Something Random

[Gödel]

We've got something brewing in the Gulf again. Right after last week they were telling us we should be in the clear, relatively speaking, for big storms this year. This one, which will be called Arthur if it gets named, formed over land. Fun.

Yes, looks like Arthur is heading straight NE on the Texas Gulf Coast, then right through Louisiana and into Mississippi:

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Lord help those poor people.

We've had major weather disasters in significant areas of the country; perhaps El Niño will cut back on the Eastern U. S. hurricane season, while probably shifting the weather calamities elsewhere.

 

[Mercutio]

My tires were purchased at Costco, which does indeed cover replacement from road hazards. It's a pro-rated coverage, so I do have to pay something like $650 to get replacements, but that's better than $1600 for a new set.
I've always paid for high-mileage tires, but since my car uses an odd size, my options for getting anything have diminished considerably in the era of everyone owning a Truckasaurus.
Supposedly, I get my car back today. Severe weather across the midwest has hampered shipping.

It's prudent that we all start making more preparation for extreme weather. I think it's only going to get worse.

 

[Mercutio]

I never thought I'd see the day that I'd jump at a chance to spend $40 on a 250GB SD card, but here we are.

 

[Gödel]

Happy 5ᵗʰ of July

And happy royal wedding :​

From NYTimes:​

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It’s a love story​

What better way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday than with our own royal wedding? Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tied the knot at Madison Square Garden last night, amid a constellation of stars from the worlds of music, sports and Hollywood. Swift’s brother, Austin, served as “man of honor” and Jason Kelce, the groom’s brother, as best man. Adam Sandler officiated.​

Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid were among the approximately 1,000 guests. Selena Gomez, Reese Witherspoon and Dakota Johnson were there, as were Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, Mariska Hargitay and Jason Sudeikis; Ed Sheeran, Sombr, the Chicks and Benson Boone. Here’s a longer guest list.​

Crowds of Swifties braved the sweltering Manhattan heat to stand along the metal barricades outside the arena.​

"Ain't that America" — John "Cougar" Mellencamp

 

[sedrosken]

Nothing more US-american than celebrity marriages and blowing off your fingers with pretty explosives while you eat your weight in various meats.

I stayed home and played a video game. Been getting pretty into Project Diablo 2, got a Vengeance Paladin build going. Very squishy in Hell, I need to watch where I'm going and check mods on unique packs before I run blindly in and get oneshot.

 

[Mercutio]

I just barely know the name Taylor Swift and nothing about the other person.

On the other hand, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is apparently (literally) brain dead but on life support just to fuck up the midterms. Just like he fucked over Obama getting to nominate Merrick Garland as a supreme court justice. They don't want Kentucky's current governor to nominate his replacement. McConnell's grave is one where I'd gleefully leave a shit.

While I'm at it, I've had a new pair of glasses in customs in Lexington, Kentucky since the end of May. It's about to be six weeks. UPS sends me an email about it every day. They're glasses. They're declared as glasses. They're in a glasses-sized package that was flown from Hong Kong. This too is probably Kentucky's fault somehow as well.

 

[Gödel]

I've had a new pair of glasses in customs in Lexington, Kentucky since the end of May. . . . This too is probably Kentucky's fault somehow as well.

WTF? I'm boycotting Kentucky – bourbon in particular, as well as the many other liquors they sell. I've switched to Canadian whisky.

 

[Mercutio]

There are many other fine spirits. Have you considered Malört?

 

[sedrosken]

It's sad because Kentucky is a beautiful state and I grew up there and wouldn't trade it for anything, but they make some awfully questionable decisions up there.

I say. From Florida.

 

[Gödel]

There are many other fine spirits. Have you considered Malört?

I'll have to check into that one. Currently, I'm particularly fond of a nice Mescal.

 

[Mercutio]

I'll have to check into that one. Currently, I'm particularly fond of a nice Mescal. View attachment 1888

My partner is a huge fan of it. Most people say it is the most disgusting spirit bar none. The kindest description I've heard is that it tastes "herbaceous."

The company that makes it is also the only distributor for it, so if you find someplace that carries it, it's because they very deliberately sought it out and keep it on hand. Last time we were in New Orleans, my partner drank what she's pretty sure was the city's entire supply over the course of a four day trip.

 

[Gödel]

Searching for Malört seemed to agree with "disgusting". Luckily, Virginia ABC stores don't carry it.

 

[Mercutio]

My partner genuinely loves it. She's otherwise a Tequila snob.
She's also started drinking beer since she moved to Florida. That's the one that actually disgusts me.

I got to talk to a guy today who was the primary representative of a class action suit that went all the way to the US Supreme Court, questioning whether or not people should be paid for the time they spend putting on safety equipment as part of normal work activities. Dude retired from the Steel Mill and he's now a community organizer. Sanders v US Steel Corporation, 2014. I thought he was making it up at first, but sure enough, most of the court basically agreed in fact but could not agree in legal principle. It's a small thing, but of course that adds up over a dangerous career. Even the United Steelworkers itself was against the case; bargaining away that potentially paid time was important to other contract concessions once the suit was filed and its lack of support was cited among the reason the case went to US Steel.

We got talking about activism and the process of advocacy. It was a very educational conversation from a single person who saw massive levers of corporate and political power move against him as an individual.

 

[Handruin]

WTF? I'm boycotting Kentucky – bourbon in particular, as well as the many other liquors they sell. I've switched to Canadian whisky.

I moved on to nicer Irish whiskey (Redbreast) or Scotch that has no peat and sherry cask finish.

However lately I've been on a Gin kick and it's more fun to explore cocktails. I've been trying lots of recipes. I tried Monkey 47 gin recently and it's up there as one of my favorites.

I have no interest in Malört though. Tequila I prefer a nice reposado...mezcal is was too smokey for me as a dominant taste that overwhelms.

 

[Gödel]

Oddly, I don't like Scotch, but I do like Irish. And/or a nice tequila or mezcal.

But for me, "straight, no chaser". Or nowadays, I believe the term is "neat".

​

 

[Handruin]

What is it about Scotch that you don't like? I typically drink them neat also. Ocassionally a small amount of ice or drops of water if it's a cask strength or something with a higher than typical proof

 

[Gödel]

I can't really explain what it is I don't like about Scotch, maybe it's what they call "peaty".

But I guess that's similar to the "smokey" taste you don't like about mezcal.

To each his own. And make it a double.

 

[Handruin]

Same here I really don't like peaty or smokey Scotch so I just get the ones that have none and they're excellent

 

[fb]

My favourite non-peated whisky is Dahlwinnie 15 (great bang for the buck in Sweden), Auchentoshan 12 was also quite nice but it's been a while (10+ years) since I tried one, so I don't know.

 

[Mercutio]

My glasses finally came in. We get used to whatever way we see but holy crap my old lenses were actually probably dangerous to keep wearing.

 

[sedrosken]

It's probably about time I got my eyes examined again.

 

[Chewy509]

Well done LG...

 

[Mercutio]

I set up somebody's 55" TV a couple weeks ago. My standard practice is to ignore the TV's internal OS. WebOS isn't as bad as Tizen, but they're both pretty bad. A model year 2025 LG TV would NOT proceed to display anything until its terms of service were accepted. Shut up and be a display. I do kind of wonder what would've happened if it remained unconnected to the internet, but my friend did not have another set top box.


The Odyssey is spectacular in every sense and I think it deserves to be seen in a theater. It is an extremely faithful retelling of Homer's story and even knowing every critical moment in the story, it was properly delightful and brutal. It is not color graded within an inch of its life and unlike Nolan's Batman movies, I wasn't trying in the moment to pick apart what I was seeing in the moment.

Ludwig Gorranson was a great choice for the score. His music is very primal, as opposed to the lush scores seen in Hans Zimmer's orchestration.

 

[sedrosken]

There's a reason I flat out refuse to purchase anything but dumb displays. It means my 4K TV in my living room is a 43" Sceptre, but I'd prefer that to these kinds of abhominations.

I've been interested and that may just have been the push I needed to go watch The Odyssey. I haven't gone to a theater quite literally in a decade.

 

[Gödel]

Yeah, I refuse to buy a TV that's smarter than me.

That lowers the bar significantly.​

​

 

[Mercutio]

The Odyssey. I haven't gone to a theater quite literally in a decade.

I have a giant OLED TV and a great audio setup in my living room but man, but going to the movie theater is a treat. In the last three weeks, I've seen The Odyssey, the filmed staging of Hadestown and of course the new Spider-Man movie. And man, I have yet to be let down this summer. These were very different experiences but all extremely enjoyable.

I genuinely feel that movies should be experienced in groups, on the biggest screen and with 192 speakers and surrounded by other people who want to be there at the same time. Prior to Covid, my community even had a dedicated group of people who would show up in costumes for genre movies and stayed through multiple showings so kids could meet Amidala or Maui or Iron Man.

sed, The Odyssey is a great movie. It is a spectacle that deserves its place on an IMAX Screen. Christopher Nolan advances the state of the art in filmmaking with his every production; he eschews CG as much as possible and in this case he shot an entire movie on digital 70mm cameras, functionally impossible until someone got around to making a sound production technology that can overcome the incredibly loud cooling the cameras need. Putting aside the technical aspects, it's a story well told, one of the oldest stories we know. It's worth a $7 matinee.

Also, new Spider-Man managed to bring the "swinging around Manhattan" elements of the recent video games AND pack in a crap ton of organic world building. Five iconic Spider-Villains get blink and you'll miss them moments. Yes, The Punisher and Bruce Banner are around. Why wouldn't they be? And for that matter, what Gen X kid hasn't been wanting a live-action throwdown between Spidey and the Hulk, anyway? The issue of it being a Spider-Man problem and not an Avengers problem is cleared up in the first half hour. My only complaint is that JK Simmons doesn't show up at all. Someone who is only there for Spider-Man might hate all the bits from the wider Marvel setting, but there's a name drop at the mid-point of the movie that every Marvel fan has been hoping for since the day Iron Man came out.