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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 11, 20096:25 pm| 130 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging

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No more politics.

Claim your pets.

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Previous Post: « Douthat to the Times
Next Post: Ralph Nader’s Revenge »

Reader Interactions

130Comments

  1. 1.

    gbear

    March 11, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    My Furminator arrived in the mail today. I took a couple of swipes at one of the cats and couldn’t believe what happened (other than the cat running away). I hope they get used to it.

  2. 2.

    Krista

    March 11, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    Awww…soft ‘n’ fuzzy puppy. That bottom photo of the kitty is cute, but it looks like it may have been interrupted while cleaning its grundle.

  3. 3.

    Zifnab

    March 11, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Urge to kill fading… fading… fading… … … gone.

    One day we’re going to find out that Lolcats is just the latest government iteration of "fluoride in the drinking water."

  4. 4.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 11, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    Yay we can has kittehs and a puppeh!
    BTW where is Tunch? In other cat related news, I have just ordered the furminator based on the glowing reviews here.

  5. 5.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 6:32 pm

    OMIGOD!
    LOOKIT THAT PUPPY!
    That is THE CUTEST PUPPY PHOTO EVER!
    Whoever sent that in must be just AWESOME.

  6. 6.

    Comrade Stuck

    March 11, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    Me wants the puppy!!!

  7. 7.

    Church Lady

    March 11, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    The cat in the top photo makes Tunch look sweet. I don’t think I’d turn my back on this one.

  8. 8.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    I know I keep telling you guys that Aussie Shepherds are the Best. Dogs. Ever, but here’s proof for you haters.

  9. 9.

    jlo

    March 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    What is wrong with the puppy? There would be no posing for pictures next to a biscuit in my house.

  10. 10.

    Krista

    March 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    That’s your puppy, isn’t it, Laura W?

    On a side note, am I completely hallucinatory, but in the sidebar ad for the PJ Media American Tea Wank, does the ship look strangely like a Lego pirate ship? Every time I look at the ad, I expect to see tiny little Lego pirates balancing from the rigging or rowing the little lifeboat.

  11. 11.

    AhabTExpropriator

    March 11, 2009 at 6:38 pm

    Momo got to take her first trip to the vet (although not the trip to the vet) today, and is in fine health. She got to try out her new harness and I.D. tags.

    She spent most of the trip in the car on my lap, although she did spend about 5 minutes between my neck and headrest.

  12. 12.

    J.

    March 11, 2009 at 6:43 pm

    Those cats look mad.

    I want more hamster pictures!

    Hamster power rules!

  13. 13.

    BDeevDad

    March 11, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    Is the new domestic partnership initiative in California, politics? They are starting to collect signatures.

    The measure would replace the term "marriage" with "domestic partnership" throughout California law, but preserve the rights provided in marriage, Secretary of State Debra Bowen said Tuesday.

  14. 14.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    @Krista: No, while I can totally understand you thinking that because of the awesome part and all, Krista…it’s not my puppy.

  15. 15.

    Warren Terra

    March 11, 2009 at 6:52 pm

    That middle picture looks a bit fuzzy.

  16. 16.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    @Warren Terra: Vaseline on the lens, old trick. ;-)

  17. 17.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    I have been allowed back into the house and BBC America is on the TV, I dare not turn it off. There is an outright, and I believe fraudulent, story on. These guys are saying that manmade CO2 is causing the seas to become acidic. We have previously discussed two unreliable sources of scientific data: Columbia University and Rush Limbaugh.

    Columbia claims that man-made CO2 is 5.5% of the total, IIRC, and Rush Limbaugh claims 0.5%. A more reputable source, Wikipedia, agrees with Rush. So, who knows the true number, perhaps 2%. But none of this matters.

    We learned it as CO2 + O = CO3 = Carbonic Acid;

    Wikipedia says CO2 + H20 = H2CO3 = Carbonic Acid

    Carbonic acid is so unstable that, even in a raindrop, it only exists on the surface of the raindrop. So the acidity of a raindrop varies. It is acidic on the outside and non-acidic on the inside, think of an M&M. The acidic part is the colorful candy. The non-acidic part is the chocolate.

    So it is ridiculous for the global warming types, er, down with the West types, to claim that CO2 is making the oceans acidic. This did not stop the BBC from filming two guys underwater taking pH readings over a pipe with air bubbling out of it.

  18. 18.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill: Don’t you have a blog already? I see a link and everything.

    By the way, y’all, Hardball is about to start again… do not miss the Tweety/Ari Fleischer segment right at the beginning. Golden. Jaw-dropping asshattery.

  19. 19.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 11, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    @Warren Terra: That was the best one out of ten photos. Sorry it doesn’t meet your exacting standards for petnography.

  20. 20.

    Der Bruno

    March 11, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    The pup shouldn’t be on the couch. I know, they all do it, be taking a photo would seem to endorse such behavior.

  21. 21.

    Josh Hueco

    March 11, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    I’m waiting for John to post photos of the squirrel heads BOB keeps in his freezer…or maybe not.

  22. 22.

    geg6

    March 11, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    I’d like to introduce myself, a long time lurker and finally brave enough commenter. I know John will like me. I’m a native of Steeler country.:)

  23. 23.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    @AhabTExpropriator: Oh the indignity of a harness for a lifelong, roam-about-freely stray.
    That was just for the very brief "fostering" period. As soon as I adopted her the harness started gathering dust.

    She now has to tolerate the indignity of the Purrfect Fence Enclosure prison system in our back yard, but I do let her out to run free a bit when the dawg and I return from our morning walks.

  24. 24.

    Warren Terra

    March 11, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead
    Sorry – the picture is slightly out of focus, and the puppy looks so adorably fuzzy that I couldn’t resist the weak pun. I certainly didn’t mean to cause actual offense.

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 11, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    @Warren Terra: I thought you might be going for the pun but when commenting it’s always better to overreact first and then dial it back some later if ya have to.

  26. 26.

    demkat620

    March 11, 2009 at 7:10 pm

    Oh my, JSF, that puppy is just sooooo cute!
    Thanks, John. Less angry now.

  27. 27.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 7:11 pm

    @Warren Terra: Ever since the Republicans broke his world, Fuckhead has been a tad "brittle".
    Best to tread gently.

  28. 28.

    Indylib

    March 11, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    @Josh Hueco:

    I’m waiting for John to post photos of the squirrel heads BOB keeps in his freezer

    I think the squirrels are in BOB’s head.

  29. 29.

    Comrade Stuck

    March 11, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    @Warren Terra:

    Don’t give fuckhead an inch, he’ll take several meters. Fuzzy is Fuzzy but the puppy is lovely.

    And Jenjen – agreed on Aussie sheps. Border Collies are up there too.

  30. 30.

    BDeevDad

    March 11, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    @Indylib: No, just the nuts.

  31. 31.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 11, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    My kittehs do that, they are such sluts, I mean really, Tigger (who looks JUST like the Kitteh in the third pic) will immediately throw himself on his back and beg to be tummy rubbed the minute you enter his presence. I am of course a willing slave.

  32. 32.

    ploeg

    March 11, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    These pets are obviously socialist.

  33. 33.

    srv

    March 11, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    So Bristol and Levi aren’t getting married?

  34. 34.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    March 11, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    Cute little animals )

  35. 35.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    March 11, 2009 at 7:21 pm

    @J.:

    Hahaha! That video was great )

  36. 36.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 7:21 pm

    I maintain three websites JenJen, on this one I have archived the words of a brilliant Jew whose words I first read in college, and have read every year or so in the past, and read more frequently, now that I have set up this website. The first entry is about energy, the second is philosophical, the third has to do with leadership, and it closes with a feel-good entry from a different person.

    The second is being used as a writing tool for a future book about these interesting times. I am not sure if it works. Could I ask you or anybody else a favor? Would you please click on my blue name above and tell me if it links correctly?

    The third is top-secret because it is business-related and I will only share it with TattooSydney if he leaves an email address on the second website and promises to keep and never reveal my secret. There are times when I think that it is possible that politics may ever so slightly influence government funding and permitting efforts.

  37. 37.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 11, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    @Comrade Stuck:

    Puppies are always lovely, doesn’t matter how ugly they are, they are like human babies, "awwwww he is so beautiful" looking at the ugliest baby in christendom.

  38. 38.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Could I ask you or anybody else a favor? Would you please click on my blue name above and tell me if it links correctly?

    DIY.

    Thanks for your thesis on the many sites you maintain, but I think you missed my point. No big whoop. It happens.

  39. 39.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Happy Birthday!
    Why are you here?
    Of course, I was here for mine, watching Frontline’s Meltdown thing.
    So that can be rhetorical if you like.

  40. 40.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 11, 2009 at 7:29 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Yes, and that adorableness masks a destructiveness second only to the locust plague.

  41. 41.

    Indylib

    March 11, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    WTF Who put Obama juice in Andrea Mitchell’s wheaties this morning?

  42. 42.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    @Laura W: Momo was raised as an indoor from birth, and actually disliked being out of doors. The car just didn’t bother here that much, although she was talking the whole time.
    She adjusted pretty well to the harness, although she will only ever have to wear it when we go to the vet.

  43. 43.

    Indylib

    March 11, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    I linked, I swear I linked.

    OK, I’ll try again.

    LINK

  44. 44.

    Indylib

    March 11, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    OK – what the hell is up with my ability to do an external link?

    John, is this because I tried this in a "no more politics" thread?

  45. 45.

    AnotherBruce

    March 11, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    Ahhhh, kitty and puppy pictures, I’m feeling better already. It’s been a long day, I think I’ll just throw a capitalist on the fire, sit back and relax.

  46. 46.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    @Laura W: Nice view for a prison. Also.

    "O god, I could be bounded in a nutshell fenced-in yard and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."

  47. 47.

    Paddy

    March 11, 2009 at 7:36 pm

    Do. Not. Miss. Even if you don’t watch it at my place, this is stunning. Chris Matthews Throws 9/11, Bush Admin Fearmongering In Ari Fleischer’s Face

  48. 48.

    Indylib

    March 11, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    @Indylib:

    Ok, I see other people are linking and politicing, so here’s one more try – Link for Andrea Mitchell saying something accurate, true and accountable – ie the media

  49. 49.

    Comrade Darkness

    March 11, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Open thread, but with a no politics rule?

    Are dirty bombs politics?

    Maybe this was posted but I totally missed it. We should all thank Amber and her fine handling of a Colt 45 ehem Peacemaker.

    Oh, and print some posters featuring this guy’s mug for why we need the estate tax. A big one.

  50. 50.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Fleischer looks terrible. He is turning into Edward James Olmos.

  51. 51.

    J.

    March 11, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    @JenJen: That Australian Shepherd is AMAZING. A dog that fetches beer and likes football?! Sign me up!

    @AhabTExpropriator: Momo is GORGEOUS. Made me miss my Siamese kitties.

    @Notorious P.A.T.: I know! It cracks me up every time I watch, though the pic of the hamster in a jacket on the wheel, from the Discovery.com article, is also great (albeit fuzzy).

    Btw, my cat, Felix, has been sitting in my lap as I typed this and just started to lick his privates. Nice. Which means he will fall asleep by the time I’ve finished typing. Men.

  52. 52.

    Tiparillo

    March 11, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Anyone see stupid pet tricks on Letterman last night – the dog that played dead cracked me – and Letterman – up.

  53. 53.

    Krista

    March 11, 2009 at 7:44 pm

    Welcome, geg6! Always glad to see someone de-lurking. Sorry none of these other rude bastards responded to you.

    On another note, if any of you fellow Canucks are watching "The Week the Women Went", pay close attention tonight to the first 3 minutes. The cute guy in the black t-shirt, helping with the sandstone monument? That’s my husband in his TV cameo debut! :)

  54. 54.

    BDeevDad

    March 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    It’s a war on the rich! Must be Obama’s fault.

  55. 55.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    March 11, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    Dead dog! Dead dog!

    (Krista, I’ll try to sneak a peak. Of course, you can always put his scene up on YouTube for everyone else, right?)

  56. 56.

    Josh Hueco

    March 11, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    Tonight I’m watching old episodes of Chappelle’s Show on my laptop. Wu-Tang Financial, b*tches!

  57. 57.

    Comrade Stuck

    March 11, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    @geg6:

    Yes, we’re rude bastards, but not republicans. Anyways, Hi! and welcome.

  58. 58.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    @J.: My Aussies are amazing, but I’ve never been able to get the "fetch a beer" trick down. Trust me, I tried and tried and tried. :-(

    However, one of my Aussies will sit patiently with a piece of scrumptious grilled steak balanced on his nose, until I tell him he can eat it. I need to YouTube it, it’s his most impressive trick by far.

  59. 59.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    @J.: The vet told me that the name for her particular patterning is "tabby point," since she is mixed.

    And she does have the tabby patterning, only with the Siamese partial-albinism.

  60. 60.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    @AhabTDefenestrator:

    Fleischer looks terrible. He is turning into Edward James Olmos.

    Perfect!
    When I said he was "so ugly" in previous thread when it was airing live for the first time, 5pm EST, that is exactly what I meant to say.
    But didn’t say. Because I wasn’t bright enough to make the connection, because I was reeling from his OBAMA INHERITED A WORLD WITHOUT SADDAM HUSSEIN IN IT! assertion.

    Plus, I was blinded by his Olmosity.

  61. 61.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    March 11, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    I’m traveling on business all this week, and this is the second hotel in a row w/no MSNBC, so I’m reduced to choosing between Lou Dobbs and Fox. At this point, I’d settle for reruns of Big Redneck Wedding.

  62. 62.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    Still an open thread, right? Cool, because I was just reading Jack and Suzy Welch’s advice about how to be nice to HR when you’re laid off, over at Tina Brown’s crappy site.

    And all I could think of while reading it was, "Isn’t everyone in America totally skeezed out by this couple?"

  63. 63.

    garyb50

    March 11, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    If there was a god Ari Fleischer would die in a fire live on TV. But then, so would GWB… & Cheney. Ok, there is no god.

    I hate my cat. This afternoon, in a 2 hour period, she made me let her out & let her in 20 times. And I have to let her in because she claws the putty out of the kitchen window until I let her in.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    March 11, 2009 at 8:13 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    As somebody with a degree in chemistry, I can assure you that you need a quick chemistry refresher course. The correct equation is CO2 + H2O = H2CO3, as found in Wikipedia. And carbonic acid is unstable only in that it can readily go in or out of solution as the partial pressure of CO2 over it changes. So when you unscrew the cap on a bottle of carbonated water, most of the CO2 comes out of solution in the form of bubbles.

    The problem with the ocean is the flip side of that. As the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases, more and more will dissolve in the oceans. That has a good side- CO2 that’s dissolved in the ocean doesn’t act as a greenhouse gas- and a bad side- CO2 that’s dissolved in the ocean makes the water more acidic and unhealthy for some sea life.

  65. 65.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    If there was a god Ari Fleischer would die in a fire be slow roasted from the toes up live on TV.

    Fixeteth.

  66. 66.

    gnomedad

    March 11, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    Not my pets.

  67. 67.

    Comrade Darkness

    March 11, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    @garyb50:
    Sounds like a job for a cat door…

  68. 68.

    big woo

    March 11, 2009 at 8:23 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Would you please click on my blue name above and tell me if it links correctly?

    Not only does it link correctly, the snozzleberries taste like snozzleberries.

    Great job, BOB.

  69. 69.

    Incertus

    March 11, 2009 at 8:24 pm

    Fuck dogs. The Barrel Fish is the most awesome animal I’ve ever seen.

    Okay. "Fuck dogs" is a bit strong, admittedly, but I’m a cat person and the Barrel Fish really is fraking weird.

  70. 70.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    Ontologically: A perfect being would necessarily find Ari Fleischer so offensive as to make him expire publicly, slowly, and painfully.
    Therefore, no such perfect being exists.

  71. 71.

    Dennis-SGMM

    March 11, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    @geg6:
    Okay, Krista’s comment @53 has motivated me to a proper Balloon Juice welcome:
    geg6, fuck you.

    Welcome aboard!

  72. 72.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    March 11, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    @garyb50: Was it Heinlein that said a cat is a thing that is always on the wrong side of a closed door?

    I have two cats that do the same thing all evening. And of course they miss each other by about ten minutes every time. God forbid they should coordinate their schedules so one can go out while the other comes in.

    Did I mention how much I fucking hate cats?

  73. 73.

    geg6

    March 11, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    Thanks but no big deal about hellos. I’m sure I’ll be rude myself at some point. What I love about this place is the no coddling or mincing words thing you have going on. I’ve been accused of having such traits myself. That said, I have no pets but do my SO’s two rescued dogs, Henry and Otis, count?

  74. 74.

    Dennis-SGMM

    March 11, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    @geg6:
    Kudos on the rescues. Our dog is a rescue dog. They usually take some real patience.

  75. 75.

    AhabTDefenestrator

    March 11, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    That said, I have no pets

    Couldn’t you get a fish? Or at least a houseplant?

    I mean good god man, at least try! We have standards to keep up here!

    Nah, actually, I lied, we don’t have any standards. Sorry.

  76. 76.

    Comrade Darkness

    March 11, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    @geg6: That said, I have no pets but do my SO’s two rescued dogs, Henry and Otis, count?

    Only if you post embarrassing pics of them. Preferably dressed as crustacea.

  77. 77.

    garyb50

    March 11, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    Comrade Darkness, you’re right. But the door is a fake metal pressed panel door with a fake etched glass window above. We bought the house without Acorn affiliation & even though I was a carpenter most of my adult life I have reservations about cutting the hole though I have all the tools to do so. If I put in the cat door it would involve silicone caulk and/or some other sealant I don’t trust.

  78. 78.

    Wile E. Quixote

    March 11, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    @Comrade Darkness

    Are dirty bombs politics?

    He wouldn’t have been able to make much of a dirty bomb, not with uranium-238 and thorium-232. Depleted uranium is just that, it’s depleted, the U-235, the stuff that’s useful for making bombs and powering reactors has been removed from it leaving uranium-238, which is a nasty toxic heavy metal but no nastier and no more toxic than lead or mercury. If you search around on eBay you can sometimes find old FiestaWare that was made with a ranium glaze, it’s beautiful stuff. Thorium-232 is a stable isotope of thorium with a half life of 14 billion years, it’s the element that makes the mantles in gas lanterns glow so brightly. Uranium-238 has a half life of 4.46 billion years, yes, these elements are radioactive, but barely so, if you used them to make a bomb it wouldn’t be any worse than a bomb made with lead or mercury.

  79. 79.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Roger Moore; As someone who has managed corrosion based from many sources in a seawater environment, I recall that we were taught that this was a highly unstable acid, and that the acid quickly disassociated back to CO2 gas and water. It is possible that we were taught wrong, but I doubt it. I could also have a memory issue.

    I am not arguing that CO2 gas cannot be contained within the ocean, just that H2CO3 or CO3, or whatever we choose to label the acid, cannot exist for long enough to affect the acidity of the places where the fish swim. Maybe the top few feet if it is splashy or the top few inches if it is calm.

    I will be lazy and refer to Wikipedia, which seems to agree with my recollections, and am as always open to better information:

    “It has since been shown, by theoretical calculations, that the presence of even a single molecule of water causes carbonic acid to revert to carbon dioxide and water fairly quickly. Pure carbonic acid is predicted to be stable in the gas phase, in the absence of water, with a calculated half-life of 180,000 years.”

    This is why I thought it was unethical for the BBC to pass CO2 bubbles through the water, take the pH in the bubbles, and then tell us we are acidifying the oceans and killing the fish.

  80. 80.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    March 11, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    @geg6:

    geg6’s presence here is totally a slap in the face.

    /welcome

  81. 81.

    demkat620

    March 11, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    @Incertus: I saw that fish about a week ago. Totally cool.

  82. 82.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 11, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    a href="#comment-1174740">Laura W:

    Well Dh has a whole Middle School Band Festival Thing going on so he is gone (staying overnight down there), I took the afternoon off and spent it in blissful solitude in my veggie garden where I planted the rest of my produce. (Just the sound of the birds singing like CRAZY, it was wonderful) this morning I woke to a veritable display of presents, a dish garden from dh, a complete DVD set of Robin of Sherwood (from DH’s teacher friend) and a Redneck birthday card apparently made by one of his students during the rehearsal…. I say redneck because it was basically construction paper and duct tape, anything that involves duct tape has to be redneck. My boss and his girlfriend bought me a bottle of very expensive wine and a necklace. Life is good. My mother by default (cause she forgot to leave me a present) bought me a solar, bird feeder, bird bath, you name it it does it thingy….. which I ordered and she paid for. All in all it is good to be 49, however get back to me in a year when I will be positively suicidal at turning 50.

  83. 83.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    @Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): I have something better for you. I don’t know if you ever got back to last Friday’s (?) Open Wild Thread, but you blew my mind with one of your links, it is such a favorite of mine. I enjoyed them all over again on Saturday morning.

    So in case you missed them, here are two of my faves for you from the same gig:

    Bring Me Some Water

    Damn, I wish I was your lover

  84. 84.

    Rosali

    March 11, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    test
    I’ve been unable to post for weeks.

  85. 85.

    geg6

    March 11, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Dennis-SGGM: (Damn, posting on the Crackberry). Henry is an old sweetie. And an attention slut. And is eerily human but with better hearing than human males. Otis is a teenager with ADHD. They are one of the main attractions of my SO, I must admit. He’s a great guy but a guy with such puppehs is the awesome.

  86. 86.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    Thanks for looking Big Woo, those three policemen still have me a little spooked. These guys were not local and the guy out of uniform was in the passenger seat, indicating seniority.

    I am glad that the InterBama is allowing me to transmit.

  87. 87.

    That One - Cain

    March 11, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    @geg6:

    I’d like to introduce myself, a long time lurker and finally brave enough commenter. I know John will like me. I’m a native of Steeler country.:)

    Welcome, and don’t forget to feed BoB on the way out.

    cain

  88. 88.

    That One - Cain

    March 11, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    @Krista:

    Welcome, geg6! Always glad to see someone de-lurking. Sorry none of these other rude bastards responded to you.

    Hey I did.. I just didn’t get to your message. Besides I never introduced myself, I just jumped right in.

    cain

  89. 89.

    geg6

    March 11, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    Oh, and the lease says no pets. Not even fish. :(

  90. 90.

    The Populist

    March 11, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    Still an open thread, right? Cool, because I was just reading Jack and Suzy Welch’s advice about how to be nice to HR when you’re laid off, over at Tina Brown’s crappy site.

    This guy’s myth as one of the titans of corporate America is a joke. If he were still CEO’ing, he’d be so exposed.

  91. 91.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    March 11, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    @Laura W:
    My son was at some jamband festival last summer and there was Joan Osborne, singing with Phil Lesh IIRC. Not my cup of tea, but I admire her for doing what she wants to do.

    Are you a Gillian Welch fan? If not, you probably should be. And never but never miss a chance to see her and David Rawlings live.

  92. 92.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    @geg6:

    An attention slut. A teenager with ADHD

    Congratulations!
    Those are the only two prerequisites for commenting here.
    Welcome!

  93. 93.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 11, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Dweebe could dig holes under a fence that would actually defy belief. I mean really, when we put up the fence we did the whole "lay down the chicken wire either side of the fence under the ground thing" Well Dweebe would begin digging by the fence and hit the chicken wire and then move back a bit, then hit the chicken wire and move back a bit, until she got to the bit that was beyond the chicken wire, at which point she would start digging, she would then dig down, and then dig along under the chicken wire, at which point she would hit a tree root (natch in our forest location), at which point she would dig down, under the tree root, and then along, under the chicken wire until OUT to FREEDOM! Truly, her holes to freedom were begging to be used as a POW film set, all it required was a couple of gas lamps and some uniforms. At which point she would trot across the road and lay in the neighbor’s driveway, because (and you have to understand the entire doggy thought here), her JOB her MISSION was to protect the homestead, a job that she could not do from the backyard, nope the ONLY WAY she could protect the homestead was to sit in the driveway of the house across the street because THEN and only then could she see the nasty attackers before they attacked, ONLY THEN could she be ready. She was so consistent, and I miss her so much.

  94. 94.

    Laura W

    March 11, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    @Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): Oh no. Did I confuse you with someone else? Aren’t you the one who linked to Osborne singing St. Teresa, stating that if you could only look at her (and maybe not hear her?) you’d be OK?
    Shit. Friday was so many sleeps ago…

  95. 95.

    geg6

    March 11, 2009 at 8:57 pm

    Cain, I jumped in earlier, but thought I’d make it official since we got an open thread. But back to pets…I’d like to brag on Henry. He’s the only Lab I’ve ever known who isn’t a fat ass tub of lard in his old age. He’s rather svelte, in fact, unlike some cats I’ve seen, for instance.

  96. 96.

    Mike in NC

    March 11, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    All in all it is good to be 49, however get back to me in a year when I will be positively suicidal at turning 50.

    Happy birthday, LBF. Yeah, turning 50 — or 40 — can be traumatic. I was depressed for the entire (birth)day but got over it pretty fast. Life’s too short to get hung up on stupid stuff…

  97. 97.

    Incertus

    March 11, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    From a paper I’m currently "grading": "In 1960, doctors came up with the technology to extract amniocentesis from pregnant women." Fuck my life.

  98. 98.

    Betsy

    March 11, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    @That One – Cain:

    Welcome, and don’t forget to feed BoB on the way out.

    That one took me a few visits to figure out. I don’t know that I’m enough of a regular to have standing to welcome you, but I’m going to do so nevertheless, and in the spirit of the site, anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck off. Welcome, geg6!

  99. 99.

    Betsy

    March 11, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    @Incertus: A friend of mine (I swear to the disproven god that I’m not making this up) had a student explain to her that he didn’t like a particular class because it about culture, and he wanted to "study important things, like politics and men."

  100. 100.

    JenJen

    March 11, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    @Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): Ahhh, Gillian Welch.

    "Oh, me, oh my-o
    Would ya look at Miss Ohio
    She’s runnin’ around with her ragtop down
    She says ‘I wanna do right, just not right now’"

    I love her so.

  101. 101.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    March 11, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    @Laura W: You’re not confused. I said that listening to her was OK, but listening while watching was much better.

  102. 102.

    Comrade Darkness

    March 11, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    @garyb50: I meant a cat door in the kitchen window ;-) When all the glazing is clawed away.

  103. 103.

    Betsy

    March 11, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    @JenJen: Sigh, me too. Never seen her live though.

  104. 104.

    Incertus

    March 11, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    @Betsy: Yeah, that’s not even very surprising. When you teach first and second year college students, you stop being amazed at who gets into school pretty quickly.

  105. 105.

    Comrade Darkness

    March 11, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote: Most of my wonderment of it is the interesting lack of mainstream press coverage. Especially given how sordid it all is.

    If it were a novel, I’d expect the story to reveal that the fbi paid off the wife to off the hubby.

  106. 106.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    “Hey, Tim, put that down, I have decided to assign you to my new White House Council on Women and Girls.”

    A new Executive Order.

  107. 107.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    March 11, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    @JenJen: I’ve been an avid live music fan for 40+ years, and she and D. Rawlings was truly one of the best shows ever, just amazing chemistry. The trouble is that, lately, they do shows only rarely.

    Gillian and Dave

  108. 108.

    Dennis-SGMM

    March 11, 2009 at 9:16 pm

    Hey! How come I had to bring you a shrubbery before I could comment?

  109. 109.

    Krista

    March 11, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    Hey I did.. I just didn’t get to your message. Besides I never introduced myself, I just jumped right in.

    My land, but you’re easy to tease, Cain. :)

  110. 110.

    Church Lady

    March 11, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Turning 40 just about killed me, but don’t worry – 50 goes down easy. After 45, I started having a hard time remembering my exact age. I kept adding a year. I guess the shellshock of turning 40 takes care of everything else coming down the pike. Next week I’ll be 51 and I don’t think it will feel any different than 50 did, or 49 for that matter.

  111. 111.

    Martin

    March 11, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    I wonder if I’d be allergic to an aluminum cat?

  112. 112.

    The Disgruntled Chemist

    March 11, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    Brick Oven Bill:

    I am not arguing that CO2 gas cannot be contained within the ocean, just that H2CO3 or CO3, or whatever we choose to label the acid, cannot exist for long enough to affect the acidity of the places where the fish swim.

    You are wrong.

    I will be lazy and refer to Wikipedia, which seems to agree with my recollections

    From the Wikipedia article for carbonic acid: "Carbon dioxide dissolved in water is in equilibrium with carbonic acid." Look, all you need to do is check out the table in the section labeled "pH and composition of a carbonic acid solution". The important fact: as the pressure of carbon dioxide over the solution goes up, the pH goes down (that is, the solution gets more acidic). Keep in mind that even a small change in pH can pretty drastically fuck up living things.

  113. 113.

    Betsy

    March 11, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    @Incertus: And that is why "guess what a student wrote on this paper/exam" is always such a fun game for grad students. :) My boyfriend once had a student call the Seneca Falls folks "man-haters" on a paper, lol.

  114. 114.

    passerby

    March 11, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I will be positively suicidal at turning 50.

    I passed the half century mark a year or so ago and I can’t recommend it enough.

    One of the best things for me over the past few years was finally not giving a damn of what others expect from me or what they think and I came to realize that I was tired of working my ass off even if the salary was good.

    I jumped out of the hamster wheel. I quit a stale career and have been living on less and enjoying life more.

    So don’t sweat your 50 Litlebrit. And Happy 49.

    Furminator update: Spring shedding has begun in earnest and I’m glad to have the furminator this season.

    There’s nothing more annoying than getting a cat hair stuck at the back of my mouth. Gargling doesn’t always do the trick. I’ve also tried chewing gum but without success.

    So, I’ve started wiping kitty down with a damp cloth, like a tack rag, to round up the fine, fly-around hairs after I brush him.

    And I find I have to use the vacuum more often. oy.

  115. 115.

    Phoebe

    March 11, 2009 at 9:59 pm

    Montysano, they ALL have Animal Planet.
    Just go to Animal Planet.

  116. 116.

    Betsy

    March 11, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    @Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): Thank you thank you. That is one of my favorite of her songs, and what a great performance!

  117. 117.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    Thank you Disgruntled Chemist. I know now that the raindrop analogy does not translate to the ocean depths. We were only concerned about shallow depths which would explain my ignorance on the pressure factor.

    Constituents of air: Nitrogen 78.08%, Oxygen 20.95%, Argon 0.93%, Carbon Dioxide 0.03%. So if we contribute some where between 1 and 5% of that 0.03%, we are talking about carbon emissions at a baseline of 0.0003% and 0.0015% of the earth’s atmosphere. And if we were to modify our habits, say by 10%, this change would modify between 0.00003% and 0.00015% of the earth’s atmosphere.

    How does this small of a change in the earth’s atmosphere effect the partial pressure of carbon dioxide at depth? Wikipedia refers to a ‘pure’ Carbonic Acid solution at pressure. I am skeptical that the small magnitudes we are talking about would have a large effect on acidity.

    Wouldn’t dissolved gases be concentrated at shallow depths, counteracting the pressure factor?

  118. 118.

    Wile E. Quixote

    March 11, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    @Comrade Darkness

    If it were a novel, I’d expect the story to reveal that the fbi paid off the wife to off the hubby.

    That would be good, but it would be even better if the FBI agent who paid her off was black, and jewish (think Sammy Davis, c’mon, he can’t be the only black jew), oh, and they were lovers.

    I was introduced to PBR and V-8 last Saturday and I really like it. It quenches your thirst. Of course I’m also the guy who drank colaweizens (the only way to make a hefeweizen taste good) whenever he could when he lived in Germany, so perhaps I shouldn’t be trusted.

  119. 119.

    Incertus

    March 11, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote: So you drink this sort of stuff? That’s a friend of mine from college–don’t know how he manages half the stuff he eats.

  120. 120.

    Brick Oven Bill

    March 11, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    Dissolved Oxygen vs. Depth here. At 20 meters (~2 atmospheres), the gas concentrations are half of what they are at the surface. At 60 meters, they are 20%, and negligible below 120 meters.

    I’m very skeptical that minute changes in atmospheric CO2 are going to have any significant effect on ocean acidity. Those BBC swimmers were probably deep to take advantage of the pressure effect, and were introducing CO2 bubbles because very little dissolved CO2 existed in the water they were swimming in.

  121. 121.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    March 11, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    @Krista:

    I saw him!! (I think). There were two cute guys in black t-shirts, one near the monument wall and one spreading the sand/gravel base for the paving. Which was he?

  122. 122.

    gnomedad

    March 11, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    We all need to thank B.O. Bill for pointing out basic facts about chemistry that all the people who study this stuff for a living have overlooked.

  123. 123.

    Tattoosydney

    March 12, 2009 at 12:00 am

    @Krista:

    … may have been interrupted while cleaning its grundle.

    "Grundle" is now my new word for the week!

  124. 124.

    TenguPhule

    March 12, 2009 at 12:01 am

    I could also have a memory issue.

    No, really?

  125. 125.

    Tattoosydney

    March 12, 2009 at 12:03 am

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    The third is top-secret because it is business-related and I will only share it with TattooSydney if he leaves an email address on the second website and promises to keep and never reveal my secret. There are times when I think that it is possible that politics may ever so slightly influence government funding and permitting efforts.

    I am now very very scared. I am not sure if I am able to deal with this awesome responsibility.

  126. 126.

    gwangung

    March 12, 2009 at 12:36 am

    @gnomedad:

    We all need to thank B.O. Bill for pointing out basic facts about chemistry that all the people who study this stuff for a living have overlooked.

    Perfect description of wingnuts these days.

  127. 127.

    Gravenstone

    March 12, 2009 at 3:28 am

    As a chemist, watching BOB prattle on mindlessly about things (apparently) far beyond his ken makes me want to stab my eyes out. Please … please make the bad man stop.

  128. 128.

    J. Michael Neal

    March 12, 2009 at 5:47 am

    Happy birthday, LBF. Yeah, turning 50—or 40—can be traumatic.

    Try turning 40 after being unemployed for three years and needing to start all over in a new industry because the last one caused a nervous breakdown.

    Yeah, the prospective employers are just beating down my door.

  129. 129.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 12, 2009 at 10:44 am

    Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I know this thread is now probably dead but wanted to say thanks anyway.

  130. 130.

    Comrade Nikolita

    March 12, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    @passerby:

    I should get one of those. As of now, I just have a couple of brushes.

    My cats are a DSH and a DMH, and they’re both shedding. I can’t wait until spring and summer are here so the fur will stop flying all the time. I think I need to vaccum more.

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