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Open Thread

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I’ve been doing a lot of hiking here in Salt Lake City and the surroundings.  It’s beautiful here.  Going to do some more this weekend.  I’m starting a new work schedule soon that will allow me every other Friday off.  Work is going well.  I’ve been driving around Utah and parts of western Colorado and southern Idaho for my job.  I’m so glad to be back in the mountains again.  Western Wyoming is also part of my area of responsibility, but I haven’t had any calls up there yet.  I went to Colorado earlier in the week, and I picked up a couple of cases of Fat Tire and 90 Schilling amber ales.  They’re pretty good.  There are local breweries here in SLC, some of them pretty good, but the beer here is on the expensive side.

If you can get out and about before the weather turns chilly where you’re at, I highly recommend you do so.

I haven’t been watching the news much recently, and I don’t notice that I’ve missed much.  I have been rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Buffy The Vampire Slayer on Netflix.

What’s on tap for you all this weekend?

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  7. 7.

    chopper

    maybe I’ll enter the lucky charms sweepstakes. you can win one of ten limited-edition ‘marshmallow only’ boxes.

  8. 8.

    divF

    Here in NorCal everyone is complaining about the heat. Unlike you, we are waiting for Fall to come so that the weather is cool enough for outdoor activities.

    ETA:
    @chopper: Yuck!

  10. 10.

    Gimlet

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-campaign-manager-americans-wouldnt-flee-as-refugees-li#.kmKEg9JMQE

    Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says Americans wouldn’t become refugees like Syrians and questioned why young Syrian men are leaving instead of fighting to support their country.

    Since the start of the Syrian civil war, millions of Syrians have fled the war torn country for Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

    “When you think about it, fundamentally, people say okay, if you want to leave your country and you’re a healthy male maybe between the age of 18 and 35, why are you leaving you country to go to another country,” Lewandowski said this week on the John Fredericks Show. “I can’t imagine anyone from our country doing that. We would see our men, double down, support their country, make sure that we continue to have the greatest country in the world.”

  11. 11.

    PaulW

    Going to the Florida Writers Association conference this Friday.

    Gonna finish editing a novella for direct epublishing.

    Getting things prepped for NaNoWriMo here in Florida this November.

    I wanna see 100 of you writing 50000 word novels next month.

  12. 12.

    cmorenc

    I’m an amateur astronomer, and I’m going to a star party at Staunton River State Park in southern Virginia camping out for the weekend with roughly 150 of us from across the US East Coast, and taking my two telescopes with me (a 12 inch aperture reflector, and a high-quality 4 inch apochromatic (no color distortion) refractor. This site is in an isolated rural area with relatively dark skies where the band of the Milky Way is visible naked-eye, as well as many fainter DSOs (deep-space objects) from tens of thousands to tens of millions of light-years away, including several thousand galaxies outside our own.

    To take off on an inversion of a classic line from the Monty Python “I’m a Lumberjack” skit…”we’ll observe all night and sleep all day”. You’ve got to love the name of the astro club from Chapel Hill, NC which organizes this twice-annual event: CHAOS (Chapel Hill astronomical observation society).

  13. 13.

    Mike J

    @Baud: Willow is one of the most beloved characters. Everyone loves Willow. She’s not underrated. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone say Buffy was their favorite character.

    I’m a Faith fan.

  16. 16.

    Srv

    Bryce, Zion, arches, Mormons… Utah is like another planet.

    And the aliens there take slower traffic keep right seriously.

  17. 17.

    FlyingToaster

    It’s going to finally go below freezing this weekend (Boston area), so that the ragweed will let up. I cleared out the lower half of the backyard today (yard waste pickup tomorrow morning); I expect to do the upper half next week, and the side garden the week after that.

    Saturday morning is music school; afternoon is skateboard and bicycle; evening is Doctor Who.

    Supposedly there’s a performance that WarriorGirl is playing in Sunday, but the forecast says 44° at stage time, which is colder than her teacher wants violins playing. Especially outside in the wind. So we might get a Sunday off BEFORE Thanksgiving :)

  22. 22.

    Mike J

    @Baud: Season 7 was interesting. BUffy wanted to charge in and fight the terrorists Big Bad all by herself, and it ends in a debacle. It only works when she brings in all the smaller powers (potential slayers) to help.

  23. 23.

    Soonergrunt

    @redshirt: On BVTS, I’ve always identified with Xander. With the exception of living on a hellmouth, his life was pretty much like mine in high school. Always second fiddle, always alone, until the one relationship he had in school, which he inevitably screwed up.
    On DS9, I’ve loved the whole crew, everything about the show. Other Trek always showed us what we could aspire to, but DS9 admits that even as we aspire to great things, we are still flawed creatures, but that we can be great in spite of ourselves.

  26. 26.

    Mike J

    @Soonergrunt: The Zeppo showed how important Xander was. He also got to nail Faith and made a vengeance demon love him.

    And of course he spent thanksgiving with syphilis.

  28. 28.

    beltane

    @Gimlet: This is why Trump is leading all other Republicans in the polls. He makes wingnuts feel good about themselves. Jeb just tells them that stuff happens.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @Soonergrunt:

    I watched the first 2-3 seasons of DS9, but I fell out of it. I should try to watch the whole series at some point since people really seem to like it.

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    @Steve in the ATL: I kinda like her. Creature of Washington, but she and husband Al Hunt still seem pretty sharp.

    Were it Cokie Roberts, I would advise “noooo! Find a happy hour instead!” Judy Woodruff might be good. You will have to tell us.

  39. 39.

    sharl

    Sooner! Thanks for checking in, and for that report of living life well. I hope you find some fun winter weather to do as well.

    I remember growing to like ST:DS9 more than I thought I would, though I cannot fully explain that. I know that part of it was how they didn’t feel compelled to conclude those story arcs imbued with moral ambiguity* with figurative giant pretty tie-it-all-up ribbons and happy play-out music. [*For example, the manner by which Cisco contrived to get the Romulans involved as allies in a war.] Some thoughtful writing there IMO, but there’s a commenter in these parts who could address this series with more passion and insight than me, if his nym is any indication.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Congrats! I lost 32 pounds in 2005 and got to lifetime (after 5 previous attempts). I gained some of it back after a knee surgery, but even half-assing the program had kept me from going all the way back up.

    Just keep plugging away and it will work. Perfectionism is the killer and is what leads to most people’s downfalls (“Well, I just ate two cookies, may as well finish the bag since I’ve already ruined everything!”)

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    Weekend plans include taking the spouse to the airport (he’s going to Chicago for a few days to see his family) and going to Yarnosphere in Long Beach (CA). Hopefully it won’t suck.

  46. 46.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @Soonergrunt: Where you are, it would be criminal not to hike.

    I walked or rode my bicycle everywhere before I left Brooklyn, and didn’t anticipate that I wouldn’t be able to do that when I moved to Georgia. I get a lot less exercise now.

    And I quit smoking a few years ago. I had read somewhere that people usually put on about 10 pounds when they quit. Right. 10 pounds a day, maybe.

    So yeah, I need to get this under control.

    @benw: Wore my 7 Line Army shirt the other night. It obviously didn’t help. Sorry.

  47. 47.

    PurpleGirl

    Began a couple of necklaces and will try to finish them this weekend. On Saturday there is a Pumpkin Patch fair at my complex and I’ll take a walk through it for the vendors. The kids will have inflatable rides and pumpkin carving areas. It’s aimed at building community among the newer residents with young kids (or grandkids). Then too there is also going to a yarn store for “I Love Yarn Day” activities. (I haven’t decided which store I want to go to yet.)

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Dogs? Lucky dude. I have no pets at the moment. Sadly.

    Describe, please.

    I used to have beagles. And I will, again. (Right now, I take my neighbor’s lab/pit bull mix out walking 5X a week, minimum. Love that dog.)

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: OK. But I kinda liked the daily campaigning and comments.

    Baud 2016. Your pets’ lives may depend on it.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    The articles I’ve seen said that nicotine burns at least an extra 100 calories a day (possibly more depending on how much you smoke) and it takes your body a full YEAR to re-adjust after you quit. Even if you cut back your food intake and increase your exercise, you could stay steady or even gain after you quit smoking because of that long re-adjustment.

  61. 61.

    Tim C.

    Saw this over at Slate. Short version is that Jeb! appears to be spending a large number of those Brinks trucks.

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/15/jeb_bush_s_campaign_spending_problem.html

    My initial read was Jeb! still had a shot if he could ride it out till Trump and Carson crash (which may be a false assumption). But this makes it seem the campaign is on the edge of disaster. Also, what does it say that Ben Carson got more money than Jeb? My eyes are popping out of my head.

  62. 62.

    MomSense

    Nice to see you, Sooner!

    Glad to hear all the shaper ups are shaping up!

    In spite of eating way too healthy my cholesterol is still high. The good is really good but still. When I first went veggie (plus some seafood) it improved but now it’s even worse than before.
    Maybe I should just eat a hamburger and forget about it.

  63. 63.

    ThresherK

    Wife sick, some weird infection on salivary glands behind the jaw which turned the skin on that area a bright pink. Anti-biotics going down the gullet, lots of rest and fluids. And I made homemade chocolate milkshakes, which she insists her doctor prescribed.

  64. 64.

    Jager

    Sooner drop into to Dinosaur National Monument. It’s great. The drive from there to Echo Park is a short one. Echo Park is the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers. Fantastic hiking. Major Powell had a great adventure there on his way to the Grand Canyon.

  65. 65.

    JPL

    @Tim C.: In order for Jeb to rise, he would have to call out Ben on his bull about the holocaust. Jeb is to scared to do it. If he did, Trump would attack him. They are appealing to the ignorant.

  67. 67.

    ThresherK

    @efgoldman: Gramm? Great comparison! He had negative charisma, no ideas to speak of, pundits held him in much more esteem than the public, and I don’t even remember who he lost the R-Nom to.

    Just another straight white male Christian who thought that overcoming all those advantages to win state-wide office in Texas meant he had political chops.

  68. 68.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud: I so wanted to be Secretary of Jazz. I’ve even ordered lawn signs:

    Vote for Baud and Get the Fuck Off My Lawn

  73. 73.

    Schlemazel

    We are in Northern Minnesota, had hoped to do some biking on the beautiful fall trails but the wind was about 1000 MPH so we just did some walking. Tomorrow looks to be about the same, we’ll see. Probably going to see The Bemidji Beavers play the North Dakota Green Slime (women’s collegiate hockey).

    Sooner – glad to hear you seem to be in a better place, hope everything is looking up from here.

  79. 79.

    PurpleGirl

    @MomSense: The thing about cholesterol is that not all of it comes from external sources. The body also produces it. It can be a very hard thing to fight and reduce.

  83. 83.

    Denali

    @Soonergrunt,

    Great to hear from you! Makes me want to plan a trip out west to the desert and the mountains.

  84. 84.

    Gin & Tonic

    Here’s a great headline from my Google news feed: “2 Men Argue, Shoot Each Other on NC Street; Both Die”

  86. 86.

    seaboogie

    @Baud: Once you’ve sold your book, you should probably buy another one, it’s nice to have some reading material at hand.

  92. 92.

    seaboogie

    @Elizabelle: @Baud: Only good thing about that Romney dog story (which still has me SMH is astonishment – who fucking DOES that!?) was the noble creature’s name – Seamus – also the name of my beloved former golden companion (hence my nym).

    I have a DFH, dog loving neighbor who had a “Dogs Against Romney” sign in her yard – next to the water bowl for the neighborhood pooches. We’d always stop for a sip after a swim in the pond after I took the original Seaboogie for a walk and swim.

  95. 95.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus: When I was just a sprite I dated a rather much older fellow from the UK who worked for the Beeb during the Python days. He related one tale where the Python fellows tied him to his office chair, gagged him and rolled him onto the elevator and left him there. It was a fond memory for him. Then again, this is the same fellow who moved in with a colleague and her husband, and the former BF and colleague were having an affair – I guess they do things differently across the pond. “Darling, you won’t mind terribly if my lover comes to live with us, will you dearest?”

  100. 100.

    ruemara

    Sounds like you’re really working on that mind-body connection, Sooner. I hope things are moving where you want them to.

    My weekend starts right now. I’ve had the most painful communication with my storyboard artist, but I think we’ve worked out that he is working on finishing the big dance scene and there’s about 7 more pages to finish up. I am delving into the workpile of AD, which means I’m knee deep in the legal paperwork for rights, clearances & NDAs, and generating the call sheets. 7 days to principle shooting. And film insurance is expensive y’all. All this, and I need to figure out costumes.

    Support a literal starving artist. I’ve cut out food and gone without health insurance, so go buy a nice picture or something. get a damn bug on a cup, but buy a damn thing. https://unimedia.smugmug.com/ yes, I’m cranky, sleepy and hungry and I spent all my marcom skills at work.

  104. 104.

    redshirt

    @joel hanes:

    @redshirt:

    It can’t be a fully functional Dyson Sphere.

    “It looks like a star with a ring around it.
    What is it?”

    They say it’s a collection of comets; a commentary collection kicking off copious amounts of dust. Could the disturbance be this cloud?

  105. 105.

    Jager

    @efgoldman:

    I recall a live Darwin Award Winner from a few years ago. He replaced a fuse in his pickup with a .22 cartridge, it heated up and hit him in the family jewels rendering him sterile.

  106. 106.

    realbtl

    You’re in beautiful country SG, enjoy as much of it as you can.

    I left beautiful Montana today for a 4 day visit to my daughter in Albany NY. Never been in NY so looking forward to seeing the sights and hopefully getting in some good ethnic food eating.
    Maybe even real bagels rather than the pale imitations I get at home.

  108. 108.

    SFAW

    dedc79, benw, and the rest of the Mets fans –

    I know what we’re doing Saturday night, starting around 8 PM.

    Of course, it would be nice if Cespedes stops swinging at balls in Australia (or China, or wherever they were), and if Duda reverts to his July-vintage streakiness, instead of his current 0.600 KAB percentage [sic].And I hope deGrom returns to his usual form in his next start.

    @benw:

    I hear ya. My brother hates the Cubbies – not enough to have a shrine to Bartman, however – and it’s rubbed off on me.

    LET’S GO METS!

  109. 109.

    J R in WV

    Sooner, good to hear from you! I second Dinosaur National Monument, a wonderful place to hang! And look into the mystery of the Uinta Mountains, which are sideways from all the other basin and range mountain ranges, for no detectable reason.

    I’m going to help the next door neighbor and best friend finish putting cedar siding on their new house. It’s been finished with the best house-wrap for years now, and they finally gave in and ordered siding, which is beautiful! The house is so much more finished with siding on it, DUH! And the wood is so pretty with the sun shining on it.

    They have an acre on the ridge top edge of our farm, where they have been building their new house for years, mostly by themselves. She worked with a friend who was an electrician, and is now a licensed electrician herself, and does all the tricky wiring projects.

    They’re both biologists, he works for the feds and was counting on a government shutdown to do the siding, but gave up on the Rs to come through when he needed them a week or so ago. All there is left to do is one gable end and some smaller dormer sides up on the roof.

    I think it will be great fun, since I haven’t been worrying about it for 4 or 5 years. Neighbor probably has a different outlook!

    Should be pretty in WV for the next couple of weeks, beautiful fall weather. I just did bring in the begonia from the front porch, lest she get too cold.

  111. 111.

    redshirt

    @realbtl:

    I left beautiful Montana today for a 4 day visit to my daughter in Albany NY. Never been in NY so looking forward to seeing the sights and hopefully getting in some good ethnic food eating.
    Maybe even real bagels rather than the pale imitations I get at home.

    Good luck to you.

    I doubt you’ll get the best ethnic food in Albany, unless you are truly from the deepest of Montana. And then it will be pretty good. Like, all Thai food is god.

  112. 112.

    dedc79

    @SFAW:

    Heroes of the series

    1) Murphy (3 HRs off of Kershaw/Greinke and the heads up move to third base on the walk)
    2) deGrom (Lights out in Game 1 and fought through 6 hard innings tonight)
    3) Familia (16 up, 16 down including 6 out save)

    Cespedes has looked lost out there, other than that monster home run in game 3, but I think getting away from Kershaw/Greinke will do wonders for him. Wright and Duda will need to wake up too.

  113. 113.

    LeonS

    I started DS9 but chickened out. Those 7 seasons scare me. I’m worried once I get into it I’ll sit there for 100 hours straight, losing my job and family… Man was not made for netfilx!

  114. 114.

    SFAW

    @Karen:
    Murphy’s likely gone, Herrera probably take his place, and from what I can glean from my brother (who follows them more closely than I do), it could be an upgrade.. Cespedes? I’m not convinced yet. Yeah, he had a great August, but his batting eye is not the best (to put it tactfully) – he goes after scalp-high fastballs, and stuff bouncing off the left-hand batter’s box (I think I saw him do that five times tonight, maybe more, tonight). And all that August or September talk about him as MVP seemed pretty f’ing silly.

    @dedc79:

    I agree with almost everything you wrote. I don’t think distance from Kershaw/Greinke will necessarily cause Cespedes to get back to his July/August form – chasing after scalp-high fastballs is something he does, even when he was hitting well. The fishing after stuff low-and-so-far-away-it-was-in-the-dugout is another problem for him, and I don’t think it’s a function of Kershaw/Greinke. I’m also disappointed with d’Arnaud, and Wright needs to get his shit together in the next two days. I don’t even bother watching his at-bats for the last three games, because his batting has been terrible. He’s about a .300 hitter lifetime, it would be nice if he could get to half of that.

    I was really nervous after the First, and I figure deGrom was tired, because he doesn’t usually have to pitch out of jams every inning. Probably means the Mets need to stick with a five-man rotation next year.

    But, no matter what: LET’S GO METS!!!

    ETA: And Sandy Alderson needs to find a batting coach. Yeah, Long has a good resume and all that, but a lot of the Mets’ problems would improve if they could learn how to hit – consistently.

  115. 115.

    Petorado

    Sooner, since you’re in SLC you’ll have to get some brews from Wasatch Brewery, especially the Polygamy Porter– “Can’t have just one!” They’re notable for the humorous tweaks at the non-imbibing populace in the Beehive State. But if you cross the CO border, consult this map to find some more of the good stuff.

    If you ever make it further east and cross the divide, I’m sure some of us Front Rangers could get together for a meetup and play host to show you around the Napa Valley of beer over here. Would be fun!

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Wore my 7 Line Army shirt the other night

    Which one do you have?

    I think I’m going to take my life in my hands tomorrow, and wear my “Take Back New York” t-shirt under my Seaver jersey while out and about in SoCal.

  119. 119.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Suzuki School of Newton. The Newton Harvest Festival is held outside on the Green in Newton Centre.

    Not the orchestra, just the Book 2&3 violins and violas.

  121. 121.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: WarriorGirl doesn’t go to public school. When I realized what was happening with Watertown, she’d already done two years in SSN’s preschool. I kept her there for pre-K and found a local private school that includes weekly group Suzuki strings. She’ll be there until 8th grade. She’ll keep on at SSN through at least book 3 (end of 4th grade, probably), and then I’ll let her make the call.

    The new Watertown Superintendent is talking about reinstating the art, music, and foreign language programs in the grade schools, since eliminating them in favor of test prep has caused scores to drop.

  122. 122.

    NotMax

    @realblt

    Albany is, in a word, a pit. Makes Harrisburg look fast-paced, cosmopolitan and exciting. Wouldn’t expect much insofar as real Noo Yawk bagels.

    Haven’t been there in probably 50 years, though. Venerable eateries? Keeler’s, sadly, is long gone. However, Jack’s Oyster House appears to still be chugging along.

  123. 123.

    Aleta

    @realbtl: You can find true old style nyc bagels in Troy, (closer to how H&H bagels were), but I guess your daughter knows where to take you in Albany, too. Good NYC pizza in Troy too, and of course lots of Greek and very good Italian in Albany-Troy etc. From Troy if you drive east on Rt 2, the road starts to climb pretty quickly and the foliage should be getting great right now. It’s probably nice in any direction, but 2 is a fun road going toward Vt and Ma, where the leaves are probably going wild this week. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

  124. 124.

    Hunter

    It’s already gotten chilly here, at least by my standards — fifties and sixties, but with biting winds — so I think sitting in the park reading is over for the year. Been exploring some of Chicago’s cultural offerings (in the broad sense) — the Chicago Architecture Biennial is at the Cultural Center and a few other places, and I’ve been reacquainting myself with the Field Museum.

    And watching Midsommer Murders and nature programs from PBS and the BBC on Netflix. Midsommer Murders is excellent, but the nature programs are really not much more than anecdotes strung together.

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