• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Not all heroes wear capes.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You cannot shame the shameless.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

This really is a full service blog.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Night Open Thread

Sunday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  August 30, 200910:15 pm| 202 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

I think this is the third weekend I have made it without watching the Sunday shows and instead have done something different in the morning. Today I just went to the rails to trails with the dog, then worked on stuff I would normally do on Monday while watching the history channel. I felt better for it, although I may have wondered what President McCain thought once or twice.

Spent the afternoon working, and went to Petco with Tammy and Sam and Lily, because that is where the pets go. Everyone behaved and I got Lily a new collar. I am gonna keep the Steelers collar for game day, but I think the new one looks better for everyday. The new collar:

detente

For dinner, I went to Brian and Tammy’s again, and we had a spectacular meal. My uncle (who was a WWII navy vet and is super cool) and my cousin went fishing in Alaska last week, and they caught several hundred pounds of halibut and salmon, and a bit of it found its way to my house, so Brian cooked up a feast. So delicious, and the difference is just unbelievable. The salmon was cooked with a beurre blanc, and the halibut was served on a bed of spinach with mushrooms and tomatoes. It was to die for, and the texture was unbelievable. The fact that the meat was so perfect is a testament to how flash-freezing fish as it is caught preserves the cell structure. Probably one of the best pieces of fish I have ever had. The chef deserves mad props, too.

After that, for fun, we chilled with the dogs and watched Goodfellas. The temperature outside was perfect.

Today was a good day. I got work done, I hung out with my dog, I hung out with my friends, I just got off the phone with mom and dad and they are doing well after spending the week in Pittsburgh celebrating the 41st anniversary, and sitting here right now before I got to bed, I just realize how damned good it all is.

This really is a good thing we humans have going.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Eeyore Is Smarter Than Pooh
Next Post: Fil Ouvert »

Reader Interactions

202Comments

  1. 1.

    McGeorge Bundy

    August 30, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    So who’s your favorite band?

  2. 2.

    General Winfield Stuck

    August 30, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    It’s two weeks for me without watching the mind numbing blabbers. Though I did read Cheney’s transcript from hell.

    It’s been a year and half since watching the Firefly series on Hulu, so gonna start it over tonight. I wish I had a spaceship of me own.

  3. 3.

    Tammy

    August 30, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    This is a great Sunday night post!!!

  4. 4.

    Elroy's Lunch

    August 30, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    Sounds like you’re keeping your balance John. That is good.

    I just hope those two buddies, the Tunchster and Lily got a taste of that halibut. The best fish around.

    And I stopped watching the Sunday morning shows years ago. No ill effects so far.

  5. 5.

    Comrade Jake

    August 30, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Julian Sanchez will be posting over at Sully’s place this week. I think that’s an upgrade.

    Anyway, Sully’s piece on Ted Kennedy is very well done. It’ll probably piss off some of the usual suspects here, but I enjoyed it.

  6. 6.

    valdivia

    August 30, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    the tunch-lily detente is fully functioning now!

    love the pic John.

  7. 7.

    AhabTRuler

    August 30, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    TeeVee is the mind-killer…

  8. 8.

    Emma

    August 30, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    And the pets are looking over your shoulder and snickering… because they’ve got yo snookered. You’re a slave, buddy. A slave!!!

    Sigh. So am I.

  9. 9.

    mgordon

    August 30, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    Do they make plus size Steelers collars for cats?

  10. 10.

    wasabi gasp

    August 30, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    This really is a good thing we humans have going.

    …and the pets snicker under their breath.

  11. 11.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    I have spent the evening doinking around on the computer, halfway watching and/or listening to the Braves-Phillies game on ESPN and doing some “spring cleaning” type stuff in a desultory way. I was going through a few boxes this last week looking for something, and I was suddenly struck by the thought “WTF is all this crap?!” Stuff I haven’t used or looked at in years and am not really likely to in the foreseeable future. So I have been doing a little purging and lightening.

    My mood might be related to the weather. Here in the D.C. area the temps seem poised for an early transition to autumn. (I hope so, anyway.) High was up around 85° today, but suddenly it’s supposed to go down to 62° tonight, with a high of only 73° tomorrow. And then the rest of the week the highs are predicted to be in the 70s, with lows in the low 60s and even down to 59° one night. I know the 10-day forecast is unreliable, but I’m ready for summer to be over, at least the humid, furnace-y part. Although I will admit that on the whole it has been a mild summer here.

    Had pizza and a couple of Sam Adams Irish Reds for dinner.

  12. 12.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 30, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    Happy sigh. Thank you, Cole, for posting a pic of Tunchie (and of Lily, too) to brighten up my weekend. I really appreciate it and this upbeat post as well. I love the Tunchinator.

  13. 13.

    wasabi gasp

    August 30, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    John, were you always a sensitive guy or did this just happen after Kucinich lost the primaries?

  14. 14.

    Laura W

    August 30, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    @Steeplejack: I hate to be the one to say this, Steep, but we’re super-close pretend e-friends so I think I can. This is by far THE MOST BORING POST I have ever read from you.

    To help you over your posting slump, I give you, the first 45 I am pretty sure I ever owned:

    SNAP OUT OF IT!

  15. 15.

    ellaesther

    August 30, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    You made me think of one of my all-time favorite books that the kids were ever given — this one by my mom, the children’s librarian, who knows a thing or two about books for kids: Rabbit’s Bedtime http://books.google.com/books?id=GdffoMYwL8AC&dq=%22rabbit%27s+bedtime%22&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=R1IfhwAYpS&sig=6PHtx1eku_QfIUrQoQFimqUaIvY#v=onepage&q=&f=false

    “Bedtime. What was good about today? There was time to work, and time to play. Time to dance, and time to sing, time to make a special thing…. What was good about today? A lot of things, I’d say.” The last page just says: “Thank you.”

    I think I should probably read that book more often.

    Also: I love that your dog has a wardrobe.

  16. 16.

    wasabi gasp

    August 30, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    SNAP OUT OF IT!

    Mom?

  17. 17.

    Aaron

    August 30, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    Lily looks great, and it is good to get away from the political brain-grinder once in a while. I found some soccer and Planet Earth to be a great way to unwind for the day.

  18. 18.

    robertdsc

    August 30, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    I am gonna keep the Steelers collar for game day, but I think the new one looks better for everyday.

    I got 5 bucks that says she stops rolling in dead shit on the trail now that the Stillers thing is gone. Who’s with me?

    <3 the Tunchinator. Tunch. Tunch. Tunch. <3<3<3

    Glad everything is working out for you on the human side, John.

  19. 19.

    jl

    August 30, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    I am glad everyone had a nice day. I am very glad that Lily will have an expanded wardrobe.

    Nice pic of the pets.

    I am wondering, though, how often Tunch shows signgs of recognizing the existence of lesser beings such as dogs and humans? Except when he requires that they bend to his will, or punish the impertinance of ill-mannered owners?

  20. 20.

    Aaron

    August 30, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    Oh, and I was happy to see the steelers defense is in good form. Now if only the offensive line would come together . . .

  21. 21.

    madmommy

    August 30, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    Tunch is ignoring you, or perhaps he is contemplating mayhem because Lily is becoming a bit too comfortable on the futon. Cats are inscrutable like that.

    Lily is a happy dog.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    @Laura W:

    Hey, you come to the blog with the post you have, not the post you wish you had.

    Okay, consider me snapped out.

  23. 23.

    John Cole

    August 30, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    @madmommy: I thought the O-line looked very good. I was worried about R.M’s explosiveness, to be honest, but the O-line looked solid.

  24. 24.

    John Cole

    August 30, 2009 at 10:57 pm

    @robertdsc: You all are my human side.

    I have like 20-25 people I deal with professionally and personally, but I actually kind of value the relationships I have with people here. You all are not just commenters, in my mind.

  25. 25.

    KG

    August 30, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    I’ve been pondering this hypothetical the last couple of days, and wonder what everyone around here thinks:

    What would have happened if Nixon won in ’60 rather than Kennedy? (Say Nixon carries Illinois and Texas, which were both very close)

    I’m thinking that Nixon would have been a decent president (even possibly center left, especially by today’s standards) because he wouldn’t have had the paranoia that dominated his eventual presidency. But more importantly, it means no Southern Strategy by the GOP, and possibly a less toxic politics. I also wonder how deep we would have gotten in Vietnam.

  26. 26.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 30, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    @John Cole: That’s really sweet, Cole.

    TUNCH!

  27. 27.

    madmommy

    August 30, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    @John Cole:

    I caught a bit of the Steelers game, but I was happier to see the Saints open a whole case of whoop-ass on the hapless Raiders.

    Now if they can just play that way when the games actually count for something…

  28. 28.

    Jaime

    August 30, 2009 at 11:03 pm

    Is it just me or are we being distracted by a coordinated effort through this healthcare debate? I read T.R. Reid’s book on medical systems abroad, and I read Ezra Klein blogging for the Post, The New Republic, the clips Balloon Juice provides, etc., etc., then I hear the mainstream news, Cato, and Heritage, and realize, WTF?!! There is a legitimate health care crisis, and what do “we” do in the US? Well, we get distracted by Sarah Palin death panels and town hall memes of socialism and nazism… Shit that actually isn’t part of the intellectual, policy “elitist” discourse. WTF is going on in this country?

    If only we could have a serious discussion about health care, and really have a look at how bad this system is and how we can fix it, without using the words socialism, or death panels, or using talking points of fear. If only the Right, or even the so-called “Blue Dogs” could really speak wholly in policy-terms and ignore the mob, we’d have a discussion on our hands. The moral debate is clear-cut, let’s make it an ignore the stupidity and the echo chambers… I know it’s hard, but waisting our time “correcting” all that is wrong on the interwebs is impossible distracting us from soldiering on.

    Sorry, just catching up in my RSS reader and had to rant somewhere… Thanks for the open thread… Peace out!

    PS. Your dog/cat combo there is awesome. My dog eats cats… *Sigh*

  29. 29.

    KG

    August 30, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    @madmommy: I’m pretty sure we could get 22 people from here that would be able to beat the Raiders.

    Sigh. I guess I’m going to have to pick a team again, huh? I’m leaning towards the 49ers and Chargers this year, possibly the Cardinals as well, as they are the closest thing we have to a pro team in the greater LA area. Unless you count USC.

  30. 30.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    @KG:

    he wouldn’t have had the paranoia that dominated his eventual presidency

    I disagree! The paranoia (not to mention the lying) were present in his campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas.

  31. 31.

    KG

    August 30, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    @Chad N Freude: there’s a healthy amount of paranoia and then there’s what Nixon became. All politicians, I think, are slightly paranoid, they have to be. But still, I think it was the specter of the Kennedys that did him in.

  32. 32.

    Michelle

    August 30, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    My parents just had their 41st anniversary too.

  33. 33.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    @Jaime: What makes you think the Right, or for that matter the Blue Dogs, are at all interested in a real policy debate? It’s the last thing they want, and the Fox news viewers, reality show fans, and hopelessly uninformed Medicare recipients could not care less.

  34. 34.

    General Winfield Stuck

    August 30, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    You all are my human side.

    Some of us will remain you’re asshole side, to keep the Yin Yang shit balanced.

  35. 35.

    madmommy

    August 30, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    @KG:

    Too true! Sad to see how the once mighty have fallen. I blame Davis, he’s a nutter.

  36. 36.

    PTirebiter

    August 30, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    It’s weird how resistant I can be to giving myself such an easy and obvious break. I cannot think of a single Sunday when watching the morning news shows enhanced the rest of the day for me. Today I skipped them all, took the dog for a swim,
    came home and watched the Little League World Series. Plus, as a function of Caitlin’s (my 1 1/2 year old lab mix) swim, I was able to enjoy two jello pudding pops while she was gassed on the floor at my feet. A perfectly pleasant day.

  37. 37.

    tripletee

    August 30, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    @John Cole:

    I kind of miss the old days, when you’d call us fucktards on a regular basis.

  38. 38.

    wasabi gasp

    August 30, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    @General Winfield Stuck: Dood, I’m right here! I can hear you!

  39. 39.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    @KG:

    there’s a healthy amount of paranoia

    I think you really mean a realistic assessment of one’s opponents. Paranoia (per Wikipedia) is “a thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion”. Doesn’t seem to me that you can have a healthy amount of that.

  40. 40.

    General Winfield Stuck

    August 30, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    @tripletee:

    I kind of miss the old days, when you’d call us fucktards on a regular basis.

    Yes, they were like little love notes.

  41. 41.

    grumpy realist

    August 30, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    John, I don’t know whether a better caption for that photo would be “Best Friends” or “Contemplating Mayhem”.

    Anyone else with some good captions?

  42. 42.

    cmohrnc

    August 30, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    @John Cole:

    You were fortuitously wise to avoid the Sunday shows this particular weekend. For starters, on ABC’s This Week , George Snuffelufoguous included Liz Cheney on the discussion panel, where she spewed more than enough bilious mendacious crap to make you angry the rest of the day. Her father Dick Cheney was on Fox spouting (as expected) vile mendacious crap, which you might naively think you could avoid having to put up with simply by not watching Fox but…nooooo, every other Sunday show made prominent mention of Cheney’s Fox performance, complete with video bytes excerpted therefrom, and gave over enough time to discussing Cheney’s claims to aggravate the veins in your neck and forehead to near-bursting pressure.

    You would have enjoyed no day of peace this Sunday, and surely would not have been thinking about what a great gig we humans have, if you had indulged the Sunday talk shows this morning. Your day would have been ruined for anything but resentful bitterness that such colossally arrogant, dangerous assholes somehow got to be part of the power elite of this country, let alone someone anyone pays any attention to.

  43. 43.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 30, 2009 at 11:20 pm

    @tripletee: Since I wasn’t here then, I just have fond memories of Cole declaring his disgust for all of us and how he’s going Galt, and then he posts a kajillion entries immediately after.

  44. 44.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    How do Tunch and Lily feel about Nixon’s paranoia?

  45. 45.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    @Laura W:

    I don’t remember owning many 45s. For Christmas in 1963 I received a little fold-out briefcase record player (similar to this) and two albums, Meet the Beatles and Telstar by the Ventures. Ecstasy! The rest is history–rock music with a major in big guitars.

    P.S. When I got my first CD player one of the first two CDs I bought was Meet the Beatles, in commemoration of my musical roots. (The other was Ahmad Jamal’s The Awakening, which for me is right up there with Kind of Blue.)

    P.P.S. A fun album is Meet the Smithereens!, in which the eponymous group does a song-for-song remake of Meet the Beatles.

    Let me know if you want me to tell you some more boring early-onset geezer stories. Really, I’ve got time.

  46. 46.

    Crashman06

    August 30, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    @John Cole: John, you’ve got a great thing going here. Thanks for providing this place for all the rest of us.

  47. 47.

    Svensker

    August 30, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Halibut. Yum. Once in Seattle my aunt took me to a fish and chips place and they said, oh, the halibut boat just came in if you want to wait an extra 20 minutes and we were like, OK, and it was the best fish I ever ate, bar none — and I’ve had steelhead just pulled from the mighty Green River, and salmon bought right off the boat from a Lummi fisherman, and rainbow trout that I caught myself in a mountain stream in Montana and cooked over a wood fire — all delicious. But not even close to that halibut.

    Also, Tunch and Lily are pretty great and so are you, John Cole. So there. Also.

  48. 48.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 30, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    Today I rode 120 mile round trip for dinner, yesterday I rode 150 mile round trip for dinner and finally wrote the review of the restaurant. Today was almost all through National Forest – Wallowa Whitman to be exact. Less than 3 months and the new Harley has nearly 8500 miles. It really is a shame to have to live like that…

    Monday morning I have about a 4 hour ride to look at a motorhome, we’ll see about how I get back.

  49. 49.

    Nicole

    August 30, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    Love the photo. It makes me rue our apartment building rules that forbid pets.

    Quiet weekend here, but I hope to drive up to Saratoga Saturday to see Rachel Alexandra (she of the Preakness Thread in May) beat up the older males in the Woodward. Can we have a Saturday afternoon Open Thread? I promise I’ll drunk post from the track via iPhone… JenJen? Bad Horse’s Filly? Back me up?

  50. 50.

    wasabi gasp

    August 30, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    My last memory of 45s is when I used a fingernail clipping, held with with pliers, as a needle to listen to the Star Wars theme. I was broken early on.

  51. 51.

    Indylib

    August 30, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    Well, I have no reason to look forward to football season this year and it’s depressing as hell. Our new dickwad quarterback that our new infant head coach traded for our good quarterback left the field today with a boo-boo on his finger. Our old quarterback walked into Mile High, got boo-ed (not sure why, leaving wasn’t his decision) and then pwned us to hell and back. Grrr-aaarggghh.

  52. 52.

    KG

    August 30, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    The Beatles Rock Band.

    I’m not sure if that’s really cool, or if it’s a sign of the coming end.

  53. 53.

    Crashman06

    August 30, 2009 at 11:31 pm

    @wasabi gasp: What’s a 45?

    Just kidding, I know.. I think.

  54. 54.

    Comrade Mary

    August 30, 2009 at 11:33 pm

    Halibut is the crack candy cocaine of fish, the gateway drug of marinovores.

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    August 30, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    For dinner, I went to Brian and Tammy’s again, and we had a spectacular meal.

    This reminds me that I will never understand the British class system, where the difference between working class and lower middle class hinges on whether you eat eggs and chips and 5 pm.

    Jim and his dad were working class. And members of the working class at that time thought it completely natural to eat five o’clock in the afternoon. But even more, as members of the working class they took it for granted that everyone else ate at that time and would happily regard egg and chips and tea as the perfect meal for the occasion.

    How different from my own dear lower middle-class home where eating a heavy meal in the late afternoon would have been regarded as dangerously close to a satanic rite. Neither would my mother have ever tolerated egg and chips on her dinner table, or, even, in her wildest dreams, have allowed any member of the family to accompany any meal at all with a mug of steaming tea.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8223453.stm

  56. 56.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    Wow! An Ahmad Jamal recording of which I was not aware. iTunes, here I come.

    I am old enough to have lived through the 78-to-45 transition. Talk about high tech innovation … iPod, you are nothing!

  57. 57.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    @Crashman06: It’s an arm, which you have a constitutional right to bear.

  58. 58.

    gwangung

    August 30, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    You all are not just commenters, in my mind.

    Loyal vassals, then?

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    @Laura W:

    And another thing: the long-awaited remasters of the Beatles’ catalogue are coming out on September 9. Years in the making, foam-flecked rave previews, yadda yadda yadda. I was going to get Rubber Soul as my first one for evaluation purposes, but now I’ve gotten all maudlin and sentimental and might have to get Meet the Beatles, too.

  60. 60.

    Crashman06

    August 30, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    @Indylib: I know Cutler wasn’t happy in Denver, but.. Yeah. I don’t know what to say about that situation, other than, how can you really trust a QB with a neckbeard?

  61. 61.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    Seriously OT, assuming this thread has a T to be O from, I posted this on what appears to be a now-dead thread.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-lundberg/doctoral-dissertations-in_b_271509.html

    Way too good to overlook.

  62. 62.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 30, 2009 at 11:43 pm

    @Chad N Freude: lived through the 78-to-45 transition

    T be sure, I remember truntables with 3 speeds and they were serious about it. Older than dirt and farting dust…

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 11:48 pm

    @Chad N Freude:

    An Ahmad Jamal recording of which I was not aware. iTunes, here I come.

    Dude, it’s his best! Seriously. Released in 1970. Extremely well recorded–just bass, drums and Jamal playing what sounds like a 40-foot acoustic piano. Check out his versions of “Stolen Moments” (my all-time favorite jazz song) and “Dolphin Dance.”

    If iTunes doesn’t have it, you can download it from Amazon.

    There was another album, Tranquility, from right around the same time that I have never seen on CD. Had the same feel, and I lust for it mightily.

  64. 64.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:48 pm

    @Chuck Butcher:
    OMG. Another fossil from Night at the Museum the Republican Soylent Green granny group. Quick! Hide behind your intravenous feeding tube.

  65. 65.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    ThankyouThankyouThankyou.

  66. 66.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    @Steeplejack: Wait! Ahmad. Jamal. His name must be on the terrorist list. Twice! No, I don’t listen to that terrorist propaganda music. No way!

  67. 67.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 30, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    @Chad N Freude:

    I may be a bit younger than you…

  68. 68.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 30, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    @Chad N Freude:

    I may be a bit younger than you…

  69. 69.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 30, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    @Chuck Butcher: Evidently too senile to post once

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    @gwangung:

    Minions is the preferred term here.

    And please, Cole, don’t ever get so mellow that you forget to offer to punch someone in the neck every so often.

  71. 71.

    ellaesther

    August 30, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    @KG: I know you didn’t ask me, but: I’ve decided it’s good.

    Because a) they sold out with the first Beatle wig they sold, so that ship sailed a long time ago, but more importantly b) they did, truly, make some of the best, most astonishing music of the modern era, and virtually every pop or rock song put out today (and quite a bit of hip hop, to my undereducated opinion) has roots in what they did.

    But the Beatles are old, now, older than dirt, and no one ever wants to listen to something from 5 years ago, much less 45 — but wed it to Rock Band, and BOOM! You’ve got a whole new generation of people discovering the genius.

    That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

  72. 72.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    @Chuck Butcher:
    Dude, everyone I know is several bits younger than me. I am in the reality show competition to see who is the oldest coherent BJ commenter.

  73. 73.

    Chad N Freude

    August 30, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    @ellaesther:

    But the surviving Beatles are old

    Fixed. Dammit.

  74. 74.

    Incertus

    August 30, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    @Indylib: Leaving wasn’t Cutler’s decision? Whaaaaa? He pitched a screaming titty-fit after the coach dared to consider trading him, and then pouted until he got the trade he demanded after said fit. On what planet does that not constitute his decision?

  75. 75.

    Crashman06

    August 30, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    @ellaesther: I don’t know. I think the Beatles had a pretty strong following among the newer generations. Or at least, among thinking people. Though I suppose Rock Band may expand their coolness to the idiots out there. Anyway, I think it’s a good thing.

  76. 76.

    Indylib

    August 30, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    @Crashman06:
    Cutler could be a bit of a diva, but I live in southern Wisconsin and I haven’t heard a damned good thing about Orton from the Bears fans I’ve talked to and they are pleased as damned punch to have Cutler.

    I am soooooo not impressed with McDaniels so far. I understand Bowlen wanting to shake things up, but to trade in Shannahan for the an infant offensive coordinator from New England whose first move was to trade a decent quarterback with some serious potential? WTF?

    I expect our offense to look like crap this year. God only knows what next year will bring. I have a feeling we’re going to spend the next decade playing head coach roulette.

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 12:00 am

    @Chad N Freude:

    Just ask for it under his previous “slave” name, Tyrone Jefferson Lincoln Jr.

    [Joke! Actually, my favorite renamed musician is the South African jazz pianist who previously went by Dollar Brand and then morphed into Abdullah Ibrahim. Suck on that, Cat Stevens a.k.a. Yusuf whatever.]

  78. 78.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:02 am

    Why the heck is my football comment in moderation?

  79. 79.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 12:03 am

    @Chad N Freude: I just demostrated my level of coherence…I guess you’re ahead

  80. 80.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:03 am

    @Chad N Freude: Ah, yes. But I meant their music is old. In my mind, honestly, they are forever and always in their early 20s — and certainly always alive. What’s that? Mark Chapman? Lung cancer? LALALA I can’t hear you!

    There music is fuckin’ ancient, though.

    (I took my 6 year old and 10 year old to see Hard Days Night on a big screen in Chicago a few weeks back, and it was so insanely amazing to see it that big! And hear it that well! I think the kids were most excited by the chance to be up and out so late, but, meh, they’re on their way!)

  81. 81.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 12:03 am

    @Steeplejack: OMG! How do you know all this stuff? I want you to be my jazz Yoda.

  82. 82.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:06 am

    @Indylib: Did you say “s h o e s”?

    Apparently, that is The Word That Shall Not Be Balloon Juiced.

  83. 83.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 12:06 am

    @Indylib:football comment in moderation?

    BJ knows you’re a Soshalist

  84. 84.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 12:07 am

    shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes….

  85. 85.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 12:08 am

    Apparently no to s h o e s

  86. 86.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 12:08 am

    @ellaesther:
    I have a confession. When the Beatles hit the US, I dismissed them as teeny-bopper bubble-gum musicians. Then they released Sergeant Pepper, and I’ve been atoning for my stupid insensitivity ever since, mostly by buying all of their recordings.

  87. 87.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 12:13 am

    @Chad N Freude:When the Beatles hit the US,

    An admission, my reaction was, “squealing girls – Oh puke”

    I was young … now I’m jealous of all the ooohing and ahhing Gus gets…

    OK, Gus = 150# Great White Pyrennes = world’s largest Teddy Bear = girls and women swarming

  88. 88.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:14 am

    @Chad N Freude: Ok: a) you apparently are among the BJ elders, for when the Beatles hit the US, I was barely alive, and as I blogged at my own place the other day — I am now very decidedly middle aged. But that’s ok. Some of my best friends are elders!

    But, b) to make up for being a snot, I will counter your confession with my own: I am one of the very few Beatle-heads on earth for whom Sgt. Pepper was always kind of a miss, rather than a revelation. I mean, I like it — may all my lesser endeavors achieve that kind of mediocrity, knowhatimean? — but I almost never take it off the shelf. This may be because by the time I came to it, Pepper had wrought its revolution, and changed the world, and I just couldn’t hear what you did, that first time. But, be that as it may: Not my favorite Beatles album.

    Yom Kippur is coming up — I’ll throw this on the confession pile!

  89. 89.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 12:14 am

    @Chad N Freude: You added that “coherant” part which opened the trap door into the shark tank for me. 51 years and counting… Sigh.

    I had one of those 3 speed turntables too, in a big walnut Capehart console with stereo (!11!!) speakers.

    Hey what’s the first record you ever bought with your own money? Gotta be vinyl. Stay on the porch kiddies…

    Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys here.

    Great place you got here John Cole. When WordPress fucks up I’m lost. The best blog, hands down.

  90. 90.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:18 am

    @Incertus:
    Yes he got pissy when he found out he was on the table to be traded for the new coach’s former pet quarterback. I acknowledged in the comment that got moderated that Cutler could be a complete diva. But I still maintain that most of this is McDaniels’ doing.
    I will admit that I’m probably not particularly objective about this. I was pissed that Bowlen fired Shannahan and hired McDaniels. I detest New England. And I think bringing in a new coach that has no choice but to overhaul an very complex offense who starts fucking with the leadership of said offense because he wants his pet quarterback is messed up.

  91. 91.

    shoutingattherain

    August 31, 2009 at 12:18 am

    @Chuck Butcher:

    In your travels have you ever eaten here? My gf took me there Friday night as a 27 year anni present and it was fantastic. Great food and unpretentious as all hell, just like Silver Lake. Sounds like your kind of place.

    A YouTube for you.

  92. 92.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 12:21 am

    @Indylib: I am a Pats fan (sorry), and I think McDaniel’s did a great job with us for the (very) short time that we was our OC, but really, watching the way he’s handled Denver since he’s left, makes me wonder if he’s cut out to be a head coach. Seems like all of Belicheck’s coordinators who’ve left the team have fallen down on their faces.

  93. 93.

    Incertus

    August 31, 2009 at 12:24 am

    @Indylib: Yeah, I wouldn’t defend McDaniels either, but it seems to me like there was all sorts of blame to go around there, and that Cutler certainly wasn’t eager to stay after his precious little feelings had been hurt.

    I feel for you with your team. I know what it’s like–been a Saints fan all my life.

  94. 94.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:28 am

    @Crashman06:
    I think the way he has handled everything since he got to Denver points to being immature. 32 is damned young to be a head coach, maybe there are some OC’s out there that young who could handle the job, but damn, there’s a world of difference between what your responsibilities are as an OC and head coach.

  95. 95.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 12:30 am

    @Indylib: Sorry, but I’m with Incertus on this. I watched the game, and frankly, Cutler sounds like Favre to me. An outspoken guy who just loves the game, golldurn it! I do agree with Chris C. (who is so much better than Madden) that the management should have said, “Cutler, you either play for us or you retire.” They should not have let him go, but he didn’t help the situation. That is not to say that I don’t sympathize with you on the mediocrity that is Kyle Orton. He sucks.

    Of course, fucking Brett Favre is the quarterback of the Vikings which is forcing me to root for the team in very creative ways, so what the fuck do I know?

    Sigh. More Tunchie, please.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 12:30 am

    @ellaesther:

    I admit I’m a complete running dog for the Beatles, but I do think that A Hard Day’s Night holds up extremely well as a movie and not just as a relic of Beatlemania. I think–but am too lazy to look it up right now–that Roger Ebert agrees with me and has it on one of his lists of the all-time great movie musicals.

    . . . Oh, hell, I went and looked it up. He did a piece on it in his series on “The Great Movies.”

    DVR alert: Synchronistically, A Hard Day’s Night will be shown at 7:25 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. EDT next Friday on IFC (Independent Film Channel).

  97. 97.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 12:32 am

    Oh, and I’m not defending McDaniels, either, by the way. I think his hire was the “we need to find the next Mike Tomlin” mentality–who, by the way, used to coach for the Vikes. Sigh.

  98. 98.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 12:33 am

    @Indylib: If Denver isn’t successful this year, as I’m guessing they might not be, McDaniels will quickly go the way of Eric Mangini. Yet another young Pats coordinator to fail on their own.

  99. 99.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:34 am

    @Steeplejack: Dude. I’m cut to the quick that you think I don’t already have it on DVD. Along with the anthology. And Yellow Submarine.

    (But not Help or [sigh] Magical Mystery Tour — those two just make me sad.)

    I HAVE NO NEED OF YOUR PETTY DVR!! (But thanks!)

  100. 100.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 12:35 am

    @ellaesther:
    I forgive you (like I have authorization to do that). My reaction to Sgt. P was similar to my reaction to being introduced to Dylan Thomas by an English professor, Greek drama by … God, I don’t remember who … etc., etc. and so forth. This is really beautiful to hear/read/see and there’s something going on here beyond what I’m hearing/reading/seeing.

    There is a fantastic cover album of Sgt. Pepper by a group called Big Daddy. Every song is done in a very non-Beatles style, e.g., “Within You Without You” is done as a Beat poetry recitation. It’s not silly, it’s — dare I say it — art.

  101. 101.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:39 am

    @Incertus:
    You’re right about there being plenty of childish behavior to go around. I am somewhat more accepting of it from a relatively young player than I am from someone, no matter how young he is, that has been given the responsibilities of a head coach however.

    Like I said I’m probably not very objective about this, I thought there were other ways to shake my Broncs out of their funk than firing Shannahan. And I think Cutler has a lot of potential (see the 98 yard drive he directed today) and I didn’t want to see Denver lose the talent.

  102. 102.

    bedtimeforbonzo

    August 31, 2009 at 12:39 am

    Indylib: The Broncos just don’t look the same without Shanahan.

    This new coach — an infant, as you put it — seems full of himself.

    Cutler gave the Broncos their first Pro Bowl quarterback since Elway. What more could you want from the guy?

    Now I know why Brandon Marshall was available so late in my draft.

    P.S. I thought the Bears looked great. Lovie Smith is the best of the overhyped assistants to go on as a head coach and carve out a great career. And Matt Forte looks like a beast.

  103. 103.

    General Winfield Stuck

    August 31, 2009 at 12:41 am

    Just when you thought the GOP had hit bottom in the cesspool of lies in which they reside, they make it down just a little deeper. From whack job RNC Chairmen, Michael Steele.

    Vets’ group assails Fox, GOP over ‘suicide’ manual claim

    “Just look at the situation with our veterans, when you have a manual out there telling our veterans stuff like, ‘are you really of value to your community,’ you know, encouraging them to commit suicide,” Steele said.

    Christ on a crutch, have they no shame? And yes, no is the SATSQ I posit.

  104. 104.

    Anne Laurie

    August 31, 2009 at 12:41 am

    Well, we’re up to FOUR dogs… at least temporarily. “Gloria”, the new foster, is friggin’ huge by Papillon standards, 15lbs and at least 14″ at the shoulder. (Approximately the same size as Lily, I believe.) She’s black & white, and with her tail down she looks disturbingly like a shrunken border collie. She’s also scary smart & has thigh muscles like Martina Navritalova in her prime, goddess help us all — I suspect she could clear our four-foot chainlink fence if she got the notion & a running start.

    Zevon is thrilled with our new visitor — he loves the ladies, and doesn’t mind a bit that she’s taller. Sydney is in a mad sulk, because being the Dog-Who-Knows-Stuff is his slot, dammit, and we won’t even let him curse at the new girl. Flicker could care less, because she has no opinion of mere dogs, as long as all the world acknowledges that she is Queen Diva of Everything. As for the cats, Demon Kishkan (the Maine Coon) has already started training respect into Gloria, and our ex-ferals Toby and Maddy simply avoid all dogs at all times, period the end.

    Poor Gloria isn’t so sanguine — she spent probably the best two months of her life with her previous fosters and she did NOT want to leave. In fact, she’s been trying to let me know that if I just open the side gate and stand back, she’s more than ready to hitchhike back to Springfield on her own…

  105. 105.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 12:41 am

    @Indylib: On the other side of the coin, Cutler played pretty poorly down the stretch last year, didn’t he? I mean, the dude has physical skills, no doubt about it, but he strikes me as maybe a little immature and unfocused himself. I’m not sure he’s going the be the saviour of the Bears.

  106. 106.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:48 am

    @Chad N Freude: Oh but you do, you do have that authorization! Leading up to Yom Kippur, we’re supposed to go around asking forgiveness of the flesh-and-blood. So: Thank you! I’m now ahead of my game!

    I’m going to have to look up that Big Daddy thing. Over the past few years, I’ve gone a little out of my way to find covers and such like (beatlesregrooved, Love, the re-released Let It Be, Instant Karma: Save Darfur [though, admittedly, there was another good reason to buy that last one…!]) because I’ve heard the Beatles and Lennon songs so often, they’ve begun to sort of slide past my ears. I want to shake up how I hear them, so I can hear them again. Big Daddy it is!

  107. 107.

    Keith G

    August 31, 2009 at 12:48 am

    @Chad N Freude: & Steeplejack:

    Thanks ever so much. Your discourse led me here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qc3VaXtW5M

    I downloaded it and now have a new theme song. Sunday ends well (cst).

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 12:50 am

    @Chad N Freude:

    Well, you’re old enough to know that before the Intertubes you had no recourse but to actually remember stuff, because up-to-date reference material was not a mouse click away. (And what the hell was a “mouse click,” anyway?)

    As I got interested in jazz music as a teenager, it was like this whole parallel universe opening up, not unlike the world of Marvel or DC superheroes. Jazz was not mainstream in the ’60s (if it ever was), but that was a decade of incredible musical ferment, and little rips and tears in the space-time continuum opened up all sorts of views to other parts of the multiverse.

    I remember Dollar Brand because his name was interesting. (His music was good too.) The story I heard was that he took his stage name from the logo or sign on some crate on the Cape Town docks. But his Wikipedia entry makes no mention of that. At some point later Dollar Brand seemed to disappear, and then after that I discovered that he had taken the name Abdullah Ibrahim (upon his conversion to Islam).

    I was interested to see in his Wikipedia entry that he wrote the music for the movie Chocolat. Did not know that.

    Anyway, my knowledge is not Yoda-like or encyclopedic. It’s mostly a grab-bag of stuff that I found interesting or that just stuck with me. But after all these years it is a pretty big bag.

    Another one on names: the proper spelling of the ancient rulers of Egypt is pharaoh, but the jazz saxophonist spells his name Pharoah Sanders. But it’s Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (“Woolly Bully”). Go figure.

    Sometimes I wonder if the cure for cancer or some other knowledge the world really needed couldn’t get any traction because my brain was using the room for the complete lyrics of “Along Comes Mary.”

    When vague desire is the fire in the eyes of chicks whose sickness is the games they play . . .

    When we met I was sure out to lunch
    Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

    God, I hope not.

  109. 109.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:50 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I sympathize with you on the Favre thing. I am in the position of trying to cheer for my team when I, so far, have no use for the head coach. That’s never happened before and I’ve been cheering for the Broncos for 34 frikkin’ years, over half of which I haven’t even lived in Colorado. Hell, I almost caught myself cheering for Chicago today, which is almost too bizarre to contemplate considering I’m a Bronco fan living in Wisconsin.

    @Crashman06:

    Yep, like I said, head coach roulette, probably accompanied by quarterback roulette. Yeah.

  110. 110.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 12:52 am

    Again with the moderation?

  111. 111.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 12:52 am

    @General Winfield Stuck: Why don’t the Democrats mount a campaign claiming that soliciting volunteers to fight in Iraq is a plan to decimate the youth of the country so that Medicare recipients don’t have competition for limited medical resources?

  112. 112.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 12:52 am

    @Crashman06: I hope he’s not as he’s in my division.

    Oh, who am I kidding? The Vikes aren’t gonna win jackshit as long as Childress is the head coach.

    Harumph.

  113. 113.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 12:54 am

    @General Winfield Stuck: No. They have no shame, and there is no bottom to their cesspool. SATSQ.

  114. 114.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 12:57 am

    @asiangrrlMN: I’m sorry. The Vikes have had a hard time of it lately, but I don’t think things are going to get any better. Favre is the most overrated QB in the modern era, and is going down the wrong side of the hill on a skateboard. And, as Bill Simmons says, Childress may be the dumbest coach in the entire league.

    Sorry, I just hate Favre. Super Bowl 31 was my 14th birthday, and he ruined it for me. Damn him. Damn him to hell.

  115. 115.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 12:58 am

    @Steeplejack: I quote Socrates – ahem:

    “The discovery of the alphabet will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves…. You give your disciples not truth but on the semblance of truth; they will be heroes of many things, and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing.” (“Phaedrus”)

    I discovered this quote while working on my Master’s thesis (in Middle Eastern Studies, but whatev) and it’s been on the corkboard next to my desk ever since. It has long struck me that as true as Socrates’ words may have been about the discovery of the alphabet, they are a googol-times more true about the discovery of teh intertubez…!

  116. 116.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 12:59 am

    @ellaesther:

    Meowch! Sorry, I must have lapsed into my autistic “little professor” mode there for a minute.

    It is great to see A Hard Day’s Night–or any classic movie, but especially the black-and-white ones–on the big screen. Really makes them come alive. I remember about 10 years ago I saw Fritz Lang’s M in a theater in Atlanta, and it blew me away, and that was a movie that I already loved, loved, loved. I don’t care how big your fookin’ TV is, you just can’t get the same effect.

  117. 117.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:01 am

    @ellaesther:
    Great argument for illiteracy. We’re well on the way.

  118. 118.

    Irony Abounds

    August 31, 2009 at 1:01 am

    Hmmmmmmm, no one has thought to ask the fish what they thought of the whole experience…

  119. 119.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:02 am

    @Chad N Freude: That would require the ability to devise an actual strategy. Shit out of luck, you are.

    Herding cats and all that…

  120. 120.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 1:02 am

    @Crashman06:
    Cutler was only drafted in 2006. Elway was pretty erratic for his first several years. I was OK with waiting for Cutler to mature a bit.
    I don’t know if he’ll come through for Chicago, I just know I’d rather have him on the roster than Orton.

  121. 121.

    tc125231

    August 31, 2009 at 1:02 am

    I spent the afternoon hiking down a gorge in the mountains with my wife and her friend, past a moonshiner’s cabin abandoned since the 1930s.

    This is a good life and a good world when we don’t screw it up. And the best defense, to quote Voltaire, is to cultivate one’s own garden.

    The problem is –the elite in this country, and the corporatist elite in general, is making it harder and harder for many people to do so. Do you have any idea what the current rate of species extinction is?

    What is to be done? I am not sure.

  122. 122.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 1:04 am

    @Crashman06: I.fucking.hate.Brett.Favre. Not because he was a Packer, but because he’s a Grade A prick.

    Goddamn but it’s hard to have no hope going into a season.

  123. 123.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:06 am

    @tc125231: ‘Couple hundred years ago, the French had an idea that seemed to work out pretty well…

  124. 124.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 1:06 am

    @shoutingattherain: have you ever eaten here?

    No, but it just hit my list of rides.

    I don’t write for anyone other than myself, but I promise that if I give someone’s food a thumbs up, you won’t be disappointed.

  125. 125.

    auntieeminaz

    August 31, 2009 at 1:07 am

    @Fulcanelli: At The Hop, Danny and the Juniors. How’s that for old?

  126. 126.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 1:08 am

    @bedtimeforbonzo:
    Hear, hear to everything you said.

  127. 127.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:08 am

    @Keith G:

    Cool video, daddy-o! I keep forgetting that there is footage of pre-rock era performers out there, so I never think to look for it on YouTube.

    Someone posted this great one here a while back: Miles Davis and John Coltrane doing “So What.”

  128. 128.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 1:09 am

    @Fulcanelli: Starts with an R and ends with an N?

  129. 129.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 1:09 am

    @asiangrrlMN: I understand. As Jerry Seinfeld says, you root for the uniforms, or someone else’s laundry. I hate Favre, but I hope they bring you some joy this year, as long as it’s not at the expense of the Pats. Feel free to destroy the Giants though.

    That’s all for me. Big week this week. That engagement ring has been burning a hole through my safe deposit box for a few weeks now…

  130. 130.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:09 am

    @ellaesther: @Steeplejack:

    We need our own thread to discuss music and film. John, Dougj, would you please put up an anchoring post? Anyone can join (Chuck Butcher, asiangrrlMN, anybody else who responds to narcissistic me), but no football, politics, or food (except music be the food of love play on).

  131. 131.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:10 am

    @auntieeminaz: Mom?

  132. 132.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:11 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Ding! Ding! Ding! Take your victory lap grrrly…

  133. 133.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 1:12 am

    @Chad N Freude: HA! Well, I suspect that Socrates’ point was really more along the lines of: Let’s keep up the tradition of oral learning, vs. textual — that is to say: Education = good — but who am I to speak for Socrates? He wouldn’t have let me into his little club anyway. Too much estrogen, and all the wrong bits.

  134. 134.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:13 am

    @Chad N Freude:
    Keith G. Also.

  135. 135.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:13 am

    @ellaesther:

    LOL! That’s a keeper. Thanks.

  136. 136.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 1:14 am

    @Crashman06: Night! Good luck! I want the Vikes to win DESPITE Favre, not because of him. Is that too much to ask?

    @Chad N Freude: I wonder if any of the front pagers are up. This is the next song up for me:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiPfJeXVTdw&feature=fvst

  137. 137.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:14 am

    @Chad N Freude: Have you been here for a full monty music thread here on BJ? If one starts up now, nobody will be to work on time tomorrow.

  138. 138.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 1:15 am

    @Fulcanelli: I’d rather eat cake, even though it’s a lie.

  139. 139.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 1:16 am

    @Crashman06:

    OK, spill, what’s the ring look like and do you have a pop-the-question plan?

  140. 140.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:16 am

    @ellaesther: I would be happy ro share bits with you under the chuppah, huppah, transliteration of your choice. OK, so we don’t really need a Chuppah for sharing bits, but it’s (drum roll) Traditon!

  141. 141.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 1:17 am

    @Chad N Freude: Oh, and sadly, I’m now going to bed! Another difference between being a Balloon Juice Elder and a Balloon Juice Middle-Aged Fart is that I have kids getting up in (oh holy hell, now I’ve gone and looked at the clock) 6 1/2 hours for school, so….

    But I leave you with this, because he’s awesome, and you don’t need a way-back machine to see him: Liam Finn.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGZ-1d2rH_w

    (and yes, to anyone keeping score, I am recycling a clip I posted on my own blog on Friday, but as John Cole has a sliiiiightyly bigger following than I do, I wanted to give young Liam a wider audience! I’m just service-y that way).

    Good night you guys!

  142. 142.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:19 am

    @Chad N Freude: O G-d! That should be “tradition”. But you knew that.

  143. 143.

    auntieeminaz

    August 31, 2009 at 1:21 am

    @Fulcanelli:
    Truth hurts. What can I say?

  144. 144.

    ellaesther

    August 31, 2009 at 1:21 am

    @Chad N Freude: (Sorry, my bits have already been under the chuppa, and are sworn to another! But I do thank you for your kind offer!)

  145. 145.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:22 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    nobody will be to work on time tomorrow

    And this differs from everything else we do here how?

  146. 146.

    asiangrrlMN

    August 31, 2009 at 1:24 am

    Night, folks. This almost middle-aged fart is going to bed early.

  147. 147.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:25 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Where the R topic is concerned, I don’t labor under the illusion that the powers that be, whether political or financial, will ever give up anything out of kindness, common sense, guilt, noblesse oblige or anything else, period. It’s some kind of force or not at all, most likely. It’s gone too far.

  148. 148.

    Keith G

    August 31, 2009 at 1:26 am

    @Steeplejack: Great clip…and it was on TV in ’60. With all the possibilities of our technologies nothing better than that gets on the air now. Of course, they had a good foundation to start.

    I like the background action – conversations, etc. Fun stuff.

  149. 149.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:26 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    [. . .] what’s the first record you ever bought with your own money?

    Been thinking about this all night, and I really can’t remember. Santa (my parents) got me started with the little record player and the first two LPs. I think the first one I bought with my own money was probably the second Beatles LP or maybe another Ventures album or a Beach Boys album. Or it might have been Jan and Dean’s Dead Man’s Curve. I’d have to go back and look at a time line to see what was actually released in 1964.

    I laugh when I think about the Ventures. I loved their guitar sound and kept buying their albums–with ever-increasing shame and furtiveness–up through high school. They tried to adapt with the times, but by the time of their album Super Psychedelics (a guitar instrumental of “Strawberry Fields Forever”?!) it was clear the dream was dead.

  150. 150.

    Crashman06

    August 31, 2009 at 1:27 am

    @Indylib: Looks real good. It’s kind of hard to explain but custom with some interesting engravings. I’ll try to post a picture later this week. It will happen over a labor day mini vacation to Montreal. No specific plan yet though which is worrying me.

  151. 151.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 1:28 am

    @Chad N Freude: “music be the food of love play on”

    A magazine which used to be in the business of publishing good fiction interspersed with pictorials (one which no one buys but for the articles) once did an 8-page photo spread using that phrase as its theme. I wanted to be the violin in one of those photos (hey, I was 15 — it was 40 years ago).

  152. 152.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:28 am

    @auntieeminaz: Hey, I’m a grandpa now, no age jokes for me…

  153. 153.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:29 am

    @ellaesther: So can we talk about music anyway?

    BTW, I am at this moment listening to the Bill Charlap Trio album “Somewhere”, which is way too good for the Morlocks who are going to overwhelm us.

  154. 154.

    shoutingattherain

    August 31, 2009 at 1:29 am

    @Chuck Butcher:

    It’s got an real “cowboy” feel, whatever that is. I love going down to the Christmas Valley. Fort Rock, well, rocks.

    I took some pix.

  155. 155.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:31 am

    @Steeplejack: Your parents were Santa??? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

    My Mother’s got some ‘splainin to do…

  156. 156.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:33 am

    @Linkmeister:

    [magazines] which no one buys but for the articles

    I thought they were all like that.

  157. 157.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 1:35 am

    @Crashman06:
    Can’t wait for the pic.
    Just a hint – don’t pull out the ring in an attempt to get out of trouble for something. I offer this advice based on personal experience, just ask my husband. (Not suggesting you would, btw, just laughing at my own experience.)
    You leaning toward traditional or non-traditional on the proposal?

  158. 158.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 1:40 am

    @Chad N Freude: No, no. There’s a specific magazine about which one should aver, when mentioned in mixed company, that one only buys it for the articles. Not for the pictures.

  159. 159.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:40 am

    @Chad N Freude: Bitches’ Brew era Miles Davis got me interested in jazz way back when, and from there it was his older stuff then Coltrane, Bird, Sun Ra, Charles Mingus and others. I’m partial to the trumpet, lately I’ve been diggin on Chet Baker and Chris Botti…

  160. 160.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:43 am

    @Linkmeister: High Times?

  161. 161.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 1:43 am

    @shoutingattherain:

    Oh no, I’ll fit right in – well minus the cowboy hat

  162. 162.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:43 am

    @Chad N Freude:

    Hey, I have no problem hijacking coexisting with an open thread. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of life. And Cole does regularly post music-themed threads in which you can really go to town.

  163. 163.

    Mike D.

    August 31, 2009 at 1:47 am

    First time I’ve watched in months. Remembering Ted Kennedy is about the most worthwhile thing those shows have done in probably five years.

  164. 164.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 1:49 am

    @Fulcanelli: Grins. Okay, y’all are just funnin’ with me now.

  165. 165.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:50 am

    @Fulcanelli: Well, I’m more a piano or guitar person, but trumpets, trombones, and saxes can make me say “Please. sir, I want some more.”
    Art Pepper, Miles, Coltrane, … OK they’re gods.

    We haven’t talked about singers. Is there enough bandwidth for this?

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:50 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    This is the next song for me [. . .]

    That was a keeper. I was just listening to the Zombies (whose “Time of the Season” got sampled in that video) yesterday.

  167. 167.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 1:52 am

    @Linkmeister:
    Ah! You’re talking about Playperson.

  168. 168.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 1:53 am

    @Chad N Freude: One of these days I’m going to figure out whether I have more CDs and vinyl by women than by men. I suspect it’s about 1.75 to 1. This isn’t hurt by ownership of about 20 albums by Linda Ronstadt.

  169. 169.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:53 am

    @Keith G:

    Yeah, I liked Miles smoking a cigarette and talking to someone while (I think) Trane was doing his solo. LOL.

  170. 170.

    Fulcanelli

    August 31, 2009 at 1:57 am

    @Chad N Freude: Guitar and Piano you say?

    The entrance to heaven: “Offramp” by Pat Metheny with Lyle Mays on board tickling the ivories… Wonderfulness squared.

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 1:57 am

    @Keith G:

    And, yeah, how come nothing on Austin City Limits, Soundstage, Live from Abbey Road, Live from the Artists Café, etc., comes close to this?

    And I’m not dissing the music or the artists. I like a lot of new music. But there’s some sort of “presence” missing from the modern music shows. Or maybe I’m just in shock when I see some 50-year-old gem dredged up from the depths.

  172. 172.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:03 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    D’oh! It was in all the papers. I assumed you saw.

  173. 173.

    burnspbesq

    August 31, 2009 at 2:03 am

    @Chuck Butcher:

    If I’d known what a woman magnet a Pyr is, I would have gotten one when I was 25.

  174. 174.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 2:03 am

    @Linkmeister: I like Linda Ronstadt, but I was thinking more along the lines of the divine Ella, Carmen McRae, and Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Diane Schuur, … is there a pattern here?

  175. 175.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 2:06 am

    http://www.duffybishop.com/music.html

    Louisiana Flood

  176. 176.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2009 at 2:06 am

    @ellaesther:

    But, b) to make up for being a snot, I will counter your confession with my own: I am one of the very few Beatle-heads on earth for whom Sgt. Pepper was always kind of a miss, rather than a revelation.

    That’s OK. In many ways, Rubber Soul was the great leap forward. And of the songs on that album, “In My Life,” may be one of the sweetest songs in the English language.

    And of the many interpretations of “In My Life,” this one by Jose Feliciano is a standout.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhYTtfSf2cU

  177. 177.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 2:12 am

    @Fulcanelli: Pat Metheny. Yes. Yes. Yes. (I don’t know this particular album — more time spent not working to find it and listen.)

    But, please (this is not meant to be insulting or hurtful in any way, really) do not use the phrase “tickling the ivories”.

  178. 178.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:15 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    Trumpet.

    Check these out (links embedded in titles):

    – Something old: Freddie Hubbard, Hub-Tones and High Blues Pressure (especially “À Bientót”).

    – Something new: Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God’s Will (a Requiem for Katrina).

  179. 179.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:16 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    Damn! Sent a message to you that went into moderation. No footwear, socia1ism or nothing. Check for it later.

  180. 180.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 2:17 am

    @Brachiator: I was always fond of Judy Collins’s version of “In My Life.”

    That’s got a bonus: she sings “Suzanne” a capella before she starts on the Beatles song.

    @Chad N Freude: Oh, I like Krall and Ella and Billie just fine. But I got started on Streisand and Emmylou and Linda and Joni and . . .oh well, just have a look at the collection.

  181. 181.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 2:18 am

    Yeah, mine went to moderation too. Two links, one to YouTube and one to my own music collection.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1utKWABSSu4

    http://linkmeister.com/lmmusic.html

  182. 182.

    MMM

    August 31, 2009 at 2:18 am

    Song, song blue, everybody knows one….

  183. 183.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:20 am

    @Fulcanelli:

    Offramp. Ah . . . “Are You Going with Me?” Never get tired of that. There was a video of it when it first came out that I have never been able to find on YouTube. But there are a few nice live versions of it.

  184. 184.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 2:21 am

    @burnspbesq: If I’d known what a woman magnet a Pyr is,

    When I was 20 I got a pound pup that was a cross between Scotch Collie and Pyr. White with a blond blanket, got the long collie snout with Pyr bulk and brow and pointed ears. Collie speed and energy with Pyr disposition at 135#. A chick magnet of immense proportions. Demian was his name, and he got the collie teeth on Pyr scale – looking in his mouth as a horror show. He was loyal, easy going and fucked with an absolute monster. I’ve had several dogs, him until 13 yrs, and I’ve been around a lot of them and he was the most outstanding one I’ve ever known.

    Gus is a damn good dog, but that one really was something. He defended me once, cops told me while I was being sewed up that the one bite to the guy’s thigh took 50 stitches and they weren’t trying for pretty. Over those 13 yrs there are a lot of stories that would strain most people’s credulity. You could leave a new born baby on the floor with him and it was as safe as if it were in its mother’s arms – safer actually, ‘nother story.

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:25 am

    @Brachiator:

    Amen on the José Feliciano version of “In My Life.” In fact, that whole album, Feliciano!, is a gem from start to finish. Really holds up.

    Great instrumental of “Here, There and Everywhere,” too.

  186. 186.

    Chad N Freude

    August 31, 2009 at 2:25 am

    G’Night all. My capitalist oppressors demand that I get enough sleep to enable me to increase their wealth tomorrow.

    A moment of unaccustomed seriousness: I would really like to continue this discussion of jazz, Beatles, and other non-trivial music. I’ll check this thread (perhaps the longest in BJ history) tomorrow to see if there’s a clue about how to do it.

    Warm fuzzy good night sleep tight wake up bright in the morning light. (Hey, I have grandkids, gimme a break.)

  187. 187.

    Linkmeister

    August 31, 2009 at 2:29 am

    Pat Metheny backing Joni Mitchell on “Free Man in Paris.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXBba77U1_Y

  188. 188.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:32 am

    @MMM:

    Hey, I likes me some Neil Diamond. More the soulful early stuff than the later Las Vegas stuff.

  189. 189.

    Chuck Butcher

    August 31, 2009 at 2:42 am

    I have a ride from Baker City to Bend to do in the morning so I’ll be saying G’nite. 280 miles of 2 lane on 110 CID Harley Screaming Eagle Springer Soft Tail (1800 CC for metrically inclined) Best to be alert.

  190. 190.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 2:47 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Kudos to you for your work with the strays, the unwanted and the displaced. I wish I could do more than the little I have at various times in the past.

    Is Gloria is the one where the previous owner died and the wife is not up to taking care of the dog?

  191. 191.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2009 at 2:56 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Hey, I likes me some Neil Diamond. More the soulful early stuff than the later Las Vegas stuff.

    You should check out the Fresh Air interview with Ellie Greenwich, who died recently. She wrote “Leader of the Pack” among other songs. She also co-produced some of Diamond’s early hits.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13

  192. 192.

    Ruckus

    August 31, 2009 at 2:59 am

    @Chad N Freude #78:
    First I come back after a nice bike ride to find everyone’s up and having fun and then you tell me I need to be coherent. What is the world coming to?
    Anyway old fart here as well and to prove it – fav is Blind Faith – Can’t find my way home
    Came out when I was in the service – let’s see, hows that work out in geezer years?

  193. 193.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2009 at 3:12 am

    @Ruckus:

    Can’t find my way home…

    Hey, there’s another song for the rock and roll GPS system.

    good song. Nice sense of sad plaintiveness.

    A live version from 1969, vocals a little ragged, but…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUW1SGF7bR8

    Thematically related. A more positive view of homecoming, The Beatles “Two of Us.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ztr8j_-gD4

  194. 194.

    Ruckus

    August 31, 2009 at 4:02 am

    @Brachiator:
    Nice live version, still like the original.
    Never have been a Beatles fan. Don’t dislike them, just not a big fan. Having said that your thematic choice is good.

  195. 195.

    Little Macayla's Friend

    August 31, 2009 at 4:23 am

    @Indylib:
    Maybe because you used ‘roo-let’. John’s site probably needs more than a simple list, but from a recent thread and MikeJ:

    August 29th, 2009 at 11:51 am MikeJ
    @Comrade Darkness: I found where the list is coming from. Interesting what’s on it.

    http://codex.wordpress.org/Spam_Words

  196. 196.

    Gravenstone

    August 31, 2009 at 4:29 am

    Late to the party, as always.

    First album bought with my own money – Abbey Road. I was 13. I was deep in the throes of belated Beatlemania through my late teens, even though they were already nearly a decade parted by that point. That sort of musical taste got me branded a Satanist (behind my back) by a twisted fuck of a Talibangelical back in ’80. Amusingly enough, I got called it again (to my face this time) by a bunch of inbred MN based Talibangelicals (Peters Brothers, represent!) in ’84 – even though my musical tastes had rather radically morphed by that point, as college life is wont to do to a young man. I swore then I would lay out the next fuckstain unfortunate enough to deride my musical choices in that manner. 25 years later, no one has made such a transgression. Fortunate for me, since I’ve slowed and mellowed since then, and would probably settle myself for simply punching them in the neck. I’ve said here before that I swim in the shallow end of the pool where my musical tastes are concerned, but damnit I am passionate about that bit of the pool!

    Kyle Orton is and always has been a passable backup QB, but not destined for prime time. And allow me to say (sorry IndyLib) but I despise, despise, DESPISE John Elway. The first of the high profile pro athletes to play the whiny assed “I don’t want to play for you, if you’re stupid enough to draft me I’ll hold my breath until I turn blue”. I know, had he not done so, someone else would have filled the role soon enough, but it was enough to earn my lifelong disdain and derision.

  197. 197.

    Indylib

    August 31, 2009 at 5:26 am

    @Gravenstone:
    You have every right to feel whatever you feel about John Elway. But I hope you will allow that it’s unreasonable to expect me to feel the same way, since it was my team that he went to. And despite his refusing to go to Baltimore the year he was drafted, he was and is very loyal to the Broncos and the city of Denver. He could have gotten more money from other teams than he was making in Denver in numerous seasons after he developed into the quarterback he became. Yet he stayed, through some truly crappy seasons. The last 3 seasons he played for Denver he took large pay cuts from his salary to allow the organization to trade for some good players and keep other players on the roster that would have been cut due to the NFL salary cap.

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/events/1997/nflpreview/AFCWEST/broncos.html

    I don’t think the Baltimore dis was about money for him, or maybe it was when he was a rookie, I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that his career became about a hell of a lot more than money. He wanted a Superbowl Championship and he stuck with his team through thick and thin until they got it. And when he retired he stayed in Denver, the city who had stuck with him.

  198. 198.

    bob h

    August 31, 2009 at 7:26 am

    You missed Feinstein defending torture, Liz Cheney on ABC, and George Will asserting with respect to healthcare: “There is a reason why things are what they are”. The degeneracy of the DC political class was on full, obnoxious display.

    My own feeling is that these Sunday shows are probably all within a hair of being cancelled, and attention from bloggers just provides them with free attention and advertising. I’ve watched my last one.

  199. 199.

    Steeplejack

    August 31, 2009 at 10:36 am

    @Chuck Butcher:

    I listened to some of Duffy Bishop’s songs. Thanks for the link.

  200. 200.

    CaseyL

    August 31, 2009 at 11:09 am

    I spent Sunday with friends, helping them mix and restock their line of medicinal teas to sell at Fremont Sunday Market. Then we had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening swilling wine and talking. Lovely evening.

    I notice Lily and Tunch are getting c-l-o-s-e-r to each other on the futon. H’mmm….

  201. 201.

    Gatsby

    August 31, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Lily and Tunch are such pictures of happy and contented pets.

    Great job, John.

  202. 202.

    Gatsby

    August 31, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Lily and Tunch are such pictures of happy and contented pets.

    Great job, John.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • WaterGirl on Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Living With Orchids (Apr 2, 2023 @ 8:24am)
  • lowtechcyclist on Late Night Open Thread: Same Bullsh*t, Different Decade (Apr 2, 2023 @ 8:24am)
  • eclare on Sunday Morning Open Thread: Chef José Andrés (Apr 2, 2023 @ 8:24am)
  • SFAW on Late Night Open Thread: Same Bullsh*t, Different Decade (Apr 2, 2023 @ 8:23am)
  • WaterGirl on Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Living With Orchids (Apr 2, 2023 @ 8:23am)

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Seattle Meetup coming up on April 4!

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!