NP Comic for Saturday, May 13, 2023

[Darth Fluffy 338]

NP Comic for Saturday, May 13, 2023

There are indeed fancy chickens, breeds developed for showy plumage or other features. There are chickens that lay fancy eggs, colored eggs (specific to breed), no Easter bunny involved.

But that is not what Ellen means. Rich causes a mental hiccup when he asks her what she means, which is a basic chicken, but a tidy one, because she had not thought it through.

Are the seven cultists confident they can beat the adventurers? They outnumber them, and the party is level 1s, but they do have combat skills.

Is Mirabel at this point a hostage? Surely a de facto one, even if not intended.

I half expect an anticlimactic ending that recasts the whole quest. Something like the cultists were actually rescuing or recovering Mirabel.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

They don't know what a fancy chicken looks like?

Never spent time on a farm?  Never were forced to slowly walk through every livestock exhibit at the county fair?  Their experiences as small town kids in the midwest do not resemble my own.

( Am I the only one who wandered from rooster to rooster in the poultry barn, singing Camptown Races, waiting for any of the birds to join in on the Doo-Dah? )

 

[The Old Hack 2,489]

27 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Never spent time on a farm?  Never were forced to slowly walk through every livestock exhibit at the county fair?  Their experiences as small town kids in the midwest do not resemble my own.

I suspect they lived in suburban Moperville rather than in farm country. Besides, they grew up in a different time period. Their county fair exhibits would not have included scarab breeding or mummy grooming.

[Amiable Dorsai 70]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Never spent time on a farm?  Never were forced to slowly walk through every livestock exhibit at the county fair?  Their experiences as small town kids in the midwest do not resemble my own.

Assuming Moperville = Naperville, Illinois, it's now pretty thoroughly urbanized. Farms are still in easy reach, and the Kane County Fairgrounds are still near there.  But you're more likely to see a  music fest than a chicken.

[mlooney 3,594]

3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I suspect they lived in suburban Moperville rather than in farm country.

The players are from Moperville, not the characters.  The characters should recognize a fancy chicken, modulo Nanase.

[Darth Fluffy 338]

3 hours ago, mlooney said:

The players are from Moperville, not the characters.  The characters should recognize a fancy chicken, modulo Nanase.

The characters are limited by what the players have been exposed to. Riches question makes sense in that context. Breeding fancy chickens is a bit of an esoteric agricultural hobby. For the most part, a very few breeds are selected for egg and meat production because they excel at one or the other.

 

7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

They don't know what a fancy chicken looks like?

Never spent time on a farm?  Never were forced to slowly walk through every livestock exhibit at the county fair?  Their experiences as small town kids in the midwest do not resemble my own.

I've been to state fairs in several states, and all had a livestock display which was essentially a competition. I have probably seen fancy chickens in the flesh, but do not recall them; there were always more interesting critters. Plus, being based in reality, the places stank.

I have also seen a tractor pull and a demolition derby. Two spots on my hypothetical bucket list checked off. Also a rodeo in New Mexico. Three spots.

In NC, we wandered into a building ( IIRC, it had just started to rain and we were seeking shelter) and Billy Joe Royal was in concert, just beginning it. You can believe we stayed.

 

7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

( Am I the only one who wandered from rooster to rooster in the poultry barn, singing Camptown Races, waiting for any of the birds to join in on the Doo-Dah? )

I'm sorry, it never occurred to me to do that. I don't even see the connection. Wouldn't the Chicken Dance be more apropos?

I'd be tempted to sing a racing song around the horses. There must be others, but I can't think of one.

The funniest thing I've seen with The Camptown Races was the scene in Blazing Saddles.

[mlooney 3,594]

23 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Wouldn't the Chicken Dance be more apropos?

The Chicken Dance was invented by the devil.

[Darth Fluffy 338]

34 minutes ago, mlooney said:

The Chicken Dance was invented by the devil.

. . . he wrote it as a piece for the bagpipe . . .

[mlooney 3,594]

2 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

. . . he wrote it as a piece for the bagpipe . . .

No, it was for the accordion and banjo. 

[Darth Fluffy 338]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

No, it was for the accordion and banjo. 

Different strokes, I guess. I like both of those, depending. But that is true for anything, can be played badly or in a style you don't like. Bluegrass without a banjo is missing a leg. And accordion , , , which one? There are many kinds, it's a family. Very popular in much of Europe, probably overused in some settings. Polka isn't Polka without one (which is another 'different strokes'). (There are also many regional variants of bagpipes. Not all bagpipes are Scottish.)

Honestly, I can deal with bagpipes in the right context. Not great for a dorm hall, however. Undeniably more weaponized than most musical instruments by virtue of sheer loudness. (Also, literally weaponized in the sense of being associated with the Scottish military for many ages. Our instructors at initial military training also weaponized bagpipes by playing a tape of bagpipe music to wake us up each morning, same tape each morning.)

The skirling of the drone(s) is both an interesting feature of the sound of the instrument, and kind of annoying; it does the opposite of 'grows on you'.

Bugs Bunny had it right when he saw one attacking the woman in the skirt and beat it to death for 'her' (Scotsman in a kilt).

I have to say, none of these comes close to the volume of a calliope. If you want to annoy the neighbors, build one of those! The HOA will be knocking on your door within the hour. (And, it works as a humidifier.)

[mlooney 3,594]

Actually I like both banjos and accordions. I was just riffing on the instruments that are classified as "bad"

[The Old Hack 2,489]

8 hours ago, mlooney said:

Actually I like both banjos and accordions. I was just riffing on the instruments that are classified as "bad"

I once nicknamed a bard 'the banjomancer.' To his credit he thought it was funny

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

Very well 

Dueling Banjos at ten paces 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UG1Jlwiow

 

[mlooney 3,594]

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

I once nicknamed a bard 'the banjomancer.' To his credit he thought it was funny

My current semi-randomly (created by https://fastcharacter.com/)  created Bard, (college of swords) had Bagpipe as his primary instrument.   

[Darth Fluffy 338]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

My current semi-randomly (created by https://fastcharacter.com/)  created Bard, (college of swords) had Bagpipe as his primary instrument.   

Watch out. The bagpipe mimics the mating call of the otyugh, which it also resembles ...

[mlooney 3,594]

38 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Watch out. The bagpipe mimics the mating call of the otyugh, which it also resembles ...

Fortunately my current DM doesn't like mimics.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

Could we create a new generation of Elevator Music based on Bagpipes, Banjos, Accordions, and Elementary Student Instruments?

[Amiable Dorsai 70]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Could we create a new generation of Elevator Music based on Bagpipes, Banjos, Accordions, and Elementary Student Instruments?

Thus causing millions of people to get more exercise by taking the stairs, instead. Brilliant!

[mlooney 3,594]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Could we create a new generation of Elevator Music based on Bagpipes, Banjos, Accordions, and Elementary Student Instruments?

Playing Itsy bittsy spider and other grade school hits.

 

[Darth Fluffy 338]

My vote for most annoying instrument is the formerly fairly ubiquitous harmonica. Not that harmonicas sound bad, when played well, but back in the day they were easy to acquire, in toy stores no less, and no training nor skill was typically involved with their use.

Theremins are another one. Very much unlike any other instrument, and few know how to use it well. That said, I've heard videos of accomplished Theremin players that sound good.

I think there is a need to develop the internal combustion version of the calliope.

[mlooney 3,594]

19 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I think there is a need to develop the internal combustion version of the calliope.

Why am I reminded of Jeremy Clarkson's various things made with a V8 engine?
 

 

 

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

22 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Theremins are another one. Very much unlike any other instrument, and few know how to use it well. That said, I've heard videos of accomplished Theremin players that sound good.

Try the Electro-Theremin.  Similar sound with controls the musician actually touches.  Brian Wilson used one on Good Vibrations.  Trombonists seem to learn how to use it well.

Speaking of Theremin, did he really collaborate with the KGB to build the bug known as "The Thing"?

[ijuin 594]

44 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Trombonists seem to learn how to use it well.

Makes sense—both are instruments that lack fixed notes and require the player to set their hand positions on a continuous scale.

[Darth Fluffy 338]

3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Try the Electro-Theremin.  Similar sound with controls the musician actually touches.  Brian Wilson used one on Good Vibrations.  Trombonists seem to learn how to use it well.

I hadn't heard of it, but it makes sense. You should be able to use any sort of variable electronic device as an input in lieu of either or both of the antennas, and it should be more natural to control, but would also be subtly not as responsive and waving your hands around. Actually, a volume control knob would directly replace the function of the one.

I thought Brian Wilson used a Theremin, but you're right, much of the Theremin I've heard is actually Electro-Theremin .

One of the 'Similar Instruments' at the bottom of the article uses heterodyning to produce tones; rather than having a tome oscillator, it uses the difference (or sum) of two oscillators. I am curious about the specific merits of this technique applied to a musical instrument.

 

4 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Speaking of Theremin, did he really collaborate with the KGB to build the bug known as "The Thing"?

Yes, Leon Theremin was a Soviet inventor who worked for the KGB. The Thing was one of his projects. Reading between the lines, his success with Western audiences did not endear him to his overlords, in spite of his spying on their behalf.

His article says while in the US he made many variants of his Theremin, including fingerboard models. Per that, the Elector-Theremin is a-johnny come-lately.

He apparently initially wanted to emigrate, but ran into tax trouble and went back to the Soviet union. He was eventually released and 'rehabilitated', (cleared of charges) and later toured the west again. He died in Moscow, 97 years old.