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Ghost of LL

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Ghost of LL

  1. You know--I was a little pissed that I sold off all my SPY around 10:00 this morning and missed the whole run-up. But you know what--you never go broke making a profit.
  2. This is very strongly my feeling. I'm not looking back to what happened in 19 Diggity 5. I just know that it's really tough to go wire-to-wire as the best team in the league. And when you do that, it takes something out of you. Just look at Boston last year (or was it two years ago?). When you do that, it just feels like you're delaying the inevitable cold stretch to the playoffs. Everyone has that run of ten games or so where they play shitty hockey. Everyone. Best to get that out of the way in December or January. But time after time, we see Winnipeg hit that stretch in May.
  3. Counterpoint: they go to their internet echo chamber to gain validation and avoid the HEB where they get confrontation. And so next time, they order their groceries curbside. Which is all we want. I think we're in complete agreement: people will gravitate toward affirmation and avoid confrontation. So if you don't want people to physically be in the HEB with their dog, make their physical presence uncomfortable for them and their online interaction with the HEB more attractive.
  4. Perhaps I'm entering my Karen stage of life, but sitting here and bitching about this on a college-football message board is pointless. If it annoys you so much, you ought to have the fucking balls to go up to these people and say, "your dog doesn't belong in the HEB. There's food here, and it's gross." I've done it. Maybe you get a "fuck you." Sure. Maybe. But guess what--people don't like confrontation. I mean, I do. But most people don't. So the end result is that the person's experience of taking the dog to the HEB was, on balance, a negative. And that will weigh on their decision-making next time they're thinking about taking the goddamned dog to the HEB. Now imagine that everyone who spent time on this thread bitching about dogs at the HEB actually said something to the dog-owners they see at the HEB. If anyone who took a dog to the HEB got at least one pointed negative comment every trip, nobody would take their fucking dog to HEB. Fucking nobody. This is on everyone who is too fucking afraid of confrontation to call out bad behavior. We all need to get over that shit.
  5. Jets lost last night at Staples Center and have a game tomorrow in Vegas. That lead over Dallas is starting to get really tenuous. So much so that the game in Dallas is looking less and less like an opportunity for Winnipeg to sew up the Central and more and more like a game Winnipeg needs to win to keep a lead.
  6. Don’t look. Ow, but the Jets are down 2-0 10:00 in the 1st at Staples Center.
  7. What happened? I missed it?
  8. Those last three games for both teams are pretty soft. If there's ground to be made up, it'll be made up in the next ten days. Meanwhile, we only need seven points in our last eight games to secure home-ice over Colorado. With that schedule, that looks . . . doable.
  9. I think it's been 1,999 after the Stay-Puft Incident in 1984.
  10. I thought it would be a fun movie to see with my kids. But my 15-year old refuses to see it. He says it "looks like what a GenXer thinks Gen Z ought to think is cool." Ouch, man.
  11. Looking at our schedule the rest of the way, it’s hard to see how Colorado could catch us. its also hard to see how we could catch Winepeg.
  12. I am, too. But this wasn’t that.
  13. I just find it really jarring when I see teams that have their football helmet logo on their baseball caps. Your baseball cap ought to be smelling like our block T or Arkansas’s script A—not a helmet logo longhorn or pig. Georgia and Auburn just look weird.
  14. Goddamnit—pig might be good. Up 9-0 at Vandy.
  15. Ok--quick thoughts on your itinerary, schedule, and recommendations: Saturday-Sunday: Boston. Monday: Drive from Boston to Portland. Take I-95 to Exit 5 in New Hampshire (Portsmouth Circle). You've got the state liquor store right there on the traffic circle, which is pretty key as you have no state sales tax in New Hampshire. So grab whatever picnic beers/wines/liquor you're going to want for Maine. Otherwise, you're now on Bypass 1, which you can take straight through Portsmouth to Kittery, ME. Now look--people here are going to very persuasively argue in favor of stopping and spending the day in Portsmouth. I'm not going to die on that hill. Portsmouth is a cool town and worth at least a couple hours walking around. And if you wanted to do lunch at Surf Seafood Restaurant on Bow Street overlooking the river, I certainly wouldn't argue with you. But for my money, I'm going across the river and stopping at Bob's Clam Hut in Kittery. Because you want some whole belly clams. And maybe you want a lobster roll to go with it. Or maybe some oysters. Or maybe a dozen oysters and a lobster roll and a whole belly clam roll. Fuck yeah you do. That leaves enough time in the afternoon to take the turn at Highway 9 and head to Kennebunkport. It's a great little town. Along Ocean Ave. there are a bunch of nice little galleries and shops. And you can see Walker Point, which for those of us of a certain age is pretty iconic. And if you're running late and it's time for dinner, there are a number of solid options right there where Highway 9 goes over the Kennebunk River. The Boathouse would probably be my preference, but Allison's is also very good. And if you can't make it to Kennbunkport before dinner, then you should stop at the Ogunquit Lobster Pound. Yeah, it's crowded and touristy. And honestly about $5 more expensive than it should be. But it's magical. You pick out your own lobster from the swimming-pool sized tank. They throw it into a net and drop it into a pot of boiling water. But here's the thing--that water has boiled so many of your lobster's confederates that it's no longer just seawater. It's more of a lobster stock. So you get a damned flavorful lobster. Oh, and by the way--real talk here: you want the softshell. Always spend more for the softshell. The lobster molts its shell once a year. The first several months after it molts, its flesh isn't yet large enough for its new shell. So if you push on the shell, it's soft--there's space between the shell and the meat. The meat of a softshell is much sweeter and more flavorful than a hard shell. About six months after molting, they're hard shells. And they become less flavorful (and consequently less expensive). In the last three months before they molt, they're super-hard shells. On these, the meat is really crammed into the shells. The thing is, these are the only ones that can travel. A softshell is going to be too fragile to survive a flight to Texas. So all you get here are the super-hard shells. The softshell is a whole different experience from what you're going to get anywhere outside New England. But really, you probably want to get to Portland, get into your hotel, and go to dinner. So here we have a choice. If you went to Bob's for lunch, you probably want something a bit different. For that reason, I'd do Izakaya Minato. I love an Izakaya. And this place is just fantastic. If you're not down with Japanese, consider Fore Street Restaurant right off the waterfront. It's a rotating menu, but I've been there a couple times and loved everything I had. I also like Chaval if you're into Spanish. Or look--if you just want a good lobster dinner in a place that is old-school Portland, go to DeMillo's on Commercial. It's one of those floating restaurants that became popular in the '60s and '70s, and it's been there that long. And a place that's been there that long . . . maybe actually is pretty good. Tuesday: In the morning, go out on the water. Portland Schooner Co. does harbor cruises aboard a sailing schooner. And there are a number of whale-watching tour (July is peak whale season in the Gulf of Maine). Lunch: Head out to Cape Elizabeth to the Lobster Shack at Two Lights. It's perfect. You go into the shack, order your lobster dinner and beer, sit at the picnic tables atop the rocks. I mean, honest-to-god for a first-time Maine visitor I think this is almost mandatory. After lunch, head back into along Ocean House Road and turn right on Shore Road to go to Fort Williams Park. Drive into the park and along the road until you get to Portland Head Light. This is the iconic Maine lighthouse. Off shore is Ram Island Ledge Light. You can hike around the park, climb down onto the rocks to get different perspectives of the lighthouse, see the old shore-defense batteries, and check out the little beach at Ships Cove. It's a cool spot. I love it and go back anytime I'm in Portland even though I've been there a hundred times. Dinner: And this is non-negotiable--Eventide. Best fucking oysters in the world. I would say that you ought to get a few oysters and do the clam bake, but I know you: you're just going to order four dozen oysters. And that's probably the right thing to do. Wednesday: This is the day you've got to end up in Bangor. You can go out to Fort Preble in South Portland (one of the other old shore-defense forts) and walk out the jetty to Spring Point Ledge Light out in the harbor. Or else check out the shopping and art galleries along Congress St. Lunch: Duckfat. I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory. After lunch, you're driving up to Bangor for a show. Just head straight up I-95. Thursday-Friday: Acadia NP. I'm going to leave it to others to provide some hints on this. Saturday: I think this is an extended drive down the coast. It's really a long drive back down to Portland. It doesn't look far, but the roads are slow-going and the tourist traffic really slows it down. It'll take you 20 minutes just to get through some of these small towns. I'd stay overnight in Camden. Someone upthread characterized Camden as the most bougie town on the coast. That's probably right. The Lord Camden Inn is really nice. You can walk then along the waterfront for dinner. Salt Wharf is really good, and right next door is a really good cocktail bar. If you're trucking back down to Portland on Saturday, you need to stop in Wiscansset for a lobster roll at Red's Eats (although Sprague's is right across the street--it gets less pub (and so is less crowded) but it's also great).
  16. Hugh Grant is kind of my "guilty pleasure" actor. I can't help it--I love Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. The turn his career has taken is really interesting. He went from purely comedy (and primarily RomCom) to drama and now horror. The Undoing on HBO with Nicole Kidman was fantastic. And now Heretic--I thought it was really enjoyable. I loved it. It was the best movie I've seen in a while. One thing you only notice if you've spent a fair amount of time in the UK--they nailed the "British institutional lighting" thing. I don't know what it is, but British florescent office lighting is just a little different than it is here. And when you see it, it definitely stands out to you.
  17. I hate to pour a little cold water on our schadenfreude, but I'm going to point out that a solid half of those states (South Dakota, Montana, Alaska, Arizona, and Oklahoma) are likely on that list due to their large Native American populations. The federal government is responsible for education on reservations through the Bureau of Indian Education. The federal government also provides grants to local education agencies that are serve Native American populations outside of the reservations. Native Americans voted hugely against Trump (and were responsible for Biden carrying Arizona in 2020). These cuts are going to hurt them probably more than any other discrete subgroup in America.
  18. Good for her. Fuck them and fuck their faux outrage.
  19. I mean, you're right. At the same time, I think it has a real intimate feel. It's a shotgun-type space--narrow and deep. So it doesn't go more than two tables wide. So it feels a lot smaller than it actually is (at least in my estimation).
  20. I think it's a block east of Clark's where it's torn up. I just drove by a week or two ago and thought "I haven't been to Clark's in a while."
  21. Two suggestions: Get over to Clark's Oyster Bar (6th & Blanco). The weather is still nice and their outdoor bar seating is first-come-first-served. If you get there before 7:00, I've never had more than a few minutes' wait. After dinner you can go over to Howard's Bar across the street. Alternatively, I really like Pesce on 4th between Colorado and Lavaca. Good French place. It's small; not particularly trendy. But just a solid French bistro.
  22. Who's going to campaign on that message? You? With your Harvard mouth? Nobody who looks or talks like you would make it out of the primary in any rural Texas county. That's because the only Democrats in rural Texas counties are Black or (increasingly rarely) Hispanic. You're not going to win in a primary election against a Black or Hispanic candidate (depending on which part of the state you're in). So you've got to have a Black or Hispanic Democrat carry that message. And do you think any white rural Texas Republican voter is going to listen to that message from that messenger? And this is the underlying issue that is encapsulated in this thread--Democrats are just done with the whole democracy. They're at the "they bought their tickets; they knew what they were getting into. I say, 'let 'em crash'" stage. A message of "empathy," even if it could be conveyed by a persuasive messenger to a persuadable audience, isn't in the cards.
  23. Am I the only one who still cares about her goddamned emails?!
  24. I think I may be weirdly ok with that. It depends a lot on how the bottom half of this inning goes.
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