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May

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Gray, followed by June Gloom, brief pause for a sunny July, then back into Fogust

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flower

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, Dr. Brian

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Queen

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If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now

It's just a spring clean for the May queen

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, James

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who manages to get through his days without causing multiple PR debacles that are potentially career ending

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Day

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Hay

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___ward

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“Roll in the …,” a nice old-fashioned euphemism

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"Would you like a roll in ze hay? Roll! Roll! Roll in ze hay!"

- Inga in Young Frankenstein

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Bay

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Leaf. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what it tastes like, but I think it's kinda acrid, kinda herbal.

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I read an article about a small company that grows Bay leaves next to the Caledecott. The house on Fish Ranch was going to be their house and HQ but I guess the county wouldn't let them be in there. I think the bay leaves are grown back on Old Tunnel Rd at the 90 degree turn on Fish Ranch.

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Old (for our W4C mid-Atlantic denizens)

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Ray

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My boss is named Ray. He's a gem (truly).

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You can call me -

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My cousin, Ray Ray…BOOP, dead.

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Say

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Jan 25, 2023Liked by Berkelium97

It Ain't Soooooo!

Your drug is a heartbreaker!

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Anything

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Hey Kid

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Hey

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Font

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I am firmly in the anti-Comic Sans camp

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I think WaPo had an article about this last week, maybe the week before.

Generally, I think this is a good idea. I'm all in favor of better accessibility for all readers. Sans serif fonts (typefaces?) are also easier on the eyes, at least I find it so. As I recall, though, the WaPo article noted a small irony - OCR readers may not read Calibri (for example) as well or better than Times New Roman. Go figure.

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Could you say those dressings again for me? Yes, Calibri, Helvetica or Italic. Take your time, I'll be back.

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How can you get mad at Calibri? It's like getting mad at vanilla ice-cream.

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The choice between serif or sans serif fonts.

“Serifs often lend a bit more legibility at smaller scales,” says DeCotes. “When you’re reading a 9.5 font in a printed book, serifs help you distinguish the letterforms and create flow as you’re reading.”

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/design/discover/serif-vs-sans-serif.html

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That's interesting. I hadn't thought of that angle.

Personally, I find that I use different typefaces in different documents. In general, if it's Excel, I use a sans serif typface (like Calibri or Arial). If I'm working on a letter or report in Word, it's almost invariably Times New Roman (the designated standard serif typeface for memos, reports, letters, etc.). However, there is a gradual move away from serif typefaces on an ongoing basis - meeting minutes are often in Calibri, as are some communications with our elected Board of Directors.

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Big changes coming to the State Department in a couple weeks...

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/01/times-for-a-change-state-department-picks-a-new-official-typeface/

Official correspondence from America's diplomats is getting a bit of a spruce-up next month. From February 6, the US Department of State will adopt Microsoft's sans-serif Calibri in 14-point size "for all paper submitted to the Executive Secretariat," according to The Washington Post's diplomacy reporter John Hudson.

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Also from that article, typeface=/=font [I was unaware of this]:

The move sparked a somewhat tendentious discussion in the Ars virtual office earlier today. In the cable, the State Department refers to Times New Roman and Calibri as fonts. But teeeeeeechnically, it should have referred to Times New Roman and Calibri as typefaces. A font, rather, is how you manipulate that typeface—changing the size or weight, the character spacing, or making it italic, for example.

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Those nitpickers are asking to be punched in the typeface.

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i have a friend that is a professional calligrapher. will put your desired font, by hand, on just about anything.

here are some cycling-themed quotes on my reusable gym-laundry bags

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GnbAnH9D28xLkpuG8

if you ever have any calligraphy needs ...

https://samteich.com/

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The Jens Voigt “shut up legs” takes me back! What a legend.

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in other funny Jens Voigt sayings .. someone (not a pro) was asking for some advice for descending.

he said something like ... you are not going to win anything, descend like a grandma. just get home safe.

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DBD AV CLUB

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Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023

Inside Man, 4-episode Netflix mini-series with Stanley Tucci and David Tennant.

While I got the point the show was trying to make, I nonetheless found this limited series just awful. Terrible.

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The Last of Us (E2). Episode 2 was so good. The opening scene by the Indonesian professor was outstanding.

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Apropos: E1's Atkins Diet, oatmeal cookies, pancakes, biscuits, and birthday cake

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Bomb

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Rick & Morty part ways with the voice actor for Rick and Morty after details of felony domestic violence charges were unsealed. A new voice actor will be found for the next four seasons.

https://deadline.com/2023/01/adult-swim-severs-ties-rick-and-morty-co-creator-justin-roiland-domestic-violence-charges-1235239868/

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I know why they won't (money), but it's probably time to just end the show. He wasn't just a voice actor, he was a main creative force.

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Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023Author

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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George Santos - the discover of Nihonium (NH, atomic #113) - who previously said he had given the vast majority of funds out of his own pocket, has amended his FEC filing to indicate that he lied and actually didn't. Whose money was it?

https://www.salon.com/2023/01/25/george-santos-admits-to-fec-his-500k-personal-loan-didnt-actually-come-from-him-report/

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The longer McCarthy lets this guy hang around, the more it will hurt McCarthy.

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Remember the Florida Department of Health dashboard manager who became a whistleblower and was then fired by DeSantis? Well, she's dishing names and showing receipts. What's happening now? How about she names the third man that Matt Gaetz has had an affair with. And she also shows receipts for the 12 year old boy whose parent had to get a restraining order against the child predator that Gaetz hired to photograph for him.

https://twitter.com/GeoRebekah/status/1617986736365391872

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and yet...crickets.

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Remember that teacher that was shot by a 6 year old who brought a handgun to school? Well, that teacher had warned administrator of the gun as did THREE OTHER PEOPLE and administration did nothing. Someone is losing their job.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teacher-shot-6-year-old-texted-dire-warning-loved-one-was-wounded-sour-rcna67290

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Newsmax removed from DirecTV after negotiations fail, cutting their viewership by about a quarter

https://twitter.com/CGasparino/status/1617978607120568326

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DirecTV soon to be removed as well…entirely.

Tough to see them surviving as a cable entity without the NFL package in this era of streaming options….

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Where's the NFL package going?

I really liked DirecTV when I had it. Can't have it in this home, so I have cable.

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YouTube

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Yeah, their business customers (bars, etc.) are going to drop off hugely once NFL Sunday Ticket is longer offered

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I wish crumbling part was on the way out...

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PRO

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Liverpool-based football club for sale: price of half-bil quid with a Price/Earnings ratio of negative 4.1. It features an unfinish stadium, shady Russian dealings, and no manager. Relegation ready and available for you to return to glory. Never mind that independent valuation has it less than a third of what I'm asking for. No lowballers, I know what I have.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/mar/29/everton-lose-more-than-100m-for-third-successive-year-but-avoid-sanctions

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look, if it worked for laundering money once, it will work for laundering money again

(there's a small very bad part of me that would make hay if they got relegated because it would be easier to get tickets as a visiting fan)

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What do you call 8 Arsenal fans in jail?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64375514

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We are everywhere.

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Scott Rolen has been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Todd Helton missing enshrinement was Todd Helton.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35519398/eight-gold-glove-3b-scott-rolen-makes-baseball-hall-fame

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Separate from the issues of steroids, gambling and other chicanery, my criteria for the Hall of Fame has always been as follows: Do you have to make a case for the person? Because if so, they don't belong. For me the Hall is for the game's superstars. Mays, Ruth, Seaver, Schmidt, Koufax, Cobb, Yount etc. If you're saying, "well everyone else who hit .315 or higher wile hitting 300 home runs and making six all star games is in so Joe Shlabotnik should be in too, I ain't buying it. The hall is too crowded with the very good. Leave it for the greats. This seems to be a minority view, but it's mine.

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Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023

That's fine, but you're never going to get them back to that standard.

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True, the floodgates opened a long time ago.

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No Bonds, no Clemens, still a joke.

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The fact that Bonds was not in as a unanimous first ballot HOFer is a joke.

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Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023

You can’t allow some cheaters in like Gaylord Perry, Jeff Bagwell, David Ortiz, and then deny others…the hypocrisy is mind boggling.

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It depends on the cheating. Really.

Steroids is a threat to baseball that throwing spitballs and stealing signs is not. Steroids is a threat to baseball about as bad as gambling.

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In other words, no threat at all.

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I don't buy that. Gambling is a separate issue entirely.

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Exactly. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a punchline...a farce.

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Adding Rolen makes it the Hall of the Very Good. Not sure he is a HOFer when compared to the other HOF inductees of the past. It's almost like the writers didn't want another year without any inductees so they voted for the best of them.

I also don't think Fred McGriff is good enough but the Veterans committee voted for him.

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Rolen is more than worthy by the standards of Hall of Fame third basemen. He's not the issue. It's the guys clearly better than him who are being kept out because of moral posturing.

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Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 26, 2023

It’s very clear that the bar for the HOF has become more about your popularity amongst the media and whether you were liked by the baseball community, rather than your abilities as a baseball player.

As such, the BBWAA and the Hall have robbed themselves of any legitimacy.

Dirty Tony LaRussa and Colangelo stacking the Committee with cronies so Harold Baines could get in as a DH was inexcusably absurd.

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The Hall of Fame has become no more meaningful than the Academy Awards.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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I was somewhat taken aback today by rolling admissions policies which mean exactly that - my daughter submitted her UCAS application for multiple UK universities on Monday and was offered an unconditional place at Durham University today. It's a bit nouveau (founded 1832) but it's nice to have as a choice.

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Congrats to DC Palatinate

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it is certainly nice to have some choices from from the outset.

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Durham is a great little town and an excellent choice. Really fucking dark in the winter though.

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I've never been but I've heard good things from other folks as well. I don't know if she's really prepared for just how little daylight there is to be had in those parts during the winter. (She also applied to Edinburgh and UCL)

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She can survive it. I moved from the Bay Area to Alaska in late November and survived. The short days were the toughest transition, but I made it through and I'm sure she's more resilient than I am.

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we had a nice trip to visit U of Edinburgh last year.

my daughters impressions about UK schools

- Sun-thru-Sun drinking party since tests are all at end of semester

- most students live in a single room (and she sort of wanted/expected college would all about having a roommate)

- a lot more independence and autonomy over your education

- hard to change majors, even from something like math > physics

- tons of intl exposure and easy to travel all over Europe

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Not just the unchangeable commitment to a major from day 1, but that major is ALL you study. It's a very focused situation, more akin to a masters in the US.

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I am completely confident that my daughter - who does not drink - is not remotely prepared for the UK university drinking culture, as far as I can your daughter's view is about right. Durham seems to have a mix of single and group housing depending on which residential college that you end up in, I think single rooms would work well for my daughter. I think she'd do well with the relative independence academically, but the being committed to a specific program from day 1 does seem worrying when you're used to US universities.

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CAL

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Go Bears!!!

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From the Front Page: school considering merging of Cal + UC Berkeley identities

https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/uc-berkeley-cal-bears-brand-merger

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There are several monikers right now, causing brand clutter and confusion:

UC Berkeley, Cal, Cal-Berkeley, Berkeley, California, UC, etc. In film, often referred to as "Berkeley" as in the Graduate, or even in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Kirk explains Spock's odd behavior by saying he went to "Berkeley".

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We are the flagship university in California, we are California! It is that fucking simple.

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I agree with this sentiment in theory, but 99.97% of the goodwill and reputation of our brand is tied to Berkeley.

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THE University of California™

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I nominate you to the Committee. This should take about five minutes of everyone's time!

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