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On this day in 1865 Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln attended a production of the play Our American Cousin. Abe quickly grew bored and when informed that the play ran for sixty more minutes, reportedly said, "another hour? someone just shoot me." Or so legend has it.

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Too soon

;-)

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Silly joke - but it made me think - was this play any good? Does it get revivals?

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Apr 14, 2022·edited Apr 14, 2022Author

"Apart from that, Mrs.Lincoln, how was the play?"

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Good questions. I know it was popular in its time and indeed was still being regularly put on into the early 20th century. Don't know about since then.

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Our American Cousin premiered in New York on October 15, 1858. After several weeks of performances, Sothern began portraying the role more broadly, as a lisping, skipping, eccentric, weak-minded fop prone to nonsensical references to sayings of his "bwother" Sam.[2] His ad-libs were a sensation, earning good notices for his physical comedy and spawning much imitation and mockery in both the United States and England. Sothern gradually expanded the role, adding gags and business until it became the central figure of the play. The most famous scene involved Dundreary reading a letter from his even sillier brother. The play ran for 150 nights, which was very successful for a New York run at the time

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Ukraine

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I go by the Russian Embassy about once a week on a run but missed this last night.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/14/ukrainian-flag-spotlight-russian-embassy/

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Russia says "You sunk my battleship"

"Russia said its warship "remains afloat" after a fire detonated ammunition on board, while Ukrainian officials said the Moskva was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles and has sunk."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/europe/russia-navy-cruiser-moskva-fire-abandoned-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

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So did the ship sink? I have seen conflicting reports.

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Also, looks as if the Ukrainians did hit it with a cruise missile. Ship is not under tow.

Russia’s Black Sea missile cruiser Moskva suffered an "explosion” off the coast of Ukraine and was still on fire as it appeared to be heading east to the port city of Sevastopol for repairs, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

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Russia confirms it sank hahaha

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It’s a bad look for Russia either way.

1. It was hit by Ukrainian forces is bad from a militarily standpoint.

2. It sunk due to fire looked bad from a competence standpoint.

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If you were in the Russian military right now, what are the odds you’d go out of your way to stay on a blazing ship (or other pending debacle) without the traditional motivation of a firing squad behind you? Slim, I suspect

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My Dad was in the Navy, due to the advancement in missile technology he said by the time of his retirement in 1995 that surface vessels were basically vulnerable to attack, even U.S. aircraft carriers.

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It kinda doesn't matter, it's too damaged to be used for years. The US eventually got some of the battleships damaged at Pearl repaired - but 2 1/2 years later. I doubt the Russians will be faster.

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True but I suppose the symbolism and LOLs of this ship actually sinking would be powerful.

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They're getting their asses kicked like it's the battle of Tsushima

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Elsewhere in college

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But I thought the talent was increasing under Wilcox.

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Not strictly sports but I’ve been getting routine updates from the great college search 2022, and let’s just say I don’t have to worry about supporting any new football teams 😂

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Yeah, GW doesn't have a football team...

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I was going to ask, "Any Quidditch teams?" and then I started wondering what your daughters and their friends think of Harry Potter these days.

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My younger daughter is about the least team-sport person I know, for what that’s worth, possibly even including me. As for Potter related stuff, it’s been an example of separating the “art” from the “artist.” I was kind of expecting to see a more absolutist response but not thus far.

Relatedly my older daughter decided to watch a couple of Woody Allen films to see what the fuss was about & concluded that 1) she’s not at all surprised he ran off with a teenager, and 2) his recent films suck and nothing is lost by canceling him 😂

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He shouldn't be canceled though. Unlike the vast majority of people I've actually taken the time to studiy both sides of the issue and have no doubt that he is innocent of his step daughter's charges. This is an excellent summary https://ronanfarrowletter.wordpress.com/2019/04/08/the-truth-about-woody-allen-part-i/ Then there's this from Moses Farrow one of Mia's other adopted children http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com

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See the thing is I don’t need a research effort to see someone leave his wife for his stepdaughter, offer in his defense “the heart wants what it wants,” and conclude that he’s a shitbag.

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See this is your and many other people's problem. Soon-Yi was not his step daughter. She was Andre Previn's step daughter. Woody played no part in raising her, they never lived under the same roof. He did not leave Mia for her. They had already broken up. So you don't know what the fuck you're talking about and are happy in your ignorance not wanting to do any "research" because you might learn something that contradicts your mistaken preconceptions.

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Recent films, sure - but she's missing out if she doesn't watch his better films, and he has quite a few greats.

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Would that be the one where he finds happiness with a teenager, or the other one where he finds happiness with a teenager?

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Apr 14, 2022·edited Apr 14, 2022

Only in one of nearly 50 films does he "find happiness with a teenager," Manhattan. His greats include Annie Hall, Match Point, Hannah and Her Sisters. Radio Days, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Midnight in Paris, Blue Jasmine, Broadway Danny Rose, Zelig and Love and Death.

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Annie Hall? Teenager?

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The Fantastic Beasts pre-quel series of movies doesn't even have the "Art" of entertaining like the first 8 films. I'm like the most lenient film viewer I know and I think it's dreck.

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First two are for kiddies, last two are dreck as well.

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Maybe some updates on Classics groups and weird drinking clubs

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Today in Covid

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Negative at last!

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woohoo!! Congrats!

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Yay! pop the bubbly!

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Apr 14, 2022·edited Apr 14, 2022

Dozens of Marin County students test positive for COVID after school trip to DC

https://abc7news.com/ba-2-variant-omicron-marin-county-8th-grade-students-covid/11745189/

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did they test positive (because they got tested)? or were they actually sick?

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😂😂😂😂😂 you’re welcome America for no inside masking in museums

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I was surprised that about 50% of the visitors at museums were wearing masks this past weekend. A surprisingly high percentage in my opinion.

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Oh no I just spent the weekend in DC too.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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DC's tourist attractions are a bit like Disneyworld where you get a cross section of America. I don't know why I should be surprised at the middle school groups from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana -- lines of 200 Caucasian students wearing identical school tour tshirts and wearing MAGA hats.

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When I was a DC home-owner I used to tell myself they were helping keep my property tax under control. My favorite “cross section of America” location has always been the zoo.

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Speaking of DMV real estate https://twitter.com/zillowgonewild/status/1513884934573895690?s=20&t=64E9Oei6Sz7PsqKGd_FUgQ

Per the listing this $800k Fairfax, VA home is being sold “CASH OFFERS ONLY NO ACCESS to see lower level and Home sold AS IS ONLY with acknowledgement that home will convey with a person(s) living in lower level with no lease in place”

Yes, there is at least one (1) person living in the basement, maybe two. And the homeowners are unwilling to evict. So you gotta buy the house without seeing the basement or any guidance on how to get the person in the basement out.

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$800k is not out of line for a house in that location which needs that much work OR a house with a weird tenant issue, but both might be too much

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Maybe it's parasite (the movie)

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CHUD reboot

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That's pretty much how that whole Nick Sandmann kerfuffle started: a strange cross-section of America dropped into one location together.

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After living in China and really only visiting California, New York, Oregon and Houston for the past 15 years - I was SHOCKED by the state of the American populace when I went to Disneyworld 3 years ago. We need a national "get on the treadmill" program - myself included. But man.

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I've actually noticed relatively fewer MAGA hats lately. Still, one is more than I would care to see.

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Shocking but not shocking about middle school kids wearing MAGA hats. The cult is going to cult.

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PRO

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Packers replaced DeVante Adams with Sammy Watkins

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Cleveland's Steven Kwan, formely Oregon Stater and Fremont native, finally strikes out after historic start:

https://www.mlb.com/news/steven-kwan-s-streak-without-swing-and-miss-ends

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Good ballplayer, the kid is legit. His bat to ball ratio skills are amazing and though his exit velocity isn't incredible, when you make contact as consistently as he does to all fields, you're gonna find the holes. Plus he's got a great eye, and will take a walk.

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The Giants were on their best behavior while beating the Padres

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/4/13/23024290/giants-padres-recap-logan-webb-camilo-doval

Wow, Bob Melvin must be a happy man.

Sure, his San Diego Padres lost 2-1, and yeah, their offense looks like it will have a very difficult time filling the hole left by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s motorcycle, but none of that really matters.

What matters is that Melvin got to engage in a good old respectful afternoon challenge, full of dignity and manners. The San Francisco Giants looked him in the eyes on Wednesday, and shook his hand with a firmness that made Melvin know they were serious. They said “please,” and “thank you,” and referred to Melvin as “sir, and mister.”

They were on their best behavior, that’s what it’s really all about.

There were no bunts or stolen bases while up nine runs, or anything else equally immoral and offensive. There was just good old fashioned baseball, the way the grumpy old dudes like it.

There was even shared respect!

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Kap is not here for Bob Melvin's bullshit or fans of unwritten rules.

https://twitter.com/SamHustis/status/1514314575155372032

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No excuses. Just do it.

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Will be interesting to see if the Giants claim shenanigans if teams do this to them. Would be interesting to see what teams would try this. Going to guess the Cardinals won't. Nor will the LaRussa led White Sox.

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The Bochy era Giants definitely had some guys who would loudly complain about this stuff. Madison Bumgarner in particular.

Loved those teams, but don't miss that part.

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Oh god if MadBum had Brian McCann as a catcher, you'd better just put your head down and run around the bases if you dared to hit a HR. Don't even try to get it out of the ocean.

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I feel like he's pretty consistent on this. He doesn't bitch about umps either. I'd be surprised if they were to complain if someone broke an unwritten rule against them.

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Yeah he has said that. Just curious if teams do it over and over what they'd do. Although probably teams will just do it once or twice and that'd be it. They still wouldn't want the Giants to keep doing it over and over.

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Clayton Kershaw perfect in his 2022 debut

https://www.truebluela.com/2022/4/13/23023737/clayton-kershaw-perfect-dodgers-twins

One start does not make a season, but Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday did more than enough to push aside concerns about his health, authoring one of the best starts of his career.

Kershaw struck out 13 in seven perfect innings in his first start of the season, in the Dodgers’ 7-0 win over the Twins. Kershaw wasn’t permitted to pitch beyond the eighth, which isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s paid attention to Dave Roberts’ managerial career.

In his 80 pitches, Kershaw was as dominant as his stat line implied, but especially with his devastating slider. Kershaw got 17 swings and misses on the pitch, and finished off his first 11 strikeouts with his bread-and-butter pitch. The last two strikeouts came on a fastball (looking) and a curveball (swinging) to complete the baker’s dozen, the 16th time Kershaw has struck out that many in a game (including the postseason).

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A's relievers survive a couple tense, late-game situations to secure a 4-2 win over the Rays

https://twitter.com/Athletics/status/1514419195659763714

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Game #6: Murphy, Montas lead A’s to 4-2 win

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/4/13/23024406/game-6-murphy-montas-lead-win-over-rays

The A’s won a close one on Wednesday evening, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2.

A stellar starting performance from Frankie Montas came at the perfect time for a recently overused bullpen. Sean Murphy got his first home run of the season to lead the offense. And Lou Trivino bounced back from yesterday’s outing to nail down the win and get his first save of the year, although not without a little scare there in the 9th.

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Apr 14, 2022·edited Apr 14, 2022

A's game 7 (today)

A's down Rays 6-3 behind Cole Irvin. Check out the Little League inside the park home run by Cristian Pache:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/athletics-vs-rays/2022/04/14/661942#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=661942

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CAL

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Go Bears!!!

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Favorite metal

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Band Maid is pretty good. Thought it'd be just a gimmick, but they have some rockers.

https://www.youtube.com/user/BANDMAID

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Sabbath, forever, always.

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See below...way below (Maiden posts)

Paranoid is by far the best album

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Vol 4, but really, I find the first 6 albums interchangeable in their greatness. They came out of the gate fully formed creating an entire genre--sound, aesthetics, all of it.

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"by far" was probably too strong a phrase. But having War Pigs and Iron Man on one album? [chefs kiss]

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Olaf's BERSERKER

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Did he say "making fuck"?

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My love for you is ticking clock

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He did. Or something of that ilk.

Is “Chewbacca, what a Wookie“ from that? Or is that a diff song from the credits of Clerks?

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Not from the credits - it's the next scene.

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really? maybe the full version of Chewbacca is in the credits? will have to rewatch after vacation.

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I like metal, but it's not what I listen to mostly - I can't remember exactly when, late 80's early 90's there was an afternoon DJ on KALX that played a huge and wide variety of metal after I sort of drifted away, called him up on his last show to thank him for expanding my idea of what metal could be, he seemed genuinely touched.

I guess I like "classic" metal - tenor voices, not death/black metal, can't get past voices that sound like they're trying to rip out their own throats

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DJ: Pig Farmer IIRC

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Silver. Or platinum.

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The supposed story is that Iron Butterly invented the term "heavy metal" - it's iron because it's heavy, it's butterfly because it's light.

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I. Ron Butterly. "In the Garden of Eden"

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Wait a minute...this sounds like rock and or roll!

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Remember when we used to make out to this hymn?

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To whom are you addressing your question? Wasn't me.

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Music: Tool. Their experimental off-rhythm beat and the lead singer's surprisingly lyrical voice is an awesome contrast.

Material: Anything they use on Forged in Fire. That show is cool.

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You’re right about Tool being metal but I guess I never really considered them metal for the reasons you mention. A Perfect Circle, also a Maynard led band is great.

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I don't like heavy metal. There are some individual songs I do like but overall I don't like metal.

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I like a lot of heavy rock, but most of what's described as "metal" isn't for me. I prefer the more blues-based stuff like AC/DC or Zeppelin.

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you are wrong

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Metallica I guess.

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meh, nothing relevant made for 30 years

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I mean AC/DC wrote the same song for 50 years.

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is true...I guess Metallica is such a disappointment for me in that they were super relevant to me growing up in the 80's and I listened to all their stuff non stop for a decade. The black album was great but was rock and not metal at all. Everything after that has been complete and utter dogshit, to the point where I now cringe when I hear James Hetfield's voice. So much meh now

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I caught them with Cliff at the Coliseum near the bottom of a bill that mostly hair metal (Scorps, Ratt, Y&T, Yngwie Malmsteen). They just destroyed the rest of the bill. 'Bell Tolls' sounded like it was written for a stadium. Definitely a coming out party for them. They were so grimey and real. I tried to like the Black album, but never the same after that and progressively worse/embarrassing.

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Eh, they did, post 1980.

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Correct, they wrote one song for the decade prior to that, then another song for the rest of their career after.

And I love them both.

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This song is about sex/being in a rock and roll band/driving fast!

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I was randomly listening to a set of 18 AC/DC songs from 1980 onward, and then Led Zep's Physical Graffiti came on, and I swear that AC/DC post 1980 was heavily influenced by that album.

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This starts to become true for most artists who have been around for a while. Doesn't matter, because people will still come to hear them play the hits.

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Is there good/relevant metal that is recent? I am not being coy, I honestly just think of it as like an 80s to early 90s thing that faded when grunge came on the scene and kind of never returned

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If by relevant you mean popular. I guess Mastadon is as popular as a modern metal band gets. And High on Fire for sure. But tons and tons of great metal bands, but more extreme and experimental.

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Golden Oso has forgotten more about metal than I'll ever know, however

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oh man, the metal landscape is vast and varied and there are 20 or 30 genres in there. I am not much for the grunting/screaming of vocals although a few bands like Lamb of God or Messuggah are really good. I love Mastodon, they are one of THE great live bands IMO. Slayer was great live but their studio albums left something to be desired for me... Power Trip's lead singer died last year, they were an incredible mix of thrash music with punk style vocals. Went to a live show a couple weeks back...Ministry, The Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity...phenomenal. There is a lot of stuff I like 1 or 2 songs of. Gojira has grown on me over the years for example.

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Haven't really listened to Metallica since the early 90's.

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No, there's tons of good metal out there - I'm not necessarily the guy to give you tips, however.

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GO and FS (and LMFS) seem to be the resident metal heads.

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Bismuth, due to its iridescent coloring and MC Escher-esque structure

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Wismut_Kristall_und_1cm3_Wuerfel.jpg

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I used some bismuth-filled 3d printing filament. Hefty stuff, intended for Xray shielding.

https://www.toybuilderlabs.com/collections/gmass/products/gmass-high-density-abs-175-2700

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Music: first two Iron Maiden albums

Material: Molybdenum (just because of the cool spelling). Well and when I had a BMX bike in my youth, chrome-moly was the material of choice.

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My first concert was Maiden at the Cow Palace on the Powerslave tour. Still Di'Anno > Dickinson

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I gave my Sabbath bit here via the email Reply, assuming that your post was in the same thread...

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My second concert was Maiden, Scorpions, Girlschool (Coliseum Arena). Number of the Beast tour. And yes: Di'Anno >>> Dickinson.

Never saw Sabbath (Ronnie James Dio was singer when I started heavy metal-ing), but my first concert was Ozzy (just after Randy Rhodes died).

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Girlschool are super underrated. Took me a long time to get to the 70s Scorps era albums, but I love Virgin Killers and In Trance. Never saw Sabbath. So dumb. Or Motorhead either. Maybe dumber. Or the Ramones (I know, not metal, but still elemental).

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I was there for Maiden, not Scorps. It was the Blackout tour...not even "Rock You Like a Hurricane"-level schlock, but getting there. Altho, 17-yo me dug them at the time.

Also was into Judas Priest, but listening to them now (or even 30 years ago), the musicality compared to Maiden was a joke.

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Blackout was a good album. Might have been the first cassette I bought with my own dough. I think I went to the store for Pyromania and came out with Blackout instead. Scorps stuff definitely got schlocky. I pretty quickly pivoted to hardcore when I discovered that and (cough) REM. But I came back to metal eventually.

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4130 chromoly steel! I had a bmx bike with chromoly frame, forks, etc. It was an indestructible tank and about as heavy as one.

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It's pretty amazing how light bikes are these days. I would guess that the pro BMXer wouldn't be able to do some of the same tricks with old bikes.

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I checked out of curiosity and the dirt jumping and freestyle bikes are still pretty heavy, about 28 lbs or so (I think my old one was 33 lbs). It's incredible how light high-end mountain bikes are, around 21-25 lbs for a 29er.

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I guess dirt bikes aren't carbon fiber because they still need to be able to handle the shock of landing a jump. So I guess that makes sense.

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They should have a competition where bikers have to use old bmx bikes.

Sorta like it would be interesting to see how tennis players would play with old equipment from the 80s, or even wood rackets.

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My first tennis racket was a wooden youth size Donnay racket circa 1980 and you needed a little more focus to hit something versus newer-fangled large head (heh) rackets

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I played with a wooden racket from like 1980 - 1984 - I had a Dunlop McEnrone before swtiching to a Prince Classic

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