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I'm just outside Berkeley Bowl the other day about go in to buy some groceries. There's a cute young woman outside who smiles at me;. I smile back. That's that. But there's a person walking behind me. The woman asks the person behind me, "do you want to help save the environment?" What the hell? Don't I look like I want to save the environment? Did the woman look at me and think, this guy has zero f*cks to give about the environment, I ain't saying nothing to him." I was offended. Course if she had asked me I would've said I was busy so there's that.

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Holy crap. Instant flashback of people trying to get a petition signed outside the Shattuck Ave. Co-op, which is now the Shattuck Ave. Andronico's.

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Theory: You were walking to your Tesla while the person behind you was walking to their Prius. One is seen as caring for the environment as a performative act, the other is seen as sincerely caring for the environment by driving a car that while it is extremely fuel efficient, is the antithesis of cool.

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I was on foot from home to store. Plus I was walking into the store. Course maybe she thought I was walking from a particular car.

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Your even older than I am; perhaps she thought it was a moot point in your case?

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I always tell them I don't live in Alameda County.

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Tell the DBD a distant memory

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May 21·edited May 21

At my maternal grandparent's home above Grizzly Peak Blvd. in Berkeley. My mother was reading a book to me ("The Curious Little Owl") in the Living Room and very pregnant. This was just before my oldest sister was born. I was 2.

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Walking in the SF Zoo wearing a sweet-ass brown jacket with fake wool collars - running up to the next audio box with my key shaped like a yellow elephant and thinking that the irresistible charm of sweet sugar more than offsets the otherwise terribleness of the rest of the pink popcorn.

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I remember those keys. When No 1 was like in 1st or 2nd grade, I chaperoned his class trip to the Oakland zoo and I brought along my old keys. At the time, I had both the Oakland and the SF zoo keys.

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We had red elephant keys at the Portland Zoo. The audio plays were so interesting at the time. Good days.

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Sitting in the second row behind the left field fence at Candelstick Park for game four of the 1989 World Series, which of course the A’s won to claim their fourth WS Championship as an Oakland institution. My, how things have changed.

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i had tix to game 5 of that series. got my money back minus all the ticketmaster fees which seems steep at the time for a college student.

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My first memory (I think) was when I was 3 or 4 at a big pancake breakfast on an army base in Germany where my dad worked. There were a lot of officers there at a long communal table and I was thinking as I looked down at my stuffed animal-puppet dog that I bet these colonels and stuff all think I am so immature that I would try to feed the pancakes to the dog puppet. Then I kind of fixated on the puppet. The thought of feeding him a pancake consumed me. He seemed to be looking up at me as if to say, “I am hungry, boss, can you just slip me one of those hotcakes really quickly? Can you do that for a buddy? What’s the harm?” So I did it; I took a pancake off my plate and tried to surreptitiously slip it into the puppet’s mouth. Right then someone nearby shouted “That kid is feeding his stuffed animal a pancake!” The whole table erupted in laughter, staring at me as I sat there slumped over, soaking in my shame. The worst thing was that my once-hungry puppet got embarrassed too, lost his appetite, and refused to eat the pancake. I slid it back onto my plate in defeat and waited for the breakfast to be over.

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My childhood growing up in Vegas.

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May 21Liked by SGBear

Eight years old sitting in Candlestick Park for game one of the 1962 World Series and thinking about the fact that I was seeing Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle play in the same game.

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My earliest Candlestick Park memory is a game around 77 against the Dodgers. I think McCovey walked it off?

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Based.on this we are the same age but I didn’t get to go to the series. I vaguely remember some jingle they played over and over on the radio using the players names - Hiller, Haller, Miller, something something twist.

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nice

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The Disneyland flying saucer ride, which has been gone for decades.

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Realistic Rose Bowl hopes.

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my first actual memory and in fact i shared this w/ someone else since i visited Spokane again recently.

World Expo '74 in Spokane - i dont remember any of the actual exhibit, but when you picked up the little phones, they said something kinda fun and cool. i am sure i had no idea what it was about as a 3 yr old. still it was fun to go around picking up all the little informative phones.

there is a bit of a memorial, park type place still left over in Spokane commemorating the event. i guess they dont really have World Expo's anymore

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chess

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i have been playing Really Bad Chess lately ..

fun, easy and hard all at once. you get a random set of pieces, not many pawns, a lot of queens and bishops and knights. it is a bit stacked against your computer opponent to make is winnable.

https://www.puzzmo.com/+/theskimm/play/really-bad-chess/

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Defense rests its case without calling TFG to the stand.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/21/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial

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PRO

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A's may have lost the off-day

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Giants didn't lose the off-day

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Freddie Freeman grand slam keys 6-run inning, Dodgers top D-backs

https://www.truebluela.com/2024/5/20/24160496/freddie-freeman-grand-slam-yoshinobu-yamamoto-dodgers-diamondbacks

Arizona’s opener strategy worked with a scoreless first inning on Tuesday night. But then the Dodgers scored in bulk off the next guy, smashing three home runs in a six-run third inning to beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 in the series opener at Dodger Stadium.

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Let's check on how the Saudi Pro soccer league is doing. [possible NSFW ads because the article is via a UK rag]

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/saudi-pro-league-low-attendance-32852139

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Dan Snyder - who until recently was the owner of the Washington Commanders - funded a biopic about Donald Trump being mentored by right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn. He flies to Cannes Film festival and is furious to find out that the movie makes the former reality TV star look bad by showing events that actually happened in reality. Hahaha! Suck it, Snyder.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-film-the-apprentice/

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CAL

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[WTEN] 3 Bears Exit NCAA Singles

https://calbears.com/news/2024/5/20/womens-tennis-3-bears-exit-ncaa-singles.aspx

STILLWATER, Okla. – A stellar season for the California women's tennis team resulted in three Golden Bears reaching the NCAA Singles Championship that began Monday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center. But all three Bears – the recently graduated Valentina Ivanov and Hannah Viller Moeller along with rising senior Katja Wiersholm – fell in the opening round of 64.

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[T&F] West Regionals Up Next For Cal

https://calbears.com/news/2024/5/20/track-field-west-regionals-up-next-for-cal.aspx

BERKELEY – California track & field will compete in one last meet before the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, as the Golden Bears' 30 regional qualifiers are set to make an appearance at the NCAA West Preliminary this Wednesday through Saturday at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The meet will be streamed each day on ESPN+.

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[MROW] Tommy Barrell Named Pac-12 Rowing Scholar-Athlete Of The Year

https://calbears.com/news/2024/5/20/mens-rowing-tommy-barrell-named-pac-12-rowing-scholar-athlete-of-the-year.aspx

GOLD RIVER – California senior men's rower Tommy Barrell was named the Pac-12 Men's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Monday. Barrell is the fourth Golden Bear in the last six years to win the award and the first since George Finlayson in 2021.

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Go BEARS!

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DBD AV CLUB

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Just back from a walk to the store. Saw an older guy with a nice looking electric blue polo shirt with the Pac12 logo on it. Just kind of mentally shook my head after we crossed.

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i was seen sporting my Oakland A's t-shirt this weekend ... walking dinosuar

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As we move to the ACC, this is a reminder that Stanfurd will have the following roster this year:

Both of their QBs who combined to complete 55% of their passes and have 11:10 TD:INT ratio

Their 3rd and 4th string RBs who had a combined for 200 yards last year. #1 Filkens and #2 Smith are no longer on the team.

Their 2nd string TE (Roush), who went on to start after #1 Ben Yurosek got hurt and has now transferred is returning. Their 3rd string TE (Taylor), who also started one game had zero catches last year.

Their #1 WR (Ayomanor) is easily their best player. #2 (Humphries) are no longer with the team. #3-5 (Bachmeier, Reuben, Farrell, Taylor return). They're fine but not great.

They return their entire 2-deep offensive line, which may or may not be a good thing since Furd was 118 out of 130th in sacks allowed and 103rd for rushing yards per game.

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ESPN's newest adjusted rankings has us at number 52 and Furd at 84. Here's the link but I think you have to have ESPN plus to access it. https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40186201/college-football-2024-post-spring-sp+-rankings-takeaways

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