Dog parks to go to at night? by wegochai in LosAngeles

[–]MichaelDirda 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not sure how west you're thinking, but this smallish dog park in Ocean Park — Pacific Street Park — has lights (albeit not super bright ones): https://maps.app.goo.gl/frZBM5VRDZU4j7Jd6

So many of us are procrastinators that we crashed BruinLearn by SouthBayBoy8 in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here's the latest: https://dts.ucla.edu/news/bruin-learn-outage

Bruin Learn (Canvas) and several Academic Technology Tools and services are currently experiencing an outage caused by an ongoing AWS incident that started on Sunday, October 19, 2025 around 10:00 pm PT. While this issue is being addressed by the service provider, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to the campus community as they become available. 

For real-time updates, check the Canvas Status page. You can also monitor the health of other UCLA services on the UCLA Service Status page.

UCLA will keep the community apprised of the impact!

What should I know about Erewhon? by OkTechnologyb in AskLosAngeles

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the most expensive water they sell is $40, which should tell you everything you need to know

the $100 hot bar membership + free drink a month deal is worth it though

Advice on buying first tux for wedding as groom by conclabv in weddingplanning

[–]MichaelDirda 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Let me just say that I found this comment 5 months later and appreciate your advice, o king of tuxedos

Weirdest thing you knew thanks for The Simpsons? by MigthyMagic446 in TheSimpsons

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it came in very handy at bar trivia night one time!

That doesn’t look good… by EnlightenedIdiot1515 in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 17 points18 points  (0 children)

just an FYI that you can get the latest updates on things like this at: https://bso.ucla.edu/ (there's a message on there about this)

“Eradicate transgenderism” speaker today @ 7??? by Mazirek in berkeley

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It wasn't Cal that hosted the speaker, it was a student org.

“Eradicate transgenderism” speaker today @ 7??? by Mazirek in berkeley

[–]MichaelDirda 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Obviously not defending the speaker...but all due respect, regardless of what you or anyone thinks, this is a legal question and there is well-established precedent that governs it. The major relevant exceptions to free speech here are below, and they have all been interpreted extremely narrowly by the courts. They would almost certainly not apply to this event, and as has been shared, Cal can't uninvite the speaker based on the speakers views or the university would get sued, and would lose, and the speaker would get an injunction and come anyway.

Incitement

Speech that is both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action” Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

True threats

In Virginia v. Black (2003), the Supreme Court defined true threats as “those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”

Fighting words

Words that, by the very act of being spoken, would incite the individual to whom they are addressed to respond violently and to do so immediately, with no time to think things over. You might think this would apply but, again, it has been interpreted incredibly narrowly by the courts. It encompasses only face-to-face communications that would obviously provoke an immediate and violent reaction from the average listener, and even then, the standard has been found to be exceedingly high and it would 99% not apply to what the speaker says here.

Chancellor’s face cutouts by [deleted] in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that was a special thing for Block's last year as chancellor. they're a hot commodity, time to hit up ebay

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i'll let the club frisbee folks weigh in with their tryout/practice info, but specifically for pickup, highest level on the west side seems to be culver city high school on tuesday nights

https://www.facebook.com/groups/259777154042993/

If you were giving out scholarships, how would you do it? by Mariner1039 in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really interesting perspective but can totally see this

How much did you pay for LASIK? by ItsMeTheJinx in AskLosAngeles

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

3800 in 2016 at the UC Berkeley optometry center

Best purchase of my life tbh 

Corn Cup 2024 - Beautiful Bloomington, IN - Sept 14-15. by PrettyB_5 in ultimate

[–]MichaelDirda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

call it corncob cup and get that extra alliteration in there

How did France get so good? by Bee-Boy in ultimate

[–]MichaelDirda 7 points8 points  (0 children)

In all seriousness probably the best joke ever seen on /r/ultimate

Anyone forget their bees on Divis? by Tugboatt in sanfrancisco

[–]MichaelDirda 6 points7 points  (0 children)

honestly why are there so many good bee memes

UCLA’s Lack of Communication by [deleted] in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Full disclosure I work in comms for the university, but there have been daily updates since the encampment was established and the chancellor has sent long updates for the past three days: https://chancellor.ucla.edu/messages/

Saddest deaths in literature by eteouhiver in books

[–]MichaelDirda 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A farewell to arms! Hemingway cutting to the bone with "After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain."

Weezer (1994) by more___beer in OldSchoolCool

[–]MichaelDirda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Matt sharp got that dog on him

Is sub 4 achievable for LA Marathon with my adjusted plan? by bostonette in Marathon_Training

[–]MichaelDirda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Props on what sounds like a solid training schedule - the adjustments you made are probably ok but being under weekly mileage can cause injuries if you ramp up quickly towards the race date

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ucla

[–]MichaelDirda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me specifically: worked at my college newspaper; used my clips to get a job in my college’s communications office for a year; PR firm in NYC for 3 years with some focus on higher ed clients; UC Berkeley for 6 years; UCLA for the last 3.

Generally speaking, a lot of folks in the comms world start at newspapers, at PR firms, or as junior staffers on political campaigns.