I've dedicated about 30 minutes every day to stretching. I can now rest my palms on the floor with my legs straight. My pigeon pose, however, is a work in progress.
I've tried my hand at cooking some selected Southern dishes. Today, I'm making banana pudding. Custard made with real vanilla pods and full cream. Nilla wafers. Nanners & fresh whipped cream. Served in a clear plastic cup with a plastic spoon, obviously.
As I'm the first one here today I guess it's my responsibility to welcome you all. Please find a seat, we'll be getting started shortly. If you haven't already, please check out the cafe. I understand the blueberry muffins are delicious. The DBD gift shop will be open at 9:00, all caps are 10 % off this month. If you have any questions interns are floating around wearing their distinctive blue and gold lederhosen. Have a great day!
DBD at the fair tomorrow! Terence and I are going to the Alameda County Fair on Friday. Get in touch if you want to join us...Gin Blossoms are playing!
Canadian wildfire smoke is back. The Capitol is about four miles from me. The outline of it is barely visible. If I didn't know it was there I wouldn't see it. AQI at 165 - Code Red.
No 1 just came back in and said Philly is pretty bad. He said he thought the AQI was nearing 200. Sunday is moving day so I'm hoping it gets a bit better. Supposed to be raining some so maybe that helps wash some of it out.
Visibility is down to about 1.5 miles in Baltimore and AQI is ~170. I was hoping to get back on the bike now that the torrential rains have ended, but I suppose I'll have to wait another day. Fingers crossed for tomorrow, AQI is forecast to be about 110.
Black Mirror "Joan Is Awful" (Netflix): 18/19, a very clever, well-written sci-fi premise with a heavy dose of comedy (at times, reaching a level of absurdism). I've seen only a handful of Black Mirror episodes over the years, but this may be my new favorite.
I've got the afternoon off tomorrow...toying with the idea of buying a ticket to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny...but really torn. Raiders is literally one of my favorite movies of all time, and Last Crusade is a total classic that Newellbany and I saw on opening night in the 510 back in the day...my Brittany is named after Indy...
But Crystal Skull was an utter abomination, and Harrison Ford looks like he should be living with James Garner in the same retirement home where he would read from the Notebook to Gena Rowlands....the previews look rather lame...hmmmm, on the fence.
For some reason, watched the Michael J Fox doc (Still). It was interesting (altho maybe not groundbreaking for a celeb doc, altho the Parkinson's aspect is unique).
Realized that beyond a couple of seasons of Family Ties, a few Spin City eps (totally had forgotten that show), and The American President, I don't think I've seen him in anything. (Yes...that means that I've never seen Back to the Future movies.)
I Am a Virgo (Prime) is...interesting. Only seen one ep so far, but diff than anything I've seen before. Looking forward to seeing where it goes. The director commentary for the episode was interesting also.
Finished a couple hour shows - Deutschland '83 which we thought was quite good, 16/19 type good and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which we don't agree upon; wife liked some of it, mainly the first two seasons, 4th was bad in her mind, and I thought it was going down as well - but still interesting.
Anyway, started "From Scratch" from my recommendation - and I liked the very first one because it was set in Florence - but I doubt the rest will be good enough. Oh well.
If y'all have any hour dramas to recommend - let me know.
I never saw the sharp downward slope in Maisel that some others saw. I think it was still mostly a high quality show to the end, even if there were some story decisions I would quibble with.
Apparent hate-crime at the University of Waterloo as a guy goes into a gender philosophy class, asks what the topic is, and then goes on a knife attack spree
Which brings to mind my most recent bitter criticism with the SF Chronicle - they DO NOT generally report on the previous day's games in MLB, even for the Bay Area's home teams in their print edition.
I had to go to ESPN.com to find out that Domingo German threw a perfect game at the Oakland Coliseum last night.
The Chronicle never boasted great journalism but it was a fun paper with a lot of good features and the Sports Section was thorough with some lively writing. It was a staple in our house until a number of factors including the advent of the internet drove into the ground. It's useless now.
a thought that I had this morning (so not necessarily very well baked) is that we have had race-based admissions/hiring/mortgages, etc for decades (centuries). except is was white-only. So now that there's a (slight?) shift to allowing non-whites to get some race preference, people lose their shit.
without wanting to sound sarcastic, the "something particular about race" would be official (Jim Crow / segregation) and unofficial but systematic racism towards principally but not exclusively black Americans. There was a time when the defense of affirmative action was that it was intended to be a corrective to exclusion which would eventually become unnecessary. That still hasn't happened. There was a time when I'd have taken a more doctrinaire left position that focusing on class would do the trick, but there's no getting around the fact that race overcomes class solidarity in this country (if you can really talk about class solidarity beyond the demonstrated skill of principally white rich people in securing upwards wealth transfer via various tax subsidies, policy capture, etc etc.) I'm aware that there are right wing populists who say they'd support class based correctives as an "anti elite" position, but in the unlikely event that was enshrined by legislation, I doubt it would stop race-based discrimination and it probably wouldn't survive judicial review.
presumably one equalizing thing would be to replace race diversity w/ economic diversity or even test score or GPA diversity.
it would directly address race, but would do so by proxy.
also, one of the narratives you hear from the disgruntled people is that "black person X got into Ivy League school Y, but has just as much money and privilege as the white person next to them"
My not-very-lefty take on the above is that this is why I feel like race-based affirmative action had mostly outlived its usefulness anyway. I think you might be accomplishing the goal you want to accomplish (granting additional opportunity to less privileged kids) better through other means now.
Absolutely and you do so without making anyone feel another was admitted based on race at the expense of someone else being denied. I had a conversation about this with Christopher Edley who was Dean of UC Berkeley Law at the time, and he analogized race-based admissions to a special parking place for disabled individuals. That is, in a parking lot with hundreds of spaces, a few spaces dedicated for a special category would not have a significant impact on those not fitting that category. I thought it was a pretty terrible analogy and for me demonstrated some pretty poor thinking on this subject.
Maybe only that race is the target of this suit before the Court. Those other factors you name are targets for future lawsuits now that it has been established that race is a non-factor.
Most universities use a blend of race and merit, trying to strike a balance between racial admissions and social equality. Asian-American students are likely to be the massive winner because of this shift and under-represented minorities the massive loser. I think the GOP is going to be sorely disappointed to find out that whites will be net losers.
No, they won't. You assume that their self-interest is selfish in a predictable way. It isn't predictable in this way - they want to deny a benefit to non-whites even if it means that they themselves will not benefit. Grover Norquist is a close relative (philosophically speaking) to white trash.
FLEX
flexibility.
I've dedicated about 30 minutes every day to stretching. I can now rest my palms on the floor with my legs straight. My pigeon pose, however, is a work in progress.
Me too! But I have a looooooooooong way to go to catch up with that!
I can get halfway down my shins :-/
i need to do more of this flexibility stuff
Flexibility is fine, but licking my butt, that I can do without.
Prude
LOL.
DBD Cooking Academy
I've tried my hand at cooking some selected Southern dishes. Today, I'm making banana pudding. Custard made with real vanilla pods and full cream. Nilla wafers. Nanners & fresh whipped cream. Served in a clear plastic cup with a plastic spoon, obviously.
let me know if you make icebox cake w/ chocolate wafers.
I recently made one with Biscoff! The filling was sliced strawberries and mascarpone+whipped cream.
A family favorite.
Magnolia Bakery in NYC is famous for this. apparently it is their best seller by a wide margin.
i am not a fan of anything w/ bananas, but i hear it is good.
Man comes in second place at a Beard contest, behind his wife.
https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/27/this-man-enters-beard-competitions-but-his-wife-takes-home-first-place-19016861/
hehehe
As I'm the first one here today I guess it's my responsibility to welcome you all. Please find a seat, we'll be getting started shortly. If you haven't already, please check out the cafe. I understand the blueberry muffins are delicious. The DBD gift shop will be open at 9:00, all caps are 10 % off this month. If you have any questions interns are floating around wearing their distinctive blue and gold lederhosen. Have a great day!
| "distinctive blue and gold lederhosen"
https://lederhosen4u.com/hirsch-blue-lederhosen.html
OPHELIA: Ya, I'm Inga from Sweden. Won't you help me with my rook-sack? (looking at Clarence Beeks)
COLEMAN: But you're wearing... lederhosen.
still one of the best movies ever
Trading Places? Jamie Lee Curtis?
i was referring to Trading Places
but had not thought of the other
what is "the other"? isn't it JLC who is Inga?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goSeIDDMwgE#t=2m
No more Gawd-damned jerky beef.
And no more cockamamie cigar smoke.
(The baggage handlers bust in)
I'll rip out your eyeballs and piss on your brain!
"Imagine how embarrassed I was when I saw that someone had the same costume I had."
Bear Claw please.
DBD at the fair tomorrow! Terence and I are going to the Alameda County Fair on Friday. Get in touch if you want to join us...Gin Blossoms are playing!
In the Tri Valley!
Canadian wildfire smoke is back. The Capitol is about four miles from me. The outline of it is barely visible. If I didn't know it was there I wouldn't see it. AQI at 165 - Code Red.
No 1 just came back in and said Philly is pretty bad. He said he thought the AQI was nearing 200. Sunday is moving day so I'm hoping it gets a bit better. Supposed to be raining some so maybe that helps wash some of it out.
The wind is supposed to switch around from the south tomorrow so smoke should dissipate. The bad news, it brings in hot, humid weather.
Visibility is down to about 1.5 miles in Baltimore and AQI is ~170. I was hoping to get back on the bike now that the torrential rains have ended, but I suppose I'll have to wait another day. Fingers crossed for tomorrow, AQI is forecast to be about 110.
DBD AV CLUB
Black Mirror "Joan Is Awful" (Netflix): 18/19, a very clever, well-written sci-fi premise with a heavy dose of comedy (at times, reaching a level of absurdism). I've seen only a handful of Black Mirror episodes over the years, but this may be my new favorite.
I've got the afternoon off tomorrow...toying with the idea of buying a ticket to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny...but really torn. Raiders is literally one of my favorite movies of all time, and Last Crusade is a total classic that Newellbany and I saw on opening night in the 510 back in the day...my Brittany is named after Indy...
But Crystal Skull was an utter abomination, and Harrison Ford looks like he should be living with James Garner in the same retirement home where he would read from the Notebook to Gena Rowlands....the previews look rather lame...hmmmm, on the fence.
Has anyone heard any talk/reviews?
Crystal Skull was good for the first half of the movie.
Ick!
Not sure I can get there, hag...the movie opens with him surviving a nuclear explosion by hiding in a refrigerator...
ok that was pretty bad. But I liked the action in the first half, right up to the Aliens.
Unless my kids want to go, I'm going to download and watch it. Just like Fast X.
I should go see the Jennifer Lawrence ditty No Hard Feelings…THAT looks funny!
I always check Rotten Tomatoes for reviews. Some critics like it but none are gaga, others pan it. https://www.rottentomatoes.com
Last S1 Silo ep tonight!
Enjoying Platonic a lot.
For some reason, watched the Michael J Fox doc (Still). It was interesting (altho maybe not groundbreaking for a celeb doc, altho the Parkinson's aspect is unique).
Realized that beyond a couple of seasons of Family Ties, a few Spin City eps (totally had forgotten that show), and The American President, I don't think I've seen him in anything. (Yes...that means that I've never seen Back to the Future movies.)
I Am a Virgo (Prime) is...interesting. Only seen one ep so far, but diff than anything I've seen before. Looking forward to seeing where it goes. The director commentary for the episode was interesting also.
Maybe late to the party on this one but the missus and I started watching Jury Duty. Three episodes in and we're loving it. What a premise!
I have heard this is good. I've got it on my list. Going through FUBAR right now and really enjoying it.
Jury Duty was amazing...especially the last ep
FUBAR...got a few eps in and quit.
Finished a couple hour shows - Deutschland '83 which we thought was quite good, 16/19 type good and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which we don't agree upon; wife liked some of it, mainly the first two seasons, 4th was bad in her mind, and I thought it was going down as well - but still interesting.
Anyway, started "From Scratch" from my recommendation - and I liked the very first one because it was set in Florence - but I doubt the rest will be good enough. Oh well.
If y'all have any hour dramas to recommend - let me know.
I never saw the sharp downward slope in Maisel that some others saw. I think it was still mostly a high quality show to the end, even if there were some story decisions I would quibble with.
I wasn't crazy about the penultimate season but absolutely loved the final season.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Apparent hate-crime at the University of Waterloo as a guy goes into a gender philosophy class, asks what the topic is, and then goes on a knife attack spree
https://torontosun.com/news/crime/3-hospitalized-after-stabbing-incident-at-university-of-waterloo
PRO
Sharks first round pick is Will Smith, not that one, not that one, not that one. Walked up to the podium to the Fresh Prince theme song.
LOL. Let's go, Giants! 👏.👏.👏👏👏!
https://twitter.com/KNBR/status/1674196588657532929
The Montreal Canadiens are pleased to draft.... Whats-His-Nose
https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/1674202960480595968
Bruh. This can't be real, right?
https://twitter.com/PenaltyBoxRadio/status/1674107713159036939
Apparently, cricket players are more gentlemanly than US football and baseball players when it comes to pitch/field invasion
https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99/status/1674000616061038592
Yankees' Domingo Germán throws a perfect game in Oakland
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37931584/domingo-german-authors-perfect-game-yankees-top-athletics
Busted previously for domestic violence, and caught cheating not once but TWICE already this season, including a suspension.
Rob Manfred is such a joke.
Which brings to mind my most recent bitter criticism with the SF Chronicle - they DO NOT generally report on the previous day's games in MLB, even for the Bay Area's home teams in their print edition.
I had to go to ESPN.com to find out that Domingo German threw a perfect game at the Oakland Coliseum last night.
Feh.
RIP Sporting Green
No 1 used to walk up early when he as like 5 years old and grab the sporting green and read all the stats.
was the NFL pro pick'em in local paper CC Times?
not in Chronicle right ..
Yes I think so. Though I don't quite remember.
The Chronicle never boasted great journalism but it was a fun paper with a lot of good features and the Sports Section was thorough with some lively writing. It was a staple in our house until a number of factors including the advent of the internet drove into the ground. It's useless now.
USA wins game against the smallest island in the Caribbean - 5-0 6-0? Can't remember, kinda crazy.
The US did more than just smash St. Kitts on the scoreboard
https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1674264008977702912
US smashes St Kitts & Nevis 6-0 in the Concacaf Gold Cup. St Kitts & Nevis has fewer than 48k people, about the size of San Luis Obispo.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37931288/ferreira-joins-exclusive-usmnt-list-gold-cup-hat-trick
CAL
Go Bears!!!
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
James Comer: Biden committed treason by trading US secrets and favors for money.
Fox News: Which ones?
Comer: Look over there! [smoke bomb]
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1674409824052736003
RFK Jr. - a MAGA shithead who is running as a Democratic candidate for POTUS - posted a pic touting his merch. The model was in Russia.
https://twitter.com/MacPlus_87/status/1674170943453667329
Goodbye Affirmative Action.
SCOTUS strikes down race considerations for university admissions.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/29/supreme-court-rejects-affirmative-action-at-colleges-says-schools-cant-consider-race-in-admission.html
so does it also mean that AA is on the chopping block for hiring at companies? govt? etc?
or are private corporations exempt from such rulings?
Mike Pence says Affirmative Action is no longer needed because [checks notes]... his 3 wealthy white kids got into college
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1674447133297065992
a thought that I had this morning (so not necessarily very well baked) is that we have had race-based admissions/hiring/mortgages, etc for decades (centuries). except is was white-only. So now that there's a (slight?) shift to allowing non-whites to get some race preference, people lose their shit.
not that i am agreeing, but if race is out as a factor, why not throw out all the things like gender, economic background, etc etc ..
or is there something particular about race?
without wanting to sound sarcastic, the "something particular about race" would be official (Jim Crow / segregation) and unofficial but systematic racism towards principally but not exclusively black Americans. There was a time when the defense of affirmative action was that it was intended to be a corrective to exclusion which would eventually become unnecessary. That still hasn't happened. There was a time when I'd have taken a more doctrinaire left position that focusing on class would do the trick, but there's no getting around the fact that race overcomes class solidarity in this country (if you can really talk about class solidarity beyond the demonstrated skill of principally white rich people in securing upwards wealth transfer via various tax subsidies, policy capture, etc etc.) I'm aware that there are right wing populists who say they'd support class based correctives as an "anti elite" position, but in the unlikely event that was enshrined by legislation, I doubt it would stop race-based discrimination and it probably wouldn't survive judicial review.
Economic background is something that could change over time, not something you're born with, so I could see how that would be considered different.
presumably one equalizing thing would be to replace race diversity w/ economic diversity or even test score or GPA diversity.
it would directly address race, but would do so by proxy.
also, one of the narratives you hear from the disgruntled people is that "black person X got into Ivy League school Y, but has just as much money and privilege as the white person next to them"
My not-very-lefty take on the above is that this is why I feel like race-based affirmative action had mostly outlived its usefulness anyway. I think you might be accomplishing the goal you want to accomplish (granting additional opportunity to less privileged kids) better through other means now.
Mostly? That can not be true if run right at all, given the actual facts.
Absolutely and you do so without making anyone feel another was admitted based on race at the expense of someone else being denied. I had a conversation about this with Christopher Edley who was Dean of UC Berkeley Law at the time, and he analogized race-based admissions to a special parking place for disabled individuals. That is, in a parking lot with hundreds of spaces, a few spaces dedicated for a special category would not have a significant impact on those not fitting that category. I thought it was a pretty terrible analogy and for me demonstrated some pretty poor thinking on this subject.
Maybe only that race is the target of this suit before the Court. Those other factors you name are targets for future lawsuits now that it has been established that race is a non-factor.
Most universities use a blend of race and merit, trying to strike a balance between racial admissions and social equality. Asian-American students are likely to be the massive winner because of this shift and under-represented minorities the massive loser. I think the GOP is going to be sorely disappointed to find out that whites will be net losers.
No, they won't. You assume that their self-interest is selfish in a predictable way. It isn't predictable in this way - they want to deny a benefit to non-whites even if it means that they themselves will not benefit. Grover Norquist is a close relative (philosophically speaking) to white trash.
I thought it was white women who benefited the most from affirmative action policies
Here's the statement from UC President Drake https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-statement-scotus-decision-regarding-use-race-college-admissions
State Senator Joshua Miller (D-RI) arrest for keying someone's car that had a "Biden sucks" bumper sticker
https://news.yahoo.com/rhode-island-state-senator-arrested-213405650.html
"I’m a state senator, I think he recognized me"
Oh, bless his heart. I certainly couldn't pick my state senator out of a lineup.