Love is knowing my wife would buy this Wally Joyner artwork for me if I mentioned it. Love is also me not making her purchase this and prompting awkward questions like "why?" or "Who is Wally Joyner?"
A sports talk show today ranked Valentine's Day a "NFL road game on a Thursday." Execute your game plan on short notice. The threshold may be low but you're in trouble if you overlook it.
Our new house has a slate fireplace hearth. As is typical, the can turn a bit ashy - which can be solved with a bit of oil. I come out of my den last night and my wife gestures to the newly polished slate. I see a distinctive square glass bottle with a pour spout by the hearth.
"Ah, thanks", I say. "That looks GREAT. But I see that you've used my garlic-confit oil, which is why it now smells like the Stinking Rose in here."
We went all in with making stuff for yesterday's Super Bowl watch party: french dip sliders, chicken quesadillas with a cilantro ranch sauce, chicken wings in a spicy and slightly citrusy sauce, and roasted jalapeno queso. It was all pretty good, but the wings were fantastic.
And tonight we're making a pizza, an apple pie, and creme brulee.
My cheeseboard pizza last Fri was sooo good. Got one more slice left over I think.
Made Butter chicken for the first time last night. Turned out pretty good. May need a little more spice so I may try a different recipe next time. Have a bunch left over.
I still wouldn't order French toast/pain perdu at a restaurant when there are so many other things I'd rather pay to eat, but it was a good way to use up the last slice of a lemon bread I made last week.
in the old days city-states agreed to not attack each other during the Olympic Games (and the 3 other lesser-known ones)
i wonder if Russia will wait till the games are over? or do they not have to abide by such rules since they are not officially competing in the games ..
I think it’s kabuki. He is not going to attack. They know we are monitoring them, so their amassing of troops and getting into battle positions is the functional equivalent of picking up a phone and telling us they are going to invade. No one tells you they are going to invade if they plan to invade. They just go ahead and invade
The coverage on USA and CNBC (lolwut) has been decent, but it feels like every time I check NBC to see what's going on, it's either a commercial or some "profiles in courage" type segment.
While I am sympathetic to her and agrees that the adults around her should be punished even more than her (I think she's protected in that regard), I'm surprised by the ruling to let her compete more...even if it's to allow time to delay her decision. Then again, I guess this Game is getting more publicity from her trying to land more quads.
I think it is like a prelim injunction balancing of harms analysis. There is some appeal type process playing out and if you bar her from competition it is basically denying her appeal.
I cannot remember something like this happening mid competition. It is really bizarre. They really needed to run those lab tests more quickly and resolve this before she skated at all
That's the real scandal, even beyond the doping. It seems pretty obvious that the Russian training approach for these skaters wrecks their bodies, to the point that their careers are over before they turn 20.
Reminds me when I graduated and a coworker's husband, getting his PhD, stuck around on the stage until all the undergrads got their diploma. In the engineering graduation at The Greek, all the PhDs and Masters candidates are on the stage and they get their hoods before all the undergrads walk. I asked her on Monday why he was still there and she said he thought he should stick around until they all got their diploma.
That's very sweet. I'll admit I didn't stay for the full ceremony when I finished grad school, mostly because my parents, their best friends, and my grandparents were all there, and I didn't want them to have to sit through everything. At Ohio State, everyone gets their diploma at the ceremony, which is pretty impressive.
I do try to sit through all the credits at movies--I feel like everyone worked hard, and it's the least I can do to read some of their names as they scroll by.
I only went to my PhD graduation because my mom was in town and wanted me to go. My advisor wasn't around and the random department chair who hooded me said "great measurement" after my thesis topic was read (which was just "a search for..." and I had to tell him that I only set a limit. At Maryland, this ceremony was for the entire college (of natural sciences or some other name), including the chemistry and biology people in addition to physics. All the biology undergrads meant the ceremony was going to last two more hours after I was done, and my mom was more than ready to go after we sat through another 30 minutes or so (IIRC, I was the last person left in my row for about 10 minutes).
My wife still married me even after I made her go to the Cal *convocation* when we got our PhDs. Hours of freezing while the undergrads handed over namecards with “Lebron James” spelled out phonetically.
same, at IU all the phd students and their advisors sit on the field next to each other. and in one fell swoop everyone gets hooded at once and declared graduated. seemed like a very impersonal experience.
i like how all the departments at Cal still graduate separately. they always spend a moment saying what the person's thesis is about, etc as long as you not one of the huge departments on campus.
What I recall from the Cal College of Engineering is that for Batchelor's degrees they read your last name, for Masters you first intials and last name, and for PhD your full name. And that they didn't pronounce my name right.
The Ohio State commencements are both huge and personalized (everyone who graduated in that semester goes to the same ceremony, but also everyone's name gets read out and like I said, you get your diploma on the spot). The ceremony is in Ohio Stadium to accommodate all the people.
Michael Drake (then president of Ohio State and now president of UC) complimented me on my earrings when I shook his hand.
I can understand the whole family thing. For them it was just the two of them so that was cool. I actually didn't even realize he was getting his PhD so when I rounded the corner to walk up to the stage she was over near there and got my attention. That was kinda cool.
I actually watched some this weekend. Last week+ I've only really just watched highlights.
The best was Lindsay Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner winning the mixed Snowboard cross. He's 40 in his 4th Olympics and he lost in the quarters (I think) of the mens race and he thought he was done. Then he found out he qualified for the mixed snowboard cross and they paired him up with Lindsay since they thought his big boned frame would do well on the course. Both he and Lindsay came back from 3rd place in their final race to win. It was great.
Yes it's women only. They have a standard sled that all participants use. Part of it is to allow smaller countries that don't have a bobsled R&D department to participate. It all comes down to the driver's ability. The 2 and 4 man bobsled has a lot to do with how good the sleds are. Kellie is the best driver in the world by far, apparently, and she won by over a second I think.
For example, the England skeleton sliders were shut out of medals and the consensus is that their skeleton sleds are inferior to the medal winners.
Depends on how much is circulating locally and how crowded said space is. But if I'm asked to put one on, I'd gladly do so. If asked to remove one, chances are I've wandered into the wrong place.
On a plane I'd wear one, mainly so I don't ruin my vacation or get stuck somewhere.
At this phase, it's mostly "got shots and booster and and live life." Would gladly get a 4th shot now that I'm almost 6 mos post-boost but that's not been made available yet.
It seems like the mask mandates are being made with the expectation that the case rates will soon drop below what they were in the previous surges, and get down to the lower levels. I think I will wait until the rates actually reach those lower levels. In the Bay Area, the present rates extrapolate to about two more weeks. But, who knows what will actually happen?
I'll continue to mask indoors in public for the time being. I also wear my mask outdoors in more crowded areas--the "hassle" of wearing a very light KF94 is worth minimizing the risk for me.
I don't mask when I'm inside friends' places, but I know people who do (or in a car, which is confined). Expecting a plumber any minute now, and I'll wear a mask when I answer the door as well as ask him to wear a mask in my home.
Now that the positivity rate is down to ~4% locally, I now feel comfortable not wearing one in most places. I usually follow what employees at a business are doing--if they're masked, I'll wear one. If not, I won't unless it's unusually crowded.
I'll probably start ditching it as soon as it's allowed. Part of this is that Covid has already run through my household this February, so I don't see much danger from it at this point.
most people i hung out w/ in Miami this weekend were in similar mindset since they had it in the last month or so. as long i wasnt fire-breathing positive sample, they werent too worried that i had some exposure a few days ago.
From mid-December we've been pretty consistent about not eating in restaurants, going to movies, etc., so it's been a moot point. I don't know to what extent I'll stop wearing masks in stores, getting carryout etc, when the restrictions stop. I'm taking the 17 year old on a lightning college tour trip next weekend in MA so I guess that will be the test of whether we're eating inside restaurants or not because it's not exactly going to be picnic weather.
(by way of context, I have hypertension and elevated heart rate at the best of times, and nothing that I'm seeing about the aftereffects of the 'rona in that department in combination with the virulence of omicron makes me inclined to take more chances)
perhaps on the more risky side, but i have only worn masks indoors when either required by law or by my wife. otherwise i have been doing the least restrictive thing during coronavirus times.
i flew to Miami this weekend for a friends wedding, but my wife tested positive as soon as i land. (she is doing fine now, mostly just a bad sore throat)
so .. i didnt go to the wedding despite having no symptoms and testing negative. that seemed to be the consensus with wedding organizers and my wife.
regardless, i had a perfectly nice weekend in Miami hanging out on the beach, reading books, enjoying the nice hotel, going to Miami-scene bars and restaurants and some great Cuban coffee and pastelitos.
I'm a lifetime USC hater but the retrospectoscope "improves" a few scandals. With Peterson, improving our treatment of prisoners and with Bush, a right to housing (which was at a pre-crash peak).
GOP fringe jump on board the AOC-Using-Federal-Money-to-Give-Away-Crackpipes-to-Drug-Addicts by filing the HUNTER Act. The Biden administration is not giving away crack pipes, but safe smoking kits that include sanitary wipes to clean pipes because mouth sores tend to be common among crack addicts. The bill specifically mentions crack-pipes and other things but also safe smoking kits. The Hunter acronym is just crass.
Does anybody remember Todd Van Poppel, the 6'5" 1st round draft pick by the A's in 1990 who had a powerful arm for a starting pitcher but had control issues? Well, Cal just offered his 6'5" son a football scholarship https://twitter.com/Riley_VanPoppel/status/1493335477159608321
Cable Guy was a shitty movie at its release and now is being regurgitated back to us in the form of an annoying ad spot with an actor who ceased being funny 20 years ago. Seems about right
The Cable Guy has always been in my list of favorite movies since I first saw it in the theater when I was 16. It's brilliant, and I don't understand why Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey didnt just own it and realize it's beauty, instead of cowering to the critics.
Jim Carrey is as over the top as you'd expect (or even more in this one), but it borders on endearing for him, aside from being just plainly ridiculous, and there are some gem scenes and scenarios throughout featuring the likes of Stiller, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson before they were as famous. And Broderick is good at playing the straight guy that all the crazy stuff happens to.
The more celebrities I see telling me I need to buy crypto, the less likely I am do so. All these crypto companies feel like the swaths of dot-coms running ads in the late 90s Super Bowls.
I have no interest in the crypto scamiverse. Though I did read this on Helium and it's very much up my alley. It's all elegant enough for me to give a whirl once the cheaper machines are back in stock.
I realized that in my early 40s I am now the target of these nostalgia based ads. It is kind of depressing. Though in 10 years there will be nostalgia based ads for random TikTok/YouTube stars I have never heard of so maybe this is as good as it gets?
Our youth will be regurgitated back every few years as people become nostalgic for nostalgia. The thing about the '90s is that it never really went away. Still hear the music frequently played on regular stations, not "classic" ones.
Since when is telling the manager an employee is doing a good job something only your parents would’ve done? Fuck that...it’s a courtesy. That’s straight nonsense.
The one scenario that stood out to me as "off" was when the dude goes for the variety case of individually packaged chips. Unless they were buying them specifically for the convenience of their kids' school lunches, no one's parents would go for those. Way less economical on a price per ounce basis. Unless maybe if they were on sale at a bargain, but even then amount of packaging just feels wasteful compared to the alternative.
You know you are old when they start playing Pet Shop Boys on insurance commercials, Tears for Fears for investment products with greying actors- Gee, you're old, better get a retirement strategy.
I think there is also a cultural influence in marketing itself, beyond the strategy of targeting demographics.. Meaning, the demographics of the decision makers who are doing the marketing. When new generations start taking over business, their biases and preferences are going to start to be expressed. i.e. the ad exec who chose Pet Shop Boys might've simply done so because it's catchy as all hell and they remember it from their childhood. It feels like a lot of stuff is just more creative with more of a sense of humor now as younger generations are starting to run the show.
Sometimes a team just has to start forcing things to their best player, and that's what happened with Kupp at the end of this one. Everyone knew the ball was going to him; didn't matter.
Reminiscent of some of Jerry Rice's Super Bowl performances.
That's why it was so puzzling that Deebo didn't get any touches in the final 10 mins with the game on the line in the NFCCG...get the ball to your best players!
It's like a closer getting beat with his 3rd best pitch!
I remembered what our scouting report said. It said that at 3-and-2, Eckersley throws a backdoor slider. Mel Didier had told me going into the Series, "Podnuh, as sure as I'm standing here breathing, he's going to throw you a backdoor slider if he gets you to 3-and-2. So when I called time and stepped out of the box, I looked at Eckersley and said, "Podnuh, as sure as I'm standing here breathing, you're going to throw me that 3-and-2 backdoor slider.
"I don't know what it was, there was just this vision that God revealed to me that we were gonna come back, we were gonna be a part of a Super Bowl and we were gonna win it," Kupp said. "And somehow, I was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game."
All the playoff games this year were great. I think just about all, or maybe all of them, came down to scoring to win in the last 2 possessions.
I was going to go to the gym at the end of the first half and then I remembered about the halftime show. So I stayed to watch. That was the best halftime show. Amazing.
Yeah, just a spectacular postseason all around. Lots of good storylines.
My only issue with the halftime show is that the filtered SoFi light really muddled the show's lighting. Would have looked less flat 30 minutes later when it got darker. Regardless, LA did not forget about Dre.
I said the same thing to my wife when she comment that this may have been the best one she's seen. I don't think anyone will ever top Prince closing out his set with "Purple Rain" in the actual rain.
i thought that this was a really good defensive game. both teams made a few mistakes, but really forced the other offensive out of its comfort zone.
i had this sense that if the Rams could score at the end, their defense would hold up at the end because it played really well in the 2nd half. i would have given the MVP to the Rams D.
I was impressed by how well their O-line held up in the first half. I thought Aaron Donald was going to be a menace all game, but he was pretty quiet in the first half.
But again, there’s zero chance that ball is going there. ZERO. It’s 4th and a yard...another example of Zac Taylor failing to read the room...your OL is garbage - you don’t have time to call these slow developing deep pass plays. You need quick strikes. Dumb. He’d just called a run up the middle out of the shotgun on 3rd & short...as Avi tweeted, he deserves to lose.
Taylor would’ve been the worst HC to win a Super Bowl in history.
The deep ball that Chase caught was an amazing grab...tough to call that a "beat", plus he had a pass breakup on Tee Higgins that would have been a TD, and the facemask penalty that wasn't called was brutal. That play can't be missed in an NFL game - that needs to be a reviewable play bc it's egregious...but Ramsey held up ok compared to the heat he's taking...
I wondered where the back judge was; he was no where to be seen in a wide review. The side judge was pretty badly out run, and couldn't have seen it. That's got to be the back judge's call, and he may have been sucked into another route, which could be why he wasn't in position. I was glad it didn't wind up differential, but it was consequential, and certainly could have been. I suspect it was a topic of extended conversation within and with the crew shortly afterwards.
Speaking of the Chron, I get the Sunday edition and the sports page had no mention of the Bears' win at Oregon. Seems like the coverage of college gets skimpier and skimpier. A few months back they gutted the business section which no longer contains any news. It led to me get the NY Times for the rest of the week. The Times covers the big stories in media and tech and actually covers Silicon Valley, which the Chron doesn't.
In general, the Chronicle has stopped covering news. They do a decent job with some very specific investigations, but there is no current news. I looked the other day for anything on the Oakland hunger strikers, and there was an article from the day they started, but nothing since, which I found odd since one of the dudes ended up in the hospital.
a number of national park service accounts (for specific parks) were posting pictures of owls in the park with the "superb owl" joke. Credit for trying.
The article also talks about people moving to the Academic Replacement Building...that will be built in the Dwinelle parking lot. The next season may be the last tailgate at that location if I'm understanding correctly.
The math lounge on top of Evans did have a decent view, even if they were limiting access due to all the suicide jumpers. Coincidentally, the only person that I sort of knew (was in a large class with me and was someone who hung out a bit with my roommate) that committed suicide when I was at Cal also died in Evans, but via asphyxiation in an office.
I had second and third year Egyptian in Evans. For third year there were only 5 students, 2 of whom were grad students. The prof left to smoke a cigarette on the roof every 15 minutes, so we had four breaks per session. He said smoking greatly improved focus in comprehending hieroglyphs.
The limited class time probably reduced your comprehension of said hieroglyphs, though. If this was on Zoom, he could have blazed through double the cigs and doubled the comprehension.
We are currently working with our ticket rep on a new location. The options we were presented were Lower Hearst, the law school lot, Wellman, Clark Kerr, Foothill. Some of these are limited and dependent on spaces opening up like CK and the law school lot. Everything else seems to wide open. Twist wants something close to downtown.
Agree unless you take a “park by the exit” approach and want something further away that allows you to get out more quickly after the game. If you generally hang out and get beers after then law school for sure
Lower Hearst is (or was) at least on the Shuttle route from the Downtown Berkeley BART station. When I had a parking pass for Lower Hearst I could watch people get on and off the shuttle on Hearst near Northgate from where we parked in Lower Hearst.
Notre Dame lodging...
Newellbany and I heard from our ND buddies...looks like the early plan is to rent a spot in South Bend for easy game access.
https://twitter.com/GeorgePointon_/status/1492111112782897152
@GeorgePointon_: I asked a group of 6 year olds to 'Pitch me a new film idea'
Move over Hollywood
A THREAD
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, like many holidays, is what you make it
For me, it's one of my favorite days
Love is knowing my wife would buy this Wally Joyner artwork for me if I mentioned it. Love is also me not making her purchase this and prompting awkward questions like "why?" or "Who is Wally Joyner?"
https://popflypopshop.com/products/74-wally-world-7-x-10-5-art-print
I despise Valentine's Day and it is fake Hallmark bullshit.
A sports talk show today ranked Valentine's Day a "NFL road game on a Thursday." Execute your game plan on short notice. The threshold may be low but you're in trouble if you overlook it.
Ugh, and that surge pricing on flowers
No one said you couldn’t grab flowers from the PriceChopper on your way home from work in May, bud….doesn’t have to be just Valentines Day
It’s a trap! (I ceased buying flowers many years ago)
But Cugel took a Greyhound to see you!
pqtm
i like Valentine's day and usually try to do something to celebrate.
this V's day, my wife is still quarantining herself in the attic so we can't even kiss ..
DBD Kitchen
Our new house has a slate fireplace hearth. As is typical, the can turn a bit ashy - which can be solved with a bit of oil. I come out of my den last night and my wife gestures to the newly polished slate. I see a distinctive square glass bottle with a pour spout by the hearth.
"Ah, thanks", I say. "That looks GREAT. But I see that you've used my garlic-confit oil, which is why it now smells like the Stinking Rose in here."
hahahahahaha
For game time snacking traditionally my wife has made onion dip from scratch with Ruffles - this year a Greek yogurt dip with pita chips.
For dinner Ropa Vieja over rice, with a side of avocado salad; paired with a 2000 Gigondas "Preference" - grapefruit glazed lemon cookies for after.
Smoked ribs yesterday. Also made chicken wings and queso (which also spent some time in the smoker). Chips, guac, ceviche all rounded out the SB eats
We went all in with making stuff for yesterday's Super Bowl watch party: french dip sliders, chicken quesadillas with a cilantro ranch sauce, chicken wings in a spicy and slightly citrusy sauce, and roasted jalapeno queso. It was all pretty good, but the wings were fantastic.
And tonight we're making a pizza, an apple pie, and creme brulee.
So very many dishes to wash...
Make spicy vodka rigatoni on Friday night. For a first attempt, was not that bad.
My cheeseboard pizza last Fri was sooo good. Got one more slice left over I think.
Made Butter chicken for the first time last night. Turned out pretty good. May need a little more spice so I may try a different recipe next time. Have a bunch left over.
we have a decent butter chicken recipe that i can share w/ you
yes please. I've just been looking online and chose one. It turned out tasting pretty good, but I feel like it should have more flavor.
Callback to breakfast discussion:
I still wouldn't order French toast/pain perdu at a restaurant when there are so many other things I'd rather pay to eat, but it was a good way to use up the last slice of a lemon bread I made last week.
This neat little landing site if you accidentally type gail.com instead of gmail.com.
https://gail.com/
I may have to send them an email, just because.
That was a thoughtful and clever gift from the husband.
I love and miss those "End of the Internet" things. That she's been registered since 1996 makes me think she does too.
Olympics
in the old days city-states agreed to not attack each other during the Olympic Games (and the 3 other lesser-known ones)
i wonder if Russia will wait till the games are over? or do they not have to abide by such rules since they are not officially competing in the games ..
I think it’s kabuki. He is not going to attack. They know we are monitoring them, so their amassing of troops and getting into battle positions is the functional equivalent of picking up a phone and telling us they are going to invade. No one tells you they are going to invade if they plan to invade. They just go ahead and invade
Maybe... I'm not so sure, and I'm not sure that Putin isn't just playing games, but also keeping his options open.
He’s reckless for sure, but seems to be fishing around for some sort of commitment not to bring Ukraine into NATO. I sorta feel like fuck him
It'll distract people from their doping scandal.
garbage coverage by NBC
The coverage on USA and CNBC (lolwut) has been decent, but it feels like every time I check NBC to see what's going on, it's either a commercial or some "profiles in courage" type segment.
That's pretty standard now. The secondary networks will give you more unfettered coverage, but the main channel does all the human-interest stuff.
Are a bit of a joke this time around
Yep, I agree.
Russian teen figure skating phenom/cheater has been cleared to skate again because [checks notes]... she's a minor.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/14/sport/russia-kamila-valieva-decision-beijing-olympic-intl-hnk/index.html
While I am sympathetic to her and agrees that the adults around her should be punished even more than her (I think she's protected in that regard), I'm surprised by the ruling to let her compete more...even if it's to allow time to delay her decision. Then again, I guess this Game is getting more publicity from her trying to land more quads.
I think it is like a prelim injunction balancing of harms analysis. There is some appeal type process playing out and if you bar her from competition it is basically denying her appeal.
I guess they can always take her result away if she's found guilty.
The other figure skaters should protest this by sitting the competition out.
it is strange that they are effectively admitting to doping by saying there wont be a medal ceremony if she wins.
I cannot remember something like this happening mid competition. It is really bizarre. They really needed to run those lab tests more quickly and resolve this before she skated at all
well, it suppose it's best to give her the chance to compete before all the doping completely wrecks her body and she can't
That's the real scandal, even beyond the doping. It seems pretty obvious that the Russian training approach for these skaters wrecks their bodies, to the point that their careers are over before they turn 20.
TIL: The Russians cheated like hell at Sochi. Shocking, I know.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/07/19/486595080/report-russia-used-mouse-hole-to-swap-urine-samples-of-olympic-athletes
I am stunned, I tell you. Stunned!
This was pretty cool. Cross Country winner sticks around to congratulate the last skier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_etu3xbKo&ab_channel=NBCSports
Reminds me when I graduated and a coworker's husband, getting his PhD, stuck around on the stage until all the undergrads got their diploma. In the engineering graduation at The Greek, all the PhDs and Masters candidates are on the stage and they get their hoods before all the undergrads walk. I asked her on Monday why he was still there and she said he thought he should stick around until they all got their diploma.
That's very sweet. I'll admit I didn't stay for the full ceremony when I finished grad school, mostly because my parents, their best friends, and my grandparents were all there, and I didn't want them to have to sit through everything. At Ohio State, everyone gets their diploma at the ceremony, which is pretty impressive.
I do try to sit through all the credits at movies--I feel like everyone worked hard, and it's the least I can do to read some of their names as they scroll by.
I only went to my PhD graduation because my mom was in town and wanted me to go. My advisor wasn't around and the random department chair who hooded me said "great measurement" after my thesis topic was read (which was just "a search for..." and I had to tell him that I only set a limit. At Maryland, this ceremony was for the entire college (of natural sciences or some other name), including the chemistry and biology people in addition to physics. All the biology undergrads meant the ceremony was going to last two more hours after I was done, and my mom was more than ready to go after we sat through another 30 minutes or so (IIRC, I was the last person left in my row for about 10 minutes).
I didn’t even attend my graduation for grad school
My wife still married me even after I made her go to the Cal *convocation* when we got our PhDs. Hours of freezing while the undergrads handed over namecards with “Lebron James” spelled out phonetically.
I didn’t even walk at college, and only went to my law school one for the first 30 mins...bailed after I got my paper...had schitt to do.
Same. Graduation was about a month before I defended my dissertation, so it would have been weird to walk before actually finishing.
same, at IU all the phd students and their advisors sit on the field next to each other. and in one fell swoop everyone gets hooded at once and declared graduated. seemed like a very impersonal experience.
i like how all the departments at Cal still graduate separately. they always spend a moment saying what the person's thesis is about, etc as long as you not one of the huge departments on campus.
What I recall from the Cal College of Engineering is that for Batchelor's degrees they read your last name, for Masters you first intials and last name, and for PhD your full name. And that they didn't pronounce my name right.
The Ohio State commencements are both huge and personalized (everyone who graduated in that semester goes to the same ceremony, but also everyone's name gets read out and like I said, you get your diploma on the spot). The ceremony is in Ohio Stadium to accommodate all the people.
Michael Drake (then president of Ohio State and now president of UC) complimented me on my earrings when I shook his hand.
Did you wear Cal earrings?
I can understand the whole family thing. For them it was just the two of them so that was cool. I actually didn't even realize he was getting his PhD so when I rounded the corner to walk up to the stage she was over near there and got my attention. That was kinda cool.
That's nice!
I actually watched some this weekend. Last week+ I've only really just watched highlights.
The best was Lindsay Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner winning the mixed Snowboard cross. He's 40 in his 4th Olympics and he lost in the quarters (I think) of the mens race and he thought he was done. Then he found out he qualified for the mixed snowboard cross and they paired him up with Lindsay since they thought his big boned frame would do well on the course. Both he and Lindsay came back from 3rd place in their final race to win. It was great.
Between them and Shaun White it’s been a real Elder Millennial celebration
And Kaillie Humphries the woman bobsledder that was Canadian but got her American Citizenship two months ago.
I wonder why they didn't come up with single person bobsled, aka monobob, a long time ago? And why is it women only?
Yes it's women only. They have a standard sled that all participants use. Part of it is to allow smaller countries that don't have a bobsled R&D department to participate. It all comes down to the driver's ability. The 2 and 4 man bobsled has a lot to do with how good the sleds are. Kellie is the best driver in the world by far, apparently, and she won by over a second I think.
For example, the England skeleton sliders were shut out of medals and the consensus is that their skeleton sleds are inferior to the medal winners.
Saw that too. Really awesome.
Love
you forget many things in your life, but you never will forget love
Bites
Love bleeds
It’s bringing me to my knees...
Moved to another country!
Traveled on a Greyhound 5+ days from NoVa to Berkeley to spend a couple days with my lover in TX.
ugh Cugel don't use that word gross
She was (violin playing).... my ....(violin playing)... my.... GIRLFRIEND!!!
Cloris Leachman is one of my favorite actresses.
Much better!
Today in Covid
I guess indoor mask mandates are going to be lifted. Will most folks continue to wear a mask unless they are consuming food or a beverage?
Depends on how much is circulating locally and how crowded said space is. But if I'm asked to put one on, I'd gladly do so. If asked to remove one, chances are I've wandered into the wrong place.
On a plane I'd wear one, mainly so I don't ruin my vacation or get stuck somewhere.
At this phase, it's mostly "got shots and booster and and live life." Would gladly get a 4th shot now that I'm almost 6 mos post-boost but that's not been made available yet.
I have zero problem wearing a mask indoors out of courtesy for others/employees so will probably continue doing so.
It seems like the mask mandates are being made with the expectation that the case rates will soon drop below what they were in the previous surges, and get down to the lower levels. I think I will wait until the rates actually reach those lower levels. In the Bay Area, the present rates extrapolate to about two more weeks. But, who knows what will actually happen?
I will continue to mask up until we've been running with the loosened restrictions for a couple of months with no significant increase in case counts.
I'll continue to mask indoors in public for the time being. I also wear my mask outdoors in more crowded areas--the "hassle" of wearing a very light KF94 is worth minimizing the risk for me.
I don't mask when I'm inside friends' places, but I know people who do (or in a car, which is confined). Expecting a plumber any minute now, and I'll wear a mask when I answer the door as well as ask him to wear a mask in my home.
Now that the positivity rate is down to ~4% locally, I now feel comfortable not wearing one in most places. I usually follow what employees at a business are doing--if they're masked, I'll wear one. If not, I won't unless it's unusually crowded.
in the glorious interim between vaccination and omicron, that was my approach
Those were heady days indeed
I get giddy just thinking about it
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
I'll probably start ditching it as soon as it's allowed. Part of this is that Covid has already run through my household this February, so I don't see much danger from it at this point.
At least with Omicron you can get it again I think.
You can, but since we've recently had it I'm not worried about developing severe symptoms upon reinfection. Seems highly unlikely that would happen.
That's a good point.
most people i hung out w/ in Miami this weekend were in similar mindset since they had it in the last month or so. as long i wasnt fire-breathing positive sample, they werent too worried that i had some exposure a few days ago.
From mid-December we've been pretty consistent about not eating in restaurants, going to movies, etc., so it's been a moot point. I don't know to what extent I'll stop wearing masks in stores, getting carryout etc, when the restrictions stop. I'm taking the 17 year old on a lightning college tour trip next weekend in MA so I guess that will be the test of whether we're eating inside restaurants or not because it's not exactly going to be picnic weather.
(by way of context, I have hypertension and elevated heart rate at the best of times, and nothing that I'm seeing about the aftereffects of the 'rona in that department in combination with the virulence of omicron makes me inclined to take more chances)
perhaps on the more risky side, but i have only worn masks indoors when either required by law or by my wife. otherwise i have been doing the least restrictive thing during coronavirus times.
I will, since a family member is immunocompromised.
i flew to Miami this weekend for a friends wedding, but my wife tested positive as soon as i land. (she is doing fine now, mostly just a bad sore throat)
so .. i didnt go to the wedding despite having no symptoms and testing negative. that seemed to be the consensus with wedding organizers and my wife.
regardless, i had a perfectly nice weekend in Miami hanging out on the beach, reading books, enjoying the nice hotel, going to Miami-scene bars and restaurants and some great Cuban coffee and pastelitos.
Glad your wife is doing ok!
Elsewhere in college
How far Ed Orgeron was willing to go to recruit Adrian Peterson to USC is interesting.
https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1492698138645311488
hookers and blow?
trying to get his dad a prison transfer to SoCal
I'm a lifetime USC hater but the retrospectoscope "improves" a few scandals. With Peterson, improving our treatment of prisoners and with Bush, a right to housing (which was at a pre-crash peak).
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Coming May 3rd, a $50 book with no pages
https://www.left-bank.com/book/9781630062170
GOP fringe jump on board the AOC-Using-Federal-Money-to-Give-Away-Crackpipes-to-Drug-Addicts by filing the HUNTER Act. The Biden administration is not giving away crack pipes, but safe smoking kits that include sanitary wipes to clean pipes because mouth sores tend to be common among crack addicts. The bill specifically mentions crack-pipes and other things but also safe smoking kits. The Hunter acronym is just crass.
https://thepostmillennial.com/house-gop-introduces-hunter-act-ban-federal-dollars-funding-crack-pipes
Trump Act - prohibits pedophiles and rapists from public office.
That'd be the Trump-Gaetz Act.
Mrs. Grift
https://www.rawstory.com/melania-trump-2656643233/
pqtm
https://twitter.com/trom771/status/1491845934229172226
It's possible that we will soon enough learn the unfortunate detail that he wiped with them first.
PRO
Harden out through ASB. Maybe he really was hurt.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33289927/philadelphia-76ers-say-james-harden-all-star-break-hamstring-strain
Or maybe he hurt something at the strip clubs.
Does anybody remember Todd Van Poppel, the 6'5" 1st round draft pick by the A's in 1990 who had a powerful arm for a starting pitcher but had control issues? Well, Cal just offered his 6'5" son a football scholarship https://twitter.com/Riley_VanPoppel/status/1493335477159608321
Yeah, what HAG said.
Yeah I remember him. Was not very good.
According to Superbowl advertisers, I am suppose to like crypto currency, electric cars, and aged-out former movie stars.
Cable Guy was a shitty movie at its release and now is being regurgitated back to us in the form of an annoying ad spot with an actor who ceased being funny 20 years ago. Seems about right
The Cable Guy has always been in my list of favorite movies since I first saw it in the theater when I was 16. It's brilliant, and I don't understand why Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey didnt just own it and realize it's beauty, instead of cowering to the critics.
Can't comment, never seen it, but I wasn't a big Jim Carrey fan.
Jim Carrey is as over the top as you'd expect (or even more in this one), but it borders on endearing for him, aside from being just plainly ridiculous, and there are some gem scenes and scenarios throughout featuring the likes of Stiller, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson before they were as famous. And Broderick is good at playing the straight guy that all the crazy stuff happens to.
I think it’s where Apatow & Leslie Mann first hooked up…they’ve since married and their daughter is on Euphoria.
Mexican Avocado Industry
How it started yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEFBXx8VBI
- vs. -
How it's going:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/14/business/avocados-mexico-us/index.html
The more celebrities I see telling me I need to buy crypto, the less likely I am do so. All these crypto companies feel like the swaths of dot-coms running ads in the late 90s Super Bowls.
I have no interest in the crypto scamiverse. Though I did read this on Helium and it's very much up my alley. It's all elegant enough for me to give a whirl once the cheaper machines are back in stock.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/technology/helium-cryptocurrency-uses.html
somebody on twitter said You know how I know that crypto isn't real money? Because money doesn't have to advertise.
I realized that in my early 40s I am now the target of these nostalgia based ads. It is kind of depressing. Though in 10 years there will be nostalgia based ads for random TikTok/YouTube stars I have never heard of so maybe this is as good as it gets?
Our youth will be regurgitated back every few years as people become nostalgic for nostalgia. The thing about the '90s is that it never really went away. Still hear the music frequently played on regular stations, not "classic" ones.
Already been a few years since they used a Weezer song in a minivan ad.
That's ok compared to The Clash's "London Calling" being used by British Airways, that felt like a betrayal.
The turning into your parents ads hit me hard. I say a lot of that shit.
Oh my, Scootie....agree 100%.
Since when is telling the manager an employee is doing a good job something only your parents would’ve done? Fuck that...it’s a courtesy. That’s straight nonsense.
The one scenario that stood out to me as "off" was when the dude goes for the variety case of individually packaged chips. Unless they were buying them specifically for the convenience of their kids' school lunches, no one's parents would go for those. Way less economical on a price per ounce basis. Unless maybe if they were on sale at a bargain, but even then amount of packaging just feels wasteful compared to the alternative.
Remember it’s a football game, not a play date....
https://youtu.be/94-14ih7Nrw
I love the Progressive Insurance commercials. They're the best.
But funny though! The guy who was the would be stuntman in the Netflix show Love cracks me up
You know you are old when they start playing Pet Shop Boys on insurance commercials, Tears for Fears for investment products with greying actors- Gee, you're old, better get a retirement strategy.
I think there is also a cultural influence in marketing itself, beyond the strategy of targeting demographics.. Meaning, the demographics of the decision makers who are doing the marketing. When new generations start taking over business, their biases and preferences are going to start to be expressed. i.e. the ad exec who chose Pet Shop Boys might've simply done so because it's catchy as all hell and they remember it from their childhood. It feels like a lot of stuff is just more creative with more of a sense of humor now as younger generations are starting to run the show.
the Collinsworth "move to Cincy" commercial was strange .. i guess he is the only person anyone can remotely associate w/ the city
Bootsy Collins has entered the chat
and their diarrhea chili
Best ribs I ever had were in Cinci
best ads were the chevy/ Sopranos ad with Meadow and AJ, and the Lebowski bowling michelob ad
Interesting they chose Meadow as the driver, considering it was her who took an hour to park her stupid car at the end of the series
Rams win ..
Sometimes a team just has to start forcing things to their best player, and that's what happened with Kupp at the end of this one. Everyone knew the ball was going to him; didn't matter.
Reminiscent of some of Jerry Rice's Super Bowl performances.
That's why it was so puzzling that Deebo didn't get any touches in the final 10 mins with the game on the line in the NFCCG...get the ball to your best players!
It's like a closer getting beat with his 3rd best pitch!
Eckersley nods in approval...
As does Kirk Gibson.
sigh...damn backdoor slider
I remembered what our scouting report said. It said that at 3-and-2, Eckersley throws a backdoor slider. Mel Didier had told me going into the Series, "Podnuh, as sure as I'm standing here breathing, he's going to throw you a backdoor slider if he gets you to 3-and-2. So when I called time and stepped out of the box, I looked at Eckersley and said, "Podnuh, as sure as I'm standing here breathing, you're going to throw me that 3-and-2 backdoor slider.
Kupp and Donald went Kobe Bryant in the clutch.
apparently a higher power was involved too
"I don't know what it was, there was just this vision that God revealed to me that we were gonna come back, we were gonna be a part of a Super Bowl and we were gonna win it," Kupp said. "And somehow, I was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game."
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33285438/cooper-kupp-named-mvp-super-bowl-lvi-late-td-lifts-los-angeles-rams-cincinnati-bengals
"And the good lord willing, it happened."
Higher power? I think the refs were involved in the outcome.
God willing, this will reflect poorly on the attendance of the Creation Museum in the Cincy suburb (in Kentucky).
Wish I could get credit for predictable phenomena like God does.
the Bengals must be bummed that God hates them
Bummed, but not surprised.
i wonder why no one gets a vision that they will lose the game? or great failure is imminent?
All the playoff games this year were great. I think just about all, or maybe all of them, came down to scoring to win in the last 2 possessions.
I was going to go to the gym at the end of the first half and then I remembered about the halftime show. So I stayed to watch. That was the best halftime show. Amazing.
Yeah, just a spectacular postseason all around. Lots of good storylines.
My only issue with the halftime show is that the filtered SoFi light really muddled the show's lighting. Would have looked less flat 30 minutes later when it got darker. Regardless, LA did not forget about Dre.
Agreed, that halftime show was a ton of fun. I was looking forward to that almost as much as I was looking forward to the game.
Very well done. A much slicker production than anything any other sports league puts on
Mary J Blige was great
She stole the show. Excellent performance.
It was good, but if we're talking about "best" then Prince still holds that spot.
Prince is by far the best halftime show ever. Lady Gaga was good as well.
Shakira and J-Lo were great.
Liked Bruno too. Prince, though, is Prince. That man didn't die; he ascended to another existence.
Shake-ee-ra is kind of NSFW
I also personally have a soft spot for the weirdness of Katy Perry and her dancing sharks (not that I would ever claim it was the "best" show).
U2 did one in the 9/11 year that nailed the moment IMO.
By a mile...
I said the same thing to my wife when she comment that this may have been the best one she's seen. I don't think anyone will ever top Prince closing out his set with "Purple Rain" in the actual rain.
This is the correct answer. No one will ever top that performance.
RAMS HOUSE!
i thought that this was a really good defensive game. both teams made a few mistakes, but really forced the other offensive out of its comfort zone.
i had this sense that if the Rams could score at the end, their defense would hold up at the end because it played really well in the 2nd half. i would have given the MVP to the Rams D.
I agree, good defense all around. The officiating was suspect though. But hey that’s par for the course nowadays.
Bengals’ offense was just OK. Their O line struggled all game.
They should never have made it past the Titans with that OL.
It's actually pretty amazing the Bengals made it this far with that O-line.
I was impressed by how well their O-line held up in the first half. I thought Aaron Donald was going to be a menace all game, but he was pretty quiet in the first half.
Collinsworth mentioned that the Rams weren’t bringing enough pressure to result in Donald being singled until the 2nd half.
The announcers also seemed to jinx Jalen Ramsey. Whenever they praised how good he is, he got beat for a reception.
Indeed, it was a rough game. Getting tossed by the facemask wasn't his fault. And getting smoked by Chase is bound to happen to everyone.
The final play of the game where Donald sacked Burrow, Ramsey was again on the ground getting beat by Chase.
https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1493257096187596805
Yup. Chase owned that matchup. Burrow just couldn't get it out quick enough once the Rams adjusted.
But again, there’s zero chance that ball is going there. ZERO. It’s 4th and a yard...another example of Zac Taylor failing to read the room...your OL is garbage - you don’t have time to call these slow developing deep pass plays. You need quick strikes. Dumb. He’d just called a run up the middle out of the shotgun on 3rd & short...as Avi tweeted, he deserves to lose.
Taylor would’ve been the worst HC to win a Super Bowl in history.
I thought his game was actually not that bad.
The deep ball that Chase caught was an amazing grab...tough to call that a "beat", plus he had a pass breakup on Tee Higgins that would have been a TD, and the facemask penalty that wasn't called was brutal. That play can't be missed in an NFL game - that needs to be a reviewable play bc it's egregious...but Ramsey held up ok compared to the heat he's taking...
Eli Apple, on the other hand, was atrocious.
I wondered where the back judge was; he was no where to be seen in a wide review. The side judge was pretty badly out run, and couldn't have seen it. That's got to be the back judge's call, and he may have been sucked into another route, which could be why he wasn't in position. I was glad it didn't wind up differential, but it was consequential, and certainly could have been. I suspect it was a topic of extended conversation within and with the crew shortly afterwards.
NFL filed a trademark application for "The Big Game". Yeah. That won't be granted.
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/NFL-marketers-want-Big-Game-trademark-Cal-2645219.php
Especially since that article's 15 years old.
I was just going to say, didn’t the NFL already try this like a decade ago.
I said below that they had. Turns out . . . it's the same attempt.
oops. uh... well... I REST MY CASE, YOUR HONOR.
I thought they tried to do this a few years ago. Or maybe they were just talking about it.
They did try this before. Didn't go anywhere, for obvious reasons.
What?
Speaking of the Chron, I get the Sunday edition and the sports page had no mention of the Bears' win at Oregon. Seems like the coverage of college gets skimpier and skimpier. A few months back they gutted the business section which no longer contains any news. It led to me get the NY Times for the rest of the week. The Times covers the big stories in media and tech and actually covers Silicon Valley, which the Chron doesn't.
The Chron is a rag, I say!!!
In general, the Chronicle has stopped covering news. They do a decent job with some very specific investigations, but there is no current news. I looked the other day for anything on the Oakland hunger strikers, and there was an article from the day they started, but nothing since, which I found odd since one of the dudes ended up in the hospital.
In the fall, I felt guilty enough to donate to the E'ville Eye and Berkeleyside, and now I get emails newsletters from both of them plus Oaklandside.
Superb Owl
a number of national park service accounts (for specific parks) were posting pictures of owls in the park with the "superb owl" joke. Credit for trying.
Gotta go harder. Give me graphics packages of the owls looking up and hooting like they're part of a Key & Peele football sketch.
The local zoo did too. I appreciated it.
CAL
The parking structure that is Evans Hall is coming down. https://www.sfgate.com/education/amp/cal-evans-hall-to-be-demolished-16914778.php
The article also talks about people moving to the Academic Replacement Building...that will be built in the Dwinelle parking lot. The next season may be the last tailgate at that location if I'm understanding correctly.
https://capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu/academic-replacement-building
Good riddance.
Still not as bad looking as Wurster.
Wurster is the best building on campus.
Strong disagree; Wurster has strong massing.
The math lounge on top of Evans did have a decent view, even if they were limiting access due to all the suicide jumpers. Coincidentally, the only person that I sort of knew (was in a large class with me and was someone who hung out a bit with my roommate) that committed suicide when I was at Cal also died in Evans, but via asphyxiation in an office.
Was that in 2001? I remember two suicide there in 2000/2001 during my freshman year. One was a jumper and the other was asphyxiation.
Yeah, that's the one that I was thinking about.
#PureSilenceNews
we haven't used that tag in a while.
Yeah not gonna miss that one. Though I do have very fond memories of Stat and Bioengineering in there.
I appreciated the rare Pepsi machine where I could get a Mountain Dew fix. This was at the peak of Coca-Cola hegemony.
I had second and third year Egyptian in Evans. For third year there were only 5 students, 2 of whom were grad students. The prof left to smoke a cigarette on the roof every 15 minutes, so we had four breaks per session. He said smoking greatly improved focus in comprehending hieroglyphs.
The limited class time probably reduced your comprehension of said hieroglyphs, though. If this was on Zoom, he could have blazed through double the cigs and doubled the comprehension.
I remember the big thing around 90-92 was the Cory Hall coke machine had 50 cent cokes. Everywhere else was 75 or 1.00
We are currently working with our ticket rep on a new location. The options we were presented were Lower Hearst, the law school lot, Wellman, Clark Kerr, Foothill. Some of these are limited and dependent on spaces opening up like CK and the law school lot. Everything else seems to wide open. Twist wants something close to downtown.
Oh man, I'd take the law school lot in a heartbeat.
Agree unless you take a “park by the exit” approach and want something further away that allows you to get out more quickly after the game. If you generally hang out and get beers after then law school for sure
Straight out of the Progressive Insurance commercial.
Let’s not talk about leaving the game before we’ve gotten to the game...
True! After the 2005 Cal SC game I spent nearly 2 hours getting to the freeway so I am like “Never Agaiiiiinnnn!!!”
Same. But it's in Twist's hands since he's the one ponying up the donation for the parking passes
How much are parking passes?
$150
TIL where Wellman lot is. Isn't Lower Hearst a parking structure? Would we be on the roof?
Hearst would be roof top. Twist is pushing for Wellman d/t proximity to Sproul for people (him) to go back and forth to watch the band
tell Twist
Today I learned the meaning of TIL
Lower Hearst is (or was) at least on the Shuttle route from the Downtown Berkeley BART station. When I had a parking pass for Lower Hearst I could watch people get on and off the shuttle on Hearst near Northgate from where we parked in Lower Hearst.
this is good to know
Good to know their parking plan isn't just a mirage but an actual plan!
Go Bears!!!~
Kings of the North, Basketball division.
[WGym]: Cal upsets Utah in a stunner. Both squads were really, really good - but the Golden Bears were stupendous.
https://www.dailycal.org/2022/02/14/for-the-books-no-11-cal-upsets-no-3-utah-to-set-tone-for-season/