145 Comments
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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Hey, do yourselves a favor when you're filling out the March Madness brackets and follow this simple rule...pick the Big East teams.

Man, that conference is tough.

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Wiata78's avatar

Wordle bugs?

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TD_24's avatar

Not gonna lie, NYT buying it out and putting their own spin has sucked the fun out of it for me.

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HeyStudentsBears's avatar

what is the NYT spin? i dont seem to have noticed ..

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TD_24's avatar

It just seems to elevated to a whole other level in terms of difficulty. A quarter of these words I've never even heard of and its killing the fun for me.

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Ruey Yen's avatar

I'm pretty sure this is not true. The original word list (which apparently is embedded in the code) is supposedly unchanged, or else there would be some real outrage from people (more serious people rather than youngsters on TikTok).

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TD_24's avatar

Which is probably where the issue lies. I'm in a different demographic that is more associated with youngsters on tiktok (despite me hating tiktok) in terms of patience.

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SGBear's avatar

I, uh, haven't had a problem with it. Frankly, I'm getting bored of it because at best - I solve it in 3. At worst, I solve it in 5. I have never lost.

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Ruey Yen's avatar

Yeah, if not for the winning streak, I probably would have stopped. I do think there are certain words with too many options that can trip me up on hard mode, but I am also so much better at guess 5 letter words than 1.5 month ago after playing the Octordle (guessing 8 simultaneously) and Secordle (guessing 16 words simultaneously) games.

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Justbear's avatar

I lost once when I figured out 4 letters in 3rd try but kept missing the final piece in last 4 tries. Sometimes it's really a chance.

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Wiata78's avatar

For me, the website seems to top out at 11 plays max, and 5 wins in a row. I have more like 21 plays and 10 wins in a row, but the website seems to just bump off the older data. Is this what everyone else sees?

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Ruey Yen's avatar

I have only played on my laptop (on my Chrome browser) so maybe that helped, and my 47 match winning streak is still in tact.

Actually, the NYT bug gave me an extra win because I accidentally played that same day (of the switchover) twice.

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Justbear's avatar

I have played about a month now, and all my record is there. Unfortunately my streak ended at 20 because I couldn't get it in 6 tries.

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dcblue's avatar

Same. My streak was 18 but I had to hurry through the past few days because I had out of town company over the long weekend and didn't get one of them. At least that the excuse I'm using.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

if you skip a day do you lose your wins in a row?

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Cugel's avatar

Yes

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heyalumnigo's avatar

I did wordle for the first time in a few weeks and the word was the same word as one of my Qourdle words. I'm going to have to try both tomorrow and see if it is the same.

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SGBear's avatar

Elsewhere in college

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Wiata78's avatar

Utah is the home of Morton Thiokol, maker of the infamous solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle Challenger.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

DBD Kitchen

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goldenone's avatar

BLT's last night

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HeyStudentsBears's avatar

my thesis advisor would cook up an entire package of bacon for his BLTs. when i asked him if that was not too much, he replied, "what else is the point of a BLT?"

since then i put at least double bacon ...

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Ruey Yen's avatar

A full package for how many people?

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AndyPanda's avatar

"Too much bacon" is not a valid concept.

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Newellbany's avatar

Dude knows how to live, and I respect you both.

BTW, Grandpa Newellbany lived to be 97 and had bacon daily. DAILY!

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goldenone's avatar

That sounds good.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Goldbelly is having a BOGO sale on some vendors.

For example, buy 3 Gino's East pizzas get 2 free. So for $90 you can get 5 of them, which is a pretty good deal.

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SGBear's avatar

Man hides cocaine in his buttocks. Perhaps that's how "crack" got its name?

https://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/19941345.cocaine-search-dalry-man-refused-unclench-buttocks-police/

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heyalumnigo's avatar

That looks pretty cool. Could you imagine this here? I know that people couldn't figure out self-checkout when it first started here. The Louisville Krogers had them back in the late 2000s. Was bad when they first came out.

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SGBear's avatar

Arches

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SGBear's avatar

I do not have them. Very very flat feet. This means I am prone to injuries from running. However, I am not in running shape due to bad knees.

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Wiata78's avatar

I also have very flat feet. Also searching for better arch supports. Custom is the best, but they're expensive.

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goldenone's avatar

National Park

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DC Trojan's avatar

I should really get serious about getting myself out to amazing national parks like that.

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Arches was cool, tho I was pleasantly surprised by the stunning beauty of Canyonlands, just 30 mins away. No doubt my arrival time of just before sunset helped, but when you do Arches, plan a Canyonlands visit too.

Was texting hag yesterday...I’m putting together a May road trip with the pups...gonna try & bang out Mesa Verde & Black Canyon of the Gunnison, re-visit Teton/Yellowstone/Glacier, and then hit the Washington state trifecta before heading home to SB on 5 from WA. Maybe a little too ambitious, but we’ll see.

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DC Trojan's avatar

I absolutely loved Mesa Verde, would absolutely go back. We did a "sampler pack" spring break a few years ago of Sedona - Grand Canyon - Petrified Forest - Mesa Verde - Bandelier Nat'l Monument with some wandering around in Flagstaff, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. I know the distances aren't "close" as such but it's comparatively so easy to get around to the amazeballs parks in that part of the country that I need to get back - just did an image search of Canyonlands nat'l park & it's on the list.

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Cugel's avatar

Mesa Verde is the one place we haven't been to that I really want to visit.

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AndyPanda's avatar

Dinosaur National Monument up in eastern Utah near Vernal and western Colorado is cool if some serious fossils are of interest. Went there a few years back on the way to Colorado for a fb game and really enjoyed it.

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goldenone's avatar

My kids loved dino national monument. The only caveat is that the visitor center/museum was ungodly hot. Well, it was July and over 100 F outside.

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goldenone's avatar

Mesa Verde is cool.

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SGBear's avatar

CAL

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goldenone's avatar

Go Bears!!!

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SGBear's avatar

[SB] Bears are on their way to mercy-ruling St. Mary's College. This is how you celebrate putting up 10 runs in the bottom of the 2nd.

https://twitter.com/CalAthletics/status/1496629318344085504

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SGBear's avatar

PRO

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O.Overall's avatar

Random observation - reading commentary over NBA all star week, and also concerning ESPN’s top 75 players of all time ranking, it seems that Kobe through his death has been lionized, particularly among younger millennials and older Gen Z’s whose memories of him originate from and are thus tied to their childhood. It just seems interesting to me how his image has evolved since he was being accused of rape and dropped by his sponsors 15-20 years ago. Is that a lesson for those excommunicated from polite society during me too - just hang around? Or does it suggest that your sins can only be cleansed through death?

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Ruey Yen's avatar

Kobe definitely has two phases, which he conveniently also changed his jersey number to match. He changed his game and also off-field demeanor between the two phases. Different generations remember the different versions of him.

By the way, I wonder if the same thing is happening with Tiger Woods (to the non-Cal fans). Of course, his philandering did not result in a court case and he also just got seriously hurt...

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

MLB season slipping away with deadline rapidly approaching...once they miss games, it’s gonna get even uglier.

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O.Overall's avatar

The owners are so foolish; the mind boggles. They are doing this at exactly the time that interest is waning. This could really accelerate that trend.

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Agreed. Sure there are people that will keep coming back, but it’s already been passed in popularity by NFL & NBA, and this won’t help.

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O.Overall's avatar

I don’t think MLB is even in the land of competing with NFL. Maybe NBA, but I think what will happen now is NBA will fall out of reach like NFL has and MLB will start getting passed up by MLS, extreme sports and so on

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GoldenSD81's avatar

I agree with this. To make matters worse, I feel like the people that generally watch and enjoy MLB are all AARP members and will be dying sooner than later so they are bleeding both young and old viewers and have lost many African American viewers and players to the NFL and NBA.

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sycasey's avatar

No sport in America is close to competing with the NFL. MLB is in the realm of the NBA, but obviously the trend is against them.

I'm skeptical of MLS alone taking MLB's slot, because ultimately that is still a minor league while MLB is the top level of its sport. But pro soccer in general is definitely stealing mindshare (when you add in Americans now following the Premier League, international tournaments, etc.).

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Ruey Yen's avatar

Are we ruling out the "death of NFL or American Football" due to the CTE plotline already? The NFL thing is also much more tied to the TV viewership, due to the fewer games and much much higher ticket prices, much fewer people have been to a NFL game than a MLB game (where you can get people who are not into sports at all to go).

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

The NFL is just by far and away a more enjoyable product right now, even with idiot officiating crews blowing calls left and right.

I'm as big a baseball fan as I know, so I'll probably continue to watch, at least while I play fantasy bb (tho I do take umbrage with GoldenSD's assessment that I'm an AARP member) ;-) ;-)....BUT the proliferation of analytics is making for a slower, borderline unwatchable games with fewer balls in play and more strikeouts...

It's a problem.

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Ruey Yen's avatar

I actually think the true outcome aspect will make MLB more popular with the youngsters IF/when they promote it correctly. Twitter account like Pitching Ninja is really promoting the crazy pitch movements and K's. People also love to see long home runs.

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sycasey's avatar

Everyone knows about CTE now. I really think the attrition would have been seen by now if it were going to happen.

Then again, I also think the existence of CTE isn't really the problem: everyone knew that playing a sport like football meant you were risking various kinds of injury, some of which had long-term consequences. The problem was that until the story broke wide, most players didn't know what CTE was or how to manage it or take preventative measures. Now they know.

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Cugel's avatar

CTE has come and gone in a way, no one who's playing now can say they didn't know what they were getting into.

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O.Overall's avatar

Hah, no way. Dude, the key to the whole thing is plaintiffs lawyers. The science progressed to where they can easily prove causation. What happened to the asbestos manufacturing industry? Also on the other side, fewer folks playing it as kids. It will take 30-50 years but will happen

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DC Trojan's avatar

That's not the first time I've seen you refer to MLS as a minor league - maybe I'm being too literal, but what do you think it's a minor league of? Or are you thinking about it in terms of audience?

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sycasey's avatar

The absolute best players tend to play in the Premier League or one of the other top European leagues. Those leagues also pay the most money and make the most in broadcast rights. I'd say those are like the "majors" while MLS is like Triple-A, if you're comparing quality of play.

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DC Trojan's avatar

Okay that makes sense. When I see "minor league" re soccer in the US, I tend to think USL but that's the peril of being (slightly) more focused on that sport. You're thinking "relative to other countries' top pro leagues," and I wouldn't quibble with that at all.

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sycasey's avatar

Right, and by comparison I'd point at the NBA and MLB and NHL clearly attracting the top worldwide talent in their sports.

I think that's why it was a smart move for American networks to start picking up Premier League games. Americans want to see the best of the best, and that's where it is (it also helps that they fill an early-morning sports programming niche over here).

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Cugel's avatar

I could see the NBA as being the top basketball league in the world, attracting the best players worldwide, but you wouldn't say that of MLS now would you?

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DC Trojan's avatar

Basketball isn't really a global sport in terms of player movement though, is it? It's certainly got more of an international reach than baseball, but proportionally speaking, the league is mostly US players (which makes sense). MLS certainly isn't a top professional league by comparison to a lot of other countries, but I suspect proportionally the rosters of MLS teams are more reflective of the international nature of soccer.

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O.Overall's avatar

Minor quibble - MLB is way more international than NBA. Unless, for some reason, you don’t count Latin players as foreign

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sycasey's avatar

I think the argument is that basketball as a sport has more international reach than baseball, which is true.

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Cugel's avatar

Fair points, but all the best players in the world play in the NBA, nobody stays in a European league because they want to; NBA also pays far and away the most $$$

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TD_24's avatar

NASCAR is coming back so they can take over

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GoldenSD81's avatar

NASCAR is the modern day, MAGA loving horse racing. It will never be a top 5 sport due to its embrace of right wing culture, the confederate flag, Trump and MAGA.

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sycasey's avatar

Yeah, NASCAR is way too regional. I also think there's a big difference between individual sports and team sports here. Hard for one to compete for the same audience the other commands.

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TD_24's avatar

I see both sides here, but NASCAR has made an effort to get to the West Coast and show off the acceptance side of things. It doesn't embrace the hillbilly confederacy as an institution anymore, only the fans who feel "alienated" because their sport left them in the dust. Inherently, there will always be that stereotype of Republicans and NASCAR but it certainly is making its way towards the center slowly but surely.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

I know that NASCAR denounced it, but the whole Let's Go Brandon thing would turn me off it if I had any interest in it.

And if I remember the driver didn't distance himself from it and either created an NFT or maybe was sponsored by them. Then he tried to distance himself from it saying he isn't getting sponsors anymore.

Well duh.

Like Golden said above, it will never surpass MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS.

Is Indy more popular than NASCAR?

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GoldenSD81's avatar

It is baked into their sport DNA, it’s institutionalized. It can’t make its way to the center without being labeled as “woke” and losing its good ol’ racist boy fans and it will never attract enough non hillbilly racist to replace the ones they lose.

NASCAR also plays into the Merca, freedum, individuality of their fans as they think they don’t need society or play nice on a team. All they need is their individual rights, bibles, god and guns.

If you think the NFL has an equality and representation issue in terms of ownership, management and head coaching, well nascar is probably even more white than hockey in terms of drivers, pit crew, and ownership.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

MLB won't get taken over by a sport that only makes left turns.

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TD_24's avatar

bad take, I'd expect better than "only makes left turns", but at least you acknowledge it is a sport which is more than I can get out of others.

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GoldenSD81's avatar

NASCAR is about as much of a sport than horse racing but at least in nascar, only the human drivers get injured or killed, which is a step above horse racing.

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Cugel's avatar

Oh come on, did you ever watch the Top Gear episode about NASCAR? It maybe doesn't have the cachet of F-1 (to put it mildly) but it's still a sport.

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AndyPanda's avatar

Multiple road courses on the schedule now. NASCAR is at least attempting to take steps to reach a broader base and change up their game (see the race in the LA Coliseum). MLB has done little to build its customer base, and now even more to drive away what little customer base it has left.

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Newellbany's avatar

I didn't see the LA Coliseum race, but wouldn't driving at high speeds around a 400 meter track result in, like, serious merry-go-round vertigo?

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CruzinBears's avatar

I only watched 5min of that race just for the spectacle and it seemed eminently more boring than a normal NASCAR race (which I already find rather boring)

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SGBear's avatar

#3 Zverev ejected from event after losing a doubles match and then doing this:

https://twitter.com/primevideosport/status/1496433304161165313

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Oski Disciple's avatar

I understand it was quite noisy. He made a real racket. (I'll be here all week, try the veal.)

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heyalumnigo's avatar

That's pretty cool. It's like the career minor leaguers that get called up for one game. Heck, I would love to just get in the field for one inning. You get your name in the baseball encyclopedia.

The best stories are the emergency goalies. Each home team is supposed to supply an emergency goalie for each game, to play for either team if they lose both goalies. They sit around somewhere until needed. 99.9% of the time they don't get on the ice. But when they do, it's glorious.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/26424427/15-minutes-insane-accountant-nhl-goalie

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SGBear's avatar

Ex-opponent of Cal, Shea Patterson, goes #1 over in the draft. USFL draft, that is.

https://twitter.com/USFL/status/1496274502975512579

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Justbear's avatar

How does USFL have a draft before NFL? And what players do they choose from?

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SGBear's avatar

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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SGBear's avatar

Trump calls slow-motion invasion of Ukraine "wonderful" and "genius", calls Putin "savvy". Traitor.

https://www.clayandbuck.com/president-trump-with-cb-from-mar-a-lago/

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goldenone's avatar

Now it's a hot war after all. Trump can kiss the pro Russian thing goodbye

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SGBear's avatar

Three Democrats introduce a bill that would remove tax-free status of muni-bonds used to finance pro stadiums.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33350301/lawmakers-introduce-bill-eliminate-subsidies-pro-stadium-construction-citing-part-washington-commanders-probe

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DC Trojan's avatar

I'm sure the new governor of Virginia will claim it's an attack on him

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SGBear's avatar

Sen. Rick Scott's 11 point plan is a fever dream. He is a US Senator, for goodness sake - not some youtube crackpot. This is who is running our democracy.

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017f-1cf5-d281-a7ff-3ffd5f4a0000

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DC Trojan's avatar

it alternates between juvenile and deliberately obtuse, at the upper end.

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goldenone's avatar

Republicans descend into foreign policy factionalism over Russia-Ukraine standoff

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/23/republicans-foreign-policy-russia-ukraine-00010780

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SGBear's avatar

DBD AV Club

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Ruey Yen's avatar

I just noticed that The Last Kingdom final season will drop on Netflix on March 7th, since I have had some discussion about that show here over the past year.

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

I am Uhtred, SON of Uhtred.....

Destiny is ALL

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DC Trojan's avatar

I honestly thought the last season was the final season, I'll be curious to see where they go with this actual final season.

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

There's still some things they can wrap up. It's a great show.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

Anyone else enjoying The Gilded Age a lot more than they'd anticipated? Terrific show.

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Cugel's avatar

I am, but I haven't watched the latest episode.

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

George Russell would make one helluva Cal AD....

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Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Banshee - started S2:Ep1...after planting the hooks in us with plenty of s-Cinemax eye candy early, they're already starting to back off on the nudity/strong sexual content, which now makes the show entirely pedestrian....will keep at it tho, maybe the producers/directors will let their guard down...;-)

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Cugel's avatar

Watched the first half of Seven Samurai - blu ray criterion (a gift from a couple of years ago) with my friend Kaiyo - The Sheri

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Feb 23, 2022
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heyalumnigo's avatar

American Auto is weird, but I like it.

Do you think Abbott Elementary was shown out of sequence? In the last couple of episodes it looks like the sub acts more like he's a new sub, experience-wise. In some of the earlier episodes, it seems like he got more comfortable, only to act more like a new sub in the following episodes.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

I'm enjoying American Auto as well. Good cast, clever writing.

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SGBear's avatar

Today in Covid

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hoopdreams's avatar

Bicycles!

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hoopdreams's avatar

there are a lot of Bicycles in Amsterdam!

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Cugel's avatar

My time at Cal I practically lived on my Mundo-cycle. I would take it in class with me if I could get away with it. Rode around with a heavy chain and padlock bandolier style. I don't know if it was uncutable, or if the thieves just picked locks what looked to be easier.

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O.Overall's avatar

I parked and locked my shitty bike in front of Kroeber Hall, met my TA right there at that fountain for like 10 mins, then turned around and bike was gone. I have not owned a bike since other than a $10 bike I bought in Craigslist one summer in Chicago

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dcblue's avatar

My parents lived just above 580 in the Laurel District. My brother took a couple classes at Merritt College the semester before transferring in to Cal. First day he rode his bike all the way up the hill of 35th Ave and Redwood Road to the school he came out after one class and the bike was gone.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

I remember a friend that locked up just his front wheel. Came back out and all that was left was his front wheel.

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Cugel's avatar

haha, dope

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Justbear's avatar

Every single bicycle I have owned have been stolen. One in Japan, one in New York and one in Berkeley. Have not owned one as adult.

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CruzinBears's avatar

While living in two of the bike theft meccas of Santa Cruz and Venice Beach I learned a valuable trick. Let the bike's frame, handlebars, wheels, etc rust and get a little dirty, but maintain all the moving parts in good working order. It really only works on beach cruisers or older mountain/road bikes, but I never had an issue and always only used a basic cable lock in some very high theft areas.

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Newellbany's avatar

I recall a high school friend who went to UCSB telling me that there's a familiar pattern there. Freshmen show up to college with a nice bike, and it gets stolen. They go out and buy another nice bike, which also gets stolen. Then they buy a beater bike, which of course gets stolen. Lastly, they go out and steal themselves a bike.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

It's like the people in NYC that get their battery stolen twice. The same thief comes back because they know the owner has to replace the battery with a new one.

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Cugel's avatar

Whoa, whereas none of my bicycles has ever been stolen. (I always think there should be a "D" in stolen)

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Justbear's avatar

First one I was in third grade in Yokohama, Japan. Filed a police report and they found the bike for me. Police asked my mom if we want to call the kid's parents, but she said no and we let him go. I lived in suburb NY, a very nice area, but someone stole it from our garage when it was left open. The most disappointing was when I was at Cal. I lived in a small 4 unit apartment that was secluded and didn't face any street. The entrance door was always locked so I always left my bike outside my door. We knew each other and it was safe. One day other unit was getting carpet fixed, so some workers came in and they took my bike. ;(

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Wiata78's avatar

I've become a fan of ebikes in my old age.

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HeyStudentsBears's avatar

Wilier Triestina - the Italian brand of my road bike

The company name originated as an acronym for the phrase “W l’Italia liberata e redenta”, where the W is an abbreviation for "Viva!" (Long live Italy, liberated and redeemed). Triestina comes from the name of the city of Trieste. When Wilier was founded, Trieste was not part of Italy; the name 'Wilier Triestina' reflected a patriotic desire for it to be rejoined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilier_Triestina

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Oski Disciple's avatar

I've talked to people from the Pacific Northwest and Europe, among other places, who are avid bike riders but are astounded by the rudeness and entitlement of Bay Area cyclists. I'm a great supporter of using bicycles but am weary of riders who treat the sidewalk as an extension of the street and imperil pedestrians as well as those who -- again at risk to pedestrians -- careen through crosswalks oblivious to stop signs and red lights. My own travels confirm that in many other locales people on bikes are more prone to respect the rules.

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CruzinBears's avatar

I live off a pretty heavily biked road between Pasadena and Glendale and it is insane how ballsy they get on tight roads with stop signs. I get rolling through uphill stop signs since your pace is ~5mph, but blowing through them at 30+ on the downhill seems crazy.

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Cugel's avatar

That is the cover of Queen II, totally prog-rock, on which that song never was included (much later, I think on Jazz) - try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2lT4oE4DxE

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