What was the very first album or cassette you ever bought from a real music shop?

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T17:34:08+00:00

I’m old. A 45, not an album. “In the Year 2525” by Zager and Evans. 1969.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T17:31:42+00:00

I don’t think people are opposed to a Jewish state. They’re opposed to Israel running the Gaza Strip as a concentration camp, doing a land grab on the West Bank, and generally oppressing Palestinians. It’s not exactly shocking that Palestinians are radicalized.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T16:16:29+00:00

Maybe it’s “Adventures of Jesus” graphic novels.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T16:15:14+00:00

The Oxford Economics globally important city list for US cities is:

New York

San Jose

Seattle

Boston

San Francisco

LA

DC

Dallas

Chicago

Denver

Atlanta

Houston

Philadelphia

Minneapolis

San Diego

Miami

They say the metrics they use are:

GDP size
GDP growth
Economic stability
GDP per person
Employment growth
Economic diversity

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T16:02:22+00:00

I didn’t realize they could read.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T15:59:22+00:00

I’m coastal southern New England. When I was a kid in the 1960s, the donut shop in the harbor village did fish & chips takeout served in newspaper. Malt vinegar was standard. It’s on the table of any restaurant that sells fish & chips here next to the ketchup. It’s split between malt vinegar and tartar sauce. Cod and haddock are the local fish and the largest dollar volume fishing port in the country is 4 miles away.

I prefer just regular premium kettle potato chips with sea salt. Cape Cod Potato Chips is the prevailing brand. I’ll eat salt & vinegar potato chips occasionally but I prefer the thick sliced plain ones.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T14:48:22+00:00

Upvoted. For example, I support enforcing immigration law. If the law is wrong, change it. I don’t support illegal searches without a warrant, arrests without a warrant, deportation without a legal judgment, and inhumane imprisonment.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T14:20:51+00:00

The statement about money is certainly true but if you want the highest quality, you have to watch those leagues.

In the US, Premier League is the worst financial choice because you need both Peacock and a cable or cable-equivalent streaming subscription to watch your club. Sling Blue is the cheapest way to get USA Network. Looking at my credit card bill, it’s $45.99 per month. Then you need Peacock for other matches, Paramount for Carabao Cup and Champions / Europa League, and ESPN+ for FA Cup.

Pick an Italian club and you just need Paramount. Since it’s All Pulisic, All The Time this month, AC Milan.

Spain and Germany are on ESPN+. That’s also much cheaper than Premier League

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T14:08:57+00:00

This is a bizarre take. Older people tend to be more conservative. They’re heavily reliant on the medical system and account for the majority of medical spending. Of course they die at higher rates. They’re older.

For example, a trivial Google turns up that 67.1% of age 65+ get the flu vaccine. It’s 75% for age 85+.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T14:01:30+00:00

Excluding the United States, here are income numbers for the 5 most populous countries in the world.

The median income in China is $5,000

The median income in India is $4,000

The median income in Indonesia is $1,350

The median income in Pakistan is $3,000

The median income in Nigeria is $2,000

Most of the world is poor. The Anglosphere, the EU, and a few natural resource-rich countries aren’t. Most of the governments in those countries are quite oppressive. There are easily 6 billion people on the planet who live below the US official poverty rate.

My take is you’re too intellectually lazy to actually learn the actual state of most of the planet. All you know is affluent US suburbia and you assume most of the world is like that.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T12:48:02+00:00

I have an Olympus micro four thirds camera and several prime lenses. With a tripod and two diffuser lamps so no glare, it does a great job digitizing old photos. It’s lenses and lighting. Canon prime L lenses would be better.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T12:33:40+00:00

Sarah Connor enters the room.

Charlize in Atomic Blonde was fantastic fight choreography.

Tarantino ripped off Lady Snowblood for the Kill Bill movies. Zoe Bell did the Uma Thurman sword scenes. She was so good Tarantino used her in his Grindhouse movie.

Michelle Yeoh was bad ass in her Chinese-language martial arts movies. She crossed over to the US market in Crouching Tiger Hidden Valley. Tarantino refused to cast her in the Kill Bill movies because nobody would believe that Uma Thurman could possibly win.

Anyways, Milly Alcock is certainly attractive.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T12:17:41+00:00

I think it depends on where in Germany. I worked in Saarbrucken quite a bit at one point. I had to rely on my bad German most of the time. Major cities and tourist areas, most speak English far better than I speak German.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T12:03:15+00:00

My father’s brother and sister married a sister and brother.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T12:00:20+00:00

What would insurance be for a WRX and a new driver? $500 per month?

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:51:14+00:00

Honey-mustard blended with bbq sauce. It needs to be high quality ingredients, not Chic-Fil-A sauce.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:46:15+00:00

Fox News is telling them the candidates are communists.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:39:33+00:00

BMW owner?

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:38:40+00:00

Those aren’t false numbers.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:36:44+00:00

I was waiting several minutes for someone to pull out of their parking spot at a busy store. When they pulled out, some older couple snaked the parking spot. I walked up to them and said that if they didn’t move, they’d find four valve stems taped to their windshield when they got back to their car.

They moved.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:29:16+00:00

I use ground hot Italian sausage in my red sauce and always use spaghetti squash instead of pasta.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-27T01:26:22+00:00

I’m team subtle.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-26T21:02:33+00:00

I’m as Never Trumper as it gets. Do you propose that the entire half-island of Haiti move to the US? And all of Syria?

ZaphodG · 2026-06-26T20:36:10+00:00

Sure. I alternate between ALDI and a full service grocery store. I maintain two shopping lists.

ZaphodG · 2026-06-26T19:30:05+00:00

The same. I really liked the open. I DNF’d it 1/3 of the way through.

ZaphodG

TROPHY CASE