That's some dedication by those boaters to get out there in that. That depressing hellscape certainly would take away any fun I could find in boating out there.
He looks like he had more fun playing in front of the Knicks crowd than the Atlanta crowd. He certainly could back up his talk, though. Dude is an impressive young point guard. Meanwhile, the Knicks look desperate to find a point guard.
Atlanta's younger players looked pretty frustrated with the Knicks' physical play (although Trae seemed unfazed). I wonder if Philly will try to use that to their advantage in the next round.
It's really strange how the Clippers look like a championship team in a couple of games, then in the next game look like a bunch of guys who have never played together.
The Oakland A’s waited two full years for one of their starters throw a nine-inning shutout, from May 2019 until May 2021. They only had to wait six more days to see it happen again.
A’s starter Sean Manaea tossed a four-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, and his lineup gave him plenty of support in a 6-0 victory at T-Mobile Park. It’s technically Manaea’s second shutout of the year, after he completed a seven-inning doubleheader contest in April, but this time he went the full nine.
Before this year, the last time the A’s rotation threw a full traditional shutout was the no-hitter by Mike Fiers in May of 2019. Since then they got seven-inning efforts in doubleheaders from Mike Minor in Sept 2020, and Manaea this April, but it wasn’t until Chris Bassitt last Thursday that an Oakland starter recorded 27 outs without a run crossing the plate. Now they’ve done it twice within a week.
I have a soft spot for Manaea especially since he signed a random index card for me when I saw him in low-A when he was in the KC organization (and a lot of those guys don't make the big league)
The Dodgers rubber game against the Cardinals stretched St. Louis to their limit, turning into a laugher quite early. But the 14-3 win on Wednesday night also highlighted a pair of former MVPs getting back on track.
Cody Bellinger was integral to an LA Dodger-record 11 runs in the first inning, hitting a two-run single and a grand slam in the opening frame. Those six runs batted in not only matched Bellinger’s career high in a game, but also set a Dodgers record for RBI in any inning. Before Bellinger, three Dodgers knocked in five runs in an inning, the last by Jeff Kent in the first on May 6, 2005 in Cincinnati.
Yup. FYI: блять/"blyat" is a multi-functional swearword in Russian. So the kid pulling the carrot and falling over is exclaiming the equivalent of "FUCK!"
The last Russian I interacted with didn't speak any English, but we communicated effectively with his phone operating as the universal translator. First and only time I've done that.
FET. When I lived in SF in the 90s, my buddies and I were told to avoid dating the hot Russian girls that seemed to be everywhere in the Richmond District. Inevitably, one friend decided that the risk was worth it. His string of dates reaffirmed the stereotype.
I think most dogs like carrots. We have two dogs and both of them loooooove carrots. Come to think of it, we've never had a dog that didn't like carrots and we've had at least 7 dogs I can think of.
She had never expressed any interest in them prior, so it was a bit of a shock to see her sitting in the kitchen as i prepped dinner one night. Whenever she seems interested in food I have or am eating, I always hold out the food for her to sniff and 9/10 she will turn up her nose and walk away, unless it's meat, then its 10/10 will eat
If there's anything I'll never forget from Australia's natural history museum it's that 1) wombats poop cubes and 2) there used to be wombats the size of small cars.
The other day I noticed the sliding glass door would get an inch away from closing completely and then feel like it was getting stuck. Turns out a tree frog had climbed between the sliding door and the fixed door, and the reason the door was stuck was because the frog was getting squeezed at the point where the fixed door ends and the sliding door begins. The couple prior attempts to close the door didn't do the frog any favors. I ended up spending 45 minutes slowly fishing a frog corpse through a tiny gap between the doors. Thankfully the frog came out all in one piece; a dismember-and-remove strategy was going to be the last resort.
I'm on irrigation district water, so it's a huge set of PVC and various spouts throughout the entire above-average sized yard, with multiple elevation changes. This spring, it was a constant dance of fixing one crack or leak, and at the same time causing three other cracks or leaks. One weekend, I made 9 trips to the local hardware store to get random conduits, patching kits, etc....
I have this fine ballet of exiting the house via the garage. It is a well-practiced succession of moves - carrying stuff out, plugging phones in, opening garage doors, checking for wallet/keys/notes. Last week - I missed a step and backed into the garage door. * sigh *
I’ve done that too. I only have one rule in the house ‘Always open garage door BEFORE getting in car.” I violated the rule. Cost me $3,200 for new garage door.
I finally finished MODOK, after knowing what to expect, I enjoyed the second half better. To be fair, every episode had something that made me laugh out loud, but I still thought that some of the overarching story arcs were just too meh.
While I knew that The Last Kingdom Season 5 was going to happen, I missed the news from a month plus ago that season 5 (covering up to book 10 of 13) will be the last season. I guess the Uhtred character gets too old in the later books, but that's still kind of disappointing that they could not adapt the entire series.
Enjoyed MODOK, though the kind of cliffhanger "non-ending" they went with for the season isn't my favorite choice. It's overall a clever treatment of some of the sillier Marvel characters.
Different, not as cynical and dark. Well written, multiple decent plotlines around the central arc. The core story is about a teenage boy, son of Superman, who comes into his powers. Decent world building. Already been renewed for 2 more seasons.
Finished the second season of The Bureau - really great show. One odd thing (to people who watched Friday Night Lights anyway) is Buddy Garrity is in it as a CIA agent, and it's not that he doesn't do a fine job of acting - it's just hard to shake the connection with Mr. Jumbo-Tron. (Not an issue for French audiences no doubt).
Halfway through season 7 of the Clone Wars. The first four eps of the season are centered on the Bad Batch and considering this series takes place between the movies Ep 2&3, I just don’t think they can run with this storyline for very long.
Love quiche Lorraine. Learned to cut the cheese into small (1/4" or smaller) cubes rather than grate it, so you get little puddles of cheese in the quiche. Yum.
Heh, another "oh Shit" moment for the punchable man in America
"MIAMI — Federal prosecutors are examining whether Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justice during a phone call he had with a witness in the sex-crimes investigation of the Florida congressman, according to two sources familiar with the case.
The witness in question was one of a handful of women who entered Gaetz’s orbit via his one-time “wingman,” former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty last month to a host of crimes, including sex-trafficking a 17-year-old in 2017.
The obstruction inquiry stems from a phone call the witness had with Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend. At some point during the conversation, the ex-girlfriend patched Gaetz into the call, sources said. While it’s unknown exactly what was said, the discussion on that call is central to whether prosecutors can charge Gaetz with obstructing justice, which makes it illegal to suggest that a witness in a criminal case lie or give misleading testimony.
The witness later spoke with prosecutors, the sources said."
"The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for DeJoy.
FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities, these people said. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself for information, one of the people said.
That person, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing and politically sensitive investigation.
Mark Corallo, a DeJoy spokesman, confirmed the investigation in a statement, but insisted DeJoy had not knowingly violated any laws.
“Mr. DeJoy has learned that the Department of Justice is investigating campaign contributions made by employees who worked for him when he was in the private sector,” Corallo said. “He has always been scrupulous in his adherence to the campaign contribution laws and has never knowingly violated them.”
[WaPo] Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) colluded with the Proud Boys to try to create riots to disrupt vote-counting in Arizona. I look forward to Congress doing absolutely nothing about this.
Even with that, I think it might still be easier for my mom to get the vaccines by flying to the US (my dad hung around in the US for long enough to be fully vaccinated before he went back to Taiwan). Flying to the US to get the vaccine was also what some of my other relatives have done.
Without consulting my FIL, my MIL flew in some friends of hers from China to get the vaccine here in the US and put the friends up in my MIL/FIL's bedroom. For two months.
When Japan announced that they were going to send vaccines to Taiwan, China's foreign minister came out to say that Taiwan's "play for independence via vaccines" would not succeed. Various companies and governments that have tried to ship vaccines to Taiwan have been blocked, to the point that they're no longer announcing the sales or shipments until the vaccines actually arrive in Taiwan, and they're flying the long way around to avoid Chinese airspace.
Meanwhile, Chinese misinformation is making its way around Taiwanese social media to try to convince Taiwanese people to buy Chinese vaccines.
It's a dangerous, dangerous mess. What's particularly gross to me is the KMT spreading misinformation from CCP.
I try not to venture into Taiwan politics too much, mostly because I don't know much about it, but if I ever think about it, I think I would tend to lean Pan-Green.
CA drought. Lake Oroville is running out of water, which threatens the ability to run a 900 MW powerplant. Some interesting photos in the article.
https://apnews.com/article/california-droughts-government-and-politics-science-business-76709d5854394905e0f46880ed6dab9c
There's one photo in that linked article that I don't get.
How did that SUV get parked on that island?
That's some dedication by those boaters to get out there in that. That depressing hellscape certainly would take away any fun I could find in boating out there.
😬😬😬😬😬
Pro
NBA
Jazz easily dominate Grizz to finish the series.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-playoffs-grizzlies-jazz-utah-makes-bold-statement-with-dominant-offense-while-dispatching-memphis/
Trae Young takes bow as Atlanta Hawks finish off New York Knicks
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31557376/trae-young-takes-bow-atlanta-hawks-finish-new-york-knicks-know-do-show-over
He looks like he had more fun playing in front of the Knicks crowd than the Atlanta crowd. He certainly could back up his talk, though. Dude is an impressive young point guard. Meanwhile, the Knicks look desperate to find a point guard.
Atlanta's younger players looked pretty frustrated with the Knicks' physical play (although Trae seemed unfazed). I wonder if Philly will try to use that to their advantage in the next round.
Could be a very interesting second-round series, especially if Embiid can't go.
Who walked out on a game earlier, LeBron or Spike?
Sixers close out Wizards easily, but when will Embiid be healthy?
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/76ers-escape-first-round-series-vs-wizards-despite-joel-embiid-injury-but-far-stiffer-test-awaits-vs-hawks/
Clippers do more dumb Clippers stuff. The road team has won every game of this series.
https://www.theringer.com/2021/6/3/22481749/clippers-mavericks-nba-playoffs
I really want the Mavs to win this series and see the Clippers dumpster fire.
It's really strange how the Clippers look like a championship team in a couple of games, then in the next game look like a bunch of guys who have never played together.
Packers reportedly extend Robert Tonyan, giving indication Aaron Rodgers will remain with team in 2021
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/packers-reportedly-extend-robert-tonyan-giving-indication-aaron-rodgers-will-remain-with-team-in-2021/
Game #58: Sean Manaea tosses 4-hit shutout against Mariners
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/6/2/22466342/oakland-as-game-58-seattle-mariners-score-result
The Oakland A’s waited two full years for one of their starters throw a nine-inning shutout, from May 2019 until May 2021. They only had to wait six more days to see it happen again.
A’s starter Sean Manaea tossed a four-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, and his lineup gave him plenty of support in a 6-0 victory at T-Mobile Park. It’s technically Manaea’s second shutout of the year, after he completed a seven-inning doubleheader contest in April, but this time he went the full nine.
Before this year, the last time the A’s rotation threw a full traditional shutout was the no-hitter by Mike Fiers in May of 2019. Since then they got seven-inning efforts in doubleheaders from Mike Minor in Sept 2020, and Manaea this April, but it wasn’t until Chris Bassitt last Thursday that an Oakland starter recorded 27 outs without a run crossing the plate. Now they’ve done it twice within a week.
When Manaea is on, he’s on. When he’s not, it’s not pretty.
I have a soft spot for Manaea especially since he signed a random index card for me when I saw him in low-A when he was in the KC organization (and a lot of those guys don't make the big league)
Giants with the day off
Yup. They open a four game set with the Cubbies this evening.
Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts getting back on track as Dodgers rout Cardinals
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/2/22466147/cody-bellinger-mookie-betts-heating-up-dodgers-record-inning-cardinals-recap
The Dodgers rubber game against the Cardinals stretched St. Louis to their limit, turning into a laugher quite early. But the 14-3 win on Wednesday night also highlighted a pair of former MVPs getting back on track.
Cody Bellinger was integral to an LA Dodger-record 11 runs in the first inning, hitting a two-run single and a grand slam in the opening frame. Those six runs batted in not only matched Bellinger’s career high in a game, but also set a Dodgers record for RBI in any inning. Before Bellinger, three Dodgers knocked in five runs in an inning, the last by Jeff Kent in the first on May 6, 2005 in Cincinnati.
As much as I dislike the Dodgers, I need Mookie Betts to get going for my fantasy team's sake.
I think he's nursing some injuries. Looked much better at bat last few games. Hopefully a turning point.
Paletas
Russians
Had to zoom in, but it looks like that the ice cream bar with the bug frozen in it appears to be from Russia. Goes nicely with the cute video.
Yup. FYI: блять/"blyat" is a multi-functional swearword in Russian. So the kid pulling the carrot and falling over is exclaiming the equivalent of "FUCK!"
The last Russian I interacted with didn't speak any English, but we communicated effectively with his phone operating as the universal translator. First and only time I've done that.
FET. When I lived in SF in the 90s, my buddies and I were told to avoid dating the hot Russian girls that seemed to be everywhere in the Richmond District. Inevitably, one friend decided that the risk was worth it. His string of dates reaffirmed the stereotype.
Hmm...what's the stereotype?
A Ukrainian girl from the Richmond was one of my primary motivating factors in leaving California
Something to do with annexing her Crimea?
My favorite Sting solo song.
Carrots
My horse loved them when she was stabled at Golden Gate Fields
I've learned my dog likes carrots
I think most dogs like carrots. We have two dogs and both of them loooooove carrots. Come to think of it, we've never had a dog that didn't like carrots and we've had at least 7 dogs I can think of.
She had never expressed any interest in them prior, so it was a bit of a shock to see her sitting in the kitchen as i prepped dinner one night. Whenever she seems interested in food I have or am eating, I always hold out the food for her to sniff and 9/10 she will turn up her nose and walk away, unless it's meat, then its 10/10 will eat
wombats like them too.
at least that is what i learned from one of my favorite children's books ...
The Diary of a Wombat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qMMhJ4iiu8
Wombats have cube poop!
This is why I DBD
If there's anything I'll never forget from Australia's natural history museum it's that 1) wombats poop cubes and 2) there used to be wombats the size of small cars.
Minor Disasters
That image is disturbing. I don't take out the popsicle from the wrap. I usually only open the top of wrapper and eat the tip of the ice cream.
That's just extra protein, nothing to be scared about.
The other day I noticed the sliding glass door would get an inch away from closing completely and then feel like it was getting stuck. Turns out a tree frog had climbed between the sliding door and the fixed door, and the reason the door was stuck was because the frog was getting squeezed at the point where the fixed door ends and the sliding door begins. The couple prior attempts to close the door didn't do the frog any favors. I ended up spending 45 minutes slowly fishing a frog corpse through a tiny gap between the doors. Thankfully the frog came out all in one piece; a dismember-and-remove strategy was going to be the last resort.
We occasionally have birds fly full speed into the window, leaving a bloody mess.
Hawk decals?
Yuck.
I'm on irrigation district water, so it's a huge set of PVC and various spouts throughout the entire above-average sized yard, with multiple elevation changes. This spring, it was a constant dance of fixing one crack or leak, and at the same time causing three other cracks or leaks. One weekend, I made 9 trips to the local hardware store to get random conduits, patching kits, etc....
Similar happened to me, turned out my pressure regulator had gone bad...once I replaced that no more broken heads, valves, connectors, etc
oooh good call. I'll check on that next time I need to do maintenance.
I have this fine ballet of exiting the house via the garage. It is a well-practiced succession of moves - carrying stuff out, plugging phones in, opening garage doors, checking for wallet/keys/notes. Last week - I missed a step and backed into the garage door. * sigh *
I’ve done that too. I only have one rule in the house ‘Always open garage door BEFORE getting in car.” I violated the rule. Cost me $3,200 for new garage door.
ouch
DBD AV Club
I finally finished MODOK, after knowing what to expect, I enjoyed the second half better. To be fair, every episode had something that made me laugh out loud, but I still thought that some of the overarching story arcs were just too meh.
While I knew that The Last Kingdom Season 5 was going to happen, I missed the news from a month plus ago that season 5 (covering up to book 10 of 13) will be the last season. I guess the Uhtred character gets too old in the later books, but that's still kind of disappointing that they could not adapt the entire series.
Enjoyed MODOK, though the kind of cliffhanger "non-ending" they went with for the season isn't my favorite choice. It's overall a clever treatment of some of the sillier Marvel characters.
I don't know if it's still the plan, but I thought Hulu was going to do an "Offender" series with MODOK, Howard the Duck, etc.
Invincibles on Amazon is really good. Slightly different take on some of the current superhero trends. Plus, teenage melodrama (in a good way).
is it anything like The Boys?
Different, not as cynical and dark. Well written, multiple decent plotlines around the central arc. The core story is about a teenage boy, son of Superman, who comes into his powers. Decent world building. Already been renewed for 2 more seasons.
Finished the second season of The Bureau - really great show. One odd thing (to people who watched Friday Night Lights anyway) is Buddy Garrity is in it as a CIA agent, and it's not that he doesn't do a fine job of acting - it's just hard to shake the connection with Mr. Jumbo-Tron. (Not an issue for French audiences no doubt).
Halfway through season 7 of the Clone Wars. The first four eps of the season are centered on the Bad Batch and considering this series takes place between the movies Ep 2&3, I just don’t think they can run with this storyline for very long.
the timelines all start to criss-cross. most of Bad Batch is post-episode 3.
so there is plenty of time until we find Luke whining on Tatooine ...
you go a lot faster then we do, 2 episodes a week here abouts.
I'll crush like 3-4 a night
i like to watch just one at a time. but i am not a binge watcher of any sort
If it's an hour show, this is us too, only one a night. Clone Wars episodes are often two parters and 20 minutes long, so it feels right.
DBD Test Kitchen
Made Quiche Lorraine last night - eggs, grated swiss cheese, diced onion, crumbled bacon, dijon mustard and heavy whipping cream.
Love quiche Lorraine. Learned to cut the cheese into small (1/4" or smaller) cubes rather than grate it, so you get little puddles of cheese in the quiche. Yum.
one of my favorites. my wife makes a nice crab quiche but i usually just buy them from the local french bakery.
Our Crumbling Democracy
Heh, another "oh Shit" moment for the punchable man in America
"MIAMI — Federal prosecutors are examining whether Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justice during a phone call he had with a witness in the sex-crimes investigation of the Florida congressman, according to two sources familiar with the case.
The witness in question was one of a handful of women who entered Gaetz’s orbit via his one-time “wingman,” former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty last month to a host of crimes, including sex-trafficking a 17-year-old in 2017.
The obstruction inquiry stems from a phone call the witness had with Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend. At some point during the conversation, the ex-girlfriend patched Gaetz into the call, sources said. While it’s unknown exactly what was said, the discussion on that call is central to whether prosecutors can charge Gaetz with obstructing justice, which makes it illegal to suggest that a witness in a criminal case lie or give misleading testimony.
The witness later spoke with prosecutors, the sources said."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/gaetz-obstruction-federal-probe-491705
And they absorb a lot of sweat, farts, and hair dye...
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1400480097090555908
That "oh shit" moment?
"The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for DeJoy.
FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities, these people said. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself for information, one of the people said.
That person, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing and politically sensitive investigation.
Mark Corallo, a DeJoy spokesman, confirmed the investigation in a statement, but insisted DeJoy had not knowingly violated any laws.
“Mr. DeJoy has learned that the Department of Justice is investigating campaign contributions made by employees who worked for him when he was in the private sector,” Corallo said. “He has always been scrupulous in his adherence to the campaign contribution laws and has never knowingly violated them.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/louis-dejoy-fbi-investigation/2021/06/03/4e24e122-c3d3-11eb-93f5-ee9558eecf4b_story.html
For $500, you can have a puffy, glassy-eyed Don Jr. give you a personalized cameo
https://www.cameo.com/donaldjtrumpjr?qid=1622734919
why is he doing this? has his coke fund been cut off?
[WaPo] Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) colluded with the Proud Boys to try to create riots to disrupt vote-counting in Arizona. I look forward to Congress doing absolutely nothing about this.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/proud-boys-nevada-republican/2021/06/01/60da2a58-be5f-11eb-b26e-53663e6be6ff_story.html
Well yes (I just read this) but they didn't really succeed.
Trump’s blog failed, bigly. His next online venture won’t be any easier.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/donald-trump-blog-fail-491667
There is no way he has the stones to pay $100M to create a social site that won't generate revenue directly to him from day 1.
Today in Covid-19
Japan is apparently giving the rest of its AZ vaccines to Taiwan...on June 4.
Even with that, I think it might still be easier for my mom to get the vaccines by flying to the US (my dad hung around in the US for long enough to be fully vaccinated before he went back to Taiwan). Flying to the US to get the vaccine was also what some of my other relatives have done.
Without consulting my FIL, my MIL flew in some friends of hers from China to get the vaccine here in the US and put the friends up in my MIL/FIL's bedroom. For two months.
I hear a lot of rich South Americans are doing so as well.
It's not like they don't need them, what's up with that?
i think the AZ vaccine has fallen out of favor in some circles.
something on BBC was saying that EU is sending AZ vaccines to Uganda
Wow, so this is like where we send the T-shirts for whoever lost the Super Bowl.
Oh no, I am very happy about this. The petty part of me is also laughing at the political implication of the date.
help me out there, re: date
Tiananmen
But... neither Japan or Taiwan have anything to do with that.
As far as the CCP is concerned... it is very relevant.
True, but maybe it's a veiled dig at China.
When Japan announced that they were going to send vaccines to Taiwan, China's foreign minister came out to say that Taiwan's "play for independence via vaccines" would not succeed. Various companies and governments that have tried to ship vaccines to Taiwan have been blocked, to the point that they're no longer announcing the sales or shipments until the vaccines actually arrive in Taiwan, and they're flying the long way around to avoid Chinese airspace.
Meanwhile, Chinese misinformation is making its way around Taiwanese social media to try to convince Taiwanese people to buy Chinese vaccines.
It's a dangerous, dangerous mess. What's particularly gross to me is the KMT spreading misinformation from CCP.
I try not to venture into Taiwan politics too much, mostly because I don't know much about it, but if I ever think about it, I think I would tend to lean Pan-Green.
Other University
Taco Bell, Palo Alto location.
Cal
Go Bears!!!