Cup of Coffee

November 6, 2011: Surviving

53 Comments

My much younger brother turns 22 today. Four years ago I don't think I would have bet on him living this long with the idiotic things he was doing. That whole teenage thing is no good.

53 thoughts on “November 6, 2011: Surviving”

  1. A good (quick) read, The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes) - winner of this year's Man Booker prize. A nuanced and well-written work.

    An editor at the Economist (who also was in the running for the prize) quipped in a column there on not winning the prize - no problem, said he, it's like losing to Brazil in the World Cup (Futbol).

  2. I watched Fever Pitch last night, no not the execrable Jimmy Fallon "movie." The English version where Arsenal takes the place of the Red Sox. It's much much better and would enthusiastically suggest to all. What's too bad is that I think someone could make a real good baseball movie with basically the same plot, too bad it's already been done and rather badly at that.

    Btw, it's streamable on Netflix.

  3. Zoobombing in Portland .

    Reminds me of an old commercial where you hear off in the distance the far-away buzz of an oncoming motorcycle, and as the rider shifts down gears, you realize you are hearing the words "Reeeeeeee-(shift)-Neeeeeeeeeeerrrrrr-(shift)-Beeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr" (the camera pans about to show the rider heading off towards massive Mount Ranier.

        1. My family lived in Washington for a couple of years in the mid-eighties, and my mom still brings up that commercial every now and then. Beats the hell out of talking frogs and the label changing colors.

              1. C'mon guys, the mountains will tell you if it's cold or super cold. It's a win-win!

                *still not as good as a crappy voice-over on motorcycle exhaust and an actual mountain.

  4. Gophers hockey swept Fighting Sioux at Mariucci for the first time since 1996. So, two national title teams couldn't do that.

    1. That's an insincere simplification of what happened here. They had her terrified, toddler daughter taken away because she forgot to pay for a sandwich she was eating in the store. It obviously wasn't intentional shoplifting. That's ridiculous.

      1. When I volunteered at the PD's office, I had a client who was charged with petty theft. He had munched on some bulk candy while wandering around Cub at 2 in the morning looking for some other food to satisfy his munchies after a concert. I couldn't talk the prosecutor into recharging the offense as anything other than petty theft (wouldn't go for nuisance) and so now this guy has a theft (albeit a petty misdemeanor) on his record because he ate the one thing in a grocery store that he couldn't pay for when he got to the cash register (because the value depended upon the weight being bought).

      2. Oh, I know. You are correct. Especially since it took Safeway a week to apologize for the arrest after all the uproar. However, they still ended up apologizing to someone who was technically shoplifting from them. They didn't word their apology well and it left open a precedent that its OK to eat their food while shopping and then not pay for it. It should have been an apology for overreacting to what happened. Safeway had every right to pull them aside and ask for payment for the sandwiches. And it wasn't Safeway that took the child away, it was the police. The police should be apologizing. They should have told Safeway people, hey this is going to mean we will have to take their child away from them. Do you really want us to do that? It will be really bad PR for you for something so trivial.

          1. I've seen people eating a couple grapes whilst shopping in the produce section at Whole Foods and wondered how that would go over under shariah... Thwack.

  6. Arizona's lack of Daylight Savings is weirding me out. I thought football was on, but now it's on at 11 here instead of 10. C'mon, Arizona, can't you just fall in line?

  7. PS3 owners: there's a free preview of NFL Sunday Ticket today. Kind of a bummer that it falls on the Vikings' bye week because they aren't good enough to air here very much, but whatever.

  8. I ran into several members of dr. Dog last night while walking back to the hotel from the schlafly tap room. Nice guys. Wish I would have known they were playing st Lou before we got here, but at the same time I'm starting to get too old for going to shows

      1. Hey, I only said it wrong once. I got it right after I was corrected. I made sure to get it right after being there for cask night.

        1. I had the opportunity to have 4 of their offerings on cask. I'm usually a bit suspicious of a brew pub that offers that many styles, but I was pleasantly surprised by everything they served. I'm even inclined to say that their coffee porter is better than surly's offering.

          1. I really enjoyed their pale ale and ipa, and the east kent pale ale they tapped on cask. Plus, I had a buffalo stew there that was delicious and only $6, which meant I could expense one more beer!

            1. I had the Belgian single (awesomely delicious, 5.1 % abv), the coffee porter, apa and rye ipa on cask. Dr. Chop had their golden and the kolsch, all good offerings.

              I will also say that their burger was one of the best I've ever had. Period.

                  1. Yeah, that's the tap room. The bottleworks is....not downtown. Its in a building that was once a grocery store. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on a great burger at the location I went to.

    2. No kidding. I went to see Blitzen Trapper last weekend and I just kept complaining about how if I am going to spend $17 that those SOB's had better smile and act like they enjoy being there.

      Getting old happens so fast.

      1. Sheesh, I skipped a Blitzen/Dawes show at First Ave on Friday night to hang out with my wife and baby...I didn't realize I was getting old until you fine gentlemen pointed it out. F*ck you very much!

  9. #1 NDSU runs their record to 9-0 with a 27-16 win at #16 Indiana State.

    Alas, #1 SBGville will not defend their state title, losing 20-14 in the state semi-finals.

  10. I cannot get this assignment done. I've been working on it for like 2 days and nothing. I can make a day's lesson for a class in a about an hour or so, but this one-to-one practice is killing me.

  11. I finally got my sixer of Jubelale a couple of nights ago. For those who have had it both this year and last: is it darker and fuller-bodied this year, or is this just a case of me not remembering last year's very well?

  12. I'm currently listening to Sporting KC's season come to a close as they lose to Houston in the MLS Eastern Conference Championship. My disappointment is much greater than I thought it would be.

    Incredibly exciting season by the local team, coming back after such an atrocious start. I really enjoyed following them this season, and will certainly pay a lot more attention to the MLS in the future.

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