That cat bears a resemblance to my Cricket, although he has never scratched me that badly. He does bite my toes after I come out of the shower though, which is weird.
Kodiak bought me this guy's walking bear design, which is now my lock screen. It looks like he's selling foil prints, which could make for a nice gift: https://www.instagram.com/tfoust10/
I just got a Lego catalog in the mail yesterday and browsed through it out of curiosity. They have some impressively detailed sets. I'm kinda sad that cf-98 is still a couple years away from being able to start building with legos.
If you're into cars, the Lego Technic car sets are pretty amazing. The ones that are in the 150-300 range are super nice. No 1's ex GF got him a couple. I think he has the Ferrari F40 and the 911 GT3 ones.
I've seen them, but I always though there was something funky looking about the way they did the body panels. That said, we do have the Mini Cooper set because the missus drives a Mini.
Reminds me of an ornament I bought from Restoration Hardware probably about 25 years ago. It was a blown glass VW Beetle with a Christmas tree, whose top branches were sticking out the back window.
I got one for me and Mrs Slug, one for my Best Man. My Best Man still mentions occasionally how much he loves that ornament.
A smaller wallet - I think my days with a George Costanza wallet should end.
A phone with a bigger screen - the days of needing a small phone because I'm at an office and need it in my pocket are over.
36 pairs of identical socks - 12 for use now, 24 for eventual replacement
Whatever crazy sweater-underwear that HSB wears
A Bluetooth speaker. Google mini is not cutting it.
New wine glasses. I'm not saying we're clumsy, but we're running of out them.
Microfiber cloths
Cheapo headphones. I've got good ones, but I need enough with microphones that I can scatter them into various bags and drawers. Since I'm WFH forever now, I don't want to be scrambling for
An Apple laptop charging cord. It's USB-C based and it gives the most juice, so it charges phones really fast. I find that we're fighting over that charger constantly.
i've switched to a money clip + card holder for China, but unknown what i'll need back in the US.
Figure - two ATM cards, two credit cards, insurance card, driver's license (my current carry is this plus Hong Kong ID - which has no legal bearing in mainland China but has my Chinese name on it as a government ID - I've been able to wave it at low level government people to get some things done before) and to keep everything tight and from falling out, my PADI diving license.
I recently got a Ridge wallet, titanium and slim so your cards and ID fit perfectly in a small rectangle. Easily fits in a front pocket and also blocks RFID. Cost is around $125 or so. Just google the term.
I'm not a consumer and have want for nothing. Rather donate whatever you would spend on gifts to your local food bank or woman's shelter. Or any charity of your choice.
I was in New York in December 2019, and definitely joined the crowds to see the Christmas lights. With the pandemic, I'm less excited about crowds now.
I was in Taiwan December 2019–January 2020, and I had a lingering cough (from the friend I stayed with in New York and Boston), so my dad was convinced I was going to get locked up for being virulent.
My FIL is still upset that the dining areas in Addiction Aquatic were mostly bars/standing-area. When we got to Chongqing, he couldn't stop talking s*** about Taiwan by saying Taipei restaurants had no chairs. Never mind the fact that every other restaurant we went to in Taiwan had chairs.
It was very interesting to see some (not a lot) of Christmas displays in Chongqing in December 2019, as well as lots of shopping crowds. Of course, all of the displays were of the pagan aspects of Christmas displays and none of the Christian aspects.
I noticed that "shop for Christmas early to avoid product scarcity and inflation cause by the Libs" was a heavy messaging item on Fox News last month. I don't think it's a coincidence that my local mall has been absolutely packed since even before Halloween.
That's certainly a more provocative and politically charged message than "it might be a good time to be thankful for the intangibles like family and friends rather than scrambling to overpay for things they probably don't need."
Cats are the most unreliable alarm clock - our outdoor cat wakes me up at 3 am every day except for the days that I have to be out of the house by 4 am.
There's a lot of LMM backlash because he often puts himself front and center and while a good songwriter and overall writer - he's often (always) the least talented actor and singer on screen/stage.
My daughters loved it but my younger daughter has nurtured deep contempt for her peers who claim to be musical enthusiasts and yet only know about / have listened to the soundtrack for Hamilton. To be honest I enjoyed the “girl group” songs more consistently and rather like Scootie, as the plot progressed I found it less moving at the time I was supposed to find it more moving
Well, I though it would be obvious that my comment was my opinion. After making that clear, it was really, really bad. Wife and BIL definitely agreed with me.
same. Why? Well, not a fan of live musicals/plays, not a rap fan and have a tendency to shout at movie screens when things that are purported to be historical are historically inaccurate. Braveheart got a "JESUS CHRIST THAT DIDNT HAPPEN" and as much as I enjoyed Kingdom of Heaven, the whole Orlando Bloom character made me cringe and cry on the inside. So Hamilton will never be a thing for me
Rent and Cabaret top my list. Saw them both at the Curran in the early aughts whilst living in the City and needed multiple double Jamo’s at Lefty O’Doul’s after to wash them outta my mind.
My Mt Rushmore of musicals....
1. Les Mis
2. Wicked
3. Phantom
4. Chicago (saw in London with Hasselhoff as Billy Flynn)
My first exposure to JCS was in SF. During Harod's Song, the (predominately male) dancers around Harod turned around during the piano solo to reveal that they were all wearing thongs.
I desperately want to see Book of Morman. I hear it's hilarious.
Lucky you. I would love to see a really good on stage production of Chicago. Unfortunately, I know the movie quite well. I fear it has set me up with unrealistic expectations.
I saw a production of Chicago in Folsom about a year ago. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I knew that it wasn't a tour of the Broadway production, but I did expect better than we got.
The Hoff was actually quite solid in the role, tho he's quite solid in everything he does...Wilcox should bring him & Kit on as recruiting coordinators, if you ask me...that was a great London trip - my sister Janie Chitwood and I saw as much as we could possibly see in our 10 days in London, and were exhausted...wrapped it all up with Wicked on Broadway and a few days in the Adirondacks at Lake George with Newellbany and the crew. Good times.
No worries at all. I saw it again in SF in about 2007. Had great orchestra level seats, but I found it to be over-the-top melodramatic. I didn't remember the production being much different from when I saw it in the '90s, but I also don't remember it being so melodramatic to the point where I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. Easily could've been the production instead of the musical itself.
I will admit: I was initially skeptical, in large part because of that effusive positive reaction to it...much like Springsteen on Broadway, and tho I like the Boss, I find it incredibly obnoxious to hear that tickets to some of these shows are impossible to get and/or so expensive. Like the show can never be THAT good, so get over yourselves...or maybe I'm just jealous of the peeps that do get tix.
I was so wrong with Hamilton tho - I watched the performance on Disney+ with a group of friends at a movie night dinner party and quite thoroughly enjoyed it...so my initial skepticism was quite incorrect, at least IMO.
That's kind of how I approached it. But I won a lottery and got a ticket for $10 to see it at the Kennedy Center. I had a great time. I'm not in a hurry to see it again at full price but really enjoyed myself at the show.
The biggest thing, for me anyway, seems to be to not react emotionally with investing. Set targets and stay with them. Even if you hit the upside target within a week and want to take it 'to the moon'. Another is not to invest in individual stocks/companies that you don't really understand the business model. I understand how Visa makes money on every transaction, I don't understand how google or facebook make money on advertising I block.
so this is less advice and more things that we did that are possibly a little bit different
- we have an interest-only floating-rate loan. not planning on paying down house. would rather have same net worth, but more liquidity
- for retirement we worked backward, ie made some estimate of how much to retire on, calculated max 401k contributions and came up w/ an additional $$ amount per year that we would save to hit that target.
- beyond that savings number we are comfortable spending the rest. the real work was being disciplined early on. it is much easier now as careers have progressed, salaries are higher, but savings target has not changed
- we started saving in 529s before kids were born
- we do not consider our primary residence as an investment because you "have to live somewhere" and unless you are going to do a one time move to a much cheaper area, it is not going to contribute to our "wealth"
I agree on that last one in terms of my wealth but I view it as building my children’s wealth since they will inherit the house and can either sale it or live in a paid off house so their monthly mortgage or rent will be $0.
- unless you have a legit information advantage, you are mostly guessing, dont fool yourself into thinking you know something that others dont
- the banking system is an endless series of favorable pricing in exchange for information and the average investor is at a major disadvantage
- stock market swings and crashes will happen in higher frequency and larger severity. like SGBear said, some attention to macro-economics might save you from a lot of possible downside.
that being said
- the overall market is a good investment
- diversify everything
- sell every company stock or option the first chance you can
- it is ok to think you "never lose in Vegas" but be honest with yourself when investing
1. Buy low, sell high is surprisingly difficult to do.
2. If you study and continuously pay attention to macro-economics, you'll make more money via investing than through your job. It's a low cost, high return investment - but you actually have to do it and commit to it.
3. Resist buying because of FOMO. You'll make more money by selling avoiding big crashes and buying near the bottom of an investment cycle. Blend this with some dollar-cost averaging to balance your risk profile.
4. If you don't have a lot of capital, keep your investments liquid so you can execute on point 3 (stock)
5. If you're weak at financial things, you're a fool to take financial advice from yourself.
6. Sell your losers. Have a cut-loss level where you force yourself to sell anything that isn't working out. Hope is a terrible thing to have when investing, as is greed.
7. Sell your wildly successful winners. You have to sell in order to actually make money. Take-home profits is what matters; taxes are only part of the equation.
8. Both spouses need to agree to buy or sell something and take equal responsibility for the results. Money arguments are the #1 reason for relationship problems.
On point 7 - I've taken an extreme buy and hold position on my investments for retirement. Excluding my Roth (target date fund), I have a few broad market index funds in my taxable. I started to play around with a green energy etf which I'm including in my retirement bucket, but that fund shot up in value since Biden (we're talking about more than 120% return). I'm tempting l tempted to both sell and hold for a long term, in equal parts.
Right-wing media's ability to speak a thing into existence by sheer repetition remains impressive.
(And yes, to be fair the left was also able to do some of this with Trump, but Trump made it easy. The right-wing media sphere can seemingly do this with any Democrat.)
I just signed up for my booster, but I'm a little concerned that the appointment says "MODERNA DOSE 3" rather than booster, and debating the merits of calling in for clarification.
Pfizer's booster is the same dose as 1 and 2, but Moderna's booster is half the dose of 1 and 2 (but some people with special circumstances do need the full dose, hence, Dose 3)
From my family circles, it seems that Moderna has a more severe impact than Pfizer. Wife and I are going Pfizer after x2 Moderna, so we will see if that patterns holds.
My right one sometimes clicks when I lift it. Throwing too much BP to my son and his teams. I've been trying to do some shoulder strengthening exercises that a PT guy had me try. It does seem to be getting better. But I still don't think I can throw a ball much further than 100 ft.
The last time I played catch (maybe 6 years ago - difficult to find someone else with a glove in Shanghai) I was quite sore the day afterwards. But it doesn't hurt at all, just a lot of crepitus.
Self-diagnosis, but I fear I have a partially torn or frayed rotator cuff...I still play adult hard ball, and I had pain and dead arm all season...shouldn't have been hurting from a rather light day 1 and on...something is off in there.
I wonder if I have something similar. it shouldn't be clicking when I go from straight out in front of me to straight up. I wish I could play softball but without being able to throw much more than 90 (which takes significant effort) it seems pointless to play in the OF.
1 large bulb of fennel, roughly chopped, set aside the fronds for garnish
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
.25 cups of peeled garlic cloves
1 carton of low sodium chicken stock (or veggie, if preferred)
Olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper
Combine all of the veggies in a bowl; coat with olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until the carrots are soft and the fennel and onions are translucent. Put roasted veggies in a pot with the stock bring to a high simmer for 30 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or in a regular blender in batches). Garnish with the fennel fronds.
I had it with 1/2 bottle of Brunello I opened for the spicy sausage ragu, but anything from the south of France would be good, or a restrained CA Syrah.
I've got my go-to umami sources - onions, garlic, soy sauce, parmesan, mushroom powder, worcestershire, tomato paste, dried/cured meats, and sesame oil. While my dishes taste good, I am finding that it taste like "mine" as I repeat my tendencies with too much focus - which is not a good thing. So now I'm exploring Tier 2 of lesser used umami sources - scallop powder, nuc mom, shrimp powder, anchovies, fake & real truffle oil, dashi, nutritional yeast, shallots, crustacean stock, miso, smoke/char, and high quality bouillon.
Forgive me if I've said this before, but "Ghosts" on CBS is very good. Without giving too much away, the acting by the husband on that show is impressive because he's not supposed to be able to see the ghosts and he pulls it off amazingly.
Been enjoying the resumption of Mock the Week. My 16 year old is watching GBBO and I’m expecting a riot when she finds out that Jürgen gets the boot in the latest episode.
Oh shit! Sorry, I should have put in a spoiler alert, I found out quite by accident when some of the Brits I follow on Twitter were losing their shit the other night
Zach Wheeler gets edged out for NL Cy Young. This is just a reminder that the Giants traded him - the sixth overall pick - for 179 plate appearances from Carlos Beltran, cash, and a bag of reportedly magic beans.
It was also AT&T for a good long while so sometimes I default to that. Calling it Oracle is confusing now because the Warriors previously played at Oracle.
The problem is when the latest new paid for name comes in, no one has any idea what building in what city you are talking about. And usually won't learn until after the naming rights deal expires and its renamed again. Seems to in most cases be one of the poorer ways to invest advertising $s.
The naming rights for the arena here in Albany, NY are up for grabs. It started as the Kinickerbocker Arena (which most people still call it), then it was the Pepsi Arena, then the Times Union Arena (the naming rights were so cheap, even a struggling local newspaper could afford it).
If each of us threw in the cash in our pockets, we could probably name it the DBD Arena - and nobody would call it that, either.
Kuminga is starting to figure things out a little bit. Kid’s gonna be a superstar.
There was a lot of silly talk that the W’s should’ve traded their picks for another superstar, which was borderline impossible given their financial constraints with the Steph, Klay, Wiggins & Draymond contracts. Wiseman & Kuminga are gonna be stars in this league.
I've been impressed with him. I think they're trying to bring him along slower than they did with Wiseman last year. I assume it's because they're deeper this year and don't need to throw him to the wolves.
Agreed...I am not a fan of Moody...thought he was dogschitt for Mussleman and ARK in the tourney - that guy's got "Bob Myers Jacob Evans WHIFF" all over him...but at one point, Kuminga was in the running for the top overall pick - his athleticism is off the charts and if he can shoot it consistently, look out. Once Scotty Barnes showed that he's one of the best players in this draft (as expected), OK City taking Josh Giddey was a godsend...not that Giddey isn't a good player, but the W's have time to develop Wiseman and Kuminga, and Kuminga is such a talent.
Would have been nice for the US to get the win and put some distance between themselves and the field, but a road draw is okay. Sitting in 2nd place, closely bunched with Canada and Mexico, is still a decent position.
Problem is that Panama has been doing well and sits only one point behind USA and tied with Mexico (losing the tiebreaker). No one wants to be pushed down to 4th place and into a playoff. Panama's schedule starts to get tougher after this so maybe they will fade a bit.
How about the camera crews that always get faked out on playaction?
Or the camera crews that zoom all the way into the QB's eyeballs so you can't see routes develop downfield? Or worse, the ones who cut off the receivers near each sideline before the snap?
ICYMI: Makai Polk is by far the leading receiver at Mike Leach's MS State. QB Will Rogers has a 75.7% completion rate the fourth highest single-season of all time. Cal's Rich Campbell has the 52nd highest of all time at 70.7%. *sigh*
Rich Campbell is a name I hadn't thought about in decades. Looking at his football reference, Rich's TD/INT rate was kind of the inverse of his accuracy. He threw 7 more INTs than TDs.
Yep, I couldn’t believe people were trying to downplay his departure. He has the size and athleticism to play on Sunday and his production was matching his potential.
The FR hardly see the field, which means Musgrave’s pro-style offense is likely way too complicated, as evidenced by Glover’s complete buffoonery in Tucson.
My take on Sonny is that he is in his proper niche at a mid-major in Texas but was a mediocre fit at a major conference program in California. Not a terrible coach, but not a great option for Cal.
It's more than just the situation he got brought into at Cal. In Texas he can better relate to the players, recruit, etc. All of that was going to be an uphill battle in Berkeley. He had his chance to build a roster at Cal and topped out with mediocre results.
Again, not a bad coach, just not a good fit for the program. Tedford was a good fit: cerebral guy, lots of west coast ties. Wilcox has some similar qualities (jury's out on how good a coach he is). Dykes was always looking to bolt.
Eh, I think that is overly colored by his problems with A) pampered , spoiled players who didn't want to work once they had to actually go to class in 2013, then the blaming of Buh for events beyond his control, then B) a poor hiring decision on Kaufman.
How does that not jibe with not a great fit at the P5 conference level?
I don't think that describing Dykes as unable to overcome circumstances and making poor decisions necessarily contradicts the notion that he wasn't a fit for a P5 conference program.
Yes, I remember that Tedford's teams were underperforming in the classroom from '09 on (maybe even earlier than that). He turned around the team APR so that it was respectable, even envied; but that's expected of a P5 school that aspires to be the best public university. Right?
Buh and Kaufman were huge disappointments. They also showed that Dykes was a one trick pony. You can get away with that at the G5 level. Definitely not at the P5 level. At the P5 level you have to be better on all sides of the ball or assemble a staff that *is* better than most other staffs to excel. You have to be able to recognize talent and recruit it, both athletic and coaching talent. Dykes isn't that kind of head coach.
I've pretty much forgotten they exist until someone mentions their name. But I don't wish them ill will (since I don't have any left after it all goes to Tosh Lupoi).
I'm interested in how he does, but I don't necessarily root for him. Like Berkelium said, his offense made for very entertaining (but LONG) football games. His active searching for a new job while he was at Cal left a bad taste in my mouth, though.
I root against Cuonzo because he left us with a burning trash heap. Five years later, we still haven't recovered. He doesn't deserve all the blame, but he deserves some of it.
You can blame the admin just as much as Cuonzo leaving for the sad state of cal mbb. Hiring Wyking was the single worst mistake, all bc it was believed he could keep the recruiting class together (which he didn't) and then the defections started, then the IAD not helping admissions one bit to get Cuonzo's kid off the waitlist. Fox is almost as bad a hire and his loyalty to stff he brought with him is killing recruiting. Half the roster is not D1 level.
Very good points, g...the disaster that is the Men's Basketball Program is undoubtedly an across-the-board team effort...and Mike Williams was borderline incompetent.
And totally agree with your point on Fox and the loyalty to his staff...I thought Harriman was supposed to be a recruiter.
But in Wyking's first season we had some good players. It's just that they all transferred after a s season or two. Bradley was the only one that stuck around for a couple more years.
I am neutral on Sonny Dykes, bc while his O was fun to watch, those defenses were an affront to college football...embarrassing really. However, there’s an argument to be made that Cal needs a gimmick O of some kind to really succeed bc you can’t consistently recruit the type of dominant physical athlete to Cal that you need to play that straight-up, B10 type-physical, blockin’/tacklin’ football...dunno.
I am anti-Cuonzo Martin, big time (and likely in the minority here, which is fine)...I appreciate him earning that high seed, but I have never seen an HC do less with more talent then he did, at Tenn, at Mizzou & here at Cal...4 NBA players on that Cal roster - that team should’ve been a 2 seed...that Mizzou team had the Porter brothers, and was meh. Can’t produce a competent O to save his life, and left the Cal program in absolute ruins....and the Vols not much better until Barnes saved them. Cuonzo may be out at Mizzou after this year too...good riddance.
They’ll be fine...Altman always struggles early bc his kids are always a mix of talented FR & transfers and need time to gel...but they always have talented ball players, and he’ll likely have them firing on all cylinders as a dangerous 7-10 seed in March.
BYU is really good. This is the 3rd team that was in the tournament last year and is expected to be in again this year that the Cougars have already beaten.
BYU was in control the entire game. Alex Barcello, who was at Arizona at one time, out-played Will Richardson (which is doing something, though Richardson did not play close to his normal level) by a lot. Barcello may be the best guard in the west, certainly exclusive of Gonzaga and UCLA.
BYU can shoot, but the big difference was their defense. Really disrupted Oregon's ball movement, and the lack of made shots made it really difficult for Oregon to get set up defensively before BYU got into their offense.
This early, I wouldn't read too much into it as far as anything that's wrong with Oregon given some time to get the newcomers integrated (we have had this conversation about other teams already too), as much as it was a statement about how good BYU is.
I haven't seen anything of Colorado yet, but BYU looks like they might trail only the Zags and Bruins in the west. Wasn't sure if they could handle really big bigs, but Oregon's weren't able to be game changers, so that answered that question.
ICYMI: Florida's Dan Mullen was on the hot seat because of their defensive performance earlier in the year. So he fired his DC last week. The next game (last Saturday), they gave up 42 points in the first half - the most ever to any opponent. The problem: it was vs. an FCS opponent that was nearly a 40 point underdog. Florida ended up beating Samford by scoring 70, but it's been a drama in the swamp. If we can time this right, Mullen will be fired so that Florida's program is at its nadir when we play them in 2026 and 2027.
We finally gave up Comcast and with it the Pac-12 Network over the pandemic. It's so frustrating that it's neither part of my AT&T package nor I can purchase as a stand alone. Literally leaving money on the table.
We have fubo and are mostly happy, but may switch to sling as I want the Turner networks. Does anytone know if sling has all of the P12 regional networks? Internet is mixed answers.
...and Sling isn't really that convenient, either.
I have Sonic for internet and YouTube TV streaming. Sling would cost me at least as much as YouTube TV when I add in the features I need to get Pac-12 network and the features I have already with YouTube TV.
TL; DR - Pac-12 network is essentially unavailable to me, too.
I haven't tried it on TV yet but it works on my phone or laptop. If you have a screen sharing feature and an Internet capable TV you can mirror what is on your phone on the TV. Need to go into settings on Chrome to do it. You also need to download the Google home app. The Pac 12 has a phone app as well, but you can also watch on the mobile web on your browser (don't need the Pac-12 Networks app.)
It's the same reason you can hear a pin drop at Memorial Stadium on game days this year...it's just incredibly hard to see Washington actually hiring Justin Wilcox...sure he knows defense & graduates his kids, etc., but does he really move the needle for UW donors that think their program should be competing for the CFP?
That cat bears a resemblance to my Cricket, although he has never scratched me that badly. He does bite my toes after I come out of the shower though, which is weird.
My cat loves to lick wet hair. No 3 comes out of the shower and lays down somewhere and Stormy will come over and lick his hair.
That is a very kinky cat.
So long as he's not pulling out the nipple clamps and candle wax, you're A-OK!
Christmas gift ideas - help a DBDer out by saying things that you'd want for Christmas. Maybe it will spark an idea for others.
Homefield Apparel!
Kodiak bought me this guy's walking bear design, which is now my lock screen. It looks like he's selling foil prints, which could make for a nice gift: https://www.instagram.com/tfoust10/
I don't have much want's for Christmas. Not plastic-y crap.
So... rocks and dirt crap. Sorry, I meant "minerals".
Legos
I just got a Lego catalog in the mail yesterday and browsed through it out of curiosity. They have some impressively detailed sets. I'm kinda sad that cf-98 is still a couple years away from being able to start building with legos.
If you're into cars, the Lego Technic car sets are pretty amazing. The ones that are in the 150-300 range are super nice. No 1's ex GF got him a couple. I think he has the Ferrari F40 and the 911 GT3 ones.
I've seen them, but I always though there was something funky looking about the way they did the body panels. That said, we do have the Mini Cooper set because the missus drives a Mini.
Museum gift shops can be pretty good sources for moms, partners and kids.
They are, although Etsy sometimes has the same thing for better prices. But, it's also good to support your local museum.
Yeah, but I kind of have a block buying certain gifts like clothes and jewelry online without at least seeing them in the real first.
Along those lines, the New York Public Library has an excellent store: https://shop.nypl.org/
I got my friend this bag: https://shop.nypl.org/collections/leather-bags-purses/products/leather-nypl-bookbinding-stamp-briefcase
And I think this lamp is super cool: https://shop.nypl.org/products/levitating-moon-lamp?_pos=3&_sid=e47d1c390&_ss=r
I like the Pizza Rat tree ornament. Too bad it's sold out.
https://shop.nypl.org/collections/assorted-holiday-themed-gifts/products/pizza-rat-ornament-1
I’d almost be willing to get a tree just for that
Reminds me of an ornament I bought from Restoration Hardware probably about 25 years ago. It was a blown glass VW Beetle with a Christmas tree, whose top branches were sticking out the back window.
I got one for me and Mrs Slug, one for my Best Man. My Best Man still mentions occasionally how much he loves that ornament.
Dang, I would have gotten that.
That is a cool lamp!
I endorse this idea. I love museum gift shop crap.
Some nice prints/artwork to decorate my home office now that I'm WFH in perpetuity
I have tons for you...I ran out of wall space ;-)
Jimmy C has any type of print you want, as long as its horses.
* Where is FS with a Taylor Swift comment *
she is a PREYING MANTIS...get it right
John Elway is the horse.
Plus concert posters and Adirondack Mountain watercolors
I'll take your extra print of dogs playing poker
A smaller wallet - I think my days with a George Costanza wallet should end.
A phone with a bigger screen - the days of needing a small phone because I'm at an office and need it in my pocket are over.
36 pairs of identical socks - 12 for use now, 24 for eventual replacement
Whatever crazy sweater-underwear that HSB wears
A Bluetooth speaker. Google mini is not cutting it.
New wine glasses. I'm not saying we're clumsy, but we're running of out them.
Microfiber cloths
Cheapo headphones. I've got good ones, but I need enough with microphones that I can scatter them into various bags and drawers. Since I'm WFH forever now, I don't want to be scrambling for
An Apple laptop charging cord. It's USB-C based and it gives the most juice, so it charges phones really fast. I find that we're fighting over that charger constantly.
i've switched to a money clip + card holder for China, but unknown what i'll need back in the US.
Figure - two ATM cards, two credit cards, insurance card, driver's license (my current carry is this plus Hong Kong ID - which has no legal bearing in mainland China but has my Chinese name on it as a government ID - I've been able to wave it at low level government people to get some things done before) and to keep everything tight and from falling out, my PADI diving license.
Anyone have an alkaline water filter?
I have a couple of Bellroy wallets, which are good for reducing overall size
same
Socks are always a great gift.
Bombas are great!
"Whatever crazy sweater-underwear that HSB wears" +1
glad i made the list one way or another
I just looked them up. $45/each! Dang. Your ballroom is fancy, good sir.
I recently got a Ridge wallet, titanium and slim so your cards and ID fit perfectly in a small rectangle. Easily fits in a front pocket and also blocks RFID. Cost is around $125 or so. Just google the term.
I'm not a consumer and have want for nothing. Rather donate whatever you would spend on gifts to your local food bank or woman's shelter. Or any charity of your choice.
Should we have a thread of places to donate? I think that would be cool.
my friend works at a company called Grapevine which has this idea of "giving circles"
happy to set one up for DBD if people would be interested. but maybe 10 DBDers have 10 different opinions
https://www.grapevine.org/
pltm
Christmas crowds
I was in New York in December 2019, and definitely joined the crowds to see the Christmas lights. With the pandemic, I'm less excited about crowds now.
Better than being in China in December 2019 and January 2020, like I was.
I was in Taiwan December 2019–January 2020, and I had a lingering cough (from the friend I stayed with in New York and Boston), so my dad was convinced I was going to get locked up for being virulent.
My FIL is still upset that the dining areas in Addiction Aquatic were mostly bars/standing-area. When we got to Chongqing, he couldn't stop talking s*** about Taiwan by saying Taipei restaurants had no chairs. Never mind the fact that every other restaurant we went to in Taiwan had chairs.
And even other spaces in Addiction Aquatic have seating haha
He did love the observation level restaurant in Taipei 101. He sweet-talked us into a private dining room without a reservation.
Of course I forgot what I was going to comment.
It was very interesting to see some (not a lot) of Christmas displays in Chongqing in December 2019, as well as lots of shopping crowds. Of course, all of the displays were of the pagan aspects of Christmas displays and none of the Christian aspects.
It's just a shopping holiday here.
I avoid them. Pretty much at all costs.
same. online shopping only and try to be done by thanksgiving. i do not really care about black friday deals, i just want it done.
Standing in a Black Friday line at BBB as a kid while my mom was looking for dishtowels, and nothing else, was rather traumatizing.
I noticed that "shop for Christmas early to avoid product scarcity and inflation cause by the Libs" was a heavy messaging item on Fox News last month. I don't think it's a coincidence that my local mall has been absolutely packed since even before Halloween.
Hopefully there will be fewer melees, donnybrooks and tramplings at Walmarts’s this Black Friday....
That's certainly a more provocative and politically charged message than "it might be a good time to be thankful for the intangibles like family and friends rather than scrambling to overpay for things they probably don't need."
Supply Side Jesus would disagree.
I think that is a factor, also people want to be out shopping more after last year.
The last place I want to be during the holiday season is out shopping among the crowds.
and thankfully without the horrifying fish top-half and legs bottom-half
Cats
Cats are the most unreliable alarm clock - our outdoor cat wakes me up at 3 am every day except for the days that I have to be out of the house by 4 am.
My candidate for third most over-rated musical behind Phantom of the Opera and Hamilton
I don't get the Hamilton hate...
There's a lot of LMM backlash because he often puts himself front and center and while a good songwriter and overall writer - he's often (always) the least talented actor and singer on screen/stage.
Least talented is putting it very mildly.
My daughters loved it but my younger daughter has nurtured deep contempt for her peers who claim to be musical enthusiasts and yet only know about / have listened to the soundtrack for Hamilton. To be honest I enjoyed the “girl group” songs more consistently and rather like Scootie, as the plot progressed I found it less moving at the time I was supposed to find it more moving
i dont hate it. just fell asleep ...
I thought the first act was excellent, A rating. Second act was a D and I could not stop looking at my watch.
It's really bad.
Maybe it's just not your bag. Definitely isn't bad.
Well, I though it would be obvious that my comment was my opinion. After making that clear, it was really, really bad. Wife and BIL definitely agreed with me.
I disagree, it might have been over-hyped, but bad? Naw.
Yeah, I just can't understand the take that it's "bad." It's clearly well-constructed and staged.
never saw it, never will. I just hate all broadway type musicals in general.
You must be fun at parties, g.oso!! ;-) ;-)
same. Why? Well, not a fan of live musicals/plays, not a rap fan and have a tendency to shout at movie screens when things that are purported to be historical are historically inaccurate. Braveheart got a "JESUS CHRIST THAT DIDNT HAPPEN" and as much as I enjoyed Kingdom of Heaven, the whole Orlando Bloom character made me cringe and cry on the inside. So Hamilton will never be a thing for me
I really haven't seen very many: grand total of three (oops four!):
Hamilton - because my future daughter in law REALLY wanted to see it, back when decent seats were $500 each
42nd Street - hey we're in NYC, that's what you do right? Went to the place in lower Manhattan where they sell tix cheaper.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - a bit dated by the time we saw it.
The Producers - so very, very meta, but still fun.
OTOH, seen a ton of Operas.
Rent and Cabaret top my list. Saw them both at the Curran in the early aughts whilst living in the City and needed multiple double Jamo’s at Lefty O’Doul’s after to wash them outta my mind.
My Mt Rushmore of musicals....
1. Les Mis
2. Wicked
3. Phantom
4. Chicago (saw in London with Hasselhoff as Billy Flynn)
My Mt. Rushmore:
1. West Side Story
2. The Producers
3. Jesus Christ Superstar
4. Wicked
My first exposure to JCS was in SF. During Harod's Song, the (predominately male) dancers around Harod turned around during the piano solo to reveal that they were all wearing thongs.
I desperately want to see Book of Morman. I hear it's hilarious.
Movies
1. Singing in the Rain
2. West Side Story
Stage:
1. Les Mis
Lucky you. I would love to see a really good on stage production of Chicago. Unfortunately, I know the movie quite well. I fear it has set me up with unrealistic expectations.
I saw a production of Chicago in Folsom about a year ago. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I knew that it wasn't a tour of the Broadway production, but I did expect better than we got.
The Hoff was actually quite solid in the role, tho he's quite solid in everything he does...Wilcox should bring him & Kit on as recruiting coordinators, if you ask me...that was a great London trip - my sister Janie Chitwood and I saw as much as we could possibly see in our 10 days in London, and were exhausted...wrapped it all up with Wicked on Broadway and a few days in the Adirondacks at Lake George with Newellbany and the crew. Good times.
LOVED Phantom of the Opera early in its run in the late '80s/early '90s...it hasn't aged well, though.
Not to be incendiary or disrespectful, Tangtpt, but how has it not aged well? The music hasn’t changed.
No worries at all. I saw it again in SF in about 2007. Had great orchestra level seats, but I found it to be over-the-top melodramatic. I didn't remember the production being much different from when I saw it in the '90s, but I also don't remember it being so melodramatic to the point where I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. Easily could've been the production instead of the musical itself.
Phantom of the Opera? Melodramatic?!
After my wife, my BIL, and I watched a play about the history of flight on a cruise, my BIL said, "still better than Hamilton."
I will admit: I was initially skeptical, in large part because of that effusive positive reaction to it...much like Springsteen on Broadway, and tho I like the Boss, I find it incredibly obnoxious to hear that tickets to some of these shows are impossible to get and/or so expensive. Like the show can never be THAT good, so get over yourselves...or maybe I'm just jealous of the peeps that do get tix.
I was so wrong with Hamilton tho - I watched the performance on Disney+ with a group of friends at a movie night dinner party and quite thoroughly enjoyed it...so my initial skepticism was quite incorrect, at least IMO.
That's kind of how I approached it. But I won a lottery and got a ticket for $10 to see it at the Kennedy Center. I had a great time. I'm not in a hurry to see it again at full price but really enjoyed myself at the show.
Multiple thumbs up. Our whole family are Hamilton fans.
Naughty
My spam folder is filled w/ emails from "Svetlana", she wants to do all sorts of naughty w/ me. Is this the type of naughty you are referring to?
Maybe Svetlana help Cal retain it's football recruiting class.....
Yeah, it's all Russian babes or "Asian" ones. (at least they could be more specific)
definitely
... Dog. Their video games are fantastic. The Uncharted and the Last of Us series are some of the best ever created.
Had lots of fun with their Crash Team Racing game back in the day with my brother and friends.
Majorie Taylor Greene rubs me the wrong way even more than the rest of her dumb cohort.
An article I read about her made her seem like the saddest, most pathetic attention whore that ever existed.
Is that naughty or just plain annoying? Asking for a friend...
I will go with evil.
So, not naughty...evil.
NOT OFFICIAL FINANCIAL ADVICE
Buy the dip. If it keeps dipping keep buying.
The biggest thing, for me anyway, seems to be to not react emotionally with investing. Set targets and stay with them. Even if you hit the upside target within a week and want to take it 'to the moon'. Another is not to invest in individual stocks/companies that you don't really understand the business model. I understand how Visa makes money on every transaction, I don't understand how google or facebook make money on advertising I block.
Gamma, Vega, Theta
Sell premium till your fingers turn to nubs. And when they do, sell more premium.
so this is less advice and more things that we did that are possibly a little bit different
- we have an interest-only floating-rate loan. not planning on paying down house. would rather have same net worth, but more liquidity
- for retirement we worked backward, ie made some estimate of how much to retire on, calculated max 401k contributions and came up w/ an additional $$ amount per year that we would save to hit that target.
- beyond that savings number we are comfortable spending the rest. the real work was being disciplined early on. it is much easier now as careers have progressed, salaries are higher, but savings target has not changed
- we started saving in 529s before kids were born
- we do not consider our primary residence as an investment because you "have to live somewhere" and unless you are going to do a one time move to a much cheaper area, it is not going to contribute to our "wealth"
I agree on that last one in terms of my wealth but I view it as building my children’s wealth since they will inherit the house and can either sale it or live in a paid off house so their monthly mortgage or rent will be $0.
things i saw from working in finance
- unless you have a legit information advantage, you are mostly guessing, dont fool yourself into thinking you know something that others dont
- the banking system is an endless series of favorable pricing in exchange for information and the average investor is at a major disadvantage
- stock market swings and crashes will happen in higher frequency and larger severity. like SGBear said, some attention to macro-economics might save you from a lot of possible downside.
that being said
- the overall market is a good investment
- diversify everything
- sell every company stock or option the first chance you can
- it is ok to think you "never lose in Vegas" but be honest with yourself when investing
1. Buy low, sell high is surprisingly difficult to do.
2. If you study and continuously pay attention to macro-economics, you'll make more money via investing than through your job. It's a low cost, high return investment - but you actually have to do it and commit to it.
3. Resist buying because of FOMO. You'll make more money by selling avoiding big crashes and buying near the bottom of an investment cycle. Blend this with some dollar-cost averaging to balance your risk profile.
4. If you don't have a lot of capital, keep your investments liquid so you can execute on point 3 (stock)
5. If you're weak at financial things, you're a fool to take financial advice from yourself.
6. Sell your losers. Have a cut-loss level where you force yourself to sell anything that isn't working out. Hope is a terrible thing to have when investing, as is greed.
7. Sell your wildly successful winners. You have to sell in order to actually make money. Take-home profits is what matters; taxes are only part of the equation.
8. Both spouses need to agree to buy or sell something and take equal responsibility for the results. Money arguments are the #1 reason for relationship problems.
On point 7 - I've taken an extreme buy and hold position on my investments for retirement. Excluding my Roth (target date fund), I have a few broad market index funds in my taxable. I started to play around with a green energy etf which I'm including in my retirement bucket, but that fund shot up in value since Biden (we're talking about more than 120% return). I'm tempting l tempted to both sell and hold for a long term, in equal parts.
Random Walk
i like the "pay attention to macro-economics" -- that is a BIG thing in the world
Our Crumbling Democracy
Qbacca Shaman sentenced to 31 more months in jail
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1460993523029839874
Not really good news:
Poll: Voters' doubts rising about Biden’s health, mental fitness
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/17/poll-biden-mental-fitness-job-approval-522785
Oh now we’re worried about presidential mental acuity
Person, Woman, Man, Camera, Malarkey
Right-wing media's ability to speak a thing into existence by sheer repetition remains impressive.
(And yes, to be fair the left was also able to do some of this with Trump, but Trump made it easy. The right-wing media sphere can seemingly do this with any Democrat.)
that's a fox news talking point.
Fox News really should be banned.
Today in Covid 19
My shoulder is still sore.
How many days has it been?
I got a Moderna booster on a Wednesday, was sore the next day and through that Saturday. Started to subside on Sunday.
2
Which booster did you get?
Moderna, after x2 pfizer
I just signed up for my booster, but I'm a little concerned that the appointment says "MODERNA DOSE 3" rather than booster, and debating the merits of calling in for clarification.
Pfizer's booster is the same dose as 1 and 2, but Moderna's booster is half the dose of 1 and 2 (but some people with special circumstances do need the full dose, hence, Dose 3)
My arm soreness is all but gone after 2 days, I was Moderna after 2x Pfizer
From my family circles, it seems that Moderna has a more severe impact than Pfizer. Wife and I are going Pfizer after x2 Moderna, so we will see if that patterns holds.
The manager should’ve had you on a pitch count, C....you know you can’t toss 100+ pitches anymore...
My right one sometimes clicks when I lift it. Throwing too much BP to my son and his teams. I've been trying to do some shoulder strengthening exercises that a PT guy had me try. It does seem to be getting better. But I still don't think I can throw a ball much further than 100 ft.
I've never played serious baseball and left shoulder clicks all the time.
Does it try hurt when you throw a ball relatively hard? Or make the motion like you're throwing it hard?
The last time I played catch (maybe 6 years ago - difficult to find someone else with a glove in Shanghai) I was quite sore the day afterwards. But it doesn't hurt at all, just a lot of crepitus.
Self-diagnosis, but I fear I have a partially torn or frayed rotator cuff...I still play adult hard ball, and I had pain and dead arm all season...shouldn't have been hurting from a rather light day 1 and on...something is off in there.
I wonder if I have something similar. it shouldn't be clicking when I go from straight out in front of me to straight up. I wish I could play softball but without being able to throw much more than 90 (which takes significant effort) it seems pointless to play in the OF.
maybe you too can get over paid by the Angels as you maybe recover from a career ending injury
DBD Test Kitchen
We had carrot and fennel soup last night, I thought it had some cream in it, but no, texture was naturally creamy.
let me know if you have a recipe. we have both these things and i am supposed to make dinner ..
6 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large bulb of fennel, roughly chopped, set aside the fronds for garnish
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
.25 cups of peeled garlic cloves
1 carton of low sodium chicken stock (or veggie, if preferred)
Olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper
Combine all of the veggies in a bowl; coat with olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until the carrots are soft and the fennel and onions are translucent. Put roasted veggies in a pot with the stock bring to a high simmer for 30 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or in a regular blender in batches). Garnish with the fennel fronds.
Sounds amazing. I will have to try this.
wine pairing?
I had it with 1/2 bottle of Brunello I opened for the spicy sausage ragu, but anything from the south of France would be good, or a restrained CA Syrah.
I prefer my Syrah's to be mercurial,ornery....fractious.
(My wife wrote this)
I've got my go-to umami sources - onions, garlic, soy sauce, parmesan, mushroom powder, worcestershire, tomato paste, dried/cured meats, and sesame oil. While my dishes taste good, I am finding that it taste like "mine" as I repeat my tendencies with too much focus - which is not a good thing. So now I'm exploring Tier 2 of lesser used umami sources - scallop powder, nuc mom, shrimp powder, anchovies, fake & real truffle oil, dashi, nutritional yeast, shallots, crustacean stock, miso, smoke/char, and high quality bouillon.
DBD AV Club
Forgive me if I've said this before, but "Ghosts" on CBS is very good. Without giving too much away, the acting by the husband on that show is impressive because he's not supposed to be able to see the ghosts and he pulls it off amazingly.
That is a re-do of the original English show, which I'm betting is better (but I haven't seen the CBS one)
Been enjoying the resumption of Mock the Week. My 16 year old is watching GBBO and I’m expecting a riot when she finds out that Jürgen gets the boot in the latest episode.
aghhhhh i should not have read this comment
Oh shit! Sorry, I should have put in a spoiler alert, I found out quite by accident when some of the Brits I follow on Twitter were losing their shit the other night
It's ok, it happens. This is the high-stakes world of GBBO, and everything is fair game.
Have simultaneously started the new seasons of Narcos, Big Mouth, On My Block, and Gentefied
Ok, Imax
haha, as if
Yellowjackets on Showtime...Lord of the Flies + Alive + Bend It Like Beckham...
Ordinary Joe is kinda interesting as well. 3 different timelines from graduation.
Pro
Zach Wheeler gets edged out for NL Cy Young. This is just a reminder that the Giants traded him - the sixth overall pick - for 179 plate appearances from Carlos Beltran, cash, and a bag of reportedly magic beans.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32656331/milwaukee-brewers-corbin-burnes-edges-phillies-zack-wheeler-nl-cy-young-award
My son had a pretty funny joke about the Canada - Mexico game. At first he was pissed that Canada was stealing our Dos a Cero vibe; not ok Canada.
But then, well it would be Dos eh Cero for them.
Staples Center is no more.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1460832641352040449
Misleading.
When someone says, "(blank) is no more" I don't expect it to signify a name change. I expect it to signify death and/or destruction.
Is Crypto.com even going to be around in 10 years?
Relatedly, apparently Kabam is still alive and kicking.
Call it what you want, it's still Staples Center. I've never heard anyone who wasn't paid to do so call PacBell Park anything other than that.
I will call it SBC Park and I will die on that hill.
I always use Pac Bell Park.
It was also AT&T for a good long while so sometimes I default to that. Calling it Oracle is confusing now because the Warriors previously played at Oracle.
The problem is when the latest new paid for name comes in, no one has any idea what building in what city you are talking about. And usually won't learn until after the naming rights deal expires and its renamed again. Seems to in most cases be one of the poorer ways to invest advertising $s.
The naming rights for the arena here in Albany, NY are up for grabs. It started as the Kinickerbocker Arena (which most people still call it), then it was the Pepsi Arena, then the Times Union Arena (the naming rights were so cheap, even a struggling local newspaper could afford it).
If each of us threw in the cash in our pockets, we could probably name it the DBD Arena - and nobody would call it that, either.
I saw Garth Brooks at the Knick....twice. Mike Pawlawski used to throw darts there as well.
My top 3 shows at the Knick: Kiss (in full makeup), Slayer, and Weezer.
[NBA] Golden State crush Nets in Brooklyn despite Warriors-not-named-Curry going a combined 4 for 26 from behind the arc.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401360034
Kuminga is starting to figure things out a little bit. Kid’s gonna be a superstar.
There was a lot of silly talk that the W’s should’ve traded their picks for another superstar, which was borderline impossible given their financial constraints with the Steph, Klay, Wiggins & Draymond contracts. Wiseman & Kuminga are gonna be stars in this league.
I've been impressed with him. I think they're trying to bring him along slower than they did with Wiseman last year. I assume it's because they're deeper this year and don't need to throw him to the wolves.
Agreed...I am not a fan of Moody...thought he was dogschitt for Mussleman and ARK in the tourney - that guy's got "Bob Myers Jacob Evans WHIFF" all over him...but at one point, Kuminga was in the running for the top overall pick - his athleticism is off the charts and if he can shoot it consistently, look out. Once Scotty Barnes showed that he's one of the best players in this draft (as expected), OK City taking Josh Giddey was a godsend...not that Giddey isn't a good player, but the W's have time to develop Wiseman and Kuminga, and Kuminga is such a talent.
photo evidence from game last night ... not sure how many people appreciated the genius of my Warriors shirt
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWW_2rRsdA-/
oh when you sent that picture to me I didn't even notice the shirt.
we were there. the crowd was rooting for Steph as the game got out of hand.
every time we passed half-court everyone started cheering for him to shoot, esp after he made a couple deep 3s
No 1 said it must've made KD feel back everyone was rooting for Steph.
i didnt feel bad for KD.
including this shot, which didn't count
https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1460803341789937665
we left right after that to beat the traffic a little.
US draws with Jamaica away; Canada pummels Mexico in the snow and now leads the CONCACAF table with 16 points
https://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=606068
Would have been nice for the US to get the win and put some distance between themselves and the field, but a road draw is okay. Sitting in 2nd place, closely bunched with Canada and Mexico, is still a decent position.
Problem is that Panama has been doing well and sits only one point behind USA and tied with Mexico (losing the tiebreaker). No one wants to be pushed down to 4th place and into a playoff. Panama's schedule starts to get tougher after this so maybe they will fade a bit.
Other College
MSU chiseling the millstone that might be hung around their neck in 3 to 7 years
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2021/11/17/michigan-state-football-mel-tucker-contract-mat-ishbia-steve-st-andre/8647710002/
ESPN reportedly fixes the potato-quality camera equipment that plagued one Pac-12 game per week
https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/after-numerous-complaints-about-pac-12-picture-quality-espn-reportedly-upgrading-equipment.html
How about the camera crews that always get faked out on playaction?
Or the camera crews that zoom all the way into the QB's eyeballs so you can't see routes develop downfield? Or worse, the ones who cut off the receivers near each sideline before the snap?
Okay, I'll stop.
Huh, so that was real.
ICYMI: Makai Polk is by far the leading receiver at Mike Leach's MS State. QB Will Rogers has a 75.7% completion rate the fourth highest single-season of all time. Cal's Rich Campbell has the 52nd highest of all time at 70.7%. *sigh*
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/stats/_/id/344
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/leaders/pass-cmp-pct-player-season.html
Rich Campbell is a name I hadn't thought about in decades. Looking at his football reference, Rich's TD/INT rate was kind of the inverse of his accuracy. He threw 7 more INTs than TDs.
He's super active on twitter.
He has a nice twitter presence. @RCampbellmc58
I was at the game where he threw 9 picks to UCLA. Still an NCAA record I believe
I remember that game, vivdly. Ugh.
Yikes! I probably was there too if it was at Memorial, but had no idea what was happening. We moved to the Bay and bought season tickets in '79.
it was nationally televised in October of '78. Cal threw 10 interceptions in all and lost 45-0
"You'll never be on TV again"
We could have really used Polk this season. I never understood how some people believed Cals WR would fine without him.
This was a really big loss...Polk was Cal’s most physically gifted player on offense. He will play on Sundays.
Yep, I couldn’t believe people were trying to downplay his departure. He has the size and athleticism to play on Sunday and his production was matching his potential.
He was like Keenan Allen in open space on bubble screens
No one has really had a breakout season so far...
The FR hardly see the field, which means Musgrave’s pro-style offense is likely way too complicated, as evidenced by Glover’s complete buffoonery in Tucson.
I am so hoping that Justin Baker turns out to be really good.
Nope, not at all and most of the underclassmen haven’t played much.
Do you pull for or against Sonny Dykes? Cuonzo Martin?
My take on Sonny is that he is in his proper niche at a mid-major in Texas but was a mediocre fit at a major conference program in California. Not a terrible coach, but not a great option for Cal.
But I agree that culturally, he's better off in Texas.
It's more than just the situation he got brought into at Cal. In Texas he can better relate to the players, recruit, etc. All of that was going to be an uphill battle in Berkeley. He had his chance to build a roster at Cal and topped out with mediocre results.
Again, not a bad coach, just not a good fit for the program. Tedford was a good fit: cerebral guy, lots of west coast ties. Wilcox has some similar qualities (jury's out on how good a coach he is). Dykes was always looking to bolt.
Eh, I think that is overly colored by his problems with A) pampered , spoiled players who didn't want to work once they had to actually go to class in 2013, then the blaming of Buh for events beyond his control, then B) a poor hiring decision on Kaufman.
i.e. some of it was just bad luck.
How does that not jibe with not a great fit at the P5 conference level?
I don't think that describing Dykes as unable to overcome circumstances and making poor decisions necessarily contradicts the notion that he wasn't a fit for a P5 conference program.
Because that was Tedford's fault! Remember the whole APR fiasco? Sonny took the hit for cleaning up Tedford's mess.
Yes, I remember that Tedford's teams were underperforming in the classroom from '09 on (maybe even earlier than that). He turned around the team APR so that it was respectable, even envied; but that's expected of a P5 school that aspires to be the best public university. Right?
Buh and Kaufman were huge disappointments. They also showed that Dykes was a one trick pony. You can get away with that at the G5 level. Definitely not at the P5 level. At the P5 level you have to be better on all sides of the ball or assemble a staff that *is* better than most other staffs to excel. You have to be able to recognize talent and recruit it, both athletic and coaching talent. Dykes isn't that kind of head coach.
I've pretty much forgotten they exist until someone mentions their name. But I don't wish them ill will (since I don't have any left after it all goes to Tosh Lupoi).
I just don't care how Sonny's teams or Cuonzo's do. I don't have the energy (or the strength) to care. Or the time.
I'm interested in how he does, but I don't necessarily root for him. Like Berkelium said, his offense made for very entertaining (but LONG) football games. His active searching for a new job while he was at Cal left a bad taste in my mouth, though.
I've enjoyed seeing Sonny Dykes do well at SMU. He runs a fun offense, but I've had my fill of 55-60 Cal games.
I don't really follow men's bball outside the Pac-12, so I'm ambivalent towards Cuonzo.
I pull for both, though I probably make more jokes at he expense of Sonny.
I am mostly ambivalent to both. Their success or failure doesn’t impact Cal.
I root against Cuonzo because he left us with a burning trash heap. Five years later, we still haven't recovered. He doesn't deserve all the blame, but he deserves some of it.
You can blame the admin just as much as Cuonzo leaving for the sad state of cal mbb. Hiring Wyking was the single worst mistake, all bc it was believed he could keep the recruiting class together (which he didn't) and then the defections started, then the IAD not helping admissions one bit to get Cuonzo's kid off the waitlist. Fox is almost as bad a hire and his loyalty to stff he brought with him is killing recruiting. Half the roster is not D1 level.
Very good points, g...the disaster that is the Men's Basketball Program is undoubtedly an across-the-board team effort...and Mike Williams was borderline incompetent.
And totally agree with your point on Fox and the loyalty to his staff...I thought Harriman was supposed to be a recruiter.
But in Wyking's first season we had some good players. It's just that they all transferred after a s season or two. Bradley was the only one that stuck around for a couple more years.
I am neutral on Sonny Dykes, bc while his O was fun to watch, those defenses were an affront to college football...embarrassing really. However, there’s an argument to be made that Cal needs a gimmick O of some kind to really succeed bc you can’t consistently recruit the type of dominant physical athlete to Cal that you need to play that straight-up, B10 type-physical, blockin’/tacklin’ football...dunno.
I am anti-Cuonzo Martin, big time (and likely in the minority here, which is fine)...I appreciate him earning that high seed, but I have never seen an HC do less with more talent then he did, at Tenn, at Mizzou & here at Cal...4 NBA players on that Cal roster - that team should’ve been a 2 seed...that Mizzou team had the Porter brothers, and was meh. Can’t produce a competent O to save his life, and left the Cal program in absolute ruins....and the Vols not much better until Barnes saved them. Cuonzo may be out at Mizzou after this year too...good riddance.
[MBB] #12 Oregon loses at home by 32 to BYU.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=401371258
They’ll be fine...Altman always struggles early bc his kids are always a mix of talented FR & transfers and need time to gel...but they always have talented ball players, and he’ll likely have them firing on all cylinders as a dangerous 7-10 seed in March.
BYU is really good. This is the 3rd team that was in the tournament last year and is expected to be in again this year that the Cougars have already beaten.
BYU was in control the entire game. Alex Barcello, who was at Arizona at one time, out-played Will Richardson (which is doing something, though Richardson did not play close to his normal level) by a lot. Barcello may be the best guard in the west, certainly exclusive of Gonzaga and UCLA.
BYU can shoot, but the big difference was their defense. Really disrupted Oregon's ball movement, and the lack of made shots made it really difficult for Oregon to get set up defensively before BYU got into their offense.
This early, I wouldn't read too much into it as far as anything that's wrong with Oregon given some time to get the newcomers integrated (we have had this conversation about other teams already too), as much as it was a statement about how good BYU is.
I haven't seen anything of Colorado yet, but BYU looks like they might trail only the Zags and Bruins in the west. Wasn't sure if they could handle really big bigs, but Oregon's weren't able to be game changers, so that answered that question.
Waxed. I know I'm supposed to support the Pac-12 in non-conference play, but I love it.
They were down by 19 at half and I thought they would come back but I was wrong.
That's a surprise
ICYMI: Florida's Dan Mullen was on the hot seat because of their defensive performance earlier in the year. So he fired his DC last week. The next game (last Saturday), they gave up 42 points in the first half - the most ever to any opponent. The problem: it was vs. an FCS opponent that was nearly a 40 point underdog. Florida ended up beating Samford by scoring 70, but it's been a drama in the swamp. If we can time this right, Mullen will be fired so that Florida's program is at its nadir when we play them in 2026 and 2027.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/13/florida-samford-defense-dan-mullen-hot-seat
Except Wilcox will jump ship to Florida in 2026 after going to UW and winning the Natty.
Never in a million years....
Ouch
Cal
Go Bears!!!
pqtm. Nice!
https://twitter.com/313Bears/status/1461127545471086595
I'll take "How Larry Scott's TV strategy continues to hurt Cal" for $200, Alex.
https://twitter.com/SportsPac12/status/1460733982023110657
We finally gave up Comcast and with it the Pac-12 Network over the pandemic. It's so frustrating that it's neither part of my AT&T package nor I can purchase as a stand alone. Literally leaving money on the table.
FuBo
We have fubo and are mostly happy, but may switch to sling as I want the Turner networks. Does anytone know if sling has all of the P12 regional networks? Internet is mixed answers.
sling carries all of them but its bundled into the sports extra package which is an additional $10 per month
...and Sling isn't really that convenient, either.
I have Sonic for internet and YouTube TV streaming. Sling would cost me at least as much as YouTube TV when I add in the features I need to get Pac-12 network and the features I have already with YouTube TV.
TL; DR - Pac-12 network is essentially unavailable to me, too.
We get it free from my son's Comcast account.
I don't have that luxury.
In fact, my kids are streaming off of my Netflix and YouTube accounts.
all my boys ues my comcast account for streaming all channels. I went ahead and got the special package that includes HBO and Showtime.
We also went to Sonic, which has been great. We went with AT&T for live tv. I wish I had thought to check out YouTube TV.
The consolation is that you can now stream Pac-12 networks games, ameliorating some of the distribution woes that Larry couldn't solve.
Forgive the possibly stupid question, but how does one stream P12 network games without access to the P12 Nets on TV (I have AT&T, if that helps)?
I haven't tried it on TV yet but it works on my phone or laptop. If you have a screen sharing feature and an Internet capable TV you can mirror what is on your phone on the TV. Need to go into settings on Chrome to do it. You also need to download the Google home app. The Pac 12 has a phone app as well, but you can also watch on the mobile web on your browser (don't need the Pac-12 Networks app.)
But what's the source of the stream? Is it a paid service via the Pac-12 mobile app? Sounds like that was a secondary option for you.
Yeah, I had to buy a Fubo subscription to do it.
that chart is misleading. It excludes P12 network games, where most of Cal's games have been aired.
Yep and Cal has had some favorable kickoff times wjrh very few P12 After Dark games.
It's the same reason you can hear a pin drop at Memorial Stadium on game days this year...it's just incredibly hard to see Washington actually hiring Justin Wilcox...sure he knows defense & graduates his kids, etc., but does he really move the needle for UW donors that think their program should be competing for the CFP?
Cal Women's Basketball looking strong with a win over Utah State
https://www.si.com/college/cal/basketball/cal-women-top-utah-state
Evelien Lutje Schipholt went for 23/17 and 5 blocks!
But bad news was Lei McIntosh missed much of the game with an ankle injury. A lack of guards hurt the bears a lot last season.