109 Comments
author

I see...

SF, in Excelsior District

https://i.redd.it/3in3tweoef061.jpg

Expand full comment

Heh

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen, Ruey Yen, SGBear

38 years ago today was the last time I watched a Cal football game from Tightwad Hill. It's also the last time I saw a football game in which a band was on the field during play. Quite remarkable, actually.

Expand full comment

If the play were to happen tomorrow - would Starkey even be able to call it?

Expand full comment
author

"Here we go with the kick-off. Harmon will probably try to squib it and he... Uhhhh. The ball... and another... the ball... he... other guy... there's the band. Speaking of band, the wife and I saw a marvelous 18 piece jazz band down at the Orpheum Theater last Tuesday after having dinner at Jeremiah Towers' Stars. Wow, that was simply amazing... an amazing dinner. The officials are meeting near the 20 yard line. Wow! I can't believe it. Look at the crowd. Half is going crazy. The other side is dejected. Let's pause 10 seconds for station identification. "

Expand full comment

Solid but needed an ask to the Cupper for a callback to his creation of the Utah pass before remembering that the Cupper is dead...

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

Learned about this site from a BART newsletter: https://keepoaklandalive.com/ Seems like a good way to shop local

Expand full comment
author

Tongue

Expand full comment

.. is very good in tacos. that seems to be a standard option around here at the truly Mexican joints

Expand full comment

I feel like that's how you know that you should be getting tacos in a joint - no lengua, no deal.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

no thank you. The texture revolts me

Expand full comment

I'll take your tacos then! And buy you replacements.

Expand full comment

this is acceptable

Expand full comment
author

Apple cuts its app store commissions in half to 15% for apps that earn less than $1m/year

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/11/18/apple-cuts-its-app-store-commission-from-30-to-15-if-your-apps-earn-less-than-1m/

Expand full comment

a step in the right direction

Expand full comment
author

Lincoln

Expand full comment
author

I learned yesterday that the other guy who was in the box with Abraham Lincoln when the latter was shot was Captain Henry Rathbone. Rathbone came from a well-off family, married his step-sister, and was commissioned as an officer when he signed up for the Civil War because he was a gentleman. He was invited to the box seat after - among others - Ulysses Grant declined the invitation. John Wilkes Boothe badly injured Rathbone with a dagger in the scuffle after the shot. Mrs. Rathbone was covered in blood and later couldn't bear to throw away or wash the dress, so she put closet it in a closet and covered it with bricks. Rathbone went slowly crazy from the regret of not stopping the assassination,18 years later resulting in the murder of his wife with a pistol, attempted murder of his children, and stabbing himself in the chest 5 times in an attempted suicide. He survived but spent his remaining 28 years in a German in a mental hospital. He was buried next to his wife, but then both of their remains were dug up and thrown away after disinterest in the plot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rathbone

Expand full comment

Highway

Expand full comment

TIL ...

The Lincoln Highway was gradually replaced with numbered designations after the establishment of the U.S. Numbered Highway System in 1926, with most of the route becoming part of U.S. Route 30 from Pennsylvania to Wyoming. After the Interstate Highway System was formed in the 1950s, the former alignments of the Lincoln Highway were largely superseded by Interstate 80 as the primary coast-to-coast route from the New York City area to San Francisco.

Expand full comment

Wow, that reads like the synopsis of a Final Destination movie.

Expand full comment
author

Today in Covid

Expand full comment
author

California folks: If you've been to the grocery store lately, has there been another round of panic-buying? I need to get some groceries but may just order instead

California has a new stay-at-home order from 10 pm to 5 am starting Saturday (tomorrow)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/19/california-coronavirus-curfew-gavin-newsom

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

have not observed panic buying. Also have not observed things we would like being out of stock, with the exception of the dishwasher soap we like. But it has been hit or miss since this began.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

I just don't get this. The stores will still be open during normal hours!

Expand full comment

Sure, but if you are trying to limit your exposure and want to go to the store less, you buy more, particularly staples. I like to have a stocked enough pantry that I can limit my grocery trips to no more than once every two weeks.

Expand full comment

we started doing a slow stock up a few weeks ago. there are a few things we seem to eat however much is in the house at anyone time.

Expand full comment

Safeway was fully stocked on Tuesday.

Expand full comment

TP and stuff like that is out. I've gone to Costco twice in the last week and they've been out of TP. Trying to get off this call so that I can get there as close to opening time as possible today.

Some of the pasta has also sold out at Safeway as well. I had to go to 3 Safeways to find the Barilla Rotini that No 2 loves. It doesn't look like meat is being purchased as much as the last round of panic-buying.

Costco's list at the door showed TP, paper towels, rubbing alcohol, gone. They did have lots of alcohol as well.

Expand full comment

Costco opens at 10. I got there around 1030 and the parking lot was full. I went inside, saw one of those large shopping cart/platforms with a couple of TP along with a couple other things over near the register. A couple was near it but they had a cart full of stuff. I went to the back and all the TP was gone. Made my way back to the front and that cart still had two TPs along with an apple pie. A worker dropped something off on it and I asked if I could take the TP. She asked another worker and they both said yes. So I think I got one of the two last TPs they had. And it was the good Charmin Ultra not the cheaper Kirkland Signature.

Expand full comment

That's too bad because I use rubbing alcohol in mixed drinks...😜😜😜

Expand full comment

you should step up to some cheap bourbon at least

Expand full comment

*lots of hand sanitizer as well

Expand full comment

Earlier it was Giuliani's kid. Now Trump Jr. has tested positive. What a cesspool the WH is in more ways than one.

Expand full comment
author

Elsewhere in college

Expand full comment
author

End of Tulsa:Tulane game is cuckoo bananas.

Tulsa - down to their 3rd string QB - does this with no time left

https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1329638707951972353

2nd OT, Tulsa is backed up to their own 3 yard line, then this happens:

https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1329643382294065153

Expand full comment

Baller reaction by the QB in the first one. Like no big deal. We do it all the time. And there could've been a roughing call on that as well. Looks like the defender lead with the crown and drove him into the ground, though maybe College is more lenient than the NFL.

Expand full comment
author

Have we heard anything about UCLA and Cal's contract status with Under Armour? Last I heard I thought UCLA was suing UA.

Expand full comment

I noticed we are still wearing the UA uniforms, e.g., with the Sather Stripe.

Expand full comment

I wonder if UA cancelling during the summer meant they would still outfit the teams through this year? Like it's such short notice we wouldn't be able to find a replacement.

Expand full comment
author

Rumor: UCLA's DTR may be out vs. 'furd due to Covid or contact tracing

https://247sports.com/college/ucla/Article/UCLA-Football-Dorian-Thompson-Robinson-is-Unavailable-for-the-Oregon-Game-155039312/

Expand full comment

at least no one on our defense could have possibly caught it from him since we managed to socially distance ourselves from tackling him last week

Expand full comment

pqtm

Expand full comment

At least most of the Bruins were cleared to get on the plane today!

Expand full comment
author

MS State will play Georgia with less than 53 scholarship players. Waterboy will provide h..h...high quality H20 and then suit up.

https://twitter.com/mzenitz/status/1329833743364841472?s=19

Expand full comment

We are up to a new record of 16 ppd/cx games this week, topping last week's 15.

Expand full comment

I bet next weekend we'll set another new record.

Expand full comment

Yeah, I'd take the over on that. Probably the week after that too, which will be when the holiday effects are actually going to be seen. Then the trend might begin to crest due to almost all schools not having students return to campus.

Expand full comment

Vandy told students not to come back after thanksgiving and the last week and finals will be online. And they delayed starting back up for 2 weeks.

Expand full comment

WSU QB Jayden de Laura will miss this week's game at Stanford due to testing positive for Covid. Not coincidentally, the line has shifted. Those who had Stanford early on are looking good; those on the Cougs looking at a bad beat of the worst kind.

Expand full comment

Interestingly, ESPN is still listing de Laura as the player to watch in the passing game, even though no one will be able to see him.

Expand full comment

Not a problem now. WSU cancelled right before takeoff due to testing & tracing taking an already depleted roster too low. Stanford has opted to not play next door neighbor San Jose St., who had an opening when Fresno St. also had to cancel due to contract tracing losses, on one day's notice.

Expand full comment
author

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

Expand full comment

Mnuchin pulls the plug on $455 Billion of Federal assistance, hamstringing the Biden administration Before it assumes office.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/whats-next-for-markets-after-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-pulls-the-455-billion-plug-11605872579

Expand full comment

Burning down the grain stores and salting the fields on the way out. Pretty much what you'd expect from this pack of shitbags.

Expand full comment

Mnuchin is not a dumb shitbag, but he is Evil.

Expand full comment

my only light of hope with him is that dreadful wife of his will take him to the cleaners when they get divorced.

Expand full comment

Well, he's not dumb.

Expand full comment
author

CAL

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

Go Ursines!

Expand full comment
author

LA Times: Go Amanda & Eric Stevens. Their relentless daily battle against ALS.

https://twitter.com/latimessports/status/1329805952321691649

Expand full comment
author

Henry Bazakas was a walk-on, earned a scholarship, opted out of his fifth year due to Covid and therefore lost his scholarship. As a result, Cal is in NYT as an example of the dirty business of big time college football.

[paywall]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/sports/ncaafootball/cal-walk-on-scholarship.html

Expand full comment

what a fucking shitty thing to do

Expand full comment

Can't read it but not good.

Expand full comment
author

DM (@seriouslyrick) or email me (seriouslyrick@outlook.com) if you want a copy of this article (or any article)

Expand full comment

Wazzu - Stanford game canceled due to Covid.

Expand full comment
author

Now up to 13 games canceled or postponed this weekend

Expand full comment

M-W this week:

Hail Mary

fleet

opacity

Orwellian

subvert

shyster

Expand full comment

Who let that sexist drawing remain?

Expand full comment
author

[pointing one finger at the cat, another at the wall]

Expand full comment

Language

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

Hieroglyphics, Hieratic Script. Actually took three years of Egyptian at Cal.

Expand full comment
author

🦅🕺👈🏽👄👁🟩

Expand full comment
author

What language did everyone study in high school, and has it stuck?

Expand full comment
author

Spanish and barely enough to make myself understood.

Expand full comment

That's me too. For a number of years I would go to Puerto Rico for work a couple times a year and it came back a little. But that was awhile ago.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

English, sure it stuck. 😃

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

Latin, and not really

Expand full comment

English. Stuck well enough to be frustrated with people who have no command of it, yet still got a high school diploma, much less a college degree.

FORTRAN. Stuck until the IT industry made it mostly obsolete in most business endeavors.

Expand full comment
author

Do you know COBOL?

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

I am bored at work and was wondering if I should learn COBOL and go do COBOL related work. I learned some FORTRAN way back in high school for fun. My dad was a Mechanical Engineer and knew it so I went and got a Fortran book at the library and played with it. Then I had to take CS9A to learn Fortran as a ME major at Cal.

Expand full comment
author

Highly recommend it: will always be work with banks, insurance companies, payroll providers and governments

Expand full comment

I'm bored at my work, especially now that I can't travel. The 5-6 trips/year made work tolerable. Maybe it's time to look for something else. Maybe a whole different line of work.

Expand full comment

we learned Pascal in HS. i only learned FORTRAN during college/grad school for research purposes.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

French. Has stuck pretty well, helped by using it frequently enough when I lived in Europe. I studied Italian in college before living there for a year, and it has stuck much less.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

spanish and barely.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

Latin. Sort of.

Expand full comment

Spanish. Uh, I remember the numbers and days of the week and stuff like that. Nowhere near conversational.

Expand full comment

Spanish, 7th grade - Jr Year. I think Miss Danielli made me regress since I really hated taking her tests and when she would pass them back she'd always make remarks on each one. Like, tsk tsk tsk you didn't do too well. Shit like that.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2020Liked by Rick Chen

I have forgotten just about all of it, though anytime I hear an interview in Spanish, like a baseball player, I always try to figure out if I understand it.

Expand full comment

same, starting in 7th grade, @heyalumnigo and i were in the same class i think.

i took an extra year of it thru senior year in HS but that year was Spanish 4/5 combined and they just spent all the time helping the Spanish 4 kids pass the AP test. the seniors mostly go to leave and do whatever as long as we said we were reading the book we were supposed to be reading.

but i still remember a good fraction of it. i am not even sure why ...

other day i was telling the kids that "culebra" meant "snake". i honestly am not sure from where in my memory that happen to pop up.

Expand full comment

there definitely are words and stuff like that that I remember. But I don't even remember conjugation.

I remember sophomore year the 3 of us in the corner got in trouble as the gleesome threesome.

Expand full comment
author

French: I'm at about a B2 level but want to improve my writing

Expand full comment
author

Italian.

My current plan is to live 3-6 months in Italy within the next 5 years.

Expand full comment

we should either coordinate, or split a place.

where in Italy would you go?

i sort of want to stay up north near the mountains for skiing and cycling. but flexible ..

Expand full comment
author

I'm staying with Amal and her husband.

Expand full comment

We had a work event in Milan and one guy invited us to go up to Lake Como. He'd been there because he is a seaplane pilot and rented one on Lake Como and went for a flight. It's amazing pretty up there. We were joking if we would see Mr Amal Clooney.

Expand full comment

all 3 of those lake just north of Milan are pretty stunning. not far from a big city, nestled in the hills, gorgeous scenery, etc

Expand full comment

Garda is the liveliest, and where most Italians go to vacation. Maggiore and Como are for the foreigners, but they are much more beautiful.

Expand full comment

I know where you're going when your son starts college.

Expand full comment

You can go and be a pasta apprentice.

Expand full comment

this changes over time. currently Italian

there are some books i would like to read in the original and the thought of doing an extended sabbatical in place like that seems nice.

i could basically drink espresso, ride my bike and eat pasta every day. i guess i sort of do that already ..

Expand full comment

Back in April I started reviewing Russian and Spanish on Duolingo every day. Around June I switched to mandarin. In August I got burned out on languages. Or I could blame Duolingo.

Expand full comment