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Ghost of LL

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Ghost of LL

  1. I will never understand this presumption that men have that women should be expected to behave "well" to other women. Men can be assholes to other men; why should we not expect the same of women? And don't underestimate the role of the general human presumption that "what's worked for me must be what's good for you." We see it in everything from the trivial (I had a good meal at this restaurant, so you definitely need to go there) to the meaningful (I breastfed, therefore you should breastfeed). At its root, it reflects a basic lack of empathy and appreciation for the fact that people facing different circumstances may have different needs. And it's just a weird thing that we expect women to have more empathy than we expect from men. TL;DR: Both men and women suck.
  2. That's all correct, and thank you for clarifying. There are some differences on the vehicles that may be worth pointing out, though much of the variation is between parks and not between operators. In the Maasai Mara (Kenya), the vehicles are all open sided. In the Serengeti (Tanzania), there weren't any open-sided vehicles that I saw. They are all Toyota Land Cruisers that have been modified with a pop-top that allows you to stand up and photograph. Now, among the operators, there are some differences among the vehicles. The Four Seasons operates its own vehicles that are kitted out with refrigerators and charging stations. I mean, not that you have a good cell signal. But it's nice to be able to charge your phone for the camera functionality. And having a refrigerator in the truck is obviously a nice thing. But your underlying point is right--the Four Seasons truck is going to be right next to any other operator looking at the same leopard. That is a really great shot of the cheetah. We didn't get to see one of those. But we did see a rhino in the Maasai Mara. And then when we went down to Victoria Falls, there is a small preserve along the Zambezi with a small herd of rhinos. And that's wild. Those rhinos are guarded 24/7 by armed rangers. I mean--those rangers are standing right there with AK-47s within thirty yards of the rhinos. And the rhinos are just chilling. It's the only place along any game drive where we got out of the truck to view an animal. The rangers don't let the vehicles get very close to the rhinos, so you get out and walk up to them. And you can get . . . well, probably a lot closer than you really should get to something as big and heavily armored as a rhino. That was pretty damned cool.
  3. Two caveats with that: 1) If you see the Great Migration crossing the Mara River, then you're going to have a line of vehicles. That is the prime wildlife spectacle in all of Africa--seeing the wildebeest trying to get across that river and dodging the dozens of crocodiles. But when we went (June) the Great Migration was still down in the Serengeti. So up at the Maasai Mara, things were still a little low-key. The most vehicles we saw grouped around one thing was when we spotted a leopard. Leopards are fucking hard to spot. So when you spy one in a tree, you're going to have some vehicular traffic around it. But even then, there were only four trucks (including our own) around the tree with the leopard in it. Alarmingly, there was also a leopard in the tall grass on the ground that we never fucking saw. That was unnerving. 2) The situation you describe with hiring drivers and lodges separately is consistent with your mid-range lodges. But for your high-end lodges like @millhouse is talking about (e.g., the Angama properties), the driver is directly employed by the lodge and is assigned to you when you arrive. The game drives are all included in the price at the Angama properties (and other high-end lodges), and the drivers will just take you out whenever you want to go. So that's a bit of a different experience than what you're describing. And if you want to go that high-end route, you can cut out the travel agent entirely. Because Angama will arrange all of your internal flights and everything if you want them to.
  4. No shit. If you grew up in central Dallas in the early 90s as I did, this freeway is luxurious. I'm not going to hear any complaints about that road from someone who didn't have to go 0 to 70 in the span of 70 yards, close your eyes, and pray there wasn't someone in the right lane preventing you from merging in before the entrance lane ended in a concrete barrier. It was like automotive Russian roulette. That was livin', my friends.
  5. Hopefully more like two.
  6. That was Mrs.LL's complaint. She wanted more busting for her Ghostbusters dollar. I disagree. I was in it for the nostalgia. The merchandising call-back was fantastic. And then you had Ackroyd and Murray basically loving every minute they were on camera. That was great fun. Throw in the Ghostbusters Labs, Inc., and I was down with all the shit leading up to the (admittedly very short) climactic battle.
  7. I have a similar deal this Summer. The boy has a weeklong program at BU, so I need to fly up to pick him up on Saturday. They get released around 1:00. My current plan is to have him Uber over to the hotel. I just got a room at the Hilton at Logan, because we have an early flight Sunday morning. And then the Red Sox have a 4:00 game. Then go over to Legal's for dinner. I know. It's a chain. But I've always had good experiences there. And I can get a lobster and the boy can get a steak--the variety of the menu is a bit of a selling point. @Captain Ron--I'm definitely open to suggestions (particularly on the restaurant point). And any updates for 2024 are greatly appreciated.
  8. I just saw a still of that dashcam video on Twitter without looking at the headline or anything. And it's absolutely amazing to me how I could tell in an instant that the wreck was on North Central Expressway. Seriously--is there any more distinctive highway in America (speaking here of the highway itself and not any surrounding buildings/landmarks)?
  9. The boy was 13 and the girl was 11. The sweet spot would be to go when the oldest is 12. That's when there are a lot of cut-offs on price. Kids 12 and under stay at a reduced rate at a lot of the lodges.
  10. I cannot recommend Angama Mara highly enough. We were there for five days, at the end of which Mrs.LL and LLDaughter both cried when we had to leave. The location is amazing, but the staff are really unparalleled. You can see from the website that the location is up on the top of the 1,000-foot bluff overlooking the Mara game preserve. The pictures on the website don't oversell it. If anything, they undersell it. From both your tent (which really is only technically a tent because it has canvas walls, but it feels like a room) and from the common areas, you can look down through binoculars and see all of the animals down on the floor of the valley. It takes about 40 minutes to drive from the Lodge down to the floor of the valley, during which you'll see plenty of zebras and baboons and, as you get close to the valley floor, a bunch of giraffes. And once you're down there, you'll see everything from hippos to lions to leopards to buffalo. At that time of year, you may be there for the tail end of the great migration crossing the Mara River (we caught it in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania). I can't really describe the sheer number of wildebeest. And if you can catch them crossing that river, which is crocodile infested--I can't imagine how cool that would be. But really, what made the Angama Mara special was the service and people. As soon as you arrive, they assign you a driver, a butler, and a room attendant. All three were just fascinating people and took good care of us. The second day, LLDaughter got sick--a combination of fatigue from the flight and the high altitude (the Maasai Mara is at 6,000 feet and the Lodge is 1,000 feet above that). So she and Mrs.LL stayed in the room that day and just watched the animals through binoculars. Except for the baboons who ran across the balcony deck periodically--they got an up-close view of those fuckers. Anyway, they didn't go to breakfast. When LLDaughter fell asleep for a nap, Mrs.LL went out of the tent to walk to the common tent to grab some lunch, and there was our room attendant just sitting on a bench outside with a menu. No telling how long he had been waiting. He just decided that they might get hungry at some point and he wanted to be available. All this is going to cost you. Plan on $1,000 per person per day. Now, that does include all your food, drink, and wildlife fun. And you can get plenty of drinks--they'll email you ahead of time to ask what booze you would like in the room and what drinks you want in the minifridge. But still . . . that's pricey. Gratuities are not included. We flew Qatar business class in the QSuites. I can't recommend that more. And the fare for Qatar in QSuites was the same as BA wanted for Economy. So that was a no-brainier.
  11. Fuck you. I responded to the post because it directly addressed me. I'm sorry that I don't spend every waking moment on this site. And fuck Chad Fairchild. Have a little fucking grace. Say "yeah, I saw the replay. I didn't see the change of direction in real time. I made a mistake." That's the answer; that'd be the end of it. But Chad has to be a little bitch. And finally, fuck the Astros. Can we wear the gold-trimmed uniforms for every game against the Astros this year? Because fuck the Astros. So that's my list of people who can go fuck themselves on this day off: shadow, Chad Fairchild, and the Astros.
  12. They're a very industrious people. I mean, even in their laziness, they're exceedingly hard-working.
  13. Counterpoint: cheap Chinese manufactured goods and ripe produce year-round.
  14. Shit--I have a thread on Oktoberfest from way back. But I can't find it now. As to hotels, there is a Sheraton Four Points and a Courtyard Marriott within walking distance. Marriott may have changed this, but when I went some years ago, they didn't have "surge pricing" for rooms booked on points. So the Courtyard is something like a Level 3 hotel, and they didn't change that during Oktoberfest. So you could get that room for really cheap on Marriott points. But whether you're booking on points or using cash, you need to book a hotel now. You ought to get a pair of lederhosen, and your lady needs a dirndl. Yeah--you'll feel dumb as you get dressed in the hotel room. But then you'll step foot outside and start walking toward the Wiesn, and you'll see that everyone else is ismilarly attired. And you'll feel suddenly that you're pretty cool. The general scene is that there are a dozen or so big tents. Each has its own vibe. Hippodrome is the smallest and maybe the coolest. Hofbrauhaus is for the Australians. Augustiner has the best beer. You go in and find a seat. You have to be seated to order a drink (or food). There is no bar that you can walk up to and order. It's a way of limiting capacity. You order, the bier comes, and you pay--nobody is going to run you a tab. And once you have your bier, you can get up and walk around if you wish (though you'll lose your place at that table). All of the tables are like picnic tables that seat 16 (though the tables at the Hippodrome are smaller--they maybe seat 10). If you see a spot, politely ask the people sitting there if it's available--"ist dieser Platz frei?". If yes, they'll motion you to sit. Aside from being socially appropriate, it also has the side benefit of being something of a conversation starter. And it's kind of expected that you're going to be social. And why wouldn't you be? You're surrounded by people from right around the world drinking and having a good time. I'm still in contact with people I met at Oktoberfest who are from everywhere from Germany to Australia. Tables can be reserved for large groups. But if you see an empty table with a "Reserviert" sign on it, you can still sit down and order a bier. But if the reserving party shows up, they'll kick you out. Or they'll just ask you to push down. That happened to us at the Hippodrome. I think the Swiss guys who had the table reserved were quite happy to have Mrs.LL in her dirndl continue to hang out at their table for a while. Remember to eat something. The standard snack at every tent is the half-chicken (halb Hahnchen). It's way oversalted and rotisserie grilled. Fucking delicious. But you're going to want another bier or two after all that salt. Dammit--now I want to go back. Maybe we'll take the kids when they're both over 16.
  15. Fuck you, hotwheels.
  16. Seeing my team unfurl a World Championship banner and come out with gold-trimmed uniforms with a World Champion sleeve patch . . . damn, I'm not sports crying, but there's definitely a sports lump in my throat.
  17. That whole area south of Interlaken is amazing. I don't have a preference as between villages, and I've only been there once many years ago. So I don't have any real good recommendations or commentary on that. But it's a beautiful area. I'm happy to give whatever thoughts you want on Munich. I will observe that Munich is the birthplace of National Socialism. So if you want some good Nazi sights, Munich is your town (Nuremberg is also great for that). If you're interested in such sights, you should have a browser page on your phone open to Third Reich Ruins any time you're walking around Munich.
  18. I have to say that this was somewhat rare--we only saw it in a couple of restaurants we went to in Kyoto. But I don't remember changing into "house slippers" when entering the restaurant. You just took off your shoes and went around in your stocking feet. Then, when you went to the toilet, there were bathroom slippers for use there. But then you take them off when you're done and leave them at the bathroom door. The Japanese I saw didn't bring their own slippers.
  19. I've gotten to an age at which I fear the fall.
  20. And that's the punchline. You have a very challenging race to poll, and probably the least capable pollsters doing the polling. When you have a 25- or 30-point polling miss, that's reflecting of shitty polling. And given the challenging environment and the likely quality of the pollsters involved, that probably should be a surprise. And I'm not saying otherwise. Look--I've been pretty bullish on Biden's chances throughout this cycle. And I think I've pointed out on this and other threads some of the challenges that pollsters face and why I think Nate Silver's take is increasingly comical. I agree with you that Dobbs is going to be a big motivator for voters, and may alone be enough to push Biden over the finish line. All I'm saying--but I'm saying it loudly--is to be cautious of special-election results and to not give them more weight than is due. They're sui generis. I mean, it's good to win elections. I'm not doing the NYT punchline of "Democrat wins by 25 points; here's why that's bad for Biden." I'm just saying that there are a whole lot of MAGAts who didn't vote in this election (and who probably didn't even know that there was an election going on) who are going to turn out in November to vote for their Orange God.
  21. Ummmm, . . . and they're right.
  22. Two things can be true at the same time. Polls can be broken, and Democrats can be expected to overperform in special elections that are (almost by definition) low-turnout affairs. So when I say "A Democrat should be expected to significantly overperform in a low-turnout special election," it is not responsive to that point to say "but the polls are fucked up." And by the way, that's particularly true of polls in a late-March special election. All of the difficulties of polling a nationwide election are magnified when your constituency is so small. How the fuck do you get a decent sample when an Alabama House district only has 42,000 residents?
  23. Tell me how a special election for a state House of Representatives seat with miniscule turnout is predictive of a high-turnout presidential election. We all know that the people most likely to turn out in special elections are highly educated and politically inclined voters. And right now, that's a group Democrats do very well with. It's not a surprise that Democrats overperform in such elections; it would be a huge alarm bell if they didn't significantly overperform. So when a Democrat won a special election in Oklahoma in 2017, did it indicate that the Oklahoma Senate seat on the ballot in 2018 would go Democratic? Fuck no. But the overperformance was in the range that indicated that 2018 would be a good year for Democrats (though not necessarily so good so as to turn Oklahoma (or even that Oklahoma congressional district) blue). What I'm saying is this: we need to be really cautious about touting special election results. A Democrat won. But a Democrat probably should've won. It's like beating New Mexico State 66-36 in Week 1--that's great. But we were supposed to win. And if we're giving up 36 points to New Mexico fucking State, uhhhhh . . . I don't like our chances next week against UCLA.
  24. I found the Boutique Japan website (here is their blog entry on Izakayas) to be pretty helpful. Yeah--use bathroom slippers. But bathroom slippers stay at the bathroom door; don't wear them back to the table. Oh, and while it's super common to blow your nose at the table, it's considered very rude in Japan (though that didn't stop Mrs.LL from repeatedly doing so). And don't rub your chopsticks together to clear splinters; it implies that you think the restaurant uses cheap chopsticks.
  25. Yeah--as noted upthread, we loved Tsujiki Outer Market for a sushi brunch. I really wish we had more time and had done it more than once. But as it turned out, we did it the day we were leaving for Kyoto, so we had a mid-afternoon train to catch and kind of had to leave before I was completely ready to go. We also really liked the Shimbashi neighborhood, as the photos indicate. It's completely what you imagine Tokyo as being. Go on Thursday and Friday nights--that's when the salarymen are going to be crowding into the izakayas and getting well and truly plastered. You'll have a blast. Near Shinjuku, go over to Omoide Yokocho (Piss Alley). It's a two-block area of tiny bars along a very narrow alley. I can't really explain it beyond that. I will tell you, particularly as some who says he has done minimal planning, you'd probably do well to get a guidebook to read on the plane. Not for particular sights--you'll figure that out on your own. But there are enough nuances to the whole culture that it'd made basic things like going to a bar a lot easier/much more enjoyable if you read up ahead of time.
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