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Viewing 30 posts - 31 through 60 (of 709 total)
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  • in reply to: The Night Of #50526
    Dak
    Participant

    It’s very good. Our “justice” system needs to be completely turned on its head.

    in reply to: The REAL ‘Lone Ranger’? #50351
    Dak
    Participant

    Pretty cool. That’s a much better story than the TV “Lone Ranger.”

    in reply to: garden pics #49992
    Dak
    Participant

    zn, our ceiling didn’t collapse, or anything like that, but there was just so much maintenance. I took on the deck this year. It’s a two-tier deck that the previous guy covered with Deckover crap. It’s almost all sanded. We needed to take a break so we could actually enjoy the pool this summer. Come fall, we plan to paint it. That’s probably been the most time-consuming and expensive part of the fixing up, but it’s a beautiful deck and a very nice pool. In the end, it will be totally worth it. We really didn’t have a choice in the matter … have to fix it. I’ll post pix when I’m all done.

    in reply to: garden pics #49925
    Dak
    Participant

    Very nice work on the gardens. I am jealous. Just moved to a new home, and I’m just trying to get this place presentable before moving on to gardening. When I do, I will try to remember to post some photos … I’ll be lucky if I can start next spring.

    in reply to: Trump Putin connections #49519
    Dak
    Participant

    If journalism was still the Fourth Estate, this story would dominate the news cycle until The Donald specifically addressed his financial connections with Russia. This guy hasn’t even released his tax records.

    in reply to: Chomsky on voting for Clinton #49518
    Dak
    Participant

    I live in Missouri. I guess this isn’t even a swing state anymore, but with Trump on the GOP ticket, my wife and I will vote for Hillary, just in case.

    Dak
    Participant

    Trump’s Mussolini impersonation at his acceptance speech pretty much clinched it for me. I am holding my nose and voting for her. Again, it’s bad vs. horrible. This time, horrible is scarier than ever. His news conference yesterday just gives you a glimpse into the insanity that would be a Trump presidency. I mean, what a mess. I understand people wanting a candidate who isn’t beholden to the political elite. But, this guy? You trust this guy? His track record screams, “I care about me, and only me!” Then again, that type of “survival of the fittest” persona is what speaks to many Republicans. Hell, President The Donald I could tear down every positive government program ever, and he’d be cheered by his supporters. I wouldn’t put anything past him. Clinton is self-serving, too, but at least she has some policy plans that could help.

    Sad. We could be talking about real issues that affect real people. Instead, we’re talking about whether to elect a Tire Fire over a Career Politician.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Dak.
    in reply to: any Game of Thrones guys here? #47245
    Dak
    Participant

    I like the show. I was a late-comer to the show, and binged on the first three seasons or so. I loved the unpredictability. Now, it seems a little more predictable. But, that’s OK. This season’s productions were amazing. That battle scene, wow, that was amazing. They did a great job with that. And, the thing with GOT, you don’t know if the heroes are going to win. It looked like Jon Snow failed. And, he did. Twice. But, for the first time, there’s a savior to erase a mistake, and a cavalry to save the day. Kind of the same thing with the slavers’ seige of Mareen, except dragons instead of the cavalry. Arya also got a lot of extra chances.

    I, too, have problems with some parts of the show. There was one season where I was underwhelmed. Not a fan of the Sand Snakes. There’s way too much jumping around, and there are characters I don’t know even know they are, but they act as though I do. But, then, there are amazing scense. Peter Dinklage facing the prospect of death, talking to his brother, as we await The Viper vs. The Mountain. And, then, that fight … the most memorable battle to the death in all of TV history. (If only The Viper would have seen The Incredibles. Don’t get caught monologuing!)

    Anyway, I’m looking forward to the last two seasons. Loving the dragons and the Dragon Queen. And, the White Walkers are pretty cool, har, har, har. I’m going to guess that Cersei will die a fitting death of some kind. Then, we’ll have fire vs. ice. Winter is here!

    in reply to: time to take the political compass poll again #45538
    Dak
    Participant

    null

    in reply to: Death of Clintonism, Victory of Sandersism #44723
    Dak
    Participant

    Yes, that was a very good article.

    American politics is disgusting. In a fair and open-minded arena, the media would be fawning over Sanders the underdog. Instead, he’s held nearly in contempt. How dare he continue to challenge the anointed Democrat? Hillary has “paid her dues.” … What’s amazing is that Trump could be president simply because he’s facing Hillary. And, the only way she wins is sounding more and more like Sanders. Surreal.

    in reply to: Also stopping by to say Hi. #44124
    Dak
    Participant

    Hi, Billy.

    Haven’t ready any books lately … ever since the never-ending saga of The Move and now The Fix-up. My boss lent ne a book on John Adams. I hope to crack it soon.

    in reply to: Stopping by to say hi #44123
    Dak
    Participant

    Thanks, guys. Fighting through some kind of weird illness, so I didn’t get back here as soon as I wanted to see your responses. Now, I have to go read Billy T’s thread.

    in reply to: relocation articles & links … 1/25 & 1/26 #38170
    Dak
    Participant

    I’ll tell you what. I always thought Burwell was just a drama queen. But, the more I look back at the things he wrote, the more I appreciate them. He just nailed this one, from SK’s cutthroat style to the fact that local leaders needed to prepare for the worst scenario.

    in reply to: relocation articles & links … 1/25 & 1/26 #38091
    Dak
    Participant

    PFT initially raised the red flag regarding the possibility that the man known in St. Louis as Silent Stan will be as calculatingly ruthless with a potential partner as he was with a hometown he supposedly loves and then left. League sources have expressed optimism that the deal finalized two weeks ago in Houston comes with assurances that Kroenke will be reasonable, and incentives for him to quickly welcome another team to L.A., including for example the immediate ability to sell premium products at the stadium to be opened in 2019.

    MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Have the other owners met Stan Kroenke?

    in reply to: relocation articles & links … 1/25 & 1/26 #38090
    Dak
    Participant

    i don’t know what grubman is trying to say but i read one thing that makes sense. having a team in los angeles will be key when negotiating a new tv deal. i think that’s what the owners are ultimately banking on rather than the real estate project around the stadium.

    it will also act as a home base for nfl west with nfl films and the combine (after the contract expires with indianapolis) and the draft and superbowls.

    We’ll see how this affects TV ratings. I’m not 100% sure they will go up. But, if it was inevitable that an L.A. team would get the NFL a better TV contract, that’s not really an argument for SK’s vision as it was for moving any viable team into L.A.

    in reply to: relocation articles & links … 1/25 & 1/26 #38061
    Dak
    Participant

    “I think that L.A. is a one-team market, I think L.A. is a two-team market, I think L.A. is a three-team market, I think L.A. is a four-team market,” Grubman told me. “But each of those models is going to rest on a couple of essential foundations. One is you have to a have a killer stadium, and two is you have to have flawless execution of the market because you have to have an identity that is unique, and your brand has to really resonate. As big as it is, it is a very competitive place, and second place in anything in Los Angeles, in anything, gets no air time. So if you have two teams in one stadium and they execute flawlessly and it’s a great stadium, they’ll be terrific. If you have two stadiums and each of them execute flawlessly, they’ll be terrific. If you have two stadiums and one executes well and one executes poorly, it doesn’t matter what that second stadium is. It is all about execution, plus a great stadium. With that, I think you can have any number of teams, up to a point of course. And Los Angeles loves a winner. They love a winner, they love sizzle, they love being first.”

    What the hell is Grubman saying, or trying not to say, in this quote? So, L.A. can support up to four teams. Or, if there’s a team or multiple teams who are not winning, L.A. won’t support any of them. I mean, I know that the Kroenke project is what made this deal happen. He has the crazy money, the land and the vision to wow a bunch of rich guys, and the NFL front office folks like the idea of landing in a shiny new facility in the greater L.A. area. It really does all make sense … except when SK, or anyone in the NFL, tries to talk about football and how this was a decision about football. SK hasn’t made any football decisions. This is all about empire building. And, if his product sucks, it doesn’t matter, because he will make money. The part that’s a little head-scratching for me is that he’s gonna make money off the real estate project around the stadium, but the other NFL owners don’t share in that, do they? No way. How could they?

    in reply to: Relocation/the move … 1/21 – 1/23 #38059
    Dak
    Participant

    Hmm. So even “imagineers” couldn’t beat Kroenke’s vision.

    amazed girl meme

    in reply to: Should St. Louis get a CFL team? #38048
    Dak
    Participant

    Not unless we move the city to Canada.

    in reply to: Relocation/the move … 1/21 – 1/23 #38047
    Dak
    Participant

    So much has been made about this presentation regarding the Inglewood plan. You’d think that the CEO of Disney could have come up with something equally or more exciting than the Rams’ organization. Looks like the Carson group dropped the ball.

    in reply to: nittany #37821
    Dak
    Participant

    I am a Ram fan no matter what. Just can’t shake this awful feeling. My wife doesn’t understand what’s wrong with me.

    Yeah, I can’t talk much to my wife about it. I just point out reasons why Kroenke is a dick once in a while. But, she doesn’t really understand my loss.

    See, what makes it even harder is knowing that walking away from the Rams means walking away from news like this about the Nittany email. Where will I get my information about Nittany’s communications if I don’t stick around here? My bet? I won’t. Unless I find myself working for the NSA. Which is unlikely. Which means that I will probably never know about the email that Nittany gets when I walk away.

    in reply to: JT's "NFL Chat"… 1/19 #37820
    Dak
    Participant

    There are a lot of people with empathy for St. Louis Rams fans … and I appreciate that. What’s amazing to me is just how little empathy the Rams’ front office had for those same Rams fans, and this community in general. It’s astonishing, really. That extends to the NFL, in general. WV, I get what you’re saying about just rooting for the players fighting it out on the field. And, boy, that is all I ever wanted to do. But, when the organization that provides that product is so damn corrupt regarding its attitude toward communities, well, I am going to have to try to pull away from that product altogether. I’ve got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach after all of this.

    in reply to: JT's "NFL Chat"… 1/19 #37787
    Dak
    Participant

    I’ll be the first to admit that what happened to STL football fans here isn’t different than what happened to L.A. fans. There are some differences about how this went down, though. L.A.’s leadership had no stadium plan, and L.A. had no appetite to put together a plan. STL did. Georgia wasn’t super-rich, and she was going to need help to build a new stadium. SK is super-rich, and he needed no help, obviously. Both were after more money, but we’re talking really good money versus crazy-rich make the franchise cherry-on-my-Fortune-500 portfolio type uber-money. And, I don’t know how much Georgia lied to the fans of L.A., but SK was living a lie, and even said he intended to stay here, and wouldn’t lead the charge out of here. The people at Rams Park who just lost their jobs said that SK told them he wouldn’t abandon STL.

    in reply to: Whatever happened to GRITS? #37761
    Dak
    Participant

    Actually I read up the history on that clause. Shaw didn’t put it in there, the St. Louis side did. It was in lieu of something else Shaw actually wanted, which apparently was for the city to guarantee picking up regular maintenance on the site.

    I heard from a local media person on a radio show that Shaw added the “top tier” clause as almost a last-second addendum and pretty much expected it to be rejected, and he was surprised when it was accepted.

    Two different versions, each from a 2nd hand source.

    Wonder which is right, or indeed if either of them is?

    Not a big deal, just noticing an interesting difference. Fwiw.

    .

    Yeah, I don’t know how it went down. If somebody from the STL side dreamt that up, they certainly aren’t going to admit it.

    in reply to: Whatever happened to GRITS? #37749
    Dak
    Participant

    I heard from a local media person on a radio show that Shaw added the “top tier” clause as almost a last-second addendum and pretty much expected it to be rejected, and he was surprised when it was accepted.

    Let’s face it, though: Kroenke and Goodell would have found some other path to L.A. even without this clause. They scorched St. Louis on the way out even with the clause.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Dak.
    in reply to: JT's "NFL Chat"… 1/19 #37748
    Dak
    Participant

    I know of one Rams executive who showed up at the league meetings in Chicago in August (at the time of disturbances over the 1-year anniversary of Ferguson) and greeted a national writer w/the following: “Another day, another riot in St. Louis.”

    Hmm, you’ll never see race riots in L.A.!

    About this statement: It really gives you a glimpse into the culture of the St. Louis Rams’ organization. And, like any organization, that culture starts with the leader at the top. I’ll be interested in reading the PD’s story on Sunday, but just from JT’s chat here, it sure looks like what happened is that SK decided long ago that he would grow his fortune in L.A., and that everything the Rams’ organization did over the next few years would go toward that goal. Goodell was on board, and obviously knew more about that plan than he said publicly. It really wasn’t that long ago that the organization admitted that it was actively trying to move to L.A. Even after it came to light about the Inglewood site, the NFL and the Rams made comments to try to downplay it. Now, if you’re in the middle of a negotiation that could end up with your team staying in St. Louis, you would leverage that new property acquisition for a better deal in St. Louis. THERE WAS NEVER GOING TO BE A DEAL IN ST. LOUIS FOR STAN KROENKE. He was put all of his chips on L.A., and with Goodell as the dealer, he got the right cards in the end.

    Btw, this has been hard, trying to ignore the NFL the past few weeks. The NFL Playoffs was always my favorite sporting event, even with the Rams rarely in it. But, I have to try. I haven’t missed a Super Bowl since I can remember. It will be really weird not having it on in my house. It’s SUPER weird not watching the playoffs. I actually turned on an old episode of Columbo during the Arizona-Green Bay game.

    in reply to: This new hundred trillion dollar stadium #37658
    Dak
    Participant

    Fisher said in an interview that he was in on the meetings about the new stadium during the season.

    So much for his patented line that he didn’t know what was going on, he didn’t want the distraction.

    in reply to: reporters on the Rams move (1/14 & 1/15) #37354
    Dak
    Participant

    Wow. Poor Stan, the victim. That’s unbelievable.

    in reply to: The last time the NFL left St. Louis compared to now #37352
    Dak
    Participant

    Well, Dak, I am greatly sorry for your despair, if that’s the right word. I’ve been reading the distress of St. Louis fans this week, and feeling the pain of your pain. We all saw this possibility coming, and now suddenly, here we are. I’ve been more or less silent since the decision because I just know there isn’t really anything that I can say about it. For my own selfish reasons, I wish I had some kind of perspective I could offer that you would find useful, you in particular because we have been through some transformative times together, and I consider you an important friend with commonalities outside the NFL that matter more than the NFL connection. I will miss your presence, and hope you do find yourself on the other board at least, even if you can’t find any interest in the Rams fan part of it.

    What makes this even harder for me is that I feel the same way about you and many others who I’ve posted with.

    About the STL Cardinals, don’t get me wrong, the owners aren’t humanitarians, really. But, they are good sports franchise owners.

    in reply to: The last time the NFL left St. Louis compared to now #37310
    Dak
    Participant

    Thanks, wv. I might decide to post in the Public House now and again. I don’t know.

    Yeah, there’s no guarantee that the next owners of a team won’t screw it all up. I get that. Believe me, these feelings I have, they are somewhat surprising to me.

    in reply to: The last time the NFL left St. Louis compared to now #37307
    Dak
    Participant

    And, this isn’t just about SK, really, but rather the entire NFL. I don’t think I stated that well enough. Not watching the NFL is due to the way the NFL treated fans in St. Louis. It’s not that I’ve turned just on the Rams. It’s the entire effing league.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Dak.
Viewing 30 posts - 31 through 60 (of 709 total)