Category Archives: general

Coinbase to Migrate BTC and ETH Wallets for Security Upgrades

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In Brief Coinbase upgrades internal wallets to improve security for BTC and ETH. No downtime expected as Coinbase migrates funds between wallets. User deposits remain unaffected during Coinbase’s wallet migration process. Coinbase has initiated the migration of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) from legacy internal wallets to new systems. The company explained that this is a routine update designed to enhance the security of its platform and infrastructure. This wallet migration is a standard security practice, carried out periodically to reduce the long-term exposure of funds. Coinbase confirmed that this upgrade is not in response to any external threats or market changes, and it will not impact user balances or trading activities. No Service Disruption Expected During Migration Coinbase assured users that there will be no downtime during the migration process, and trading, sending, and receiving digital assets will continue as usual. The large transfers observed on the blockchain are part of Coinbase’s internal reorganisation and do not represent withdrawals or sales of assets. Additionally, the company emphasized that user deposit addresses will remain unchanged throughout the migration. Coinbase also cautioned users to remain vigilant against potential phishing attempts, as scammers may try to exploit the migration process. The exchange’s decision to migrate funds is part of its ongoing effort to upgrade its internal security measures. These improvements are essential as Coinbase continues to expand and serve a growing global user base. By moving to newer wallets with more advanced security features, Coinbase is reinforcing its commitment to maintaining a secure platform. The company also highlighted that these upgrades are part of its long-term strategy to optimize asset management and comply with evolving security standards. Coinbase’s internal wallet migration process demonstrates its proactive approach to safeguarding digital assets. Users can expect uninterrupted service during the transition, with all funds remaining secure and accessible throughout the upgrade.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/bitcoin/coinbase-to-migrate-btc-and-eth-wallets-for-security-upgrades/

Chasing Chimeras

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At Go Get ‘Em, Tiger, the coffee shop in my Los Angeles neighborhood, everyone looks a little stooped, as if the air itself were heavy. The name alone vibrates with ambition: Go get ’em, tiger. The command is baked right into the signage. Every time you step inside, you are already being told to strive, to push, to chase. Inside, people stand in line gazing into pastry cases while their shoulders slump beneath invisible weight. They clutch cortados like communion, jittery and devout, each haloed by the glow of a laptop. There is a familiar hum rising from the tables: the script, the pitch, the pilot, the memoir, the dream. You can almost feel the gravity of private pressure settling over the room like steam. That morning, watching the tremor of caffeinated hands, I wondered what invisible creature each person might be carrying. Some hybrid of hope and worry, ambition and fear. A beast on the shoulder, whispering: Keep going, work harder, you are almost there. A few days later, on my podcast Fifty Words for Snow, where my co-host Emily and I search out unusual words, I learned there is a name for such a creature: Chimera. A Myth That Slipped Into Psychology The word chimera began in Greek mythology as a fire-breathing hybrid of lion, goat, and serpent. But in French, chimère has evolved into something far more human. It means the compelling, shimmering illusion. The desire you chase that may not exist in the form you imagine. To explore this idea, in our illusion episode, Emily and I invited Ralph Levinson, a retired ophthalmologist and host of the podcast Our Planet, Our Health, along with his co-host Luc Lewatowski, a French and English educator. Ralph told us a story about the nineteenth-century mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace. Laplace, one of the great scientific minds of his age, was praised constantly for his brilliance. As he lay dying, a colleague tried to comfort him by saying how gratifying it must be to look back on such towering achievements. Laplace replied, “But we do chase phantoms, do we not?” In French, he used the word chimères. Ralph, whose life work has been devoted to vision, paused and said, “Even in ophthalmology, you learn early that the eye does not see reality. It constructs it. There is no pure perception. So much of what we think we see is our own projection. Chimera is not just metaphor; it is how the mind actually operates.” Baudelaire’s Burdened City Luc then introduced a poem from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal: “Le Joujou du Pauvre.” In it, the poet describes walking through nineteenth-century Paris and noticing that every person seems to carry an enormous chimera on their back. Not a ghost. A weight. Luc explained it this way: “Baudelaire says each person carries a chimera as heavy as a bag of flour or coal. It wraps around the body like armor. And when the poet asks where they are going, no one can answer. They feel compelled to walk, but they feel no clear sense of direction.” Then Luc added a statement I loved: “It is burdensome ambition pretending to be purpose.” Yes!, I said. Ambition can be exhausting, but ambition disguised as purpose is even trickier. Purpose is a flattering costume. Once you call something your purpose, you no longer have to question it. You can run yourself ragged while telling yourself you are fulfilling your calling, when in fact you may be chasing a chimera that keeps shifting shape as you approach. Purpose is ambition with better PR. Harder to critique. Easier to hide behind. Los Angeles, City of Glimmering Beasts I kept thinking about Baudelaire’s Parisians as I walked around Larchmont the next morning. The posture was the same. Heads bent forward. The subtle tug of an inner rope. If I imagine the chimera sitting on people’s shoulders here, it looks surprisingly familiar. In Hollywood, the chimera might be a show, a role, a book deal, a career that will finally provide that inner click of legitimacy. My own chimera is embarrassingly easy to picture. It is the show I have been trying to sell for a decade. When I sketch it in my mind, it has the lion’s head of ambition, the cow’s heart of longing, and a tail made of fear that time is running out. A handmade hybrid. And like the people in Baudelaire’s city, I often forget it is there. I simply keep walking. The Goalposts That Slide Out of Sight The trouble with chimeras is not that the dreams themselves are too big. Big dreams can be nourishing. The trouble is that chimeras are fundamentally unreachable because the picture in your mind keeps shifting: The closer you get, the more the shape dissolves. It is not the project that becomes burdensome. It is the fantasy attached to the project. The fantasy that once “it” happens, everything inside will finally settle. You will be safe. Recognized. Complete. But fantasies are slippery. And ambition, once it puts on the cloak of purpose, becomes almost invisible to you. You do not recognize the weight you are hauling. You only feel the pressure to move. Ralph put it perfectly: “Illusion is not the exception in perception. It is the default.” Seeing the Creature Clearly A word like chimera is powerful because it reveals the invisible. Once you name the shimmering burden on your shoulders, you gain choices you did not have before. You do not have to abandon ambition. You do not have to pretend you are suddenly serene. You can simply pause, the way Baudelaire does in his poem, and look directly at what you are carrying. When you call a chimera by its name, it loses some of its glamour. Its claws retract a little. You do not need to slay it. You simply need to see it. Then you can decide whether it still deserves to ride with you. Sometimes the heaviest things in our lives are the ones that never existed at all.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/bodhisattva-wannabe/202511/chasing-chimeras

Disney Spent More On ‘Andor’ Than Any Of Its ‘Star Wars’ Movies

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Disney has revealed today that it spent $60. 5 million (£47. 9 million) on the second season of Star Wars streaming series Andor in 2024 ahead of its debut in April this year giving the show a total cost of $705. 5 million (£552. 7 million) which was within the budget but still far higher than the spending on any of the movies in the sci-fi saga. Disney has had a mixed bag of results from its Star Wars shows and movies since it bought the creator of the series, Lucasfilm, for $4 billion in 2012. All the stars aligned for The Force Awakens, the first in Disney’s trilogy of sequels to the original films which kicked off in 1977. The Force Awakens grossed $2. 1 billion and earned an impressive audience score of 84% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. However, its 2017 follow up, The Last Jedi, was only rated 41% and although the audience score shot back up to 86% for The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the trilogy, it only grossed $1. 1 billion at the box office. Star Wars hasn’t been seen on the silver screen since then and instead the Mouse has concentrated on streaming shows for its Disney+ platform but they too experienced a disturbance in the force. The first in the series was 2019’s The Mandalorian which followed the eponymous armor-clad bounty hunter tasked with protecting a pointy-eared green alien called Grogu. The cute critter took the world by storm and the first season scored a whopping 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A sequel was inevitable and that maintained the original’s high standards with a 91% audience score. However, it crashed to just 51% for the third season in 2023 and the malaise didn’t stop there. The following year Disney released The Acolyte which was famously attacked for its emphasis on diversity and ended up with an audience score of just 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. The only one of Disney’s Star Wars franchises that has managed to maintain audience appeal across several seasons is Andor which stars Mexican actor Diego Luna as the eponymous spy working for the heroic Rebels as they take on the might of the Empire, led by legendary villain Darth Vader. Set five years before the tremendously-successful original Star Wars trilogy, Andor feels equally grounded thanks to its heavy use of practical effects and physical sets rather that the digital backdrops which are common on other Star Wars productions as this report explained. It was a winner with audiences earning an 88% Rotten Tomatoes rating for its first season which debuted in 2022. It took three years for its successor to drop as filming of season two was heavily delayed by the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023. It was worth the wait as season two opened in April this year to an audience score of 89%. It didn’t come cheap. The cost of making streaming shows is usually a closely-guarded secret as studios combine all of them in their expenses and don’t itemize how much they spent on each one. Shows made in the United Kingdom are exceptions and Andor was one of them. Studios filming in the U. K. get a cash reimbursement of up to 25. 5% of the money they spend in the country. Until last year it came in the form of a tax credit but the cash is now counted as revenue. The key condition of receiving it is that at least 10% of the core costs of the production have to be incurred in the U. K. and in order to demonstrate this to the authorities, studios set up separate companies to produce each show they make there. They shine a spotlight on the spending because the companies are obliged to file legally-binding financial statements which reveal everything from the production’s overall cost and level of reimbursement to the headcount, salaries and even the social security payments to staff. It takes some detective work to get to the bottom of this. The companies have code names so that they don’t raise attention with fans when filing for permits to film on location. Andor was made by Disney’s subsidiary E&E Industries (UK) which was originally founded in October 2018 to work on a feature film about iconic Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Disney had a rethink following the failure of its movie based on Star Wars stalwart Han Solo which was released earlier that year. It lost $103. 3 million at the box office as this report revealed and as a result of this, Obi-Wan Kenobi became a Disney+ show. Filming was due to begin in summer 2020 but it was not to be. Production was put on hold in mid-January 2020 after Disney reportedly became concerned that the storyline was too similar to The Mandalorian as it involved Kenobi protecting a young Luke Skywalker, famously played by Mark Hamill in the original Star Wars movies. The delay proved to be a blessing in disguise as the pandemic soon sent the world into lockdown giving time for the Obi-Wan Kenobi script to be reworked. By May 2021 the crew had gathered in Los Angeles and filming finally began. The filings for E&E Industries reveal that a total of $7. 2 million (£5. 6 million) had been spent by October 31, 2019, not long before pre-production on Obi-Wan Kenobi was halted. It is likely that more was spent on the show in the intervening time but the bulk of the cost should show on the 2019 filings. E&E Industries wasn’t mothballed when Obi-Wan Kenobi was put on hold. Instead, it became the production company for Andor and both seasons of the show were shot at the historic Pinewood Studios outside London. It was also filmed on location across the U. K. with a futuristic metro station in London doubling for the Imperial Security Bureau on the alien planet of Coruscant while the resort planet Niamos was actually a seaside town in the north of England. In an interview on ComicBookMovie, Andor’s special effects supervisor Neal Scanlan revealed that around six weeks of pre-production had been done on Andor by the time that the U. K. went into lockdown at the end of March 2020. Filming was delayed repeatedly due to the pandemic and E&E Industries was handed a $1. 6 million (£1. 2 million) grant by the U. K. government along with $2 million (£1. 5 million) from an insurance claim. As with all U. K. companies, E&E Industries releases its filings in stages long after the period they relate to. The process starts during pre-production and continues long after the premiere in order to give the production team time to ensure that all the bills are paid. It explains why the company today released its financial statements to November 22, 2024 which show that by then a total of $705. 5 million had been spent on both seasons of the show. The second season debuted precisely five months after the date of the financial statements so the cost is likely to rise in the subsequent set of filings next year. Excluding the $7. 2 million of expenses for Obi-Wan Kenobi puts the total spending on the two seasons of Andor at around $698. 3 million and the financial statements reveal that they were both “within the production budget.” It doesn’t stop there. E&E Industries also received a total reimbursement and tax credit of $142. 3 million (£111. 5 million) which brought Disney’s net spending on Andor down to $552. 4 million after deducting the insurance payout and the payment from the pandemic grant. One of the biggest single expenses shown in the financial statements was the $85. 5 million (£66. 9 million) paid to staff which is the highest wage bill for any of the shows and movies made by Disney in the U. K. over the past 15 years. Staff numbers on Andor peaked in 2023 at a monthly average of 501 people which doesn’t include freelancers, contractors and temporary workers as they aren’t listed as employees on the books of U. K. companies even though they often represent the majority of the crew on a film shoot. Last year Disney announced that since 2019 it has spent $4. 8 billion (£3. 5 billion) on production in the U. K. across 41 shows and 29 feature films supporting more than 32, 000 jobs. It is a good portion of the total. The latest data from the British Film Institute (BFI) shows that in 2019 alone, film making generated a total of 37, 685 jobs in London and 7, 775 throughout the rest of the U. K. The BFI’s triennial Screen Business report added that when the wider impacts of the film content value chain are taken into consideration, 49, 845 jobs were created in London in 2019 and 19, 085 throughout the rest of the U. K. In February the BFI released its latest annual data which showed that foreign studios contributed a massive 87% of the $2. 6 billion (£2. 1 billion) spent on making films in the U. K. in 2024. This doesn’t just keep people in jobs but also drives spending on services such as security, equipment hire, transport and catering. It remains to be seen how long this glow will last. In May President Trump rocked Hollywood with the announcement that a 100% tariff will be applied to movies entering the United States that are produced in “foreign lands”. It was an attempt to bring film making back to the U. S. and although it has yet to be implemented, it hasn’t been forgotten. In late September Trump wrote on social media that “in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.” If he doesn’t follow through with this threat, he may have to roll out the red carpet by offering Hollywood studios even more lucrative incentives than they get in the U. K. in order to tempt them back home.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/finance/disney-spent-more-on-andor-than-any-of-its-star-wars-movies/

Packers’ Late Roster Move Could Mean Bad News for Josh Jacobs

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One of the big question marks for the Packers heading into Week 12, when they will square off against the Vikings for just their second divisional game this season is whether running back Josh Jacobs will be cleared to play. Jacobs injured his knee in Week 11 against the Giants, and has battled through practice this week-though in limited participation-in hopes of being able to play on Sunday. Jacobs injured the knee in a hard fall on the stiff MetLife turf in the first quarter at the Meadowlands, but attempted to play through the pain. He left early in the second quarter, though. He carried seven times for 40 yards in the game. The Packers have vowed to be cautious with Jacobs even as he has vowed to play even if there is swelling on the knee. It looks as though the team might win the argument though: On Saturday, the Packers brought up veteran practice-squadder Pierre Strong and activated him for Sunday’s game. Packers Will See a Lot of Emanuel Wilson That’s likely an indication that the Packers are not planning to play Jacobs on Sunday. The Packers also elevated linebacker Jamon Johnson, according to the team website, an indication that Quay Walker is not going to play, either. Walker has been dealing with a neck injury. Though Strong and Johnson will be on the 53-man, they’re not expected to contribute much. Strong has 99 carries over three years with the Browns and Patriots, totaling 499 yards. He has yet to play this season-the Packers only added him to the practice squad in September. In place of Jacobs, the Packers are expected to go with backup Emanuel Wilson, who had 11 carries for 40 yards in place of Jacobs last week, as the top running back, with RB3 Chris Brooks moving up a spot. Expect Isaiah McDuffie to get a boost in playing time with Walker out. Packers Said It Was Day-to-Day Throughout the week, Packers coach Matt LaFleur has said it was truly even odds as to whether Jacobs would go on Sunday. But with the Packers slated to play again on Thanksgiving, the chances were likely always less than that-though, again, he has not been ruled out completely. “The plan is to try to get him healthy enough to go,” LaFleur said. “It’s just going to be a day-by-day thing. He is truly day to day, and we’ll see how he progresses as the week unfolds.” Josh Jacobs Certain for Thanksgiving Jacobs made clear that if he sat out on Sunday, it would not go beyond that, and would be playing when the Packers and Lions face off on Thursday. “Worst case if I don’t play this week, Thursday I’m definitely playing. It’s not like something that’ll linger over past that. That’s really the worst-case scenario, yeah,” Jacobs said Jacobs also made clear he is no fan of the field at MetLife, which has been a source of Packers complaints for years. “Definitely the worst, it’s always been the worst,” Jacobs said of the field. “I know if I ever play there again I will never talk about it because I talked about it all week, how bad it was, and it bit me in the ass.”.
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/green-bay-packers/late-roster-move-could-mean-bad-news-for-josh-jacobs/

‘NCIS: Origins’ Needs To Double Down on Gibbs and Lala’s Romance

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One year into its run, NCIS: Origins has already radically changed the way viewers see Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The future team leader, played in the prequel by Austin Stowell, is still finding his footing as a field agent while coping with the loss of his family. That last element is a key part of Gibbs’ character, one that extends even into the original NCIS. It’s why it was a little surprising when, in its very first episode, Origins appeared to suggest that, shortly after losing his wife, Gibbs became very involved with his NIS partner Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino). Though Mark Harmon’s narration kept the nature of that bond ambiguous, the rest of Season 1 set up a romance between the two agents. Longtime NCIS fans balked at the concept of Gibbs moving on from Shannon so quickly, but Lala soon proved more than capable of going toe-to-toe with him, and their relationship became one of the strongest parts of NCIS: Origins Season 1. The two nearly kissed in the finale, and older Gibbs confirmed that he was in love with her back then and still in love with her now. However, since then, NCIS: Origins Season 2 has kept Gibbs and Lala’s romance simmering on the backburner while introducing other love interests for them both. Still, it has to go all in on their relationship eventually. ‘NCIS: Origins’ Is Built On Gibbs & Lala’s Romance NCIS: Origins Season 2 picks up months after the finale, but it’s immediately clear that the time jump hasn’t killed their feelings. When Lala first comes back to work after her near-fatal car accident, Gibbs is just as protective of her perhaps even more so now and several people within the NIS Pendleton office comment on the state of their relationship. However, Gibbs has started seeing Diane (Kathleen Kenny) who, according to NCIS lore, will someday become his second wife and Lala is grappling with how the accident changed her. On top of that, the most recent episode of NCIS: Origins Season 2 saw Lala drawn closer to Manny (Miguel Gomez), Flaco’s (Scotty Tovar) driver and subordinate. Though this primarily indicates that Lala won’t avoid Flaco’s demand that she investigate a rival gang leader forever, it also could be setting up a deeper relationship between her and Manny. They were last seen sharing some loaded confessions together in a church, perhaps suggesting that, at least right now, Lala finds it easier to open up to him than she does with any of her co-workers. Looking at the increasing number of obstacles stacked against Gibbs and Lala, it might be easy to assume NCIS: Origins will simply let their romance fall to the wayside. However, this love story is baked into the very foundation of the series, and thus needs greater development. In the very first episode of the show, older Gibbs stated, “This is the story I don’t tell. This is the story of her.” That sentiment was reiterated in the Season 1 finale, highlighting how, in the end, it all has to come back to Lala. Whatever ultimately happened between them was so painful, so life-changing, that Gibbs has kept it locked inside him for years, and is only now letting out while he’s alone in Alaska. Had Lala died in the Season 1 finale, viewers would’ve had their answer about why Gibbs chose not to speak of her. Instead, she survived, and her relationship with Gibbs has continued to unfurl. If nothing more comes of their romantic feelings for each other, then the significance of Gibbs’ story could be diminished. While a person can be horribly affected by the loss of a close friend, NCIS: Origins has already confirmed that Gibbs still loves Lala all the way into his Alaskan retirement. Something truly game-changing has to be coming for these characters, and it won’t be a quiet end to their relationship. Lala Can Inspire Gibbs’ Rule #12 The recent crossover between NCIS and NCIS: Origins offered updates on two characters from the latter series in the present day Gibbs and Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia) but kept mum on Lala’s whereabouts. This was to be expected, since it’s clearly part of the larger mystery, but it further emphasizes one of the most compelling elements of her romance with Gibbs. There’s still so much to uncover, and so many places where Lala can fit into Gibbs’ story. NCIS: Origins has had a lot of fun exploring different aspects of the Gibbs lore. For example, the third episode of Season 2 revealed it was Ducky (played as a younger man by Adam Campbell) who ultimately gave Gibbs the inspiration to start building a boat. Then, the crossover episode saw Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) impart the famous Rule #11: “When the job’s done, walk away.” NCIS: Origins is making good on its title by weaving in the starting points of several of Gibbs’ most well-known traits. NCIS fans know all too well that Rule #12 is “Never date a co-worker.” It’s a sentiment that could arguably come from common sense and, as seen with Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), it’s applicable in many situations. Still, the origin of Rule #11 begs the question: Did Gibbs get Rule #12 from a specific situation in his life? If he did, Lala must be the co-worker in question. It would seem out of character for Gibbs to have strong feelings for one co-worker during a formative period, only to instead go on later and fall for another co-worker so strongly that she inspires the life-defining mantra. Beyond that key bit of lore, it would just be disappointing if nothing further happened between Gibbs and Lala. Over the course of the show thus far, they’ve gone from wary, distrustful partners to two people willing to risk everything for each other, as seen with how quickly they were to sacrifice themselves during the Pedro Hernandez investigation. They’ve been through a lot together, to the point where it’s easy to root for them even despite some initial misgivings. Though their story isn’t likely to end happily at least not on Origins it still deserves to be told.
https://collider.com/ncis-origins-gibbs-lala-romance-season-2/

Nashoba Tech football team edged by Randoph in state semifinal, 20-12

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WAYLAND The Nashoba Tech football team did everything it could to avenge last year’s state semifinal loss to Randolph when the teams met again on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings held advantages in almost every statistical category: 265 total yards of offense to 165; 15 first downs to 8; Time of possession 26: 22 to 21: 38. And trick plays, Nashoba Tech 4-0 with two onside kicks and two fake punts. But all of that together still wasn’t enough as the fourth-seeded Blue Devils upset the top-seeded Vikings, 20-12, in a Division 8 state semifinal game at Wayland High School. “This is tough. They are a real good team. It’s tough to get back here twice and get to the final four, but what are you going to do? They are a great team,” said Vikings’ head coach Danny Kelly. “They were the better team today and they won the line of scrimmage.” Undefeated Randolph (11-0) took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. After a short punt moved the ball just 16 yards, it took just five running plays before Abraham Cornet scored on a 6-yard TD run, and the PAT kick by Alin Norisca was good. The score remained that way until the wild fourth quarter. After Nashoba turned the ball over on a muffed punt, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 14-0 with 11: 36 left in the game after a two-yard run by Mekhi White. The Vikings stormed right back. Behind a 36-yard gain by sophomore Zack Deschenes (22 carries, 122 yards), it took just five plays before Nashoba Tech got into the end zone with Jayden Garshong taking it in from four yards out. The conversion rush failed. Trailing 14-6 with 9: 47 to go, Nashoba elected for the onside kick, but Randolph recovered it, before scoring 2: 52 later thanks to a 29-yard run by White, coming on fourth-and-two. Trailing 20-6, Nashoba went to the air. Quarterback Nick Sloboda (7 for 15, 83 yards), who started the game off completing just 1 of 7 passes for five yards, connected on four attempts, all to Dylan Hall, of 2, 12, 38 and 9 yards with the last turning into a touchdown. The conversion pass failed. Trailing 20-12 with four minutes to go and all three timeouts left, Kelly called for the onside kick again and Randolph recovered it. “We didn’t want them to get the ball back. I know that they could kill the clock, so we didn’t want them to have the ball back. We took chances throughout the game. We had two fake punts, and we were willing to take all the risks,” said Kelly. Randolph managed a first down but eventually had to punt. Nashoba had one last shot, starting out on its own 15 with 1: 25 to go. Sloboda completed two passes for a combined 17 yards before throwing an interception into the hands of White, who is headed to UMass Lowell next year on a track scholarship. “I thought we played well. Our defense played well. We should’ve gotten the job done today, but we didn’t. They were better,” said Kelly. Nashoba (8-3) has now have been eliminated by Randolph for the second straight time in a state semifinal game. “It’s been an unbelievable season,” said Kelly, noting that the team will face Monty Tech on Thanksgiving to end the season. “To get to the final four again, these seniors are 9-0 against the league in the past two years, three out of four league titles so it’s going to be tough to replace them, honestly. We do have so much coming back next year. We return everybody but three starters on the line, so we’ll be back. These guys are hurting, and this one is going to sting more than last year because they were so close. We felt like we had our chances today, more so than last year.” Nashoba Tech played a brutually tough schedule. The Vikings moved up a couple of divisions in taking on Stoneham. They really turned heads when they moved up six divisions to take on Division 2 powerhouse Catholic Memorial. These Vikings didn’t back down against any challenge this season.
https://www.lowellsun.com/2025/11/22/nashoba-tech-football-team-edged-by-randoph-in-state-semifinal-20-12/

Seafood, pasta and more in Pasadena – it’s all at this popular mall

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It struck me the other day that The Commons on Lake Avenue isn’t just a fine destination for lunch or dinner, and a bit of shopping for dishware at Williams-Sonoma. It’s a museum, a compendium of many of the foods that define us as Southern Californians, nicely assembled in one easily accessible space and represented by several of our best casually upscale mini-chains. I’ve noticed that diners don’t bother with reservations, even at those eateries that offer reservations. They (we!) just show up, and glance in to see what looks good, what tempts, and perhaps what doesn’t have a wait that will drag on long enough for lunch to turn into dinner. The newest of the mini-chains is Uovo (The Commons, 146 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena; 626-556-7948, www. uovo. la), where the obsession with pasta rivals that of many of its equals in Venice, Florence and Rome if not more so. There’s a long essay on the flipside of the menu, explaining the Uovo search for the perfect pasta. How it found the wellspring of fresh pasta in Bologna. And realized that the only way to serve pasta that good was to make it in Italy and ship it overnight. Which is declared at the top of every menu. The result is . amazing, done in three pasta categories: La Pasta di Bologna, La Pasta di Roma and Pasta Classica mostly in shapes like tonnarelli (akin to spaghetti), flat thin tagliolini and flat medium width tagliatelle. There’s lasagna, tortellini and ravioli, too. The toppings are wondrous; I’m mad for the cacio e pepe with pecorino Romano and imported black pepper. So simple and so good. And, of course, there are openers and sides yellowtail crudo, insalata arugula and mizuna, wagyu beef tartare, roasted cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms. Once again, the menu informs us that “We politely decline any modifications.” When you have one singular sensation dominating your menu, why would anyone ask you to? Though with a tip of the toque to SoCal, there are gluten-free options. Albeit “cooked in the same water as our regular pasta.” For many years, legendary sushi chef Kazunori Nozawa ran a much-respected mini-mall sushi and sashimi restaurant, famous for its many rules. Nozawa was, and is, a purist. Which means no spicy tuna rolls, no California rolls, no exotic rolls at all. If diners asked for less-than-traditional dishes, they were (depending on the chef’s mood) politely told no, or not so politely asked to leave. For one, actress Charlize Theron was ejected after demanding dishes that Nozawa didn’t want to serve her. It was dining for masochists though as was, and is, often mentioned, the quality of the fish is first-rate . even if the portions are a bit undernourished. Several years ago, Nozawa closed his original shop, and began opening a chain of fast-casual incarnations called Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa, where the drill is pretty much the same except (as a rule) no one yells at you, or tosses you out. (I think.) At The Commons incarnation (146 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena; 626-298-8386, www. sugarfishsushi. com), there’s almost always a wait to get in. The room is far more designerish than the original, in a comfortably minimalist fashion. And service is actually friendly. Though they still won’t serve you extra rice or sauce; the rules are the rules. There’s an à la carte menu at Sugarfish: three sashimi choices, 13 sushi options, seven non-exotic rolls, either hand or cut. But, I suspect very few order à la carte here except to, perhaps, enhance the Trust Me menus, of which there are three. There’s the Trust Me Lite (edamame, tuna sashimi; one piece each of albacore sushi, salmon sushi and shrimp sushi; and a toro hand roll), the Trust Me (edamame, tuna sashimi; two pieces each of albacore sushi and salmon sushi; one each of yellowtail sushi and halibut sushi; a blue crab hand roll and a toro hand roll), and the Nozawa Trust Me (the same as the Trust Me, but with a two-piece “daily special”). For better or worse, I tend to leave Sugarfish feeling still hungry. I know that marks me as a Philistine, a barbarian at the gate. But as a friend who often eats at Sugarfish said and do note that she’s a seriously stylish dresser, exercise advocate and diner “I eat at Sugarfish all the time. And while I eat, I keep wondering where I’m going to go for a hamburger after.” Or, if not a hamburger, perhaps some handmade dumplings at Dan Modern Chinese next door (146 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena; 626-817-9799, www. danmodernchinese. com). Dan is a very comfy place in which to contemplate the joys of xiao long bao soup dumplings of which Dan offers seven variations. Which is also unique; even the best-known of the soup dumpling shops offer . one soup dumpling. But at Dan, there’s pork, pork and crab, pork and shrimp, chicken, chicken and crab, chicken and shrimp, and vegetable. The funny thing about all those variations is that for most of us, the wonder of the soup dumpling is the small miracle of hot soup . wrapped in a dumpling, a culinary parlor trick that’s taught the wise among us to gobble with caution. Pop a steaming hot soup dumpling in your mouth, and expect a palate burn that will stay with you for a while. The trick is to bite with a certain delicacy not easy when there’s a tempting basket of dumplings before you. I certainly had no problem putting together a proper dumpling feast, adding numerous of the five non-soup dumplings to my table (pork, pork and crab, pork and shrimp, chicken and vegetable), each available steamed, pan-fried or crispy. Mixing and matching them is fun, and tasty. There are puffy buns as well, both steamed and pan-fried; I prefer steamed, which is the traditional prep, and somehow even sweeter and more appealing a savory dish that feels like a dessert, especially with its filling of pork in a sweetish sauce. And there’s more, but not much. There’s a trio of noodle soups and very good they are, too. There are seven flavors of fried rice, which isn’t really a dim sum dish, but then this is a new-school dumpling house, and pretty much anything goes including a “large plate” of the Taiwanese favorite Three Cup Chicken, so named because of the three cups of sauce used to cook it (soy, rice wine and sesame oil). And, speaking of cups, The Commons also offers a branch of Philz Coffee, should you need a cappuccino after your sesame noodles with pork or your chicken roll. And though it’s not in The Commons, the best ice cream for miles around is Bacio di Latte (85 W. Colorado Blvd., Old Pasadena; 626-360-0764, So expensive. And so good!.
https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2025/11/22/seafood-pasta-and-more-in-pasadena-its-all-at-this-popular-mall/

FRIDAY FULL SHOW 11/21/25: Trump Warns “I Think They’re In Serious Trouble” After White House & Pentagon Finally Discover The Democrat/Podesta Plan To Trigger A Civil War & Collapse The United States!

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John Podesta planned civil war if Biden lost in 2020. The plan was postponed for four years when the Democrats managed to steal the 2020 election. In the meantime, they made a predictive-programming movie about a civil war to prepare their minions for what to do when the time came. In Podesta’s plan and in the movie, Left-coast states form a “Western Alliance,” secede from the Union and eventually assassinate the President. Lo-and-behold, California, Oregon and Washington have formed an alliance to “cow” the President. The Western States Can COW the President California announces coalition of Governors forming new alliance to protect public health from political interference And when Gavin Newsom bragged about forming the alliance on Steven Colbert’s show, the minions cheered because they were in on the plan. Gav while touting Democrats’ support for international climate agreements, vaccine access and opposition to mass deportations. He highlighted California’s partnership with nearby states to counter what he’s called the politicization of the CDC and vaccine guidelines under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4354067/posts

Oklahoma State, Habtom Samuel win men’s titles, NC State, Lemngole take women’s titles in x-country

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The top-ranked Oklahoma State men and N.C. State women continued to collect team titles, Alabama junior Doris Lemngole defended her championship and New Mexico’s two-time runner-up Habtom Samuel took the men’s title at the NCAA Division I cross country championships on Saturday. The Cowboys finished an undefeated season putting four runners…
https://mymotherlode.com/sports/college-sports-game-stories/10219689/oklahoma-state-habtom-samuel-win-mens-titles-nc-state-lemngole-take-womens-titles-in-x-country.html

Martin completes redemption tour with 8-Player Division 1 football state title win over Montabella

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The final stop on the Martin redemption tour was successful, making the hours at practice and on the farm worthwhile. The Clippers, who were knocked out in the second round of the 2024 playoffs, earned their third state title in four years, running past Blanchard Montabella for a 52-8 win Saturday in the 2025 8-Player Division 1 championship game at Northern Michigan University. “From Day One, we wanted to redeem ourselves,” Martin coach Brad Blauvelt said. “It was heartbreaking last year. We thought we could win four in a row. We wanted to get back this year and finish it right. “This senior class was special. They’re friends. They hung out with each other. I was super tight with them. They helped me move. They worked on my farm. I will miss these seniors.” The Clippers won the 2022 state title, beating Merrill, 74-24, before tacking on the 2023 championship with a 30-26 win over Indian River Inland Lakes. But Martin lost to Mendon, 26-22, in a 2024 regional final. In Saturday’s state final, Montabella scored first, with Brady Kieff running for a 3-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion. “They came out swinging for sure,” Blauvelt said. “There were a couple mistakes on that first drive. We didn’t panic. These boys have been in so many tough situations a couple years ago where we won. Once we settled in, we were OK.” Senior quarterback Haylen Buell, who played in Martin’s previous two state finals, was more than OK. Buell capped his career with three touchdown runs and a TD pass against the 11-2 Mustangs. Buell finished with 179 yards rushing on nine carries and completed 7 of 7 passes for 134 yards, with one interception. “He was a monster today, and he has been all season,” Blauvelt said. “He wanted the third title. He was the driving force. I talk a lot about the senior class and how special they were. They wanted it. Haylen likes football. He likes to be physical, and that mindset rubbed off on everyone.” After Montabella’s opening touchdown, Martin answered with a 3-yard run and 2-point conversion by Buell for an 8-8 tie after one quarter. The Clippers took over the game in the second quarter, scoring 30 points for a 38-8 halftime lead. Bryer Watson began the scoring with an 81-yard TD run, with Buell tacking on a 44-yard TD run. After Seth Toris ran for a 1-yard score, Buell found Anderson Keeler for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Toris also ran for a pair of 2-point conversions. Elkins, who ran for a 2-pointer in the second quarter, scored on a 52-yard run in the third quarter, with Buell hitting Watson for the conversion. Buell finished the scoring with a 62-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Martin totaled 498 yards of offense, including 364 on the ground. Montabella was held to 101 yards rushing and 87 passing. Watson added six carries for 111 yards for the Clippers, with Ethan Greene catching four passes for 23 yards. Watson added two catches for 68 yards. Isaac Suk paced the Martin defense with six tackles, while Buell added five unassisted tackles and two assists. Noah Carlson had five tackles for Montabella, which made its first state final appearance. Gabriel Kauffman led Montabella with eight carries for 54 yards, completing 9 of 22 passes for 87 yards. “This class, this team was special,” Blauvelt said. “Before the season, we asked them to play with great effort, be selfless and be a teammate. “And they did.”.
https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2025/11/martin-completes-redemption-tour-with-8-player-division-1-football-state-title-win-over-montabella.html