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Everything posted by boilerhorn
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At the time, I was largely an alternative, punk, and (ironically?) US hard rock fan. When “Paranoid” came on MTV, all of us stopped and watched. Ozzy was transcendent.
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Finished this one. It was well researched and well written, and it supports his recurring and overarching world view. IMO, it was a little pedantic, with many, many examples. Upon reflection, he's an academic, so it helps his theories to have many examples. I did enjoy his historical accounts of information networks from the stone age to the present. Stories -> books w/ interpreters -> books when folks can read -> etc. He did highlight many of the obvious downsides of AI information networks. Recommend.
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Csb The RRISD sax “technique teacher” when I was in MS and HS was friends with Denis DiBlasio, the bari sax player for Maynard Ferguson. I, too, was a bari sax player. DiBlasio was in town and agreed to play in with our HS jazz band. Denis had an idea that we’d do a cross handed thing where we were both playing both saxes. I did not pick it up the first time and he concluded “screw it, we’ll do something else.” Anyhow, we played Coconut Champagne - I did the first solo - he played a 2nd solo for about 5 minutes. He was sensational. I was a high schooler who was afraid to fuck up in front of a famous person. Wish I had cared a little less about that at that time. Another time, Maynard played at Westlake high school and we all got to meet him. He’s more impressive in person that on his records. /csb Another trivia nugget - Gregg Bissonnette was the drummer for Maynard at that time. After, he was drummer for David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, Andy Summers, Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, among many others. https://youtu.be/hGQWCR6jFZ4?si=HWAGsJ7jymc6Jgc-
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At a previous job, I worked with a very large group of engineers in the Portland area. I met VERY few (if any) from University of Oregon. Most who went to engineering school in Oregon were from Oregon State University. Fwiw.
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SIAP - merge this thread w/ another if necessary. Because, of course he does. https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/45783141/trump-calls-commanders-guardians-reverse-name-changes
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Youth Minister's (and other pervs) Thread of Shame
boilerhorn replied to tx 3 putt's topic in Daily Texan
That’s far too cynical - and likely incorrect. 42% is the number of people - on each side - who will vote either (R) or (D) just because of the (R) or (D) on the ticket. No one pays attention to the news any more. -
According to this article , the man (61 years old - already mentioned) was wearing a 20-lb chain he used for weight training. That makes the entire story a bit more plausible. It’s not like he was wearing a cheap-ass 2 karat gold choker. If it is me, I am (1) not wearing one of those chains in public and (2) damn sure not wearing it into a hospital or any type of medical facility or any other random place of business. Really shitty all around - he died, he struggled, his wife saw him die, MRI dude did not hit the emergency switch, etc. Pretty fucking horrible all around.
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The NFL has existed for over 100 years. The NBA has been around for 75 years. As recently as the early-to-mid 1980s, some NFL players had offseason jobs to supplement their pay. Today, the average NFL player makes $3.2mm. In 1985 it was $160k. Players claimed it was 28% of revenue; owners claimed it was 44%. Regardless, they NFL was making a profit. Right now, the WNBA is 27 years old and (allegedly) loses $40mm on $200mm in revenue (2023). Revenue is clearly rising, as it was $102mm in 2019. In 2019, they were paid around 17% of league revenue and now around 10%. When costs are 120% of revenue, it is difficult to justify giving everyone a raise, but (as already noted before) we really do not know how the WNBA manages its P&L. NBA's CBA has players at 49%-51% of BRI (Basketball Related Income). WNBA should strive for that. The real problem is how is "income" calculated? Is it gross? Is it net? If net, they get nothing. The WNBAPA will need a really capable negotiator and financier on their side for the next few rounds of CBA negotiations. And clarity in how they report and manage P&L.
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I am picking nits, but Golden State and Toronto paid $50mm in 2023 and Portland paid $75mm in 2024. The latest 3 were $250mm, so it is around $925mm. Agree, though, the influx should offset the dilution. To date, the business has been a financial loser, so a 3x increase in franchise fees, YoY seems high. People far more in-tune and aware are putting money into it right now. So, what do I know?
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IIRC, the NBA owned and controlled the franchises 100%. Over time, the WNBA franchises owned 40% and the NBA owned the remaining 60%. As of 2022, an investment group seeded $75mm into expansion/solvency/whatever and was granted 16%. The WNBA franchises owned 42% and the NBA owns 42%. That puts the valuation at around $470mm. Future expansion dilutes the 42% owned by WNBA franchises. Good question @Kermit - is it a real loss or a "loss" that is purposeful and has long-term strategic advantages? For franchisees and the NBA, a paper loss might be exactly what they want for this investment. I had forgotten about the details. Let's use the $200mm number and assume $0 additional costs and the present -$40mm run rate - the WNBA will be running at +160mm annually. 42% to NBA, 16% to investors, 42% to WNBA league means the WNBA league gets around $67mm to split among its teams. They could easily double or triple the salary cap and stay in the black. As I implied earlier, the "losses" might be transferred from the NBA/WNBA/investors to the media companies. They are the ones who have to monetize to the tune of $200mm+ per year now. WNBA has 11 years, though, on the new plan. Expansion will limit how much they can pay players, as the expansion dilutes the WNBA share of overall league ownership and, hence, whatever "dividends" will come from league income. PS - In 2022, the WNBA raised $75 million from a group of strategic investors including Nike, Michael Dell, Linda Henry, Dee Haslam, Condoleezza Rice, Micky Arison and Laurene Powell Jobs. Some, such as Ted Leonsis (Washington Mystics), Joe Tsai (New York Liberty) and Herb Simon (Indiana Fever), tripled down on the league by investing as part of the raise, owning WNBA teams and owning a stake in the league through their NBA team ownership.
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Let's not let the truth get in the way of a good hit piece.
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It will put the WNBA in the black, but that could be short-lived if the TV demand is not sustained. If demand is not sustained or grown, they are just moving the losses from WNBA ownership/NBA over to the broadcasting companies. Unless someone wants it as a loss leader to sell toilet paper and cheap electronics (Amazon)...
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It's like the player's association asked a PR firm for the 5 best and 5 worst slogan options for WNBA player promotion - and the player's association mixed up the lists. Group requests of "pay me what I am worth" have typically failed, largely because they are tone deaf. They are getting paid between $80k-$250k per year for 40 games and playoffs - in a presently money-losing business. Most (all?) finished 4 years of college; I would think at least one of them would have taken an economics or finance course. That said, there is a very "with us or against us" mindset in the WNBA. Economics be damned. Details of the WNBA finances are difficult to find, either because it was not interesting before last year or they are so bad, the NBA does not want to share how much it is funding. Some reports say 2024 revenue was $200mm, with a loss around $40mm. The entire salary pool for WNBA players is presently near $19.5mm (13 teams * 1.5mm per team - cap is lower, but some go over cap). That's about 1/12 of the overall costs using the revenue/loss numbers. For reference, NBA players earn around $5B on NBA revenue of $11B - overall profit of $3B. For the new CBA - here are some ideas... Players: Baseline revenue of $200mm. As revenue increases, so does our income. Up to 10%, end of season bonuses for each player commensurate with delta between baseline and revenue. Above 10%, salary cap, min salary, max salary increases. Above 25% ($250mm revenue), renegotiation of CBA is triggered). Owners: Revenue increases imply demand is increasing. We need more games. Salary cap increases will motivate game expansion. 2-4 more games per season (scheduling problems may occur). Perhaps the reasons are obvious (like the finances really are a mess), but player's association should dive deep into the finances. They may be willing to give up some of the "frills" that contribute to the $240mm expense - and to help the league become solvent. Maybe not
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Stockton was pretty crappy and I am hopeful he will continue to be. His wheels surprised Texas on the first drive. By and large, he was neutralized after that. Beck was not that great, but it is not like they have Matt Stafford sitting on the bench waiting his turn. I hope for nothing but misery for UGA and its fans as long as Smart is there.
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Ha - if it were only that easy.
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In this article from 2024, an LCRA spokesman claims that wind and evaporation is roughly equal to the consumption in the city of Austin. 1" every 5-6 days. That was when the lake was at around 42%, which would mean a surface area of around 10k acres. So, 10k acre-inches per 5 days -> 833 acre-feet per 5 days -> 5000 acre-feet per month or 60k acre-feet per year. This is around 1629 million gallons per month lost by evaporation and the same consumed by the city of Austin. This LCRA link shows that Austin uses 140k acre-feet, so perhaps the 1" number at 10k acres (from the original article) is inaccurate. This PDF Link (cut-paste below) shows that City of Austin pulls 60k acre-feet per year from the highland lakes (confirms the original link) and another 100k acre-feet are pulled from Lake Austin and other rivers. Cedar Park, Leander, and TC WCD are pulling about 37k acre-feet from the highland lakes. Thanks for asking, as I would not have gone down this temporary rabbit hole
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explosion at L.A. Sheriff's facility. At least 3 cops dead
boilerhorn replied to Gil Bang's topic in Daily Texan
Could be. They probably have collected enough data over time to note that a high aptitude test score correlates with some level of lower success. Compliance to strict hierarchies and following of direct (perhaps illogical) orders. Willingness to arrest, write tickets, or whatever. Tangentially, a lower Wonderlic (a decent proxy for IQ and aptitude) score is correlated with high NFL success for TE and CB. -
Interesting on the 6, 9, 15 plan at UTSA. Esp. the 9, which is not officially a full-time student. Will they allow for 12? Perhaps it is different today, but 20+ years ago the difference between full-time and part-time student was meaningful for scholarships, family benefits, tax deductions, etc. Perhaps that no longer applies...
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NSIAP On 4/19, Lake Travis was 41.6% full at 457k acre-feet. On 6/19, Lake Travis was 44.3% full at 486k acre-feet. Today, Lake Travis is 89.2% full at 979k acre-feet. Lake Travis has added 160 billion gallons of water in the past 30 days. 170 billion since April.
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A few weeks ago, I attended a soccer match between Mexico and The Dominican Republic at SoFi stadium in Inglewood. Parked at a restaurant at 104th and Prairie; my daughter and I (no pics) walked to the game. I am no expert of LA, but we were two of about 10 anglos in that area at the time - including the match. I was not fearful, but perhaps I am a dumbass. That said, most of the folks were occupied picketing against Trump and screaming at him while lighting off some pretty awesome fireworks. I guess this was my "did not get mugged" story.
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It also could be "easier" than we think it is, a la Elevation.
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A couple of Stone Roses cuts.
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My (long ago) return experience at Costco. I have a roughly 6 month old 19” TV with integrated DVD player. I paid like $399 for it at the time. DVD player fails. I take it into Costco in an attempt to either (1) have them guide me with a warranty claim or (2) exchange the for the same thing. They say, “we’ll just refund and you can go buy a new one.” I respond, “well, they are $100 less expensive now. I am good with an exchange.” Costco person says, “It is a different model number, so we cannot do an exchange.” They insist. I tell them that this is an unsustainable model, as people will take advantage of it, especially at the rate of technology change these days. Took about a decade, but they made the change. I recently returned a rose bush that had died. It owned it for about 6 weeks. The other 9 I bought survived. After a couple of months, the problem is me. The assohole who returned a stained bed after 7 years should have his privileges revoked.
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