Jump to content

choripan

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    266
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by choripan

  1. Here's your UM scouting report: Coaching: Lot of good coaches. Moore did well when Harbaugh out last season, but can he do it as the man? We shall see. Tough schedule this year, especially with UT out-of-conference. QB: Total wildcard. We have the athletic wizard with a cannon in Orji, a good game manager transfer in Tuttle, and a kinda hybrid in Warren. Orji is lowest floor, highest ceiling. The outcome here is the difference between a great season and something like 8-4. RB: Excellent. Edwards is a 5* that panned out and the backup Mullings would start and do well at most other schools. WR: Who knows? Morris smoked Bama's secondary last year, Semaj Morgan is a great jitterbug, and we have some talented guys who haven't seen much of the field. Definitely talented, but production? TE: Top-15 draft pick next year in Loveland, the more in-line guy who I can't remember is also really good. This is a strength. OL: A number of guys with spot starting experience and they all performed well. If Moore's experience as OL coach is any indication, at least 3-4 of the positions will be plus and we'll be at least average at the other 1-2. DT: God-level. Top-10 pick in Graham and Grant is 1st rounder. Solid depth. DE: Heavy talent, light on experience. Should be good but not great, like I'd expect from the OL. LB: Hearing great things about Hausmann and the other guy I can't remember, writing this off the cuff. CB: Top-5 pick stud in Will Johnson. Other side could be a weakness, though. Who knows? S: Loaded. Two-deep with guys who are at least quality starters. Big position battle. Special Teams: Don't have a clue. Nerds will kick balls and athletic dudes will return them. Intangibles: Team seems to be coming together over this NCAA stuff. Our strawman joke is that it was "about a hamburger" but if you look at the source material, the key things are buying a couple of meals for recruits and their families during the covid dead period, buying a $100 entry to a charity golf outing affiliated with the family member of a recruit, and (no joke) assisting a recruit with getting verified on Instagram. The rub is that we essentially went between telling the NCAA to fuck off, in not so many words, and ignoring them, especially in light of what had recently happened at UNC, Tennessee, etc. If QB pans out, I could see an easy Michigan win. If QB is weak, I can see an easy Texas win. Middle-of-the-road, I see a good game between a probably-better Texas team and a playing-at-home Michigan team. Looking forward to it!
  2. Okay, I've spoilered the map that I reference above so it's readily available. Now for East Downtown/Campus-ish - This is the area that is most student-like at it's core, though in the Xs the southeast and northwest on my map above, you have more adults. Starting in the northwest part of the map: Aventura - It's a good, if a bit overpriced, tapas joint. The paella is very good; this coming from someone (me) who has lived in Spain on and off for the last three years. They have a Valenciano master that makes it. Some background: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2023/08/world-class-paella-ann-arbor-chef-set-to-represent-us-in-international-competition.html. If they have the cochinillo/suckling pig on the menu, it's divine. Blue Nile - Ethiopian joint. Very good but not spectacular. Worth it for the novelty if you haven't tried Ethiopian or don't have an Ethiopian restaurant nearby. Afternoon Delight - Pretty much a typical breakfast joint/diner but has good ingredients and really good eggs benedict. Great for a hangover. Mexican Food - Just avoid it. Nothing good in the greater downtown area, especially if you're coming from Texas. Only good Mexican in Ann Arbor, IMO, is from a counter at Tienda Libertad on the west side of town. Tomukun - Noodle/Ramen bar on one side, Korean BBQ on the other, and they do both very well. Knight's - Downtown outpost of an old school steakhouse on the west side. Good steaks, good cocktails, and usually a HEAVY pour. Sava's - I'm not a huge fan, though it's good. It's American/Contemporary food done well and, if you have a larger group, I recommend it for that. A go-to for recruiting dinners because there's something everyone would like, so if you have ta picky eater or two in your group, this'll do, pig. SCOREKEEPER'S(!) - My favorite bar in undergrad. During the day it's a sports bar and around 10pm they take up all the tables, have a DJ on the balcony above the dance floor, and the music is mostly the new hot shit. Used to have 75 cent bottles on Thursdays and Saturdays when I was in undergrad. Although I'd stick out on the dance floor now, it's kind of accepted for alums/oldsters to be anywhere on gameday weekends. Great place to recommend for your college/grad school aged kid, if they come out. Iggy's Eggies - Good breakfast sandwiches and stuff like that. Not really sit-down. If you send someone on a hungover "please just fuckin grab us something" mission, this is a good choice. New York Pizza Depot (NYPD) - Great spot to get a late-night slice after the bar. They usually have a dozen or two options. Ashley's - Irish pub with a GREAT burger, which many consider the best in the city. I think it's really good but I'm not a huge fan of gigantic burgers that require me to dislodge my jaw like a snake. Red Hawk - Low key place for microbrews and good pub food. I'm not a fancy beer drinkin' guy -- I mean, it goes down as well as anything else -- but my craft beer nerd (uh, connoisseur) friends say it's a good spot. Blom Meadery - I never thought I'd like mead, thinking it'd be too sweet, but they have a lot of good meads and the food is good. Nice if you want to swoop through and try something different While you're in the area, I recommend a stop by Nickels Arcade. It's a block-long arcade with a lot of cute stores and it's a block you'll probably walk anyway: Visit and spin the Cube. I'm sure it has some fancy name, but we just all call it the cube. Integral part of the UM campus experience like the Tower or the Turtle Pond at UT: From there, you could walk through the Diag, the beating heart of Michigan's campus, and an intersection you walk through hundreds of times as a student: Then walk through the Law Quad... and Pop your head into the Law Library... And there's your 10 minute tour of the highlights of Michigan's campus. Across the street from the Law School is this frat that always puts up signs and spills their party into the front yard. Worth a look, especially because sometimes you'll get a free beer from the youngsters! So that's the northwest portion and heart of the campus on the map. I'll do the east side of campus in a separate post because my kids are finishing up breakfast and I promised them we'd take them to the amusement park today.
  3. Oh, also, at lunch today, I was trying to explain to my wife how Elon is a traitor and that SpaceX should be given the ultimatum "Elon needs to go, or your contracts are gone," or at least to put the company on some sort of probation. Obviously there's the Starlink satellites in Ukraine thing, but I couldn't think of anything else in the moment. Most of the ammo I had was the racist incel stuff, but I was lacking on the traitor stuff. Any help?
  4. Yeah, that's cool. You care about what Tesla dweebs care about. Nothing wrong with that. The confluence is funny to me. And yeah, that rolypoly lookin' Tesla can't compare to a classic Stang. Not much can.
  5. FWIW, I find it kind of hilarious the way extremes come together in the weirdest ways. Can't remember the theory, but it's something about how the far-left and fsr-right end up being similar. In this case, it's hilarious to see Tesla dweebs call their cars "performance" cars when all the can do really well is go fast in a straight line, which makes them the modern equivalent of Boomer muscle car guys. I know I'm probably irritating off a lot of people with that, but I find it hilarious.
  6. What Joe Biden just did is not easy. RBG couldn’t do it. Feinstein couldn’t do it. And their refusals made the country worse. This is a historic act of humility. His presidency has been extremely successful, against all odds. Almost anyone in his position would go down swinging and embittered. I, for one, will not forget this.
  7. Was aware. Purposely never spell it that way because Fuck Elon and his jokes. Let that sink in.
  8. I would agree with this. We're approaching the point where "Tesla driver = MAGA hat." I think the key distinction we have to draw is that the CyberTruck came out *after* it was abundantly clear that Musk is a dangerous, petulant, downright repugnant person, who is actively working to subvert liberal ideas such as democracy across the world, including in our very own republic. On the other hand, because the Model 3, S, X, and Y are functionally over a decade old with no notable changes or improvements, it is impossible to know whether someone bought their Tesla in the last few years -- in which case, MAGA hat on wheels would apply! -- or whether they bought it 5, 10, whatever years ago when it wasn't eminently clear that Musk is a cunt. For that reason, I still generally give non-CT Tesla drivers the benefit of the doubt. If Tesla comes out with another new model or a substantial update to one of its existing models that's not just essentially "this trim piece is slightly different" (Model S!) -- that is, you will be able to tell the driver bought it new and supported Tesla the company, which is now essentially a milk-cow for Musk's dystopian dreams, and Musk himself -- then that will get the "MAGA hat on wheels" designation like the CT.
  9. Sir, can I talk to you about your submarine's warranty? For example, did you know the screen door must be serviced every 5 years? (1/2 Polish here...)
  10. Hey, just wanted to say thanks for this belatedly. The trip was AMAZING. I reconnected with friends, ate all of the main dishes at least once, and had a great side quest to Arequipa mixed in (had to try rocoto relleno, pastel de papa, and queso helado, and see the mommy Juanita"!). In order to fit everything in, I ended up doing Monday through the following Friday, which meant that my wife had daycare/elementary school coverage all 12 days except the two-day weekend in the middle.
  11. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/15/elon-musk-plans-to-give-45-million-a-month-to-pro-trump-super-pac-wsj-reports.html I'm not sure if this is CR so, if so, please delete. Wasn't sure whether to put this here or the "Enshittening" thread (what with the douchebag "libertarian except for when I want help" tech/startup culture) or Cloak Room.
  12. choripan

    London

    Thanks! I should have clarified. We're people that have reformed from jägerbombs and shotgunning Beast to cocktails and wine, but would be totally down to find a cool pub, drink some typical ales (or Carlsberg, fuck it) and just hang with some blokes. Goal is to have enough fun and get enough of a buzz that my wife will be down for quiet/stealthy adult activities in the Airbnb when we get home.
  13. choripan

    London

    Looks like a lot of folks here are experienced Londoners. Looking for a few good recs. For background, we're living in Barcelona and dipping out for a Friday morn-Sunday afternoon trip with our kids. We're going to have a babysitter Saturday night from, say, 7/8p to 12/1am. Our home base is going to be right by Pelham Crescent. We've done all the classic touristy stuff in previous visits to London, so I'm looking for places that (1) are easy to get to and (2) the type of place that is distinctly London or cool/different enough to be of note. Basically, the type of place where I can say "hey, this place came recommended" and my wife can by like "nice recommendation, this is cool." Dinner not so important since we're not looking to blow 1-2 hours of 4-5 hours' worth of babysitter coverage. Thanks for any recs. Fine taking the tube or walking. Moderate preference for a handful of places in close proximity that we can bounce between.
  14. What the fuck? Did they quit making smoky backrooms or something? As a Detroiter, would love to see Whitmer. She's the kind of level-headed Dem that just makes shit work and attracts votes from the middle/undecideds. She fucks. Then Detroit mayor Duggan can keep kicking ass in the Gov's office and Lt. Gov Gilchrist can go run Detroit. All three of them fuck.
  15. As a Yank married to a Texan, every time we head back to visit her family or friends, I am struck by (1) how much most HEBs fuck, and how good most store brand/HEB stuff is; (2) how like one out of every five HEBs is an absolute shithole, and even some of the good ones have it pretty rough in the fresh produce section; and (3) how much I enjoy calling it "heeb," and how the joke has gone from "groan" to "c'mon, enough already," to "okay, actually laughing" over the last 15+ years I've been around her and her family.
  16. Wait, people actually like Rothko, et al? I thought doing so was some sort of performance art from within the visual arts community. HERE is art: Notice how the artist paid homage to the impressionists both through brush strokes and the piece in the background. The mischievous artist speaks to our human conceit through the concept of dogs playing poker, an activity which requires a certain intelligence not found below humans. Why is it that these beasts -- that species being our best friend, no less -- can play poker? Are we no better, despite conceiving of ourselves as apart from animals? And what of the bulldog passing the ace of spades? We see here, that no one is to be trusted, represented both through the act of passing the card and the mistrusting glances from the dogs across the table. Shall we trust? I could go on. I have contemplated this work countless times -- it has given me hope and contentment, thrown me into despair, and -- yet! -- what have I given it? Nothing. Or nothing that could ever compare to what it has given me. For shame.
  17. Yeah, the standard burger at Blimpy's is a triple. I think they're 1/10 of a pound per patty and an adult can't even order a single patty (?). Never seen it over the course of going there 50-100 times. Anyway, back to business. Main Street Proper – North Main Street (Culantro/Heidelberg/Chapala) – There’s a really good block of fairly priced restaurants on the north side of downtown. Culantro is good Peruvian cuisine and could hang with what I’ve had in Lima and Arequipa. Check what’s going on at Heidelberg. It’s a wood-paneled, German-themed, multi-level venue that sometimes has DJs, latin night, trivia, all sorts of stuff. And yes, of course, they have the boot. And the best for last, Chapala! One of my favorite places in the city, though I rarely eat there. The food is Tex-Mexy rather than Mexican, but the crowd at the bar is almost always down to chat, they’re always playing a good mix of rancheras and reggaeton, and they have a STRONG pour. Regents Field – The best sports bar in A2, imo. The food is actually good, you can get a pitcher for under $12-15, depending on what you order, and they have stuff like skee-ball and video games for free. Also, very importantly, they play the broadcast sound for games. 90% chance you’ll catch me watching a game here if I’m not at home or at the game. Pretzel Bell – An A2 classic and I don’t know why. The main floor is kinda lame, but the basement turns into a club at night. Listed here because of two things: (i) on weekend nights, they have a great DJ that plays a mix of 2000s and some 90s hip hop, mixed with modern stuff, and (ii) they fashioned an old can vending machine into the “Mystery Machine” where they stock cheap cans of beer and you can get them for $2. I’ve had MGD, Rolling Rock(!), Tecate, and a whole bunch of other random beers out of it. Conor O’Neils – A good Irish pub. They also often play sound for games. Blue Llama – A jazz bar that has good acts and an EXCELLENT chef, and usually the best menu in town, IMO. If you’re looking at a date night, this is my top rec. Cannelle – A patisserie/bakery that is a small chain, with 3 locations (Detroit, Ann Arbor, some random Detroit suburb). 90% sure it won a James Beard and their shit is top notch. This is the type of place I watch my wife eat an overpriced variation of a croissant with a pretentious mane while I sip my coffee. Lo-Fi – Poke your head in and see if you like the music. They have DJs that play anything from hip-hop to techno/EDM to reggaeton, depending on the night. Always busy on a weekend night and if you dig the music they have that night, you’ll have a good time.
  18. General -From like April/May until October/November, when the weather is nice, Ann Arbor pedestrianizes a bunch of its downtown streets and, more importantly, many places have go-cups. Just ask because some places participate in the go-cup program and some don’t. Either way, I recommended a stroll around downtown above, and it’s worth it. None of these places are more than a 10-15 minute walk apart, and after a vibe check on yourself or your group, head to whichever sounds best. All of these are usually a good time. There are also lots of “New American” bar/food type places but, fuck it, they’re ubiquitous in any urban or mostly urban environment. For the purposes of this, I'll divide Ann Arbor in West Downtown, Main Street, and East Downtown/Campus-ish. Here’s a map with West Downtown circled in red, Main Street circled in blue, and the remainder in green, and within that green with East Downtown X’ed in at the top, South University in the middle, and an outlying area off Packard street at the bottom. Very Generally, West Downtown is more of a 25-45 crowd, Main Street is 35+, and once you head east, except for in a few establishments, it's mostly under 30 and in many cases only students and some grad students. Game weekends, though, pretty much anywhere is fair game for anyone. Also, don’t forget that recreational weed is legal in Michigan and the County Prosecutor does not prosecute for weed or shrooms (https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/01/washtenaw-prosecutor-wont-charge-people-for-marijuana-shrooms-other-psychedelics.html). ** I'll do West Downtown tonight and get to the rest later ** West Downtown – This is basically anything west of Main Street but not on Main Street. Here’s a bunch of places I like, depending on the general vibe of the group. Babs' Underground - This is a cocktail spot where you'll typically see anything from grad students to 40-somethings. Most of the time, they'll be playing a great 90s-2000s hip-hop playlist, but more as background and not crunk. It's not a dancing place. Think stuff like Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village, etc. 8 Ball Saloon - This was the place to get a ($6, then $7, then) $8 pitcher of Natty Light. Long-time basement bar with punk vibes. Some students found it between when I went to undergrad (2004) and now, so now I'd say it went from a place to get away from the uppity east coasters that are at UM to a place with a good mix of townies and gownies. Has one of those digital jukeboxes these days and the mix of people makes for a wild playlist. My fav thing here is to play (real, not plastic) darts, bullshit with my friends over cheap beer, and people watch. Blind Pig - 8 Ball is the basement of the Pig. Check who is playing here because they have some great acts and a really deep history, though the venue is kind of unremarkable. A bit on the history: https://blindpigmusic.com/history/. Circ - Mix of people like Babs' but the demo is more 21-30 years old. They have a huge dance floor area, an outdoor area with firepits, and a small roofdeck. Depending on who is there, the music, and whether it's karaoke night or DJ night, Circ will be either like a 2/10 or a 8+/10. Worth a peek if you're bopping around downtown. Bill’s Beer Garden – Some time ago, the owners of A2 Home and Garden turned their parking lot into a biergarten at like 5-6pm each night. Beer Grotto - Craft beer joint with indoor/outdoor seating, located on a corner. They always have a really good beer list, service is quick, and they let you bring in outside food. This is really clutch with the aforementioned Blimpy Burger, a great 24-hr diner (Fleetwood), and a BiBimBop place all right across the street. Peridot/Pacific Rim – Creative east Asian cuisine. Pacific Rim is a bit more subdued and Peridot is a bit more creative. Peridot is a collaboration between the Pacific Rim chef and the owners of the next place on the list, and is a bit more creative. Last Word – Named after the famous Detroit cocktail, if you’re a cocktail person this is the typical “best place to get a cocktail with a vaguely speakeasy vibe” that’s just about everywhere. Good pours, good drinks. Blank Slate Creamery – This is a fancy ice cream joint where they’re creative with the flavors and all that jazz. I’m not a sweets guy, so don’t like that much ice cream, but they do a great four mini-scoop flight that’s perfect for sharing or each person having a mini-scoop or two individually.
  19. Gonna necrobump this thread to say thanks to all for the feedback in this thread and privately. After a meandering path to get there, he walks next weekend at UT graduation and we will be doing some drankin' together. 💪🤟
  20. I flexed so hard in Tradewars and Exitilus, often logging on at midnight when the game reset to eff some people up.
  21. Fair. Taken last summer/fall.
  22. I agree completely. MB getting level 3 actually on the streets and available to consumers for personal vehicles (contrasted with robo-taxis) is great work. I limited the scope to US because it's not something I feel confident enough to speak on with authority. My understanding is that MB would be with or a tiny gap behind GM/Cruise, but I don't want to get "gotcha'd" down thread if I'm off because I overstepped my knowledge on it.
×
×
  • Create New...