That Aud Smell

Wut.

FFS, anyone coming with the “great news, but ....” C’mon.

So happy. More later.

Well now wait a got-damn minute.

Falk and Rodrigues are placed on IR. So, that's the roster. For now.

Yep.

It's been a disappointment how Nylander's camp and preseason were short-circuited by injury.

And that thing where he seems to rest on each outside edge of his blades. That's not textbook, I don't think. But it's awesome.

Didn't mean to imply otherwise. Didn't mean to say anything inconsistent with whatever that is. I don't know enough about skating to know, but I've heard two or three people make comments about he's got some unusual aspect(s) to his technique(s). What I'd heard is consistent with what NB posted above.

I love that clip. I also love how the still-shot Kelly uses several times has Eichel pictured with that odd, fundamentally "unsound" thing he does with his skates. (NFW the kids are taught to do that -- Eichel just developed it on his own because he's maybe sorta not entirely from this planet.)

I guess we should have seen that coming.

I'll see if I can look for it. I clicked a link on Twitter last night and read a very, very detailed account (replete with links to retailers (e.g., EBay stores)), but did not fave the Tweet. The replacement part is evidently an item that certain federal legislators have been railing against, to no avail. To another of your comments, it is with regret that I essentially acknowledge the truth of what Dan Hodges had Tweeted a couple years ago (after another mass shooting (Charleston?)): "In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over."

Heel, boy. Heel. /pats head

I don't see the need to venture into politics, tbh. Sociopaths -- which we have to assume this guy was -- have been able to mask their nature and urges for a long, long time. Buffalo's infamous Bike Path Rapist is just one example of the type. I think I was imprecise. It does not appear that this guy was so mentally ill as to be mentally incompetent. He appears to have known very well what he was doing. But, for sure, he had to have been a sociopath, which, yes, is a serious mental disorder (not sure whether that is distinct from an "illness") found in the DSM.

It’s to the point that whenever I am in what appears to be a “soft target” area, I feel regular pangs of anxiety.

The most recent reporting reflects no indication that the guy had a history with law enforcement. This from WaPo is typical of what I am seeing: Authorities said a sweep of law enforcement databases showed Paddock had no known run-ins with police. Paddock was the son of a bank robber who was once on the FBI most wanted list, but investigators have turned up no clear links to any criminal enterprises or international terrorist groups

Same here. The accounts I'm seeing are that he'd had a career as an accountant, socked away some money, bought some real estate, and was living the life of an early-retired, high-stakes (compulsive?) gambler. I also saw that his father was on the FBI's most wanted list (for bank robberies and a subsequent assault on police) back in the late 60s through the mid 70s. It's somehow even more disheartening and terrifying to consider that neither mental illness nor religious radicalization played a role in this. Exactly.

Ooof. That one hits close to home.

I had not seen that reported.

I learned last night that you can convert an ordinary rifle to a fully automatic weapon by purchasing a replacement stock for about $40. I mean, what in the actual ####. Also, The Onion almost always gets things exactly right: Americans Hopeful This Will Be Last Mass Shooting Before They Stop On Their Own For No Reason WASHINGTON—Expressing a sense of guarded optimism that the latest incident of gun violence that left 58 dead and 500 injured in Las Vegas would be a turning point for the nation, Americans across the country confirmed Monday they were hopeful this would be the last mass shooting before all such occurrences stopped on their own for no reason at all. “After something as horrific as what happened in Las Vegas, we’re all just hoping that now these terrible shootings will stop once and for all without circumstances changing in any way or any of us taking even the slightest amount of action in response,” said Harrisburg, PA resident David Snyder, echoing the sentiments of tens of millions of citizens from coast to coast who told reporters they were confident that, after living through the most deadly mass shooting in modern American history and taking no material steps to change gun laws, reevaluate safety standards, increase access to mental health care, or even have a national conversation about how mass shootings could be avoided in the future, tragedies of this kind would at long last come to an end. “Having seen acts of violence like this happen over and over again for years now, I’m really holding out hope that, despite every single factor that allowed them to occur remaining exactly the same, we won’t have to live through another day like today. I know everyone’s praying this will finally be the time this issue just disappears forever entirely by itself without anyone doing anything.” At press time, Americans nationwide agreed that years of taking no measures whatsoever to prevent mass shootings may finally be paying off.

Duly noted.

Insofar as my fantasy football team goes, I hope Clay gets 15 targets against Cincinnati (I NEVER know for sure how to spell that city's name). Insofar as the Bills' ability to win 10 or 11 games this season, I hope they roster 1 or 2 additional WRs. Soon.

Of all the things I read about Petty, this one struck me as the greatest testament to what a terrific artist (and apparently person) he was - especially the bolded part at the end. This is taken from an interview Stevie Nicks did with Rolling Stone: In 1976, I'd been in Fleetwood Mac for about a year when I heard Tom Petty's debut. I became a fan right then. I loved the way Tom's Florida swamp-dog voice sounded in cahoots with Mike Campbell's guitar and Benmont Tench's keyboards. Tom had the same influences we had — the Byrds, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills and Nash — but he dropped in lots of serious old blues. And Tom is such a great singer and so charismatic onstage. I became such a fan that if I hadn't been in a band myself, I would have joined that one. When I started doing my first solo album, Bella Donna, my first thought was, "Who produces Tom Petty?" When they said Jimmy Iovine, I got Jimmy, because I wanted my solo work to be as much like Tom's as possible. I first met Tom in the studio, and he was pretty much what I expected. There's not a fake bone in his body. Jimmy and Tom decided to give me "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," which they had written with Campbell. When they showed it to me, I was like, "Is this the right thing to do? I only get 11 songs and one of them won't be mine." And both Tom and Jimmy said to me, in a brutally honest way, "You don't have a single on this record. And here's a single for you." Tom is a great and loyal friend, but he's also honest like that. In 1994, I had just gotten out of rehab, and Tom and I had dinner. I wanted to make a new record but I was scared. I said to him, "Will you help me write a song or two?" I didn't really expect the reaction I got, which was, "No, I won't. You are one of the premier songwriters in this business. Go home and turn off the radio. Don't be influenced by anything. Just write some great songs — that's what you do." He reinforced that I was still Stevie Nicks. I wrote a song about him I've never recorded, but I will someday. It goes, "Sometimes he's my best friend, even when he's not around." In 2006, I did 27 shows with him. Tom made me a little platinum sheriff's badge that had 24-karat gold and diamonds across the top and said "To Our Honorary Heartbreaker, Stevie Nicks." On the back it says "To the Only Girl in Our Band." I keep it on my black velvet top hat. It goes with me everywhere. It's probably the most beautiful piece of jewelry a man has ever given me, ever.

Normally, yeah. But under these circumstances, it’s noteworthy.

RIP to an O.G. bad-ass. (And I've never really been a big fan of his music -- but, I know enough to know that he was the man.)