I think the reason why Billy Joel and Neil Diamond are not included is that they are entertainers of a certain era, or age, if you will. Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Wonder may be selected as better representatives of their era in order to allow songwriters of a more recent era. To support my point, Paul McCartney also didn't make the list.
EDIT: I'm not taking sides here about including this songwriter or that songwriter. I'm making an observation about process.
RE: American songwriters, that's my blind spot showing by including Paul McCartney. The Beatles are important enough to me that I forgot that they're British.
Interesting that Bad Bunny got on the list after only 10 years. Most of the others are longer tenured, aren't they? I would put Billy Joel on this list. It is an interesting list and has many people I didn't know, at least by name.
i know Cal is way ahead of Stanford in this but today i stumbled across an interesting tidbit,
their first Nobel Laureate.
Felix Bloch (23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss–American theoretical physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics with Edward Mills Purcell "for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith."
He was the first Stanford University Nobel laureate.
Bloch made fundamental theoretical contributions to the understanding of ferromagnetism and electron behavior in crystal lattices. He is also considered one of the developers of nuclear magnetic resonance.
Ed Purcell was the author of the E&M book that i used in physics 7b at Cal.
Purcell was the author of the innovative introductory text Electricity and Magnetism. The book, a Sputnik-era project funded by an NSF grant, was influential for its use of relativity in the presentation of the subject at this level. The 1965 edition, now freely available due to a condition of the federal grant, was originally published as a volume of the Berkeley Physics Course.
despite being an author of the Berkeley Physics Course book, he taught at Harvard.
So much for paying for the ballroom with private donations. Lindsay Graham is pushing a bill to pay for the ballroom using $400 million of taxpayer funds.
My hot take is that if we're actually going to build this thing, it SHOULD be paid for with taxpayer dollars. The opportunity for corruption pay-to-play is way too high if it's donor funded.
I think my best case scenario is for it to be stalled long enough for Trump to be out of office when it finally gets going so that the next POTUS can go through a better process, resulting in a better building. You know, one that's not completely void of taste.
I liked Pantheon a lot, though the last season was — different. I also later read the short stories on which Pantheon is based. Maybe someone will make it into a manga.
You may have seen a fellow by the name of David Becker on news channels (especially CBS and CNN) during election cycles as an election expert, especially during the last two presidential elections. He is the Executive Director and Founder of the nonpartisan, non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research. He's a smart guy.
He also is a two-time Jeopardy! champion and won some money on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (I think $125k).
I went to grad school with someone that went on Jeopardy!. When she got back from LA, we asked how she did. She said, "well, I'm not allowed to tell you that, but I'll encourage you to watch the show next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday." So baller.
But I celebrate the whole Top Dog menu and my ordering is situational. I'd say the Hot Link is probably top 3 on my list, along with the Calabrese and the Bird Dog (RIP, Bird Dog - you were the GOAT).
I also think that WordleBot is underselling your luck factor. Either that, or underselling your skill factor. 'Cuz getting that word in 3 guesses takes a bit of both.
THANK YOU! My wife said the NYT Games app should have given me something beyond the usual jingle that it gives us upon any completion. So we both hummed the Cal fight song and it felt pretty good.
do you give yourself credit for getting it w/o help even if dont get the yellow star?
eg. i solved Sun and Mon and then went back to do Fri and Sat w/o hints or help or cheating.
i think you only get a yellow star officially if you finish w/in a certain amount of time and only if you dont start the next day before you finish the last.
i guess i am just trying to make myself feel better for eventually getting it even though the streak does not conform to the rules.
For streak purposes, I adhere to the app's rules and counting, so it's gotta be done before the timer goes off to get the yellow star. But if I play a crossword from the archives and I finish it cleanly, I definitely give myself a pat on the back.
But I'm not a stickler and everyone gets to set their own rules, if any. Crosswords are meant to be fun.
Shake Shack Berkeley opens Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. in downtown at the Hellen Diller Anchor House, an apartment complex for students. This is the company’s fifteenth location in the Bay Area. Early customers can receive a tote bag, and $1 of every sandwich sold April 28 will go toward the Berkeley Food Network. Shake Shack, 1950 Oxford St., Ste. F, Berkeley
COMMENT: the entrance to the Shake Shack location is actually on University Ave. near Oxford St.
The California women's tennis team was rewarded for another strong season when it claimed an at-large berth in the NCAA Championship on Monday, with the 22nd-ranked Golden Bears tabbed to face 38th-ranked Utah in the first round at USC on Friday.
After the Bears (12-7) play Utah (15-9) at 11 a.m. PT in Los Angeles, the host and 12th-ranked Trojans (19-6) take on Sacramento State (19-5) at 2 p.m. on Friday. The first-round winners meet in the second round Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Marks Tennis Stadium for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regional round.
The California baseball team has a full slate this week playing five games in six days including four at home at Stu Gordon Stadium. The Golden Bears will visit Saint Mary's in Moraga on Tuesday before returning to Berkeley to host UC Davis on Wednesday and Viriginia Tech in a weekend series that begins Friday.
Cal men's basketball welcomes an all-conference honoree to its 2026-27 roster with the signing of sophomore Michael Cooper. A 6-3 guard, Cooper is set to join head coach Mark Madsen's Golden Bear squad as a transfer addition.
Cooper – an Indiana native – played last season at Wright State, where he earned a place on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. He tallied 17 points when the Raiders visited Cal in November 2025, and he ended his freshman campaign as his team's leading scorer with 13.4 points per game while hitting 48 threes. Cooper started 15 games and appeared in 31 at Wright State, helping the team reach the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
haha. Reminds me of that interview of Michael Jordan where he was asked whether he thought his '96 Bulls team could beat the new NBA champion (I forget which).
Jordan: "I think it'd be pretty close, but yes, we'd win."
Interviewer: "you think it'd be pretty close?"
Jordan: "well, we're all getting pretty old, now."
The Philadelphia Phillies, off to their worst start to a season in over two decades, fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday.
Thomson, who managed the Phillies to four straight playoff appearances -- including the 2022 World Series, will be replaced by Don Mattingly, who will serve as Philadelphia's interim manager through the remainder of the season.
Donny 2X. Dodgers fans gave him that name when he walked out to the mound for a 1st visit, walked back towards the dugout, changed his mind, and walked back to the mound. Problem is he already crossed the foul line.
If I were to make a list of players who I was at some point absolutely positive would be in the HOF but aren't, Don Mattingly would be at the top. His mid-career production was super high - he was bombing 30 HRs a year back when that was a lot, and he was the league MVP in 1985. Plus, the writers would give him an extra bump for being on the Yankees. Too bad for him that his offensive production dropped so far in the back half of his career. He kept winning Gold Gloves.
I'm still sorta surprised that Donny Baseball isn't in the hall. I mean, I get it based on the numbers, but still.
They say what goes around comes around, and in a game in which walks played a pivotal part in the Marlins’ handling of Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the same applied for the Dodgers against closer Pete Fairbanks to set up a comeback win—Kyle Tucker had his first signature moment as a Dodger, delivering a two-out walk-off single to win it 5-4 in the ninth.
Feels like OKC and San Antonio are on a collision course for the Western Conf Finals, and that'll be the real NBA Finals, but stranger things have happened...
The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters
This is huge engagement fodder, but The Times published this list of the top 30 living American songwriters:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-alive.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eVA.1Ug3.ywmuy1Hunwax&smid=url-share
It's got people in my office arguing about it. The loudest objections are in support of Billy Joel and Neil Diamond, who didn't make the cut.
I think the reason why Billy Joel and Neil Diamond are not included is that they are entertainers of a certain era, or age, if you will. Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Wonder may be selected as better representatives of their era in order to allow songwriters of a more recent era. To support my point, Paul McCartney also didn't make the list.
EDIT: I'm not taking sides here about including this songwriter or that songwriter. I'm making an observation about process.
It was an American born list. But you do make a good point about eras. There were many song writers across all eras.
RE: American songwriters, that's my blind spot showing by including Paul McCartney. The Beatles are important enough to me that I forgot that they're British.
Interesting that Bad Bunny got on the list after only 10 years. Most of the others are longer tenured, aren't they? I would put Billy Joel on this list. It is an interesting list and has many people I didn't know, at least by name.
Nobel prizes
i know Cal is way ahead of Stanford in this but today i stumbled across an interesting tidbit,
their first Nobel Laureate.
Felix Bloch (23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss–American theoretical physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics with Edward Mills Purcell "for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith."
He was the first Stanford University Nobel laureate.
Bloch made fundamental theoretical contributions to the understanding of ferromagnetism and electron behavior in crystal lattices. He is also considered one of the developers of nuclear magnetic resonance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Bloch
the Bloch sphere is an interesting part of quantum computing. the qubit lives in a 3d state described by a unit sphere - complex numbers involved too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloch_sphere
Ed Purcell was the author of the E&M book that i used in physics 7b at Cal.
Purcell was the author of the innovative introductory text Electricity and Magnetism. The book, a Sputnik-era project funded by an NSF grant, was influential for its use of relativity in the presentation of the subject at this level. The 1965 edition, now freely available due to a condition of the federal grant, was originally published as a volume of the Berkeley Physics Course.
despite being an author of the Berkeley Physics Course book, he taught at Harvard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mills_Purcell
I fell asleep reading that textbook more than any other. Griffiths was better for me.
yes, Griffiths was much better.
they still use Griffiths according to older daughter.
I remember using Halliday and Resnick for 7A and 7B(?). And then seeing my dad had an old version on his bookshelf from the 60s.
I read earlier today that Trump has fired the entire NSF advisory board in the last couple days.
I read that recently, too, and thought, "this is just more burning down everything good about government."
Politics
So much for paying for the ballroom with private donations. Lindsay Graham is pushing a bill to pay for the ballroom using $400 million of taxpayer funds.
My hot take is that if we're actually going to build this thing, it SHOULD be paid for with taxpayer dollars. The opportunity for corruption pay-to-play is way too high if it's donor funded.
I think my best case scenario is for it to be stalled long enough for Trump to be out of office when it finally gets going so that the next POTUS can go through a better process, resulting in a better building. You know, one that's not completely void of taste.
DBD AV Club
younger child is home from college so we have spent a little time watching TV together.
watched an episode of Jeopardy! some guy is on a 30+ win streak. over $800k in winnings. impressive
(re)watched the pilot of Pantheon even though i am a few episodes ahead so we can watch the show together.
Pantheom seems like a sweet spot of something we'd both like, some sci-fi, some anime style, some teenage angst ...
I liked Pantheon a lot, though the last season was — different. I also later read the short stories on which Pantheon is based. Maybe someone will make it into a manga.
i should do that. Ken Lui is a pretty amazing and prolific sci-fi writer.
You may have seen a fellow by the name of David Becker on news channels (especially CBS and CNN) during election cycles as an election expert, especially during the last two presidential elections. He is the Executive Director and Founder of the nonpartisan, non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research. He's a smart guy.
He also is a two-time Jeopardy! champion and won some money on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (I think $125k).
He's also the former Drum Major for the Cal Band.
I went to grad school with someone that went on Jeopardy!. When she got back from LA, we asked how she did. She said, "well, I'm not allowed to tell you that, but I'll encourage you to watch the show next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday." So baller.
nice.
my cousin in Sweden was on the Teen tournament and won a substantial amount to pay for education
Hot Link
The Hot Link is so good. Elite.
But I celebrate the whole Top Dog menu and my ordering is situational. I'd say the Hot Link is probably top 3 on my list, along with the Calabrese and the Bird Dog (RIP, Bird Dog - you were the GOAT).
growing up i ate a lot of Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage. they had a nice HOT variety too as i recall
Still do...I use half mild JD and half hot in my chili recipe. Delicious!
Word(le) Games
Wordle 1,774 3/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 94/99
Luck 64/99
I thought I had more luck than that.
I also think that WordleBot is underselling your luck factor. Either that, or underselling your skill factor. 'Cuz getting that word in 3 guesses takes a bit of both.
Quordle
mediocre.
🙂 Daily Quordle 1555
4️⃣8️⃣
7️⃣6️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
🙂 Daily Quordle 1555
7️⃣4️⃣
5️⃣6️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
Maybe the best I’ve done?
I feel like unless the words lend themselves to being able to go from one to another, 7 is a great target and 6 is very very rare.
🙂 Daily Quordle 1555
6️⃣7️⃣
5️⃣9️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
Wordle 1,774 3/6*
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 98/99
Luck 63/99
Wordle 1,774 5/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 41/99
Skill? plenty of it. Luck? Not so much. [Bronx cheer sound]
congrats to NewAlbany on 100 game streak on NYT Crossword.
Tue is/was pretty easy so i am guessing he got it
THANK YOU! My wife said the NYT Games app should have given me something beyond the usual jingle that it gives us upon any completion. So we both hummed the Cal fight song and it felt pretty good.
do you give yourself credit for getting it w/o help even if dont get the yellow star?
eg. i solved Sun and Mon and then went back to do Fri and Sat w/o hints or help or cheating.
i think you only get a yellow star officially if you finish w/in a certain amount of time and only if you dont start the next day before you finish the last.
i guess i am just trying to make myself feel better for eventually getting it even though the streak does not conform to the rules.
For streak purposes, I adhere to the app's rules and counting, so it's gotta be done before the timer goes off to get the yellow star. But if I play a crossword from the archives and I finish it cleanly, I definitely give myself a pat on the back.
But I'm not a stickler and everyone gets to set their own rules, if any. Crosswords are meant to be fun.
bad luck i guess. after 2nd guess i only had 4 remaining words. it took me 3 guesses.
today i was trying to be clever i decided to "go for the win" on guess 3 even though it would have been more efficient to guess something else.
Wordle 1,774 5/6*
🟨⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 95/99
Luck 48/99
Cal
From berkeleyside.org -
Shake Shack sizzles into downtown Berkeley
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/04/28/shake-shack-cajun-claws-pretty-things-sable-lodge-opening
Shake Shack
Shake Shack Berkeley opens Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. in downtown at the Hellen Diller Anchor House, an apartment complex for students. This is the company’s fifteenth location in the Bay Area. Early customers can receive a tote bag, and $1 of every sandwich sold April 28 will go toward the Berkeley Food Network. Shake Shack, 1950 Oxford St., Ste. F, Berkeley
COMMENT: the entrance to the Shake Shack location is actually on University Ave. near Oxford St.
[WTEN] Cal Faces Utah In NCAA First Round
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/27/womens-tennis-cal-faces-utah-in-ncaa-first-round.aspx
The California women's tennis team was rewarded for another strong season when it claimed an at-large berth in the NCAA Championship on Monday, with the 22nd-ranked Golden Bears tabbed to face 38th-ranked Utah in the first round at USC on Friday.
After the Bears (12-7) play Utah (15-9) at 11 a.m. PT in Los Angeles, the host and 12th-ranked Trojans (19-6) take on Sacramento State (19-5) at 2 p.m. on Friday. The first-round winners meet in the second round Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Marks Tennis Stadium for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regional round.
[BASE] Bears Set For 5-Game Week
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/27/baseball-bears-set-for-5-game-week.aspx
The California baseball team has a full slate this week playing five games in six days including four at home at Stu Gordon Stadium. The Golden Bears will visit Saint Mary's in Moraga on Tuesday before returning to Berkeley to host UC Davis on Wednesday and Viriginia Tech in a weekend series that begins Friday.
[MBB] Cal Signs Michael Cooper As Transfer Addition
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/27/mens-basketball-cal-signs-michael-cooper-as-transfer-addition.aspx
Cal men's basketball welcomes an all-conference honoree to its 2026-27 roster with the signing of sophomore Michael Cooper. A 6-3 guard, Cooper is set to join head coach Mark Madsen's Golden Bear squad as a transfer addition.
Cooper – an Indiana native – played last season at Wright State, where he earned a place on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. He tallied 17 points when the Raiders visited Cal in November 2025, and he ended his freshman campaign as his team's leading scorer with 13.4 points per game while hitting 48 threes. Cooper started 15 games and appeared in 31 at Wright State, helping the team reach the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
This feels like a pretty big get
@Coop might be 70, but probably still outplays many of the G5 players we usually get@
haha. Reminds me of that interview of Michael Jordan where he was asked whether he thought his '96 Bulls team could beat the new NBA champion (I forget which).
Jordan: "I think it'd be pretty close, but yes, we'd win."
Interviewer: "you think it'd be pretty close?"
Jordan: "well, we're all getting pretty old, now."
I think that was part of what I was thinking of. I thought Bird might have said something similar when talking about the Dream Team.
PRO
Over the weekend Alex Cora fired by the Red Sox.
Phillies fire Rob Thomson, name Don Mattingly interim manager
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48618118/phillies-fire-manager-rob-thomson-sources-say
The Philadelphia Phillies, off to their worst start to a season in over two decades, fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday.
Thomson, who managed the Phillies to four straight playoff appearances -- including the 2022 World Series, will be replaced by Don Mattingly, who will serve as Philadelphia's interim manager through the remainder of the season.
Don Mattingly desperately needs to grow back his mustache. It was an elite 'stache.
Without it, he's like that scene in Friends where Monica dates a clean-faced Tom Selleck. It's just wrong.
Donny 2X. Dodgers fans gave him that name when he walked out to the mound for a 1st visit, walked back towards the dugout, changed his mind, and walked back to the mound. Problem is he already crossed the foul line.
If I were to make a list of players who I was at some point absolutely positive would be in the HOF but aren't, Don Mattingly would be at the top. His mid-career production was super high - he was bombing 30 HRs a year back when that was a lot, and he was the league MVP in 1985. Plus, the writers would give him an extra bump for being on the Yankees. Too bad for him that his offensive production dropped so far in the back half of his career. He kept winning Gold Gloves.
I'm still sorta surprised that Donny Baseball isn't in the hall. I mean, I get it based on the numbers, but still.
I mean if someone like Harold Baines makes it, Donny 2X should be considered.
I just hope none of the Asstrisks players make it, but they probably will since Carlos Beltran, the brainchild behind the cheating, is in.
Giants go .500 on the off-day.
That good?
I just assume they'll end the season hovering around .500 like they usually do, except for 2021.
I wish I was that confident. This season, so far, looks like it's headed to around .400. And that's dangerously close to 100 losses.
Tucker’s first of hopefully many walk-offs for the Dodgers
https://www.truebluela.com/dodgers-scores-standings/114530/kyle-tucker-walk-off-single-win
They say what goes around comes around, and in a game in which walks played a pivotal part in the Marlins’ handling of Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the same applied for the Dodgers against closer Pete Fairbanks to set up a comeback win—Kyle Tucker had his first signature moment as a Dodger, delivering a two-out walk-off single to win it 5-4 in the ninth.
no 1 seed in the East, Detroit, loses and goes down 3-1 in series vs Orlando
This is pretty wild. Orlando looked like crap until the playoffs started.
i suppose the east winner just gets the privilege of losing to OKC
Feels like OKC and San Antonio are on a collision course for the Western Conf Finals, and that'll be the real NBA Finals, but stranger things have happened...