I saw an article that it was rumored a few PGA golfers would join the LIV, including Collin Morikawa (TIL his first name has two 'l's). If he does go, while it's his decision, I would be disappointed.
It's hard for me to see Collin make that move right now. I know that LIV was really courting him, and it might be hard to turn down $100+ millions guaranteed (probably 2x that), but he's too young and in his prime to gamble on his legacy with a move like this. I also think some of the other rumored names have already denied the report.
There's something going on here. I've heard at least two cop cars drive up our street full sirens, a few more the street over, and now a police helicopter circling overhead about a mile away.
There were a couple of robbery attempts thwarted on Orinda and Lafayette over the weekend.
Oh it looks like a suspected car jacking vehicle spotted near Campo. I'm guessing they ended up back towards Rancho Laguna, which means they have no where to go. Unless they go up into the hills.
Stephen Anderson was a walk-on who was a role player. Ironically he walked on again as a free agent in the pros and stuck in the League most recently with the Chargers.
He was only a backup because he refused to play safety and wanted to be a CB, so he was a backup CB/nickel back. Once he finally moved to safety he was a starter and was able to get drafted at safety.
Had he simply played safety from the beginning of his career he would have been a multi year starter.
I repurpose water as often as I can. For example, if I steam or boil something (vegetable / potatoes), I don't dump the water into the sink. I put it out in garden.
Iron Chef (Netflix) - For all of its issues, mainly that the food cooked during the battle are for display only and that the sous chefs recook the food for service/judging thus why they require the first dish mid-battle, Iron Chef is still a fun competition. The move to Netflix has some interesting positives (bigger Kitchen Stadium, more random things for The Chairman to do, and a second host in Top Chef winner Kristin Kish) and the weird "Iron Legend" cumulative competition among all the competitors (so there is this unnecessary theme to the whole season). I also do like the newly selected Iron Chef and the challengers. I do hope that they make more seasons (and slightly longer?) of this reboot.
The Boys - Season 3 (Amazon) - I know the actor Antony Starr has some real life anger issue, but his portrayal of Homelander (AKA an evil Superman) is just phenomenal. He's easily one of the best villain on TV (or streaming) right now. Sure, the show continues to have a lot of gratuitous shocking scenes, but this superhero satire is still way better than that Netflix attempt (Guardians of Justice).
All contestants know what the secret ingredient is. I've had friends who competed on the food network iteration and they were given 3 potential ingredients that could be chosen. They have plenty of time to practice ahead of the taping.
The Oakland A’s beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on a sunny afternoon at the Coliseum, celebrating the holiday by avoiding the sweep and getting back into the win column.
The rookie starting pitcher who had struggled in his brief time in the Majors had his first quality outing today, silencing the Royals’ bats while the offense got a couple big home runs to propel the team to victory. All in all, a good win to salvage from another tough series.
The Dodgers found out after yesterday’s game that Mookie Betts was going to be out for a while with broken rib. And while you cannot put the entire 5-3 loss on Bett’s replacement in right field, Eddy Alvarez will want to put his play in right field behind him as soon as he can.
Eddy Alvarez has not played many games in the outfield in his career and his adventures in the second inning and ninth gave the Guardians helped them score. With game tied 3-3 iIn the ninth inning and after a one-out walk, Josh Naylor hit a fly ball down the right field line. Alvarez was playing toward right-center but it appeared he did not get the best read on that fly ball.
He dove and the ball eluded his glove for a double. Both runners would later score to give the lead and eventually the game to the Guardians.
They led the parade and it was really fun seeing them and the commentators speaking to it being so great that a band from the east bay was out there. We know the furd band could never handle such pressure nor organization.
The "Lit Squad" of Mistah FAB, Blake Anderson and two Warriors commentators got some great short interviews with the players as they passed by. The whole thing looked like a lot of fun so I may have to fly up for next year's parade.
NY for 2 weeks chaperoning my kid for summer school + a catch-up with HeyStudentBears when I am there. Apart from that, not much as we are preserving cash flows. I am staying at my MiL's in Brighton Beach, so I will get my full of ex-Soviet country food and Nathan's hot dogs.
It's a weird time in Japan. There are almost no foreign tourists (I'm assuming that they all have "reasons" to be here...mostly visiting family in some fashion).
Been in Kyoto for a couple of days. Any crowds are students on school trips. Went to Fushimi Inari shrine today. First time I was there (20+ years ago), there were very few tourists. Last time (4 years ago), it was packed! (I think was named the #2 place to go in Kyoto on TripAdvisor or something). This time, again, it was not crowded (minus the students who didn't go much past the initial shrine). So we were able to take photos at the torii "tunnels" without 100 people in the background. Often with zero people in view. That will end as soon as general tourism opens up again.
Interesting thing here is that it's like 99% masks (and that might be conservative). It feels like April 2020 in San Francisco, when people jogging solo would have masks on. People biking here are wearing masks. I sometimes do my current San Francisco masking technique– e.g., wearing it, but pulling it under chin when not around people – and feel self-conscious when locals are within visual range. There are auto-temperature sensors at quite a few store entrances. Had to get temp taken to enter a restaurant near Kiyomizu-dera.
I figure that someone from Alabama (to pick a representative state semi-randomly) would go into conniptions...about freedom. Although, I have to say that the masking can be a pain since it's already (no surprise) pretty hot and humid here. Today was a high of 32C (with humidity). Rain pretty much the next ten days :-(
Oh, and although the flight into Narita was packed – had to fly into Tokyo since UAL has canceled flights into Kansai...just combining all travelers onto fewer flights? – I'd say of the 250 people on the plane (or however many fit on a 787), only 20 were actually going to JPN. The rest were in transit elsewhere.
So going thru the Covid gauntlet – you need a negative PCR test, approval via an app, etc. – was super quick. Albeit repetitive. There were literally 100+ young folks to deal with the 20 of us. At multiple stations. Keeping people employed, I guess. And it looked like a scene from Outbreak. Everyone had blue medical garb on, plus face shields, masks, and gloves.
And the yen is super weak now. Usually it's been about ¥108/1 USD when I've been here. Altho I've experienced ¥125 and ¥85. It popped above ¥135 today. That, combined with their non-tip culture, makes meals really cheap. Had Indian a couple of nights ago – two entrees, two naan, salad – and it came to like $22. So trying to spend liberally. Especially here in Kyoto where they are really hurting due to the lack of non-local tourism. They don't have a lot of the other industries that Tokyo and Osaka have.
Well...that was longer than I expected! Still have a bit of jet lag, so time for bed, so that my daughter can wake me up at 5. Which would be a nice change from the 3am the last two days.
nice update. i love Japan/Tokyo/Kyoto. havent been back in quite a while though.
my favorite memory is a 3 day trip i did to Nikko and Yumoto on my own.
Yumoto (湯元, literally "origin of hot water") is a small hot spring town in the back of Okunikko and part of Nikko National Park.
it was still early spring, lots of snow on the ground, a nice time to enjoy a traditional Japanese ryokan in terms of food, bath and hospitality. i took an ill-advised but very rewarding hike thru the Senjogahara Marshland. my shoes were soaked, my feet were frozen, but i found a nice tea hut to warm up in at the end.
I've been to Nikko a couple of times, but not for awhile. Haven't heard of Yumoto. Will try to check it out someday, altho we spend most of our time out west now (grandparents). Happened to have a day in Tokyo this trip because UAL canceled our KIX flight and made us fly into NRT (and then have to pay our way to get to Okayama). :-/
One of my best friends from high school (and his wife) just landed in Tokyo for a two year stint with Toyota/Lexus (he had been working out of their DFW office.
I've been thinking of going to Japan next month, but I don't know if I really want to go during summer. I really hate humidity. Also the ticket is about twice the usual, more than 10K for business class on ANA and I don't want to pay that much.
I almost melted in Tokyo in August once. . . and I was coming from Shanghai (which is already hot and humid). I was surprised about the lackluster state of Japan's air conditioning!
The Weather Sucks!!! Haven't been here in the summer for years – and it's going to be when I come for the foreseeable future since daughter in now on a school calendar – and being outside is no fun. And it's only mid-June! Next month will be brutal. And the next week is rainy to boot.
I equate it to DC, which could use corroboration from the DC-based DBB-ers here: hot and humid in the summer, and cold (but not much snow) in the winter. Obviously the last bit only applies to the major cities, not Hokkaido or the Japan Alps or other Winter Olympic spots.
We got tix about 6 months ago using miles, but I've seen the price spike for tix.
And don't forget the visa and PCR testing process!
I think all airfare shot up in the March timeframe. Luckily I bought my tickets for No 2's graduation back in Jan/Feb. We also came back Mon around dinner which helped the price tremendously, like 300 less.
KBO is a lot of fun. The sponsors of the event I was in Seoul for paid for attendees to go. Fans for each team on their respective sides. Different cheers for each player. Cheerleaders. In between each inning there were call/response cheers between the two fan bases. Lots of of the different cheers for each player seemed to be 80s and 90s pop songs. I had a blast.
Yes the Nippon Ham fighters. Also attended the Japan Bowl in the 80's before Cal. The QB for the east was Doug Flutie. They had arranged cheers: Go go east! And Go go west! Depending on which side of the stadium one was on.
I got to the Japan Bowl around that time too. I was working temporarily at the embassy and got a ticket from someone at the embassy. Since it was an embassy ticket I also got a nice 4x6 foot blanket that I still use sometimes in the winter when crashed on the sofa.
At least at the Tokyo Dome they have (attractive) women walking around with little mini kegs on their backs dispensing beer. It’s been like 15-20 years for me but in my experience the Japanese stadiums are a lot nicer, level of play higher, and games better attended than in Korea. It’s interesting to go to a game in Korea but I think there are better / more fun things to do in Korea than that - I would go to multiple NPB games but I think one KBO game would suffice
Iceland for a week in Jul w/ graduating senior and one of her friends. doing semi normal stuff like whale watching and bathing in hot springs mostly along the northern coast.
hiking around in Crested Butte and Telluride for about a week .. adult trip w/ bro & sister in-law since most of the kids are off to camp for the first time across both families. i did not appreciate that the wildflowers in CO were in full bloom in the middle of the summer.
Cal
I saw an article that it was rumored a few PGA golfers would join the LIV, including Collin Morikawa (TIL his first name has two 'l's). If he does go, while it's his decision, I would be disappointed.
It's hard for me to see Collin make that move right now. I know that LIV was really courting him, and it might be hard to turn down $100+ millions guaranteed (probably 2x that), but he's too young and in his prime to gamble on his legacy with a move like this. I also think some of the other rumored names have already denied the report.
That would be disappointing. Except for a terrible Saturday, he would have won the U.S. Open this weekend.
Go Bears!!!
Amos Talalele, a defensive tackle from Santa Clara, decommits, probably headed to USC.
Didn’t he just commit to us?
He committed on June 5th.
DBD Police Action
There's something going on here. I've heard at least two cop cars drive up our street full sirens, a few more the street over, and now a police helicopter circling overhead about a mile away.
There were a couple of robbery attempts thwarted on Orinda and Lafayette over the weekend.
Oh it looks like a suspected car jacking vehicle spotted near Campo. I'm guessing they ended up back towards Rancho Laguna, which means they have no where to go. Unless they go up into the hills.
Backups/rotational college players who played pro
Lagarett Blount
CJ Anderson comes to mind
Darius Powe and Maurice Harris were like #5 and #6 receivers on the team but had some stints in the pro too.
Stephen Anderson was a walk-on who was a role player. Ironically he walked on again as a free agent in the pros and stuck in the League most recently with the Chargers.
Chris Conte was a backup for 3 years and only one year starter at Cal but a multi year starter in the NFL
He was only a backup because he refused to play safety and wanted to be a CB, so he was a backup CB/nickel back. Once he finally moved to safety he was a starter and was able to get drafted at safety.
Had he simply played safety from the beginning of his career he would have been a multi year starter.
I agree 100%. I'm glad he finally moved to safety in year 4.
I was happy he finally moved to safety in year 4 and his success is a big “what if…” he had moved to safety earlier in his career.
Matt Cassel
Repurposing
I repurpose water as often as I can. For example, if I steam or boil something (vegetable / potatoes), I don't dump the water into the sink. I put it out in garden.
Same, when refreshing the big water bowl for the dogs it goes on a house plant
Same.
Also, we reuse water as GEAT suggests.
DBD AV
Iron Chef (Netflix) - For all of its issues, mainly that the food cooked during the battle are for display only and that the sous chefs recook the food for service/judging thus why they require the first dish mid-battle, Iron Chef is still a fun competition. The move to Netflix has some interesting positives (bigger Kitchen Stadium, more random things for The Chairman to do, and a second host in Top Chef winner Kristin Kish) and the weird "Iron Legend" cumulative competition among all the competitors (so there is this unnecessary theme to the whole season). I also do like the newly selected Iron Chef and the challengers. I do hope that they make more seasons (and slightly longer?) of this reboot.
The Boys - Season 3 (Amazon) - I know the actor Antony Starr has some real life anger issue, but his portrayal of Homelander (AKA an evil Superman) is just phenomenal. He's easily one of the best villain on TV (or streaming) right now. Sure, the show continues to have a lot of gratuitous shocking scenes, but this superhero satire is still way better than that Netflix attempt (Guardians of Justice).
I loved the original Japanese Iron Chef on channel 26 from the mid to late 90s. Loved it. Even without the dubbing they added.
All contestants know what the secret ingredient is. I've had friends who competed on the food network iteration and they were given 3 potential ingredients that could be chosen. They have plenty of time to practice ahead of the taping.
I did hear that. Also it allows the chef to ask for special ingredients for each secret ingredient.
100 Foot Wave on HBO. Great docuseries on Garret McNamara big waves in Nazare Portugal.
DBD Cooking
going to roast a whole duck for dinner tonight. need to go find a nice wine to go w/ it.
I would suggest a Lirac - similar to Chateauneuf du Pape, but generally quite a bit cheaper.
Lots of choices from the Rhone in France.
Cugel Alert!
Had fried chicken thighs w/ maple-Dijon sauce, roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts slaw with bacon, caramelized shallots & pecans. Paired with a 2014 El Molino Napa Pinot Noir - amazing wine.
Daughter made Japanese Cotton Cheesecake that she said was my favorite! It is very good, but I like a lot of what she makes.
Our Crumbling Democracy
Jan. 6 committee shifting focus to Trump’s role in the plan to replace electors
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/19/jan-6-committee-trump-electors-schiff-00040716
TRUMP 20-24 with no chance of parole
Pro
Game #68: Father’s Day win! A’s beat Royals 4-0
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/6/19/23174906/game-68-fathers-day-as-royals-koenig
A Happy Father’s Day indeed.
The Oakland A’s beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on a sunny afternoon at the Coliseum, celebrating the holiday by avoiding the sweep and getting back into the win column.
The rookie starting pitcher who had struggled in his brief time in the Majors had his first quality outing today, silencing the Royals’ bats while the offense got a couple big home runs to propel the team to victory. All in all, a good win to salvage from another tough series.
Giants lose on 4 solo HRs. 3 hit by a rookie, including a walkoff.
Giants have politely avoided two sweeps by losing the third game each time. Such gentlemen!
Guardians score late to win 5-3 over Dodgers
https://www.truebluela.com/2022/6/19/23174861/guardians-dodgers-craig-kimbrel-eddy-alvarez-loss
The Dodgers found out after yesterday’s game that Mookie Betts was going to be out for a while with broken rib. And while you cannot put the entire 5-3 loss on Bett’s replacement in right field, Eddy Alvarez will want to put his play in right field behind him as soon as he can.
Eddy Alvarez has not played many games in the outfield in his career and his adventures in the second inning and ninth gave the Guardians helped them score. With game tied 3-3 iIn the ninth inning and after a one-out walk, Josh Naylor hit a fly ball down the right field line. Alvarez was playing toward right-center but it appeared he did not get the best read on that fly ball.
He dove and the ball eluded his glove for a double. Both runners would later score to give the lead and eventually the game to the Guardians.
Warriors Championship parade is underway on NBC Sports Bay Area!
Also on NBA TV for those out of area.
Watching and listening to the Cal Band in the parade!!!
They led the parade and it was really fun seeing them and the commentators speaking to it being so great that a band from the east bay was out there. We know the furd band could never handle such pressure nor organization.
The "Lit Squad" of Mistah FAB, Blake Anderson and two Warriors commentators got some great short interviews with the players as they passed by. The whole thing looked like a lot of fun so I may have to fly up for next year's parade.
Anyone know what going on with Under Armour lawsuit? Also the softball field renovations?
Summer travel
I am only visiting
NY for 2 weeks chaperoning my kid for summer school + a catch-up with HeyStudentBears when I am there. Apart from that, not much as we are preserving cash flows. I am staying at my MiL's in Brighton Beach, so I will get my full of ex-Soviet country food and Nathan's hot dogs.
Oh I'd love to go to Nathan's. I'm thinking of visiting No 1 and HSB after the ND game.
Hope you all have a good time!
It's a weird time in Japan. There are almost no foreign tourists (I'm assuming that they all have "reasons" to be here...mostly visiting family in some fashion).
Been in Kyoto for a couple of days. Any crowds are students on school trips. Went to Fushimi Inari shrine today. First time I was there (20+ years ago), there were very few tourists. Last time (4 years ago), it was packed! (I think was named the #2 place to go in Kyoto on TripAdvisor or something). This time, again, it was not crowded (minus the students who didn't go much past the initial shrine). So we were able to take photos at the torii "tunnels" without 100 people in the background. Often with zero people in view. That will end as soon as general tourism opens up again.
Interesting thing here is that it's like 99% masks (and that might be conservative). It feels like April 2020 in San Francisco, when people jogging solo would have masks on. People biking here are wearing masks. I sometimes do my current San Francisco masking technique– e.g., wearing it, but pulling it under chin when not around people – and feel self-conscious when locals are within visual range. There are auto-temperature sensors at quite a few store entrances. Had to get temp taken to enter a restaurant near Kiyomizu-dera.
I figure that someone from Alabama (to pick a representative state semi-randomly) would go into conniptions...about freedom. Although, I have to say that the masking can be a pain since it's already (no surprise) pretty hot and humid here. Today was a high of 32C (with humidity). Rain pretty much the next ten days :-(
Oh, and although the flight into Narita was packed – had to fly into Tokyo since UAL has canceled flights into Kansai...just combining all travelers onto fewer flights? – I'd say of the 250 people on the plane (or however many fit on a 787), only 20 were actually going to JPN. The rest were in transit elsewhere.
So going thru the Covid gauntlet – you need a negative PCR test, approval via an app, etc. – was super quick. Albeit repetitive. There were literally 100+ young folks to deal with the 20 of us. At multiple stations. Keeping people employed, I guess. And it looked like a scene from Outbreak. Everyone had blue medical garb on, plus face shields, masks, and gloves.
And the yen is super weak now. Usually it's been about ¥108/1 USD when I've been here. Altho I've experienced ¥125 and ¥85. It popped above ¥135 today. That, combined with their non-tip culture, makes meals really cheap. Had Indian a couple of nights ago – two entrees, two naan, salad – and it came to like $22. So trying to spend liberally. Especially here in Kyoto where they are really hurting due to the lack of non-local tourism. They don't have a lot of the other industries that Tokyo and Osaka have.
Well...that was longer than I expected! Still have a bit of jet lag, so time for bed, so that my daughter can wake me up at 5. Which would be a nice change from the 3am the last two days.
Go Bears!
nice update. i love Japan/Tokyo/Kyoto. havent been back in quite a while though.
my favorite memory is a 3 day trip i did to Nikko and Yumoto on my own.
Yumoto (湯元, literally "origin of hot water") is a small hot spring town in the back of Okunikko and part of Nikko National Park.
it was still early spring, lots of snow on the ground, a nice time to enjoy a traditional Japanese ryokan in terms of food, bath and hospitality. i took an ill-advised but very rewarding hike thru the Senjogahara Marshland. my shoes were soaked, my feet were frozen, but i found a nice tea hut to warm up in at the end.
I've been to Nikko a couple of times, but not for awhile. Haven't heard of Yumoto. Will try to check it out someday, altho we spend most of our time out west now (grandparents). Happened to have a day in Tokyo this trip because UAL canceled our KIX flight and made us fly into NRT (and then have to pay our way to get to Okayama). :-/
Have a great trip!
One of my best friends from high school (and his wife) just landed in Tokyo for a two year stint with Toyota/Lexus (he had been working out of their DFW office.
I've been thinking of going to Japan next month, but I don't know if I really want to go during summer. I really hate humidity. Also the ticket is about twice the usual, more than 10K for business class on ANA and I don't want to pay that much.
I almost melted in Tokyo in August once. . . and I was coming from Shanghai (which is already hot and humid). I was surprised about the lackluster state of Japan's air conditioning!
The Weather Sucks!!! Haven't been here in the summer for years – and it's going to be when I come for the foreseeable future since daughter in now on a school calendar – and being outside is no fun. And it's only mid-June! Next month will be brutal. And the next week is rainy to boot.
I equate it to DC, which could use corroboration from the DC-based DBB-ers here: hot and humid in the summer, and cold (but not much snow) in the winter. Obviously the last bit only applies to the major cities, not Hokkaido or the Japan Alps or other Winter Olympic spots.
We got tix about 6 months ago using miles, but I've seen the price spike for tix.
And don't forget the visa and PCR testing process!
I think all airfare shot up in the March timeframe. Luckily I bought my tickets for No 2's graduation back in Jan/Feb. We also came back Mon around dinner which helped the price tremendously, like 300 less.
KBO is a lot of fun. The sponsors of the event I was in Seoul for paid for attendees to go. Fans for each team on their respective sides. Different cheers for each player. Cheerleaders. In between each inning there were call/response cheers between the two fan bases. Lots of of the different cheers for each player seemed to be 80s and 90s pop songs. I had a blast.
Yes the Nippon Ham fighters. Also attended the Japan Bowl in the 80's before Cal. The QB for the east was Doug Flutie. They had arranged cheers: Go go east! And Go go west! Depending on which side of the stadium one was on.
I got to the Japan Bowl around that time too. I was working temporarily at the embassy and got a ticket from someone at the embassy. Since it was an embassy ticket I also got a nice 4x6 foot blanket that I still use sometimes in the winter when crashed on the sofa.
At least at the Tokyo Dome they have (attractive) women walking around with little mini kegs on their backs dispensing beer. It’s been like 15-20 years for me but in my experience the Japanese stadiums are a lot nicer, level of play higher, and games better attended than in Korea. It’s interesting to go to a game in Korea but I think there are better / more fun things to do in Korea than that - I would go to multiple NPB games but I think one KBO game would suffice
I've attended many times in Japan. What kind of tips are you looking for?
Also any specific teams or locations (I can only talk about Japan)?
Iceland for a week in Jul w/ graduating senior and one of her friends. doing semi normal stuff like whale watching and bathing in hot springs mostly along the northern coast.
hiking around in Crested Butte and Telluride for about a week .. adult trip w/ bro & sister in-law since most of the kids are off to camp for the first time across both families. i did not appreciate that the wildflowers in CO were in full bloom in the middle of the summer.
The word butte always makes me snicker.
BUTTE BUTTE BUTTE BUTTE BUTTE BUTTE
there's a classic t-shirt in the Castro for "Butte High School" that notes their mascot. in the mode of one of those generic varsity t-shirts.
Butte
(HS)
Pirates