Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

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

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

The willow is too close to the house.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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Open Thread

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It is so damned muggy here I am seriously considering wearing a mumu. I’ll just tell everyone I’m Scottish and it is a kilt. My melodramatic pansies have all fainted and can’t be revived, and Lily is too hot to go for long walks.

*** Update ***

Not too hot for tacos, dirty rice, salad, daquiris and mojitos:

You, too, can have a Feed apron, if you click on the Balloon Juice store to the right. All proceeds go to animal rescue.

Reader Interactions

162Comments

  1. 1.

    Chuck Butcher

    Well it actually made it all the way to 70F and is raining off and on all day today – and for the last month and I’m sick of it. We just miss being a desert and need what precipitation we get … but shit.

    It ain’t just about the Harley, there’s the little issue of two roof jobs that involve tear-off and people kind of resent paying good money to have their problems increased.

    5 nice days in May…

  2. 2.

    scav

    Cyclamen are other drama queens of the floral world. My great-grandmother called the “Drunkards” because of their ability to collapse and pop back again. Apart from that, I’m really just waiting for the chorus crying out for photographic documentation of the mumu.

  4. 4.

    licensed to kill time

    __

    It is so damned muggy here I am seriously considering wearing a mumu.

    Please please please! post a photo if you do ;-)

  5. 5.

    Origuy

    Go Islamofascist and wear a thobe. I’m told they’re quite comfortable. Kilts are hot, at least the wool ones are.

  7. 7.

    Libby

    Ha! In the spirit of diversity, you should tell them you’re honoring your black heritage and the mumu is a dashiki.

  8. 8.

    Adam Collyer

    A few thoughts to lighten the mood over here, a blog which seems to be in the throes of despair these days. From Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker (D) at the Suffolk Law School graduation:

    We live in a world that is going to want to constrain you and confine you and make you stuck and paralyzed in paradigms of what is. You need to understand that you were not born to fit in, to go along, to get along. You were born to manifest your truth, your divinity, your genius, your authenticity. This is what the world yearns for
    right now. Not people who are accepting of what is and try to conform to that, but who are demanding of what can be and what must be and what should be and want to let that power of love inside of themselves out into the world.

    My family would tell me there’s two ways to go through life. You could be a thermometer or a thermostat. A thermometer’s just one that reflects the outside world, but a thermostat is one of those people that wherever they go, they raise the temperature. They bring on the power and they transform.

    I tell you right now we are a nation that is being dammed with low expectations. That we have too many people that sit back on their couches in what I call a state of sedentary agitation. We get so upset about what’s going on in the world that they don’t get up and do something about it. We are the inheritors of a profound legacy of struggle, of people who understood that democracy is not a spectator sport. It is a full-contact participatory endeavor and who are we not to realize that we are the descendants of heroes. That we have in our very DNA unlimited reservoirs of strength, of power and love. Who are we not to savor every moment of our lives as a gift that it is, because we all in this hallowed hall drink deeply from wells of freedom and liberty that we did not dig. We eat lavishly from banquet tables prepared for us
    by the labor of our ancestors. We have an obligation to infuse into this world that which is inside of us, never yield to cynicism or negativity or doubt. To be courageously ourselves and to take risks in pursuit of our truth. I’m a man that believes I would rather have my ship sunk at sea than have it rot in the harbor, sitting in safety and security, never boldly going and manifesting that which it was created to do.

    You all are those vessels. And we have worlds of possibility to discover. Now this to me is not as grand as many people want to make it. So many people want to tell you that life is about the big speech or the big election or the big fight, but that’s not what life is about. I’ve found that life is really about moments. It’s about the choices we make and the most powerful choice we all must accept is that we have this simple, simple thing to decide. Will we accept conditions as they are, or will we take responsibility for changing them? It’s not a life choice. It’s a moment’s choice.

  10. 10.

    Svensker

    Pansies don’t like hot. They will pooh out on you shortly and for good. Plan on replanting their pots with something that can cope with heat — petunias, geraniums, verbena are good ones for hot and sunny.

    Also, too, pics of you and the mumu! There’s gotta be something that’s not pissing me off in this country.

  11. 11.

    Phyllis

    We just had a heckuva downpour with more coming according to the radar. So much for hanging out in the yard with a margarita and a good book (With the Old Breed). On the upside, the SO received notification today he has $79 in previously unknown unclaimed property coming from GA. Pays to check those websites sometimes.

  16. 16.

    asiangrrlMN

    @jeffreyw: Yuuuuuuuum! It’s eighty today, which is too hot for me. We had a brief, heavy rainfall last night, and it was in the sixties. Much nicer.

    Pics request of you in the muumuu seconded.

  19. 19.

    MattR

    @robertdsc:

    And how is Tunch today?

    I am trying to figure out if Tunch would be welcome in Arizona or if the color in his tail disqualifies him.

  20. 20.

    Mike E

    Diane Rehm spent most of an hour on the recent Israeli crazy uncle act PR gambit at sea. Anybody listen in today?

  21. 21.

    Jim, Once

    Ha! Look what I just came across on Wonkette –

    Brick Oven Bill says at 9:28 am, June 4th, 2010
    AOL has it all wrong, as usual. The truth is that Al has been having a secret gay affair with David Blood, his business partner in Generations Investment, Limited Liability Corporation, your friendly purveyor of carbon credits. Tipper found out about this and wigged out worse than when she heard those Twisted Sister lyrics.
    Al’s partner Dave, you know, the guy from Goldman Sachs, the company, you know, that would take a 20% cut on the brokerage of all American energy, is really the reason for this tragic breakup. Not like there is anything wrong with being gay.

    Should I apologize for sharing this? I was just so startled when I found it – especially where I found it. I think it’s just dorky enough to really be him (or DougJ?). Nevertheless, it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around BOB being a Wonkette poster.

  25. 25.

    Melodramatic Pansy (was Jay in Oregon)

    I’ve seen the mention of Utilikilts; I happen to have a NeoKilt and I love it.

    And for the records, kilts don’t go up around your neck, generally speaking…

  26. 26.

    Melodramatic Pansy (was Jay in Oregon)

    *blink blink* I’m in moderation? Is it my new nom de plume or the link?

    EDIT: It’s the name, apparently…

  30. 30.

    Violet

    Since this is an open thread, does anyone know if The Daily Show and the Colbert Report play online for people in Asia and Europe? A friend is going overseas on a business trip and was hoping to watch some of them while there. Anyone know?

  31. 31.

    MattR

    @Violet: I want to say they are not available, but I am not really sure. I don’t even know if they are accessible from Canada, though I will be able to answer that in ten days.

  33. 33.

    demo woman

    @Violet: My son has been spending time in Denmark and has trouble viewing anything online except what he has downloaded. Hulu is not available.

  39. 39.

    jl

    Lot of old mumus at my parents’ house. Be glad to send some.

    All I ask in return is a pic of Cole in one of them, standing at his front door holding a cig butt and a bottle of cheap booze in the front doorway. At the top of the blog.

    If I get that, I will send a couple next day delivery.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Tlazolteotl:

    Utilikilt!

    I am deeply disappointed that the first question in their FAQ is NOT “what are you wearing under your Utilikilt?”

  41. 41.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @BDeevDad:

    There is only one problem with phonetic spelling, which the proponents seem to ignore, there are a large diversity of accents in this country (and others of course), which would mean that you could have three or four different spellings of the same word depending on how it is pronounced in various places. Tomayto Tomahto for example.

  44. 44.

    bemused

    Reading the free-times on the ‘raghead’ story, I was shocked that the cohost of the radio show & leader of the Dem Caucus, Phil Bailey and Dem Rep Boyd Brown didn’t say a word of protest to Senator Jackass when he opened his fat mouth with that filth. After the show, Bailey said it was ‘a step too far’. What an understatement. Is it that bad in SC that even people with a D in front of their name tiptoe around calling blatant racists out?

  46. 46.

    Violet

    @MattR:
    Thanks, that was my guess too. I should be able to report whether or not they work in Singapore and/or Malaysia pretty soon.

    @demo woman: Thanks for letting me know. My guess is they wouldn’t work, but wondered if anyone knew for sure. I figure they might work with a proxy, but that can be a pain.

  47. 47.

    qwerty42

    @Svensker:

    Pansies don’t like hot. They will pooh out on you shortly and for good. Plan on replanting their pots with something that can cope with heat—petunias, geraniums, verbena are good ones for hot and sunny.

    Agreed. Get started now, it will be a help to the summer plants to get going sooner rather than later. I plant some pots with petunias and geraniums and a few others just because I can watch them and they add some variety. The drawback is they will need more frequent watering than plants in the ground.

  49. 49.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    BTW Mr. Cole, you should have asked about planting pansies at this time of year before you did it. Even in your zone most gardeners would have told you bad idea.

  53. 53.

    Anne Laurie

    Kilts are hot, at least the wool ones are.

    Yes, the wool ones are very effective traps for body heat. On the other hand, a cotton or linen sarong permits air circulation much more effectively than trousers, while providing protection against hot/sticky seating surfaces. There’s a reason the ancient Egyptians wore those little semi-transparent linen kilts for thousands of years.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Obama has invited the families of all the people killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion to the White House next Thursday for a meeting and personal condolences.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    YES! Thank you! That Disney Cinderella scene is exactly what I’ve been reminded of all this time.

    “Cinderella, Cinderella,”
    Night and day it’s “Cinderella!”
    From the moment that I get up
    Till shade of night is falling
    There isn’t any letup
    I hear them calling, calling,
    “Go up into the attic and go down into the cellar,
    You can do them both together, Cinderella!”

  56. 56.

    bemused

    @asiangrrlMN:
    59 & rainy most of the day up north till the sun came out late & it made it to 70. Too bad we can’t split the difference between north & south MN temps.

  57. 57.

    ellaesther

    To those of you who have come by to my place off and on this week because of all the Israel/Palestine flotilla insanity (set to continue in the wee hours tonight!), I hope that you’ll also come by to see some of the other stuff I write about. Come for the international madness, stay for the pop culture musings!

    Also, too, is not my perma-link a thing of beauty? “Emily Hauser In Your Base Killing Your Doodz” – it don’t get much better than that.

  58. 58.

    demo woman

    Elizabelle and SiubhanDuinne, John should post that if there are no copyright laws against it.

  59. 59.

    jl

    A pic of Cole in a mumu, sarong, dhoti, grass skirt of a kilt adapted for hot climate wear all sound good to me.

    As long as they are pastel. After Easter, you know, and he should keep in fashion.

    If he finks out with a seersucker suite with a straw boater, that will be a cop out.

  60. 60.

    Anne Laurie

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Mr. Cole, you should have asked about planting pansies at this time of year before you did it. Even in your zone most gardeners would have told you bad idea.

    But if John remembers to water them, they will come back after the first cool snap in the fall, just as all the summer-color plants are collapsing. Swap the pansy planter for one with impatiens, fuchsia, lobelia and/or allysum to perk up your doorstep, and set the pansies in an unobtrusive area where they can summer over.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @demo woman:

    I wouldn’t swear to the accuracy of the words — I’m working from memory of the film from, what? 60 years ago or so? If it is accurate, Disney holds the copyright, and if it’s only close, Disney would have us up for plagiarism :-)

    Have no idea what constitutes “fair use” in a blog for an editorial cartoon and half-remembered song lyrics.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    By the way, I tried to post last night but the site was all kerflooey (in a different way than its current kerflooeyness), but I wanted to mention that my package arrived from Café Press, and I am now the proud owner of two Balloon Juice mugs (one with each of the available slogans), two tote bags (“Tunch Is Watching You” and “OBEY”), and a long-sleeved Tunch t-shirt. It’s far too hot to think about long-sleeved anything, but when the weather cools off I’ll wear it happily. In the meantime, my coffee will taste better and my toting will be happier.

  65. 65.

    Anne Laurie

    @cleek: “Bricks Over Brains” got banned at Obsidian Wings before wandering here. After he succeeded in finally pushing even John Cole’s expansive limits on insane racist graffitti past the breaking point, he moved on to pollute the commentor pool at Wonkette. If only Andrew Sullivan permitted (printed) comments, I’m sure he’d be trolling Sully right now.

  66. 66.

    Redshift

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Yeah, they look like idiots. They actually seem to be advocating simplified spelling, a cause which has a long tradition, and don’t understand that it’s not the same as phonetic spelling. And they have stupid examples like “oo” and “ee,” when a real simplified language wouldn’t use more complex double-letter spellings instead of single-letter equivalents.

    I’d be embarrassed that one of the “protesters” is a former principal in my county, but I’m willing to bet she was hired back in the days when Republicans ran the county.

  67. 67.

    Anne Laurie

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: The Utilikilt people do have a special “activewear” model with a discrete strap to prevent (accidental) flashing. The traditional sporran hangs at the front center of the Scottish kilt for a reason…

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    A pic of Cole Tunch in a mumu, sarong, dhoti, grass skirt of a kilt adapted for hot climate wear all sound good to me.

    mo bettah fixed

  69. 69.

    BethanyAnne

    The Arizona thread is broked. Someone tried to strike through some words.

  70. 70.

    bemused

    @Redshift:
    I can’t believe this is for real.
    Crackpots standing on soapboxes shouting in the streets to passersby didn’t get much traction back in the day. Now, almost every last one of them gets their face & rant on local & national media outlets.

  72. 72.

    KDP

    @Adam Collyer: Thank you, I needed that.

    Eight days to my graduation. Final edits to my senior research report over the weekend. Final essay and final for a GE class. Basic statistics final next Thursday.

    Commencement on the 12th. My five year slog of working and going to school full-time is nearly done. Until I start grad school……still waiting to hear about that.

    Happy weekend everyone!

  78. 78.

    Cain

    Look at y’all with your 80 degree, muggy weather. Here in Portland, we got 60 degree weather, rain all the time, and we’re still wearing jackets cuz it is like 50 degrees at night. In June! At least the rain is kinda warm.. (not really)

    cain

  80. 80.

    hpr

    My Little One

    Sleep sweetly, little one
    and enter a land of milk and cream
    that never makes you sick
    you will never be sick again

    You and I
    we’ve been through a lot together
    and all those times
    I cried and cried
    you’d try to shake me out of it
    with urgent meows
    and bumping your head against me
    to say “come on, you’ve got me, I love you”

    Sleep sweetly now, little one
    your pain is gone
    I kiss your sweet little noggin
    as I have done so many times before
    now for the last time

    As tears plop onto the blanket
    beneath your frail body
    that sleeps sweetly now
    know that I loved you
    that I love you, always
    my little one, my baby, my precious girl

  82. 82.

    Cain

    @Sheila:

    @Origuy:
    Why not try a dhoti? Indian men should know something about garments that provide some relief from the heat.

    Dhoti’s are okay, but rather hard to maintain.. I prefer “lungi” which is more like a mumu or whatever those polynesians wear. More colorful..
    In India it’s the best thing to wear. I never understood why the younger generation (including mine) wear shorts.. I felt way cooler in lungi’s since the air from the overheard fan would always get trapped inside the lungi cooling my legs.
    cain

  83. 83.

    burnspbesq

    @KDP:

    Congratulations!

    If we find out that you didn’t take at least a couple of days to do nothing except celebrate, we will sic BoB on you.

  84. 84.

    burnspbesq

    OK, it’s after 5:00 everywhere in the lower 48. The drinking lamp is lit.

  85. 85.

    lamh32

    So I just watched “Fred Claus” with Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and I’ve developed an hypothesis: the BEST thing about Vince Vaughn movies is…VINCE VAUGHN.

    It’s amazing to me, but for what ever reason, I always laugh at Vince Vaughn’s schtick. Yes, it’s the same schitck in most every movie, but damn if Vaughn does not have it down. I’m convinced that it’s why he doesn’t really do any serious non/comedic movies anymore (i.e. Psycho), he’s just too good at the comedy.

    My fav Vince Vaughn movie “Dodgeball”!

  86. 86.

    PurpleGirl

    I have a friend who for years wore an Egyptian cotton caftan at parties he gave. Said it was cool and comfortable.

  88. 88.

    KRK

    BoB was an Obsidian Wings poster before he came here.

    Actually, BoB was an Obsidian Wings commenter before he came here.

    It makes a difference.

  89. 89.

    4jkb4ia

    “The only purpose of cats is that they constitute mobile decorative objects, a concept which I find intellectually interesting, but unfortunately our cats have such drooping bellies that this does not apply to them….When I hear my mother say “Constitution is both a very proud and very sensitive little cat” when in fact said cat is sprawled on the sofa because she’s eaten too much, it really makes me want to laugh. But if you think about the hypothesis that a cat’s purpose is to act as a modern totem, a sort of emblematic incarnation, protector of the home, reflecting well upon its owners, then everything becomes clear. My mother makes the cats into what she wishes we were, and which we absolutely are not.”
    —-Elegance of the Hedgehog

  92. 92.

    james hare

    @MattR:
    Yes. On the Comedy Channel or something silly like that. Those darn Canadians with their special channels. You even have to go to a special webpage to watch them.

    Try not to notice their nice roads and functional healthcare system while you’re there. I’ve been enjoying the shitty roads and my girlfriend has been enjoying the shitty healthcare system since we came back from Canada less and less.

    When did the US of A start to look like a third world country compared to our neighbor to the north?

  96. 96.

    SIA

    My fav time of day, sitting on the porch listening to the faint haunting strains of the call to prayer at a nearby mosque. Beautifil.

    SiubhanDuinne @55, well done. What a memory you have. For baseball too!

  98. 98.

    srv

    I live in a 1906 Italianate, and my stove is older than Bills. Now way you could cook properly on an electric stove.

    But the cast iron is ok.

    And also, of course, why can’t we have a Fairey Tunch with OBEY? Also.

  99. 99.

    ms badger

    @ellaesther: Alright, already. Ewan McGregor in a kilt is lovely. And toothsome. And easy on the eyes. The sneakers are a nice touch.

    If you are in the Rocky Mountain West, come to Estes Park, CO on Sept 23 (I think) for the Scottish Irish Festival. Kilts for days and miles, many of them worn well. Caber tossing, whiskey drinking and jousting for amusement. Well worth the price of admission.

  101. 101.

    ellaesther

    @Litlebritdifrnt: I confess, I had to look him up. I am a cretin!

    But upon looking him up, I have to say that I can imagine that he, too, would be lovely in a kilt.

    But dogs as bridesmaids? Um…. I shall hold my tongue. Because who am I to judge? I’m no one that’s who. No one who should judge, not even to judge a person who puts their dogs in their wedding party. Nope. Not me. Ain’t gonna judge!

  102. 102.

    jl

    Is that a picture of Cole in the update? He would look dang fine in a mumu,

    The Tunch ‘Feed’ apron could go on the outside.

  103. 103.

    maus

    @celticdragonchick: There’s nothing more amusing than walking by the Utilikilt retail store and seeing drunks get kicked out.

    I mean, really? Are you seriously too drunk to handle UTILIKILT HEADQUARTERS? I mean, that’s a store you have to be drunk even to walk into, for chrissake.

    @KRK: His new trollin’ account is BeaverFallsBob.

  104. 104.

    Morbo

    Ok, do any other people laugh their asses off whenever they see the Letourneau University ad for Teacher Certification?

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SIA #96: Well, you saw my disclaimer. But yesd, for some reason I’ve always been blessed with a pretty good memory for song lyrics. My mother claimed that I could sing about 300 songs before I was in kindergarten. I challeneged her, but then we began making a list (mind you, we’re talking about a lot of nursery rhymes and hymns and folk songs here) but I think she may have underestimated. And I promise you that by the time I was 13 or therreabouts I knerw every word and every part of every Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, even the obscure ones.

    Now please tell me how I can make that profitable.

    Lovely night tonight in metro Atlanta.

  109. 109.

    Jager

    Try the old Viet Nam heat and humidity beating lounge wear, jungle fatigue pants cut off above the knee, GI T-shirt without sleeves, cheap flip flops and a well worn, washed out towel around your neck. Last but not least, you must go commando.

  112. 112.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Alright, open thread question here. The tiny a/c in my apartment barely works. I’m on the top floor, so naturally by 4 p.m., the studio apt. is cooking. I have two small fans, but they don’t really help that much. At this time of year, that means things don’t cool off until about 9 or 10.

    Does anyone have a suggestion for a good fan that will actually cool the place down some without blowing everything away (i.e., other than a huge box fan)? Do those tower fans work at all?

    thanks

  113. 113.

    Elisabeth

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    I have two tower fans that work pretty well. I have one for the bedroom but I still have to elevate it on a one-story kitty condo to get the most air over the mattress/box spring (bed sits up kind of high). Have you thought of ceiling fans?

  115. 115.

    ellaesther

    One last shot across the bow of the topic of the damned flotilla and its consequences before I disappear into Shabbat-land:

    I found a truly remarkable op/ed on HaAretz by Anshel Pfeffer, in which, among other things, he says:

    “the feeling of helplessness of a poor lonely victim, confronting the rage of a lynch mob and frantically realizing that these are his last moments, accurately reflect the current psychosis of the majority of the Israeli public.”

    and

    “We need a strong, unified voice from the Jewish leadership in the United States and Europe telling Israelis enough is enough, you are hurtling down the slippery slope of pariahdom and causing untold damage to yourselves and us.”

    I posted a chunk of it at my place; the original is here.

    Shabbat shalom – pray (or hope) for better days.

  116. 116.

    Olive Oyl

    John, did you plant some hot peppers? Let us know if you got a good crop and if they’re actually hot. I hope the mint leaves are good for mojitos.

  117. 117.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    True story. Our AC unit died (three bedroom two bath house average electric bill $400.00) I weighed the odds, repair cost + the electric bill versus not fixing the AC unit and buying some window units. We bought a window unit for the living room and one for the bedroom. Total cost $247.00, our last electric bill? $96.00. It makes absolutely no sense heating and cooling an entire house when you basically use three rooms.

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Good Shabbas, ellaesther. Thanks for your updates and insights over the past several days.

  121. 121.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Elisabeth:
    Re: fan/ac question: The landlord would probably install a new unit, but I don’t know if I’m going to be in this apt. after this summer, honestly, so I’d rather just muddle through without having him come in and do it.

    Which also rules out the ceiling fan option. It’s really a room, kitchenette, bathroom and closet, but I get a great rental rate and all bills paid, so I’ve put up with it so far. Now that the new noisy neighbor has moved in, I’m probably moving (which I hate, hate, hate!)

  122. 122.

    Martin

    @Elisabeth: Yeah, when we moved in the AC wasn’t working and rather than buy a new central unit with the $2K we got, we bought ceiling fans in the bedrooms and dining/family room, 2 tower fans, a lemon tree, and a really fucking nice patio set.

    Fans, understanding how to funnel air through the house, and a steady flow of Arnold Palmers from fresh lemonade + wifi out on the patio, plus CFC and other electricity saving measures has resulted in an annual electricity bill of $500.

  123. 123.

    Alice Blue

    88 degrees here today, 93% humidity, slam bang thunderstorms every afternoon. On the other hand, the gardenia bush is loaded with blooms and buds (the heavenly scent is all around the house and yard) and the magnolia tree we planted 7-8 years ago has bloomed.

    Small blessings of summer in Georgia.

  125. 125.

    Honus

    time to get a bit serious. I’m omitting the picture of the bird he sent because it’s it’s too depressing, but here’s the text of an e-mail an old friend and college classmate of mine sent me today. He is a several-generation native of New Orleans.

    “Friends: Please send an email to your Washington representatives asking them to demand the President federalize the clean-up effort in South Louisiana. Nothing BP says about the response is accurate. There may be thousands of people working on the clean-up, but most of them are temporary workers hired on Canal Street and from temp labor firms, then bussed to the coast. These people do not have the stamina, discipline or training to work under the difficult conditions that exist in the marsh. As a result, almost nothing is being accomplished. The attached picture demonstrates the results of BP’s efforts. Please take 5 minutes to send at least one email to your representatives this morning.”

  126. 126.

    OriGuy

    I’ve signed up to do Scottish Country Dancing at the Pleasanton (CA) Highland Games on Labor Day weekend again. Last year was unseasonably cool and our group went on in the morning. More likely to be dancing in the afternoon in 95F heat. It feels like a greenhouse under there in those conditions.

    And yes, I wear underwear (while dancing, anyway!)

  127. 127.

    JohnR

    1. @Derek: Naked in this heat/wet? Are you insane? Think of the chafing! At 9:45 it’s down to 89F in the house here, and should be down to 85 by morning, judging by the week’s history. Ranch houses aren’t so good when the A/C is dead. If it wasn’t for thin cotton fabrics, we’d have all killed each other by now.
    2. @lamh32: nice to see another person with taste and discernment. Although I’m not a big fan of Vaughn, I loved Dodgeball. I think it was Rip Torn.
    3. @arguing: I have a couple tower fans to help with the main window unit for non-A/C times; they’re pretty good about not filling the rooms with flying debris, even on high. Since you’re up on top, though, you’re hosed no matte what you do – the chimney effect is just going to keep bringing up the hot air from below no matter what you do, until everybody else is cooled off first.

  128. 128.

    Tattoosydney

    @Violet:

    if The Daily Show and the Colbert Report play online for people in Asia and Europe?

    I can play show clips on their websites from Australia, and last year I could do the same in Amsterdam and Lisbon. Can’t say about any Asian countries, though, sorry.

  129. 129.

    SIA

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, a lovely evening but a bit muggy, yes?

    I have a great memory for songs. I like to “name that song” (referring to rock n roll, though, not that highbrow stuff) hearing the first few bars. I can remember words to songs, characters in movies, old phone numbers, the plots to books I read when I was a child. I can’t, however, remember last week. Or yesterday. :(

    ETA: Thinking further, I’m even more impressed knowing you remembered all the words to the childhood song AND typed them up on a tiny blackberry. The BB-fu is strong in you, grasshopper.

  131. 131.

    Joshua Norton

    I am seriously considering wearing a mumu.

    For a brief second “Mrs. Roper” flashed through my mind.

    Not a pretty sight.

  132. 132.

    El Cid

    Henry Waxman goes hysterical, excuse me, I mean, utterly mainstream, saying Marcia Winograd basically wants to destroy Israel.

    Waxman, who represents an adjoining district to the north that encompasses Beverly Hills, began a campaign to discourage high-dollar Jewish donors from supporting Winograd, insisting that “[i]n Marcy Winograd’s foreign policy, Israel would cease to exist. In Marcy Winograd’s vision, Jews would be at the mercy of those who do not respect democracy or human rights. These are not trivial issues; they cannot be ignored or overlooked. Jane’s victory will represent a clear repudiation of these views.”

    Yeah. A fucking nuclear armed state is going to just wither away because a few U.S. politicians think human beings living in Gaza don’t have so many children growing up wasted, stunted, malnutriented, and pregnant women risking their own lives and their pregnancy from anemia, and so forth.

    In a recent interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Winograd fired back, questioning whether Waxman pledges allegiance to the United States or to Israel first.
    __
    “I appreciate Henry Waxman, the fact that he pioneered generics, that he’s concerned about the environment,” said Winograd, when asked about Waxman’s criticism of her. “However, on foreign policy we have strong differences. I would hope that all of our lawmakers would pledge allegiance to this country as the country they represent.”
    __
    “Are you saying Waxman isn’t loyal?” Goldberg asked.
    __
    “I don’t know. That’s a question you have to ask him,” she said.

  133. 133.

    asiangrrlMN

    @ellaesther: Even though you will not read this in forever, I have to chide you for being so anxious. I have much much love for Ewan and his kilt. MUCH.

    @hpr: My deepest condolences and sympathy to you on the lost of your beloved girl. You wrote a beautiful and moving homage to her. May she visit you from the other side so that you can know she’s free of pain and playing happily.

    @jeffreyw: Sorry! The pics of muumuu was for Cole, not you!

    bemused, I’ll swap you straight up. I hate the heat.

  135. 135.

    SIA

    @arguingwithsignposts: Depending on the orientation, put a fan pulling the hot air out of the house on the west/south side, and another fan in the window blowing the cooler air in to the house from the north/east side, and get a cross current going. Also, as my southern mama told me, close windows and curtains before the place warms up. At night when it’s cooler open the windows. In the summer my house looks like a cave in the daytime, but it really helps.

    Splash eau de cologne on your wrists, neck, and temples.

    Or, buy a new AC unit. :)

  136. 136.

    SIA

    @jl: I don’t think it’s John Cole, who once described himself as looking somewhat like Phillip Seymour Hoffman (forgive me if I am mis-remembering). I would like to know who it is because, well, I’m curious.

  137. 137.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: Hi, you. How you be? I’m still bummed out over the AZ thing. I gotta say, I looked up John Barrowman, and I didn’t find him cute. He’s not my type (as I am not his), so you can haz!

    @SIA: The mouse-over says Bill. So, it’s a Bill. Maybe I need to pull on my Tunchie t-shirt to feel better.

  140. 140.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I’m well – it’s Saturday morning, it’s not raining, I’m not working, I am pretending that the world and the environment aren’t fucked for a few hours, and going shopping to buy a shitload of dried fruit to make bolo-rei (Portuguese Christmas cakes).

    Last night we watched Stardust, with the very yummy Charlie Cox, which was sweet and very funny and obviously put me in a good mood.

    How you?

  141. 141.

    SIA

    @asiangrrlMN: Yes, but Bill Who? I must know! Whoever it is, he looks fine in his BJ swag, which reminds me, I got my two BJ mugs today. Very nice.

  142. 142.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: You and I have totally different taste in men–which is a good thing. I am grumpy. I’m going downstairs to take a nap.

    @SIA: Dunno. I agree he looks fine in his Tunch swag. I know we have a Bill H and a Bill E Pilgrim and some bus Bill, but…You don’t think it’s B.o.B., do you?? That would be horrifying.

  147. 147.

    debit

    @South of I-10: Dare I click? I am both curious and yet faintly fearful of where the sock might be that it can be twirled.

    And now disappointed. That wasn’t even proper Hula Hooping.

  148. 148.

    Brachiator

    Retired UCLA basketball coach John Wooden has passed away at the age of 99.

    Not just a sports story. Wooden was an inspiring teacher and mentor who was interested in his players not just as potential superstars or sports cash cows, but as human beings. He was also quite a motivational speaker and just a plain decent human being who loved his wife Nell and his family.

    I had the pleasure to hear him speak at a management conference and to briefly speak with him. He had that rare gift of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room. In interviews, I never heard him speak or act as though his coaching accomplishments and all the records he set were the most important thing in his life.

    Peace to Coach Wooden, to his family, and to all those he has ever touched or influenced.

  155. 155.

    Yutsano

    @burnspbesq: As a Pac-10 alum, this does indeed make me haz a sad. I also have good friends at that school who I’m sure are going to be in mourning through the summer. Pacem a tei Coach.

    @Tattoosydney: Ni hao ma?

  156. 156.

    PGE

    @Cain:

    I’ve got to agree with Cain. I spent a few months working in Kerala (a state in the south of India), and there is nothing more comfortable in hot, humid weather than a lungi. Nothing.

  157. 157.

    Katie

    Speaking of kilts, I’ve seen a lot of guys in AK wearing some sort of leather skirt/kilt thing. I always do a double take.

  160. 160.

    Steeplejack

    @Jim, Once:

    Doesn’t sound like classic BOB. Not the right tone. Not even spoof BOB (as I suspect happened multiple times here). Just sayin’.

  161. 161.

    Steeplejack

    @cleek:

    God, the thought of Brick Oven Bill on Obsidian Wings makes my teeth hurt. I am afraid to post there because of the gravitas. Somehow BOB seems like a quintessential Balloon Juice phenomenon. Ugly but ours.

  162. 162.

    asiangrrlMN

    @hamletta: Yes, we are. He doesn’t do anything for me. You all can have him!

    @Mark S.: Ha! That’s a great tagline.

    @Tattoosydney: I never read his remarks except when they were excerpted by others or when they were directed at me. I thought you kinda had a soft spot for him.

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