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sasquatch69

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Everything posted by sasquatch69

  1. We just got back from a week in London (mom, dad, two teenagers). Lots of good advice in this thread. A few other notes about London specifically: - This has been alluded to, but London is expensive af right now, even with the strong(ish) dollar. As an example, a run of the mill sit-down restaurant family meal (including a beer or mixed drink for each parent) that would be $75-80 in the states often ran $125-130 in London. - Can't remember when you're wanting to travel, but order a visitor Oystercard for London transport ASAP. These are great - they each come preloaded with 50 pounds of credit towards London tube and buses, at the least expensive rate, and you can top them off at any London Transport kiosk (in all Tube stations) as needed. We used the tube to get everywhere - it's very convenient and you never have to wait long for a train. Buses are handy in specific cases where you need to get somewhere that is inbetween tube stops. They get mailed to your house before your trip, so make sure you have enough time: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card - Echo the strong rec for Yeoman Warder tour at Tower of London. I also recommend the Churchill War Rooms if you're a history or WWII buff, as you literally walk through the underground bunker where the British gov't kept running during the Blitz. We visited the Victoria & Albert museum as well, which was fantastic - it's not just art - it's furniture, textiles, historical exhibits - you name it. - See a show if you can. There is a half-price tickets booth in Leicester Square where you can often get same-day tickets the morning of to various shows in the West End. We saw Back to the Future and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (wife's pick) and both were great (we ordered both in advance). - If anyone in your family is a Beatles/UK music fan, the Abbey Road Studios store is worth a visit - it's an easy walk from the St Johns Wood tube stop. It's cool enough to see even the exterior of such a famous studio (and the famous crosswalk outside) but the shop has all kinds of music-related shirts, vinyl, etc. - We also did the GoCity Explorer Pass for attractions to save some $. The London Pass is an unlimited pass to a bunch of stuff - you pay by the day. But unless you're hitting up a ton of the attractions on their list, it's not worth the price. The GoCity Explorer Pass is different in that you pay for a specific number of attractions and then it's like a punch card - you just use them up. It got us discounted tickets to Tower of London, a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, Shakespeare's Globe and some other stuff. https://gocity.com/london/en-us/products/explorer
  2. Points north of D/FW (Sherman, Aubrey, etc.) got a massive hailstorm around 4pm. It's the same squall line bearing down on Denton and D/FW proper right now.
  3. No station is going to build a sizable audience from scratch in three months. Steady growth is the goal.
  4. Key number to watch there is M25-54 3-7p. That's what the Freak is hanging its hat on. The fact they've already surpassed the Eagle previous year average #s after less than four months on the air is good for them, and I expect to see that number climb. B&S from 12-3 are in similar territory, but not as crucial since cume by daypart is always lower outside drivetime. Curious to see if the morning show can gain traction; I'm not optimistic. The next few months will be the big tell, since Cowboys season is over - The Fan will drop considerably, and the Ticket is likely to drop as well.
  5. Interesting topic and conversation here (for the most part). I grew up in mainline churches as a church staff member's kid, sang in choirs all my life, etc. I'm really struggling with faith right now for a variety of reasons, most notably what Christianity has become for vast swaths of people - mainly, a cudgel to enforce dogma, cruelty, etc. For a long time, I was able to mostly push that aside because of my own experience: we belong to a midsize progressive church that does a lot to serve the community, welcome LGBTQ members without judgment, etc. Being mostly away from the church for a year or so due to Covid - and seeing what it did to the congregation (and many others) in terms of engagement/attendance/you name it - has really impacted me. We're still active in terms of attendance/participation, but it just doesn't feel like home in the same way anymore. Having said all that, two takeaways for me: - I am rediscovering ancient ritual/liturgy as a (hopeful) way back. Evensong and compline services are quiet, contemplative, sensory, and don't require participation to still feel present (and feel some connection with the divine, however faint). Several Episcopal churches here in town offer them, among others, and I'm trying to find ways to make that part of a routine amid the craziness of family life. - I echo the comments above about truly hoping the Asbury revival (or whatever it is) is a sign of some longing for simpler Christianity - a connection with God without the dogma, intwined politics and desire to profit off of it. I am also skeptical, and I'm trying really hard to tamp that down inside me and be hopeful, even for just a moment.
  6. Haven't posted here in a while, but I've already ridden 150 miles since January 1, just by finding time every opportunity I can when weather is decent and trails are open. I did upgrade the front fork to a Rockshox Judy (from my stock Suntour coil fork) and it's made a huge difference in comfort - and the remote lockout has been handy when climbing. Northshore has been my trail of choice for just getting in fun miles, and it's pretty glorious this time of year (I like it better than when trees are full and green). Also, Big Cedar Wilderness is nearing completion of the process to become a Dallas city park, which is great news as most of the lower acreage where a lot of the trails are (250+ ac) was under constant threat of development: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/big-cedar-wilderness-may-become-a-dallas-city-park/3198804/ Photo: Below the drop on 2W at Northshore from early Feb, just before the ice storm.
  7. Fort Worth's convention and visitors bureau repurposed a narration by the great Jimmy Stewart (from a 1970s city promotional film) for their gorgeous new ad promoting the city. Apparently Stewart invested in property around FW and served on the Zoo board in the 70s, so he was in town a lot - who knew? (Here's the original film: https://texasarchive.org/2015_02240)
  8. I'll take "things Fox News et al will use to get the conservative base riled up in an anti-Biden frenzy yet again" for $500, Alex.
  9. It's newer and bigger than the old one, though not by a lot.
  10. I know it was mentioned above in the Grady Spears post, but we went to Fort Brewery for brunch on Saturday inbetween MTB rides. Brunch (chilaquiles) and beer were both stellar, and the vibe was great. I’m not in FW nearly as often as I used to be, so it’s nice to see more stuff popping on White Settlement. (Separate question: is the Mexican Inn on Henderson on the edge of downtown closed for good? It was closed up tight at noon on a Saturday).
  11. They're trying to avoid flooding - and the fact that everything will be covered with a layer of moisture and/or rust all the time.
  12. The house is still there, but now it’s surrounded by a housing subdivision on the back and side… and a Kroger on what used to be the large sloping front lawn.
  13. Because TCU was a solid team, won 13 games, almost won a 14th, and generally figured out how to get out of jams better than UT. Michigan couldn’t get out of their own way, and Georgia was utterly dominant at the line, had a size/speed advantage and did amazing scouting work to exploit the Frogs’ weaknesses. It’s not rocket science.
  14. I just have the skycam feed on via ESPN News. No commentary - it makes the score bearable.
  15. I don’t think Greggo would be up to that and I worry it would fall apart quickly - but I think a weekly segment or two a la Joel Klatt (Fridays with Greggo or somesuch) could work well.
  16. Eh, the second incarnation of the podcast (Your Dark Companion) was actually pretty good, and probably would still be going if he hadn't gone to The Freak.
  17. That sucks, and I've been there. I ended up doing a fair amount of (paved) trail riding when I was trying to come back after a month off due to Covid, and it really worked. I'm now trying to ride in to work (North Dallas to Uptown area) at least once a week, via WRC/SoPac/Ridgewood/Katy trails.
  18. <bear trap>Well, Chief Kunkel has dementia and wouldn’t be able to do any follow-up conversation</bear trap>
  19. Interesting couple of very frank segments just now about Greggo’s history with Rhyner. And tomorrow they’ll be on live together 3-7 - at a remote. That’s definitely one way to counterprogram White Elephant Day. 🍿 Edited to add that the show has been much more listenable with Danny in the mix, especially when they’re doing more sports and music now instead of strained lists and topic-wheel random banter. Sounds like they’re also introducing their own versions of E-News and CQH. Smart to make the show a little more clock/format-driven.
  20. Kind of funny how they’re now trying to sing over Danny’s voice to kind of hide it on segment opens, ad spots, etc.
  21. Since WRR is now all-Classical Christmas until Jan 1, that should help them in the ratings.
  22. It varies. Some stations put their streams on a separate PPM encoder (which bakes a non-audible signal into the broadcast that the Nielsen people meters pick up), while others put both broadcast and stream on the same encoder so they're all counted together. You can tell the stations that encode separately on the ratings reports because the streams show up with "STR", as in "KTCK-STR". Based on the latest 12+ reports, Cumulus and IHeart have combined the reporting for their stations while Audacy has not. https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb024
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