Open Bar: Drinks are on the Supreme Court

[Doktor Howl]

I know Sabaton. I'll have to look up Exit Eden.

HEY!

HEAVY METAL OPERA LADY GAGA!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enu3Oy6_L-I

[altered]

  I will have to wait until I get off the bus but that sounds like a fucking trip and a half, I'm fucking excited

[Doktor Howl]

I will have to wait until I get off the bus but that sounds like a fucking trip and a half, I'm fucking excited

Their entire discography is fantastic.  They redid "Total Eclipse of the Heart" better than the original, "imcomplete" from the BBB, and even made a Bryan Adams song good.  The resulting explosion killed half the population of Thuringia.

[chaotic neutral observer]

Since we're all posting music, here's something from Ningen Isu (Human Chair).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbI79e5iZKs

[altered]

Verdict on Exit Eden:

Glorious cheese, really high quality musicianship. The vocalist is the WEAKEST member, and that's saying ... well, a lot. I want them to pair up with some pop song writer and release original material: despite my best efforts, covers never stay in my listening rotation.

Ningen Isu:

This is perfect. Cheese quotient low, but still present, with a vocalist who has both a legitimately excellent voice and a completely gimmicky style. The whole thing gives me the feeling of "What if Demilich were Japanese and did power metal instead of aliens pretending to be Finnish who do death metal?" Which is really awesome.

Summary:

Let them join forces. The world would not survive.

[Doktor Howl]

Verdict on Exit Eden:

Glorious cheese, really high quality musicianship. The vocalist is the WEAKEST member, and that's saying ... well, a lot. I want them to pair up with some pop song writer and release original material: despite my best efforts, covers never stay in my listening rotation.

Ningen Isu:

This is perfect. Cheese quotient low, but still present, with a vocalist who has both a legitimately excellent voice and a completely gimmicky style. The whole thing gives me the feeling of "What if Demilich were Japanese and did power metal instead of aliens pretending to be Finnish who do death metal?" Which is really awesome.

Summary:

Let them join forces. The world would not survive.

Which vocalist?  There are 5.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Dok, fb jail again? What happened this time?

I made fun of a self-proclaimed Spokesperson for All LGBT Folks™.

Not fair. Who could resist making fun of THAT???

[Doktor Howl]

Dok, fb jail again? What happened this time?

I made fun of a self-proclaimed Spokesperson for All LGBT Folks™.

Not fair. Who could resist making fun of THAT???

IKR?  And it wasn't even the full Howl treatment.  I just called dude a dumbass.

[altered]

Verdict on Exit Eden:

Glorious cheese, really high quality musicianship. The vocalist is the WEAKEST member, and that's saying ... well, a lot. I want them to pair up with some pop song writer and release original material: despite my best efforts, covers never stay in my listening rotation.

Ningen Isu:

This is perfect. Cheese quotient low, but still present, with a vocalist who has both a legitimately excellent voice and a completely gimmicky style. The whole thing gives me the feeling of "What if Demilich were Japanese and did power metal instead of aliens pretending to be Finnish who do death metal?" Which is really awesome.

Summary:

Let them join forces. The world would not survive.

Which vocalist?  There are 5.

Blame the sleep meds, because I sure am.

But all of them. That's not a put-down, because they're up against some incredible musicians there. You'd be hard pressed to find a vocalist who wouldn't be the weakest link.

[Doktor Howl]

Verdict on Exit Eden:

Glorious cheese, really high quality musicianship. The vocalist is the WEAKEST member, and that's saying ... well, a lot. I want them to pair up with some pop song writer and release original material: despite my best efforts, covers never stay in my listening rotation.

Ningen Isu:

This is perfect. Cheese quotient low, but still present, with a vocalist who has both a legitimately excellent voice and a completely gimmicky style. The whole thing gives me the feeling of "What if Demilich were Japanese and did power metal instead of aliens pretending to be Finnish who do death metal?" Which is really awesome.

Summary:

Let them join forces. The world would not survive.

Which vocalist?  There are 5.

Blame the sleep meds, because I sure am.

But all of them. That's not a put-down, because they're up against some incredible musicians there. You'd be hard pressed to find a vocalist who wouldn't be the weakest link.

Yeah, well, what you have is 4 classically-trained opera singers (One French, one German, one American, one Brazilian, and the bartender says, "is this some kind of JOKE"?, backed up by three crazy Swedes, one of which does the male vocals.

But yes, the musicians are amazing.  If you'd told me that got that sound on just three instruments, I'd have laughed.

[altered]

My legs have been tormenting me more everyday for days on end. Today I broke down after my knees felt like they were dipped in hot metal and bought a cane.

After I bought the cane my legs felt fine until I left work, forgetting the fucking thing, and got on the train. Cue a death march back to the office to grab it.

Then I realized.

I don't know how to use a cane and have the coordination of Surgeon Simulator.

So now I'm fast-limping home with my useless cane hooked on my bag like a fucking moron. I'm pissed.

[Fujikoma]

I'm so sorry, I hope, you feel better soon. I had a not so good day but I don't want to talk about why it was bad. Some days I just don't want to live.

[chaotic neutral observer]

My legs have been tormenting me more everyday for days on end. Today I broke down after my knees felt like they were dipped in hot metal and bought a cane.

I had some pretty painful knee (and hip) problems a few years back.  A G.P. at a clinic incorrectly diagnosed it as reactive arthritis, when it appears to have been caused by insufficient exercise, possibly exacerbated by my miswired psychology keeping me in a state of almost continuous physical tension (which puts extra stress on the joints).

The short term solution to my knee problems was a few rounds of physiotherapy (I'm not sure if this is an option for you, currently), which involved a lot of stretching; the long-term solution is doing squats, at least twenty every morning.  I started out doing them the way the physiotherapist recommended, hands on the back of a chair, shins kept vertical, down just until my thighs are almost horizontal with the floor.  Now I do 'em all the way down, while holding a kettlebell.

If doing a few squats doesn't increase your pain, they may be worth trying.

[altered]

My issues are definitely NOT related to insufficient exercise. I walk everywhere, carrying my bag (which isn't exactly a military ruck or anything but it weighs enough that after 30 minutes on the move my shoulders hate me).

I also have the funny ADD/ADHD/autism/Tourette's (no one gives the same fucking answer twice but they're all certain it's only the one they call it) thing where I constantly move my limbs even when I'm doing nothing. I doubt it's atrophy.

The issue with the knees is simple: when they are having a fit, bending or straightening them is excruciating. While bending them, they have no ability to support weight so I just immediately fall over, and straightening them while under load is DIFFICULT and leads to unpleasant popping sounds. (I had someone ask me if I stepped on bubble wrap at work. I was standing up out of my seat. It was BAD. That was why I got the cane.)

Result: watch me waddle around the Red Line platform at DTX like a penguin on stilts and navigate stairs like a novice might navigate a challenging mountain climb. Also: I awkwardly have to explain all the time that yeah, I need the extra leg room to straighten my legs all the way out or I will not be able to get up without help. I might need the help anyway.

[chaotic neutral observer]

I wouldn't have thought my problem was atrophy, either (I was walking fairly regularly before my 'extended episode'), but your specific symptoms don't match well with mine, so I shall desist with the 'giving unsolicited advice on the basis of perceived common ground' schtick.

If you ever start randomly getting thigh pain while just sitting there, though....squats.