Cup of Coffee

January 30, 2020: PG

66 Comments

The New Pornographers just released a kid friendly t-shirt that has the cover of their new album with the band name “The News Photographers”, which is hilarious and wonderful.

66 thoughts on “January 30, 2020: PG”

    1. Missing a line from Hawai'i. There's a lot to like in this, such as the Oregon-Washington pair, Minnesota opting out of the states, or New Jersey opting out completely.

  3. Jeff, what was that line about people angry with the sermon? I dug through the coc’s and couldn’t find the exact quote.

    2. I'm definitely "get of my lawn" regarding bobbleheads, hall of fame ceremonies, giveaways, homer hankies, trendy foods, etc at the ballpark. Whatever gets butts in the seats is fine, it just doesn't move me at all.

      I just want a good team, some cold (craft) beer, sausage (with onions and brown mustard), and peanuts. Maybe an ice cream.

      1. I'm with you. I've been cleaning out the basement and figuring out what to keep.

        Does anybody want any Twins stuff?

          1. Mainly obscure, worthless stuff. Some random autographs (Pat Mahomes, Scott Ulger, etc.) Old programs, yearbooks, giveaways....

            2. I'd be interested in yearbooks, if they're in okay condition. I don't have all that many of them myself. I have a pretty good pocket schedule collection, too, although it'd be better if I lived in MN.

              I've got a couple bobbleheads that one of my brothers gave me, which is cool, but they're just dust collectors.

        2. I don't have a lot of memorabilia, it doesn't do much for me, either, but for some reason I've still got boxes of Wheaties from 1987 and 1991. The rest is mostly giveaway shirts but I do have several Homer Hankies and a little 1991 World Champs commemorative beer stein on my dresser. My favorite thing is the ball I caught on the first base side of the upper deck of the Metrodome, pitched by Brad Radke in his last season, fouled off by Placido Polanco.

    3. 6. Talkers also stick to the back. That’s fine if you’re not completely into the band, but please remember that most of the people around you are. If you have something more to say to your friend besides a quick comment on a song or a joke about the bass player, head to the back corners and gab away. Unless it’s a show at the Fine Line, in which case you should just leave; that venue has been plagued by audible audience chatter for decades.

      This rule should apply everywhere, but here going to a show is more about social cred and business deals. People talk through every kind of show here. Makes me kinda crazy, but I've gotten used to it.

    4. 12. We also live in a phone-y world. OK boomers, this first part is mainly for you: Unless a venue or artist posts rules strictly prohibiting it, people are going to take pictures and shoot video on their phones at a concert. Get used to it.

      TIL I’m a boomer.

      (Also, I guess the STrib must’ve really cut back on the editorial staff if they’re letting racial epithets get through. See #8.)

      1. I had no idea that was racial. I can imagine it might be and who it may refer to, but I had never heard it in a racial context.

          1. I'm thinking this has generational/cultural context and whoever is editing may be in our same boat.

          2. The weird thing is, I can’t make any of the other uses of that word fit any kind of meaning. It seems to suggest the author’s heard the word used to describe one who behaves a certain way that is nonsensical to the observer, but isn’t actually aware of the origin of that usage. (Just to be clear, I’m not implying the usage was intentional. But in a state with a substantial population from Southeast Asia, it’s a bit glaring all the same.)

            1. I'm assuming that he meant definition #4 on Google's word definition search. Again, that's how I've always heard the word used (unless it's meant in the sports sense, as in tennis or golf, which...doesn't SEEM to be how he meant it). I'd never heard the racial variety until about ten minutes ago.

                1. Me three.

                  Bad Janet calls people "Ya fat dink" all the time on "the Good Place", and I highly highly doubt a Michael Schur show would use a racial epithet like that.

                  I figured it was from definition 3 from Merriam-Webster: NITWIT, JERK, NERD

              2. I think he did, too, but I suspect that definition is drawn from the epithet. OED Online doesn’t feature a non-racial definition matching “a stupid or contemptible person,” instead recording the third definition as military slang emerging from the Sixties, with the meaning “a derogatory or contemptuous term for a Vietnamese person.” It was certainly a word I heard in boot camp; our DIs used it to refer to recruits, individually and collectively. I knew a former DI who even used the word as the name for one of his cats. I’m not sure even they realized, at their closer proximity, the origin of the word. But, if you read journalistic accounts from the era quoting troops, or vet-authored war literature, it’s littered all over the place. It’s not as popular as a word that begins with G, but it’s quite common in those contexts.

      2. If it wasn't used as a racist epithet and the majority of people don't think of it as a racist epithet, is it a racist epithet?

        1. I am thinking that the racial epithet version (specific to Vietnamese, I think) was fairly isolated to the military.

          There was another term, starting with G, that I recall having much more currency during the Vietnam war, which has a long history (originating, it seems, in the Spanish-American War in reference to Filipinos, but expanded in each subsequent Pacific war to other Asian populations.

        2. I mean, for some people, yes.

          There's a part of me that would want to argue for continued usage of the word, but that part of me has grown smaller and quieter over time. Its the same part of me that first chafed at being corrected on using other offensive words that I didn't previously know to be offensive (middle school Phil using words like "retarded"). I've grown over the years, but I can't pretend sensitivity is always first nature. But hopefully it is my dominant nature, regardless. Now knowing this word to be offensive to some people, I'll do my best to cease using it. It's not too essential to my vocabulary anyway, and I doubt we'll ever reach the point where sensitivity truly curbs our ability to communicate.

          1. To an extent, but there are limits. If an American flipped two fingers to me, I'd assume it was the peace sign. In some other cultures, it may have a much different meaning. I don't think that means we stop using it as a show of peace.

          2. This. We can all learn. Communication is a two (or three) way street. It behooves all of us to pay attention to our words and how they are interpreted.

            Sometimes, trying to reframe the meaning of an entrenched term or phrase is pretty futile and creates unnecessary confusion. Other times, pointing out problematic etymologies can spur social change.

            1. Sometimes, trying to reframe the meaning of an entrenched term or phrase is pretty futile and creates unnecessary confusion. Other times, pointing out problematic etymologies can spur social change.

              I'm sure I have no idea what you're referring to.

            2. As long as we all agree that a mayor making a pointing gesture is definitely a gang symbol, I'm on board. 😉

            3. Other times, pointing out problematic etymologies can spur social change.

              When done calmly and assuming best intentions when all indications point to the other party being well-intended. Because if you don’t...well, you might actually be the asshole in the room. And unless the other party is especially gracious in the long run, you’ve probably shut down communication.

              Ask me how I know.

                1. I suspect it’s especially hard for the other guy when you’ve made an assumption & set your mind about something that, viewed with sobriety, isn’t true.

                  1. Like I said, communication is hard. I would guess that we all tend to think that our motives are pure and words clear each and every time.

                    1. Well, given the opportunity of another crack at the conversation, I hope I’d approach it very differently than I actually did. I was neither fair, nor kind.

                    3. "Nah man, I was being a dingus."
                      Is that one ok? Or seemingly too similar and/or etymologically linked?

                    4. I appreciate that, but you needn't. The interaction was my fault. I apologize for attacking you. The way I went about that was uncalled for. You’ve been very magnanimous about everything since.

    1. hmm, i don’t know if i have strong enough opinions to decide what people should be listening to. i'll let this opportunity go to someone more deserving...

    1. i posted this elsewhere, but ‪just once i want to hear one of the impeachment managers turn around to roberts and say, “well, manager. we just say manager.”‬

      1. Yeah, the guy in the $4,000 suit is going to waste his time talking to the Chief Justice. C'mon!

  9. Have we discussed this?

    Coplin: I would be watching the monitors and trying to factor my own opinion about the show, but no matter what you see in the television truck, you have no sort of sense of what people at home are experiencing. And I remember just my phone started blowing up. Like, “OMG, this is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” I just had all these people, friends, colleagues, people in the business, just really losing their minds on my texts. And that’s when I knew that this thing was really maybe even better than we thought it was gonna be.

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