yesterday i went to some well known burger place in the Palm Desert recommended by HAG and others. the onion rings were great. the burger was good, but too big for my taste.
they're really good although even the small is a _lot_ because they are not holding back on the ice cream either. The dates you can buy at the market are super good - I remember coming back from a family trip to see my parents when they lived thereabouts, my wife gave our middle eastern cab driver some of the dates we'd bought and he was like holy shit these are great and you're my favorite passengers now, he was grabbing bags out of my wife's hand to carry them to the front door lol
At the Swiss Air lounge. The food is better than the United lounge (non-Polaris). I decided to fly Swiss Air back to see how the food is since United's food sucks. I paid the extra $300 for premium economy so the food should be decent.
Will land around dinner time so I think No 2 is making a reservation for Italian in Oakland or Berkeley.
I’ve never flown Swiss Air. So their premium economy food is better? On United, premium economy and regular economy food are the same. Which, I agree, is lousy.
The couple of times I few Premium economy on United the food was better, with real utensils. For this flight, Swiss Air let me know I got upgraded to Business class when I boarded. United would've never done this. Too many upgrade eligible people on each flight.
I read an article that flight attendants don't want to bother asking couples if they want to split up so maybe that's why I got upgraded.
I think but am not sure that on international flights, there is often overlap in their Polaris and Premium Economy meals. I both think and and sure that the main determinant of food quality on United is "did they source it at the foreign airport before the trip back to the US."
the city of DC and other local governments can't make up their minds if they are excited about Trump forcing federal staff back into the office or worried that all the jobs might be shipped out, challenging times I guess
Forcing staff whose' job can be done remotely back into inner city offices (City of Portland's new mayor is talking about this as well) is a stupid as any idea currently being floated. Increase costs, both time and money, for both the employer and employee, and decrease productivity and morale and the ability to recruit and retain. And contribute to already intolerable traffic and parking problems.
For us, locally, a lot of this is driven by the fact that DC gambled a long time ago on zoning / approving a TON of office space downtown, over and above what the federal government uses, so there's this belief that the city is entitled to demand that staff come back for their tax receipts to increase - because most of that office space cannot be converted to anything else. That means lots of wishcasting about how "back to office" would be good for local businesses when people stick around after work. You get a lot of the same thoughts from other localities (Montgomery country MD, Arlington VA) where there are clusters of offices that aren't being utilized.
I don't object to the idea of going into the office again - I've been 100% remote since March 2020 - but the idea that I would have to do it because DC hasn't been able to think of anything else in the meantime and there's a whole generation of elected officials and busybodies (e.g. the Washington Post editorial board) who think we all have to be monitored in person in real time five days a week, that rubs me the wrong way tbh.
Local businesses crying about no customers is part of what's driving it in PDX and some other towns (the majority of foot traffic in downtown are the homeless, and drug traffickers, but you can't say there is a drug culture problem!), but it's not in my job description to prop up poorly run businesses, or bad business models constructed on collecting ridiculous parking fees.
I'm sitting here in the Zurich airport and seeing no snow at all. Maybe Europe doesn't get snow until later in the year, but I think they've been having a drought the last few years. I've seen pictures of ski areas with just one run of man made snow.
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's home was broken into during Monday night's game against the Cowboys in the latest home burglary of a pro athlete in the U.S., authorities said Tuesday.
No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
Two-time All-Star Max Fried and the New York Yankees agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, the largest guarantee for a left-handed pitcher.
The deal, which is pending a physical, is the 12th contract of at least $100 million the Yankees have given out in franchise history, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most by any team.
From what I've observed, no one is greatly excited by the in-season tourney. The NBA already has the NBA Finals and the playoffs leading up to that event. The in-season tourney looks gimmicky and always has.
BERKELEY – California erased a 23-point second-half deficit but could not complete the comeback in an 88-80 loss to Cornell on Tuesday night at Haas Pavilion.
The Golden Bears (6-4) turned a 52-29 deficit with 18:14 remaining in the game into a 72-71 lead with a 3-pointer by Andrej Stojakovic with 5:15 to go. Cornell's Guy Ragland Jr. buried a 3-pointer 15 seconds later and Cornell (7-3) never trailed again. It was Cal's third consecutive loss following a 6-1 start to the season.
Senior Marta Suárez of the California women's basketball team has been named one of 15 college women's basketball players to receive the inaugural Kay Yow Servant Leader Award. Named after the late Coach Yow who inspired others to get involved in the fight against cancer during her 22-year battle with breast cancer, the award honors student-athletes who exemplify the values of leadership, selflessness and service in the fight against all cancers affecting women.
Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox announced Tuesday that Bryan Harsin will be California's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Harsin comes to Berkeley with 23 years of coaching experience on the offensive side of the ball, including 10 seasons as an FBS head coach at Auburn (2021-22), Boise State (2014-20) and Arkansas State (2013).
The reigning national runner-up California women's gymnastics team earned its highest preseason national ranking in program history being tabbed fourth in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Coaches Poll, it was announced Tuesday.
California freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh has been named the ACC Women's Swimmer of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Moluh, who swam on two relays for France at the 2024 Summer Olympics, had a dominant performance at last week's Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis. She won three individual events and was part of four winning relay teams, highlighted by a program record time of 49.68 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke that was also the third-fastest mark in the nation this season.
I guess the ACC overall won't be as competitive as the Pac-12? UVA won it all last year. And Furd will always be good. But not sure about the rest of the teams. Louisville has good swimmers but don't know if they leave or go to UofL.
California men's soccer goalkeeper Marco Brougher was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team, CSC announced Tuesday. The accolade caps a career year for the Golden Bear junior, who led the ACC in saves per game and ranked in the top 10 of several other categories in Cal's first season in the conference.
DBD AV Club
DBD Lunch
yesterday i went to some well known burger place in the Palm Desert recommended by HAG and others. the onion rings were great. the burger was good, but too big for my taste.
VOTED BEST TOP 10 BURGER JOINTS IN THE USA!
https://www.grill-a-burger.com/
someone on DBD recommended a place for shakes in Palm Springs. might go check that out today
Might be too late, but Windmill Market on Indian Canyon Drive - closer to Desert Hot Springs - has amazing date milkshakes
I've never even heard of date milkshakes. Sounds delicious though. Dates are an underappreciated item.
they're really good although even the small is a _lot_ because they are not holding back on the ice cream either. The dates you can buy at the market are super good - I remember coming back from a family trip to see my parents when they lived thereabouts, my wife gave our middle eastern cab driver some of the dates we'd bought and he was like holy shit these are great and you're my favorite passengers now, he was grabbing bags out of my wife's hand to carry them to the front door lol
At the Swiss Air lounge. The food is better than the United lounge (non-Polaris). I decided to fly Swiss Air back to see how the food is since United's food sucks. I paid the extra $300 for premium economy so the food should be decent.
Will land around dinner time so I think No 2 is making a reservation for Italian in Oakland or Berkeley.
I’ve never flown Swiss Air. So their premium economy food is better? On United, premium economy and regular economy food are the same. Which, I agree, is lousy.
The couple of times I few Premium economy on United the food was better, with real utensils. For this flight, Swiss Air let me know I got upgraded to Business class when I boarded. United would've never done this. Too many upgrade eligible people on each flight.
I read an article that flight attendants don't want to bother asking couples if they want to split up so maybe that's why I got upgraded.
I think but am not sure that on international flights, there is often overlap in their Polaris and Premium Economy meals. I both think and and sure that the main determinant of food quality on United is "did they source it at the foreign airport before the trip back to the US."
Government
the city of DC and other local governments can't make up their minds if they are excited about Trump forcing federal staff back into the office or worried that all the jobs might be shipped out, challenging times I guess
Forcing staff whose' job can be done remotely back into inner city offices (City of Portland's new mayor is talking about this as well) is a stupid as any idea currently being floated. Increase costs, both time and money, for both the employer and employee, and decrease productivity and morale and the ability to recruit and retain. And contribute to already intolerable traffic and parking problems.
For us, locally, a lot of this is driven by the fact that DC gambled a long time ago on zoning / approving a TON of office space downtown, over and above what the federal government uses, so there's this belief that the city is entitled to demand that staff come back for their tax receipts to increase - because most of that office space cannot be converted to anything else. That means lots of wishcasting about how "back to office" would be good for local businesses when people stick around after work. You get a lot of the same thoughts from other localities (Montgomery country MD, Arlington VA) where there are clusters of offices that aren't being utilized.
I don't object to the idea of going into the office again - I've been 100% remote since March 2020 - but the idea that I would have to do it because DC hasn't been able to think of anything else in the meantime and there's a whole generation of elected officials and busybodies (e.g. the Washington Post editorial board) who think we all have to be monitored in person in real time five days a week, that rubs me the wrong way tbh.
Local businesses crying about no customers is part of what's driving it in PDX and some other towns (the majority of foot traffic in downtown are the homeless, and drug traffickers, but you can't say there is a drug culture problem!), but it's not in my job description to prop up poorly run businesses, or bad business models constructed on collecting ridiculous parking fees.
SNOW
I'm sitting here in the Zurich airport and seeing no snow at all. Maybe Europe doesn't get snow until later in the year, but I think they've been having a drought the last few years. I've seen pictures of ski areas with just one run of man made snow.
I saw a guy I follow online posting pictures from a Munich - Bologna train, plenty of snow on that route fwiw
i think there was just a decent storm in the Alps recently. hopefully that is good for SGBear.
PRO
Joe Burrow's home broken into during Monday night's game
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42899710/joe-burrow-home-broken-monday-night-football
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's home was broken into during Monday night's game against the Cowboys in the latest home burglary of a pro athlete in the U.S., authorities said Tuesday.
No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
I'm going to start a business that hires armed guards for star NFL players on gameday for home games.
Sources: LHP Max Fried, Yankees reach 8-year, $218M deal
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/42899687/max-fried-new-york-yankees-agree-8-year-218-million-contract
Two-time All-Star Max Fried and the New York Yankees agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, the largest guarantee for a left-handed pitcher.
The deal, which is pending a physical, is the 12th contract of at least $100 million the Yankees have given out in franchise history, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most by any team.
A record contract for a LHP. Seems like an overpay.
In baseball, you overpay for pitching or you want for better pitching. Or you do both.
Yeah, after winning the WS the Nats paid Strasburg and Patrick Corbin a boatload of money. They pretty much got nothing from either of them.
NBA CUP:
Bucks beat the Magic 114-109
Thunder beat the Mavs 118-104. Klay had a good game tied for high scorer with 19 on 5-10 from 3.
Sharks lose the Canes 3-2
Sharks were up 2-1 to start the 3rd and ex-Shark Burnzie scored 4 min in and the Canes scored the winning goal with under 3 to go.
Warriors play the Rockets in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup tonight.
i find it very hard to get excited about this NBA Cup.
From what I've observed, no one is greatly excited by the in-season tourney. The NBA already has the NBA Finals and the playoffs leading up to that event. The in-season tourney looks gimmicky and always has.
And I hate their gimmicky floors.
CAL
Go Bears!!!
[MBB] Bears Upended By Cornell
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/mens-basketball-bears-upended-by-cornell.aspx
BERKELEY – California erased a 23-point second-half deficit but could not complete the comeback in an 88-80 loss to Cornell on Tuesday night at Haas Pavilion.
The Golden Bears (6-4) turned a 52-29 deficit with 18:14 remaining in the game into a 72-71 lead with a 3-pointer by Andrej Stojakovic with 5:15 to go. Cornell's Guy Ragland Jr. buried a 3-pointer 15 seconds later and Cornell (7-3) never trailed again. It was Cal's third consecutive loss following a 6-1 start to the season.
I watched the first half before going to bed. Brutal.
At this rate, Furd isn't going to come calling for MM in a year or two.
Yeah, this is a Mark Fox kind of result.
[WBB] Marta Suárez Receives Kay Yow Servant Leader Award
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/womens-basketball-marta-su-rez-receives-kay-yow-servant-leader-award.aspx
Senior Marta Suárez of the California women's basketball team has been named one of 15 college women's basketball players to receive the inaugural Kay Yow Servant Leader Award. Named after the late Coach Yow who inspired others to get involved in the fight against cancer during her 22-year battle with breast cancer, the award honors student-athletes who exemplify the values of leadership, selflessness and service in the fight against all cancers affecting women.
[FB] Harsin Named Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/football-harsin-named-offensive-coordinator-quarterbacks-coach.aspx
Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox announced Tuesday that Bryan Harsin will be California's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Harsin comes to Berkeley with 23 years of coaching experience on the offensive side of the ball, including 10 seasons as an FBS head coach at Auburn (2021-22), Boise State (2014-20) and Arkansas State (2013).
[WGYM] Cal Earns Highest Preseason Ranking In History
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/womens-gymnastics-cal-earns-highest-preseason-ranking-in-history.aspx
The reigning national runner-up California women's gymnastics team earned its highest preseason national ranking in program history being tabbed fourth in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Coaches Poll, it was announced Tuesday.
[WSWIM] Moluh Named ACC Women's Swimmer Of The Week
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/womens-swimming-diving-moluh-named-acc-womens-swimmer-of-the-week.aspx
California freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh has been named the ACC Women's Swimmer of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Moluh, who swam on two relays for France at the 2024 Summer Olympics, had a dominant performance at last week's Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis. She won three individual events and was part of four winning relay teams, highlighted by a program record time of 49.68 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke that was also the third-fastest mark in the nation this season.
I guess the ACC overall won't be as competitive as the Pac-12? UVA won it all last year. And Furd will always be good. But not sure about the rest of the teams. Louisville has good swimmers but don't know if they leave or go to UofL.
[MSOC] Marco Brougher Named Academic All-American
https://calbears.com/news/2024/12/10/mens-soccer-marco-brougher-named-academic-all-american.aspx
California men's soccer goalkeeper Marco Brougher was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team, CSC announced Tuesday. The accolade caps a career year for the Golden Bear junior, who led the ACC in saves per game and ranked in the top 10 of several other categories in Cal's first season in the conference.