totm aug 2023 What funny/interesting thing happened in your life today?

[Vanamonde]

8 hours ago, magnemoe said:

Its some sort of weird  drider like statue outside our lunch room. 


Its on a roof in an backyard so it can only been seen from some offices. 
An serious weird place for an statue, suspect it ended up there after getting rejected from an better position.

And not an drider, only 6 legs and some part going down past the hip.

Maybe it's just pretending to be a statue! :O

[DDE]

13 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

Maybe it's just pretending to be a statue! :O

Only one way to be sure.

*sips Liber-Tea™*

[SunlitZelkova]

In 1958, a local family disappeared in the Columbia River Gorge after journeying from Portland to gather things Christmas decorations. A journalist at my local TV station has covered the story for about three decades; it’s a complete mystery as to what happened.

Or it was, until what based on design features and a partial license plate match is the family’s car is believed to have been found underwater near the Cascade Locks.

I’m not really posting about this because of any strong true crime interest. I just think the local journalism around it is kinda… cool? Exciting?

They’re trying to put all their coverage into it because not much happens around here. They’re interviewing local town members for their reactions and now they actually have a model to show where the car is underwater and how it was found 

It’s nice to see in an age of flashy CGI animations, to be honest.

If anyone is curious about the story, here’s a link. It has a little bit of background and contains a video with the interview using the model. https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/diver-interview-missing-martin-family-station-wagon-found-03072025/

The car was found by an amateur diver. I’ve been to the shoreline just a hundred meters or so from where it was located, and there is a playground nearby I frequented during trips into Gorge each summer as a kid. Very eerie to think bodies may have been nearby the whole time.

[CatastrophicFailure]

Unrelated… 

 

[AlamoVampire]

Stuck at a railroad crossing watching a super long freight train with distributed power go by. Distributed power is a locomotive slotted into the middle of the train. Basically 2 trains in 1. 065803082025

[magnemoe]

5 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

Stuck at a railroad crossing watching a super long freight train with distributed power go by. Distributed power is a locomotive slotted into the middle of the train. Basically 2 trains in 1. 065803082025

So they only require one crew and only take up one slot in the scheduling of rail traffic, but an long one US freight trains are seriously long. it also has the benefit that you can divide the train in two easy who make breaking it up easier. 
You need to adjust power for the locomotives in the center say front is going downhill but center is still uphill  

[AlamoVampire]

@magnemoe there are a lot of tracks near where i live and its a bunch of union pacific freighters most of the time. Typically its either petroleum or autoracks coming through. Often its 2-3 locos. Sometimes 4-5. Rarely its distributed power. Was fun to see. The rarest train i see is amtrak. 125003082025

Edited Saturday at 06:50 PM by AlamoVampire

[AlamoVampire]

Never let it be said im not a dedicated nerd. Its going to be a high of 59°f with max gusting winds of 17mph. Why is that important? Ill be at renfaire again today! Ill be a popsicle for sure! Glad i have a cloak!

054803092025

[Kimera Industries]

On 3/7/2025 at 3:24 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

now they actually have a model to show where the car is underwater and how it was found 

It’s nice to see in an age of flashy CGI animations, to be honest.

Like, an honest-to-goodness physical model? 

I just wish people could realize that models have the potential to look 100% better than any CGI you can come up with. It has the advantage of really existing in real life. You can't beat that.

[AlamoVampire]

7 hours ago, Kimera Industries said:

Like, an honest-to-goodness physical model? 

I just wish people could realize that models have the potential to look 100% better than any CGI you can come up with. It has the advantage of really existing in real life. You can't beat that.

Practical effects in general will always look better and avoid uncanny valley. CGI is generally cheaper and faster. Given the ADD nature of todays instant gratification world practical effects are becoming a lost art. Its sad really. 183603102025

[Kimera Industries]

2 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

Practical effects in general will always look better and avoid uncanny valley. CGI is generally cheaper and faster. Given the ADD nature of todays instant gratification world practical effects are becoming a lost art. Its sad really. 183603102025

Agree! I watched The Empire Strikes Back for the first time in a while the other day. My observations included:

1. Wow, this really is the best Star Wars movie! And,
2. The practical effects are amazing! These models win hands-down against the "best" modern special effects. I particularly liked that they were there to complement scenes and not be the focus.

Edited yesterday at 02:09 AM by Kimera Industries

[AlamoVampire]

I just got the stupidest scam email yet. It was claiming my cable company is having issues processing payment yadda yadda. Its a scam. But what made me laugh was this: norpepply(dot)us at blah. I dont know if i should pity the scammer or mock them. But it hurt laughing at this idiocy. Ehy hurt? My throat is sore from renfaire. Screaming for 2 days and being in cold weather hurt my throat. No regrets tho! 182703112025

[Kimera Industries]

58 minutes ago, AlamoVampire said:

But what made me laugh was this: norpepply.us@blah.

"I would like it neither popply nor pepply."