Has anyone seen this movie yet? Its very well done and Paul Giamatti was superb in it. Its kind of a Christmas movie in setting but not necessarily in theme. All of the actors do a great job and this movie has a lot of heart. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys these types of movies. Really hope it gets a nod for some awards.

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10:15AM. Will see if there is an upload of the comment anywhere.

I saw that Lyndesy is opening a gym for basketball training here in Ames soon. Some familiar faces look to be on the training staff.

Link

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Edit: Apparently someone also branded the steer with “F**k FH”
Since this was found at the farmhouse fraternity, I imagine this was not committed by them.

1) Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat In The Rain. These guys have been my favorite band of the past decade. Evan Felker is my favorite living songwriter. He has captured life in rural middle America as experienced by the elder Millennials better than anyone else. After walking away from music suddenly in 2019 and basically drowning in booze for the next year, he got his **** together, reunited with his wife, reunited with his band, and they put together one of the best albums of their career. While not heavy on new Felker material, the songs he put down are among the best he's ever written.

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2) Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes. I'll admit, as a long time fan of Isbell, going back to his time in Drive-By Truckers, I thought he was completely washed after 2020's "Reunions". He seemed more interesting in fighting with people on Twitter and virtue signaling than making great art. When I heard the first couple of lead singles from this album, I detected more of the same. On release day, I tossed the album on expecting next to nothing. Holy ****, could I have not been more wrong. While there are a couple tracks I don't care, he came back with some of the absolute best work of his career, including what might be the best song ("King of Oklahoma") that he's ever written. He even cranks the amps a time or two. Well done, Mr. Isbell. Well done.

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3) Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS. If you had told me 3 months ago I'd be putting an Olivia Rodrigo album on my year end list, I would have laughed in your face. Joke's on me. This album is ******* great. Imagine if Weezer's "Blue Album" had been made by a sexy, confident, 20 something chick instead of an emotionally crippled Gen X incel. You'd have GUTS.

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4) Joe Stamm Band - Wild Man/Fort Smith. Stamm is a Midwest guy (Peoria native) who's been on my radar ever since I heard his stunning tribute to John Prine during the Pandemic. He tours heavily, mostly in the Midwest, and is finally starting to garner a more national audience. His "Midwest Town" album was my favorite of 2021, and his proper album (Wild Man) and EP (Fort Smith) that came out this year features some of his best songs. The band is coming into their own as well, turning into a really tight, muscular country/rock outfit. If these guys are in your area (and they probably will be), check them out. I saw him open for Chris Knight in Iowa City last February and loved it.

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5) Dave Hause - Drive It Like It's Stolen. Hause has become one of my favorite musicians in recent years. He blends pop punk with folk/Americana into an insanely catchy mix. This is release is more of the same from him, and that's a good thing. His lyrics are always extremely personal, but yet hit a lot of universal points.

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I have a playlist called “Guilty Pleasures - S****y Songs I Can’t Quit.”

It is filled with songs that I empirically know are not art, or even quality. But that doesn’t stop me from loving the hell out of them.

Here are a few of mine - what are your guilty pleasure songs?

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Hey All.

Has anyone ever been to Maine. The wife and I have been talking about possibly getting up there next fall. Neither of us have ever been, but for some reason, the idea seems appealing to both of us (recent cave events aside). Acadia National Park, Lobster fishing, I would imagine fall foliage would be incredible up there, etc. I did find myself in a small town in Rhode Island during a work function many, many years ago, and felt the area was very unique.

Has anyone ever been, and if so, have any suggestions? I’ve started doing a little research, and getting out there doesn’t seem to be terribly expensive. Just not sure what towns would be good ones for a “home base”. I’d actually prefer a small to medium sized fishing village, or something, then have a rental car to get to points of interest.

Nine Cyclones will wrestle at the Doane Open Saturday in Crete, Neb., competing attached and unattached. Action from Fuhrer Field House begins at 9 a.m.
The Matchup: Doane Open
Where: Crete, Neb. // Fuhrer Field House
When: Saturday, Dec. 2 - 9 a.m.
Live Stats: TrackWrestling

Iowa State Entries
125 - Caleb Fuessley
141 - Zach Redding
141 - Jacob Frost
157 - Jason Kraisser, Paniro Johnson*
165 - Connor Euton
197 - Cole Carlucci, Nando Villaescusa*
285 - Nate Schon*

*Competing Unattached

Interesting that Paniro is going 157

vs






IOWA STATE (5-2, 0-0 BIG 12)
DePaul (1-5, 0-0 Big East)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST 7:30 P.M. CST
Wintrust Arena / Chicago, Ill.



TV: FS1
Talent: Eric Collins, pxp Dickey Simpkins, analyst


Radio: Cyclone Radio Network (Varsity Network)
CRN Talent: John Walters, pxp Eric Heft, analyst

Does anyone know how one goes about watching Pacers games at home? Season ticket says in fine print Pacers are blacked out for my area. The game on NBA tv today was blacked out. Is it impossible to legally watch Pacers games in Cedar Rapids unless they’re on ESPN or TNT?

ALL ******* IN. I think Fury Road is the best action movie of all time. This looks awesome.

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Went through my Spotify Wrapped today and saw my listening time. If you aren't listening, you should. Search on mobile didn't pull up any good thread to post this in so figured I'd make one for general discussion. Thanks for this content @ChrisMWilliams

Figured since I was part of devolving the thread about the 2 unfortunate missing men in NW Iowa - maybe I'd create a thread just about the weird and spooky and strange stuff that goes on in the world if anyone was interested in continuing or having the conversation etc.

Enjoy!

Section 109, Row 11
With B1 parking pass.

$225 a piece ($450 total)—This includes the parking pass which I will express mail. Need to have it sold by Saturday to get the parking pass to people. Iowa State fans only and yes I will check your posting history to confirm.

We talk a lot about our favorite bands, singers, etc on here and it's always centered around musicians or groups that have a healthy catalog. But what is the one-hit-wonder that you rank up there?

Mine would have to be Blur - Song 2.

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Does anyone know how to watch the volleyball ncaa match tonight?

This morning I had to log in for the first time in years. When I clicked log in, everything was there, including the checked box for staying logged in.

Siap
Fun pod

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Sorry if this has been discussed. just curious. those tie break scenarios are confusing.

I am asking a bunch of people for their opinions on this because I don't want to seem like a Karen but whatever, let's see what CF thinks.

TL;DR - ESPN Invitational was the worst fan experience of all the tournaments I've been to since going to multiple since graduation and wondering if I should complain. I hope the team experience was way better.

----

I purchased tickets to the ESPN Invitational earlier this month because I found out I would be in the US and I try to go to most of our holiday tournaments. It's a cool way to meet fans both Cyclones and others in usually a fun setting with a good early season look against cool competition. Leading up to the event I signed up for every presales and newsletter and received minimal info on basically everything.

We had an incredible showing of fan support with probably 2/3 of ALL fans there being Iowa State this weekend. It was amazing. I would probably rank it in terms of people ISU, A&M, PSU, VT, BSU, VCU, Butler, and FAU with some fans coming up the last day for FAU as they were in the championship.

I also bought courtside hospitality tickets all 3 days because I usually try to do that for all the holiday tournaments as sort of a "treat yourself"/holiday present for myself. Every tournament is different but they usually include some mix food, alcohol, special access to certain areas, and good seats.

ESPN offered the following which required a separate purchase for the area on top of your hospitality fee. Key points highlighted by me



ISU was the evening session all 3 nights so I paid $90 x 3 for the experience + fees so roughly an extra $300. Tickets for upper deck were $35 a session (though the last night I got tickets for $6 on TickPick)

Courtside hospitality was really just taking over one of the baselines as you can see in the black area in the first pick but did provide some cool angles.









Night 1
I arrive 45min before tip and they haven't let anyone in yet. Wait in line for a very long time with thousands of other fans and half of us miss tip off.
Food was Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Chips, and Lemonade/Tea/Water and my 2 drink tickets which I used for a mixed drink each. Afternoon session had the exact same from what a Penn State fan told me.



Night 2
I arrive an hour before tip and there was ample time to enter the arena before tip off.
Food was Hot Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, and Lemonade/Tea/Water and my 2 drink tickets which I used for a mixed drink each. Afternoon session session was only hot dogs from what a A&M fan told me.

(no pic sorry)

Night 3
I arrive around halftime of the previous game so not a huge issue getting in and got to see tip off easily.
Food was cold turkey sliders on parker rolls with cheese and tomatoes. I made a comment about hot food and someone came around and asked who wanted hot pretzels. Also my 2 drink tickets. Afternoon session was a Nacho and Salsa bar with beef and chicken from what a VCU fan told me.





Multiple times throughout the weekend there was players, team personel, and even employees on the "lounge furniture" so the only seating area was occupied.



Alcohol was Titos, New Amsterdam Gin, and Jack Daniels, or beer wise was 16oz domestics with I think a Jai Alai IPA as the fancy one. Wine, no clue.

Outside of the hospitality section, the tournament was very poorly ran. Little information compared to most tournaments with the NIT Tip-Off being of similar vibes... just like show up and figure it out. The website is absolutely awful and it's actually a separate custom TicketMaster account just for ESPN Wide World of Sports which is madness. The entire place was basically shut down without any of the restaurants or activities availble except for the tourney itself. Not even a Uber Pickup area sign until you found it yourself.

Anyway. Long story short. Do you complain? Would you complain or ask for a full or partial refund on anything.

Who: Iowa State (2-3, 0-0 Big 12) at St. Thomas (3-3, 0-0 Summit)
Where: Schoenecker Arena– St. Paul, Minnesota
When: Wednesday, November 29, 2023 – 7:00 p.m. CT

WATCH: Summit League Network
PxP: Scout Mason

LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App or Radio Affiliates
PxP: Noah Wolf Analyst: Jamie Steyer Johnson

LIVE STATS
IOWA STATE GAME NOTES
MEDIA CENTER