165 Comments
author

There is a Restroom Hall of Fame. You're welcome. Also, one of them is on Notre Dame's campus.

https://www.bestrestroom.com/hall-of-fame/

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DBD AV Club

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Trying to finish Reply 1994 before Netflix dumps it.

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I liked it.

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I liked Reply 1988 better, but this is fun as well.

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Reply 1994 was the weakest of the 3 Reply series but did have a couple of extremely strong scenes. Same writer and director just finished 2 seasons of Hospital Playlist which is excellent for the most part and will be on Netflix for a while

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I've heard only great things about Hospital Playlist. As our resident Korean, I must ask if you've seen Untouchable?

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yes, I saw it when it came out. It was pretty good but not exceptional

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I saw that there's a (Korean) show called Squid Games on Netflix. Watched the trailer last night. Interesting? A "game show" where poor people have to avoid being killed, so they can get rid of their debt (I think). Anyone seen it and have any comments?

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I posted this the other day but it was a little late so I’m not sure how many saw it, so I’ll ask again.

Has anyone watched Tales from the Loop on Amazon? I watched the first episode and am intrigued.

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Do you guys listen to music while working? If so, what music?

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I listen to music *all the time* (more than 180K minutes on Spotify last year). While I'm working, it's mostly mellow bluesy-folksy stuff that Spotify serves me up in my Daily Mixes.

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Sometimes - it helps me focus. Predominantly electronic music or classic jazz, but if I'm really cranking away at something then anything will do.

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Anymore, its mostly sports talk podcasts and streams, in part because for some of what I do, I need to be aware of breaking news and the prevailing spin, and partly because it interests me. But at times, I do listen to music. Sometimes tracks from the marching band (and a couple of others) just because of knowing people involved (always a valid reason to listen to anything). And, off the beaten track I know, there is a youtube channel for CatTrumpet. Seasonal especially and non-seasonal very soothing stuff. All of it is in part to drown out background noise and distractions, which used to be epidemic before remote work, but also sometimes because I'm not always alone in the house.

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I've noticed in my old age* that I can no longer listen to a TV show or even music with words while trying to do anything that requires brain power. I'm also hella basic, so if I'm listening to music while working it tends to be post-rock, lofi, or maybe jazz (but I'm not really an aficionado, so that tends to just be Miles Davis).

*I say old age, but I should have been smart enough to recognize this was the case while I was at Berkeley and adjusted my study habits accordingly. One of the many reasons why my GPA was trashhhh.

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Yes, same here. Anything with vocals/talking throws me off. It needs to be instrumental unless the task I am doing is basically mindless

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I used to put on MLB audio of afternoon games when I was in grad school. Could no longer do that as a postdoc or now

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I used to listen to K-Earth 101 while at Cal. But the more the subject demanded brainpower, the more I'd turn the volume down. Roommates found this to be hilarious.

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Amen to the second paragraph.

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my GPA was trash independent of music.

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I will easily out-trash any of your GPAs. Someone has to bring down the curve.

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author

I'll out-trash most Cal grads' high school GPAs, but my GPA at Berkeley was pretty decent. Unweighted, both GPAs were close.

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Almost always podcasts unless I'm on the water then it's typically one of the Spotify Daily mixes with classic rock

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When I was working as an artist, all the time, mostly whatever KALX was playing, sometimes CD's - Medicine, Curve, Flying Saucer Attack, Galaxie 500, Underground Lovers, The Chills.

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I'll listen to music if I'm writing a paper or doing analysis. I listen to my entire library but on random.

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usually either Pandora or Amazon Music's "Cool Jazz" station

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For me, if I am drafting something I will listen to electronic music with no vocals, like Aphex Twin, Four Tet, Caribou, etc

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Sponebob with the actual voice actors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXF0spdWQQo&ab_channel=SpongeBobSquarePantsOfficial

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I wonder why they still dubbed the voices over the live actors. That seems to defeat the point of using them...

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This is quite amusing!

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author

Don't have weeks of time to hike the Appalachian Trail? Do it in 5 minutes via Youtube instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgcrCdzYlo&t=3s

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author

Rank 'em: German potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, room temperature water

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Good Lord, what's next, Hitler, Stalin and the like?

1. Macaroni Salad (16/19 WB)

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2. Baked beans, especially if there's some sort of porky addition

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infinity

3. room temp water

4. German potato salad

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Hitler, Stalin, Trump.

Murder, marry, friend?

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Baked beans with bacon

Mac salad

German potato salad (hot or cold)

Room temp water

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Hmmmmmmm... on all these things, it really depends on how good a job you do making them, also I prefer Mediterranean potato salad, didn't know that was what German was; so room temp water: dead last.

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1. Baked beans

2. Room temperature water

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3. Macaroni salad

4. German potato salad

I do not generally like these kinds of salad. The savory/sweet flavor combination always feels off to me. Are they even really salads?

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Baked beans

Macaroni salad

German potato salad

Room temperature water

I'm assuming the German potato salad is served warm. If not, then the salads switch rankings.

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Room temperature water: I'm Taiwanese; this is normal for me. I'm drinking room temperature water right now. Also, I dislike straws, so if I drink something with ice, the ice cubes fall on my face.

Macaroni salad: I'm Midwestern, so of course I like carbs calling themselves salad

German potato salad: I prefer a non-vinegary German potato salad, but my coworker hosted a cookout this summer, and his wife made a really good potato salad, which I imagine is German, since they are German, so maybe I should move this up.

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baked beans: ugh

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they're all basically fine, but I'd go water, potato salad, macaroni salad, and baked beans if I absolutely had to rank them.

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German potato salad, baked beans, macaroni salad, room temperature water

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German potato salad

macaroni salad

baked beans

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room temp water - although, to be fair, if the water is from Sierra snowmelt (such as that supplied by the Hetch Hetchy system or EBMUD) it is likely to be clearly superior to any sourced from groundwater. NYC water is also considered outstanding because it is sourced from Catskills snowmelt and sources in the Hudson Valley.

Room temp water could be much closer to baked beans or even further away.

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I'm always a little skeptical about these claims regarding NYC water because I know what kind of industrial effluent has been entering the Hudson upstream. I suspect that the low mineral content is the underlying factor here.

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room temperature water/baked beans

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And I'm not a room temperature water fan. I like my water ice cold.

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Baked beans, German potato salad, more baked beans, any potato salad, macaroni salad if its done right, more baked beans, lukewarm water if its really hot, more baked beans, more lukewarm water (because I can probably add ice), bland macaroni salad.

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baked beans. The caveat being that I don't eat the ones with pork in it, but I just don't love the heavy added brown sugar.

room temp water, also underrated: can chug without a brain freeze, and doesn't leave condensation on your table

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author

I cannot abide any mayonnaise-based "salad."

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German potato salad uber alles

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author

Name an underwhelming tourist spot

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Stonehenge. I think i've told this story before but the first time I passed it on the highway, I flat out did not believe my companion that that was Stonehenge because it's TINY.

Also, Valley of the Kings, which contains not much of anything at all except small, deep, empty tombs.

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I found quite impressive when I was 11 or so, and could climb all over it. Also, the whole 5,000 years thing.

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I was SO EXCITED to see it finally, after how much we study it as kids. I could not have been more disappointed. Stonehenge has an excellent hype man.

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We had Stonehenge on the list for our cancelled spring break '20 trip, but it was a "stop in on the way past" entry on the list of things to do between Bath and dropping off the rental car / taking the train into London for a couple of days.

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Bath is way better, IMO. Great town.

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The plan was to stay a couple of nights and spend a day in between wandering around. That town is so posh even the youth hostel is plush.

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Santa Monica

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I was always surprised going to the 3rd St Promenade and seeing all the tourists wandering around shopping as it's a rather underwhelming outdoor mall. Also the Santa Monica Pier is rather meh. Fun arcade, but a shitty amusement park, tons of litter and really bad water quality surrounding the pier.

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author

I love stories from tourists about how shocked they are by the temperature of the Pacific Ocean

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It's a fun jumping off point for explaining the CA coastal ecosystem

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Athens. The Acropolis is nice but beyond that Athens was underwhelming.

I found Athens to be hot and dirty with a bit of a sprawling feel to it.

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I loved all the ruins and food, the city itself was pretty meh. Now the Greek islands were beautiful, had tons of history and were full of the nicest, most welcoming people I've ever met abroad.

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The ruins were good and I did love the food. The city is so hot, dirty, very few trees or greens ape, and lots of stray/street dogs.

The islands are great.

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Totally agree there; Athens is a bit of a dump. If you are in that general area, I would spend less time there and more in Istanbul. Although I don’t know, may be a weird time politically to go to Turkey I guess

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Pier 39.

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The only cool part of it is watching the sea lions at the docks.

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They are soooooooo smelly.

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Authenticity!

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My parents live in Monterey and you can hear the sea lions at night even up at their house, which is way up in the hills near Pebble. Those guys are loud!

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Same in Santa Cruz and Marina del Rey, especially during mating season. Echoes for miles on quiet nights.

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Agree there and will throw in Fisherman’s Wharf. Why does this exist? Can’t people just buy $5 Alcatraz t shirts on grant street?

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Let me atoms this for you -- Grant's an Avenue.

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It exist to take money from Midwestern tourist.

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Venice. I mean it's fine, but a day spent walking around & taking a spin through the Doge's Palace will cover it. We added a half day going around Murano.

Also if you're an idiot like me, the ruins in Rome can be a little underwhelming if you didn't realize how hemmed in they are by modern buildings / how much they were dismantled for religious / laziness reasons in subsequent buildings. (I need to go back & give that city another look-see).

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I enjoyed Venice (can't get it nowhere else!). I was disappointed by Florence. The stuff in the museums didn't interest me and the bridge was meh.

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Venice = meh on my trip a few years back. Really enjoyed Rome (and the Amalfi Coast)

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Oh dawg, no. Venice, just wandering around, getting lost, chilling, is so fun and different. Agree it’s not big but it’s a fun couple days for sure.

And Rome is amazing! You are smoking rocks on that one. It does make me wonder though - what to you is a good city to visit?

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You know, I suppose it is like going to a movie - your experience is shaped to a significant degree by your expectations and how the real thing matches up to them. So I can see Venice being underwhelming in that sense, as it is so pumped up as this amazing destination that everyone has to see. If you can strip that away though and just take it for what it is, it is actually pretty great though.

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Fie! Rome is awesome! Yeah, a LOT of the Forum has been demolished, but a lot is still left.

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The Forum is good for scale, I found I got more of a sense of how developed it all was by going to Ostia Antica.

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the Badlands. The features are really tiny, and the nearby Black Hills are *SO* much cooler

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I went there when I was in middle school or something. Badlands and Mt. Rushmore. Don't remember the Badlands too much, but I think I saw some round hills. Not much of memory.

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My memory is that when growing up our family was camping there. Torrential rain followed by flooded tent followed by middle of the night driving on to grandparents house in Nebraska.

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my tent flooded when I was in the Badlands too! I ate dinner in my car, left the dishes in there when I was done, then hunkered down on an island in the middle of the tent for the night. Hung every possession I owned out to dry the next morning before departing for Minnesota

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I'm glad you were safe. Flash floods can be deadly. I also went to Nebraska after few days South Dakota. My father's friend owned a ranch in Nebraska and got to ride a horse there.

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I can't remember if it was the same trip or not. My uncle's neighbor had horses. I was only four or five but have a vague memory of getting thrown off a decent size horse. I did not get right back in the saddle.

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Aptly named...just a dreadful, desolate spot. Wind Cave National Park was much better.

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Wind Cave was cool, as was Jewel Cave

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author

The World's Largest Chest of Drawers. Saw it 3 weeks ago.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/high-point-chest-of-drawers

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Delightfully silly.

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Looks like they re-did it again? Or some good photoshopping? Certainly adds a new meaning to the term "high-boy".

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It looks like it's a 2 story chest of drawers?

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Niagara Falls.

in days of yore it was knows as "the new bride's 2nd big disappointment"

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I was there a few years ago as a day trip from Toron'o. Thought it'd be lame (it's so short). But the VOLUME was intense. So much water! It was the opposite of anticipointment. My hopes were so low that it couldn't underwhelm.

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Haha, that’s great.

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pltm

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Hot water

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The owner of this mess:

"Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity.

But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data — including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik’s customers."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/21/epik-far-right-hack-anonymous/

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Wilcox

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Will Sirmon last the year?

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Unlike other coaching positions, Wilcox could actually fire him and take over the DC responsibilities.

I think if UW goes for 500 yards and puts up 40+ points he might be fired.

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Seems a skooch early to shitcan the guy. My guess is JW would just take over more responsibility on that side if Sirmon continues to struggle and then wait until the season ends to actually fire him.

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Yeah, you’re probably right. Wilcox won’t fire Sirmon on season, for a variety of reasons. One being him and Sirmon are fiends, two, Wilcox knows what it is like to be fired in season, and three, it would still be helpful to have Sirmon on staff and just concentrate on the LBs.

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author

"him and Sirmon are fiends"

Maybe once Wilcox fires him...

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author

Canary Islands

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I have always wanted to visit them.

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an astronomer friend of mine goes there to do some observing. apparently the telescope and facility are fine.

also, in recent years it has become a go-to destination for pro cyclists to do high altitude training in the months where Europeans mountain passes are otherwise snow-covered.

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There are a number of remotely operated telescopes so you can do astrophotography from home on a timeshare basis.

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indeed. that is how most modern astronomy is done these days i think.

sort of takes the fun out of it ..

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Some folks love it, but I’d usually rather sleep in my own bed and have a computer take my data.

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My 16 y.o.'s Spanish teacher is from the Canary Islands, hopefully none of her friends and family are being affected by this.

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author

Elsewhere in college

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author

Clearly Portland State's fans are NOT like LSU fans. Coach came through and picked up the beer tab of the fans for free beer. Only 2,064 beers given out to an official crowd of 3,124.

https://twitter.com/CoachBarnum69/status/1440463014625361934?s=20

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Over half was Coors Light. SMH and I'm definitely not a beer snob.

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author

UNM schedules @Arizona for '22. Seems like a good time to renew the rivalry and... it the timing is good (for NM).

https://golobos.com/news/2021/09/21/lobos-add-arizona-maine-to-future-schedules/

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Stanford vs. UCLA should be an interesting game. Which team has a legit shot at contending for the North or South title?

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I feel like I’m always hoping UCLA beats them and Stanford seems to always win that one. Must be how UCLA fans feel when we play SC

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author

I feel like this game is going to be a blowout, but I have no idea which team will win.

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That game is all about what DTR can/cannot do, IMHO.

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author

Today in Covid

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author

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Trump lawyer's memo on six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/21/politics/read-eastman-memo/index.html

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Apparently Dan Quayle talked Pence down from the ledge

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author

Sidney Powell says that there was a Democrat murder conspiracy to prevent an audit of the Georgia election, claiming that Kelly Loeffler's aide was suddenly blown up in his car.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1440429120035307524

And by blown up, he was in a car accident where he was negligently killed when hit by a truck .

https://www.wtoc.com/2021/05/17/atlanta-man-indicted-crash-i-that-killed-then-senator-kelly-loeffler-campaign-staffer/

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author

Florida appoints their new Surgeon General. He's against mask and vaccine mandates and promotes fear against the Covid vaccines while peddling Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. I guess not everyone out of Harvard med school is great.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/floridas-new-surgeon-general-skeptical-of-vaccines-opposes-masks/

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My father worked in the medical products sector for years which led him to describe most doctors as expensive plumbers, which I think is 1) a little unfair to expensive plumbers, and 2) a little ironic considering the sterling work the cardiac surgeon did on his quadruple bypass.

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author

I'm glad to see he's no longer part of the UC system.

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I'd rather she was no longer in any position of influence or responsibility, or where actual use of judgement is called for.

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"she"/he typo. Wish we could edit posts.

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author

PRO

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Game #151: A’s lose to Mariners again

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/9/21/22687421/oakland-as-game-151-seattle-mariners-score-result

The Oakland A’s still can’t solve the Seattle Mariners.

The A’s lost to the Mariners on Tuesday for the 10th time in 14 tries this season. Tonight it was a 5-2 defeat in which Oakland went hitless with runners in scoring position, the second straight evening they’ve gone quietly against Seattle at the Coliseum.

The knockout punch came in the 4th inning. With the score tied 1-1, A’s starter Paul Blackburn allowed a leadoff triple and came one strike away from stranding it. Instead, a walk, another triple, and a single pushed across three runs to give the Mariners a lead they never relinquished.

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A's are really in a corner - they have to win 8 or 9 of their last 11 games and hope Toronto loses to sneak into the 2nd wildcard. Winning all 6 games against the Trashtros appears to be a near impossibility.

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Seems like the A's have been done for a while. That bullpen . . .

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Giants live up to cheesy hashtag, maintain lead in NL West

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/9/21/22687319/san-francisco-giants-padres-recap-lamonte-wade-jr

I don’t like the San Francisco Giants official hashtag, nor do I like the fact that official hashtags for baseball teams are apparently a thing.

I apologize deeply for those of you have to see that my luddite is showing, but MLB social accounts using overplayed Gen Z slang and plastering it on every tweet is not something that needs to exist, even if I begrudgingly acknowledge the quality puniness of it all.

No, I don’t like the #ResilientSF hashtag. But damn if it isn’t right on the money. Damn if this isn’t a team displaying admirable levels of resilience nearly every time they take the field.

Damn if this doesn’t just tell the story of win No. 98, but at least 40 others along the way.

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This year is a riff on #Torture from the most recent World Series years.

I must say that this year's NL West race features two teams that are simply mowing down opponents in the stretch run to the regular season finish line.

Since the All-Star break, the Giants have been 41-21 (.661) and the Dodgers have been 41-19 (.683). The largest lead since the All-Star break either team had was 5.0 games on August 13 (Giants). Neither team is slacking off. Like the three-game set between the Giants and Dodgers on Labor Day weekend, this stretch run promises to be epic. It could even end in a tie atop the standings and forcing a one-game playoff for the NL West crown. Game 163, if you will.

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Both Giants and Dodgers fans are feeling the frustration of seeing their team dominate and gain absolutely no ground in the standings. The difference between the teams right now basically boils down to one play:

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1434038341800976385

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Albert Pujols comes through in the clutch again for the Dodgers

https://www.truebluela.com/2021/9/21/22687383/albert-pujols-pinch-hit-single-clutch-chris-taylor-neck-dodgers-postgame

It was Albert Pujols who delivered the winning run for the Dodgers on Tuesday night to beat the Rockies. His pinch-hit single in the 10th inning was the 2,150th run batted in of his career, and his latest example of thriving in a limited role with Los Angeles.

Pujols’ primary role has been hitting left-handers, which he’s done with aplomb, hitting .317/.364/.644, a 163 wRC+ with a team-leading 10 home runs against southpaws. But on Tuesday he was tasked to face veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin with one out and Gavin Lux on second base.

“He’s been a lefty killer. He’s on the roster for that reason,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But the bottom line is, with guys in scoring position, he knows how to drive in a run, regardless of handedness. He had a plan.”

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Has definitely known what he is doing with a bat in his hands for a long, long time.

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author

Connor McGregor can throw a punch, but he can't throw a ball.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1440459592438218753

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My FIL was honored at the 9/11 Dodgers game for his work leading the CA FEMA team after 9/11 (and various hurricanes) and was able to throw out the first pitch with another firefighter and a LAPD officer. He had the best pitch of the three and got it right in Turner's glove without him having to move. He is supposed to receive the ball back with signatures from the whole team, but I don't think they've got it back to him yet.

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author

Perhaps he should have tried punching the ball instead

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Everything about that clip just brings up questions; it answers nothing.

Is McGregor naturally a lefty?

Has he ever played a game of baseball in his life?

Was he afraid of tearing his suit?

Why was he taking those funny steps on the mound?

And what did he think he was supposed to do with the ball?

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I would guess that he has not played baseball at all.

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Well sure, but being able to throw a ball in the general direction in which you are aiming seems fairly basic, no?

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I wonder about this. Those of us who grew up with American sports would consider this a basic fundamental of sport, given the popularity of baseball, American football, and basketball, which all require one-handed throwing of a ball with some accuracy.

What's most popular in Ireland? Soccer and rugby and Gaelic football? You could play those for a long time and only ever make two-handed passes.

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Take it to a more basic level though. You toss your wife the car keys. You throw a pillow at your kids. You maybe play darts at the bar. Throwing an object is somewhat commonplace.

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According to wikipedia there is some small baseball league in Ireland, but the closest thing they have is cricket, and I am willing to bet that the player pool is a lot more posh than McGregor. There's no cricket or baseball clubs in the area of Dublin where he grew up.

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50 cent disagrees...

or maybe it can be the new Volkswagon Passat commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkf0IUp7ifA

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Must be quite a specialized martial artist if he can't handle thrown weapons.

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That was pretty amazing. It is just throwing a ball - how can athlete that makes his living on his hand eye coordination be so bad at that simple task? Amazing

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author

CAL

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go bears!

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booooooooo

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author

Must resist urge to delete comment...

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I deleted it myself. That had more of an impact that I expected! :)

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damn you!!

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