Theme Hospital (thumbnail) was dope. I used to rent the PS1 port from my local video store, but never came across it for PC. Used to love Bullfrog Entertainment back in the day and played the absolute hell out of Dungeon Keeper. Theme Hospital wasn’t nearly as good, but there was something super chill about designing waiting rooms and deciding where to put the vending machines. For whatever reason, the waiting rooms were always my favorite part.

Shame we never got a proper Dungeon Keeper 3. War For the Overworld is a worthy successor, and getting Richard Ridings ('ELLO, PEPPA!) back to narrate was a boss move, but I don’t care for the new creature designs that almost (but don’t quite) emulate Bullfrog’s creatures. Just doesn’t feel right without a few fat bile demons dragging themselves around your corridors.

It means everyone is probably getting sick around here and having bad days because Mercury is in retrograde. At least, that’s what my co-worker once said in front of like fifteen people.

Most of western Canada is right-wing. Especially Alberta and Saskatchewan. Outside of Vancouver (where living is beyond unaffordable for most), BC is also pretty conservative, albeit less overall I’m sure than Alberta. The tricky part is that quality of life is quite good in Alberta. Housing is affordable and we’re the least taxed province, so if you can live with the occasional stupid hick with a “FUCK TRUDEAU” flag or decal, life is pretty good here. It’s really your only affordable option if you want to live near the mountains. Otherwise the Appalachians do extend into the eastern maritime provinces. Jobs are just extemely scarce and often seasonal out that way.

I immigrated from Michigan back in 2017. I’m very left-wing and so is my wife who has lived here her entire life. The province nearly flipped last election so things have been improving on that front, and you’re certainly not going to be the only leftist around. Well, unless you move to a small town or Grand Prairie or Fort Mac.

Lethbridge and Edmonton are the most left-leaning places in the province. Edmonton, however, is fucking huge… So you’re not getting away from the city up that way.

There is no escaping the right-wing brain rot. It’s everywhere now. 2016 spread into Canada like wildfire. But when I came here my life improved tenfold. I make three times what I did back home for the same line of work (retail/produce management). I have healthcare, a daughter, bought a home with my wife this summer. It’s a million times better than the States, but we are looking down the barrel of gun. I wish you the best on your immigration, and I hope you’re as happy here as I am, wherever you wind up.

If you want to be near mountains, want affordable living and are progressive, Lethbridge, AB may be your best bet. The landscape there is a bit weird. Looks kind or like Iceland or something. Super hilly with big valleys and very few trees outside or the city, but definitely not a big city vibe like you’d find in Edmonton or Calgary.

Pretty mild climate too.

But the Alberta government is fucking idiotic, so I can’t say what will happen in the future with healthcare and human rights.

Grass Metal!

Mowing my lawn must be a fucking nightmare for everything involved. ☹️

Very pretty spot.

I miss the classic era of DAoC and still hum various town music to this day. Cotswold being the most recurring.

Brianna “autistic as fuck” got me.

HEROSHIMA! CHERNOBYL! WINDOWS 95! WE DO IT ONCE, WE DO IT AGAIN!

I expected more of a little squeaky “Wehh!”

I’ve yet to find a game that properly rolls in a distant storm that eventually grows into an intense one. They tend to come on very quickly and escalate to 10 in about 20 seconds.

I went through a brief Asmongold phase about a year or two ago where I enjoyed just listening to him rant and bitch (mostly) about the video game industry. He was surprisingly articulate at times and not quite how I had perceived him. I watched him take a political alignment test and he was dumbfounded that he was fairly left-wing. I thought that might be a turning point for him, but then election season came around and he went right back to being an obnoxious Trump-supporting Texan. I don’t think Asmongold even knows who he is deep down or what he stands for. I think he just spews vomit from his brain and doubles-down on all of it because he’s incapable of dropping an argument or admitting he was wrong. It’s kind of his shtick, but I’m long since done with it.

I know enough about him to attempt a deep-dive into his psyche in regards to his decrepit home, his mother’s death and his unwillingness to seperate from his lifestyle, but at the end of the day his sad circumstances unfortunately don’t excuse the abborant shit he sometimes says.

The entire app is a slow and clunky mess on our Roku TV. I’ve never seen a more poorly optimized and irritating service. Every time we’re subjected to it I’m dumbfounded that Disney would even greenlight such a thing.

Waldorf, as per court order, was not allowed to take photographs with children and was omitted from the shot.

We used to prepare and eat these back home. They’re a bit like eggplant. My dad would sometimes hop out of the car on his commute home from work and grab these off the side of the road.

Not hearing the kind stranger line for over a year now has been wonderful.

Shaggy has some densely elongated schlang.

Nearly every server is different, but the ones my friends/wife and I always did (10+ years ago) were like role-playing kingdom building maps. Server owner (usually me) would hold the title of King/Sovereign and appoint their friends to specific roles. I would oversee the general development and expansion of the kingdom, as well as decide and manage a system of ore-based currency (or would at least create the mint and appoint someone to running it). Afterward I would introduce and gradually roll out phases of a larger storyline for anyone who cares.

My left and right hand would build/manage the keeps/barracks/military structures, or the government buildings/libraries/cultural centers, etc. These would all be injected with their own lore and staffed by the person in charge of them. Everyone else would receive more minor roles, but typically be given monopolies in certain types of goods or commerce. Maybe Bob wants to be a trapper. Sure, anyone else can legally go and gather leathers and animal parts, but Bob is the only one permitted to sell those items in his shop in the city. Things like that just to try to keep it interesting. When Bob isn’t trapping or trading or being involved with the kingdom, he’s pretty much just playing Minecraft on his homestead.

The idea is to open it up to the public (via applications and careful vetting) and watch people run amock in the simulated medieval economy. We used to have a blast doing it. Especially with mods installed that added skill progression, abilities at milestones and other MMORPG-esque mechanics.

Normal people, however… They just do what they do in single player but occasionally trade, work together, tackle bosses, and show each other their latest creations.

I faked trombone all the way through middle school. Adam, the kid next to me, knew how to play trombone and could read the music as well. What I did was create my own system of trombonal slide positions, numbered 1 through 6. Then I would watch where Adam moved his slide with each note played, and I would write the corresponding number from my system above each note on my paper.

I leached you like a vampire, Adam.