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OTFPOTD 9/12/11 - Science! Edition

Claw_tiny by JY on

The old post from a few days back got pushed off pretty quickly without filling up, so I'm taking the initiative to start a new one.  I am so proud of me.

 

Science seems to be trending today in my news feed.  Some examples:

You know Gypsy Moths?  Buggers are responsible for defoliation in the northeastern United States.  Now we have a virus that turns them into goo.  Gross, and scary, but also kind of cool.

We all like space, right?  The people behind that HARPS telescope that's on the hunt for exoplanets announced fifty new planets, one of which is 3.6 times the mass of earth and in the habitable zone.  The sensitivity of the telescope has gotten so fine that it can now detect planets at two times the earth's mass and can detect differences in radial velocity amplitudes that run under human walking speed.

Since Matthew was talking about the Battle of Marathon and such, that got me to thinking, "what else happened on this day in history?"  Well, as it turns out, September 12th is also the anniversary of the first demonstration of the integrated circuit (you're using one right now!) and today is the 45th anniversary of the launch for Gemini 11, which achieved the highest earth orbit ever by a manned spacecraft.  Its apogee is still a standing record.

Any fields of science that are of particular interest to you, LL readers?  Underappreciated advances?  Things you're still waiting on some kind of explanation for?  Feel free to talk about whatever else you talk about too.

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The gypsy moth thing is even creepier as it zombifies the moths before gooing them.

That’s great material for some b-film screenwriter’s next paycheck.

by Drew_D on Sep 12, 2011 3:44 PM PDT reply actions  

It sounds like that fungus in rain forests that does a similar thing to insects.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions  

Rain forests produce amazing things.

Researchers have found the native bees in the Hoh rainforest are inmumme to most molds. Could be the key to colony collapse.

by sea-townie on Sep 13, 2011 12:16 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions  

OH YOU AND YOUR PLANET X

Adults these days…

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 12, 2011 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

We're all boned when Nemesis returns anyway.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 12, 2011 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions  

This led me on a fun Wikipedia detour.

Sedna, the dwarf planet with a presently inexplicable orbit.
Barnard’s Star, which moves 10.3 arc seconds through the sky every year (this is a big deal)
Project Daedalus, a proposed expeditionary satellite intended to go to Barnard’s Star within 50 years

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 12, 2011 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

Gross science!

You know that Contagion movie? They constructed billboards for it that were made from fungi, bacteria, and mold.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 12, 2011 4:13 PM PDT reply actions  

Is anyone else watching this US Open final right now?

The level of tennis is just insane.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 12, 2011 5:06 PM PDT reply actions  

NO!

Somebody wanted that turned on during the Seahawks game yesterday and I was obligated by my job to not punch them in the face.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 12, 2011 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

Well this is a completely unnecessary comment

perfectstrat wants to know if anyone enjoyed the tennis, not how much you’d rather watch the Seahawks than tennis

by seattlebruin on Sep 13, 2011 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions   5 recs

For whatever reason, I just can't get into watching tennis

I think it’s that the matches take too long, and it doesn’t really draw me in to watch one on one battles for that long. I know, I’m weird since I like watching golf, but I’ve just never been able to just sit down and watch a whole tennis match like I would a golf tournament or football game.

Also, the hours of the majors tend to mess with that too, seeing as how only one is played in the United States, and not even in my time zone.

by seattlebruin on Sep 13, 2011 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions  

It's wierd. One of the things I like about living on the west coast is that we get to see sporting events at a reasonable hour.

I find events that start at, say, 7PM EST, easier to watch on the west coast than events starting at 10 EST on the east coast. When I went to Pennsylvania for 6 months it became super difficult to watch sporting events, especially ones that are intended to be watched in primetime across multiple time zones as they will likely start at 8/9 EST. Maybe that’s just because I’m watching the Mariners, tennis, and Sunday/Monday night football.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 13, 2011 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions  

I only really watch major tennis tournaments and really only the finals

but I am always in awe of how amazingly fit tennis players are, and how fast they have to react. I know all athletes are fit and can react fast, but tennis just moves lightning fast these days and it’s pretty amazing to watch.

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions  

I could watch snooker for days on end without complaint

There was a stretch of time in the early 90’s when I found myself in England pretty much every April and May, and I would spend hours at my friend’s house watching snooker when I should have been doing other things, like, you know, going outside.

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions  

Snooker? Better than curling?

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions  

According to my father it's the best way to pass the time on a cold, winter day.

Keeps you warm and the traditional booze up afterwards is always welcome. Then, the next day when you shoulder is sore as heck you can drink through that too.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions  

Curses!

Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not sure you can play there, like just walk in and play. It might be a league thing. Still, I find it amusing that Seattle has a curling center. If my ankles weren’t made of balsa wood and Scotch tape, I might consider it.
I wonder if there are curling groupies?

by section331 on Sep 13, 2011 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'm pretty sure you can just walk in and curl.

A buddy of mine went curling for his bachelor party and apparently had a wonderful time.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

Really?

Do they have instructions on what to say? Cuz otherwise, I’m just gonna start yelling “Harder! Push! Push! Harder! ooooooooh! Harder! Fast! No!”

by section331 on Sep 13, 2011 7:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

Sounds like fun to me!

Personally, I think it would be just fantastic to get down on the ice and start sweeping away, with no concept of strategy or purpose—just sweeping like a crazy person.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

That's pretty much the way I bowl

No form, no purpose, just throw the thing at the other things.

by section331 on Sep 13, 2011 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

You sound like my dad

He’ll watch pretty much every shot of a golf tournament but if I’ve got a baseball game on he’ll always say something along the lines of ‘I don’t know how you can watch that, nothing ever seems to happen’

by Eyeball Kid on Sep 13, 2011 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions  

I can get into baseball because the individual matchups go by so fast

whereas in tennis, I feel like I’m watching the same match for hours at a time

by seattlebruin on Sep 13, 2011 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions  

You could make the argument that it takes the large sample size in tennis to see who's actually better, and even then you don't get a conclusive answer in some cases.

They hit an insane amount of tennis balls at each other in a marathon of athleticism and willpower. When I’m watching a good tennis match, I feel it is so epic. Not in the colloquial used definition of the word, but Homer’s definition. I find that entertaining and astounding, but I understand others will have different opinions and tastes.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 13, 2011 10:42 AM PDT up reply actions  

Tennis is like soccer to me

I like the idea more than the execution (but I love soccer every once in a while)

by seattlebruin on Sep 13, 2011 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions  

I apologize.

I was kidding and came off douchey. Sorry about that.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 10:28 AM PDT up reply actions  

It really just depends on what you mean by worked out for the better.

There’s quite a few mountain ranges in the Rockies where mountain goats have been introduced, and are really living in a niche that wasn’t being previously inhabited.

by BigR on Sep 12, 2011 8:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

Could you elaborate?

The mustang has such a mystique in the culture of the American West. It’s weird to think of them being akin to Australian sheep.

by Drew_D on Sep 13, 2011 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions  

Erosion and their being selective eaters are two problems I'm familiar with

Desert and upland desert make up a significant portion of wild horse range in the west. The topsoil has a very delicate eco system that can take years to grow, which helps bind the soil and prevents erosion. Horses have a very large, sharp hoof which chops this up.

Also, animals like sheep and goats are non-selective eaters, they’ll take everything including thistle. Horses and cows are selective, which allows all the plants they won’t eat an opportunity to take over an area, reducing it’s capacity for grazing stock. A good ranching practice is to run goats or sheep over an area recently occupied by cattle to knock down the remaining vegetation.

by Kermit. on Sep 13, 2011 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yep, they overgraze like crazy.

They also specifically target creek bottoms and riparian zones that native ungulates don’t, which really messes with a ton of other bird and mammal species.

In the desert areas, they’re a feral animal that directly competes with and out-consumes native species like mule deer, elk and bighorn sheep. There’s really no reason they’re anything different than feral hogs.

by BigR on Sep 13, 2011 3:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

There's a farm around where I live who rents out their goats to eat up all the shrubery that other people's animals don't take care of.

Thought it was the weirdest thing but makes sense.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

It works best if the goats don't have anything else to eat.

When I was a kid, one of my dad’s neighbours bought some goats thinking that they would take care of that blackberry bush problem but quick. But because the goats were fed regularly otherwise, they never went after the brush and so the whole situation rapidly became silly.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

Is this not as much a problem in other regions of the world then?

I know next to nothing about horses, but from reading The Black Stallion when I was 8 I developed the impression that Arabian horses were a thing and that horses came from desert-like areas.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions  

Ringneck Pheasants have done pretty well.

Do you mean worked out better for the animals or the environment they were put in?

by the other side on Sep 12, 2011 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

If you believe Guns, Germs and Steel, the majority of domesticatable plants and animals originated in Eurasia, were slowly introduced to the rest of the world, and were essential to civilization.

I guess the difference there is that those may have pushed out established plants and animals, but since it happened so long ago we’re not really cognizant of it. Either that or I’m totally misreading it or misapplying it, or I need a beer. Probably the latter.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Anyone else seen Troll Hunter?

My wife and I loved it. Were planning on going to see Apollo18 but decided to rent Troll Hunter instead.

by BigR on Sep 12, 2011 7:31 PM PDT reply actions  

Is that the Scandanavian movie?

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 12, 2011 9:21 PM PDT up reply actions  

Norwegian, yes.

It’s not an especially well made movie, it’s just really fun and entertaining.

by BigR on Sep 13, 2011 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions  

It's funny you should ask.

I took a class in cosmology a couple of years ago and I can tell you that the answer is definitely yes.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 12, 2011 11:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

Possibly the former, possible the latter, possibly neither.

There’s some evidence of it*, but I’d classify it more as a placeholder force until they better understand the mechanisms. If/when it’s more defined, it be re-classified as something else, perhaps tied in with a more fundamental view.

*Something has to account for the increasing acceleration of the universe size, and other things

by Matthew on Sep 12, 2011 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

"Placeholder force" is probably the most accurate description I've heard for it yet.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 12, 2011 11:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

Could be accelerating, or maybe they just aren't as exact on their measurements as they think they are.

They’re measuring vastly huge distances and times, using several assumptions along the way to calculate those distances. Maybe they’ve got that all figured out, or maybe they’re off by a little tiny bit in one or more of those assumptions.

I’d love to see it settled sometime in my lifetime, but it doesn’t really matter. After they answer that question, there’ll be another big question after that, then another, then another.

That’s all life is: Turtles.

by nathaniel dawson on Sep 13, 2011 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions  

Isn't that what tachyons are?

Everything I’ve heard about tachyons indicates that they’re the filler material when a theory is close but needs a little bit of massaging to work. Bang – tachyons!

I will say, thought, that tachyons were fantastic in Master of Orion.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

For some reason I thought tachyons' nature superluminal nature was exactly what led to them filling that role.

I.e. “well, my theory requires that such-and-such would happen faster than light, so … tachyons!”

Not so?

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 8:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nope

Entanglement is more of a speed of logic thing – two particles have to be complimentary, both are in uncollapsed states so no properties can be known, once one is measured the other instantly collapses into its complimentary particle.

by Graham MacAree on Sep 15, 2011 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

I first learned about dark matter watching some science show.

They explained it by saying that they can measure how fast the stars of a galaxy travel around the galactic center, and that they travel so fast that without something the stars would fly off into space because gravity isn’t strong enough to hold them together. So they called the something dark matter.

by d0nkey on Sep 14, 2011 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

Science!

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 12, 2011 11:14 PM PDT reply actions  

I got your science right...

…here!

It’s a glowing cat that will save us from AIDS!

What extra neato is that they used a lentivirus to incorporate the gene into the cat that fights lentiviruses.

by A Public Alias on Sep 13, 2011 10:07 AM PDT reply actions  

Let us now wonder about the current state of movies:

Beetlejuice is getting a sequel, Point Break is getting re-made (the 90s are pretty much culturally unintelligible to us), and so are twelve other films that probably didn’t need to be re-made/re-booted.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 11:13 AM PDT reply actions  

Not that I am for or against remakes (some remakes do improve upon an original film that had poor execution) I don't think they hurt the originals as some people believe.

Most people who see Straw Dogs (2011) would never watch Straw Dogs (1971) because its “old” So if it never got remade, the original Straw Dogs would never stream in their consciousness once in their life. If anything, it causes more people to see the original and then they can leave it up to themselves how they feel abou the 1971 and 2011 versions.

The Paul Verhoeven classic action movies will also always exist, so just because someone wants to update them, whatever. It’s a shame that we don’t have as many new ideas but trying to sell an original idea in Hollywood right now is tough as shit to a studio. It’s just not going to happen nearly as often unless the writer and/or director are really well established. I saw that Insidious recently and though it touches on a lot of previously done “ghost story/haunted house” stuff, it was also a pretty scary movie that was neither a remake or a sequel. Hopefully we get more stuff like that.

When they remake Schindlers List, I’ll take notice. But not when they remake Bloodsport and Toxic Avenger. It’s not heresy.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 13, 2011 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

I don't mind remakes because I see them as stand alone films

the mere existence of a remake does not change the original film in the slightest. I will generally give a remake a chance just to see if it stands on its own merits – Let Me In being the latest example. Let The Right One In was awesome, and Let Me In was a very good film in its own right; I would probably have seen it and liked it even if I hadn’t seen Let The Right One In.

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

I do like that aspect of it, re: Straw Dogs.

I don’t think I would have immediately heard of the original otherwise. But I kind of scratch my head when it comes to things like Let the Right One In, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Oldboy. Are we that averse to subtitles? I don’t know.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions  

Sadly, I would have to say yes.

You just named three of my favorite foreign films right there, but I feel pretty confident in saying that there’s a large section of the population who wouldn’t watch the originals because of subtitles even if they loved the remakes.

The funny thing is that in all three of those movies there is content which I could never see translating to American cinema and they all hit on areas which Hollywood is almost always scared to approach. Will they take a dump on the ending of Oldboy? It’s like if they remade Irreversible, how touchy would they be with the fire extinguisher scene and the subway scene?

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 13, 2011 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

I heard that the manga Oldboy was based off of had a very different ending, which surprised me.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

You don't need to know all that much about it...

aside from the fact that films/TV series are usually adapted from manga around the height of the manga’s popularity which means that it’s usually not yet finished and the director or whoever has to decide on an ending for the current story arc (films) or go to filler (TV). 95% of the time, you can usually tell where the point of deviation is because the stuff that didn’t come from the original author is terrrrrrible, but in Oldboy’s case, I really had no idea that the two had ever branched paths.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 2:35 PM PDT up reply actions  

Like how the TV producers will get to decide the ending to Game of Thrones

because George RR Martin will die before finishing the remaining 3 books.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 13, 2011 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think George is already letting some of his fans ghost write the books

so this would actually be an improvement.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 16, 2011 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions  

This happened in the States with the Scott Pilgrim movie and final book.

The endings were written at close to the same time, and the author said the movie script influenced his ending. I think I liked how the movie ended better.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 11:21 AM PDT up reply actions  

Don't make me break out my The Departed/Infernal Affairs rant.

On The other hand, when they remake things we sometimes get unintended hilarity like
The Wicker Man

by Drew_D on Sep 13, 2011 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

Not that I want to hear the whole rant but my point above makes me want to ask

Does the existence of The Departed lessen in any way your enjoyment of, or lessen the cinematic merit of, Infernal Affairs?

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

No.

but to be brief, where some localization helps draw attention to the source work, this is the case where an excellent foreign film is over shadowed by its big budget successor.

by Drew_D on Sep 13, 2011 2:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

If even 1% of the people who saw The Departed but had never seen (or heard of) Infernal Affairs

sought out the latter after seeing the former, it’s worth it. A film like Infernal Affairs has a really limited audience in the US anyway – the people who don’t like “foreign films” aren’t going to see it, and it’s non-mainstream enough that it probably never played in Abilene, TX to start with – so instead of bemoaning the existence of The Departed to a bunch of people who love Infernal Affairs, maybe praise Infernal Affairs to people who love The Departed but haven’t seen IA?

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 2:21 PM PDT up reply actions  

I understand the counter argument.

I have issues with the movie that I’ve been through before, lets leave it at that.

by Drew_D on Sep 13, 2011 2:31 PM PDT up reply actions  

Princess Mononoke? Ponyo?

I know those are animated, but they were still foreign movies that were dubbed.

by Patrick Stites on Sep 13, 2011 7:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

This is kind of an interesting phenomenon.

In Italy, there are actually semi-famous voice doubles for prominent Hollywood stars. There was a bit of an uproar when I was at school there because Harrison Ford had a new movie out and his voice, “sounded wrong” since his original voice double had died.

by Drew_D on Sep 14, 2011 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions  

I have watched Cosmic Collisions and Planets on Netflix.

Any other science shows and documentaries anyone wants to recommend or discuss? I watched 1 episode of Ancient Aliens and then it was so interesting that I researched it more and there was basically a lot of hits for “psuedoscience” so I decided it wasn’t worth my time to continue watching something that could be all lies. I understand that there’s a lot of bad information out there and all alien shows are in some way for “entertainment purposes only” but I want some hard evidence of ancient aliens that can’t be disproven. I don’t want to have to guess to myself “is that true or not?” when watching a history or science show.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 13, 2011 12:14 PM PDT reply actions  

I hold onto the hope that at some point in my lifetime, life on other planets will be proven.

It’s killing me to know that there is so much unknown out there in the universe and I just wish we could find a way to reach that far before I die.

Since advancement in technology is exponential, I hope humans can get there this century.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 13, 2011 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

Interstellar distances are *vast*

Assuming that general relativity isn’t wrong that nothing can exceed the speed of light, then in all likelihood, it won’t really matter if alien life exists in other solar systems — it’s most likely too far away from us to have any impact on our lives.

by urchman on Sep 13, 2011 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

There may be ways to complete a trip faster than light without actually traveling faster than light (thus not violating relativity).

The only problem is that actually doing so appears to be so impractical as to be virtually the same thing as impossible. According to Wikipedia, always a reliable scientific resource, the Alcubierre Drive is a theoretically possible way of getting around relativity by creating something like a Star Trek warp bubble. The only trifling problem is that you need exotic matter to do it – more of it than all the mass that exists in the universe.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

Interesting

I’d never heard of Alcubierre drives before, so that was interesting to read about. Thanks for the link!

by urchman on Sep 14, 2011 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

This seems like it should have some form of Storage Wars variant.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 5:34 AM PDT up reply actions  

I obviously don't know how to spell his name, either.

Ah well. It’s been about 2 decades since I liked that band anyway.

by section331 on Sep 14, 2011 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions  

Can't do it

All I hear when I hear the Smashing Pumpkins is “I’M BILLY CORGAN AND YOU HAVE TO LOVE ME BECAUSE I’M A GENIUS AND YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A LOWLY PARASITE ON THE ASS OF MY TALENT WAAAAAAAAAAA” and I can’t get past it.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah he's pretty much like that with everyone.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions  

It normally doesn't preclude it for me either

but I don’t like Smashing Pumpkins’ music in the first place so his behavior is just the douchey icing on the shit-flavored cake for me.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

Most musicians that play kids music give me the creeps.

Steve Songs from PBS Kids reminds me of Charlie Sheen and I have no idea why.

by Jed MC on Sep 14, 2011 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

Eh, still slightly better than the days around Machina when he looked like a cenobite.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions  

History Channel is such a joke.

I am convinced that Seattle sports teams exist to make me hate Seattle sports teams.

by the other side on Sep 13, 2011 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions  

If it's not American Pickers

It’s Pawn Stars.

Leader of Drew Vettleson fanclub

by Marinerfanjake on Sep 13, 2011 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions  

Ah, so glad the OP is back. Thanks JY.

Anyone try any bitchin’ new brews recently?

I got a bottle of Deschutes Stoic quadruple belgian and loved it. Apparently it’s pretty limited so hopefully I can track down a few more.

by sanford_and_son on Sep 13, 2011 12:56 PM PDT reply actions  

Nothing particularly new.

Although I did have Bear Republic’s Hop Rod Rye again recently and had forgotten how much I enjoy it. It has a certain element in its flavour that I really like and I’ve begun wondering if there are other beers out there like it that I’ve been missing, so I guess you could say I’m rye-curious ah ha ha oh god

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

Deschutes is currently brewing/bottling two fresh hop beers

Hop Trip and Mirror Pond Fresh Hop – should be hitting stores soon. I remember liking Hop Trip a lot last year, and I’m looking forward to trying the Mirror Pond version.

by Eyebrows on Sep 13, 2011 2:25 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions  

Has anyone tried anything by Left Coast brewing?

I had a bomber of Hop Juice a couple weeks ago and fell deeply in like with it.
One link for you.

by ToddK on Sep 13, 2011 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

I picked up a six pack of Two Beers Evolutionary IPA the other day and really enjoyed it.

Where did you find the Stoic? I’ve been wanting to give it a try but haven’t located any yet.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

I have a bottle now as well

All Things Wine in Renton is a pretty good bottle shop and they have hooked me up with a lot of rare stuff by virtue of their monthly beer club that I am a member of.

by tootthekazoo on Sep 13, 2011 9:34 PM PDT up reply actions  

Found the Stoic at the Green Lake PCC.

They had it on tap at Uber for about a week, now it’s gone.

by sanford_and_son on Sep 14, 2011 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions  

It's on tap at the Dog & Pony in Renton, as I discovered last night.

I had one glass, and thought it was excellent. I had another glass, and thought it was better still. Then I stood up and discovered that it’s 11% ABV. Unfortunately Dog & Pony was too considerate of its other patrons to fill me a growler’s worth.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions  

So.... there's a great beer.... and it's coming out of Utah....

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, I was shocked, too!

Their Crooked Line beers are incredible, as well. Just fantastic.

I don’t know the particulars but somehow I guess they get around the whole weak beer thing in Utah. Maybe because it’s a microbrewery?

by sanford_and_son on Sep 14, 2011 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions  

Well there ya go.

I think they still have that whole “club membership” thing you have to buy in order to go to bars, right? It’s usually like an extra $1. Knew some people who used to live there.

Anyways, black IPAs just might be my favorite type of beer. They’re up there with barley wines.

by sanford_and_son on Sep 14, 2011 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nope, that's gone too

Utah’s starting to be part of the 20th century now…someday they’ll get to the 21st!

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

There's lots of other good stuff from Utah. It's a sizable portion of the good beer in Idaho.

Idaho’s brewing industry is expanding. Right now the brewpubs are good for a night out, but not worth exclaiming about.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, Laughing Dog is good.

In the southwest, I like Table Rock as a brew pub. Boise and Meridian also have Brewforia, which is a wonderful beer shop. There’s a good beer drinking culture, but great local beer isn’t here yet. If you’re in the east, Grand Teton is pretty good, especially their seasonals like Black Cauldron Imperial Stout.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nice, thanks!

I’m hoping to try Laughing Dog’s Doggfather Imperial Stout, not sure it’s out yet.

by sanford_and_son on Sep 16, 2011 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

No prob. I know McCall, Salmon and Lewiston also have brewpubs, but I haven't been to them.

Idaho Falls has a brewpub that’s reopening. It’s in a wonderful spot—right next to the tiny but pretty falls. But the beer made by the old owners wasn’t memorable.
I don’t think Teton ships west of Idaho, though. A news story I just read said their distribution is just to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions  

If you like East Asian Cinema

Go see Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee while it’s on limited release in US theaters!
From the site:
A bizarre murder mystery brings together the most powerful woman in China, the soon-to-be-Empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau, Curiosity Kills the Cat), and a formerly exiled detective, Dee Renjie (Andy Lau, Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon), at the infamous Imperial Palace. Hoping that he will solve the crime before her coronation, Wu appoints Dee Chief Judge of the Empire and implores him to combine his indisputable wisdom with his unparalleled martial arts skills to save the future of her dynasty. Director Hark Tsui (Seven Swords) teams with stunt director Sammo Huang in this heart-pounding, epic thriller inspired by the incredible true story of one of the Tang Dynasty’s most celebrated officials.
Director: Hark Tsui
Cast: Andy Lau(!), Carina Lau

Trailer!
Where you can see it!

by Drew_D on Sep 13, 2011 1:41 PM PDT reply actions  

Exciting new skills you have acquired?

I now know how to give subcu fluids to a kitty.

by msb on Sep 13, 2011 2:03 PM PDT reply actions  

Diabetic or kidney failure?

Insulin’s easy. I gave my cat insulin shots when I was like ten. But when the other cat had his kidneys go bad, holy crap, those are some comically large syringes.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

Calming the kidneys.

I am curious to see how it goes tomorrow when I don’t have someone looking over my shoulder. I’d seen the aftereffects before with a previous cat, so the sudden hunchback didn’t freak me out :)

When we got back home his choice of a dark hiding place was the litter box. Not using it, just settled on the clean litter, under the cat box lid. I’ve since made him a cave of an old laundry basket on its side and some towels in the living room, and that is apparently acceptable.

by msb on Sep 13, 2011 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

So long as you don't have to fight him for the duration.

The cat that we had to give the kidney stuff to regarded all medicine as being part of a conspiracy to poison him. No matter how bad he ended up feeling, he would always back up, or turn and bite, or anything just to keep the needle out of him.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 13, 2011 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions  

So.

I am capable of inserting a needle in the scruff.

I am not capable (with only two hands) of keeping it there, turning on the drip AND containing a squirming cat who is feeling better.

by msb on Sep 14, 2011 5:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

Our kitty did not like the whole subcu fluid process

but I liked how at the end of it he looked like he had a massive goiter on his leg.

by pdb on Sep 13, 2011 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

I can now passably fillet a whole fish.

I can also beat one over the head. I don’t enjoy that last bit, but I can do it.

by section331 on Sep 13, 2011 7:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

I can also cure the fish for smoking...

And I like that because it reminds me of my favorite poem – also, it makes me a hero to people I work with…

by section331 on Sep 13, 2011 7:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

Due to an employee's heart attack over Labor Day weekend

I am now relatively proficient at reassembly of Toyota Camry doors and front bumpers. While I’ve never had to put a car together, it’s funny how much you learn about something simply by watching people do it on a daily basis.

To piggy back on this, anybody else find that they knew how to do something that they’d never tried but instead only seen done by somebody else?

by tootthekazoo on Sep 13, 2011 9:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

I mostly do the opposite of that.

I see people doing something and assume I can do it until I try. Like I just started playing tennis. Not that easy.

I am convinced that Seattle sports teams exist to make me hate Seattle sports teams.

by the other side on Sep 13, 2011 10:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

Looking for a sleeper movie to watch out for?

God Bless America directed by Bobcat Goldthwait apparently killed at Toronto International Film Festival.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 13, 2011 2:31 PM PDT reply actions  

Not much for movies, but I love this quote from the article:
[…] I am on board to let the guy from Police Academy II pander mightily to me with 90 minutes of manifesto-style monologuing and mayhem."

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 13, 2011 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

Brown sauce noooooooooooooo!

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 13, 2011 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

This is great.
Heinz made the changes after signing up to the Coalition Government’s Responsibility Deal, which aims to reduce salt used by food manufacturers. … But as a result of the decrease in salt in the old sauce, the new line has more calories and carbohydrates.

Sounds like totally valid reasoning.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 13, 2011 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

What is your favorite airport? Least favorite?

My favorite is Keflavik in Iceland. It’s new and all woodlike and not too busy so you don’t feel like you’re dying in a sea of people. Least favorite is Pisa’s, though maybe its being so small and not in a large city hurts its standing. It’s just small, there’s no where to sit and it feels pretty outdated.

Note that I did not ask what gate at any airport is your favorite.

by Mariner John on Sep 14, 2011 8:23 AM PDT reply actions  

PDX is a pretty awesome airport

It’s small enough that it’s never ridiculously crowded, and there’s a Rogue brewpub inside security. I also like Tucson’s airport because it’s the last airport in the US where you can roll up 15 min before the flight and still make your plane.

least favorite would have to be O’Hare or Philly.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 8:56 AM PDT up reply actions  

When I was last at PDX, there was a place selling growlers of beer behind security.

Apparently, we could take them on the plane with us too, but since it was 10AM, we decided against it.

by joof on Sep 14, 2011 9:35 AM PDT up reply actions  

Really? I had no problems at Long Beach

Heck I took my dog and they didn’t even bother to check him.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 14, 2011 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions  

I really liked Long Beach.

Small, you walk out to the plane and see a bunch of Gulf Streams on the way there.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

The bar at Long Beach is nice.

It’s on the second floor of a two-story terminal and has a panoramic view of the planes and runways.

by enguy on Sep 14, 2011 5:52 PM PDT up reply actions  

I love the Oakland airport for flying into the Bay Area.

It’s easy accessible from several freeways, it’s small and almost deserted, and just generally much easier than either SFO or San Jose.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 14, 2011 9:14 AM PDT up reply actions  

As a Bay Area resident (not now that I'm in college!), I really like SFO.

They just opened the newly renovated Terminal 2, and it looks phenomenal. The International Terminal is also really nice. Perhaps it’s because SFO is about 10 minutes closer to me than OAK, but I just like SFO way better, even though Oakland has a nice airport as well.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

Why? I go there so much, maybe I just take it for granted now.

It just seems like a small airport. The pinch point at Security isn’t well designed, nor is baggage claim, but everything works fine because there just aren’t that many people there.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 1:31 PM PDT up reply actions  

That's why!

It’s rarely crowded, and a quick drive to Genova Sandwiches.

by royalcurve on Sep 16, 2011 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Eh. This seems like more of a "why Oakland is awesome" than "why Oakland int'l is awesome"

but I take your point. All of the downsides of Oakland airport are more theoretical than actual.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

LAX is a nightmare.

Favorite would be Tom Nevers Field in Nantucket with Sandpiper Air.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions  

Least favorite single experience would have to be Philadelphia International

It’s dirty, crowded, a technological throwback, and I had one of the least pleasant customer service experiences there. For consistent awful though, I’ve probably lost more hours at SFO than all other airports combined. SFO has managed to cram all the inefficiency and delay of a much larger airport in to a medium size package.

My favorite airport to fly in and out of is Burbank. Geographically convenient and so much more pleasant than LAX.

by Drew_D on Sep 14, 2011 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions  

I used to hate Newark, but then I realized I was getting the shitty terminal all the time.

The bad terminal has limited offerings, is dirty looking/feeling and all the carousels for baggage claim rely on someone putting a sign up to figure out where things are coming in. After years of going in and out of SeaTac, it was an unpleasant surprise.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions  

I had the same problem with Cincinnati the few times I've flown in and out of there

People kept raving about the airport, but the terminal I arrived and departed from was the same as the old Newark – no gate signs, no bag claim signs, and it looked like an abandoned garage. Then, the last time I flew in there, I got to use the new terminal and realized that was what people were raving about.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

No, Newark just fucking sucks.

I’ve flown through there four times. Had one flight cancelled for rain (that never came), had one delayed on the tarmac for 3 hours (before the new rules), had one delayed at the gate for 2 hours (neither of those were in adverse weather) and mercifully had one (leaving NWK) leave on time.

All of New Jersey can go to hell.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

I have flown out of Newark probably more than ten times and at the old terminal I only ever had a flight leave on time once.

After they shifted Alaska’s flights to the B terminal, things got better.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions  

[Obligatory excusing of the state I live in]

I’ve flown in and out of EWR more times than anyone except probably the top tier of NNJ business travelers (platinum elite, baby) and I’ve only been delayed twice, both due to huge-ass snowstorms. And C Terminal is the shit, tons to eat, places to hang out, comfy seats.

But I can see how someone going through A/B repeatedly would hate it.

And NJ is only as bad as the rest of the Northeast – as in it’s still better than the South, but not as good as the Midwest or the West Coast

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions  

I hate the hates for Newark too.

The whole experience was just one ball of incompetency and fear.

by section331 on Sep 14, 2011 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions  

HAVE the hates

I need this day to be over….

by section331 on Sep 14, 2011 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions  

Seriously?

How can you not like NYC? It’s an amazing city. I get the NJ antipathy, but there’s sooooooo much to do and see in NY that I could live there for years and never get bored.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 3:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

Stuck in traffic on a deadline in NYC

Is the closest I’ve ever come to getting out and smashing the window of someone else’s truck with a tire iron for being a complete cockmonster. I never want to be that angry again.
I also got in a verbal altercation with a NY firefighter over a temporary parking spot (that guy can still go fuck himself).
Nothing that claims to be such a great place should subject its citizens and visitors to such a ridiculous clusterfuck for travel.
I actually got a little irate just typing that out, is how badly it affected me.

by section331 on Sep 14, 2011 3:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

One of my favorite David Letterman monologue jokes of all time:

“People walking down 5th Avenue today were surprised to see a crowd of people standing together, pointing at something in the street that none of them had ever seen before. This went on for about 20 minutes until someone from out of town walked by and explained that it was a parking space.”

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

Anyone ever driven in NYC?

That shit is insane. I somehow managed to not kill myself the day I spent there, though there was this really annoying white truck that boxed me in my parking space…

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

As mentioned above

I hate it with the passion of a thousand white-hot burning suns.

by section331 on Sep 14, 2011 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

I enjoy visiting certain parts.

Central park Zoo, the central branch of the NY public library (so many floors!), Broadway, K-town, NYU.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions  

New York is incredibly appealing to me in theory but after a day or two I'm usually ready to leave.

My brother in law lived there for five years in school and was antsy to get the hell out of there after about a year. It seems like the kind of place that would be amazing if you had the money to really take advantage of what the city offers while affording a spacious, relaxing place to live and to luxuriate when you’re tired of all the big-city BS.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 9:02 AM PDT up reply actions  

New York City!

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 15, 2011 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions   6 recs

Only been there once and didn't linger, but Frankfurt's airport seemed really neat, with loads to do.

Important for such a prominent layover hub. I’m also a fan of pretty much any small airport that lets me not stand in lines because there’s like 12 people there. Bless you, John Wayne, Krakow, Kosovo.

Worst experiences have been Newark and Madrid. Madrid was a mess to navigate.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:21 AM PDT up reply actions  

Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol are the best airports in Western Europe

I haven’t been through Heathrow T5 but it’s Heathrow so I have low expectations for it.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 11:24 AM PDT up reply actions  

I had no problem with my one trip through Heathrow

I’ve also had good experiences with Atlanta and O’Hare, so //shrug

Denver sucks though.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions  

I hate how far away it is from civilization, but I kinda love the terminal set up.

I’m not smart enough to know if it’s smartly set up, but it does make me contemplate how it’s organized. On connecting flights, I’ve never had to walk more than 5 minutes. Same can’t be said for SeaTac, the Chicago airports or Minneapolis.
One crummy thing about Denver is that I’ve always had massive turbulence when coming from/leaving to the west.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions  

Disagree with you on Frankfurt.

The one time I was there my travel buddy was dying of Swine Flu and left me in charge of navigating out of the airport which was not very easy at all.

by Robert on Sep 14, 2011 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

I can see that.

I’ve had two very different experiences at Frankfurt before and after the 9/11 stuff. Once they moved the US gates out to the boonies and added the extra security it became a real adventure to get in and out.

by Drew_D on Sep 14, 2011 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions  

Madrid is home to endless walkways.

Schiphol was also quite nice. Its baggage belts know when there are bags on the belt and waits until there’s space to drop them!

by Mariner John on Sep 14, 2011 9:38 PM PDT up reply actions  

I love this question.

Favorite – Hard to pick, but SeaTac and PDX bring me home, so it’s hard to find faults, but for just airports I have to say that I like CVG (Cincinatti) and YYZ (Toronto) the best. I’m not a big fan of huge airports, and EWR is always in or out so I never hang out too long (plus the President’s club is my normal hangout there, so I’m biased).

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

I've gone through there (seven) times, and every time has been the easiest I've ever traveled internationally.

Granted I’ve only been to three non-US airports, but I’ve flown to YYZ from three or four different US airports, and every single one was a giant pain.

As a non-drinker, I’m not looking for bars or anything, just a comfy place to sit, WiFi, and non-chains to eat at. They had all three, and were efficient and nice to work with despite a ticket mixup.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

I found them expensive, uncomfortable

and the US Customs there were assholes and about the dumbest people I’ve interacted with. They’re called euros you dumbfuck. No it isn’t counterfeit money. No they aren’t “british.” You’d think you might know that since you’re a customs agent you fucking nimjob.

They did have wifi though.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

Oops, forgot the jeers.

GPT (Gulf Port, MS) is easily my most hated, because they make everyone stand in front of the cancer gun or get groped. Then you get through security, and find there’s only one newsstand that charges 5 times what anyone would to pay for orange juice, despite being ~100mi from Florida.

But for real airports and not hick places that can’t draw a 737, I’d go with DFW, because I’m always stuck there on layover for like 5 hours and there’s never anything decent to eat.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions  

Least favorite: Kansas City; favorite: Sea Tac

While Kansas City doesn’t have the busiest airport in the world, the set-up behind security is awful. Very limited bathrooms and only one small kiosk serving basic food/drink for every few gates. Supposedly it was built to TWA’s specifications back when TWA was based in KC. Then TWA decided they didn’t like the layout, asked KC to rebuild it and when the city wouldn’t TWA pulled out. 40 years later it still sucks. Although it does have free wireless, so there’s that.

Sea Tac is my favorite because it used to be home and always feels familiar which helps the stress of travel. It also has pretty decent activities past security and looks a whole lot better now then it did several years ago.

No matter where you go, there you are.

by KC Mariner on Sep 14, 2011 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

You're so right about KC's airport. It feels like it wasn't built with post-9/11 security in mind.

I get really pissed at airports without free wifi. Yay Boise. Boo Boingo, which seems to exist just to frustrate travelers.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions  

It's pretty solid and easy to get through security. I wish it had more discount airlines.

Southwest is ditching direct service to Seattle (Alaska still has it.) They just added some Smurf Turf from BSU’s stadium. But some of the gate signage is bad.

by yuniform on Sep 19, 2011 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

I've never understood the hype for Southwest, personally. I like Alaska (and Frontier) a lot better.

Boise’s gate numbering scheme is hilarious. They got kind of crazy when they redid the terminal and tried to make the airport sound bigger than it is by dividing it into arbitrary concourses.

Concourse A is for private planes, B is the main airport, and C is Alaska/Horizon down on ground level

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 19, 2011 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

Southwest is a lot cheaper, especially if you're taking checked bags. I've flew Frontier once and liked it.

I can dream of Virgin, JetBlue or other airlines someday coming to Boise. I’m also fine with the “concourses” in Boise. I never even realized there were A gates.

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 9:24 AM PDT up reply actions  

Alaska has fallen a long way.

They used to be a scrappy young carrier with competitive prices and + amenities. Now they’re just another fleet carrier like Delta or United. Southwest is selectively your best value anywhere on the west coast, especially if you have to take checked bags, but you’re never going to select them for comfort.

by Drew_D on Sep 20, 2011 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions  

I always give them a look when I go to buy

but in probably 20 airfare purchases in the last 5 years (almost always in and out of BOI/DEN/PHX/SEA), I’ve only found Southwest to be cheaper than Alaska/Delta/Frontier twice!

I never check bags though.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 20, 2011 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions  

Which airports are you flying in and out of?

The trick I’ve found with Southwest is flying in/out of say Long Beach or Oakland/San Jose instead of SFO/LAX. I also never check bags (infact I usually have free tickets due to circumstances), but in the rare case I am paying money and can afford to not go out of a city airport they are pretty competitive.

Then again, I mostly fly around cali, not the mountain states, and cali is really southwest’s stomping ground. That could be the difference.

by Drew_D on Sep 20, 2011 12:52 PM PDT up reply actions  

I guess I never fly into California

Now that I think about it, the one time I have in the past five years, I flew into Oakland and used Southwest for the return leg!

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 20, 2011 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

I just flew into Boise this weekend on Horizon

I had a large carry on and they put it in the back of the plane for free as you board, and hand it back to you on the tarmac when you land. It looked like nearly everyone else knew about this and had bags that were clearly too large for carry on, it was free versus checking them. Plus the no waiting at the carousel.

by Kermit. on Sep 20, 2011 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions  

Most airlines do this nowadays.

Luggage companies make suitcases that just fit specifications but are a pain to actually put in overhead compartments. The only downside is having carry-on bags checked at the gate on the first leg of a flight and not getting them in transit. My suitcase got a free night in Salt Lake City that way. At least it was delivered to my door by the airline the next day.

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

Usually only on CRJs or smaller planes do they do the curbside service

but yeah, Horizon and all Skywest (operating as Delta/United/Alaska) flights do that in the west. I’m sure back east ASA and Comair and Mesaba do it and whatever other regional airlines that operate mainline express routes too

No airline has gotten to the point where they’re dickish enough that if there’s no room for your carry on bag on a big plane, they’ll gate check it for free

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 20, 2011 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

I really like London Heathrow.

It has so much to do, whether you’re leaving soon or having a long layover. It also looks so modern and awesome. The only fault I have with it is the buses. While I love the idea of satellite terminals, there has to be a better way to get there.

But how ’bout this port?

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions  

Abyss?

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 14, 2011 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions   2 recs

How so?

Any time I’ve been there I’ve always had good experiences despite the crowds.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions  

It's dirty, the lines are ridiculous, it's completely disorganized, and all the terminals are crowded beyond belief

And good luck asking anybody for help with anything – that famous British condescension is in full effect. I have flown to and through Heathrow many, many times (and will probably do so again at some point) and every time I do I hate it just that little bit more.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

I like the little airport in Edinburgh.

Because when you land? You’re in Edinburgh.

by royalcurve on Sep 14, 2011 8:34 PM PDT up reply actions  

Noooo not Keflavik

I rented a car, and to get to the rental car counter you had to walk out of the airport and down to the freight area which is like 4 blocks away. Wasn’t a huge deal, except for some wicked wind, but when a fairly important part of your airport isn’t located at the airport and there’s no real connection to it (like a shuttle van or something) or directions to it, that’s a problem.

It depends on what you’re going for. I like the little hawaiian airports because I’m in Hawaii and many of them (like Kona) don’t have anything that would qualify for the word “building.” I like amenities (beer) in larger airports but don’t like them too gigantic (O’Hare). I’m biased, but Sea-Tac’s a nice balance. San Francisco’s really nice too.

Least favorite: hmmm. I don’t know, Zagreb? I remember Nuremburg wasn’t any good, but I think that had more to do with when/why I was there. I don’t really like Oakland, CA, but there’s nothing really bad about it. There’s just not much to do, and you don’t make up for that with local charm. Oh: Newark.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'm with you about Keflavik. It was a bit confusing getting both out of and into there.

Plus, there were no seats all that close to the gate on my flight to Seattle. It’s also further from Reykjavik than Denver’s airport.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, that's true, but it's a nice drive - I'll give it that.

Having just been to Kona again, I’m always struck by just how similar it is to Iceland. The volcanism overwhelms all of the differences in latitude, flora, temperature, etc. Lava trumps all.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:35 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, really. I might go back in December, though I'm almost getting Kona'd out.

I don’t really want to go anywhere for a while, strangely. I really wanted to go to England next summer, but the fares and availability on flights are…vexing. Olympics!

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

I am so excited

we’r renting a house at Kealakekua Bay, and we’ll be there for 10 days. Here is a list of the things we have planned:

1. Mauna Kea

So, 10 days, and one plan. Otherwise, a lot of snorkeling, sleeping, and lazing. I cannot wait.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions  

Where do all you people stay in Hawai'i?

I’d like to visit more, but as a single, budget-minded traveler, Hawai’i never seems like a good idea

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

We stayed in B&B's last time

They’re cheaper than hotels and far more awesome, but they’re still not ‘budget’ as you may be used to the term – I think we paid $150 or so a night. the house we’re renting this time works out to $170 a night, but it’s a house, so we’ll cook a ton of our own food and stuff and we won’t eat out very much.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

rent a condo, buy food, cook it in the condo.

(then go to Kona brewing)

I’ve never stayed in a hotel in Hawaii and probably never will. You can get condos/rentals for less than $100 if you don’t need much space.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions  

Depends on when you do it, I think.

We went over Christmas last year and car rentals through the major rental agencies that deal with normal cars were extremely expensive. We went through a local agency, and it was very reasonably priced but the car was in very rough shape, felt like it was about to fail at any point, and the customer experience was completely nonexistent. Just for reference, I had to educate my extended family on how to tweak the trunk latch every time to get the trunk to latch shut again.

Apparently there are a lot of those local Rent a Wreck type agencies and while I kinda enjoyed the experience in an “it’s just part of the adventure” sort of the way, it might not be for everybody.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 16, 2011 4:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

If you use a broker site like aloharents.com

You can normally save a couple hundred bucks. But yes there are peak seasons.

Its finally happened.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 17, 2011 7:45 AM PDT up reply actions  

My favorite is Cairns.

It has one of the greatest descending flight views of any airport I’ve been (including SeaTac, PDX, Narita) and once you’re there you’re in Australia.

Least favorite is the St. Louis hub that used to be TWA’s important mid-America airport. I haven’t been since the lat 90’s, but that place was a pit.

by Jed MC on Sep 16, 2011 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

Hmmm

I like Bellinghams remodel a lot but I’ve always liked Seatac. Least favorite would have to SFO, O’Hare and Detroit.

Its finally happened.

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 16, 2011 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

Limited experience-

Favorite is Lihue in Kauai, Least favorite is LAX. Crowding is the reason for both.

by BigR on Sep 14, 2011 8:33 AM PDT reply actions  

Travel Advice.

I have never really planned a “vacation” before. Sure, I’ve booked flights to Las Vegas and I’ve gone overseas to see family, but I’ve never planned out an entire big trip.

Anyways, I’m trying to look into a trip to Europe potentially next year. It will be my first time going to Europe and thinking about the best way to see Europe in two weeks. Is it possible to fly into London, stay there for awhile, then hop across the pond to see several other countries and cities located in that area and do it for relatively cheap? How exactly does it work when people do their european vacations? Sorry for being so vague, I just don’t know where to start. Would you just book a round trip ticket and then play it by ear? What is the best site to use?

Thanks!

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 10:12 AM PDT reply actions  

I haven't actually traveled to Europe, but the advice I heard when I've considered European trips in the past is to concentrate on one area.

So, if you’re flying to London, spend at least a week in London. If you’d like to see the rest of the UK, or maybe spend the other week in Paris, you can do that, but you’re already starting to overextend a bit. Europe is so geographically small compared to the US that it’s incredibly tempting to see a bit of the UK, a bit of France, a bit of Spain, Germany, and Italy, but there’s just so much to see and do that the more rewarding vacation will involve getting deeper into one area rather than trying to spread yourself over many.

This is second-hand advice, so certainly take it with a grain of salt.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 14, 2011 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions  

The first question is, how old are you?

I have found the older one gets, the less tolerant one is of barreling from place to place – quality becomes more important than quantity. If you’re young and have boundless energy, go see as much as you can, but be prepared for most of your memories to be train stations and airports.

You will not see Europe in two weeks. That’s like seeing all of America in two weeks. Hafner’s on to something – what I would do is pick one country with a major city in it, base myself there, and take day trips/overnight flights from that city. The reason I say “country with a major city” is that it’s much easier to find a bunch of cheap flights to places from London or Paris than it is from, say, Skopje – Europe has a few great budget airlines (RyanAir and EasyJet being two of the biggest) that have deals all the time from their major hubs, so it’s easy to get places.

To answer your original question, it’s absolutely possible to stay in London and get other places. I’ve done it many times. You’re 2.5 hours via train from London, a little more to Belgium, and from any of London’s major airports there are any number of cities about that far away by plane (Barcelona’s 2.5 hours, Madrid’s 2, Rome’s a little further). Plus which, London is a singularly awesome city and worth being made your base. If you’ve never traveled abroad before, London’s also a great introduction – you get to find your way through a different culture and a different set of daily machinations while having the luxury of having everyone speak English, which makes it easier.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions  

There's a conundrum there because I am 28 but I might be travelling with someone who is 18. But I think I have the energy to catch up.

I’ve always wanted to go to London more than any other European city anyway so it sounds like it should be made as the main destination without worry. So it would be good to plan a 2-week trip to London and then you can always make get away trips from London? That sounds like a good idea to me.

Should I just use a site like hotwire or expedia?

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yep

In addition to what I listed above, you can get to Dublin in an hour, and to Edinburgh (which is almost as cool of a city as London) in about 45 min from London via plane.

Yeah, you can just book to London from the US via Hotwire or Expedia – but if you want to fly EasyJet or RyanAir to other places from London just book directly with them.

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

Be very aware of the Olympics

and either go during or avoid anytime near it depending on your preference

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions  

I advocate for going during because seeing the Olympics is fantastic

even if you don’t go see any events. However, if you go understand that you will pay twice as much for anything*, experience twice as many crowds and the London you see will be less the “real” London.

*This can be avoided but takes savvy planning starting about now. I stayed in Vancouver during 2010 for about $32/night because I booked rooms a year in advance (the first day they allowed) and I skipped the tourist things where rates were jacked because I’d been (and will go) to Vancouver many other times.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:33 AM PDT up reply actions  

It would be amazing, but what with already being on a tight budget, I'm not sure I could pull it off.

I’m wondering however if prices will be exceptionally better in the weeks following as everyone shuffles out.

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

I figured, but I need to get some sort of value out of me having been to Skopje

so I take the opportunity to bash it when it comes up, even tangentially.

by Matthew on Sep 14, 2011 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions  

Skopje was the promised land when I was in Kosovo with the Army.

Being confined to base all the time (this was just after 9-11 and the Army was really tight on security) the one glimpse into normal life was when the shuttle bus between Camp Bondsteel and Camp Able Sentry would drive through Skopje. Real civilian life was right there, just outside the bus!

Then I was able to spend 4 hours in Skopje and the dream was shattered.

No matter where you go, there you are.

by KC Mariner on Sep 14, 2011 1:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

Unfortunately no.

The Army was really freaked about security at the time so any trips outside the base were hard to come by. I had to receive about 2 hours of terrorist/std/kidnapping briefs just to spend 4 hours in Skopje. I did go to the German base near Prizren once and didn’t want to leave their dining facility.

I really wished the Army had offered off base excursions while there because I heard many towns were nice and the locals always seemed very friendly.

No matter where you go, there you are.

by KC Mariner on Sep 14, 2011 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

Views were one aspect of the Balkans I got a lot of!

Even though I rarely drove off base, being a pilot had some advantages.

No matter where you go, there you are.

by KC Mariner on Sep 14, 2011 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions  

That's what I loved about Central America.

All the food I could eat for next to nothing and 25 cent beer.

No matter where you go, there you are.

by KC Mariner on Sep 14, 2011 2:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, the Greeks are dicks about that.

Haha, now they’re bankrupt!

Seriously though, I think Northern Greece is some of the most unexpectedly awesome areas I’ve traveled to. Everyone seems to gush over the islands, hands down I thought Meteora was the coolest place I’ve been in that region

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

Most of the famous ancient Macedonian stuff did happen in Greece. (At least that's what the Greeks told me.)

Meteora is awesome. I had so much fun just walking around climbing up all the neat rock formations to the churches. I also enjoyed “hiking to churches” on Mt. Athos.
Speaking of Athos, Greece and bankruptcy, Michael Lewis’ Greece article a while back is awesome. My favorite fact: it would be cheaper to put all Greece’s rail passengers into taxicabs.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

I did that a few times.

One example? I went to London, spent 4 days. Flew to Scotland, spent 5 days. Took a train to Hull, hopped on a boat to Belgium, took a train to Rotterdam, flew out of Amsterdam. Whole trip was about 2 weeks.

by royalcurve on Sep 14, 2011 8:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

I just travelled Europe for three weeks, seeing 7 cities.

I would recommend picking 2 or 3 cities that will have a lot of stuff to see and sticking with those. London has a LOT to see itself. You could spend the whole two weeks just there. I would find two or three places that you would be really interested in and visit the hell out of them. Whether that’s all of Britain or London and Paris or whatever.

by Mariner John on Sep 14, 2011 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think you can see 80% of Iceland in like 3 days.

Reykjavik, Golden Circle, the coast. Bam.

Obviously the rest looks gorgeous and I want to drive the entire loop, but to me, that’s less “Iceland” and more “nature that happens to be in Iceland”

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, the south coast is nice, but Lake Myvatn makes the loop worth it. I did it for 10 days/~$2000 a person.

One day for Vatnajokull/Jokulsarlon is also good. If anyone is ambivalent about south Iceland, they should watch this Bon Iver video. I like the knit of his sweater.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 2:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

On that subject

Is there any benefit whatsoever to spending 35 days or so on the Continent driving from Paris to Turkey and back entirely off-freeway, avoiding big cities?

 Or would I miss too much of the cool stuff?

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 20, 2011 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions  

Keith Law reviews Moneyball: The Movie

Spoiler: He doesn’t like it.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 14, 2011 10:48 AM PDT reply actions  

Goddammit I really wanted that to be good.

I am convinced that Seattle sports teams exist to make me hate Seattle sports teams.

by the other side on Sep 14, 2011 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

To be fair, we're talking about Keith Laws review here.

Early score on Rotten Tomatoes is 8 positive reviews and 1 negative.

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions  

[surprisedface.gif]

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 14, 2011 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions   3 recs

This is the best review so far:

“You may or may not laugh, but at least you’ll be closer to death and no better for it.”

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions  

It looks terrible beyond words

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 14, 2011 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'm probably still gonna see it, this just augments my already bad feelings about it.

Here’s to low expectations.

I am convinced that Seattle sports teams exist to make me hate Seattle sports teams.

by the other side on Sep 14, 2011 1:06 PM PDT up reply actions  

Still pumped to see it.

Also really excited to see Drive and Warrior.

by sanford_and_son on Sep 14, 2011 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

Film the child in me really wants to see:

The Adventures of Tintin. The animation looks brilliant.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

Same!

I get all kinds of pumped every time I see a trailer for it. I grew up loving Tin Tin books and the cartoon show, and this movie looks like a perfect adaptation

by tootthekazoo on Sep 15, 2011 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

HeLLp Desk, Circa 1989

So, I just stumbled across an old CompuAdd catalog from 1989 that I had packed away in a box and have been enjoying the experience of configuring highly priced 1989-era computer systems. Just on the off chance others might enjoy this as much as I do, I’ll share.

I went top of the line in every way, with stunningly quick new 386 technology!
Base system – $2,895
80386-25 processor
1MB RAM (expandable to 16MB)
Choice of either 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive
Enhanced 101-key keyboard

Since that base system doesn’t even include a monitor, I obviously need some peripherals.
Peripherals
Seagate 117MB Hard Drive (28ms access time) – $869
I/O card with gameport – $65
Vega VGA monitor – $515
Paradise VGA Plus card – $299
Logitech 3-button mouse – $89
CompuAdd joystick – $19.95
Hayes 2400 baud external modem – $469
Epson EX-800 dot matrix printer – $476

Hardware Subtotal: $5,697

Of course, a computer is worthless without software to run …

Productivity Software
Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet – $299
WordPerfect word processing – $245
Microsoft Windows – $68
dBase IV database – $485
Andrew Tobias Managing Your Money – $129
The Print Shop – $38

Games
Microsoft Flight Simulator – $35
Specturm HolobYte Falcon – $26
Sierra King’s Quest 1: Quest for the Crown – $29
Sierra Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards – $24
Accolade Test Drive – $23
Broderbund Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego – $29

Software Total: $1,430
Overall Total: $7,127 – about $1,800 more than a brand new 1989 Hyundai Excel

Optional
80387-20 math coprocessor – $569
60 MB Tape Backup – $849
Logitech ScanMan scanner – $199

by Chris Hafner on Sep 14, 2011 12:07 PM PDT reply actions   4 recs

You'll want the math processor if you want to play Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity.

I found that out the hard way. :-( Damn you, 486SX processor.

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 14, 2011 12:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

I don't know cars, but...

What cost $7127 in 1987 would cost $13494.96 in 2010.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2010 and 1987,
they would cost you $7127 and $3691.27 respectively.

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

by joof on Sep 14, 2011 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

1989

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 14, 2011 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions  

DOH >_<

I blame it on writing 1987 all the time for my birthday. Muscle memory!

by joof on Sep 14, 2011 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

Dear Macy's

I just visited one of your fine stores in order to purchase some work pants. Dockers are great value and always on sale! Anyway, as I was walking through to the Dockers section, I happened to pass by what is normally your fine china/wedding registry section.

There were workers in that section clearing out the china, picture frames, and other wedding gewgaws. What were they installing in its place? CHRISTMAS STUFF. Trees, red and green carpet, big candy canes, you name it.

It is currently September 14. Christmas is 102 days away. ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DAYS. Is it really necessary to vomit forth a Christmas merch display right now?

Anybody else see anything annoying today?

by pdb on Sep 14, 2011 12:25 PM PDT reply actions   1 recs

Christmas Creep man

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 14, 2011 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

For anyone who is, say, under 30 and wants to see Ghostbusters in the theater.

It’s being re-released next month. No news on how wide or how long the release will be, but even if its like the one-day re-release of Back to the Future, I’m excited. Seeing BttF on the big screen was awesome and I would love to see Ghostbusters on the big screen too.

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 1:14 PM PDT reply actions  

OK, I know we talked about it at the time, but I really wish we didn't trade Doug Fister

and he’s now running like a 2.6 FIP since he was traded.

Doug Fister is awesome

by seattlebruin on Sep 14, 2011 1:54 PM PDT reply actions  

I'm fascinated by the career arc of Bryan Cranston right now.

When he was Hal on Malcolm in the Middle, he didn’t get much of any other notable work. Of course, there’s a big difference between being Hal and being Walter White, but still it didn’t used to be that television actors got this much buzz in the film industry.

Besides having roles in two of the biggest movies right now: Contagion and Drive, Cranston will co-star with Terrence Howard in Red Tails, co-starring in the long anticipated John Carter, co-starring with Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages, co-starring with Ben Affleck in Argo, co-starring in Total Recall, co-starring in World War Z with Brad Pitt.

The only question now is “How much longer can Breaking Bad last?”

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 14, 2011 3:22 PM PDT reply actions  

The creator wants to end it after the fifth season.

From what I understand, they’ve negotiated a deal to have sixteen episodes in the final season.

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 14, 2011 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

I already knew all this but holy crap, a show with a planned end!

So amazing!

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 14, 2011 7:32 PM PDT up reply actions  

It took me a solid 10 minutes into Bryan Cranston's role in Contagion for me to realize who it was.

He looks sooo different without the glasses.

I am convinced that Seattle sports teams exist to make me hate Seattle sports teams.

by the other side on Sep 14, 2011 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

And it appears from the trailers that they make-up'd the shit out of his face.

The hard Walter White wrinkles appear to be softened quite a bit.

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 15, 2011 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

Like pulling one over on someone?

Some awesome con artists, including Frank Abagnale and the Fox Sisters

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 14, 2011 3:41 PM PDT reply actions  

Ugh

Faux Vietnamese food from founder of Chipotle chain

Can’t wait for people to talk about how awesome Banh Mi is!

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 14, 2011 4:31 PM PDT reply actions  

If this brings the awesomeness that is banh mi to the heartland where they have never seen it before that can't be a bad thing

Chipotle does a reasonably good job with quick Mexican food – especially in areas that don’t have a Mexican food tradition – and I hope this works as well.

by pdb on Sep 15, 2011 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

This is pretty much my feeling

I don’t particularly care for the sandwich filling choices though.

by Drew_D on Sep 15, 2011 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

As a person that lives in the relative non-Italian food wasteland that is suburban NJ, I agree with this.

People that used to turn their nose at food trucks at my work now eat from the awesome one that stops by once a week, because it offers “Chipotle-style” burritos (actually they are much better than Chipotle) for the same price/cheaper, and they don’t have to drive 10 minutes.

Chipotle doesn’t exist, and their main alternative for Mexican in my area is Taco Bell, and that food truck that got business by being “Chipotle to your door” doesn’t exist after a month or two.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 15, 2011 10:42 AM PDT up reply actions  

More stand up material for Todd Barry

and I quote:

Every time I talk about Chipotle in conversation, someone goes, "Oh, Chipotle is delicious. Can you believe they were started by McDonald’s?" Uh, McDonald’s is delicious, so yes, I can believe that. It’s not like Ben and Jerry’s opened up a lingerie shop. It’s the world’s greatest restaurant chain taking a stab at another kind of food and hitting it out of the park.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions  

Where's the best place to research used cars?

I’m looking at 2005-ish sedans (e.g. Honda Civic, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry). Assuming the car is well-maintained, what should I be paying for that if it, say, 100,000 miles on it? What are the best ways to research a car’s history/reliability (Carfax?). What are your opinions on the Civic, Camry, and Altima?

by Decatur on Sep 14, 2011 9:41 PM PDT reply actions  

Here, at least when the regulars are around.

The rest, you’ve got me. I do know that from personal experience Camrys and Altimas from that time range are rattling deathtrap-sounding machines not three years later (sample size: at least a dozen of each, in rental car form).

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 15, 2011 5:15 AM PDT up reply actions  

True, didn't think of that. I know I treat mine pretty well because why not.

That and half the time they’re crapbuckets, especially when you get out of the major metros and you get hand-me-downs from those offices instead of new cars.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 15, 2011 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yep.

For me, the quality of the driving experience in a rental car is almost completely wrapped up in how new the car is (i.e. minimizing the amount of abuse it’s taken) and not what the car is.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions  

Edmunds is a good research for specification and valuations (their TMV or true market value is widely used).

KBB is also good for values. I’d use one or both to get a feel for market value of the cars you’re looking at. Then start with Auto Trader to actually look at a few examples – I actually hate the mix of used-car dealers on Auto Trader, but their search options allow you to get to a nice cross-section of cars and you can get a good feel for market value that way.

As for researching a specific car, Carfax is pretty good. It can help surface any obvious issues with the title, or lots of churn in terms of owners. Don’t just trust that a clean Carfax means an excellent car, though. Look for cars that have extensive owner-collected maintenance records available. Not only can you see what’s been done and not done, but it also says good things about the attention the owner pays to the car. For a car over $5,000 (which these would be) I would also recommend taking it in to an independent shop for a pre-purchase inspection as well. Those cost anywhere from $80-$200, which might seem like a lot until you buy a car without one and get immediately hit with $1,000 of deferred maintenance.

Buying a used car of any kind carries some level of risk. Doing all of this work (research, inspections, etc.) is a great way to move yourself to the acceptable end of the risk spectrum.

As far as those three cars, they seem like a curious mix – the Camry and Altima are midsize family sedans, but the Civic is one class smaller. If you’re interested in Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans (I’d throw Mazdas into that mix as well if you’re interested in mainstream Japanese cars) your options are:
Compact family car – Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Mazda 3
Midsize family sedan – Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Mazda 6

Of the compacts, my preference would probably go Mazda3, Civic, Corolla, Sentra in that order. I’d buy the first three well before the Sentra.

In the family sedan market, it’s hard to go too wrong with any of those choices. All of these are available with surprisingly powerful V-6s. The Altima in particular is very quick, with the Accord and Mazda6 right behind. The Mazda6 is the best handler of them, but is slightly smaller inside than the others.

All should be pretty reliable if maintained well – I’d say quality of maintenance and care might outweigh any quality differences at the time of manufacture. My order of preference here would probably be Altima, Mazda6, Accord, Camry. I probably wouldn’t buy a Camry personally, just because I find them incredibly dull, but for people who don’t geek out about cars like me, the Camry can be a good choice.

I have a 2003 Accord with the V-6, and it has been an excellent car – very spacious, very reliable, and surprisingly fun to drive. The only problems have cropped up lately (I’m at 115K miles) as a couple of components have begun to need replacement.

Getting back to both classes of cars for a moment, I can say that generally speaking, resale values of Hondas and Toyotas tends to outstrip Nissans and Mazdas. That’s good for the original owners, not so good for the used-car buyer. With everything else being equal (mileage, condition, maintenance, etc.) you’ll probably get more car for your money with Nissans and Mazdas than Hondas and Toyotas.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions   3 recs

You may also want to consider the ~2005-ish Hyundai Sonata.

It was a totally credible competitor in the midsize family sedan class, was available with a 235-horsepower V-6 if you’re into that sort of thing, and represented a great value for the money. I haven’t checked the values, but I’m guessing that would still hold true as a used car.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

The late 2000's Focuses are good cars too. They're made cheap, so don't ride real well and have significant road noise,

But they have awesome drivetrains. Super reliable, capable of up to 40 mpg, and have plenty of power for a car that size.

by BigR on Sep 15, 2011 9:27 AM PDT up reply actions  

Keep in mind that's capable of, not normal.

I average 30 or so in town and 37 on the highway in my 06.

by BigR on Sep 15, 2011 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions  

My main complaint about my Corolla is the small engine.

Such a difference trying to get it up the ‘hill’ from Vantage than when I had the ’93 Taurus

by msb on Sep 15, 2011 12:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'd go for a Fusion

Better made, still get excellent gas mileage- I took one on 2500 mile roadtrip in 2009 and averaged 38 MPG. All highway, but still.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

The Mazda 3 would definitely be one to look at, seems like a really nice car.

Thye’re still rated as one of the best, and compared to the competition 5-6 years ago I’d think they’d be much better than a lot of the other makes.

by BigR on Sep 15, 2011 9:36 AM PDT up reply actions  

Those Mazda3's are nice

I’d say a used Camry/Civic is probably the biggest possible waste of money- you’re paying for a brand name. Pretty much anything that isn’t one of those is going to yield you a reliable car with a lot fewer miles on it for the same price.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 3:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

I remember being completely baffled by a couple friends of mine a few years ago

One in 2008 paid $9,000 (!) for a 2001 Civic with 95,000 miles on it. She was concerned about other cars being unreliable and her only criteria was that it had to be reliable and it had to have a stick. She could have gotten a 2007 Accent with like 8,000 miles on it for the same price with a warranty! (This is what I recommended, by the way- as well as the Chevy Prizm, simply because those for whatever reason are worth like 2/3 as much as the Corolla despite being exactly the same car). In fairness, the car has worked out for her.

Another buddy of mine paid $8,000 for a 99 Civic with 80,000 miles on it in 2007. That thing was a total piece of shit- kept overheating, and the clutch (both of these cars were used in the winter in Idaho, where a stick is highly preferred, especially if you don’t have 4WD) went very shortly after he got it.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 9:44 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think people who lived through shitty unreliable 1980s cars just have that seared into their consciousness.

My Dad was a huge GM guy up until the early 1990s, and now he outright refuses to buy a car not made by Honda or Toyota, despite the fact that his newest Toyota has cost him a lot of money in maintenance.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 9:53 PM PDT up reply actions  

I hate to say my Dad went through the 80s with mostly foreign cars despite being a bigger pro-America! advocate than I am now

I’m trying to think- the cars my parents owned were

1973 VW Super Beetle (80-83)
1981 Pontiac Grand Prix (80-85)
1983 Volvo 244DL (83-85)
1985 Pontiac Grand Am (85-88)
1988 Mercedes 190E 2.3 (88-89)
1989 Volkswagen Golf (90-92)
1991 Oldsmobile Silhouette (92-97)

Although starting in 85 my Dad had company cars, which were
1985 Buick Skylark
1987 Olds Cultlass Ciera
1989 Olds Cutlass Ciera
1991 Olds Cutlass Ciera

Basically he got a new Cutlass Ciera every two years so he never got to see them fall apart

Since then it’s been all American, although they had an XC90 for a while which was considered American because Ford owned Volvo when it was made

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 10:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

Whoa!

I think the Cutlass Ciera was the official company car of the 1980s

But yeah, I hold the same fondness. All of my earliest car memories involve riding in a Cutlass Ciera for endless hours from Illinois to Ohio. I especially remember his last one- a red 1991 International Series- that thing was awesome. I kind of want one.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 10:11 PM PDT up reply actions  

"International Series" was a grimly ironic moniker for that car.

Having said that, though, “Cutlass Ciera GT” still inspires still more cognitive dissonance, and I’d love to have one of those too.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yes, but let me just say that I don't know if you noticed

but that commercial is set to the old Willie Nelson tune “City of New Orleans” in a ridiculously 80-ized fashion. That commercial is awesomely cheesy.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 10:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

My favorite thing is it says absolutely nothing about the car.

It’s all feel-good stuff about America, and the Cutlass Ciera driving very slowly and sedately through the heartland encountering lots of heart-warming heartland-ish vignettes.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 16, 2011 7:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

The Ciera is the ultimate heartland car, quite frankly.

I remember the biggest surprise moving from Seattle and even Idaho to eastern Wyoming was that the car of choice for high school/college students wasn’t a late model Civic like it was there, but a late model Buick Century. It seemed like every college kid that didn’t have a pickup had an early 2000s Buick Century/Regal

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 16, 2011 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

To be fair, there's a reason why Honda and Toyota have that reputation.

American passenger cars for a long time were shit, and you’d be crazy not to buy foreign.

This coming from a guy who’s never owned a foreign car in his life.

by BigR on Sep 16, 2011 7:29 AM PDT up reply actions  

True. I don't like the Altima very much though

The interior build quality is crap- the plastics have about the same quality to them as my 1997 Ford Escort

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

The interior is not as nice, but I'm a huge, huge fan of the 3.5-liter Nissan V-6.

It’s one of my favorite mass-produced engines of its era. I’d never buy a four-cylinder Altima, but I’d totally drive a V-6 Altima.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nissan's V6 motors are excellent

But as Corco said, Nissan’s interior build quality is completely terrible. Especially the early-mid 2000s Altimas.

by tootthekazoo on Sep 16, 2011 1:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

The Mazda6 hatchback has a ton of room though, and looks pretty nice

though I will admit that the sheer volume of issues I had with it made me sell it in the end

by seattlebruin on Sep 15, 2011 9:46 AM PDT up reply actions  

I had a V-6 Mazda6 hatchback as a test car for a week and fell in love with it.

I came this close to buying one (or a wagon instead, I was torn) but ultimately went with the Accord because my parents were selling it cheap and I knew it had been maintained impeccably.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 9:53 AM PDT up reply actions  

And now that I think about it, oh man did that car handle well

my new doesn’t handle great, but boy it’s fast and shiny, so it’s probably a good thing I live in a city of open freeways

by seattlebruin on Sep 19, 2011 9:18 AM PDT up reply actions  

Being an Accord owner Chris you'd appreciate this,

My uncle has a 2001 Accord for sale right now. With 480,000 miles on it. He has a 45 mile each way commute he’s been doing in that car since I think 04 or so. Original transmission and engine. It’s gutless, and sucks gas, but still reliable.

by BigR on Sep 15, 2011 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions  

I remember my three months of ~100 mile/direction commute. That was hell.

I can’t imagine doing 2/3 of that a day for 10+ years.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 15, 2011 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions  

Its actually closer to 140 miles a day.

He hates his wife, so that makes it easier.

by BigR on Sep 15, 2011 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

Great point about Carfax

Accidents don’t always get reported, either because the owner paid out -of-pocket for a repair or because it was “minor” enough that the insurance didn’t flag it. Body shops do not report anything to anybody so just because a car was repaired doesn’t mean that Carfax will get a record of that.

Perfect example of that is the car I purchased this past January. The Carfax showed no reported collisions but my visual inspection of the car showed that the RT door and fender had both been worked on, and that one of the headlights had been replaced (ed. note to all: I work in a body shop and write estimates so I knew what to look for).

My advice to anybody looking to buy a used car is to, in addition to a trip to a mechanic, is a trip to a body shop. This can be just as important as a mechanical inspection and will almost always be free. It’s not a bad thing for a car to have been wrecked and repaired because, hey, accidents happen. What is a bad thing is for a car to have been wrecked and then cobbled together by some chump in a parking lot. There could be hidden damage to structural components that can cause huge problems down the line.

by tootthekazoo on Sep 15, 2011 7:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'd look at a Fusion

Beyond my “RAH! AMERICA!” opinions, every objective metric has them just as reliable as contemporary Civics/Altimas/Camrys, but the resale value is higher

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Random

What do you think of the Chevy Sonic?

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 15, 2011 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions  

Undecided

I love, love, love the Cruze but the Sonic reminds me too much of the Aveo. I hate the styling. I like the Fiesta.

I’m undecided- I think I’ll have to see one in person before I can judge. But at first glance the Fiesta is way more awesome.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions  

From what I've read the Sonic is the Aveo

mixed with some aspects of the Cruze.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 15, 2011 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

It is the new Aveo

but it still looks too much like a cheap Korean car for my tastes- even if it’s made and largely designed in the USA

Maybe it will look better in person.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

*lower! lower!

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 15, 2011 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

So it was brought up a few weeks ago but did anybody score a touchpad?

Mine is coming tomorrow (Thanks Radio Shack!). Was wondering if anybody had some recomondations on some accessories.

by Robert on Sep 15, 2011 9:27 AM PDT reply actions  

I gave up after the second day

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 15, 2011 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions  

I wish.

I heard they are making more, but I doubt they will sell them at that much of a discount next time.

Let us know what you think and are you going to get android running on it?

by d0nkey on Sep 15, 2011 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions  

Next (and final) manufacturing run is in October

They will have the same prices as far as HP has said. Whether or not retailers stick to that is another story. HP had planned to discontinue them completely but they had a contract with the factory and it made more sense to fulfill the contract and sell at a loss than it would to back out of the deal completely. I really, really hope that I can score one

by tootthekazoo on Sep 15, 2011 7:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

I want 5

I didn’t follow up on it, but I thought that android was getting ported to them. That would make them worth it.

by d0nkey on Sep 16, 2011 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

More science news - some dinosaurs may have been feathered and colorful.

Linky

But he said that was fast changing, citing several colorful examples from recent research. In China, Confuciusornis and a few non-avian dinosaurs appeared to have had ruddy feathers; Sinosauropteryx, a reddish banded tail; and Anchiornis probably resembled a woodpecker, with a black body, banded wings and reddish head comb.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 10:34 AM PDT reply actions  

This is new news? I could swear learning as a kid that some dinosaurs had feathers.

Especially the ones that turned into birds eventually.

(If this is explained in the link, sorry, I can’t get to it at work)

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 15, 2011 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

I think the news is the prevalence and colorfulness of the feathers.

But I’m by no means an expert – I was a bit surprised by the feather news as well (though it makes sense that flying dinos would need them).

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions  

These aint your daddies velociraptors

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 15, 2011 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions  

Worked for James Cameron in Piranha 2

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 15, 2011 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions  

Velociraptors couldn't fly

They were flightless birds, for all intents and purposes.

by Graham MacAree on Sep 15, 2011 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

*intents and purposes

Sorry.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 15, 2011 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

I would argue he used intensive purposes correctly there.

He’s stating the flying dinosaurs would make the movie more intense.

Intensive, defined thusly:
Intensive: of, relating to, or marked by intensity

Since, all reasons and ends of making the dinosaurs fly would be to increase the intensity of the movie, we can say the all the purposes for this change would be intensive. Thus, the dinosaurs would only fly for intensive purposes.

by joof on Sep 15, 2011 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions   4 recs

A rare loophole.

I watch for it because I used to use the phrase a lot myself, until someone pointed out that it was wrong and it dawned on me that “intensive purposes” didn’t make any sense in most cases.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 15, 2011 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

Was going for a joke moreso than trying to properly use "intensive purposes"

“Intents and purposes” is one of my pet peeves as well.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 15, 2011 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

Then it's AWESOME

Yeah, it’s kind of a reflex thing now. Now, the whole “make do” vs. “make due” thing….

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 15, 2011 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions  

Im pretty sure I read a Jurassic Park comic once

where the raptors flew a plane or a helicopter or something.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 15, 2011 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

Not news at all

They’ve been finding crazy amounts of feathers (and fossilised pigments) on dinosaurs for years

by Graham MacAree on Sep 15, 2011 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

Archeoptreryx!

They’re saying that one is a bird now, transitional fossils and all.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 15, 2011 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions  

I must not have been paying close enough attention to it.

Mainly, I was looking for an excuse to type “Archeopteryx”

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 15, 2011 1:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

The implant option for humans was pulled off the market because it caused cancer.

There are non-implant options out there like LoJack bracelets, personal GPS devices, and devices that use cellphone towers to triangulate where your kid is. They are designed for disabled children and elderly people with Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, Dementia, etc. A lot of them cost about as much as a cell phone – both for the device and the monthly plan.

by Jed MC on Sep 15, 2011 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions  

Probably just as easy as hacking into any other electronic device.

The non-implants are tracking devices with basic info stored, like name, address, and phone numbers. Even if you hacked into the system, you wouldn’t get much more info than a simple web search. They are more like the bracelets used to monitor people on parole or house arrest, but they don’t look so institutional and only get turned on when the person is lost.

by Jed MC on Sep 16, 2011 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions  

Bill Plaschke?

Bill Plaschke.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 15, 2011 3:02 PM PDT reply actions  

I'm a huge defender of journalists in general, because I feel it's a hard profession and gets a lot of unfair abuse.

Which makes me loathe Bill Plaschke and people like him all the more, because they’re the reason people think journalists and particularly sports journalists are biased, self-serving, favorites-playing blowhards.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions  

Journalism is exceptionally hard to do well

and people like Plaschke don’t even try. They ruin it for everyone.

by pdb on Sep 15, 2011 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

As a sports journalist, I can second this.

It’s really easy to cover smaller things, but tackling big issues that are sure to get a lot of traffic can be a difficult task, as you don’t want to alienate half (or more) of your readers.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 16, 2011 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

In my mind, tough.

If not bullshit, fact-based, repeatable, thought out writing alienates people, fuck ’em.

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 2:52 PM PDT up reply actions  

Fair disclosure

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2011/9/12/2421370/otfpotd-9-12-11-science-edition#77489199

I’m pretty fed up with some of the media and people right now. I’ve had my fill of pandering crap and people who think it’s edgy or justified to say all bicyclists are road vermin or that every car driver is oblivious to everything or that pedestrians are all idiots for ‘being in the way’. I’m so tired of the adversarial nature that seemingly every single issue gets divided into. God, just shut up. Shut up! Go away.

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions   4 recs

I wish more people realized two things

1. It’s perfectly OK to not have an opinion about something
2. You can put the Internet down and go outside once in a while

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

Driving Etiquette.

Driver A is arrives at a 4-way stop. No one is to the right, or across the way. Driver B, in a large SUV is to Driver A’s left. It is Driver B’s turn to go, but Driver B is unable to go, due to slow-moving pedestrians in the far crosswalk (the one immediately to Driver A’s right)

May Driver A go through the intersection ‘out of turn’ due to Driver B’s inability to cross through the intersection?

by msb on Sep 15, 2011 3:55 PM PDT reply actions  

I believe Driver A may go, yes.

I think I saw a “Getting There” article on seattlepi.com once about it. I’ll see if I can find it.

Anyway, I generally go if I’m Driver A in that situation. I just make sure I have eye contact with Driver B.

by Eyebrows on Sep 15, 2011 4:11 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions  

Driver B seemed to feel that she should move into the center of the intersection, blocking all traffic until the little old lady with the walker made it across the street and she could go on her appointed turn..

when I saw she couldn’t go, I began to move through, while catching her eye, and she gave me the ‘what do you think you are doing’ hands wave like I was crazy to be going when it wasn’t my turn. I pointed at the pedestrians as I passed on through. I don’t think she was happy.

by msb on Sep 15, 2011 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

In my dream world, the correct answer would be:

A free passenger-side T-bone steak for that lady

by d0nkey on Sep 15, 2011 5:44 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

It'd be great if you actually threw a steak up against the side of her car.

“I disapprove of your driving habits so much that there’s now a deliciously cooked and still warm cut of steak sliding slowly down your side window glass.”

It would be an expensive but somehow classy way of expressing your opinion on her driving.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 15, 2011 5:47 PM PDT up reply actions   3 recs

As a delinquent kid, I found that raw hamburger patties splatter wonderfully on passing cars.

I’m sure raw steaks would have their own pluses and minuses.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 16, 2011 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions  

I believe so.

I think that it is more important for traffic to flow at its most efficient level than for any one person to get to their destination at the detriment of everyone else. I adjust my driving for this reason, and often I end up being more patient.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 16, 2011 1:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

Oh man I now have music to listen to all day

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 16, 2011 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions  

I listened to a couple dozen last night

A lot of them seem to be lifted from his appearances on the WFMU Marathon, which is awesome – for those that don’t know, every year Ted Leo sets up shop at WFMU on one of the nights of the Marathon and will play any song a pledger calls in and requests. It’s pretty fun.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions  

Oh man that's awesome

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 16, 2011 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions  

10 out of 19

Not bad considering I didn’t listen to much grunge as a kid.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 16, 2011 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions  

16/19

Those questions started off really easy, and I thought I was going to ace it. But they threw in some curveballs later on.

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 16, 2011 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions  

Slight subthread hijack:

I really, really, really hate it when an unknown band releases a song to the radio and it flops. Then, the record company gets desperate and releases a cover song by the band which becomes popular. Then the first song gets re-released and all of a sudden, everybody loves the song.

Why didn’t you like that first song the first time around, assholes?

I have two examples I can readily think of (and they’re both terrible bands, but whatevs).

In 1998, Orgy released the song “Stitches” to little fanfare. Then the cover of “Blue Monday” was released, and it was a smash hit. They re-released “Stitches” and it became a moderate hit.

The same thing happened to Alien Ant Farm in 2001. “Movies” was released first, and it flopped. Then they released “Smooth Criminal” and everybody loved the shit out of that song. “Movies” was then re-released, and people loved that shit too.

The user formerly known as Phildopip

by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Sep 16, 2011 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions  

Applicable to more than just this:

I remember when the “Smooth Criminal” cover came out and most of the people I knew freaked out and started buying Alien Ant Farm t-shirts and the like. Then “Movies” came out and I said “hey, this isn’t any good…” but no one paid attention and they soon moved on to other things, as usual.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 16, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions   4 recs

I got the venues one

but that was mostly because I knew those two clubs as being places I had seen shows in Seattle.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 16, 2011 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions  

O.K. Hotel would have been a nice curveball

Did that quiz play Love Buzz for both audio questions for anyone else, or was that just me?

by Kermit. on Sep 16, 2011 1:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

This is where I get to get all Seattle uppity

The Moore wasn’t really grunge central. The OK Hotel and the Central Tavern were probably more so.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 1:34 PM PDT up reply actions   2 recs

Absolutely. Rckcndy, Mo's, Central, Off-ramp were all much more "central" than the Moore

which became more important only when everything blew up and you could suddenly get thousands of people to local shows.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:31 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

I loved the OK Hotel, as it was the only place that let in the youngsters.

9:30 club is a famous Wash. DC venue and CBGB’s is a famous NYC venue, which also help.

OK Hotel used to have good food; the home fries were tasty.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

CBGB's *was a famous NYC venue

now it’s a John Varvatos clothes store. Progress!

sigh

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 2:31 PM PDT up reply actions  

Right, should've used past tense.

But that question might’ve been harder had they not used absolutely iconic east coast venues as the “wrong” answers.

by marc w on Sep 16, 2011 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

16/19 here too.

For some stupid reason, I thought that Vs. actually outsold Ten.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 16, 2011 11:21 AM PDT up reply actions  

15/19

No audio tripped me up.

by ThomasG on Sep 16, 2011 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

I know

And in a related tangent, I’m about half way through this book and it’s also making me feel old. It’s a good read, though.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

15/19

Missed the price of Bleach (what’s an album?), the band that carried the name of the singer, the Butch Vig produced albums (didn’t realize you had to pick more than one) and that a member of Green River was in Temple of the Dog.

by Mariner John on Sep 21, 2011 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

New sitcoms are finally here!

I haven’t seen the new Archer of Sunny, but Up All Night, Free Agents and New Girl all premiered (at least on Hulu). Did anyone like any of them unequivocally?
I think all three have promise: the first has Will Arnett, who I even enjoyed in his terrible show last year. He made me laugh when discussing a cheese rinder. The second is being run John Enbom, who did Party Down. I dislike how it’s set in Portland for no good reason. The third has Zooey Deschanel, who isn’t unattractive, but it also has annoying gender and nerd stereotypes—any guy would date her if she makes adorable Lord of the Rings jokes. The “douchebag jar” joke is serviceable though.
Other TV thoughts: holy crap the last scene in this season’s Louie was great. Same for the last scene in this week’s Breaking Bad. It was jarring to watch Jesse and Walt in Phil’s “Science!” link above.

by yuniform on Sep 16, 2011 2:19 PM PDT reply actions  

Up All Night and Free Agents had promise if only because I like Will Arnett, Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn.

I should clarify that I think Azaria and Hahn are both very likeable to watch on screen and I could watch the show just for that, and hey it had some funny jokes too plus Joe Lo Truglio. So I think it has promise, but I’m hoping it strays a little bit more from the “trendy office new york city!” vibe. I don’t want to feel like I’m watching The Devil Wears Prada when I’m watching a sitcom.

Up All Night, the saving grace is Maya Rudolph. I could watch her do anything for 22 minutes. I find growing annoyed with Christina Applegate. I probably should be nicer because I can’t say she’s done anything wrong, I just don’t find her appealing to watch on-screen – though she’s gorgeous of course. I just kind of find her to be snobby or trying too hard, I don’t know what it is. Anchorman and Married with Children are the only two examples of where I really liked her, and that’s when she was supporting. I don’t know about shows that she’s a lead in. And I don’t know how far you go with “New parents adjusting to life!” jokes that haven’t been done before.

Didn’t watch New Girl. Its too bad Damon Wayans Jr is only in the pilot.

The premiere of Sunny was amazing. Better than any episode they did in season 6 that I can remember and that’s not an insult to season 6.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 16, 2011 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

New Girl was actually pretty funny

I’m not a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel, but I think given a few more episodes that will settle into being a pretty good show. Can’t wait to see Up All Night, I’m very curious to see how that show evolves.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions  

It's still on Hulu. Linda's takedown of Zoey's character in the middle of the review is wonderful.

All the new sitcoms I’ve seen (2 Broke Girls, on last night, also fits the bill) are all potential. Watching them now is like watching the Kansas City Royals; they’re tough to sit through but I’m hoping they’ll be awesome. Odds are most will turn into the current Portland Trailblazers.

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Oh, political correctness and Puritan values, you make me laugh

I just read this on CNN:

“New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wants his team’s fans to do some drinking so they can get sufficiently riled up for Sunday’s home opener. And by drinking, he means the stuff you get from your kitchen faucet, his team helpfully adds.

Brady, addressing reporters Wednesday ahead of Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers, was asked whether he had a message for fans.

"Yeah, start drinking early," he said, drawing chuckles from the reporters. "Get nice and rowdy. (It’s a) 4:15 (p.m.) game, they have a lot of time to get lubed up, come out here and cheer for their home team." (Video from CNN affiliate WCVB) About an hour later, according to multiple media reports, a team spokesman stepped in to clarify what Brady really meant to say: He wants fans to "stay hydrated, drink a lot of water, be loud, drink responsibly."

yes. That’s exactly what Tom Brady meant.

by pdb on Sep 16, 2011 2:36 PM PDT reply actions  

Tangential, but related:

I’ve been reading blog comments most of the day and I’m pretty much ready to burn down humanity.

For the love of sanity, please, silent majority, speak up more! And if you don’t exist, then, well, oh gods

by Matthew on Sep 16, 2011 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

Burning down humanity will just speed up the process; go for it.

Unless we miraculously manage to evolve into a type I civilization. That would involve avoiding a potential Malthusian catastrophe and self-induced destruction. The Kardashev scale is so cool!

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 16, 2011 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

You're such a tease.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 16, 2011 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Which one?

I’ve heard mixed reviews about Blackberry’s tablet. Not sure what to think about HP’s though.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 16, 2011 3:42 PM PDT up reply actions  

The playbook blows diseased goats.

The only good thing about it is it’s size. Nothing else is worth it, even if you have a Blackberry.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 16, 2011 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions  

:(

I"m glad he got taken in.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 17, 2011 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions  

I'm going to be living in a dorm soon.

So this topic will be things/habits your roommates did that unintentionally/intentionally annoyed the crap out of you and any other anecdotes or advice.

"Why ask a failed romance to come see your successful one? You know, it's like inviting the Seattle Mariners to a World Series game. It's just weird for everyone."

by Slurvey on Sep 17, 2011 1:14 AM PDT reply actions  

I got reported for drinking during my freshman year. The evidence against me was vomit in my room.

It wasn’t necessarily mine and I wasn’t necessarily drinking when the vomit happened. Yet it still took incredible amounts of asskissing to not have to appear in front of the student conduct court.

Long story short, the dorms suck, and I hope you move out as soon as possible, for affordability and sanity.

by thehemogoblin on Sep 17, 2011 1:21 AM PDT up reply actions  

Dorm bathrooms are the worst part of college

Especially since at least in mine they didn’t clean them on weekends (when they got the most abuse!) so about Sunday at 7:00 PM the bathrooms were particularly nasty.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 17, 2011 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

The evidence was vomit in your room?

I’m surprised you didn’t use the Nigel Tufnel “you can’t dust for vomit” explanation.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 17, 2011 9:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

My roommate my freshman year was awesome

He lived in Shelton and left all the time. When he was there he did two things that were annoying:
A) He snored
B) He would eat cereal at like 4 in the morning. To this day the sound of people pouring cereal into a ceramic bowl and then clanking their spoon against the bowl and then chewing drives me crazy.

Moral of the story- get earplugs.

My other roommate was cool except he didn’t see a need to put a sock on the door or lock the door (as long as we were both around, we just left our door unlocked- that was supposed to be the cue) or something and I walked in on him having sex 4 different times.

I got busted for drinking in the dorms twice. One time was my first semester of freshman year the RA was supposed to be out of town so we got drunk in the laundry room (big laundry room) and filled the washer with ice and stored the beer in there. The RA ended up coming home early and we got caught. I got a good talking to.

—
The second was first semester of junior year and our floor didn’t have an RA. I hadn’t met her yet, and openly carried 3 half gallons of alcohol into my room. There were other people in the hall and in an effort to be friendly I yelled “Who wants a shot?” The response was “Hi! I’m your RA.”

I froze up but one of the people on the floor said “You’re 21, aren’t you?” and I said “Yes, I am” and insisted I didn’t have ID. The RA said to stay right there and she’d go check. In the meantime this dorm was right on the fringe of campus and my car was across the street (so technically off campus). I ran the alcohol across the street and when she got back she said “You’re not 21, we need to dump all that alcohol out.” I said “The alcohol is off campus” and explained to her that she couldn’t get it. She said “That’s not cool” and I got written up.

I ended up getting a very good talking to and having to take an alcohol education course, but I salvaged about $120 worth of alcohol, so I’m satisfied. In hindsight the whole thing was idiotic though.

—

My sophomore year RA was awesome. He caught us drinking probably 10 times and just ignored it.

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 17, 2011 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'll second Corco's recommendation on earplugs.

Inevitably, you’ll end up with some kind of blatant disregard for personal/study space and have someone blasting some unlistenable music around, and that’s good defense against it. My earplugs got me through two years of being across the alley from a halfway house.

In the event of shared bathrooms, if something doesn’t come up organically, try to set up some kind of schedule or pecking order of how to manage things or what x means. One of my roommates for a while was a Korean kid, fresh off the plane, PhD student in physics, could NOT figure out that the bathroom door (there was one toilet) did not barricade itself on its own with the wastepaper basket (no locks!). There was another fellow who was inclined to come in and drop deuce while people were in the shower leading to a terrible swamp-ass type effect. It may be smart to just try to set some ground rules before horrifying things start to happen.

Another issue is kitchen management which can be a little tricky. Inevitably, you will have one roommate who cooks more than everyone else and will only do dishes once a week. Or, alternatively, have people that cook things that are either pungent or flammable. Be aware. There will also be squabbles over dish soap and other basic necessities regardless of how much any one person uses them. Come to an agreement or horde in a paranoid manner.

Otherwise, welcome to dorm living! Enjoy the malt liquor.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 17, 2011 8:53 PM PDT up reply actions  

There was a group of guys in the barracks that drank at least half a dozen bottles of wine almost every night

Then they’d throw them in the clothes dryers at least once a week. The tumbling action would shatter the bottles. Unfortunately they were tight with the first sergeant at the time, it didn’t end until he retired.

by Kermit. on Sep 17, 2011 11:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Having to live in darkness

i.e. having the blinds pulled down at all hours of the day and unfortunately having the cord on his side. The loud, incessant typing. Running everywhere. Only ever wearing khaki shorts and a sweatshirt at all time of year.

My freshmen year roommate was a baseball player so loud music and containers of dip everywhere.

by Mariner John on Sep 21, 2011 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions  

I just watched MLBN's 30 most Intimidating players,

and I bet 20 of the 30 were African American. I don’t know what to think of this.

by BigR on Sep 17, 2011 11:00 AM PDT reply actions  

Guess we know which side Fox is on.

Heh

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 17, 2011 8:17 PM PDT reply actions  

Ah, the anguish of the Seattle Times Backtalk letter writer.

Reading box scores used to fun. But as a Mariners fan, though, this “Where are they now?” thing is getting to be a daily nightmare. Adrian Beltre is hitting lights out for the second straight season. Doug Fister looks like Cy Young in Detroit. Adam Jones was an All-Star his first season away from Safeco. Casey Kotchman (Casey Kotchman!) has been hitting well above .300 all year. Shin-Soo Choo hit .300 last year. Brandon Morrow struck out 17 in a game. Mike Morse, whose hitting skills didn’t convince the Mariners, is a .300 hitter with power. Endy Chavez is over .290, which would make him one of the Mariners’ best hitters. Same with Willie Bloomquist, hovering around .265. J.J. Putz is back in form for the Diamondbacks and has reached 40 saves this year. What is it with Seattle? The stadium? A mindset? Something in the water? I dread the kind of year Chone Figgins will have next year away from Safeco.

by msb on Sep 18, 2011 7:25 AM PDT reply actions  

Lance Berkman's average season-

2011- .296/.409/.552 wOBA-.402 BB%-15.7 K%-16.3
Career- .296/.409/.546 wOBA-.403 BB%-15.5 K%-16.6

by BigR on Sep 18, 2011 9:21 AM PDT reply actions  

So Netflix is run by morons

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 10:46 AM PDT reply actions  

A friend pointed out...

that this is the current Qwikster twitter account. Fun.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 19, 2011 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

That guy is definitely about to be a lot more popular

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

This is going to get interesting.
Dayum over 3120 follower just cuz some ppl wanna buy my handle 3 ppl have asked but idk who to trust
Got offer $1,000. But idk but you guys should follow my bro @SoccerIsLifegc7 n ill think about selling it to who ever supports my bro
N I won’t agree till I get a contract n ill negotiate

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 19, 2011 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

That guy sucks

and it’s going to be really funny when Qwikster pays Twitter for the name and Twitter says “Ha, sorry. Terms of use lets us do whatever we want with your account, so suck it”

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 19, 2011 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

Oatmeal!

Not entirely apt but whatever

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 19, 2011 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

It seems entirely apt to me.

Not apt is the wonderful recent Oatmeal on what they should teach in high school.

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions  

I don't get why people are so pissed at Netflix.

They’re a service company, they don’t actually produce anything, so of course their costs and price structure will be instable. Netflix was raking in money and customers. There’s almost no way I envision them making a big* price increase if it weren’t forced on them from their supply side.

*Also, not that big!

And I love all the people who canceled right away when the e-mail came out. Really? You’ve been happy with Netflix and you’re not willing to give them a month or so with this split service to see if it actually hinders you in a meaningful way? No? You’re just going to up and cancel and then scream about it on the internet before you even have a hands-on experience with it? Okay, then.

I’m not happy by the changes, but the sheer amount of rage and hostility is dumbfounding. You’d have thought they’d been caught turning over private and meaningful customer data to the feds or something…

by Matthew on Sep 20, 2011 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

The first price hike announcement made me realize that it was an extraneous service.

I looked at how much I actually used, and found that I simply just don’t watch enough TV/movies to justify the cost at either price. If they had just raised it without raising a stink, there’s a good chance I would have seen the jump and dismissed it without too much thought.

Not absolving the whiners, but I’d imagine that I’m not a special case and there would be a non-zero portion of the subscriber base that found the same thing, and quietly cancelled as soon as the news came out.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Sep 21, 2011 5:19 AM PDT up reply actions  

But but INTERNET RAGE! IF WE ALL RAGE QUIT THEY WILL GIVE US BACK THE OLD PRICES!

But yeah, I’m pretty much in the same boat. I’ve barely even paid any attention to my Netflix bill over the past few years, especially since it’s one of the bills I’ve had it on auto-pay. But when they increased the price, I actually sat down and looked at it and realized that I’ve used the DVD portion twice in 9 months, and one of those times was so that the girlfriend could catch up on season 4 of Californication. So I decided that, even without the price increase, that it would be stupid to keep paying for a service I basically don’t use.

The streaming portion however, I use all the time, so I have no problems with that.

RIP Dave Niehaus.

by Goose on Sep 21, 2011 5:48 AM PDT up reply actions  

Exactly.

Netflix somehow found a way to have a price hike that forced users to start paying them less.

Some people have spent years paying 14.99 or 9.99 whatever for discs/streaming without using the discs and then it finally forced them to cancel the discs. Which is something you could have done and gone down to 7.99 the whole time. All I ever had was streaming.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 21, 2011 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions  

That's what I was getting at, thanks.

I couldn’t think of a more apt analogy but the two components didn’t seem absolutely critical to one another.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 20, 2011 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

This makes sense, except the Netflix people say part of the draw is improving their recommendation algorithm.

Seems like having the larger pool of DVDs available for rent and large pool of subscribers would help with that. Though getting out of the DVD business right now might make sense. “I don’t have a DVD player” seems to be the new “I don’t have a TV/cable.”

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions  

It would be interesting to see what the reaction would be if Netflix upped their streaming cost to 19.99 but managed to get their full selection streaming.

I also read an article on the AV Club yesterday regarding 6 things Hollywood doesn’t want you to know about the business, and one of those things is about how studios are against streaming and really putting the screws to netflix however they can.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 20, 2011 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions  

I thought this was obvious

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 20, 2011 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions  

They like it so much they take out deleted scenes and extras for movie rentals

Cause, you know, that’s the whole reason I buy DVDs. For the deleted scenes…

by d0nkey on Sep 20, 2011 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions  

I've gotta admit, I do have some sympathy for Netflix here.

I know their job of acquiring streaming content is incredibly difficult – nobody wants to give them good stuff to stream, and even Starz is ending the relationship despite Netflix offering them tons of money. I can also understand them splitting apart their streaming and DVD businesses (or at least splitting the plans to allow you to do one but not the other), because they really are different businesses. I think I’ve had the same DVD at home for the past 18 months because all I do is stream.

Yeah, it’s annoying that they raised the pricing on streaming + one DVD (and probably additional DVDs as well), but companies raise prices. It’s not that big a deal, it’s not that much extra money for a service that I really enjoy, and they’re adding content by throwing games into the mix.

I just don’t get the outrage here, much less the seemingly moralistic nature of the outrage. What’s the gripe, exactly?

by Chris Hafner on Sep 20, 2011 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

Exactly. People are complaining, but it's not like there's a comparably priced service.

(Though there’s plenty of workarounds, involving Redbox, libraries, discount movie theaters, Amazon and stealing.)

by yuniform on Sep 20, 2011 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions  

It was nice having one source for streaming media

It feels like all the studios and networks took a look at Netflix’ success and are scheming to replicate it in house. I don’t know for a fact, but it is really difficult to imagine a scenario where a large number of people are going to pay that many different sources for content. As far as any gripes over pricing, I don’t really share in that sentiment, except for the quality of selection dropping at the same time.

by Kermit. on Sep 20, 2011 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

In theory I don't like the idea of having to subscribe to a bunch of splintered streaming options - Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Hulu Premium, etc.

In practice, the majority of stuff that streams seems to stream pretty much everywhere. All the Star Trek shows that began streaming on Netflix streams on Amazon too, for example. The studios that don’t want to stream with their most popular properties are unlikely to stream anywhere. And those that are willing to stream in one place may as well maximize revenues for those properties by streaming everywhere.

I just can’t wait until studios stop fighting this and just come to terms with the fact that people want to stream their products and open up their catalogs further. To partially answer Kenny’s question, I’d absolutely pay $20/month or much more for a service that streamed something approaching Netflix’s selection of physical content.

by Chris Hafner on Sep 20, 2011 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

Favorite tweet from someone yesterday was:

“Qwikster and Netflix should combine their services together – DVDs and Streaming in one. Now THAT would be awesome!”

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 20, 2011 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions  

Didn't Apple just buy Hulu?

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 20, 2011 7:42 PM PDT up reply actions  

That's weird, why did I think that?

I remeber some company had stupid amounts of money and just picked up some other company for shits.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 20, 2011 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

Google buying Motorola?

That wasn’t really for shits though, as Motorola made a lot of the Android devices.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 20, 2011 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions  

College Football Fun Fact

Of the 27 teams that are currently 3-0, only one of those teams has all 3 of its wins against Division 1 (or FBS) competition.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 11:11 AM PDT reply actions  

College football fun fact

of the myriad teams that are currently 1-2, only one of those teams will bring me immense joy from the impending firing of their head coach

by seattlebruin on Sep 19, 2011 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions  

I dunno I think there will be others

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Boise! State!

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 19, 2011 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

Is only 2-0

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions  

I don't care

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 19, 2011 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

My fun fact was about 3-0 teams!

You know what Boise State and USC have in common?

Neither will play for the BCS MNC this year.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 20, 2011 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions  

I don't care

Boise! State!

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Sep 20, 2011 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Stanford?

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 20, 2011 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions  

Huh I guess the fact that they played two practically FBS teams

kind of made me miss the fact that they are also 3-0 with wins over only FCS teams.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 20, 2011 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions  

Oh wait I see where I went wrong

USC is the only team with wins over 3 BCS conference opponents. Derp.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 20, 2011 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yea, there are a lot of teams 3-0 with wins over all FBS schools, I'm pretty sure.

Well, not a lot, but you know what I mean.

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 20, 2011 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

Of particular interest - biology, esp molecular biology

Underappreciated advances – hell I dunno.

There was a recent paper I liked a lot where a virus was used to target particular polymorphisms for repair. This is a big fucking deal because prior gene therapies mostly involved retroviruses carrying rescue cDNAs (which is risks disrupting important genes) but this method does not perturb the genome at all. Good news for people with dominant negative SNPs such as muscular dystrophy and so on.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Sep 19, 2011 11:28 AM PDT reply actions  

Do you happen to remember what journal this was published in?

I’d like to read it.

I’m actually working on a gene therapy project using retroviruses to produce exogenous gene products. I reckon that it doesn’t matter if we fuck up a few essential genes, because these cells would die eventually anyways.

But I think gene therapy is such a bad ass field. Did you hear about the treatment for leukemia that involved adding a few genes to t-cells that transformed them into b-cell killing machines? Now viral vectors could very well cause cancer themselves, but I think there is a lot of future promise in this field.

by A Public Alias on Sep 20, 2011 8:46 PM PDT up reply actions  

It was in nature, email me if you want the full reference and I can send you the pdf is you dont have journal access.

Re the t cell stuff – didn’t know about targeting Tcells to B cell lymphomas but there’s quite a bit of work being done with engineered t cell receptors to target those hard to reach places. I believe Ive read something on engineering T cells to target some essential HIV proteins… And I agree with you that there’s a great deal of promise in retroviral gene therapy.

short version – email me if you want the reference

by Bearskin Rugburn on Sep 23, 2011 6:25 AM PDT up reply actions  

Clearly you were carrying the team Theriot

“When I was playing shortstop we were in first place. I know that. It is what it is.”

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 11:55 AM PDT reply actions  

This is pretty cool.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/19/pc-gamers-save-the-world-a-bit/

Turning looking for low energy states of proteins for research into a video game for biomolecular research.

"Foldit players leverage human three-dimensional problem-solving skills to interact with protein structures using direct manipulation tools and algorithms from the Rosetta structure prediction methodology. Players collaborate with teammates while competing with other players to obtain the highest-scoring (lowest-energy) models. In proof-of-concept tests, Foldit players—most of whom have little or no background in biochemistry—were able to solve protein structure refinement problems in which backbone rearrangement was necessary to correctly bury hydrophobic residues. Here we report Foldit player successes in real-world modeling problems with more complex deviations from native structures, leading to the solution of a long-standing protein crystal structure problem."
According to the site, there are millions of ways for an enzyme’s atoms’ bonds to twist, and the secret to getting it right is finding the lowest-energy configuration for such a structure. … So 236,000 players working together and against each other for the last three years have proven rather useful. And it took them only 10 days to unravel (or indeed re-ravel) a mystery that had stumped the experts for over a decade.

by joof on Sep 19, 2011 12:04 PM PDT reply actions   2 recs

I love this.

Hopefully the next advancement is turn to Grand Theft Auto to solve the traffic problem in my neighborhood. Seems like there are a lot of great ideas in that game waiting to be mined.

by ThomasG on Sep 19, 2011 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

If Grand Theft Auto has taught me anything

it’s that all you have to do is find the car you like, wait till it gets to a stop light, drag the driver out, beat him senseless, and voila – free car!

by pdb on Sep 19, 2011 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions  

This was totally awesome. First reported like a year ago.

The computer driven protein modeling system takes ages and ages to work. Nice to harness the power of boredom. The only real trouble is that any in silico predictions still have to be validated with NMR or crystallography.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Sep 20, 2011 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions  

This is not for science. This is for me.

Onion: Distressed Nation Turns to Poet Laureate for Solace

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors

by JY on Sep 19, 2011 12:30 PM PDT reply actions   1 recs

It was probably only a couple of weeks ago that I remember talking to my friends about how impressed I was with the evolution of Netflix.

Holy shit, how many missteps can one company take in such a short period of time? The letter from the CEO was such a joke.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 19, 2011 4:14 PM PDT reply actions  

Wow, I'm an idiot seeing as how this was already brought up in the thread!

How many missteps can one commenter make in such a short period of time?

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 19, 2011 4:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

I cancelled my DVD plan today

sucks a bit because most of the cool Kung Fu movies aren’t on streaming but I don’t want to pay for their jack assery.

To improve, they should try to become the musical southern cal of the west. - bRuins Nation poster on the Stanford band.

by bluemax on Sep 19, 2011 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

You guys love The Hangover?

How bout the diverse sequal Hangover 2?

Well do I have good news for you because the Hangover Seattle is coming soon to a theater near you!

by Robert on Sep 19, 2011 4:39 PM PDT reply actions  

The evolution of the "X for Pujols" joke has taken a strange turn.

How come you can do all this other great shit, but you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?

by JAH on Sep 19, 2011 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions  

I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility

And I think a move like that is becoming more and more necessary, if only to keep the fanbase from jumping ship.

by Matt Erickson on Sep 19, 2011 11:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

If you're looking for surplus value, there are few players that can match Pineda in that regard over the next 5 or so years.

If you’re looking for superstar value, there are few players who can match Votto in that regard. Guess which one a team that isn’t anywhere close to contention should take?

"Satisfaction is the enemy of success." SanFranPreps Twitter: @d_quazzo

by perfectstrat on Sep 20, 2011 1:35 AM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

The contention that attendance will benefit is unsupported

And tying that many wins/money up in one player with so many other positions being held by replacement level or league average players, or worse, strikes me as a bit risky. Also whether or not you stumble into some a decent pitcher, there’s going to be a negative in the difference. Not a strong enough sell for me to buy this one.

by Kermit. on Sep 20, 2011 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions   2 recs

Yeah, I think market and wins will dictate attendance, not player A versus player B as much.

I just wonder if we’re talking straight up Pineda versus Votto, there’s a strong enough possibility to me that the next two years of Votto would be more valuable than 5 club control years of Pineda based on pitcher volatility and Votto clearly being a stud hitter that I’m at least more open to the idea than I thought I would be. It also depends on who the “other players” are and I have no attachment to Brandon League really.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 20, 2011 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions  

NL to AL transition to for Votto

If you only have a couple years of him, I don’t like it that he’s changing leagues

by Matthew on Sep 20, 2011 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

I haven't paid much attention to the Cy Young races other than broad strokes.

Then I happened to notice that Verlanders bWAR was tied with Bautista and was like “wow!” which of course led me to this article on why CC Sabathia deserves the Cy Young.

Just in case you felt like getting angry this morning.

follow @casetines

by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 20, 2011 8:40 AM PDT reply actions  

CubsInsider :

#Cubs today announced INF/OF Bryan LaHair & LHP Jeff Beliveau have been named the Minor League Player & Pitcher of the Year, respectively.

by msb on Sep 20, 2011 1:18 PM PDT reply actions  

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