46 thoughts on “June 11, 2016: Natural Weekend”

  1. I downloaded the Beat the Streak app. Haven't played in about 6 years. My first pick? Robbie Grossman

  2. Podcast question: Does anybody know of a good interview podcast? I tried ti listen to WTF but Maron drives me nuts. No prep work and constant interjections.

    1. I really enjoyed some of Maron's interviews, especially Bob Newhart. But yeah he's way too self indulgent and I stopped.

      I've also enjoyed Happy Sad Confused. Daniel Radcliffe and Patrick Stewart were great interviews.

    2. I've only listened to one of them, but you could look into the Tim Ferriss podcast, he seems to have some cool guests and he also seems like a curious person.

    3. I listen to the Ezra Klein Show. I don't know if those are the kind of interviews you're looking for, but they're definitely interviews.

    4. I listen to Colt Cabana's "Art of Wrestling." Great interviews if you're into that kind of thing, but I suspect I'm of little help here.

  3. Oh, mama. Anyone know a good a/c repair person in the Twin Cities? Tried to turn it on for the first time all year, and nothing happened . . .

    1. I have no repair people recommendations, but I do have some experience fixing a non-working unit (though my wife did most of it).

      Evidently the most common problem with the AC just not turning on is a bad capacitor, and when they break, they bulge out on the tops and sides, so you can diagnose the problem without doing anything more than taking the cover off the compressor and looking at the capacitor (once you figure out which thing in there it is, of course). We pulled it out, got a replacement part for about $20, put in the new one, and things have worked perfectly since then. Really, it was one of the easiest home repairs we've done.

      The big downside was it went out on the weekend of Fourth of July, so we couldn't get a part for 4 days, and it was in the low 100's the whole time. We spent a lot of time at the movies and shopping in air-conditioned stores that weekend.

      1. Oh yeah, the fuses in the compressor blew too, and would blow again as soon as we replaced them, since the real problem was the capacitor. I forgot that, since my wife actually did most all of it. That was another pretty easy thing to check and fix.

    2. Thanks to both of you for the tips! Upon closer inspection, we found a dead mouse in there. I am guessing it chewed through some wires while living in there. I've got an appointment with one company for Tuesday afternoon, but I might see if I can find someone else who can come sooner. Either that or stock up on ice cream and popsicles . . .

        1. Next year I'll definitely be turning it on to see if it works BEFORE a major heat wave hits. I imagine the repair people aren't quite in such demand at that point.

  4. I went to the garage sale at Electric Fetus this morning. I got "Born to Run" and Waylon Jennings' Greatest Hits for a combined $1.

  5. Also, our house is currently infested with dry wood termites. We're going to have to have it tented. I'm certain the guys won't cook meth in the house.

  6. So...the Mandela Effect.

    I don't know how widely known this thing is, but I only learned about the concept yesterday at work, when a good dude who's full of conspiracy theories put it to me. Basically, the idea is that false memories are actually a glimpse into alternate universes where we spent some time before landing here. The #1 offering of those who believe in this is the insistence that it's "Berenstein Bears" (pronounced "STEEN") rather than "Berenstain." They all act certain that this was the name, rather than examining Occam's Razor..."Berenstein" simply sounds more like a name than the real name, so the first time they glanced at the name, they pronounced it incorrectly and never looked back.

    Here are some of the other popular suggestions, though there's no shortage if you look around.

    I find this fascinating. The lengths that the human mind will go to defend its false memories are staggering. I was always pretty intrigued by that, although "I'm not wrong - I just grew up in a different dimension" is as far as I've ever seen anyone go.

    I also figure a lot of this is the power of suggestion. The name "Mandela Effect" comes from the idea that a lot of people say they remember hearing of Nelson Mandela dying in prison. This is probably easy to believe because he was in prison, and out of the spotlight, for such a long time. Another is this memory of Sinbad playing a pirate in a TV show or movie. Well, yeah...he's called Sinbad, he looks like a pirate, and he's in movies. Pretty easy to buy into that one. I'd be extremely interested in finding out how many people at these sites are bought into the Mandela Effect, and how many are just bored, passive-aggressively mean dudes looking for a way to kill time.

    It's kind of fun to read into all of it. As silly as all of it is - and I guess I never lived in an alternate dimension because I haven't seen any false memories that ring true to me - I think it would make a fun movie or at least a short story.

    1. I admit to being part of the false memory of the bears. I remember seeing the series again when looking at children books and being surprised about the "a". I then learned about the effect when searching if anyone else had it wrong. For me, it's easy to explain by way of my parents having unusual pronunciations for many words.

    1. Radical! Where?

      Since getting here, I've still only seen Pirate and Stick. It always seems like next weekend will be easier, but it never is (at least partially because my rather lonely brother asks me to come over all the time).

        1. Unexpected indeed. It was a pleasure to meet DG, Papa Ghost, Mama Ghost, and Bearded Ghost. It turns out that The Boy and li'l Bro Ghost lived just down the hall from one another.

      1. If you want to come help us move this week, I probably won't turn down the help. Probably.

  7. Hey Spooks how you dealing with humidity today? I chuckled earlier in the week when I barely noticed the humidity knowing days like this were coming.

    1. Today (just a bit ago) I had to walk to get my haircut. I'm dictating this LTE to my sister, because I've officially become a liquid.

        1. My money's on Ecuador, but we'll know after tonight. Could be Peru if they pull a draw. Luckily, Columbia dropping to Costa Rica last night made facing Brazil pretty unlikely.

          1. Ecuador does seem most likely. I wasn't super impressed with Peru against Haiti, but they did have their moments.

            Colombia vs. Brazil would be an epic match-up in New Jersey on the other side of the bracket.

  8. If anyone is looking for something to do tonight, the boys high school rugby championship game is at 8 at Eden Prairie HS football stadium.

    My teammate is a coach for the girls team that just won their championship.

  9. Here's a video clip of Walker3 hitting a home run for Rochester. What caught my attention was the lone figure sitting on the bench while the rest of his teammates go to greet Walker.

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