Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an amateur boxer. He had originally sought a career as a teacher by attending St. Mary's Teaching College, Newcastle. However, in 1976, Neeson joined the Belfast Lyric Players' Theater and made his professional acting debut in the play "The Risen People". After two years, Neeson moved to Dublin's Abbey Theater where he performed the classics. It was here that he was spotted by director John Boorman and was cast in the film Excalibur (1981) as Sir Gawain, his first high-profile film role.
I saw it in theaters. It was one of the worst 3D conversion jobs ever done. The whole thing made the characters look like cardboard cutouts placed in front of the screen.
Finished my freshman year of college the other day, I somehow made it but am glad that online classes for the bulk are over with and I can finally have my college experience (also landed my first job that you all here at W4C can help with but more on that in a few weeks). For now on to vacation on Saturday to Baltimore for 2 weeks.
While I couldn't possibly countenance underaged drinking, Peabody Heights brewery in Baltimore makes various tasty summer brews - you know, if you're with someone over 21 😇
Congrats! Enjoy your time in Baltimore. The forecast looks great for next week, as you're just missing our recent heat wave and rain storms. Watch out for cicadas.
Thank you thank you, going to visit an uncle and head to a Blue Jays Orioles game probably (I'm a Blue Jays fan) and hopefully those insects don't attack me as much as they've done in the past.
There's a tree just outside my dining room window. When I got back back from my long run last Sunday morning I walked into the kitchen to get some water. About a dozen cicadas had managed to squeeze between the screen and the window and were trapped there. Pretty gross to see.
I had a small chuckle the other day - I was waiting at a traffic light when one gently thumped into the windshield and then slid down doing the comedy legs-flailing-for-traction maneuver. They really are dumb and useless.
More in a few weeks...stay tuned its mainly just a sit down and presentation type of thing (I get paid just to present but I do receive bonuses if people happen to like the product and buy).
No 1 and I had a discussion on how hard it was for freshman and seniors. Even worse for seniors from last year where they had to move out of college within a week, not really say goodbye because you don't know how long it will last, and not be able to walk for graduation. even this year most colleges were zoom graduations.
I agree and in addition I've felt the people who were juniors in high school and college got shafted badly because you lose your peak working and networking year, mixed with a half hearted attempt at a last hurrah.
I seems to be much harder for the graduating seniors this year to get into colleges they normally would get to. Not sure if it's because many deferred enrollment last year meaning fewer spots. Also the sophomores and juniors last year not getting internships last summer as most companies didn't do them, I don't think.
Week Two of eight week program almost complete, I now understand why people hate leg days. They feel like they drag on forever and then you are rewarded with not being able to go down stairs for a day. Otherwise going well.
Projects have kept me out of the game for a while, however, I went to an amazing mountain bike enduro race over this past weekend and am really amped up get up to Truckee and Downiville to do some all-day technical rides.
we are headed to Reno the week of Jul 12. my older daughter made it to nationals for rock climbing. hopefully we get a couple days to explore the outdoors.
Umpiring my 65th game since the season got started locally on Apr. 10 tonight. Only started really getting fresh air when the mask mandate was lifted outdoors in Oregon late in May. Finally getting back in reasonably decent game shape.
I've been working on pushing the pace on my bike rides lately. After the first couple months of riding season I noticed I was making a good pace but getting complacent and content with that pace. Now I'm more consistently reminding myself to push an extra 10% or so.
Since I quit running races years ago I find myself running the same pace almost all the time. I try to schedule at least one run on trails and hills a week. Also try to do one with the intent of doing the second half faster than the first but not always successful with that. I was successful this morning though.
Since I've been skipping my group rides (5:45am! plus occasionally rainy) I decided to start at my spinning studio - much better at being able to maintain power levels than on a bike where I can futz around and cruise if I'm not on my group ride. It is humbling to get dusted by older white ladies though, who are pushing watt numbers than I . . . .cannot.
Getting good at being lazy and not going out for runs. Also I've been having some heal pain, maybe plantar fasciitis, but I think I've had that in the past on the upper outside edges of my foot not the heal area. Looks like running on a treadmill is better than outside. 24 hour fitness allowed me to bring a buddy in for a year after the whole covid thing so I go when No 1 has wanted to go lift, 1-2 times a week.
slowly building back up cycling endurance after the 4 month layoff because of the injury. feels great to be back outside riding again even if it is a bit slower than my regular pace.
i actually have a cycling coach who puts workouts on my calendar and i speak to her once a week. so far no hard work outs as i just get used to riding again w/ some intensity.
hopefully this weekend i can go for a 40 mi ride w/ some moderate rolling hills.
I used to race road bikes a long time ago. I always thought it interesting that folks would drop thousands of dollars to shave a few grams off their bike but those same people rarely put thought into paying a coach to get a better return on investment, performance wise.
My bike is now 10 years old. But since I'm trying to leave China, I'm not really shopping for another bike - although I've browsed Chinese made Ti frames. Maybe I'll get one on the way out of the country and build it up back in the US.
I saw the Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard the other night. It's not good, and it has a super distracting ongoing continuity problem with Ryan Reynolds's facial hair.
Simu Liu and Jean Yoon talked a lot about how difficult the last season was without a Korean voice in the writer's room. Seems like everything ended very messily.
I was downloading it when it showed up in torrent every week. I've been leaving the last few episodes to binge later. I've really liked the series and will miss it. Like you said, I don't need TV shows to be realistic or deep. I just want to be entertained.
And I would clarify that Kim's *is* groundbreaking in the sense that it's a sitcom that normalizes Asian family life without "explaining" everything. "This is how we are...deal with it!". It's the comedy that isn't groundbreaking.
The opposite is Awkwafina is Nora in Queens. (Which had Simu Liu in a great "flashback" cameo.) Well, "opposite" isn't right...just that it's less of a typical sitcom, and more edgy (in a Broad City way). But also addresses the Asian-ness of it in a similar matter-of-fact way as Kim's Convenience.
And on that note...Always Be My Maybe is great. Pretty much every actor is Asian – including the super (won't spoil it) cameo – but it's not a "plot point"; it just "is".
I really wanted to like Awkwafina is Nora from Queens... but I just didn't think it was that funny. (Broad City, on the other hand, was wonderful; The Farewell was great.)
Always Be My Maybe was perfectly cromulent, but I'm not really the target audience.
Kim's Convenience was really great for the first two seasons, but dropped off in quality after that.
Don't know about wrapping things up (the world always has kept on going), but I wouldn't mind an update from Game of Thrones, on what's happening with the 3rd dragon (never was happy with the mis-management of tactics that lost 2 of them), and up north.
that explains why my older daughter was talking about the decline of Owen Wilson's nose (she apparently thinks that it keeps looking worse and worse as he ages? I was trying to get back to my laptop for a conference call and didn't follow up)
i normally make a cocktail and take my time but last night as i was in a bit of a rush i sliced off part of my thumbnail and have a moderately deep cut. mostly just an inconvenience now, but who knew your thumb was SO useful!!
So real that my friend wants to remind everyone that octopuses don't have tentacles, they have arms. So a kraken would have two human arms and eight octopus arms, for a total of ten arms.
I’d thought a kraken was a squid (which the cartoon above seems to corroborate), hence 2+10 arms. Altho tbh, I didn’t know that there was a human component at all; thought it was just a giant 10-armed (tentacled) squid
I was fortunate to see Ray Harryhausen on tour, talking about his special effects for Clash of the Titans. He brought along the models of Caliban and Medusa, which I got to see close up. Took some good pictures which might be in a box somewhere. He enjoyed telling the story of going through airport security, where they wanted to open his luggage. He said he warned them that they would turn to stone!
I would not have predicted that Release the Kraken would take on its most recent meaning. Maybe Harryhausen would have though.
Clash of the Titans = good movie. Perseus stalking Medusa in her labyrinth, using his shield as a mirror, and then cutting off her head. He puts it in a satchel and then, once outside, holds it up to the Kraken, who turns to stone.
Not exactly the same, but I fondly remember Chuck Jones (the best director of classic WB cartoons) came to speak to our Pop Culture class - he was floored by the standing ovation he received.
Funny little coincidence re: biographical data in the header...
Liam Neeson was born in Ballymena, (Northern) Ireland
Today, I googled myself and up pops a name of someone with the same name that died in the year I was born. That person died in Canada, but was born in Ballymena, Ireland in 1893.
Yeah, i’ve heard they’re good, but I can never get into series that already have a bunch of seasons under the belt. Too much of a time sink. I’ll just have to trust you that Maul in the hands of someone other than Lucas is a positive ;-)
[NYT] Trump White House lawyer Don McGahn affirms in old but now released testimony that Trump asked Rosenstein to remove Mueller, fired Jeff Sessions because he recused himself from protecting Trump, asked McGahn to lie to counter WaPo and NYT articles which he refused to do because they were true, and criticized McGahn for taking notes because he didn't want written evidence.
A Houston hospital has suspended 178 staff members who have refused to abide by its mandate that employees be fully vaccinated by Monday.
Nearly 25,000 of Houston Methodist's staff members have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 as part of a vaccination requirement announced in April, Houston Methodist's president, Dr. Marc Boom, said in a statement Tuesday.
But 178 unvaccinated employees who did not get religious or medical exemptions were suspended without pay, including 27 who are only partly vaccinated.
The hospital is being VERY careful if they're suspending these jerks. If you're in a healthcare setting you really have a responsibility to the patients to be fully vaccinated unless there's a solid medical reason why you can't (such as immuno-suppression due to a transplant).
Some local governments are not playing around. Santa Clara County, for instance, requires employers to know the vaccination status of its employees, including contractors and volunteers.
In the same vein, employees are presumed to not be vaccinated if the employee (1) says they are not vaccinated, refuses to disclose their vaccination status, or (3) the employer hasn't yet learned the employee's vaccination status.
Santa Clara County is also taking a hard-line in other ways. If there's conflicting advice from the CDC or the State of California Dept. of Public Health relative to the Santa Clara County Health Officer, the more restrictive requirements controls. The Health Order from the Santa Clara County Health Officer is almost certain to be more restrictive than either the CDC or the State DPH.
I understand that there's a utility in the South Bay somewhere (it might be Santa Clara County) that will terminate employees who have not been vaccinated after June 15.
Texas is an at-will employment state so unfortunately it's quite easy to fire these employees. (I think they should get vaxxed, but at-will employment states are awful)
“ Sam Darnold, for example, is dumb as hell. He had mono and set back his career and now, hanging on to that career by a thread, he’s like nah I don’t need vaccines. He’s stupid, simple as that”
Sorry, I’ve done this schtick earlier in the season, but it’s worth doing again.
There were 306 pitches during Wednesday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers. After each of the first 305 pitches the game sat in one of two states: a tie, or a Giants lead.
After the 306th pitch, the Rangers led.
At my $10,000 all-inclusive coach’s retreat, Father B’s Coaches Colony, I reveal my No. 1, fool-proof secret to success.
Justin Turner homered twice, providing just enough offense to back a stellar Dodgers pitching effort to beat the Pirates 2-1 on Wednesday night at PNC Park. Only the run prevention didn’t go exactly as planned.
A funny thing happened on the way to getting the bullpen some relief, with the Dodgers now sporting a rotation with five starting pitchers. But Tony Gonsolin was wild in his first game off the injured list, a starting pitcher only nominally.
The hope was that Gonsolin, who maxed out at 60 pitches and 3⅔ innings in his minor league rehab assignment, would be able to get through five innings on Wednesday, but he wasn’t even close.
A's beat hapless Diamondbacks 4-0, Mark Canha's drive to deep center field was dropped by the outfielder after he leaped and hit the wall. The play was upheld by replay review in NY, and two runs scored. Manaea threw 111 pitches in six innings, getting the W.
The Oakland A’s have been on the wrong side of some bad hops in recent weeks, but their luck evened out Wednesday.
All four of the A’s runs came with some help from the baseball gods as they defeated the Arizona D’Backs 4-0 at the Coliseum, completing a sweep of their season series with the interleague opponent. Oakland even won a replay review!
Like the previous night’s 5-2 victory, this game mostly swung on one crucial inning. Today it was the bottom of the 2nd.
An interesting take. He'd also rather allow the pitcher to use sticky stuff to keep control of the baseball. With pitchers throwing harder than ever he doesn't want another Kevin Pillar.
Though, if pitchers don't have a feel for the ball, would they stop throwing as hard? Right now MPH and spinrate is how pitchers are being judged.
Six highest-ranked conference champions + six at-large spots.
I think this is fair if you are going to do a playoff. Basically guarantees every P5 conference an auto-bid (unless one of them has a really horrible season) and also guarantees access to at least one top mid-major, something that basically wasn't possible before. And with the at-large spots there's enough room for teams that have an argument but got unlucky with an injury or scheduling or something (or are independent).
If you don't like the college football playoff . . . well, you're probably not going to be happy with any proposal.
There's none of the annual debate about what would happen if #1 had played #2 in the Orange Bowl instead of #1 playing #4 (or #5) in the Sugar Bowl (or the Rose Bowl).
College football should be a spectacle, not the flipping NFL. Now, it's basically NFL Light and it's diluted BOTH products.
A pox on the CFB Playoffs, the BCS, and all these folks who are certain that playoffs were some sort of answer to a fan's delirium when it was an answer to a question not asked
Univ of Rochester is the only private school my older daughter is going to be applying to next year. i dont know that much about it except it has a decent reputation.
last night she won some George Eastman academic award as a HS junior that came with a suggestive note saying "please forward the copy of this award to the director of admissions"
we are at the phase where she is a little tired of all this. so yes eventually, but probably in the fall or if she has an actual decision to make next spring.
the only away game I've attended was at U-Dub and wherever the locals were tailgating, I didn't see them. We showed up, enjoyed watching SC win, and left.
There is essentially no place to tailgate at Cal. Its mostly a collection of house parties for the locals. WSU is actually a very fan friendly (once you finally get there!) place for a game.
Does anyone know what is happening with Under Armour?
I'm missing the connection between Liam Neeson and "Release the Kraken"?
https://www.themarysue.com/release-the-kraken-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means/
Thanks, I forgot about the 2010 remake. I did catch a bit of it, but it didn't thrill me.
I saw it in theaters. It was one of the worst 3D conversion jobs ever done. The whole thing made the characters look like cardboard cutouts placed in front of the screen.
Finished my freshman year of college the other day, I somehow made it but am glad that online classes for the bulk are over with and I can finally have my college experience (also landed my first job that you all here at W4C can help with but more on that in a few weeks). For now on to vacation on Saturday to Baltimore for 2 weeks.
Excited for all that's ahead for you!
Thank you hopefully I can keep it going, grades were good, now for the experience!
While I couldn't possibly countenance underaged drinking, Peabody Heights brewery in Baltimore makes various tasty summer brews - you know, if you're with someone over 21 😇
Oh most definitely and lets just say I definitely look the part of being 21+ so being with family shouldn't make it that hard.
Congrats! Enjoy your time in Baltimore. The forecast looks great for next week, as you're just missing our recent heat wave and rain storms. Watch out for cicadas.
Thank you thank you, going to visit an uncle and head to a Blue Jays Orioles game probably (I'm a Blue Jays fan) and hopefully those insects don't attack me as much as they've done in the past.
Did you see the one that landed on Biden's collar?
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/06/10/cicadas-joe-biden-white-house-press-plane-muntean-pkg-vpx.cnn
There's a tree just outside my dining room window. When I got back back from my long run last Sunday morning I walked into the kitchen to get some water. About a dozen cicadas had managed to squeeze between the screen and the window and were trapped there. Pretty gross to see.
I had a small chuckle the other day - I was waiting at a traffic light when one gently thumped into the windshield and then slid down doing the comedy legs-flailing-for-traction maneuver. They really are dumb and useless.
Now we need to all guess what your job is where we at WFC (or is it W4C) can help.
More in a few weeks...stay tuned its mainly just a sit down and presentation type of thing (I get paid just to present but I do receive bonuses if people happen to like the product and buy).
Congrats on making it through this trying year!!
Thank you very much, it has been a grind but what is done is done.
Yes. First year is always tough. Can't imagine it under theses circumstances.
No 1 and I had a discussion on how hard it was for freshman and seniors. Even worse for seniors from last year where they had to move out of college within a week, not really say goodbye because you don't know how long it will last, and not be able to walk for graduation. even this year most colleges were zoom graduations.
I agree and in addition I've felt the people who were juniors in high school and college got shafted badly because you lose your peak working and networking year, mixed with a half hearted attempt at a last hurrah.
I seems to be much harder for the graduating seniors this year to get into colleges they normally would get to. Not sure if it's because many deferred enrollment last year meaning fewer spots. Also the sophomores and juniors last year not getting internships last summer as most companies didn't do them, I don't think.
DBD Exercise Corner
Week Two of eight week program almost complete, I now understand why people hate leg days. They feel like they drag on forever and then you are rewarded with not being able to go down stairs for a day. Otherwise going well.
Projects have kept me out of the game for a while, however, I went to an amazing mountain bike enduro race over this past weekend and am really amped up get up to Truckee and Downiville to do some all-day technical rides.
we are headed to Reno the week of Jul 12. my older daughter made it to nationals for rock climbing. hopefully we get a couple days to explore the outdoors.
Would you know what days she's climbing? I'll need to figure out what days we should go up.
Or if non-family members can even go?
The usual, minus sit-ups, since my back is hurting.
There are other ways to do core exercises that don’t require you to be on your back
Umpiring my 65th game since the season got started locally on Apr. 10 tonight. Only started really getting fresh air when the mask mandate was lifted outdoors in Oregon late in May. Finally getting back in reasonably decent game shape.
I am _completely_ idle. Not my best plan, if it were a plan.
I've been working on pushing the pace on my bike rides lately. After the first couple months of riding season I noticed I was making a good pace but getting complacent and content with that pace. Now I'm more consistently reminding myself to push an extra 10% or so.
Since I quit running races years ago I find myself running the same pace almost all the time. I try to schedule at least one run on trails and hills a week. Also try to do one with the intent of doing the second half faster than the first but not always successful with that. I was successful this morning though.
@Just have your 2nd half be downhill@
my rides are mostly uphill on the way out and downhill on the way home because of local geography.
on the other hand since i have a power meter to measure actual effort, it is harder to maintain higher power numbers on the downhill
Since I've been skipping my group rides (5:45am! plus occasionally rainy) I decided to start at my spinning studio - much better at being able to maintain power levels than on a bike where I can futz around and cruise if I'm not on my group ride. It is humbling to get dusted by older white ladies though, who are pushing watt numbers than I . . . .cannot.
Getting good at being lazy and not going out for runs. Also I've been having some heal pain, maybe plantar fasciitis, but I think I've had that in the past on the upper outside edges of my foot not the heal area. Looks like running on a treadmill is better than outside. 24 hour fitness allowed me to bring a buddy in for a year after the whole covid thing so I go when No 1 has wanted to go lift, 1-2 times a week.
Walking four miles every other day. weight lifting.
slowly building back up cycling endurance after the 4 month layoff because of the injury. feels great to be back outside riding again even if it is a bit slower than my regular pace.
i actually have a cycling coach who puts workouts on my calendar and i speak to her once a week. so far no hard work outs as i just get used to riding again w/ some intensity.
hopefully this weekend i can go for a 40 mi ride w/ some moderate rolling hills.
I used to race road bikes a long time ago. I always thought it interesting that folks would drop thousands of dollars to shave a few grams off their bike but those same people rarely put thought into paying a coach to get a better return on investment, performance wise.
I've hired a golf coach to fix my iron play - she was expensive, but so is spending $100 to hit some balls into the water.
cant you do both??!! asking for a friend ...
My bike is now 10 years old. But since I'm trying to leave China, I'm not really shopping for another bike - although I've browsed Chinese made Ti frames. Maybe I'll get one on the way out of the country and build it up back in the US.
Working on front squats at my gym. Having so so so much trouble with the front rack position.
DBD AV Club
I saw the Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard the other night. It's not good, and it has a super distracting ongoing continuity problem with Ryan Reynolds's facial hair.
Season 5 of Kim’s Convenience dropped. Nothing groundbreaking, but still worth a couple of literal LOL each ep, which is all I ask of a sitcom.
Simu Liu and Jean Yoon talked a lot about how difficult the last season was without a Korean voice in the writer's room. Seems like everything ended very messily.
I thought that S5 was with the creators and the reason they aren't doing a final S6 is because the creators weren't gonna do it.
Yeah I think any hope of a 6th season went out the window with everything that's come out.
it wasn't cancelled - the show runners themselves ended it and started writign a spin off about the white character.
yeah, when I read that there'd be a spinoff about Shannon, I thought, "the least interesting character on the show".
We watched the first episode some time ago; I liked it well enough, the wife thought it was too "broad"
I was downloading it when it showed up in torrent every week. I've been leaving the last few episodes to binge later. I've really liked the series and will miss it. Like you said, I don't need TV shows to be realistic or deep. I just want to be entertained.
And I would clarify that Kim's *is* groundbreaking in the sense that it's a sitcom that normalizes Asian family life without "explaining" everything. "This is how we are...deal with it!". It's the comedy that isn't groundbreaking.
The opposite is Awkwafina is Nora in Queens. (Which had Simu Liu in a great "flashback" cameo.) Well, "opposite" isn't right...just that it's less of a typical sitcom, and more edgy (in a Broad City way). But also addresses the Asian-ness of it in a similar matter-of-fact way as Kim's Convenience.
And on that note...Always Be My Maybe is great. Pretty much every actor is Asian – including the super (won't spoil it) cameo – but it's not a "plot point"; it just "is".
I enjoyed Nora in Queens as well. And yes it is different than Kim's.
Did you see The Farewell? I thought Awkwafina was really good in that as well.
have not...I'll look for it
I really wanted to like Awkwafina is Nora from Queens... but I just didn't think it was that funny. (Broad City, on the other hand, was wonderful; The Farewell was great.)
Always Be My Maybe was perfectly cromulent, but I'm not really the target audience.
Kim's Convenience was really great for the first two seasons, but dropped off in quality after that.
If you could bring back any canceled show for a 90-minute tv movie to wrap things up, which show would you choose?
Party Down
fuck yeah
Several, including HBO shows Carnivale and Deadwood, and Amazon shows Good Girls Revolt and the Last Tycoon.
Deadwood did get a TV movie to wrap it up!
The latter two made me resent Amazon for making incredible original content only to cancel after one season.
Pushing Daisies. Unfortunate victim of a writers' strike.
Solid choice
ALF
No, really. The show abruptly ended with ALF being apprehended by government agents, since the producers didn't know it would be canceled.
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/alf-ended-on-a-cliffhanger-that-wasnt-supposed-to-be-the-final-episode.html/
/facepalm
Don't know about wrapping things up (the world always has kept on going), but I wouldn't mind an update from Game of Thrones, on what's happening with the 3rd dragon (never was happy with the mis-management of tactics that lost 2 of them), and up north.
The Pretender. They were supposed to make 3 2-hour movies to wrap up the story and they only made 2.
Am I an awful person for looking forward to the inevitable train wreck that is the Celebrity Dating Game?
Really enjoyed the vibe of Loki. Plus Owen Wilson and Tom HIddleston just chewing scenery.
Amazing art direction, just amazing 19/19-WB
that explains why my older daughter was talking about the decline of Owen Wilson's nose (she apparently thinks that it keeps looking worse and worse as he ages? I was trying to get back to my laptop for a conference call and didn't follow up)
he had a dick nose a decade ago. Its gotten worse?
Seemingly, yes.
Yeah, it's even more out of place.
DBD Test Kitchen
test kitchen fail ..
i normally make a cocktail and take my time but last night as i was in a bit of a rush i sliced off part of my thumbnail and have a moderately deep cut. mostly just an inconvenience now, but who knew your thumb was SO useful!!
the food was good though
I did that with a cheese grater once--sliced part of the thumb and nail. It was unpleasant.
thinking of using it as an excuse not to work out today
IT'S LEG DAY, MFer!!!
good thing it was not "thumb day"
Kraken
My friend's been reading kraken romance novels
Is your friend, you?
its dino romance novels or nothing as far as I am concerned. "Taken by the T Rex" is a classic
oh man, apparently there are gay dino "romance" novels available too. "Space Raptor Butt Invasion" came across my feed
JFC. Rule 36 in effect.
Is that like octopus porn?
She explains that it's half human, half octopus
male, female, both, other?
I asked, and it sounds like there are kraken of various genders!
Hopefully there is an Irish kraken named Phil, Phil McKraken
https://gfycat.com/creamydisfiguredankolewatusi
Btw, I’m living large with the TropicSport sunscreen that you recommended. 10 days in and I’m still sufficiently pale! ¡Gracias!
Whew!
I assumed that you were joking. It’s a real thing???
So real that my friend wants to remind everyone that octopuses don't have tentacles, they have arms. So a kraken would have two human arms and eight octopus arms, for a total of ten arms.
The second Veruca Salt album was called "Eight Arms to Hold You" - it was good, but like many sophomore albums it wasn't really that successful.
Props for the use of "octopuses" (or "octopodes") and not "octopi"
I’d thought a kraken was a squid (which the cartoon above seems to corroborate), hence 2+10 arms. Altho tbh, I didn’t know that there was a human component at all; thought it was just a giant 10-armed (tentacled) squid
I was fortunate to see Ray Harryhausen on tour, talking about his special effects for Clash of the Titans. He brought along the models of Caliban and Medusa, which I got to see close up. Took some good pictures which might be in a box somewhere. He enjoyed telling the story of going through airport security, where they wanted to open his luggage. He said he warned them that they would turn to stone!
I would not have predicted that Release the Kraken would take on its most recent meaning. Maybe Harryhausen would have though.
Clash of the Titans = good movie. Perseus stalking Medusa in her labyrinth, using his shield as a mirror, and then cutting off her head. He puts it in a satchel and then, once outside, holds it up to the Kraken, who turns to stone.
I have the lunchbox for that, which had a cameo in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"
The great line "Are you a Mexi-can, or a Mexi-can't?"
The original Clash anyway. The modern remake was pretty bad.
I mean the old 1981 film.
Not exactly the same, but I fondly remember Chuck Jones (the best director of classic WB cartoons) came to speak to our Pop Culture class - he was floored by the standing ovation he received.
Seattle's new NHL team.
Old joke - Hoping the rabid fans are nicknamed "Krak Heads"
Crypto
Liam Neeson
Funny little coincidence re: biographical data in the header...
Liam Neeson was born in Ballymena, (Northern) Ireland
Today, I googled myself and up pops a name of someone with the same name that died in the year I was born. That person died in Canada, but was born in Ballymena, Ireland in 1893.
What are the odds?
It's spelled "Liam Neesons."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhfHu6IHBiI
qui gon jinn
the OG force ghost
i thought he was a great character. too bad he only lived for 1 movie. so did Darth Maul and he is one of my favorites.
He was SOOOOOOO boring! Obi-wan (Alec not Ewan) had depth. And Darth Maul was just face makeup (with spikes?) and a cool saber. But not a “character”.
sounds like tyou need to watch the animated series re: Maul
Yeah, i’ve heard they’re good, but I can never get into series that already have a bunch of seasons under the belt. Too much of a time sink. I’ll just have to trust you that Maul in the hands of someone other than Lucas is a positive ;-)
You can Google maul specific episodes to watch his entire story arc. Honestly there are a handful of throwaway episodes.
I've been starting to watch the Clone Wars series and it's clear proof that Lucas needed other writers to help make his characters into real people.
New “characters” are what Zahn brought in the Heir to Empire trilogy. Thrawn, Mara, Karrde, Palleon, Noghri…
but you know through all the animated series Maul is still alive...
Our Crumbling Democracy
Taiwan's KMT calls Singapore activist 'white supremacist' on Twitter
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4220117
Japan prime minister refers to Taiwan as 'country' during National Diet meeting
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4219683
hawkwardddd
they've traced the KMT account holder to some Chinese dude with a western name
FiveThirtyEight quantifies the polarization of America
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-really-really-dislike-biden-but-its-not-just-about-him/
[NYT] Trump White House lawyer Don McGahn affirms in old but now released testimony that Trump asked Rosenstein to remove Mueller, fired Jeff Sessions because he recused himself from protecting Trump, asked McGahn to lie to counter WaPo and NYT articles which he refused to do because they were true, and criticized McGahn for taking notes because he didn't want written evidence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/politics/mcgahn-mueller-report-testimony.html
Biden’s message as he lands in Europe: America's back
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/09/bidens-message-as-he-lands-in-europe-americas-back-492720
Backstreet's back ALL RIGHT
Today in Covid-19
Houston hospital suspends 178 employees who refused Covid-19 vaccination
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/houston-hospital-suspends-178-employees-who-refused-covid-19-vaccine-n1270261
A Houston hospital has suspended 178 staff members who have refused to abide by its mandate that employees be fully vaccinated by Monday.
Nearly 25,000 of Houston Methodist's staff members have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 as part of a vaccination requirement announced in April, Houston Methodist's president, Dr. Marc Boom, said in a statement Tuesday.
But 178 unvaccinated employees who did not get religious or medical exemptions were suspended without pay, including 27 who are only partly vaccinated.
The hospital is being VERY careful if they're suspending these jerks. If you're in a healthcare setting you really have a responsibility to the patients to be fully vaccinated unless there's a solid medical reason why you can't (such as immuno-suppression due to a transplant).
Some local governments are not playing around. Santa Clara County, for instance, requires employers to know the vaccination status of its employees, including contractors and volunteers.
In the same vein, employees are presumed to not be vaccinated if the employee (1) says they are not vaccinated, refuses to disclose their vaccination status, or (3) the employer hasn't yet learned the employee's vaccination status.
Santa Clara County is also taking a hard-line in other ways. If there's conflicting advice from the CDC or the State of California Dept. of Public Health relative to the Santa Clara County Health Officer, the more restrictive requirements controls. The Health Order from the Santa Clara County Health Officer is almost certain to be more restrictive than either the CDC or the State DPH.
I understand that there's a utility in the South Bay somewhere (it might be Santa Clara County) that will terminate employees who have not been vaccinated after June 15.
Texas is an at-will employment state so unfortunately it's quite easy to fire these employees. (I think they should get vaxxed, but at-will employment states are awful)
GO, does your facility require vaccines for all employees? Or do you know employees that have said they don't want them for whatever reason?
I assume all the stories we hear about nurses not wanting the vaccine are just the minority but they're getting the headlines.
no. Though most (~99%) everyone did get it, there were a few who did not and for whatever reason, they no longer work here.
i just had to upload vaccine card to some system so i can be let back into the office starting Jul 1, on a completely voluntary basis
If you didn't upload the vaccine card, would you work remotely until you had proof of vaccination?
Pro
Suns dominate Nuggets again, lead 2-0. Might be for real.
https://www.theringer.com/2021/6/10/22527541/phoenix-suns-chris-paul-nba-playoffs
Sam Darnold is vaccine-hesitant.
https://twitter.com/edsbs/status/1402975899130208256
https://twitter.com/brianmfloyd/status/1403011949676285959?s=21
“ Sam Darnold, for example, is dumb as hell. He had mono and set back his career and now, hanging on to that career by a thread, he’s like nah I don’t need vaccines. He’s stupid, simple as that”
So is my nephew.
@That might be smart... he can then blame something other than himself for the lackluster career.@
And there is a ‘Sam Darnold is out indefinitely’ meme generator from Tim Burke (@bubbaprog on Twitter) who is a great follow.
https://burke-communications.com/?p=840
Giants lose another game in which they don’t trail until the final pitch
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/6/9/22526732/san-francisco-giants-rangers-recap-sammy-long-jake-mcgee
Sorry, I’ve done this schtick earlier in the season, but it’s worth doing again.
There were 306 pitches during Wednesday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers. After each of the first 305 pitches the game sat in one of two states: a tie, or a Giants lead.
After the 306th pitch, the Rangers led.
At my $10,000 all-inclusive coach’s retreat, Father B’s Coaches Colony, I reveal my No. 1, fool-proof secret to success.
Justin Turner goes deep (twice), Dodgers bullpen saves short Tony Gonsolin start
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/9/22527031/justin-turner-home-runs-tony-gonsolin-walks-dodgers-bullpen-excellent-pirates-recap
Justin Turner homered twice, providing just enough offense to back a stellar Dodgers pitching effort to beat the Pirates 2-1 on Wednesday night at PNC Park. Only the run prevention didn’t go exactly as planned.
A funny thing happened on the way to getting the bullpen some relief, with the Dodgers now sporting a rotation with five starting pitchers. But Tony Gonsolin was wild in his first game off the injured list, a starting pitcher only nominally.
The hope was that Gonsolin, who maxed out at 60 pitches and 3⅔ innings in his minor league rehab assignment, would be able to get through five innings on Wednesday, but he wasn’t even close.
Dodgers have the early game on youtube.com.
A's beat hapless Diamondbacks 4-0, Mark Canha's drive to deep center field was dropped by the outfielder after he leaped and hit the wall. The play was upheld by replay review in NY, and two runs scored. Manaea threw 111 pitches in six innings, getting the W.
Game #63: Fortune shines on A’s in 4-0 win
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/6/9/22526894/oakland-as-game-63-arizona-diamondbacks-score-result
The Oakland A’s have been on the wrong side of some bad hops in recent weeks, but their luck evened out Wednesday.
All four of the A’s runs came with some help from the baseball gods as they defeated the Arizona D’Backs 4-0 at the Coliseum, completing a sweep of their season series with the interleague opponent. Oakland even won a replay review!
Like the previous night’s 5-2 victory, this game mostly swung on one crucial inning. Today it was the bottom of the 2nd.
Gerrit Cole's response has told me everything I need to know. I think foreign substance cheating is rampant in MLB.
https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=31592326
I saw that and it was painful to watch.
New York Mets' Pete Alonso posits that MLB 'manipulates the baseball' based on free-agent class
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31599594/new-york-mets-pete-alonso-posits-mlb-manipulates-baseball-based-free-agent-class
An interesting take. He'd also rather allow the pitcher to use sticky stuff to keep control of the baseball. With pitchers throwing harder than ever he doesn't want another Kevin Pillar.
Though, if pitchers don't have a feel for the ball, would they stop throwing as hard? Right now MPH and spinrate is how pitchers are being judged.
Other College
Momentum rapidly growing for College Football Playoff expansion to eight or more teams
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/momentum-rapidly-growing-for-college-football-playoff-expansion-to-eight-or-more-teams/
Looks like this is the idea:
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1403042783347286016
Six highest-ranked conference champions + six at-large spots.
I think this is fair if you are going to do a playoff. Basically guarantees every P5 conference an auto-bid (unless one of them has a really horrible season) and also guarantees access to at least one top mid-major, something that basically wasn't possible before. And with the at-large spots there's enough room for teams that have an argument but got unlucky with an injury or scheduling or something (or are independent).
If you don't like the college football playoff . . . well, you're probably not going to be happy with any proposal.
If you're going to keep the playoff it has to happen IMO.
BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
YAAAAAHHHHH!
I am 100% convinced that the playoffs have killed what made College Football great.
They have...and it was predictable.
There's none of the annual debate about what would happen if #1 had played #2 in the Orange Bowl instead of #1 playing #4 (or #5) in the Sugar Bowl (or the Rose Bowl).
College football should be a spectacle, not the flipping NFL. Now, it's basically NFL Light and it's diluted BOTH products.
A pox on the CFB Playoffs, the BCS, and all these folks who are certain that playoffs were some sort of answer to a fan's delirium when it was an answer to a question not asked
It's a question frequently asked, just not one relevant in a number of places in the west, Berkeley included.
Univ of Rochester is the only private school my older daughter is going to be applying to next year. i dont know that much about it except it has a decent reputation.
last night she won some George Eastman academic award as a HS junior that came with a suggestive note saying "please forward the copy of this award to the director of admissions"
she does like photography ...
A good friend of mine went there for undergrad. Would you and your daughter like to talk to him?
we are at the phase where she is a little tired of all this. so yes eventually, but probably in the fall or if she has an actual decision to make next spring.
Ok! He's a little busy right now with new parenthood anyway.
but thank you. will definitely need to hit up the right people when the time comes
Cal
Is Cal the worst place in the Pac-12 for a visitor to tailgate?
the only away game I've attended was at U-Dub and wherever the locals were tailgating, I didn't see them. We showed up, enjoyed watching SC win, and left.
Only a small patch of parking on the East side of stadium for Bear Backers, very miniscule.
ucla, bc it is ucla
the rose bowl is pretty decent i think.
close
There is essentially no place to tailgate at Cal. Its mostly a collection of house parties for the locals. WSU is actually a very fan friendly (once you finally get there!) place for a game.
Nah, The Palouse is. (sp?)
Go Bears!!!
Cal welcomes 10 new members to the Cal HOF
>>> Sofie Andersson Aagaard (women's golf, 2004-06) – three-time All-American led Cal to three top-5 NCAA finishes
>>> Susie Babos (women's tennis, 2005-08) – 2006 NCAA singles champion and a five-time All-American
>>> Erin Cafaro (women's rowing, 2003-06) – led Cal to two NCAA team titles and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist
>>> Justin Forsett (football, 2004-07) – 2007 first-team All-Pac-12 selection and team MVP rushed for 3,220 career yards
>>> Marshawn Lynch (football, 2004-06) – first-team All-American and the 2006 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year rushed for 3,230 career yards
>>> Bill McClintock (men's basketball, 1959-61) – two-time All-American and member of Cal's 1959 NCAA championship team
>>> Xavier Nady (baseball, 1998-2000) – three-time All-American and Cal's all-time leader in home runs
>>> Angie Pressey Forsett (volleyball, 2004-07) – two-time All-American led Cal to its first NCAA semifinal berth in 2007
>>> Kort Schubert (rugby, 1998-2002) – two-time National Player of the Year and long-time member of the U.S. National Team
>>> Ashley Walker (women's basketball, 2006-09) – three-time All-American and Cal's first WNBA first-round draft pick
An embarrassment of riches at RB during the mid-2000s. Wow.
the Forsett-Pressey household goes 2-2