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Art Vandelay

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Art Vandelay

  1. You stole my Jesus fish, didn't ya?!
  2. The Doors for me as well. I can still appreciate some of their songs but I rarely listen to them. I probably listened to them way too much in college in the early 90s when the movie came out. Also Dave Matthews Band. Another is REM, although I wouldn't say I can't stand them, I'm just kind of indifferent to them now. I went from being a huge fan in the late 80s through the early/mid 90s to almost never listening to them anymore, even though I still own a lot of their music and still appreciate their importance as a band.
  3. Thank you. I started noticing this years ago at work. Bugs the shit out of me.
  4. "Full stop" to assert an opinion. Or worse, "Period. Full stop." Well shit, I was going to challenge you, but since you pulled out the old full stop I guess it's game over. Full stop.
  5. Stomach bug, apparently
  6. UT class of 1955. Hook'em and RIP \m/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/26/514228407/alan-bean-apollo-astronaut-who-walked-on-the-moon-has-died-at-86 One of the U.S. astronauts who walked on the moon has died. Alan Bean died on Saturday in Houston after a short illness. He was 86. With Bean's death, only four moonwalkers are still alive (Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, Charlie Duke and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt). Bean was the lunar module pilot of Apollo 12, which made the second lunar landing in 1969. He flew in space one more time, but he really made his mark in what he did after NASA. Bean spent 31 hours on the moon, collecting lunar samples and deploying several experiments with mission commander Pete Conrad. They also checked up on Surveyor 3, which had landed two years earlier. Enlarge this image Astronaut Alan Bean during the Apollo 12 spacewalk on the moon's surface. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., who took the photo, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor. Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr./NASA They were busy but, as Bean recalled during a 2016 NPR interview, "as I ran along, I remember ... saying to myself, 'You know, this is really the moon. We're really here. ... That's the Earth up there.' And I said it two or three times to myself." After Apollo, Bean commanded the second Skylab mission in 1973 — orbiting the Earth for 59 days. Later, he was in line to fly the first shuttle flights. But he gave it up because "the more I thought about it the more I realized there were young men and women at NASA in the astronaut office that could fly the shuttle as good as I could or better, but I was the only one interested in trying to do this other job." That other job was to paint. So he left NASA. He had an engineering background and was a test pilot in the Navy, but took art lessons at night and it was something he always wanted to do full-time. For more than four decades after his space career, he chronicled the six missions that landed on the moon. He said, "I feel blessed every day when I'm working on these paintings ... the first artist to ever go to another world and try to tell stories that people care about." In painstaking detail, he recreated what it was like to be on the moon, using actual moon dust and ground-up remnants of Apollo spacecraft. Before starting each painting, he'd spend weeks studying photographs and videos, and calling fellow astronauts to probe their memories. Those materials and memories are what Bean brought back from the moon, but he also left something behind — his silver astronaut lapel pin. He had thrown it as far as he could into a crater. He said he thought about it often, "and when I look at the moon at night, think about that pin up there, just as shiny as it ever was, and someday maybe somebody will go pick it up."
  7. Yep. I've never seen them live but my girlfriend, who is a huge CC fan, always insists on playing a live album of theirs in her car and it is absolutely brutal to listen to. And it's 100% because of Duritz's refusal to sing the melody. It's really annoying.
  8. SugarAh, honey, honey You are my candy girl And you got me wanting you Honey Ah, sugar, sugar You are my candy girl And you got me wanting you
  9. (I think he's referring to Cross Canadian Ragweed)
  10. All of this. And I have always suspected they used bacon grease in their refried beans. That's almost like cheating it's so good. I'm a gringo, but refried beans are one of the most important criteria for me when judging a Tex Mex restaurant.
  11. I'm going to give her the benefit of a doubt. This case may not be as simple as black and white.
  12. That is awful JJ. I am truly sorry to hear that.
  13. Gotcha. My bad for misreading that.
  14. That's well meaning but it doesn't sound like there's any evidence it has much statistical effect on overall gun violence. There is however some evidence it has an effect on suicides. I think a more stringent background check, which could result in delaying a purchase, might be more effective than an arbitrary waiting period like 7 days. http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/apr/27/van-wanggaard/no-evidence-waiting-period-handgun-purchases-reduc/ The study concluded that the law’s waiting period was associated with reductions in the firearm suicide rate for people age 55 and older, but not associated with reductions in homicide rates or overall suicide rates. Other research has found that people who buy handguns are at a higher risk of committing suicide during the first week after the purchase. For example, an article published in 2000 by members of the Firearm Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin said a Wisconsin study found a "sharp increase" in the risk of suicide within one week of a gun purchase. But a 2003 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that reviewed studies on the effects of waiting periods on violence found that some studies indicated a decrease in violent outcomes associated with the delay, while others indicated an increase. And a 2012 study by one researcher from the University of Cincinnati and another from Arizona State University found no statistical effects from waiting periods on gun crimes.
  15. No, those are all examples of restrictions for any type of firearm purchase, whether it's a handgun, a bolt-action hunting rifle, or an AR-15. The Brady Act mandated that FFL dealers run background checks on their buyers. At first, the law applied only to handgun sales, and there was a waiting period (maximum of five days) to accommodate dealers in states that did not already have background check systems in place. Those dealers were to use state law enforcement to run checks until 1998, when the NICS would become operational and come into effect. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled against the five-day waiting period, but by 1998 the NICS was up and running, administered by the FBI, and applied to all firearms purchases from FFL dealers, including long guns. Wiki Also, why shouldn't a "relatively normal person without a record" be able to purchase a handgun? -- provided none of the other examples of restrictions I gave apply. That certainly describes me!
  16. This isn't accurate. Felony convictions are the most common reason for being denied a firearm, but you can also be restricted for misdemeanor domestic violence convictions (which should have prohibited the Sutherland Springs shooter from purchasing weapons), unlawful drug use/addiction, mental health, being a fugitive, dishonorable discharge from the military, open warrants, unlawful immigration status, etc. In fact, mental health care providers, police departments and family members can request for individuals to be placed into the NICS database for any number of documented reasons. I'm for strengthening background checks and making sure people don't slip through the cracks -- which is exactly what happened in some of these mass shootings -- but to say it's as simple as checking age and felony status is way off.
  17. This is of course 100% true. I guess I just lament the fact that you have to go searching for it, whereas when I was growing up all I had to do was turn on the radio to hear great rock music. The good news is it doesn't take too much effort to find it. In fact I get a lot of great recs from Shaggy/Surly.
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