I think this comes from a belief that Valentine's Day only became a thing because greeting card companies pushed another day to sell merchandise. Apparently that's not really true (I mean, capitalism exploits all, but there were actual St. Valentine's festivals and card-giving traditions from England that formed the basis for the holiday).
The Aristolochia Gigantea (aka "Dutchman's Pipe" or "Pipevine") is a tropical plant native to Brazil up to Costa Rica. It is poisonous and has a giant flower, but before it blooms it looks kinda like... I dunno... bollocks?
According to good old Wikipedia, St. Valentine may or may not have been an actual third century person and his name wasn't Valentine. Valentinus was the name of the patron who paid to copy a book of martyrs that was later copied. Centuries of the Christian canonization created a massive pool of defacto demi-gods who were worshipped for specific things. St Valentine's history was then written over the centuries to include more and more details and assigned him to be the patron saint of several things like epilepsy, the bubonic plague, fainting, and beekeepers among other things. It was about a millennia after the Feast of St. Valentine was created that an association of love and courtship. There are now many stories regarding St. Valentine.
"Centuries of the Christian canonization created a massive pool of ..." a lot of distortions designed to create the preferred narrative, which is still beneficial in some cases, but not so much in others.
Which is true of much history, as it is taught. Much distortion is simply ignoring or leaving out stuff that is often quite disgusting as it concerns the mistreatment of fellow human beings.
Also, for most of history, we didn't have cell phone video or audio recordings, and a lot of history is from the beginning subject to what someone was able to see and hear, or hear about 3rd hand, and write down (sometimes illegibly, and often incomplete accounts). Even if there were no ill-intent (and don't think for a minute controlling the narrative is a new thing), history is hit or miss to some degree.
This AP story is weird. I'm not sure what is the weirdest - whether it's a former Olympic silver medalist was suspended for doping in speed walking or that the article implies he won the medal when he was 13 years old.
The Golden State Warriors have looked dramatically improved since acquiring Jimmy Butler III in a trade deadline deal. But, prior to Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets, all of their performances have come with some parenthetical context.
BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team used a dominating performance in the paint to come away with its 20th win of the season, defeating Boston College 72-63 at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night. The Golden Bears (20-6, 8-5 ACC) finished with a 38-18 advantage in paint points over the Eagles (13-14, 4-10) led by Michelle Onyiah who had 21 points (9-of-13) and became the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She also had 11 rebounds for her career-high seventh double-double of the season. Marta Suárez nearly had a double-double as well finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds. Cal shot 50.0% for the game while limiting Boston College to just 32.2% from the field.
LIHUE, Hawaii – The California men's golf team will look to climb the John A. Burns Intercollegiate standings over the final 36 holes of play after carding an 18-over-par 298 in the first round Thursday at Ocean Course Hokuala.
Cal ended the opening round in 15th place, while Utah (-7), UNLV (E), Illinois (E), BYU (+1) and New Mexico (+2) rounded out the top five on the team leaderboard.
The unbeaten and 23rd-ranked California men's tennis team (6-0) hosts just its second home dual match of the regular season Saturday when UC Davis comes to town for a nonconference clash.
BERKELEY – Nine student-athletes from the California field hockey team received 2024 All-ACC Academic Team honors, announced by the conference on Thursday.
ATLANTA – The California men's basketball team's third East Coast trip of the season concludes Saturday at Georgia Tech. The ACC contest tips off at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET at McCamish Pavilion and will be broadcast on ACC Network and 810 AM.
Four former California football players – Nohl Williams, Craig Woodson, Teddye Buchanan and Marcus Harris – have accepted invitations to the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, scheduled to take place Feb. 24-March 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The four Golden Bears will be the most at an NFL Combine since 2016, when Jared Goff, Stephen Anderson, Trevor Davis, Kenny Lawler and Daniel Lasco were all selected.
Seven players from the 2024 California volleyball squad have been named to the All-ACC Academic Team, as announced by the conference Thursday. To earn a spot on the list, ACC volleyball players must have maintained a 3.00-or-better cumulative GPA while earning at least a 3.00 in the fall semester, while also competing in at least 50 percent of their team's matches.
The California softball team continues its 2025 campaign this weekend at the Wilson Invitational in Long Beach after a 3-2 start to the season. The last time the Golden Bears appeared in the invitational was during the 2023 season, where the team went 4-1.
A cynical man might say that the last 40 years of SC athletics success has been when students who could have succeeded anywhere else have lent their talents to the athletic program, and the program-to-program variation of overall success is the indication of how frequently this happens not any inherent skills of the people running the show.
I know you could say the same thing about most college sports programs, but it's pronounced at my alma mater
The difference is USC consistently can attract students who could have succeeded anywhere, whereas a lot of places struggle to attract enough of those types to be consistently successful.
A lot of places also do not maximize what they do have to work with, but its more noticeable at USC because there's usually no inherent reason why they don't do better.
Even pure Libertarians will argue that there are some services that a centralized government is better off doing. Not according to Elon Musk. These aren't tax-supported services, according to Musk, we're all parasites.
About a day after being universally panned for conceding things to Putin by taking Ukraine NATO membership off the board, he put it back on the board. This doesn't make things better because it just shows that the US is unreliable in its words and actions.
Europe responded to Trump's apparent peace plan by saying something to the effect of "yeah, we knew nothing about this and you probably should talk to Ukraine and Europe before announcing this type of shit and talking to Putin for 90 minutes.
It’s time once again for Oski Disciple’s Question of the Day.
I’ve heard people say that Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday. Aren’t they all made up?
https://i.gifer.com/2IO.gif
I think this comes from a belief that Valentine's Day only became a thing because greeting card companies pushed another day to sell merchandise. Apparently that's not really true (I mean, capitalism exploits all, but there were actual St. Valentine's festivals and card-giving traditions from England that formed the basis for the holiday).
Yes. Every last one of them.
EDIT: only to add that we'd be devoid of culture if we didn't make up stuff. A lack of imagination is deadly boring. Think about it.
Per the discussion of yesterday’s question, I think some of the holidays might be made down.
Do not mess with a Scotsman's tattie roll
https://www.tiktok.com/@connorburnscomedy/video/7469749803308649760
SHE BLINDED ME WITH...
Giant Poisonous Scrotums.
The Aristolochia Gigantea (aka "Dutchman's Pipe" or "Pipevine") is a tropical plant native to Brazil up to Costa Rica. It is poisonous and has a giant flower, but before it blooms it looks kinda like... I dunno... bollocks?
https://monarchbutterflygarden.net/aristolochia-gigantea-kills-pipevine-swallowtails/
VALENTINE'S DAY
According to good old Wikipedia, St. Valentine may or may not have been an actual third century person and his name wasn't Valentine. Valentinus was the name of the patron who paid to copy a book of martyrs that was later copied. Centuries of the Christian canonization created a massive pool of defacto demi-gods who were worshipped for specific things. St Valentine's history was then written over the centuries to include more and more details and assigned him to be the patron saint of several things like epilepsy, the bubonic plague, fainting, and beekeepers among other things. It was about a millennia after the Feast of St. Valentine was created that an association of love and courtship. There are now many stories regarding St. Valentine.
"Centuries of the Christian canonization created a massive pool of ..." a lot of distortions designed to create the preferred narrative, which is still beneficial in some cases, but not so much in others.
Which is true of much history, as it is taught. Much distortion is simply ignoring or leaving out stuff that is often quite disgusting as it concerns the mistreatment of fellow human beings.
Also, for most of history, we didn't have cell phone video or audio recordings, and a lot of history is from the beginning subject to what someone was able to see and hear, or hear about 3rd hand, and write down (sometimes illegibly, and often incomplete accounts). Even if there were no ill-intent (and don't think for a minute controlling the narrative is a new thing), history is hit or miss to some degree.
PRO
This AP story is weird. I'm not sure what is the weirdest - whether it's a former Olympic silver medalist was suspended for doping in speed walking or that the article implies he won the medal when he was 13 years old.
https://apnews.com/article/race-walker-doping-ikeda-6e82dc0fe6b64137553832c41cde2a07
Steph Curry, Warriors hang on for impressive win over Rockets
https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2025/2/13/24365320/warriors-rockets-scores-recap-steph-curry-jimmy-butler#comments
The Golden State Warriors have looked dramatically improved since acquiring Jimmy Butler III in a trade deadline deal. But, prior to Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets, all of their performances have come with some parenthetical context.
2 shot during the Eagles' Super Bowl parade. Philly is undoubtedly the "toughest" sports city in the country!
Good thing not everyone had a gun.
CAL
[WBB] Cal Earns 20th Win, Beats Boston College
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/womens-basketball-cal-earns-20th-win-beating-boston-college.aspx
BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team used a dominating performance in the paint to come away with its 20th win of the season, defeating Boston College 72-63 at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night. The Golden Bears (20-6, 8-5 ACC) finished with a 38-18 advantage in paint points over the Eagles (13-14, 4-10) led by Michelle Onyiah who had 21 points (9-of-13) and became the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She also had 11 rebounds for her career-high seventh double-double of the season. Marta Suárez nearly had a double-double as well finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds. Cal shot 50.0% for the game while limiting Boston College to just 32.2% from the field.
Good win. Hit an important milestone.
[MGOLF] Cal Finishes First Round At Burns Intercollegiate
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/mens-golf-cal-finishes-first-round-at-burns-intercollegiate.aspx
LIHUE, Hawaii – The California men's golf team will look to climb the John A. Burns Intercollegiate standings over the final 36 holes of play after carding an 18-over-par 298 in the first round Thursday at Ocean Course Hokuala.
Cal ended the opening round in 15th place, while Utah (-7), UNLV (E), Illinois (E), BYU (+1) and New Mexico (+2) rounded out the top five on the team leaderboard.
[MTEN] No. 23 Cal Hosts UC Davis
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/mens-tennis-no-23-cal-hosts-uc-davis.aspx
The unbeaten and 23rd-ranked California men's tennis team (6-0) hosts just its second home dual match of the regular season Saturday when UC Davis comes to town for a nonconference clash.
[FH] Bears Receive Academic Honors
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/field-hockey-bears-receive-academic-honors.aspx
BERKELEY – Nine student-athletes from the California field hockey team received 2024 All-ACC Academic Team honors, announced by the conference on Thursday.
[MBB] Cal Continues Road Swing At Georgia Tech
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/mens-basketball-cal-continues-road-swing-at-georgia-tech.aspx
ATLANTA – The California men's basketball team's third East Coast trip of the season concludes Saturday at Georgia Tech. The ACC contest tips off at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET at McCamish Pavilion and will be broadcast on ACC Network and 810 AM.
[FB] Four Bears Accept NFL Combine Invitations
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/football-four-bears-accept-nfl-combine-invitations.aspx
Four former California football players – Nohl Williams, Craig Woodson, Teddye Buchanan and Marcus Harris – have accepted invitations to the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, scheduled to take place Feb. 24-March 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The four Golden Bears will be the most at an NFL Combine since 2016, when Jared Goff, Stephen Anderson, Trevor Davis, Kenny Lawler and Daniel Lasco were all selected.
[VB] Seven Represent Cal Volleyball On 2024 All-ACC Academic Team
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/seven-represent-cal-volleyball-on-2024-all-acc-academic-team.aspx
Seven players from the 2024 California volleyball squad have been named to the All-ACC Academic Team, as announced by the conference Thursday. To earn a spot on the list, ACC volleyball players must have maintained a 3.00-or-better cumulative GPA while earning at least a 3.00 in the fall semester, while also competing in at least 50 percent of their team's matches.
[SB] Bears Head To Long Beach For Wilson Invitational
https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/13/softball-bears-head-to-long-beach-for-wilson-invitational.aspx
The California softball team continues its 2025 campaign this weekend at the Wilson Invitational in Long Beach after a 3-2 start to the season. The last time the Golden Bears appeared in the invitational was during the 2023 season, where the team went 4-1.
Go Bears!!!
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Juju on that beat(down)
https://apnews.com/article/juju-watkins-usc-ca90bab59a9dabbb082ae351d0ea8081
A cynical man might say that the last 40 years of SC athletics success has been when students who could have succeeded anywhere else have lent their talents to the athletic program, and the program-to-program variation of overall success is the indication of how frequently this happens not any inherent skills of the people running the show.
I know you could say the same thing about most college sports programs, but it's pronounced at my alma mater
The difference is USC consistently can attract students who could have succeeded anywhere, whereas a lot of places struggle to attract enough of those types to be consistently successful.
A lot of places also do not maximize what they do have to work with, but its more noticeable at USC because there's usually no inherent reason why they don't do better.
POLITICS
Even pure Libertarians will argue that there are some services that a centralized government is better off doing. Not according to Elon Musk. These aren't tax-supported services, according to Musk, we're all parasites.
https://bsky.app/profile/brucewilson.bsky.social/post/3li36riwroc2m
About a day after being universally panned for conceding things to Putin by taking Ukraine NATO membership off the board, he put it back on the board. This doesn't make things better because it just shows that the US is unreliable in its words and actions.
Europe responded to Trump's apparent peace plan by saying something to the effect of "yeah, we knew nothing about this and you probably should talk to Ukraine and Europe before announcing this type of shit and talking to Putin for 90 minutes.
SDNY AUSA Danielle Sassoon—last seen annihilating Sam Bankman-Fried on cross-examination (https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/30/23939639/sam-bankman-fried-cross-exam-fraud)—resigns after being directed to drop the federal prosecution of NYC mayor Eric Adams. Her letter (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/13/us/doc-annotation-letter-to-bondi.html) describes a corrupt quid pro quo. Her superior responds by saying more or less “your job is to do what I tell you.” (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/13/us/doc-annotation-memo-from-bove.html)
Not great!
[still grinding my teeth]
I recommend getting a football mouthpiece or you will be down to the gumline long before the current era of mismanagement is over.
A rugby mouthpiece will also work just fine. Not that there's much difference between the two.
Big 5 sells the same thing for both.
Don't I know it.
DBD AV CLUB