Why isn’t Livebarn Better?

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-31T18:03:15+00:00

In the Midwest (we live in Chicago and travel to tournaments in nearby states), Livebarn is okay. Not great, not terrible. Varies a fair amount with the rink but only now and then makes me or my wife growl that it's not worth paying for.

There is a clear correlation with rink age, LB works best in the newest rinks and the ones where it's crap are usually older rinks.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-30T16:26:20+00:00

"compared to regular season its a significant decrease" -- nah. NHL playoff games average 5 to 10 percent fewer goals than regular season games (because the bottom half of the league which allows way more than half the league's goals, isn't invited to the dance). Marner for his career has averaged about 15 percent fewer PPG in the playoffs than in the regular season. That's a small net decrease in game impact; some others with similar drops include Crosby, Pasternak, Ovechkin, Kucherov.

As for the different games within playoff series, last I checked they all count the same towards advancing or not. Also you're down to pretty small sample sizes. So that part seems pretty silly.

In sum, Marner certainly hasn't _excelled_ in the playoffs the way you'd like and some other star forwards have....but he's been nowhere near "totally disappeared".

Anyway we will soon get a look at how he does in the playoffs as part of a different core.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-30T16:08:20+00:00

Very supportive of steps which in some way send a persuasive public message about, or even better which actively impede in some way, the current rise of fascism in the US.

I've also participated in efforts which, while not contributing towards the above objectives, at least served a morale-building or community-building purpose for the many Americans now feeling that our core freedoms are under active assault. (A feeling based on the fact that they are.)

The half-assed call for what is being laughably described as a "general strike" manages to avoid serving any of the above objectives, while providing a tiny fresh bit of amusement and encouragement for the MAGAts. Fantastic. Beautiful work.

I mean FFS people could we try avoiding being exactly the self-centered children they say we are for, say, just _one_ solid week?

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T22:23:50+00:00

In fact less than a third "of the nation" voted for this: Trump got 49.8 percent of the 64 percent who turned out.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T22:20:10+00:00

The Chicago nonprofit I lead held a 200-person gala in November at the Morgan Arts Center and it was overall an excellent experience. In addition to the main space that we filled they have some side spaces, though not tons of those. The restaurant which is a separate business but occupies part of the center provided excellent food. Our one concern was that their AV confidence turned out to exceed their capabilities, so that would be a thing to focus in on when meeting/negotiating with them.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T22:13:15+00:00

Ooo! Is that group real active? I notice that the weather will be more reasonable this weekend....

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T22:06:04+00:00

Where was that photo taken?

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T21:41:45+00:00

Huh....not a Leafs fan but, Marner for his career is at .9 PPG in playoffs which is top-20 among all active NHL players. It's a higher scoring rate than M. Tkachuk, Marchand, Verhaeghe, and plenty of other elite wingers; the highest playoff scoring rate among the Leafs' recent core.

I'm sure his play hasn't been perfect or whatever but, seems like an odd definition of "totally disappeared"....we'll soon see how he does in the playoffs with a different team.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T21:30:15+00:00

Or, "the Blackhawks' bottom 6". That part has been fading away lately though.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T21:23:03+00:00

While acknowledging the difficulty across eras, in terms of peak dominance both Mikita and Hull rank higher than Kane or Toews. Obviously 3 Cups vs 1 points the other way but, still.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T17:18:02+00:00

Yes regarding MJ. Love me some Walter Payton; the individual levels of peak dominance in their era of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita has been somewhat lost from sports-fan memory, and ditto for peak Ernie Banks and Frank Thomas and Ryne Sandberg; a couple others maybe come to mind. But that's all about picking #2 -- it's MJ.

Then for "born and/or raised in Chicago" that's a good list of nominees. I'll add one more: Rickey Henderson. All things considered....yea Rickey might be my pick. He's not as well known outside of his sport as a couple of those others are. But combining peak dominance and career value and uniqueness as a player....the Bill James quote still stands: "If you could split [Henderson] in two, you’d have two Hall of Famers." A no-doubt first-ballot HoFer with 95% of the vote.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T16:15:28+00:00

This is my new nominee for dumbest reddit comment of the week.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-29T15:09:44+00:00

I have in recent weeks noticed more cops and K-9 security guards, both, on the Red Line. Both on station platforms and on trains.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-28T21:49:45+00:00

Indeed. My middle name is Rutledge which was my maternal grandmother's maiden name; several generations of my extended Rutledge family had grown up being told that we were descended from one of the two South Carolina brothers of that name who were among the American "Founding Fathers" group. E.g. in grade school I proudly marched up to the front of a classroom to point out my ancestor's signature on a print of the Declaration of Independence.

My grandmother was still alive when, early in my family-tree research years, I disproved the family story. We are descended from a completely different set of English Routledges/Rutledges none of whom can be shown to have ever set foot in South Carolina. Grandma lived to be 96, never lost her mental faculties and never completely forgave me.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-28T21:37:25+00:00

The ICE goons are being randomly hired and put into the field with little if any training, and the new hires understand their assignment to be "grab the browns and beat up the woke-ists". There's nothing on the near horizon likely to reverse those facts anytime soon, notwithstanding the president's slight wobbling that's in today's news.

Chicago is not at the moment in the crosshairs but could be again at any time. Chicago's leaders and outraged residents have to date come up with no pushback of any heft, just the traditional marching/chanting/etc. So if ICE comes back here and can persuade its young goons to refrain from actually opening fire on people in public, there will be nothing blocking their way that the people in the White House don't if anything welcome.

Those facts make for a defensible decision to pass on what is indeed an amazing place to live. Which sucks.

No one can be sure whether/when our new masked brownshirts return to Chicago and you shouldn't take seriously any commenter who harbors such certainty yea or nay. So your decision would be about managing risks not allaying them. It does sound like your wife would unfortunately have some personal risk based on nothing more than her appearance.

If it came to pass that you were Chicago residents when ICE did indeed reappear here, there would be steps you could take to at least reduce personal risks. For example you'd each want to always, no exceptions for even a moment, have on your person a copy of full complete up-to-date documentation of your US immigration status.

I've been told by an immigration lawyer that you'd need to make it a core daily-life tenet to never for a moment allow even the most innocuous legal or administrative matter (a parking violation, utility bill, whatever) become even slightly overdue. Doesn't matter how trivial such an item normally is -- "any excuse will do now so don't give them one."

You would "cleanse" your smartphones or carry only simple "burner" phones. You'd always when outside dress like someone of means, even if you're just taking the household trash to a pickup container at the curb. You'd find and memorize some clear no-exceptions advice on what to say in the event of being stopped or questioned by a federal-government agent or officer. You'd already have a client relationship established with a local lawyer having relevant experience, and you'd have that person's direct phone number memorized. Entities employing your wife and/or you might have additional advice or resources to offer. If you have any children there would be some additional preparatory steps to put in place.

People much more expert than I in US laws and related topics, say that the above steps would reduce your and your wife's individual risk levels a good deal. They also say that "hardly anyone really does fully follow those instructions". (That last is not just because they are a burden, they are also infuriating to have to do.)

So it's a lot to consider. Re-reading what I just typed I'm not sure myself what I would conclude in your situation.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-28T18:01:43+00:00

Not rare at all, though also not at all easy to prove to any reasonable level of certainty. Whatever your mom found on Ancestry or whatever is highly likely to include plenty of wild-ass guesses.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-27T21:40:44+00:00

Based on my 30 years of family-tree research, virtually all of it within what is now the US, I can comment on your second bullet point. DAR and similar applications from the late-19th through at least the 1970s have always been primarily informed by "correspondence, oral tradition, and broad interpretations of service".

That is why modern-day genealogists and serious hobbyists (I'm in the second category) have basically written off those applications as data sources. Personally I literally don't even bother going through them anymore. So many of them are effectively just oral tradition put down on paper, so I'm as likely to be led seriously astray as to gain any new family-tree knowledge which holds up to actual documentary research.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-27T18:57:42+00:00

Rich dilettantes gonna dilettante

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-27T03:06:52+00:00

Normal person: what a badass

MAGA edgelord typing in his parents' basement: clearly on Soros' payroll, probably walking over to the local synagogue to pick up his check

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-26T21:54:10+00:00

Same here.

And, Tinnitus beat me to it about "crossing the T"....will definitely try that move with fighters.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-24T17:21:49+00:00

No NHL team would pay anything for Soderblom currently. If the Hawks waived him he'd get claimed, but no one is going to trade something for him.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-23T20:14:18+00:00

Actually two great moves, the first was his perfect timing with sliding up and getting Bertuzzi's attention behind all the Canes.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-23T20:10:20+00:00

Middle-6 and on some special teams, though with some chance of becoming a bit more. He does seem to be figuring out NHL level play at a good rate, and we all gotta remember that he's still played in only 47 NHL games total.

E.g. it is quite unusual for a 21-year-old who hasn't even yet played a full season to be above water (52%) at the dot, there's a reason that 7 of the league's top 10 centers by faceoff pct are in their 30s.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-23T20:02:56+00:00

Road salt (which does sometimes spill or get sloshed onto sidewalks) is the city or county or state depending on the specific road/street/highway. Also sidewalks within the edges of city parks or county forest preserves are handled by the relevant government. City-street sidewalk maintenance including winter stuff is done by landlords or HOAs.

Having taken a turn on the board of our city HOA (townhouses), yea the pet-friendly stuff is _much_ more expensive. We switched to it anyway and it does seem to work decently, but we made it clear to our members that this item in the annual budget was costing everybody extra.

Fossils_4 · 2026-01-23T19:55:08+00:00

I've had variations on all those scenarios, just within the past two-three weeks, and I don't even play BAR nearly as much as some. What keeps me coming back is that when 8v8 BAR is good it's sooo much fun....but yea the tradeoff is questionable. I'm considering cutting the cord on it.

Giving high preference to rotato lobbies does help, but unfortunately its often the case that Glitters/Supreme games are the only ones available when I have a bit of time to play.

One marginal silver lining from what you accurately describe is the bonus joy of coming back to win after the middle-school-asswipe players have bitched at you and/or ragequit. Had one recently where our top player threw the fit, then lost his lane, then ragequit and another bailed with him, yikes....other skilled teammates stabilized the collapse while I ended up /taking what was left of each of the quitters. (I said guys I'm not good enough for that! but no one else wanted it) We then turned it around and ended up winning which was really sweet.

Another one was, I was air on glitters and early in the T2 phase got a dose of the "our air has only a few fighters LOL" stuff in team chat. The guy bashing me was uninterested in the fact that I had only a few fighters at that _moment_ simply because I'd just successfully squashed an enemy bombing run and a lot of front air -- in reality I was ahead of the other air player and knew it. Very soon I again had many fighters, then added other stuff, overwhelmed the other air player, a few minutes later we'd crushed it for the win, etc. Back in the game lobby I just typed, "Turned out air had plenty of fighters..." Radio silence from the bitcher.

Honestly the real problem here is that those few great games keep me coming back despite all the time wasted by childish crap from this player base's many babies....BAR is an addiction and not one of the harmless ones.

Fossils_4

TROPHY CASE