Aggie87

More spam than scam, but I enjoyed this one. Only time can open our eyes to the kipperwho! ....from one Tanvira Cool, in Turkmenistan: "It's hard to be alone, and even more hard to tumble to that with the same tribulation is, one who could be close to you, have a buddy who could tumble to, to give advice. Or it may be more than a mate. The man who opens his heart, soul, and that I will be ready to partake more than their feelings.But I else have not seen such in my city, in the land. And I determinate to make a pace. Step-by-side altars of my country, and now you're reading this letter.And mayhap you're the type of person that I need him. And I'll need you. And let us be just buddy! But perhaps that is no longer begins with mate? Only time can open our eyes to the kipperwho with you. Only time can tell us what awaits us.I Tanvira. I live in Turkmenistan. I'll put your photo. And if your respond you will respond me the same as you send out your photo and say your name and where you are. Thus, we take one footstep in our connection. And who knows what will be forthcoming of us. And we can be good pal, and maybe more. Who does not know what awaits us, and what the future holds for us.At this point I made the first stride, and now everything depends on you. Good luck."

Interesting survey done here: http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/america-has-spoken-mlb-steroid-users-should-lose-a-third-of-their-stats/ 59% of all respondents think that MLB players who were known to use PEDs should either have their HR records stripped entirely, or perhaps more intriguingly, reduced by a percentage. If you were to reduce the know PED users stats by either 20% or 33%, the leaderboard would change as follows: edit - sorry for the large size - I have no idea how to make it smaller.

Stop it? You're starting it again.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/16/us/cosby-accuser-details-allegations/index.html It seems clear to me that most of the women who have claimed to have been assaulted/raped by Bill Cosby didn't voluntarily partake of the quaaludes he gave them. He either slipped them the drugs via a drink without telling them, or essentially forced them to take the drug to "relax" in order to hang out with him. Why they chose to hang out with him is their own business - whether it was to hopefully forward their careers or whatever. The fact that he pretty clearly seems to have intentionally drugged them for the purpose of having sex with them (without consent) is slimy. That's all opinion based on what's been shared. I realize there are those that assume he's guilty until proven otherwise in a court of law, but that likely will never happen. I'm guessing there will ultimately be payoffs to those who are still eligible for court dates to keep this out of the legal environment. The rest will continue to be denied or ignored.

I can understand not caring for the Rabin material. But there are some moments post-Rabin when Howe was back in the fold that are worthwhile, at least for me. Particularly the Keys to Ascension studio material, and Magnification. Of course, I was pimping "Magnification" back in the very first post of the Viva Prog Rock thread, in 2003 lol, so I've been a fan of it for a long time now. RIP Chris.

My wife posted this on FB earlier this morning. I think it's a good read. Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason The tragedy in Charleston last week will no doubt lead to more discussion of several important and recurring issues in American culture—particularly racism and gun violence—but these dialogues are unlikely to bear much fruit until the nation undertakes a serious self-examination. Decrying racism and gun violence is fine, but for too long America’s social dysfunction has continued to intensify as the nation has ignored a key underlying pathology: anti-intellectualism. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201506/anti-intellectualism-is-killing-america

Count me as a fan (obviously). I once met him on the A&M campus back when I was a student, and looked at him in awe. I was young and he seemed legendary even then. Also met Jackie Sherrill a few times, and didn't look at him with the same reverence, but really enjoyed chatting with him.

They've been doing that for a while - I saw them in April last year together. War is down to one original member, Lonnie Jordan. They still sound good though!

That's all I have it for - too many (better) options for home listening, for me anyway. I am a luddite and still listen to cds (remember those thangs?) in my car as well. Everyone else in my family laughs at me.

We've renewed a couple times with them. You have to threaten to cancel, and then they typically connect you to someone else who offers better deals. We pay about $8 per month per car.

Kyrie Irving has a fractured kneecap and is out for at least a few months, if not longer. Add that to Kevin Love being out, and the Cavs simply don't have enough talent around LBJ to compete, I don't think. It's a shame, I would rather see two fully healthy teams play each other than one healthy and one not.

There's a free Steven Wilson solo sampler on Amazon right now if anyone's interested: http://www.amazon.com/Sampler-Steven-Wilson/dp/B00Y23BRLM/ref=sr_1_8?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1432630717&sr=1-8&keywords=steven+wilson#customerReviews

Jansen Barbieri Karn, with Steven Wilson & Theo Travis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNhMm5P_UmA

Could be. It seems like that is a consequence of buying public domain releases though, particularly when they're technically not meant for sale in the U.S.

I find this comment interesting. If you have no problem acquiring music without paying the artists or their estates or rights holders what is due them, do you have a problem with people acquiring your music without paying you what is due you?

I'm not a Yankees fan. A-roid belongs in the same conversations with Barroid. Both are cheaters. Rodriguez is not "the rage" in this country, and I doubt whether he is for most NY area fans, either. Ken Caminiti was one of my favorite players when he was on the Astros, who went on to win the NL MVP with the Padres. When it turned out that he'd taken PEDs, I adjusted my opinion of him accordingly. Wish you could do that with Bonds. He's a cheater. Thanks for the memories, Goodspeak.

I appreciate the abilities of non-native English speakers too, and I've actually defended a few who may not have been very fluent (on other boards) when somebody criticizes their grammar or spelling. In cases like these I'm more appreciative of their attempt than anything. You can get people's points, generally. Also, I think for many Americans, they have no real contact with people who speak other languages as their primary language. Other than Mexico and the French speaking parts of Canada, we don't border numerous other countries like many in Europe, where you have the opportunity to practice/interact with others perhaps a little more easily. Plus many Americans aren't interested in the world outside of our border, unfortunately.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Thanks gents! 50 is the new 34, so I'm told. And yes, there was wayyy too much cake involved last night, Buzzzzz!

Yes, the Stearman is a Confederate Air Force plane, Bob! Though they've apparently changed their name to Commemorative Air Force now. Hope you're doing well! I miss our Stuttgart days! Well, day anyway.

Our Air Show is this weekend again. The Blue Angels got in yesterday and did some rehearsing. They didn't practice today due to the weather - low cloud cover and storms forecast. Hopefully Sat/Sun is better for the actual show. I did get to check out the static displays and some of the practice flights though. N2S Stearman - this was the US Army Air Force's primary trainer through WWII. A different B-25 from previous years, the Devil Dog. This is actually a Marine variant of the B-25, called the PBJ. The nose doesn't have a glass bombardier compartment, but is solid and contains 8 50 caliber machine guns. V-22 Osprey - these things are fascinating to me - helicopter/airplane hybrid. Watched a vertical takeoff and then the transition of the rotors/engines to the forward position for higher speed travel. And of course the Blue Angels, parked along the sea wall:

Hail to the King!

The "down and back" will cost you probably the equivalent of what a roundtrip airline ticket would cost from Dallas to Houston though. And takes longer than a flight - though I'll grant that the time getting to an airport early these days adds quite a bit too. So maybe the time difference between a plane and a train between the two cities is basically a wash. So what's the gain to be had for investing the $$$ to make this train system a reality, and are there really enough travelers that would prefer that to a flight or to driving? Who is the customer base? Business travelers? Vacationers? I can't imagine Houstoners vacationing in Dallas/Ft Worth specifically, or vice versa. But either way they're going to need a rental car or something once they get to the train terminal at the other city. If I'm a business person going up for a meeting it would almost be easier to drive, since you then have your car and can get to your business destination without having to take the time to get out of the train station and to a rental car location, rent the car and then drive to where you're headed. And then reverse that process for your return trip.

I ordered it from Amazon, but it's being "bundled" with the Yes Progeny 3LP set that isn't due out until May. Sigh. The Yes LP set was listed as $16.99 originally though (perhaps a mistake?), so I'm willing to wait.

I travel to San Antonio (2-2.5 hrs), Austin (3.5 hrs), and Houston (3 hrs) regularly. Occasionally to further destinations like Dallas, College Station, & San Angelo. When I was in college at A&M we thought nothing of driving 8-9 hours to Lubbock for the football game - luckily that only happened twice, but that's a long haul. Had to plan ahead when we got there too, because Lubbock was dry and you had to drive out of the city/county limits to Pinkie's to buy beer back then. I do appreciate these regular concert updates that include Austin, Houston, and SA though!