I toured the Penn State, Pitt, and Carnegie Mellon campuses this weekend with my daughter.
For those Cal fans eying a road game next year, I can report that Pittsburgh feels like a great option. It's quite unlike most other American cities. It's super hilly (funiculars!), it's got dozens of bridges, and it's simultaneously urban/artsy while also being having a midwestern sensibility and the soul of mountaineers. It managed to totally reinvent itself after the steel industry departed and hollowed it out, and it might be better off for it.
The most notable building on the Pitt campus is a 42 story skyscraper called the Cathedral of Learning (or, Cathy, to the students). But the campus has a lot of interesting buildings and abuts a cool neighborhood that has their own version of Telegraph Ave (Forbes Ave).
To give you a sense of the topography, you have to walk up about 100 steps to get up the hill to the basketball/volleyball arena.
If there's a bummer to be had, it's that Pitt football plays at whatever they call Heinz Field now. I always prefer colleges to play on campus instead of at a pro stadium, but at least it's only about 3.5 miles away so no big whoop.
In conclusion, Pitt will be an excellent addition to Bear Territory next year.
This was interesting: when she said she was from Northern California, of course I found a chance to ask where, specifically. She said, "Berkeley area."
This immediately stuck me as an odd answer. Where is near Berkeley but not in Berkeley? If she was from Oakland, she'd just say Oakland. So the only place she could possibly be from is like Albany or El Cerrito, or Richmond.
When she said Orinda, I was like, "huh? would we call that the Berkeley area?"
She said that saying Berkeley seems to resonate with people at Carnegie Mellon. I suppose that's the case, but I always say Oakland or East Bay.
SOUTH BEND, IN – The California men's golf team left no doubt at the Fighting Irish Classic, capturing its first tournament title since 2023 with a commanding performance from start to finish. The Bears shot a combined 1-over-par across three rounds, set the pace early and refused to relinquish their grip on the top of the leaderboard. Cal carried its momentum into the final round, closing out the tournament with a strong finish to secure the team title and cap a statement victory in South Bend.
California football true freshman tight end Taimane Purcell has been named the ACC Rookie of the Week, announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference office on Monday. This is the first weekly conference honor of Purcell's career and the second captured by a Golden Bear this season after defensive back Kingston Lopa earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors after Cal's Week 2 win over Syracuse.
California football will host Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 17, announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference office Monday morning. The game will be aired live on either ESPN or ESPN2, with the network designation to be finalized after the Week 6 games.
Everest and other tall places
in cycling they say if you do 29k of vertical in a single ride, that is "Everesting"
my cycling coach once did a 1/2 Everesting event, going up some 2000 ft climb a whole bunch of times in a row.
the best view we had of Everest was flying from Hong Kong to Kolkata. it was almost at eye level, which was cool
also seen Kangchenjunga (3rd highest) that way on an internal flight like that
other close encounters w/ high places were Denali (20k ft) and Salkantay (also 20k ft)
Seeing Mt Fuji on the Bullet Train was pretty cool, even if it was only for a short amount of time.
oh yeah. that is a good one. the best view we got was from the train as well despite staying in Hakone a few days just to see the mountain
best view I got was from the chapel at the Tozanso YMCA, which is the sister Y of the one I used to work at.
https://www.ymcajapan.org/wp-content/themes/ymcajapan/assets/tozanso/images/profile/photo/index_pic_47l.jpg
Other College
I toured the Penn State, Pitt, and Carnegie Mellon campuses this weekend with my daughter.
For those Cal fans eying a road game next year, I can report that Pittsburgh feels like a great option. It's quite unlike most other American cities. It's super hilly (funiculars!), it's got dozens of bridges, and it's simultaneously urban/artsy while also being having a midwestern sensibility and the soul of mountaineers. It managed to totally reinvent itself after the steel industry departed and hollowed it out, and it might be better off for it.
The most notable building on the Pitt campus is a 42 story skyscraper called the Cathedral of Learning (or, Cathy, to the students). But the campus has a lot of interesting buildings and abuts a cool neighborhood that has their own version of Telegraph Ave (Forbes Ave).
To give you a sense of the topography, you have to walk up about 100 steps to get up the hill to the basketball/volleyball arena.
If there's a bummer to be had, it's that Pitt football plays at whatever they call Heinz Field now. I always prefer colleges to play on campus instead of at a pro stadium, but at least it's only about 3.5 miles away so no big whoop.
In conclusion, Pitt will be an excellent addition to Bear Territory next year.
Our tour guide at Carnegie Mellon was a graduate of Miramonte High in Orinda. What are the chances?
This was interesting: when she said she was from Northern California, of course I found a chance to ask where, specifically. She said, "Berkeley area."
This immediately stuck me as an odd answer. Where is near Berkeley but not in Berkeley? If she was from Oakland, she'd just say Oakland. So the only place she could possibly be from is like Albany or El Cerrito, or Richmond.
When she said Orinda, I was like, "huh? would we call that the Berkeley area?"
She said that saying Berkeley seems to resonate with people at Carnegie Mellon. I suppose that's the case, but I always say Oakland or East Bay.
I mean I guess that makes sense. I always start with Bay Area when someone asks. Usually people in tech recognize that.
But yeah, Berkeley are does seem a bit strange.
Pitt is a great campus. i was rooting younger child to go there purely based on best mascot - ROC the Panther
kind of like Oski, but looks a bit more athletic.
https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/2017/8/28/roc-the-panther-about-roc
I'm voting for Pitt, especially if it's in Sept and the Pirates are in town.
We get some MACtion tonight! Southern Miss @ Troy.
Digital diversions
Quordle
🙂 Daily Quordle 1716
5️⃣🟥
7️⃣3️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
🙂 Daily Quordle 1716
5️⃣4️⃣
7️⃣6️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
Dueling digital diversions
Looks like I won!
Almost identical to WordleBot
Wordle 1,935 4/6*
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⬛⬛🟨🟩🟨
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WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 35/99
Wordle 1,935 3/6
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🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
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WordleBot
Skill 88/99
Luck 55/99
Given that I solved in 3, you'd think my luck score would be higher than 55. I'll concede that skill had less to do with solving than luck.
Wordle 1,935 5/6
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⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
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WordleBot
Skill 94/99
Luck 31/99
Took me five rows too.
Wordle 1,935 5/6
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⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Digital Diversions
Wordle
Wordle 1,935 4/6*
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
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almost had a sea of greens!
Nobel week
Great. How many parking spaces is this going to cost?
we'll see. Stanford is already ahead 1-0 this year on us
Ice cube neutrino experiment
this was adjacent to my graduate research and i know quite a few people who worked on the Ice Cube expt including my thesis advisor.
if i had continued down my academic trajectory, there was a very high likelihood i would have worked on this experiment.
nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2026/press-release
But you had no interesting in the academic trajectory, right?
I did. That was the original plan. I was just a very mediocre researcher
i could have gotten a job at a small 4 yr teaching college. it would have been somewhere in the middle of nowhere probably.
DBD AV Club
Government
Trump wants Iran to take out LA and SD...
not great, bob.
Pro
Today, Dodgers play the Braves at 3 PM PDT
Brewers play the Pads, 6:30 PDT
Yankees lose to the Rays, 5-2
White Sox beat the Guardians, 4-3
Cal
Play caller was changed at halftime last Sat.
https://x.com/itsmejmg/status/2107549730834370672
Here’s the SFGATE story:
https://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/cal-football-play-calling-lupoi-22465392.php
I wonder why Rolovich isn't the 2nd option.
[MGOLF] Bears Claim First Tournament Title Since 2023
https://calbears.com/news/2026/10/5/mens-golf-bears-claim-first-tournament-title-since-2023
SOUTH BEND, IN – The California men's golf team left no doubt at the Fighting Irish Classic, capturing its first tournament title since 2023 with a commanding performance from start to finish. The Bears shot a combined 1-over-par across three rounds, set the pace early and refused to relinquish their grip on the top of the leaderboard. Cal carried its momentum into the final round, closing out the tournament with a strong finish to secure the team title and cap a statement victory in South Bend.
[FB] Taimane Purcell Awarded ACC Rookie Of The Week
https://calbears.com/news/2026/10/5/football-taimane-purcell-awarded-acc-rookie-of-the-week
California football true freshman tight end Taimane Purcell has been named the ACC Rookie of the Week, announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference office on Monday. This is the first weekly conference honor of Purcell's career and the second captured by a Golden Bear this season after defensive back Kingston Lopa earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors after Cal's Week 2 win over Syracuse.
[FB] Game Time Against Wake Forest Set
https://calbears.com/news/2026/10/5/football-game-time-against-wake-forest-set
California football will host Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 17, announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference office Monday morning. The game will be aired live on either ESPN or ESPN2, with the network designation to be finalized after the Week 6 games.
Ugh.