Pietro Ferrero (of Ferrero Rocher fame) owned a bakery in Alba, an Italian town known for the production of hazelnuts. In 1946, he sold the initial 300 kilograms batch of Pasta Gianduja, derived from Gianduja. Originally sold as a solid block, Ferrero started to sell a creamy version in 1951 as Supercrema gianduja.
In 1963, Ferrero's son Michele Ferrero revamped Supercrema gianduja with the intention of marketing it throughout Europe. Its composition was modified, and it was renamed "Nutella". The first jar of Nutella left the factory in Alba on April 20, 1964. The product was an instant success and remains widely popular.
A scammer called my phone but asked for my dad's name, so I kept her on the phone for awhile. Is it terrible if I consider it a win to make them want to hang up on me?
No. I got two spoof calls yesterday using local numbers. One identified as Capitol One and the other as Raytheon. The message for both was to call a number if a supposed charge to my credit credit at Amazon wasn't correct. All the scammers can go straight to hell so if you can get back at them in some way more power to you.
I figure the longer I keep them on the phone, the less time they have to scam someone else. This one was fairly patient...unlike the one who accused me of being racist because I "sounded white" when I was "obviously Asian."
It means you "sounded white" but on paper. What does sounded white mean? It's funny that someone told TBB she was racist for sounding like a white person. Back in the 1940s, my American-born father was trying to find an apartment for he and his new bride, my mother. He looked through classified ads and called them and ask if the apartment was still available and they'd say yes, come take a look. He'd show up and they'd see his Chinese face, and say sorry, it's not available any more.
It's the chorus to Daler Mehndi's Tunak Tunak Tun, which is somewhat analogous to being Rick Rolled. It was the smash hit of 1998. I try to see how many sequential times I can talk to them and then put them "on hold" for 4 minutes at a time.
unrelated except for wine, Montalcino in Tuscany with its famous white roads was the backdrop for today's Giro stage. i spent that last few hours enjoyed the marvelous countryside
my cousins and i have a tentative plan to have something of a cousins reunion next summer in Tuscany.
Jaws...my Mom jumped out of the closet and went BOO when I came into the room like 2 minutes after we finished watching it - I was 5 years old. She claims it was her 2nd most un-Motherly moment...around the same time frame, I sassed her and she backhanded me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me, whilst driving on 580....social services would be called now. THAT was apparently more unmotherly.
The original IT, as well as seeing Jurassic Park at 7. I distinctly remember nightmares with velociraptors for a couple months following seeing it in theaters.
I think I was 7 when it came out and I saw it in theaters. Then again when I was little I loved old-timey monster movies and movies like Jaws, so my parents probably figured I'd be fine.
I think my single mom's rationale was "my son likes dinosaurs and this is a dinosaur movie, perfect!" I wonder if she had second thoughts after the opening scene. Also I did see Aliens on TV at like 4 or 5 and it didn't bother me, but I think I was too little to understand what was going on in that movie.
Some black and white sci-fi movie that my parents were watching when I should have been in bed with some weird frog-like alien being lowered into a pit and making a dreadful noise. I was peeking around a corner.
only the dreaded nightmare clown scene while he's in the hospital. otherwise a perfect movie without any bad scenes, other than that dreadful one which is really out of place and shouldve been cut. the motorcycle crash into the billboard which preceded it is one of the great moments of film history. Tim Burton had one hell of a run in the 80s-90s.
I love the movie and can practically quote the whole thing from memory. But those nightmare scenes and Large Marge were indeed traumatizing when I was a kid.
Poltergeist (1982). This movie was originally R-rated, but was re-rated to PG on appeals. Two years later, it became the very first film to be rated PG-13 when the rating system was expanded. There were a bunch of elements -- face tearing, clowns near closets, lost children begging for their mother, coffins through floorboards -- that were too intense for an 11-year-old.
Specifically, Speilberg was the one who caused PG-13 to happen and Poltergeist was the first chain in the link to it happening. Spielberg produced and wrote Poltergeist but couldn't direct it because of an employment clause in his Indian Jones director contract. He was the one who lobbied Poltergeist to go from R to PG. Gremlins (Spielberg produced) came out in June 1984, again with controversy as to elements within Gremlins that Spielberg had to defend. At roughly the same time, in June 1984 Temple of Doom came out (Spielberg directed & produced) as PG. Spielberg's Poltergeist, Gremlins and Temple of Doom collectively were collectively the straws the broke MPAA's back. MPAA created PG-13 effective July 1 with all 3 Spielberg films being re-rated as PG-13. The first film launched as PG-13 was "Red Dawn" in August 1984.
Papillon, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. The guillotine scene in the prison courtyard gave me nightmares. I finally watched that scene all the way through about a year ago (roughly 40 years later) and now it doesn't bother me.
FET: I was speaking to a palm-oil company CEO during a plantation tour in Malaysia. We went to a hilltop tower platform. I asked about a copse of trees that were clearly different than palm trees. He said it was a sanctuary for orangutan (Bahasa Malay: "man of the forest"). It was clearly too small to sufficiently support orangutan. CEO: "Westerners are so worried about orangutan. What about orang? [ie, humans] You don't see Americans giving up their cow pastures for bison."
I was really sad when I found out that my favorite brand of coconut milk was using monkey labor and therefore being dropped from the stores. I do wonder--if one company is doing it, are the other companies also doing it? (Not that that makes it ok; just wondering if it's a matter of the other companies not getting caught yet.)
Which brand was that? I remember hearing a hubbub a while back because Costco sold that coconut milk and then I think they stopped selling it after the monkey labor backlash.
Tim DeRuyter's daughter is now the Director of On-Campus Recruiting at Michigan, after bailing on the same role at Vanderbilt after 2 months. At U of M, this is more of an administrative role. At Cal, it's Benji Palu - who is more involved with actually having a direct relationship with recruits.
"My whole argument is I can take the [high school] kid down the street that no one wants and no one offers who, after three years, you develop him into a good player, and he can leave," Spavital said. "Or you can [go to the portal]."
Jake Spavital - on recruiting realities for a tier-3 team. Spavital took zero 2021 HS recruits
Mark McCloskey - the guy who aimed his gun at BLM protestors going past his house and his own wife because of his poor downrange discipline - announced his candidacy for US Senate (R-MO). What a tool.
NY AG says the case against Trump has expanded from a civil case to a criminal one. I believe this is a significant step because it means the DA believes she has a strong enough case to move forward. Allen Weisselberg --> the big white bloated lying whale
Warriors/Lakers play-in game tonight. Will the Lakers be able to stop Steph? Do what other teams do and have someone face guard him and don't let him get the ball?
Do you think the Houston Astros regret trading Ramon Laureano to the Oakland A’s yet?
The A’s and Astros opened a three-game series at the Coliseum on Tuesday, and as usual the division rivalry matchup didn’t disappoint. In a contest that was tight and full of suspense from wire to wire, Oakland came out on top for a 6-5 victory, led by Laureano with two homers and a walk-off sacrifice fly.
The Astros were in the driver’s seat for most of the night, taking an early lead and holding it for all but a few minutes. But the A’s never let the margin get too big, and they came back to tie it in the 6th and again in the 8th.
The San Francisco Giants struck out 17 times on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds. That’s not a typo: the San Francisco Giants struck out 17 times.
Still won though.
So allow me to reheat and repeat the intro to yesterday’s recap.
Julio UrÃas cruised into the seventh inning and was backed by home runs from Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, and Gavin Lux giving the Dodgers a 9-1 triumph and a second win over the Diamondbacks in as many nights, making this series a bonafide hit.
For the Dodgers, anyway.
Low hit totals are the norm this season, with a MLB-wide .236 batting average that would be the lowest in history, even lower than the .237 average in 1968, famously known as The Year of the Pitcher.
But even in a low offensive environment, Dodgers pitchers are relatively thriving. UrÃas allowed only a run on three hits on Tuesday, and retired 13 straight before the last two of those hits chased him with two outs in the seventh inning.
A scammer called my phone but asked for my dad's name, so I kept her on the phone for awhile. Is it terrible if I consider it a win to make them want to hang up on me?
Not at all. Scammers deserve all the irritation that can be inflicted upon them.
If I don't recognize a phone number, I don't pick up because I can't be bothered to deal with spam.
I get so many telemarketing calls (not scams) I just hang up; you got 2 seconds to say something.
No. I got two spoof calls yesterday using local numbers. One identified as Capitol One and the other as Raytheon. The message for both was to call a number if a supposed charge to my credit credit at Amazon wasn't correct. All the scammers can go straight to hell so if you can get back at them in some way more power to you.
I figure the longer I keep them on the phone, the less time they have to scam someone else. This one was fairly patient...unlike the one who accused me of being racist because I "sounded white" when I was "obviously Asian."
@You also write like a white person.@
what does "write like a white person" mean?
perhaps i do too due to my all-american schooling ...
It means you "sounded white" but on paper. What does sounded white mean? It's funny that someone told TBB she was racist for sounding like a white person. Back in the 1940s, my American-born father was trying to find an apartment for he and his new bride, my mother. He looked through classified ads and called them and ask if the apartment was still available and they'd say yes, come take a look. He'd show up and they'd see his Chinese face, and say sorry, it's not available any more.
:(
I have this bookmarked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTIIMJ9tUc8&list=RDSMlFn3evgYA#t=27s
It's the chorus to Daler Mehndi's Tunak Tunak Tun, which is somewhat analogous to being Rick Rolled. It was the smash hit of 1998. I try to see how many sequential times I can talk to them and then put them "on hold" for 4 minutes at a time.
What?
https://twitter.com/AITA_reddit/status/1394816785787064331?s=20
"AITA for adopting a cat that has a penis on his face and naming him Richard? https://bit.ly/3eVjvYi"
NTA: adopting a cat, giving him a clever name, and sharing cat photo online are all benevolent acts.
Alba, in Piedmont is also an area known for wine: Barbera d'Alba and Nebbiolo d'Alba.
unrelated except for wine, Montalcino in Tuscany with its famous white roads was the backdrop for today's Giro stage. i spent that last few hours enjoyed the marvelous countryside
my cousins and i have a tentative plan to have something of a cousins reunion next summer in Tuscany.
and white truffles
The movie that traumatized you as a kid
Jaws...my Mom jumped out of the closet and went BOO when I came into the room like 2 minutes after we finished watching it - I was 5 years old. She claims it was her 2nd most un-Motherly moment...around the same time frame, I sassed her and she backhanded me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me, whilst driving on 580....social services would be called now. THAT was apparently more unmotherly.
Wizard of Oz. The witch, the flying monkeys, etc. Munchkins. Creepy.
Yeah, pretty effective FX for 1939
Agreed. Those monkeys were really scary.
The flying monkeys took me years to get over, if I'm really over them.
not me, but my kids say that The Rite of Spring from Fantasia (where the dinosaurs die) traumatized them.
they were 3-5 yrs old at the time when we used to watch semi-regularly
The original IT, as well as seeing Jurassic Park at 7. I distinctly remember nightmares with velociraptors for a couple months following seeing it in theaters.
Whoa, 7 is too young for Jurassic Park.
I think I was 7 when it came out and I saw it in theaters. Then again when I was little I loved old-timey monster movies and movies like Jaws, so my parents probably figured I'd be fine.
This is what I keep telling my 7 year old son. Unfortunately other parents in his class don't agree so now he has friends that have seen it.
If he watches it on a tablet or phone, it's less threatening than if it's on a big screen.
That actually makes sense.
I raised a couple kids myself.
I think my single mom's rationale was "my son likes dinosaurs and this is a dinosaur movie, perfect!" I wonder if she had second thoughts after the opening scene. Also I did see Aliens on TV at like 4 or 5 and it didn't bother me, but I think I was too little to understand what was going on in that movie.
Heh, I could see that, but "Land of the Lost" it is not.
I'm LOLd. I remember watching Jurassic Park at the Oaks on Solano with the ex right around graduation.
Some black and white sci-fi movie that my parents were watching when I should have been in bed with some weird frog-like alien being lowered into a pit and making a dreadful noise. I was peeking around a corner.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
only the dreaded nightmare clown scene while he's in the hospital. otherwise a perfect movie without any bad scenes, other than that dreadful one which is really out of place and shouldve been cut. the motorcycle crash into the billboard which preceded it is one of the great moments of film history. Tim Burton had one hell of a run in the 80s-90s.
oh, and I suppose the Large Marge scene could be traumatizing.. so I take that back..
I love the movie and can practically quote the whole thing from memory. But those nightmare scenes and Large Marge were indeed traumatizing when I was a kid.
Final Destination
Poltergeist (1982). This movie was originally R-rated, but was re-rated to PG on appeals. Two years later, it became the very first film to be rated PG-13 when the rating system was expanded. There were a bunch of elements -- face tearing, clowns near closets, lost children begging for their mother, coffins through floorboards -- that were too intense for an 11-year-old.
I was also surprised that one was PG. That scene with all the skeletons in the pool could be pretty scary for a kid too.
You sure? I'm 99% sure it was Temple of Doom the caused the PG-13 rating to exist.
Specifically, Speilberg was the one who caused PG-13 to happen and Poltergeist was the first chain in the link to it happening. Spielberg produced and wrote Poltergeist but couldn't direct it because of an employment clause in his Indian Jones director contract. He was the one who lobbied Poltergeist to go from R to PG. Gremlins (Spielberg produced) came out in June 1984, again with controversy as to elements within Gremlins that Spielberg had to defend. At roughly the same time, in June 1984 Temple of Doom came out (Spielberg directed & produced) as PG. Spielberg's Poltergeist, Gremlins and Temple of Doom collectively were collectively the straws the broke MPAA's back. MPAA created PG-13 effective July 1 with all 3 Spielberg films being re-rated as PG-13. The first film launched as PG-13 was "Red Dawn" in August 1984.
Papillon, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. The guillotine scene in the prison courtyard gave me nightmares. I finally watched that scene all the way through about a year ago (roughly 40 years later) and now it doesn't bother me.
Hazelnut
Don't really care for Nutella.
absolutely hate it. just throw some chocolate in your skippy if you really want nutty chocolate.
but then I'd be ruining the chocolate
It's fine, but I always expect it to be better than it is.
Manner, the best hazelnut wafers. I had gotten them in Vienna and have been buying them through Amazon.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71nkutbEzkL._SL1200_.jpg
i think i have seen them at our local grocery store too
Nutella
I feel a little bad about Nutella contributing to loss of orangutan habitat but you know what makes me feel better? Some Nutella.
FET: I was speaking to a palm-oil company CEO during a plantation tour in Malaysia. We went to a hilltop tower platform. I asked about a copse of trees that were clearly different than palm trees. He said it was a sanctuary for orangutan (Bahasa Malay: "man of the forest"). It was clearly too small to sufficiently support orangutan. CEO: "Westerners are so worried about orangutan. What about orang? [ie, humans] You don't see Americans giving up their cow pastures for bison."
I actually knew about the Malay meaning of orangutan because I had a Malaysian neighbor in grad school who explained "orang putih" to me.
I was really sad when I found out that my favorite brand of coconut milk was using monkey labor and therefore being dropped from the stores. I do wonder--if one company is doing it, are the other companies also doing it? (Not that that makes it ok; just wondering if it's a matter of the other companies not getting caught yet.)
Which brand was that? I remember hearing a hubbub a while back because Costco sold that coconut milk and then I think they stopped selling it after the monkey labor backlash.
MONKEY LABOR?!?!?!?
Those coconuts aren't going to pick themselves
Monkey labor?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/monkey-labor-continues-in-thailands-coconut-market
https://media.giphy.com/media/xT5LMrxYauvZhhzL6U/giphy.gif
Orangutans are pretty intelligent...but then again, humans also don't treat other humans consistently well.
Maybe we should - bison meat is pretty good.
Probably much better for the environment too
pqtm
Covid
India surpasses US for one-day record of Covid deaths. Grim.
https://apnews.com/article/india-coronavirus-pandemic-health-ce604ee88062c459e0a3bd9f1e1ed686
also, probably off by 100%
yeah, when even your faked data is that bad...
Elsewhere in college
Tim DeRuyter's daughter is now the Director of On-Campus Recruiting at Michigan, after bailing on the same role at Vanderbilt after 2 months. At U of M, this is more of an administrative role. At Cal, it's Benji Palu - who is more involved with actually having a direct relationship with recruits.
https://twitter.com/UMichFootball/status/1394750997776396288
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2021/05/18/michigan-football-christina-deruyter-director-on-campus-recruiting-and-operations/5152641001/
Congratulations to Dook's new AD Nina King. She becomes the third Power-5 black woman AD and the first for the Blue Devils.
https://goduke.com/news/2021/5/19/nina-e-king-named-dukes-vice-president-and-director-of-athletics.aspx
+1 for spelling Dook correctly. And +10000 for AD King.
"My whole argument is I can take the [high school] kid down the street that no one wants and no one offers who, after three years, you develop him into a good player, and he can leave," Spavital said. "Or you can [go to the portal]."
Jake Spavital - on recruiting realities for a tier-3 team. Spavital took zero 2021 HS recruits
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-coaches-becoming-even-more-like-gms-as-one-time-transfers-the-portal-make-roster-management-tougher/
maybe colleges should have informal "feeder team" relationships like Euro soccer clubs.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Al Capone asks to call off the Commission investigating Chicago's booze, gambling, and prostitution in the name of political unity
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/554249-trump-calls-for-jan-6-commission-debate-to-end-immediately
Ron Johnson (R-WI) opposes the Commission because the insurrection was Pelosi's fault
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1394825126873554952
Die, drumpf.
Gov. Abbott (R-TX) signs EO that prohibits local governments (eg, schools) from mask mandates
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/18/politics/texas-abbott-mask-mandate-ban-fine/index.html
Why not go a step further and sign an EO banning masks?
party of local control etc
Mark McCloskey - the guy who aimed his gun at BLM protestors going past his house and his own wife because of his poor downrange discipline - announced his candidacy for US Senate (R-MO). What a tool.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/mark-mccloskey-central-west-end-gun-protest-senate-run/63-13ceb023-a1fb-4605-988b-e2959f5124cc
He'll probably win and then he and MTG can compare the handguns they're smuggling into their respective chambers
Rudy's son announces candidacy for NY governor. He seems to have a very punchable face.
https://twitter.com/espiers/status/1379781510526607361
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/05/andrew-giuliani-new-york-governor-race
being a golfer and gofer seems to have gone to his head
NY AG says the case against Trump has expanded from a civil case to a criminal one. I believe this is a significant step because it means the DA believes she has a strong enough case to move forward. Allen Weisselberg --> the big white bloated lying whale
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/19/new-york-attorney-general-says-the-trump-organization-is-being-investigated-in-a-criminal-capacity.html
Trump says the NY and Manhattan cases are purely politically motivated.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/554336-trump-lashes-out-at-prosecutors-over-criminal-probe
[jennifer lawrence thumbs up.gif]
gimmie multiple perp walks
PRO
Warriors/Lakers play-in game tonight. Will the Lakers be able to stop Steph? Do what other teams do and have someone face guard him and don't let him get the ball?
Game #43: Ramon Laureano leads walk-off win over Astros
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/5/18/22443372/oakland-as-game-43-houston-astros-score-result-walk-off
Do you think the Houston Astros regret trading Ramon Laureano to the Oakland A’s yet?
The A’s and Astros opened a three-game series at the Coliseum on Tuesday, and as usual the division rivalry matchup didn’t disappoint. In a contest that was tight and full of suspense from wire to wire, Oakland came out on top for a 6-5 victory, led by Laureano with two homers and a walk-off sacrifice fly.
The Astros were in the driver’s seat for most of the night, taking an early lead and holding it for all but a few minutes. But the A’s never let the margin get too big, and they came back to tie it in the 6th and again in the 8th.
The Laser looked like a man possessed.
Giants strikeout 17 times, win anyway
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/5/18/22442964/san-francisco-giants-reds-recap-alex-dickerson-brandon-crawford-anthony-desclafani
The San Francisco Giants struck out 17 times on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds. That’s not a typo: the San Francisco Giants struck out 17 times.
Still won though.
So allow me to reheat and repeat the intro to yesterday’s recap.
Dodgers home runs back Julio UrÃas in latest win
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/5/18/22443198/dodgers-home-runs-julio-urias-gavin-lux-mookie-betts-chris-taylor-diamondbacks-recap
Julio UrÃas cruised into the seventh inning and was backed by home runs from Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, and Gavin Lux giving the Dodgers a 9-1 triumph and a second win over the Diamondbacks in as many nights, making this series a bonafide hit.
For the Dodgers, anyway.
Low hit totals are the norm this season, with a MLB-wide .236 batting average that would be the lowest in history, even lower than the .237 average in 1968, famously known as The Year of the Pitcher.
But even in a low offensive environment, Dodgers pitchers are relatively thriving. UrÃas allowed only a run on three hits on Tuesday, and retired 13 straight before the last two of those hits chased him with two outs in the seventh inning.
CAL
Go Bears!!!
Someone is claiming that Cal is a 12 point underdog to TCU. Bruh.
https://twitter.com/PDawg206/status/1395044052546904067
Pshaw. I can see them being a dog, but that silly metrics crap is BS....TCU -4.0 I'm thinking....