Everything posted by wild_turkey
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Time change
I don’t like getting off work in December and it’s already dark at 5:30 pm. It’s depressing. Of course if we kept permanent DST, it would be dark in the morning most of the winter. I would personally prefer that as the lesser of 2 evils, because the evening is more useful to be outdoors, and the short window of daylight before work seems wasted to me. Maybe we should universally agree that typical 8-5 type jobs become 8-4 schedules during the Nov-March standard time period. That final hour of work can’t be more important than mental and physical health of employees.
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[Remains Found] Caleb Harris, the disappearing A&M CC kid
He never could stay sober
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2024 Oscar Nominees
Didn’t watch it all but skimmed through it. I’m happy with the results. Still need to see Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest. I think the Oppenheimer and Poor Things wins were well deserved. Surprised that KOTFM went 0-10, but I thought it was a tad overrated for reasons listed in that thread. Emma Stone absolutely deserved Best Leading Actress and I thought her speech was incredible. I thought Lily Gladstone was great in KOTFM, then I saw Poor Things and holy shit. Happy that Wes Anderson got one. Love all of his work. Hook ‘em, Wes. What’s going on with Al Pacino? Dementia? Drunk? Infant baby and sleep deprived? All of the above?
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“Classic” books/novels you’ve loved or hated
I have since read: The Old Man and the Sea - loved it 1984 - great book but scary shit that seems inevitable Anna Karenina - thought it was good despite being a little long and Russian high society isn’t my favorite subject
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YESSS, FINALLY!!! - Masters of the Air - The 8th Air Force, Spielberg, Hanks, Goetzman (Crew behind Band of Brothers, Pacific)
Plot development?! You realize this is a true story about American bombers in the biggest war in history? What exactly are you looking for?
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Fort Worth is exploding
I like Hatsuyuki but I hope they would consider a new location. Going to the Crockett Row area is not great.
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Cabo advice?
Headed back after a long weekend. Here’s my recap for anyone interested. It was just the wife and myself and we stayed at ME Cabo. The hotel is in a great location and the property is well cared for but not overly extravagant. The pool scene had a fun, upbeat vibe but not crazy, about like Encore Vegas. Lots of bachelorette and bachelor parties trying to outdo each other on champagne trains. Food at the hotel was much better than we expected. We got a beachfront room with a great view of the Land’s End rock formation. First day we took a little water taxi boat over to Lover’s Beach and Divorce Beach. It was $30 round trip and quick. Lover’s Beach is swimmable but small and crowded so we hung out on the Divorce Beach side. No swimming there but it was prettier, much less crowded, and we could see whales off the coast. Second day we hired a private boat through Cabo Boat Adventures which I can’t recommend enough. Our boat was a 32’ Sea Ray that could hold up to 8 people, but it was just the 2 of us plus the 2 crew. They also have a 38’ boat for bigger groups. They took us around El Arco, then got to watch whales up close, then anchored to swim and eat lunch. They provided ceviche, guacamole, fajitas, beer, margaritas, soft drinks, water. They had a paddle board, lily pad, and snorkel gear. I had originally asked about a sunset cruise, but we did mid-day instead so it would be warm enough to swim and I think that was a good call. First night dinner was at El Farallon at the Waldorf Astoria. The atmosphere was incredible overlooking the water but the food was mediocre for the price. Some old drunk guys kept yelling “Hook’em Horns” which is cool at DKR or the Cotton Bowl but extremely obnoxious in this case. Probably would not eat there again. Second night dinner was at Taboo at ME Cabo. It’s listed as a beach club so we were apprehensive about dinner quality but it was excellent. Food was much better than the more expensive El Farallon, and the vibe was fun. There was a saxophonist and a violinist, people occasionally dancing on tables, fireworks, etc. Would absolutely eat there again. Best to go between 9:00 pm to midnight. Third night dinner was at Nobu. The taxi ride was long which caught us off guard. Food was amazing, as expected. Would eat there again. Also had lunch at The Office because people told us it was can’t miss. Food was good. The environment was…interesting. Also had late night drinks at Bagatelle. First went to Bagatelle in St. Barth a decade ago and now we seem to always stubble into a Bagetelle wherever we go. It’s a scene and you either like it or you don’t. We like it for exactly one night. Overall, Cabo was a good place for us for a long weekend to escape the Texas winter (hah!). We got what we wanted and expected from it. I’m sure we’ll go back, but we probably prefer Tulum. It’s a little more of a chill vibe, smaller hotels, better beach (although there is the sargassum problem there), and feels less Americanized. But it’s nice to have a change of scenery and Cabo didn’t disappoint.
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Apple TV+
Except that stealing entertainment you enjoy is not a great way to encourage Hollywood to make more of that particular media. It’s also quite easy to pay $10/month for a service that consistently delivers good TV series. That’s less than one fast food lunch per month.
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Michael Mann's next film- Ferrari
Saw it last night and didn’t really care for it. Perhaps my least favorite Michael Mann movie. In fairness, I didn’t know anything about the story and had no idea what the movie would cover, so maybe I was expecting a more complete biopic and it was really just a sliver from a tumultuous year in Enzo Ferrari’s life. The first half focused primarily on his marital drama, which I found frustrating and not entirely well written. The behaviors and conversations of the main characters seemed artificial and hollow, lacking the actual depth and human factor I would expect from real people in their situation. It’s as if Mann thought dim lighting and muted conversations would be sufficient to convey drama and passion, but something was severely lacking, like a restaurant with a swanky vibe but a bland menu. Not knowing the background, it made me start to despise Enzo Ferrari by the middle of the movie. Instead of depicting him as a brilliant Don Draper-esque antihero, they showed too little of his strengths and instead portrayed him as a shitty husband and a struggling businessman. Also, I don’t have anything against Shailene Woodley, but she was horribly miscast in this role. The second half of the movie was more enjoyable as it shifted the focus to the race and displayed the beautiful Italian countryside. One of the car crashes looked embarrassingly cartoonish, but otherwise I thought it was good. I wanted more of that, but it wasn’t enough to save the movie for me.
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Alabama, WTF..you dumb mother fuckers
I’m sure those families and doctors are very trusting of their state to do the right thing moving forward.
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Alabama, WTF..you dumb mother fuckers
If we just had more good embryos with guns, we could stop random people from wandering through IVF clinics and murdering unborn children.
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Alabama, WTF..you dumb mother fuckers
We have one amazing child through IVF. We were late 30s when we started trying to become parents and had one natural pregnancy that resulted in miscarriage. After about a year of trying, we saw a fertility specialist who recommended skipping straight to IVF due to our age, and we got lucky on the first egg retrieval and implantation cycle and now have a happy and healthy one year old daughter. I know 4 other couples who are at various points in the infertility struggle, some of which are failing IVF, and I feel awful for them. We also have several embryos frozen that we are unlikely to use because the first childbirth and recovery was physically very difficult for my wife. We don’t have much of an ethical dilemma over that because we don’t consider frozen embryos to be people. I don’t understand why or how someone could define an embryo as a human being, and assuming most people who take that stance are doing so for religious reasons (radical Christianity), I’m genuinely curious where in the Bible this is even close to being defined? If not the Bible, then how do they arrive at these ideals? (I realize the definition of when life begins is pivotal to the abortion debate, which I admittedly have mostly ignored until recently, so probably this has been beat to death.) Also, it would be nearly impossible to argue against IVF without also opposing oral contraception and IUDs. Those methods allow fertilization to occur in vitro, but then prevent the fertilized egg from implanting into the endometrium. So I suppose everyone in Alabama is committing murder when they have sex while taking birth control? It will be interesting to see if this gets adopted in other states. I thought IVF would be untouchable due to the fact that most people on both sides of the political aisle probably have family or friends who have used IVF and witnessed firsthand the joy it brings to the world, but here we are. Everyone who was paranoid about gay marriage, trans rights, and oral contraception was absolutely right to be worried.
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Alabama, WTF..you dumb mother fuckers
Enjoy that while it lasts.
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What could possibly go wrong
Just make sure the Xbox controller has good batteries this time.
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YESSS, FINALLY!!! - Masters of the Air - The 8th Air Force, Spielberg, Hanks, Goetzman (Crew behind Band of Brothers, Pacific)
I’m loving this series so far. I was a little skeptical in episodes 1-2 that it would be too centered around Buck and Bucky, but that has not been case. Episode 5 was intense.
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Cabo advice?
I didn't get any feedback and this thread doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic, but I went ahead and booked a private boat tour for the afternoon. I booked through Viator and it was $849 for a 3 hour tour, but then the confirmation email told me the name of the company is Cabo Boat Adventures, and I see I can book the same thing directly on their website for $599. So I can cancel the Viator res, but that seems like a good way to spend a late afternoon and see the arch around sunset. Will check out The Office one day for lunch. Anyone have any info on El Farallon or Nobu for dinners? Recs for nightlife spots? Someone mentioned All Ways for airport transfers. It looks like it's $180 round trip for a suburban. Seems a little high for a ~45 minute ride but whatever. Anyone have a better rec?
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Killers of the Flower Moon - Scorsese, Dicaprio, De Niro - 10.20.2023 release
I considered the “50 looked like 80 today” angle, but there are quite a few actual pictures of Hale and he did not appear elderly. It‘s just a case of Scorsese wanting to give the part to his friend instead of opening up casting for a better fit.
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Killers of the Flower Moon - Scorsese, Dicaprio, De Niro - 10.20.2023 release
I watched it last week and treated it like a miniseries, splitting it up across 3 nights. I read the book when it first came out so I kind of knew the story but I forgot some of the details. I liked it but didn't love it. I thought Lily Gladstone was excellent as Mollie Burkhart, and Leo was pretty good in his role, but Robert De Niro felt really out of place to me. I think De Niro acted the part well, but the entire time it felt like I was watching Robert De Niro basically play Robert De Niro. That seems to be a minority opinion because I see everyone else praising his performance, but I think I would've enjoyed the movie more if someone else had been cast as William Hale. Also, De Niro is 80 and I think William Hale would've been 45-50 range in most of this movie. That felt a little weird to me because I kept wondering how much money this old man could possibly need for the short rest of his life, but then the movie tells us he lived another ~35 years. It wasn't even close to matching up, and I know Scorsese and De Niro have a strong history together, but I think this casting decision took the movie down a notch for me. I also think, having read the book and knowing how the story would go, there was a little less shock in the development of the story, so David Grann beat Martin Scorsese to the punch. I suppose you can't blame Scorsese too much, except that I have a hard time calling it a masterpiece when he's telling a story that's already been told quite well.
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Question for the Roofing Experts
Didn’t ROFLBOX steal another poster’s truck? Whatever happened with that situation?
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Fort Worth is exploding
I feel the opposite. Cane Rosso has good toppings but they undercook their crust. It’s too floppy and soggy. Olivella’s is great.
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True Detective: Night Country (Season 4)
It amused me that 2 Teslas were parked in front of the mine office. That seems like a terrible car for that location. Battery life must be amazing when the high never gets above 0F. This show is a mess. I reluctantly started watching because I thought Jodie Foster wouldn’t pick a bad script, but that appears to be the wrong decision. I’m rarely entertained by horror movies and this has veered heavily in that direction.
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Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashes killing 157
Other than a small percentage of Boeing execs, who exactly is profiting here? Their stock is down so the shareholders are not doing well, and I would think the vast majority of Boeing employees are not seeing great raises or bonuses given the overall status of the company. There should be a housecleaning from the top down, and if future negligence creates more safety incidents, everyone in that chain of command should be held criminally liable.
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Elon Musk: Nazi traitor piece of shit [Confirmed]
It’s not Elon’s money either. It’s Tesla’s money, and if a person owns TSLA stock, they have skin in the game a might have a small problem with paying the CEO $55B, almost 10% of TSLA’s market cap.
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Mallorca and Ibiza
Planning on going for 8-9 days in early June with the wife. Ibiza would probably be 3 nights. I think that’s enough time to see the island, do a day trip over to Formentera, and of course some late night partying and show Avicii (RIP) that I’m cool. Looking at staying on the south side near Ibiza town. Mallorca would then be 5-6 nights with the plan being to relax and check out good beaches. Hopefully rent a boat for a day, with or without a captain. The good beaches look scattered around and driving will take some time each day. Not sure if we should stay near Palma and just venture out each day, or split it up with 2 different locations. I generally don’t like moving hotels unless there’s a compelling reason. Anyone been to either? Any recs about where to stay, hotels or restaurants, activities?
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Meanwhile in China
That NPR link talks about the real estate crisis causing deflation in China and then needing to export some of that deflation, so then Chinese goods in the U.S. would become less expensive and that forces competitors to also lower their prices to remain competitive. That all makes sense but it’s also hard to imagine Chinese shit getting cheaper.