Super Bowl Sunday Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, February 13, 2022
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63 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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My new babies have arrived!
(Hmm… I think I may be incommunicado for the next week or so) 😀
Rosanne Boyland Was Outside the U.S. Capitol Last January 6. How—And Why—Did She Die?
A long and very good read.
@Mu Yixiao: Congrats, they must be fraternal twins. Boys? Girls? One of each?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Power tools are always female. You may love them, handle them, and have fun with them–but if you don’t respect them, they’ll make you bleed. 😀
@Mu Yixiao:
Congratulations.
If you are planning to mill rough cut lumber you need to flatten on surface before planing to thickness. Usually this is done on a jointer, but it can be done on a planer, here is a video showing how…
https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-machines/a-planer-sled-for-milling-lumber
@OzarkHillbilly:
That was good. There’s a video circulating on Lucianne.com and, I assume, other crackpot sites purporting to show Boyland being beaten to death by the Capitol police.
that should be “one surface”
Or you can get a lot of exercise and hand plane the surface flat. 🙂
When I was getting ready to go to Sweden, the one thing I knew I needed was a negative covid test. And of course it had to be taken within hours of arrival, so I spent the day before chasing around NYC to get two rapid PRC tests… because neither would guarantee results before I had to go to the airport. (In the end, both did…)
When I arrived in Stockholm, the immigration guy looked at my vax card and had no interested in seeing my test results.
But then I got into the airport and discovered that basically no one in Sweden bothered masking. At deGaulle, where I changed planes, everyone was masked — at Arlanda, maybe 20%. And that dropped precipitously outside the airport.
Coming back, I knew the USA was tougher, because they’ve been publishing very stern rules. So I paid a ridiculous amount for a super-rapid PRC test (because my flight was early in the morning). And when I got to immigration at Newark, there was not a word about covid. No signs, no warnings, and no one asked about test results or even vaccinations.
If this is the attitude, then fine. But why all the bullshit around it? If you’re not going to check tests, why pretend you are?
@Sleeping Dog:
I’ve been “planing” lumber for a dozen years or so with my table saw, so I’m familiar with the process. I was restricted to about 3″ width because of the height I can get with the blade–and because of a wide range of factors, it never comes out really smooth.
One of the biggest things I’ll be using it for is stripping varnish off old flooring so I have clean wood to work with. Or just taking the weathered layer off of some of the 100-year-old lumber I have in the garage (gorgeous white and red oak, once it’s cleaned up).
I was disappointed that I couldn’t find a joiner/planer at a decent price. But I’ll make do (I’ve been making do with a lot less for a long time).
ETA: I have some gorgeous hand planes, but… that’s a skill I’ve never mastered.
@Mu Yixiao: Mine are all trans.
@OzarkHillbilly:
LOL!
@OzarkHillbilly:..Mine are all trans.
One of the handiest tools I ever bought is my reversible drill…goes both ways…
@Mister Bluster:..goes both ways…
The reverse function came in handy the time I was drilling a hole in a small piece of sheet metal to accommodate a screw when the drill slipped and the pilot bit went in the back of my middle finger of my left hand and drilled right through the underside of my finger nail. Without much thought I quickly put it in reverse and pulled it back out. Since there was a hole in my fingernail the blood had an escape route so it did not cause much pain. When I got to the ER I had to apologize to the doctor as I flipped him the bird to show him the injury.
Oh, the inhumanity!
New Zealand authorities deploy Barry Manilow against Covid protesters
My mother passed last night, peacefully, surrounded by a loving family. I flew in and got to see her in the very brief time when they had the pain managed but she still was coming around to awareness for a few moments at a time. She knew I was there. Thanks to everyone here for your kind wishes.
We ended up at a miraculous place, Lightways in Joliet, Illinois. They have been serving as an end of life hospice for forty years and it is a beautiful, beautiful place and from what I could gather from the other patients there, provides services for people from all walks of life and all ethnicities and religions. And although they bill Medicare and, perhaps, other insurance for the approved hospice services, no family that goes there ever sees a bill, no matter their financial situation. Astoundingly well staffed, with nurses and a doctor who will spend as much time as you need talking through whatever you need to talk about. My mother’s room was private and sunny and spacious with plenty of room for a half dozen family members at a time and a fold out sofa bed, so someone was by her side at all times. And there was a well stocked kitchen area, a business area, a “living room”, and a beautiful chapel. It took us a few hours to comprehend what a truly astounding place this was and I only wish every family in these circumstances could have access to such a place.
@Mister Bluster: Oooff.
@MarkedMan: Sorry for your loss, inevitable tho it was, and happy it was made easier for you and your family by a gentle and caring hospice.
@MarkedMan:
My deepest sympathies to you. I’m very glad your mother died peacefully, surrounded by family, in a beautiful place. My mother, too, died in very similar circumstances.
It’s wonderful that she knew you were there.
@MarkedMan:
I am sorry for your loss, but glad that the hospice staff handled their end so well.
@Mister Bluster: Reminds me of the time I put a nail thru my hand.
I walked into the ER with my fellow carpenter and the gal at the desk asked, “Who’s the patient?”
I waved my hand and said, “I am.”
She said, “What’s the problem?”
I waved my hand around again and said, “This.”
At which point she finally noticed the nail protruding from my hand and her eyes got as big as saucers.
Then when some orderly is taking me back to my room, we pass a guy walking towards us. My orderly starts surreptitiously (he was soooo obvious) gesticulating and pointing over his shoulder and mouthing words. The other guy looks at him like he’s crazy and says, “Whaaaat???” and waving my hand around I said, “I’ve got a nail in my hand.”
His eyes got as big as saucers.
It was really kind of funny. I’m in my room waiting for the doc to see me and there is a steady procession of people coming in to rifle the drawers for something another room mysteriously didn’t have, or to empty the trash can which had just been emptied 5 mins before, or to replace a light bulb that wasn’t burned out, or to check my blood pressure, again, for the 7th time in a half hour….
I swear to dawg I had half the damned hospital passing thru to see “The amazing man with a nail in his hand!!!” I almost felt like a circus freak. The only thing I could come up with was that there is just something about impalements that draws the vulture out of even the most jaded healthcare professional.
@Mu Yixiao:
I picked up one of these, about 4 years ago. Of course it was only ~$550 then. It works well for surfacing boards under 4-4.5 feet, longer than that and the bed is too short. It’s not very good for edge jointing lumber for glue ups, that I do using the table saw to square the edge and on to the work bench with a shooting board to clean up the surface.
I have some nice hand planes as well, but never mastered the technique.
Have you ever watched any of Tom Fidgen’s videos? Everything done with hand tools, such skill.
An interesting Vox interview on our collective loss of ability to focus:
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the ozone layer crisis. It’s one of my earliest political memories. For younger listeners who don’t know, the planet is protected by a layer of ozone that keeps us safe from the sun’s rays. And when I was a kid, it was discovered that we were releasing a chemical in hairsprays and fridges called CFCs that were damaging the ozone layer.
Look, I’m not nostalgic about the ’80s. Lots of things were wrong with the politics of the ’80s. But think about what happened here. The science was explained to ordinary people. They listened, they distinguished it from lies and conspiracy theories, and ordinary people banded together and pressured their politicians to act. And even quite unlikely politicians who were very hostile to government regulation, like Margaret Thatcher and George Bush Sr., came together. And as a result, the ozone layer is now healing. I feel absolutely confident that would not happen now if the ozone layer crisis happened.
I think you would get some people who would wear ozone layer badges, you would get other people who would film themselves spraying CFCs into the atmosphere to own the libs and make them cry. You would get people saying, “How do we even know the ozone layer exists? Maybe George Soros made the hole in the ozone layer.” We would become lost. We would not be able to summon the collective attention.”
@MarkedMan:
Sorry for your loss. It seems that she had a death that we all can hope for. Enjoy the memories.
@Mister Bluster: Oh yeah…
I am also reminded* of the carpenter who was installing a sliding door for somebody as a side job. While drilling the top rail (or some such) while on a step ladder, he lost his balance and fell. He woke up some indeterminate amount of time later laying on the floor on his side. He tried to sit up and couldn’t. He tried again and again he couldn’t. then he realized his head was impaled on the drill bit and the weight of the drill was stopping him. So….
He reversed it and very slowly backed it out. Then he went to the ER.
I’m not sure I could have done that. I’ve had too many drills over the years that went from super slow to full speed in the tiniest fraction of squeeze on the trigger
* I read it in a newspaper, I forget where it happened. I use to have a dozen of these kinds of stories filed away in my brain because as a carpenter I was drawn to them. now I have maybe 3 or 4.
@Sleeping Dog: I had a neighbor give me an old Delta 6″ jointer that needed a new motor (which cost me lot more than I was expecting). It’s a sweet piece of machinery. 22″ infeed/outfeed tables which is plenty for the small projects I mostly do. Almost no snipe too.
@MarkedMan:
Did you ever see Soylent Green? Edward G. Robinson decides to end his life (understandable – the food was terrible) and went out on Beethoven’s Sixth playing over video of flowers and fawns. It’s good that your mom was able to go out in a degree of comfort and style.
@MarkedMan: I am sorry for your loss. I am glad that you had some time with her before she passed.
@Michael Reynolds: Honest to god, I was thinking of that scene, but had the good sense (for once) not to bring it up, considering whay happened afterwards….
@OzarkHillbilly:
Those Delta’s are very nice, but a pricey even used.
An uncle had a 16″ pattern makers jointer in his basement. No idea how they got the thing in, as the be was about 10′ long. Since my uncle, my dad and other family members built the house, I suspect that they put the jointer in the basement and built the house around it.
50 years later, when my Aunt sold the house, my cousin needed to get it out along with other tools. I ended up with a band saw and an industrial drill press. They needed machinery movers to get the jointer out. My brother is still kicking himself for not calling our cousin the day I told him about it. By that time someone else had bought it.
Rudy Giuliani (aka Nosferatu) is, according to numerous sources, considering rolling on Trump to the Jan. 6 Committee.
Giuliani once said that he had “really good insurance” in case Trump ever threw him under the bus.
Yahoo headline:
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump ‘would roll his eyes at the rules, so we did, too’
I can’t imagine having so little personal integrity that you could ever make a statement like that. Any future employer of this woman knows what they are getting.
@Moosebreath: I have seen righty commenters say of AGW that it’s like the ozone layer hole. Those silly scientists got everybody excited for awhile, the world was going to end, then it just quietly went away. Trying to explain was a waste of time.
The big difference between CFCs and AGW is not the political climate of the 80s. The big difference is the amount of money involved. There was no huge, well heeled, freon lobby. There were no Middle Eastern CFC states. With CFCs nobody played the role Exxon and the Koch Bros played, and continue to play, with AGW.
The most brutal lede that I’ve heard in a while.
The rest.
@Sleeping Dog:
That’s less than I paid for both the sanding table and the planer. 🙂
On the topic of tools:
I think I need to add a bit of context to my tool situation.
My “shop*” is the fieldstone basement of my 1920 bungalow. The band saw, table saw, and run-off table for the table saw fit in a space about 8’x16′–with the furnace and support poles encroaching on that space. The ceiling (open joists) is under 7′ tall.
My “work room*” is the old fruit cellar. It’s also ~8’x16′, with the bottom of the joists coming in around 6′-4″. That space includes low cabinets along one wall, and the chop saw bench taking up the entire other wall.
I’m going to have to build a new bench behind the table saw where I can put the sander, my table-top drill press, my grinder, and my scroll saw.
I’m in the process of rewiring so I can add LED strip lights across most of the work areas, as well as a couple hot circuits to plug in hand tools (drill, grinder, etc.). And, since I took out a bulb with an outlet to allow for two strip lights over table saw and table, I’m going to have to figure out how to get light over to the band saw.
My shop has been (and continues to be) an exercise is “creative use of space”. 🙂
========
* Both photos are taken from the door that connects them at one end.
@Mu Yixiao: Those are some cool spaces!
@Steven L. Taylor:
Thanks. They’re a long way from the industrial shops I used to work in, but… they’re mine. 🙂
Sometimes I’m a bit amazed at what I can create in such limited spaces. I’m waiting for my new lights to come in (and for me to get stuff wired) so I can do a “welcome to the basement” video. In contrast to people like Alec Steele and Adam Savage, I’d like to say “Here’s what you can do when you don’t have 100k sq. ft. of space and all the latest toys.”
@MarkedMan:
My sympathies.
My dad died before I left the country, and he did so in his home surrounded by family. I know exactly what you’re dealing with. And… I am so glad that I was there that night–even though he may still me mad at me*.
====
* Dad said the only way he’d leave that house was “feet first”. As I was helping the mortician roll the gurney out the front door, I suddenly stopped and swore.
“Shit!”
“What??”
“He swore he’d only leave this house feet first. We’re taking him out head first. Sorry, Dad!”
🙂
@Mu Yixiao:
I really like the long bench for that miter saw.
Sometime ago, I watched a video from a guitar maker showing his shop ~24’x36′ garage with windows at bench height all around, sprung floors with radiant heat and AC. He also had a wood stove. On the other hand, I’ve seen some boat builder’s shops that they knew it was time to throw another log on the fire, when the water in the dog dish froze.
Like your shop, my wood shop is in the basement, though a 1960 basement is better than an old root cellar or coal bin (my first shop). Band saw, planer/jointer, dust collector and an old radial arm saw that I use as a cut off saw on one wall. The table saw is in the middle of the room, with a 36×84 solid core door as a runoff assembly bench. At the far end of the bench I built in a router table. The drill press is in the garage, it was too bleedin’ heavy to get into the basement. There is also a bench on another wall with tool storage. Lots of LED lights.
The garage has also been given over to a shop for motorcycle maintenance and restoration. The best upgrade there is a Harbor Freight motorcycle lift. I no longer fix cars. I’m too old to crawl around under them.
BTW, a SB forum and no picks?
I’ll take the Rams to cover.
@Sleeping Dog:
Thanks. That’s been a standard in every scene shop I’ve ever worked in. The only issue I have is that I’m limited to a length of ~8′. This became an issue when I was trying to cut 10′ baseboard. 🙂
Building that table was a bit fun. There are three runs of 2x that are 16′ long. I had to bring them in through the window at the end of the room (you can’t really see it, as I’ve packed it with insulation) and cut all the shorter pieces on the floor. Even better: There used to be a tree trunk in the middle of the room. Literally, a tree trunk cut to be a post holding up the joists (there’s still a hole in the floor where they poured the concrete around the trunk.
I have a wood stove down there (you can see it between the chimney and the band saw). Because I have steam heat, there’s really no heat in the basement. There’s a bit from the boiler, and I pull insulation off the pipe when I had the boiler replaced, but… a nice little fire in that stove does wonders to keep the space warm. I also have the dryer vent into the basement during the winter, so when I’m doing laundry the heat from the dryer helps to heat the basement.
The one thing I thank the gods for repeatedly is the exterior basement door. In addition to the stairs that come down from by the kitchen (super-steep, very narrow, in a tiny “hallway”, and having a landing and turn 3 steps from the bottom) there’s a wide, properly-sloped set of stairs from the driveway straight down into the basement. Super easy access for anything that doesn’t need to go into the cellar.
@MarkedMan: I’m glad you were able to find a good place for your mother’s passing. My sympathies to you and your family.
@CSK: “Rudy Giuliani (aka Nosferatu)…”
You’re giving him too much credit. He’s simply a common ghoul.
@Steven L. Taylor: It would never have occurred to me that anyone would care who I would pick to win. And I’ve not even seen an article on this year’s odds for the game. I hope your pick works out. Alas, I don’t do any streaming services that carry sports games. so I ‘spect I won’t be watching.
@Mu Yixiao:
East access is a god send. I can pass stuff through a window if there is someone to catch it or carry it around the house to the bulkhead. If I’m doing anything with plywood etc, I have the lumber yard cut it to dimension so I don’t need to manage and cut a 4 x 8 sheet. Too damn heavy and awkward.
@MarkedMan: You have our deepest sympathy. Today is the 8th anniversary of my mom’s passing.
@Steven L. Taylor:..SB forum and no picks?
@Steven L. Taylor:
The White Sox of Chicago beat the Knickerbockers of New York, 236-5 with the final wicket going to the Sox.
(Am I close?)
@MarkedMan:
My condolences.
It sounds like an ending as humane as can be hoped for.
The hospice sound like as good a thing as can be made of such circumstances.
May her memory be a blessing.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Well, I think he looks like the Count. But anyway, I’m more interested in what Giuliani claims is his “insurance.” Last August, Trump declined to foot Rudy’s legal bills.
Kinzinger thinks Giuliani will talk.
@Sleeping Dog: I saw a video about the rebuilding of John Steinbeck’s boat, the Western Flyer. It’s amazing how shipwrights work, there’s a whole you tube channel dedicated to the rebuild. Be careful going there, if you are at all like me you might fall down the rabbit hole and not resurface for days.
Anyway, they had a huge thicknesser, if I had to guess I’d say at least 24″, and the boards were 20′ or longer. So to make handling that lumber easier they had the thicknesser mounted on a lazy susan with 20′ or longer infeed and outfeed tables. Ran the boards thru one way, flipped them and spun the thicknesser around and fed them back thru. Probably not original to those guys but the first I’d seen that absolute genius solution. Had to save a lot of time and backs.
As soon as my shoulder is up to it, I’m building an expansion on to my shop so I can get all the materials and hardware etc out of my workspace (it’s a nightmare now). If it makes sense I may well do the same with mine.
Second weekend of the Six Nations!
Wales 20 Scotland 17
France 30 Ireland 24
Italy 0 England 33
Wales recovered well to snatch the game from the Scots after being hammered by Ireland last weekend. Scots still a bit off the consistency needed for championship.
France are really a force to be reckoned with this year; Ireland were a bit unsteady at times, but they are still a world class team who beat the All Blacks last year. And came back fiercely to hold it within a point for much of the match.
France made them unsteady with massive levels of aggression; the speed and physicality of the forwards was awesome.
England looked good against Italy, but then, Italy are every other teams favourite punching bags.
Italy looked worse than against France last weekend.
So, France lead the table, and England, Scotland and Wales will have to step up a lot to hold them. Very short odds for the champions this year.
@Mu Yixiao: You’ll never see pictures of my shop. Well, maybe after I get the expansion built and all the shit out of the work space and everything rearranged to make sense.
@MarkedMan: My heartfelt sympathies for your loss. I am glad you were able to see her, and know she knew you were there, in a place as beautiful as I am sure she was.
May her memory be a blessing.
We all kind of like the nail gun accidents. The one I remember best is the guy who tried to kill himself by putting a bunch of nails into his head and chest. He lived. Cant say I would go out of my way to see one through the hand but I am old.
Steve
@steve: Heh, now that you mention it I remember that one. Had a good laugh at his expense. It also reminds me of a guy who somehow, someway, shot himself in the mouth. It ricocheted back and he didn’t even realize he’d been hit (iirc). A couple days later he went to the dentist for a toothache. I remember the X-rays. Painful to look at, to say the least.
eta: and yeah, it was weird having so many people coming thru to see it. It really wasn’t much to look at. I’d had much worse, bones sticking out of my skin and such. But that I guess, isn’t all that unusual.
Jared Kushner has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I am not joking.
@CSK: It is actually ridiculously easy to nominate someone for the prize.
In fact, as a university professor, I am pretty sure I am empowered to nominate someone.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Immediately after the conference championship games, I guessed the lines with my Dad. He nailed them, and was within a point of the opening O/U.
I was about the same on O/U, but guessed Rams -5.5. I wasn’t alone in thinking that would be the proper line if it was only about the relative strength of the teams. (538 ELO had it there, I think and I believe Aaron Schatz also mentioned that specific spread.)
After watching that game, I have a couple thoughts:
1.) The play calling was atrocious at times. If McVay didn’t have a reputation for calling rushes when he shouldn’t, one could point to losing OBJ and not having Higbee as an excuse.* But it’s what he does.
For such a creative mind, how is it that he doesn’t split Henderson and/or Akers out while putting Michel in the backfield? The former two players are certainly more prepared to impact the passing game than Skworonek.
Taylor made a couple terrible decisions as well. First, running Perine on 3rd and 1 instead of Mixon made no sense. Second, on their last offensive play, it made much more sense to roll Burrow to his right away from Donald. Sure, Donald may have still caught him as he did in the first half. But it’s better than leaving Burrow to stand in the pocket because Donald was unblockable at that point in the game.
2.) The Bills would likely have won the Super Bowl if they didn’t kick into the end zone after taking the lead with 13 seconds left against KC. They smoke Cincinnati and are a good bit better than LA.
3.) I am guessing that the physical play we saw against Kupp at the end was pretty much what he dealt with on almost every play we didn’t see. Though one could make a strong case for Donald, Kupp deserved MVP, and likely should have won it over Rodgers for the regular season as well.
*Woods may have been lost early in the season, but he is incredibly important to that offense.
@Steven L. Taylor: You should nominate Devin Nunes’s Cow. She/he/they has and have been fighting the good fight this whole time. Also….the White House Plumbers.
😛
@Steven L. Taylor:
Oh, I know. Same for a Pulitzer. But Jared Kushner?