53 Comments

Balloon

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99 Luftballoons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY

Yeah, that ages me.

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In the same anti-war vein from the same era -

Enola Gay (Orchestral Maneouvres in The Dark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY

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I remember there were both German and English lyrics, and if I remember the English lyrics made no sense.

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I never listened to the lyrics that closely--I didn't realize they mentioned UFOs, and Captain Kirk.

https://www.thoughtco.com/nenas-99-luftballons-song-4076776

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Yeah, Captain Kirk is rhymed with feuerwerk (firework). Need to listen to German version again, but I think he’s mentioned there also.

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in the NLP (natural language processing) class that i teach, we have a week devoted to multi-modal models, meaning text plus images.

we play w/ this image generator, DALL-E mini, and the most standard thing i ask of it is "hot air balloon not over the desert." it mostly doesnt work.

https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini

this stable diffusion model does a better job handling the negative prompt since it has an explicit input for it.

https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion

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The Red -

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Not again!

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PRO

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From the weekend: SF Giants sign Willy Adames:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/42837911/sources-giants-willy-adames-agree-7-year-182m-deal

Finally caught a big fish!

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Blow my mind that Adams is getting paid (at least nominally) more per year than Bonds.

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On a per year basis, he'll make more than A-Rod when the Rangers signed him. IIRC, that contract was 10 years, $250 million. At the time, that contract was the greatest amount committed to one player over the life of the contract and the average per year was also the most ever.

Looks small, now, especially compared to Juan Soto's 15-year deal with the Mets.

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Nikko Remigio (who spent a year a Fresno State after leaving Cal) had 3 punt returns for 34 yards, with a long of 21 that looked really good, in KC's win over Chargers.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671788

The ending was crazy, topped by a field goal with one second left, that bounced off the left upright but stayed in.

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Lakers snap losing skid against Blazers without LeBron James

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2024/12/8/24316747/lakers-vs-trailblazers-final-score-recap-stats-box-score-anthony-davis-rui-hachimura-dangelo-russell

Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura carried the Lakers early and D’Angelo Russell caught fire in the fourth as the Lakers picked up another win at home even with LeBron James on Sunday, taking down the Blazers, 107-98.

Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura had dominant games. AD ended with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Rui scored 23 points with five rebounds and three steals. D’Angelo Russell heated up in the second half and ended with 28 points and 14 assists off the bench.

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Bronny is 1-0 when his father does not play and he plays. Father cannot say he is undefeated when he plays and his son does not play.

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Steph Curry, Warriors exact revenge in thrilling win over Timberwolves

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2024/12/8/24316694/warriors-timberwolves-recap-steph-curry-jonathan-kuminga

The Golden State Warriors got humbled on Friday night, losing a one-sided affair to the Minnesota Timberwolves despite the return of Steph Curry and Draymond Green. But they didn’t have to wait long for revenge, as the teams were partaking in a baseball series, with the Dubs once again hosting the Wolves on Sunday night.

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I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at my phone and it was halftime with the Ws down about 10. Decided to just go back to sleep instead of watching. Kinda glad I did but also looks like I missed a good 2nd half.

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49ers, Isaac Guerendo, run away from the Bears in a 38-13 blowout win

https://www.ninersnation.com/2024/12/8/24316533/49ers-isaac-guerendo-brock-purdy-george-kittle

The San Francisco 49ers started out hot as Brock Purdy completed six of his first seven completions for 93 yards. Kyle Shanahan called a masterful opening drive. George Kittle took a screen 33 yards. Isaac Guerendo caught a pass underneath and ran for 23 yards. Jauan Jennings capped an efficient drive off with a touchdown for a 7-0 early lead for the 49ers.

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What they’re saying: Antonio Pierce, Raiders continue to make same mistakes

https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2024/12/8/24316523/raiders-buccaneers-antonio-pierce-twitter

When Antonio Pierce took over as the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach, he created a tradition of smoking victory cigars after every win. Now that Pierce has the full-time job in 2024, the Raiders haven’t lit up a stogie since the first month of the season.

The 28-13 Week 14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes it nine games in a row that the Raiders have dropped while the team and head coach have become a broken record this fall, repeating the same mistakes over and over.

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Can’t wait for the circus that will be the Deon Sanders-led Raiders.

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I think Deon is way to smart to touch the Raiders with a 10-foot alibi.

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Maybe. I think Deon has such a high estimation of himself, he probably thinks he can transcend any organizational disfunction all by himself. They may also be in a position to grab Sheduer.

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pqtm

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What's that?

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pringled quietly to myself

derived from "LOL" because Lol Pringle was the name of a Cal football player from the 1890s who played under Garrett Cochran.

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From the old CGB dictionary post by AndBears

https://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2014/9/16/6282461/dbd-9-17-2014-dbd-dictionary-again

Pringles: Originally as a reference to Charles "Lol" Pringle, Cal Golden bear from the 1898 Football team, it has become a verb and substitute for LOL. One can pringle in response to a joke, state simple ‘pringles’ or ‘pqtm’ – shorthand for pringled quietly to myself. Many have found this seems to fit the experience of one’s response when reading humorous comments better than LOL.

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And backup QB Aiden O'Connell is probably out for the year with a knee injury.

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Sources: Mets land Juan Soto on 15-year, $765M deal

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/42864917/sources-mets-land-juan-soto-15-year-765m-deal

Superstar outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets are in agreement on a 15-year, $765 million contract, sources told ESPN on Sunday night, the largest deal in professional sports history.

The deal includes an opt-out after five years and no deferred money, sources said. If Soto chooses not to opt out, his deal will go up $4 million per year -- from $51 million to $55 million -- for the remainder of the contract, meaning the total value could exceed $800 million.

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Amazing! Even for a big market team, that is a lot. I do wonder if the larger market teams expect future CBAs to have fewer penalties on spending- they certainly are acting like it

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$51MM per annum for 15 years is outrageous.

No one needs $51 million, much less that much money each year every year for 15 years.

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"No one needs $51 million."

Speak for yourself.

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i am not opposed to big salaries players get. the owners dont need more money ... and clearly there is enough to go around given that the people will pay for this form of entertainment.

if we had a different version of capitalism here, i agree with "No one needs $51 million"

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on the topic of clearly enough to go around, maybe cities should build in a yearly percentage payment of payroll to go towards any outstanding stadium debt for that team, so it is an annual budget item that can remove taxpayer burdens. Anything to get the owners to pony up.

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That would be a great idea, except there will always be a city willing to take a financial hit to attract a franchise in a major league sport.

If there were a compact among major league cities, that would be a better mechanism than leaving it up to luck or state legislatures or Congress.

Regardless, Congress should act to end MLB's anti-trust exemption. It's part of why the A's are moving to Las Vegas. Fisher doesn't have to worry about MLB restraining him because MLB isn't restrained by the law, either.

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I'm interested in why any version of capitalism creates a need for anyone to have an 8-digit net worth or salary.

What I'm saying is vast inequality is a social ill. Why would we want to perpetuate it for any reason? Where's the social good?

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it is expensive .. but the Mets need to keep pace w/ Yankees and this is one way to do it. they seem to have no lack for funds ..

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Absolutely insane. I know he's only 26 so this covers up to his 41 year old season. Not a great fielder so he'll probably end up DH'ing soon. No deferred money. Cohen just kept upping the amount until the Yankees decided not to keep going. Mets still need pitching, pitching, pitching. I don't think Montas and the Yankees guy they want to convert to a starter will get them there.

I'm glad the Dodgers didn't seriously go after him. They have their DH for 9 more years and I don't want Soto out in the OF, especially after seeing him play there during the WS.

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Maybe Soto can do the pitching in NYM too.

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CAL

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Cam Bynum endzone celebrations get New York Times shoutout: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/sports/minnesota-vikings-white-chicks-dance.html

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Go Bears!!!

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[MSWIM] Cal Secures Win At Minnesota Invitational

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/7/mens-swimming-diving-cal-secures-win-at-minnesota-invitational.aspx

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 4 California men's swimming & diving team claimed five victories on Saturday evening at the Jean K Freeman Aquatic Center to finish on top of the standings at the Minnesota Invitational.

The Golden Bears won the team championship after totaling 2096 points after Cal received individual wins from Matthew Chai, Keaton Jones, Destin Lasco and Yamato Okadome while placing first in the 400-yard freestyle relay along with two NCAA A qualifying times.

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[WSWIM] No. 9 Bears Polish Off Dominant Minnesota Invitational

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/7/womens-swimming-diving-no-9-bears-polish-off-dominant-minnesota-invitational.aspx

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 9 California women's swimming & diving team capped off a dominant week at the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday, polishing off a sweep of every event of the meet and registering more NCAA qualifying and top 10 times in the process.

Graduate transfer Maya Geringer recorded the second-best time ever at Cal in the 1,650-yard freestyle event, winning with a mark of 15:53.92. The time was also the sixth-fastest in the country this season.

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[WBB] Cal Gets The Job Done At Pacific

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/7/womens-basketball-cal-gets-the-job-done-at-pacific.aspx

STOCKTON – It was closer than Cal would have liked it, but Ioanna Krimili and Marta Suárez led the way with 22 and 21 points respectively and the California women's basketball team used a dominant second quarter to help the Golden Bears earn a 74-66 win over Pacific at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton on Saturday afternoon. The Bears (9-1) held the Tigers (5-5, 1-0 WCC) to just seven points on 16.7 percent shooting while shooting 50.0% themselves in the second quarter to gain separation and come away with the win.

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[MBB] Cal Edged By Stanford In ACC Opener

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/7/cal-edged-by-stanford-in-acc-opener.aspx

BERKELEY – California got 25 points from Andrej Stojakovic and another 14 from Jovan Blacksher Jr. but came up short in an 89-81 loss to rival Stanford in the programs' inaugural ACC men's basketball game at Haas Pavilion on Saturday.

The Golden Bears (6-3, 0-1 ACC) never led and trailed by as many as 20 points with 5:37 to go before rallying to cut their deficit to 83-77 when Joshua Ola-Joseph sank a 3-pointer with 2:13 left. Stojakovic banked in another 3 with 1:21 on the clock to make it 83-77, but Cal could not get closer.

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"Edged" is somewhat generous.

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[MSWIM] Bears Show Depth On Third Day Of Minnesota Invitational

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/6/mens-swimming-diving-bears-show-depth-on-third-day-of-minnesota-invitational.aspx

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 4 California men's swimming & diving team continued to showcase its depth on the third day of the Minnesota Invitational after winning five of the seven events at the Jean K Freeman Aquatic Center while recording three national top 10 times and two NCAA Championships qualifying times on Friday.

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[WSWIM] Moluh Sets School Record In 100-Yard Backstroke

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/6/womens-swimming-diving-moluh-sets-school-record-in-100-yard-backstroke.aspx

MINNEAPOLIS – Freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh has only been on campus a few months but she is already establishing herself as the next elite backstroker in a program with a long legacy of them.

Moluh, who competed for France at the Paris Olympics last summer, set the school record in the 100-yard backstroke Friday, reeling off a blistering time of 49.68 seconds to win the event at the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K Freeman Aquatic Center.

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[SB] Cal Announces 2025 Softball Schedule

https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/6/cal-announces-2025-softball-schedule.aspx

BERKELEY – The California softball team revealed its 53-game schedule for the 2025 campaign Friday, featuring 14 home games at Levine-Fricke Field.

After a 37-19 (9-13 Pac-12) record a season ago, the Golden Bears are set to embark on a new era in their first-ever season as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, in which they will also play 20 road games and 19 neutral site contests. Cal looks to make its third consecutive postseason appearance under head coach Chelsea Spencer, who enters her fifth season at the helm.

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POLITICS

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Donald Trump and others were in Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame. The tight security made it difficult to get across the Seinne River. That dude isn't even in office and he's making things inconvenient for me already.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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