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The crowdfund campaign for my friend's short film, Lunchbox, is now live! No pressure to donate, but if you'd like to see the explanatory video, it's on this page https://seedandspark.com/fund/lunchbox-1

When a Taiwanese American woman prepares lunches from her childhood, she struggles to forgive herself for pushing away her immigrant mother. Based on real events, this timely story examines anti-Asian racism and its effects on a mother and daughter.

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Substack seems to be acting weird for me today. In the past, things would post and then replicate the post in another window... then hang. Now, my comments disappear after posting and I have to reload to see it. Weird.

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Doing the same for me. In addition, if I don't refresh, I can't add another comment.

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There is something wrong with this site today, can't see comments I make until I re-load.

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https://www.eventbrite.com/e/looking-back-moving-forward-food-sovereignty-at-uc-berkeley-tickets-159008965095

On Thursday at 11AM PT, join UC Berkeley professor Elizabeth Hoover and PhD candidate Jesús Nazario as they discuss their research and experience working with Indigenous communities and food.

This free event is the second in a series of conversations that will focus on the history and future of the Hearst Museum and UC Berkeley’s relationships with local Indigenous communities. Featuring speakers from within and beyond the campus, the series will center on ongoing projects leveraging UC’s institutional power, historically a source of harm, to further indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.

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Paint.

Probably going to get the house painted in September/October - most of the painting contractors I've contacted are booked until then.

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many things delayed/backordered/expensive

- ordered a new SubZero fridge - 6 mo

- ordered a EV chagring station - 4-6 wks

- the electrician wont even quote a price since price of wiring keeps going up

- thought about a hot tub for a hot second, 8-12 mo

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- backyard chain link fencing (new dog): got 1 out of 3 companies to even respond (then I ended up deciding against it, save the quoted $8,500 and go to the park daily for exercise, set up a really nice deluxe 150 foot $100 dog run [Tumbo brand] for hanging out outside)

- broken shallow well pump for my house's water pressure booster system: got 1 guy to respond saying he could do it, only to fall off the face of the earth after that

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Bronze

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Disasters

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mini disaster.

i had just putting a pot of boiling water/rice on the stove last night when somehow it slipped out of my hand a spewed boiling water all over my feet and lower legs. luckily it was not too bad, no real burns, but it was a scary moment ...

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I'm just glad you are ok and no sausages needed to be thrown out of the window

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Ouch. I hope you are OK. I burned the top of my index finger taking out a pizza from the oven last week, still healing.

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Teal

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Ms. Atom's favorite color. I'm not a huge fan generally, but that Aegean Teal color is quite nice.

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Doja Cat is teal colored in her music video that features Cal's Cameron Saffle

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Popular color for sports teams at the end of the 90's I guess.

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Teal, purple, and black all had a big surge in popularity at the time.

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late 80s early 90s.

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DBD Exercise Club

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Biked to work today. First time in a bit. Been crazy hot the last week or so, even in the morning.

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DBD Test Kitchen

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Thai Curry tonight with the usual ingredients....

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MMMMMMmmm... Leftover grilled skirt steak sandwich with grilled red onions and yellow bell peppers, so good.

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What do you think of Spencer Hall's fried chicken tiering?

https://spencerhall.substack.com/p/s-tier-rankings-fried-chicken

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100% of my fried chicken love is directed towards sandwiches, and I am a fan of most, TBH. I recently had a KFC one (the new type) and it was delicious.

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[daydreaming about Gus's in Memphis]

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There's was (is) a Gus's bbq in South Pasadena. Generally good, but I don't think their fried chicken was especially outstanding.

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Different Gus's. This is the one we're talking about: https://gusfriedchicken.com/

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Yes, I figured. Here's the one in SP:

http://www.gussbbq.com/southpasadena-lunch-dinner.html

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How can you not like a place with a neon pig?

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...Gus's is in Oakland and SoCal now. Or do you live in like North Carolina or something?

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My favorite is still KFC when it's done well, but they do have a consistency of quality problem. Followed by Popeye's, Bonchon, and Church's. I'm not a fan of any chicken sandwiches, so Chick-fil-A isn't on my list. I haven't tried any o the others.

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I don't eat enough chain fried foods to have an opinion on the rankings. I do, however, enjoy Spencer's writing.

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i dont love Popeye's chicken just on its own. their spicy sandwich is pretty amazing though ..

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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Federal Appeals judge puts stay on the throwing out of the ban on California assault rifles (ie, the "AR-15 = Swiss Army Knife").

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/559521-federal-appeals-court-puts-judges-ruling-overturning-californias-assault

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ICYMI: [NY Times & WaPo] Mark Meadows fed to Trump various voter conspiracy theories in his final weeks of his presidency. Trump ate them up since he wanted to believe anything but his loss and they are detailed in emails. One of the more outlandish emails was "Italygate", where various voting machines were allegedly changed from space by Italian military satellites. WaPo now uncovered that these allegations were brought about by Michelle Roosevelt Edwards (fka Michelle Ballarin) who was a single mom, but reinvented herself as a person who claimed she was a business person, horse-country socialite, and someone with ties to Somali pirates. The problem is, Mrs. Edwards - or more aptly Ms. Edwards since none of her husbands had the family named Edwards when she changed her name - is apparently batshit crazy. Apart from her making up Italian satellite conspiracies, inserting herself uninvited into pirate negotiations, creating sham companies, and giving an interview for Icelandic TV in a mansion that she pretended was her own when it was actually vacant for tours because it was being sold.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/italygate-michele-edwards-meadows-trump/2021/06/19/2f6314d2-d05f-11eb-8014-2f3926ca24d9_story.html

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Trump's GOP friends and foes unite — to shrug at Dem fury over secret subpoenas

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/22/intel-gop-secret-subpoenas-495363

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Today in Covid 19

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Pro

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New York Mets fire two high-ranking employees after workplace review

Executive vice president and chief legal officer David Cohen -- no relation to the owner -- and senior vice president for human resources and diversity Holly Lindvall will both be terminated as Steve Cohen rebuilds the legal and HR departments. David Cohen has been with the Mets since 1995 and Lindvall since 2010. Both will remain with the team during "a transition period," Cohen wrote.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31681490/new-york-mets-fire-two-high-ranking-employees-workplace-review

the fired head of legal, is actually a friend of mine and lives around the corner. not that we were so close that i know all the details, but he was always my connection to great seats at Mets games.

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Other College

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Wazzu home football games will be allowed to be at 100% capacity. Whether the Cougars will be any good is TBD.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jun/22/washington-state-announced-100-capacity-at-home-fo/

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Pac 12 considers structural changes including eliminating the separate north and south divisions and also reducing the number of conference games to 8, meaning one more cupcake could be scheduled just like the SEC does. The changes, if implemented, would not be effective until 2023 but would result in a higher likelihood of getting a Pac-12 team into the FBS playoffs and also a potentially higher national ranking. Would this be good for Cal?

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I like the divisions. Without it, and the 9th game, the NW schools will too often lose a game vs a regional rival, and gain trips to Arizona no one wants any part of. A 4th NC game will be a $ loser, as there aren't enough Boise Sts and BYUs around.

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I hate the north/south split because it's done improperly, so I am all in favor of this plan.

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This seems like something that makes more sense for the 4-team playoff we currently have and not so much for the 12-team playoff that seems to be on the way.

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If the Pac-12 is so worried that it will get left out of a 12 team field that we're reorganizing the conference, we probably shouldn't be a P5 conference to begin with

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BOOOOOOO!!!!

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I think it would be good for the Conference's royalty like USC, Oregon, and Washington - but net negative for Cal, who would lose money on a home-and-home arrangement with another B or C-tier opponent. The only financial upside is if we somehow were able to get more A-tier opponents or feast off of the "Notre Dame" away-game-only payouts and win those games. If, for one, would love another A-minus game on our schedule - something competitive and, at worst, financially neutral.

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Let's start a new Cal-Michigan rivalry tradition.

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I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan...

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Most of the football powerhouses are in boring places though

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It would be good for the conference. As for Cal, until they break the cycle of a) losing that game they shouldn’t, and b) the completely shitting the bed game, it could be good for them.

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