The POLAR VORTEX cold weather has moved back in, and we’ve been blanketed in snow. I have one perfect NFL playoff bracket so far, which has the Broncos, Patriots, Seahawks, and Bears winning this weekend. I’m pretty confident in the Broncos and Seahawks pick at this point, the Patriots game will likely be a comedy of errors, and if the Bears have the ball at the end of the game, they’ve got a chance. Feel free to mock my picks if you wish. But enough about that, let’s get to some links.
Want to help select the best cans for the OCBA (Ohio Craft Beer Association)?
Bethesda… Bethesda Never Changes.
Water, grapefruit pop, clamatto. Done.
This tracks with my work experience. [somewhat related bonus link]
There’s more of a chance of this than the super secret Stranger Things new ending.
Is this attempt number 3? Or has there been more.
I’m not entirely opposed to the idea.
Why are we fat? Exhibit A. Exhibit B.
If you’re afraid to share our site, maybe this will help.
For fuck’s sake. This is going to make me drink
Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.
I was born a poor black child.
This seems to be a pretty big development.
I’m more annoyed by glaringly incorrect “AI Summaries”, but I don’t have an issue with this suit.
It’s been cold, and I’ve been fighting off a head cold, so I’m going simple on the drink today.
Hot Buttered Rum
- 2 ounces rum (spiced punches it up more, but is not necessary)
- 1 tablespoon compound butter (recipe below)
- Hot water
Pre-heat the mug you’ll be serving this in by filling it with boiling water. When the mug has been warmed, empty it out, put in the rum, butter, and top with hot water. Whisk until everything is incorporated, and enjoy. If you didn’t grind the spices down fine enough, then you’ll want to pour it through a fine mesh strainer to get the bits out.
Hot Butter Rum Batter:
- 1 stick of butter at room temperature
- ½ cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon clove
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- Pinch of salt
Grind the spices fine, and mix everything together until it’s well blended, wrap in wax paper and store in the fridge.
With that, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
I want some hot buttered rum. I am sitting here, the workday effectively ended at 2:45. Nobody’s here, nothing is happening, yet I must keep everything on until four.
You have to keep your clothes on until four?
Sounds like tyranny.
My wife is forcing the boy to wear his clothes all day for homeschool. He is having trouble with that as he would rather be in underwear only all day.
We have threatened him with sending him to government school but so se he strips down keeping the hidden camera hidden would be difficult at best.
A man after my own heart.
His sister is also an almost nude as well.
I think I’ll pass, TYVM.
I already got burned by the FO3 big edition when it first released. The lunchbox and the bobble head were fine, the PIP boy clock was DOA and they wanted me to pay ~$40 (from memory) to get it replaced.
The article talks about the FO76 bag debacle.
I might (might) consider buying an edition that just included the 4GB patch natively and preferably fixed the infinite load bug and the hang-on-using-a-door bugs (the most often hit ones). Be even better if they could move to the Skyrim/whatever engine without remastering the assets (because I don’t trust them not to fuck up the assets).
Since they aren’t going to do that… no interest in “collectibles”. Especially since I remember the Fallout 4 “collectors bag” or whatever they called it that ended up being the cheapest thing imaginable. No trust there.
And re: Perlman / Scoggins… gee — actors don’t really care for the source material / game they’re hired to read a script for. News at 11.
FO3 – I was reminded the other night on Twix of the quest/subplot with the ghouls and the apartment building. For those who never played it, you had an apartment full of humans being encroached on by a pack of ghouls. You could kill the ghouls, let the ghouls kill the humans, or broker an agreement between the ghouls and humans that would allow them to live together in peace.
If you choose the third option, you’d come back later to find that the ghouls had broken the agreement and murdered all the humans. Critique of suicidal empathy, some years before the phrase was coined? You be the judge.
I took the third route. After the ghouls broke the treaty, I went back and slaughtered them all, including the women and children. I’ll give everybody a chance, but not more than one.
I reloaded a save after finding out about #3 and went and killed all the ghouls preemptively.
Given the level scaling in FO3 and the God-awful Ghoul Reavers you start getting after Broken Steel, I think most people go the third route to get the Ghoul Mask (when worn, ferals don’t attack the player). Which always annoyed me — because frankly, I’m with Sean. And it isn’t like Roy hides his actual intentions all that well.
I did what Sean did.
Recent data from CivicScience show that 56% of adults of legal drinking age in the U.S. planned to abstain from alcohol this month.
I haven’t had a drink all day.
I haven’t noticed any drop in traffic at the local brewpub.
That reminds me – I need to get the growler filled when they open at 3:00.
Lol. Lame.
What percentage of people planning to abstain in January actually drink at all?
Well, Dry January was started by a neo-prohibitionist group.
What a surprise.
Although…I can’t criticize the roots in WWII Finland, where the Finns wanted to make sure that everyone was sober enough to shoot commies.
I don’t usually drink anymore, but the guest brats in my house right now make me want to
Guest brats, they are the wurst!
I drank last night
I am drinking right now!
Business at my wife’s winery has been slow. These people are sabotaging the local economy.
#meneither and I am just starting to correct that.
Forgive me, but I honestly thought that Polish Boy Week was something COMPLETELY different…
I’m going to start using CreepyLink to add some punch to my security testing emails.
And a 99-pack of PBR is really no more disgusting than a single PBR. If you’re gonna drink cheap corporate swill, show some character and drink Stroh’s or Natty Boh.
There’s also the Polish Girl sandwich, where you add pulled pork.
I’m not a fan of mayo based slaw (which most are), but most places are willing to sub out kraut.
Y’all heard it here first. I like Polish Boys and Polish Girls. I’m Bi-Polar.
I imagine if I started talking about wanting a Polish Girl sandwich my wife would take offense faster than I could explain.
Our local grocery has a pepper-slaw that we eat quite a bit of.
Polish Boy Week was something COMPLETELY different
That’s the difference between Cleveland and San Francisco (or Portland).
I’m going to start using CreepyLink to add some punch to my security testing emails.
This is one of the few times I miss being retired. I would have had so much fun with that.
When did Stroh’s go bad? My stepson was friends with one of the Stroh boys at Dennison U. back in early 90s ; cases of the stuff were always around and everyone thought it a couple cuts above other swills.
I’m not saying Stroh’s is bad, not at all. It’s probably my favorite cheap swill go-to.
I have lived in Buffalo where there were a lot of Polish Boy Weeks IYKWIMAITYD.
Stroh’s or Natty Boh?
FUCK THAT SHIT!!
PABST. BLUE RIBBON!!
However, there is one sharp difference with the CME’s silver product: there will be no physical delivery; contracts will be cash settled.
Hmmm…. I smell scam.
I thought the allure of silver was stacking it.
Why bother with that when somebody else can have all the upside?
I’ve been known to start the day with a virgin screwdriver…. Even served one to my son when he was a wee tyke. (gasp!)
I have a strong dislike for the alcohol removed spirits that are being pushed. Some drinks should not be made into mocktails, anything that’s spirit only (Martini, Manhattan, Negroni, etc.) is right at the top of the list for me.
How in the fuck would you even make an alcohol-free Martini? Is that even possible?
Advanced Martini Substitute.
Whiting, IN (where my parents grew up) has a Pierogi Fest every year. I’ve still never been.
Locally, we get a full on Polish Festival for two weekends around Labor day. It’s an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.
Seconded
My biggest complaint about the Pierogi week is that most of the places just use standard cheese and potato pierogi and top them with something. That’s not what I want. I want outrageous fillings!
Oh yeah
Sartorial advice request, since Neph and R.J. are both here. Smoking jacket recommendations? Do you prefer buttoned or belted?
While you get an actual answer from them — the rest of us will just contemplate the obligatory response (re-imagined as a jacket, obviously).
I do not have a smoking jacket.
As a general fashion disaster, I check with the girlfriend if what I’m wearing is acceptable. Of course, she just ordered several Tiki themed bowling shirts, so I’m not sure she’s going to reign in my choices.
Royaura shirts are also on my wardrobe upgrade list.
You definitely need a mouse gun with ivory grip panels for the full ensemble.
I smoke and my on button sequined jacket is quite appropriate when observing my orphans
If you are going for the Hugh Hefner look, then belted.
While the smoking jacket is informal regardless, the button up strikes me a bit more formal than the belted. Depends what you’re going for. Also I know Hefner popularized pajamas with the smoking jacket but unless you’re going to a pajama party, don’t do that.
A smoking jacket should always be belted.
But, go one further, and go full caftan. Lawrence was right on track.
This is going to make me drink
Don’t you understand? His father DIED.
she just ordered several Tiki themed bowling shirts
For you or for herself?
For herself. Although I did get her a Loco Beach Coconuts jersey for Christmas.
She’s decided to follow Bananaball this year. I’m entertained by this.
Isn’t that like following the Harlem Globetrotters?
robc:
No. They are actually playing a version of baseball. There are several rule changes. The biggest ones are no time outs/mound visits, no bunts, you score points per inning won (most runs, last inning all runs are points), two hour time limit, fan caught foul balls are an out, and they do a “sprint” instead of a walk on ball 4 (all runners are free to advance, all defensive players must touch the ball before it’s live to get out runners).
This year, they added two new teams to get them up to 6, and are doing a league with a championship. It’s mainly old pros, minor league players, and recent college kids.
I’ll also add that there doesn’t seem to be payroll issues or gambling on the games.
I watched a couple games, I think on one of the ESPNs – yeah it does look like a mix of Globetrotters and actual play.
The only baseball I would be interested in seeing.
It’s Friday afternoon, and so far nobody has been shot or run over in Minneapolis today, so there’s that.
It’s early.
Walz or Frey need to accuse ICE of being white supremacists harder or something.
TOO LOCAL NEWS: Governor says no to paint tax
Supporters call it a fee to fund a paint product stewardship program.
Opponents call it the “paint tax.”
And on the NHJournal podcast this week, Gov. Kelly Ayotte called it a dead duck walking.
“I have a pretty simple principle: No sales tax — not now, not ever,” Ayotte said. “I think that this bill looks like a sales tax. It acts like a sales tax on paint. If you walk like a duck, you quack like a duck, you are a duck.
“So from my perspective, I don’t think the duck’s going to make it.”
So a tax to feed an NGO that doubles as an industry association. That deserves some tar and feathers.
TarNFeathersCare hasn’t managed to pass their tax yet to facilitate it, JI.
Never been a fan of hot cocktails, although the butter makes this one sound tempting.
However, my wife has informed me she bought some good limes, and apparently I am making Mai Tais tonight.
Irish coffee is among my favorite cocktails, and there are very few places I will order one while I’m out. I’ve been hurt by terrible ones too many times.
My wife likes Irish coffee made with El Dorado demerara rum.
Don’t know if that’s a common thing.
If I’m gonna order an Irish Coffee out, I want to see them make the whipped cream in front of me. If the bartender pulls out a can of Redi-Whip, I won’t be responsible for my reaction.
I’ve been at a few Irish bars where an Irish coffee is coffee with a shot of Bailey’s.
Which I like, but that’s not an Irish coffee.
That’s a big part of why my wife asked me to start making them for her.
ron73440:
That would not be an Irish coffee. That could be a Jamaican/Caribbean coffee, but not Irish.
DEG/EvilSheldon:
I shared my rules about Irish coffee a while ago. While I’m a geek over a snob. I do care a lot about what you’re serving me. Same as if I order a Martini and get some blue bubbling concoction, if I order an Irish coffee and there’s Bailey’s, I am… not happy. Hence I rarely order it out unless it’s a trusted establishment.
I have very fond memories of proper Glühwein and apparently you can turn it into a proper cocktail by dumping some spirits into it which I sadly probably didn’t get at the Christkindlesmarkt when I was 16 but now I want some.
TOO LOCAL NEWS: Politically segregated schools?
Hours after the release of private messages purportedly showing the Republican chair of a House education committee advocating for “segregated schools,” the lawmaker publicly said she supported separating schools by political party.
“Republicans have been self-segregating out of the leftist indoctrination centers for decades,” wrote Rep. Kristin Noble, the chair of the House Education Policy and Administration committee, apparently referring to public schools.
“It’s funny to watch the Democrats feign outrage when I thought they’d be supportive of managing their own schools, with libraries full of porn, biological males in girls sports and bathrooms, and as much DEI curriculum as their hearts desire,” she said in a statement sent through the House Republican Office. “Schools like that will have terrible test scores because they focus on social justice rather than academics.”
https://nhjournal.com/live-free-or-spy-bill-would-create-nh-intelligence-agency/
You people get some weird ideas up there.
James Jesus Angleton just flopped over in his grave.
I heard about that bill. I haven’t read it. I have no idea what will happen to it.
The NH State House of Representatives is 400 people paid $100/year plus expenses like tolls and gas ($125/year plus expenses like tolls and gas for those in leadership positions). Pay is the same for NH State Senators but there are 24 senators. The state population is about 1.3 million. You have a lot of characters there.
Your entire legislature makes less than a single full-time asshole working hard to remove my freedoms in New York.
Very interesting analogy with HR and mandarins.
https://x.com/pplsartofwar/status/2011955225892896859?s=20
Being married to an HR director, both of those people have zero understanding of what HR is or does.
Retards.
The only company I do business that has an HR and I know what she does, cheated on her husband with upper management, divorced him, gets him canned and married the next guy. Not sure what she does for a living but that’s what she did at work.
*Please* make this happen, San Francisco.
There isn’t enough popcorn in the world to enjoy watching that circus unfold.
I’m tired of the attitude that we should let the blue cities and states go ahead and hurt themselves. The damage isn’t confined to just the morons in the cities and states. It carries over like radioactive dust to the rest of us.
Thinking into the future, I’d expect the next Dem president to bail out every bad idea. i.e. Biden and student loan forgiveness.
My eldest is a lot like these Dems: Really, really good at dodging consequences.
You may be right, but (to mix metaphors) having the failure hit the rest of us like a 2×4 upside the head may get attention, while the slow incremental frog boiling seems to slide right by a bunch of voters who should know better.
Also no.
Yes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcKk6OkU_nI&list=RDJcKk6OkU_nI&start_radio=1
I finally got my birthday present (to myself) today after Lyin’ Lujan’s mandatory 7 day waiting period. This Stoeger carriage gun is the first new gun purchase in a very long time that did not come with a gun lock.
It will be exciting to take this on my canoe trip next week.
Where it sadly will become lost in a tragic accident…
@Neph I have the same picks for this weekend as you do.
Here’s hoping we’re both right.
Joe Biden haz a sad
“We’re going in a different direction now. We really want to connect our vehicles to racing,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told Yahoo Finance at the event’s Michigan Central Station venue. “We really feel like Porsche shouldn’t be the only brand having fun, and we’re going to do it in a Detroit way and differently. We want to make a stick shift, affordable V8 coupe.”
As for the Bronco, which saw sales surge nearly 35% last year, Ford and Farley want to lean more heavily into the big trends of off-road and overlanding. “We are not going to be stale trail people,” Farley said, noting that the company is currently racing and placing well in a souped-up Bronco version in the notoriously difficult Dakar Rally race in Saudi Arabia, happening now.
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but the Mustang looks gigantic.
Wrong Farley died 28 years ago.
From the Time article linked above.
***
In 2023, at least 175,000 people signed up to participate in Dry January on the Alcohol Change UK website. That same year, 15% of U.S. adults, which amounts to more than 260 million Americans, pledged to practice Dry January.
***
260 million sounds reasonable for the number of US adults, but 15% of that is 39 million. When I read articles carefully, I notice math mistakes like this all the time. Many journalists are innumerate, alarmist morons and will always exaggerate numbers. My favorite instance was a CNN article many moons ago that improperly converted a change in Celsius to a change in Fahrenheit. Instead of just multiplying by 1.8, they did that and added 32.
[head desk]
I do that kind of critical reading for a living and happens all the time.
Like claiming an increase in sales tax from 5% to 6% is a “One percent increase in taxes” instead of a twenty percent increase.
Ummm… Isn’t that the correct way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?
0 C = 32 F, (0 * 1.8) = 0; (0 * 1.8) + 32 = 32.
5 C = 41 F, (5 * 1.8) = 9; (5 * 1.8) + 32 = 41.
Just the change, the delta.
I had to read it twice.
Example: A change of 10 degrees Celsius is equivalent to a change of 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
Imagine a change of going from T degrees Celsius to T +10 degrees Celsius. The change is 10 degrees Celsius.
If we convert the initial temperatures to Fahrenheit, we get 1.8T + 32 and 1.8*(T + 10) + 32, which is
1.8T + 18 + 32. To calculate the change again, we have 1.8T + 50 – (1.8T + 32) which simplifies to a change of 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sensei:
That makes sense, I missed that as well.
In Neph example, the 5-degree Celsius change corresponds to a 9-degree Fahrenheit change. Divide 9 by 5, and you get a 1-degree Celsius change is a 1.8-degree Fahrenheit change.
It doesn’t surprise me that many people get this wrong, but that’s no excuse for CNN not having a professional check the number.
Don’t forget the cool intersection of -40º F and -40º C
175,000 for the UK and the author thought 260 million was reasonable for the US?
Orders of magnitude, how do they work?
260e6/175e3 = 1.48e3
Dry January is 1500x more popular in the US? I guess I should account for the fact that the US has 5x as many people. So the author thought Dry January was only 300x more popular in the US.
So, I made a comment elsewhere (that I have made before, probably here) that if for some reason American College Football had to go away, I would be fine with replacing it with Rugby (League, because Union is dumb). Anyway, that led to me watching the 2025 National (Australia) Rugby League Grand Final (I really want to spell that Grande Finale, but apparently it isnt). I am not entirely clear on all the rugby rules, but enough that I could follow and as a complete neutral it was a freaking awesome game. And I am even more convinced that I am right about it being an acceptable replacement for football. Not as good, of course, but it would do.
I can never remember what the difference between League and Union is.
I like Aussie Rules footy a lot – probably more than the rest. And the rules are dead simple.
Union is a punt fest. League is fast and hard hitting.
I’m upset rugby isn’t more popular in the States. It combines football and soccer and is better than both. (Maybe not football. But definitely Euro football.)
Oooh. Does remind me of one of my favorite moments: Went to Hong Kong on a random weekend, and met two Germans at some bar. We got along and they had an extra ticket for the World Rugby Seven Series, so I got in for free! That was around 2011. (Damn. Damn, damn that’s a long time ago. (Yes. I’m young.)) That was an upper echelon ight.
Back from my neurology appt concerning my MRI, and (mostly?) good news. Nothing new was found, so things are stable, and current doses have kept everything severe at bay. No shit, several times she said she was impressed with how good my brain looks. (“Well, the rest of it.”) Like, *very* impressed. *swish* At my request, she’s referring me to a psychiatrist so I can address my lack of ADHD meds. (As I’ve said, Ritalin, Adderall, whatever amphetamine salts they give me, is a profound ON/OFF switch for me. I energetically likey.)
One interesting thing in my first Stateside-MRI is the scar tissue the other side of my brain got. It’s small and from the bounce my noggin took, but it’s the first time I got a look at it, if I recall at all. Pretty emotional moment, this the day after losing my holding-pattern gig at Walmart.
The nephews are coming over on Monday, and Mom has the oldest, 12, doing some paid work, and we’re trying to find a task or activity for the 10yo. I’ve been wanting to do it for a while, so I can pawn it off to my o̵r̵p̵h̵a̵n̵ nephew! I want him to go through my passports and document the stamps and visas I’ve got. Get the country, maybe city /airport, and hopefully the year for each. Eventually, I wanna have a map vid that has a color for each year and shows where I went and when to consolidate “The Evan [REDACTED] Experience.”
Seems a good idea. Dad’s 75 and ‘last-wishes’ to at least take The Boys to the airport where they’ll fly away, leaving the US for their first time. (Bro might be taking ’em to England this year?) Also a bit for my own legacy thing, the visualization of his youngest son’s travels seems a solid contribution. I’m thrilled I had to get extra pages added to my passport. Kinda a fun feather in one of my many caps.
Wherein the mask is flung off and danced upon:
CIA director meets Venezuela’s acting president in Caracas
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cia-director-meets-venezuelas-acting-president-in-caracas/ar-AA1Umxa6
Blah blah blah make the world safe for democracy
yada yada self-determination
What’s the point of 86ing Maduro if the rest of his regime stays in place? The USSR didn’t collapse because Brezhnev croaked. His funeral is visual bathos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT_io5GlUlg
https://youtu.be/9TyxxLHfBwE
Trump’s warmongering has been much less costly in money and lives. I give him credit for that.
Hopefully he’ll continue to do the right things for the wrong reasons.