Heading to La Paz on Saturday (trip 2 of 3 to SJD before June) for a 7-day sailboat charter with 7 people from our club. It's very exciting, but as I am in charge of all things boat related and it's my first time in these waters I am a little nervous. Hoping for some whales, leaping rays, playful sea lions, crystal clear waters and maaaayyyyyybe a whale shark.
I just saw that there's a spot in Pittsburgh near the U where you can visit a piece of the left field wall of Forbes Field. I've been to Pittsburgh twice but not since finding this bit of info out and now I want to go back!
the missus is stricken with jealousy because some friends are in Amsterdam, him because of a conference and her because she managed to get a ticket for the now absolutely sold out blockbuster Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum at the same time as his conference. Apparently it's a BFD in the art enthusiast world, I had no idea. There are rumors that more tickets might come available next week so I told the missus she should go if she can get one, the 18 year old thinks that she should go too just to make sure that my wife doesn't get up to any mischief.
I'm not ruling myself out just yet, but there's time in March where i have to be online b/c my manager will be on PTO, and I can't work OCONUS, as they say
was in Oregon a couple weekends ago for my mother's 80th birthday. Somehow my mother and my brother both tested positive for COVID afterwards, but I have not. (my nieces seem to have dodged it also, and my sister in law got laid out by something but hasn't tested positive so...)
I have to think that if I haven't tested positive by now, with my brother only showing minimal symptoms, I probably am not going to... but who the hell knows, this is a tricky little virus
Off to Portland Oregon next Weds for 5 days. The missus and I have never been and I have a lot of thoughts and prayers that the brutal sciatic pain ive endured the last month disappears by then
yet Albany, TX is a high school football power in the lower tiers while the Piedmont region on the eastern seaboard grows lots of tobacco and thus kills millions with their cancer. You swine
When I was 18 my aunt, who has no children of her own, took me on a trip to London and Paris. It felt so worldly and fancy and amazing and I sort of wondered why she bothered to take me. I think she was reaching out for like a quasi-parent connection, but I never really gave that to her. Her husband was wealthy and she was kind of a patron of the arts so in college I told her I wanted to be a writer and she told me not to try. Later, I went to law school in Chicago where she lived and one of those summers she wanted me to live with her and her husband but their house was really stiff and fancy and I was like 23 and wanted to be a bit freer than that so I sublet a room from a grad student and told her it was better for me to be closer to work. Later she bought opera tickets for us to see the Ring, but it was spring break so I canceled on her and visited my girlfriend instead. She has dementia now and is on hospice. We never quite connected like she wanted, but I will always remember that one trip to London and Paris.
I'm off to Kauai and the north shore of Oahu tomorrow, which will be a welcome break from the drama of the past week. My dad died in a house fire last Thursday (condolences not needed -- we hadn't spoken since 2005) and absolutely every record of everything was incinerated. We have no powers of attorney or even his SSN, his wife is missing (unclear whether she was home), and we can't even bury him until she turns up one way or another. I am ready for 10 days of mai tais and not much else.
Sounds like given the situation you're doing exactly what needs to be done to decompress.
Getting death certificates will greatly streamline the estate process, did that when my dad passed away in 2018 and the crematorium actually filled out the paperwork for the state.
It gives you limited power of attorney. There was like a twenty year period after my graduation from Cal when we were estranged for various reasons. So I can understand your situation.
I bid you best wishes as you embark on “10 Days of Rum.”
With any luck, Mark Fox will no longer be employed at Cal when you board the plane to return home following what promises to be nice break. Safe travels my friend.
Just got back from 10 days in Mexico City + Oaxaca. Final taco count: 76. Best meals: Pujol ($$$$ fancy taco omekase), El Turix (streetside conchinita pibil in Mexico City's super expensive neighborhood), and Tacos del Carmen (street side tacos in Oaxaca).
Can't believe it took me this long in life to go to Mexico. I had a wonderful time. I could see myself - well, not moving to Mexico City, the lack of Chinese food would get me sometime - but posting up there for a month.
Just for schitts and giggles, my step-sister and I started looking at property down near Cabo after our trip last week. A 2BR-2BA, 1400 sq ft condo/townhouse in a new, 5-home development in Cerritos beach area near Todos Santos with a communal courtyard and pool, a mile or so from the beach with partial ocean view…..$450,000.
If you were an empty nester, looking to leave the rat race and ready to downsize, you could definitely do a whole lot worse….
My wife and I just bought a 3/2 vacation home down in La Paz with my mother in law. While it isn’t on the beach it is close enough and is in a new development. It has a pool in the community and it cost $110k. If you liked Cabo and Todos Santos, I recommend checking out La Paz. Smaller and less American tourist in La Paz.
I met a few people who are retired snowbirds and have property in Mexico and split their time between (Calgary, Minnesota) and whatever beach community. I would just suggest learning Spanish better than these folks - who had all been part-time Mexico residents for 5+ years and were almost at the level of "tor-TILL-as"
my wife and I ended up with a timeshare during out PVR honeymoon back in '06. The Canadian version of the Ugly Americans there got us to study Spanish for a few years. It's been awhile and I've lost a lot, but can still communicate ok (better than if I were in, say, France).
That's terrible. There's a homeless guy from Central America that hangs out in the local McDonalds most evenings. I've never seen him panhandle so don't know where he gets any money. If I go by, I will give him a dollar and he always asks about the weather. He doesn't speak English even though he's been here for years so I've slowly re-learned some of my HS Spanish. Sounds like I'm light years ahead of those snowbirds.
I don't speak Spanish, but from growing up and living in California, I know just enough Spanish to get myself in trouble and having people think I speak Spanish. I have about 100 words of vocabulary - mainly social interaction + food. I did find early on in my trip, when I ran out of words, my brain would go into Mandarin. I tried to order "agua con 氣" - qi is gas/air in Chinese.
I cursed the TSA agents excessively en Espanol at Los Cabos Airport last week because they were a$$hats. Probably lucky I wasn’t arrested. I was literally the only person in line because I was so early, and they confiscated half my toiletry schitt that I’ve flown everywhere with, including to Cabo, just to pull the power trip. And they were rude. When they confiscated my baseball that I use for massaging my plantar fasciitis I lost my schitt…lots of bad words. Sigh…como se dice “serenity now” en espanol?
agreed, every time i go to Mexico i come back amazed at how great it was, how relatively inexpensive it was for amazing experiences, and why i dont go more often.
never been to Oaxaca - which is certainly on the list - but other places worth going are Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan; Mayan ruins and Tulum and Merida; Guanajuato and San Miguel.
we had a great trip to Guanajuato in the middle of the country. great local vibe and beautiful town and colonial architecture. i little off the beaten path but certainly not unknown.
I'm a big fan of Puerto Vallarta. It's on the tourist road, but at least it's an old historical city, rather than a manufactured resort town like Cabo or Cancun.
Lots of cool towns north of PVR also, in the state of Nayarit.
Cabo felt a lot like a smaller, Mexican Las Vegas. Way more expensive than I had anticipated and lots of manufactured "fun". However we saw tons of whales and I parred the two holes of golf I played at Solomar (the only two complete ones I've played), I went back to just driving the cart after that.
Good point about Puerto Vallarta. It is kind of the best of both worlds in that it is an old historical city but also has nice beaches and resorts. Lots of culture, good food and beaches.
Mazatlan and Acapulco are both nice as well, a step below Puerto Vallarta and maybe a bit more dangerous.
Fun fact about Merida. It’s one of the safest cities in Mexico, if not the safest. Lots of cartel shipments flow through there and most of their families live there (families from most major cartels), and there’s an understanding among the cartels that no one fucks with anyone or anything in Merida.
For a country with a much smaller visible Asian population - I found that I didn't stand out very much being Chinese. You know how you can feel when people notice you - Russia is where I felt it the most - even though they have a large central Asian population.
Giant fan of Oaxaca - a mexican food culture, that honestly we don't get too much here in California - i took a taco tour there and the guide was explaining how much the province was cut off from the rest of Mexico. The highway was built only in the 1970s.
I was in NYC, Philadelphia, and DC last Tues to this Tues. While in Philadelphia, I was telling No 1 that it would be fun to live in NYC for some block of time. I then wondered if I could house/pet sit for people. Looks like there are websites where people are looking for pet sitters for some block of time. I wonder if I could just go from pet/house sitting gig to gig and live in NYC for some number of months. Would be kind of fun. Not sure I could live in NYC long term but would do it for some months. I could go to Philly or maybe stay at HSBs between gigs.
Here's someone else's experience, it is 100% different than mine in terms of tacos eaten (this person also went when it was a lot cheaper and the beverage pairing was free .. . it was decidedly not when I was there)
is, of course, very tasty. not sure if i have a favorite place for it or not. pretty much all the K-town places in NYC are open really late and all pretty good (on 32nd st, i think)
in an all-day work meeting which is a "diversity council kickoff." we are a 200+ person company and this looks to be the first official effort around divesity.
i appreciate that this is a very diverse group and i have lucky to surrounded by it most of my life in one way of the other.
Same, I wonder if the artwork is from the storyboard and development sessions because the artwork is often slightly different than the live action scenes.
If I had to guess - three steps. 1) someone or some people write the story. 2) that guy does the art work 3) the production people use that as a starting point, but under no obligation to create the episodes to match.
I will be that guy. After Andor, going back to a Filoni property like the Mandalorian is disappointing. Andor was just so fucking well done and well written, it’s difficult to go back to the Disney campiness of the Mandalorian. But I will say the direction of the series should get interesting with Mandalorian lore which I’ve always wanted to know more about.
I have the same opinion of Episode 1. It has grown on me over the years. Great fight scenes and great racing scene. If only they could digitally remove all the Jar Jar scenes.
KD returns .. i tried watching but he was on a minutes restriction so didnt see that much as i was also trying to make dinner and cocktails at the same time.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – California earned a second place finish in the 800 freestyle relay on the opening night of the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Swimming Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center on Wednesday evening.
The Golden Bears touched second in the 800-yard freestyle relay with an official time of 6:09.65. The lineup of Patrick Callan (1:32.74 split), Gabriel Jett (1:32.70), Robin Hanson (1:32.73), and Destin Lasco (1:31.75) shaved seven tenths of their NCAA "A" qualifying mark turned at the Minnesota Invitational on November 31.
In the 200 medley, the Bears initially captured second with a time of 1:22.84 but were disqualified for an early exchange along with third place finisher Stanford. With the disqualification, Arizona moved into second with Utah taking third.
BERKELEY – After having half of its matches canceled during the season's opening weekend, the No. 12 California beach volleyball team is set for three straight days of competition this weekend. The Golden Bears will face a quartet of conference opponents as part of the Pac-12 South Invitational on Saturday and Sunday before taking on No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 18 Pepperdine on Monday.
The Pac-12 South Invitational begins Saturday with an 8 a.m. matchup versus No. 4 USC at the Trojans' Merle Norman Stadium in Los Angeles. Then it's a quick turnaround for the Bears who will make their way to UCLA's host site, Mapes Beach, to take on Utah at 2 p.m. Day two of the tournament features two more matches at Merle Norman Stadium with Cal facing Oregon at 8 a.m. and Arizona at noon.
BERKELEY – Trailing 3-0, the 55th-ranked California women's tennis team rallied to get within one of No. 5 Michigan on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex before falling 4-3 in a thrilling nonconference match.
"We were a couple of points away," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "That was a very high-quality dual match between two top teams. I'm proud of our effort today."
The Golden Bears' record now stands at 3-4. The Wolverines improved to 8-1.
BERKELEY – With the final dual meet of the season in the books, the No. 7 California women's gymnastics team is set to gear up for the postseason with three-straight quad meets, starting with LSU's Purple and Gold Classic on Friday. The sixth-ranked Tigers will host Cal, No. 23 Washington and George Washington at 4 p.m. PT at the Raising Cane's River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Golden Bears are looking to get back into winning fashion after posting a 0-1-2 overall record the last three weeks. Their matchup with the Huskies will count towards their Pac-12 record.
The Cal men's rowing team enters this season in a position any program would love: as defending national champions. But as the Bears prepare to open the season this weekend, head coach Scott Frandsen isn't dwelling on the team's recent success.
"I've been trying to reframe that as we're not defending anything," Frandsen said. "This is a whole new campaign with a whole new team and this coming weekend is the first opportunity to go and test our speed and try out some different lineups. Take that first step into external competition. We've had six or seven months of internal competition and now we get to go and race other programs."
The team will begin its 2023 campaign by splitting up the boats between a pair of races. The freshman 8 and 4V will be competing at the California Challenge in Newport Beach on Saturday while the V8, 2V and 3V will head to the Las Vegas Invitational in Henderson, NV for races Saturday and Sunday.
Nine members of the Cal women's swimming & diving team have earned invitations to the 2023 NCAA Championships, to be held March 15-18 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee.
The Bears also qualified all five of their relay teams, including their Pac-12 winning 200-yard medley relay squad.
Cal's nine individual entries will swim in a combined 17 events, led by junior Isabelle Stadden and sophomore Leah Polonsky's three events each. The Bears have four other swimmers competing in two events.
BERKELEY – California guard Jayda Curry was named to the All-Pac-12 team, as voted on by media who regularly cover the conference and announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
It is Curry's second consecutive placement to the media All-Pac-12 Team and follows her earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors as voted on by the league's coaches, which were announced yesterday morning.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - It was a tale of two halves in the Cal women's basketball team's opening-round game against Washington State on Wednesday evening. The 10th-seeded Bears led 27-21 at halftime after holding the Cougars to 25% shooting, but Cal allowed seventh-seeded WSU to get going and shoot 59% in the second half in a 61-49 loss at Michelob Ultra Arena.
"Obviously disappointed with the outcome," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "I thought we had a solid game plan, it started off well, and then just struggled through the third and fourth quarter. Washington State's a good team. So just unfortunately wasn't meant to be for us today."
BERKELEY – Cal has updated its 2023 spring football practice schedule and will now begin its series of 15 official team workouts on Wednesday, March 8. The Cal Football Spring Showcase will conclude spring practice on Saturday, April 15. All sessions at California Memorial Stadium are open to the public and free of charge. Attendees can enter the venue via Gate 2 in the northwest corner of the stadium.
An updated schedule including start times for each of the first 14 practices and Cal's Pro Day on March 23 is below. The start time for the Cal Football Spring Showcase will be announced soon.
Jonesy is home, wearing the cone, sans two little plums that were in his lunch sack whence he woke up this morning…
DBD Travel
Heading to La Paz on Saturday (trip 2 of 3 to SJD before June) for a 7-day sailboat charter with 7 people from our club. It's very exciting, but as I am in charge of all things boat related and it's my first time in these waters I am a little nervous. Hoping for some whales, leaping rays, playful sea lions, crystal clear waters and maaaayyyyyybe a whale shark.
Sounds delightful. Have a blast, Cruzin! We saw tons of whales breaching in Cabo just from the shore alone! They were literally firing up everywhere.
Heading to Chile and Hawaii soon for a couple of science conferences.
Off to Vegas next week for 2 days. Pac12 tournament plus a little fun.
NYC travel booked for end of April. 3 day long weekend trip with wife.
Currently planning summer east coast roadtrip starting in Pittsburgh to visit colleges for my daughter.
Awesome!
I just saw that there's a spot in Pittsburgh near the U where you can visit a piece of the left field wall of Forbes Field. I've been to Pittsburgh twice but not since finding this bit of info out and now I want to go back!
what colleges?
the missus is stricken with jealousy because some friends are in Amsterdam, him because of a conference and her because she managed to get a ticket for the now absolutely sold out blockbuster Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum at the same time as his conference. Apparently it's a BFD in the art enthusiast world, I had no idea. There are rumors that more tickets might come available next week so I told the missus she should go if she can get one, the 18 year old thinks that she should go too just to make sure that my wife doesn't get up to any mischief.
Who going to watch you to make sure you don't get into mischief?
all I do is work at home to pay the mortgage, no monitoring required ;)
Doesn't even eat Jeni's to be able to make next month's mortgage payment.
I support Mrs. and Daughter DC Trojan's quest.
I'm not ruling myself out just yet, but there's time in March where i have to be online b/c my manager will be on PTO, and I can't work OCONUS, as they say
was in Oregon a couple weekends ago for my mother's 80th birthday. Somehow my mother and my brother both tested positive for COVID afterwards, but I have not. (my nieces seem to have dodged it also, and my sister in law got laid out by something but hasn't tested positive so...)
I have a cold and so far have tested negative. A little bit of phelgm and a little bit of coughing.
I'm not going to say that I'm glad you've got a cold but I am glad that I didn't pull a Typhoid Mary on you and TBB
Fingers crossed it isn't a delayed positive like No 3. He was at a party on Sun, had symptoms starting Tues, and didn't test positive until Sat/Sun.
I have to think that if I haven't tested positive by now, with my brother only showing minimal symptoms, I probably am not going to... but who the hell knows, this is a tricky little virus
We still have plenty of other nasty bugs here is the PNW. Covid not required to get a transmittable winter disease!
I came home from Mexico with one, but it's COVID negative so far.
Family vacation is scheduled for the last week of March to La Paz, Mexico.
Off to Portland Oregon next Weds for 5 days. The missus and I have never been and I have a lot of thoughts and prayers that the brutal sciatic pain ive endured the last month disappears by then
You might need to go to one of the many fine gentlemen establishments in Portland and get a lap dance to help rub out that sciatic pain.
Albany, OR is 70 miles away from Portland and probably runs circles around the California one...incidentally Piedmont owned that one, too.
Just saying.
yet Albany, TX is a high school football power in the lower tiers while the Piedmont region on the eastern seaboard grows lots of tobacco and thus kills millions with their cancer. You swine
Smoke up, Johnny!
I'm a huge fan of PDX
Well weed is legal there...
shrug...neither of us partake so indifferent to that
Nothing anytime soon after last week. Kind of in a holding pattern because of my old girl puppers…
Paris and London next month. First trip abroad since the pandemic.
When I was 18 my aunt, who has no children of her own, took me on a trip to London and Paris. It felt so worldly and fancy and amazing and I sort of wondered why she bothered to take me. I think she was reaching out for like a quasi-parent connection, but I never really gave that to her. Her husband was wealthy and she was kind of a patron of the arts so in college I told her I wanted to be a writer and she told me not to try. Later, I went to law school in Chicago where she lived and one of those summers she wanted me to live with her and her husband but their house was really stiff and fancy and I was like 23 and wanted to be a bit freer than that so I sublet a room from a grad student and told her it was better for me to be closer to work. Later she bought opera tickets for us to see the Ring, but it was spring break so I canceled on her and visited my girlfriend instead. She has dementia now and is on hospice. We never quite connected like she wanted, but I will always remember that one trip to London and Paris.
My favorite trip! Have the best time!!!
It was the best of times. . . it was the worst of times
I hear the residents of those cities just LOVE each other! ;-)
I hear that they see each other's underpants
I'm off to Kauai and the north shore of Oahu tomorrow, which will be a welcome break from the drama of the past week. My dad died in a house fire last Thursday (condolences not needed -- we hadn't spoken since 2005) and absolutely every record of everything was incinerated. We have no powers of attorney or even his SSN, his wife is missing (unclear whether she was home), and we can't even bury him until she turns up one way or another. I am ready for 10 days of mai tais and not much else.
Sounds like given the situation you're doing exactly what needs to be done to decompress.
Getting death certificates will greatly streamline the estate process, did that when my dad passed away in 2018 and the crematorium actually filled out the paperwork for the state.
It gives you limited power of attorney. There was like a twenty year period after my graduation from Cal when we were estranged for various reasons. So I can understand your situation.
I'm glad you're going to be able to go somewhere else and do absolutely nothing
@so expect Scootie to post lots of comments to the DBD next week@
Too bad you can't post pictures to DBD
Leave it too Scootie to top everything! Except it is usually better, not incredibly worse!
Sounds like you need a break!
WOW - really rough, sorry Scootie
I bid you best wishes as you embark on “10 Days of Rum.”
With any luck, Mark Fox will no longer be employed at Cal when you board the plane to return home following what promises to be nice break. Safe travels my friend.
Monty says firing Mark Fox won't solve Cal's problems.
That’s just silly of Monty and is spoken like a charter member of the good-old boy coach’s fraternity.
Cal needs to get younger and more relatable. Also, is there a more useless set of assistant coaches than Wilson, Francis and Harriman…tits on a bull.
I disagree because we only need to recruit three four stars or five stars to be competitive. He blames academic standards.
Is the basketball season ending next week?
It ended months ago.
What basketball season?
Jimmy, seriously, WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY WAITING FOR???
Right!!??! Such an awful look!
A veritable mob of Cal alumni with pitchforks and torches.
If that happens, Knowlton better be going with him…
Oh that is so awful. If ever in human history a person was deserving of a stiff drink on the beach, it is you, now!
I hope you get the break and recharge you need.
oh man, I saw your post on IG - but the added complications - wow. I hope Hawaii is going to be a nice break from this
Just got back from 10 days in Mexico City + Oaxaca. Final taco count: 76. Best meals: Pujol ($$$$ fancy taco omekase), El Turix (streetside conchinita pibil in Mexico City's super expensive neighborhood), and Tacos del Carmen (street side tacos in Oaxaca).
Can't believe it took me this long in life to go to Mexico. I had a wonderful time. I could see myself - well, not moving to Mexico City, the lack of Chinese food would get me sometime - but posting up there for a month.
Just for schitts and giggles, my step-sister and I started looking at property down near Cabo after our trip last week. A 2BR-2BA, 1400 sq ft condo/townhouse in a new, 5-home development in Cerritos beach area near Todos Santos with a communal courtyard and pool, a mile or so from the beach with partial ocean view…..$450,000.
If you were an empty nester, looking to leave the rat race and ready to downsize, you could definitely do a whole lot worse….
My wife and I just bought a 3/2 vacation home down in La Paz with my mother in law. While it isn’t on the beach it is close enough and is in a new development. It has a pool in the community and it cost $110k. If you liked Cabo and Todos Santos, I recommend checking out La Paz. Smaller and less American tourist in La Paz.
yeah, only been there once, but LaPaz was great! A smaller PVR.
That sounds awesome! Nice work!!
I met a few people who are retired snowbirds and have property in Mexico and split their time between (Calgary, Minnesota) and whatever beach community. I would just suggest learning Spanish better than these folks - who had all been part-time Mexico residents for 5+ years and were almost at the level of "tor-TILL-as"
my wife and I ended up with a timeshare during out PVR honeymoon back in '06. The Canadian version of the Ugly Americans there got us to study Spanish for a few years. It's been awhile and I've lost a lot, but can still communicate ok (better than if I were in, say, France).
That's terrible. There's a homeless guy from Central America that hangs out in the local McDonalds most evenings. I've never seen him panhandle so don't know where he gets any money. If I go by, I will give him a dollar and he always asks about the weather. He doesn't speak English even though he's been here for years so I've slowly re-learned some of my HS Spanish. Sounds like I'm light years ahead of those snowbirds.
I don't speak Spanish, but from growing up and living in California, I know just enough Spanish to get myself in trouble and having people think I speak Spanish. I have about 100 words of vocabulary - mainly social interaction + food. I did find early on in my trip, when I ran out of words, my brain would go into Mandarin. I tried to order "agua con 氣" - qi is gas/air in Chinese.
I cursed the TSA agents excessively en Espanol at Los Cabos Airport last week because they were a$$hats. Probably lucky I wasn’t arrested. I was literally the only person in line because I was so early, and they confiscated half my toiletry schitt that I’ve flown everywhere with, including to Cabo, just to pull the power trip. And they were rude. When they confiscated my baseball that I use for massaging my plantar fasciitis I lost my schitt…lots of bad words. Sigh…como se dice “serenity now” en espanol?
I also asked for "agua con gas" once and got aqua and a conga (which was a nice fruity drink). That's Spain; Mexico is "aqua mineral".
They could learn more just by studying Cerrano in Major League….
Ayudame en este momento…
agreed, every time i go to Mexico i come back amazed at how great it was, how relatively inexpensive it was for amazing experiences, and why i dont go more often.
never been to Oaxaca - which is certainly on the list - but other places worth going are Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan; Mayan ruins and Tulum and Merida; Guanajuato and San Miguel.
I've been to Mexico a few times, but only near SD border. I want to go to other areas.
I love Meixcan food. Which city do you recommend the most?
we had a great trip to Guanajuato in the middle of the country. great local vibe and beautiful town and colonial architecture. i little off the beaten path but certainly not unknown.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6eYbRLFRPjDvTxgUA
the place people say is nice is Sayulita - just north of Puerto Vallarta (but i see that people are aleady talking about that)
Thank you
I'm a big fan of Puerto Vallarta. It's on the tourist road, but at least it's an old historical city, rather than a manufactured resort town like Cabo or Cancun.
Lots of cool towns north of PVR also, in the state of Nayarit.
Cabo felt a lot like a smaller, Mexican Las Vegas. Way more expensive than I had anticipated and lots of manufactured "fun". However we saw tons of whales and I parred the two holes of golf I played at Solomar (the only two complete ones I've played), I went back to just driving the cart after that.
Thanks. I knew it was a touristy spot, but didn't know it has a historic taste as well.
yeah, very large old town. cobblestone roads and everything!
can take a water taxi to Yelapa (kinda Catalina-esque).
Good point about Puerto Vallarta. It is kind of the best of both worlds in that it is an old historical city but also has nice beaches and resorts. Lots of culture, good food and beaches.
Mazatlan and Acapulco are both nice as well, a step below Puerto Vallarta and maybe a bit more dangerous.
Couple of co-workers went to Mazatlan (north part of Nayarit) in the last few months and thought it was great...no safety probs.
Acapulco is a fun ATV+ show ;-) I looked up where Las Colinas is, and it's actually in PVR...will need to check it out next time.
It depends on what you’re looking for as Mexico is very large and diverse.
I'm looking for quick 2-3 day trip, and want to explore food and culture.
I would recommend Mexico City, Oaxaca or Pueblo.
Mexico City. - very European feel. Food from all over the country.
If you add in another place, Oaxaca really felt like the move according to my research.
Thank you.
Fun fact about Merida. It’s one of the safest cities in Mexico, if not the safest. Lots of cartel shipments flow through there and most of their families live there (families from most major cartels), and there’s an understanding among the cartels that no one fucks with anyone or anything in Merida.
But what if you are Asian and don't look like any family member of cartels?
For a country with a much smaller visible Asian population - I found that I didn't stand out very much being Chinese. You know how you can feel when people notice you - Russia is where I felt it the most - even though they have a large central Asian population.
My understanding of Russia is that having a large central Asian population != liking a large central population
it's like the sunday truce in Baltimore!
Giant fan of Oaxaca - a mexican food culture, that honestly we don't get too much here in California - i took a taco tour there and the guide was explaining how much the province was cut off from the rest of Mexico. The highway was built only in the 1970s.
I was in NYC, Philadelphia, and DC last Tues to this Tues. While in Philadelphia, I was telling No 1 that it would be fun to live in NYC for some block of time. I then wondered if I could house/pet sit for people. Looks like there are websites where people are looking for pet sitters for some block of time. I wonder if I could just go from pet/house sitting gig to gig and live in NYC for some number of months. Would be kind of fun. Not sure I could live in NYC long term but would do it for some months. I could go to Philly or maybe stay at HSBs between gigs.
So, try www.trustedhousesitters.com
You’re free whenever to come stay in SB awhile and watch the pups…I’ll hit the road….come in April, and I’ll see you, what, August?
Whenever I end up making the Hwy 1 drive I will stop by. Maybe not for 4 months though...
a whole free floor w/ a private bathroom you can stay in semi-indefinitely.
just not right in NYC - which admittedly is much cooler.
we think about getting rid of the house once the kids are gone and just renting a place in NYC + a home upstate or VT or something.
I would make pizzas for you in exchange.
Oh, taco omekase. That sounds amazing.
Pujol is the place w/ the 1000-day mole, a couple Michelin stars, etc, right?
I think the mole is well over 2000 days old at this point and may be inching closer to 3000
we know a Mexican born chef who used to work there. he was in NYC for a bit and now has his own restaurant in London
Was he at Cosme in NYC?
yup. that's the one.
that is a nice night out of Mexican food in NYC. we were lucky that the kitchen sent out lots of little extras in addition to everything we ordered.
there is also a related place that is a little more low-key called Atla in NOHO.
Currently ranked #5 on the best restaurants in the world list
https://www.theworlds50best.com/the-list/1-10/pujol.html
Here's someone else's experience, it is 100% different than mine in terms of tacos eaten (this person also went when it was a lot cheaper and the beverage pairing was free .. . it was decidedly not when I was there)
https://lanniesfoodandtravel.com/2018/09/28/pujol-taco-omakase/
Korean BBQ
Koreatown LA has the best spread of KBBQ places I've ever been - and yes I've been to Seoul.
Do you know any good ones in Orange County?
I can't say that I've ever eaten Korean BBQ in Orange County, but I have been the original Baekjeong and that was pretty good.
https://la.eater.com/maps/best-korean-barbecue-orange-county-garden-grove-buena-park-irvine
Thank you for the link.
I've been to Baekjeong in Irvine many times and it's really good.
It's been a LONG time since I've been to the LA one - the SF one is at least good.
is, of course, very tasty. not sure if i have a favorite place for it or not. pretty much all the K-town places in NYC are open really late and all pretty good (on 32nd st, i think)
Diversity
Day. The first original The Office episode, since the first one was basically a UK episode. Some great lines in that episode.
in an all-day work meeting which is a "diversity council kickoff." we are a 200+ person company and this looks to be the first official effort around divesity.
i appreciate that this is a very diverse group and i have lucky to surrounded by it most of my life in one way of the other.
FAMOUS STEPHENS (OR STEVENS)
Domingo. A highly rated terrible shooter
some dipshit on this message board
Craig. Tight end at Cal in the oughts.
And Eric, a fullback
Chow
Baldwin
Creek
Steven Universe
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
DBD A/V CLUB
Just switched to Sling from Fubo, now that Sling added ABC/KGO. $25/month cheaper, plus Turner networks just in time for March Madness.
But boy howdy does the sling GUI and lack of customization suck. Not enough for me to switch back...yet.
C.B. Strike. Watched the first 3 episodes…Brit P.I. - enjoyed it.
I watched S3E1 of The Mandalorian last night and I enjoyed it.
ALSO - one thing I LOVE about Mandalorian is the artwork in the credits, love love, love that part every episode.
Same, I wonder if the artwork is from the storyboard and development sessions because the artwork is often slightly different than the live action scenes.
I also like the music/score from Mando.
If I had to guess - three steps. 1) someone or some people write the story. 2) that guy does the art work 3) the production people use that as a starting point, but under no obligation to create the episodes to match.
I will be that guy. After Andor, going back to a Filoni property like the Mandalorian is disappointing. Andor was just so fucking well done and well written, it’s difficult to go back to the Disney campiness of the Mandalorian. But I will say the direction of the series should get interesting with Mandalorian lore which I’ve always wanted to know more about.
I enjoy both but they are very different. Andor feels more like Rogue One in that it is a bit darker and grittier.
While Mando feels more like the first trilogy with a fun action, adventure and a bit more campiness.
Andor is high level television
Mando is fun adventure of the week with a little baby.
I highly enjoy both!
YES! Good start.
Spoiler alert: Grogu still cute.
DAMMIT MAN COME ON
i like it best when he goes on a feeding frenzy and seems to just eat anything within reach.
<Grogue grugles curiously>
i must have missed that it was out already!
but makes sense ..
i actually watched Episode 1 last night .. just for fun
who watched Episode 1, just for fun? In fact, who watches Episode 1 at all?
despite the complaints about Jar Jar, which i share, i still rather like it.
the Darth Maul fight scene is probably the best of all the light saber duels across all 9 episodes.
I have the same opinion of Episode 1. It has grown on me over the years. Great fight scenes and great racing scene. If only they could digitally remove all the Jar Jar scenes.
PRO
KD returns .. i tried watching but he was on a minutes restriction so didnt see that much as i was also trying to make dinner and cocktails at the same time.
CAL
[MSWIM] Bears Take Second In 800 Free Relay
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/mens-swimming-diving-bears-take-second-in-free-relay-to-open-pac-12-championships.aspx
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – California earned a second place finish in the 800 freestyle relay on the opening night of the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Swimming Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center on Wednesday evening.
The Golden Bears touched second in the 800-yard freestyle relay with an official time of 6:09.65. The lineup of Patrick Callan (1:32.74 split), Gabriel Jett (1:32.70), Robin Hanson (1:32.73), and Destin Lasco (1:31.75) shaved seven tenths of their NCAA "A" qualifying mark turned at the Minnesota Invitational on November 31.
In the 200 medley, the Bears initially captured second with a time of 1:22.84 but were disqualified for an early exchange along with third place finisher Stanford. With the disqualification, Arizona moved into second with Utah taking third.
[BVB] No. 12 Cal To Play Six Matches in Three Days
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/beach-volleyball-no-12-cal-to-play-six-matches-in-three-days.aspx
BERKELEY – After having half of its matches canceled during the season's opening weekend, the No. 12 California beach volleyball team is set for three straight days of competition this weekend. The Golden Bears will face a quartet of conference opponents as part of the Pac-12 South Invitational on Saturday and Sunday before taking on No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 18 Pepperdine on Monday.
The Pac-12 South Invitational begins Saturday with an 8 a.m. matchup versus No. 4 USC at the Trojans' Merle Norman Stadium in Los Angeles. Then it's a quick turnaround for the Bears who will make their way to UCLA's host site, Mapes Beach, to take on Utah at 2 p.m. Day two of the tournament features two more matches at Merle Norman Stadium with Cal facing Oregon at 8 a.m. and Arizona at noon.
[WTEN] Cal Rally Falls Short Against Michigan
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/womens-tennis-cal-rally-falls-short-against-michigan.aspx
BERKELEY – Trailing 3-0, the 55th-ranked California women's tennis team rallied to get within one of No. 5 Michigan on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex before falling 4-3 in a thrilling nonconference match.
"We were a couple of points away," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "That was a very high-quality dual match between two top teams. I'm proud of our effort today."
The Golden Bears' record now stands at 3-4. The Wolverines improved to 8-1.
[WGYM] No. 7 Cal Set For Purple And Gold Classic
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/womens-gymnastics-no-7-cal-set-for-purple-and-gold-classic.aspx
BERKELEY – With the final dual meet of the season in the books, the No. 7 California women's gymnastics team is set to gear up for the postseason with three-straight quad meets, starting with LSU's Purple and Gold Classic on Friday. The sixth-ranked Tigers will host Cal, No. 23 Washington and George Washington at 4 p.m. PT at the Raising Cane's River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Golden Bears are looking to get back into winning fashion after posting a 0-1-2 overall record the last three weeks. Their matchup with the Huskies will count towards their Pac-12 record.
[MROW] 2023 Season Begins Saturday
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/mens-rowing-ncaa-title-defense-begins-saturday.aspx
The Cal men's rowing team enters this season in a position any program would love: as defending national champions. But as the Bears prepare to open the season this weekend, head coach Scott Frandsen isn't dwelling on the team's recent success.
"I've been trying to reframe that as we're not defending anything," Frandsen said. "This is a whole new campaign with a whole new team and this coming weekend is the first opportunity to go and test our speed and try out some different lineups. Take that first step into external competition. We've had six or seven months of internal competition and now we get to go and race other programs."
The team will begin its 2023 campaign by splitting up the boats between a pair of races. The freshman 8 and 4V will be competing at the California Challenge in Newport Beach on Saturday while the V8, 2V and 3V will head to the Las Vegas Invitational in Henderson, NV for races Saturday and Sunday.
[WSWIM] Nine Individuals, Five Relays Earn NCAA Invites
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/womens-swimming-diving-nine-individuals-five-relays-earn-ncaa-womens-swimming-invites.aspx
Nine members of the Cal women's swimming & diving team have earned invitations to the 2023 NCAA Championships, to be held March 15-18 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee.
The Bears also qualified all five of their relay teams, including their Pac-12 winning 200-yard medley relay squad.
Cal's nine individual entries will swim in a combined 17 events, led by junior Isabelle Stadden and sophomore Leah Polonsky's three events each. The Bears have four other swimmers competing in two events.
[WBB] Curry Earns Media Conference Honors
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/womens-basketball-curry-earns-media-conference-honors.aspx
BERKELEY – California guard Jayda Curry was named to the All-Pac-12 team, as voted on by media who regularly cover the conference and announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
It is Curry's second consecutive placement to the media All-Pac-12 Team and follows her earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors as voted on by the league's coaches, which were announced yesterday morning.
[WBB] Cal Falls To Washington State In Pac-12 Tournament
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/womens-basketball-cal-falls-to-washington-state-in-pac-12-tournament.aspx
LAS VEGAS (AP) - It was a tale of two halves in the Cal women's basketball team's opening-round game against Washington State on Wednesday evening. The 10th-seeded Bears led 27-21 at halftime after holding the Cougars to 25% shooting, but Cal allowed seventh-seeded WSU to get going and shoot 59% in the second half in a 61-49 loss at Michelob Ultra Arena.
"Obviously disappointed with the outcome," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "I thought we had a solid game plan, it started off well, and then just struggled through the third and fourth quarter. Washington State's a good team. So just unfortunately wasn't meant to be for us today."
[FB] Spring Football Practice To Start March 8
https://calbears.com/news/2023/3/1/spring-football-practice-to-start-march-8.aspx
BERKELEY – Cal has updated its 2023 spring football practice schedule and will now begin its series of 15 official team workouts on Wednesday, March 8. The Cal Football Spring Showcase will conclude spring practice on Saturday, April 15. All sessions at California Memorial Stadium are open to the public and free of charge. Attendees can enter the venue via Gate 2 in the northwest corner of the stadium.
An updated schedule including start times for each of the first 14 practices and Cal's Pro Day on March 23 is below. The start time for the Cal Football Spring Showcase will be announced soon.
Go Bears!!!