Ask MetaFilter questions in the sports, hobbies, & recreation category

I own a mansion and a yacht.

Sheydem-tants — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 16:05:55 -0800

Perennial student of voice, female, in menopause. My voice tears and breaks up in the midrange. How do I get B3 to F4 not to sound like Mel Blanc doing Elmer Fudd? My midrange has always been weak, and unfortunately the teachers I studied with when I was younger did not note it, or show me how to work through it.

Now that I'm in my fifties, my voice tears, wobbles, and breaks in the B3 to F4 range routinely. Often I can't even hold a tone in that range steady at all. It's worse when I'm poorly rested, but it never "just works."

Outside of that range, all is well.

A recent session of voice lessons, while fruitful in other areas, did not help address the issue. I did the prescribed exercises to "strengthen the vocal cords" diligently and ... still with the Elmer Fudd.

I want to sing Irish and traditional folk repertoire, much of which crosses or sounds best when anchored in the problem range. Clearly We Have A Problem.

You can assume I'm drinking enough water.

Has anyone been able to get through this, or at least diminish it?

More games like this

pH Indicating Socks — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 12:22:47 -0800

I just finished Contradiction and I loved it. I also liked Her Story, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and Dear Esther. I loved exploring a mystery, with no urgency or time pressure. I tried Erica, but it was too bloody and horrible. So I am not interested in horror games, but murder as a theme is OK. Beautiful graphics and good acting ideally. Can you recommend others? I'm on a PC. Thanks for any suggestions!

Board Games For 2

Aranquis — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:05:46 -0800

I’ve been enjoying playing board games with a group but find it really socially demanding as an awkward introvert and in other situations, it’s rare for me to have 3 or 4 players. What games are fun for just 2 adult people? Any complexity level, price, or style is fine.

How should we be shuffling these cards?

jacquilynne — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 19:39:57 -0800

My mom and I routinely play a version of Canasta that needs six decks of cards. At her house, we shuffle them using a six deck shuffler but at my house, where we play much less often, we don't have a shuffler. How can we best shuffle the cards given that we can't shuffle them all at once? We find shuffling the decks five times in the shuffler to be a good shuffle. We would like to know how to get the equivalent shuffle when shuffling by hand. Is there math for this?

When we hand shuffle, we can shuffle about one deck worth of cards into another deck woth. So at any given moment, each of us is shuffling two decks and there are two decks on the table. We usually shuffle the same two decks against each other 3-4 times before switching half the cards out for one of the table decks. We continue that until we get really bored of shuffling and then we stop.

How many iterations of shuffle-shuffle-shuffle-switch do we need to do to approximate five full deck shuffles? Or is there a better / more efficient way to shuffle multiple decks?

This isn't exactly an earth shattering question, I realize, but my mom has enough arthritis in her thumbs that if we are wildly over shuffling it would be nice to rein it in a little.

Finding a local affiliate for Steelers football

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 18:16:03 -0800

Is there a list or map of where in the US one can watch the NFL team the Steelers on over the air TV? Specifically in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia?

What strategy or RPG video game should I play?

at home in my head — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 17:17:27 -0800

I have a vacation (~1 week) coming up and I'd like to invest my time in a video game (or maybe more than one), but I'm not sure what to play. My favorites genres are strategy and RGP and I play on computer (Linux). What should I play next? It doesn't have to be The Latest Hotness. Favorite games of the past include:

- Planescape: Torment
- Civilization (1-6, but esp. 4 and 5)
- Fallout (1-3 and New Vegas)
- Skyrim
- XCOM (1, 2, Enemy Unknown, War of the Chosen)
- Neverwinter Nights
- Knights of the Old Republic (1 & 2)
- Dragon Age
- Minecraft (esp. Thaumcraft, Tinker's Construct, and Galacticraft mods)
- Diablo 2
- Starcraft

My gaming setup is a linux computer with 2 monitors, with an Intel i5 and a GeForce 2060 SUPER GPU. I'd guess I can play pretty much anything that'll run under Linux (including Steam and Wine). I can dual boot to Windows if there's a compelling reason.

Things I'm considering:
- Fallout 4
- Dragon Age 2

Things I tried that did not grab me:
- Pillars of Eternity
- Cyberpunk 2077 (I think I just don't like urban settings; and the cyber upgrade tree didn't inspire me)
- Bioshock (loved the setting, but it was too anxiety-inducing)
- Divinity: Original Sin (combat too fiddly and hard)

Thanks!

College football - best streaming service? 2021

mrmarley — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 05:34:54 -0800

I want to watch college football (namely SEC games) through a streaming service(s). I'm completely out of my element here with the number of choices/options such services have. I'm hoping someone versed in this arena could simplify or guide me in a direction on which streaming service(s) to get to watch college football. ESPN+ ? Fubo? other? thank you!

Music machine that crimps paper?

dancing leaves — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 07:05:46 -0800

I watched a video of a flower arranging demonstration. Florist uses a large piece of paper shaped like a fan palm leaf and says it's made by a machine that plays music. I want such a wondrous device. I cannot find this wondrous device. This feels like it might be too arcane a question, even for MF, but I hope I'm wrong. Please hope me, MeFites! The faux leaf is roughly round and very large - about 3 feet across! - and has naturalistic ripples and creases radiating from the "stem" (though I don't know how much post-creation manipulation was involved). Requests to the sponsoring organization and attempts to contact the florist have not yielded an answer. Hobby paper crimping rollers don't involve music nor large enough pieces of paper.

I have a screenshot, but I don't know if it would violate copyright to post it.

Here's a transcript of that section of the video (florist is not native speaker):
Then, when I was practicing in (assistant's) shop, I see the gorgeous leaves. Isn't it beautiful? Then she told me story of how this happened. This story amazed me so I asked her to share the story. But she forgot her machine. You know, she put the stem in some kind of machine, then she play music [gestures in a circular motion with one hand], this leaves vibrate like this. So this is like made by music. [Assistant says something not picked up clearly by mic but sounds like "music company"] Have you heard that story? She put some stem in a little jar, put the music, this music vibration create this wrinkle.

Help me remember weird noodle-people indie sports game

pmdboi — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 14:06:23 -0800

I saw a trailer within the last ten years for a 2D computer game involving a ball and two noodle-people. I'm struggling to find any information about it. Here's what I recall about it: You're looking top-down at a court with a large ball and a net/goal on either end. The players are snake-like creatures with a human from the waist up attached to either end (think CatDog), and their middle section can be stretched arbitrarily long like in Noby Noby Boy. The players are wearing headbands and wristbands, but aside from that they're basically naked. The goal is to use your noodly body to maneuver the ball into the opponent's goal, but your opponent can wrap their body around you and the ball to stop you. As the bodies come into contact, each player climbs along the other player's body with their hands (with little patpatpat sound effects). The game has a simple flat-color art style and is very silly and light in tone.

Does this ring a bell for anyone else? I remember it getting a lot of buzz on Twitter but I can't seem to find it at all now. The closest game I've found to it is Phogs.

Suggest a gift for new boat owner

Sock, Sock, Sock, Sock, Sock, Goose! — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 11:58:57 -0800

My brother in Hawaii recently bought a 24-foot cabin cruiser that he keeps docked at a marina. He has a significant birthday coming up and I'd like to buy him something for the boat. I haven't seen the boat, but I presume it already has all the typical things a boat needs. So, I'm looking for something that he likely doesn't have but useful. The budget can be a few hundred dollars. Any suggestions?

Birthday gift help: Keyboard and music writing software

beccaj — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 07:19:06 -0800

My soon-to-be 14 year old son has been taking piano lessons for the last couple years. We are upgrading from a very old borrowed keyboard. I would like to get him a decent keyboard and he has been interested in some type of music writing software. As for budget - I'm imagining about 500 bucks or so? I just don't know where to start - I never even played the recorder.

Relearning guitar right to left, or is it left to right?

Saxon Kane — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 11:37:04 -0800

My left elbow hurts.(1) I'm right-handed, and I play guitar. I fret with my left-hand, but pain is making it difficult.(2) Worried this may be long-term, I'm thinking about relearning guitar to fret with my right-hand. Looking for advice on set-up, technique, etc.(3) (1)The pain is right at outside edge, like the bone feels bruised, and in the area between the bones, like in the muscle/tendon, extending a bit into the forearm. Had it for about 3 weeks, and it's been getting better. Most of the time it doesn't hurt unless I get to full extension. But...

(2)I can play and type and such with only a little discomfort. But if I stop and try to extend my arm at all, it cramps up somethin' fierce. Not so much after typing, although it feels sore, but after even a few seconds of playing guitar, it is really, really sore. Incidentally, any advice/references on pain relief and/or rehab options etc. would be appreciated, but that's secondary to the main issue, which is...

(3) Some of the specific questions I have:
if I'm switching to fretting with my right-hand, should I still string the guitar low strings to high, top to bottom, or should I reverse so that the high E is at the top, low E on bottom?
Should I get an actual "left-hander" guitar that's mirrored, or just flip my strat around (and possibly restring)?
Any good reasonably priced left-hand guitars you'd recommend?
Any advice on picking with the left-hand?
And, of course, any personal experiences with this or similar relearning experiences!

Thanks all.

Why can’t I dance?

stillmoving — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 10:58:40 -0800

I can walk and run and jump. I’m a decent athlete (running, skiing, biking, etc.) and I can keep time when singing or playing instruments. But when it comes to dancing, it’s like my brain and body don’t connect. Why? And can I ever improve? I’ve tried taking dance classes but it’s like my body turns to lead. I feel music very deeply and passionately and can sing and play instruments reasonably well, but once I try to move my body in any sort of coordinated rhythm, it all goes to pot.

I’m not ashamed of my inability to dance, and will still shake around the living room like a madwoman (or in public to the embarrassment of friends and family!) but sometimes I’d like to pay tribute to the music by moving my body along with it (in time and with cool moves!) Is this something that can ever happen for me? Any suggestions or experiences welcome. Thanks.

Why do my vape pens break so easily?

ggp88 — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 05:16:15 -0800

Over the past 18 months, I’ve bought two $70-$90 APX Vape pens from my local smoke shop in TX. I even sent them back to get fixed after they broke the first time and they broke again. I don’t want to keep spending so much money on new vape pens or waiting for so much time to have them fixed and mailed back.

They work great at first, but then eventually they get in this state where they don’t cook the weed. Either they blink out and just won’t cook at all, or they show that they are cooking but it never heats up. And that’s with them fully charged.

What’s the deal? Are vape pens usually unreliable like this, do I have bad luck, or am I just not purchasing the correct kind of vape pen?

What am I missing, tire-wise?

pdb — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 14:17:16 -0800

Why has my back tire flatted twice in nine days? After a year of riding on my brand new bike with brand new tires (not every day but 3-4 times a week - about 1300 miles), I had not one single flat tire. In the last 8-9 days, though, my back tire has flatted twice.

The tires themselves - Specialized Armadillo Elites - are still in good shape for that much riding (and I'm not looking for recommendations for different tires, I've used Armadillos forever and love them). There's no tears/rips/holes in the tread, it's not delaminating or otherwise falling apart, and neither flat seemed to be caused by a sharp object puncture (I went through the tire inch by inch and found nothing). In both cases, the flatting happened after a ride - the ride itself went without a hitch, and then, hours later, I'd notice that the back tire was completely flat.

I'm stumped as to what else could be causing this - I need to take the tire off and soak the tube to see if maybe this was a pinch flat, but I rode for four days on it between flats, which makes me think it wasn't a pinch?

The only other thing I can think of that is even a little bit strange is that the hole in the wheel (DT Swiss R470-DB, 700cm, if that matters) through which the tube valve goes when mounting the tire is quite a bit more snug than I have experienced on other bikes (not sure if that's due to the rim strip or the diameter of the hole itself), so maybe that is causing some stress on the tube where it joins the valve or something?

As I said, I still need to take the wheel off and look at it again tonight (I noticed the latest flat this morning, after a problem-free 22 mile ride last night). I was just hoping someone could point me in the direction of something I hadn't thought of that might be causing these flats.

Do I "need" an electric guitar?

hazyjane — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 08:16:27 -0800

I'm starting to learn guitar (currently on Justin Guitar Stage 2) with an acoustic guitar I got for my birthday. I really am enjoying it so far but am having a lot of trouble getting the notes to sound clear. So for example if I really focus on placing and adjusting my fingers I can get my D chord to sound clear - each string pressed down hard enough, fingers stretched out enough and close enough to each fret and not touching other strings. However when I'm trying to play and switching chords in a song I get lots of buzzing, muted strings, fingers touching other strings and it doesn't sound good.

So my question is, do I just keep practicing confident my finger placement will get better or do I go ahead and buy an electric guitar as this will be much easier to play? If I just keep practicing any tips on how to improve this aspect? I'm doing well with keeping the rhythm, strumming patterns, learning chords, etc and my fingertips are getting nice and calloused. Thank you.

two girls, one paddle: canoe vs tandem kayak

geegollygosh — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 05:20:49 -0800

If there are two people but only one can paddle, which would be more fun: a tandem kayak or a canoe? That's the question. One of us has a sprained arm. We're not going any great distance, just low-stakes paddling about in a tidal estuary on a nice day.

I (the person with two working arms) am comfortable in a kayak and in a two person canoe (but have limited experience in a solo canoe).

If you were a fat middle- aged lady, what bike would you get?

PussKillian — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 17:37:38 -0800

I’m a 46-yr old woman who is about a size 18. I’ve been falling deeper and deeper into being sedentary over the past year and am wondering if now is the time to started biking again, which I used to love. But what bike? I had a sort of generic Trek that was a fine bike in general, but after a short time my hands would go numb. I eventually just stopped riding even though I have a very short bike to work (around two miles over pretty flat terrain) and before I really made bike commuting a habit.
Ironically. I now have an almost permanently numb couple of fingers on my right hand because of nerve issues in my back and neck, and the surgery to fix that isn’t ideal to get right now. Is there a bike out there that might work for me? There are lots of good bike stores in town so I could probably test drive some if I had a direction.
A few months ago I decided that an e-bike would Fix All My Life Problems but I feel silly using one for such a short commute and also they are pretty pricy for what might be a whim.

Would it be safe to learn scuba-diving with a history of asthma?

RearWindow — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 08:21:04 -0800

I have always wanted to attempt scuba-diving but I have been hesitant due to my asthma history. Are there any scuba divers with asthma/history of asthma here and do scuba-dive? I still sometimes get slightly wheezy after a hard exercise, but I don't need an inhaler anymore. But had bad asthma as a child and early teenager. Not sure if it would be hard on my lungs with scuba-diving - or maybe deep diving?

Replacing Full Size Oxy Acetylene Kit With An Oxy MAPP Kit

jmsta — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:00:03 -0800

I've got to get a new Oxy tank to continue using my rig. Considering the cost of a new tank and my use case below would I be ok getting a little Oxy Mapp Kit with disposable bottles? I inherited a full size Oxy Acetylene rig about 8 years ago. It's nice to have in my shop but I find that I use it only once or twice a year. I found that I was out of oxygen the other day when I went to braze something. I called around trying to get it filled but I found it almost impossible to get filled without proof of ownership and tank recertification. I suspect when I run out of Acetylene I'll run into the same issue. I mostly use it for brazing but I've occasionally used it to cut steel.

Boardgame recommendations for people who hate capitalism

Susan PG — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 05:26:01 -0800

I have a friend group of angry anti-capitalist vegans. They want to play boardgames, but the themes of most boardgames really don’t work for them. They don’t want to colonize or resource-extract or build an empire or be the boss of animals. I think they would really enjoy any game with explicitly (even cartoonishly) leftist politics. Can you recommend anything? I think they would enjoy playing as revolutionaries, saboteurs, spies, and similar.

Difficulty level: Half the group are pretty serious gamers and the other half is very casual. One person is in her 70s with limited English. It's five people in total. I don't think the group has a lot of patience for games that require a ton of setup and rules reading. Ideally the game would be an hour or two max playtime.

Fantasy is okay, absurdist is okay, post-apocalypse would be fine, horror is out. Thank you for any recommendations :)

Is there an easy way to find who you follow on IG on Twitter?

Megami — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 00:01:33 -0800

Yes, I could go through every account I follow on Instagram and see if their name matches an account on Twitter. But is there an integration that will do something like this for me? You may think Twitter is a hellscape, but I actually don’t mind it. And I have decided to stop using IG (again). I have already discovered a few people I follow on IG on Twitter more by luck than design and would like to check if there are more.

Beginner kayak?

clarinet — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 19:11:25 -0800

How much should I spend on a starter kayak? I am trying to balance rental costs vs the cost of a starter kayak. What kayaks and price range would you recommend? This is like a once a week recreational kayak situation. No need for anything ridiculous, just easy enough for me to have fun with. Thanks! (I have seen the previous question but am looking for updated info/more of a target price range. Thanks!)

How do I find new music I like?

goingonit — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:13:21 -0800

I am in my mid 30s and coming to terms with being An Old, but it would still be nice to find new artists to listen to. Is there a way to do this that will find me stuff I like that's more curated than streaming services? I last paid attention to new music in a regular way about a decade ago and I was a fan of indie, folk, and Americana type stuff from the aughts (think The Shins, Stars, Regina Spektor, Andrew Bird, Punch Brothers, The Decemberists). I am glad that a lot of these artists are still recording and touring but how do I expand my horizons? Music podcasts were a thing; are they still? Are there radio stations I should be streaming? Or do I just stream music and wait to find stuff I like that I haven't heard yet? Happy for any and all recommendations.

Minimal bike maintenance tips

Cheerwell Maker — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 10:30:38 -0800

I bought a new bike a few months ago and I would like to keep it in good condition. I took my last bike for a yearly service at my local bike shop, and I intend to keep that up, but also what are some easy, quick maintenance things I absolutely should be doing to keep it running nicely? Difficulty level: I really don't enjoy doing bike maintenance and I have neither the time nor interest to upskill much in this area. Eg I pay the bike shop to fix punctures because I'd rather do that than deal with the hassle myself. The bike is a Dawes "Cambridge" town bike, with a Hamax baby seat on the back and front panniers, if that matters. It has a semi-enclosed chain which I can access easily, and some gears. It's my primary transport and it gets used daily for up to 20 mile round trips, mostly on the flat.

I'm after very basic tips and product recommendations - I'm in the UK. Stuff like "put brand X on your chain every Y months". Looking for products which are good value but not top-end. Assume I know nothing.

(I realise I could ask the bike shop... but although they're fab at doing things to my bike, the main guy who owns it is super paternalistic and I don't feel like asking questions so I can be treated like an idiot. Also then I'd feel pressured to make decisions of what to buy there and then, and I'd prefer to think over it at my own pace.)