187 Comments
User's avatar
SGBear's avatar

Cooks/bakers of the DBD: what's a sub-$25 tool that you find helpful

SGBear's avatar

Microplaner - zest is a secret ingredient

Mis-en-place bowls. Cooking is like painting. Very little has to do with the eponymous activity and way more to do with how you prep

Steel rimmed plates for bulk mis-en-place ingredients.

Composite material spatula. Good for scrape, stir, flip, serve - but best at scrape/stir

Metal scalloped service tongs. Good for scrape, stir, flip, serve - but best at flip/serve

Butter bell. Soft butter is best butter. Wife adores it. Thanks Scootie for the tip.

Hand juicer

g.oso's avatar

No offense but mis en place bowls have their place for tv cooking but are impractical and a waste of time at home

Newellbany's avatar

Are "mis en place bowls" just the fancy version of the little separate piles on my cutting board?

heyalumnigo's avatar

I was thinking basically ramekin bowls of various sizes.

BearByBlood's avatar

@ That is an Artisan Chef's Prep Board. $130 from Sur-La-Table, please. @

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

a leaky ladle. you can buy them in Chinatown for pretty cheap.

great for getting anything out of hot water where you dont want to toss the water quite yet, like ravioli

goldenone's avatar

Meat thermometer, battery powered

docsuess84's avatar

Metal measuring cups with measurements etched into them that don’t fade away after multiple washings.

Scootie's avatar

I use my avocado masher much more than I thought I would when Santa left it in my stocking. I do not use it to mash avocado (I use a fork for that) but it's great for browning ground meat like italian sausage and breaking it into small pieces for sauces and such.

Lemon reamer

Microplane

Digital kitchen scale

Silicone spatulas -- I keep a pitcher full next to the stove

Deli-style takeout containers -- use them for all my leftovers, and for things like making salad dressing and storing soup. The tight fitting lids are helpful because you can just shake.

FiatSlug's avatar

One of those commercials you never quite forget.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Kind of in the can't-unsee category, but not too much.

FiatSlug's avatar

I thought it was hilarious at the time. It still is funny, just not as much.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Look like Newman (Jurassic Park IT guy) after a food binge. LOL.

Remember this well. Thanks for the nostalgia!

heyalumnigo's avatar

My mom has a huge fig tree in the backyard. About empty now. She's been passing out fresh and dried figs.

Cugel's avatar

I like 'em fresh, not aged.

heyalumnigo's avatar

We are talking about figs still aren't we?

Scootie's avatar

Figs, burrata, prosciutto and arugula on crispy toasted bread. Delicious.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Love 'em, used to pick 'em from my family's backyard tree. Messy, though, so best in a very large yard.

SGBear's avatar

College teams with a non-bird-of-prey mascot

SGBear's avatar

Virginia Tech

FiatSlug's avatar

Do you mean a mascot that is a bird but not a bird of prey? A "non-bird-of-prey" mascot could be almost anything other than a Eagle, Owl, Hawk, Falcon, etc.

For instance, a Golden Bear is a "non-bird-of-prey" mascot.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Are there any Klingon shuttle crafts that would not be a Bird of Prey?

Asking for a friend.

AndyPanda's avatar

(Assuming we are excluding bugs and worms as prey...virtually all birds are birds of prey of something.)

Wiata78's avatar

hummingbirds perhaps. They only occasionally eat bugs.

I'm not aware of any college team known as the Hummingbirds. But you can get hummingbird feeders in your favorite college logo.

g.oso's avatar

Unofficial mascot: Sebastian the Ibis, the U

SGBear's avatar

Elsewhere in college

Newellbany's avatar

The way Stanfurd is talking about their free seat giveaway - calling it a zero obligation test drive and whatnot - it's like when a tech bro seeks investors for their beta tested app on which you can arrange for a van to pick you up on a pre-determined route and it's like "congratulations, you invented a bus."

Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Really fear Cal’s gonna have one of those, too…

Fire Starkey's avatar

not as bad as TAMU. 4 indefinite suspensions of true frosh (2 5 stars and the highest ranked 4 star are the 3 who have been named), guys not showing up to practice...total shit show. Its glorious

SGBear's avatar

Or, if the rumors are true, three of them were suspended for blazing a bowl before the South Carolina game in the locker room.

https://highlyclutch.com/texas-am-dumpster-fire/

Fire Starkey's avatar

there are 2 rumors. Smoking weed in the locker room and these guys actively recruiting players to join them in the transfer portal. There is going to be a mass exodus after this season and its apparently already started

GB III's avatar

Mike Leach is a strange guy. And, he is not the right kind of personality for everyone - and not for Cal. But maybe we need some of his “mojo” at Cal. Leach has been successful at less-than-marquis schools. Maybe Cal needs a “Leach type.’ And before everyone tells me to go pound sand, please think about how many games Cal has lost this particular year because receivers had some trouble holding onto the ball. Maybe someone should call out the receivers.

goldenone's avatar

Oregon favored by 17 over Cal.

heyalumnigo's avatar

I was guessing 15.

docsuess84's avatar

If their offense plays anything like the offense I watched this past weekend, this game is going to be ugly. They’re going to wear the defense out pretty quickly and we know what our offense is capable of.

O.Overall's avatar

Yeah we can’t have our D out there for 2/3 of the game again

Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Wilcox plays the Ducks tough, though he doesn’t usually have this porous of an O-line.

GoldenSD81's avatar

Or this average a defense.

The Ducks have the offensive talent to break a BBDB defense with TDs.

This might be full Drago v Apollo.

Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Agreed - remain convinced DeBoer knew he could open things up with Penix at any time if he needed. Only way he loses to that Cal O is with short fields so he stayed conservative, took what Sirmon gave him and dinked + dunked.

Nix is a different threat - Ducks just gonna move the ball - they could run 80+ plays.

goldenone's avatar

Hope not. Bears will hang around for a half...

GoldenSD81's avatar

If I had to guess, I see a 45-13 final score.

heyalumnigo's avatar

that's generous, thinking we'll score 13.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

One TD on a broken Musgrave play where Milner improvises and connects with Anderson. And Longhetto haas been pretty darned good, so two FG.

I could see it, but not if Musgraves has his way.

GoldenSD81's avatar

Yep. We will be good for one TD and at least 3 FG attempts, of which we will make 2.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Damn it, Longhetto, why can't you hit the 60 yard FG?

g.oso's avatar

Oregon covers by a long shot

Bowlesman 80's avatar

I guess we're not the only ones noticing.

Starting to think "It will take two years to learn my system was sand piling for job security.

hmmm...

https://stayaliveinpower5.com/2022/10/25/ranking-the-10-coordinators-under-the-most-scrutiny-in-week-nine/

SGBear's avatar

EsPN says curfew, which seems unlikely given the punishment

SGBear's avatar

Hot air balloon

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

people would also confuse the high altitude helium balloons that we used in grad school for ouy experiment w/ hot air balloons.

i guess it makes sense since people have little experience w/ helium balloons designed to actually lift any substantial amount of weight.

our helium balloons lifted approx a 2000 lb payload to an altitude of 25 miles to the "edge of outer space." technically it is 50 miles to space.

space_lab's avatar

Where did you launch from? I did two campaigns while I was at Cal, one pretty infamous.

Cugel's avatar

Did you fly in one? That sounds crazy fun!

SGBear's avatar

Your pet's favorite toy

SGBear's avatar

Hair ties. She hunts them and puts them in her food bowl. She has no interest in virtually any other toy, except for a laser pointer. She has no interest in cat nip either.

Newellbany's avatar

That's what my cat Marshawn does! Dude goes beast mode playing with hair ties and them leaves them in the food bowl.

heyalumnigo's avatar

When our cat was younger, we used to take a toy mouse and throw it down the stairs and she would chase it and bring it back like a cat. Now she's lazy. Sometimes she "chases" a laser and there is a mouse on a stick I put in the middle of the filing cabinet so sometimes she lays under it and bats at it.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Rings of Power = Tolkien dying, again.

A Cluster Foxtrot of feel-good adulteration of the Tolkien Universe.

IMHO.

GoldenSD81's avatar

So you didn’t like the series? I’m enjoying it so far, I have two more episodes left to watch on this season.

Cugel's avatar

Visually great - some stories good, others, eh. (IMO)

I did like the very ending episode.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Worth watching, once, if you're a Tolkien fan.

As Cugel says, the visuals (I guess that's where most of the $ 1 billion went) are stunning, but there are moments where they are overplayed, as though to show fans, "Look how much money we spent!"

It takes far, far more literary license than even PJ's The Hobbit trilogy did.

sycasey's avatar

I mean, isn't it not actually based on a story like Hobbit or LOTR? Just based on broad histories Tolkien wrote about his fictional world? Seems like there should be more room for license there.

Bowlesman 80's avatar

Welp, yes, it is only my humble opinion.

SGBear's avatar

I live in a neighborhood that is probably 75% Indian - like from India. The whole neighborhood is kitted out in flashing orange, red, green, and white lights. People went all out.

Our neighbor set off 2 hours worth of fireworks last night. I have no idea how much that cost, but they were not small - like full on firework mortars. Furthermore, fireworks are not legal in NC so I gotta imagine that he was driving a truck packed full of fireworks down the highway from South Carolina.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

we did not do much this year since my wife is out of town and one daughter away at college.

just went to an Indian restaurant w/ some other Indians - born in US - for a causal dinner.

the part of India i am ethnical from, Bengal, does not traditionally celebrate Diwali all that much because the biggest religious event of the year, Durga Puja, is almost always around the same time.

consequently, growing up, i knew hardly anything about Diwali.

SGBear's avatar

Back, side, front sleeper?

Cugel's avatar

All over the place; everywhere.

heyalumnigo's avatar

Front sleeper to go to sleep. Sometimes in the middle of the night I'll switch to side if I wake up.

sycasey's avatar

For much of my life, back. But over the last 10 years or so, I can only seem to go side.

FiatSlug's avatar

Side sleeper. I try to sleep on my back; rarely do I fall asleep that way. Sleeping on one's back should be better for you.

SGBear's avatar

73, clear and sunny

space_lab's avatar

Rain finally killed the fires in Seattle

MoriBear's avatar

here in the Bay, it was earthquake weather today

AndyPanda's avatar

48 and damp, but between showers in western Oregon. Rain due by evening.

Tangtpt's avatar

53 and clear in Martinez, CA

FiatSlug's avatar

Cloudy and 55 deg. F in Oakland's Chinatown this morning.

goldenone's avatar

Cloudy and 47 degrees Fahrenheit

dcblue's avatar

sixty degrees but so foggy that the ground is wet. Slim chance of clearing later in the day. Having a hard time to get motivated to go for my run.

SGBear's avatar

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

SGBear's avatar

Hope Hicks agrees to testify in front of J6C. She previously had an "informal" interview. This one is for the record. Hicks had a front row seat and tons of exposure to Trump. This should be good.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/politics/hope-hicks-january-6-committee-meeting/index.html

rocksanddirt's avatar

jfc. well, they will keep on the same path of societal destruction they've been on then.

SGBear's avatar

It's a slap on the wrist given what they were trying to do and doing it in bad faith.

rocksanddirt's avatar

I miss their periodic train wreck press conferences outside Burkman's house or Wohl's mom's house.

DC Trojan's avatar

looks like most people shared your reaction not mine to that letter about diplomacy for the Ukraine - Russia war as sent by the House Progressive Caucus. They're trying the old "blame the staffer" game but there does seem something a little off about a bunch of people saying they thought it was going to be released some time ago and weren't told it was going out. Oh well.

SGBear's avatar

Philadelphia officials hope that the World Series is a boon to local business. Apparently, they have never hung out with Phillies fans before. You couldn't pay me enough to go there during the World Series.

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/philadelphia-phillies-world-series-tourism/

Scootie's avatar

I will be there all week next week. Pray for me.

GB III's avatar

I have been to several Philadelphia sporting events (on the opposition side - football games). It’s a bit dangerous - especially for a Cowboys fan.

rocksanddirt's avatar

jfc. Why is someone still giving him money to help their team lose?

SGBear's avatar

Swiss Olympic halfpipe boarder Jan Scherrer made a bet with his wife. If he podiums at Beijing 2022, he gets a tattoo of her design choice. He got a bronze and this is what she chose.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj8Zzyro-ch/

heyalumnigo's avatar

haha that's awesome.

AndyPanda's avatar

2 thoughts I always have when these tattoo episodes arise are "What could possibly NOT go wrong?" and "Who thought this was a good idea?"

goldenone's avatar

What if he wins out in the future?

Wiata78's avatar

Cross out the "Good but not".

SGBear's avatar

It's already known that Tom Brady is a MAGA promoter, but he also likes to personally text Ron DeSantis

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/us/politics/tom-brady-ron-desantis.html

DC Trojan's avatar

sad to see middle aged men not know how to rebuild their social network after a divorce

SGBear's avatar

Colts' Matt Ryan injured, benched. Ehlinger is now the starter ahead of Nick Foles.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34870574/colts-bench-qb-matt-ryan-start-sam-ehlinger-rest-way

Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Watched a lot of Atlanta last season…Ryan looked cooked. Slow and weak arm strength…bad combination

Oski Disciple's avatar

Cal football trivia fun fact. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gazette.

With the exception of 1915 when the two rivals didn’t meet, the Golden Bears have won every Big Game played after the Philadelphia Phillies have won the pennant (1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008 and 2009). The Phillies won the pennant this season.

Cal trivia fun fact appears on DBD every Tuesday and Thursday during the football season.

SGBear's avatar

How... wha... who in the world tracks that type of data? That's some serious data nerd stuff [tips cap].

FiatSlug's avatar

1915 was the year after the last rugby match in the Big Game series. The Big Game with Stanford didn't resume until after World War I, starting with the 1919 season. From 1915 to 1918, Cal's Big Game was with Washington.

GB III's avatar

Ok, that is an interesting fact and I will take Cal to win that game straight up and make back some of my losses this year. Thank you.

But, no matter how much I win (and how much Cal beats Stanford by), this will not be considered a happy (or successful) season for me. Currently, I am demoralized (and poorer) as a result of my insufferable Cal fandom. And, I am also decidedly a little bit pissed at both the Team and the AD’s office.

Jimmy Chitwood's avatar

Nice! Hopefully that trend continues…heading into an off-season on an 8-game losing streak will kill recruiting and could lead to a mass exodus via the transfer portal.

Not sure a Big Game win prevents this, if we’re being honest.

GB III's avatar

I agree with you. Speaking for myself, winning ( or losing) the Big Game will not mean that I will not be “disloyal” to my alma mater, but I am seriously demoralized by the recent string of poor showings and “bad luck”. I think even Charlie Brown had better luck than Cal. Look, I am ok rooting for the underdog (it’s just entertainment). But, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be on the winning side on occasion - especially in close games. We are an EXTRAORDINARILY UNLUCKY team/fan base. Like 3 standard deviations outside the norm for luck. Something is wrong with the process / attitudes of the players. It shows up on the field and it shows up in the stands and now it is showing up on DBD.

By the way, is there a transfer portal for fans?

O.Overall's avatar

We need an upset win badly

SGBear's avatar

From the Front Page. HAG is in the co-lead for Pac-12 Pick-'em league

https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/write-for-californias-pac-12-pickem-3e4

SGBear's avatar

[MTEN] Ryder Jackson did well at the ITA NW Super Regional, making it to the finals. But he ran into Stanfurd's buzzsaw Nishesh Basavareddy, falling 6-0, 6-3.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/10/24/mens-tennis-jackson-finishes-as-super-regional-runner-up.aspx

SGBear's avatar

[MGolf] Team is 33 strokes back from team leader Auburn at the Isleworth Collegiate after two rounds. The tournament finishes up today. Cal is 8 strokes back from Arizona, but 4 ahead of Utah.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/10/24/mens-golf-parks-70-highlights-round-two-at-isleworth.aspx

SGBear's avatar

Cal's game @ USC on Nov 5th will be Pac-12 after dark

https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1584592404715225088

DC Trojan's avatar

My friend J has been trying for some time to get me & some other SC friends to fly out for that game, but I think now it's just an attempt to get someone other than the one dude from the periphery who's plainly having some sort of mid-life post-divorce crisis.

g.oso's avatar

Luckily I have tickets for a show that night and won’t have to waste a Saturday night watching that

O.Overall's avatar

What’s crazy is that we have looked like shit and haven’t even played the tough part of the schedule yet! Gonna be some rough sledding …

GoldenSD81's avatar

We might not just lose but see multiple blowout losses over the next 4 games.

sycasey's avatar

Probably, but I can also envision several scenarios where Wilcox's defensive approach keeps the scores artificially low and thus seemingly close, even though you know the whole time there's no chance of winning.

GoldenSD81's avatar

Perhaps but Avi’s article the other day showed just how average to bad our defense currently is in regards to our national rankings.

I think our defense has benefited from playing a bunch of bad offenses. We are about to play a bunch of offenses that are really well coached and have playmakers to score a lot of points.

If our offense takes the first half off or the first quarter off we could be buried in a hurry.

goldenone's avatar

3 losses where we could not execute in the final minutes. That makes the "Ls" even more painful.

bearspot's avatar

I don't necessarily like the "victim" angle here, but nonetheless Office of the President talking about UCLA departing the Pac-12. Just more reasons why it's bad for Cal and why Cal needs to take paradigm-shifting action in response.

https://link.ucop.edu/2022/10/25/equity-chat-the-impact-of-ucla-leaving-the-pac-12/

SGBear's avatar

Kick them out of the UC system, make them adopt "California University" and complete the prophecy foretold by various TV shows like Beverley Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell, Legally Blond, and Fuller House .

Cugel's avatar

You know what pisses me off at PG&E? Ok, they charge me money for every single account I have tied into the $380,000 I spent on solar - BUT they also charge $35-$44 each and every month for the meter they added to measure how much I provide in general - to me, that is just wrong.

GoldenSD81's avatar

IOUs are terrible. Are virtually net metering into the PV or are all the accounts/buildings directly tied into the PV behind the meter?

FiatSlug's avatar

Earthquake felt here in downtown Oakland.

Preliminary USGS report says 5.l magnitude, 14km E of Seven Trees, CA (near San Jose, CA).

Scootie's avatar

I felt it -- I was on the phone and said I think we just had an earthquake and all my east coast colleagues freaked out on my behalf while I was all eh whateva

Tangtpt's avatar

We felt it in Downtown Martinez. Nothing more unsettling than being on top of a 1930s building as it sways.

Cugel's avatar

That is not good - loooooooong way from San Jose

FiatSlug's avatar

Maybe I felt because I'm on the 6th floor and there might be more sway the higher up in a building a person is.

We had a small tremor, then a brief pause, and then very noticeable shaking that lasted anywhere from 10-12 seconds (I'd guess).

Cugel's avatar

I didn't feel anything!

FiatSlug's avatar

Are you in Oakland, by chance?

Cugel's avatar

Yep, and on a tall 3 story building that I retrofitted in 2002-3

FiatSlug's avatar

Interesting. I wonder if the soils have much to do with me feeling the tremors and you not. For instance, I think our location is closer to the Bay. I know the water table isn't very far below the surface here; maybe about 35-40 feet below ground. I think the soils in this area might be looser than where you are. So we might feel the energy of the quake more than you might. Also, at 6 stories up, I probably would feel it more than someone three stories up.

Cugel's avatar

Hmmmmm, maybe steel frame vs. wood & concrete?