The A’s dropped their final game against the San Francisco Giants of the season, falling to their former cross-bay rivals 6-2 to lose the season series and drop the squad to 37-55 with the All-Star break fast approaching.
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers forgettable weekend ended with a low-scoring affair on Sunday, managing one measly run in a 5-1 loss to the Astros, completing a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.
They've been playing out of their minds for like the last month. I think coming into Sunday they were 28-10 or something like that. The whole weekend they were super aggressive on the first pitch. They know the Dodgers pitchers like to get ahead on the 1st pitch so they're hunting it. Can they keep it up for the rest of the season? Luckily they're in the AL West so they don't have to keep it up to win the west.
Tour de France just getting started. already exciting in first 2 stages.
stage 3 to Dunkirk today. the tour is entirely in France this year, which is somewhat rare that it wont go into Spain or Italy in the high mountains of the Alps or Pyrenees.
top 2 - Pogacar and Vingegaard already have a 46 sec lead on contenders 3 and 4, Evenpoel and Roglic.
stage 2 featured some heavy crosswinds in the last 25 km or so. there was a well engineered split in the peloton and the other 2 could not bridge the gap.
in breaking news, Jasper Philipsen, who was in the lead of the green jersey sprint competition, crashes out on an intermediate sprint. too bad because he is one of the top sprinters in the race.
Oakland made it a franchise-best nine wins in a row after a back-and-forth 4-3 win that saw the potential tying run only ninety feet away at third when the game ended.
I mean, it seems like an eleventh hour deal on the lease has some time to materialize, no? But maybe HPB already recognizes such a huge chasm between the rent they can afford and what the owners want exists, that there just is no chance. Well, from December forward, as it stand now, I’ll have to start using the Dublin branch for those rare LP finds.
It’s not just age though. I first visited DC in 1976 and I remember being on the tram that runs between the offices and the Capitol and an aide was explaining to his rep that this is how you’re going to vote and why you’re going to vote that way and the rep was not some old fuddy duddy
After the GOP campaigned saying they'll release the Epstein client list and AG Bondi saying the list was on her desk in February, the DOJ says the list doesn't exist and there's nothing to see here.
Sliding Doors (Prime, 12/19, WNB). It's a 1998 movie with a really great premise - a woman's life goes two different directions merely based upon whether or not she makes the train on time, by following them as plots back-to-back. First of all, this was the pinnacle of Gwyneth Paltrow and the short-lived attempt to make John Hannah a leading man after his success in Four Weddings and a Funeral. But her life didn't really diverge much and the ending made zero sense from a storyteller standpoint (get punished despite everything going the "right way"). It was fine up to a point and I enjoyed it merely because it was the first movie in a theater I ever took my girlfriend now wife to see, but it wasn't great. I could take it or leave it. Hollywood is always remaking movies. This should be remade, except made well.
hi .. i know i have been missing for a while. more on that later
we were in Burlington VT over the 4th of Jul weekend. we saw a house/property that we are considering buying as a 2nd home. would love to get "talked out of it" ..
not really. mostly just asking for all the things that one should consider and be aware of. i appreciate that financial it is not a money making move, but emotionally it would be good.
Burlington is nice for us in multiple ways, great outdoors, skiing, hiking, cycling. also nicely livable town w/ great good and university and medical services. we dont just want a vacation place. one draw is that we can imagine eventually just living there.
- we thought of renting for a year or so to get the vibe of the place. then we "saw the perfect place" which i know there is no such thing and there will be others
- Burlingtonians are 100% my people. i think my wife needs some more convincing but each trip we take makes it more clear that as a couple we'd really like it there.
- again for me, the outdoors activity is the main reason i am interested in VT in general. the views and the city and all that bonus stuff is what is making it attractive as a couple.
this all brings up the good issue that i would like my wife to be equally happy w/ the place. while the views are definitely nice, i dont quite get what is SO NICE about it to her. still, it is the first place of many that we have considered that she is truly drawn to, so that means something ...
With any such place like that, it will sit empty for extended periods, so be sure of the security/vulnerability for unchecked and undetected vandalism and break-ins. That could obviously occur anywhere, but its good to try to guage whether you want to leave anything there with no one to regularly check up on it.
Also, local utilities issues and weather can cause problems that get worse before you are even aware of them.
My wife and I are at a place in life where walkability would be nice. Also one story, so no stairs. Perhaps you’re decades away from that.
Personally I found New England summers to be extremely humid and filled with mosquitoes. But you were just there, so you have a sense of the summer weather.
it was HOT this weekend, but Burlington is typically not humid nor that hot.
good point about walkability. the place we like is walking distance to center of town and farmers market and right next to the lakeside bike path.
as for stairs .. this one is definitely vertical living. narrow and tall house, 5 levels from top to bottom. luckily (hopefully) we are a long ways from that being a concern ..
5 levels? Wow. Depending on your hips/knees, I'd guess this is good for 20+ years. I know my mom is glad they bought a ranch style house. If she had a 2 story house, she probably would have had to move out years ago, or only live on the 1st floor. She's 85.
Sat a while by that lakeside bike path last fall- so great! Burlington is one of the places I could see living- if it weren't for the winters. I like pretty snow places for about a week or two, maybe even up to a month if it is pretty snow, but otherwise brrr, get me back to more temperate weather!
Be sure you can put together a good team of reliable snow removal people (plow and blower). All that stuff is done for you in rentals, different story when you own unless you have a good team.
If you do end up getting the Burlington place, let us know- my cousin has lived there for decades and will have some good recs to pass along as will other DBD'ers I'm sure.
PRO
Kenny Lawler with the ridiculous game stats.
https://x.com/CFL/status/1941326026199663104?
When third place feels like a national championship
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why-the-entire-f1-pack-is-praising-hulkenbergs-maiden-podium/10740065/
Racehorse "Hawkstone" has won the inaugural Route 36 race by 2.5 car lengths
https://www.app.com/story/news/local/animals/2025/07/06/racehorse-runs-down-route-36-after-escape-from-monmouth-park/84485949007/
The Washington Nationals have decided to beat the seasonal traffic by starting their offseason rebuilding before the All Star Break
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/07/06/washington-nationals-dave-martinez-fired-mike-rizzo/83627533007/
Giants beat the A's 6-2.
A’s Drop Series Finale to Giants 6-2
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2025/7/6/24462779/as-drop-series-finale-to-giants-6-2
The A’s dropped their final game against the San Francisco Giants of the season, falling to their former cross-bay rivals 6-2 to lose the season series and drop the squad to 37-55 with the All-Star break fast approaching.
Astros slam Dodgers ’pen, LA weekend nothing to write home about
https://www.truebluela.com/2025/7/6/24462317/dodgers-bullpen-astros-home-runs-sweep
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers forgettable weekend ended with a low-scoring affair on Sunday, managing one measly run in a 5-1 loss to the Astros, completing a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.
The Astros aren't getting the attention they warrant for some reason. They are again going to be a formidable playoff factor.
They've been playing out of their minds for like the last month. I think coming into Sunday they were 28-10 or something like that. The whole weekend they were super aggressive on the first pitch. They know the Dodgers pitchers like to get ahead on the 1st pitch so they're hunting it. Can they keep it up for the rest of the season? Luckily they're in the AL West so they don't have to keep it up to win the west.
Megavalanche 2025. Crazy bike race from the top of the ski mountain into the town valley below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCdPQ2Xqhk&ab_channel=KilianBron
Tour de France just getting started. already exciting in first 2 stages.
stage 3 to Dunkirk today. the tour is entirely in France this year, which is somewhat rare that it wont go into Spain or Italy in the high mountains of the Alps or Pyrenees.
top 2 - Pogacar and Vingegaard already have a 46 sec lead on contenders 3 and 4, Evenpoel and Roglic.
stage 2 featured some heavy crosswinds in the last 25 km or so. there was a well engineered split in the peloton and the other 2 could not bridge the gap.
in breaking news, Jasper Philipsen, who was in the lead of the green jersey sprint competition, crashes out on an intermediate sprint. too bad because he is one of the top sprinters in the race.
Oakland Holds on for Nail-biting Victory (beat the Rocky Mountain Vibes 4-3)
https://www.oaklandballers.com/sports/bsb/2025/releases/20250705oerevc
Oakland made it a franchise-best nine wins in a row after a back-and-forth 4-3 win that saw the potential tying run only ninety feet away at third when the game ended.
SUE AND OTHER HOMONYMS
Ronald. Ron Hsu is one of Atlanta's best chef's- exec chef, owner and founder of Michelin starred Lazy Betty.
“My name is Sue! How do you do! Now you’re gonna die!”
My Mom's name.
My MIL's name is Suzanne.
My. sister’s name.
Stay True. (18/19 WB) No 1 got me this book for Christmas (?) one year. I really enjoyed the book.
does not seem like what i imagine you normally read. putting it on my list
I would not have picked it up but No 1 gave it to me and said that I might enjoy the nostalga of being a student at Cal.
CAL
Cal/Miami game on at the gym. Decided that a good time to end my workout was 35-10.
Exactly. My DVR has it paused right there…
I thought the game was cancelled at that point.
RIP Half Price Books
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/half-price-books-berkeley-closing-20634290.php
I mean, it seems like an eleventh hour deal on the lease has some time to materialize, no? But maybe HPB already recognizes such a huge chasm between the rent they can afford and what the owners want exists, that there just is no chance. Well, from December forward, as it stand now, I’ll have to start using the Dublin branch for those rare LP finds.
Go Bears!!!
POLITICS
Things are a bit hazy over at the DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton administration
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/07/capitol-hill-gerontocracy-eleanor-holmes-norton-dianne-feinstein-joe-biden-00437318
It’s not just age though. I first visited DC in 1976 and I remember being on the tram that runs between the offices and the Capitol and an aide was explaining to his rep that this is how you’re going to vote and why you’re going to vote that way and the rep was not some old fuddy duddy
After the GOP campaigned saying they'll release the Epstein client list and AG Bondi saying the list was on her desk in February, the DOJ says the list doesn't exist and there's nothing to see here.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-epstein-files-what-we-know-2081811
They made a mint in hush money!
International Students Must have Social Media set to public so that the adminsitration can regulate your feeds
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLT8iJIJLj7/?img_index=1
DBD AV CLUB
Here's Cal's EA NCAA 26 stats for its players
https://www.teamcrafters.net/players/CFB26/640?version=5
Trond Grizzell is noticeably stronger than starting blocking TE Jeffrey Johnson and Serigne Tongkara.
Sliding Doors (Prime, 12/19, WNB). It's a 1998 movie with a really great premise - a woman's life goes two different directions merely based upon whether or not she makes the train on time, by following them as plots back-to-back. First of all, this was the pinnacle of Gwyneth Paltrow and the short-lived attempt to make John Hannah a leading man after his success in Four Weddings and a Funeral. But her life didn't really diverge much and the ending made zero sense from a storyteller standpoint (get punished despite everything going the "right way"). It was fine up to a point and I enjoyed it merely because it was the first movie in a theater I ever took my girlfriend now wife to see, but it wasn't great. I could take it or leave it. Hollywood is always remaking movies. This should be remade, except made well.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Son of a...
https://x.com/risendraft/status/1941642974925857011?s=46&t=WFlljYbkN_q0KuOdwshW6g
It’s time for the FINAL EDITION of Oski Disciple’s quote of the day.
"The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die.”— Joe Kapp
that is a good one to end on
2nd/vacation home?
hi .. i know i have been missing for a while. more on that later
we were in Burlington VT over the 4th of Jul weekend. we saw a house/property that we are considering buying as a 2nd home. would love to get "talked out of it" ..
not really. mostly just asking for all the things that one should consider and be aware of. i appreciate that financial it is not a money making move, but emotionally it would be good.
Burlington is nice for us in multiple ways, great outdoors, skiing, hiking, cycling. also nicely livable town w/ great good and university and medical services. we dont just want a vacation place. one draw is that we can imagine eventually just living there.
I'll send you a text.
Gist:
Second homes are super expensive and you're better off renting first, especially since you'll probably be snow birds
Are Burlingtonians your people?
Can you do be satisfied with the outdoors stuff alone once the romance of the outdoor beauty becomes your normal life
all good questions.
- we thought of renting for a year or so to get the vibe of the place. then we "saw the perfect place" which i know there is no such thing and there will be others
- Burlingtonians are 100% my people. i think my wife needs some more convincing but each trip we take makes it more clear that as a couple we'd really like it there.
- again for me, the outdoors activity is the main reason i am interested in VT in general. the views and the city and all that bonus stuff is what is making it attractive as a couple.
this all brings up the good issue that i would like my wife to be equally happy w/ the place. while the views are definitely nice, i dont quite get what is SO NICE about it to her. still, it is the first place of many that we have considered that she is truly drawn to, so that means something ...
With any such place like that, it will sit empty for extended periods, so be sure of the security/vulnerability for unchecked and undetected vandalism and break-ins. That could obviously occur anywhere, but its good to try to guage whether you want to leave anything there with no one to regularly check up on it.
Also, local utilities issues and weather can cause problems that get worse before you are even aware of them.
My wife and I are at a place in life where walkability would be nice. Also one story, so no stairs. Perhaps you’re decades away from that.
Personally I found New England summers to be extremely humid and filled with mosquitoes. But you were just there, so you have a sense of the summer weather.
it was HOT this weekend, but Burlington is typically not humid nor that hot.
good point about walkability. the place we like is walking distance to center of town and farmers market and right next to the lakeside bike path.
as for stairs .. this one is definitely vertical living. narrow and tall house, 5 levels from top to bottom. luckily (hopefully) we are a long ways from that being a concern ..
5 levels? Wow. Depending on your hips/knees, I'd guess this is good for 20+ years. I know my mom is glad they bought a ranch style house. If she had a 2 story house, she probably would have had to move out years ago, or only live on the 1st floor. She's 85.
Sat a while by that lakeside bike path last fall- so great! Burlington is one of the places I could see living- if it weren't for the winters. I like pretty snow places for about a week or two, maybe even up to a month if it is pretty snow, but otherwise brrr, get me back to more temperate weather!
Be sure you can put together a good team of reliable snow removal people (plow and blower). All that stuff is done for you in rentals, different story when you own unless you have a good team.
If you do end up getting the Burlington place, let us know- my cousin has lived there for decades and will have some good recs to pass along as will other DBD'ers I'm sure.