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You are here: Home / Open Threads / And Now For Something Completely Different

And Now For Something Completely Different

by John Cole|  June 1, 20104:45 pm| 66 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Pansies, because they are pretty and these are the ones that make me laugh:

No more news or blogs for me until tonight’s open thread or I will spontaneously combust in a ball of incoherent rage and angst.

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Previous Post: « Speaking of Hacks
Next Post: Sweet Holy Moses »

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    Have some baby birdies, John.

  2. 2.

    nevsky42

    June 1, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    I would, however, support more posting of adorable corgi videos…

  3. 3.

    Crashman

    June 1, 2010 at 4:50 pm

    Saw some great bathroom graffiti when I was out at a nearby bar on Sunday. It said:

    “Who is John Galt… I mean, besides a pompous windbag.”

    Bravo, anonymous Cantabrigian. Bravo.

  4. 4.

    jackie

    June 1, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    I agree John, pansies are charming and it is sad when it gets hot and they give up the ghost.

  5. 5.

    mr. whipple

    June 1, 2010 at 4:56 pm

    I see that Olberman has replaced his nightly signoff of ‘it’s been x number of days since mission accomplished in Iraq’ to ‘it’s been x number of days since the oil began spewing from Deepwater.’

    Because, you know, these two things are exactly the same. Just shoot me.

  6. 6.

    licensed to kill time

    June 1, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    That looks like a basket of butterflies. Pansies look so happy, they have little faces, almost.

  7. 7.

    Carnacki

    June 1, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    Via Nico Pitney, RIP AquaMan. Prince Namor wouldn’t put up with this shit. He would have invaded and taken BP execs prisoner already to try them for crimes against the world.

  8. 8.

    demkat620

    June 1, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    Its only tuesday and the news is completley depressing.

    The Pansies are beautiful, though.

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2010 at 5:08 pm

    Prince Namor wouldn’t put up with this shit.

    Do you realize the tools over at ESPN did not include him in the greatest super-hero bracket during March Madness?

    As for pansies, love’em, even the human kind, well, unless they’re pansies in the Bill Kristol/SauerKrauthammer species.

  10. 10.

    SIA

    June 1, 2010 at 5:08 pm

    When my dad was alive he used to say that the pansies were smiling at him when he got home.

    Ours already gone here. Too hot.

  11. 11.

    robertdsc

    June 1, 2010 at 5:08 pm

    or I will -spontaneously combust in a ball of incoherent rage and angst- become Tunch.

    Fixed.

  12. 12.

    Carnacki

    June 1, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    robertdsc for the win!

  13. 13.

    Culture of Truth

    June 1, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    Hoocoodanode: not just for big business

    Polish Presidential Pilot Had Confidence Despite 12 Warnings From On-board Alarm System

  14. 14.

    Rosalita

    June 1, 2010 at 5:24 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    titmice?

  15. 15.

    MikeJ

    June 1, 2010 at 5:30 pm

    Unusually strong and wet Pacific storm to impact western Washington tonight and Wednesday…A very strong late spring Pacific jet stream will aim an unusually moist band of moisture[wtf?] at western Washington tonight and Wednesday…

    Floods. Snow level 7000′. Dogs and cats, living together. Mass hysteria.

    Bleh…

  16. 16.

    QuaintIrene

    June 1, 2010 at 5:31 pm

    Beautiful pansies. Good choice. My least favorite bedding flower? Impatiens.

  17. 17.

    QuaintIrene

    June 1, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    @MikeJ:
    Add a near constant stream of thunderstorms here in New Jersey. Every other day, another storm warning…”Could be heavy at times, drenching rain, flooding, high winds, even hail !!!!!”

    I blame Al and Tipper Gore splitting up.

  18. 18.

    Three-nineteen

    June 1, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    I would just like to say a nice big REALLY, YOU BASTARD? to whoever spilled the results of the Federer/Soderling match in the SCOTUS thread earlier.
    You know, the thread that is abso-fucking-lutely nothing about tennis?
    There I was, trying to figure out whether or not Scalia had just ordered us all
    shot in the head if we’re within 5 miles of either a crime scene or a police officer, and BOOM, my entire evening is ruined.
    Just a tip, some of us pretend to work during the day and have to record sports events to watch later, when we’re home.
    Save that bullshit for the open thread, where unsuspecting tennis lovers can avoid spoilers.

    In conclusion, FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.

    Sincerely,

    Three-nineteen

    (Edited to try and make my comment fit on the page)

  19. 19.

    Violet

    June 1, 2010 at 5:40 pm

    Ooh, gorgeous! Pansies were my grandmother’s favorite flowers. I always think of her when I see them. Pansies are winter flowers where I live. They’re pretty much done by late March/April. Don’t forget to water them.

  20. 20.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    @Rosalita: Eastern Phoebe

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 1, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    Even when the helicopters aren’t laughing, you can count on pansies.

  22. 22.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 5:45 pm

    Supper

  23. 23.

    Mocha Dem

    June 1, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Pansies and petunias are such drama queens. Miss one day of the watering cycle and they collapse. Unlike geraniums which will survive the apocalypse.

  24. 24.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 5:52 pm

    A little fuzzy headed before morning coffee.

  25. 25.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    BHF put up a slide show of irises at her place. Nice ones.

  26. 26.

    Martin

    June 1, 2010 at 5:55 pm

    @Mocha Dem: Unfortunately, geraniums also smell like the apocalypse.

  27. 27.

    PurpleGirl

    June 1, 2010 at 5:56 pm

    John: The pansies look wonderful.

    JeffreyW: Dinner looks good… I think I have most of those ingredients, now I know what I’m cooking tonight.

  28. 28.

    jeffreyw

    June 1, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    @PurpleGirl: Use Italian sausage, not hamburger like I did.

  29. 29.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    June 1, 2010 at 5:58 pm

    Christ, if those things were any more twee they’d talk in wittle squeaky voices and giggle all of the time.

  30. 30.

    srv

    June 1, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    oh, I’ll wait for open thread

  31. 31.

    joeyess

    June 1, 2010 at 6:34 pm

    I will spontaneously combust in a ball of incoherent rage and angst.

    I’d pay good money for that. I would have a fire extinguisher handy, though.

  32. 32.

    John Cole

    June 1, 2010 at 6:35 pm

    @jeffreyw: Wow. Those are great. I’ve never seen one the color of the Llama mama.

  33. 33.

    joeyess

    June 1, 2010 at 6:35 pm

    BTW, if i hear that fucking shutter ad one more time I’m going to spontaneously combust in a ball of incoherent rage and angst.

  34. 34.

    John Cole

    June 1, 2010 at 6:35 pm

    @kommrade reproductive vigor: I know! Aren’t they awesome!

  35. 35.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 1, 2010 at 6:37 pm

    Aw, I can see why they make you giggle and twirl around in glee laugh. Cutest flowers, ever! Cole, I just caught up on the threads! Now you’re going to post like ten of them in rapid succession.

    @jeffreyw: Is that before your cuppa or hers? And, Toby looks great. And, so does the fusilli.

  36. 36.

    Steeplejack

    June 1, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    @Rosalita:

    I’m more of a leg mouse myself.

    (Sorry. Old joke that came to mind.)

  37. 37.

    fourlegsgood

    June 1, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    Pansies are adorbs!

  38. 38.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    I love pansies, and in a cold climate, they last all summer. At least, I hope mine will.

  39. 39.

    Cat Lady

    June 1, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    My youngest daughter used to name the pansies I planted when she was 4 and 5 or so. Her favorite one was always named Baby Carol, which struck me so funny because I thought they all looked like Cossacks or walruses.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    And I have to tell my pansy story now:

    I got a new little rug for in front of the sink; with a picture of a huge pot of pansies.

    Our cat Puffy was asleep until I called them in for dinner, so the first time he saw it was when he rounded the corner, spied it for the first time… and scrambled out of the kitchen like we had a dragon on the floor.

    We wound up feeding him in the bathroom.

    Now Puffy was logic challenged, so I wound up looking and looking at the rug… until I knelt down, and realized that from Puffy’s angle, it looked like a good dozen eyes staring at him.

    We shook it to show him it was a rug, and he was fine with it after that.

  41. 41.

    bemused

    June 1, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    @licensed to kill time:
    I see cute little faces with bonnets.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 1, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    @kommrade reproductive vigor #29:

    Have you never watched the old Disney animated *Alice in Wonderland*? There’s a whole scene (and song, “Golden Afternoon”) with many giggling twee flowers, naturally including pansies.

  43. 43.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 1, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    @Cat Lady: Aw, Baby Carol! That’s a great name for a pansy.

    @Steeplejack: What time is it? #Checks computer clock#. Good to see ya. I gave you a h/t in my latest blog entry.

    @WereBear: Ok, that made me guffaw! Thanks for that.

  44. 44.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 1, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    @WereBear:

    I once freaked out one of my cats by wearing

    a shirt that looked like snake skin. He would

    never come near me when I wore it.

  45. 45.

    Larkspur

    June 1, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    I do not have a pansy story, but this past weekend I puppy-sat for a wee 4-month old Boston terrier. She was the sweetest little thing. The pool was covered so that she wouldn’t jump in and drown, but she was able to run around on top of the pool cover and I think she was totally thrilled that we essentially set up a big water bed for her to play on.

    Then she got tired and climbed up on me and tucked her head under my chin and fell asleep. I have no photographic evidence, though.

    Another little job I did was weeding and re-endirtifyng a bunch of big planter containers so that the homeowner can plop in the posies. There will be no pansies, as they are not well-liked in that household. But impatiens, yes. And they are pretty. There’s no accounting for taste. But my favorites are their tomato plants. If there is a cologne that smells exactly like the new flowers on a young tomato plant, will somebody buy it for me please? Thx.

  46. 46.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Way back, we were gifted with those slippers that look like animal paws, with claws?

    It made my cat Myron do a backflip off the bed, land on his feet, and pile up three area rugs during his getaway.

    We put them back in the box, and regifted.

  47. 47.

    Tattoosydney

    June 1, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    @Larkspur:

    I have a scented candle that smells like being in the middle of a tomato patch at the height of a warm spring day.

    Unfortunately, it’s made in a tiny little shop in Portugal which doesn’t export, so unless a European trip is on the cards….

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    June 1, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    @QuaintIrene:

    My least favorite bedding flower? Impatiens.

    I vote petunias. At least impatiens are pretty in the shade, but petunias turn to “shredded post-prom tissue streamers” five minutes after they’re planted out.

    The old English name for pansies is heartsease, which I understand referred to their medicinal attributes, but looking at them always eases my heart!

  49. 49.

    MikeJ

    June 1, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    Is there a plugin here that handles markdown? (punctuation in place of html) If so, please, please, please, nuke it. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. The guy, fred fnord, who screwed up the next thread, appears to have screwed up some others because he feels it necessary to add a sig line even though his name is right above his comment. There was another commenter here with asterisks in his name that fucked everything up on every comment too.

    Whether intentional or not, it’s annoying. Lose the buggy markdown, save yourself some headaches.

  50. 50.

    BC

    June 1, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    I love pansies – they are so hardy in cold areas. In Colorado, they bloom in January in the snow. Such a sunny flower, seeing it peeping through the snow.

  51. 51.

    HRA

    June 1, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Very nice pansy arrangement, John. Did you ever plant the miniature pansies? Mine came back for a few years after winter here and I believe they are probably hidden by the jungle (plants gone big and wild) now.

    Ummm – some of the comments have spread out and some have not spread out. It happened after I clicked and went to see the irises. Speaking of which – some irises are bloomed and some are not bloomed here. We have had 80s for the past few weeks here. Everything is ahead of schedule.

  52. 52.

    QuaintIrene

    June 1, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    There’s a whole scene (and song, “Golden Afternoon”) with many giggling twee flowers

    That’s in the original book as well. The sequel rather, ‘Through The Looking Glass.”

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    June 1, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    What time is it?

    Still on my three-day “holiday” weekend. Courtesy of another “screw you” from the Man. If you work the actual holiday at the Big Box Bookstore, you get time and a half. If you work that week but not the actual holiday, you get a little prorated extra vig to be “fair.” But the Man cuts costs by dealing out unpaid “holiday” off days. So I am working only four days this week and actually making less than a regular week. And the fact that my “holiday” is contiguous with my regular off days is completely by chance.

    Which is not to say, however, that I am not enjoying the extra time off.

    ETA: Thnx for the h/t. Mavericks rule!

  54. 54.

    CaseyL

    June 1, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    Back when I made a point of planting things, pansies were my favorite because they gave so much cheerful prettiness for so little effort.

    I don’t know how hard dahlias are to grow, but I’d like to have some of those, too: they’re so huge, and their petals so perfectly furled and arranged together, they make me think of Mandelbrot sets. (Sunflowers, which are also huge but weird looking, make me think of insectoids from outer space sent here to spy on us. No, really. I get a really interesting, not unpleasant, frisson whenever I’m in a field of ’em.)

    I finally cleared some old junk off my main balcony, so if I ever have a job and disposable income again, I want to put together a bitchin’ container garden, with miniature trees and flowers and maybe even some veggies. The balcony’s quite large, and I’ve always wanted to fill it with enough plants that it’s a mini-jungle. I think the kitties would love that, too.

  55. 55.

    bemused

    June 1, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    @CaseyL:
    The kitties also love to poop in flower pots & flower beds. Hey, lookie, new litter boxes just for us!

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack

    June 1, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    @MikeJ:

    Can someone get the no-hyphen, no-sig-line message to Fred Fnord? I keep looking for him, but this last week I was reading the threads so late I couldn’t catch up to him.

    We did successfully catch and neuterize the Master of Accountancy. Took a tranquilizer dart gun, but there were no lasting ill effects.

  57. 57.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    @CaseyL: Dahlias are easy. You just need big pots (at least a foot square per tuber) and use a very coarse, fast draining mix. They do not tolerate soggy soil.

    They sure are dramatic!

  58. 58.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 1, 2010 at 8:23 pm

    @Steeplejack: Oh, yeah. That’s right. Good for you! Sucky on the no holly pay, though. Heh. Your comment further down about neuterizing the Master of Accountancy made me snort.

  59. 59.

    RedKitten

    June 1, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    Bears! I just looked out the window 20 minutes ago, and there was a mama bear and cub, munching the clover in our yard. I got video of the the little fart scampering around — cute as can be!

  60. 60.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 1, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    @RedKitten: That’s SO freaking adorable, but why no closeups? (And yes, I’m just teasing).

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 1, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    @RedKitten: You should send that to Stephen Colbert :-)

  62. 62.

    cmorenc

    June 1, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    John, that must be some pretty good shit you’re smoking, mind sharing a joint of it so the rest of us can get pansy-giggles too?

  63. 63.

    cmorenc

    June 1, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    John, that must be some pretty good shit you’re smoking – how ’bout sharing a joint so the rest of us can get the pansy-giggles too?

  64. 64.

    Platonicspoof

    June 1, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    @MikeJ:
    Thanks, if you’ve spotted the problem.
    I don’t expect any site to be bullet proof, but it gets unreadable, and my OS, etc., haven’t changed in years, yet the last couple (?) of weeks comments outside the lines has been almost a daily problem.

  65. 65.

    Steeplejack

    June 1, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    @Platonicspoof:

    I don’t think the margins problem is caused by a commenter. I think it is being caused by one of the new ads that has come into the rotation.

  66. 66.

    Nancy Irving

    June 2, 2010 at 11:27 pm

    I can see why you like pansies–they are distinctly dog-faced!

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