5 hours ago, swt61 said:

Obviously my ability to pick winners is seriously in decline.

First Kamala, now Iron Mike.😟

You’re not alone.   

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by blessingx

You forgot to mention the Yankees over the Dodgers.

Went to London today to see The Duchess, with Jodie Whittaker. (She was the only female Doctor in Dr Who, and was in Broadchurch)

Modern setting of the early 1600's original play. Only partly successful in a modern setting, but a shocking and unsettling last 45 minutes. The Duchess's deranged brother ends up putting a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. There was a spray of blood from the back of his head - I have no idea how they did that. In the movies they use an electrically triggered blood capsule, but I've never seen that on stage before.

So a play where everyone dies apart from one - the assassin, now reformed, who agrees to bring up the (dead) Duchess's son.

https://trafalgartheatre.com/shows/the-duchess/

This is turning into Craig and Carole's theatre adventures!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Stratford (on Avon) to see Othello. Our benchmark was a superb version we saw at the National Theatre in London maybe 10 years ago with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear  (https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/whats-on/othello-2013/ .

This version seen yesterday however was an astonishingly good performance. 3.5 hours (including interval) so hardly cut back at all.

When, near the end of the play, Othello strangles his wife Desdemona, the stage blacks out. So all you hear is legs thrashing and the breathing of Othello.

https://www.rsc.org.uk/othello/

The photograph is a multi purpose cube which contains in this case three main characters when they are dead.

https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/othello-royal-shakespea-23889

4 hours ago, Craig Sawyers said:

This is turning into Craig and Carole's theatre adventures!

<snip>

Al told me to stop building things.

For variety's sake, Andrew and I emptied the bank account last weekend to go see the defending NBA champs.  Was a lot of fun, got to see an OT buzzer beater from Tatum on our end of the court.  Was a good dude's night out.

I've sat in the front row during a visit to Salt Lake around a decade ago. The thing that freaked me out is that the ball would be thrown full tilt straight at you - until a hand the size of a snow shovel appears as if from nowhere and collects it.

I found it a great experience.

Pretty tame though by comparison with the ice hockey match I went to on the same trip. Everything went as it ought, until helmets came off and a fist fight started. I was astonished at how totally brutal ice hockey was.

Craig, you need to watch the movie Slapshot.....!

On 11/24/2024 at 9:32 AM, Craig Sawyers said:

Pretty tame though by comparison with the ice hockey match I went to on the same trip. Everything went as it ought, until  a fist fight started. I was astonished at how totally brutal ice hockey was.

Were you referencing the fans or the players? It sounds like a similar experience attending a Raiders game.

Hockey is way more tame and reserved than it was 20 years ago.  It's still fast and has hitting, but the rules really discourage the extremes it used to get to.

15 mile post thanksgiving hike through SF with the boys!

Ended the day with a ride in a Waymo (Robo taxi) for the full San Francisco experience. Absolutely insane. This is the future.

For the first ten minutes it is a little nerve wrecking until you start to relax because it does such a good job.

my year of continuing to do things that I probably should pay for, but can’t bring myself to continues. Today’s adventure was rehabilitating my malfunctioning water heater. For $135 in parts I was able to replace all of the active and passive internals and upon reassembly, it didn’t leak and produced hot water. it only took two trips to the hardware store so I view that as a win as well.

 

 

I figure I saved myself at least 500 bucks today. 

Heard the wind make The Golden Gate Bridge "moan"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/13/golden-gate-bridge-hum-noise-san-francisco

 

 

It was a legit storm. We had lightning/thunder overhead. The kind that rattle the windows. 

In Scott's Valley there was a tornado today. 

 

 

That is really nuts! I got a tornado warning for SF on my phone early this morning, although it was actually a notice that there had been a tornado warning and it had passed. Not quite as helpful if it had been a real emergency.

5 hours ago, robm321 said:

It was a legit storm. We had lightning/thunder overhead. The kind that rattle the windows. 

In Scott's Valley there was a tornado today. 

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/7xKJlttCb2

 

Edited December 15, 20241 yr by Grahame

Tested positive for the 'rona.  After 5 years, it finally got me.  I still wear a mask just about everywhere in public and have been verbally accosted by a couple irate boomers for doing so.  The main problem is that I have to pull it down to wear glasses (which fog like mad with a mask on) and I can't see shit up close without them.  I've been isolating in my room like a hikikomori because I don't want to get my (sainted, octogenarian) mother sick.

So far the symptoms haven't been terrible, like a strong sinus infection.  I had have some genuine fever dreams earlier.  I think the mower shed is haunted.

We had it after 3 shots. Woke up feeling like shit, took a test - ping! Wife was out playing tennis. Came back "I feel a bit weird" take the test I suggest. Ping!

Just like a bad head cold. All clear 5 days later, and led a 12 mile walk 5 days after that.

I've lost count of how many shots we've had now; definitely 6 and possibly 7.

My mother just went off in an ambulance and and our heating system stopped working.  This is the best of all possible worlds.

Holy shit Dan...hoping all ends up OK!!  Hope your mom wasn't too serious.....and do you have electric heaters for now?

On the plus side, at least your mother is being taken  somewhere with functional heating?

 

 

 

How is your sainted octogenarian mother doing Knucks? Has anything frozen off of you? Hope things are looking better today.

Met Al, Claire, Sophie, Julia and Kaki at The Marshal Store for lunch. The oysters Rockefeller were pretty good, as was my pulled pork sandwich.

Then off to Drake's beach to watch the Elephant seals. Also saw some large Elk near there, and a quite large Coyote.

Then onto Pt. Reyes for a bit of browsing and buffalo ice cream and natural soda float.

Covid is no joke.  My mother is in her 80s and frail.  I'm 50 and ...sturdy.  She went to the ER and got prescribed Paxlovid.  It appears to help, but some of the side effects are a bit rough.  I'm fully vaxed and in fact recently boosted.  I'm no longer feverish, but far from well.  I suspect this is a new strain that has yet to be named (remember the ominous sounding Omicron Variant?) 

Also the heating system is still not fixed, but after my mother went to the ER I opened the mechanical closet and yelled at it.  Then I turned it off and on again and it's been making heat since.  In the 40K universe I'd be a tech priest.