You snooze, you lose. I was going to go up to the zoo yesterday for one last look at the giant pandas. But it was an overcast day and today was to be sunny so I decided to wait until today. Before going to bed last night I checked my email to see that the zoo was going to open late today. Sure enough, this morning is the day they moved the pandas out on their way to China. This has totally overtaken local news.
There was an episode of M*A*S*H where Frank accuses of Hot Lips of being an Indian giver. This was after she became engaged to Lt. Col. Donald Penobscot. Margaret had given Frank something because they were "special" friends, and now tha they were no longer "special" friends, Margaret wanted it back. But Frank demurred saying he didn't have it but then alluding to wanting to keep it as a "...keepsake of his battlefield conquest". Whereupon Margaret put one of Franks hands in his bowl of oatmeal.
When My Dinner with Andre was released in 1981, it got a lot of favorable publicity. I didn't see it until after Mrs Slug and I were married, at the Northside Theater, I think. Which would mean I probably saw it in 1987. We also say The Adventures of Baron Munchausen at the Northside.
Berkeley used to have a halfway decent repertory movie house scene, just one of which was the Northside. Others included the UC (on University Ave., of course; it was the legendary repertory movie theater in Berkeley), the Rialto (down on Gilman St.), and the Telegraph. I saw the Seven Samurai when I was 9 years old at the Telegraph.
Other memorable movie events for me, mostly centered on the UC Theater -
War and Peace - this was the Soviet version, which included Red Army regulars used in filming battle scenes. It was a sprawling film, something like 8 or 9 hours including intermissions.
The Man With No Name trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) - need I say more?
Gone With the Wind (50th anniversary re-release) - seen on a massive single screen with a packed house. Nothing else like it as a cinematic experience.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Casablanca (seen at the Rialto) - this is the first time I had seen the movie uncut and on a big screen. A few years earlier, I had seen the move on TV (WPIX, New York) with commercial breaks. Ugh. The uncut theatrical release is far superior.
To Have and Have Not
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
and many others too numerous to name. Most were at the UC.
I loved watching classic films on the big screen. Occasionally you can see one at the PFA. I really liked the Telegraph theater, they showed many of the better films from the thirties and forties.
David Binn. Made it as a long snapper for Dallas and may have been the longest tenured long-snapper in NFL history. He played for something like 17 or 18 years, I think.
Giorgio Tavecchio. He was a decent kicker (and certainly a fan favorite), but I would not have expected he'd still be rostered in the NFL all the way until 2020. It looks like he played a couple seasons in Italy (of course) in 2021 and '22.
Similarly, kicker Jim Breech. 8th round pick, cut by by the Lions before season start. Played a few games for the Raiders. Wound up playing for Cincinnati for 12 years.
There's a weird thing going on where Democrats keep dominating in midterm and special elections, but Joe Biden's personal polling remains crappy.
Not entirely sure what to make of it, though my personal theory is that people are generally dissatisfied with having such an old man running for reelection but most of them probably come back to vote for Biden once it's clear that the alternative is still Trump and he's still nuts.
We're at a moment in our political history where people under 30 are becoming politically active in a way that wasn't heard of in previous generations. And that cohort wants to kick out the aged/aging cohort. Biden represents the aged/aging cohort, mostly seen as Boomers, but there are a significant number of politicians who are of the Silent Generation. They are called the Silent Generation because until Biden was elected, no President had been of that generation (born 1925-1945).
Biden is of the Silent Generation. Same with Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, and Jerry Brown. DiFi was also of the Silent Generation.
After McCain lost, it was looking like the Silents would go their whole lives without ever getting a president elected. But Biden snuck in just under the wire.
That's an important point. Consider also that before a Silent Generation president was elected, *four* consecutive Boomers had been elected - Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, and Trump. Clinton, Bush 43, and Trump were all born within 10 weeks of each other in 1946. Obama was born in 1961.
And before that, SEVEN consecutive presidents from the Greatest Generation: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and HW Bush. Though granted, they got to pad their numbers a bit with one being killed and another resigning mid-term.
I'm hoping that even though the polls look bad in the swing states, Dems or Inds come to their senses and vote for Biden. Similar to those republicans that will vote Trump because of the (R) even though they don't like him.
...and it wasn't even close. Issue 1 passed on a vote of 2,186,962 YES (56.6%) vs. 1,675,728 (43.4%) with an estimated 99% of votes counted. The difference was about 511,000 votes, which is a solid margin, even in California.
The usual Ky voting for a Democrat for governor but Republican for President, except for the one a few years ago where they voted in the lame ass Matt Bevin.
Brie Larson is utterly horrid yet somehow won an Oscar. The previews for The Marvels are out now and I can not watch her with a straight face…I’d like to think it’s the mindless material that comic book movies often bring but her delivery is pure comedy.
Funeral for a Friend by Elton John. Technically, it's the intro to a two-part medley; it has no lyrics. All of the lyrics are in the second part, Love Lies Bleeding in My Hands.
so my (emotional) connection to this song is that my favorite SoulCycle instructor in NYC often plays this songs on the particularly slow hard high resistance part of the work out.
it is hard for me to hear the song and not connect it to the best and hardest workouts i have ever had.
on the remote weeks, about 1 day/wk - i try to go into NYC once a week and take advantage of my uncle's office that overlooks Central Park. mostly just for the variety of getting out of the house, meeting people for lunches, drinks, NYC nightlife ..
and then i try to go to DC or Seattle office for one full week a month. so 4 day/wk on those weeks.
Toward the end of the Obama administration, I was talking with my then boss who is from there about how to make it happen. He has dual citizenship and still goes back and forth from time to time. He basically told me to forget about it.
I would love to go camp in a yurt, ride the Asian ponies across the steppe, go hawking, drink fermented mare's milk, and try to improve my Tuvan throat singing technique. Alas, I doubt it will happen.
I BEGAN having second thoughts about riding a horse through northern Mongolia right around the moment I slammed into the tree trunk.
Without warning, my horse had bolted toward it and I had no idea how to regain control. The impact flung me through the air. I landed hard on the forest floor as my horse scampered into the bush.
New Zealand. Looks lovely, but it is faaaaar away. Most of my international travel is work-related, and I don't think work will take me out there (it would be a welcome surprise, however).
Go. NZ and Antarctica are among few pristine environments still in existence. (Traveled to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji in 2010; Antarctica in 2013.)
Early 2,000’s I regularly took mountaineering trips (not trekking) to NZ. Lived in SE AK so ad the flight to Seattle and another to LAX or SFO then NZ Air or Qantas to NZ. My second trip to NZ the 747 was chock o block full of senior citizens. Toward the last quarter of the 11.5 hour trip, the smell of urine was quite strong. Evidently one could not “depend” on the hvac to overcome it.
A lifetime ago I lived in Anchorage for nine years. For a few years I did a one-week work trip to Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, Stika, and Ketchikan. In a later life I did a work trip to NZ and stayed after for a week. A lot of the geography reminded me of Alaska.
Same with me for international travel. There is a testing event in Sydney in Dec, however just about all the companies said they wouldn't go because it was too far or too expensive. So the Bluetooth SIG moved the testing part to Paris and the workgroup F2F remained in Sydney. Which sucks because this was my one chance to go and not have to pay for it.
Instead, I'm in Paris the 1st full week in Dec when the weather isn't going to be very good. The good thing is my aunt and a few cousins live there so I'll see them on one of the days.
Paris at that time of year is great. we went for Thxgiving a few years ago. it was a little cold and rainy, but there were no lines and no people so you got to do whatever you wanted.
Unfortunately my event goes until 6 every night. And I've been to Paris a few times already so I've seen most of it. The catacombs was one thing I was thinking of going to, if I can get out early enough. And tbb's friend is at the Pompideu center so maybe I'll go check that out again since they close late.
I went to Sydney in 2017 for a work trip. It is one of my favorite cities I have visited but it was also the most expensive by a surprising margin. I expect I'll be able to make another work trip to Australia at some point in the future.
I was supposed to go to Paris in May of 2020, but that trip ended up being cancelled...
I really wish Australia and New Zealand weren't soo far away. I've always wanted to see both, but it would require way more time and money than I will probably ever be able to afford.
i feel like i will get there despite the distance. hopefully Antarctica too
youngest child off to college in < 2 yrs should open up more chances to travel to these places during the right seasons w/o worrying about missing school for multiple weeks.
there is a long list of places that my wife finds too challenging to visit and Africa is probably at the top. i guess i could go myself ...
in fact it is a minor miracle that we are going to India this Xmas after not going for 25 yrs. i was pretty sure we were never going back there together after the last not-so-great experience right after we got married. she mostly feels guilty that we havent taken the kids and that the kids are wiling to go w/o us and tag along w/ their aunt/uncle just to see India.
I can't remember what type of monkey it was, but I had an uncle who was in the Merchant Marine and he came home from a trip to SE Asia once with a monkey.
Hmmm... the same SEC that has an average RPI of 44.2, when the Pac-12 is 44.4? And Alabama and Texas don't have to play themselves? Nice sentiment, but RPI begs to differ.
NC State's starting QB surprisingly decides to redshirt this season, so won't play in any more games this season. When Cal plays him next year, he'll be a 22 year old redshirt sophomore.
I just went out to try to see a flyover of Arlington Cemetery. A woman ran by with a t-shirt that said SAAC on the front. After she was by me the back of the shirt had script Cal on the back. Looks like it stands for Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She wasn't fast, but was too far by for me to holler out Go Bears
On this day in 1958 in Memorial Stadium the Golden Bears defeated UCLA, 20-17 breaking a seven-game losing streak to their southern cousins. QB Joe Kapp led the Bear offense amassing 113 yards of offense to put him third all time in total offense for California. The win, coupled with an Oregon State loss put the Bears in the driver’s seat for a Rose Bowl berth. The victory raised Cal’s conference record to 4-1, they would win their next two games and later make their final appearance in the grandaddy of all bowl games. The Bears didn’t score until late in the first half assuming a 7-3 halftime lead. Cal went up 14-3 in the third quarter and after the Bruins narrowed their lead to four the Bears went on another touchdown drive. A late score by the visitors made the game seem closer than it was. After the game Kapp warned that Cal couldn’t afford to think that they’ve “got it made.” He added, “we’ve got to stay in there fighting.” The Cal-UCLA game was the second tilt of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium. Earlier in the day UC Davis defeated Santa Barbara 14-8. Highlights of Golden Bear win could be seen the next day at 6:00 PM on KTVU Channel Two.
DBD celebrates 100 years of football in Strawberry Canyon with this daily feature appearing throughout the football season.
Pennants
I used to collect pennants. CBS thinks they might be making a comeback.
https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/cbs-saturday-morning-profiles-buffalo-based-oxford-pennantthe-company-making-memorabilia-cool-again
Skynet has made the first move
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67354709
y'all see THIS!!
https://swimswam.com/2-recruit-in-class-of-2025-teagan-odell-chooses-cal-golden-bears-grab-1-2-3-in-the-class/
Where is the WFC reporting on THIS!!
You’ll have to wait the customary Ruey “a week too late” report
You snooze, you lose. I was going to go up to the zoo yesterday for one last look at the giant pandas. But it was an overcast day and today was to be sunny so I decided to wait until today. Before going to bed last night I checked my email to see that the zoo was going to open late today. Sure enough, this morning is the day they moved the pandas out on their way to China. This has totally overtaken local news.
Pretty big news nationallly.
Jerry Seinfeld : But you can't give something and then take it back. I mean, what are you, a...
Winona : What?
Jerry Seinfeld : A uh, person that uh...
Winona : A person that what?
Jerry Seinfeld : Well, a person that gives something and then they're dissatisfied and they wish they had, had...
Winona : And?
Jerry Seinfeld : never give, given it to the person that they originally gave it to,
Winona : You mean like an Indian giver?
Jerry Seinfeld : I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that term.
There was an episode of M*A*S*H where Frank accuses of Hot Lips of being an Indian giver. This was after she became engaged to Lt. Col. Donald Penobscot. Margaret had given Frank something because they were "special" friends, and now tha they were no longer "special" friends, Margaret wanted it back. But Frank demurred saying he didn't have it but then alluding to wanting to keep it as a "...keepsake of his battlefield conquest". Whereupon Margaret put one of Franks hands in his bowl of oatmeal.
After eating dinner last night I turned on the TV. That episode was playing on Comedy Central.
Hahahahaha
You picked the right one...
Wallace Shawn
But you’ve also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied…
Because of this thread, I just downloaded "My Dinner with Andre" on Max
I saw that back in the day. For a few hours afterward, I gained the ability to talk like André! Amused my friends.
It's a funny in a bunch!H
When My Dinner with Andre was released in 1981, it got a lot of favorable publicity. I didn't see it until after Mrs Slug and I were married, at the Northside Theater, I think. Which would mean I probably saw it in 1987. We also say The Adventures of Baron Munchausen at the Northside.
I sent a proxy to view Munchausen.
Now I get it.
I saw it at the Northside too. One of the many Berkeley theaters to bite the dust in the past 30 years. We're down to just the Elmwood.
Berkeley used to have a halfway decent repertory movie house scene, just one of which was the Northside. Others included the UC (on University Ave., of course; it was the legendary repertory movie theater in Berkeley), the Rialto (down on Gilman St.), and the Telegraph. I saw the Seven Samurai when I was 9 years old at the Telegraph.
Other memorable movie events for me, mostly centered on the UC Theater -
War and Peace - this was the Soviet version, which included Red Army regulars used in filming battle scenes. It was a sprawling film, something like 8 or 9 hours including intermissions.
The Man With No Name trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) - need I say more?
Gone With the Wind (50th anniversary re-release) - seen on a massive single screen with a packed house. Nothing else like it as a cinematic experience.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Casablanca (seen at the Rialto) - this is the first time I had seen the movie uncut and on a big screen. A few years earlier, I had seen the move on TV (WPIX, New York) with commercial breaks. Ugh. The uncut theatrical release is far superior.
To Have and Have Not
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
and many others too numerous to name. Most were at the UC.
I loved watching classic films on the big screen. Occasionally you can see one at the PFA. I really liked the Telegraph theater, they showed many of the better films from the thirties and forties.
Never get involved in a land war in Asia
Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line
A Cal player who unexpectedly made it to or stayed in the pros
Chase Garbers sticking on an NFL roster as a QB3 shocked me.
Jeremy Ross wasn't a huge impact guy in college, but lasted a long while in the NFL as a return man.
True...
Chris Conte had a surprisingly long career with many starts.
Currently rostered Christopher Brooks
"suprisingly"???
hardly, he was an awesome DB in college (coaches took awhile) and was awesome in the pros, very successful pro career. Very happy for him.
Go Bears!
He was the skinniest player I ever saw when he played as a true freshman at CB. He had a spectacular senior season as SS.
David Binn. Made it as a long snapper for Dallas and may have been the longest tenured long-snapper in NFL history. He played for something like 17 or 18 years, I think.
Local boy made good. San Mateo High School.
Patrick Laird
The former walk-on is still on the Buc's practice squad.
CJ Anderson. Probably because I felt he was underutilized at Cal.
Giorgio Tavecchio. He was a decent kicker (and certainly a fan favorite), but I would not have expected he'd still be rostered in the NFL all the way until 2020. It looks like he played a couple seasons in Italy (of course) in 2021 and '22.
Similarly, kicker Jim Breech. 8th round pick, cut by by the Lions before season start. Played a few games for the Raiders. Wound up playing for Cincinnati for 12 years.
Used to watch him practice, solo, on Kleeberger.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
There's a weird thing going on where Democrats keep dominating in midterm and special elections, but Joe Biden's personal polling remains crappy.
Not entirely sure what to make of it, though my personal theory is that people are generally dissatisfied with having such an old man running for reelection but most of them probably come back to vote for Biden once it's clear that the alternative is still Trump and he's still nuts.
I wish Biden would not run. He’s done well but his age is an incurable default and it creates a really high risk that Trump becomes President again
We're at a moment in our political history where people under 30 are becoming politically active in a way that wasn't heard of in previous generations. And that cohort wants to kick out the aged/aging cohort. Biden represents the aged/aging cohort, mostly seen as Boomers, but there are a significant number of politicians who are of the Silent Generation. They are called the Silent Generation because until Biden was elected, no President had been of that generation (born 1925-1945).
Biden is of the Silent Generation. Same with Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, and Jerry Brown. DiFi was also of the Silent Generation.
After McCain lost, it was looking like the Silents would go their whole lives without ever getting a president elected. But Biden snuck in just under the wire.
That's an important point. Consider also that before a Silent Generation president was elected, *four* consecutive Boomers had been elected - Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, and Trump. Clinton, Bush 43, and Trump were all born within 10 weeks of each other in 1946. Obama was born in 1961.
Also, though Obama was demographically part of the "Baby Boom," I think there's a good argument that he's culturally more of a Gen-Xer.
I can relate. I'm technically a Boomer, but I don't think that way, and my generational experiences are similar to Obama's.
Wait what? 10 weeks of each other? One of them looks like 10 years before the others.
In chronological order of presidency -
William J. Clinton - born August 19, 1946
George W. Bush - born July 6, 1946
Donald J. Trump - born June 14, 1946
66 days difference between Clinton (youngest) and Trump (eldest). That's 9 weeks and 3 days (less than 10 weeks).
22 days difference between Bush and Trump, or 3 weeks and 1 day.
44 days difference between Bush and Clinton, or 6 weeks and 2 days.
That's almost certainly the tightest birthdate grouping among US Presidents.
And before that, SEVEN consecutive presidents from the Greatest Generation: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and HW Bush. Though granted, they got to pad their numbers a bit with one being killed and another resigning mid-term.
At least 6 of the 7 can claim they won a US Presidential election. Only Gerald Ford can't make that claim.
I'm hoping that even though the polls look bad in the swing states, Dems or Inds come to their senses and vote for Biden. Similar to those republicans that will vote Trump because of the (R) even though they don't like him.
Currently I consider this the most likely outcome. But obviously there's plenty of uncertainty here.
Ohio voters enshrine abortion access rights into the state constitution
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1211429268/abortion-rights-2023-election-ohio-virginia-kentucky
...and it wasn't even close. Issue 1 passed on a vote of 2,186,962 YES (56.6%) vs. 1,675,728 (43.4%) with an estimated 99% of votes counted. The difference was about 511,000 votes, which is a solid margin, even in California.
Virginia hands the state House back to Democrats, giving the party control of both chambers
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1211314220/virginia-democrats-win-full-control-of-the-state-legislature-ap-reports
Kentucky Democrat Andy Beshear wins re-election 52.5 to 47.5
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1209090515/2023-results-key-kentucky-elections
The usual Ky voting for a Democrat for governor but Republican for President, except for the one a few years ago where they voted in the lame ass Matt Bevin.
An otherwise bad actor who has had a really good performance
Brie Larson is utterly horrid yet somehow won an Oscar. The previews for The Marvels are out now and I can not watch her with a straight face…I’d like to think it’s the mindless material that comic book movies often bring but her delivery is pure comedy.
Haven't seen Lessons in Chemistry yet but supposedly it's good.
I hope you enjoy it. I will be hard passing on it....;-)
That one dish that you almost always order at a restaurant if it is on the menu
Scallops or Octopus. Most times I’ll go for fresh seafood.
Lengua tacos (not a given in the mid Atlantic)
Tiramisu.
Frutti di mare
If it's on the menu, it's gonna happen.
Yup
Sea bass.
Grilled?
Yup
Shrimp and grits, an excellent test of a restaurant's quality
so many ..
- caccio e pepe
- beef chow fun (thanks to HAG)
- uni
- shrimp and grits
- flautas or sopes
If it's a cantonese place, either Beef Chow Fun or chicken and salted fish fried rice. Thai, I get Pad See Ew (basically Beef Chow Fun).
An instrumental that isn't classical or jazz.
Axel F (the Beverly Hills Cop theme)
The Endless Summer
Christo Redemptor, Charlie Musselwhite.
I've always liked the theme to the Jetsons, but I think it's jazz.
Hawaii Five-O
Elephant Walk (Henry Mancini)
i remember thinking i was so cool when i could barely play this song on the piano when i was a i kid. i was not very good ...
Also Sprach Zarathustra (from 2001: A Space Odyssey)
The Rockford Files
Peter Gunn. Guitar and trumpet, I think.
Funeral for a Friend by Elton John. Technically, it's the intro to a two-part medley; it has no lyrics. All of the lyrics are in the second part, Love Lies Bleeding in My Hands.
Broken Sorrow by Nuttin' but Strings (mostly instrumental)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S3WtJYgy1Q
Nuttin But Stringz began studying violin at ages 8 and 7, respectively, and eventually studied at the Juilliard School
At the age of ten, Damien Escobar became the youngest student accepted into the Juilliard School of Music. He graduated from Juilliard at 13.
we are seeing one of them in concert in NYC in a few weeks.
so my (emotional) connection to this song is that my favorite SoulCycle instructor in NYC often plays this songs on the particularly slow hard high resistance part of the work out.
it is hard for me to hear the song and not connect it to the best and hardest workouts i have ever had.
How many times per week do you work outside your home?
Usually 4, but sometimes if kids are sick, etc it can be 0. So I basically try to go in when we I can to bank the days.
At least 3, much to my consternation.
Usually zero but I’m onsite with customers this week and next
Never; never - it's a lekor's game (and hard to the job's done, what job are you looking at????)
1 or 2
Five days or four, depending on the week.
0
Monday through Friday. According to my math, that's five.
Usually 0, occasionally 1
Similar, maybe fairly often 1 in addition to having worked from home.
If you don't count umpiring after working a full day from home, during baseball/softball season.
on the remote weeks, about 1 day/wk - i try to go into NYC once a week and take advantage of my uncle's office that overlooks Central Park. mostly just for the variety of getting out of the house, meeting people for lunches, drinks, NYC nightlife ..
and then i try to go to DC or Seattle office for one full week a month. so 4 day/wk on those weeks.
A place that you would like to visit but probably never will
The “Stans”. By the time they become less risky / more secure for tourists I’ll probably be immobile.
Bete Giyorgis in Ethiopia
Machu Pichu
Dang!
Iran
Toward the end of the Obama administration, I was talking with my then boss who is from there about how to make it happen. He has dual citizenship and still goes back and forth from time to time. He basically told me to forget about it.
Vietnam.
Vietnam is beautiful. I’ve been twice, and am planning another trip. You should go.
Outer Mongolia.
I would love to go camp in a yurt, ride the Asian ponies across the steppe, go hawking, drink fermented mare's milk, and try to improve my Tuvan throat singing technique. Alas, I doubt it will happen.
I expect OSU will wind up with a game scheduled there in their Independent lunacy post Pac-12 death.
i know someone who was NY Times reported who did a trip there once and wrote up a fun travel guide. i'll see if i can find it.
this would be on my list of places too that i am likely to go. i can sort imagine getting to Leh/Ladakh though ..
Galloping in the Hoofprints of Genghis Khan in Mongolia
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/travel/06explorer.html
I BEGAN having second thoughts about riding a horse through northern Mongolia right around the moment I slammed into the tree trunk.
Without warning, my horse had bolted toward it and I had no idea how to regain control. The impact flung me through the air. I landed hard on the forest floor as my horse scampered into the bush.
I had an uncle who claimed to be descended from Genghis Khan. I tried this myself when I was younger. One or two people believed me.
The problem with denying this claim is that more than 16 million *men* on the planet in 2015 could reasonably make that claim. See this article -
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/other-men-who-left-huge-genetic-legacies-likes-genghis-khan-180954052/
That's one in 500 people alive today. 1 in 250 men (males) alive today. The problem with proving or disproving the claim is genetic testing, it seems.
Very cool, thanks for the link!
New Zealand. Looks lovely, but it is faaaaar away. Most of my international travel is work-related, and I don't think work will take me out there (it would be a welcome surprise, however).
Go. NZ and Antarctica are among few pristine environments still in existence. (Traveled to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji in 2010; Antarctica in 2013.)
If I can find someone to watch Jonesy for 2 months, I want to go spend some time in Australia/New Zealand/Tasmania.
Early 2,000’s I regularly took mountaineering trips (not trekking) to NZ. Lived in SE AK so ad the flight to Seattle and another to LAX or SFO then NZ Air or Qantas to NZ. My second trip to NZ the 747 was chock o block full of senior citizens. Toward the last quarter of the 11.5 hour trip, the smell of urine was quite strong. Evidently one could not “depend” on the hvac to overcome it.
A lifetime ago I lived in Anchorage for nine years. For a few years I did a one-week work trip to Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, Stika, and Ketchikan. In a later life I did a work trip to NZ and stayed after for a week. A lot of the geography reminded me of Alaska.
Yes. I lived on POWales Island from 91 to 01 doing field forestry the Ketchikan 01 to 08. NZ, most particularly Milford Sound resonated.
The week I stayed, I used Queenstown as my base.
Same with me for international travel. There is a testing event in Sydney in Dec, however just about all the companies said they wouldn't go because it was too far or too expensive. So the Bluetooth SIG moved the testing part to Paris and the workgroup F2F remained in Sydney. Which sucks because this was my one chance to go and not have to pay for it.
Instead, I'm in Paris the 1st full week in Dec when the weather isn't going to be very good. The good thing is my aunt and a few cousins live there so I'll see them on one of the days.
Paris at Christmas is magic.
Paris at that time of year is great. we went for Thxgiving a few years ago. it was a little cold and rainy, but there were no lines and no people so you got to do whatever you wanted.
Unfortunately my event goes until 6 every night. And I've been to Paris a few times already so I've seen most of it. The catacombs was one thing I was thinking of going to, if I can get out early enough. And tbb's friend is at the Pompideu center so maybe I'll go check that out again since they close late.
I went to Sydney in 2017 for a work trip. It is one of my favorite cities I have visited but it was also the most expensive by a surprising margin. I expect I'll be able to make another work trip to Australia at some point in the future.
I was supposed to go to Paris in May of 2020, but that trip ended up being cancelled...
I really wish Australia and New Zealand weren't soo far away. I've always wanted to see both, but it would require way more time and money than I will probably ever be able to afford.
I went to Sydney for work in 2019. It was so far away! I went from Japan but it was till about 10 hours from Tokyo.
I was planning on heading there early and spending Thurs- Sun in and around Sydney. I'm so upset I'm going to miss the Sydney event.
i feel like i will get there despite the distance. hopefully Antarctica too
youngest child off to college in < 2 yrs should open up more chances to travel to these places during the right seasons w/o worrying about missing school for multiple weeks.
Africa .. which i realize is a BIG place
there is a long list of places that my wife finds too challenging to visit and Africa is probably at the top. i guess i could go myself ...
in fact it is a minor miracle that we are going to India this Xmas after not going for 25 yrs. i was pretty sure we were never going back there together after the last not-so-great experience right after we got married. she mostly feels guilty that we havent taken the kids and that the kids are wiling to go w/o us and tag along w/ their aunt/uncle just to see India.
PRO
BRUH. NOW I WANT ONE 🐵
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/oakland-marshawn-pet-monkey-18475414.php
I can't remember what type of monkey it was, but I had an uncle who was in the Merchant Marine and he came home from a trip to SE Asia once with a monkey.
Lil Pimp was his name
That sounds like a Marshawn name for a little monkey.
Sharks avoid breaking loss record. Thanks, Philly Flyers
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38846095/san-jose-sharks-snap-11-game-losing-streak-dodge-nhl-history
Draymond Green ruled out of the Denver game tonight for personal reasons and not because he got kicked in the nuggets earlier this week
https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/warriors-draymond-green-wont-play-wednesday-433863/
DBD AV CLUB
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
CFP rankings are full of nonsense, and someone quoted McElroy saying Texas and Alabama “don’t have the luxury of playing Cal.”
The same Alabama whose OOC wins will include Middle Tennessee State (2-7), USF (4-5), and Chatanooga (FCS)?
Hmmm... the same SEC that has an average RPI of 44.2, when the Pac-12 is 44.4? And Alabama and Texas don't have to play themselves? Nice sentiment, but RPI begs to differ.
Tang!
NC State's starting QB surprisingly decides to redshirt this season, so won't play in any more games this season. When Cal plays him next year, he'll be a 22 year old redshirt sophomore.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38848460/nc-state-qb-mj-morris-season-opting-redshirt
Tuesday MACtion.
Ball State kicks game winning FG as time expires 20-17 over NIU.
https://twitter.com/CowardlyDoggo/status/1722078196957597753
Western Mitten beats Central Mitten 38-28
Ohio beats Buffalo 20-10 to the disappointment of this fan
https://twitter.com/notTomWambsgans/status/1722089192505905288
CAL
I just went out to try to see a flyover of Arlington Cemetery. A woman ran by with a t-shirt that said SAAC on the front. After she was by me the back of the shirt had script Cal on the back. Looks like it stands for Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She wasn't fast, but was too far by for me to holler out Go Bears
On this day in 1958 in Memorial Stadium the Golden Bears defeated UCLA, 20-17 breaking a seven-game losing streak to their southern cousins. QB Joe Kapp led the Bear offense amassing 113 yards of offense to put him third all time in total offense for California. The win, coupled with an Oregon State loss put the Bears in the driver’s seat for a Rose Bowl berth. The victory raised Cal’s conference record to 4-1, they would win their next two games and later make their final appearance in the grandaddy of all bowl games. The Bears didn’t score until late in the first half assuming a 7-3 halftime lead. Cal went up 14-3 in the third quarter and after the Bruins narrowed their lead to four the Bears went on another touchdown drive. A late score by the visitors made the game seem closer than it was. After the game Kapp warned that Cal couldn’t afford to think that they’ve “got it made.” He added, “we’ve got to stay in there fighting.” The Cal-UCLA game was the second tilt of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium. Earlier in the day UC Davis defeated Santa Barbara 14-8. Highlights of Golden Bear win could be seen the next day at 6:00 PM on KTVU Channel Two.
DBD celebrates 100 years of football in Strawberry Canyon with this daily feature appearing throughout the football season.
Rex
Mardi Gras parade
Mozart Requiem - Rex tremendae
not just this part, but overall one of the best pieces of music ever, at least IMO.