Useless Conversation

[Paelos]

I opened my window and at one point it got 10% darker.

Basically what we did. It was overrated as hell in Atlanta.

[lamaros]

Ok, seriously though on New York. Amazing (and I mean Amazing) sushi can be found in almost every major city in America. There's 5-10 restaurants that are pure New York that won't exist with their current chefs forever:

Either Daniel Humm restaurant is a good choice: Eleven Madison Park, NoMad
Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin
Gramercy Tavern
I'm gonna throw Momofuku and Ma Peche on the list due to pop culture, but I'm not sure they should be on there (dessert from Milkbar is a must tho)
Ivan Ramen
Katz's (fuckit, it makes every list)
Red Rooster

This list runs from cheap to the most money you could possibly spend. Not in that order.

Edit: Before 2016 Four Seasons would've made the top of the list if you've never been.

Thanks for the recommendations schild. Went to Red Rooster on Sunday. Food was good and the band was excellent fun. Bonus points for Red Rooster being a crappy fast food chain in Australia.

Milkbar and Katz's are around the corner so will pop past at some point. Will probably give the high end a miss this time around.

I'd love to get some decent Ramen but sadly partner is coeliac...

[Sky]

I think the traffic jam on interstate 57 might have reached from Chicago to Memphis at some point. Now I know what people evacuating coastal areas before a hurricane feel like.

A lot of friends who were at GenCon were bitching about the commute home and the price gouging at hotels.

[Mandella]

So, yeah. The eclipse. I have a friend, college professor, one of the smartest people I know, who was telling me his seventy something year old mom called him day before yesterday totally freaked out and wanting to know if he had made sure he had protection from the eclipse. She and some other friends were planning to (and as far as I know, did) go to the local church, block the windows, and pray through the event.

She wasn't satisfied until he promised he'd take the dogs and girlfriend and barricade themselves in the closet until it was over and it was safe to go outside again.

I was saddened by this so much I couldn't even make a funny. She's not senile -- this is just the way it is for a lot of people.

[Ironwood]

Triffids dude.

[taolurker]

The 12 best photos of the 2017 Eclipse

[schild]

neat

a reddit thread at themindcircle.com

[rattran]

I'll take triffids over regular 2017.

[Abagadro]

So totality will go right over my house in 2045 if I can manage to stave off a massive MI or liver failure til then.

[Ironwood]

So that's not happening.

[Abagadro]

Ya, probably.

[Selby]

I was saddened by this so much I couldn't even make a funny. She's not senile -- this is just the way it is for a lot of people.

I laughed the first time I heard about this. Then I heard about people having this reaction on a larger scale and realized that this apparently scared the shit out of a LOT of people throughout my state on the south. Then I was saddened as this is how a not insignificant portion of the country lives: afraid of natural scientific phenomena and distrustful of our educated scientists.

[WayAbvPar]

NOVA did a really great show about the eclipse. Required viewing if you are interested in astronomy and such at all.

[Samwise]

What is it exactly that people barricading themselves in churches think will happen?

I had one friend on FB post that she was afraid to go outside for fear she'd accidentally look at the sun and go blind.  I told her, you avoid staring at the sun every day, do the same thing tomorrow and you'll be fine.    

[Chimpy]

I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office on Friday and they had the Today show on and they were talking about the shortage in eclipse glasses and the person mentioned that "and no, you don't need eclipse glasses for your pets. The experts say that "pets are smart enough not to look at the sun" " 

Which actually was the most surreal thing about the eclipse to me. It wasn't the weird light right before the totality, or the darkness in the middle of the day, or the precipitous temperature drop. It was the fact that I was staring directly at the sun at 1:20 PM with the naked eye.

[ghost]

What is it exactly that people barricading themselves in churches think will happen?

I had one friend on FB post that she was afraid to go outside for fear she'd accidentally look at the sun and go blind.  I told her, you avoid staring at the sun every day, do the same thing tomorrow and you'll be fine.    

Maybe that was why Jim Baker said it was sent from Gawd as a punishment-  to get all the idiots to look at it.

[schild]

I need a connection for wholesale prices on audio gear. The markup is too damn high and I dont really care to support local stores.

[Sky]

I used to sell speakers out of a truck in LA.

[schild]

that doesn't help

unless you have some Raidhos or Dynaudio Xeos or something hanging around

[Morat20]

Well, hoist a glass to us poor fuckers in Texas. We're about to take it up the ass again. Allison 2.0.

Damn thing is coming in hard, and then planning on hanging out for days pounding rain on us. You know, like Allison. Although they're only projecting about 20 inches of rain, and Allison decided 40 was what was needed.

Houston's probably just gonna flood under tropical storm winds -- but I've got friends living right where it's coming ashore and projected to do a freaking loop over.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Doesn't Lantyssa live right near the Houston coast or somewhere thereabouts?  Hope all the Texans here stay safe and nothing bad happens in the storm. 

[ghost]

What the heck are you going to do with $30,0000 speakers?   

[Chimpy]

What the heck are you going to do with $30,0000 speakers?   

Haven't you seen the remake of The Italian Job?

schild is the real Napster.

[Nebu]

What the heck are you going to do with $30,0000 speakers?   

Attach them to a Sony receiver and monster cables just to make every audiophile in the world cry. 

#bestideaever

[Morat20]

Doesn't Lantyssa live right near the Houston coast or somewhere thereabouts?  Hope all the Texans here stay safe and nothing bad happens in the storm. 

I believe she does. It's gonna be just hanging out and raining on our heads for several days. Allison Version 2.0.

And like I said, I have friends living where it's making landfall (as Cat 3 or maybe stronger), who literally just closed on their house a few weeks ago. They get wind, rain, storm surge, flash floods, tornadoes -- the whole Act of God ensemble.

Houston's worry is flooding, not wind. Also possibly tornadoes.

Hopefully it'll keep moving enough to spread the rain around -- I think we're looking at 5 to 8 inches of rain a day for five days. Allison dumped 40, and my dad clocked 12 inches in three hours for that one. They're talking "stall" but not as bad as Allison was. (Allison didn't stall. Allison took out long-term parking).

[schild]

What the heck are you going to do with $30,0000 speakers?   

Wat

The Dynaudios I want are MSRP like $3000 and the Raidhos are $7000.

I want the bookshelves. I already have JBL Studio towers and they're just too much. Also they're fugly.

[schild]

Doesn't Lantyssa live right near the Houston coast or somewhere thereabouts?  Hope all the Texans here stay safe and nothing bad happens in the storm.  

I believe she does. It's gonna be just hanging out and raining on our heads for several days. Allison Version 2.0.

And like I said, I have friends living where it's making landfall (as Cat 3 or maybe stronger), who literally just closed on their house a few weeks ago. They get wind, rain, storm surge, flash floods, tornadoes -- the whole Act of God ensemble.

Houston's worry is flooding, not wind. Also possibly tornadoes.

Hopefully it'll keep moving enough to spread the rain around -- I think we're looking at 5 to 8 inches of rain a day for five days. Allison dumped 40, and my dad clocked 12 inches in three hours for that one. They're talking "stall" but not as bad as Allison was. (Allison didn't stall. Allison took out long-term parking).

Theres absolutely no warning nor sign of tornados with this one, thank goodness.

This is selfish but I'm glad I'm in Austin. Also my house literally backs up to the good side of the floodwall. As in Its the souh side of my driveway. So, that too should it decide to move westward.

[Morat20]

My wife bought out house (not long before we got married) right after Allison. One of her requirements? "Did not flood during Allison". didn't even come close.

Nor did Ike. Of course our route in and out of the neighborhood (the only one) does flood fairly easily.

And our city, after Allison, went pretty hardcore on fixing the flood issues. Several places only flooded do to obstructions or culvert problems. City built a 36 acre overflow pond (basically to hold the big, quick surges until they can drain) and a lot of small ones, as well as clearing out a ton of culverts and drainage connections.

I am a bit worried about heavy rainfall + storm surge, but that's more a danger to the downtown areas and the storm surge zones. (And even they've expanded since Ike and Allison, but water has to go somewhere and it's a lot slower to drain when storm surge is shoving four extra feet "up" while 25 inches of rain is shoving down).

With the low winds, worst thing that's gonna happen is the roof leaking. The roof that was supposed to be replaced today. Obviously that got canceled...

[Yegolev]

Total eclipse was well worth seeing.  It's like horseshoes and hand grenades, so try again if you missed it.

[schild]

Total eclipse was well worth seeing.  It's like horseshoes and hand grenades, so try again if you missed it.

Eclipses are so last week. This week is dead white trash and flooded oil refineries, son.

[Sir T]

So, yeah, been in hospital for a week and ah half because an infection in my foot blew up and migrated to My left Paroted gland, and caused me to lose hearing in my ear for 36 hours, so I've been on IV anti-biotics since then.

NBD. Also the Doctors are trying to persuade me to use a new diabetic drug that involves me SRTABBING A NEEDLE INTO MY BELLY EVERY DAY. I said I really didn't feel like doing it, and the Nurse said "oh its fine. totally my choice" and rhen she left the room and then 2 doctors came in and said "we hear you don't want to use this Diabetic drug" I sank back into my bedclothes as I realized I was in a mafia movie.

However I was asked to volunteer to be used in a medical exam by some trainee surgeons where they got them to come in and examine me. One guy they brought in, then said "Do you see anything on his foot" and he said "well I see what looks like an ulcer..." and then they said "thank you. Come on, and then they dragged him out of the room and grilled him for 15 minutes on everything he had noticed about me in the 1 minute he ad been standing there. No pressure.

[MahrinSkel]

Stab needles into your belly, or schedule the amputation for your foot. No pressure, your call.

--Dave

[schild]

What Dave said.

[ghost]

What the heck are you going to do with $30,0000 speakers?   

Wat

The Dynaudios I want are MSRP like $3000 and the Raidhos are $7000.

I want the bookshelves. I already have JBL Studio towers and they're just too much. Also they're fugly.

There are some seriously high dollar Raidhos.  Like in the $20-60,000 range. 

[Sir T]

Stab needles into your belly, or schedule the amputation for your foot. No pressure, your call.

--Dave

Let me sleep on that...