The Steam controller is amazing for Elden Ring and similar games. It makes the camera so much easier to deal with.

Didn’t catch any grenades, but I imagine so?

I played last night and showed those young’uns how to use the gravity gun.

Hadn’t played regularly in about 15 years, but the reflexes are still there.

Oh yeah, Amarillo is a big city for the NI-coC. Abilene, too.

The us-or-them situation is exactly what they’re aiming for: isolated people are easier to control. But yeah, I’m not sure if it’s an intentional strategy or just what happened to work out for their purposes.

Well, I grew up in what is known as the non-institutional church of Christ. There are different branches of the coC, ranging from the relatively liberal to the downright draconian.

What made this particular branch of the coC “non-institutional” is that they are independent of each other congregation, so the leadership of each group is separate from every other.

The way it actually shakes out is that every congregation gets super deep into the weeds about arcane interpretations of an ancient text about which they are unqualified to explain while making overconfident proclamations of certainty. Other congregations disagree with a fairly minor point in this reading, and they will become effectively dead to each other. Ultimately, the different churches (they would hate me calling them that) would form a loose confederation across the region with various groups they could live in uneasy peace with.

Within the congregation itself was a religion that taught that the world is a wicked place from which we should set ourselves apart. Evolution was a lie spread by the devil to make us doubt God’s power. Women were not allowed to speak or wear pants during the church service. We did not use instruments to make music during the service, as that was not mentioned in the Bible. Any disagreement with doctrine could get one removed from good standing, and we left two churches (forced out, really) based on the Elders’ strict views on baptism and musical instruments: my father would not agree that immersion was strictly necessary to save one’s soul, or that it was sinful to exceed the Bible’s authority and use instruments.

It is a bit of a weird duck as a cult, but they’re extremely controlling, patriarchal, and reactionary. They’re in most towns, but people usually think they’re an offshoot of the Baptists (of which certain types also dip into cult status in my opinion). I’d place them between the Baptists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses on a fundamentalist belief scale. I think the BITE model is a useful one (but not perfect) for defining cults:

• Behavioral control
• Information control
• Thought control
• Emotional control

The coC did all of these things: they wanted members to live apart from society where only those in the church were acceptable social peers, to limit exposure with “subversive” ideas and science, to make people so afraid of going to hell that you’ll blindly accept the teachings. You were expected to attend every service: Sunday morning & night and Wednesday night.

In short, they wanted to control people’s lives by love-bombing newcomers and then suffocating them until they fit into their assigned tiny little box.

And yes, we were in the end times. Even though nobody knows when Jesus will return. Wink.

I feel equal parts pity and exasperation that they’re ignoring critical crises like global climate change to focus on superstitious nonsense.

I grew up in a cult, so my whole life.

Yamaha makes the best guitar for the money.

The instrument I probably play the most is a nylon string Yamaha with a great dual pickup/mic that I got for $100 at a pawn shop. It has some cosmetic wear, but that’s a bonus in my opinion.

If you’re never seen Columbo, you’re in for a treat.

I never found them as comfortable as a pair of good sandals like Birkenstocks or some sneakers.

They make a decent camp shoe though, since they’re extremely light and waterproof; I’ll clip them to my backpack so they don’t take up room inside.

That time they banned the word “fascist” was the closest to self-awarenes they get.

The Feast of the Gods- Giovanni Bellini & Titian, oil on canvas (1514)

There is no inherent meaning; everyone must find their own.

For me, it’s to try and leave my little patch of the world better than I found it.

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Doing full co-op with a randomizer is a blast.

Improved Gyro To Mouse behavior when connected over bluetooth.

Wish they added more details; this could be big or not much at all.

Commodore 64 here, too.

First Linux distro was Ubuntu.

The most important part about learning a musical instrument is consistent practice.

1 hour twice per week is not as good as 20 minutes every single day. And you do have to play every day if you want to improve. Work on one thing at a time and most importantly: use a metronome.

Guitar is a meditation exercise: you have to learn to love the process. If you aren’t having fun, maybe it just isn’t for you.

It really is a great game.

The combat reminds me most of Half-life 1 when the soldiers are chasing you through Black Mesa.

Your Beeness