efaardvark

Seahorses!

Quote

...likely try to bite you because they'll think it's a food source

That's the basic problem here, isn't it?   

Here in SoCal we have a LOT of sea lions.  They're especially common around the Channel Islands where the rookeries are but I've seen them everywhere from San Diego in the south up to Santa Barbara in the north.  We also have some seals, mainly harbor seals.  They're not nearly as common and typically in much smaller groups so they're not as noticeable.

On 11/22/2025 at 1:16 PM, Animedragon said:

Astronomy is an interesting subject. I was really into it when I was younger, but I live in a very built up area and so there's a lot of light pollution, also with all the houses around me my local horizon is rather high. There is a local park nearby, which is really dark, but I'm not sure if it's open at night and anyway it's not a good or safe place to be at night. So I slowly lost my enthusiasm for astronomy, but I still watch astronomy programmes on TV, have all my books and still like looking up at the stars on clear nights when I 'm on holiday.

I've been into astronomy for a long time as well.  I have a nice 10" CAT but I too live in a light-polluted urban area and don't use it much anymore.  In theory I could jump to the other side of the mountains where there's mostly uninhabited desert to get away from it, but the 'scope weighs a ton and I'm not getting any younger!      (I'm also a bit nervous about actually using it or transporting it anywhere.  Now that Orion and Meade have gone out of business if something breaks I don't know how I would get it fixed.)

I've made myself a career doing space however, and I'm still really interested in anything and everything to do with the topic(s).  Some of that stuff coming from James Webb for instance is quite amazing and intriguing.  I've sat through hours of HD video from LRO in low orbit around the moon.  Then there's Juno and all those pics of Jupiter, Europa Clipper to look forward to, the 2 Mars rovers that are still functioning, etc.  People are still studying all the data that came back from Cassini before that mission ended.  At work we're doing testing for Artemis II and Blue Origin's "Mark 1" lunar lander going up in a couple months.

Mid 80's.  I had just graduated HS a couple years earlier and still a couple years from starting anything like a career.  No cellphones.  No Internet.  The original IBM PC (8088 [email protected], 16KByytes RAM, CGA graphics) was still selling well, to those who could afford the $1500 for it.  Real money back then.. about what a cheap car cost.  Max was amazing to a lot of people.

I never thought it was going to be over in just a few months , not with the number of "community transmission" cases and the lack of effective testing early on.  I was figuring closer to a year, though maybe with something of a lull during the warmer months.  Usually it seems they get a vaccine for this year's variant of the flu in time for next year's flu season.  That's kind of what I've been expecting for this one, but even that assumes it is a "well-behaved" virus that doesn't come up with any sneaky tricks.  Especially for the high-risk groups this isn't going to really be over until they get a working vaccine produced and distributed.

39 minutes ago, Beocat said:

My favorite con got canceled this year so no fun for me that said, I think people will return to how they were shortly after...within a year. Us pitiful humans with our short attention spans and even shorter memory. 

It has been fun and educational to talk to some of the old people like my mom who remember quarantines and regular occurrences of serious communicable diseases like measles and polio.  We've had it easy for a long time thanks to modern medicine.  These people that are rebelling against that legacy are ignorant morons.  Crazy Eddie lives.

GATE put to mind a short story by Harry Turtledove, "The Road Not Taken".  Pretty sure it was in an issue of Analog on the 80's but all that era is in boxes in the garage so I'm not quite sure.  Anyway, it was the same kind of scenario.  The primitive but imperialistic invaders come to Earth in their wooden space ships held together with pitch and thinking themselves invincible with their kites and black-power clay bombs and flintlock muskets, and promptly get themselves blown away by tanks, fighter jets, and assault rifles.  TRNT was similar in that it didn't follow through and have the Earthlings press their obvious technological advantage.  Failing that, I'd have liked to see another season that started with the Gate closing and the people from Earth being cut off and having to fend for themselves in the new world.

I know the feeling.  When I was in 2nd(?) grade my family lived for a while in Alabama.  There was a drainage ditch that ran behind our house and every time it rained us kids could hardly wait to go out and see what the water had washed out or uncovered.  I still have a box with a bunch of fossils, and other brick-a-brak, mostly from that time.

36 minutes ago, EvaUnit69 said:

Mazinger Z ladies and gentlemen! I honestly never find people who even know of this anime but it is a wild f-ing ride peeps. The only way I can describe this anime is to say at some point a lady robot fires her boobies as a weapon and it became a thing to the point there is references to it in marvel vs capcom as one of Rolls specials

 

Also known as Tranzor Z, one of the early ones that lead in the mecha genre in the 70s.

For some reason MZ is forever linked in my mind with Gatchaman.  I think they were back-to-back on TV back in the days when I was young and impressionable. 

1 hour ago, Seshi said:

Do you have a favorite type?

Probably kuu, since they're most interesting to me and interesting characters make for interesting anime.  They tend to need good supporting characters to play off though.

I tend to have the strongest reactions - both positive and negative - to kuudere characters.  Irie Naoki from Mischievous Kiss I wanted to strangle for instance, but I did/do like characters like Sesshoumaru (Inuyasha), Goblin Slayer, or Shiroe (Log Horizon).  Sometimes they can be boring though (Tatsuya Shiba, The Irregular at Magic High) if they're not well-written/acted.

It kinda depends, doesn't it?  I mean, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" would be completely different than "EEEEEEYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!", right?  "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" might even be like, "aaahhh!", but I'd certainly never want to have to "EEEEEEYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" for real! 

A Place Further than the Universe does look promising from what I've seen/read.  Haven't watched it yet, but definitely on my list.  Asobi Asobase didn't tickle my fancy.  Non-funny jokes, mediocre art.  I dropped it.  Hope that sort of thing doesn't become a trend.  Yuru Camp was good.  (And Yama no susume as well... kind of in the same vein.) 

The others ....  I'm a binge-watcher and usually (at least) a season behind so there's a lot of recent stuff I haven't gotten to yet.  I liked Goblin Slayer though, and the first season of Tensura (slime).

I just couldn't get into Black Clover.  Yes, the main character is too noisy.  The rest don't make up for it.  I got about 10 or so episodes in, looked at the (at the time) 40 or so episodes to go, and decided it just wasn't worth it.  At least not for me.  Who knows?  Maybe it'll turn into another 500+ episode Naruto.  I kind of doubt it, but either way.. I'm out. 

Goblin Slayer, on the other hand, was pretty good.  If you liked that one then you might try Grimgar .. different, but it had a kind of similar vibe for me.  FWIW, I also liked Overlord, and the first season of TenSura (the "slime" one.. I binge and am saving the rest for later.)

I hardly ever do the NY resolution thing.  Resolutions have always struck me as unrealistic.  Either they're too little or they're too much.  If they're too much they can backfire and mess with your head.  If they're too little then I don't really feel I accomplished anything significant.

My plan has always just been to continuously try to do things better than I did last time.  That's a goal that is always within reach and therefore fairly easy to make a habit out of.  I find that works better for me than doing the new year's resolution thing every January.

I hate picking favorites.  That said, OPs for me are all about the music, and these are some of the more memorable
 ones (in a good way)...

and of course the KoS japanese version...

Been there, done that.  Never did get the hang of it.  (Hope that's not too discouraging.)  I can make a sandwich.  Sometimes I can even successfully heat soup in the microwave.  Beyond that.. best not push it.  I don't even have the BBQ gene that a lot of guys seem to have.  My ancestors must have been the fruit-eaters because that's the only way they could have survived. 

I'm looking forward to this one too.  I just watched the first episode on Crunchy & I liked what I saw of that.  One worry is that it started quick & keeping that pace AND keeping it good might be a challenge.  I binge-watch so I probably won't come back to it until after the end, but it is definitely on my list.

6 hours ago, SoullessMarshmallow said:

My uncle's 36 and he stills binges it everyday

Only 36??  I remember watching the original Uchuu Senkan Yamato on Saturday morning cartoons in the 70s.  Speed Racer on MTV reruns too.  I've been reading (mostly SF) books and watching anime since before the Internet.. even before microwave ovens! 

If I ever stop, I must be dead.