Welcome to the DBD, a W4C community board where one can talk about pretty much anything, like…
The longest escalator in the western hemisphere is in Silver Springs MD. It is 230 feet long, which is about half as long as the ones in St. Petersburg Russia.
Hearing we may have gotten another edge rusher - Deamonte Diggs from Youngstown St. Looks like he has some good athleticism although he shifted from O to D in his time in Youngstown. I like 6'6" 260 a lot as a starting point for the staff to work with!
On my way to Christchurch, SFO to Auckland, within seconds of getting within a few feet of an up escalator at SFO, it had a sudden glitch that tumbled a half dozen folks down to the bottom.
Etiquette in the US vs. Europe. In the US, there is no etiquette for those that treat an escalator like stairs and walk, while in Europe, folks move to one side as default. Curious if this is reflective how much people move/walk in our culture?
On Metro escalators as shown above the locals know to stand to the right. But Metro doesn’t want to encourage walking so has resisted putting up signs to that effect. Out-of-towners frequently back it up. I don’t mind on short escalators but on the long ones like above it can be a long, slow ride.
In Taiwan and Japan, I also noticed people do line up to one side to stand. In Japan I think they separate the stairs with arrows for direction of travel. At first the stairs I saw had direction of travel on the left, which I thought had to do with driving on the left side of the road. But some stairs had direction of travel on the right.
it is fair to say that etiquette in US is sorely lacking in many many areas. everything from passing on the left on highways to not talking on your phone in the elevator or when.
a place like India has seemingly no etiquette at all, so i consider the US somewhere in between
BALTIMORE, May 2 — A 14‐year‐old girl was killed and more than 40 other children were injured today in a pileup on a moving stairway in Memorial Stadium. The children were on their way to seats for a BaltimoreCleveland baseball game. A movable barrier, designed to channel crowds single‐file down the stairway after sporting events, was in place and apparently contributed to the jam at the top of the stairs.
I saw a lady's little long-haired dog get sucked into the exit point at a horizontal escalator. And a kid's flip flops. I do not mess around near the escalator's exit point.
LOL. Trump had petitioned Judge Marchan multiple times to skip parts of his trial (eg, to campaign, to lobby SCOTUS, to attend Barron's HS graduation) because he wants to delay the proceedings so that he can pardon himself if he gets reelected. He got a day off last week and he used it to golf. Today, Judge Marchan granted Trump a day off from court to attend Barron's graduation - which is hilarious because Trump has never attended any of his kids' graduations and it's probably the last place he wants to be and sets himself for contempt of Court if he doesn't go to the graduation.
BERKELEY – The California women's tennis program continues its stellar season at home this week, when the 10th-seeded and 10th-ranked Golden Bears host first- and second-round matches in the 2024 NCAA Championship. Cal earned an at-large berth into the 64-team field of the postseason tournament, the NCAA announced Monday, and welcomes 17th-ranked Auburn, No. 42 BYU and Sacramento State to the Hellman Tennis Complex, where the Bears have a 7-2 record this season. In Friday's first round, BYU and Auburn are set to play at 11 a.m. PT while Cal faces Sacramento State at 2 p.m. Friday's winners play each other at noon in Saturday's second round for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regional.
BERKELEY – The California women's water polo team will take the No. 3 seed into the 2024 NCAA Championship, which it hosts for the first time in program history next month.
This will be the 10th NCAA Championship appearance for the third-seeded Golden Bears, who own a 10-9 all-time record at the championship. They have advanced to the semifinal round eight times before.
BERKELEY – BJ Omot, a former All-Summit League first-team selection, has signed to play for the California men's basketball team, head coach Mark Madsen announced Monday. Omot, who played his freshman and sophomore years for North Dakota, will join the Golden Bears for the upcoming 2024-25 season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
BERKELEY – DeJuan (DJ) Campbell has signed to play for the California men's basketball team, head coach Mark Madsen announced Monday. Campbell, who spent the past two years at Western Carolina, will join the Golden Bears for the upcoming 2024-25 season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
BERKELEY – California track & field will close out its record-setting regular season on Tuesday with its first and only dual meet of the year, traveling down to The Farm for the 129th Big Meet against rival Stanford at Cobb Track and Angell Field. The Golden Bears have swept the Cardinal in each of the past two iterations of the meet and will look to three-peat for the first time since 1994-96.
The Athletics one-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates in a strong win on Monday night, coming out on top by a final of 5-1 in a great all-around win for the young club.
One veteran outfielder and one rookie outfielder did the heavy lifting for the Dodgers offense on Monday night, cashing in several scoring opportunities that were very much needed on a wild night in a 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks in the series opener at Chase Field in Phoenix.
I'm in a weird position with these where I generally agree with the main goal of the protests (American money no longer paying for the war in Gaza), but wind up shaking my head at a lot of the stupid stuff that gets said by the activists. Like, it's possible to criticize the Israeli/American governments without going after Jews at large, or praising Hamas/Hezbollah/whatever. But apparently this is very hard for some people!
There’s definitely a spectrum of opinions among the protestors. But our perceptions of the prevalence of extreme statements is heavily filtered through our individual media environment. Supporters of the status quo will preferentially amplify bad actors to try to discredit the protests. (And the other side may “no true Scotsman” deny them).
Politicians often resort to generalities in order to draw a bright line between their position and that of others. Consequently, most people rise to the bait and reinforce those generalities, effectively damning nuanced thought and positions.
I agree with you completely. Why is nuance so difficult? My guess is that humans generally want to demonize a side, which is much easier when seeing things in black and white and overlooking the nuance. Also, there are many Jews and many citizens of Israel who do not agree with how far Netanyahu has gone in his response to 10/7.
USC cancelled their valedictorian speech due to the threat of her speech content because she is a Palestinian activist. And since nobody can have any fun, they decided to cancel everyone's speeches at the commencement. I guess they'll get to the time honored tradition of being bored out of your skull while you profusely sweat in semi-dressy attire as someone drones the names of thousands of strangers.
Also: compliance with Title IX will be impacted to the point that I believe athletic programs at FBS and FCS institutions will be pared back. I fully expect some institutions to decide to shut down their athletics departments, though I don't have any specifically in mind.
I don't think Emmert is solely responsible for this mess. This situation goes back decades and is caught up in the athletic scholarship model of recruiting athletes.
Prediction: this will get messier before it gets cleaned up with an agreement. I'm not even certain it gets cleaned up.
I picked these places because I have been to them all (except Christchurch, but I've been to north island NZ twice) - so I've got an idea what each trip would look like. And if I were to do it all again, I'd do Paris because there is a full week of stuff to do there that I haven't already done. At this point of my life, I really really enjoy going back to places I have already been and just living and vibing in a place - not needing to rush around to the touristy spots. Indeed, I am going to Paris for a week in December to do just that.
No 1 got a stipend from Penn so he's going to be spending 3 months in Paris around Aug to Nov. He's still waiting to hear back from a 1 year fellowship in Paris, Florence, or Rome. So we're probably going sometime in Aug-Nov to visit.
Not sure if it still is. I know when I was there last Dec(?) my hotel room didn't seem to have any. It did seem to be a nicer not too expensive one that was a little boutiquey that was just down the street from where the event was. So maybe that's why it didn't have any? I did pull back a corner of the sheet to check the mattress.
I'm trying to see if I can find a time where No 2 and No 3 can come along, depending on where No 2 is. My mom may be already there keeping her sister company. Her sister probably is in an early stage of some sort of alzheimers/dementia but doesn't want to go to the doctors.
Going to London tomorrow for a week. Abbreviated version of the three week trip the missus and I had planned before she broke her patella. As you all know London, indeed all of England, is Bear Territory.
i picked Christchurch since going to NZ in high on my list. but as i was going thru the list w/ youngest child, it seems that for a just a week CC is far, and Paris is pretty amazing even though i have been there plenty.
i still always feel like i am passing thru Paris. would love to stay and settle in for a bit.
havent been to Phuket or Cairo either, so those 2 are intriguing as well. good list ...
Hearing we may have gotten another edge rusher - Deamonte Diggs from Youngstown St. Looks like he has some good athleticism although he shifted from O to D in his time in Youngstown. I like 6'6" 260 a lot as a starting point for the staff to work with!
WTF
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/sip-of-cocktail-of-assisted-suicide-drugs
WTF, indeed
Curiosity is one thing. Discernment is another. And so is caution.
Oy.
ESCALATOR
On my way to Christchurch, SFO to Auckland, within seconds of getting within a few feet of an up escalator at SFO, it had a sudden glitch that tumbled a half dozen folks down to the bottom.
Etiquette in the US vs. Europe. In the US, there is no etiquette for those that treat an escalator like stairs and walk, while in Europe, folks move to one side as default. Curious if this is reflective how much people move/walk in our culture?
On Metro escalators as shown above the locals know to stand to the right. But Metro doesn’t want to encourage walking so has resisted putting up signs to that effect. Out-of-towners frequently back it up. I don’t mind on short escalators but on the long ones like above it can be a long, slow ride.
In Taiwan and Japan, I also noticed people do line up to one side to stand. In Japan I think they separate the stairs with arrows for direction of travel. At first the stairs I saw had direction of travel on the left, which I thought had to do with driving on the left side of the road. But some stairs had direction of travel on the right.
it is fair to say that etiquette in US is sorely lacking in many many areas. everything from passing on the left on highways to not talking on your phone in the elevator or when.
a place like India has seemingly no etiquette at all, so i consider the US somewhere in between
Death Stairs.
from 1964;
BALTIMORE, May 2 — A 14‐year‐old girl was killed and more than 40 other children were injured today in a pileup on a moving stairway in Memorial Stadium. The children were on their way to seats for a BaltimoreCleveland baseball game. A movable barrier, designed to channel crowds single‐file down the stairway after sporting events, was in place and apparently contributed to the jam at the top of the stairs.
link ($)
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/03/archives/children-panic-on-moving-stairs-one-killed-40-hurt.html
I saw a lady's little long-haired dog get sucked into the exit point at a horizontal escalator. And a kid's flip flops. I do not mess around near the escalator's exit point.
I wear a lot of ankle length dresses and escalators are fucking terrifying in them.
I would guess lifting the hems to the knees becomes a necessity in such circumstances.
It happens. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/03/12/man-killed-in-accident-on-metro-escalator-at-navy-yard-stop/c6092f06-b81c-4b6d-bf15-f04466a5a063/
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
[WaPo] Democrats will save Mike Johnson from MTG's motion to vacate the Speakership
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/30/democrats-house-speaker-mike-johnson-motion-to-vacate/
LOL. Trump had petitioned Judge Marchan multiple times to skip parts of his trial (eg, to campaign, to lobby SCOTUS, to attend Barron's HS graduation) because he wants to delay the proceedings so that he can pardon himself if he gets reelected. He got a day off last week and he used it to golf. Today, Judge Marchan granted Trump a day off from court to attend Barron's graduation - which is hilarious because Trump has never attended any of his kids' graduations and it's probably the last place he wants to be and sets himself for contempt of Court if he doesn't go to the graduation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/nyregion/graduation-barron-trump-trial.html
Greg Abbott is wasting everyone's time by once again ignoring Federal Supremacy
https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1784996895120658549
Trump fine $9k for violating gag order 9 times. That oughtta larn him.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/30/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/trump-held-in-contempt-00155109
CAL
[WTEN] No. 10 Seed Cal Hosts NCAA First, Second Rounds
https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/29/womens-tennis-cal-hosts-ncaa-first-second-rounds.aspx
BERKELEY – The California women's tennis program continues its stellar season at home this week, when the 10th-seeded and 10th-ranked Golden Bears host first- and second-round matches in the 2024 NCAA Championship. Cal earned an at-large berth into the 64-team field of the postseason tournament, the NCAA announced Monday, and welcomes 17th-ranked Auburn, No. 42 BYU and Sacramento State to the Hellman Tennis Complex, where the Bears have a 7-2 record this season. In Friday's first round, BYU and Auburn are set to play at 11 a.m. PT while Cal faces Sacramento State at 2 p.m. Friday's winners play each other at noon in Saturday's second round for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regional.
[WPOLO] NCAA Championship Host Bears Earn No. 3 Seed
https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/29/womens-water-polo-ncaa-championship-host-bears-earn-no-3-seed.aspx
BERKELEY – The California women's water polo team will take the No. 3 seed into the 2024 NCAA Championship, which it hosts for the first time in program history next month.
This will be the 10th NCAA Championship appearance for the third-seeded Golden Bears, who own a 10-9 all-time record at the championship. They have advanced to the semifinal round eight times before.
[MBB] BJ Omot Joins Golden Bears
https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/29/mens-basketball-bj-omot-joins-golden-bears.aspx
BERKELEY – BJ Omot, a former All-Summit League first-team selection, has signed to play for the California men's basketball team, head coach Mark Madsen announced Monday. Omot, who played his freshman and sophomore years for North Dakota, will join the Golden Bears for the upcoming 2024-25 season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
[MBB] Cal Signs DeJuan (DJ) Campbell
https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/29/mens-basketball-cal-signs-dejuan-dj-campbell.aspx
BERKELEY – DeJuan (DJ) Campbell has signed to play for the California men's basketball team, head coach Mark Madsen announced Monday. Campbell, who spent the past two years at Western Carolina, will join the Golden Bears for the upcoming 2024-25 season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
[T&F] Bears Primed For 129th Big Meet
https://calbears.com/news/2024/4/29/track-field-bears-primed-for-129th-big-meet.aspx
BERKELEY – California track & field will close out its record-setting regular season on Tuesday with its first and only dual meet of the year, traveling down to The Farm for the 129th Big Meet against rival Stanford at Cobb Track and Angell Field. The Golden Bears have swept the Cardinal in each of the past two iterations of the meet and will look to three-peat for the first time since 1994-96.
Go Bears!!!
PRO
lol [slightly NSFW]
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentel/status/1784672767272538404
He was just trying to keep abreast of the situation.
Fritz Peterson - the guy who traded wives and children with his Yankee teammate Mike Kekich - has passed away
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/fritz-peterson-former-new-york-yankees-pitcher-famous-for-teammate-wife-swap-dead-at-82/
Apropos: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/01/26/ex-yankee-fritz-peterson-has-no-regrets-40-years-after-wife-swap/6615584007/
Offense shows up as Athletics top Pirates 5-1
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2024/4/29/24144861/offense-shows-up-at-athletics-top-pirates-5-1
The Athletics one-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates in a strong win on Monday night, coming out on top by a final of 5-1 in a great all-around win for the young club.
GIants win the off-day
Their bullpen was lights out.
Contrast with a significant number of days when the lights were out in the bullpen.
Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernández lead Dodgers offense over Diamondbacks
https://www.truebluela.com/2024/4/29/24144390/andy-pages-teoscar-hernandez-dodgers-offense-james-paxton-wild
One veteran outfielder and one rookie outfielder did the heavy lifting for the Dodgers offense on Monday night, cashing in several scoring opportunities that were very much needed on a wild night in a 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks in the series opener at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Finch requires knee surgery after TWolves 122-116 win over the Suns to win the series 4-0
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40056029/sources-wolves-chris-finch-surgery-collision
Porzingis injured and in walking boot after 102-88 win over Heat to take a 3-1 series lead
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40053249/celtics-kristaps-porzingis-doubtful-return-calf-injury
The Nuggets win the series 4-1 by a score of 108-106. So of course, let's talk about the Lakers
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40054328/nba-playoffs-2024-future-lebron-james-darvin-ham-lakers-their-game-5-exit
Never disappointed when the Lakers lose.
The Lakers fading down the stretch and giving up this game was the most predictable thing ever.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Some nerds created a trillion frames per second camera. It can track photons moving in slow motion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoImsCcgi5Q
Only a matter of time before its adapted for replay review.
You can see at 100K resolution, for 1 trillionth of a second, the ball is in the zone by 1 pixel. Strike 3.
But the manager will still be on his way out to argue that it was clearly outside. Anyone could see it missed by at least 2 pixels, according to him.
Pro-Palestinian protests are in second week of multiple campuses across the US
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-palestine-04-29-24/h_4be9167431ba3f2d54cdce4cdf911efd
I'm in a weird position with these where I generally agree with the main goal of the protests (American money no longer paying for the war in Gaza), but wind up shaking my head at a lot of the stupid stuff that gets said by the activists. Like, it's possible to criticize the Israeli/American governments without going after Jews at large, or praising Hamas/Hezbollah/whatever. But apparently this is very hard for some people!
There’s definitely a spectrum of opinions among the protestors. But our perceptions of the prevalence of extreme statements is heavily filtered through our individual media environment. Supporters of the status quo will preferentially amplify bad actors to try to discredit the protests. (And the other side may “no true Scotsman” deny them).
Politicians often resort to generalities in order to draw a bright line between their position and that of others. Consequently, most people rise to the bait and reinforce those generalities, effectively damning nuanced thought and positions.
It contributes to a polarized polity.
I agree with you completely. Why is nuance so difficult? My guess is that humans generally want to demonize a side, which is much easier when seeing things in black and white and overlooking the nuance. Also, there are many Jews and many citizens of Israel who do not agree with how far Netanyahu has gone in his response to 10/7.
like you said .. when you "demonize a side" you have to make it about people, not the issue
ICYMI: Wazzu cuts $11m (12.9%) from their athletics budget due to relegation
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/article/wsu-to-cut-11-million-in-new-fiscal-years-athletics-budget--230646142/
USC cancelled their valedictorian speech due to the threat of her speech content because she is a Palestinian activist. And since nobody can have any fun, they decided to cancel everyone's speeches at the commencement. I guess they'll get to the time honored tradition of being bored out of your skull while you profusely sweat in semi-dressy attire as someone drones the names of thousands of strangers.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/usc-cancels-commencement-speakers-after-canceled-valedictorian-speech/story?id=109444698
This is way old and things have progressed. They've canceled the whole ceremony.
What a massive overreaction to the protests. I'm noticing a lot of this happening on all sides of the issue.
Punishment handed down for former ASU coaching staff now that they all have different jobs
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/40053021/college-sports-leaders-deep-talks-settle-nil-antitrust-case-vs-ncaa
NCAA looking to settle anti-trust case. This will cost the schools, which will end up costing the fans. Screw you, Mark Emmert -- you did this.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/40053021/college-sports-leaders-deep-talks-settle-nil-antitrust-case-vs-ncaa
Also: compliance with Title IX will be impacted to the point that I believe athletic programs at FBS and FCS institutions will be pared back. I fully expect some institutions to decide to shut down their athletics departments, though I don't have any specifically in mind.
I don't think Emmert is solely responsible for this mess. This situation goes back decades and is caught up in the athletic scholarship model of recruiting athletes.
Prediction: this will get messier before it gets cleaned up with an agreement. I'm not even certain it gets cleaned up.
DBD AV CLUB
week long travel
I just found out I need to go to Seoul for work the 2nd week of June. Also I'll be in SD for work the week after No 2's grad school graduation.
I am absolutely not going on any 3 star vacation, no thank you.
I picked these places because I have been to them all (except Christchurch, but I've been to north island NZ twice) - so I've got an idea what each trip would look like. And if I were to do it all again, I'd do Paris because there is a full week of stuff to do there that I haven't already done. At this point of my life, I really really enjoy going back to places I have already been and just living and vibing in a place - not needing to rush around to the touristy spots. Indeed, I am going to Paris for a week in December to do just that.
No 1 got a stipend from Penn so he's going to be spending 3 months in Paris around Aug to Nov. He's still waiting to hear back from a 1 year fellowship in Paris, Florence, or Rome. So we're probably going sometime in Aug-Nov to visit.
Don’t let the bed bugs bite…or is that no longer a thing?
Not sure if it still is. I know when I was there last Dec(?) my hotel room didn't seem to have any. It did seem to be a nicer not too expensive one that was a little boutiquey that was just down the street from where the event was. So maybe that's why it didn't have any? I did pull back a corner of the sheet to check the mattress.
Thxgiving is a fun time in Paris. maybe a little dreary in terms of weather, but nice to have a few extra days off
I'm trying to see if I can find a time where No 2 and No 3 can come along, depending on where No 2 is. My mom may be already there keeping her sister company. Her sister probably is in an early stage of some sort of alzheimers/dementia but doesn't want to go to the doctors.
Going to London tomorrow for a week. Abbreviated version of the three week trip the missus and I had planned before she broke her patella. As you all know London, indeed all of England, is Bear Territory.
i picked Christchurch since going to NZ in high on my list. but as i was going thru the list w/ youngest child, it seems that for a just a week CC is far, and Paris is pretty amazing even though i have been there plenty.
i still always feel like i am passing thru Paris. would love to stay and settle in for a bit.
havent been to Phuket or Cairo either, so those 2 are intriguing as well. good list ...