I wanna see the total eclipse in Austin TX in 2024. The most recent one where I could watch the actual solar winds blew my mind. Space be crazy like dat
the next generation opening theme is so unreasonably loud on Netflix, relative to the sound level of the rest of the show. I used to watch it and casually fall in and out of sleep, until being blasted awake by the them when the next episode auto played. Those damn horns!
Yesterday, the space tourism company Space Perspective opened up reservations for a “luxury” six-hour flight to the edge of space on giant balloons the size of a football stadium. The cost per ticket: $125,000.
my anti-proton detector thesis expt went up to the edge of space in a similar giant helium balloon. maybe some grad student could sneak aboard w/ one in their luggage ...
while it was not super high on my list of places to go, it was definitely worth the 4 day hike in/out of the canyon from the north rim.
not sure why we thought it was would be a reasonable thing to do in Jul in the heat of the summer. it was about 95-100 deg at night at the base of the canyon. was hard to get to sleep in that kind of heat.
I love the Grand Canyon, but went hiking there one summer and came very close to just lying down inside the canyon because of the heat. Have no idea how people came through in the 1800s (or the natives before them) wearing like canvas.
I did a week-long rafting trip two years ago through the Grand Canyon in July. Amazing. We found that if you sleep on a bend of the river, the air flow off the river knocks off about 10 degrees. The night time skies there are amazing. Bajillions of stars. https://www.westernriver.com/
Yes, went on a couple of tours hosted by former Biospherians. Very interesting history. They recommended seeing the comedy BioDome--said that whoever made that movie must have had some inside information!
I haven't see Spaceship Earth. Do you recommend it? Our guide, Taber MacCallum, recommended his wife's "tell-all" book, The Human Experiment by Jane Poynter. This I did read, very interesting and highly recommended.
I didn't know how beautiful (if in an austere way) that northern Arizona is, until we went there. I've been to Tucson as well but all I remember is 1) mountains and 2) oh my god it's hot.
I first drove through in the late-90's...boy, it's so much different now. But in the shit pool that IS the state of Arizona, it's about the best thing going.
Flagstaff is great! I spent 5 miserable years living in North Phoenix, and Flag being 100 minutes away was really the best thing about that period of my life.
Jerome is a cool little town as well, with a great burger joint up on the hill... the Haunted Hamburger.
The La Posada Hotel in Winslow is an awesome old Fred Harvey railroad hotel in Winslow. My spouse and I wandered in by chance during a road trip back in the aughts.
Agreed, FS...Winslow is just awful...drove through last summer on the Coast to COVID road trip while on I-40 and couldn't get out fast enough. I want those 20 minutes back.
Just caught fully up to speed on Cobra Kai, 8/10 would recommend.
Sometimes the plot gets a little silly (how many teenage karate brawls can one town sustain?), but it's compulsively watchable and much better than this kind of reboot has any right to be. Self-aware but not in a way that mocks the material.
To catch up on some of the references in the show, I also went and watched the three original Karate Kid movies (I'm not sure if the Hilary Swank one will become relevant). Part 3 is really dumb.
Part 3 was kinda brutal...but it definitely factors into the Cobra Kai series in spots. Agreed - the non-stop teenage karate melees were a bit much, but all in all, very enjoyable, and so many of the original cast members returning is quite enjoyable, esp. for fans of the original.
I remember seeing Karate Kid as a 9 y.o. in the theater...that dome out in Pleasant Hill! Good times!
Yeah, I was spurred to watch Part 3 because of the segment where Daniel says he was once a Cobra Kai. I was like, "What? When?" Didn't know that happened in 3.
Exactly...it's where I first became aware of classic action hero/B-movie star Thomas Ian Griffith....figured he will be making a Cobra Kai appearance eventually, and sure enough, IMDB confirms...can't wait.
Recently saw him again on STARZ in xXx w/ Vin Diesel, as the initial secret agent that gets killed by Kiril's rifle and Anarchy-99 at the beginning.
this is a couple of days old, but I'm mildly amused that the EU is going to formally exclude UK tv from it's "home content" requirements and now the UK entertainment sector is discovering that Brexit might hit them too.
our cat is a creature of habit... now that I'm the only one in the house, she's confused. I found her hanging out in the tv room last night at about the same time that either my daughters or my wife would be watching. No idea if she has any opinion about what they are watching.
I have a code for a Spartan Race Sprint that I deferred because of Covid. I am still recovering from my surgery, so I won't be able to use it. It should cover the expensive part (race), but there's probably some small additional fees like insurance and parking. I think it is transferable. Anybody want it?
I ordered in from a local Ethiopian restaurant. It's supposed to be gross out this weekend so perhaps I shall sulk in the a/c and do some cooking. (the weather is, to be technical, AMAZEBALLS today)
My brother and I are trying to persuade my mother that despite the fact that the management of their apartment complex says "no a/c units," they need to use one that my brother has spare. My father is lying in a hospital bed in the spare bedroom dying, and she's convinced the two of them will be okay with fans. It's fucking mental. Apologies for oversharing, but JFC.
President Biden is a few miles from me now. That weirdo isn't raising money from an arena of his most loyal fans by riling them up with lies. Instead, he's doing stupid shit like encouraging people to get vaccinated and doing Presidential stuff.
A New York appellate court suspended Rudolph W. Giuliani’s law license on Thursday after a disciplinary panel found that he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements about the 2020 election as Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney.
The court wrote in a 33-page decision that Mr. Giuliani’s conduct threatened “the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.”
Mr. Giuliani helped lead Mr. Trump’s legal challenge to the election results, arguing without merit that the vote had been rife with fraud and that voting machines had been rigged.
Look, I get it that not everyone pays attention to these things, but for those who do . . . I can't believe that they wouldn't have seen this coming. Republicans obstructed the last time the Democrats had majorities and they will do it again.
It took just seconds for a person to be infected with COVID-19 as a stranger walked past them while shopping at Bondi Junction Westfield. And it hasn't happened just once. Australian health officials are warning it no longer takes up to 15 minutes to pass on the deadly virus. *It can be a "fleeting moment" of just five to 10 seconds.*
this is absolutely going to scorch through the under-12 set in the US & if you thought people in highly-vaccinated mostly blue states were pissed at refuseniks before, wait until the kids are getting the 'rona and the parents are not
Yep. They were able to figure out what happened thanks to security footage from the mall and sequencing the genome of the virus strains in the infected people.
The Giants continue to be magical -- winning with a crew of guys who dirty casuals like us would not even dream of being very good before the season. Last night's game was great - featuring Ohtani and Gaussman in a pitchers duel for most of the game. And then the relievers got in. Starting with the ninth, every inning seemed to have a guy in scoring position with nobody out. The Giants end up winning as Angel's reliever Claudio walked three straight, including the go-ahead run. Another reliever Guerra went in and he was just as bad, leading to a final 9-3 score that was a lot closer than it seems.
Not sure whether this would be Cal or Other College – since the hotel seems to be confused about where they are – but heading to Santa Monica in a few weeks, and this is how the Hilton describes its location:
"Universal Studios is 22 mi from this hotel. The University of California is 7 mi away. The nearest airport is Los Angeles International Airport, 12 mi away."
Is it near LAX or is it near Cal? Is this the SM Hilton or the Claremont?
That would be a great site. I wouldn’t mind going to that Bowl, even more so in that venue. I would hope that it turns out better than the last one I went to.
Yeah sitting in the upper level of the Q in December was a great way to catch a cold after a few days of drinking. Giving it to SDSU to build a smaller stadium is probably the smartest decision in San Diego since Horton Plaza kicked off the Gaslight.
Stanfurd baseball: Bottom of the ninth, up by one, and their ace Brandan Beck is on the hill with two outs and nobody on base. Beck has held opponents to a 0.200 batting average and has >11 K/9 this season. A few minutes later, the Cardinal is eliminated from the College World Series.
Little Leagued it up big time. Walked the guy, and then gave up a pair of singles that tied it up. Compounding the problem, the SS tried to throw out one of the batter-runners from deep in the hole, and threw it away. Had no chance as the runner was 2 steps beyond 1st when the ball arrived, but because he didn't eat it, the go ahead run advanced to 3rd instead of still being at 2nd, giving Stanford still a chance to get to extra innings.
But with him on 3rd, Beck, the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, who had been brilliant up until the melt down with 1 out to go, uncorked a backstop ball, and Vanderbilt's quest for back to back CWS titles is still alive, and the Pac-12 is done.
Yahoo's Pete Thamel unloads a truck load of dirt on ASU with literal receipts. Implicated: Herm Edwards, DB Coach Chris Hawkins, Jayden Daniels mom, TE Coach Adam Breneman, WR Coach Prentice Gill, and 13 recruits.
I look forward to ASU football being crippled with immediate transfers, multi-year reductions in scholarships, and years of outraged commentary from professional and amateur opinion writers. I mean fair's fair.
Space
I wanna see the total eclipse in Austin TX in 2024. The most recent one where I could watch the actual solar winds blew my mind. Space be crazy like dat
The eclipse is Monday, April 8.
the final frontier
these are the voyages
the next generation opening theme is so unreasonably loud on Netflix, relative to the sound level of the rest of the show. I used to watch it and casually fall in and out of sleep, until being blasted awake by the them when the next episode auto played. Those damn horns!
Yesterday, the space tourism company Space Perspective opened up reservations for a “luxury” six-hour flight to the edge of space on giant balloons the size of a football stadium. The cost per ticket: $125,000.
my anti-proton detector thesis expt went up to the edge of space in a similar giant helium balloon. maybe some grad student could sneak aboard w/ one in their luggage ...
https://goo.gl/photos/MfP4TgeqYXWN7iDR7
Somewhat less than the $30 million fare at Blue Origin.
Consider Arizona
Grand Canyon .. sometime is forget it is in AZ.
while it was not super high on my list of places to go, it was definitely worth the 4 day hike in/out of the canyon from the north rim.
not sure why we thought it was would be a reasonable thing to do in Jul in the heat of the summer. it was about 95-100 deg at night at the base of the canyon. was hard to get to sleep in that kind of heat.
I love the Grand Canyon, but went hiking there one summer and came very close to just lying down inside the canyon because of the heat. Have no idea how people came through in the 1800s (or the natives before them) wearing like canvas.
I did a week-long rafting trip two years ago through the Grand Canyon in July. Amazing. We found that if you sleep on a bend of the river, the air flow off the river knocks off about 10 degrees. The night time skies there are amazing. Bajillions of stars. https://www.westernriver.com/
Biosphere 2
Have you been to BioSphere 2?
Yes, went on a couple of tours hosted by former Biospherians. Very interesting history. They recommended seeing the comedy BioDome--said that whoever made that movie must have had some inside information!
I've also been to BioSphere 2, twice.
Have you seen the documentary Spaceship Earth?
I haven't see Spaceship Earth. Do you recommend it? Our guide, Taber MacCallum, recommended his wife's "tell-all" book, The Human Experiment by Jane Poynter. This I did read, very interesting and highly recommended.
I do recommend Spaceship Earth. I found it interesting.
Full disclosure: I also know the featured narrators, William Dempster and Marie Harding. "Freddy" is my father.
I didn't know how beautiful (if in an austere way) that northern Arizona is, until we went there. I've been to Tucson as well but all I remember is 1) mountains and 2) oh my god it's hot.
It really is, went to Sedona a couple of years ago, great long weekend destination.
Flagstaff is a pretty neat area as well.
I like Flagstaff! Stayed there a few years back on my way to the Grand Canyon during a Spring Training trip. Very cute little downtown.
We did as well, god, a LONG time ago.
I first drove through in the late-90's...boy, it's so much different now. But in the shit pool that IS the state of Arizona, it's about the best thing going.
Flagstaff is great! I spent 5 miserable years living in North Phoenix, and Flag being 100 minutes away was really the best thing about that period of my life.
Jerome is a cool little town as well, with a great burger joint up on the hill... the Haunted Hamburger.
...and my son just cancelled his trip there due to a big fire
Winslow AZ from the Eagles song ... i have been there.
i can verify that there is not much going on in that town
The La Posada Hotel in Winslow is an awesome old Fred Harvey railroad hotel in Winslow. My spouse and I wandered in by chance during a road trip back in the aughts.
https://laposada.org/
its a complete shithole
Agreed, FS...Winslow is just awful...drove through last summer on the Coast to COVID road trip while on I-40 and couldn't get out fast enough. I want those 20 minutes back.
in a flat bed ford?
Did the girl slow down to take a look at you?
You all know WAY too much Eagles...
DBD AV Club
Just caught fully up to speed on Cobra Kai, 8/10 would recommend.
Sometimes the plot gets a little silly (how many teenage karate brawls can one town sustain?), but it's compulsively watchable and much better than this kind of reboot has any right to be. Self-aware but not in a way that mocks the material.
To catch up on some of the references in the show, I also went and watched the three original Karate Kid movies (I'm not sure if the Hilary Swank one will become relevant). Part 3 is really dumb.
Part 3 was kinda brutal...but it definitely factors into the Cobra Kai series in spots. Agreed - the non-stop teenage karate melees were a bit much, but all in all, very enjoyable, and so many of the original cast members returning is quite enjoyable, esp. for fans of the original.
I remember seeing Karate Kid as a 9 y.o. in the theater...that dome out in Pleasant Hill! Good times!
Yeah, I was spurred to watch Part 3 because of the segment where Daniel says he was once a Cobra Kai. I was like, "What? When?" Didn't know that happened in 3.
Exactly...it's where I first became aware of classic action hero/B-movie star Thomas Ian Griffith....figured he will be making a Cobra Kai appearance eventually, and sure enough, IMDB confirms...can't wait.
Recently saw him again on STARZ in xXx w/ Vin Diesel, as the initial secret agent that gets killed by Kiril's rifle and Anarchy-99 at the beginning.
Haha, I always referred to the Part 3 villain as "The Fake Steven Seagal Guy", never thought to actually look up his name
The end of Season 3 is pretty clearly setting up a Terry Silver appearance.
the deeper I dive into the star wars animated series, the bigger some of these plot holes are.
this is a couple of days old, but I'm mildly amused that the EU is going to formally exclude UK tv from it's "home content" requirements and now the UK entertainment sector is discovering that Brexit might hit them too.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/21/eu-prepares-cut-amount-british-tv-film-shown-brexit
Apologies if I mentioned this already but the Amazon Prime series about Jeremy Clarkson trying to manage his own farm is genuinely a good watch.
How is he only 61 years old?!? I thought he was pushing 60 like a decade ago.
he's either aged incredibly well or incredibly poorly
Oh it's *definitely* the latter. He looks like he's fucking 80 now. This man is only 61 years old: https://www.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/film/20210617115082/jeremy-clarkson-lisa-hogan-diddly-squat-farm-clarksons-farm-spotlight-exclusive/0-556-578/jeremy-lisa-farm-1-t.webp?filter=high
You know who else is also British, an asshole, and 61 years old? Simon Cowell, seen here in April: https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/simon-cowell.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1236&h=820&crop=1
I was born 7 weeks after Simon Cowell, but almost exactly 20 weeks before Jeremy Clarkson.
I am not British, some people think of me as an asshole, and I am 61 years old.
surprised it isn't just a single episode where he underpays brown people to do it for him
C'mon man, it's not the US - they underpay Eastern Europeans to do the work... or they would if it weren't for Brexit.
Romani navigating the channel in their wagons might be an issue though
I suspect the Tories would prefer to "export" UK gypsies first
idk, those tinkers are a scrappy bunch
our cat is a creature of habit... now that I'm the only one in the house, she's confused. I found her hanging out in the tv room last night at about the same time that either my daughters or my wife would be watching. No idea if she has any opinion about what they are watching.
probably trying to find more petting.
I really enjoyed episode 3 of Loki but Twist did not.
Also, re: your comment yesterday about only 6 episodes; to me this seems like season 1 of something longer, not like Wanda Vision.
I think it's going to go into Phase 4. Kang the Conquerer and whatnot.
The show is great, what's not to love?
DBD Workout Lane
I have a code for a Spartan Race Sprint that I deferred because of Covid. I am still recovering from my surgery, so I won't be able to use it. It should cover the expensive part (race), but there's probably some small additional fees like insurance and parking. I think it is transferable. Anybody want it?
back to interval training for first time today. that KICKED MY ASS.
4x 6 min intervals with 2 min recovery at "top range of tempo"
on the other hand it was good to try hard at something for a change.
i was sort of complaining to my coach about her lowering my FTP, but it was pretty accurate after a long lay off.
DBD Test Kitchen
Making Brunswick stew - the healthiest side dish offered at a Southern BBQ despite one of its main ingredients being pulled pork
No cooking last night, had Zachary's takeout
I ordered in from a local Ethiopian restaurant. It's supposed to be gross out this weekend so perhaps I shall sulk in the a/c and do some cooking. (the weather is, to be technical, AMAZEBALLS today)
Even turned off the AC awhile ago.
yeah, I haven't had it on since... Tuesday? Lots of open windows.
It's mid-to-high 70s in DC and North Carolina. Meanwhile, there is a forecast for Portland OR to be 113 on Sunday. 🤷♀️
My brother and I are trying to persuade my mother that despite the fact that the management of their apartment complex says "no a/c units," they need to use one that my brother has spare. My father is lying in a hospital bed in the spare bedroom dying, and she's convinced the two of them will be okay with fans. It's fucking mental. Apologies for oversharing, but JFC.
Our Crumbling Democracy
President Biden is a few miles from me now. That weirdo isn't raising money from an arena of his most loyal fans by riling them up with lies. Instead, he's doing stupid shit like encouraging people to get vaccinated and doing Presidential stuff.
It's about time:
A New York appellate court suspended Rudolph W. Giuliani’s law license on Thursday after a disciplinary panel found that he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements about the 2020 election as Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney.
The court wrote in a 33-page decision that Mr. Giuliani’s conduct threatened “the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.”
Mr. Giuliani helped lead Mr. Trump’s legal challenge to the election results, arguing without merit that the vote had been rife with fraud and that voting machines had been rigged.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/nyregion/giuliani-law-license-suspended-trump.html
"I will take 'Fuck Around and Find Out' for $200, Alex."
I wish more people were finding out. Seeing the first wave of Capitol Insurrectionists are flipping and getting out for time served or probation.
‘A lot of people are jaded’: Dems despair amid D.C. gridlock
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/24/dems-disillusion-dc-gridlock-495682
Look, I get it that not everyone pays attention to these things, but for those who do . . . I can't believe that they wouldn't have seen this coming. Republicans obstructed the last time the Democrats had majorities and they will do it again.
...and again and again and again...ad infinitum.
Everyone knew it was coming.
There are about 300 people who work in the DC area who didn't. They are the democratic members of the House and Senate.
Today in Covid 19
Seems pretty bad:
It took just seconds for a person to be infected with COVID-19 as a stranger walked past them while shopping at Bondi Junction Westfield. And it hasn't happened just once. Australian health officials are warning it no longer takes up to 15 minutes to pass on the deadly virus. *It can be a "fleeting moment" of just five to 10 seconds.*
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-24/covid-delta-kappa-variant-spread-in-fleeting-moment-nsw-vic/100238680
this is absolutely going to scorch through the under-12 set in the US & if you thought people in highly-vaccinated mostly blue states were pissed at refuseniks before, wait until the kids are getting the 'rona and the parents are not
More material for the culture wars...unfortunately.
Jesus fucking Christ!
https://media1.tenor.com/images/ae6f585fbe237bdabc027af8942da036/tenor.gif?itemid=8951244
contact tracing is impossible if that's what the case
Yep. They were able to figure out what happened thanks to security footage from the mall and sequencing the genome of the virus strains in the infected people.
I wonder if the US has a similar ability to detect an event like this.
it would require people working together and paying attention. so no, not really.
maybe by accident
Pro
Padres complete sweep of Dodgers. Life is better.
Seconded.
Second sentence fact check: false
@Depends on your perspective.@
The Giants continue to be magical -- winning with a crew of guys who dirty casuals like us would not even dream of being very good before the season. Last night's game was great - featuring Ohtani and Gaussman in a pitchers duel for most of the game. And then the relievers got in. Starting with the ninth, every inning seemed to have a guy in scoring position with nobody out. The Giants end up winning as Angel's reliever Claudio walked three straight, including the go-ahead run. Another reliever Guerra went in and he was just as bad, leading to a final 9-3 score that was a lot closer than it seems.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401228161
The Angels also had the game-winner called back on replay. The umps ruled that Posey had tagged out a runner at home after initially calling him safe.
I was watching and it was really close. I thought he was out but was surprised they thought there was enough to overturn the original call.
I really did not think they would overturn.
Jomboy with a fun take on a Joey Votto ejection. Stay for Votto's father's day message at the end. https://youtu.be/jJnlCo7tLc4
Other College
Not sure whether this would be Cal or Other College – since the hotel seems to be confused about where they are – but heading to Santa Monica in a few weeks, and this is how the Hilton describes its location:
"Universal Studios is 22 mi from this hotel. The University of California is 7 mi away. The nearest airport is Los Angeles International Airport, 12 mi away."
Is it near LAX or is it near Cal? Is this the SM Hilton or the Claremont?
Holiday Bowl temporarily moved to Petco Park until SDSU can complete building their 🏟️ https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/story/2021-06-23/2021-sdccu-holiday-bowl-headed-downtown-petco-park-pac-12-acc-padres
That would be a great site. I wouldn’t mind going to that Bowl, even more so in that venue. I would hope that it turns out better than the last one I went to.
Yeah sitting in the upper level of the Q in December was a great way to catch a cold after a few days of drinking. Giving it to SDSU to build a smaller stadium is probably the smartest decision in San Diego since Horton Plaza kicked off the Gaslight.
Stanfurd baseball: Bottom of the ninth, up by one, and their ace Brandan Beck is on the hill with two outs and nobody on base. Beck has held opponents to a 0.200 batting average and has >11 K/9 this season. A few minutes later, the Cardinal is eliminated from the College World Series.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/31697633/vanderbilt-scores-wild-pitch-9th-stun-stanford-survive-college-world-series
LOL Furd
Little Leagued it up big time. Walked the guy, and then gave up a pair of singles that tied it up. Compounding the problem, the SS tried to throw out one of the batter-runners from deep in the hole, and threw it away. Had no chance as the runner was 2 steps beyond 1st when the ball arrived, but because he didn't eat it, the go ahead run advanced to 3rd instead of still being at 2nd, giving Stanford still a chance to get to extra innings.
But with him on 3rd, Beck, the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, who had been brilliant up until the melt down with 1 out to go, uncorked a backstop ball, and Vanderbilt's quest for back to back CWS titles is still alive, and the Pac-12 is done.
so good
I like the bat throw.
Yahoo's Pete Thamel unloads a truck load of dirt on ASU with literal receipts. Implicated: Herm Edwards, DB Coach Chris Hawkins, Jayden Daniels mom, TE Coach Adam Breneman, WR Coach Prentice Gill, and 13 recruits.
https://sports.yahoo.com/yahoo-sports-exclusive-dossier-reveals-extent-of-ncaa-allegations-against-arizona-state-football-055252113.html
I look forward to ASU football being crippled with immediate transfers, multi-year reductions in scholarships, and years of outraged commentary from professional and amateur opinion writers. I mean fair's fair.
Looks like there will be a bloodbath at ASU.
Yep, they’re going down HARD.
Cal
IT'S OFFICIAL. Cal going 100% capacity
https://twitter.com/CalAthletics/status/1408107654568767489?s=19
Weird that the stadium is, but large lectures are not.
Outside vs inside?
how many large lectures are outside?
Great news!!
Go Bears!!! ire ullamcorper
Season tickets? I may just go through Stubhub for the season
You can catch a four-part lecture series by UC Berkeley Classics professors. Πηγαίνετε αρκούδες!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ZVLqHuilHJ4iQobUczGqOeY1oF5oEM0
thx for posting.
these all happened over the course of the last year. the 1st one is probably the best and most approachable.
and to be fair, they were arranged by UC Berkeley Classics but the speakers were from all over the world.