Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Logan

I really, really want to buy this.

http://catalog.greyflannelauctions.c...-LOT33855.aspx

This is amazing on every level.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Yep, bring back punch ballots and only vote at games.

Don't think that's ever been the case. (see my comments in the other thread about ballots available at retail at least as far back as the very early 70s)

[stevew]

The better question, though, is if those mailed in ballots were even processed though.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

The better question, though, is if those mailed in ballots were even processed though.

Almost would have to have been in order to reach the balloting totals ... unless those were fudged too of course.

[thesloppy]

Thanks to the storms in Chicago last night, I somehow ended up with a 14 hour delay on a 4hr non-stop flight from Detroit to Portland. And it got pieced out in 45 minute chunks so that it fully prevented me from leaving the airport, or booking a different flight, and my hopes were continually help up then dashed. Truly wonderful work, Delta!

[bhlloy]

That sucks. Even worse than in January when American told me my flight to London was probably delayed for 8 hours but I needed to sit there in case it wasn't as they wouldn't book me on another flight if I missed it. Of course it was delayed that long and ended up sitting there like an idiot. Wonder why we let airlines get away with that shit, no other industry has such consistently shit service and stays in business

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

The only reason that the Blackhawks are so good is because the Red Wings kicked the shit out of them for 20+ years.

The only reason the Blackhawks are good is because Rocky Wirtz is running them after 20 years of being able to observe his dad.

[cartman]

Just based off of the commercials for the new show 'Quantico', I'm becoming a big fan of Priyanka Chopra.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by cartman

Just based off of the commercials for the new show 'Quantico', I'm becoming a big fan of Priyanka Chopra.

Is that the chick? Yeah, as a man, I like looking at her.

The show? Looks like crap to me.

[Neuqua]

She's been the top star in Bollywood for a few years now. She got a taste of the American market when she was in the Monday Night Football pre-shows.

[EagleFan]

People can be idiots. Just got back from my daughter's 8th grade graduation. Was a nice ceremony and the weather was perfect.

But fast forward to the end. Daughter talking to her friends and getting pictures, much like most of the kids were doing. Then all hell break loose right next to us. Adults in a fight, someone gets stabbed, we ushered the kids away from there to the other side of the field but as we get over there some high school girl is yelling to fight someone (from what my daughter tells me that girl's sister and some other girl had some issues all year and now apparently the sister wants to fight this girl).

Then we try to get around the initial fight and out but there is another fight going on. Next thing there are about 8 cop cars and an ambulance showing and cops racing towards the scene. We walked past them and got to our car and out of there.

WTF people?!?!?!?!?!

[EagleFan]

dola: Thankfully no gun shots.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Is that the chick? Yeah, as a man, I like looking at her.

+1

[stevew]

8th grade graduation is stupid.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

People can be idiots. Just got back from my daughter's 8th grade graduation. Was a nice ceremony and the weather was perfect.

But fast forward to the end. Daughter talking to her friends and getting pictures, much like most of the kids were doing. Then all hell break loose right next to us. Adults in a fight, someone gets stabbed, we ushered the kids away from there to the other side of the field but as we get over there some high school girl is yelling to fight someone (from what my daughter tells me that girl's sister and some other girl had some issues all year and now apparently the sister wants to fight this girl).

Then we try to get around the initial fight and out but there is another fight going on. Next thing there are about 8 cop cars and an ambulance showing and cops racing towards the scene. We walked past them and got to our car and out of there.

WTF people?!?!?!?!?!

See, if that happened here, multiple people would be dead, as almost everyone other than me are carrying. I AM NOT MAKING A POLITICAL STATEMENT.

This is why I don't own guns.

I'm really sorry that that happened.

[stevew]

I predict the girl from Quantico hits it big enough that Parminder Nagra has to really hustle to find drama work. Although perhaps Hollywood will finally attempt to cast multiple Indian girls for a change.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by stevew

8th grade graduation is stupid.

Yes, but it kind of fits with how the school districts are broken up around here. The high schools are a completely different school district and there are 4 different ones to choose from so the group of kids are sort of going their own ways after this. Of my daughters 4 closest friends only one of them is going to the same high school next year.

[Atocep]

The U.S. Open coming to the town you live in is really fucking annoying. 6+ months of road work culminates in way too many people here this week.

[stevew]

*Lacks energy to start a thread about another mass shooting tragedy*

[Schmidty]

I think my post count would be twice as high if all of the posts I've deleted were still around.

[JAG]

Computers Are Learning How To Treat Illnesses By Playing Poker And Atari | FiveThirtyEight

Thought this was a pretty cool article, I'm surprised to hear about poker (limit, hold 'em) being solved and the computer teaching itself is pretty cool (and a little scary).

[NobodyHere]

Note to self:

Do not try major computer upgrades on days when college papers are due.
In this case the little "L" plastic piece on my hard drive sata connector broke off. So if I bump my computer then I risk the whole thing crashing.

[albionmoonlight]

I wish that the hotel where Nixon spied on the Democrats had been called the WaterWeiner.

That way, we'd be able to be reading things today like "Tom Brady today continues his appeal from his four-game suspension resulting from his role in DeflateWeiner"

Or "Hillary Clinton still refusing to answer questions about the EmailWeiner controversy that stems from her use of a personal email account while at State"

[spleen1015]

I used to ride the school bus by WaterWeiner every day while it the 7th & 8th grade.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The odds of successfully explaining cognitive bias (such as the effect of proximity on perception) to someone that has already picked their soapbox seem to make the attempt a fool's errand.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The odds of successfully explaining cognitive bias (such as the effect of proximity on perception) to someone that has already picked their soapbox seem to make the attempt a fool's errand.

Which is why I never argued the marijuana issue with you.

[Schmidty]

Why does everyone on Facebook have rainbows on their faces? I'm guessing gay marriage, but I must have missed something.

[Brian Swartz]

Yep that's it. It's the 'celebratepride' theme/app that they started up.

[Draft Dodger]

from facebook:

Remember this first of July, when setting off fireworks near homes, please consider that some homes may belong to soldiers and military personnel with PTSD. Unexpected explosions could effect them drastically making them believe they are still at war. Please make sure to notify your neighbours in the event you plan on celebrating with fireworks

I don't want to make light of PTSD or other issues that our soldiers face after they've served.

but...is this really a thing?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

but...is this really a thing?

Yeah, seems to be. I've heard about it several years running now & have come across at least one vet who swears its a really major problem to/for him.

edit to add: I mean, one that I know (relatively speaking), not just some anonymous meme guy

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

from facebook:


I don't want to make light of PTSD or other issues that our soldiers face after they've served.

but...is this really a thing?

this has been going around for years, and I had a vet working for me who said it was an issue for him....

[Logan]

I live in Hoboken which is across the Hudson from NYC. On Friday night at about 11:45 I thought the city was under attack, with no exaggeration. I literally ran into the other room to grab my wife. After about 15 seconds I realized it was fireworks being fired off on the river, but for some reason much lower/closer than what was standard. I don't know why it was different, but they really did sound like actual bombs being detonated in movies. Last night there was another fireworks show on the NYC side for gay pride week, and it was the much more muffled noise that you typically hear. But I've been to probably dozens of fireworks shows and nothing was remotely this loud/low.

Anyway, I'm sure these were much more professionally prepared than what that is warning against, but yeah I can believe it.

[molson]

I was listening to a Bill Simmons podcast from a few months ago about how he ended up at ESPN. I started checking out some of his pre-ESPN and early-ESPN stuff. The quality of his writing improved drastically between around 1997 and 2001. It's pretty interesting.

I remember people talking about how great his AOL stuff was, and I think I even got some of that stuff forwarded to me in the manner that articles were sent around back then (Simmons emailed them to 100 people, those people sent them to 100 people, etc.) In hindsight, it was pretty awful, but I think maybe he was way ahead of the game that we all eventually caught up to. He was doing what we do today on message boards/reddit/comments section/twitter/ect.

I think this also shows how much hard work can make a difference. If you dedicate your life to something like he did, you're going to get really good at it. You might not get the breaks to make you a millionaire, but you'll have this kind of improvement.

As an example, 1997 (it was re-posted in a 2008 blog)

Sports Guy Unplugged

And 2001 (still a little tacky, but light years ahead of 1997, and of course some of his classic stuff came shortly after this).

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Still haunted by Len Bias

[JonInMiddleGA]

My day, summarized by a snippet of a phone conversation near the end

"At this point the only chance you have to salvage any future business from me is to fire her ... from a cannon"

And that might have been the nicest thing I said in the entire sequence.

It's been an f'n Monday alllllll day today.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My day, summarized by a snippet of a phone conversation near the end

"At this point the only chance you have to salvage any future business from me is to fire her ... from a cannon"

And that might have been the nicest thing I said in the entire sequence.

It's been an f'n Monday alllllll day today.

Knowing you, I'm sure you said so in the kindest and gentlest way possible.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I don't want to make light of PTSD or other issues that our soldiers face after they've served.....

The only time I have ever gotten so angry that I blocked someone on the internet..

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

from facebook:


I don't want to make light of PTSD or other issues that our soldiers face after they've served.

but...is this really a thing?

Absolutely, my GF has a rough time with certain fireworks. She is getting better, but it is rough at times.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Knowing you, I'm sure you said so in the kindest and gentlest way possible.

That was one of the kinder, gentler parts At other points I may have included a few words that I use extremely rarely in business communication.

If it hadn't have been an out of town market in a different time zone I might very well be in jail by this point.

[Dutch]

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Absolutely, my GF has a rough time with certain fireworks. She is getting better, but it is rough at times.

interesting. appreciate all the responses - I honestly hadn't heard of this.

[Dutch]

Yeah, it's a disorder (hence the name) that affect people who have been in extremely violent conditions. It's not limited to soldiers, which might be part of the confusion.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by molson

I remember people talking about how great his AOL stuff was, and I think I even got some of that stuff forwarded to me in the manner that articles were sent around back then (Simmons emailed them to 100 people, those people sent them to 100 people, etc.) In hindsight, it was pretty awful, but I think maybe he was way ahead of the game that we all eventually caught up to. He was doing what we do today on message boards/reddit/comments section/twitter/ect.

Yeah this is it. You have to remember that basically everyone who was writing seriously about sports back then, at least who had a real audience, were old white guys. A younger guy who was having similar conversations about sports that you and your buddies were having was definitely going to stand out. I heard the same podcast, and you can tell it was part luck, but very much hard work with how often he was writing and trying to get his name around.

His writing has fallen off a cliff in recent years not just because he's a multimillionaire and can't be the average guy he used to be, but his audience grew up too. And there's so much good content out there now that it becomes very difficult to read columns that contain 5 paragraph intros about a random interaction or story he heard before he finally attempts to get to his point. Usually also, his points and conclusions are horribly flawed and that's another thing I probably wouldn't have noticed 10 years ago when I was busier laughing at what he was writing.

[albionmoonlight]

The thing about Simmons was that ESPN let him go right as he seemed to find his perfect place. He wrote less, but that was fine because he had not really grown as a writer and we'd all seen 15 variations of his "compare this NBA team to a 90210 character" column and didn't really need to read the 16th. He also had an annoying habit of name dropping in his writing (which isn't really his fault insomuch as he always wrote about who he hung out with. It's just that he used to hang out with his high school buddies and now he hangs out with Tom Brady.)

However, his sports podcasts are really interesting, and he did a lot of those near the end, and he would get really good guests to do them. And he has an amazing eye for talent. Zach Lowe, Bill Barnwell, and Robert Mayes are three of my favorite sports media folks now. And Simmons is the one who brought them to ESPN and mentored them. Being a boss is subtly hard work, and--based on Grantland--Simmons was a really good boss.

So then they let go of him. I hope he takes a similar role wherever he goes next. I hope he does not decide that he needs to "get back to writing more" because that would be a waste of his true talents.

[Logan]

He was a pretty big part of 30 for 30 as well. And I agree, I miss his podcasts much much more than his writing. If he never wrote another article, I'd be fine with it.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

The only time I have ever gotten so angry that I blocked someone on the internet..

Wait, you blocked DD because of that post?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Wait, you blocked DD because of that post?

I just looked and no, I didn't.

I'm struggling mentally right now. I'll be in Torrance, CA in late July at a place that helps with trauma. My life is weird right now. Trying to figure it all out.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I just looked and no, I didn't.

I'm struggling mentally right now. I'll be in Torrance, CA in late July at a place that helps with trauma. My life is weird right now. Trying to figure it all out.

Hang in there, man. Focus on you and get yourself right. You know we're all here for ya.

Torrance is my neck of the woods. I hope it's a good place that treats you well. Hit me up if you need anything (and happy bday, too, BTW).

[heybrad]

Got stuck in an elevator today. It was a little unsettling as the door kept trying over and over to open and after opening a few inches would slam shut making the entire elevator shake like crazy. Got to try the emergency phone which was answered by somebody who said, "How can I help you?" You'd think they'd know it's the elevator calling and if the elevator is calling it's probably not good. Me and the other 'stuckee' started explaining the situation only to hear... 'sir, I can't hear you and if I can't hear you I'm going to have to hang up.' Wonderful. Ended up calling the secretary in our office and saying, 'We're just outside the office stuck in the elevator.' Luckily she placed a call and help was on the way. Spent about 30 minutes chilling in the elevator.

Fun!

[Dutch]

I had that happen to me. Yeah, not cool. After about 10 minutes I used a leatherman to pry the doors open and I climbed out (it was stuck between floors).

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by Dutch

I had that happen to me. Yeah, not cool. After about 10 minutes I used a leatherman to pry the doors open and I climbed out (it was stuck between floors).

Climbing out between floors would definitely be one of my irrational fears. I just picture the elevator cutting loose as I'm half way out. Yikers.