Cup of Coffee

August 17, 2014: Troublemaker

37 Comments

There's a 17-year-old girl at work chasing after me semi-romantically. I keep telling her that this is a dead end and can't lead to anything good for her. I don't enjoy getting people fired, but damn, it's tough to get teenagers to listen to reason.

37 thoughts on “August 17, 2014: Troublemaker”

  1. So, I know we've discussed podcasts here recently, but I'm in need of a suggestion or two. I've kind of had it with WTF now that Marc seems to be booking guests as a tool to promote their new projects rather than to talk about their craft. I'm out of radio lab, and mostly out of new to me this american, and have been cruising through selected shorts and sate of the reunion. Thoughts?

    1. I tend to enjoy the occasional nerdist podcast. If you're into board games, I suggest Dice Tower. The Moth and RISK are some good storytelling podcasts (RISK is very adult, you've been warned)

        1. I don't listen to it for him, I listen to who the interviewee is. Like Alex Trebek or Dave Grohl.

            1. That used to really piss me off because I like the guests he booked, but I think he's got a LOT better about that.

    2. Sports
      Football Weekly - The Guardian's twice-weekly football podcast
      Men in Blazers
      Effectively Wild - Baseball Prospectus podcast. I only listen to this one if the title grabs me.

      History
      Backstory - US History
      Binge Think History - English History
      Dan Carlin's Hardcore History - General History
      History Extra - BBC History Magazine podcast

      Informative
      99% Invisible is fantastic. Lots of really informative episodes.
      The Alton Browncast - I listen mostly to the cooking based one, but he does a lot of other stuff to like fashion and music.
      There's No Such Thing as a Fish - from the QI elves, so if you like the sort of facts on QI, give this a go
      How To Do Everything
      Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
      Car Talk

      Interviews
      Nerdist - As you mentioned, Hardwick grates on me too. I can only listen to one of these every so often, but if it's a strong guest I enjoy it
      Aisha Tyler's Girl on Guy
      Decently Funny - With all three of these, I skip 95%+ of the episodes and only listen if I want to hear the guest. I definitely don't listen for the hosts.

      1. Oops, I left Night Vale off my list. I have to be in the mood for it, but it's entertaining when I am.

    4. Mags named a couple of my faves (99% Invisible, The Alton Browncast, Backstory).

      A few podcasts I've been enjoying for the last couple years:

      - The /Filmcast - Smart film reviews and conversations about television.
      - The Inhatko Almanac - Tech jurno Andy Ihnatko's thoughts on books, comics, TV, film, and tech.
      - The Incomparable - A panel show about geeky media, including sci-fi, comics, books, games, and more.
      - Pragmatic - The practical application of technology and how our tech must conform to real-world constraints.
      - To the Best of Our Knowledge - Podcast cut of Wisconsin Public Radio's show about culture & ideas.

      A few others I've recently started and am enjoying:

      - Roderick on the Line - Merlin Mann and John Roderick's unfiltered conversations.
      - Stealing Home - Baseball in all its multifaceted glory: history, idiosyncrasies, trends, and more.

      I also listen to several great tech podcasts, which I can share if anyone's interested.

  2. The LIveExtra feed of ManCity-Newcastle just cut out as they entered stoppage time. Newcastle is pushing for a late equalizer at home, and all I get to see is "Broadcast Will Start Shortly"

  3. I had some of that Amazon eBook settlement money left, so I pulled the trigger on "Ham on Rye". All told, it cost me 76 cents.

  4. Phil Hughes is at 8.0 k/9 with 158 innings pitched. The last Twins pitcher to throw 150+ innings and have at least 8.0 k/9 was Francisco Liriano in 2010 (191-9.8)

    1. If he manages to bump up his strikeout rate just a little, and keeps on walking pretty much no one, he'll be the first Twins pitcher ever to strike eight per nine innings while walking less than one per nine.

      1. His current K/BB ratio of 9.33 would be the best ever for the Twins in a single-season and the fourth-best ever in the modern era. The record is 11.00 by Bret Saberhagen in 1994.

        2. all this made me go look up Carlos Silva's 2005 season. I didn't know this, but the Twins had three of the top four pitchers in the A.L. in K/BB ratio that season (Silva, 7.889; Santana second at 5.289; Radke fourth at 5.087).

          also note that Kershaw is only a whisker behind Hughes this year: currently seventh all-time (5th in modern era) at 9.1579. Iwakuma is currently 8th all-time (6th) at 9.0833, but he's been struggling of late, having issued 3 BBs against only 15 Ks in his last three starts. The horror!

    1. It means I'd consider what she's doing romantic overtures if it was a girl my age, but because it's a girl in high school, I think she's doing an impression of romantic overtures because she's desperately in need of attention.

      She's "engaged" and has been for a year, but she clearly dislikes and distrusts the guy, and as a result I think she just needs to feel appreciated or something. Because of the way she talks about him I'd like to tell her to run away from him, but because of the way she talks to me I assume she'd take this as some kind of hint that I crave her attention.

  6. So I was talking to a couple at work today and I found out the gentleman was a composer. I asked him if he'd written anything I might have heard. He replied, "Are you familiar with The Simpsons?" Turns out it was this guy.

    I said, "Wow! That's a good gig!" He smiled and said, "It's been a great gig." Very nice guy.

    2. Damn. Jealous. I would have recognized him, but only because of one interview of his I saw. The writers and actors all speak of him with reverence in the commentaries.

  7. without trying to create too much of a stir,

    Ferguson SelectShow
    1. Moar Ferguson SelectShow

    2. It's a mess, that's for sure. I hope it gets calmed down and resolved soon, but it wouldn't surprise me if it gets worse before it gets better.

    3. Meanwhile, folks here are boycotting Channel 5 News for showing the home of the police officer. You're not helping, media.

      Someone from our church went to the farmers' market in downtown Ferguson Saturday (he video recorded it), and the only thing out of the ordinary he saw was TV vans and media tents.

      1. Farmer's market? but all of the smart, well-informed people from my home town in my FB feed are telling me it's teh Ghetto!!!

        1. pffft -- when I originally moved to StL, I worked not all that far from there. It's a mixed neighborhood, and it's certainly no ghetto. The rioting is by outsiders looking for a thrill. People need to just back off and let the dust settle.

          1. Yes, I believe the WaPo has a piece today that talks about how it and a few nearby, north county towns are different from most of the StL area in that they are spatially integrated, whereas most of the region is pretty strongly segregated by race (all white or all black neighborhoods).

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