Poll of the Day > 28 Geeks Later

(+) Yeah! (+)

Sony announced a 40 minute PS5 press conference on Wednesday. I was a day early on the guess. I knew it wasn't going to be Tuesday because of Apple.

Speaking of Wednesday, we could either be getting a real strong tropical storm or a really weak hurricane. It doesn't look as if we're dodging this one. Hopefully we will get just some heavy rain and thunderstorms.

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The Wave Master posted...

or a really weak hurricane

https://i.imgur.com/kCDRQ.jpg

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Damm weather machine must have run out of batteries or souls to keep the hurricanes away from here. I haven't looked at the forecast too closely, as I'm watching football, napping, vomiting, and playing with the cats, but Sally is scheduled to hit as a category 2 storm on Tuesday.

We have full gas tanks and supplies, and are moving the patio furniture into the garage. This is old hat for us, but the thought of a few days without a.c. or power in general stinks.

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It's literally the calm before the storm. It's partly cloudy, cool, (well cool for south Mississippi) and very low humidity. It's always like this before a major storm, peaceful and beautiful.

Nothing we can do but wait now.

The Cowboys lost. (of course) Nothing else to say. Hopefully if we lose power we will get it back by the weekend.

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The Jets got destroyed, too, but there is no shame in losing to the upgraded Buffalo Bills, IMO. They made the playoffs for a reason.

Very little free time on hand the past few days, but I have been using that to tinker with some older electronics and try to eliminate my need for batteries where I can. That, and I finally broke down and paid for a bit of Switch Online time because the need for Super Metroid became too strong.

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I_Abibde posted...

They made the playoffs for a reason.

Cause all the better teams were affected by covid?
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I saw a commercial for this year's Dancing with the Stars and half-heard the first name listed, which I thought sounded close to "AJ Lee." Turns out it was AJ McLean, the Backstreet Boy. Could have had me care about a season!

As for this season of Dancing with the "Stars," I only immediately recognized two names (Nev Schulman (Catfished) and Nelly). A few others I was familiar with something they'd done. I only recognized the name of the documentary Cheer because one of the other people featured in it was arrested today for soliciting nude photos of a minor.

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Steelers beat my Giants so it's looking like a shitty week 1 for all.

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Zeus posted...

I saw a commercial for this year's Dancing with the Stars and half-heard the first name listed, which I thought sounded close to "AJ Lee." Turns out it was AJ McLean, the Backstreet Boy. Could have had me care about a season!

Almost certainly wouldn't have been able to call her that regardless - WWE owns the name. She'd have to be on as April Mendez instead. Or maybe April Brooks.

Though in her case, the biggest problem would probably be that she really hasn't done much in the public eye for the last 5 years, so they might find it hard to justify her as a "star".
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The hurricane is now veering east, and going to destroy Mobile and Pensacola. We will get some wind and rain, but the doom and gloom is going yo be delayed for the next hurricane.

That's good news because we just moved over here to this house, and we haven't even looked into purchasing a home gas or propane generator for when the next big hurricane decides to not go to Florida for his or her vacation, and instead hit us and knock out power for weeks at a time.

The other good news is that after dialysis tomorrow at 3pm central time there will be the Sony PS5 press conference, and I'll have power at my house to watch it live tomorrow.

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Though in her case, the biggest problem would probably be that she really hasn't done much in the public eye for the last 5 years, so they might find it hard to justify her as a "star".

Sounds like she'd fit right in >_>


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OH SNAP!



The Wave Master posted...

That's good news because we just moved over here to this house, and we haven't even looked into purchasing a home gas or propane generator for when the next big hurricane decides to not go to Florida for his or her vacation, and instead hit us and knock out power for weeks at a time.

Wave... with all the racism and Bible thumping and Nature itself constantly trying to kill you, have you ever considered moving out of the South?

I mean, I get that there might be reasons why you can't, but seriously. Someone, somewhere, might be trying to tell you something.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

OH SNAP!

Wave... with all the racism and Bible thumping and Nature itself constantly trying to kill you, have you ever considered moving out of the South?

I mean, I get that there might be reasons why you can't, but seriously. Someone, somewhere, might be trying to tell you something.

My wife loves it down here. I tried to get her to move to Texas 4 tears ago, and really pressed it, but it didn't work out. She has her family here, and wants to be close to them. I've lost my brother and mom over the last two years, and I'm fine with leaving, but not her.

Happy wife = Happy Life.


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Moving to Texas to avoid racism is like eating McDonald's to be healthy.
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Does anyone else hear banjo music?

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Revelation34 posted...

Moving to Texas to avoid racism is like eating McDonald's to be healthy.

Normally I would disagree, but south Mississippi isn't the most diverse and understanding of places. I was looking at either Austin or a Dallas suburb, which is more racist against Hispanics than blacks.

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Wave... with all the racism and Bible thumping and Nature itself constantly trying to kill you, have you ever considered moving out of the South?

Do you honestly expect to escape racism anywhere? At most, you're just exchanging one kind for another.


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Zeus posted...

Do you honestly expect to escape racism anywhere? At most, you're just exchanging one kind for another.

I don't. I'm a big black man married to a tall pale red head. We kind of stick out when we go places or do anything. It's just the cost of doing business. However, The deep south Bible belt region is just horrible when it comes to just about everything. If we had kids I would consider leaving just so we could raise our kids in a more intelligent and positive environment. Our food is the bomb though.

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Revelation34 posted...

Moving to Texas to avoid racism is like eating McDonald's to be healthy.

Except for Austin, which has slowly become like the largest far-Left SWJ snowflake enclave in the US outside of San Francisco.

It's like, Austin is what you'd get if Tumblr somehow became sentient and founded a city.
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Thus ends the age of handhelds:
https://www.gematsu.com/2020/09/3ds-series-production-ended-in-japan

Or, at least, true handheld consoles, because the Switch is *kind* of a handheld. This and that had already happened, but I think this is the official end to the 3DS, the last dedicated handheld console from a major video game company.

I guess I'm stuck with some kind of mobile for new games going forward, if I bother with new portable games at all?


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The Handheld is dead. Long live Mobile.


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Revelation34 posted...

Moving to Texas to avoid racism is like eating McDonald's to be healthy.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/weight-loss-diet-fat-mcdonalds-calories-nutrition-super-size-me-ryan-williams-exercise-a8632016.html

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Zeus posted...

I guess I'm stuck with some kind of mobile for new games going forward, if I bother with new portable games at all?

Occuslus quest, streaming to phones/ipads etc (From primary consoles or pcs) etc will allow full games to be played on the go, and before too long we'll see even better portability (shades/glasses that act as a full monitor anywhere you go, like playing on a large 4k TV etc.

So while the handhelds may be passing on, the next stage should be much better in almost every way.

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Zeus posted...

Or, at least, true handheld consoles, because the Switch is *kind* of a handheld.

The Switch is more of a handheld that can be docked than it is a console that is portable, no matter what Nintendo likes to say. It's easily more of a successor to the 3DS than it is to the Wii-U.

The Wii-U was more of a console that could become portable - after that failed catastrophically, Nintendo basically just decided to try again from the opposite direction, and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
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wolfy42 posted...

Occuslus quest, streaming to phones/ipads etc (From primary consoles or pcs) etc will allow full games to be played on the go, and before too long we'll see even better portability (shades/glasses that act as a full monitor anywhere you go, like playing on a large 4k TV etc.

So while the handhelds may be passing on, the next stage should be much better in almost every way.

Isn't what you're discussing still very far off into the future?

ParanoidObsessive posted...

The Switch is more of a handheld that can be docked than it is a console that is portable, no matter what Nintendo likes to say. It's easily more of a successor to the 3DS than it is to the Wii-U.

The Wii-U was more of a console that could become portable - after that failed catastrophically, Nintendo basically just decided to try again from the opposite direction, and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

The ginormous size and low battery life limit its usefulness as a handheld. The XL was already so big that it basically just something people would only use around the house and the Switch is far bigger still.

While Nintendo promotes the Switch as being something people can play anywhere, it's not going to see much use outside the house. (Especially considering you're going to have to leave it plugged in most of the time.)


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Yeah but still, Switch is still a handheld to many people.

I mean, not going places didn't make the 3DS any less of a handheld. (Also from what I always hear in Japan a lot more people took theirs like everywhere.)

I feel like the way the Switch is predominantly used dictates what kind of system it is primarily.

What you brought up limits it as an on the go console, however it's still something held in the hands and played vs TV play.

Adding I couldn't even take the Wii U pad into the bathroom without it telling me that it was too far away. I feel like they just didn't want to upset people when they said Switch wasn't replacing 3DS. Ultimately, I think it's the replacement of both the Wii U and 3DS.

Zeus posted...

Isn't what you're discussing still very far off into the future?

I would think at the rate technology has been advancing it's not as far off as you think. Look at some of the technologies from Star Trek of the late 90's that were innovations in the 24th century. Things like the Universal Translator, the PADD, shouting at your computer to make it do stuff. 20 years ago, this was a pipe dream. Now it's all in one device in your pocket. They couldn't even watch video on their communicators, they had to go to a terminal.

Google glass was already a working proof of concept for an always on heads up display. Elon Musk is working on direct neural interfaces.

It's not as far-fetched as you may think. The Singularity IS approaching.

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I'm not saying that it's some outlandish science fiction, I'm just asking if we can expect it in the next few years. Clearly the baseline capabilities exist, it's just a question of is it actually coming to market in the near future.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

I would think at the rate technology has been advancing it's not as far off as you think. Look at some of the technologies from Star Trek of the late 90's that were innovations in the 24th century. Things like the Universal Translator, the PADD, shouting at your computer to make it do stuff. 20 years ago, this was a pipe dream. Now it's all in one device in your pocket. They couldn't even watch video on their communicators, they had to go to a terminal.

A lot of that stuff wasn't a pipe dream 20 years ago. Voice recognition first became a reality in 1952. 20 years ago was still almost 50 years after it was a reality >_> Scifi in general tends to mix aspirations with existing technology either on a broader scale or modified to make it cooler.

For translators, text to speech has existed since 1968 and text-to-speech has been out since 1961. Between those two technologies, you have the foundations of a universal translator and the groundwork was pre-1970.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_synthesis

Most of the tech that we're wowed by today is just decades-old existing technology that's finally coming to mass market.


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Zeus posted...

Most of the tech that we're wowed by today is just decades-old existing technology that's finally coming to mass market.

you're kind of proving my point though. nothing he listed was considered magitech.

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Nothing will be able to stop the Vita 2

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Zeus posted...

Most of the tech that we're wowed by today is just decades-old existing technology that's finally coming to mass market.

As mentioned the Occulus Quest already exists and they are about to release the quest 2. Look how far things have come in the last 40 years, or even the last 20.

They already have something (Forget it's name) that lets you basically rent a full gaming PC for 30$ and then stream it to any device you want (you need a bare min internet speed to connect to their service, then you get blazing speeds from them). It works on phones, ipads, laptops, PC's other stuff.

Quest lets you play anywhere. Cell phone hot spots or Satalite internet lets you connect anywhere as well.

It's all just basically taking what we have and using it at this point, additional advances will be nice, but are not really that neccesary.

I'd say we could probably get a full VR setup that looks much like Jordy Laforge *sp* from star treks visor at this point. The main thing is they are trying to keep the costs of these things low, so more people can buy them, but in reality they should actually make them really light/comfortable, with a much longer battery life, upgrade the graphics a bit more, and make it so EVERYONE wants one basically, even if it's twice as expensive.

Pretty hard to miss a hand held game system when instead you just put on a visor and are a virtual reality world swinging lightsabers around like crazy, or actually running/jumping/firing like your in a Ratchet and clank game etc.

The quest even lets you literally mark you play field, so you can see where you are inside it, which allows you to you know, not run into walls while playing or fall off a ledge etc, but lets you move within a virtual space, to dodge, attack and interact with objects (instead of having to just stand still).

Altered reality is probably the next big thing though, basically a merging of VR and reality (so you can actually see your environment and move through it, but VR enemies will pop up etc, while your moving through the real world. While a bit dangerous (quite likely will need parks and areas to safely play, and it will be illegal to do in public areas (where cars are driving etc), it would be totally safe on your own property, or at parks etc....and could allow you to literally interact with an entire virtual world, before you know, we actually create one (which we will if we live long enough). Pokemon go will have nothing on the future of altered reality games I'm sure.

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I'm still not a huge fan of VR and motion controls though tbh. I mean I love that it's a technology that exists, and we're getting closer to a holodeck, but I just want to sit down and play a game without having to flail about like a muppet, or worrying about stubbing a toe on furniture or giving the person next to me a black eye, or having a controller fly out of my hand and break something.

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Zeus posted...

The ginormous size and low battery life limit its usefulness as a handheld.

That's the sad reality of most handheld devices these days. The Switch isn't actually all that much worse than the PSP was, and it's on par with what the 3DS was. Though obviously, a lot of this depends on what sort of programs you're running - some games drain the battery faster than others.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Nintendo could eventually release an updated battery pack the way Sony did for the PSP, to increase battery life. Nintendo loves double dipping like that.



Zeus posted...

While Nintendo promotes the Switch as being something people can play anywhere, it's not going to see much use outside the house.

Nearly everyone I know who owns one uses it for that far more than they actually do docked.
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The PSMove was actually great for the few shooters it worked with on PS3. I did most of my Killzone 3 gaming with it, and also played through Bioshock Infinite on Hard with it.

I'd rather see an expansion of that than more VR stuff TBH

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I'd rather see motion controls die forever and never rear their head again.
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Supposedly the She-Hulk actress has been announced.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/she-hulk-disney-plus-series-tatiana-maslany-1234773900/

idk, not wowed by the casting but hopefully it'll be good.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

you're kind of proving my point though. nothing he listed was considered magitech.

I'm not sure what your point is. I never described anything as "impossible," I asked how soon is it actually coming out. I even clarified that.

wolfy42 posted...

They already have something (Forget it's name) that lets you basically rent a full gaming PC for 30$ and then stream it to any device you want (you need a bare min internet speed to connect to their service, then you get blazing speeds from them). It works on phones, ipads, laptops, PC's other stuff.

For how long? $30/week? $30/month?

wolfy42 posted...

Pretty hard to miss a hand held game system when instead you just put on a visor and are a virtual reality world swinging lightsabers around like crazy, or actually running/jumping/firing like your in a Ratchet and clank game etc.

You're really talking about completely different things. Something like that is competition for a home console, not a handheld. What you're describing can't be done on the go. If somebody is in a car or train, they can't swing their arms and jump around. This is all stuff that you can only do in places like your home.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

That's the sad reality of most handheld devices these days. The Switch isn't actually all that much worse than the PSP was, and it's on par with what the 3DS was. Though obviously, a lot of this depends on what sort of programs you're running - some games drain the battery faster than others.

I'm not sure that a single Switch charge has ever lasted half as long for me as a single 3DS charge. The 3DS's battery life was already pushing it for a handheld, so releasing something with an even worse life is ridiculous.


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Zeus posted...

Supposedly the She-Hulk actress has been announced.

Orphan Black girl? That seems like terrible casting.

It feels like they just picked her because she's got a resume of playing multiple versions of the same character, so they figure she can handle both sides of She-Hulk's personality.



Zeus posted...

I'm not sure that a single Switch charge has ever lasted half as long for me as a single 3DS charge. The 3DS's battery life was already pushing it for a handheld, so releasing something with an even worse life is ridiculous.

That's the inevitable outcome of constantly advancing hardware and more taxing software, though. The harder it has to work, the faster the charge drains.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

I'd rather see motion controls die forever and never rear their head again.

I'd rather see sports games die forever

Except Tony Hawk

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Orphan Black girl? That seems like terrible casting.

It feels like they just picked her because she's got a resume of playing multiple versions of the same character, so they figure she can handle both sides of She-Hulk's personality.

To be fair to Tatiana Maslany, her work on Orphan Black was pretty amazing, the scripting was just a mess.

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Orphan Black girl?

One of these days I'll have to watch Orphan Black.

Metalsonic66 posted...

I'd rather see sports games die forever

Except Tony Hawk

What about sports entertainment games? >_>

Otherwise there are some sports that make for entertaining games, like boxing and martial arts (although they aren't always done well). That and I have a soft spot for video game spinoffs of sports titles, like Mega Man Soccer.

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Zeus posted...

What about sports entertainment games? >_>

Like a video game adaptation of The Blindside?
Zeus posted...

Mega Man Soccer.

I don't remember that one but I do admit that I played a lot of Lucio Ball in Overwatch

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Megaman Soccer was really fun. Too bad it was incomplete.
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I wasn't able to get a PS5 pre-order. I tried for like 5 hours on various sites last night, and actually had it in my cart 2 times to check out, and then it just vanished. My local Gameatop had a sign on their door saying that they weren't taking any pre-orders in store at this time, and my last attempt was at Sam's Club, and I had it in my cart, but it vanished too.

I'm done until Tuesday when Walmart is allowing pre-orders in store. If that doesn't work out then I'm fine until possibly Black Friday or the first of the year.

I was so detected by the failed pre-order fiasco that the wife and I went shopping. I got another pair of shoes and sone cologne. Fun fact, Mercedes makes cologne now, and it smells really good. I got a bottle of that instead of Polo Red, it's called Mercedes Move.

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The 3DS had a good run, and I am sad to see its time end, but I have so many games left to play on it that it still has a long life left in my home. Then again, I can say that about most of my consoles. I honestly have very little need of anything new, barring new titles for my Switch. Otherwise, going to enjoy my existing collection for as long as it continues to function.

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I want to preorder one but it would probably be stupid to do so since first release consoles tend to break.
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Revelation34 posted...

Megaman Soccer was really fun. Too bad it was incomplete.

Explain?

The Wave Master posted...

I wasn't able to get a PS5 pre-order. I tried for like 5 hours on various sites last night, and actually had it in my cart 2 times to check out, and then it just vanished. My local Gameatop had a sign on their door saying that they weren't taking any pre-orders in store at this time, and my last attempt was at Sam's Club, and I had it in my cart, but it vanished too.

I'm not sure I've ever been that big about getting any console close to the release date, except maybe the N64. Usually the launch titles are kinda meh.

I_Abibde posted...

I honestly have very little need of anything new, barring new titles for my Switch.

Right now I think I own 10 Switch games and I've played 6-7 of them. (Offhand, the ones I haven't even tried yet are SW Pinball, Touhou Burst (or whatever the fighter is called), and SNK Heroines which I recently picked up). Other than BotW, I haven't put a huge amount of time into anything.

Humorously, I think I own twice as many games for the ps4 and I still haven't even unboxed that.

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There was no real ending to Megaman Soccer.
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Fiddler on the Roof is kinda overrated

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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Zeus posted...
The ginormous size and low battery life limit its usefulness as a handheld.

It's been a pretty well kept secret that battery technology has crept along at a snail's pace in terms of trying to keep up with the demands. There's a mad scramble in battery tech to try and find something that's better than the typical Li-on battery, because the drain is not only killing the up time of mobile devices, but the life cycles of said batteries, too. The solution has been to just make bigger batteries with more amps, but that hasn't made them better in terms of efficiency.

Graphene and other substances have been floated as a possible solution, but progress has been quite slow.

As for the 3DS, sad day, in a kinda of end-of-an-era sort of way. As for the Switch, I actually almost exclusively leave it docked, because I have a 75 inch TV, so why the hell wouldn't I? I haven't had to travel for work in a while either, so I don't have that excuse, either.

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Fiddler on the Roof is kinda overrated

I kind of like "Tradition", "Matchmaker", "Sunrise, Sunset", and "If I Were a Rich Man". And to this day whenever I'm doing shots or drinking a toast where you're expected to say something, I almost always say "L'Chaim" because of that song.

Though I suppose the story as a whole can be less engaging when it's 100 years later and less applicable to the people watching it. It's harder to relate to if you're not a Jew in Czarist Russia living on a peasant farm trapped between traditional ways of living and the slow inevitable encroachment of the modern world (though that last part can be applicable pretty much anywhere, though you're less likely to appreciate it until you're older).

It's not my #1 go-to musical, but I like it a more than a lot of others. Including some that are very popular these days.
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