Cup of Coffee

November 10, 2015: Big Fitz

98 Comments

Forty years ago tonight:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

Lake Superior fascinates me and gives me the willies at the same time. The line "Superior sings in the rooms of her ice-water mansion" rings through my head every time I'm on or in the lake.

98 thoughts on “November 10, 2015: Big Fitz”

      1. I met him a handful of times here in the big easy, and every time someone stopped to shake his had he took the time to talk with them regardless of the line that formed.

        Last year about this time my institution held a concert featuring Mr. Toussaint, and he was such a gracious person to work with.

  3. I love Lake Superior. I was in Duluth mid-September for work and did an early morning run to catch the sunrise. I think it's one of the better pictures I've ever taken...but to be fair, the subject isn't tough to work with.

    Fitgers on the left to the Liftbridge on the right - ore ship dead center on the horizon

      1. Thank-you. The closest I'm comfortable to claiming that I'm an aspiring photographer. I believe I have an eye for it, but haven't pursued it beyond filling phones and lower-end digital cameras with pictures no one sees (I have too many bills to take the SLR plunge).

        1. Linds got one, and she loves it. She has a lot of fun with it, and so long as you're comfortable with the more in depth settings, you can take some pretty sweet photos.

          All I do is fill up phones.

          1. I'm now envisioning you throwing away a smartphone after it's full of photos and pulling a fresh one out of the pack...

        2. Sounds just about exactly where I am, too.; I aspire to be a better photographer than I am right now. I took (and loved) photography in high school, which included dark room back in those days. One of my favorite courses, and getting to use Pops' Canon AE-1 was a kick.

          With the kiddo on the way I'm looking at upgrading from the phone to a new, dedicated camera rig. I've been frittering away some coin to make it happen. Trying to decide between a Fuji X100T and a Fuji XT-1. The latter is overkill for my current level of skill, but I'm wondering if I need to invest in the future a bit since only the XT-1 can swap lenses and I'm unlikely to have the money to buy a nicer camera for several years once kiddo arrives.

          1. I love my lens-swapping ability, and mine are both pretty basic. I do recommend going that way. Especially for photographing kids. They tend to get too close or too far away to take a picture once they start moving around. I also like the ability to shoot photos from a distance, so that I don't interrupt their play that I'm trying capture.

            1. We found using the SLR too cumbersome and slow to keep up with the child. It might be that by not having it always available, it increased the friction too much. It is also kind of large and complicated. The wife would the primary user of it during the day and I think she's a bit intimidated about all of the options.

              Both of us always have our smartphone in our pocket and the ability to take a photo right now means the SLR stayed in the bag. As the children get older, maybe things will change. Phone cameras should be significantly better when the oldest plays sports but it would also be easier to have the SLR ready for them as well.

              1. We probably don't take photos quite as often because we've got the SLR, but I like what we're able to get and do with it. Plus I occasionally (at least, I used to), try my hand at photographing landscapes and flowers and such.

          2. We got a Canon D3000 a few years ago and it's pretty great. The lens swapping is exceedingly useful, as Philo says and we also got a Speedlite to go with it, which makes flashes not ruin pictures. I'm not all that good with it, but I also wish I had more time to get better.

          3. I have a Canon Rebel XT-i. It came with a 18-55 lens, and I got a 80-300 to go with it. I really like it. I've had it for about 8 years now, so it's not top of the line, but it still works excellently. I really should make more of an effort to do more photography.

    3. Voluntarily getting up early enough for a sunrise? What's your problem? 😉

      Kidding, of course. Great picture, dude.

      1. Well, I was also training for the Surly Loppet (trail half-marathon) so I had two problems reasons to be up.

      1. Phone, if you can believe it. I am very happy with the results, but then, the cameras available on iPhones are better than nearly every real camera I've ever owned.

    8. I used to do a morning run from the dorms at UMD up the steps of St. Scholastica (like Rocky) then along Skyline Drive to Chester Bowl. Loved getting the sun off of Lake Superior.

        1. And yet it kept people hopping. The Giant sealed it for me.

          I loved Twin Peaks and a whole lot of his stuff, but Lynch has gotten more "hey this is neat, let's use it!" and it's not helping the stories. Inland Empire did very little for me. I sure hope the new incarnation returns to his old entertaining ways.

  6. There are other reasons I don't go there very often, but sheesh, when did HardballTalk's website get overhauled? It's UI is absolutely atrocious on my iPad.

    1. About a month ago. For three straight days 90% of the comments were vicious poo-throwing at NBC. I only use the smartphone app which is still user-friendly.

    1. They have always done that. I think this was a deliberate marketing move by Starbucks. They have useful idiots to raise the firestorm (and awareness) but if you go in the store (which I did this AM), they are, as usual, exploiting the Holiday in every way possible.

      1. I'm not sure who the idiots were who raised the firestorm. I've seen a lot more outrage over the outrage than I've seen of the outrage itself.

        1. These faux controversies seem to be the way of the world. Instead of doing real reporting, too many "news" outlets simply troll social media for something "controversial" to hype. And too many of us contribute by sharing/commenting on stupidity we see on Bookface (guilty as charged!).

        2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/09/starbucks-removed-christmas-from-their-cups-because-they-hate-jesus-christian-says-in-viral-facebook-video/

          This is exactly what I'm talking about. They needed this fool to kick up the storm. Leads to the backlash, and Starbucks gets what they want. I maintain they went with the plain red cup PRECISELY because they can get people like this to start a firestorm.

          Firestorm!

  9. Tried out some cold brewed coffee last night. Just dumped the coffee and water into the press, tossed it in the fridge, waited overnight, and BOOM! Awesome iced coffee. A few months too late, yes, but it was still a small revelation.

    1. I started doing that a couple months ago, when it was too hot here to want a steaming cup in the morning. I don't think I could find room in the fridge for a french press, but I just left it on the counter overnight and it worked really well. Way better than the iced coffee Starbucks sells, for example.

      1. Way better than the iced coffee Starbucks sells, for example.

        Sure, but what color was the cup?

        1. Heh. I know what you mean, spoons. Although, here it's just so humid all the time that I dream of Albuquerque.

      3. I never refrigerate when I am "cold brewing." I drink one cup each morning, so my french press lasts about three days. Just pour a cup and microwave for a couple minutes....

          1. Yes.

            I don't use my Toddy very often any more. Too much hassle. Instead, I just use my french press.

            It will start to ferment over several days, so I suppose one could decant and refrigerate after the first 24 hours.... But 3 days on the counter doesn't affect the flavor much, except in the summer when it gets hot around here. If I weren't lazy, I'd probably decant and refrigerate in the summer.

            1. I'm the only coffee-drinker in my house right now. Making one cup in a regular drip maker is a pain in the butt and I often spill grounds. So I make 3 days worth. Sometimes I heat the whole pot back up with the hotplate, other days I microwave. I think it tastes good.

              It will start to ferment over several days
              Could it get me drunk?

                1. when I forget to make the cold brew, I sometimes make coffee in a two-cup Pyrex measuring cup: ~two tablespoons of grounds, pour over boiling water, let steep for several minutes, then strain through a small wire mesh strainer I have, straight into the coffee cup.

      2. Seriously. I don't understand how they got an actual back for him, much less anyone that could even generously be described as a "prospect".

        1. It would have to be generous. Daniel Palka is 23 and spent the entire year at A+. Conveniently, FanGraphs started the 2016 prospect overview today with the Diamondbacks. Palka was ranked at #25, in the "40+ FV" level.

            1. Yeah. Im not expecting this guy to crack the Opening Day roster, but this is more of an organizational depth/maybe we get lucky move. Also: Palka 23 years old Herrmann is almost 28.

              1. My thinking on this move is that they are going to sign AJ so they just dumped Herrmann. Anything that they can get back is a plus.

    1. And yet, it's going well.

      I broke down and finally got League Pass this year (I got the Wolves-specific League Pass, which costs about half as much as the regular type. I would have liked all the games, but I can live with this for less money and it was easier to gain agreement). I don't know how good this team will be, but I know they've been much worse.

      1. Yeah, they should be competitive in most games. And Karl Anthony Towns is worth the price. Its why, even with a depleted roster, I am focused on basketball over the hockey game tonight.

        1. This must be a weird ass game though. I haven't broken down and gotten league pass yet, so I've just got stats to go by. By the game stats, it looks like they should be comfortably ahead. Are they just constantly fouling on shots, or something?

      1. Not sure if serious, but I bought NHL Gamecenter/Center Ice one season and was incredibly frustrated with the number of Wild games that were blacked out (I lived in Kansas at the time). I haven't repurchased.

        1. I tried to watch the Wild on the Fox Sports Go app last night, but NHL games aren't included in the app. Why do I even have my parents' cable password if I can't watch the Wild? BOOO.

  17. ''I knew that tonight I had to go out there and produce at a high level with two great players in Ricky Rubio and Andrew Wiggins not playing,'' Towns said. ''I tried to go out tonight and contribute as much as possible on both ends. I came up short. I didn't do what I had to do to help us win this game.''

    This was in his 7th NBA game after playing one year of college.

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