Damor

LOL at me trying to contribute to a @jimmyjazz music discussion. I am not remotely qualified, but I'll throw out a few that have struck me, from the standpoint that when a know-nothing like me notices the drummer, it's either a very good or very bad thing. Bloodbuzz Ohio Don't Swallow the Cap Conversation 16 Graceless Day I Die off the top of my head, though I'm a fairly casual fan.

So I very rarely go to shows, and really don't know much about music, but I foist upon you my worthless takes: 1) Parking at Manor was fine, though I thought I was being clever parking on the bottom level by the exit, only to find myself redirected back up to where I came in. Oh well. Wasn't crowded when we left, because while my kid had a great time, he was exhausted and has to work tomorrow, so we skipped the encore. 2) Hadn't seen the National live before. Show was quite good, with a mix of old and new. But does Matt Berninger have allergies (he's just like us!), or always sound like Bert with a head cold live? 3) If Bryan Devendorf isn't the greatest drummer out there right now, please tell me who is so that I can listen to them. 4) Moody was pretty nice, but I was a little underwhelmed. The seats are hideously uncomfortable. As discussed above, maybe it's better when packed full, but see point 5 below. 5) People suck and I hate them. STFU. Maybe have a conversation on the concourse instead. Maybe quiet moments in a song weren't put there for you to go WOO WOOOOOO. And how many times do you need to get up and down and up and down during a 2hr show? /oldmanyellsatcloud 6) Though we didn't stick around for the encore, that rendition of About Today was pretty fucking incredible and (despite the efforts of point 5 above) a great finish for us. Good time and glad we went, though yeah, I think I would have loved it more at ACL Live.

Ditto, first time at the Moody. I bought parking at the Manor garage, have I made a huge mistake?

Meh. He's "just saying." Not even "just asking questions." Kurt is a feckless relic. And not to be that guy, but maybe we could tone down some of the allusions to physical retribution. They're funny and quite obviously in jest, but I wouldn't count on a guy who can't tell the difference between laying on a ball and having possession of it to make that subtle distinction, nor of one so thin-skinned and petty to visibly chide players on TV as he does to not be a little bitch about it and make a terroristic threat claim. Our group's last run-in with a humorless fuck resulted in me having to change my bookmarks.

Lips would be fine.

Shut the fuck up, Kevin.

Well Kevin, whatcha got left in the tank?

Sometimes it's a hard world for the little things.

We don't wanna miss a thing.

Yes, TX/OU is a waste of his particular skillset. He'll happen to show up for a "trap game" which isn't in the national spotlight.

Adios Big 12 You don't deserve this game, though OU will still suck

Brandt Vaginables thinks Bunny is a marvelous and free-spirited woman, of whom we are all very proud.

This day I issue a final fatwa on Baylor and all of its sanctimonious, hypocritical, rape-enabling, teammate-murdering, cat-torturing, worm-eating, unread-Bible-thumping, Dr. Pepper-sipping, shiplap-peddling, christofascist douchebaggery.

I just wanted to pop in and say, "Fuck you, Baylor. Just relax and enjoy it." Now back to your regularly scheduled Fuck Baylor.

Well, I'm here to answer @Brew and @fattyflattie's questions, then. My older one just started at Wasted State Western Colorado University.

Not sure if I should ask this in the old 529 thread or maybe start a new one, but I've never seen much discussion on actually using 529 plans when the time comes. So, stupid questions incoming. Scenario: -- Boy is starting college this fall. We have just about the right amount to cover 4 years tuition/reimbursable living expenses. -- He enrolled in a 5yr combo undergrad and MBA program. I hope he loves it and sticks with it, but okay if he changes his mind. We can make that fifth year happen from other sources if need be. -- Because the last couple of years were crappy for his 529, we've been pumping some extra into it to get it to where we wanted it. -- Younger brother is in the wings (3 years out) but due to the extra time and some better breaks, his 529 is looking just fine unless he picks somewhere ridiculous. I had always just assumed that when he started, we'd stop contributing to the 529 and shift that monthly investment partially to spending money for him and other long term stuff. But if he does this 5 year degree plan, I started thinking we'd keep contributing. I don't think that it's going to necessarily grow that much over the next few years, but it seems that gives a little more tax-free growth and would then cover his fifth year. Since we're in Texas, we don't get any further tax benefits, whereas I'd seen some other sites recommend to keep contributing while your kid is in college primarily for the state income tax break if available. So now I'm thinking we'll just keep contributing for the next year or two and then re-evaluate. I figure by that point it will become more clear if he sticks with his 5y program or if he wants to do some other kind of grad school, so that will give him some extra flexibility. If he decides to just do a 4 year degree we'll roll anything left into a Roth for him or start saving for future grandkids. If it takes him 5y to get his undergrad degree we're not pissed at him and he doesn't feel bad. If he decides to drop out and become a ski bum/whitewater guide we'll take the penalty and buy ourselves something cool and lord it over him. Anybody have any experience in this regard or thoughts? I am a financial idoit and not good with teh monies.

@Hate If they're using the endorectal coil I'd recommend you show up still drinking in the waiting room.

@SmokeyTheBear, gonna need a trip report on that. I had a nice itinerary including Skye put together pre-Covid.

It is our most modestly priced submersible.

Username checks out. The priest does not say.

Agree that ATPH, The Road, NCFOM are all suitable entry points, and that is by no means a slight to any of them. Although I haven't reread the Border Trilogy in a while, I recall feeling that The Crossing in parts could match BM and Suttree for fever-dream opacity. So if you decide to start with the whole trilogy, you might feel (as I did) that you got into the deep end pretty quickly after ATPH. Cities of the Plain then brings it back to a more ATPH level IMO.

The Road was my intro to McCarthy, and absolutely devastated me. I'll deign to repeat my post from The Road thread: "I, too, read it as a relatively new dad when my sons were 2yo and about 9mos. It messed me up for a good three months. It's the greatest book I may never read more than once. That said, I now have two first printing copies put away which they will receive when they are fathers themselves. I wrote them a little something on the flyleaf when they were little, and will add to it before they receive them. But I'll tell them to wait a few years before reading it. The concluding paragraph may be one of the most beautiful ever written: Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery. It comes to mind every time I'm fortunate enough to fish with my boys in a cold stream in Colorado." Shortly after that post my wife treated me to a stupidly expensive custom fly rod for an anniversary gift, and I chose this for the inscription:

@Biff Tannen I'm not going to go fanboy jihad on you, but I think any serious reading of McCarthy does not see his work as a celebration of violence. It does, however, force us to understand, admit, and confront the capacity we all have for cruelty and to do evil. I suppose the best movie comparison I could make to his work is Unforgiven, which I'd guess owes a great deal to Blood Meridian. I personally needed McCarthy to present evil to me as Judge Holden rather than a cartoonish "Satan." But then again, I've been called a psychopath because I feel like I need to read Blood Meridian about once a year.

"A man's at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it." The two authors who I think have had the deepest influence on my life and thinking are McCarthy and CS Lewis. Lewis helped me to understand good, and I never really grasped evil until I read McCarthy.