Relevant Simpsons episode: https://youtu.be/DX08tDXPnz0

Parc Astérix, especially if you like rollercoasters. There are fast pass bundle options for a lot of the main rides as well. Halloween is also a great time to go, they have a bunch of great haunted houses and the park is open after hours.

I don’t know about the physics part, but the picture is taken from this video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/9IZ410VrikQ

I highly recommend this channel, they have a bunch of funny videos with animal facts.

(Another thing to watch out for is Yugioh! - my son is OBSESSED with the card game and it’s bankrupting us!!! 😆 )

Ha, we have the same issue but with Magic the Gathering. You’ll definitely want to keep your son away from MtG if you want to avoid bankruptcy 😭

I think I might be able to answer this one from my perspective. I was born in a Portuguese speaking country, so on paper my mother tongue should be Portuguese (which it sort of still is). But we moved when I was a kid and I lived in multiple countries, so I went to international schools for most of my life. English then became my mother tongue over time and it is dominant over Portuguese. I now work in an organisation where English is the main working language, but I live in France, so I acquired a third language, just not quite at native level. Here are some of the interesting things I’ve observed:

• I have slightly different “personalities” in different languages. This may be a reflection of exposure to different cultures and times of my life I learned these languages, but also very much a confidence thing. I am funnier and at ease making jokes in English than the other two languages.
• Some words I only learned in one language because of timing and circumstance. There are technical terms I know only in English because of my work. There are motorcycle parts I only know the name of in French because I bought my first bike here. I birdwatch, and for some birds’ names I default to English, while others I use their French name.
• Because of moving around I was exposed to a lot of different cultures, which is awesome, but that means I have cultural weak ties to my countries of origin (I’m also mixed race). If anything the one cultural constant in my life has been anglophone media (especially American) which had a mot of influence. I identify more with Anglo-Saxon culture but also feel vaguely European. I even sound generically American, which throws some people off when they learn I never lived in the US nor Canada.
• Knowing multiple languages fluently can obviously make it easier in some ways and make things more accessible. It also made me very adaptable. When I arrived in France I narely knew the language. Once I gained fluency, everything became much easier (well, as easy as this country can be).
• One disadvantage is that in some ways I am always the “other” (though not just because of language). Everywhere I go I feel like a foreigner, hence the username. I speak English to my kids, and that makes me stand out and people treat me as if I’m some sort of exotic being. It’s gotten better now they’re in a more international school.
• It’s harder to find people who “get it” because they lived through the same experiences.
• At work I sometimes have meetings with Portuguese speaking people but I’m uncomfortable speaking Portuguese in a work setting because I miss many of the terms. So I often default to English which confuses people because I’m from a lusophone country and I speak fluently.

There are some messier issues around identity that I won’t get into because those aren’t limited just to language, but the above are things that have stood out to me over the years.

Are you possibly me from the future? I filled him in on the tips everyone shared her but he’s ultimately decided on AoS, and Skaven seem to be the set he’s most interested in! He’s definitely more of a fan of fantasy than Sci-Fi so I shouldn’t be surprised. I doubt I’ll be able to help much with painting though, hands are way too shaky :/

Thank you this is really useful information!!

That’s interesting, one of the reasons he got into minis was because someone bought him some to use in his roleplaying games, and from there it was a short walk to Warhammer. He’s still new to tabletop RPGs and hasn’t tried out any particular system beyond using his imagination and printing some things out to play with his friends. I think Warhammer caught his eye because it’s more tangible and easier to play in a sense? He’s keen to try D&D but it’s been hard to find places to learn. I guess the benefit of AoS over 40k is I could see him using some of the minis for his RPG games given they lean towards fantasy.

Thank you for the thoughtful comment, these are all very good points to think about. To answer your questions:

1. To be honest I’m probably going to be the friend he plays with, at least to start. When he was getting into MtG, he and I would play until he eventually started introducing his friends to the game at school. It’s one more good excuse to spend quality time together especially, as he heads into his teens, so I don’t mind.
2. There’s a Warhammer store near our place (where he got to try AoS) that hosts some games. I thought it was the only one in our city but after your comment I had a look and there are a bunch of others nearby, one of which is a café specifically for people who want to play and paint. We’ll definitely be checking those out.
3. It’s his birthday in a couple of weeks, so I don’t mind buying him a starter kit or something along those lines, but beyond that we agreed any additions would only happen if he’s done assembling and painting the set he has. Then if we add more it’ll be for birthday/Christmas gifts, or he uses his own pocket money. I have to be honest though, when he told me he was interested in Warhammer, this was the first thing that popped into my head.
4. He was gifted a few minis from the Lord of the Rings set (that’s how he caught the bug), I haven’t seen the Marvel or Star Wars in the store but I’ll have a look around.

I didn’t realise they made Warhammer video games but makes total sense. Are they any good?

Thanks for the insight, that’s another mention of Kill Team in the thread. I actually think the long prep time is a bonus because it means he’ll have to take his time before adding any more to the collection, hopefully…

Fair!

Guys, I think Grimdank is leaking

I don’t mind him spending time preparing his minis if it means he has to wait before adding more to his collection. We’ll look into Kill Team though, thank you for the tip!

Ah interesting, do you mean using the figurines but with different game rules and mechanics?

It’s probably too early to tell just how many people will be impacted and if those impacted will connect the dots to Trump and his cabinet’s actions. But I’ll ask as a precaution - is there a lethal dose for schadenfreude? My gut tells me we may experience quite a bit of it and I don’t want to overdose.

Ah man I’m so sorry about your owl friends :( you’re right though, it really is a great lesson in taking things as they are and living in the present. I wish you more happy owl encounters in the near future!

Yeah I count myself very lucky someone shared the location with me. There is another well documented sedentary Tawny with photos going back to 2010. Sadly when I went back last week it wasn’t there, and another photographer passing through told me it hadn’t been seen for almost a year. Last time I saw it was March or April last year, so I fear it may have passed away. I’m hoping that’s not the case, and if it’s still around and I can get some shots I’ll share them here.

I’m also on the lookout for Long Eared Owls but those are going to be much more challenging to find.

So I went digging around for some of the older photos I’ve seen of the same spot and they seem to date from 2012-2015. I can’t tell if it’s the same individual but maybe someone with a more discerning eye will fare better?

Here’s another photo I took the week prior on a cloudy day:

In any case, the spot is next to a path that gets quite a bit of foot traffic (joggers, people walking dogs, people strolling with kids) so it’s not exactly quiet, but it doesn’t seem to be bothered.

spent the day alternating between dozing and glaring at everyone.

Life goals, honestly