unclevlad

Ahhhhhh....you can find it. I don't recommend you do. They're...pretty bad. But not bumblebee-stripe throwback bad. And that's just mild visual nausea; watching Trubisky flounder is worse. And the less said about That Other Team, the better.

Hey, gotta root for Sac State. I mean, the Aggies need to earn the #1 spot. Let's keep that competition going! (I mean...who's worse? Sac St or Hawai'i? Especially Hawai'i on the road. If NMSU goes winless, methinks it won't be a contest. That'll include losses to 4 teams in the Bottom 25 this week...at 17, 14, 13, and 4. I am honestly beginning to hope that the conference realignments force a complete schism, where the SEC and Big $0 forge a playoff-level group with its own rules. For the rest...no illusion of even TRYING to keep up with the Big Money. Tighter scholarship limits, perhaps...altho FCS isn't actually much different from FBS. But eliminate the illusion. Also split football from all other sports for conference purposes. One thing that might work, given that, is a promotion/relegation approach. Not like that would ever happen....

From the comments to the story: Typos are as per the comment, but hey, if the writer's on his phone, it happens. Can't argue much, altho I might pick slightly different (but not less critical) adjectives, save to say those go back further than Trump. Those have been in the Republican campaigning playbook for a long time.

Better idea. WVU vs. Va Tech on ESPN. Save yourself the torture. After that's over, there's some baseball.

In WtC, in most of the US, heroes are in crisis response teams; much of their work is, as noted, disaster relief and aid. But they're also the ones to take down any powered criminals...because the cops can't. The Sentinels, the team the main char's a member of, have multiple heavy hitters, so they get the call for big takedowns. One of the aspects is also: who has oversight? In Drew Hayes' Super Powereds and WtC, that's a civilian function. In WtC, the CAI teams are state militia, and there's a federal department as well. In SP, it's all federal. In both, you *must* be accredited to actively use powers legitimately, or at least with shielding against liability. SP takes that to an extreme: it's a 4 year program called the Hero Certification Program, and it's highly competitive, with (probably too) few graduates a year. The comics allow vigilantism to run amok, and that isn't practical given the serious damage a super on super fight can cause. Costumes in both also serve another purpose: recognition. While obviously someone can try to exploit that angle, it's still preferable to know that when that guy says "GET DOWN!!"...you really need to listen. Both series point out the trust factor. In the SPU, there's a second tier of supers that are purely first responders, NOT authorized to enter into super combat except in self-defense. They're called PEERS..privately employed emergency responders. He also set up an overarching Super Athletics Association, because supers vs. non-supers is like Georgia versus a high school JV team in football. And both WtC and SP have supers dedicated to just cleanup operations...lots of them.

And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid (don't be afraid) To let them show your true colors

AL Central has likely been locked up tonight. Cleveland smacks around the White Sox, putting the Sox 6 back with 13 to play...and they lose the tie breaker. So if the Sox finish 12-1, Cleveland could go 6-7 and still take it. Minnesota also just lost to KC, so they're 9 back. I believe they also lose the tie breaker, so their elimination number should be 4. Sox and Twins face similar odds to get a WC spot; Tampa Bay has the same record as Cleveland. Seattle's tied in the middle innings right now; if they lose, they'd drop 1/2 game behind TB with 1 fewer win.

I'll recommend Marion G. Harmon's Wearing the Cape series. The premise is that, on one day in the early to mid-2000's, the EVENT happened. The entire world literally blacked out for 3.14159+ seconds...and everything changed. A baggage handler at O'Hare saw a plane falling out of the sky...and flew up to help it land. Elsewhere, those of a less altruistic bent found themselves with the means to commit mayhem...and did. In the first days, panic rose quickly, and some seriously restrictive legislation was introduced...until an incredible speech from one of those new supers, backed by that baggage handler and a few others. Harmon has advanced degrees (his words) in Literature and History...and they're both evident. The world building is, IMO, second to none. The series starts about 10 years after the EVENT; the opening scene is the lead character suddenly gaining her powers (from a car wreck...powers almost always arise from very high-stress events, and are generally connected to the event, the person's personality, and the like) and moves forward from there. In the comics, to be sure, high-powered supers fighting leads to lots of collateral damage...and heroes generally don't die. Harmon tosses those out. The damage is *immense* in some cases...in one book, a villain with earth powers triggers a magnitude 9 quake in southern California...with its massive web of related faults, and very high population density. It's incredibly ugly. And it's not the only one. The novels go into the geopolitical issues from time to time; there's more in the WtC RPG, particularly about how those early years from the EVENT to the start of the series played out. One of the books involves dimension hopping, including to alternate versions of the WtC universe, which lets Harmon play out other scenarios that lead to some VERY difficult situations. Harmon does go into many of the questions you're asking here. He does use the costume paradigm, for heroes...because the symbology is so known. Superman is the Ultimate Good Guy, and using that costumed symbology helps the very scared norms accept that they have help. Drew Hayes in Super Powereds did something very similar, where supers went public in, IIRC, the late 50s...and adapted strict standards to try to ensure public confidence.

$60-70? Nah. More than I'd spend regularly, but very reasonable for a special occasion. Most I've spent? 30th birthday. Born in '58...there are good wines out there, but they're scarce. But '59 was one of the great years in Bordeaux. '59 Palmer. $500. In 1988 dollars, mind. And totally worth it. It's a lot harder nowadays to pull the trigger, because wine prices have skyrocketed beyond reason. Very good California Cabs like Diamond Creek could be found for around $30 a bottle in the mid 80s; that'd be about $80 now. But the current prices...closer to $300 for recent Diamond Creek offerings. I'd shifted away from Cali for that reason, mostly doing wine from Spain or Chile, and in some cases, some of the blended Cali reds that were quite good, and TONS cheaper. So, yeah, I'll grant you can get a very enjoyable bottle for a lot less, but the really good stuff can be on another level altogether.

Even if the incoming troops are somewhat better off than you suggest, the logistical and command/control failures have been blatant, frequent, and ongoing. It's quite possible that this many more troops will allow a Russian advance...potentially at high cost...but for how long? They'll fall flat on their faces again; that's perhaps been the one consistent aspect here. And yeah. This is becoming...if it's not now...an atrocity against the Russians, almost as much as against Ukraine.

But it isn't about actual truth. It's about reinforcing a perception. Elsewhere, the in-box this morning had one from NYT, promoting a 30 minute video about the attack on democracy. I presume it's paywalled, so no link. The 2 major points: --voter suppression efforts aren't the #1 issue. They're anti-democratic, they're probably racist...but their impact is far from clear. --the bigger problem is a concerted effort to distort the voting process at its very source...the polling places. By bringing in poll workers. Training them to challenge voters *extensively*, to create the perception that widespread voter fraud *is* happening...when the fraud is being performed by the poll workers. And this is targetable...election results are tallied at the precinct level, so you challenge in heavily Democratic precincts. There's never been evidence of widespread fraud...so, well, heck, we can't have that, so let's CREATE THE EVIDENCE. Oh, and of course, it's in all these Democratic districts.

Diamondbacks and Dodgers are playing a day-night DH today. LONG day for the players; the 1st game just ended, the 2nd game starts in about 3 hours. D'Backs have a great game going. Up 5-1 going into the bottom of the 8th. Hey, great! Way to start a double header, right? Single. Homer. Error. Walk. Walk. Pitching change. Single. Infield Single...tie game. Strike out. Strike out...almost out of it at least with a tie....but no. Another infield single. Dodgers take the lead. Strike out. Strike out. Foul out. Game over. It's not just the Rockies, Mr. P.... EDIT: and the Pirates lead 8-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. Judge homers. Double. Walk. Single, loading the bases. Stanton blasts a grand slam. Yankees walk it off 9-8. 5 batters, all get on, all score....

Ohh man. Was at the local Albertsons yesterday. In the little sectional, specialty fridge in the aisle, between the dairy and the eggs...very much a prime spot...there it was. Egg nogs. Multiple variants of egg nogs. And it's not even equinox. I talked to one of the long-time employees; he said yeah, it was upper management pushing this stuff out SUPER early, and that wasn't the only thing. I believe he said some of the Christmas liquor gift boxes...buy the bottle, get the (sometimes) nifty glasses...were either out, or were coming out Real Soon. Mildly interesting? NOTHING for Thanksgiving yet, I don't think. Thanksgiving gets...kinda short shrift. There's lots of stuff, but it's not out for nearly as long. At least there. I think Bed Bath & Beyond hits it harder. Mildly annoying...20-odd years ago, September and October were awesome beer months. The fall seasonals were numerous and YUMMY. AND not all of em were pumpkin-based. Now? Almost nothing. There's still Rogue Dead Guy, which I do love, but not a lot else. Then again, that's also been true with winter/Christmas beers...dropped from maybe a dozen to maybe 3...? There's a VERY good chance that it's a local issue. The good ABQ breweries (and there are several) haven't done winter seasonals that I can recall, and the general out-of-state brands' availability has been on the decline for multiple years.

Feels like that holds true for many of the DC writers

Eowyn, how you've changed!!!

Trust me, you really don't. (And no sane person ever needs modern algebra.)

Bills update on Dane Jackson: https://www.buffalobills.com/news/bills-issue-an-update-on-cornerback-dane-jackson Which is great to hear. Presumably they'll need to make sure about concussion issues, tho.

I rarely get enough seeds from a butternut squash to make it worthwhile. Acorn squash, that's possible...because it's also plausible to clean and roast 2 of them. They have less flesh to them than a butternut or pumpkin. That said...I believe the local Natural Grocers has roasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds, and they were quite good...and no shells. Not all that expensive either. That tends to dampen my home roast motivation.

One of the all-time great base stealers has passed. Maury Wills was 89. No CoD was given. He persevered...8 years in the minors, after being drafted out of HS. That limited his peak, which largely was from 60-66, but included an ASG MVP in '62 (the year of 104 steals), 2 Gold Gloves, and 5 All Star designations.

Not for a full day, IIRC, but after 9/11, the networks were broadcasting news only, and there weren't many, if any, ads. This might have been just during the day, too...especially covering the WTC tower collapse. Also, IIRC, CNN went commercial-free for a very extended period on Jan. 6th. And maybe not entirely commercial free well into the night, as the electoral college process played out...but there were TONS of breaks in that process. They may not have all been rehashing the existing story, altho I believe that dominated. (And got really old after the first few hours.)

Yeah. I overall don't follow any of them, but sometimes (usually based on stuff in this thread) check out a few things. The other day, ran across a story that mentioned "fridging." I'm like...what...oh. Good god, WHY? That's beyond sick. The point was apparently to supply a background motive for a character to go dark avenger, IIRC...well, cripes, that's 2 or 3 steps beyond what's needed. There's also a difference when an incident is used to paint a villain, versus to help define a hero. (Classic case: Hannibal Lecter.) But they don't care. IMO, someone who'll write something like this...and many other things...is disconnected from anyone but their own little world...and they know it's unreal. So whatever happens, isn't real. An alternative explanation is, it's writer trolling. Shock and awe strictly used to generate buzz. I'll disagree with the motive...altho grant, that might be the lip service used. Non-established writers are: --LOTS cheaper --much more readily controlled. They don't have the clout to stand up to moronic execs who want some harebrained ideas of their own. To borrow from Jubal Harshaw: “You have to give an editor something to change, or he gets frustrated. After he pees in it himself, he likes the flavor much better, so he buys it.”

And always, always, always remember...friendly fire, isn't. Obviously a complete accident...but it also shows why a) the refs often call the late hit because it's dangerous b) leading with the crown is SOOO risky...in the more normal impact, the 3rd man in hitting the receiver, HIS neck could've compressed. Yeah, it isn't quite as obviously grotesque as seeing a leg at 90 degrees, but it doesn't take a medical degree to recognize that a neck jarred back that much is a VERY BAD THING. I suspect Jackson will be put into a neck brace for a couple weeks, if nothing else, just to keep it stable. Let's hope there's no long-term consequences.

The Titans are pulling a Bungles...4 TOs. Problem is, they're actually playing a quality team, so they're getting crushed. Had that one on until just switching to the Eagles game...but scoreboard watching said the Eagles are just pummeling the Vikes, and what I'm seeing now doesn't dispute that at all. Good news is that Dane Jackson has full movement in all extremities. EDIT: and watching Cousins struggle *again*...got me to wondering about his stats. The box score numbers are good. The QB rating isn't bad. The QBR, OTOH, is...not very good. Which suggests lots of empty yardage. Bit more browsing led me here: https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2021/7/4/22562665/total-qbr-ranking-nfl-qbs-by-the-statistical-company-they-keep I think he makes an interesting argument. Cousins, for example, is in that messy middle...he won't kill you that often (tonight being an exception), but he's not likely to lead you to victory (a la last week). And good QB play doesn't equate to winning...Dak gets good grades, but the team's so bad.

Which is part of what I find so potentially, grandly, ironic. In trying to score political points, DeSantis *may* have killed his political career completely. As I said, it's a long ways to go before that happens.

I must admit that I did just get a couple packets of pumpkin pie spice the other day. I'll get pie pumpkins, roast them, and use that for a super-simple soup (almond milk, salt, spices; puree and heat.) AND roast the pumpkin seeds, which is a bonus you can't get with, say, a butternut squash, which is easier to clean out. I'll also use it with pancakes, and maybe in oatmeal, both of which I do a bit more often in cooler weather. But, yeah, practically everything listed as "pumpkin spice" is pretty gross. SERIOUSLY overdone. I think I only tried to do a pie crust once or twice...and didn't do it very well. Too nit-picky. I'd rather do a streusel topping. And what I did most often was actually a Cali-style cheesecake. 2 layers, cream cheese and sour cream. Very moist. Works fine with a graham cracker crust (or similar) and no top crust. Same with a pumpkin pie...but there, I just drop the crust altogether, and make it as a pumpkin 'custard.'