"Ugh! The drama seemed to have passed and all was back to normal for the bonded pair of peregrine falcons who have been mating and residing atop the UC Berkeley Campanile. But no!
Back in November, the male half of the pair, Grinnell, was injured in an apparent territorial fight with two other falcons. His mate of five years, Annie, started taking up with another male, and the pair appeared to be going through some courtship behavior. But then Grinnell returned within a couple of weeks to the Campanile, and by New Year's he and Annie appeared to be doing the courtship dance again.
Now, though, eight-year-old Annie has mysteriously vanished. With many eyes (and cameras) on this particular falcon nest, falcon watchers tell Berkeleyside that Annie hasn't been around the nest for at least a week. And that absence likely means she was injured in a fight like her mate, or injured or killed while hunting for a meal — which she was often seen doing in downtown Berkeley. [...]"
COMMENT - Sure, pushing for year-round DST will be/is very popular right now. But when we get into fall and winter and the sun doesn't rise until after 8:00 AM, people will start to grumble and become grouchy because it stays dark until mid-morning.
I will concede the point that changing the clocks twice a year is folly. I will, however, maintain that year-round Standard Time is the way to go for health and safety reasons.
I think there's a good argument that year-round DST is good for some locations and Standard for others. So the solution is probably to give each state a chance to choose which one they want to be on and then move forward.
Giving states the option of choosing whether to be on DST or Standard Time is bad policy. Such a move balkanizes the United States on who observes DST and who observes Standard Time.
It also goes counter to the Uniform Time Act, which is good policy. The Uniform Time Act says that you can choose to be on Standard Time year-round. If you choose to be on DST at all, you observe DST during the same time as everyone else who observes DST. This way, you do not have this insane patchwork of some folks being on permanent Standard Time and some being on permanent DST. Hence the push for year-round DST at the federal level.
Allowing each state to decide for themselves to be on year-round DST *OR* year-round Standard Time would make it possible that neighboring states in the same nominal time zone would always have one hour of difference between them. Under that scenario it's also possible that two neighboring states in different time zones would have a two hour time difference just by stepping over the border. That's nuts.
Good in what way? In terms of business, I will concede the point. In terms of health and safety, I doubt it. One of the assertions in the article is that DST costs everyone an average of 19 minutes of shuteye each and every day *during DST*. You never really get that back.
I am inclined to believe the assertion because DST puts sunset closer to bedtime. and so, tends to push bedtime a little later as humans are inclined to stay up a little later with more light.
But then the problem is you will have patchwork between states and I would think that's worse. Heck I know that in Kentucky you go from Fast time to Slow time (Eastern to Central) driving southbound on I-65. We had a tournament in Southern Ky and we had to clarify it was in a different time zone.
Indiana's western counties (nominally in Central Time Zone) are on DST while the eastern counties (in Eastern Time Zone) do not. The entire state actually observes the same time during DST because the state legislature decided that it made sense. But this is relatively recent.
There was an episode of West Wing in which the state split between Central and Eastern Time Zones gets a mention (it's when Bartlett is running for re-election and Toby, Josh, and Donna get left behind at a campaign stop).
In a country the size of China, one would expect to find several time zones. However, the whole country observes the same local time. Geographically China could have 5 time zones. In spite of being almost the same size as the continental USA, China has only 1 official time zone.
2 for 2 after finding out about this yesterday. I feel pretty confident about knowing the rotation guys of all the teams, but if/when this game get to those fringe roster guys.
Funnily, because the NBA has done away with the divisions meaning anything in the postseason seedings, this game was the only reason why I thought about NBA divisions for the first time in a few years.
It's definitely not like MLB, if there are more games within the division. Without looking it up to conform, my understanding is that NBA teams play 2 and 2 against other teams in the same conference and 1 and 1 against the teams in the other conference (but that's not quite right since it's 14*4+30 = 86 for an 82 game schedule).
I don't know any current players so it's hard for me too, but the hints are very nice. It's not a random guessing game. I could get all the players from the 90s but not current.
i got confused for a while too. when it showed the team logo i thought it meant it was correct. so i kept guessing other players on GSW until i realized it was not correct.
I tried an experiment last night. I smoked two beef eye of round slabs, prepared both identically and pulled them at 130*F, but I finished one of them with a reverse sear to see if it offered any improvement. The reverse-seared one was substantially better. The sear gave it a nice exterior texture and seemed to amplify the rub (mix of salt, pepper, and dried garlic) while still preserving the smokiness. I think I'm going to reverse sear all my smoked beefs from now on.
Thanks for the Seattle recs--my friend and I went to both Japonessa and Sushi Kashiba! (Going to Molly Moon's an hour before omakase at Kashiba was not a mistake, per se...but I was REALLY full)
Glad you enjoyed Kashiba. I'm thinking I'll do that again in Apr and maybe again in June. I'll have coworkers in June so I may not convince them to spend for the omakase.
Leading up to it, we were trying to figure out how much the omakase would be/how it worked, both because a local friend wasn't sure if she wanted to spend that much (I get it; I was on vacation, but she wasn't!) and because I'd never done an omakase before. So, the information we were seeing was that you have to let the chefs know when you're filling up, and then they'll stop feeding you, and how many pieces of sushi you eat determines the total price. That is, someone who eats 15 pieces of sushi will pay less than someone who eats 25 pieces of sushi.
However, this was not the case when we went on Saturday. There was a pre-determined number of pieces, and it was $160/person. You could add on a couple extra pieces and, of course, drinks, for more.
We got in line at 4:00 pm, and there were six people ahead of us. At around 4:45, a staff member came out to check people in and explain how things worked. The first four people in line all wanted the 5:00 seating. The couple immediately in front of us opted to come back later (7:00 and 9:00 both available), so we also got to choose the 5:00 seating. The chef's counter can accommodate 12 people per seating, and is walk-in (aka stand in line) only. Another staff member came out to take our drink orders so they would be ready when we went in.
Chef Shiro was at the very end of the chef's counter, so the first four people got to eat his sushi. My friend and I (and the two people next to us) got the next chef over, but still got to interact with Chef Shiro a bit. The staff told us our chef's name, but unfortunately, I didn't catch it.
We had:
1 tuna hand roll
(3 pieces) salmon flight
(4 pieces) tuna flight
(4 pieces) crustacean flight--ebi nigiri, geoduck, uni, Hokkaido scallop (and they also deep fried the shrimp head, which was delicious)
(4 pieces) white fish flight--I was losing steam here and can't remember the details
maybe also a mackerel flight? or was that part of the white fish flight? egad...
(2 pieces) "dessert"--tempura unagi nigiri and tamago nigiri
Oh wow...the prices went up. When I was there in 2019 I think it was $85. But also you got more pieces than I did. I think I got 12 and didn't get a hand roll. That's awesome that you got to talk with Chef Shiro.
My chef asked if I wanted a salmon belly after I was done when I told him the Salmon one I got was great. I said yes and was not disappointed.
Tried to go to Sunrise Biscuits in Chapel Hill on Sunday. LOL. Car line to get into the parking lots stretched about a quarter mile. No biscuit-bacon-egg sammy for me
I went there the Sun morning after the UNC game. Don't remember what time I went but I still had to wait at least 15-20 min (walked in). Their biscuits are really good.
Went to Horn BBQ with a friend on Sat. Door open at 11 and we got in line around 10:25. People that got there around 11 didn't get in and order until about 11:50.
The brisket, Pork Hot Link, Mac and Cheese were really good. My friend got the cornbread and I had a taste. It was also really good. It was a bit sweet so it had some honey in it. The Jalapeño and cheese sausage was just alright.
It seems kinda pricey. 1.25 lb of brisket, the two sausages, large Mac and Cheese, cornbread, and 2 cokes were almost $100. But it was good.
Next time we're going to try the Horn fried chicken place just down the street.
Yeah. They closed down a while ago. I had heard that the owner's daughter wants to reopen it. Maybe doing popups now or is in one of those shared kitchen spaces in Oakland. She had tried to buy the original building but someone else bought it.
Flint's were among the best ribs i have ever had. plus you can't beat the atmosphere of getting yelled at in line and sitting out on the curb eating your food afterwards.
The entertaining at time but ultimately meh Netflix series Wu Assassins got a movie sequel that dropped on Netflix last week with original stars Iko Uwais and Lewis Tan, etc. with new female leads - Fistful of Vengeance is even more ridiculous at times but the fightings are fun with the 90 minutes run time is more perfect than a full season.
Shazam! (4/19 WNB - HBO). It's the Greatest American Hero with a bigger budget and worse writing. It's clearly targeting male pre-teens. Apart from Mark Strong who always plays a really good heavy, it was lame.
I initially thought you were referencing the Shaq movie, but then I realized that was Kazam. I haven't watched Shazam but the theme song can't be better than Greatest American Hero.
The last time I was in Vegas, ~5 years ago, I stayed at Planet Hollywood and my room contained Kazam movie props. "This is how the 1% live," I thought.
i never really watched it the first time around but now my younger daughter is interested and watching ahead of the Season 4 release in May. so i jumped in about halfway thru sesaon 2.
i thought i recall there being more Cold War era politics. but maybe that is still to come.
the 80's music is very well done. the scene of the junior high dance in 1984 is exactly when i experienced those things too ...
Watched a pretty bad movie Saturday night, it was entertaining I guess, had the single most inappropriate score I've ever heard - would have been cool in a Blaxploitation film, but a fantasy set in 13th century Italy? So goofy.
Starring Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer & Matthew Broderick? What could this movie be?
Last week I cracked 70 pushups in one set and 165 over three sets. Not bad for a man of, as of today, sixty-eight years. Working out every other day and long walks on the other days along with a healthy diet keeps me fit for that Cal Rose Bowl appearance which will come when I'm a centenarian.
Winter has weakened enough that I'm finally riding my bike again on a semi-regular basis. It's so much nicer to exercise in the outdoors rather than in the basement.
i recently started doing some strength training w/ a personal trainer. i know her personally but all the sessions are on Zoom. we "meet" once a week and i have 2-3 more workouts the rest of the week.
i was always one of those people that stayed active and assumed i was in good shape because i ride my bike a lot. that is partly true, but i never really lifted weighted any weights of any sort, so this has been something of a new challenge.
maybe one day i'll be able to do a pull up. i think i might have done one, once upon a time, but i generally am super weak in upper body strength.
Trying to start running again. My heel seems to feel better, though it does ache a little when I start running but seems to feel better as I go. On a treadmill so hopefully that will be easier on my heel than running on pavement.
Music. I can feel my whole body relax when I turn the music on at home, and sometimes when I am feeling general anxiety I realize that I have no music on, and I start it up and immediately feel better.
a nice LONG bike ride. it is all at once good for the body and the mind. i can cycle thru many thoughts and there is something soothing about the sound of the wheels spinning on the pavement.
this is why i generally prefer to ride alone although i enjoy the social aspect of a group ride and know that it is somewhat safer to ride in numbers.
People are asking me why I endorsed the use of "We're Not Gonna Take It" for the Ukrainian people and did not for the anti-maskers. Well, one use is for a righteous battle against oppression; the other is a infantile feet stomping against an inconvenience.
A country, I have learned, with hundreds of thousands of reservists most of whom have combat experience since 2014, and a national guard model built around letting Russian troops go past and attacking rear echelons. It's almost as if the Ukrainians have put some thought into this.
Russians are now switching tactics. They have moved to the indiscriminate shelling phase in Kharkov. Civilian casualties are going to accelerate quickly from her on out. But are still only using traditional high explosives rather than thermobaric.
there are claims circulating on twitter as of this afternoon that the Israeli government staff at the Ukrainian border who are helping Israelis get out of Ukraine are quietly also helping folks from other middle Eastern countries get out. So.
I go by the Ukrainian Embassy almost every day on my run. Usually I just see a side door to the building. Yesterday I went past the front door and saw that there was a pile of flowers, signs, and other means of support. Also a couple DC police vehicles keeping watch. Later in the run my route took me past the Russian Embassy. There was about a dozen people out front holding signs getting lots of honks from passing cars.
my previous company (Teachers Pay Teachers) had a contingent of developers from Ukraine that still mostly work for the company. they live in Ternopil, which is in the west closer to the Polish border.
they are all fine as of now and hoping for the best. among other things, we used to take them out to Ukrainian food in the East Village whenever they came to visit NYC.
daughter (17) safely arrived home from weeklong trip to Greece and promptly tested positive. at least she is home and stuck in her room as opposed to a random quarantine hotel in Greece waiting for one of the parents to get her.
mild symptoms so far. in the meantime we are all back to wearing masks around the house and staying away from her.
TFG - the guy who tried to get the US to leave NATO and got impeached for extorting Ukraine for a fake investigation - says that he saved NATO and did a great job defending Ukraine.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who is also known for being Trump's doctor, has called for the freezing of US-based bank assets of senior officials from [checks notes] Canada.
Well, that subset of south Texas is just one part of the story. Elsewhere, the state is becoming more urban, and those voters skew blue.
The GOP is right to focus on Latinas. But that's even more true for the Dems. If Latinas in Texas were to have the same voter turn out rate in Texas as in California, Texas would be reliably blue. I suspect that's true even though some Latina voters on the Rio Grande are getting Trumpy.
William Barr publishes book telling the world that Trump was unsuited for office and that he lost the election because he was impulsive and undisciplined. I mean, water is wet, but it might have better time to do it when Democracy was at stake rather time to make a personal buck.
American coach Jesse Marsch has been appointed as Leeds United manager pending international clearance, the Premier League club confirmed on Monday.
Marsch, a former RB Leipzig and New York Red Bulls coach, replaces Marcelo Bielsa, who was sacked on Sunday following a downturn in results. Marsch's contract will run until June 2025, and his first game in charge will be Saturday's trip to Leicester City.
Marsch, 48, becomes the third American to coach in England's top-flight division, with Bob Bradley (Swansea) and David Wagner (Huddersfield) preceding him.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he wants to see Kyrie Irving playing home games at Barclays Center but making an exception for the Brooklyn Nets' unvaccinated star guard "would send the wrong message" to the rest of the city.
Adams made his comments to CNBC and added that he has spoken with Nets owner Joseph Tsai about the issue.
"Listen, I want Kyrie on the court. I would do anything to get that ring. So badly, I want it. But there's so much at stake here. And I spoke with the owner of the team. We want to find a way to get Kyrie on the court, but this is a bigger issue," Adams said in the interview. "I can't have my city closed down again. It would send the wrong message just to have an exception for one player when we're telling countless number of New York City employees, 'If you don't follow the rules, you won't be able to be employed.'"
This after Adam Silver mentioning he hoped Kyrie could play in NYC. Screw that. Kyrie can sit on his ass and disappoint his teammates with his decisions.
The owners seem to be under this mistaken impression that they can just have no baseball and expect the sport will be fine. No, this is a critical time for them and they are at major risk of their league becoming irrelevant to the younger generation of fans. The lack of urgency from them is baffling.
The owners clearly do not care about the regular season (the bulk of the money comes from TV and I guess now gambling for the playoffs). The only thing that might temporarily save baseball from a diluted (and more random) playoffs this year is if they do lose some regular season games (so the players won't allow the owners to expand the postseason in 2022).
The entire lack of discussion is frustrating to follow. I am hoping for a miracle now that things could be resolved today.
That's the other problem, the league does not seem to understand that the long regular season is WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SPECIAL. All this focus on the playoffs is foolish, short-term thinking.
Vince Carter was commenting that it looked like they lost their legs...it will be interesting to see if they have Klay & Dray available without restrictions in playoffs. Man, they’re such a different team when they need to rely on Wiggins & Poole for scoring...there’s an argument to be made that neither of those guys should be re-signed.
That's been the big issue: not knowing if you've got Klay or Dray. Against lesser teams they can survive with just Steph and everyone else, but Dallas is good.
At this point you might have to assume Memphis overtakes for the 2 seed.
The article on him last week said that he's been on the Ukrainian national team since 2015. Jerome's Tweet said that last week was likely his last time out with them.
Happy for the seniors to go out with a W...that definitely seemed like some old school Haas energy, which was great to see...unfortunately, it required the perfect storm of events that is nearly impossible to replicate: senior day festivities + the Axe in the house + a who’s who of former Bears on hand...and as I mentioned on Nick’s great (as always) post-game recap thread, it was nonetheless not without Fox’s fingerprints, as the Bears answered ‘Furd’s 12 point 1H with an 18 point 2H of their own, including 11 points in the final 14:42. Still great to get a win, 53-39. Not sure Jerod Haase is HC in Stanford come April.
NOTRE DAME: For those of you who are season ticket holders but do not plan on going to the Notre Dame tix, please post on if you're willing to sell your Notre Dame ticket to us. We have a group of 16 or so from this board that are planning to go but a block that size is impossible to sit together unless we buy through the Cal box office... who will be selling to season ticket holders (probably) exclusively. We have 9 or so gathered so far... signed Fire Starkey, Golden Oso, HAG, SGBear, Hey StudentsBears, Jimmy Chitwood and NewellAlbany (hope i didnt leave anyone out)
He also told me some 70 year old guy that lived in Wi got one of the $150 season tickets just so he could get ND tickets and he's going to give away the season tickets.
Made me think maybe I should get one more. No 3 can go to a few games before UCSC starts and I can find friends (really, I do have a couple) to use the other 3 or 4.
I don't mind getting it because I think I can find a couple of people to bring.
The one I went to Horn BBQ with wants to get out of the house. His stepdaughter, BF, and 2 YO granddaughter moved in with them over last summer from Louisville because they couldn't afford to live there. He asked anytime I wanted to grab food he'll drive out and meet me just to get out of the house. I'm sure I could get him to go to a few games. We're meeting up in Sac when OKC Dodgers (AAA) goes up to play for a week against the River Cats.
that's including your 2. GO (2 + 4), Me (1), You (2). I can probably get at least one from a friend's dad but don't want to add it yet. He said he's going to ask the ATO how many he can get (very high donor and helps with fundraising) and sell me all but one since my friend's mom isn't going. He's just got 2 season tickets but will ask them if he can get more.
Annie's missing and likely dead. Sorry to be all #puresilencenews today.
https://sfist.com/2022/02/28/berkeley-falcon-female-disappears/
"Ugh! The drama seemed to have passed and all was back to normal for the bonded pair of peregrine falcons who have been mating and residing atop the UC Berkeley Campanile. But no!
Back in November, the male half of the pair, Grinnell, was injured in an apparent territorial fight with two other falcons. His mate of five years, Annie, started taking up with another male, and the pair appeared to be going through some courtship behavior. But then Grinnell returned within a couple of weeks to the Campanile, and by New Year's he and Annie appeared to be doing the courtship dance again.
Now, though, eight-year-old Annie has mysteriously vanished. With many eyes (and cameras) on this particular falcon nest, falcon watchers tell Berkeleyside that Annie hasn't been around the nest for at least a week. And that absence likely means she was injured in a fight like her mate, or injured or killed while hunting for a meal — which she was often seen doing in downtown Berkeley. [...]"
Freezing the clock: Nationwide push for permanent daylight saving time gains momentum
Maryland lawmakers advance proposal to permanently shift the clock
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/28/permanent-daylight-savings-time/
COMMENT - Sure, pushing for year-round DST will be/is very popular right now. But when we get into fall and winter and the sun doesn't rise until after 8:00 AM, people will start to grumble and become grouchy because it stays dark until mid-morning.
I will concede the point that changing the clocks twice a year is folly. I will, however, maintain that year-round Standard Time is the way to go for health and safety reasons.
I think there's a good argument that year-round DST is good for some locations and Standard for others. So the solution is probably to give each state a chance to choose which one they want to be on and then move forward.
Giving states the option of choosing whether to be on DST or Standard Time is bad policy. Such a move balkanizes the United States on who observes DST and who observes Standard Time.
It also goes counter to the Uniform Time Act, which is good policy. The Uniform Time Act says that you can choose to be on Standard Time year-round. If you choose to be on DST at all, you observe DST during the same time as everyone else who observes DST. This way, you do not have this insane patchwork of some folks being on permanent Standard Time and some being on permanent DST. Hence the push for year-round DST at the federal level.
Allowing each state to decide for themselves to be on year-round DST *OR* year-round Standard Time would make it possible that neighboring states in the same nominal time zone would always have one hour of difference between them. Under that scenario it's also possible that two neighboring states in different time zones would have a two hour time difference just by stepping over the border. That's nuts.
Good in what way? In terms of business, I will concede the point. In terms of health and safety, I doubt it. One of the assertions in the article is that DST costs everyone an average of 19 minutes of shuteye each and every day *during DST*. You never really get that back.
I am inclined to believe the assertion because DST puts sunset closer to bedtime. and so, tends to push bedtime a little later as humans are inclined to stay up a little later with more light.
But then the problem is you will have patchwork between states and I would think that's worse. Heck I know that in Kentucky you go from Fast time to Slow time (Eastern to Central) driving southbound on I-65. We had a tournament in Southern Ky and we had to clarify it was in a different time zone.
As you describe, we already have that in some places now. The permanent DST/ST split would just (potentially) put it in different places.
I think Indiana has some counties that do their own thing as well.
Indiana's western counties (nominally in Central Time Zone) are on DST while the eastern counties (in Eastern Time Zone) do not. The entire state actually observes the same time during DST because the state legislature decided that it made sense. But this is relatively recent.
There was an episode of West Wing in which the state split between Central and Eastern Time Zones gets a mention (it's when Bartlett is running for re-election and Toby, Josh, and Donna get left behind at a campaign stop).
the ones near L-ville, Cincy and Chicago
Maybe 5+ years ago I think the entire state changed to eastern except for the counties over by Chicago.
one BIG time zone for the entire country would solve it - just like China Standard Time
In a country the size of China, one would expect to find several time zones. However, the whole country observes the same local time. Geographically China could have 5 time zones. In spite of being almost the same size as the continental USA, China has only 1 official time zone.
But doesn't 95% of the people live in the eastern 1/3 of the country?
Meet POELTL, the NBA version of WORDLE
https://poeltl.dunk.town/
2 for 2 after finding out about this yesterday. I feel pretty confident about knowing the rotation guys of all the teams, but if/when this game get to those fringe roster guys.
Funnily, because the NBA has done away with the divisions meaning anything in the postseason seedings, this game was the only reason why I thought about NBA divisions for the first time in a few years.
I had no idea about divisions so I had to look them up, and sadly I ended up on wikipedia.
do you not play teams in your division more than others?
It's definitely not like MLB, if there are more games within the division. Without looking it up to conform, my understanding is that NBA teams play 2 and 2 against other teams in the same conference and 1 and 1 against the teams in the other conference (but that's not quite right since it's 14*4+30 = 86 for an 82 game schedule).
This is amazing.
Solved it in three guesses too.
oh this one is fun. Going to send it to my kids.
too hard for me .. i know a larger fraction of the FAA airport codes than i do NBA players
I got the team and position but don't know all the players on this particular team that I don't know very well.
I don't know any current players so it's hard for me too, but the hints are very nice. It's not a random guessing game. I could get all the players from the 90s but not current.
I think it would be better if they didn't do the number.
better meaning make it harder.
Yeah, that would pretty much give it away.
i got confused for a while too. when it showed the team logo i thought it meant it was correct. so i kept guessing other players on GSW until i realized it was not correct.
Dick Blum, UC Regent, Cal benefactor and Mr Feinstein, died last night.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-02-28/richard-blum-husband-of-sen-dianne-feinstein-dies-at-86
FIFA and UEFA have finally suspended all Russian clubs and national teams from competition.
https://news.sky.com/story/fifa-in-advanced-talks-to-suspend-russian-national-side-12554200
DBD Kitchen
Roasted chicken with herbs de Provence, with roasted carrots, and orzo with pine nuts & shallots, paired with a excellent 2015 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir.
I tried an experiment last night. I smoked two beef eye of round slabs, prepared both identically and pulled them at 130*F, but I finished one of them with a reverse sear to see if it offered any improvement. The reverse-seared one was substantially better. The sear gave it a nice exterior texture and seemed to amplify the rub (mix of salt, pepper, and dried garlic) while still preserving the smokiness. I think I'm going to reverse sear all my smoked beefs from now on.
Thanks for the Seattle recs--my friend and I went to both Japonessa and Sushi Kashiba! (Going to Molly Moon's an hour before omakase at Kashiba was not a mistake, per se...but I was REALLY full)
Glad Japonessa was good for you! Did you go to the Seattle or Bellevue location?
Seattle location! Thanks for the recommendation!
Moral of the story: always ask the DBD for food recs
I wonder if Kod still maintains his google doc for restaurants.
Glad you enjoyed Kashiba. I'm thinking I'll do that again in Apr and maybe again in June. I'll have coworkers in June so I may not convince them to spend for the omakase.
Leading up to it, we were trying to figure out how much the omakase would be/how it worked, both because a local friend wasn't sure if she wanted to spend that much (I get it; I was on vacation, but she wasn't!) and because I'd never done an omakase before. So, the information we were seeing was that you have to let the chefs know when you're filling up, and then they'll stop feeding you, and how many pieces of sushi you eat determines the total price. That is, someone who eats 15 pieces of sushi will pay less than someone who eats 25 pieces of sushi.
However, this was not the case when we went on Saturday. There was a pre-determined number of pieces, and it was $160/person. You could add on a couple extra pieces and, of course, drinks, for more.
We got in line at 4:00 pm, and there were six people ahead of us. At around 4:45, a staff member came out to check people in and explain how things worked. The first four people in line all wanted the 5:00 seating. The couple immediately in front of us opted to come back later (7:00 and 9:00 both available), so we also got to choose the 5:00 seating. The chef's counter can accommodate 12 people per seating, and is walk-in (aka stand in line) only. Another staff member came out to take our drink orders so they would be ready when we went in.
Chef Shiro was at the very end of the chef's counter, so the first four people got to eat his sushi. My friend and I (and the two people next to us) got the next chef over, but still got to interact with Chef Shiro a bit. The staff told us our chef's name, but unfortunately, I didn't catch it.
We had:
1 tuna hand roll
(3 pieces) salmon flight
(4 pieces) tuna flight
(4 pieces) crustacean flight--ebi nigiri, geoduck, uni, Hokkaido scallop (and they also deep fried the shrimp head, which was delicious)
(4 pieces) white fish flight--I was losing steam here and can't remember the details
maybe also a mackerel flight? or was that part of the white fish flight? egad...
(2 pieces) "dessert"--tempura unagi nigiri and tamago nigiri
my favorite sushi counter chefs are the ones who realize i am left handed and place the sushi at a different diagonal i can easily pick it up.
only happened a couple times ...
nice writeup. a good omakase experience is memorable.
both our girls ask for omakase for birthday dinners. my current favorite is one the cheaper ones because it is outside and BYOB.
Sushi on Jones is New York’s first al fresco omakase bar, offering traditional 12-piece tastings in 45 minutes for $58.
https://www.sushionjones.com/about/
Oooh I'll need to try that!
tell me if you are in town. happy to go anytime
sometimes they sneak in one of these special ones if they like you
BigMac - Wagyu, Toro, Uni - Nigiri $30
Oh wow...the prices went up. When I was there in 2019 I think it was $85. But also you got more pieces than I did. I think I got 12 and didn't get a hand roll. That's awesome that you got to talk with Chef Shiro.
My chef asked if I wanted a salmon belly after I was done when I told him the Salmon one I got was great. I said yes and was not disappointed.
Tried to go to Sunrise Biscuits in Chapel Hill on Sunday. LOL. Car line to get into the parking lots stretched about a quarter mile. No biscuit-bacon-egg sammy for me
I went there the Sun morning after the UNC game. Don't remember what time I went but I still had to wait at least 15-20 min (walked in). Their biscuits are really good.
Went to Horn BBQ with a friend on Sat. Door open at 11 and we got in line around 10:25. People that got there around 11 didn't get in and order until about 11:50.
The brisket, Pork Hot Link, Mac and Cheese were really good. My friend got the cornbread and I had a taste. It was also really good. It was a bit sweet so it had some honey in it. The Jalapeño and cheese sausage was just alright.
It seems kinda pricey. 1.25 lb of brisket, the two sausages, large Mac and Cheese, cornbread, and 2 cokes were almost $100. But it was good.
Next time we're going to try the Horn fried chicken place just down the street.
Flint's BBQ, that place on Shattuck closed down, right?
Yeah. They closed down a while ago. I had heard that the owner's daughter wants to reopen it. Maybe doing popups now or is in one of those shared kitchen spaces in Oakland. She had tried to buy the original building but someone else bought it.
Flint's were among the best ribs i have ever had. plus you can't beat the atmosphere of getting yelled at in line and sitting out on the curb eating your food afterwards.
DBD A/V Club
The entertaining at time but ultimately meh Netflix series Wu Assassins got a movie sequel that dropped on Netflix last week with original stars Iko Uwais and Lewis Tan, etc. with new female leads - Fistful of Vengeance is even more ridiculous at times but the fightings are fun with the 90 minutes run time is more perfect than a full season.
Final episode of 1883 dropped on Paramount Plus...brilliant 1st season.
Believe there is a 2nd season planned but not sure. Highly recommend, even if you don't watch Yellowstone.
Shazam! (4/19 WNB - HBO). It's the Greatest American Hero with a bigger budget and worse writing. It's clearly targeting male pre-teens. Apart from Mark Strong who always plays a really good heavy, it was lame.
I thought this was a lot of fun.
I thought so too. It's not terribly ambitious and succeeds at having fun with what it's trying to do.
Yeah, I mean it's cheesy but it clearly knows it is and that the character is. They lean into it.
I initially thought you were referencing the Shaq movie, but then I realized that was Kazam. I haven't watched Shazam but the theme song can't be better than Greatest American Hero.
The last time I was in Vegas, ~5 years ago, I stayed at Planet Hollywood and my room contained Kazam movie props. "This is how the 1% live," I thought.
lol I also thought to myself "Why did SGBear watch that old Shaq movie...?"
Euphoria season finale . . .
This show is some of the best-made trash I've ever seen.
Stranger Things season 2-3
i never really watched it the first time around but now my younger daughter is interested and watching ahead of the Season 4 release in May. so i jumped in about halfway thru sesaon 2.
i thought i recall there being more Cold War era politics. but maybe that is still to come.
the 80's music is very well done. the scene of the junior high dance in 1984 is exactly when i experienced those things too ...
https://twitter.com/baalhisses/status/1403799383578140677
Watched a pretty bad movie Saturday night, it was entertaining I guess, had the single most inappropriate score I've ever heard - would have been cool in a Blaxploitation film, but a fantasy set in 13th century Italy? So goofy.
Starring Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer & Matthew Broderick? What could this movie be?
LADYHAWKE! what a strange mess 9/19-WOBBoMP.
DBD Exercise Club
Last week I cracked 70 pushups in one set and 165 over three sets. Not bad for a man of, as of today, sixty-eight years. Working out every other day and long walks on the other days along with a healthy diet keeps me fit for that Cal Rose Bowl appearance which will come when I'm a centenarian.
Happy Birthday!!
Happy birthday! That's an impressive number of push ups at any age!
happy bday .. and that is a LOT of push ups.
Happy Birthday!
Traveling = more movement than normal. My phone tells me I walked 6.2 mi on Wednesday, 5.4 mi on Thursday, 5.2 mi on Friday, and 6.2 mi on Saturday.
Winter has weakened enough that I'm finally riding my bike again on a semi-regular basis. It's so much nicer to exercise in the outdoors rather than in the basement.
my trainer said this today which is apparently well known ... "curls are for the girls, thighs are for the guys"
i had not heard this before ...
2 days on, one day off, yesterday was my day off.
i recently started doing some strength training w/ a personal trainer. i know her personally but all the sessions are on Zoom. we "meet" once a week and i have 2-3 more workouts the rest of the week.
i was always one of those people that stayed active and assumed i was in good shape because i ride my bike a lot. that is partly true, but i never really lifted weighted any weights of any sort, so this has been something of a new challenge.
maybe one day i'll be able to do a pull up. i think i might have done one, once upon a time, but i generally am super weak in upper body strength.
Just got a new motorized treadmill. We'll see.
I’m thinking of getting a non motorized curved treadmill. Tried one in a gym and liked it a lot.
which one did you get? we paid a little extra for "some programmable workout feature" none of which we ever use.
I like them. They can hold a lot of worn-but-not-dirty clothes.
Oh, I thought that's what the chair in the corner was for?
https://mashable.com/article/bernie-sanders-clothes-chair
Trying to start running again. My heel seems to feel better, though it does ache a little when I start running but seems to feel better as I go. On a treadmill so hopefully that will be easier on my heel than running on pavement.
[NSFW] A 22 piece set of pilates equipment is on sale at Amazon for only $44
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NN2FHVK
The workout glove is probably my favorite piece of that whole set.
hahaha
some of that stuff does actually look like it could be pilates equipment. Some...not so much
"they say this strengthens your glutes but it just looks like a butt plug to me"
The third photo also seems to be pretty aggressive with its arrow that suggests how far to apply said glute strengtheners
Calming
My OR cart of forbidden delights.
Music. I can feel my whole body relax when I turn the music on at home, and sometimes when I am feeling general anxiety I realize that I have no music on, and I start it up and immediately feel better.
a nice LONG bike ride. it is all at once good for the body and the mind. i can cycle thru many thoughts and there is something soothing about the sound of the wheels spinning on the pavement.
this is why i generally prefer to ride alone although i enjoy the social aspect of a group ride and know that it is somewhat safer to ride in numbers.
Agreed. It's a great way to sort through a bunch of ideas or to think about nothing at all.
Slava Ukraini
Now things are getting serious...
Vladimir Putin's black belt revoked by international taekwondo organization
https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putins-black-belt-revoked-international-taekwondo-organization-1683304
For Scootie https://twitter.com/muskrat_john/status/1498150579104792576?s=20&t=qQVM_Wd_JikAXAyfeJRcFA
crypto should go up if people are trying to get rid of their rubles, right?
https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalHumor/comments/t32vfc/were_not_going_to_take_it/
Dee Snider🇺🇸@deesnider
People are asking me why I endorsed the use of "We're Not Gonna Take It" for the Ukrainian people and did not for the anti-maskers. Well, one use is for a righteous battle against oppression; the other is a infantile feet stomping against an inconvenience.
9:49 AM · Feb 27, 2022·Twitter Web App
Well said, Dee (their best stuff was covers of Slade songs)
That was Quiet Riot.
In the last five days, Putin has achieved:
>Switzerland and Sweden abandoning their neutrality
> Kosovo and Finland wanting to join NATO
> Militarized the Germans
> Put Greeks and Turks on the same side of an issue
> Lost money access for many of his cronies
> 20% interbank rates and lost access to SWIFT
> Lost nearly half of the Ruble's value
> Made the Taliban take an anti-war stance
> Lost access to Pornhub
> Lost support of some of the US GOP
Most damning use of "some of" I've seen in a long time
Nothing in history could have ever predicted that invading a country that doesn't want you there could place your army in an impossible quagmire.
A country, I have learned, with hundreds of thousands of reservists most of whom have combat experience since 2014, and a national guard model built around letting Russian troops go past and attacking rear echelons. It's almost as if the Ukrainians have put some thought into this.
Russians are now switching tactics. They have moved to the indiscriminate shelling phase in Kharkov. Civilian casualties are going to accelerate quickly from her on out. But are still only using traditional high explosives rather than thermobaric.
Putting the Greeks and Turks on the same side of an issue may be an accomplishment for the ages. Well done, Vlad! Well done, indeed!
The only other that would trump that would be if Israel and Palestine also agreed. But I guess Palestine is closely tied with Russia...
there are claims circulating on twitter as of this afternoon that the Israeli government staff at the Ukrainian border who are helping Israelis get out of Ukraine are quietly also helping folks from other middle Eastern countries get out. So.
Israel is also closely tied to Russia. Israel did not back a UN Resolution condemning Russia.
Also lost youtube channels.
I go by the Ukrainian Embassy almost every day on my run. Usually I just see a side door to the building. Yesterday I went past the front door and saw that there was a pile of flowers, signs, and other means of support. Also a couple DC police vehicles keeping watch. Later in the run my route took me past the Russian Embassy. There was about a dozen people out front holding signs getting lots of honks from passing cars.
💙💛
my previous company (Teachers Pay Teachers) had a contingent of developers from Ukraine that still mostly work for the company. they live in Ternopil, which is in the west closer to the Polish border.
they are all fine as of now and hoping for the best. among other things, we used to take them out to Ukrainian food in the East Village whenever they came to visit NYC.
Today in Covid
daughter (17) safely arrived home from weeklong trip to Greece and promptly tested positive. at least she is home and stuck in her room as opposed to a random quarantine hotel in Greece waiting for one of the parents to get her.
mild symptoms so far. in the meantime we are all back to wearing masks around the house and staying away from her.
Elsewhere in college
Art Briles doesn't even last half a Scaramucci
https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1498429980845424641?t=umdY0zVpyL5aRmzdWlrSKA&s=19
[WBB] Yoki Lee sets D-1 single-game scoring record
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/33370004/how-kansas-state-center-ayoka-lee-61-point-game-forever-changed-women-basketball
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
TFG - the guy who tried to get the US to leave NATO and got impeached for extorting Ukraine for a fake investigation - says that he saved NATO and did a great job defending Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1498302199134404609
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who is also known for being Trump's doctor, has called for the freezing of US-based bank assets of senior officials from [checks notes] Canada.
https://twitter.com/RonnyJacksonTX/status/1496289549705744384
Texas is not turning blue, if anything it is turning more red.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/republican-latinas-rio-grande-valley/?utm_medium=Organic+Social&utm_source=Twitter
Well, that subset of south Texas is just one part of the story. Elsewhere, the state is becoming more urban, and those voters skew blue.
The GOP is right to focus on Latinas. But that's even more true for the Dems. If Latinas in Texas were to have the same voter turn out rate in Texas as in California, Texas would be reliably blue. I suspect that's true even though some Latina voters on the Rio Grande are getting Trumpy.
He did it again. Trump served McD's at a $3,000/plate "Save America PAC" event.
Frankly, [dramatically takes off sunglasses]... I'm lovin' it.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1497774556848791553
Steve Bannon's man blames Russian invasion on [checks notes] Greta Thunburg
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1497975596294361089
This guy looks like an SNL character.
William Barr publishes book telling the world that Trump was unsuited for office and that he lost the election because he was impulsive and undisciplined. I mean, water is wet, but it might have better time to do it when Democracy was at stake rather time to make a personal buck.
https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1497945529631838210
PRO
So, not Ted Lasso
American coach Jesse Marsch has been appointed as Leeds United manager pending international clearance, the Premier League club confirmed on Monday.
Marsch, a former RB Leipzig and New York Red Bulls coach, replaces Marcelo Bielsa, who was sacked on Sunday following a downturn in results. Marsch's contract will run until June 2025, and his first game in charge will be Saturday's trip to Leicester City.
Marsch, 48, becomes the third American to coach in England's top-flight division, with Bob Bradley (Swansea) and David Wagner (Huddersfield) preceding him.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/leeds-united-engleeds/story/4604618/premier-leagues-leeds-united-names-jesse-marsch-as-new-boss-after-marcelo-bielsa-sacking
New York Mayor Eric Adams: Making exception for Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving 'would send wrong message' to other city workers
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33392340/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-making-exception-brooklyn-nets-kyrie-irving-send-wrong-message
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he wants to see Kyrie Irving playing home games at Barclays Center but making an exception for the Brooklyn Nets' unvaccinated star guard "would send the wrong message" to the rest of the city.
Adams made his comments to CNBC and added that he has spoken with Nets owner Joseph Tsai about the issue.
"Listen, I want Kyrie on the court. I would do anything to get that ring. So badly, I want it. But there's so much at stake here. And I spoke with the owner of the team. We want to find a way to get Kyrie on the court, but this is a bigger issue," Adams said in the interview. "I can't have my city closed down again. It would send the wrong message just to have an exception for one player when we're telling countless number of New York City employees, 'If you don't follow the rules, you won't be able to be employed.'"
This after Adam Silver mentioning he hoped Kyrie could play in NYC. Screw that. Kyrie can sit on his ass and disappoint his teammates with his decisions.
Derek Jeter out in Miami.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/derek-jeter-out-as-marlins-ceo-citing-different-vision-for-the-future-of-the-franchise/ar-AAUqgI2?ocid=uxbndlbing
I hope this is due to Jeter taking a stand against the owners, but who knows.
His lack of range extended to general managing.
Lock out Rob Manfred.
The owners seem to be under this mistaken impression that they can just have no baseball and expect the sport will be fine. No, this is a critical time for them and they are at major risk of their league becoming irrelevant to the younger generation of fans. The lack of urgency from them is baffling.
The owners clearly do not care about the regular season (the bulk of the money comes from TV and I guess now gambling for the playoffs). The only thing that might temporarily save baseball from a diluted (and more random) playoffs this year is if they do lose some regular season games (so the players won't allow the owners to expand the postseason in 2022).
The entire lack of discussion is frustrating to follow. I am hoping for a miracle now that things could be resolved today.
The money comes from the regional & subscription tv deals. The postseason falls during football season, and that siphons off most of their customers.
That's the other problem, the league does not seem to understand that the long regular season is WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SPECIAL. All this focus on the playoffs is foolish, short-term thinking.
Exactly. It’s like they’re applying the logic from the 60-game COVID year & thinking they’ll get all the $$$ they need from the playoff TV deal.
Problem is, could they be right?? That’s an issue.
Just brutal.
Reporters ask famous Russian athlete impossible question - are you a monster or would you like your family defenestrated?
https://www.tsn.ca/washington-capitals-alex-ovechkin-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-1.1764018
Abramovich puts Chelsea into a Trust rather than... you know... have it seized from him.
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2022/02/26/statement-from-club-owner-roman-abramovich
There are some complication to this.
1. The trust hasn't accepted taking stewardship, wanting several major questions answered before they are willing to consider it
2. He hasn't transferred ownership, which likely still makes the club an asset that can be seized
except he hasn't. At least, none of the actual ownership paperwork has changed.
[NFL] Kyler Murray releases statement through agent.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1498291973895168002
Warriors blow big lead ..
went up to take a shower when it seemed that the W's were on their way to an easy victory only to come back to see them lose in the final moments.
Yeah, I stopped paying attention while making dinner and by time I checked back it was a close game and Dubs couldn't buy a basket.
Vince Carter was commenting that it looked like they lost their legs...it will be interesting to see if they have Klay & Dray available without restrictions in playoffs. Man, they’re such a different team when they need to rely on Wiggins & Poole for scoring...there’s an argument to be made that neither of those guys should be re-signed.
That's been the big issue: not knowing if you've got Klay or Dray. Against lesser teams they can survive with just Steph and everyone else, but Dallas is good.
At this point you might have to assume Memphis overtakes for the 2 seed.
Luka so good.
I tuned in right in the middle of that 26-1 run. Woof, what an ugly 4th quarter.
CAL
Looks like Jerome Randle got to leave Ukraine and even attend the game.
Yeah, he was playing with the Ukrainian national team in Spain earlier this week when the invasion happened.
Oh so he was already out of the country. That's good. Btw when did he become an Ukuranian?
Here's the article: https://sports.yahoo.com/you-need-to-get-out-of-there-american-basketball-players-struggle-to-flee-ukraine-150040957.html
The article on him last week said that he's been on the Ukrainian national team since 2015. Jerome's Tweet said that last week was likely his last time out with them.
Men's bball holds LSJU to 12 first-half points en route to a pleasant blowout victory
https://twitter.com/CalMBBall/status/1497775162527125506
Happy for the seniors to go out with a W...that definitely seemed like some old school Haas energy, which was great to see...unfortunately, it required the perfect storm of events that is nearly impossible to replicate: senior day festivities + the Axe in the house + a who’s who of former Bears on hand...and as I mentioned on Nick’s great (as always) post-game recap thread, it was nonetheless not without Fox’s fingerprints, as the Bears answered ‘Furd’s 12 point 1H with an 18 point 2H of their own, including 11 points in the final 14:42. Still great to get a win, 53-39. Not sure Jerod Haase is HC in Stanford come April.
NOTRE DAME: For those of you who are season ticket holders but do not plan on going to the Notre Dame tix, please post on if you're willing to sell your Notre Dame ticket to us. We have a group of 16 or so from this board that are planning to go but a block that size is impossible to sit together unless we buy through the Cal box office... who will be selling to season ticket holders (probably) exclusively. We have 9 or so gathered so far... signed Fire Starkey, Golden Oso, HAG, SGBear, Hey StudentsBears, Jimmy Chitwood and NewellAlbany (hope i didnt leave anyone out)
In a similar boat. Anyone know how many tickets STHers are able to buy?
ATO rep told me 1 ND ticket per season ticket.
Yuck.
He also told me some 70 year old guy that lived in Wi got one of the $150 season tickets just so he could get ND tickets and he's going to give away the season tickets.
Made me think maybe I should get one more. No 3 can go to a few games before UCSC starts and I can find friends (really, I do have a couple) to use the other 3 or 4.
i was going to offer to buy one and let no 3. got the games and maybe there is some off chance i am in town for a game or two!
I don't mind getting it because I think I can find a couple of people to bring.
The one I went to Horn BBQ with wants to get out of the house. His stepdaughter, BF, and 2 YO granddaughter moved in with them over last summer from Louisville because they couldn't afford to live there. He asked anytime I wanted to grab food he'll drive out and meet me just to get out of the house. I'm sure I could get him to go to a few games. We're meeting up in Sac when OKC Dodgers (AAA) goes up to play for a week against the River Cats.
Moi?
oh yeah. "and Cugel" haha sorry
that's including your 2. GO (2 + 4), Me (1), You (2). I can probably get at least one from a friend's dad but don't want to add it yet. He said he's going to ask the ATO how many he can get (very high donor and helps with fundraising) and sell me all but one since my friend's mom isn't going. He's just got 2 season tickets but will ask them if he can get more.
i am asking around to some FB friends as well. there are some possibilities but nothing firm yet ...
I’m putting feelers out to my season ticket holding friends...unfortunately many of them have given up their season tickets for various reasons.