Welcome to the DBD - a W4C community bulletin board - where one can talk about pretty much anything.
The Kintaikyo Bridge was built in 1673. The bridge collapsed in 1950 due to a typhoon but was faithfully reproduced in 1953. It is the most identifiable symbol of Iwakuni city in Yamaguchi prefecture.
Just noticed that I got a senior citizen discount at the outlets yesterday! Woohoo!!! I picked up Pyrex lids for Kodiak's sister and a pie plate for myself.
Can't remember if I relayed this story before. My brother had the opposite. He was in the Navy and his ship was in drydock in Bremerton. My parents visited and they went to a Mariners game. They gave my brother a child's ticket because he looked so young.
Really??? I assumed that you were reasonably younger than I am.
I remember going to see the third Indy Jones movie with the fam and my dad being annoyed that he was offered the senior discount. It only took a year before he was bragging about all the discounts he was getting :-)
I was somewhere last week that had a 55+ discount, which I used. I think the first time ever! I was surprised, thinking that with as long as people live in Japan, like half the population would be eligible. So they'd need to increase the age limit (longevity inflation!)
Newellbany and I saw Last Crusade on Opening Night at the old Rockridge Theater in '89...it closed soon after.
Saw some good flicks there over the years back in the day...Dragonslayer, Cloak and Dagger, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with my Grandfather - man, he was lost on that one...;-)
I started getting AARP circulars in the mail, though I haven't hit that age (55) yet. They are selling credit cards and insurance and a variety of things.
This electric car beat the Goodwood Hill Record by 2 seconds. It's an electric fan car that has a fan to suck out air underneath the car, enabling it to stick to the road. Record went from 41.XX to 39.08.
Reminds me of the Chaparral 2J that used the same fan trick in the 70s. SCCA banned it after one season because it was too dominant (when it wasn't suffering breakdowns, that is).
I got my ears cleaned at Cowell Hospital when I was a freshman. The nurse was quite proud of herself. I left and as I was walking down the corridor, I heard a noise. I stopped. The noise stopped. I started walking again. the noise started again. I realized I was hearing my clothes moving on my body.
Same here. I've had to go to a doctor twice to get earwax that was painfully plugging my ear removed so now I flush them out if they feel even a little plugged.
When I was six or seven and living in San Diego my pediatrician flushed the wax out of my ears and it was amazing to be able to hear so well again, plus the quantity was more than he had ever seen. Since then its been anticlimactic.
Moved from Fremont to North Berkeley on Saturday. Went surprisingly well. The truck had parking in both places, nothing got broken, done in under 5 hours....
....which is the amount of time it took AT&T to finish the fiber run into this circa-1920's house. The technician was excellent. Had to do all the work from the central box from scratch. He called the work order "A huge lie."
perfectly adequate. Went to a DC United game on Saturday (one of the most feeble displays of professional soccer I've ever seen, but it was an outing nonetheless) and met up with some HS friends who are in town for Korean grub in Annandale VA on Sunday.
had our soft opening of our latest Pilates studio. Most successful one so far. Go into opening day with 250 members so we're already breaking even. Now if only we could find more instructors. Sigh...
Hit golf balls with Rob and Avi at Tilden, then had korean dinner with them plus TBB and Twist who drove over from his palatial estate, but without picking up Cheesecake Factory like we told him to. He ate Rob's chicharrones.
Then hung out with my best friend from Cal and her kids - we had pizza from Emilia's (Shattuck and Ashby).
Went to Hawaii for just 1.5 days. Got there Friday 11am and left on Saturday 10pm.
I spent Friday in Waikiki but there was nothing to do so I rented a car and drove around the island on Saturday. It was my first visit. Everyone said I'm stupid for such a short stay.
I booked ticket and hotel on Thursday (the day before). I will try different island and a longer stay next time.
Yeah it was definitely too short. I had two Marriott free night certificates expiring on 6/30 so I was looking for somewhere to go. Cash rate was $550/night so that itself was a good redemption. although I never really used the second night. I was planning to occupy the room until about 9pm, but ended up leaving around 1pm and never returned.
Went to the Baltimore Pride Parade on Saturday and had a great time. Baltimore's mayor was leading the front of the parade and as soon as he saw Cf-98 he got a huge smile and ran over to her to give her some beads. That ended up being the theme of that day, as seemingly everyone giving away swag came over to give her stuff. She ended the day with a dozen bead necklaces, tons of stickers, some bracelets, half a dozen rainbow flags, a rainbow fan, and loads of candy.
Interestingly, one of the cars in the parade was Rivian's R1T electric pickup truck--that's the first one I've seen in the wild.
I’ve seen about 5 R1T trucks on the freeways here in San Diego. My initial reaction to them is I like them but they are a bit smaller than I thought they would be. I imagined them closer in size to the F150 when they in reality they are more of a mid size truck like the Ranger or Colorado.
Having a truck is very useful. I miss my old Ranger and would love to get a small truck. I really like the new Ford Maverick and I’ve read they Ford may come out with an EV Maverick.
I've always needed a truck for only a few days a year. I've thought about (never really seriosly) starting a service where people can time-share a truck. Although now that we have Turo, I suppose it wouldn't work.
Went to the Raleigh Pride event on Saturday. It was packed and joyful. Lot of corporations doing soulless promotion ("sign up on our app and get a free coozie"). LOTS of selling Jesus... like 40 different churches promoting their inclusive nature. Two megaphone pastor trolls. It was a vibe more than entertainment because there wasn't much to do. I did listen to a drag queen read children's books and it was delightful, fun, and asexual. Weirdos who think it is pedo grooming need to get their heads checked.
I did see one dude who briefly set off my warning senses. I was departing the drag queen story book reading because I had enough heat/humidity. A white dude in his 40s with a scowl on his face in a black t-shirt, camo cargo shorts, and lots of military tattoos was standing in the back of the crowd with his arms crossed. As I walked around the crowd, I was approaching him on his front right and could clearly see the crossed AR-15s tattoo he had. There was a funny line read by the drag queen. The guy's face suddenly smiles, he uncrosses his arms and I see "I love my trans daughter" in rainbow on his t-shirt and he turns left to smile at his daughter who was hidden a bit behind him. I guess you can't always tell a book by its cover.
Statue of David in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The real David is a bit of a pain in the ass to access, so it's nice to have one out in the open that you can just walk by every day.
this is more renovation than reproduction, but posting it because I found it interesting.
In-laws have two bathrooms: one with western toilet and one with squat toilet. The western one developed problems yesterday and needs to be replaced. in-laws are too old now to use the squat toilet, so we went to the DIY/hardware store and bought a sit-down toilet component that sits on top of the squat toilet. ingenious! the squat toilets here are generally a step above the floor, so the new toilet seat is a reasonable height above the floor.
As a highly inflexible person, the idea of using the squat toilet was not not making me happy, but all's good now!
I visited a company in Taipei. Went to the bathroom and saw a couple of doors open that had squat toilets (floor to ceiling walls). Just held it until after we got back to the Grand Hyatt after work.
I assume they had other bathrooms with regular toilets but I didn't ask.
[wrote this several hours ago but just saw a posting error...god forbid I not post it now!]
thinking about it more, but aren't squat toilets more biologically sound? That is the post-digestion process is more efficient.
That's my experience anyway, but that experience is limited, and when it does happen, it's under HAG-adjacent duress, so my body is ready to go! So that might be why.
Also I was thinking that Asian economic efficiency might be related to the fact that you can't sit in the office stall for 30 minutes reading the sports section.
There are about 200 castles in Japan still standing today, but only a dozen of them are in original form. All others have been restored or reconstructed. Osaka Castle now has an elevator, so it's not a "reproduction" but the appearance from outside is true to the original.
Really? I thought that Osaka was ferroconcrete, like Nagoya and many others. Good to know. Only been there once, 20+ years ago. Got to see Himeji Castle for a bit from the Shinkansen, which is always nice :-)
Will try to go to Takahashi Castle this trip (it's in our prefecture, but still out of the way). It's the highest castle in Japan, which isn't that much of a reason to visit, but it is). The town also is known for its yuzu confections, which IS a reason for a visit.
Writing the above is making me need to go figure out that drive!
48 km to Bitchu-Takahashi, but 90-min drive. Life in an area rife with mountains (and valleys). And narrow roads with very low speed limits. Still worth a drive...
I can't remember exactly but I believe the Nijo Castle had noisy wooden plank floors that squeaked so that assassins couldn't sneak up on the Lord, according to the tour guide.
Much of the most reachable Great Wall sites from Beijing (Badaling and Mutianyu specifically) look like they were built in the 1970s. . . because they were. There's also a bunch of villages from along the Great Wall where bricks from the wall were repurposed for village houses. A good portion of the wall is in ruins (and frankly those are the more interesting portions as opposed to the restored portions)
All of highly touristed China (Badaling, Guilin, Huangshan, Terracotta Warriors, Avatar Mountains, Wangfujing Street in Beijing) tends to be high on scams or near scams.
Yes, so many of the tours included a visit to the "Factory". Silk factory, terracotta warrior souvenier factory. Some of the sales pitches were pretty hard.
Pretty much. And for much of the 20th century, China was in chaos (revolution, civil war, regional warlords, civil war, intraparty conflict, etc. etc.)
Always meant to go to Iwakuni and see this. I think I read that you have to pay to walk over it, which seems surprising....I'm currently 246 km from there. I'm told it's a 3 hr, 45 min drive. Prob about the same by train (including the drive to the local station, putt-putt train, and then Shinkansen).
too much for a day trip. Maybe we can make it an overnight to Hiroshima...haven't been there in awhile.
The Bear on FX/Hulu - all 8 episodes dropped last week. High end New York chef goes back to his family's sandwich shop which his brother owned and ran and then suddenly died. Binged all 8 episodes in 2 days (30 minute episodes) - and it is extremely my shit. Really hope it gets renewed and want season 2 immediately.
It's a bit like the high tension of Uncut Gems, but set in a crappy restaurant kitchen where he tries to change the culture and working practices of a long-time sandwich shop, and doesn't do a very good job of it initially.
I started The Old Man or as I like to refer to it, Old John Wick. I finished the first two episodes and I am all in for this! I am loving everything about it.
Finished We Own This City. A little surprising at the end. At first I thought the one cop just shot himself so he wouldn't have to go into meet the feds that afternoon. Didn't realize it was in the head.
Prediction: You've got a lot of high-profile transfers into the Pac12- especially QB and coaches. Weird things can happen on the way to transplanting people to new places and one of these programs is not going to gel over the course of 25 fall practices. I think chaos will reign supreme in the Pac-12.
As a general rule, I am pretty pessimistic about Cal athletics, at least in the revenue sports, because, well, Cal. The over/under of 5.5 seems dead on, and given Wilcox's history, we're likely be right at it.
I'm taking the over...I think Wilcox & Sirmon get the D ready to play from the opening kick and we get to 6 wins...if the D had been ready from the get-go last year, the Bears are likely 7-5 with wins v. UNR and TCU and bowling. We may even be in play for an invite to the glorious Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX...
Assuming Oregon and USC are the toast of the Pac-12 (outside of Utah) is a bit premature. Also, too much love for Washington which has become irrelevant nationally for a decade, yet the fanbase thinks they are a playoff team.
Giuliani was being hugged and kissed by a group and then suddenly feels a pain in his back, like someone shot him. He is thankful that is in pretty good shape otherwise he might have fallen down and cracked his skull. Thoughts and Prayers.
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell" - Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas wants a Catholic state by overturning laws that protect contraception, same-sex intimate relations, and gay marriage.
No, sir. You made it clear just a moment ago that your men never take matters into their own hands. Your men follow orders or people die. So Santiago shouldn't have been in any danger at all, should he have, Colonel?
Thomas was a minority of one in wanting to hear an appeal from a conservative, though not Catholic, church that sued the SPLC for defamation for designating it as anti-LGBTQ. The rest of the justices said nah.
The Stanford futurist Paul Saffo remarked on facebook that while he thought the U.S. might disintegrate by 2050, he's now advancing his prediction to 2040, driven partially by the insane SCOTUS actions and impact on regionalism and states' rights.
Although, I feel like our democracy is only in decline because people feel like the government can’t “do anything” and that is partially true but only because the GOP is actively sabotaging the government from functioning properly.
I think the gist of it is when you have a group that was in control and flourished for a long time within a democracy, but is losing that control through demographic and social change, their only option might be to undermine the democracy in order to stay in control.
Supreme court overturns decision on praying on the field during football games in the case of a Washington state high school coach who was fired for doing it. Now it's fine and cannot be censured. Real Hail Mary I guess.
I wonder if you'd still have airlines use the middle of the country as hubs.
Ca, Wa, Or, NY, Ma, Va, Il would make a very economically powerful country. Other than Tx and the research triangle, it's most of the high tech in the US.
So let me get this straight. Your best friend asks you to leave one of the most talented teams ever to come join him on a team. He proceeds to miss more than 25% of the games. You get swept in the first round of the playoffs. He wants to get traded...To be on a team with an old superstar, a routinely hurt superstar, and a bunch of mostly not very talented players.
I'm guessing Westbrook has to go back to the Nets to match salary. KD calling Steph, Draymond, and Klay. New phone, who dis?
it's a smart way to stay in match shape for the world cup (sort of an inverse of "Landon Donovan playing for Everton") and then continue the glide path to retirement.
[NYT] DeShaun Watson's case will go to NFL arbitration next week. NFL is pushing for an indefinite suspension, but will not accept anything less than one year. Cleveland Browns will likely roll with [checks notes] Jacoby Brissett.
No shit. Sandoval hit the catcher in the head with his forearms. That's why the mask and helmet go flying off. even so, the catcher held on to the ball until after he extends his arms out.
For the second straight day, the Oakland A’s beat the Kansas City Royals, this time a 5-3 comeback victory. It marks the first time in a month that the A’s have won back-to-back games, and also their first series win in the same span.
The last time Oakland won twice in a row was May 24-25 against the Mariners. Since then they’d dropped 22 of 27 games, and lost eight series in a row, half of them sweeps. Most of the defeats were marked by a complete lack of offense, as the club averaged well under three runs per contest during the skid.
I am one of the bigger Giants fans I know, but there is no one in this lineup that scares an opposing manager or pitcher. No one...there are AAA lineups out there that are more imposing. Toss in the fact that this Giants club is poor defensively and 60% of the rotation can't make it out of the 5th, and you've got trouble. Yet somehow they're 6 games over .500...
There was no one last year that instilled fear but it didn't really matter because Crawford, Posey, Longoria and Belt were all having fluke years career resurgent years for guys on the backside of 30.
This team will continue to compete, but tough to see them nabbing a wildcard spot....
The defense is KILLING me. They need to spend a few days running little league fielding drills. Luis Gonzalez in particular is comically bad in the field.
And yet . . . they are fourth in the majors in runs scored. The offense is actually the strength. They are 12th in runs allowed, but as you've noted a lot of that is on bad defense. Not sure how/if that last thing gets fixed.
The Dodgers and Braves have been pretty evenly matched this season, so it was only natural that their final regular season matchup of 2022 needed extra extra innings to decide things. Down to their last strike with nothing on the board against an old friend, the Dodgers rallied to score in three straight innings, winning 5-3 in 11 innings on Sunday night in Truist Park.
A series of firsts game the Dodgers their second series win over the Braves, in one of the most impressive comeback wins of the year for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won their first extra-inning game in six tries this year, thanks to actually scoring, something they struggled to do for the first 26 outs on Sunday.
I've received my Cal Hoops renewal email. I've been to like three games in the last five years. I have no ides who any players are. Anyone else getting tix?
I'm still getting young alum pricing ($99 per seat), past the 10-year limit. And they have dropped the "oh, and you also need to give $100/seat to bear backers". so for $198, I consider it a donation. I assume that I'll be going again someday. especially once daughter gets older.
Most disappointing is the fan apathy...so many people that used to be huge supporters don't even care anymore - they don't even bother commenting on the site, even if it's just to voice displeasure. Honestly, Cal might as well have been handed the death penalty in '17.
Happy birthday to turkey
HBD Turkey!
Just noticed that I got a senior citizen discount at the outlets yesterday! Woohoo!!! I picked up Pyrex lids for Kodiak's sister and a pie plate for myself.
Can't remember if I relayed this story before. My brother had the opposite. He was in the Navy and his ship was in drydock in Bremerton. My parents visited and they went to a Mariners game. They gave my brother a child's ticket because he looked so young.
hahahaha
Really??? I assumed that you were reasonably younger than I am.
I remember going to see the third Indy Jones movie with the fam and my dad being annoyed that he was offered the senior discount. It only took a year before he was bragging about all the discounts he was getting :-)
I was somewhere last week that had a 55+ discount, which I used. I think the first time ever! I was surprised, thinking that with as long as people live in Japan, like half the population would be eligible. So they'd need to increase the age limit (longevity inflation!)
My younger pup is named for Indy...
well played!
Newellbany and I saw Last Crusade on Opening Night at the old Rockridge Theater in '89...it closed soon after.
Saw some good flicks there over the years back in the day...Dragonslayer, Cloak and Dagger, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with my Grandfather - man, he was lost on that one...;-)
I'm 34 hahahaha
then how'd you get the discount?
I started getting AARP circulars in the mail, though I haven't hit that age (55) yet. They are selling credit cards and insurance and a variety of things.
AARP's over 50, bro.
I get so much crap in the mail from them (and have for several years)
I haven't gotten any AARP stuff and I'm about to turn 53. Don't feel left out though.
Pretty soon you'll be eating dinner at 5pm and complaining about kids these days!
Watching Murder She Wrote re-runs on Hallmark....
So, THAT'S where they are!
Apparently Angela Lansbury lives just down the road near Montecito but I haven't seen her around town yet...my friend has though.
Would be cool to see her. Mostly known for Murder She Wrote but she has had an incredible career.
DBD Auto
Pikes Peak was also this weekend, though fog and rain at the summit made it slower than usual.
Looking for a car for No 2 to use at Vandy for grad school since he's not living on campus anymore. Prices are ridiculous.
This electric car beat the Goodwood Hill Record by 2 seconds. It's an electric fan car that has a fan to suck out air underneath the car, enabling it to stick to the road. Record went from 41.XX to 39.08.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JYp9eGC3Cc&ab_channel=GoodwoodRoad%26Racing
Reminds me of the Chaparral 2J that used the same fan trick in the 70s. SCCA banned it after one season because it was too dominant (when it wasn't suffering breakdowns, that is).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral_Cars#2J
Oh yeah I remember reading about that as well. I mean teams need to find an edge until they change the rules.
Earwax: do you have sticky or dry?
I got my ears cleaned at Cowell Hospital when I was a freshman. The nurse was quite proud of herself. I left and as I was walking down the corridor, I heard a noise. I stopped. The noise stopped. I started walking again. the noise started again. I realized I was hearing my clothes moving on my body.
Can't hear like that any more!
Yes. And it varies.
Sticky. Earwax is a continual problem for me, compounded by having hearing aids.
Same here. I've had to go to a doctor twice to get earwax that was painfully plugging my ear removed so now I flush them out if they feel even a little plugged.
I have dry earwax and I’ve had to have my ears flushed twice due to blockage. It feels so good.
When I was six or seven and living in San Diego my pediatrician flushed the wax out of my ears and it was amazing to be able to hear so well again, plus the quantity was more than he had ever seen. Since then its been anticlimactic.
Dry. Isn't it an Asian vs non-Asian thing? Maybe not exactly asian vs non-asian but I thought there was some sort of X vs non-X thing about it.
East Asians tend to have dry earwax, but it's not 100%
I have compound - both sticky and dry.
My family isn’t Asian and my dad and brother have sticky earwax while me and my mom have dry earwax.
How as your weekend?
Moved from Fremont to North Berkeley on Saturday. Went surprisingly well. The truck had parking in both places, nothing got broken, done in under 5 hours....
....which is the amount of time it took AT&T to finish the fiber run into this circa-1920's house. The technician was excellent. Had to do all the work from the central box from scratch. He called the work order "A huge lie."
perfectly adequate. Went to a DC United game on Saturday (one of the most feeble displays of professional soccer I've ever seen, but it was an outing nonetheless) and met up with some HS friends who are in town for Korean grub in Annandale VA on Sunday.
had our soft opening of our latest Pilates studio. Most successful one so far. Go into opening day with 250 members so we're already breaking even. Now if only we could find more instructors. Sigh...
Hit golf balls with Rob and Avi at Tilden, then had korean dinner with them plus TBB and Twist who drove over from his palatial estate, but without picking up Cheesecake Factory like we told him to. He ate Rob's chicharrones.
Then hung out with my best friend from Cal and her kids - we had pizza from Emilia's (Shattuck and Ashby).
Went to Hawaii for just 1.5 days. Got there Friday 11am and left on Saturday 10pm.
I spent Friday in Waikiki but there was nothing to do so I rented a car and drove around the island on Saturday. It was my first visit. Everyone said I'm stupid for such a short stay.
I booked ticket and hotel on Thursday (the day before). I will try different island and a longer stay next time.
That’s a long flight for a very short trip.
Yeah it was definitely too short. I had two Marriott free night certificates expiring on 6/30 so I was looking for somewhere to go. Cash rate was $550/night so that itself was a good redemption. although I never really used the second night. I was planning to occupy the room until about 9pm, but ended up leaving around 1pm and never returned.
It's like a short skirt and a lonnnnnngggg jacket
So it's like you are not wearing anything on bottom.
Went to the Baltimore Pride Parade on Saturday and had a great time. Baltimore's mayor was leading the front of the parade and as soon as he saw Cf-98 he got a huge smile and ran over to her to give her some beads. That ended up being the theme of that day, as seemingly everyone giving away swag came over to give her stuff. She ended the day with a dozen bead necklaces, tons of stickers, some bracelets, half a dozen rainbow flags, a rainbow fan, and loads of candy.
Interestingly, one of the cars in the parade was Rivian's R1T electric pickup truck--that's the first one I've seen in the wild.
I’ve seen about 5 R1T trucks on the freeways here in San Diego. My initial reaction to them is I like them but they are a bit smaller than I thought they would be. I imagined them closer in size to the F150 when they in reality they are more of a mid size truck like the Ranger or Colorado.
I've also seen a good handful of R1Ts in the wild here in the outer bay area, where people love trucks, but are also somewhat mindful of emissions?
Of course, as I've said before, this place is Tesla town.
Having a truck is very useful. I miss my old Ranger and would love to get a small truck. I really like the new Ford Maverick and I’ve read they Ford may come out with an EV Maverick.
I've always needed a truck for only a few days a year. I've thought about (never really seriosly) starting a service where people can time-share a truck. Although now that we have Turo, I suppose it wouldn't work.
I need a small truck for weekend jobs, buying stuff on OfferUp and going to the beach.
The maverick has a full cab, which would fit my kids car seats in easily, gets like 40 MPG and has a small bed that is great for Home Depot trips.
U Haul has rental pick-ups for $19.95 plus milage.
Great time at a kids' amusement park, shitty time in politics, hot&humid.
Went to the Raleigh Pride event on Saturday. It was packed and joyful. Lot of corporations doing soulless promotion ("sign up on our app and get a free coozie"). LOTS of selling Jesus... like 40 different churches promoting their inclusive nature. Two megaphone pastor trolls. It was a vibe more than entertainment because there wasn't much to do. I did listen to a drag queen read children's books and it was delightful, fun, and asexual. Weirdos who think it is pedo grooming need to get their heads checked.
I did see one dude who briefly set off my warning senses. I was departing the drag queen story book reading because I had enough heat/humidity. A white dude in his 40s with a scowl on his face in a black t-shirt, camo cargo shorts, and lots of military tattoos was standing in the back of the crowd with his arms crossed. As I walked around the crowd, I was approaching him on his front right and could clearly see the crossed AR-15s tattoo he had. There was a funny line read by the drag queen. The guy's face suddenly smiles, he uncrosses his arms and I see "I love my trans daughter" in rainbow on his t-shirt and he turns left to smile at his daughter who was hidden a bit behind him. I guess you can't always tell a book by its cover.
Fine but a bit hot.
Reproduction
Statue of David in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The real David is a bit of a pain in the ass to access, so it's nice to have one out in the open that you can just walk by every day.
this is more renovation than reproduction, but posting it because I found it interesting.
In-laws have two bathrooms: one with western toilet and one with squat toilet. The western one developed problems yesterday and needs to be replaced. in-laws are too old now to use the squat toilet, so we went to the DIY/hardware store and bought a sit-down toilet component that sits on top of the squat toilet. ingenious! the squat toilets here are generally a step above the floor, so the new toilet seat is a reasonable height above the floor.
As a highly inflexible person, the idea of using the squat toilet was not not making me happy, but all's good now!
I visited a company in Taipei. Went to the bathroom and saw a couple of doors open that had squat toilets (floor to ceiling walls). Just held it until after we got back to the Grand Hyatt after work.
I assume they had other bathrooms with regular toilets but I didn't ask.
[wrote this several hours ago but just saw a posting error...god forbid I not post it now!]
thinking about it more, but aren't squat toilets more biologically sound? That is the post-digestion process is more efficient.
That's my experience anyway, but that experience is limited, and when it does happen, it's under HAG-adjacent duress, so my body is ready to go! So that might be why.
Also I was thinking that Asian economic efficiency might be related to the fact that you can't sit in the office stall for 30 minutes reading the sports section.
Bathrooms with mixed toilet types often have an infographic on the door illustrating which type it is
I resemble that remark!
Osaka Castle
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4000.html
There are about 200 castles in Japan still standing today, but only a dozen of them are in original form. All others have been restored or reconstructed. Osaka Castle now has an elevator, so it's not a "reproduction" but the appearance from outside is true to the original.
Really? I thought that Osaka was ferroconcrete, like Nagoya and many others. Good to know. Only been there once, 20+ years ago. Got to see Himeji Castle for a bit from the Shinkansen, which is always nice :-)
Will try to go to Takahashi Castle this trip (it's in our prefecture, but still out of the way). It's the highest castle in Japan, which isn't that much of a reason to visit, but it is). The town also is known for its yuzu confections, which IS a reason for a visit.
Writing the above is making me need to go figure out that drive!
I don't know the structure. It might be reinforced steel like you said. I just meant the appearance is the same, not the structure.
48 km to Bitchu-Takahashi, but 90-min drive. Life in an area rife with mountains (and valleys). And narrow roads with very low speed limits. Still worth a drive...
That's where my ex-wife went to school.
OK I didn't catch on at first and thought "that's the first time I've ever seen Jimmy C say something neutral about his ex."
If it's any consolation, Scootie, she was a pre-season All-American in '11.
I know almost nothing about Jimmy C, but I have learned that! :-)
Ha!
Yeah, the old-days name for this region is Bitchu, which obviously causes amusement for English speakers.
But you win with the "U" bit.
Reminds me of Bullwinkle's alma mater. Anyone want to proffer a guess?
What-Sa-Matta-U
I can't remember exactly but I believe the Nijo Castle had noisy wooden plank floors that squeaked so that assassins couldn't sneak up on the Lord, according to the tour guide.
Yup, nightingale floors.
Either a brilliant design or (being an acoustical consultant) a convenient line to feed said lord about why their floors were so damn noisy!
Much of the most reachable Great Wall sites from Beijing (Badaling and Mutianyu specifically) look like they were built in the 1970s. . . because they were. There's also a bunch of villages from along the Great Wall where bricks from the wall were repurposed for village houses. A good portion of the wall is in ruins (and frankly those are the more interesting portions as opposed to the restored portions)
Isn't that one of Tony Soprano's big haunts, T?
rimshot dot gif
Thanks guys, you've been great...I'll here all week....
One thing I remember about Badaling is that they leave out food to feed the sunbears. But if you touch it, someone will run up and demand money.
All of highly touristed China (Badaling, Guilin, Huangshan, Terracotta Warriors, Avatar Mountains, Wangfujing Street in Beijing) tends to be high on scams or near scams.
Yes, so many of the tours included a visit to the "Factory". Silk factory, terracotta warrior souvenier factory. Some of the sales pitches were pretty hard.
I mean the bricks were right there and nobody was using them...
Pretty much. And for much of the 20th century, China was in chaos (revolution, civil war, regional warlords, civil war, intraparty conflict, etc. etc.)
Had never heard of this Texas Paul guy. But I think I do like him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TntneE81xI&ab_channel=MeidasTouch
Oops...I guess I should have put this under crumbling democracy, but it fits here.
Always meant to go to Iwakuni and see this. I think I read that you have to pay to walk over it, which seems surprising....I'm currently 246 km from there. I'm told it's a 3 hr, 45 min drive. Prob about the same by train (including the drive to the local station, putt-putt train, and then Shinkansen).
too much for a day trip. Maybe we can make it an overnight to Hiroshima...haven't been there in awhile.
Yeah it says you have to pay. It's open 24 hours so if you go at night time you put money in the box.
Which likely means they receive money from the Japanese at night, but not the foreign tourists ;-)
Lothar Malskat - a German artist - sued himself in 1952 in order to prove his work was reproductions/forgeries, not restorations
https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2017/03/lothar-malskat-the-man-who-sued-himself
DBD AV Club
First two episodes of Only Murders in the Building S2 drop tomorrow. Reviews are good, as expected.
The Bear on FX/Hulu - all 8 episodes dropped last week. High end New York chef goes back to his family's sandwich shop which his brother owned and ran and then suddenly died. Binged all 8 episodes in 2 days (30 minute episodes) - and it is extremely my shit. Really hope it gets renewed and want season 2 immediately.
It's a bit like the high tension of Uncut Gems, but set in a crappy restaurant kitchen where he tries to change the culture and working practices of a long-time sandwich shop, and doesn't do a very good job of it initially.
It's on my list...
First 3 episodes of The Old Man have been good.
I watched the new Dr. Strange movie on Disney+ and I really enjoyed it.
I watched the first episode of Loot on Apple TV and I didn’t care for it.
bummer...was hoping it'd be good. I had the same hope for Physical, and altho I finished S1, didn't really dig it.
I started The Old Man or as I like to refer to it, Old John Wick. I finished the first two episodes and I am all in for this! I am loving everything about it.
It's so good! I love watching Lithgow vs Bridges too (or maybe they're not enemies?!)
It's a quality show so far.
what's it on?
Hulu via FX.
Boo!
New episodes are on FX on cable every Thursday.
yay! maybe I can stream older ones thru the app
I watched episode 1 last night and am totally in as well
Finished We Own This City. A little surprising at the end. At first I thought the one cop just shot himself so he wouldn't have to go into meet the feds that afternoon. Didn't realize it was in the head.
Same! I was also sad for that guy's fate.
Elsewhere in college
Jaden Rashada heads to the U...
He'll be in the portal by 2025.
[MHockey] Iowa State gets 525600 minutes in the penalty box
https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-state-suspends-mens-hockey-club-over-hazing
2022 Pac-12 win totals, odds, picks: Predictions for each team as Oregon, USC aim to hit the over on big lines.
Just digging into the article and have not read about Cal yet. My guess is that Caesar's will allow us 4-5 wins.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2022-pac-12-win-totals-odds-picks-predictions-for-each-team-as-oregon-usc-aim-to-hit-the-over-on-big-lines
Prediction: You've got a lot of high-profile transfers into the Pac12- especially QB and coaches. Weird things can happen on the way to transplanting people to new places and one of these programs is not going to gel over the course of 25 fall practices. I think chaos will reign supreme in the Pac-12.
As a general rule, I am pretty pessimistic about Cal athletics, at least in the revenue sports, because, well, Cal. The over/under of 5.5 seems dead on, and given Wilcox's history, we're likely be right at it.
I'm taking the over...I think Wilcox & Sirmon get the D ready to play from the opening kick and we get to 6 wins...if the D had been ready from the get-go last year, the Bears are likely 7-5 with wins v. UNR and TCU and bowling. We may even be in play for an invite to the glorious Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX...
Assuming Oregon and USC are the toast of the Pac-12 (outside of Utah) is a bit premature. Also, too much love for Washington which has become irrelevant nationally for a decade, yet the fanbase thinks they are a playoff team.
Cristobal was a good recruiter even though he wasn't great in-game, I think Oregon has less of a rebuild going on than SC does.
After reading the piece I'm quoting this:
"Cal has essentially shriveled up into a poor man's version of Iowa, and it is tough to watch"
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Giuliani was being hugged and kissed by a group and then suddenly feels a pain in his back, like someone shot him. He is thankful that is in pretty good shape otherwise he might have fallen down and cracked his skull. Thoughts and Prayers.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1541202601236172800
Update: the man was arrested and charged with FELONY assault
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/27/giuliani-slap-grocery-store-staten-island/
That's a good way to get him acquitted.
as in he assaulted a felon?
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell" - Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas wants a Catholic state by overturning laws that protect contraception, same-sex intimate relations, and gay marriage.
https://twitter.com/Marissa_Jae/status/1540356222402314241
What about Loving vs West Virginia, CT? If you're looking to overturn stuff, why leave out Loving? Why the two orders, Colonel?
because that affects him, and republicans are against things until it affects them (like Cheney with LGBT issues).
But I think you know that already (which is why the "two orders" bit?)
Jessup:
Sometimes men take matters into their own hands.
Kaffee:
No, sir. You made it clear just a moment ago that your men never take matters into their own hands. Your men follow orders or people die. So Santiago shouldn't have been in any danger at all, should he have, Colonel?
Thomas was a minority of one in wanting to hear an appeal from a conservative, though not Catholic, church that sued the SPLC for defamation for designating it as anti-LGBTQ. The rest of the justices said nah.
Just wait until today's announcement by SCOTUS. Expect the dismantling of the EPA and also censure of the SEC...(Securities & Exchange commission).
The Stanford futurist Paul Saffo remarked on facebook that while he thought the U.S. might disintegrate by 2050, he's now advancing his prediction to 2040, driven partially by the insane SCOTUS actions and impact on regionalism and states' rights.
I recently listened to this..
How Civil Wars Start with Barbara F. Walter
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lincoln-project/id1551582052?i=1000567543326
The two most correlative predictors in their model:
1. "Anocracy" aka partial-democracy (democracy or autocracy in decline; not fully one or the other)
2. The citizens within said partial-democracy organize their selves around religion and/or race and/or ethnicity
As an alt history exercise, if Lincoln let the South secede doesn’t Hitler win WW2?
We need to stay together, but the Court does not. Pack that shit like a bowl at a Cypress Hill concert. I have zero reservations about this now.
Well it sounds like we are 2 for 2 on this.
Although, I feel like our democracy is only in decline because people feel like the government can’t “do anything” and that is partially true but only because the GOP is actively sabotaging the government from functioning properly.
I think the gist of it is when you have a group that was in control and flourished for a long time within a democracy, but is losing that control through demographic and social change, their only option might be to undermine the democracy in order to stay in control.
Supreme court overturns decision on praying on the field during football games in the case of a Washington state high school coach who was fired for doing it. Now it's fine and cannot be censured. Real Hail Mary I guess.
Not a fan of the decision, but I think this description is incorrect: he was leading a prayer AFTER the game, not during.
I pray to Oski during games
Someone should lead a call to prayer facing Mecca and see what happens
2040 seems a bit optimistic at this point.
If the US were to disintegrate, I don’t think it would be a peaceful separation.
I wonder if the all the blue states stick together? If so, that would be a very odd non contiguous country.
I wonder if you'd still have airlines use the middle of the country as hubs.
Ca, Wa, Or, NY, Ma, Va, Il would make a very economically powerful country. Other than Tx and the research triangle, it's most of the high tech in the US.
I would assume Colorado and New Mexico would join the other blue states so Denver and Albuquerque would be our hubs.
We would also need to figure out how to divide up the electric grid.
Texas and all the red states would have to actually start paying for their infrastructure and military.
The smart state and the dumb state.
PRO
So let me get this straight. Your best friend asks you to leave one of the most talented teams ever to come join him on a team. He proceeds to miss more than 25% of the games. You get swept in the first round of the playoffs. He wants to get traded...To be on a team with an old superstar, a routinely hurt superstar, and a bunch of mostly not very talented players.
I'm guessing Westbrook has to go back to the Nets to match salary. KD calling Steph, Draymond, and Klay. New phone, who dis?
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34156938/sources-los-angeles-lakers-only-team-known-seeking-brooklyn-nets-guard-kyrie-irving-sign-trade-deal
<<colbert eating popcorn.gif>>
The Welsh are shocked... shocked, I tell ya, that Gareth Bale would rather be in LA
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/american-football/gareth-bale-reportedly-agrees-to-join-los-angeles-fc-in-crushing-blow-to-cardiff-city/ar-AAYRrVy
it's a smart way to stay in match shape for the world cup (sort of an inverse of "Landon Donovan playing for Everton") and then continue the glide path to retirement.
[NYT] DeShaun Watson's case will go to NFL arbitration next week. NFL is pushing for an indefinite suspension, but will not accept anything less than one year. Cleveland Browns will likely roll with [checks notes] Jacoby Brissett.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039923-report-nfl-pushing-for-indefinite-suspension-of-browns-deshaun-watson
Let's check in to see about Pablo Sandoval's weight.
https://twitter.com/BasebaIlKing/status/1540433616882339841
The ump should have flagged him for targeting
No shit. Sandoval hit the catcher in the head with his forearms. That's why the mask and helmet go flying off. even so, the catcher held on to the ball until after he extends his arms out.
Dirty hit.
Eight ejected after wild brawl between Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34152600/eight-ejected-wild-brawl-seattle-mariners-los-angeles-angels
Here we go! Jomboy to the rescue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFUawXZhnlc
Someone sent a pizza to the guy plunked by the pitch. A thread.
https://twitter.com/sofieballgame/status/1541164864340742144
Jessie Winker.
At the 1:04 mark in the video Raisel Iglesias throws a box of sunflower seeds and bubble gum onto the field in slow motion. That was *chef's kiss*
Waiting for the Jomboy breakdown.
Game #74: A’s earn 5-3 comeback win over Royals
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/6/26/23184113/game-74-oakland-as-kansas-city-royals-score-result
That’s two in a row!
For the second straight day, the Oakland A’s beat the Kansas City Royals, this time a 5-3 comeback victory. It marks the first time in a month that the A’s have won back-to-back games, and also their first series win in the same span.
The last time Oakland won twice in a row was May 24-25 against the Mariners. Since then they’d dropped 22 of 27 games, and lost eight series in a row, half of them sweeps. Most of the defeats were marked by a complete lack of offense, as the club averaged well under three runs per contest during the skid.
Giants can only get a FG against the Reds. 10-3
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355320
I am one of the bigger Giants fans I know, but there is no one in this lineup that scares an opposing manager or pitcher. No one...there are AAA lineups out there that are more imposing. Toss in the fact that this Giants club is poor defensively and 60% of the rotation can't make it out of the 5th, and you've got trouble. Yet somehow they're 6 games over .500...
There was no one last year that instilled fear but it didn't really matter because Crawford, Posey, Longoria and Belt were all having fluke years career resurgent years for guys on the backside of 30.
This team will continue to compete, but tough to see them nabbing a wildcard spot....
The defense is KILLING me. They need to spend a few days running little league fielding drills. Luis Gonzalez in particular is comically bad in the field.
And yet . . . they are fourth in the majors in runs scored. The offense is actually the strength. They are 12th in runs allowed, but as you've noted a lot of that is on bad defense. Not sure how/if that last thing gets fixed.
Down to their last strike, Dodgers find their offense to beat Braves
https://www.truebluela.com/2022/6/26/23184211/dodgers-comeback-kenley-jansen-extra-innings-chris-taylor-freddie-freeman-tony-gonsolin
The Dodgers and Braves have been pretty evenly matched this season, so it was only natural that their final regular season matchup of 2022 needed extra extra innings to decide things. Down to their last strike with nothing on the board against an old friend, the Dodgers rallied to score in three straight innings, winning 5-3 in 11 innings on Sunday night in Truist Park.
A series of firsts game the Dodgers their second series win over the Braves, in one of the most impressive comeback wins of the year for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won their first extra-inning game in six tries this year, thanks to actually scoring, something they struggled to do for the first 26 outs on Sunday.
GBBR
GBBR
Justin Wilcox repping the SF Giants
https://twitter.com/MWCherrington/status/1540863223053688832
Always knew I liked this guy.
boo-this-man.gif
Avs win game 6 and Stanley Cup.
https://twitter.com/usahockey/status/1541272570166738945
CAL
I've received my Cal Hoops renewal email. I've been to like three games in the last five years. I have no ides who any players are. Anyone else getting tix?
I think just about everyone except for 1 person here stopped getting BB tickets.
that's a sad state of affairs for the program that out of this group, there are only two folks with tix (and I don't go).
I used to set my life around cal hoops. Not quite Nick Hornsby with Arsenal level, but planned biz trip flights to get back for games.
Missed UofA game flying back from Laughlin, NV because the airport is across the river in Bullhead City, AZ...which was an hour ahead.
I gave up my mid-court seats after I spent an entire season not attending a single game.
pre-covid?
I'm still getting young alum pricing ($99 per seat), past the 10-year limit. And they have dropped the "oh, and you also need to give $100/seat to bear backers". so for $198, I consider it a donation. I assume that I'll be going again someday. especially once daughter gets older.
It's awful what has happened to the program.
Most disappointing is the fan apathy...so many people that used to be huge supporters don't even care anymore - they don't even bother commenting on the site, even if it's just to voice displeasure. Honestly, Cal might as well have been handed the death penalty in '17.
Go Bears!!!
Cal apparently has another 2023 silent commit
https://twitter.com/MWCherrington/status/1541275866277109761
good