Someone loves the rails to trails:
If you are interested, tonight’s Fresh Air is featuring a story about Puppies Behind Bars. I figure the reason there is no Kitties Behind Bars is because the cats would teach them how to escape.
*** Update ***
Also, via Redkitten/Krista’s Facebook page from an hour ago:
“Is at hospital. water broken. induction tommorow if nothing tonight.”
General Winfield Stuck
Sweet Lily. Happy healthy doggie.
demkat620
Thans for this. I thin I’ve had enough stupid today. What a proud girl she has become!
demkat620
And apparently my keyboard has a letter k issue.
steve s
Been waiting for an open thread to post this.
Justice Kennedy is 73, stephens 89, scalia 73, ginsburg 76.
Obama’s already appointed one Justice. Stephens has only a 50% chance of even surviving Obama’s first term, according to actuarial tables. Ginsburg had cancer, and in any case, she, Kennedy and Scalia would be in their 80’s by the time B-Rock’s 2nd term ends.
What’s going to happen?
Quicksand
My Bengal cat is a housecat but is allowed outside on a tether and harness. I nicknamed him “Hairy Houdini” for a while based on his ability to wriggle out of the snug figure-8 harness if I looked away for fifteen seconds. I’d find him standing there, with the harness lying on the ground next to him.
dmsilev
Given Lily’s habit of rolling in Disgusting Stuff ™ while on walks, I think John might appreciate this.
-dms
Crashman06
How long have you had her, John? She looks a million times better now than she did in those early pictures. It feels like this has been a quick turnaround.
lamh31
Sorry, this ain’t a puppy story, but all you hetero guys (and non-hetero guys) are gonna have to explain something to me, other than menopause, what happens when a woman reaches mid-life, that compares to men’s mid-life crisis? Cause stuff like this just doesn’t seem to happen to women:
Mel Gibson Helms Mostly Unwatchable Videos to Equally Unlistenable Girlfriend’s Songs
John Cole
@Crashman06: Early June, I think.
linda
@steve s:
scalia ain’t going anywhere — his appt will go into the afterlife.
ginsburg’s one tough old broad; she’s always looked so frail, and to go thru what she’s undergone and with the workload she carries. that’s some heavy duty stamina.
cathaireverywhere
such a happy girl!
This is off the cute dog topic, but Lawrence O’Donnell is AWESOME!!! If you have not seen his Hardball interview (he’s subbing) with the younger woman at Specter’s Town Hall, go watch. He just destroys her proud know-nothingness, talk radio/Fox talking points and does so in a firm, but polite way. I wish every wingnut could have that experience.
Demo Woman
@John Cole: You should really post a picture when you saw her at the pound and a picture now. She is just so happy. Good Job!
Jennifer
@Crashman06: As Cesar Millan says, dogs live in the moment. So if they’re in a good place with someone who makes them feel secure, they can turn around right away.
John has obviously provided Lily with both.
Comrade Mary
What a difference.
And how about this? Has this at-home behaviour changed much?
Flappy McScrotum
Did any just catch Lawrence O’Donnell (sp?) interview the one woman from the Specter townhall. She was upset the we were moving away from what the founders wanted. But couldn’t say what would get us back.
I almost felt bad for her. She appeared completely lost.
Polish the Guillotines
@John Cole: John, if you never do anything else, rescuing Lily guarantees you eternal mensch status.
Fern
@linda:
I saw a picture (maybe on TPM) of her at a White House reception for Sotomayor. She looked radiant.
John Cole
@Comrade Mary: She runs to the window by the front door when she hears the car in the driveway and gets nose marks all over the glass. I then have to give her five minutes of love before I do anything or I will be tripped otherwise.
Additionally, I simply can not sit or lie anywhere without her being on my lap. If I lie down on the couch, within ten seconds she comes running in and lies on my chest or between my legs. She usually goes to bed on her doggy bed on the corner of my bed before I go to bed- I let her out for her 11 pm potty, she walks in and goes straight to bed. When I get up in the morning, she stays in bed until she sees me put shoes on, and then she gets up, stretches, and does the happy dance because it is time to go for a walk. She sleeps on my feet when I am at the desk.
So, yeah.
Indylib
John, Lily looks wonderful!
Does anyone have a suggestion for a good history podcast? I’ve tried Hardcore History by Dan Carlin and I just can’t take his weird little forays into his personal fascinations (that sometimes go on for 10 minutes) with things like what it must have been like to see a battlefield with 70,000 dead people on it and how retired Roman soldiers must have suffered from horrible PTSD.
Beauzeaux
I’ve never seen a dog that smiled so much.
ellie
Awww! I am glad that she is doing OK. My dog Ziggy, a Shar Pei, was really mean before he came to live with us. He was my brother’s dog and my stupid brother didn’t socialize him. Now Ziggy is my big baby and I can kiss him on the face. I couldn’t even touch him when he arrived.
Comrade Mary
@John Cole: I’m fucking BEAMING here, John. You have a doggy for life there.
(I’m on a pet hiatus because of finances and sheer weariness at outliving yet another fur buddy. You have me seriously reconsidering.)
geg6
lamh31: That’s a tough one. I can speak as a 50yo menopausal woman. Let’s see…well, I dated a guy who was 15 years younger than me when my ex and I broke up 4 years ago. We dated for about 7 or 8 months. He was a butcher and cut me the most beautiful meats (actually still does). He called and asked me out again the other night but I told him I’m with someone. That’s all I got. I did get great steaks out of it, but I’m not sure that equals Mel’s hormonal imbalance. Oh, and that Lily is the beautifullest thing I’ve seen all day. Anybody have news on RedKitten?
linda
fern-
thanks for the heads up… just looked at the gallery. ginsburg looks terrific; sotomayor looked pretty awesome too. i think she’s going to be so awesome; and i bet she and fat tony will get along too. the bronx vs queens… lol
pika
Ahh–she’s analyzing your clothing sequence. A dog that can read you. Totally healthy and bonded. I echo the commenters who’ve been saying that Lily (and Tunch) pix are a great antidote to teh crazy.
Comrade Mary
@Indylib: Have you tried The History of Rome by Mike Duncan or 12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownsworth? Good stuff!
geg6
When is MSNBC going to give Lawrence O’Donnell his own show? I would never miss it. I love that he calls people out and uses facts to illustrate how irrational they are, but does it without histrionics. And the fact that I find him devastatingly attractive doesn’t hurt.
Indylib
@Comrade Mary: I’ll check out the Byzantine one, thanks Not in the mood for Rome, they irritate me.
slag
I’m with Lily on that one. Also, where’s Tunch?
JK
Most Annoying Articles I Saw on the Internet Today
Are liberals seceding from sanity?
The left is crazy to insult white Southerners as a group
salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/11/south
Press Largely Ignored Incendiary Rhetoric at Bush Protest
foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/12/analysis-press-largely-ignored-incendiary-rhetoric-bush-protest/
WSJ Reporters Mock Obama For Attention To Detail
huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/12/wsj-reporters-mock-obama_n_257313.html
Wile E. Quixote
I think I need to make chicken fried steak for dinner. Or maybe chicken fried chicken. I’ve never tried that. Or even chicken fried bacon
Litlebritdifrnt
Who’s a pretty puppy? Yes she is, *scritch* yes she is!
St. Francis will welcome you with open arms at the pearly gates for what you have done with Lily John, he will pat you on the back and say “you did good”. Scuse me but there is something in my eye….
John Cole
Also, I appear to have a crisis on my hands. I have been unable to find the furminator for three days.
demkat620
Oh yes, do we have a baby juicer yet?
Litlebritdifrnt
@geg6:
Ditto, he is very smart and very well informed. I think he needs his own show as opposed to the Hardball rerun, either give tweety the 5pm and Larry the 7pm or vice versa.
steve s
“Oh yes, do we have a baby juicer yet?”
Would it be worth the price? How much juice can you get out of a typical baby?
Litlebritdifrnt
@John Cole:
Ah ha – tunch hid it. Have you checked the litter box, under your bed, the laundry basket?
John Cole
Krista has my cell phone number and is supposed to text me. I’ve been told first labors can be long. I just hope there is nothing wrong.
JK
@Flappy McScrotum: @geg6:
Yes, I saw Lawrence O’Donnell interview that woman, Katy Abram. What a stupid, clueless buffoon. My jaw dropped to the floor. I doubt this idiot could even name the 1st 10 amendments.
Her line that she “doesn’t want this country to turn into Russia” earns her a spot in my Wingnut Hall of Fame.
Indylib
@Wile E. Quixote: Funny you should say that, I am on my way to the kitchen to make that almost as I type. Serving it with mashed potatoes made with cream and real butter, country gravy, fresh corn on the cob and green beans. The whole meal is a stealth heart attack waiting in the wings, I know, but we only have it once every couple of months. It’s one of the only meals that all of my kids like all of the components of.
JK
@John Cole:
“May her child be a masculine child” – Luca Brazzi
The Populist
I keep reading these signs that tell me the Youth In Asia will kill my grandma??? Why would some youths in asia kill my granny?
Are they talking about youths from Indonesia? Phillipines? Where?
Help me fellow Balloon-Juicers and tell me who these youths in Asia are?
AAAAHHHHH!!!!
The Populist
Can I now put the Youth In Asia sign up there with the Morans?
Euthanasia, righties…Euthanasia…get it right.
Flappy McScrotum
@JK
I think I should mention that I grew up in Lebanon PA (location of that town hall) and am roughly the same age as that woman. I’m not surprised at the level ignorance coming out in the town hall.
slag
@John Cole: You’re so lucky Tunch digs the furminator. I have to catch mine while they’re eating. And even then, I’m lucky to get one or two balls of fur off before they’re done and under the table. Bastards.
Demo Woman
@demkat620: I’m having happy thoughts that she’s busy holding a beautiful child and she’ll update us tomorrow.
steve s
@Wile E. Quixote:
God that’s funny. I esp. liked the girl who, after eating the chicken fried bacon, says “Hey this is good. It just needs more salt.”
The camera instantly cut away, I can only presume it was because she then keeled over face down in the bowl of gravy.
Indylib
@John Cole: You’re right about the first labor being long. It’s only been about 12 hours since she posted that she was on the way to the hospital this morning, so chances are there is nothing to worry about. My first took 17 hours, including 7 hours of back labor. I still randomly whack her in the back of the head for that.
MikeJ
History podcasts: I d/l a buncha stuff from auntie beeb. They have history shows and series all the time.
steve s
That video featured about 12 people and roughly 27 chins.
Demo Woman
@John Cole: Thanks John for mentioning that. Now we will all be on pins and needles. I’m not one to judge on deliveries. I was in the hospital 5 hours for the first and 2 for the second.
By the way Tunch hid the furminator.
res ipsa loquitur
I remember seeing something — it was a bunch of years ago — about a program that had violent felons work with animals. The thought was that by caring for animals they’d develop empathy. They started these guys out with horses (i.e., animals that would kick them in the ass — hard — if they hurt them) and worked their way down to kittens. It was so long ago, though. I don’t remember how it turned out in the end, but the idea was interesting.
Demo Woman
I just hope that Kitten appreciates all of us pacing.
amorphous
@John Cole: My wife’s first labor was in May… it lasted four hours. Shit you not. Plus I almost passed out and puked SEVERAL times.
JK
@Flappy McScrotum:
I’ve never before been so disgusted and discouraged for the future of this country.
Yesterday, it was the gun nut being interviewed by Chris Matthews. I support gun owners’ rights, but is it asking too much that you don’t bring a fucking gun to a presential event?
Today, it’s the creationist asshole running for mayor of Tulsa.
I can’t decide who is more repulsive and nauseating – the knuckledragging neanderthals trying to shout down members of Congress or their enablers like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Glenn Reynolds, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Peggy Noonan, Lou Dobbs, et al.
Litlebritdifrnt
I don’t know if this helps but my Mum was in labor a week and had a heart attack. (And I know it sounds like a guilt trip but it is true, I have heard from other relatives). I was a month late, was the equivalent of a bag of sugar and all my skin and fingernails were falling off. It is no surprise whatsoever that I am unique, after that experience my mum decided she was never going to do that again.
Demo Woman
@JK: The founding fathers wanted us to take care of each. Tell that to the Indians.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Demo Woman:
She does know we are all here on tenderhooks doesn’t she, I mean she will let us know the minute( okay maybe the hour) the baby is born, cause damn this waiting is driving me nuts. It is like 9:30 on election night.
amorphous
@JK: That’s easy: the enablers. They see what they’re doing, they know exactly what the outcomes will be, they have no shame, no remorse, no feeling of responsibility or guilt. Criminal.
jenniebee
I love me some Lily (and Tunch!).
Even though they’re probably human/lizard hybrids (Part 1)
The “Part 1” of that title just slays me.
Fern
@amorphous:
Birth is not an aesthetically pleasing event, I’ll grant you that.
Fern
@John Cole:
“first labours can be long”
That would qualify as an understatement.
Litlebritdifrnt
Oh btw while we are all metaphorically pacing the waiting room and smoking cigarettes you might want to go and read this, and more importantly the comments. The Guardian’s commenters are priceless.
guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/11/nhs-united-states-republican-health
Their view of their “knuckle dragging” American cousins is fabulous. (and they LOVE THE NHS)
schrodinger's cat
Lily looks wonderful, how does she get along with the greatTunchinator?
jenniebee
@Flappy McScrotum:
Link to the Katy Abrams interview.
It’s really sad, she’s actually one of the underinsured, paying through the nose to her insurance company, and it’s clear that she doesn’t know her ass from a soshulist death panel of malevolent eeeeevul. Thank goodness Glen Beck has guided her through his twelve steps to letting him “think” for herself.
gnomedad
@John Cole:
I suspect collaboration. “OK, Lily, I’ll find you something really foul to roll in if you help me deep six this thing.”
Keith G
@Indylib: What type of hist?
jenniebee
May I say, because nobody ever says thank you for the ads (apart from the Laura W. ones), the new Goth internet dating ad is highly amusing and in no way revolting.
heh. Goth internet dating. awesome
katherine
@res ipsa loquitur:
I recall something similar — prison inmates who learned compassion and responsibility by “adopting” and training shelter dogs. IIRC, the program improved morale in the prisons and decreased bad behavior.
demimondian
@Fern: You know, I’ve been present at three of them, and I disagree. To be sure, the blood and poop and placenta aren’t much to look at, but there’s the mother to take care of, and the baby at the end. What more could a man (or a woman) want?
Crashman06
@John Cole: She’s come a long way, and I’m sure you’re the reason. Bravo!
John Cole
I feel bad for that lady who was on Hardball. She is obviously someone who has never paid attention to any politics, and she has been whipped into a froth by people around her and now has really strong opinions about stuff she just doesn’t understand at all.
Not that I have any room to talk.
Litlebritdifrnt
@res ipsa loquiturRes – is dat U?
Anne Laurie
Moar SOSHALISM! ! ! Dah gummint took yer tax dollahs foah dat fancied-up pro-mee-nahd, y’know!
P.S. Lily hid the furminator; she thought it made you spend too much time with Tunch.
P.P.S. One of my friends helped start a program where prisoners in the Michigan state system learn dog training & grooming by working with shelter dogs. It’s fascinating, in a slightly scarey sense, to listen to her talk about hardened criminals discovering, for the first time in their lives, that yelling & hitting is *not* the only way to get one’s point across. She talks about “her” cons the same way she talks about the dogs she fosters — tough love at its finest.
JGabriel
Demo Woman:
Why does everyone assume Tunch hid the furminator? Tunch obviously enjoys being furminated.
Clearly it Lily who hid the furminator, because she wanted Tunch’s furminator attention time!
.
nogo postal
The answer to stupid is always art and music..
Don’t let the stupid bring you down
youtube.com/watch?v=WDqN_icg4L4
Flappy McScrotum
@jenniebee
I thought I was the only one who caught that. She seems to think it’s ok to have a $5,000 deductable and she’s almost up to that limit.
Fern
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Thanks – that was amusing.
bystander
@res ipsa loquitur:
Colorado Correctional Industries maintains a wild horse and canine companion training/adoption program.
Westminster Kennel Club meets Colorado Department of Corrections.
@ John Cole:
Lily rocks! And, so do you.
@ general audience:
Have folks seen the NYT article by Scott Shane? The two US psychologists who designed our torture program did their dissertations in high blood pressure and family therapy. I don’t know whether to be surprised they didn’t make a bigger hash out of it, or wonder how much more damage they might have done if their backgrounds had been more relevant.
bystander
Sorry. That link to the NYT was a fail for some reason.
nytimes.com/2009/08/12/us/12psychs.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1250125224-U39epa8yI9QDNDyyJXxCjg
Indylib
@Keith G: Ancient is good, doesn’t matter what culture as long as it isn’t Rome (as I mentioned above the I currently find the Romans irritating), something that isn’t exclusively about war and battles would be a nice change (is it a coincidence that most historians are men and most of the history written about is about warfare?), Celtic is good, Early America (colonial, revolutionary, Continental Convention era) is always interesting. I
jenniebee
@John Cole:
Agreed, I feel bad for her. Still doesn’t change the fact that she’s a classic low-information voter (assuming she’s a voter) who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that her family would be safer and better off with health care reform, and chooses instead to buy into some convoluted theories that explain that there are three alternatives: things exactly as they are; Russian as the national language and forced relocation into Tim Burton-designed council flats; and a return to Bedford Falls/Pleasantville/Johnsonville Brat commercials.
JK
@Demo Woman:
With each passing day, I grow more convinced that the vast majority of these protesters don’t know squat about the founding fathers or their ideas. They’re just pathetic sacks of shit who are too lazy to think for themselves.
@amorphous: I see your point. On the other hand, the more I hear from the likes of Katy Abram and William Kostric, the more I think they have to accept some responsibility for their mind numbing, monumental stupidity.
Sometimes, I wish I could get into a time machine, travel 500 years into the future, and emerge in a world that would hopefully be free of wingnuts.
John Cole
You all are boring tonight. Am I going to have to post pics of Tunch?
General Winfield Stuck
@John Cole:
Your turning into a real softy. I guess Lily has tamed the savage political beast. Good thing you’ve trained a cadre of general assholes to carry on. Moi’ excluded, of course, well……
res ipsa loquitur
Res – is dat U?
Not sure who “U” is.
IIRC, the program improved morale in the prisons and decreased bad behavior.
Yes, I think so. They had these guys grooming the horses, mucking their stalls, exercising and feeding them, etc. They worked with cows, too, as I recall. Eventually it was puppy and kitten time.
demimondian
@John Cole: Meh. Why be exciting, when the tea party protesters will do it for us?
jenniebee
@John Cole: oh no, Brer Bear, Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don’t throw us into the pictures of Tunch!
mai naem
She appeared not to even know her income. She was apparently too busy having kids and getting married to watch the news during 9/11. What she says doesn’t even make sense. I can’t deal with these idiots. And, yes, when is Lawrence O’Donnell going to get his own show. He is the only one on MSNBC who is willing to rip the right wing a new one. Even Olbermann doesn’t do it the way O’Donnell does.
schrodinger's cat
Please do, he brings out the best in us.
Demo Woman
@jenniebee: I don’t feel bad for her. She made herself part of a rowdy crowd intentionally. If she wanted to ask a question, she should have been prepared.
While waiting for the Kitten’s baby, I put on America’s Got Talent but I got figure out what’s going on. It’s my first time watching this, although I did watch Dancing with the stars once when Emmitt Smith was on. So far there’s no talent.
res ipsa loquitur
I have always wondered … is the name “Tunch” some literary reference? I google “Tunch” and get a former football player.
JK
Rachel Maddow was on fire just now with her commentary.
No doubt, flaming douchebag Bob Somerby will be all over her tomorrow for being so unfair to the wingnuts.
@nogo postal:
Love 90% of Neil Young’s material, especailly “Don’t Let it Bring You Down”, but I can’t stand Annie Lenox.
I’ll stick with the original youtube.com/watch?v=mU9_Q7PJuNQ
Crashman06
Oh wow. The Leverage crew this week is scamming a cable “news” talking-head/demagogue by trying to convince her that the President is secretly shutting down Guantanamo in order to establish secret terrorist detention centers all across Middle America.
Ha, I love this show.
slag
Just finished the Puppies Behind Bars interview. I love it when people use their talents in unusual ways to address problems. Good stuff!
JGabriel
John Cole:
Yes, me too. The people gloating about O’Donnell “destroying” her are a little off-base I think.
First, destroying such a person, who appears to be well-meaning if somewhat ignorant, would be easy and nothing to be proud of.
Second, O’Donnell seemed to be trying to gently teach her, and viewers with similarly uninformed opinions, a little about policy. I don’t think destruction was his goal, and, in this case, education and conversion would be a more admirable goal anyway.
.
Max
@mai naem: O’Donnell has been guest hosting all over the place – Ed’s show, Hardball, Countdown, so I have to believe they are grooming him. That’s how it was before Rachel and Ed (even David) got their shows – they became the “go to” Guest Host.
Montysano
@John Cole:
Why? Lawrence O’D wasn’t rude. He asked pointed questions. The young woman wasn’t very bright or well informed, and I guess that’s a shame, but she’s really the poster child for the Know Nothing right wing: railing and howling against her own best interests.
Demo Woman
I’d love the opportunity for O’Donnell to teach me a few things.
Litlebritdifrnt
@res ipsa loquitur: scuse me I thought perhaps that you were the res ipsa from PJ. Apologies if not.
Litlebritdifrnt
Grassley is a lying sack of shit.
Demo Woman
@John Cole: Boring, I have on “America’s Got Talent” and I can’t figure out where the talent is.
res ipsa loquitur
Litlebritdifrnt,
I don’t know what PJ is. I am a lurker here for about 1-1/2 years now. No problem.
Anne Laurie
Goddess help us, but Katy Abram is the face of Idiot America. She doesn’t know, or claims she doesn’t know, her own family’s income — “My husband looks after all that”. She can’t articulate why she’s decided to get interested in politics NOW after treating “all that stuff” as nothing more than another form of mild televised entertainment — “It kinda seems like we’ve just, y’know, alway been at war” — since 1991! She thinks that if it weren’t for “the government”, her fellow citizens would just chip in to provide all the health care anybody needed (assuming, I get the feeling, that ‘anybody’ is sufficiently close to Katy Abram both physically & demographically). She doesn’t have the faintest idea of what she actually *wants* to happen as a result of her protest… she just thought “it was time” to “stand up” for, well, she’ll get back to you on that after the next round of astroturfing and email rumors, m’kay?
There’s a nursery rhyme that describes all the Katy Abrams in America’s Heartland(tm) —
God bless me and my wife
My son John and his wife
Us four
No more
— but it wasn’t intended as an instruction manual!
Keith G
@Indylib: Okay then. First to let you know my biases – I taught econ, govt and US hist in hs. I tend, therefore to be a bit nerdy in my online hist consumption, which is ravenous.
BBC History Magizine podcast is greatfor general interest . It overviews the monthly issues reviews books and usually has two in depth interviews. Love it.
I like to download course lectures from great profs. Tremendous stuff out there. A few picks:
Dr. Gretchen Ann Reilly at Temple College – US to 1877
Dr. Donald Kagen, Yale – Anc Greece
Dr Isabell Pafford UC Berkley – Anc Egypt
Crashman06
@Keith G: You can’t
John Cole
Krista update in the main post.
gbear
Via Wonkette. Excuse me for printing so much of it but it’s delicious:
wonkette.com/
Crashman06
@Indylib: You can’t go wrong with David Blight’s lectures on the Civil War. You can get them on iTunes I think, or the video from Academic Earth.
General Winfield Stuck
After watching the guy who went nuts at Spector TH on teevee this morning, babbling about how many times Obama had to take the oath of office and the apparent dissing of the constitution, nothing surprises me when I turn on my teevee.
Couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy, disabled and on disability and Medicaid or Medicare and obviously out of his fucking mind. Then shows up to protest Obamacare and govment run sockalist takeovers.
gbear
CRAP!! I thought the ‘0’s would hold the formatting together. Internet traditions fail.
JGabriel
@John Cole:
Well, whaddaya expect now that ye gone lefty? We just ain’t got the same levels of insane outrage as the wingers.
.
General Winfield Stuck
Induction? into what. Kinda young for the Mounties.
SiubhanDuinne
Tunch ATE the Furminator
Demo Woman
@John Cole: Thanks John, I’m going to bed. I’ll pace in the morning.
John Cole
How many of you are going to NRN? Even though it is an hour and a half away, my total distaste for conferences and crowds is going to keep me away.
demkat620
@JGabriel: You are right. I watched the segment again and O’Donnel tried to get her to understand how silly her positions are but she doesn’t get it.
She’s paying OOP but reforming a system to help her keep more of her money is bad.
I think the problem isn’t that she believes stupid things, It’s that she can’t get that what she thinks might be wrong.
You can see the cognitive dissonance on her face.
lotus
I disagree that Katy A is not-very-bright and that LO’D “destroyed” her.
She’s plenty smart, just stone ignorant, and the little she does know comes from liars she has no reason or preparation to recognize as such. As she said, she’s been too busy with her life to follow the news — as it is for most of earth’s millions.
O’Donnell’s questions politely, gently revealed all this without humilating her. Now, it may be that the next 20 or 30 years will teach her enough that eventually she will look back on this in humiliation. But if she does get that seasoning, she’ll probably also realize that someone(s) other than O’Donnell set her up. Impossible to predict whether her life will ever allow her the leisure to develop that kind of understanding, though.
Keith G
@Crashman06: Yes I can.
General Winfield Stuck
NRN Nation’s Restaurant News
NRN No Reply Necessary
NRN Non Resident Nepali Association
NRN National Research Networks
NRN Not Right Now
NRN New Republic Navy (gaming)
NRN Network Routing Number (AT&T)
NRN Nouvelle Revue Neuchâteloise (French)
NRN Network Resource Negotiator
NRN No Response Necessary/Needed
NRN Non-Resonating Node
I choose this one
NRN Not Right Now
Stay away from this one. Shut up! that’s why.
NRN Non-Resonating Node
MMM
Never get out of the boat. Absolutely gXXXXXX right. Unless you were goin’ all the way.
Indylib
@Keith G: @Crashman06:
Thanks guys, I’ll check these out.
MMM
I worry that my sons might not understand what I’ve tried to be. And if I were to be killed, Mr. Cole, I would want someone to go to my home and tell my sons everything. Everything I did, everything you saw, because there’s nothing that I detest more than the stench of lies. And if you understand me Mr. Cole, you will do this for me.
gbear
Why should we feel sorry for anyone who agrees to appear on an MSM news show? What did they think was going to happen?
demkat620
@res ipsa loquitur: Hi res.
Yes, Tunch(the cat) is named for a football player.
The owner of this blawg has an unseemly love for the Stillers.
We hang out here because he supplies us liberals with arugula, pet pics and fresh ramps.
schrodinger's cat
Thanks for the Tunch photo, John. The kitteh has dignitude and cattitude.
Litlebritdifrnt
@MMM:
Ruh Roh.
JGabriel
gbear:
Because pitying the ignorant and trying to correct their lot in life with education is a time-honored liberal trait and goal?
The enemy is the people who create and spread such smears knowing that they’re smears are the enemy, not the ignorant fools and victims who believe them. Katy What’s-her-name is a fool; Dick Armey is evil.
.
MikeJ
@res ipsa loquitur: The same ril who thinks the Astors are interesting, or at least the carved beavers in the subway?
JK
@JGabriel:
I don’t gloat over Lawrence O’Donnell’s interview with Katy Abram. At the same time, I sure as hell, don’t feel the least bit sorry for her. If someone wishes to remain ignorant, so be it.
Once someone decides to become engaged, he/she is obligated to get educated on the issues – especially if they wish to query their elected representative in a public forum. Saying she didn’t want the US to become Russia was pure bullshit – she was talking out of her ass. In an age when so many high quality information resources are available at one’s fingertips via an Internet connection from a computer at a public library (if one doesn’t own a computer), there’s no fucking excuse to allow oneself to simply be a receptacle for lies and distortions of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Sean Hannity
@nogo postal:
Maybe, the yin to the yang of “Don’t Let it Bring You Down”
All Down The Line (Live) – The Rolling Stones
youtube.com/watch?v=GqJXDEOoAQw
Albatross – Monty Python
youtube.com/watch?v=wrqW_BZu5Xk
res ipsa loquitur
The same ril who thinks the Astors are interesting
Well, maybe if I’d been one of The 400.
or at least the carved beavers in the subway?
Those are definitely interesting.
gbear
Balloon Juice: Come for the pets and politics, stay for the interventions. Please please call someone now.
RandomChick
I just checked my headlines and I want to add – Fuck these old fucks.
* Obamas poll numbers below 50.
* No backlash against town hall hooligans. More people are sympathetic to angry protesters than turned off by them.
* Grassley promoting death squad lies.
* Obama having to fight against death squad lies means he’s lost control of the message.
Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them. I say we pass health care for the people that want it and all these stupid fucks can keep the system we’ve got.
Crashman06
@RandomChick: Where are those from?
HRA
I was hell bent to only read BJ and I have failed.
General Winfield Stuck: Inductions is a form of the verb induced. That is when they use medication by intravenous to induce you into labor. I don’t even want to replay my own experience with this method. It was not good.
Six hours was my labor with the first child. No labor was with my 4th and 6th children.
“I feel bad for that lady who was on Hardball. She is obviously someone who has never paid attention to any politics, and she has been whipped into a froth by people around her and now has really strong opinions about stuff she just doesn’t understand at all.”
I have a difficult time understanding how anyone can be swayed to the extent of standing up in public and repeating the same lines I have seen or read from other townhall events. I am almost certain they were given the particular lines to recite. Clearly she was not interested in current events prior to this one. So what propelled her to be interested now? Is it money? I can’t seem to trust Dick Armey and his minions.
After 3 years of Latin studies, one would assume I would run from Roman history. I can’t do it. What I would like to read is the Roman’s governorship in Greece/Macedonia and it is very difficult to get good books for that period.
OK I am done for now.
Except for being absolutely awed at the beauty of Lily and the awesomeness of Tunch.
freelancer
@Wile E. Quixote:
What, Did you watch the ep of Leverage that supposedly took place in Lincoln, NE? Good ep, but Jebus did they get Nebraska wrong.
@John Cole:
Cole laments that we are boring as he proceeds to watch a TV show and take pictures of his awesome cat. (I’m not saying we’re not boring, but we aren’t shucking the title.)
@Demo Woman: I went to my gym after work, and watched last night’s maddow on my nano. Merka’s Got Talent was on all the TVs, it was still painful. That show is fucking gawdy.
I picked up the first season of Breaking Bad last night. I kept hearing good things about it, and even though it’s on AMC and I couldn’t get into Mad Men at all (we get it compared to the 21st century, the 50s and 60s for yuppies seems anachronistic! Could you try and be about something else too?), this is totally different. Anybody here into that show?
General Winfield Stuck
@gbear:
We ain’t crazy. We’re just typed this way.
Mister Papercut
There actually is one at a women’s prison down the road from me.
RandomChick
@Crashman06:
I’m not sure which came from which source – I read them through Google Reader. I subscribe to ThinkProgress, TalkingPiontsMemo, and ThePlumLine.
So, from some combination of them.
I really think I’m done with politics until after the vote on health care. This is just too painful.
General Winfield Stuck
@HRA:
The only “inducted” I ever experienced was when Uncle Sam said boy, “We Want You” to fight commies in your new olive drabs. But I have been educated. Gracias Senora. or Senorita.
A lady Flickr friend in the Dominican Rep. is teaching me some Spanish.
freelancer
@MMM:
[as Izzard]: Uhmmm….QUOI?!
MMM
In life there are many moments for compassion and tender action. There are many moments for ruthless action – what is often called ruthless – what may in many circumstances be only clarity, seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it, directly, quickly, awake, looking at it.
gbear
So how many treats does it take to teach a puppy what ‘top shelf’ means?
kommrade reproductive vigor
Holy Crap. Best wishes Red Kitten!
JK
Recommended reading
“Socialist” and the N-Word
thestimulist.com/listen-up-lou-dobbs-socialist-and-the-n-word/
Red-Baiting and Racism
counterpunch.com/wise08112009.html
JK
@RandomChick:
Yes, fuck these neanderthal town hall protesters and fuck the goddamn motherfucking New York Yankees.
freelancer
@MMM:
You sound like francis dollarhyde…
Chill. The Fuck. OUT.
Violence is unacceptable, and yeah, we talk about people having the most punchable faces, but we are not going to spark the Pale Geriatric Curmudgeon Insurgency of 2009 by carrying out violence in any form. We’re right. They’re wrong. They’re wrong, and they’re sounding insane. This is why we win.
PS – If you’re a spoof, you’re an asshat. You shouldn’t be spoofing language like that.
South of I-10
I hope for Krista’s sake that stuff happens tonight and no Pitocin tomorrow, cause that sucks. In other news, I am extremely happy to report that I no longer have escape artist pit bulls living next door. My neighbor kicked her roommate out. We can play outside again.
Just Some Fuckhead
Yeah, in the same way ya feel bad for the anaconda that got let loose in the wild when it became too big for its owner to keep. Until it eats yer fucking kid.
gbear
Good for you and your newly single neighbor, I-10.
Maybe something will still happen tonight. My birth certificate says I was born somewhere around 11:40pm. The baby may not have called it a day yet.
JGabriel
@MMM:
Okaaay. What’s with all the Apocalypse Now quotes?
.
Anne Laurie
Three dots (okay, ellipsis) works for me. Of course, now it won’t work any more, at least for me.
Counting the days until we get our edit buttons back!
Crashman06
@RandomChick: I understand. It’s all been making me sick, sad, and depressed.
AhabTRuler
Ehhh, I had 100 bucks riding on the anaconda, so I covered.
Ripley
Freelancer @ 135:
I’m a Breaking Bad fan – odd, interesting, often hilarious show, but very dark. Walter doesn’t go “teevee bad” (i.e. zany), he goes full-on psychopath as the show progresses. No spoilers, just know that it’s worth watching, even during its frequent slow-paced stretches. I can’t take it in big doses, though: my work keeps me well-supplied with damaged people to talk with four days a week, so, ya know, an episode from The Love Boat DVD (what the hell?!) is just as likely to pour out through my LCD screen….
JK
@Just Some Fuckhead:
At least the anaconda isn’t spreading phony rightwing talking points. Besides, the anaconda can’t help itself. Nothing prevents Katy Abram from educating herself on healthcare. For some reason, she’d rather arm herself with wingnut talking points instead of facts.
kay
@RandomChick:
“Yet the group is adopting a take-no-prisoners approach to the House bill unveiled last month, including putting a negative ad in the can.
“We’ll fight the speaker all the way on that,” said a senior industry lobbyist, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “We’re going to stop that bill. If they don’t like it, we don’t care. And no one should be surprised by it.”
The drug makers have several gripes with the bill, notably a provision that reinstates government discounts on drugs purchased by seniors who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.”
It’s tough. There’s just so much money being made. That’s just pharma lobbyists. There are also insurance lobbyists, and hospital lobbyists, whoever the uniformly anti-reform media are working for, I honestly do not know, and on and on.
They say this stuff publicly, now, unlike 1993. They’re just not answering to anyone, at this point. They don’t have to.
“We’re going to stop that bill. If they don’t like it, we don’t care. And no one should be surprised by it.”
Mark S.
Say what you want about that lady on Hardball, she’s still better than Makewi.
mai naem
Funny piece by Chris Hayes in the Nation answering some questions about healthcare reform –
thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/461264/your_questions_about_health_care_reform_answered
Anne Laurie
John, you and DougJ have got to learn to hold a li’l sumpin back during East-Coast working hours. You two flood the zone in the afternoon/early evening, and by the time the west-coasters show up, all the threads are bottlenecked and smelling of stale thots (or worse, trolls).
freelancer
@Ripley:
See I think the dark-humor, and iconoclastic nature of the show is why I like it (I’m only 3 eps in but I knew at the 16 minute mark of the pilot that I liked it.) It’s like Vince Gilligan (the showrunner) came across that quote from Thoreau:
and when he pitched the show, he said, “FUCK THAT!, Coen bros. style.”
RandomChick
@kay:
These people are we can never have nice things.
RandomChick
Are WHY we can never have nice things. Damn slacker edit buttons. Never around when you need them.
freelancer
@Anne Laurie:
Are you no longer a front-pager?
b/c your post at #104 with the embed of the video could have made a perfectly good new thread, IMHO.
JK
@freelancer: @Ripley:
I agree that Breaking Bad is a great show. I’m also a big fan of Mad Men. Glad to see that both won Emmys last year.
When Emmy nominations were announced a few weeks ago, I was very disappointed to see that both The Shield and Rescue Me were once again totally ignored. I strongly recommend both shows if you haven’t seen them.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
Bene, John Coleone. I need a man who has powerful friends. I need a million dollars in cash. I need, John Coleone, all of those politicians that you carry around in your pocket, like so many nickels and dimes.
General Winfield Stuck
Are we doing better Mr. Cole? Are you un-bored?
If not, we’ll just have to try harder.
@Anne Laurie:
I been thinking the same thing. I just start getting the bloggo juices going around 11 pm MST, And all the easterners are sawing logs and there are no fresh threads.
steve s
“I picked up the first season of Breaking Bad last night. I kept hearing good things about it, and even though it’s on AMC and I couldn’t get into Mad Men at all (we get it compared to the 21st century, the 50s and 60s for yuppies seems anachronistic! Could you try and be about something else too?), this is totally different. Anybody here into that show?”
Dude. Dooooood. I think it’s the best show I’ve seen all year. I torrented and watched every episode over about a 2 week period. This is without a doubt the Golden Age of television. The Wire, Deadwood, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and Breaking Bad are simply the best tv shows ever made.
steve s
2nd tier, but still very good:
House, Scrubs, Buffy, Firefly, Dexter, First season or two of The L Word, first season or two of 24, 30 Rock, the Simpsons, Sex and the City, Firefly, Heroes.
Haven’t seen Mad Men yet.
Robertdsc-iphone
The Luca Brasi quote is priceless. Good luck, Krista!
As many others have said, you earned major grace points in rescuing Lily, John. Bless you.
And Tunch iz king! Love the new blanket.
gex
@JK: I agree wholeheartedly. By the time you are 35, a parent, and a business owner (allegedly) you should have a certain amount of self awareness. I mean, have some sense to know that you don’t know very much about the issue at hand. Shit, I’m reasonably well informed and I would be the first to say that I don’t have the depth of knowledge to sit through a Hardball interview about politics and policy.
That she showed up on Hardball tells you she was PROUD of her performance in the town hall. She thought she was the shit. Why would I feel sorry for the comeuppance she received on Hardball? Frankly, it is quite possibly one of the few ways some actual facts were going to get through that thick skull of hers.
kay
@RandomChick:
You forget the ferocity, in the years between pathetic attempts to tame the beast.
The beast is bigger than in 1993. A lot bigger, I’m thinking, judging by the volume level and well, complete contempt for us, the “customers”.
steve s
I’m about to finish the first season of Torchwood. Still not entirely sure what I think.
JK
@JGabriel:
Agreed. When it comes to pulling quotes from movies, you have to start with The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
Thank you very much Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@Gordon, The Big Express Engine:
@Anne Laurie:
Have you read the book Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Pierce or is it just a coincendence that you mentioned the book title in your previous post?
Martin
I can almost excuse the protesters. The Yankees, however, well … there’s no redeeming those motherfuckers.
freelancer
@steve s:
You mentioned Firefly twice. I consider it first tier. Add Friday Night Lights, Futurama, The Venture Bros, and Arrested Development to your list, and you have my first tier.
Is it weird that my ex-Navy, never deployed in a combat zone, Wingnut Uncle who spouts all these Hannity generated talking points, fucking loves The Wire? I mean, for my money, it’s the best show that’s ever been put on TV, and it is so real, that it’s spooky. But he dallies daily in conservadope AM radio, but we share a love of that show. I’m guessing it’s cause all the corrupt politicians (the only politicians) are Dems.
RPh
@John Cole:
NRN is going to be a shitty warm up band to what we have up here when the G 20 shows it ugly head.
Seriously … I work downtown and the plans in place now (which aren’t the final plans, and which will not = reality when it finally occurs since the Secret Service will not EVAH tell you what is really going on …) look extra bad.
For all of you within 50 miles of Pittsburgh … do not even think of coming into town the week of Sept 21 – Sept 26. God help you if you need a flight out of the Airport then too.
Seriously … NRN vs. G 20 would be akin to Pirates vs Yankees (at least in terms of spending … and talent … and hope … and … Oh screw it you get the idea)
As far as all of you in for Net Roots … have a great time, drink up, and SPEND BEEOTCHEZ, SPEND. We could use it.
John Cole
@Anne Laurie: I know. I really should get someone to post during other hours. Are you interested?
:P
freelancer
@Anne Laurie:
@John Cole:
“I’m not the kind of person to say atodaso, but you know what? Atodaso, I fucking atodaso.” – Ricky
OriGuy
Has anyone else here been watching Time Team America? It’s a PBS show about archeology. They only made five episodes; they’ve all been shown but you can watch them online. My favorite was about the Fremont Indian site in Utah that had been kept a secret until a few years ago. They’re all good, though.
JK
@gex:
Thanks. I understand the desire to express empathy for a low information voter, but Jesus Christ, if you’re going to question a US senator in a public forum, you need to take a few hours to learn basic facts instead of pleading “don’t turn this country turn into Russia.”
@steve s: @freelancer:
This past Sunday, I was channel surfing and came across The Sopranos on A&E. For my money, this remains the greatest drama series in television history. It’s head and shoulders above any other drama series I’ve seen before or after.
MikeJ
If this country is turned into russia will we all get a good deal on those hats? Because if so, I could be convinced.
JK
A song for Katy Abram
Back in the USSR – The Beatles
youtube.com/watch?v=4-2LQGigK-0
I know that Russia and the USSR are not synonymous, but for Katy Abram it’s close enough.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
I understand. You found paradise in America. You had a good trade, you made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law. So you didn’t need a friend like me. Now you come and say “John Coleone, give me justice.” But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me “Godfather.” You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to do murder – for money.
steve s
“Shit, I’m reasonably well informed and I would be the first to say that I don’t have the depth of knowledge to sit through a Hardball interview about politics and policy.”
Well, you’re an intelligent person. You know how little you know. The truly ignorant think their casual understanding of things is expertise. I’ve got a physics BA and I’m routinely treated to lectures by relatives who barely graduated high school about why Cell Phone towers cause cancer, why I shouldn’t open the microwave without giving the microwaves time to die down, why flu vaccines _cause_ the flu, why evolution is just a _theory_, why I should eat sprouts because they have lots of “enzmimimes”, blah blah blah.
The only good thing that came out of it was the realization, years ago, that some people are so dumb it was pointless to argue with them. That realization has saved me thousands of hours and probably a few mmHg of blood pressure.
Although it is fun to occasionally fuck with them. Once or twice I have said, “You know, this shit doesn’t work like you think it does.” Then I took a spoon, submerged it in a bowl of water, and put it in the microwave on 20 seconds. It’s worth it for the freakout, while you calmly stand there and nothing happens.
steve s
Forgot about The Sopranos. Of course that’s on the list.
slag
Glad to see Tunch’s face glaring up at me once more. And are the cats on the blanket intended to send a message to Lily about who owns that futon?
freelancer
@JK:
The Sopranos is an excellent show. I have the whole series on my HD, but to me, it presents a stylized, hyper-real account of a world which does actually exist IRL. When, Ron Moore, the showrunner for BSG, saw the finale to the Sopranos, he wrote about how he and his wife were in utter awe at the choices made in the finale. He remarked on how he wish he had the balls to be that brilliant. He then took the ending to his show in a completely opposite direction (from a story-telling perspective. Whether the framework was good or bad should be up to the viewer, no spoilers here, suffice to say there’s no ambiguity at the end of BSG)
The Wire is different because of its subtleties, it’s protagonists’ motivations, it’s portrayal of the human condition existing within any given institution. It all was real, and from true experience. The show had exactly one flashback, in its pilot. It didn’t have dream sequences or fantasy elements, it chose to tell its story in a real world, seemingly without style. However, upon repeat viewing, The Wire is one of the most profound stories told from just the camera’s viewpoint. The show doesn’t over explain or look down on its audience, and everything in the frame and in the audiotrack is there for you to pick up exactly what you need to know.
When I watched the Sopranos, I knew it was great tv. I knew it was entertaining, but when I turn on The Wire, I feel challenged, I know I’m learning something, it’s engaging in a way that is at once cerebral, yet palpable.
So as to not start a superman vs. batman de-evolution here, let me just say they are both awesome shows.
jl
Periodic pix of Tunch restores my Tunchismo, which is required for progress through the travails of life with requisite dignity and grandeur in the face of any and all events for good or ill.
jl
BTW, I do not think Tunch is glaring. I think Tunch may be growing a tad vain about his photo sessions. Somewhat weakens the Tunchismo factor, but noting happened much today so I didn’t really need any.
slag
The best part of this post is the contrast between the Lily and Tunch pics. These two make a classic cartoon duo. Maybe Pinky and the Brain?
Anne Laurie
@John Cole: SOME PEOPLE keep usin’ up all the Good Stuff ! ! !
Learning curve, we haz it…
So, “NRN” is “Net Roots Nation”?
Steeplejack
Best Tunch picture evah. That is a manly man-cat.
slag
Also. The mouseover on the Tunch picture is perfect. Also.
JK
@freelancer:
There are several acclaimed tv drama series I haven’t seen or seen only snippets of (The Wire, BSG, Deadwood, Dexter) but my essential list of tv dramas would include in semi-descending order (The Sopranos would be my number 1, The Shield would be my number 2, after that, it’s a 12 way tie) –
The Sopranos, The Shield, Columbo, Law and Order, Law and Order:CI, House, Law and Order:SVU, Rescue Me, ER, The West Wing, Damages, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Riches
steve s
“You mentioned Firefly twice. I consider it first tier. Add Friday Night Lights, Futurama, The Venture Bros, and Arrested Development to your list, and you have my first tier.”
I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Arrested Development, though I have to agree, there is some quality there. Futurama….I don’t know…I thought it was good but not all-time good. The Venture Bros I should have included, but I’m still a bit disappointed by the third season, and I don’t really know why. Gotta love some Brock Sampson, though, for sure. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is occasionally brilliant, but often kind of crap.
“(sigh) Frylock, The Highlander was a doc-u-Men-ta-ry. And the events happened, _in real time_.”
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
Tell me about it. I’m on the East Coast, but I get home from work late and get into night-owl mode, but by midnight it’s you, me, maybe AsiangrrlMN and a few others clanking around the cold, dusty threads. I never see the big boost from West Coast prime-time hours that I keep expecting. Gad–could Balloon Juice be an East Coast thing?!
steve s
If I had loads of disposable cash I’d have my answering machine message done by Dana Snyder. (voice of Master Shake).
Or by the guy who does the voice of Space Ghost, who lives two blocks away from my girlfriend. Not because I like the show, he just has a good voice.
Steeplejack
@steve s:
The Venture Bros. I should have included, but I’m still a bit disappointed by the third season, and I don’t really know why.
I haven’t seen all of the third season, but in the first few episodes it seemed like it was getting too convoluted, self-referential and “meta.” Always a danger with that show, but it was getting out of hand. All that stuff about the Monarch not being able to “arch” Dr. Venture any more.
But then I console myself with the two-part climax of Season 2, in which Brock Samson leads the Monarch’s henchmen into battle against the Phantom Limb. God, it’s stupid, but I love that show. It’s like Jonny Quest on acid.
Thalia
@freelancer:
Great to see some Venture Brothers love here on BJ! I have the first two seasons on DVD and am on pins and needles waiting for Season 3. I think that it is possibly the best cartoon series ever made…the characters are so well developed and the concept is totally brilliant. The first time I saw the Guild of Calamitous Intent’s “infomercial” on why to have a licenced archenemy I almost pissed myself.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Did I hear you take my name in vain? The sad thing is, I’m becoming less of a night owl as my wacky sleep schedule is consuming me.
I haz a happy now that I have seen Lily and especially, Tuuuuuuunchie! Nothing cheers me up like pics of the BJ mascots.
I hope that the next time we hear from Krista, there will be a little red kitten snuggling in her arms.
amorphous is taking suggestions for a new handle
Wow, that Katy Abram is… um… disinterested. Well, ok, she’s dumb.
SiubhanDuinne
I didn’t see Katy Abram on the earlier airings of Hardball, but managed to flip awake in time to catch her on the midnight show.
She seemed, if not exactly proud of her ignorance, at least very matter-of-fact about it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her brain, but I think there’s a lot wrong with her attitude.
O’Donnell was patience personified. What a good teacher he would be. I would love to see him with his own show on MSNBC. (And yeah, I also find him devastatingly attractive.)
asiangrrlMN
@Demo Woman:
Ding ding ding! Count me among the smitten O’Donnell fans. YUM! Give the man his own show now!
asiangrrlMN
Ya know, maybe if we liberal BJ ladies who lust for Larry signed a petition, we could get him his own show.
Trinity
@Thalia: Had to jump in here and say that I am a HUGE Venture Brothers fan too. I had never watched Adult Swim until an ex had me catch an episode halfway through Season 1. I have been hooked ever since. Season 3 can not get here fast enough.
Brock Sampson gives the greatest beatdowns of all time. He is my toon crush.
JK
@Demo Woman: @asiangrrlMN:
I’d love the opportunity for Norah O’Donnell to teach me a few things.
steve s
“God, it’s stupid, but I love that show. It’s like Jonny Quest on acid.”
You remember, I’m sure, the ep where Brock kinda meets Race Bannon….
Anne Laurie
Whomever recommended Boomtown, thank you! Got the first disc via Netflix, and immediately ordered my own copy of the series. Best cop stories since Joseph Wambaugh.
Now, if only I could figure out why Boomtown and The Unusuals each got one short season, while endless lego-brick units of “Shite Blows Up” CSI-Lawnorder franchises proliferate… yeah, I know: same reason McDonalds rules the globe. It’s not good, but it’s easy and predictable!
Thalia
@steve s:
Was that the episode where he and Jonas Jr. found the strung out dude in his undies while they were reconstructing the time portal?
IGNORE ME!
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Did I hear you take my name in vain?
Not at all. Just saying you are one of the reliable late-night presences.
Sorry to hear about your sleep disruptions. Did you ever check out any of those sleep CDs? I think I recommended one by Jeffrey Thompson. Just askin’.
steve s
Angel is in the category “good, if not great.” Worth watching. Lorne was my favorite character.
” ‘Nother Sea Breeze. More Sea, Less Breeze.”
and finding out that the actor why played Lindsay referred to himself and Lilah on set as ‘Boris and Natasha’ made me laugh out loud.
Steeplejack
@steve s:
Of course.
Hank and/or Dean: “Eww.”
Brock: “They never show that part on TV.”
steve s
LOL.
JK
@Anne Laurie:
I think you’re being way too dismissive of Law and Order. Yes, the series have formulas from which they virtually never deviate, but the acting is always first rate and the writing is always first rate. I think Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Bobby Goran (Vincent D’Noffrio), Elliott Stabler (Chrstopher Meloni) are some of the most memorable characters ever created for television.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: I checked them out, but did not buy. I have a few nature CDs, but they don’t seem to be working. It looks like the Thompson ones are specially calibrated for sleep. I may have to give it a try because I’m reaching desperation time!
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Jee-sus, chica! Yes, they’re “specially calibrated for sleep.” That’s what you want, right?!
steve s
My only complaint about Law and Order is how predictable it could be at times.
Benson and Stabler: Okay, well, we’ve got three suspects. One is this ugly retired schoolteacher, one is an ugly bus driver, and one is this surprisingly handsome convenience store clerk.
me: Boy, I wonder who’s going to be on the witness stand for the last 20 minutes.
Then again, the Jeeves and Wooster stories are the very definition of predictable, and they’re still great.
Steeplejack
@steve s:
Then again, the Jeeves and Wooster stories are the very definition of predictable, and they’re still great.
Amen. I was lusting over the complete Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry series at Barnes & Noble the other day, as well as Wodehouse Playhouse. John Alderton and Pauline Collins in really funny dramatizations of various Wodehouse stories. From the late ’70s, finally available on DVD.
steve s
Boy, they really found perfect music to go along with those, didn’t they? I’ve seen some of it. After reading Jeeves in the Morning, I’m trying to go chronologically through them. I read Carry On, Jeeves, and just finished Very Good, Jeeves, and need to make some ILL requests with the local library to get the next thing.
Jen R
Keeping my fingers crossed for Redkitten to go into labor the old-fashioned way. I was in the exact same situation a couple of years ago.
steve s
While i’m usually a nonfiction guy, and can talk at length about William Langewiesche, Malcolm Gladwell, Atul Gawande, etc, and while I’m also a Shakespeare buff, and can quote lengthily from Hamlet, Macbeth, and Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jeeves in the Morning, and Wodehouse in general, is prob the greatest stuff I’ve ever read. If I had to be stuck on a desert island I’d take the Compleat Wodehouse over anything.
freelancer
Wow,
Awesome to find other Venture Bros fans here. I saw several laments for people waiting for S3. It was released on DVD in the US back in March. I don’t care how convoluted the show gets, as long as it maintains its painstaking continuity.
@JK:
I can’t remember/ am being to lazy at 1am my time to remember if you were the one referring to The Shield, but even that show makes Law and Order, and the CSI shows look like the escapist police fantasies that non-thinking audiences tune into to kill time before going to bed.
Seriously, get The Wire, or at least The Shield. It’s nothing against you that you’re into a show that focuses on episodes as opposed to a seasonal arc, but
L&W-CSI: police work:: Michael Bay movies: reality.
Thalia
@freelancer:
Well shit. I guess I know what I’m doing after work tomorrow…and I’ve already got some Ben and Jerry’s in the freezer!
JK
@freelancer:
I love the Sopranos, the Shield, and the Law and Order franchises.
I’m not getting this contempt that is being heaped upon Law and Order. Just because it utilizes a formulas doesn’t make it garbage.
I don’t like CSI or Michael Bay.
To each his or her own.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: I know! I know! I really am a recalcitrant idiot when it comes to my sleep. I am always afraid to try new things because I am so tired of things not working for me. Silly, I know. I am gonna order one right now, then try to go to bed.
freelancer
@JK:
lol, after Wilma Flintstone, no one needs to reiterate to me, the sentiment of “to each his own”. Usually, I’m able to explain in detail why I think what I think, with my experience, education, and analysis why I prefer one thing over another. This all falls under the umbrella of ‘IMHO’. Most of the time, it is an aesthetic, personal value that I might claim only as my own. In those cases, I try to be nothing, if not deferential.
if anything, it’s not a contempt, it’s a relative value. I’m accustomed to “The Wire” or “Homicide: Life on the Street”, so in my opinion, L&O pales in comparison. On its own though, Dick Wolf has created a type of show that is entertaining, and not completely misleading as to how our Justice system works. For that, he deserves much more praise than the producers of shows like Medium, America’s Got Talent, or Paranormal State.
The following is the best parody of every Ghost hunting show you’ve ever heard of
forgetthisnoise.blogspot.com/2009/08/jay-novellas-g-hunters.html
Enjoy
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Ok, I just ordered four discs from Half.com. I will let you know how it goes!
Anne Laurie
@JK: I’ve read some of the stuff Charles P. Pierce included in Idiot America, and the book itself is on my To-Be-Read pile. Of course some of the books on my To-Be-Read pile have been there longer than some of the BJ commentariat have been alive…
@steve s: If you’re getting seriously into Wodehouse, may I recommend Anthony Lane’s article “Beyond A Joke”, from the New Yorker of April 19, 2004? (Unfortunately not available online except to subscribers, but your local library should be able to hook you up.) It’s a loving, but not blindly uncritical, review of Wodehouse’s books — with some notes on the people who love them best. I’ve been a Wodehouse fan for at least forty years (my favorites are the Blandings Castle stories) and Lane’s piece is the best single concise appreciation of the Wodehouse Phenomenon that I can recall.
Also, if you like Wodehouse, you should definitely try Terry Pratchett’s fantasies (if you haven’t already). The two writers might not seem to have much in common, but check out PYRAMIDS, which starts off with a parody of the British-lads-at-boarding-school genre set in a world where the only son of a classical Pharoah can be sent to an upper-crust public school specializing in the training of professional Assassins (who are an essential part of that world’s civil service). Or THE TRUTH, which also involves a public-school scion from the ‘right sort of family’ discovering how the world really works… with the assistance of the world’s first printing press, the world’s first newspaper, the first Girl Friday, the first newspaper magnate (King of the Golden River, a Ruskin reference I did not recognize until recently), two non-professional assassins by way of Quentin Tarantino, and a talking dog.
Tattoosydney
@Steeplejack:
“Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry series”
Great series. Top class.
HRA
Aiyee caramba
General Winfield Stuck: I have to admit I made an error. You are right. The proper word for the method of bringing on labor is inducement. I have no idea what to plead for misleading you and can only hope some will return and see this correction.
Senora HRA
General Winfield Stuck
@HRA:
I blame Cole, and of course Obama. :–)