Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

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

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Second rate reporter says what?

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

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

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

An almost top 10,000 blog!

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Come on, man.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Blech

Blech

by | 174 Comments

This post is in: 

If it isn’t obvious, yeah, I’m tired, emotionally drained and probably getting a little punchy. I’m going to take a nap. Then I’ll play Dragon Age for an hour and then cook some beef bourgignon and a creme brulee.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

174Comments

  2. 2.

    slag

    Tim, you’ve been doing a great job keeping the fires burning! Don’t stop. Or at least be sure to continue after your nap.

  4. 4.

    aimai

    Our Shabbat dinner, for which I failed to make my own challah this week (shame! shame!) will be

    Fennel Roasted Pork (yes! so sue me!)
    broccoli di rabe with garlic and anchovies and red pepper flakes
    roasted new potatoes
    roasted carrots with cumin/honey/lemon
    salad of avocado, spinach, and grapefruit

    tarte tatin

    Any wine suggestions? I’ve got the following in the house:

    Gruner Veltliner
    Albarino
    Tempranillo (I don’t think that works)
    pinot noir
    cabernet sauvignon

    aimai

  5. 5.

    Uriel

    creme brulee.

    Not really fair to bring that up and leave out any mention of a recipe what-so-ever.

    I know you deserve a break and all.. I’m just sayin.

  6. 6.

    jenniebee

    Put this in the other thread too, but I got a fundraising letter from Senator Webb today. I’ve given to his campaign in the past. Today, I wrote “You want money? I want Health Reform.” on the card and mailed it back to him.

  11. 11.

    Anne Laurie

    Tim, seriously, thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in this week. Enjoy your nap. (Still stuck on dial-up and no email here, but the replacement router just arrived from Verizon, so I live in hope.)

  14. 14.

    Doug Z

    Not sure if this is the right place for this, But Dingell was talking about going to full conference and then see if there were votes for the conference bill. 99.9% there wouldn’t be, at least not cloture in Senate. Could they just go backward to pass the Senate bill then, or does having a merged bill imply a bridge that can’t be crossed. Seems a good way to calm people down, at least.

  15. 15.

    twiffer

    i too will play dragon age, once i get home, after the boy is put to bed and if i can wrest the controller away from my wife.

    haven’t completed a playthrough yet, though i’m on my third character. very much enjoying playing as an arcane warrior/spirt healer

  17. 17.

    batgirl

    Regarding the Supreme Court decision this week that gives corporations the constitutional right to free speech. Any lawyers out there? Does this have any consequences for the ability of government to regulate commercial speech, i. e., false advertising?

  18. 18.

    geg6

    You’ve done a great job, Tim. And you deserve a break. Dinner sounds lovely.

    For myself, my John and I plan to use up the $50 gift card we have for Applebee’s (don’t tell me how bad it is, we have the card and we’re gonna use it). I’ll tell Bobo you said hi when I see him at the salad bar.

  20. 20.

    beltane

    You guys are wonderful. GOS is in full meltdown with factions appearing among the editors and Kos nowhere to be found. No advocacy whatsoever, just ranting and ponies. This is the only island of sanity out there.

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    @Lev: From the behavior of its fiercest proponents, Cheetos and Mountain Dew hot dogs and Mom’s apple pie make you lazy and stupid.

  25. 25.

    beltane

    @geg6: Their hamburgers are decent. Almost everything else is way too salty for my taste, especially their salads.

  26. 26.

    David in NY

    @Doug Z:

    I had the same question — can Digell’s proposal work? Well, he ought to know, I suppose, he’s been there longer than anybody.

  27. 27.

    Tim in SF

    On Monday, I cooked beef bourgignon for the first time. I used the recipe in the old Julia Child’s Mastery of French Cooking book. I took it to a dinner party Tuesday night. It was the best stew-like thing I’d ever made. The other guests at the dinner party were orgasming over it as well.

    Good luck with it. It took me 4 hours of work in the kitchen to follow that recipe. Worth ever minute, though.

  28. 28.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tom Hilton:

    creme bourguignon and beef brulee.

    Funny, that’s how mine come out also.

    Course, I can just go down the street, they do those far better than I ever could.

  31. 31.

    flavortext

    Hi guys, hate to insert some gloom into this open thread but I just received this email from FDL telling me to sign a petition asking House progressives to derail the Senate bill. Seems a bit counterproductive to me. Thankfully internet petitions don’t count for much. I hope.

  32. 32.

    geg6

    @Tim in SF:

    the old Julia Child’s Mastery of French Cooking book

    I got this for Christmas. I haven’t delved into it yet, but the boeuf bourgignon is the recipe I plan to try first.

  33. 33.

    Sasha

    I decided if a call was good, a visit might be better. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I drove to Congressman Nye’s office (he’s not my rep but the closest dem) and spoke at length to his receptionist who was friendly assured me that my voice would be heard even after it was clear that I was not a constituent. I then went to Senator Webb’s Hampton road office which is not a legislative office. I tried to browbeat the receptionist into letting me speak with an aide. No luck there but I did leave a poorly written screed and expressed myself to him. Earlier I called Warner’s office and will call again. I made a few calls on Kevin Drums list.

    I feel like I am on my way to a funeral. Could I really have been that wrong about Obama and the dems? It’s not the cowardice that blows me away but the incompetence. Were they living in some parallel universe where Coakely was twenty points ahead? How could they possibly be this surprised? How could they not have a response ready?

  35. 35.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Cat:

    Sources close to the administration said that in practice the decision meant that those detainees would be held until the conflict had subsided to the point where releasing them would no longer pose a threat.

    They call them prisoners of war, and for it to be described this way by “sources close to the administration” means that will likely be made official at some point. If not, we should raise holy hell that it is made official.

  36. 36.

    David in NY

    @Tim in SF:

    re: Boeuf Bourgignon, a la Julia Child.

    C’mon Tim, didn’t you see “Julie and Julia?” That was the recipe that sold the ultimate editor of the book on advocating its publication. But I think I always cut corners on the BB (with browning the onions separately? or something).

  38. 38.

    beltane

    @flavortext: Unfortunately, these petitions do matter to House progressives. They only know what they hear from their constituents. Call your rep and let your voice be heard.

    Should we start a movement to send FDL our unpaid medical bills?

  40. 40.

    Doug Z

    @David in NY: I think that it will allow everyone to 1, Calm down 2. See what are the real issues (that will have to be resolved through reconciliation and subsequent bills re abortion) 3. Put the republicans on their heels a bit.

  42. 42.

    Ana Gama

    I got a fundraising letter from Senator Webb today. I’ve given to his campaign in the past. Today, I wrote “You want money? I want Health Reform.” on the card and mailed it back to him.

    I did the same this week with the mailer I received from the DNC and the DCCC. We’ll see if they get the message.

  44. 44.

    Sentient Puddle

    I still need to finish a runthrough of Dragon Age myself. Might fire it up tonight…partly haven’t been in the WoW mood this week, and besides that, I’ve been out-leveling the hell out of everyone. Catch up, foos!

  46. 46.

    mandarama

    @geg6:

    I love one particular salad at Applebee’s. Pecan-encrusted chicken, with cranberries and blue cheese and all kindsa good stuff. But sorry, David Brooks–you don’t get to assemble it yourself like a good independent bootstrap-pulling American.

    Plus, our Applebee’s has many kids-eat-free nights. It totally works on us.

    I’m depressed. We only have one Dem among our congresscritters, and he’s weak sauce (Cooper). I called and gave his office some stern words, but the aide even sounded terrified. Otherwise, I’m surrounded by batshit crazy in this damn state. And the god-damned Teabaggers convention or whatever the hell it is will be held here, too.

    Both my parents died young and uninsured. Nightmare from hell, twice. And I really, really wanted this to be the time where we made some progress so it wouldn’t happen to other people.

    Jesus. I need alcohol. And a punching bag.

  47. 47.

    David in NY

    @Doug Z:

    might be interesting.

    @beltane:

    “GOS is in full meltdown”

    At least they paused to quote Scott Brown about Washinton, where he’s been rarely:

    “I’m a history buff,” he said. “I love the Museum of Natural History.”

  48. 48.

    mandarama

    @matoko_chan:

    OK, this gave me a much-needed laugh! Thank you.

    jeffreyw, I just want to say: if I lived with you, I’d be the size of a house. One of John McCain’s houses, even. Love the food pics.

  49. 49.

    Emo Pantload (fka Studly)

    @batgirl:

    This guy is a lawyer, and he’s weighed in (albeit, with no mention of false advertising that I recall seeing, although I’m puttering along on about three hours of sleep, today).

  50. 50.

    batgirl

    @geg6: Yes, I think so but I was wondering if this could open the gatesto a challenge on regulating commercial speech.

  51. 51.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @David in NY: Well if wingers believe that the world was created six or ten thousand years ago, then natural history and history would sort of be the same thing.

  53. 53.

    chopper

    @aimai:

    Our Shabbat dinner, for which I failed to make my own challah this week (shame! shame!) will be

    Fennel Roasted Pork

    epic fail. heh.

  55. 55.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I have just consulted the Digital Orb of Truth and what I saw was The Great Red Queen call the peasants to come to Jesus. In a grand council of poohbahs, with fresh meat and drink and an Electoral Guillotine strategically deployed for clear viewing.

    Let us eat now and be merry.

  63. 63.

    qwerty42

    @Tim in SF: …I used the recipe in the old Julia Child’s Mastery of French Cooking book. …
    On tv I believe she did it in maybe the first episode of The French Chef (except, not sure it was called that the first time).
    Saw her do it again a few months ago in a rerun of the Cooking with Julia and Jacquesshow (I believe he did a beef stew). Looks quite good. I thought it took maybe a day to prepare.

  64. 64.

    ImJohnGalt

    How the hell do you just play for an hour? Every time I fire it up, 5 hours go by before I look at a clock.

    Finally finished all of my available side quests and am about to have the final battle. Then I can finally get rid of this time suck off my hard drive. Unless I play the downloadable content.

    Sometimes I hate having completion issues.

  65. 65.

    Short Bus Bully

    I love Julia Child, but her recipes are outdated. For a better version try anything by Thomas Keller:
    http://kitchenmusings.com/2007/04/a_keller_recipe.html

    Short version: Braise the beef with vegetables, stock, and wine like normal then remove beef and strain sauce. Cook new batch of vegetables SEPARATELY and add them into the refined sauce and braised meat.

    Color, texture, and flavor will be correct as opposed to mushy ass overcooked vegetables and cloudy, muddled sauce.

    Full disclosure: I have worked as an exec. chef for the past eight years and have a Le Cordon Bleu degree.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw: Broccoli and carrots! Maybe my two favourite veg in the entire world! Of course, I’d hate to give up cauliflower, spinach, and brussels sprouts, but man, those brocs and carrots look wonderful.

  70. 70.

    Third Eye Open

    @Walker: I am leveling at a mad pace this weekend. I am only level 23, and I want to be done before tuesday so that I can see all those nifty tie-ins. I can only hope that you get to help solve the genophage issue, and you get to donkey-punch that psycho-chick.

  72. 72.

    David in NY

    @Short Bus Bully:

    Cook new batch of vegetables SEPARATELY

    Uh, I think if you actually look up Child’s recipe that’s what she does, strain the sauce, which is basically the wine, herbs and garlic, and adds separately cooked vegetables. Who’s the guy you’re plugging, by the way, any relation?

  73. 73.

    Cassidy

    I’m out. I’ll be voting 3rd party or not at all. Yes, I realize this is a proxy vote for Republicans, but I’m not convinced the electorate ddeserves better, and the cowards we have now no longer deserve to be employed.

    And I wish I was home in 4 days to get my copy of Mass Effect 2.

  74. 74.

    mcd410x

    I think the word TimF is looking for to describe the Dem leadership is: lazy.

    As in, “it’s lazy to only game-plan one outcome.”

  75. 75.

    Tsulagi

    beef bourgignon and a creme brulee.

    Damn that sounds good.

    One of the more memorable simple meals I’ve had was in France. A sidewalk bistro serving a hollowed out brioche full of escargot in a wine/garlic/butter broth. After the escargot were gone, would tear off a piece of the brioche and dip it in the broth. Sipping a pairing wine the waiter recommended. All while watching lovely ladies walk by speaking in their French accent which is sexy as hell. Think there may have been guys too, but they just didn’t register.

    Now I’m hungry.

  76. 76.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Third Eye Open: From my understanding, all characters transferred start at level 1, no matter where they were before. So I’m not sure you need to make it all the way to 60, if that’s your intent.

    Although someone please correct me if I’m wrong, because my Shepard is something like level 55.

  78. 78.

    Svensker

    I’m making chicken with white wine, mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) and tarragon. Learned it from the French Chef cookbook a hunnert years ago. It’s super easy, and the sauce is wunnerful on rice.

    But when I really want to cook French-style, I turn to Richard Olney. His chicken with garlic and lemon is stunningly delicious, albeit a bit painstaking. His death was a horrible loss to good cooking.

    Short Bus — I’ll have to do a side-by-side some day. I always kinda liked the soggy-ass vegetables. That and the gravy have always been the point of stews to me.

  79. 79.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw: Oh, SO cute! I love the expression on the windowkitteh’s face, pretending to be disdainful and aloof from everything.

  80. 80.

    R-Jud

    We did homemade pizza tonight. I made the dough; I don’t have a stone but my cast-iron skillet did a pretty good job in a pinch. Baby-sat my teeny tiny nephew so my sister- and brother-in-law could get out to see Avatar. They’ll return the favor tomorrow night. We are going to see this, though. Not Avatar.

  81. 81.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tsulagi:

    watching lovely ladies walk by speaking in their French accent

    Unless they were all speaking English, which isn’t likely, I’m guessing that you’re Canadian?

  82. 82.

    burnspbesq

    I think I will take out my anger and frustration on a LifeCycle and a Concept 2 rowing machine. Might as well get something positive out of it.

    If you see a middle-aged guy wandering around central Orange County tomorrow, muttering “fuck, I’m sore” to himself, that may very well be me.

  83. 83.

    South of I-10

    Y’all are making me hungry and I really don’t feel like cooking. Must be a good night for takeout.

  84. 84.

    Third Eye Open

    @Sentient Puddle: Yeah, that is what I heard too, I just want to make sure I meet everyone and get through as many plot-arcs as possible, so that when you run into them in the new one, it will make for more interesting dialogue. I am also awaiting the new Aliens v. Predator, which should be sweeeeeeet.

  85. 85.

    Colette

    @chopper
    @aimai: Mmmmm, roast pork. Perfect for a rainy Friday night. We are also having an excellent Shabbat dinner: prime rib with horseradish cream sauce and lobster tails – all home-cooked. And later, Hewitt vs. Baghdatis at the Australian Open. Thank G-d for food and sports, or my life would be unbearable at the moment.

  86. 86.

    R-Jud

    @burnspbesq:

    Concept 2 rowing machine

    I was on one earlier, with Sky News in front of me. Reading the crawl on Murdoch media outlets certainly ups one’s stroke rate. I’m not sore, but my hands are torn to shreds now.

  87. 87.

    Steeplejack

    @geg6:

    Applebee’s is not bad. No ambeeyence, but the food is pretty good, if you don’t let your expectations get out of line. And, hey, you’re on a gift certificate, so there’s that.

    As for me, I just got home from a rare day shift at the Big Box Bookstore and am decompressing a bit before baking a potato the size of the Hindenburg and broiling a rib-eye steak. Manly-man comfort food.

    Halfway through my first drink of the evening (Sam Adams Winter Lager).

    –Steep +½

    Edit: Had to change to “ambeeyence” because WordPress didn’t like the correct spelling. FYWP!

    Re-Edit: Apparently that didn’t get me out of moderation. Damn it all to hell.

  88. 88.

    maus

    Pretty much I would like to agree that without videogames and nerding out with food I’d be insanely angry over the state of politics 24/7.

  89. 89.

    Walker

    For those of you getting ready for Mass Effect 2, stay away from the BioWare forums. They are spoiler heavy from leaked copies of the game. I saw more than I should today, and I have sworn them off.

    Back to Tim’s original post, I find it pretty funny that of all the bonus stuff I am getting, the armor I get from Dragon Age appears to be some of the best. The Blood Dragon Armor is the best if you play a non-gun oriented character like an Adept.

  90. 90.

    Cassidy

    @Sentient Puddle: You only need to go to 60 if you want the achievment for it. Unless things have changed though, your character transfers, just not the stats.

    Speaking of which, if I started over to play DLC, do I have to play the whole game again for decisions to count, or will they pull from the last decision made. I’ve allready beat the game twice and really don’t feel like doing it again.

  91. 91.

    mak

    The reason you are feeling ‘blech’ is that Kate McGarrigle died today. Listen to her sing ‘Heart Like A Wheel’ with her sister and see if it doesn’t match your mood.

    First song she ever wrote, btw.

    Condolences to Anna, Rufus, Martha, and the rest of family.

  92. 92.

    Tsulagi

    @Bill E Pilgrim: No offense to our 51st state, but no, I’m definitely not Canadian.

    I probably didn’t word that part of my comment properly; I’m just a dumbass American. Of course they were speaking French. It just sounds sexy spoken by a woman. And again no offense to our northern neighbors, but Canadian French and their accent just isn’t the same.

  93. 93.

    Short Bus Bully

    @ David in NY

    Thomas Keller is chef/owner of Per Se in NY, one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in the city as well as The French Laundry in Napa, one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in the WORLD. One of the greatest living chefs and a true artist.

    If you are looking for good quality food, check out his BOUCHON cookbook, all very legit recipes suitable to make at home.

  94. 94.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @mak: Was Jan 18, actually. Four days ago.

    That is one of the greatest songs, I listened to a youtube of it many times in a row that day.

  96. 96.

    Walker

    @Cassidy:

    You get a starting bonus in Mass Effect 2 for being level 60 and having the rich achievement.

    There is some dispute as to whether the save file must be level 60, or whether you just need the level 60 achievement (e.g. my level 54 soldier would get the same bonus as my level 60 adept). But at least one character should be level 60.

  98. 98.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tsulagi: Ah, okay. No I was just guessing that you were French speaking because you talked of “accents”, and your English was obviously mother tongue, so I guessed up there .

    I get what you meant now.

    Oh and yes, yes it certainly does.

  100. 100.

    mak

    Oops. I just heard – Fresh Air as background noise. Thanks for that, Bill.

    Still fits today’s mood, though.

  103. 103.

    Uriel

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Shoot. I was hoping that there was some obscure, only-for-foodies secret that would easily and conveniently obviate the need the need for the flame-thrower. You know, something like, “add a table spoon of applesauce, chill for three days then dust with equal parts powdered sugar and baking soda and bake for 15 minutes at 450.”

    I don’t think the family would trust me in the kitchen with a blow torch. And they’d most likely be correct.

  105. 105.

    Cassidy

    @Walker: I just don’t want to have to do all the side quests again. I started the third fourth run through to get to lvl 60 and play Bring Down the Sky, so I’m still in the beginning of the game and don’t want to go through everything again.

  107. 107.

    Tim in SF

    David in NY:
    @Tim in SF:
    re: Boeuf Bourgignon, a la Julia Child.
    C’mon Tim, didn’t you see “Julie and Julia?” That was the recipe that sold the ultimate editor of the book on advocating its publication. But I think I always cut corners on the BB (with browning the onions separately? or something).

    I’ve had the book on my shelf for a decade. Took it down a couple weeks ago to start reading. Julie & Julia arrived via Netflix a little over a week ago, so we watched it. Yeah, I loved it! It was great! That’s why I made the BB.

    I didn’t cut corners because it says right there on the first page is that is exactly how you fuck up a perfectly good recipe – combining steps or skipping them altogether. You can always get a mediocre dish, but for a truly wonderful dish, you need to follow every step. At least, according to Julia Child. And who am I to argue?

  109. 109.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Uriel: Well to be honest I’ve only ever done them in the broiler, but I know that restaurants use a little mini blow torch, and theirs are much better than mine ever come out. But that’s for a lot of reasons ;)

  110. 110.

    Walker

    @Cassidy:

    Limit yourself to the character sidequests (Tali, Wrex, Garrus) and you should be fine. You need those, as they carry over. Conrad Verner (the Fan) and Nassana Dantius also carry over.

  111. 111.

    Nellcote

    @beltane:

    Should we start a movement to send FDL our unpaid medical bills?

    Before or after they kill off immigration reform and cap/trade bills?

    BTW Murdoch’s NewsCorpse makes 200M for every 1B that “Avatar” brings in. Aint that a bitch!

  115. 115.

    Steeplejack

    @geg6:

    My comment at 5:36 p.m. is still in moderation, so I apologize for the repetition if and when it ever comes out.

    All I said was that Applebee’s is not bad. No ambi–er, atmosphere–but the food is pretty good, if you don’t let your expectations get out of line. And, hey, you’re on a gift certificate, so there’s that.

    As for me, I just got home from a rare day shift at the Big Box Bookstore and am decompressing a bit before baking a potato the size of the Hindenburg and broiling a rib-eye steak. Manly-man comfort food.

    Halfway through my first drink of the evening (Sam Adams Winter Lager). Just finishing my second.

    —Steep +2

  116. 116.

    Nellcote

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    but I know that restaurants use a little mini blow torch, and theirs are much better than mine ever come out.

    If you have a propane torch in your workshop, that’ll work too. Specialty torch not required.

  117. 117.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Re: cooking. I notice that chicken is at least half the price of beef per pound. If there were some way we could breed some chickens that taste like beef, I think we could solve all our deficit problems.

    ETA: trying to figure out which foods Smudge will eat. She doesn’t like the salmon pate, and beef in gravy (I think), but she does like “Mixed Grill,” whatever the f**k that is.

  118. 118.

    Cassidy

    @The Moar You Know: Nope, just cutting my losses. Plus I’m not gay and I’m a white male, so I’ll be fine. I can ride it out. When the American people grow some balls and some brains, then…but I’ll be dead and gone by then. So, I guess, by voting 3rd party or not at all, I’m really telling you to go fuck your self.

    @Walker: Which one was Nassana?

  119. 119.

    Violet

    @Uriel:
    After you make the basic custard part of the creme brulee, and it’s cooled and set in the fridge (assuming you like it chilled), you can sprinkle sugar on top and then place it in the broiler. Top-down heat will crisp the sugar to get the hardened topping.

    The culinary torch works way better. I’ve got one and you can get replacement propane cannisters for it at the drug store. It’s seriously fun to use a blowtorch in the kitchen! Everyone wants to try it.

  120. 120.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Cassidy:

    just cutting my losses. Plus I’m not gay and I’m a white male, so I’ll be fine.

    speaking as a white, non-gay male who is the father of three beautiful kids who will have to grow up in this f**ked situation, I second The Moar You Know. The electorate we have now may not deserve better, but there’s a whole mass of citizens who aren’t of age to vote (and don’t even know what politics is, most of them) who DO deserve better.

  121. 121.

    Cassidy

    @arguingwithsignposts: I was being facetious. But in all seriousness, I’m simply not willing to continue to enable the ethical cowards that make up our party leadership. I’ve voted Democrat my whole adult life, and gladly done so. But, if this is the best they can do, it simply isn’t good enough. So if having them thrown out of office is the only option left, then that’s what I’ll do. I’m done. I don’t reward failure.

  122. 122.

    Violet

    @beltane:

    Sully has been the calm one this week. Up is down and day is night

    I’ve noticed this! I think we’re in bizarro world.

  123. 123.

    Origuy

    Just got back from lunch a little while ago at a creperie in Cupertino. It was a good sign when the two women at the front table were speaking French. Had a ham and mozzarella buckwheat crepe while perusing a coffee table book full of pictures of small French towns. Hated to go back to work.

  124. 124.

    Tim in SF

    @Sentient Puddle: …haven’t been in the WoW mood this week, and besides that, I’ve been out-leveling the hell out of everyone. Catch up, foos!

    While you’re waiting for your foo friends to level, you can un an instance every day with the dungeon finder, and pretty soon you will have racked up enough emblems for a tier9 set. I got mine after a few weeks, now I’m working on the tier10 set with the frost emblems.

  125. 125.

    J.W. Hamner

    In the spirit of French cooking and video games:

    I just put 6 duck legs into a ziplock bag, and then smothered then with a puree of salt, peppercorns, onion, garlic, parsley, and bay leaves. Tomorrow, I’ll rinse ’em off and cook ’em in a quart of duck fat until the meat is falling off the bone. I’ll take two of the legs to make duck confit salad and save the other 4 in the duck fat to make cassoulet in the coming weeks.

    Oh, and I’m scanning the auction house in WoW right now to square the circle.

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    [. . .] trying to figure out which foods Smudge will eat.

    Yeah, cats and wet food are strange. I remember when I had cats I used to like getting the little 3-oz cans of food because if one was a clunker–i.e., rejected by the diners–it wasn’t such a big loss. Not to mention mine liked the fresh, so none of this “serving us out of a 12-oz can all week” stuff.

    Eventually I found two or three reliables and would occasionally work something else into the mix as an experiment. And I found that my cats would always go for human-grade tuna–Starkist or Chicken of the Sea.

    Edit: Yeah, no clue what “mixed grill” is. Ngrr!

  128. 128.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Cassidy:

    I’m done. I don’t reward failure.

    I do know how you feel. But this battlefield has only two armies and is fought on our own soil, the civil war thing for political analogy sake, and the one that loses gets to live under the one that wins. Failure is not an option. Or should not be. You keep trying, because the alternative is unacceptable for many more reasons than not.

  130. 130.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Cassidy:

    So if having them thrown out of office is the only option left, then that’s what I’ll do.

    I agree that some of them need to go. But a better way to do that would be to organize primary opponents who are actually *better* and raise funds for those candidates.

    Voting for a candidate who’s likely to get only the votes of his own family and the local libertarian book club isn’t going to do anyone any good (see Nader, Ralph).

    Nobody wants to reward failure. But if the choice is between failure and total f**k up of our country, then I’ll countenance failure. I won’t countenance letting the rethugs back in power.

  131. 131.

    Amanda

    Wow, that menu sounds positively yummy.

    You may have just inspired me to re-watch the Julia Child movie again :-)

  132. 132.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Sentient Puddle: re: WoW, I’ve been trying to build up a character. I have a level 14 Orc (?) but I keep getting him killed in the barrens. Whatever happened to the BJ guild? I’ll be around this weekend if anyone wants to take a noob under their wings.

  133. 133.

    Uriel

    @Violet: Wait- so I was right about everything except the apple sauce and the baking powder? Weird. I guess watching Alton Brown is helping. And here I thought my main reason for watching was my nerdy fascination with food science and the strange attraction of his quirky humor.

    (Thanks, BTW.)

  135. 135.

    arguingwithsignposts

    And since this is an open thread, a link to one of my favorite one-off groups – Redbird: Ships.

    Made up of Jeffrey Foucault, his wife Kris Delmhorst, and Peter Mulvey. They all live in Mass., and they play a few shows each December in Madison, Wisc. as Redbird. If you can see any of them on tour, I highly recommend it. I saw Foucault in a room with about 40 people, and he played the full concert and talked to everyone afterward.

    ETA: Redbird sings “White Freightliner Blues”

  136. 136.

    Elie

    Squid ink risotto and a beautiful apple tart —

    The squid ink (or cuttle fish) makes either arborio rice for risotto, (or good pasta) into a rich, wondrous delight — even if it makes your lips and tongue black for a second or two..

    I was thinking of a wonderful Cohors wine — inky and full bodied as accompanyment.

    Then, in an ultimate of self indulgence – a soaky bath in my best relaxing spa bath salts…

  137. 137.

    Tsulagi

    @arguingwithsignposts: Speaking as a decidedly non-gay partial white male who is the father of two beautiful kids, I see Cassidy’s point. The Democrats have brought us to a point saying to their supporters, the people who put them in office, sign this crappy expensive contract that will affect you and your children for at least a generation written by our lobbyist friends like PhRMA and AHIP because we didn’t have the sacks to stand up to them or the teabaggers, or your neighbor gets it. Kinda hard to feel the love when you get put in that position. Without any grease.

    Now back to daydreaming of good food and good women.

  139. 139.

    Betsy

    I tried to make an orange-glazed pound cake to use up some of the fancy oranges that were sent to me in a giant box by my father, but I failed miserably. I’m usually an excellent baker, if I do say so myself, and yet the pound cake came out mostly bone-dry but with an underbaked streak in the middle. WTF? I’m going to blame my unreliable oven.

    Oh well! The glaze was yummy, anyway.

  140. 140.

    Will

    From what I’ve been reading on the nets from the ME designers, there’s no way of telling which quests will carry over. Some have been verified, others will be when the game comes out and even others won’t have effects until ME 3.

  142. 142.

    Elie

    @Steeplejack:

    My boys have pretty good appetites. I try to add excitement (ha!) by putting a tablespoon of wheat grass finely chopped every so often and also a little bith of tomato, also finely diced. They dig the freshness I think and they would get the stomach contents of their vegetable eating prey if they were wild with fresh kills.

    Bill is 18 and on kidney sparing wet food but they both like it so I give it to both without too much complaint.. They both adore tuna but can’t give it to Bill too often…

  143. 143.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Tsulagi:

    The Democrats have brought us to a point saying to their supporters, the people who put them in office, sign this crappy expensive contract that will affect you and your children for at least a generation written by our lobbyist friends like PhRMA and AHIP because we didn’t have the sacks to stand up to them or the teabaggers, or your neighbor gets it. Kinda hard to feel the love when you get put in that position.

    Hey, I never said I feel the love. See my follow-up comment above. The solution isn’t to Go Galt and abandon the only side that even “pretends” to represent our interests as liberals. That’s certain political suicide.

    The solution is to work to get it changed after it’s implemented. Don’t settle for what’s passed. Primary people – even in Blue Dog districts. Raise money. Call and pester them to do better. And keep fighting the media wurlitzer, opening up that Overton Window.

    No matter what the RW assholes say, this society has moved to the left over the past century. Even with the popular losses regarding gay marriage, the public is changing attitudes. Look at the medical marijuana movement. Fits and starts, yeah. Hopefully DADT this year, bank regulation (in whatever watered down form) and some attempt at climate change.

    It ain’t going to be easy, but we don’t have the option of washing our hands. That’s what the f**kers on the other side want us to do. Because they won’t. ever. stop. trying. to. f**k. us. without the lube.

  147. 147.

    arguingwithsignposts

    On another Smudge/kitteh related note, here’s a grooming question: how often do you bathe a cat? I haven’t bathed her since I brought her home. (about 6 weeks, now – gad, has it been that long?)

  149. 149.

    Uriel

    @Violet:

    It’s seriously fun to use a blowtorch in the kitchen! Everyone wants to try it.

    That’s the other problem- when I was younger, I had job at a place where they glazed hams for holidays and such.

    Basically they would take a flour-sifter full sugar and spices, hit the ham with a few shots, then hit it with a blow-torch. Repeat as necessary. Then that guy put it on some foil and hand it off to the wrapper (me), who would wrap it up and put on a rack to cool. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a job you could do very elegantly wearing gloves.

    Nine times out of ten, the operation went off with out a hitch. The tenth time, you got the back of your hand coated with a big mess of still bubbling hot brown sugar and cloves. And we did literally hundreds of hams a day around Easter and such.

    Which is to say, on a pavlovian level, I tend to find even the notion of a blow torch in the kitchen somewhat… anxiety inducing, I guess.

    Also, it says that I made a lot of really bad employment decisions when I was young. On the other hand, maybe it goes some way towards explaining my party affiliations- I’m used to having to repeatedly endure painful messes in order a to scrape together a few nice things.

  150. 150.

    Elie

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Unless she gets soiled or has some of that curly cat fur, or is old and decrepit to clean herself, or unless you or someone in your family is allergic to cats, I wouldnt think that you need to.

  152. 152.

    Violet

    @Uriel:
    That sounds incredibly painful! Yikes.

    With creme brulee, the custard is down inside the ramekin a little bit, so there’s not as much chance of the burnt sugar dripping out. You put a spoonful of sugar in top of the custard, then rotate the ramekin with one hand, while blow-torching it with the other. It’s simple and really fun.

    We had a bunch of people around and passed the blow torch around the table for anyone to do their own, if they wanted (we did them for them if they were afraid). We ran out of creme brulees to torch because everyone wanted to do more than one. LOL.

  154. 154.

    Steeplejack

    @Elie:

    Good luck to old Bill! My last two lived to 18 and 21(!), respectively. I’m not in a place where I can have a cat, but I look forward to getting another one or two someday.

  155. 155.

    Annie

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    She is so beautiful. Now, I just need the wine.

    I have never bathed my two cats — 6 and 11 years — but I try to brush them every night. They both love to be brushed, and they get kitty candies after…..

  156. 156.

    sparky

    @arguingwithsignposts: nice kitteh.
    and i agree with some of what you say, as well. bailing out is not a solution. but bailing on the Ds may be, at least in some circumstances. party loyalty should not be above thinking, at least for me.

    one other point–while i agree with you about social mores, i think it is a mistake to conflate social change with economic change. economically speaking, in both real and ideological terms, the US is now much closer to 1900 than it is to, say, 1970, let alone 1955. so it is entirely possible to go “backwards” on some fronts. there is no necessary connection between mores and money.

  157. 157.

    Malron

    PelosiCo’s latest copout: “We don’t trust the White House and the senate.”

    The bottom line is that many members feel betrayed by the White House and Senate and just don’t trust that a fix would pass. If their fears pan out, members would be left with a more conservative bill than they passed last fall, and none of the compromises they negotiated with union leaders on how to pay for health care. Members feel President Obama showed deference to his old colleagues in the Senate from the beginning of the health care discussions and the House was rolled each step in the way. “Everyone in the house feels like the White House bent over backwards to engage the Senate and they didn’t get anything for it anyway,” one leadership aide told TPMDC.

    Yes. The House won’t do their damn job because they’re afraid the White House and Senate won’t do theirs.

    So. F**king. What.

    Pass the damn bill. Then blame the White House and senate if they don’t honor their side of the bargain.

  160. 160.

    Mary

    You’re doing a great job Tim F. You were the first one to start whipping for passing the bill. Thank you so much. I’m not surprised it exhausted you. You too, mcc.

  162. 162.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Tim in SF: Well, I’m about level 38. Granted, the loot is pretty nice for the level, but I’ll say, those random instances are what’s making me pull away from everyone else, I’m running them so much! So yeah, gotta slow down.

    @arguingwithsignposts: Still up and running. Are you playing the same character (whose name I forget at the moment) that we tried to get you in with earlier? I haven’t seen that one on recently, but yeah, I (or a few others) can get you in when I see you. I should play at least some this weekend.

  167. 167.

    mcd410x

    Hats off to Tim F. btw …

    Over at Sully’s, a senator’s chief of staff:

    With all due respect, this totally ignores the fact that 100% of Senate Democrats support healthcare reform (all 59 of them), but because of the antiquated, undemocratic filibuster rule, which is being used as a daily weapon by Senate Republicans, we aren’t able to pass it. … but folks’ anger should be focused on 1) the tool that is being used to obstruct passage, and 2) those who are using the tool!

    Dear Mr. Democratic Senator’s Chief of Staff: It’s your job to get this message out — full fucking stop. If the tables were reversed the only thing Republican senators, congressmen and operatives would have said for the last three months is: Why won’t the Democrats let us have an up or down vote on health care?

    You would have heard it morning, noon and night. You would have heard it when you eat, you would have heard it when you sleep. You would have heard it when you wake, you would have heard it when you quake (? .. well, it rhymes).

    How hard can this be?

    Sincerely, mcd

  169. 169.

    Tim in SF

    @arguingwithsignposts: re: WoW, I’ve been trying to build up a character. I have a level 14 Orc (?) but I keep getting him killed in the barrens. Whatever happened to the BJ guild? I’ll be around this weekend if anyone wants to take a noob under their wings.

    Don’t level in the Barrens. Level in Ghostlands / Silvermoon. It’s newer content so the drops will be higher quality and newer.

    Also, check out the Horde Levelling guides. They will get you up fast.

    Also, if you have a main who’s 80, you can buy heirloom items and mail them to your lowbie toon that will make levelling swoosh by much faster.

    Also, now that you are at 15, run the dungeon finder twice a day. It will always give you a blue to wear and the XP rate in instances is 150% of questing.

  172. 172.

    Gravenstone

    @Sentient Puddle: My lag issues (crappy cell based ISP, which is sadly worlds better than the satellite that preceded it) makes the game nearly unplayable for me outside of the dead of the night (when I’m at work).

  173. 173.

    Sentient Puddle

    @arguingwithsignposts: Sure. If you need a reminder, Mazog is my name. And whatever character you want is fine (both is an option).

    @Tim in SF: Yeah, we’re playing on Eitrigg. Are cross-server tells possible yet? I thought they’re going in that direction with Battle.net functionality, but I don’t know how far along they are.

  174. 174.

    asiangrrlMN

    @arguingwithsignposts: I absolutely love Yo-Yo Ma, so thank you for that gorgeous rendition. And, Smudgey is getting so big and beautiful. I haven’t ever bathed my cats, and they are fine. My vet says so, and I trust my vet. As for food, my Shadow will eat anything and everything. Raven is a bit more finicky, but he still eats most things. Each cat is different in that area.

    And, I agree with you on the choice between the frustrating cowards (Dems) and the cold-blooded thugs (Reps)–I will go with the frustrating cowards every time. I may not give them money. I may chew them out, but I will do what I can to keep the Republicans out of power. As a bi Taiwanese American woman who has a healthy interest in seeing the next generation or two not inherit a completely fucked-up country, I am not opting out of fighting (though I certainly feel like it much of the time).

    @jeffreyw: You, Sir, are both cruel and kind with your food pr0n. Since I’m a masochist (I’m a Dem, duh. That’s redundant), bring it.

Comments are closed.