as if only humans are affected by some of these problems.

The upright stance of humans is a recent adaptation. Our spines had previously evolved to handle a quadrupedal stance. It’s no surprise that this change carries with it some problems, but they rarely keep us from reaching adulthood and bearing children, so they aren’t evolving away quickly.

So what does all of this mean? According to one expert, it means that we are the aliens we’ve we been looking for all along.

A new theory proposed by Dr. Ellis Silver states that there are several tell-tale signs present in the human race that suggest human beings did not evolve ALONGSIDE other lifeforms on Earth.

Finally a name. Unfortunately, it’s not clear that it’s the name of a real person. “I can’t find much of anything that suggests that Ellis Silver is even a real person, nevermind one with a doctorate in ecology from a US institution. Nothing turns up on Google Scholar for work by an academic by the name of Ellis Silver, and a regular google search just turns up countless links to Humans are not from Earth….”—Tulpesh Patel

The book called ‘Humans are not from Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence’ is basically a resume of theories for and mostly against man’s evolution on Earth. In the book, leading environmentalist and ecologist Dr. Ellis Silver goes through an evaluation of thirteen leading hypothesis and seventeen factors which suggest HUMANS ARE NOT FROM EARTH.

Leading environmentalist and ecologist? If he’s a leader in these fields, why is it so hard to find any publications from him in reputable scientific journals? Why is this one book that credits him as the author apparently the ONLY reference to him on the entire internet? Does he teach at a university? Which one? If not, what does he do for a living? What organization funds his research?

Mankind is supposedly the most highly developed species on the planet, yet is surprisingly unsuited and ill-equipped for Earth’s environment: harmed by sunlight, a strong dislike for naturally occurring foods, ridiculously high rates of chronic disease, and more said Dr. Ellis in an interview.

The same could be said of any species. Look at all the carnivores that can’t survive by eating plants! Look at all the herbivores that can’t digest meat efficiently! Birds that can’t swim! Fish that can’t walk! They are all unsuited to living on Earth!

According to Dr. Ellis, humans might suffer from back pain because our species initially evolved on another planet with a lower gravity, adding to the mysteries, Dr. Ellis also indicates that it is strange that newborns have large heads and make it difficult for mothers to give birth, which can result in fatalities for both mother and child.

Humans are hardly the only species that can have birthing problems, and I expect that the cetacean ancestors that still had vestigial legs had problems with them.

So where do we come from? According to Dr. Ellis, Neanderthals were most likely crossbred with another species, perhaps from the star system Alpha Centauri –which is one of the closest solar systems to Earth— in the distant past, giving birth to modern humans.

If this had happened, we would be able to trace the alien DNA. We have mapped the whole human genome, after all.

According to Dr. Ellis, there are millions of people around the globe who ‘feel’ that they do not belong on Earth.

Mostly teenagers, no doubt.

Dr. Ellis explains: “This suggests (to me at least) that mankind may have evolved on a different planet, and we may have been brought here as a highly developed species. One reason for this … is that the Earth might be a prison planet since we seem to be a naturally violent species and we’re here until we learn to behave ourselves.”

All predatory species are naturally violent. Many herbivores (like hippos, for example) are also naturally violent.

Dr. Ellis concludes that mankind did not evolve from that particular strain of life, but evolved elsewhere and was transported to Earth (as fully evolved Homo sapiens) between 60,000 and 200,000 years ago.

That’s a conclusion that does not follow from any evidence.

Furthermore, as noted by Robert Sepher, according to modern DNA sequencing, it is demonstrated that humanity as we know it, isn’t just ONE single ‘race’ that descended from the same ancestor in Africa, but a hybridized species, with a far more enigmatic truth behind it all.

Robert Sepher appears to be a fringe quack, but at least a bit of search shows him to be a real person.

Many questions have been raised in the discussion about Rh negative blood. If mankind did, in fact, evolve from a mutual ancient African ancestor, theories state that everyone’s blood would be compatible, but regrettably, this is not the case. This raises numerous questions that science alone has not been able to fully answer. Where did Rh negative blood come from? And why is it that a Rh negative mother carrying Rh positive children tries rejecting her own offspring? Is it possible that this can be explained by a rather controversial theory? A theory which suggests that humanity isn’t in fact one race, but a hybridized species.

Which theories “state that everyone’s blood would be compatible”?

As for this controversial “theory”, I would like to see it stated clearly. I would like to see predictions made based on this theory. I would like to see tests performed to see if the predictions match reality. I would like to see the findings published in reputable journals. I would like to see the tests repeated by other reputable scientists. I would like to see these “scientists” do what scientists do when they think they have made a discovery. Publishing sensationalist books for the general public is what quacks and hoaxers do.

The book was written by Robert Sepehr, Species with Amnesia: Our Forbidden History tells us more about the enigmatic blood type Rh-negative. Not only does Species with Amnesia suggest mankind is, in fact, a hybridized species, the author suggests that highly advanced civilizations have been on Earth before us, just to be destroyed by some great global catastrophe, as mysteriously, history tells us.

Getting tired of this worthless blather now.

Sepehr argues that for each race that has died out, another has taken its place, with a selected few holding on to the memories and sacred knowledge of the past race. In our vanity, we think we have discovered some of the great truths of science and technology, but we are in fact only just beginning to rediscover the profound wisdom of past civilizations. In many ways, we are like an awakening Species with Amnesia, yearning to reclaim our forgotten past.

Oh, great. Now we have “wisdom of the ancestors” woo, too.

The Basque people of Spain and France have the highest percentage of Rh negative blood. About 30% have (rr) Rh negative and about 60% carry one (r) negative gene.

“There are 612 primate species and subspecies recognized by the international Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN), and not one has Rh negative blood”. – Robert Sepehr, Species with Amnesia: Our Forbidden History

The article ends there. No summary or any proper conclusion. It just stops. Pretty terrible writing, in addition to being full of nonsense.

Humans evolved on Earth. There is no way that aliens from Alpha Centauri or anywhere else could interbreed with Earthly life. You’d have a better chance of cross-breeding a Neanderthal with a carrot.

The Myth of Perseus and the Gorgon (the short version)

Someone on badmovies.org asked how the Clash of the Titans movies (new and old) differ from the original Perseus myth, so I obliged by retelling the myth for them. Then I figured I should put it on the old blog, as well, so here it is.

Behold Acrisius, King of Argos. He has a daughter named Danae. According to prophecy, if Danae has a son, he will kill Acrisius, so Acrisius keeps Danae locked in the tower.

Behold Zeus. Zeus is horny, and Danae is hot. No locked tower will prevent Zeus from satisfying his lust.

Danae gives birth to a son, Perseus. Hoping to keep Perseus from growing up to kill him, Acrisius puts Danae and Perseus in a wood chest and sets them adrift on the sea.

Behold Polydectes, King of Seriphus. A girl with a baby just washed ashore in a wood chest. That’s something you didn’t see every day back then, so he grants them asylum in Seriphus.

Over time, Polydectes realizes that Danae is hot, so he starts to put the moves on her. Unfortunately, Perseus has grown into a strapping young demigod and master cock-blocker. Needing to get rid of Perseus, Polydectes tricks him into boasting that he could kill the gorgon Medusa (whose face will turn anyone who looks at it to stone) and bring back her head. Polydectes holds him to it, forcing him to go on a suicide quest.

Behold Hermes and Athena. Zeus has sent them to help get Perseus out of the mess he has found himself in. They provide him with some of the gods’ own magical artifacts: winged sandals that allow him to fly, a helmet that turns him invisible, a sword that will cut through pretty much anything, a shield with a reflective inner surface, and a satchel to carry Medusa’s head, if he ever gets it. They also give him directions to the Graeae.

Behold the Graeae, sisters of the Gorgons. The Graeae will know where Medusa sleeps at night. They’re not willing to give up their sister’s location easily, though. Funny thing: the Graeae only have one eye and one tooth among them. Perseus manages to snatch those and only gives them back after they have revealed the location of Medusa’s lair.

Cocky young demigod that he is, Perseus is no fool. Wearing the cap of invisibility, he approaches Medusa, looking only at her reflection in his shield, and cuts off her head while she sleeps. He drops her head into the satchel and starts flying back to Seriphus. (In some versions he is pursued by two other gorgons, sisters of Medusa, but being both invisible and soon airborne, he escapes.)

Behold Andromeda, a maiden tied to a rock by the sea. She is a sacrifice to the Kraken. Perseus spots her as he is flying home and thinks she’s hot. He lands by her father Cepheus, the king of Ethiopia, and offers to kill the monster and save her… if he can marry her. Cepheus agrees, and Perseus offs the Kraken (stories are fuzzy on whether he shows it Medusa’s head or just lays into it with his super-sharp sword).

Behold Phineus. He also thinks Andromeda is hot, but now she’s marrying some courageous foreigner who saved her from being eaten by a monster. Unfair! He gets a bunch of his buddies together to crash the wedding and kill the foreigner. Perseus shows them Medusa’s head, and they shut right up.

Perseus returns to Seriphus with Andromeda, where he finds that Polydectes has been getting super creepy and stalky with Danae. Perseus shows him Medusa’s head to put an end to that.

Hermes and Athena then pay a visit to congratulate Perseus and take back all of the magical artifacts he borrowed, as well as Medusa’s head, which he is starting to have a little too much fun with.

Some time later, Perseus participates in a sporting event in a neighboring kingdom. In the discus throw, he throws so far that the discus goes into the crowd and nails a guy in the head, killing him. Turns out to be King Acrisius, who had gone into hiding when he learned that Perseus had survived and grown up. (Don’t try to avoid prophecies. It never ends well.)

With Acrisius dead, Perseus is the heir to the throne of Argos. Good times.

Addendum: Why is Andromeda tied to a rock?

As noted, Andromeda is hot. So hot, in fact, that some people in Ethiopia (including her mother, Cassiopeia) said she was hotter than the Nereids (sea nymphs).

The Nereids heard that, and it pissed them off, so they complained to Poseidon.

Poseidon was always more into nymphs than humans, so he agreed to punish the tasteless mortals. He sent his hit-beast, the Kraken, to Ethiopia to either destroy the city or eat Andromeda. Their choice.

Second Addendum: What's a Kraken?

The Kraken is actually a sea monster from Scandinavian mythology, not Greek mythology, but it had a cool name, so the producers of the movies used it. The name of the monster in the Perseus myth is not always given, but it is sometimes identified as Cetus.

Fallout 4 Mod List

I figured I would create this list for my tiny following on YouTube. This is the list of PlayStation 4 mods that I use when playing Fallout 4. I'll try to keep it updated, and using it should allow me to use one link in YouTube videos to share my whole mod list.

• BoS Uniform Ballistic Weave
• Vendor rugs and a guard rug too!!
• [PS4] OCDecorator
• [PS4] OCDecorator DLC
• [PS4] Scrap Plants, Leaves, Skeletons & More
• [PS4] STS - Scrap That Settlement! - Base Game
• [PS4] Better Synth Relay Grenades No Squads [PS4]
• [PS4] Wild Plants, Nuka & Alcohol for Settlements: Season Pass Version
• Buffed Minutemen Militia 2 [PS4 Version]
• [PS4] Static Basket and Bins
• [PS4] USO Base Game (Core Component Of Unlocked Settlement Objects)
• Bostonairport+mechanistlairworkbenchfix ps4
• Unlock Ballistic Weave
• (PS4) Streamers Best Friend (Radio Silence)
• [PS4] UCO Base Game
• Saving Survival Mode

Bad Movie: Pegasus vs Chimera

On October 26, I watched Pegasus vs Chimera, a movie I found on DVD for $3. I live-commented my pain on Facebook, and I've transcribed that below the fold...

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World On Fire

The Good Doctor

Venison Stew

I am supposed to take something to a Halloween party, and I have a venison roast from one of my family friends who hunts on his property. Pretty sure this guy lead a good life and never knew what hit him.

Ingredients:

• 1 venison roast
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 3 celery ribs
• 2 red potatoes
• 1 turnip
• 1 garlic clove (at least)
• 1 can of beef stock
• 1 bottle of beer
• 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce
• rosemary
• thyme
• black pepper
• salt

Stammel wanted to lend moral support, of course. I'm pretty sure that if he could crawl into my pocket, he would.

Monologuing