Outdoors Club!

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 5:50 AM
Time at Destination: 7:00 AM
Time at Return: 8:00 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.8 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Standard morning hike, decent weather.
Was a friendo’s birthday that day, so we went for shenanigans at a garden-slash-park place.

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The Arboretum
Time at Start: 3:15 PM
Time at Return: 5:20 PM

AllTrails Route: Los Angeles Arboretum Trail

Total Distance: 3.2 mi
Elevation Gain: 200 ft

Shenanigans / Generic Scenery, Flora, & Fauna Photos

Peacock / Peahen
Just chillin’ like a villain.

DUCKS
My people. My brethren.

White Flower / Lily(?)
They look physically similar to lilies. I hope / think they’re lilies.
'Chew likes white lilies in particular.
It’s the symbol for yuri and I’m a shameless weeb shut up thank you.

Red Spider Lily / Corpse Flower / 彼岸花 (Higanbana)
Japanese seinen anime theme song flower.
Symbolizes death, at least in Japanese contexts.

Hong Kong Orchid
Orchids are pretty flowers too.

Exceptionally Pretty Flower!
I love the sharp angles on these petals.
Some type of rose, but I’m not sure what it’s called exactly.
A lot of the roses at the garden were wilted.
…And reminded me of a certain part of the female anatomy but of course I wouldn’t mention that in polite company.

Vibrant Flower!
Boogle tells me it’s commonly called the peacock flower.
Super vivid and fiery colors.

Despite the warmer afternoon-evening weather, the Arboretum was actually surprisingly enjoyable (IMO), considering all we did was walk around and look at things.

Apparently we have peacocks / peahens loose in California.
Sometimes I see them on my drive back from hiking. They’re completely desensitized to urban life and doesn’t afraid of anything.

Except children, because children are terrible and like to do terrible things like rip up flora and throw debris into the pond in a feeble attempt to attract ducks with logic that only makes sense in their tiny aspy brains.

Anyway. Birds?

Birds nowadays are fearsome.
Back in my day, birds flew away in a hurry when you so much as even looked in their direction.
They’re evolving.

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:10 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Interesting Reads

• Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Novel Series): Hard Sci-Fi, Astrophysics, Particle Physics, Mathematics, Game Theory, Creator Provincialism (China)
  • The Three-Body Problem
  • The Dark Forest
  • Death’s End
• The Three Body Problem (Article)
• Multiple Star Systems (Article)
• Runaway Stars (Article)
• Dark Forest Hypothesis (Article)

Spoilers: Visualization of the Three-Body Problem

Animation of the Three-Body Problem:

Imagine that’s a star system, with each black dot representing a star, and the red, blue, and green paths being their trajectories.

And also imagine a planet (not depicted in the graphic) of sentient aliens, caught in a haphazard orbit around these stars and subject to every sort of imaginable terrestrial apocalypse.

Actually, there used to be eleven other planets in that star system. They were all destroyed or de-orbited. The final one is in danger of succumbing to the same fate.

That’s a vital setting for the first book, The Three Body Problem.

Though, my understanding is that the triple star system of that book was more akin to a physical hierarchical triple system, described as, “an outer star orbiting an inner physical binary composed of two more … stars.” Slightly less chaotic than the animated .GIF above.

Still destructive, though. Gravity’s such a bitch.

Anywho, I like the concepts and ideas presented in the novel. Leans towards the pessimistic / realistic side when it comes to generalizing human psychology / society: humans are curious, prideful, complacent, rebellious, easily depressed, self-destructive, technologically disadvantaged (relative to other sentient species), etc.

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Life Update
Been really feeling the ennui lately. Usually I remedy this by throwing myself into video games, but nothing in my games library seems compellling to me.

Started substituting in more exercise to fill in those hours instead. Allocating 2 hours of Tue and Thu after work to the rowing machine. I dislike using it (it’s boring, compared to hiking), but I’m in the safety of my own home, and if I exhaust myself out enough I fall asleep easier.

Hopefully I keep it up long enough to convert my flabby arms and Hugh Jass thighs into muscley goodness.

Can’t believe I’ve kept up with hiking on a relatively consistent schedule for two years. Aaaay~

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats
Time at Start: 6:00 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:10 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.5 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

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Interesting Stuff / Vids
Binge watching JCS (Crime Psychology) and dreading (crime and psychology) vids at work. Very thought-provoking content, or maybe I’m just smol-brained.

Most (if not all) of the JCS and dreading vids cover crimes committed in the U.S. and Canada, so laws, procedures, and punishments may not be applicable to peeps watching / consuming content from other countries. Laws and procedures may also vary across the states / provinces / territories.

• Best way to avoid the police is to not do crimes. Shocking.
• Best way to avoid being involved in crimes is to avoid humans.
• Unless the police appear with a specific warrant, you aren’t obligated to let them search any thing / place. If they ask for explicit permission (without a warrant), you have the right to refuse. This includes: residence, vehicle, PC, phone.
  • Once they step foot into your residence, they are allowed to seize any evidence “in plain view.” This includes: unlocked PCs, unlocked phones.
  • They are allowed to search “abandoned property” without a warrant. For example, temporarily leaving a bag unattended in a public area.
• If you are being read your Miranda Warning / Rights, or must be involved in a police “interview” (i.e. interrogation):
  • If you are on the prosecution’s side, the police might be your friends. They’re collecting evidence and / or probable cause for the prosecution’s side.
  • If you are being accused of a crime or are on the defendant’s side, the police are not your friends. Avoid dilvulging any info (i.e. remain silent), avoid revealing any behaviors (character profiling), and ask for an attorney / lawyer.
  • Unless you have been arrested or detained, you may leave the police station at any time.
• Innocent suspects will usually provide concise, curt responses, perceiving the police questioning as an inconvenience.
  • If presented with an accusation, innocent suspects will usually respond with emotional outrage, denial, or disbelief (e.g. “What? No way.” or “There must be some mistake.”).
  • If presented with a revelation (e.g. a person is found but dead, a person is alive but in a coma), innocent suspects will usually respond with a moment of reflection / information processing, then disbelief and / or acceptance.
• Guilty or untruthful suspects will usually start rambling when asked a simple question, wanting to divert focus from anything concerning the case.
  • If presented with an accusation, guilty suspects will usually respond calmly and with acknowledgement (e.g. “Okay.”).
  • If presented with a revelation, guilty suspects will usually respond with emotional detachment or apathy.
  • Occasionally, a guilty suspect may slip into the past tense when describing a missing / deceased victim. Considerably more suspicious when the missing person’s status is unconfirmed or not yet found.
• Cases may be decided by jury or judge.
  • In jury trials, some random strangers must be convinced that the defendant is either guilty or not guilty. It usually turns into a dramatic, emotional spectacle, with a lot of fluffy language and a focus on the defendant’s character.
  • Not sure what happens in bench trials (i.e. trials decided by judge).
  • If a person is declared guilty of a crime, they may appeal the verdict within a timeframe.
  • If a person is declared not guilty of a crime, they may not be prosecuted for the same crime again. This is called Double Jeopardy.
• Humans are self-serving and terrible in general.
• Some humans are also a special kind of fucking crazy.
• Some of these crazy fucking humans hold governmental and military positions.

Also I would be absolutely awful and maximum suspicious in a police interview.

• Zero filial (blood-related) attachment? Check.
• Sociopathic and antisocial behavior? Check.
• Extremely contrarian and somewhat paranoid? Check.
• No natural eye contact? Check.

Warning: Borderline TMI, Personal

I can sit through cases that are theft, fraud, assault, kidnapping, domestic violence, murder, necrophilia, or dismemberment relatively stoically (apathetically, even?). Ones that involve rape or sexual abuse against women make me nauseous, but unless they start describing the abuse, or unless they get emotional, I can sit through those too (lowkey furiously).

Sexual and physical abuse against minors, or any sort of child predation – particularly female minors – are the worst. At best, I get nauseous and get on with the rest of my day. At worst, they bring back memories I’d rather forget about.

[Tog_Driver]

I’m amused by the fact I find this post right after I start listening to true crime again.

@Eschew

• Humans are self-serving and terrible in general.
• Some humans are also a special kind of fucking crazy.
• Some of these crazy fucking humans hold governmental and military positions.

Correct.

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats
Time at Start: 5:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 8:10 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.5 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Today on SoCal is having a rough week:

• Parks and schools shut in California after asbestos found in burned World War II-era blimp hangar from Associated Press News
• 10 Freeway closed: How to deal with the traffic nightmare in downtown L.A. from Los Angeles Times

In other news: Got free eggs from friendo and attempted to make flan this weekend, buuut it didn’t turn out great.

Caramel stuck to the glass bowl, and custard had these splits in its otherwise smooth texture. Might need to use less sugar per bowl, and let it bake in a water bath.

May attempt round two this weekend, if I happen to hit the grocery store this week.

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

Today on SoCal is having a rough week

Oh, right. I saw cali was having it rough.
You okay?

[Eschew]

@Tog_Driver

Oh, right. I saw cali was having it rough.
You okay?

Ah, yeah am okay, TY for asking.
I-10, downtown LA, and Tustin are relatively close by, but it’s an hours’ drive out for places I don’t regularly frequent, and doesn’t immediately impact me.

Sucks for the peeps that have to commute there for work, tho.

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 5:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:00 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.4 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Once upon a time, 'Chew was taking a university course in philosophy and ethics for… reasons I don’t recall now. Might’ve been prerequisites or something. Anyway, I do like the subject.

One of the most repeated concepts in that philosopy class was “best interest” and “wellbeing.” When presented with a moral quandary, humans – individually or as a group – tend to lean towards decisions that serve their “best interest” or promote their “wellbeing.”

It was during office hours, and I approached one of the TAs to discuss some of the ethical theories (don’t remember which ones, my memory is fuzzy). At which point point, I said: “All of these theories assume that human life intrinsically has value, which I’m having difficulty understanding.”

The TA paused for a moment and encouraged me to liken it to how I feel about my family and loved ones, completely unaware that I bitterly resent the person that is my blood-related mother, have no meaningful ties to the rest of my blood-related family, and have an extremely small circle of friends that I keep at arm’s length.

I thanked the TA and left shortly after the question.

Every day that I work, I see less and less value in humanity.

A species is regarded as invasive if it has been introduced by human action to a location, area, or region where it did not previously occur naturally (i.e., is not a native species), becomes capable of establishing a breeding population in the new location without further intervention by humans, and becomes a pest in the new location, threatening agriculture and/or the local biodiversity.
- “Lists of Invasive Species” from Wikipedia

Hot Take: Humans are an invasive species.
Second Hot Take: Make eradicating humans legal, since they are an invasive species, are overpopulating the planet, and are unsustainably siphoning the planet’s resources.

Extra hot takes might stray into ableist and socio-political territories, based on my own apathy, cynicism, and other prejudices.

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Nihilism aside, if peeps are currently studying or thinking about studying in uni / college, I highly encourage looking into any philosophy – particularly ethics – courses, assuming there’s the credits to spare. Very good food for thought.

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

Make eradicating humans legal, since they are an invasive species, are overpopulating the planet, and are unsustainably siphoning the planet’s resources.

Sounds like you’d love the work of an Austrian painter. Can’t quite remember his name though. . .

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 8:05 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

This year’s Black Friday / Cyber Monday is gaaaaaaaaaarbage.
Most stores (including the brand my workplace does business with) are only going for up to 30% discounts.

Back in my day, we had doorbusters of 75% off.
What happened to getting rid of old inventory rotting in the back of the warehouse / stock room before the year’s end?

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

What happened to getting rid of old inventory rotting in the back of the warehouse / stock room before the year’s end?

Just leave it there. it’s only been there 6 years, I’m sure it’ll sell next year. It’s not like they could use that space for anything else.

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:50 AM
Time at Destination: 7:00 AM
Time at Return: 8:00 AM

AllTrails: Henninger Flats Trail

I’m very not a TV-series person, but just binged-watch the entire Next Level Chef Season 2 in two days. It was that compelling for me.

Stars the celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington, and Richard Blais. Each chef mentors a team of 5-6 individuals, and each individual cooks a dish in each cooking competition episode. Teams cook in one of three kitchens: a state-of-the-art top floor, a standard-issue middle floor, or a ghetto-slash-basement bottom floor. Moral of the story is that “next level” chefs can cook stellar dishes, even with terrible equipment.

Next Level Chef Season 2’s compelling to me for a similar reason only Hell’s Kitchen Season 10 was compelling to me (spiel here). I loved Christina Wilson from Hell’s Kitchen, I loved Tucker Ricchio from Next Level Chef.

Took me only three seconds of seeing Tucker on-screen for her to catch my interest. Immediately attracted to her looks (SHUT UP), also drawn in by her extremely focused and quick-but-calm cooking / work ethic that reminds me of Christina Wilson’s.

Tucker’s Introduction:

My name’s Tucker. I’m from San Francisco and I’m a professional chef. I got out of kitchens just because of the pandemic, so I teach classes online.

I’ve picked up all these little tips and tricks at all these little cool restaurants, so… I love sharing that with people. I want everybody to up their culinary game. Then they can make awesome food at their house. I hope to be an inspiration to young gay girls who wanna find their way in the culinary world because, representation super matters. Like, until you see someone like yourself doing it, you don’t really know that you can do that too.

I hope that somebody sees me and is like, “Wow, I can do that.” 'cause, you totally can.

And then a few minutes into her intro and she said “young gay girls” and “representation” and that’s it, that’s the hook – I’m in, SHE’S IT, I’M ROOTING FOR HER. Also, a little bit of pride because California (though, yes, it’s NorCal sooo… it’s kinda different).

Spoilers: Tucker goes on to win Next Level Chef Season 2, and IMO often comes up with the most consistently-good dishes. I’m extremely proud of her and personally satisfied with the series.

Okay, but aside from my personal bias and fangirling over Tucker, I’d very much recommend Next Level Chef S2 for peeps that like reality cooking competitions. It’s a little bit like Hell’s KItchen and MasterChef, in that each contestant shows off their cooking style and personality through their dishes for Gordon Ramsay-plus-two judges, but the formats and overall mood are very different.

For one, contestants have only half a minute (or less) to select their ingredients. For two, there’s a very, very wholesome feel to the whole competition – there’s zero on-screen toxicity between the contestants (even between different teams), team members are all very mindful of each other (notice the plate placements on the platform, it’s almost always furthest to closest), and the contestants are all extremely respectful and open-minded towards the judge’s comments (even in eliminations). Gordon still swears and there’s still up-and-down rollercoaster moments, of course, but it’s usually in reaction to tasting dishes or someone’s cooking performance.

Lots of encouraging cheering, clapping, and embracing (Tucker’s full-body, 5’2" hugs are great to see ). Lots of tears shed when contestants are eliminated. Tini-Mehreen friendship was endearing to watch. Arrington mentoring Pilar like a protégé was sooo heartwarming (also, hello, Black sushi chef?! Unthinkable. ).

Honestly, I vastly prefer Next Level Chef to Hell’s Kitchen as a whole. None of that Hell’s Kitchen personal drama. Significantly less stressful watching, with significantly less yelling. Also, maybe a first for a series (especially reality shows), I surprisingly don’t hate any of the contestants.

[Den]

@Eschew

I vastly prefer Next Level Chef

Seriously. Gordon just wanting the best for someone, even when he’s babysitting a floor that isn’t his own team, gives me hope for humanity for like 8 whole seconds. Like when someone misses adding something on a plate and he says “that’s a shame” it’s genuinely sad lol.

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 5:50 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 8:05 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.4 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

I saw this graph the other day and I like it:

Graph is from 2017, so it’s a bit dated, but I like it’s message. Human population is at 8 billion and counting, IDK about y’all but I think overpopulation is a bad idea.

Green energy and climate change has been huge in the news recently (AP News, LA Times). I’ve seen more articles about it in the past few months compared to the past two years combined. Good that it’s getting awareness, but I wonder whether it’s too late lol.

Hard Tangent: Also, Nauru is an interesting country. According to Wikipedia, it has the highest obesity rate in the world, imports almost all of its food (most of which is processed junk from Australia), and has a shit-ton of socio-health issues (obesity, alcoholism, prostitution, mental health, stunted growth, etc.).

Moral of the story is, uh, the world is fucked I guess. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

“Buy a more efficient car”

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 5:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 7:55 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.7 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

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Signalis Mini-Article / Thoughts
Tags: Action Adventure, Psychological Horror, Sci-Fi, Third-Person Survival Horror, Yuri, Great Art Style, Great Soundtrack, Bittersweet Ending, Multiple Endings

SIGNALIS - Official Launch Trailer

Mini-article instead of a dedicated What new games are you playing? post, because (1) I haven’t actually played the game, only watched a playthrough of it, (2), there’s so many subjective and unexplained elements to the story I can’t present / approach it from an omniscient-like review standpoint, (3) it’s wriggled deep into my brain and I can’t get it out.

The ending made me cry. On three separate occasions.

Amnesiac protagonist explores a decrepit facility overrun with biomechanical humanoid horrors in search of their partner. Leftover media and the extremely few sane characters that still exist slowly and gradually reveal the story’s context and past memories. Reminds me of a Silent Hill x Resident Evil 2 x Dead Space cross-over.

Game’s art direction and plot development is phenomenal. Despite its PS2-like, polygon models and pixellated anime-like scenes, it delivers an extremely cinematic experience, with excellent use of show-not-tell accompanied by an absolutely beautiful soundtrack. Players have to glean tidbits of lore from the meaningfully-crafted environment and have read between the lines of every scrap of info to piece together the storyline, and even then, there’s still so many open interpretations and unsolved mysteries.

I’d absolutely spend money on it, but the survival horror and Silent Hill/Resident Evil-esque gameplay is holding me back. Never been good with those kinds of games, ugh.

The story is equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking. Highly recommend for those looking for a bit more yuri and a bit more emotional damage in their life, lol.

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

more emotional damage

Uhhh no I’m good thanks.

Question: why is so much of what you post (game articles, reading recommendations, graphs on pollution.) in the outdoors thread? Did you listen to it during your walk?

[Eschew]

@Tog_Driver

Question: why is so much of what you post (game articles, reading recommendations, graphs on pollution.) in the outdoors thread? Did you listen to it during your walk?

Because random thoughts during hikes.

[Tog_Driver]

@Eschew

random thoughts

[Eschew]

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 5:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 7:50 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.4 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Been watching a bunch of cooking shows for brainless entertainment with the rowing machine.

Unappetizing (IMO):

• Anything Aubergine / Eggplant
• Any Coleslaw
• Any Food-Foam
• Any Ketchup
• Any Mayonnaise
• Any Whipped Cream
• Baked Fruits (e.g. Apple Pie)
• Certain Glazed Fruits (e.g. Peaches, Strawberries)
• Deconstructed Desserts
• Dulce de Leche
• Toffee Larger than 0.5-inch
• Coffee Savory Dish (e.g. Coffee-Rubbed Steak)
• Melted / Gooey Chocolate (e.g. Chocolate Lava Cake, Chocolate Soufflé)

Mildly Annoying:

• 75% Decorative Sauce / Purée / Coulis, 25% Actual Food
• Misnaming Asian Noodles (Lamian ≠ Pho)
• Wrong Noodles for Asian Dish (e.g. Using Lamian / Egg Noodles instead of Vermicelli / Rice Noodles for Pho)
• Dishes or Sauces “Like Peking Duck”

Die Inside:

• Any Maraschino Cherries
  • Fuck maraschino cherries and whomever invented them.
• Mispronouncing Dim Sum (most commonly “Siew Mai” and “Har Gow”)
• Mispronouncing Sake (“Sah-Kay” vs. “Sah-Kee”)
• Cooked “Sushi” or “Sashimi”
  • To clarify, I do enjoy certain cooked sushi / sashimi, but contestants on reality TV cooking shows often fail with this concept.
• Uni (Sea Urchin) Blended into a Sauce
  • Complete waste of fresh, delicate uni. No sane chef blends beluga caviar into a sauce, the same should apply to uni IMO.

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Holy shit it’s Christmas Eve and I am extremely bored out of my mind.