Voltron

Brutal, Jim, just brutal. But how was Berlin? 😎

Did anyone share the image with my passwordis?

I got distracted and forgot to post timely birthday greetings, so belated happy birthday Todd! Cheers!

These were some seriously delicious dumplings we had in SF the other day.

Belatedly happy birthday! Cheers!

🤷🏼‍♂️ 😂

That's truly despicable and depressing.

Happy 60th Antonio! I hope you enjoy a nice dram or two on this momentous day. Cheers!

I have it still and I know I should be on Roon but I'm very lazy and don't spend too much time listening to music. 🫤

Ask @n_maher or @grawk to rename it.

Thanks Doug. Jim was talking about using Tidal and Qobuz with the Nucleus One so it can stream those if you have a USB dac?

The drinking game is called "Hi Bob" because the number of times it was said per episode essentially became it's own joke. RIP to one of the true greats. I think I will listen to The Buttoned Down Mind of Bob Newhart because it's been a very long time.

I fully admit to being mostly out of it on the state of streaming and Roon especially, but I'm confused by your decision to get the Nucleus One and the miniDSP SHD, because the description of the latter makes it sound duplicative. In that setup does the Nucleus One run Roon software and manage your files and then the miniDSP SHD is your dac and preamp? Without the Nucleus One, would you need a computer even if you have the miniDSP and network drives? If I already have a dac and preamp, can I just get the Nucleus One and a drive to run Roon and play files, along with Tidal, Qobuz or Spotify through it and into the existing system that is not Roon ready? I guess my question boils down to that--does the output from the Nucleus One still require a Roon ready dac/streamer/preamp?

RIP Ruth and Richard, two unique characters who helped many others.

Thanks for trying Mikey! I'm not good at math but there's something funny about this description of the much too fancy Countryside Grill: Originally established in 1933 Celebrating 35 years of excellence! Countryside Saloon is one of Des Plaines’ best-kept secrets. Originally established in 1933, it was once a Prohibition-era speakeasy and gin mill. Today, it is a lively sports bar and grill that offers patrons a chance to see their favorite sports team, listen to live music on Friday’s or just enjoy a great meal while sipping on one of many craft beers or classic cocktails. It must have been real secret for over 50 years!

Tom insists it was in DesPlaines and it would be in the June-August time frame because my parents were teachers. I have my doubts about the year--it's possible that it was 1981 even before they wrote Eye of the Tiger.

For those who lived in the Chicagoland area in the 1980s or knew the music/club scene there, I have a question. In 1982, my brother was in business school at Northwestern and my family went to visit him that summer. Using his ID, I went with him and another older brother to see a young band named Survivor, with a month or so of the Rocky 3 release date. They played at a place in DesPlaines according to my brother, and it was a redneck bar or hall with hay bales around the perimeter for seating. Does that place sound familiar to anyone? Bonus question: We also saw 1910 Fruitgum Company at a club in Chicago on that same trip. Anybody know where that might have been? Nobody remembers anything at all about that place other than it was a proper nightclub/music venue more in town. 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for reading and any leads you might have...

It was damn hot here again so using the oven seemed crazy. So I cooked a Detroit pizza on the weber tonight for Claire's book club. I started it with the pan right over the active hot elements and then moved it to the other half of the grill where the elements were off. Kept the temp at 500-550 with the lid down. The bottom charred and I was worried at first but it was not too much and tasted good, not burnt. I failed to take a pic of the whole thing but here is the last piece and a half from top and bottom.

She was perfectly cast as Olive Oyl. Reunited with Popeye now.

I finished inputting into a spreadsheet all of the shows that Claire and I have kept ticket stubs for. She started the project years ago and logged over 300 shows from her journals, ticket stubs and scrap books. Now that I have finished all paper tickets we still have and added some that I have in memory but not on paper, the total is over 600 concerts, mostly rock (broadly defined) and jazz with a mix of symphony, bluegrass, rap, country, etc. There is a small percentage that we went to separately and I am not done scraping my memory and my friends' memories, but the bulk is now recorded. We're wondering if we will hit 1000 shows before we slip this mortal coil. Actually, that reminds me that I think I saw that band and definitely saw Dead Can Dance...

Hope it's been a good one José! Cheers!

I hope you got stacks of Stax for your birthday! Cheers!

🤤

I don't know the outcome of today's stage so don't spoil it in response, but I have two theories related to Cav's win. It is distinctly possible that he won on his own virtues and wily ways, though I wonder. Jasper Philipson stole a win away from Cav last year in stage 8 that I felt the kid could have just let him take to seal the record. Cav crashed out the next day and his possible last chance was over. So, theory 1 is that Philipson didn't go all out yesterday and let Cav have his moment. It wouldn't be the worst thing he could do. Theory 2 is that Philipson was more injured by his earlier crash than they let on and he didn't really have the legs to beat Cav yesterday. It will be interesting to see if Philipson dominates the rest of the sprints like he did last year... All of that said, I am not taking anything away from the Manx Missile and I am thrilled he hit 35. At least. Oh, and the bunny hop was epic. So was Pogacar's hard brake and shimmy to avoid a road divider earlier in the stage. That was king of unbelievable too.

Asshole