culturedleftfoot's recent activity

  1. Comment on White House signals defeat in pandemic as coronavirus outbreak roils Pence’s office in ~health.coronavirus

    culturedleftfoot
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    Who is the most high-profile COVID casualty in the USA? Have any of the White House staff lost any family members?

    Who is the most high-profile COVID casualty in the USA? Have any of the White House staff lost any family members?

    3 votes

  2. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
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    I never got to the end of 8, having left off just as I started the final disc, but by that point I was fairly spun around on the story. The gameplay itself was good, but I'd be surprised to find...

    I never got to the end of 8, having left off just as I started the final disc, but by that point I was fairly spun around on the story. The gameplay itself was good, but I'd be surprised to find out they managed to unjumble the story in the end.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
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    I'm probably about to sell my unplayed copy of FF9 along with the rest of my PS1 collection... sigh. I don't know if I'll ever get around to playing it. Have a little bit of extra fun for me!

    I'm probably about to sell my unplayed copy of FF9 along with the rest of my PS1 collection... sigh. I don't know if I'll ever get around to playing it. Have a little bit of extra fun for me!

    1 vote

  4. Comment on How we make our traditional bread roti in ~food

    culturedleftfoot
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    Hadn't heard of Peer or Reactistan before today. Reminds me of the late great Narayana Reddy, a.k.a. Grandpa Kitchen.

    Hadn't heard of Peer or Reactistan before today. Reminds me of the late great Narayana Reddy, a.k.a. Grandpa Kitchen.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on How President Trump ruined political comedy in ~misc

    culturedleftfoot
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    The notion that Trump has killed political comedy has been bandied about somewhat carelessly for at least the past three years, IMO. I'm largely in disagreement with the premise (most of those...

    The notion that Trump has killed political comedy has been bandied about somewhat carelessly for at least the past three years, IMO. I'm largely in disagreement with the premise (most of those shows being cancelled isn't proof of Trump being impervious to satire, it's more like those shows just weren't all that funny), but I think the real value to the article is in its second half, reframing Trump as humorist-in-chief and understanding how he represents the right's sense of humor. One quote in particular gets to the heart of the performative nature of much contemporary political discourse:

    Today’s right is at once more willing to say what it doesn’t mean for a laugh and more ready to frame what it does mean as a joke.

    13 votes

  7. Comment on How we make our traditional bread roti in ~food

    culturedleftfoot
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    For those of us who don't have the time (or tafus) on our hands, there's always Rotimatic.

    For those of us who don't have the time (or tafus) on our hands, there's always Rotimatic.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Major League Rugby faces a pandemic, and corrosive politics in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
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    Wow, never even knew Major League Rugby was a thing.

    Wow, never even knew Major League Rugby was a thing.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Trump/Biden 2020 Presidential Debate #2 Discussion Thread in ~talk

    culturedleftfoot
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    Just saw a FB post on /r/selfawarewolves criticizing Google, because they have 800 million results for "who won the debate" and none of the articles on the first 10 pages of results say Trump...

    Just saw a FB post on /r/selfawarewolves criticizing Google, because they have 800 million results for "who won the debate" and none of the articles on the first 10 pages of results say Trump...

    2 votes

  10. Comment on The Sound of Sport (Audio documentary) in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
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    Excellent post! In another life I'd be working in audio and/or video production, so I quite enjoyed this. It's very interesting to note how, as they said at the end, our expectations have changed...

    Excellent post! In another life I'd be working in audio and/or video production, so I quite enjoyed this.

    It's very interesting to note how, as they said at the end, our expectations have changed over time in terms of the sound coverage in sporting events. Though professional sports have gradually returned since the pandemic, most European soccer leagues have not allowed fans back into stadiums to view the games being played (TV contracts were a source of huge pressure to have teams return to the field in the first place, exposing the precarious finances many clubs' exist teeter on, but that's another story). Initially there were some games in England's Premier League, for example, that were broadcast with just the live audio, and you could hear the players berating their opponents on the field, coaches yelling instructions from the sideline, etc. Despite it offering a level of access that fans at home typically dream of, there were complaints that the games sounded dead without crowds. A lot of pundits were caught up in a whole debate about "what's the point of sport if there aren't fans there" (which is a bit silly in my opinion - it's not pointless, it's just different), especially in England, which has branded itself as the league with the best atmospheres. Now there's currently some sort of algorithm being used in broadcasts that simulate crowd reactions to the games in real time. I enjoyed the live feeds myself, and while I understand why they're simulating crowd noise, it feels... deceptive, maybe? Plus, all the reactions are like half a second too late to be believable. I guess it's all a bit contradictory when you consider all the live foley work that's already standard.

    Oh, and that Wimbledon final did have fantastic sound work. It's amazing how memorably well they captured the atmosphere, I'm not surprised they won a BAFTA.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on The forgotten story of ... the France football captain who murdered for Hitler in ~sports

  13. Comment on What book(s) would you recommend to someone who doesn't read, and why? in ~books

    culturedleftfoot
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    I second the comic book suggestion, and would also throw in something like general knowledge/trivia books, or a book of jokes/card tricks/magic tricks, or something like that. For those of us who...

    I second the comic book suggestion, and would also throw in something like general knowledge/trivia books, or a book of jokes/card tricks/magic tricks, or something like that. For those of us who have already learned the skills and built up the discipline for reading, it's easy to overlook or forget how intimidating novels can seem to non-readers. They also usually have assumptions or unstated expectations about books, e.g. they might read the first five pages and not be totally hooked yet, so they're daunted about going through the entire 200 pages. It's especially the case for those who have consumed TV, movies, and video games instead of books. They need to start with stuff accompanied by illustrations, stuff they can digest in chunks, or stuff they can just flip open to any page and dive in. That is how we introduce kids to reading in the first place, after all.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on What are you following this week? Weekly sports round-up thread in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
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    ... and of course the first upset would inevitably happen to my team. An understrength Shakhtar Donetsk, missing 10 players out of a 25-man squad due to injuries and positive COVID tests, made the...

    ... and of course the first upset would inevitably happen to my team. An understrength Shakhtar Donetsk, missing 10 players out of a 25-man squad due to injuries and positive COVID tests, made the trip to Spain anyway and beat Real Madrid 2-3. Madrid went three goals down in the first half and almost rallied to tie the game late, but the Ukranians(/Brazilians) held on. The Clasico against Barcelona is tomorrow in the league, Madrid better better figure something out quick.

  15. Comment on What are you following this week? Weekly sports round-up thread in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Wow, interesting. It's the first time I've heard anything negative like that about John Henry as an owner. My understanding (primarily through the Liverpool lens, tbh) has always been that he's...

    Wow, interesting. It's the first time I've heard anything negative like that about John Henry as an owner. My understanding (primarily through the Liverpool lens, tbh) has always been that he's prudent, not greedy. Although I have heard recent talk that FSG has been one of the primary protagonists behind the latest push for a money-spinning European soccer super league under the banner of the type of franchise system common in US sports but unknown to soccer.

    I don't get the contract extension bit though. Wouldn't LA have been able to offer him that much more dough if he ran it down (I'm assuming they'd have had some sort of backroom negotiations beforehand)? Or was it a public perception thing to keep fans onside?

    2 votes

  16. Comment on What are you following this week? Weekly sports round-up thread in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
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    Context for those out of the loop, please (i.e. me)?

    Context for those out of the loop, please (i.e. me)?

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Do you use the ignore feature? What type of posts do you ignore? in ~tildes

    culturedleftfoot
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    I welcome the diversity and good taste :)

    I welcome the diversity and good taste :)

    5 votes

  18. Comment on What are you following this week? Weekly sports round-up thread in ~sports

    culturedleftfoot
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    The Champions League is back this week! Kinda hard to make reasonable predictions about this season because things are surely going to be affected by COVID, but I'm interested to see where the...

    The Champions League is back this week! Kinda hard to make reasonable predictions about this season because things are surely going to be affected by COVID, but I'm interested to see where the inevitable upsets will come... and I have a hunch it'll be group H - PSG, Man United, RB Leipzig, and Basaksehir.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Do you use the ignore feature? What type of posts do you ignore? in ~tildes

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Well, I hope that doesn't stop you from posting stuff that you are into. Most of the stuff posted isn't in my favorite genres either, but that probably makes my posts more valuable.

    Well, I hope that doesn't stop you from posting stuff that you are into. Most of the stuff posted isn't in my favorite genres either, but that probably makes my posts more valuable.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Do you use the ignore feature? What type of posts do you ignore? in ~tildes

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    I've never had cause to use it either. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not frequenting the site as much as other users or what. I unsubscribed from ~comp a month or two ago, but that's about it....

    I've never had cause to use it either. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not frequenting the site as much as other users or what. I unsubscribed from ~comp a month or two ago, but that's about it.

    It's interesting to see what people's expectations are for using Tildes though, and how they differ. I'm here to broaden my horizons more than anything else, so I want to see more content in my feed that I'm not super familiar with than stuff I am, as long as the quality is high. I don't want to build a better bubble for myself here.

    9 votes