Brent Simmons

@thrashy.bsky.social

171 Followers 528 Following

I design laboratories! Architecture, science, motorsports, computer games, SF/F lit, TTRPGs. Somewhere between SocDem and DemSoc. PFP shamelessly yoinked from Order Of The Stick, by @rich-burlew.giantitp.com.

A disgusted man says "They're made out of meat." From the 2004 short film of the same name, by Stephen O'Reagan, and based on a short story by Terry Bisson. It's a fun ten minute watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6JFTmQCFHg
Pinnacles highlighted by the setting sun, looking east from Manzanita Vista.
As ever, working to build the post-apocalyptic wasteland that would finally justify their insistence that they need 500 guns and a fleet of milsurp Humvees to traverse the miles of crumbled roadways between their compounds and the last operating Fortress Hospital in the Dakotan Oil Wastes.
At the AVUS race course in 1937, streamlined Mercedes-Benz W25 Silver Arrow races through the steeply-banked north turn (known as the "wall of death" for its lack of safety features) as the Nazi flag flies from the race control tower beyond.
"Lack of ongoing cooling/power costs drives ongoing opex savings even prior to capex parity"
Ben Wyatt wins the Cones of Dunshire against the CEO of Gryzzl, from Parks and Recreation
Short video of a large fire burning at a tire recycling facility in Houston on 6/22, recorded at night from an airliner departing Hobby Airport.
A yummy homemade carne asada street taco on a plate
A very fat tuxedo tabby cat lays on his side while covering his nose with a paw
A Penske Porsche 963 in a retro Apple livery, featuring the original rainbow Apple logo on white
A detail of a fantasy map, showing an automatically-generated road network connecting settlements.
“What limits steady production in modular construction? It is rarely the factory. In my experience…” Under the text is an AI generated image wherein 5 multi-thumbed hands open the Goatse portal to a manufactured housing factory floor.
A squirrel sits on a fence post, looking out over the pickets like a guard looking down over the parapet of a castle wall
Screencap of a LinkedIn post by Pascal Dumont, president of the (translated) Tourist Railroad of the Southern Ardennes. Accompanying the post is a photo of a magnificent red and tan SNCF Class X 3800 being used as an inspection vehicle, stopped near a culvert over a stream. The text post reads: "Hier, fin de la campagne de débroussaillage des ouvrages d'art sur la Voie Ferrée Locale Sud-Ardennes Amagne-Lucquy-Attigny. Entretien et surveillance de tous ces ouvrages , datant de la construction de la ligne en 1873 et souvent "invisibles" sauf pour l'oeil exercé. La majorité des OA de la ligne consiste en de petits ouvrages , dallots, buses, plus quelques ponts de faible ouverture, et deux ouvrages un peu plus conséquents, le pont sur l'Aisne et le pont sur le canal des Ardennes. Quand au véhicule de service....Il permet d'apprécier la promenade...et la météo!"
Jeff Webb, who once called Charilie Kirk a "future president," dies after pickleball accident
A PAVE PAWS early warning radar installation, with large circular phased arrays near horizontal.
A photograph of the defendants at the Nuremberg trials, with their names and sentences superimposed
A fictional map charting the migration and divergence of DnD-style fantasy species.
Fried Brussels sprouts on a table.
"Bart, no!" meme template. Top panel: Marge Simpson yells "Bluesky, No!" Second panel: Bart (labeled as Bluesky) asks "What?" Last panel: Marge replies "Sorry, force of habit."
Four homemade carnitas street tacos on a green and white plate.
“Well it’s 64 degrees in the republic of California currently!”
“How are you doing that with your mouth?”, from Scott Pilgrim
“Grent Market Desalinization”
An AI-slop marketing image for “AquaHaven Living Survival Pod System,” showcasing a spherical lifeboat-thingy and highlighting “Fresh Water From Ocean,” “Clean Induction Cooking,” and “Deployable Sea Anchor” among other bizarre features.
Detail of the staircase to the NRA Sporting Arms Museum in the Springfield Bass Pro Shop, showing the antique rifles used for balusters
A wide-angle view of the interior of a player-built Atreides base in Dune: Awakening, showcasing the set's Frank Lloyd Wright-meets-60's-futuristic-Brutalism aesthetic. Note in particular the triangular waffle slab details and the Prairie Style-esque lighting elements.
A photo of the defendants at the Nuremberg trials, labeled with their names and eventual sentences.
Still image from the film "Independence Day," wherein the an alien ship explodes the White House.
CHEERIEST NONRECIPROCAL YODELING
Acolytes of ComStar showing off their wizard-y robes of office, said office being the interplanetary communications system switchboard operator.
An incredibly contented Shar Pei mix resting with his head reclining on his mom’s lap
Elinor Carucci for The Atlantic: “Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?”
A screenshot of a LinkedIn post featuring an AI-slop reimagining of a tram as a wood-clad, green-roof-mohawked sort of pod, because nothing can be truly green unless it has plastic trays of barely-clinging-to-life sedum thrown on top of it. The accompanying text reads: "Designing Movement. Designing Change. In Stockholm, we’re reimagining mobility - not just as transport, but as living design. This AI-driven, sustainable train concept shows how architecture and mobility can merge: built from natural materials, powered by clean energy, and shaped for both people and planet. I believe the next era of urban design will merge architecture, mobility, and AI into one ecosystem - where every structure and every journey contributes to a healthier, more connected city. The future of movement begins with how we imagine it. 🌿"
An imposing, HR Giger-esque tower known as the Darko Arcology from the classic video game SimCity 2000
Google Maps 3D view of the Franciscan Alliance/Franciscan VNS campus in Beech Grove Indiana, consisting on the right side a massive, mostly empty parking lot engulfing a low rise yellow-brick building with narrow slit windows, and on the left side an anonymous dorm-like office tower suspended over a parking garage with easily double the GSF of the office. On an approximately 12 acre campus, there appears to be a single-digit number of trees, and no pedestrian amenities whatsoever.
Laura Bailey, Alexander Ward, and Aabria Iyengar sit down at the table during Episode 2 of Campaign 4 of Critical Role. In response to the ominous introduction of the father of Alexander's character in the previous scene, Aabria asks: "How hot is your dad?"
A group of Finnish people observing customary Finnish personal space at a bus stop, with at least three meters' space between unrelated individuals.
A bee collecting pollen from a sunflower, already heavily-laden with yellow pollen from other flowers.
3D render of an undine witch in a tattered green poncho and turtle-skull mask, wading through a swamp with a gnarled wooden staff and a raven familiar.
Screencap of an epic shitpost in the r/DestinyTheGame subreddit: [Spoiler] In reflecting on this weeks story mission, I have realized Bungie's been the playing the long game… [Lore post tag] Granted, none of this is necessarily new information, but the pieces all clicked into place under my spinfoil hat earlier today, after finishing this week's story mission. I think think Bungie's been putting pieces in place for years now, so that they can stage a very particular raid encounter in Lightfall. Consider the following: * AI-Clovis is being set up to be Humanity's Disciple of the Witness. * After being kicked out of Rasputin's exo frame, the Clovis AI is now back to living solely in his enormous robot head on Europa * There are parts for the rest of a giant exo elsewhere (likely similar in size to Ascendant Oryx) in the Bray Exoscience facility * AI-Clovis' scheme is now out in the open and he knows he's in danger on Europa * In Lightfall, we're getting Strand, that lets us maneuver rapidly across vertical and open spaces via Darkness-powered grappling hooks
It’s the Principal Skinner “PATHETIC” meme.
A graph of betting deposits divided by income over time between 2018 and 2024, showing low and middle income households rapidly increasing their betting activity and total funds involved from 2020 onwards.
A screenshot of Robert Evan’s, overlaid with the text *ATONAL SCREECH*
Screenshot of a news site on mobile, with maybe 20% of the screen showing actual content and the rest being a blitz of ads on ads on ads.
Jeff Goldblum as cowboy-cosplaying neurosurgeon New Jersey discovers a mysterious watermelon within Team Bandai HQ in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, an actual, real movie that really starred some of the most recognizable actors of the 80s.
Dan McNinja, tapping his forehead sagely as he proclaims "Because. *They can't grab me if I'm on fire.*" From The Adventures of Dr. McNinja.
3D image of a near-future quadrupedal combat mech on a generic savanna near sunset.
Excerpt from the novella Rose/House throwing some serious-if-warranted shade on my professsion: "What, like -- you think the dead guy was done kind of fortune-hunter? Or an AI groupie?" "Try a little weirder." "What's weirder than AI groupies?" "Selene Gisil," said Marziya. "*Architects.*"
Photo of the interior of a Honda Fit with a stack of lumber between the seats
A baffling Business Insider headline proclaiming that "Millennials [who are almost all at least 30 at this point] are adulting full time -- and it's freaking them out"
A comparison of a recent headshot of Keanu Reeves with a very similar-looking Trent Reznor's appearance in the music video for "Perfect Drug."
Rear 3/4 3D render of an orange Honda fit with a comically-large two-element rear wing attached to the top of the rear hatch.
A graph showing claim denial rates by various US health insurers, along with the industry-average rate of 16%. The values on the chart range from 7% for Kaiser Permanente on the low end, up to 32% by UnitedHealthcare on the high end.
A Calvin and Hobes comic, in a single panel format. Calvin stands outside holding a snow shovel. Around him, the driveway and sidewalks have been shoveled, except all the removed snow is placed strategically in piles blocking doors, cars, and walk paths. Calvin explains to Hobbes that "if you do the job badly enough, sometimes you don't get asked to do it again."