Tom

@taschoene

SF, mil-tech, RPG.net, OSINT, trying to avoid doom politics (he/him)

361 Following361 Followers4,354 Posts

YouTube YouTube Bluesky

Is this your profile?Claim it and taschoene.dirty.social is yours.Claim profile

Tom@taschoene· 20d

John Cena is genuinely funny when given good lines to work with. Also, Porky...

An animated Porky Pig wearing only a jacket and bowtie, in front of a realistic-looking park-like background. It's captioned "I'm here for the pantsless modelling gig?"

Tom@taschoene· 23d

And several editions of GURPS Horror as well (this one is Portugese, I believe)

Cover of GURPS HORROR subtitled "O RPG no Mundo do Sobrenatural"

Author credits J. M. Caparnia and Scott Haring.

Tom@taschoene· 29d

My worry stone, gifted by a coworker years ago. I forget where it's from but it's been in five different offices over the years and keeps getting smoother and slicker. No idea what kind of stone it is.

Tom@taschoene· Jul 11

If you see this, post an Archer.

Tom@taschoene· Jul 7

The new FIFA leadership.

Donald Trump Jr and his new wife Betinna. FIFA will be a belated wedding present to the couple, to make up for DJT Sr. skipping the wedding.

Tom@taschoene· Jul 4

Deep purple blackberry sorbet in a grey Russel Wright bowl.

Tom@taschoene· Jul 1

Emo Philips captures it so well.

"Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!"

He said, "Nobody loves me."

I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes."

I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"

He said, "A Christian."

I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?"

He said, "Protestant."

I said, "Me, too! What franchise?"

He said, "Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern
Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes
Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."

I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over."

-Emo Philips

Tom@taschoene· Jul 1

It's the Great Bird of the Galaxy.

A gold statue of the great Bradward Boimler being accosted by a giant bird.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 30

Seriously, though, the "American State Fair" is amateur even by American standards. We can do better, when the folks in charge aren't trying to grift off the whole thing. www.thebige.com/p/generalinf...

The Big E state fair, with a crowd throwing the midway and a stand hawking corn dogs, steak&cheese, sausage and hot dogs dominating the front left of the image.

A night view of the Big E fair showing a Ferris wheel and many other amusement rides.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 27

Obligatory XKCD reference:

Three panel stick figure drawing titled

HOW STANDARDS PROLIFERATE: (SEE: A/C CHARGERS, CHARACTER ENCODINGS, INSTANT MESSAGING, ETC)

Panel 1: THERE ARE 14 COMPETING STANDARDS.

Panel 2: male stick figure talking to a female stick figure.

14?! RIDICULOUS! WE NEED TO DEVELOP ONE UNIVERSAL STANDARD THAT COVERS EVERYONE'S USE CASES.

YEAH!

Panel 3: SOON:

SITUATION:

SITUATION: THERE ARE 15 COMPETING STANDARDS.

Mouse over text:

Tom@taschoene· Jun 25

Turns out it was just the Air Force fluffing the crowd for Trump last night.

The Washington Post Democracy Dies in Darkness

The crowd thinly covered an area about the length of the National Museum of American History, smaller than some summer outdoor movie screenings. Trump emerged triumphantly to two booms from Air Force jets punctuating a live rendition of his walkout anthem, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."

Tom@taschoene· Jun 24

This is my favorite WW1 handbook. Jane's is probably more comprehensive, but this little guy is more fun.

The cover of the Ian Allen "Warships of World War 1: Combined Volume" by Hugh Murton Le Fleming. Le Fleming was a railroad engineer by trade, but spent WW2 working on ship construction and became a prolific writer of books on both trains and ships after the war.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 20

This appears to be a bit the JPost does.

A Jerusalem post story reading

"Asteroid the size of 38 Lubavitcher Rebbes to pass Earth on Chabad head's yahrzeit - NASA

Asteroid 2003 LN6, the size of 38 Menachem Mendel Schneersons, is set to pass the Earth on June 18, the anniversary of the death of the Chabad movement leader."

Tom@taschoene· Jun 20

A visitor fell into the Reflecting Pool today

Swamp Thing from the
1980s Wes Craven film version.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 20

I thought they were only in Africa to secure Jewish religious icons.

A shot from the documentary _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ showing German army officers and a French archaeologist outside Cairo in 1936.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 18

Is it? I've seen it from several angles. news.sky.com/video/oil-re...

Still from a video showing the lid of an oil tank being launched by an explosion.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 18

It's like those turret toss photos, just Kaiju scaled.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 18

A few people may remember this one, but not many. The real question is which of the three almost completely distinct concepts for this show they remember: the pilot, the first 12 episodes or the rest.

M.A.N.T.I.S. poster with a man wearing a black bodysuit with metallic mask and exoskeleton. There is a flying car in the background.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 16

Bill Paxton as Private Hudson in Aliens, saying "Yeah man, but it's a dry heat."

Tom@taschoene· Jun 14

I feel that.

Two pull out drawers full of spice jars.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 7

Standing on a boat under a waterfall in Milford Sound was exactly like this photograph. Or rather, it was completely unlike that. No media can fully capture the roar of the falls, the sting of water on my face, the chill of the air. It was as close to a spiritual event as I've ever had.

A small cruise boat pointing toward a waterfall that is falling from a cliff face that towers hundreds of feet above the surface of the water. The boat and part of the cliff are in bright sun, the waterfall is in deep shadow.

Tom@taschoene· Jun 4

Merge three movies: The Wind, the Lion, and the Winter.

Tom@taschoene· May 31

Cairns are quite good at that. Ours has two confirmed rattlesnakes (from hit New Mexico days) but no rats or squirrels yet. Not for lack of trying, though.

A grey cairn terrier lying on a grass lawn, alert for squirrels.

Tom@taschoene· May 27

Fiat is supposedly bringing this to the US. Of course it tops out at 28 mph.

A Fiat Topolino in mint green. It's like a golf cart hooked up with Herbie the Love Bug.

Tom@taschoene· May 25

Too late.

A copy of the New American Bible, Revised Edition with an orange cover.

Tom@taschoene· May 24

Tell me you've never seen a Boxer APC in person without telling me...

Boxer RCH 155, a wheeled APC with a 155mm (6.1-inch) howitzer.

Boxer APC at left, dwarfing the Abrams tank second from right.

Tom@taschoene· May 22

Somehow failed to add dog.

A cairn terrier curled up on a striped dog bed.

Tom@taschoene· May 21

BTW, a couple of years ago, they were showing an even more eel-like design. (Eel + illuminate = Eeluminate).

An eel-like underwater snake robot that isn't going to give me nightmares. At. All.

Tom@taschoene· May 21

Lord I hope not.

Donald Trump at a deck looking to his left. Behind him are three men, one in a blue button down shirt, one in a red shirt and navy blue blazer, and one in a horizontal striped shirt with a prominent belly button.

Tom@taschoene· May 17

So, my wife and I have a c.1959 house that we are trying to drag kicking and screaming back to something like a period sense of style, without being a twee time capsule. Found this book at a vintage store on Friday. It's amazing.