Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[molson]

I'm a big fan of visiting and experiencing some big scene or hobby others are passionate about but which I'm ignorant of. I think it's one of my better traits - if you're super into whatever, say monster truck rallies, I totally want to go with you to a monster truck rally and see that through your eyes and appreciate it.

This weekend I got to that kind of thing - seeing Phish in the Vegas Sphere with some Phish friends. I was very a much a visitor to that whole thing, and, it was pretty crazy and awesome. Being around thousands of happy people who know everything that's going on when I didn't was somehow really relaxing. It's a rare time in my home or work life when I don't have to be an active participant or leader in something, here I could just sit back, take it in, and let everyone else move everything forward.

And I know Phish and Phish fans aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it is a happy, welcoming, bunch, and just seeing all these hardcore fans enjoying their thing in such a unique venue put me in a good mood.

Edit: I did feel a tad guilty as an imposter paying face value through my friend's ticket lottery win to see a show where seats were going for the thousands on the secondary market. But, my friends have that hipster Phish music philosophy of not wanting to take advantage of that market, so, I didn't feel bad for them not cashing in.

[Lathum]

My sister is huge into the Phish scene. I don't get it.

the sphere is wild. I have heard inside can be a bit dangerous because the stairs are steep and its dark and disorienting.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Lathum

the sphere is wild. I have heard inside can be a bit dangerous because the stairs are steep and its dark and disorienting.

I was kind of worried about that considering the amount of drug use I presume occurs at a typical Phish show. But, while you could tell people were having a good time and indulging, that part of it wasn't extreme at all. People had their shit together. And there's four different sections, so leaving and entering any particular one doesn't involve a ton of stairs.

But, you could tell the security people were trained on safety - every time someone moved from or returned to their seat they shined a flashlight at their feet the whole way.

[GrantDawg]

My Jordancon weekend was fantastic. We ended the weekend with "An Evening with Phil", where Phil Rosenthal from "Somebody Feed Phil" talked about his latest season and answered questions from the audience. That guy is such a sweetheart, and very funny.

[Kodos]

Would have loved to see the U2 Achtung Baby show there.

[Lathum]

Did you go on the High Roller? You get an incredible view of the Sphere from it.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Did you go on the High Roller? You get an incredible view of the Sphere from it.

No, but I've been on it pre-Sphere and I bet that view is amazing.

[molson]

I kind of wonder about the economics of the whole thing. It's been open for about 6 months and they've only had two performers - U2 and Phish. For the expense of putting together custom visuals for each show, you probably need an act that will sell out multiple shows. The only other musical act booked for the future is Dead & Company, who is spending about a month there. Otherwise they just run a daily "hey, check this thing out!" show, showing off what it can do.

Though looking it up now, UFC 306 is going to be there later this year. I am curious to see how that goes down. I don't think you can have mind-bending visuals up during fights, and, the stage area itself where I presume the cage would be is nothing special.

[Ksyrup]

Seems like Kohl's is trying anything to stay afloat.

We've shopped at Kohl's for a long time - back when we would visit my parents in Texas and they didn't even have Kohl's in either Florida or Kentucky. The gimmick has always been 15-30% off offers and Kohl's Cash to get people to come back in during times when the coupons weren't great. Over time, they started restricting use of the % off coupons on stuff like Nike and other name brand stuff, but overall, you could get some pretty good deals.

We noticed a few weeks ago when we went in to use 30% deal that only 1 of the 4 things we bought was eligible for the offer. So when we got a 40% off deal over the weekend, I went onto their website to see if I could figure out what the coupon would apply to. To my surprise, they were upfront with showing you which items a coupon would work for. That's new. The other surprise was that nearly everything other than (mostly) their brands were eligible. For instance, with men's dress clothes, the only brand that is eligible is Apt 9 - no Haggar, no Dockers. For jeans, it's Sonoma - no Levi's, Lee, Wrangler, etc.

My wife went into the store, and now they show on the pricing on the racks if the coupon is eligible. That means they either got a ton of shit or knew they'd get a ton of shit if they completely restricted the items the coupons could be used for without making it apparent.

So... I think that's effectively it for Kohl's in our house, other than a few limited purchases. I'll be shopping around way more than I used to when I knew I had that coupon buffer to bring the prices down. I know they've struggled, and going this route tells me nothing they've tried has worked.

[Edward64]

We shopped at Kohl's quite a bit when the kids were younger and growing quickly. Had their card and their specials/discounts were pretty good.

We noticed their coupons and marked-up-prices-before-coupons got much worse and stopped shopping there over 5+ years ago.

My guess is they are on their way to how Marshalls, SteinMart etc. is now.

[cuervo72]

Hey, I bought an Apt 9 sport jacket for a wedding a couple weeks ago! (Along with a couple of shirts and some Haggar pants).

Kohl's has always confounded me. They are not quite mall department store level in my mind, but they still do the shifty pricing thing where most things are hardly ever at full price, but have some rotating deal on them (today is 30%, next week 25%, week after BOGO 50% off, etc). Of course now ours has a huge Ulta or something in the middle of it.

[Ghost Econ]

Yeah Kohls stopped being worth it for us as the kid got older and I stopped working in an office. Once she had a say in her clothes, she wasn't finding anything there. Now my clothing consist of Costco athletic shorts, Costco hoodies, and various tshirts from my daughter's swim teams. Then I have a few collared shirts I rotate in for church or more important zoom meetings.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Hey, I bought an Apt 9 sport jacket for a wedding a couple weeks ago! (Along with a couple of shirts and some Haggar pants).

Kohl's has always confounded me. They are not quite mall department store level in my mind, but they still do the shifty pricing thing where most things are hardly ever at full price, but have some rotating deal on them (today is 30%, next week 25%, week after BOGO 50% off, etc). Of course now ours has a huge Ulta or something in the middle of it.

Sephora. I believe that was the big idea to save the company.

I don't necessarily have an issue with their brands but the list of name brands you couldn't use their coupons with used to be quite small. Now it's apparently nearly everything you've ever heard of.

[Ksyrup]

Regarding the new Dr. Pepper Coconut flavor, it's already hitting local shelves and I hope to pick some up by this weekend.

I found this review pretty interesting - it may have some promise more as a cocktail enhancer than a straight pop.

Dr. Pepper's New Creamy Coconut Flavor: Here's What We Think

[cuervo72]

Isn't this all just a spin on Laverne's milk and pepsi?

[Ksyrup]

There's also a Cherry Lime Sprite that's apparently out for a limited run through July.

[NobodyHere]

I don't care what anyone says. I like Applebees.

Quesadilla Salad for life yo'

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Quesadilla Salad

That sounds like a crime.