I have never once worried about my shoes spontaneously falling off, but I can't shake that feeling (or any other number of irrational thoughts) while watching that.
On Saturday we made fish and chips. Between making the batter, letting it rest, prepping/cooking the potatoes before frying, and constantly having to pause to let the oil get back up to temperature in between batches, the whole process took about 3 hours. It turned out delicious, but absolutely not worth the time commitment unless you have a deep fryer that can help eliminate all the dead time spent managing oil temperatures.
I was thinking about making some fish and chips recently. Dealing with the oil and disposing of it kind of stopped me in my tracks. Only decent fish and chips place around here is the Kensington circus pub, could get it to go or via doordash but it would be soggy by the time I got home.
here in NYC we have Go-Go Curry which has this origin story ...
5 is pronounced “GO” in Japanese and we are named after former baseball legend, Hideki Matsui’s jersey number of 55, as he is a proud hero originating from the Kanazawa area. Special dishes at Go Go Curry! are called Home Run, Grand Slam and World Champion, to pay tribute, as we continue to move forward and expand nationwide.
I like Go-Go Curry and have gone to the one by Penn Station a number of times when I went to NYC. While I like its simplified menu and it does one thing well (I also eventually got over the whole Hideki Matsui and the Yankees worship thing at that shop) , I would really prefer a Coco Ichibanya with more curry varieties on the East Coast. I always get curry there when I visit LA.
it's a wild movie that looks like what video games wish they looked like and also has a great story, the first movie written and directed by the wachowskis after the matrix movies (which also are much more fun watching now than i remember them being)
speed racer is available to stream on Kanopy, and free access to Kanopy is probably avail through a library near you
was just about to say that! The Mach 5 (his car) is referenced in a punny way in the Japanese version of the theme song. something like: Maha-go-go, Maha-go-go, Maha-go-go-go (as opposed to: Go, speed racer; go, speed racer; go, speed racer, go!)
My sister got rid of her symptoms and is back in the office. While she was home, another woman in her office had the same symptoms but didn't bother to get tested and was going in most of the week. My sister convinced her she should get tested and it turns out the woman was positive. What is with some people?
I received an alert last Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 2) from my CA Notify app while I was still at work that I had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. No indication of *who* specifically, or even *where*. The only data I was given was that it was 6 days ago (prior to the notification), which puts it on Thursday, January 27. After some thinking about contacts, the greatest likelihood is that it was on BART.
I worked from home on Thursday, February 3 even though I am vaxxed and boosted and had no symptoms. I tested at work last Friday (Feb. 4). The results came back negative.
Point being, being cavalier with your own life is one thing: being cavalier with the health and lives of others is something altogether different.
my take is that while some suspect they might be exposed or even have it, they dont really want to know because of the inconvenience to their lives.
there are lots of justifications like, i am vaccinated so it wont be too bad, everyone i know is vaccinated, people are not dying nor getting as sick anymore, everyone will eventually get it, etc etc ...
more than you might think, apparently. I'm starting to see twitter fights about it, because higher than expected death rates for vaccinated folks is both useful information for public health purposes and fuel for people with ill intentions.
theoretically those numbers should be dropping off soon - our case rates in Maryland are absolutely plummeting, so the death rates should be trending down also.
Yep, the 7-day moving average of daily deaths in MD has dropped from 60-ish at the peak following the Omicron wave to the 30s now. The test-positivity rate is down to the high 5s from the remarkable 30% rate in early January, so things are looking encouraging.
Caleb Williams will earn $2.5M in NLI deal after transferring to SC. So far, this NLI nonsense is a real rich get richer, with the marquee, blue blood programs like Alabama, Ohio State and now SC, clearly benefitting the most. Hope the Haas family is ready to throw $800k at an electric WR from St. John Bosco....
Be careful what you wish for...playoff expansion will be the next domino, as it will guarantee more SEC teams make the tournament.
Honestly I don’t give a crap about the playoff…Cal will never sniff it so I’d rather just watch league play and hope to beat the other California schools.
But getting Conference teams in the CFP brings big $millions$ to the other league schools...that will benefit Cal immensely....pay off stadium debt, improve facilities, etc.
There’s nothing shady about it...the NIL has legitimized payments that were once cheating. Those schools did it then, illegally...only difference is now it’s legal.
not all of it. Schools are still giving bags on the front end and promising recruits NIL deals each year they stay. Thats still against the rules. Some schools are setting up position group deals for example...that is ok. It'll settle out over time but teams will push the limits til someone slaps them down
The GQP is favored in the midterms, but this is a reminder that they are still in a position to fuck things up.
"The RNC is supposed to be a unifying organization within the party. But its passage of a resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger for the “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” is having the opposite effect — reopening divisions between the large pro-Trump wing of the party, the smaller anti-Trump wing and the rest of a GOP still trying to find its way amid a favorable midterm cycle."
bit of an unfolding debacle at Ajax (the dominant club over the last decades in Dutch soccer) - on Sunday it was announced that Marc Overmars (very good player in the 90s) was resigning immediately for "inappropriate messages" sent to female colleagues.
Much being made of "we acted as soon as we found out, he's aware he's in the wrong," etc., but it sounds like really people knew for a while and it's more that this finally caught uo with him:
Classic Kings. Cut off one foot to grow another. I would have guessed Halliburton was the one untouchable on the roster. There are few PGs who are as efficient, much less young.
I have also made fun of Bruce Willis' choices in recent years, but then I read some unconfirmed rumors that he might be struggling with early-onset dementia and having lines fed to him during very short scenes because he can't remember them. He just does these short appearances in a lot of movies to help the filmmakers out, because Bruce Willis' name being attached lets them get the movie financed.
Again, that's all rumor (Reddit threads and whatnot) but if it's true then I feel bad about making fun.
I'm disappointed I missed Dune when it was on HBO Max, because it got nominated for a bunch of technical achievement categories: costume, makeup, production design, visual effects, sound, cinematography. I feel like half of what makes a good sci fi movie is the world-building aspect of it, and it sounds like they succeeded at that.
eh, I have a great set-up, but even though it was streaming, it wasn't re-mastered for home theater set-up. Real problem with streaming, I prefer blu-ray when available.
This is one of the reasons I still buy Blu-Rays when available, despite all the objections from my CS major friend and Cal roommate laughing at me for doing so.
I liked Dune a lot. Never read the books and was baffled by the David Lynch movie many years ago, but with this one I was never lost for a second. Very good world-building.
Vienna Blood (PBS) - a procedural about a young psychoanalyst and an older detective solving crimes in the pre-WWI Vienna. The show is based on some books (which apparently are not popular enough to have their plots revealed online) but I think the show has diverged from the books. PBS weirdly broke each 90 minutes episode (3 each for the two seasons) into two episodes each (and one probably needs PBS Passport or knows how to easily download off it to watch all the available episodes). The show is created by one of the Sherlock writer (but not Moffat/Gattis) and is of that B, leaving you wanting a bit more qualify of those filler Sherlock episodes. Filmed on location, Vienna Blood had me consider buying fancy hats just like Sherlock had got me into liking scarfs.
Murderville (Netflix) - I have only watched the Marshawn episode and it did not disappoint. Unlike Vienna Blood which has the mystery that may be too convoluted to be guessed realistically by the viewer, Murderville offers a real test to both the guest star of the episode and the viewers.
Ghosts (CBS) - I had mentioned watching the BBC version here before. The US version has finally took some bold creative differences in the last 4-5 episodes to start to feel like its own show. Apparently enough people have watched it (in addition to celebrity fan Mark Hamill and I) to already earn it a renewal.
I didn't think the original show found its stride until the second series, when the ghosts and the humans started to coexist and it became an ensemble comedy. It was also easy to just binge through all the episodes (first two are on HBO Max).
Didn't see this thread started yet. Chitwood, watched the first two eps of Reacher last night. Of all the books I've read, I've never had the chance to read the first (Killing Floor), which is the one on which this is based.
Was stupid entertaining violent fun. Full of the one-dimensional characters I expect in a Reacher story. Was bummed that it was too late to start E3...
His "powers of observation" scenes reminded me of the first ep of Sherlock when Sherlock first meets Watson and tells him that he is a doctor, served in Afghanistan, etc.
Got through 6/8 episodes for me so far and I have enjoyed it for the silly, violent fun. Amazon has already announced a second season, but I don't expect most of the supporting characters (many outshined the main character) to be back. I have heard about the books after seeing the Tom Cruise movies, although I do find the idea of a Sherlock "Homeless" who wander around the country like a 90s TV show lead to be fascinating.
yeah, I'd expect S2 to be a diff book, so diff supporting characters. Reacher doesn't do relationships!
I like Sherlock Homeless...I think I might have heard that before, but I'll give you credit for it, if that's my imagination.
I need to go to wikipedia and see which books I've read, and then note the ones I liked, didn't like, was indifferent about. and read the ones that I've missed...like Killing Floor, which is the basis for S1.
I cut the cord with xfinity over the weekend! Took me a while to get replacement internet and home security, but finally got it done on Saturday. I feel like I got out of the mafia
Absolutely agree on the internet as a public utility question. Access to the internet is not merely a quality of life issue, it's an issue that often portends wealth and poverty; the digital divide as it were.
I pay $240, taxes included, for internet, landline & cable package including HBO/SHOWTIME/MAX/STARZ movie channels + the sports pack for NFL/MLB/P12N. It just went up $40 Jan 1...
Cox has a monopoly of sorts in SB, tho...they’re pretty much the only internet game in town...any suggestions for alternatives are welcome...there’s no Spectrum.
I know. I need to address the overspend on cable, but the alternatives (AT&T Uverse or cutting the cable altogether) require getting workman/techs to come out to the house. More often than not, they cause more physical damage to my house than it’s worth . Right now, I’d rather pay the “dumb tax”. It’s cheaper.
I technically have a landline again (but no actual phone to access it) because the Xfinity bundle deal is cheaper with it than without it. While watching TV, I occasionally see some pop up messages about voice mail spam messages to that number that I honestly do not even know.
I will defiantly have a landline until it's pried from my cold, dead hands.
OK, now that I've got the over-the-top declaration out of the way, here's a practical reason why - cell service in North Berkeley can still be somewhat problematic in call quality and clarity.
Also, I like the idea that 9-1-1 can identify my location when I call. I have used 9-1-1 on two occasions in nearly 35 years but I feel better in the knowledge that if I need to do so, the dispatcher has my address available to them if it is needed.
EDIT: Also, I don't want to be the one who killed a 113+ year old phone number. The same last four digits have existed at Casa de Slug since 1908. Different exchanges and one area code split through those 113+ years, but always the same last four digits.
Try Ooma. You can port your number over and it's VOIP. You can add in an address with OOMA for 911 calls. However, it is over internet so if you have a power outage and the internet substation goes down, you can still lose landline. And it's like $5/mo.
We have a land line because my wife has always refused to give it up. It used to be worth having when it was still on copper wires, because that meant we had service during prolonged power outages, but it's long since been transitioned to fiber optics. Between our behavioral changes (everyone defaults to their cell phone) and the extent to which the land line only rings with spam calls, we could probably get rid of it, but it's not the expensive part of our cable / phone / internet service, which is currently running $240 / month because our last 2 year agreement has expired.
It is funny you mentioned copper lines. I just switched from Comcast to ATT fiber and had ATT pull their old copper line from the pole to my house since it is no longer needed. So many old and numerous copper lines are still just hanging on poles for no reason now that the FCC has allowed them to be removed.
Land line. It's my preferred method of talking on the phone. When cell phone reception can match the reliability and clarity of a land line, maybe I'll switch.
it turns out that there was a point at which my passing interest in the Winter Olympics would be overtaken by my lack of interest in tolerating / navigating NBC's coverage. Haven't watched any so far.
Same. I watched some curling on Saturday and a bit of ski jumping on the weekend, but I otherwise haven't felt particularly compelled to watch any of it. I did make an effort to watch the opening cermony, however.
I've caught a few snipits, and while I've enjoyed seeing some Alpine skiing and hockey, I quickly found myself reminded of how much I dislike chopped up coverage where I get to see part of a given game or event, and not necessarily even the important part. Having to struggle to know when what will be aired is more likely to lead me to not watch at all as well. Someone somewhere thinks some people like the format (they think coverage of the NCAA tournament in this manner will attract and retain audience too), but I'm dubious about the drive-by fan being the focus being good for the long-term health of any given sport.
i have seen very little so far, but switched over during halftime of the Warriors game and ended up watching Big Air skiing and mens Super G, which was quite enjoyable.
I remember the kid's elementary school had a roller skating night at the local rink. They had a race around the rink for parents and one dutch guy got out there in his inline skates. Smoked everyone. Looked just like a speed skater out there just going around the rink.
We've watched some, figure skating last night & Super-G. I will say from a visual perspective, China looks like shit. Fake snow on the tracks, brown hills as far as the eye can see. I guess they don't really care, but it's the opposite of a tourist attraction, and did they think putting jumps in an abandoned factory was cool? What are they, a Batman villain?
Manufactured snow is nothing new, and will become more prevalent as climate change continues. (Not looking for a firestorm argument about climate change, just noting it is a factor affecting lots of historic snow-level venues.)
Don't disagree, but part of watching Winter Olympics is the pretty factor of the location shots in the snowy mountains - the outside shots in the wide view look like total trash. It's one thing to add more snow, quite another to add ALL the snow; looks stupid.
Why would there be an argument about climate change?
The Shougang industrial park site, was chosen to represent sustainability by turning an industrial area into one for cultural and leisure use, officials have said.
aside from that, their annual snowfall is exactly 0 inches of snow. everything is man-made.
USA's Ryan Cochran-Siegle wins unexpected super-G silver 50 years after mom's Olympic gold.
his parents operate Cochran's ski resort, a tiny hill w/ 8 runs and 3 lifts in Richmond VT (just outside Burlington). they also happen to sell local maple syrup called Slopeside Syrup of which i have a giant jug in my fridge. i put it on the kids French toast this morning.
The Skiing Cochrans are a family of American alpine ski racers from Richmond, Vermont, a dominant force on the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and again in 2000s, 2010s and 2020s
I enjoy that. I know there's a reason that the winter olympics have a reputation for being "rich white people's sports" but occasionally some local breaks through. Nice.
The meals I've seen look like the kind of cheapest-possible-option garbage they feed to kids in many US schools. Not exactly what you want before competition requiring peak physical performance...
@All the non-China athletes get that food while the China athletes get steak. @
Which brings me to all the things I've seen about the judging (like short track speed skating) penalizing non-China athletes in favor of the China athletes. I saw one clip where the China short track skater grabbed the Korean skater but the Korean skater was DQed.
The IOC has allowed the games to become such a gigantic, sprawling endeavor that it's almost guaranteed to lose money and most of the developed world wants no part of hosting. At least the IOC has appropriately started wringing their hands about this.
Also the IOC: "we're going to need you to build a giant fake ski hill for athletes to launch themselves into a massive stadium that will only be used once. Ideally, put it next to the nuclear power plant, mmm-kay thanks."
They claim to stream everything live, but they basically have one thing on at a time. I thought I'd have the option to watch 5 different things all at the same time, but nope. Also, when things are live on NBC, they actually air BEFORE the allegedly live Peacock bullshit. Absolutely ass.
Just finished dinner and NBC and USA are showing the same event at the same time. Other than Peacock, that is all their coverage (except for a few replays on CNBC). Why would you duplicate coverage on your limited space?
What do you guys think of Eileen Gu? SF born and raised, winning golds for China now. I would care zero were she competing for basically any country other than Russia and China, but doing it for China seems a bit galling
My biggest knock against her is that she's said that she will be attending Stanford after the Olympics. Maybe it's the fact that her mom had also gone to Stanford that makes it that much more understandable why Gu would prioritize capitalizing on her China connection and possibly be used as a very well compensated pawn?
Not to say the US is without its own issues but I also find it a bit galling and her reasons naive due to the well documented human right issues in China.
On a personal level, I think it is very smart of her because she is about to make a lot of money from this decision and will probably not experience any real blowback from her US sponsors.
Yeah, there's a little bit of naivete that I see in left-wing political circles (particularly younger people) in claiming that China/Russia do bad things and the US does bad things, so it's all the same in the end. Not really, those other countries are way more authoritarian and probably just as imperialist. You don't have to love US foreign policy either, but there are degrees of difference here.
Not sure if that's what Gu thinks, just a thing I've noticed.
My three daughters are half Chinese, born in SF. I guess I look at her and think about how if my daughters were willing propagandists for such an awful regime and engine of human misery, even if they did not see it that way, I would become physically ill. It’s like a reverse Sam Obisanya situation
True you could argue that and maybe make some argument about acceptance of mixed race people in China, kind like a Heinz Ward situation. It just seems quite naive in face of what happened in HK, what happened to the Uighers, and what will happen to Taiwan.
Btw, is her citizenship in jeopardy? My brother looked into competing for Slovenia at one point but discovered that he’d technically have to revoke his US citizenship so passed
CAL
Go BEARS !!!
NYT Crossword
https://twitter.com/matttomic/status/1490690612672315398
Bravo to whoever wrote that one
that was a clever bit, I quite enjoyed it
Constipated? Here's the cure.
https://twitter.com/ImSpeaking13/status/1489431734525509638
I have never once worried about my shoes spontaneously falling off, but I can't shake that feeling (or any other number of irrational thoughts) while watching that.
would
DBD Kitchen Academy
On Saturday we made fish and chips. Between making the batter, letting it rest, prepping/cooking the potatoes before frying, and constantly having to pause to let the oil get back up to temperature in between batches, the whole process took about 3 hours. It turned out delicious, but absolutely not worth the time commitment unless you have a deep fryer that can help eliminate all the dead time spent managing oil temperatures.
I was thinking about making some fish and chips recently. Dealing with the oil and disposing of it kind of stopped me in my tracks. Only decent fish and chips place around here is the Kensington circus pub, could get it to go or via doordash but it would be soggy by the time I got home.
countertop fryer $50
https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/deep_fryers/cdf-100/
I'll probably file that away for a gift occasion. After that frying marathon the missus says we need a deep fryer.
this is my "one day i'll buy" contraption: https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/ice_cream/ice-100/
*checks calendar*
You're in luck. Bc next monday...
Katsu curry coming to Southside Berkeley
https://www.dailycal.org/2022/02/07/unique-and-rich-champions-curry-is-coming-to-berkeley/
cool. LOVE katsu curry.
here in NYC we have Go-Go Curry which has this origin story ...
5 is pronounced “GO” in Japanese and we are named after former baseball legend, Hideki Matsui’s jersey number of 55, as he is a proud hero originating from the Kanazawa area. Special dishes at Go Go Curry! are called Home Run, Grand Slam and World Champion, to pay tribute, as we continue to move forward and expand nationwide.
https://gogocurryamerica.com/about/
I like Go-Go Curry and have gone to the one by Penn Station a number of times when I went to NYC. While I like its simplified menu and it does one thing well (I also eventually got over the whole Hideki Matsui and the Yankees worship thing at that shop) , I would really prefer a Coco Ichibanya with more curry varieties on the East Coast. I always get curry there when I visit LA.
Speed Racer too!
speed racer is a fantastic movie
I watched recently and yeah, agree that's it's good, but I also see why it was a flop.
really? got slammed at its release. but was thinking of checking it out some day.
100%
it's a wild movie that looks like what video games wish they looked like and also has a great story, the first movie written and directed by the wachowskis after the matrix movies (which also are much more fun watching now than i remember them being)
speed racer is available to stream on Kanopy, and free access to Kanopy is probably avail through a library near you
was just about to say that! The Mach 5 (his car) is referenced in a punny way in the Japanese version of the theme song. something like: Maha-go-go, Maha-go-go, Maha-go-go-go (as opposed to: Go, speed racer; go, speed racer; go, speed racer, go!)
Today in Covid
my daughter has a 10 day Feb break trip to Greece coming up. we are hoping she gets to go despite all the obstacles.
i am supposed to go to a wedding in Miami this weekend. will probably wear a mask at home for the rest of the week once i am back just in case ..
My sister got rid of her symptoms and is back in the office. While she was home, another woman in her office had the same symptoms but didn't bother to get tested and was going in most of the week. My sister convinced her she should get tested and it turns out the woman was positive. What is with some people?
Who knows?
I received an alert last Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 2) from my CA Notify app while I was still at work that I had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. No indication of *who* specifically, or even *where*. The only data I was given was that it was 6 days ago (prior to the notification), which puts it on Thursday, January 27. After some thinking about contacts, the greatest likelihood is that it was on BART.
I worked from home on Thursday, February 3 even though I am vaxxed and boosted and had no symptoms. I tested at work last Friday (Feb. 4). The results came back negative.
Point being, being cavalier with your own life is one thing: being cavalier with the health and lives of others is something altogether different.
my take is that while some suspect they might be exposed or even have it, they dont really want to know because of the inconvenience to their lives.
there are lots of justifications like, i am vaccinated so it wont be too bad, everyone i know is vaccinated, people are not dying nor getting as sick anymore, everyone will eventually get it, etc etc ...
And yet, we are currently at more than 16,000 Americans per week dying.
I really hope that people who got vaccinated and boosted are not making up big percentages of that number.
I just hope the majority of the people dying are GQP voters and are in swing states/districts so that it helps the Dems in the midterms and 24.
more than you might think, apparently. I'm starting to see twitter fights about it, because higher than expected death rates for vaccinated folks is both useful information for public health purposes and fuel for people with ill intentions.
what a stupid time to be alive
They aren't
theoretically those numbers should be dropping off soon - our case rates in Maryland are absolutely plummeting, so the death rates should be trending down also.
Yep, the 7-day moving average of daily deaths in MD has dropped from 60-ish at the peak following the Omicron wave to the 30s now. The test-positivity rate is down to the high 5s from the remarkable 30% rate in early January, so things are looking encouraging.
Just in time for a massive brawl over whether schools should continue to mask
There's a 3-4 week delay in deaths declining.
Ignorance
To describe particularly egregious cases of ignorance, I fully embrace the term "ig'nant"
Elsewhere in college
[WBB] Iowa's Caitlin Clark shoots it from anywhere. Not a pretender. She's not far off of Steph Curry's 3 point average.
https://twitter.com/BenDiamond14/status/1490522144714936321
https://hawkeyesports.com/roster/caitlin-clark/
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryst01.html
She's really fun.
Caleb Williams will earn $2.5M in NLI deal after transferring to SC. So far, this NLI nonsense is a real rich get richer, with the marquee, blue blood programs like Alabama, Ohio State and now SC, clearly benefitting the most. Hope the Haas family is ready to throw $800k at an electric WR from St. John Bosco....
Be careful what you wish for...playoff expansion will be the next domino, as it will guarantee more SEC teams make the tournament.
https://www.totalprosports.com/2022/02/05/caleb-williams-agrees-to-major-nil-deal-with-beats-by-dre-after-transferring-to-usc/
Honestly I don’t give a crap about the playoff…Cal will never sniff it so I’d rather just watch league play and hope to beat the other California schools.
Oh absolutely agree. Cal may never get close.
But getting Conference teams in the CFP brings big $millions$ to the other league schools...that will benefit Cal immensely....pay off stadium debt, improve facilities, etc.
That’s probably the best we can hope for...
"Benefitting".... they have alums who want to throw cash at players and have set up various programs, shady or otherwise. Any school can do the same
There’s nothing shady about it...the NIL has legitimized payments that were once cheating. Those schools did it then, illegally...only difference is now it’s legal.
I don't know what you're talking about, SC has NEVER paid any plAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA okay it was worth a shot
😀
not all of it. Schools are still giving bags on the front end and promising recruits NIL deals each year they stay. Thats still against the rules. Some schools are setting up position group deals for example...that is ok. It'll settle out over time but teams will push the limits til someone slaps them down
Oklahoma governor takes jab at Lincoln Riley leaving Sooners for USC during annual address
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oklahoma-governor-takes-jab-at-lincoln-riley-leaving-sooners-for-usc-during-annual-address/
lol
The only way I’d move back to California is if I made Lincoln Riley type money. Then again I guess there’s lots of choices with that much money.
Where do you live now, paulie?
so much coping
For one, you will have to spend more than $200k on a house
https://www.zillow.com/homes/Norman,-OK_rb/
omg no
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Let's get a glimpse into the mind of Carla Richburg, the GOP Harris County (TX) chairperson. Oh. Oh no. No surprised, but yeeeeesh.
https://abc13.com/harris-county-gop-carla-richburg-precinct-chair-racists-resolution/11545163/
The GQP is favored in the midterms, but this is a reminder that they are still in a position to fuck things up.
"The RNC is supposed to be a unifying organization within the party. But its passage of a resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger for the “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” is having the opposite effect — reopening divisions between the large pro-Trump wing of the party, the smaller anti-Trump wing and the rest of a GOP still trying to find its way amid a favorable midterm cycle."
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/07/senate-gop-backlash-smacks-rnc-after-cheney-kinzinger-censure-00006456
Banker sentenced to year in prison in Manafort loan scheme
Stephen Calk was convicted last year on financial institution bribery and conspiracy charges.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/07/banker-calk-prison-manafort-00006475
PRO
The Hannibal Cannibals were a minor league team 73 years before Thomas Harris created Hannibal Lecter in his 1981 novel Red Dragon.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal,_Missouri_minor_league_baseball_history
Booker scores 38, NBA-best Suns hang on, beat Bulls 127-124
i end up mostly watching Warriors games, but the Phoenix Suns are good.
it would be a good hard matchup for both teams if/when they meet in the playoffs.
Suns are really great and versatile. The big question for them is whether or not Chris Paul can hold up for another long postseason run.
bit of an unfolding debacle at Ajax (the dominant club over the last decades in Dutch soccer) - on Sunday it was announced that Marc Overmars (very good player in the 90s) was resigning immediately for "inappropriate messages" sent to female colleagues.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/feb/06/overmars-ashamed-after-quitting-ajax-over-inappropriate-messages
Much being made of "we acted as soon as we found out, he's aware he's in the wrong," etc., but it sounds like really people knew for a while and it's more that this finally caught uo with him:
https://twitter.com/LeanderAlphabet/status/1490797333935702018?s=20&t=gjJ1i6q9E4JNPVRyXFJf4w
Sucks to suck, I guess, not sure how he hadn't got the message that this was unacceptable behavior before.
Kings get Sabonis, but have to trade away Halliburton to do so. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33244860/indiana-pacers-sacramento-kings-work-six-player-trade-includes-domantas-sabonis-tyrese-haliburton-sources-say I love Sabonis, but I love Halliburton as much or more. Too bad they couldn't work out a package around D'Aaron Fox. Mitchell and Fox are a bad combination together.
Fear they’ll regret giving away Haliburton...he’s the type of ball player you need to turn it around.
Classic Kings. Cut off one foot to grow another. I would have guessed Halliburton was the one untouchable on the roster. There are few PGs who are as efficient, much less young.
Music
I've been getting emails for all these shows in Pioneertown CA - has anybody been to one? Seems way out in the boonies for a show.
Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneertown is legendary in the desert music scene and lots more bands are making their way out there to play.
Obit
Former Cal prof Todd Gitlin has passed away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/02/07/todd-gitlin-new-left-dead/
His book on the Sixties is the best on that topic that I've read. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60551/the-sixties-by-todd-gitlin/
DBD AV Club
Razzie Nominations are out. Bruce Willis has his own category.
https://www.razzies.com/razz-newz.html
I have also made fun of Bruce Willis' choices in recent years, but then I read some unconfirmed rumors that he might be struggling with early-onset dementia and having lines fed to him during very short scenes because he can't remember them. He just does these short appearances in a lot of movies to help the filmmakers out, because Bruce Willis' name being attached lets them get the movie financed.
Again, that's all rumor (Reddit threads and whatnot) but if it's true then I feel bad about making fun.
that's the rumor, and also that he's doing these movies to leave more money to his family
that's the Rumer
pqtm
Oscar Nominations are out. I gotta be honest. I haven't heard of a lot of these.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscar-nominations-2022-nominees-list-1235088770/
I'm disappointed I missed Dune when it was on HBO Max, because it got nominated for a bunch of technical achievement categories: costume, makeup, production design, visual effects, sound, cinematography. I feel like half of what makes a good sci fi movie is the world-building aspect of it, and it sounds like they succeeded at that.
it'll be back on sometime this year
it was visually stunning. I don't think our soundbar setup is good enough for me to weigh in on the sound though 😂
eh, I have a great set-up, but even though it was streaming, it wasn't re-mastered for home theater set-up. Real problem with streaming, I prefer blu-ray when available.
This is one of the reasons I still buy Blu-Rays when available, despite all the objections from my CS major friend and Cal roommate laughing at me for doing so.
I liked Dune a lot. Never read the books and was baffled by the David Lynch movie many years ago, but with this one I was never lost for a second. Very good world-building.
the green knight got nothing, this is a dumb thing
I'm delighted to see Belfast get so many nominations, but mystified as to why the leads, especially Caitriona Balfe, did not get any.
I caught Drive My Car over the weekend and really liked it. Glad it got nominated.
WARNING: It's a slow-moving 3-hour Japanese drama, so if that's not your thing I understand.
Drive My Car was my favorite film of the year followed by Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza , The Tragedy of MacBeth and Red Rocket.
I've only seen Dune and Don't Look Up.
Vienna Blood (PBS) - a procedural about a young psychoanalyst and an older detective solving crimes in the pre-WWI Vienna. The show is based on some books (which apparently are not popular enough to have their plots revealed online) but I think the show has diverged from the books. PBS weirdly broke each 90 minutes episode (3 each for the two seasons) into two episodes each (and one probably needs PBS Passport or knows how to easily download off it to watch all the available episodes). The show is created by one of the Sherlock writer (but not Moffat/Gattis) and is of that B, leaving you wanting a bit more qualify of those filler Sherlock episodes. Filmed on location, Vienna Blood had me consider buying fancy hats just like Sherlock had got me into liking scarfs.
Murderville (Netflix) - I have only watched the Marshawn episode and it did not disappoint. Unlike Vienna Blood which has the mystery that may be too convoluted to be guessed realistically by the viewer, Murderville offers a real test to both the guest star of the episode and the viewers.
Ghosts (CBS) - I had mentioned watching the BBC version here before. The US version has finally took some bold creative differences in the last 4-5 episodes to start to feel like its own show. Apparently enough people have watched it (in addition to celebrity fan Mark Hamill and I) to already earn it a renewal.
Annie Murphy is adorable
We watched the first season on the BBC version of Ghosts - but didn't think it was all that funny, it was ok.
I didn't think the original show found its stride until the second series, when the ghosts and the humans started to coexist and it became an ensemble comedy. It was also easy to just binge through all the episodes (first two are on HBO Max).
Marshawn is so purely himself, it is very endearing. It is not possible for him to be anything other than exactly what he is
That's an authentic man. WYSIWYG.
SIDE NOTE - Whenever I hear, "What you see is what you get" I am always reminded of Flip Wilson.
finished the most recent ozark eps
they were fine
Didn't see this thread started yet. Chitwood, watched the first two eps of Reacher last night. Of all the books I've read, I've never had the chance to read the first (Killing Floor), which is the one on which this is based.
Was stupid entertaining violent fun. Full of the one-dimensional characters I expect in a Reacher story. Was bummed that it was too late to start E3...
His "powers of observation" scenes reminded me of the first ep of Sherlock when Sherlock first meets Watson and tells him that he is a doctor, served in Afghanistan, etc.
Got through 6/8 episodes for me so far and I have enjoyed it for the silly, violent fun. Amazon has already announced a second season, but I don't expect most of the supporting characters (many outshined the main character) to be back. I have heard about the books after seeing the Tom Cruise movies, although I do find the idea of a Sherlock "Homeless" who wander around the country like a 90s TV show lead to be fascinating.
yeah, I'd expect S2 to be a diff book, so diff supporting characters. Reacher doesn't do relationships!
I like Sherlock Homeless...I think I might have heard that before, but I'll give you credit for it, if that's my imagination.
I need to go to wikipedia and see which books I've read, and then note the ones I liked, didn't like, was indifferent about. and read the ones that I've missed...like Killing Floor, which is the basis for S1.
I definitely did NOT come up with Sherlock Homeless. Multiple different places, possibly from some Lee Child interview, had mentioned that moniker.
There’s only one supporting character that figures to return. And totally agree, Ruey...Reacher’s lifestyle seems quite interesting.
I cut the cord with xfinity over the weekend! Took me a while to get replacement internet and home security, but finally got it done on Saturday. I feel like I got out of the mafia
I did the same last July and it's been wonderful. I had been with them for the previous 6 years, and another 3-year stint before that.
My bill was like $285 a month and now is about $80. Btw, related topic, after this pandemic I feel like internet really needs to be a public utility.
Absolutely agree on the internet as a public utility question. Access to the internet is not merely a quality of life issue, it's an issue that often portends wealth and poverty; the digital divide as it were.
I also agree that it should be a public utility. Speaking of utilities, did you see the CPUC has shelved NEM 3.0?
I think we are going to see a state wide solar initiative prop on the ballot in the next election.
what was NEM 3.0? charging solar users $$$$$?
I wasn't aware that the CPUC shelved NEM 3.0. That should be good news.
Wow, what were you getting for $285 a month?
Internet, cable, phone, home security
At least you got security. I pay that much without security.
I get internet and phone combined from Sonic for $63 per month. I have YouTube TV streaming service at $71 per month.
I have Spectrum where I live. On top of the $260 for cable/internet, they charge me $18/month for broadcast tv. Do/did you have that charge too?
I pay $240, taxes included, for internet, landline & cable package including HBO/SHOWTIME/MAX/STARZ movie channels + the sports pack for NFL/MLB/P12N. It just went up $40 Jan 1...
Cox has a monopoly of sorts in SB, tho...they’re pretty much the only internet game in town...any suggestions for alternatives are welcome...there’s no Spectrum.
Wow, I pay $170 all in for Comcast TV/Internet/Phone.
I know. I need to address the overspend on cable, but the alternatives (AT&T Uverse or cutting the cable altogether) require getting workman/techs to come out to the house. More often than not, they cause more physical damage to my house than it’s worth . Right now, I’d rather pay the “dumb tax”. It’s cheaper.
When people say phone, are you all talking about a real land line or your cell phone?
If it is a land line, why do you need it or keep it?
I haven’t had a land line since I lived in Unit 1 Cheney back in 2000.
I technically have a landline again (but no actual phone to access it) because the Xfinity bundle deal is cheaper with it than without it. While watching TV, I occasionally see some pop up messages about voice mail spam messages to that number that I honestly do not even know.
Killed land line 5 years ago. Liked the clarity, but couldn’t silence the telemarketing calls.
Some home security systems like ours, require a land line.
I will defiantly have a landline until it's pried from my cold, dead hands.
OK, now that I've got the over-the-top declaration out of the way, here's a practical reason why - cell service in North Berkeley can still be somewhat problematic in call quality and clarity.
Also, I like the idea that 9-1-1 can identify my location when I call. I have used 9-1-1 on two occasions in nearly 35 years but I feel better in the knowledge that if I need to do so, the dispatcher has my address available to them if it is needed.
EDIT: Also, I don't want to be the one who killed a 113+ year old phone number. The same last four digits have existed at Casa de Slug since 1908. Different exchanges and one area code split through those 113+ years, but always the same last four digits.
Try Ooma. You can port your number over and it's VOIP. You can add in an address with OOMA for 911 calls. However, it is over internet so if you have a power outage and the internet substation goes down, you can still lose landline. And it's like $5/mo.
I just added the last 4 digits of my childhood phone number to my cell phone when I finally got one in 2005.
I say this in the most kindest and respectful way possible…
Okay, boomer.
We have a land line because my wife has always refused to give it up. It used to be worth having when it was still on copper wires, because that meant we had service during prolonged power outages, but it's long since been transitioned to fiber optics. Between our behavioral changes (everyone defaults to their cell phone) and the extent to which the land line only rings with spam calls, we could probably get rid of it, but it's not the expensive part of our cable / phone / internet service, which is currently running $240 / month because our last 2 year agreement has expired.
Oh, I still have the copper lines, for the reason you mention.
It is funny you mentioned copper lines. I just switched from Comcast to ATT fiber and had ATT pull their old copper line from the pole to my house since it is no longer needed. So many old and numerous copper lines are still just hanging on poles for no reason now that the FCC has allowed them to be removed.
Land line. It's my preferred method of talking on the phone. When cell phone reception can match the reliability and clarity of a land line, maybe I'll switch.
Enjoyed the first two episodes of Pam and Tommy. Little bit more of Tommy's talking penis than I've wanted to see but otherwise quite good.
i loved the first two eps, always happy for a mantzoukas appearance even like this
pqtm
Olympics
it turns out that there was a point at which my passing interest in the Winter Olympics would be overtaken by my lack of interest in tolerating / navigating NBC's coverage. Haven't watched any so far.
Same. I watched some curling on Saturday and a bit of ski jumping on the weekend, but I otherwise haven't felt particularly compelled to watch any of it. I did make an effort to watch the opening cermony, however.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like it's a little more straightforward and a little lighter on the People Magazine/human interest stuff than usual.
but still too much ice skating
But what if you like ice skating?
I think you’re right and it is probably due to two things:
1. Athletes trying to remain in a bubble so they don’t catch Covid and can’t participate in the Olympics.
2. Covid restrictions within China, which limits media/athlete interactions during the games.
Also, very little media actually in China. Never had US coverage hosted from American studios before, but here we are.
at least we don't have to look at Bob Costas stank eye
And Mike Tirico is leaving early!
3. Reduced budget to produce the human interest side stuff.
but what about the condoms
you could be right! I haven't watched any coverage, so I have no idea
I've caught a few snipits, and while I've enjoyed seeing some Alpine skiing and hockey, I quickly found myself reminded of how much I dislike chopped up coverage where I get to see part of a given game or event, and not necessarily even the important part. Having to struggle to know when what will be aired is more likely to lead me to not watch at all as well. Someone somewhere thinks some people like the format (they think coverage of the NCAA tournament in this manner will attract and retain audience too), but I'm dubious about the drive-by fan being the focus being good for the long-term health of any given sport.
Right there with you, man.
I've DVR'd it but have yet to watch any of the coverage.
i have seen very little so far, but switched over during halftime of the Warriors game and ended up watching Big Air skiing and mens Super G, which was quite enjoyable.
I'm usually interested in all the various downhill skiiing and speedskating, for whatever reason this time I'm just not feeling it.
That guy who made up 2 seconds in the final two laps in 5K for a OR was amazeballs - thought it was impossible.
I hear the Dutch are still good at speedskating
I remember the kid's elementary school had a roller skating night at the local rink. They had a race around the rink for parents and one dutch guy got out there in his inline skates. Smoked everyone. Looked just like a speed skater out there just going around the rink.
that's true!
i think it has something to do w/ the bright orange outfits
We've watched some, figure skating last night & Super-G. I will say from a visual perspective, China looks like shit. Fake snow on the tracks, brown hills as far as the eye can see. I guess they don't really care, but it's the opposite of a tourist attraction, and did they think putting jumps in an abandoned factory was cool? What are they, a Batman villain?
Manufactured snow is nothing new, and will become more prevalent as climate change continues. (Not looking for a firestorm argument about climate change, just noting it is a factor affecting lots of historic snow-level venues.)
Don't disagree, but part of watching Winter Olympics is the pretty factor of the location shots in the snowy mountains - the outside shots in the wide view look like total trash. It's one thing to add more snow, quite another to add ALL the snow; looks stupid.
Why would there be an argument about climate change?
The Shougang industrial park site, was chosen to represent sustainability by turning an industrial area into one for cultural and leisure use, officials have said.
aside from that, their annual snowfall is exactly 0 inches of snow. everything is man-made.
USA's Ryan Cochran-Siegle wins unexpected super-G silver 50 years after mom's Olympic gold.
his parents operate Cochran's ski resort, a tiny hill w/ 8 runs and 3 lifts in Richmond VT (just outside Burlington). they also happen to sell local maple syrup called Slopeside Syrup of which i have a giant jug in my fridge. i put it on the kids French toast this morning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiing_Cochrans
The Skiing Cochrans are a family of American alpine ski racers from Richmond, Vermont, a dominant force on the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and again in 2000s, 2010s and 2020s
I enjoy that. I know there's a reason that the winter olympics have a reputation for being "rich white people's sports" but occasionally some local breaks through. Nice.
Also seeing lots of stuff online about athletes complaining about China's isolation protocols for the games and the lack of proper nutrition.
The meals I've seen look like the kind of cheapest-possible-option garbage they feed to kids in many US schools. Not exactly what you want before competition requiring peak physical performance...
Fyre Festival meal quality.
@All the non-China athletes get that food while the China athletes get steak. @
Which brings me to all the things I've seen about the judging (like short track speed skating) penalizing non-China athletes in favor of the China athletes. I saw one clip where the China short track skater grabbed the Korean skater but the Korean skater was DQed.
Yeah, I’m surprised no one is talking about the speed skating DQ controversy. It seems like some Pac 12 quality officiating and China is Stanford.
I was wondering if the Chinese athletes were getting better quality food than the non-Chinese athletes.
Olympics has long been corrupt AF re: certain home countries. Russia in '14, Korea in '88, etc. Well known that "trading favors" occurs
yeah maybe I shouldn't have @@ my sentence.
I will admit it, I have no idea what @@ before and after a sentence means.
It is interesting that last three - 2018, 2020, 2022 - have all been in NE Asia. Typically they try to spread things around more
For these games, the only contenders were Beijing and Kazakshtan. All the western countries bailed on their bids. I think next ones are in Cortina.
The IOC has allowed the games to become such a gigantic, sprawling endeavor that it's almost guaranteed to lose money and most of the developed world wants no part of hosting. At least the IOC has appropriately started wringing their hands about this.
Also the IOC: "we're going to need you to build a giant fake ski hill for athletes to launch themselves into a massive stadium that will only be used once. Ideally, put it next to the nuclear power plant, mmm-kay thanks."
Yeah, I remember no one seemed to want the 22 Winter Games.
(Next winter ones, next summer ones are in Paris, and then LA).
Just here waiting for 2024 Paris and 2028 LA. Winter Olympics are bleh for me.
NBC's primetime coverage is ASS. I'm piggybacking on someone's Peacock sub for additional coverage and the options there aren't any better.
it is shocking how bad the Peacock coverage is even if you have a subscription
They claim to stream everything live, but they basically have one thing on at a time. I thought I'd have the option to watch 5 different things all at the same time, but nope. Also, when things are live on NBC, they actually air BEFORE the allegedly live Peacock bullshit. Absolutely ass.
Just finished dinner and NBC and USA are showing the same event at the same time. Other than Peacock, that is all their coverage (except for a few replays on CNBC). Why would you duplicate coverage on your limited space?
What do you guys think of Eileen Gu? SF born and raised, winning golds for China now. I would care zero were she competing for basically any country other than Russia and China, but doing it for China seems a bit galling
My biggest knock against her is that she's said that she will be attending Stanford after the Olympics. Maybe it's the fact that her mom had also gone to Stanford that makes it that much more understandable why Gu would prioritize capitalizing on her China connection and possibly be used as a very well compensated pawn?
ouch
boo eileen gu
she's going to stanfurd
that's the only thing i am basing my judgment on
Hahahhh, that does actually make it so much worse!
She's half Chinese. I think she can compete for whichever country she wants.
Oh of course she can do it if she wants. But I don’t see why she needs to be immune from criticism.
Not to say the US is without its own issues but I also find it a bit galling and her reasons naive due to the well documented human right issues in China.
On a personal level, I think it is very smart of her because she is about to make a lot of money from this decision and will probably not experience any real blowback from her US sponsors.
Yeah, there's a little bit of naivete that I see in left-wing political circles (particularly younger people) in claiming that China/Russia do bad things and the US does bad things, so it's all the same in the end. Not really, those other countries are way more authoritarian and probably just as imperialist. You don't have to love US foreign policy either, but there are degrees of difference here.
Not sure if that's what Gu thinks, just a thing I've noticed.
Totally agree with that. Whataboutism abounds
Yep, I agree with all of this. Next thing we will be hearing is how China and Russia are actual democracies and more democratic than the US!
I think it is about as galling as a Mexican-American choosing to play for the USMNT instead of the country America invaded for land.
Sure buddy
i guess this stuff doesnt irk me. people switch teams and loyalties all the time and in an individual sport it matters even less.
1 - she was genuinely ecstatic when she hit that last jump to win the gold. great to see
2 - she is a bit of a celebrity and i am sure that competing for Canada only makes that so much better for her
My three daughters are half Chinese, born in SF. I guess I look at her and think about how if my daughters were willing propagandists for such an awful regime and engine of human misery, even if they did not see it that way, I would become physically ill. It’s like a reverse Sam Obisanya situation
fair enough. perhaps naive, but Gu claims to be doing it to "bring people together".
True you could argue that and maybe make some argument about acceptance of mixed race people in China, kind like a Heinz Ward situation. It just seems quite naive in face of what happened in HK, what happened to the Uighers, and what will happen to Taiwan.
Btw, is her citizenship in jeopardy? My brother looked into competing for Slovenia at one point but discovered that he’d technically have to revoke his US citizenship so passed
Her US citizenship is not in jeopardy.
we might face a not-exactly-the-same situation in the near future as our HS senior applied to the NYU campus in Shanghai for college.
it seems 100% adventurous and 50% problematic.
I like X/C and biathlon so have enjoyed that coverage so far. They have showed the races from start to finish so that's been good.
To better illustrate the point, they should each be wearing something that identifies them as a Fox Opinion "leader" or the like;.