Talk about squiffy and whatever else is on your mind.
Reader Interactions
198Comments
Comments are closed.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.
Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.
The words do not have to be perfect.
Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.
… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact
“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”
When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.
Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.
My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.
Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.
We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.
The revolution will be supervised.
Tick tock motherfuckers!
But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.
Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!
We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.
“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)
The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.
It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.
Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.
Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.
American History and Black History can not be separated.
We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.
Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity
Short Bus Bully
After two years of mowing my lawn and bagging my grass like a retard, I finally wised up and bought a mulching blade.
WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?
/facepalm
gbear
The previous thread thanks you for this open thread.
The Streets for a saturday night.
Krista
Heh — that was subtle, Tim. “Get your damn drunk asses off of my well-researched torture thread, you reprobates!”
Tattoosydney
On the assumption that everyone is going to desert the other threads and head here….
I totally missed the point of John’s post (c/f the music thread that would not die) yesterday – thinking “desert island” albums, rather than perfect albums. I blame alcohol.
I nominated:
I would stand by “Car Tape” by Lisa Miller. It’s an album of covers – a car tape cobbled together from her favourite albums. Every single track a winner – from a wondrous “The Boy who radiates that charm“, through a version of “Better Days” that makes me smile, to a version of “We love each other” that should be saccharine but somehow isn’t.
Blue Lines is ditched… most of it is great but there are at least two absolute stinkers. The Dubfire mix also tails off at the end, so it’s off the list too.
I stand by the Seaman mix as the best dance mix cds ever – flawless. It could have something to do with what I was doing when I heard it over and over in about 2000 to 2002, but who knows.
The only other perfect album I would put on my list is “Leftism” by Leftfield. Probably for the same reason as the Seaman mix. Best listened from start to finish.
South of I-10
Squiffy. What a great word! Never heard it before, but approaching it.
Dave C
Another great Bulls/Celtics game! Anybody else watching?
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: There you are! I’ve been hunting you down. I am gonna cut and paste my beef with you from the other thread because I’m lazy like that (though not squiffy. I don’t get squiffy).
Yo! You. I got a beef with you. I think Laura W. was saying you and I had something very very special going on because I was looking for you in the other thread. I want a pretend-separation! That video you made me watch last night, Depeche Mode’s Wrong, gave me nightmares as I said it would!
I demand chocolate and the job of SCOTUS from you to make up for it!
P.S. I will accept another kick-ass song in lieu of the aforementioned bribery.
I have already adopted Krista from the BJ clan.
Dennis-SGMM
IMHO, one of the greatest One Hit Wonders, Love Plus One, by Haircut 100.
Krista
And I’m now going to desert this thread and head to bed. Sometimes I hate being on Atlantic Standard Time — I miss all of the best comments. :(
Tattoosydney
@Litlebritdifrnt:
That’s them. Yum. I miss those.
JK
Which movie villain does Dick Cheney most resemble?
New York magazine film critic David Edelstein answers the question
Source: http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/56296/
Dennis-SGMM
@JK:
He forget to include a heapin’ helpin’ of the Cowardly Lion.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Hey! We have chocolate and bad parenting down here too.
demkat620
It’s 10:30, I had a couple of Smithwick’s and I have a very cute and very tired JRT curled up with me. Life is good.
iluvsummr
@Tattoosydney: What do you think of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine?
For some weird reason, Lisa Miller’s The Boy That Radiates That Charm makes me think of this.
JC
@Dave C: Oh yeah. This series has been legendary. Sad that it has to end…
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Oh, I know, I know. I stockpile chocolate, though, so she won’t have to go very far to get some.
My nightmare included dead ghost girls. Granted, I have nightmares almost nightly, but I’m blaming this one on you and Depeche Mode because I can.
Laura W
@asiangrrlMN:
Wow. That got convoluted fast, across three threads? I was actually addressing BOB with my comment about the “something special” factor with TS. I referenced your comment about last night’s open thread, referring BOB there for his tingling thigh talk. I knew TS was awake and online, so I thought maybe BOB and TS could hook up in last night’s thread? I mean, if only to discuss the Wiggleys or Squiffeys or Squishies or whatever it is they share in common.
I think BOB and TS both made their feelings for each other known immediately. The last thing I need to be is some sort of mediatrix between you and TS.
JK
Great blog post on the dishonest practice of he said / she said journalism
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/04/12/hesaid_shesaid.html#comments
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Hello pretend-wife. I’m having thread crossover anxiety.
Damn.
Searching.
Did she test well on your campaign research voter demographics?
JK
@Dennis-SGMM: Agreed
AhabTRuler
@Tattoosydney: Yeah, Massive Attack has some great songs, but they always seem to kneecap their albums with at least one or two tracks that are not quite up to snuff.
However, two other extraordinary albums from the Electronica end of the spectrum:
The Orb: The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
KLF: Chill Out
Tattoosydney
@iluvsummr:
Pretty much perfect. Falls at the last track. IMHO.
Good song.
Zuzu's Petals
Sad news:
Jack Kemp has passed away.
AhabTRuler
Three good songs and the rest are merely par for the course. 3-D has a tendency to stay within his comfort zone.
asiangrrlMN
@Laura W: Oh! Got it. So TS was correct. Thanks for setting me straight, so to speak.
TS, if you do get something going with BOB, I am SO not pretend-anything with you.
@Tattoosydney: I am allergic to alcohol, so I only drink hard liquor (least allergic) once a month or so.
Krista is the perfect demographic for my campaign. Why else would I adopt her?
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I’m looking for a nice track to make it up to you, woman. Go watch the one with the bikini babes again to distract yourself from dead ghost girls. *grin*
Brick Oven Bill
TattooSydney does seem to be somewhat focused on my former bisexual girlfriend. I will use her words, and let the Balloon Juice audience parse the true meaning. Sit back on your sofas and break out the notepads. Analyze. TattooSydney said:
“URP. Oh God, there I go again… Urgh.”
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Right. Because nothing says, “sweet and lovely” like a little girl poisoning a boy to death. Besides, those women leave me cold. It was just the song that got me heated up.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
I feel a little nauseous.
Urp. Excuse me.
Now that one has got to be a euphemism.
AhabTRuler
The CNN-fluff about Obama’s “flava” stuck this in my ear all week. One of Norm’s better attempts, although this one always cracks me up.
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
Noted. Thanks.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Yeah, mediatrix turned into dominatrix in my mind. See, we ARE on the same wavelength. However, if you dally with BoB, then you are on your own.
SGEW
Please, everyone. Do not dally with B.O.B.
It can lead to no good, methinks.
AhabTRuler
@asiangrrlMN: Hey, I once read the poem “Porphyria’s Lover” to a women who had a braid that stretched all the way down her back (come to think of it, you might appreciate it, too). However, one of the few advantages of being a “nice guy” is that almost nothing comes out as the least bit threatening, even when it might help us score (I’ve been told that women are attracted to that whole “mad, bad, & dangerous to know” thing).
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
It’s certainly one that I cherry pick, rather than ever listening all the way through. Angel, Teardrop, Inertia Creeps, and then I usually get bored somewhere before the end. I don’t think I have ever actually listened to the last track.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I have to go and wash my brain with something caustic now.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Lye. Acid. Cell-eating parasites. Take your pick. So our pretend-marriage is safe, I take it.
Corner Stone
@AhabTRuler:
It’s true. Chicks dig me.
Rosali
A bottle of wine tastes better when you can share it with someone else.
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
I is a boy, BOB.
… and if you can’t tell the difference between a burp and an orgasm that ain’t my problem.
Although it may explain a lot.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I wouldn’t do anything to hurt our pretend-kids.
Brick Oven Bill
Lye. Acid. Cell-eating parasites.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Wait, you’re a boy? What else have you been hiding from me, my pretend-hubby with a gay hubby? Sheesh! The wife is always the last to know.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
You asked about the Harley after I’d abandoned the boredom thread so here’s some Harley Porn for you
1998 Super Glide, 80 cubic inches, 17,500 miles – I’ve owned it a few weeks now. It’s been about 30 years since I was a scooter tramp, ran with a fast crowd in those days. No liars, cheats, or thieves but that was about the limit of respectability or responsibility. In general I’m pretty surprised I’m still alive between that and other stuff.
gbear
TBogg has posted the absolute best wingnut teabagging anthem in the world (by best of course I mean worst fucking song ever) written and performed by some heavy metal bozo that has been hired by the teabaggers for his awsome promotional skilz. The song is long but it’s worth it for the awesome guitar solo (by awesome of course I mean worst fucking OMG solo ever). Amazingly clueless stuff.
iluvsummr
@AhabTRuler
Love Risingson. Then Angel.
@Tattoosydney:
I had to go listen to the last track, couldn’t remember what it was. Exchange. It’s not that bad.
Anyone like Portishead’s Third? I have Dummy and Portishead but I’m not sure whether I’ll like Third…
SGEW
Is this now the taunt B.O.B. open thread? Ok, I’m game I guess.
Quaere: Is Bill . . .
A) Authentic, and actually believes the things he writes here?
B) Well written spoof?
Either way, what a waste of human talent.
[Also, re: B.O.B.’s supposed personal life, I am immediately reminded of this bit from from The Onion Radio News: Misogynist Gets Laid]
Wile E. Quixote
Yeah, dallying with B.O.B is a bad idea. Remember what Nietzsche said “Dally not with fuckwits lest you become a fuckwit and if you gaze long enough into teh stupid teh stupid gazes also into you.”
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Whew! I’m glad. Little Tattoosydney and Little asiangrrl mean the WORLD to me.
@Chuck Butcher: I saw it last night. Oh, I lust over it. There is something so damn attractive about a bike. Did you have a good time riding?
@gbear: I watched two seconds of it before I turned it off. I would have poked out my ears and eyes if I listened/watched any more than that.
omen
one of the songs above reminded me of this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK-JkHDAW7A
asiangrrlMN
@Wile E. Quixote: If Nietzsche actually said that, I would read more Nietzsche. Thanks for the hearty laugh.
omen
@Wile E. Quixote:
silly me, i thought that was jung.
gbear
@asiangrrlMN:
If you watch the whole video, you will come away feeling much better about your own life (once you stop crying).
Tattoosydney
One for Laura. Not sure if I like the version (too ornamental for me), but the voice is amazing.
One for fake wifey.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
I set off a few car alarms, drank iced tea with a pal I hadn’t seen in about…a long time. It gets chilly after dark at 3500ft at the foot of 10K ft mountains so no extended rides. Broke the boredom up. I tossed those highway footboard shortly after I took that picture, I don’t like junk on a scooter.
I had new tires put on the 62 ChevyII today and got my Weld Draglites ordered with DOT slicks and front skinnies for it. That damn car eats slicks and I had to get weight off the front end, should get about 6 inches of air under front tires on launch now. Not bad for a street car. Tire shop boys were drooling all over it. It’s a pretty bad unit for a car that was a daily driver for 3 years.
At 50 miles per gallon the bike is my version of “green” the ’62 can get 14 mpg if you baby it, about 4mpg if you run it.
I don’t know, I might grow up one day… or not.
Tattoosydney
@iluvsummr:
Do hate. With passion.
Dennis-SGMM
Reasons why Dick Cavett wasn’t an asshole: Janis Joplin singing Half Moon. As much as I loved Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis’ subsequent bands really were better.
AhabTRuler
@Tattoosydney: I would also add St. Germain’s Tourist to the list if you don’t already have it.
omen
@SGEW:
is there more than one?
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
Kinky.
asiangrrlMN
@gbear: Not gonna do it. Nope. Can’t do it. I value my ears and eyes.
@Tattoosydney:
Better version for Laura, (recorded in the Sydney Opera House).
P.S. You are forgiven. Big thumbs up!
Wile E. Quixote
Is anyone else having posts eaten this evening?
Chuck Butcher
Oh hell, I tried to link this but go here and double click “Butter” on the right play list. If you happen to be of the female gender consider it dedicated to you.
AhabTRuler
How about albums that are completely bad?
I hold forth as an example the album We Care by Whale, the group responsible for “Hobo Humping Slobo Babe (nee Bitch)“, A song that is mildly-entertaining to quite good (it helps to be really baked).
The entire album, however, is like hitting yourself in the brain with a hammer. It is awful! And Tricky even produced a couple of tracks (I think he was really baked), too.
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Don’t grow up if it means giving up the bike. What would be the fun in that?
@Tattoosydney: For some reason, he was just quoting me there. It was my suggestion for you to wipe your mind clean of the idea of dallying with B.O.B.
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
Have. Love.
For those who like DJ mixes (I like mostly progressive)…
Addicted: Mixed by Kosmos Epsilon
Fabriclive 21 – Meat Katie (which I am told is breaks, which I hate, but I love this…
Fabric 30 – Rub-n-tug
All from a few years ago, but still on daily playlist.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Yeah, I know. Maybe he’s just going to repeat everything you say.
AhabTRuler
@Tattoosydney: I am fond of Fabriclive.09: Jaques Lu Cont. If nothing else, it turned me on to both Themroc & Crazy Penis, both of whom I am also quite fond of.
eemom
so I have this nagging question left over from last night’s album thread, which was otherwise a really impressive celebration of many different kinds of music by many different people.
Why does anybody feel the need to diss the music that somebody else likes? And not only to do it once, but to insist on ARGUING about it. “No, REALLY the Beatles suck, I can PROVE it.”
I do not get that. I found it disturbingly mean spirited. And it wasn’t just the Beatles-haters…….
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN: I’ve had awhile to get around to that growing up stuff and it seems to have missed me. I just don’t seem inclined that way.
Bad scooter, fast car, big guns, and sawdust in my beard – an odd sort of lefty.
John Smith
It’s good that you’re friends and all but when you have the private conversations back and forth you hijack the thread and exclude the rest of us.
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
I would submit my favourite seventies musical – the truly awful “Let my people come“. Before you come to the conclusion it is a musical version of Exodus, I should mention that the most gripping song is “Come in my mouth“, which is as subtle and as awful as you would expect. Has to be hear to be believed. VNSFW.
AhabTRuler
@Tattoosydney: If you want excruciating I dare you to click this link! The highlights comes between 1:05 and 1:30, and then again at 2:45, if you can make that far.
Otherwise, I got a comment @ 69! stuck in Mod hell.
demimondian
@eemom: Think of it as the eternal search for the true and the beautiful — for, as we know, they are one and the same. So, those who hold out for false beauty hold out also for false truth — not only are they in love with the shadows on the cave wall, but, even worse, they seek to drag others out of the bright light of the sun of truth into the dim shadow play.
They. Must. Be. Fought.
— demi “there’s a reason I didn’t major in philosophy” mondian
Just Some Fuckhead
@eemom: No one that matters does that shit. :)
demimondian
@Tattoosydney: I would answer with the soundtrack album to _Baby_.
AhabTRuler
Oh, and the piece is from Mozart’s the Magic Flute, so that isn’t where the awful lies.
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Oooh, very nice song. I’m grooving to it. Hey, we Democrats have a biiiiig tent. Many are welcome.
@Tattoosydney: Now that would be fucking annoying if he repeats everything I type. Oh, and that Come in My Mouth song is hilarious! Where can I get a copy of the album?
Tattoosydney
And that is an opportunity to drop in a reference to this (which many of you may have heard)…
I note that both this and “Come in my mouth” are from a show where a very funny woman took us through the worst albums in her collection.
I give you….
The Shaggs and “My Pal Foot Foot” – The worst song ever to be commercially released; an abomination – bad drumming, bad singing, and a total absence of melody or rhythm.
demimondian
@AhabTRuler: That is utterly blasphemous. The original aria is one of my favorites (I mean, how cool is a song about a mother ordering her daughter to go murder the high priest of the most powerful of the gods?), and besides, how often does one get to hear the old lady going off her rocker in real time?
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
I love Florence. That peculiar resemblance to a puppy being tortured.
Tattoosydney
@demimondian:
I don’t know that one…
/shows ignorance
Dennis-SGMM
@eemom:
There is no greater idiot than someone who tries to explain why something shouldn’t sound good to you or why something else is really better. It’s like explaing a joke.
For a good night offering, the old Jefferson Airplane, Share a Little Joke. They were unintentionally great at times.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I’ve never seen it, but you should be able to save the mp3 files from that page…
AhabTRuler
@demimondian: I consider Florence to be a goddess and one of the few truly original artists ever. I mean, could you intentionally reproduce her work? People often think I am just joking, but there is something that I find captivating about listening to her sing. I genuinely enjoy it, and hers is the only opera I listen to.
Plus, she is always useful if you need to drive an upstairs neighbor insane!
Bonus for Demi: The Laughing Song.
JK
@eemom:
Agree with you 100%. I echoed your sentiments in an earlier post in that thread.
A Beatles fan, Pink Floyd fan, etc does not have the power to degrade or lower the quality of another person’s life.
Prior to election day, a John McCain supporter had the potential to significantly lower the quality of my life by electing a man who would implement stupid, braindead policies.
Elections have consequences while music, film, tv, or novel preferences have zero consequences.
If John McCain were president today, music preferences expressed on Balloon Juice would be the least of the problems facing readers of this blog.
And yes, the Beatles are still my favorite band after first hearing them back in 1969.
asiangrrlMN
I beg and implore you all not to play worst-ever songs. I am genetically incapable of not clicking on the links. Therefore, I am subjecting myself to untold agony. Thank you!
demimondian
@Tattoosydney: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_(musical)
Imagine two hours of music about getting — or not getting — pregnant.
Tattoosydney
@demimondian:
The Eighties were cold and evil times.
demimondian
@AhabTRuler: Words cannot compass, nor reason condemn, her infinite variety. Her courage clearly knew no bounds. Her drive was limitless. And there was no person with as much talent as she possessed.
And I think that’s probably a good thing.
AhabTRuler
@asiangrrlMN: Then, of course, you must be familiar with one of David Bowie’s best songs evar! ! ! 1 !
JK
Yesterday, I went with the standard, conventional, usual suspects – Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who etc.
I haven’t read each and every post, so I don’t know how many of these have already been mentioned, but I wanted to list great music produced by some off the beaten path and lesser known bands
King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon, Earthbound
Television – Marquee Moon
New York Dolls – New York Dolls, Too Much Too Soon
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía – Friday Night in San Francisco
Art Ensemble of Chicago – Live in Paris, People in Sorrow, Message to Our Folks
Delaney & Bonnie – Accept No Substitute, On Tour with Eric Clapton
MC5 – Kick Out the Jams
Flying Burrito Brothers – Gilded Palace of Sin, Last of the Red Hot Burritos
Go – Go Live from Paris, Go Too
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Between Nothingness and Eternity, Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire
Sea Level – Cats on the Coast, On the Edge
Blues Project – Live at The Cafe Au Go Go, Projections
Paul Butterfield Blues Band – East-West, Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw
Hot Tuna – Double Dose, Burgers
Spirit – Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Tyrannosaurus Rex – My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair…
Loudon Wainwright – A Live One, Final Exam
Tangerine Dream – Phaedra, Alpha Centauri
Soft Machine – The Soft Machine, Third
Yardbirds – Five Live Yardbirds
Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones, Pirates
Dennis-SGMM
@Tattoosydney:
Hearts. No time, even the Middle Ages under multiple yokes and the Black Death was unalloyed evil.
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
And John Farnham’s “Sadie the Cleaning Lady“. Pat Boone Australian style.
demimondian
@Dennis-SGMM: The Eighties were not a time of unalloyed evil. They were a time of evil alloyed with greed.
Jon H
I wonder how many people in 1996 would have predicted that Bob Dole would outlive Jack Kemp.
Common Sense
@Tattoosydney:
The Shaggs are infectiously awful. They obviously loved what they were doing so much, and it’s so incredibly bad. They are the Ed Wood of music.
@JK:
T-Rex is a wonderful artist. Thank You for reminding me.
AhabTRuler
@demimondian: Yes, but the greed was highly impure. This led to significant concentrations of stupidity in the crystalline matrix. This in turn caused oxidation and micro-fractures to form that weakened the entire structure.
Comrade Kevin
Since people are mentioning albums again, I just thought of a couple more:
Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties
Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
asiangrrlMN
@AhabTRuler: I was prepared to cut you two ways to Sunday, but oddly enough, I find that Bowie tune catchy. Hm.
@Tattoosydney: Horrific song and video. Although, the maid on the left (my left) isn’t bad-looking.
J. Michael Neal
Ain’t that the truth. I spent all of high school listening to all the girls I wanted to date complain about what jerks their boyfriends were. If I had a nickel for every time a woman told me, “I like you, but you’re too nice to date,” I’d be able to buy a candy bar from one of those expensive vending machines.
Gah.
Jon H
I’ve been getting laid like you wouldn’t believe since I decorated my car with a bumper sticker saying “My other car is a psych ward gurney”.
J. Michael Neal
@asiangrrlMN:
Keep in mind, when talking to TS, that the maid spins the other way in the southern hemisphere.
gbear
..by some.
I’ve got the vinyl. It’s mindwarpingly bizarre songcraft, but it’s more a product of homeschooling and isolation than anything else. The whole notion of ‘groundbreaking outsider music’ is a sham. There have always been ‘singularly talented’ (ahem) artists making music. The advent of cheap recording and record manufacturing allowed a few of them a bit of exposure beyond their local churches or community center (Shaggs Own Thing has a couple of songs recorded in a local hall where kids are playing, people are talking, and no one seems to be paying any attention to the band). The Shags became a ‘movement’ only because Terry Adams from NRBQ was a musical jokester and a weirdness junkie.
J. Michael Neal
@Jon H: Eh. I’ve done time in a psych ward. It’s not as exciting as you’d think.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
Try this one out, the video isn’t the greatest but here’s Roy Rogers and no, no horsie.
AhabTRuler
@J. Michael Neal: Yes, but the girls don’t know that!
JK
Of all the negative comments appearing on last night’s music thread, I nominate the following post as the most deranged and outrageous. I hope the author of that post is logged on because this message is directed to him or her.
I never knew that being a fan of the Beatles, Yes, Pink Floyd, and Frank Zappa meant being an enabler of the practice of torture. I happen to love Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring as well as Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I also love the Beatles, Yes, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, the Clash, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Jam.
For as long as I live, I will never ever understand people like this individual who make the dumbest, most absurd, off the wall, sweeping generalizations about total strangers.
J. Michael Neal
@AhabTRuler: All the ones I meet do. I swear to god, there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of women in the Twin Cities who aren’t crazy, but they’re never the ones I run into.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
Try this one out, video isn’t great but here’s Roy Rogers and no, no damn horse.
asiangrrlMN
@AhabTRuler: I don’t know how the hell I missed this about you reading that poem to the girl with the braid, but that’s creepy, my friend.
@J. Michael Neal: Oh my god, I can’t stop laughing!
It’s true that women do like bad boys to a certain extent because women, on the whole, do not live dangerous lives. It’s danger by proxy, plus there is something intoxicating about “My love will change him”. It’s all bullshit, of course, but there you have it.
Personally, I have the motto that I do not date anyone who is more of a drama queen than I am. It works for me.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN: Video isn’t great, but try this out. Roy Rogers and there is no horse.
omen
@Comrade Kevin:
do you know a boc album that had a gambling motif for the album cover? involved either dice &/or roulette wheel. trying to track down a song my ex used to play.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Sorry.
asiangrrlMN
@JK: See, once I read the first few sentences of that screed, my brain stopped. It’s a conversation-ender, in my opinion. I may or may not like the bands he listed (I’m guessing it was a he), but I think it takes some real brass balls to make such a sweeping generalization. Or, he was a troll who was just stirring shit up. A likely possibility.
J. Michael Neal
@asiangrrlMN:
Yeah, that’s the usual reaction I get.
Brick Oven Bill
Your love will change me asiangrrlMN.
omen
@Tattoosydney:
i miss leg warmers.
omen
@Comrade Kevin:
let’s try this again.
do you know a boc album that had a gambling motif for the album cover? involved either dice &/or roulette wheel. trying to track down a song my ex used to play.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: I am giving you the finger right now. You’re killing me, you know that, right? I’d rather listen to the Come in My Mouthsong again. Or, I like that Seventeen song. Hell, I would rather watch the Depeche Mode video again.
omen
comrade kevin, the moderator doesn’t want me to ask you questions. it keeps blocking me.
Common Sense
@omen:
I miss the shoulder pads in lady’s suits myself.
J. Michael Neal
@Common Sense:
How about the pastel eye shadow?
Comrade Kevin
@omen: wha? There must be something you’re typing that the mod filter thinks relates to boner pills, or something like that.
omen
@Common Sense:
those were cool too. i used to have a crush on sean young in blade runner because of her retro 40s look.
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
Not to be a completely unsympathetic jerk, but horse shit.
My life is split into two pieces, a pretty dangerous alcoholic/addict and a pretty nice guy. The pretty nice guy did a hell of lot better with women than the other guy and there ain’t been just a couple of them in either iteration. There are certainly enough of either sex who’re damn sick in their relationships to seem like a lot, but it’s not so. I do find that self-confidence is pretty generally appealing.
An ability to listen and empathize goes a long ways, dangerous is just that, but I am talking about women not girls.
I’m not proposing that my way of living is exactly safe for me, but that is another thing.
J. Michael Neal
@Chuck Butcher: Hey, all I can relate is my own life. Sorry.
asiangrrlMN
@J. Michael Neal: Snort. I can’t stop laughing.
@Brick Oven Bill: OK. I gotta admit. That was funny.
@Chuck Butcher: Yeah. I think I was trying to get there in my convoluted way. Confidence is key. Lots of times, guys (and women) play the friend role because it’s safe, and then they get trapped in it.
J. Michael Neal, I think you have to step out of the friend’s role, too. I did that in high school. I was the buddy. You have to view yourself as a catch, and then some women will, too.
Then again, I suck at relationships, so I wouldn’t exactly listen to me.
omen
comrade kevin, no, it was a perfectly innocent question. do you know a blue oyster cult album that had a gambling motif for the album cover? involved either dice and/or roulette wheel. trying to track down a song my ex used to play.
okay, this time instead of using the acronym, i spelled out the whole name for the band.
Common Sense
@J. Michael Neal:
Surely you are joking. That was just ugly. Not like the timeless beauty that is spandex, plastic manly pads, and cemented buzzcut hair.
@omen:
Sean Young’s cyborg look entranced me as an 8 year old. Then again so did Pat Benatar’s.
J. Michael Neal
@Common Sense: Look, if I wanted to date a linebacker, I’d become gay.
Hockey chicks, on the other hand, are hot as hell.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Really? I like that song. The film clip is terrifying though.
omen
@J. Michael Neal:
you mean the light blue eye shadow? that was so heavy-set-woman-working-the-diner-during-the-50s look.
J. Michael Neal
@asiangrrlMN:
That’s been . . . not entirely successful. Take the time I was home from my freshman year in college. I went to a movie with a friend from high school. When it was over, and I was driving her home, she asked, “Was this a date?”
Alarm bells start going off. I replied, “I was hoping so.”
“Oh. I think of you as one of my female friends.”
[Of course, if she were you, I’d still have a chance with her thinking that.]
Honest to god, I had the composure to say, “Claire, I understand what you’re trying to say, but you should phrase that better.”
Direct quotes. That conversation is seared into my brain.
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
Nah, I’m just trying to get across that what we think we see in this is sometimes a combination of our own POV and someone else not being exactly honest. Part of getting cleaned up is being able to shed the BS I told myself and the BS others told me and I’m fairly quick to see it. I’ve had nice guys tell me the same thing, and it wasn’t because they were nice, it was another piece that wasn’t working.
That empathize thing? People talk to me, I don’t try to fix them – I listen – women do like to talk to me and sometimes it’s been about my friends who were…not working out.
Damn, that sounds conceited…
Tattoosydney
@Chuck Butcher:
@J. Michael Neal:
‘Tis true. There’s a hell of a lot of women (and men) out there who are actually looking for the nice guy, but they just aren’t old enough to know it.
Jerks don’t last. The one who makes you laugh and cooks you dinner does.
Have faith, JMN.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Well, since I was watching the video, I couldn’t dissect it from the song. I need to watch my eyes out with lye now. I’ll try to listen to it without being gobsmacked by the video. You could have warned me. Yeah, ok, it’s better. Still, not one of my faves that you’ve posted. Sorry.
@Common Sense: Yeah, well I miss Zubaz. So there.
Andy K
@JK:
Great list, but:
I would add High Time. Sure, Kick Out the Jams captured them at their live best, but High Time was their best songwriting. Not a dull moment on the album.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I fail. Ok… hmmmmm. Now I have to find something else.
J. Michael Neal
@Chuck Butcher: Probably my biggest problem is that one of my deep neuroses is that I’m pathologically scared of imposing on people. I avoid asking people out, not because I’m afraid they’re going to say no, but because I’m afraid that it’s going to make them uncomfortable.
asiangrrlMN
@J. Michael Neal: Yeah, I know it’s easier said than done. Believe me, I have been the friend type for a long time. The thing is, you may be unintentionally picking women who see you as a friend because it’s safer. I tend to pick people who don’t commit because I have commitment issues of my own. We don’t always see what we’re doing. That’s why if you have a friend who’ll be honest with you, get that person to give an assessment of your dating persona.
In addition, you may be unconsciously de-sexing yourself so as to appear nonthreatening to your female friends. I am not suggesting that you get overbearing and macho, but it’s ok to be manly–if that makes sense.
Again, this comes with the caveat that I suck at relationships, so grain of salt and all that.
@Tattoosydney: If someone will cook for me and make me laugh, I’m his/hers. As long as I don’t have to live with the person. Tattoosydney, considering all the musical pleasure you have given me, I think I can let you slide on this one.
J Michael Neal: You’ll have to get over that. There is nothing imposing about asking someone out. Asking her out a hundred times after that? Imposing.
Comrade Kevin
I see that Jack Kemp died today. Condolences to his family.
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
It’s nice to be liked, it’s better to be loved, but in the end run I don’t give a fuck if someone does or not. There are a lot of people in the world and I’m not for everyone. You get just exactly me, nothing else, and you can like me or not. A long time ago I quit worrying about whether women thought I was hot or not, some do and some don’t. OK. I ain’t made out of crystal, I won’t shatter into a million pieces of never put back together again if I get dropped.
Common Sense
@J. Michael Neal:
Teeth just get in the way?
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
How about some bug powder dust?
J. Michael Neal
@asiangrrlMN: Hey, I never said it was rational. I’m in therapy for this stuff.
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Yes. Tis true. I once figured out that there are approximately 10 million people in the world with whom I could build a relationship. I don’t believe in ‘the one’ or soul-mates, and I certainly don’t believe that everyone is right for me or that I am right for everyone.
Advice for the lovelorn, right here at BJ!
Tattoosydney
or this….?
Ah well, if my music mojo is off, I’ll make up for it another time.
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
Jeeze dude, I guess you think you can do that. You packing a gun or something? Listen, the sun will come up whatever your opinions or desires in that regard. You don’t have that kind of power. Stalking is another thing, but asking is just that. People say yes and they say no and they’re allowed to – it’s not up to you.
Get over yourself and some woman is gonna tear you up, brother. She may get over you or not, but if she only ever gets the essential you, it’ll be honest at least. You don’t make an asshole presentation in a format that is pretty good for bringing that out so it isn’t that and it’ll work.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Kiss, kiss, fake-hubby. All is forgiven. I love the first song, and the second is quite good, too.
@J. Michael Neal: Yup. That’s why I emphasize that it is always easier to dispense advice than it is to take it.
Chuck Butcher, what you said. You cut through the bullshit and get to the heart of it.
AhabTRuler
Ah, well, but if we could solve our own problems as easily as we can solve others, then I would have wasted all that money on my own therapy.
Tattoosydney
@Chuck Butcher: but really @J. Michael Neal:
Without intending to cross TMI lines, one of the advantages of being a gay man (or so I have found) is that the “scared to ask” thing gets knocked out of you early on (if you’re lucky).
Getting sex when you want it as a young, passably attractive gay man is (generally) easy – you approach, you get sex or you get knocked back, in which case you move on. You learn to risk asking, because every now and then a fabulously beautiful man who is supposed to be out of your league says yes (and you’ve also had a lot of sex with the “merely” cute in the mean time). Later you sometimes find out that the nice ones like short, nervous men just like you and had their eye on you anyway.
Extrapolating, you get good at asking people out, and learn that the worst that can really happen is that they say no. Sometimes they say yes.
ETA: And only arseholes who you wouldn’t want to date anyway get nasty or offended if they are asked out on a date in a nice, polite or clever manner. The ones you want to date will either say “No, but thankyou” or “Yes, where’s the whipped cream and the blindfold.”
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
21 years ago I had a divorce from my best friends and lovers, alcohol and drugs, and buddy I was bereft. There’s a hell of a lot of really stupid non-rational stuff that goes into getting yourself into that place and it is deeply imbedded. It takes some real brutal self-honesty to put things back together. The smarter you are the more difficult it is because you can build some real persuasive horseshit to support you stuff. Figuring out who the hell you actually are, the good and the bad is essential and it isn’t an easy exercise.
What I was doing wasn’t working and I was tired enough of it that eating a shotgun was a realistic solution and it was one or the other. That’s a bad place to be. It was one or the other so stuff that hurt my feelings was small potatoes if it was a way out. It was a way out that worked, since I’m still around.
asiangrrlMN
@AhabTRuler: Damn right! Gotta support the therapists in a time of recession, don’t we?
@Tattoosydney: Yes, this. Again, if someone is an asshole to you asking her out, then she isn’t someone you want to date. Yeah, one of the things about homo-dating is that it’s not as easy to play gender roles.
Tattoosydney
@AhabTRuler:
Too true. All of my clever advice is caveated by the existence of the ongoing disaster that was my love (as opposed to sex) life for the 90s and the first half of the 2000s. What the hell do I know about dating?
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Only an arse would respond like an arse to “I like you, and I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date?”
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Well, since you now have a hubby and a pretend-wife, I would say a lot.
By the way, I am loving Bug Powder Dust.
Exactly on your last statement. It’s easy enough to say, “I’m flattered, but no thank you.” Why be mean about it?
J. Michael Neal
@Chuck Butcher: I also think that irrational fears about offending or hurting other people are harder to get rid of than a lot of other problems, because it’s really hard to convince yourself that it’s not ethically wrong to change.
Edit: I mean, my self-destructive tendencies were easier to deal with than the rest of them. I’m fairly confident that I’m not going to become suicidal again. Ever being able to loosen up is more of a concern.
Chuck Butcher
@Tattoosydney:
I don’t know what lines that crosses, but I cracked up. And here I thought the advantage was that you didn’t get yelled at for leaving the seat up.
asiangrrlMN
@J. Michael Neal: Yes. It is much harder to deal with those issues. It’s not easy to change your core beliefs.
@Chuck Butcher: And you cracked me up with your retort about leaving the seat up. Heh. And your answer about the sun? Perfect.
Chuck Butcher
@J. Michael Neal:
Oh hell, it’s all hard, all of it. Nobody likes change.
You missed my little ethical poke about the sun, then. You’re assuming a level of power that isn’t yours to have. Period. If you’re assuming it at that level, it’s bleeding over into other stuff. It has to. Alcoholic/addicts are masters at assuming power they don’t have.
If you think you can make somebody do something (impose) you’ve engaged in some pretty damn grandiose shit there. You’re talking about a core assumption on your part. Because I pretty much work outdoors it was an exercise of mine to look at the sun, or whatever, and tell it good job taking care of that without me having to deal with it today.
I could take myself entirely too seriously…
Wile E. Quixote
@J. Michael Neal
When I was doing my first stint of quality time at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (ortho trauma, 6 east) I asked one of the nurses, whom I had gotten to know fairly well since I had been there for eight weeks, which of Harborview’s wards was the most difficult to work in. I asked if it was the psych ward because of all of the crazy people and she said that working in the psych ward was easy, because when people started acting up you just upped their meds until they got quiet again. She said that the hardest ward to work in was the burn ward, because you had to deal with kids who were horribly burned and who didn’t understand why you were doing things that made them hurt even more.
I could never be a nurse, I’m just not tough enough.
Tattoosydney
@Chuck Butcher:
That, and farting in bed.
asiangrrlMN
@Wile E. Quixote: That’s some serious shit, and a good reminder that there are worse things than being crazy.
Tattoosydney, oh great. You boys are going to devolve into the world of farts.
Chuck Butcher
@Wile E. Quixote:
My mother was an RN, it can be kinda tough being their kid as well. I did learn panic and sympathy is wasted and that if you ain’t dead, you’re probably gonna be alright. There’s not a hell of a lot of point in trying to persuade an emergency room nurse that you’re hurt real bad unless you’re dying.
I suppose it was good for me, I’m pretty damn calm when things are going south.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Not while there are ladies present.
Chuck Butcher
@Tattoosydney:
Dude, women are pretty much across the board convinced that theirs don’t stink. It ain’t so, but I’ve learned discretion.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Where? I don’t see no ladies!
Chuck B., oh, ours stink. We just don’t revel in them as much as you guys do. Well, most of us don’t.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
Go here and listen to “Black Cat Bone” and any others that strike your fancy. You do have to register for 25 free downloads.
Chuck Butcher
This little tete a tete seems to have killed this thread…
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Oooh, very nice. I found it on YouTube. I have two black cats, and I love them very much. Oh, wait, not that kind of black cat?
I thought it was a menage a trois with you, me, and TS.
Chuck Butcher
Lady can be useful at a political dinner or some such, mostly I’ll take woman, or plain ole bad girl.
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Yup. I ain’t no lady! However, I am tired. It’s late where I am, so I’m crashing out. You and the boys (if there are any left) are on your own, so you can fart all you like. Good night.
Tattoosydney
@Chuck Butcher:
Or we are the only ones awake. Mind you, it’s only 5pm here.
Chuck Butcher
I had a black cat, stray who adopted me, I named him “Bone.” He stuck around until I sat on him one night, he didn’t like that enough that he left.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Night, fake wife.
I also should run away as I have to start preparing dinner.
Chuck, a pleasure as usual.
Chuck Butcher
I’m on the other side of the puddle from you, midnight here.
Chuck Butcher
Later ‘gator
2th&nayle
@Chuck Butcher: Been lurkin’ here taken in the council you’ve offered J Michael . Sounds to me like you know what you’re talking about. Been down some pretty rough rows myself. It’s hard to try to explain that the process is pretty much done from the inside out, without taking yourself too serious and trying to rush things along too fast. I’d have to say J. Michael shows a lot courage to speak so openly about his problems, so he probably possesses the courage to make the change in himself, so he can find some peace of mind. I also am gratified to see so many people at this blog that are willing to take the time to share of themselves to try to show some compassion and support. It’s almost enough to restore my faith in human nature. J Michael, I hope you’re reading this. Hang in there partner, things will get better, by and by.
Wile E. Quixote
@asiangrrlMN
My hospital experience was incredibly humbling. As bad as it was I walked out under my own power all three times I was there. OK, I was on crutches, and missing part of my leg, but I walked out on my own. Additionally I was always the least broken patient in the rehab gym.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@J. Michael Neal:
So there’s totally the flip side to that, which are the women that are so jaded and damaged by indifference of “mad, bad, men” that they’re absolutely enthralled by anyone who’s the least bit kind to them. Mistreatment by the type of women you’re describing triggered a serious cynical phase in my life where I took ridiculous liberty with that. But it ultimately becomes corrosive to the soul taking advantage of women, even if it’s in an ostensibly “nice” way.
slightly_peeved
Here’s the thing, JMN:
I had a similar attitude to you; could not ask a girl out. I decided I had to do something about it when met a female friend of a female friend one day at uni. Bit the bullet, and got her number. Talked to her (the first phone call was the most awkward 15 minutes of my life), started hanging around with her, and went out with her briefly before she dumped me and went back to her old boyfriend.
Calling her up and talking to her is one of the things in life I’m most proud of, BECAUSE it was so hard for me to convince myself to do it. Best of luck – and kudos for you for talking about it :)
iluvsummr
[/insomnia]
For wrb whose cockatiel likes polyrhythmic music/dancing to Fela; I think he’ll like this and this.
MR Bill
Damn, I missed a thread where farting in bed and Florence Foster Jenkins were discussed.
And let me add that you can be a gay guy and get yelled at for leaving the toilet seat up…
Krista
Morning, all! :) Sorry I missed a fun thread last night.
Steeplejack
@omen: Is this the one you’re looking for–Agents of Fortune?
I always thought it needed more cowbell.
harlana pepper
@asiangrrlMN:
Hi there – I would definitely go out with this guy again, but I’m going to date a couple of other people, too, and take things slow. I’m going to DATE for the first time in my life since high school. I’ve always just been in a relationship or between relationships (erhm, or married).
demkat620
@Krista: Morning! How are you feeling?
harlana pepper
John is priceless, but I have to admit, I come here as much for the comments as the posts (shhhhhh)
Should have hung around on the Derby thread, I see, but I was beat.
btw, my niece found a turkish van kitteh at work and found a home for it – just thot I’d mention it, isn’t it the general consensus that Tunch is a portly version of a turkish van?
harlana pepper
@J. Michael Neal: Hmmm, sounds a lot like me. I just came to the realization recently through therapy that for some reason, I believed I wasn’t meant to be here (planet) and I’m always in everybody’s way. And can’t *bear* to ask anything for anything. That kinda thing. In my case, the clock is running out and I want to “live” rather than just survive, which is what I’ve been doing for years and years. I’m on the right meds, putting my ass on the line and if some guy doesn’t like it there’s somebody else out there who will. No pun intended ;^D
2th&nayle
@harlana pepper: I think it’s more the general consensus that Tunch is a portly version of a turkey ham!
harlana pepper
um, I meant “ask anybody for anything”
harlana pepper
J. Michael Neal: there is something that attracts you to “crazy” girls — I know, because I’ve been there with men. I remember my ex-bf (who is actually still a good friend, altho I think we’re fighting right now, not really sure) sitting on my couch after our first date, and he’s looking at me saying “you dont understand, I’m crazy” and in my head, I’m all like, aw you just need somebody to love ya. He’s a serious alcoholic but has a good heart. I do have a soft spot for drinkers, as long as they’re not mean drunks (like my ex-brother in law) because I understand why people drink. And I can’t stand judgmental people who have no clue what kind of pain they are in, because I do.
(I’m still paying off the loan I took out to keep him out of jail and get a place for him to live b/c he had no place to go – he was staying at his mom’s and his drug-crazed brother was physically attacking him — we were just friends by then- right after that, I got fired from my job) I never bring up the money, he does — I know I’ll never see it but it’s okay.
Krista
Feeling fantastic — just had a hearty breakfast, and Spawn of Krista thoroughly approves, if the kicking is any indication.
He used to be more like a portly version of a minivan, but he is smaller now, so I’ll resist teasing him.
harlana pepper
@Krista:
He’s only smaller because John’s been using the Furminator.
;)
Dennis-SGMM
I’ll take FAIL for $300, Alex:
Ah ha! This must mean that they’ve realized that the GOP needs to rethink its current policies and practices. Or not:
From today’s WaPo.
Comrade Kevin
@omen: Agents of Fortune, released in 1976.