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Carl Spackler

Burnt Ends
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Everything posted by Carl Spackler

  1. As a Cubs fan, let me just say that no Cubs lead is safe with Chicago's bullpen. None. Nada.
  2. I have to laugh because it's Boone getting run. OTOH, it's pretty alarming when Wendelstedt can say "I don't care who it was" and he knows there likely won't be any repercussions for him.
  3. Better warn him that it could be, uh, malodorous while he's there . . .
  4. Why does he hate his family?
  5. I do not understand how Drew Smyly remains in the bigs. Sweartogod he gives up a dinger almost every time he pitches.
  6. Got a recommendation from that brand? My local place often has several types of Vago in stock, but I have no clue which one offers the most bang for the buck.
  7. Ilegal Joven is literally the only bottle of mezcal I've ever purchased. It's definitely smoky, but because I have never had any other mezcal, I cannot say whether it is more or less smoky than most other brands. I don't dislike the Ilegal, but I have to be in a mood for something smoky in order to drink it.
  8. Mark Leiter of the Cubs gets 3 outs on 2 piches. That's pretty efficient.
  9. Carl Spackler

    Bob Seger

    I gotta go with Skynyrd's cover of Call Me The Breeze, but Get Out Of Denver is really, really good, too.
  10. Those Buck 110s are burly. I've got one, but I don't carry it too often in part because of the weight. My mother-in-law gifted me the Schrade Uncle Henry that her second husband carried for years before he passed away. It's a USA-made Schrade (prior to 2004) and is about the same damn knife as the Buck except the pins are flush with the handle, the blade shape is a little different, and the steel is 440A instead of the Buck's 420C. I love messing around with both of those knives.
  11. The failure to seek a change in venue from downtown LA to Santa Monica was a monumental blunder. The difference between the downtown LA juror pool and the Santa Monica juror pool is enormous. I'm not prepared to say it was the only reason for the acquittal, but it was absolutely a huge blunder by Garcetti. Police screw-ups and Fuhrmann's use of the N word certainly didn't help, but it would have been far easier for the prosecution to overcome those obstacles in Santa Monica. You say "[t]he jury would not have unanimously found him innocent anywhere in the country if not for the police screw ups." I can think of lots of places in this country where a jury very likely would have found Simpson guilty notwithstanding the issues with the police handling of the investigation -- Simi Valley, for one. (BTW, criminal defendants are not found "innocent." In general, there are two possible verdicts in criminal cases -- guilty or not guilty. Depending on the jurisdiction, there might be other options like "not guilty by reason of insanity" or "not proven." But "innocent" is not a possible verdict in a criminal trial.")
  12. No. He claimed he had injured his hand previously (he could not recall how/where when interviewed) and then re-opened the cut when he was in Chicago after he broke a glass in "anguish" over the news about his wife's death. He was in Chicago for some corporate golf outing for Hertz. That's what you may have been thinking of. Bugliosi wrote a whole book on how the Simpson prosecution screwed up. It's called "Outrage." Suffice to say that if Bugliosi had been prosecuting the case, the outsome would have been different.
  13. I was working in downtown LA in 1994. That afternoon several of us went across the street to a hotel bar for some libations and to watch the NBA Finals. Local media kept cutting in with updates about the search for OJ and then, later, with news that OJ had been located down in Orange County and the cops were in pursuit. Helicopter shots of a low-speed pursuit. Media is saying OJ was trying to leave the country, in disguise, etc., etc. General consensus in the bar is this simply shows the motherfucker is as guilty as sin. Leave the bar around 6:30-7:00 to head home to Hermosa Beach. Transitioning off the 105 to the 405 southbound, I see all these people pulled off the side of the 405. Even worse, idiots are out of their cars right next to the freeway, and in some cases are stepping out onto the freeway. Holy shit -- the Juice is still loose & he's coming up the northbound 405. I had to pull over myself because idiot lookie-loos were focusing on the northbound lanes and not watching where the hell they were driving. Stayed in my truck on the shoulder of the southbound 405 and watched while Al Cowlings leisurely drove OJ up the 405 with dozens of cop cars hanging back behind him. Surreal. Years later, a buddy of mine was working as Bob Baker's paralegal when Baker handled OJ's defense in the civil case. I never really asked him too much about the case because under CA law he couldn't divulge any client confidences and secrets. I know they had all the files the defense in the criminal case generated, including all the photos of the Brown-Simpson/Goldman murder scene, which for many years weren't publicly available. Now that OJ is gone (good riddance), I'll have to ask him if he's got any nuggets of information (*coughconfessioncough*) that he's been keeping under wraps all these years.
  14. John Lennon on John Lennon the guitar player: “I’m OK. I’m not technically good, but I can make it fucking howl and move. I was a rhythm guitarist. It’s an important job. I can make a band drive. You see, one part of me says, 'yes, of course I can play because I can make a rock move.' But the other part of me says, 'well, I wish I could just do like B. B. King.’ If you would put me with B. B. King, I would feel real silly.” [from the 1970 Rolling Stone interview]
  15. I've got to think at least half of aggy's 29 were in meat judging. Amirite?
  16. Another terrific rec. That preserve is definitely a great place for a hike, esp. on a sunny day with the breeze blowing in off the water.
  17. Another good rec. Saarloos is still there, though I haven't stopped in there in a long, long time. The roads are now paved. LOL
  18. Lots of good recs above. Not sure how much time you're looking to spend in LA proper. Also, will you be traveling solo or will you have kids with you, etc.? Definitely stop in Santa Barbara. The Funk Zone is fun. Lark Restaurant. Topa Topa and Lama Dog breweries. Hit the pier if the weather is nice. The Santa Barbara County courthouse is actually a cool place to visit -- go up in the tower to get a great view of the area if the weather is nice. Brophy Bros. on the water is solid for seafood. We love Cold Spring Tavern up in the mountains above SB. It's a nice, twisty mountain drive to get up to it. In SB County wine country, I typically avoid Solvang simply because it tends to attract more tourists than other nearby places. The kitsch factor is strong in Solvang. However, Solvang might be worth a stop if you have kids with you or want a Danish village vibe, and there are lots of shopping, tasting rooms, candy stores, restaurants, etc. Instead, the wife and I typically hit Los Olivos (more laid back and a ton of tasting rooms) or Los Alamos farther up the 101. The wife and I love Los Alamos, but it's definitely a lot sleepier than either Solvang or Los Olivos. Los Alamos has some good restaurants -- Bell's (classic French bistro for lunch or dinner); Pico (good for dinner), Bob's Well Bread (breakfast -- tends to get busy), Full of LIfe Flatbread (good wood-fired pizzas for dinner), and Plenty on Bell (breakfast or lunch). Babi's Beer Emporium has some interesting beers and an outdoor area where you can sit and watch the world go by. There are some decent wine tasting rooms as well -- Bedford, Lo-Fi, A Tribute to Grace, and Lumen (inside Pico restaurant) are all respectable but not transcendent. Los Olivos has more tasting rooms than you can shake a stick at plus an outpost of Figueroa Mountain brewery. Places we like to hit in Los Olivos include: Panino (curry chicken salad sandwich FTW) Fig Mountain -- beers Brewer-Clifton -- great pinots and syrahs (right next to Fig Mountain) Carhartt -- yes, it's related to the apparel company; yes, the wines are good Evan's Ranch and Dragonette Cellars -- more wine tasting Nella -- dinner Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe -- dinner Other places worth stopping in SB County: S.Y. Kitchen (Santa Ynez) Hitching Post 2 (Buellton -- steaks, chops, etc._ Far Western Tavern (Orcutt -- Santa Maria-style BBQ, which is basically grilling over red oak) El Capitan State Beach (check out the tide pools, get your beach on -- just watch out for the tar) Easy hike to Nojoqui Falls (should be plenty of water in it with all the rain/snow we've been having) If you're into wind surfing and a cool, windy small county road drive out to the ocean, head out to Jalama Beach County Park. If the store is open, the burgers are pretty good. Lots of wind and waves. Lots of surfers and kite-surfers. But it's pretty far off the beaten path.
  19. Yep. Didn't follow Clemenza's instructions.
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