Figured we needed one.
Know I have linked this a bunch of times before, but it just seems more and more relevant every day:
Have at it.
Also, we are opening up a second fantasy football leaugue. First one filled pretty damned quick.
This post is in: Open Threads
Figured we needed one.
Know I have linked this a bunch of times before, but it just seems more and more relevant every day:
Have at it.
Also, we are opening up a second fantasy football leaugue. First one filled pretty damned quick.
Comments are closed.
beltane
I love Wonkette and this is why: http://wonkette.com/417780/americas-special-people-arriving-for-glennbeckpalooza
That comment I made last year about the Woodstock of the Damned ended up being prophetic. Sorry about that.
SiubhanDuinne
John, you just turned 40 and your parents are celebrating 42nd anniversary. So, are you the oldest of you four, or did your bro or one of the sisters get in first?
Hope all is going well with G&G and your own menagerie. Photos/videos would be welcome . . . .
Cat Lady
@beltane:
Well, they’re not covered in feces yet, though there’s still a couple of days left. Wait til they run out of
the brown acidDepends.beltane
@Cat Lady: In the 60’s we had Easy Rider; now we have mean old people in motorized chairs. Where did we go wrong as a nation?
General Stuck
Reds won again tonight, but looks like Cards might too. We have a soaking downpour of rain right now, which is rare in these parts, kind of nice. Took several pics of the pooch, but none of em turned out decent. He is such a good dog, and we have bonded almost completely. I can open the front door now, and walk out, and he will not budge from the doorway to follow me, until I call for him. All that wildness, or most of it has gone by the wayside, of being a free stray is gone. He never bugs me, except when it’s walk time. I usually don’t choose well, and probly why I’m single from picking woman of the queen of diamonds variety, but I picked good on Charlie.
Phoenix Woman
Know how all the Blue Dogs and Conservadems helped the Republicans block a stimulus that would have actually done the job of setting the economy on firm footing?
Well, guess what? They’re the ones who are most in trouble this election year. They wouldn’t give Obama the stimulus that he and every sane economist wanted, and now they’re going to pay the price. Too bad we will as well.
Cat Lady
@beltane:
I blame Reagan. I knew the day he was elected we were off and running down a dead end filled with old racist farts with misspelled signs. I just didn’t think they’d be so loud and fat, and proud about it. Ugh.
RedKitten
Having a nice quiet evening at home — had to travel for work on Wednesday and Thursday (a 6-hour drive each way), and so am enjoying just taking it easy. My coworker brought his Shih-Tzu mix into work today, and the dog spent a good half-hour on my lap, trying valiantly to kiss my chin off. The kidlet is sleeping peacefully after another busy day of exploring the big new world of walking. And I’m about to go get a cold beer.
All is well.
Omnes Omnibus
In amusing news tonight, the Obama admin has upset Jan Brewer.
Chad N Freude
@SiubhanDuinne: John is forty years old??? Unbelievable! John, you are so
immaturejuvenileyouthful. SD, are you sdure the decimal point is in the right place?morzer
Jan Brewer looks like an extra in Night of the Living Dead. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering her political views.
demo woman
@beltane: This is my theory.. the sixties scarred the left for life. The weather underground or SDS left(not a pun) a sour taste that MSM will not take progressive movements seriously. The tea party is taking over King’s speech and there is not an uproar but if the left did that 24/7 would scorn the gathering. We are so screwed as a nation. The Koch family and John Birchers are seen as heroes.
Hopefully someone on this site will say you are so wrong because………………..
Church Lady
I think DougJ needs to have his shrink increase the dosage on his meds. He is so fucking depressing these days.
thomas Levenson
Can’t post the Waits vid too often.
And fantasy football? As if I didn’t have enough ways to tap at my computer pretending to work. I refuse to play Eve to your serpent, you bad man.
Besides — as a Pats fan, I am dogfood here anyway.
thomas Levenson
Can’t post the Waits vid too often.
And fantasy football? As if I didn’t have enough ways to tap at my computer pretending to work. I refuse to play Eve to your serpent, you bad man.
Besides — as a Pats fan, I am dogfood here anyway.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
Let’s get another football league going! And have the champ of league 1 face the league 2 champ.
Chad N Freude
@Chad N Freude: And am I sure about my tdyping skills?
demo woman
@thomas Levenson: You do know that there are several Pats fans here. Gee, even Sarah talks about being a true Patriot.
morzer
@Gordon, The Big Express Engine:
Just don’t mess with Thomas the Tank Engine. He’s my nose tackle, dammit!
beltane
@Omnes Omnibus: Typical Republican. They throw all kinds of of hate bombs out there and then expect to universally adored for it. Such sensitive souls.
General Stuck
Waits was great in the recent Denzil flick about the post apocalyptic jaunt to save the bible. A natural comedian, as he was in Ironweed years ago.
morzer
@demo woman:
There are worse things than Pats fans. Jets fans, for example.
SiubhanDuinne
@Chad N Freude #10: it’s a McEstimate.
stuckinred
@demo woman: The weather people and SDS have re-emerged as an issue like the POW-MIA craze did a the start of the first Gulf War when Bush senior used Vietnam to gin up “support for the troops”. Sure there was some crazy shit done by the far left but it paled in comparison to what we were doing in SE Asia, I don’t condone it but I sure understand it. But you are right about the way the media handles it.
Omnes Omnibus
@morzer: Vikings fans. Pure evil, I tell you. Bears fans are wrong, but you can tell their hearts are in the right place.
Chad N Freude
@thomas Levenson:
But you can, of course, post the same comment too often. /snark
Peace, dude. I actually own a copy of “Newton and the Counterfeiter”, which I will actually really read some day. And I like your blog a lot. And I like being able to type messages to someone famous as though I actually know someone famous.
General Stuck
Browns are going to break out of their shells this season with new management in Holmgren. I can feel it in my bones, though it could just be arthuritis.
Omnes Omnibus
@beltane: As I said earlier: if you don’t want people to call you an asshole, don’t act like one.
morzer
@Omnes Omnibus:
*nods head* of course, Vikings quarterbacks of a certain age and exhibitionistic tendency are arguably worse than their wretched fans.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t really understand this dialog between Om Om and beltane, but Jan Brewer’s outrage would go over very well before a live audience on Comedy Central.
morzer
@General Stuck:
Arthuritis? Isn’t that what Mordred had?
stuckinred
Bear Down Chicago Bears
Omnes Omnibus
@Chad N Freude:
It’s rather good. I will be getting a copy for my dad for X-mas.
/sycophancy
demo woman
@stuckinred: No kidding but my point is MSM paints such a negative picture of that movement and the tea party gets a pass. The tea party is not a big movement but is treated as it is.
General Stuck
Deep Thought
What is wrong with this story?
via Political Wire http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/08/27/bush_leadership_on_katrina_preferred_to_obama_on_spill.html
Omnes Omnibus
@General Stuck: Racial breakdown of those polled?
stuckinred
@demo woman: roger that
Chad N Freude
@General Stuck: Is this from The Onion? Please.
morzer
@Omnes Omnibus:
Philip Kerr actually wrote a pretty good novel called “Dark Matter” with Newton as Warden of the Mint in the role of hero/major character.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chad N Freude: I understand very few things on this blog, but that doesn’t stop me from participating.
General Stuck
@Omnes Omnibus:I believe you are correcto.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: On a second reading, I see that the comment was about Jan She-Whose-Name-Must-Not-Be-Mentioned Brewer,not beltane. So now I understand everything.
Omnes Omnibus
@morzer: I’ll add it to my list. I am currently reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth by Benjamin Friedman, but I will get to it.
morzer
On a more cheerful note. Joe Miller seems set on annoying Lisa Murkowski into a definite third-party run:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/joe-miller-compares-murkowski.html?wprss=44
Omnes Omnibus
@Chad N Freude: Yeah, Beltane seems to be a perfectly nice person, so something that seems like random viciousness in her direction would be a bit uncalled for.
Chad N Freude
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m famous for my skill at understanding blog comments. The problem is a combination of the English language, reading too fast, jumping to conclusions and posting without reflection, and +3 haze.
geg6
I am in a food coma. Had some tasty tostadas and tacos from a legendary local Mexican food stand and topped it off with some chocolate frozen custard from a stand that sits back to back with the Mexican place. Excellent combination.
Got an excellent fresh chicken from a local organic farm that we’re stuffing and roasting for dinner tomorrow. I found a very good but relatively inexpensive Pinot noir a couple of weeks ago and am going to get a couple of bottles to go with the chicken. Some fresh garden veggies, a tomato salad, and a chocolate cake with the last of the late raspberries will round out the menu. I figure that even as the country spirals down the drain, one must find tranquility and small pleasures in something. For me, it’s good food and drink.
Chad N Freude
@Chad N Freude:
Which is different from being famous for actually doing something, like T. Levenson. (No, I’m not sucking up; I like his work. So STFU.)
Chad N Freude
@geg6: Are your arteries going to post a comment?
morzer
@Chad N Freude:
Get a room you two.. you one.. oh fudgsicles!
demo woman
@stuckinred: You gave me some advice about letting my dog and the cat that I’m taking care of sort things out themselves. There is lots of hissing and chasing unless I’m going to the bathroom. At that point the cat is sitting on the tank and the dog is on the floor both watching in amusement. I’m to old for this. lol
@morzer: Miller apologized and it was not his fault, it was an aides twitter. Yeah, right.
Chad N Freude
@morzer: For some inexplicable reason, I find your comment obscure. Will its interpretation be on the final?
morzer
@demo woman:
*chuckles* Murkowski’s campaign director certainly got mad enough for two:
http://www.themudflats.net/2010/08/27/joe-miller-calls-senator-lisa-murkowski-a-whore/
Is Joe Miller now self-teabagging? Or is that too meta?
Chad N Freude
@demo woman:
The oldest profession has a code of honor. SATSQ
morzer
@Chad N Freude:
It’s a Zen thing. I was impressed by your ability to ridicule such concepts as self by arguing with that self.
I shall now balance a sandal on my head and look wise. My wife will prudently look away and try not to giggle.
SiubhanDuinne
*Rant Alert*:
I love my cousins and siblings — really, I do — but Jesus Christ on a Banana-Flavoured Ocean Liner, they are making me scream with frustration these days. They all seem to have turned into (or maybe they always were) anti-immigrant, knee-jerk Christianist patriotists, who expect me to laugh at their lame, badly-executed and many-times-forwarded emails.
And these are not the horrible, overt, explicit things we’ve all seen. The N-word is never seen, there are no ‘shopped pictures of Obama in a turban doing a witch doctor dance — they’re just appeals to “let’s put God back in our country and wave the flag and forward this to everyone you know — *in English, please*.”
But it really makes me haz a sad. I feel I can’t even talk to them, don’t know where I would start the conversation. (Not to get into too much detail, but it’s a very precarious relationship — we were badly estranged for several years, not b/c of politics, but I still feel that any area of disagreement means walking on salmonella-infected eggshells from Galt, Iowa.)
morzer
@SiubhanDuinne:
Perhaps you could ask them for the English version? Of course, you could just be Socratic and confess your ignorance and ask exactly what they mean by certain things….
Chad N Freude
@morzer: You have no idea how many concepts I can ridicule with merely a disdainful flick of my wrist.
jeffreyw
Mmm…fried mushrooms.
Wanna try one?
Chad N Freude
@morzer: @SiubhanDuinne: I really like this. “I don’t quite understand what you mean. Could you explain it to me?”
demo woman
@SiubhanDuinne: I feel the same way about long time friends. When politics come up, I shake my head and just say that I wish the President would have let us go over the cliff. Of course, I add that I had moved my money already. It’s like a virus is moving over the community. I passed a large sign today about taking our country back and preserving freedom by voting the dems out. I shook my head, cuz what dems.. Price is their rep and Johnny will win. What dems are they going to vote out of office. Their reps are republicans.
Svensker
@RedKitten:
Golly, he’s getting big. I loved the playing in the drawer stage (altho mine never actually got INTO the drawer…). My mom called it the Gozintas — cuz it’s so much fun to see what gozinta other stuff.
morzer
@Chad N Freude:
*blinks his left eyelid*
freelancer
@morzer:
I recommend this strategy. Calling them dopes will not make them suddenly reasonable out of the blue.
Svensker
@thomas Levenson:
I would disagree. Can’t stand Waits. Can’t. Stand. Him.
Chad N Freude
@morzer: Is that a wink or a reference to “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly“. (Not intended to be a tasteless joke.)
D-Chance.
Don’t states count the absentee ballots before Election Day?
I’ve never understood going through all the hoop-la on that one day… then having to wait days/weeks because, “oh, yeah, we’ve had THESE votes sitting in the closet and now have to drag them out and count them, too. Well, we may as well start doing that… sometime this week or so”.
morzer
@freelancer:
I did see someone respond to all the rhetoric about “losing our country” by asking whether the right-winger who was going on about it at her had reported the loss to the police, or posted fliers. After all, as she observed, sometimes countries just get shut in closets or decide to seek a new variety of food from a nearby and unsuspecting household.
Chad N Freude
@Svensker: You are a person of intelligence and taste (really), and SO wrong about Tom Waits (also really).
jl
@SiubhanDuinne: I can sympathize. There has been a slow motion, and thankfully not too rancorous family meltdown this summer between the wingnut/teab*gg*r wing and the rest.
Thankfully, like your situation, I can see no overt or covert racism in them. In fact, two of them actually criticized their movement for covering up for the obvious racist garbage in their ranks.
But when they started saying ‘I want my country back.’ they got some push back. As in…
What do you want back? No Social Security? no Medicare? no direct election of senators? segregation and racial violence? No disability? No deposit insurance? What do you want back?
They had no answer.
One of them complained about the bailouts, China, foreign debt, and trade and the Democrats wanted to ‘break the country’.
I pointed out that one of the things that stayed most unchanged between Bush II and Obama was policies on China, foreign debt and trade. And of course, the the bailouts started under Bush.
No answer. In fact, she had to admit I was right.
I do think that many of the teapartiers have valid complaints, as do all working and middle class people. Too bad that they are frightened, gullible, misled and to some extent resentful, to know where to turn for information.
morzer
@Chad N Freude:
I fear your edumacation is ahead of mine. I was just trying to look as if I had some incredible Zen insight that could only be communicated by a meaningless gesture. Back to the mystical drawingboard!
thomas Levenson
@Svensker: De gustibus, me mum would say, but I’m nowhere near as nice.
Waits is an acquired taste, but I’ve loved him ever since I heard the riff some DJ laid on the idea of an 11 year old Tom Waits at the school talent contest, singing America the Beautiful or something, and getting the “effort” award. The mental image has never left me.
thomas Levenson
@demo woman: I know, but perhaps I’m reacting to the PIttsburgh love at the top here — that’s a team I’ve loathed since boyhood in the Bay Area and Franco F******* Harris’s maculate reception.
thomas Levenson
@Chad N Freude: Ouch.
Thanks for the Newton and the Counterfeiter props, though. I guess that helps make up for my tech cluelessness. The baud rate in the 17th century was low enough so that even yours truly is not overwhelmed. Not so now.
JamesC
I was introduced to Waits by my student paper’s former multimedia editor, after a night with him at a seedy bar that looked as if somebody stole the props from Terry Gilliam’s version of “Fear and Loathing.” He was drinking Wild Turkey, I think, and I was downing a decently prepared Long Island.
Waits is the audible equivalent of rough whiskey after a rough night at the presses. I’ve loved the man’s work since, and his music has become inseparable, in my mind, from gonzo journalism and heavy drinking.
He’s an acquired taste. But you can generally tell who’s capable of acquiring it.
Cheers, John.
jharp
with all due respect to the fantasy league.. .. might i suggest a regular pick em football league
it’s a pretty good time.. and no one can hit 70% winners…. .. even without the point spreads
Chad N Freude
@thomas Levenson: It’s not you, it’s John’s commenter-hating ISP, who sometimes goes totally unresponsive for indeterminate periods causing people to keep hitting submit. Unless it is you being unable to distinguish between Submit and you’ve-already-hit-submit-once-are-you-sure-you-really-want-to-do-it-again-ok-Submit. Or you have a tremor, in which case I’m really embarrassed.
Linda Featheringill
@SiubhanDuinne:
At comment #56.
Right wing family:
I can sympathize. My family took a political stance slightly to the left of Hermann Goering. I tried to argue with them, using the Constitution. No good. I even tried to argue with them, using the Bible [some of the prophets were pretty outspoken]. Again, no good.
Strange people.
Once I was talking about participating in a demonstration about something or the other and several family members threatened to pull me out of the demonstration and beat me up. I told them that I would put their asses in prison if they did and that shut them up for a while.
Strange people. Very few of us left. Sure is peaceful.
Chad N Freude
@Linda Featheringill: Their shutting up only shows their awareness of how the vast leftist/soshialist/communist/zionist/islamist conspiracy has taken over the police.
jl
As long as we are talking fantasy leagues, interesting items on front page of Talkingpointsmemo today:
The D’Oh of Xenophobia
Meet Circuit Judge Elijah Williams of Florida… a few weeks ago an group of bloggers began suggesting that Williams had not been straight with voters about being a Muslim.
Only Williams isn’t a Muslim. So what was the evidence? Well, that his first name is “Elijah” and that’s a Muslim name.
[I will repeat the last part with edits for emphasis, just to help it sink in]
his first name is “ELIJAH” and that’s a MUSLIM name.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/08/the_doh_of_xenophobia.php#more?ref=fpblg
Rent A Missile
A business that rents missiles and old military jets for publicity events seeks volunteers on craigslist to help cart two missiles it’s donating for anti-“Ground Zero Mosque” events.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/rent-this-missile_ad_agency_donates_two_missiles_t.php?ref=fpblg
Polar Bear Squares
If you need another player, I’d love to play. If not, that’s cool too.
[email protected]
handy
@thomas Levenson:
“an acquired taste” perhaps not unlike, say beer? I didn’t always like beer but I do now. I still don’t understand the appeal of Tom Waits. But several people whose music opinions I respect love him. Were I to be so fortunate to get it.
morzer
@jl:
I shall never be able to watch Lord of the Rings again. Frodo, my hero, played by a stealth Muslim! I want my Shire back!
I shall now clutch my pearls vigorously.
Chad N Freude
@jl: I would be speechless if it were not for the fact that Elijah is a principal ritual character in the Islam celebration of Pesach.
sfinny
@thomas Levenson: Just wanted to say that I read your Newton book last weekend and loved it. Newton is an interesting guy and I must admit that reading history is one of my great balms against the everyday angst about current events. I mean, at least we are not having to survive the plague or having London burned out from under us.
Totally enjoyed the book and it reminded me of my love for math and physics from my college days. Newton was a god for us, but we never talked about the man himself. It was great to get a human picture of the icon.
handy
I’m sure the payload is harmless confetti or silly string. After all, who doesn’t love them some silly string?
Kryptik
@jl:
The retardation in this country has become totally inescapable and stunning in its sheer stupidity and outsized influence.
I mean…fuck. Elijah? ELIJAH?! Next thing you fucking know, they’ll start claiming that Abraham Lincoln was really a crazy Muslim and that’s why he loved him some dirty black folk. Some crazy shit like that. I mean, it’s right down Glenn Fucking Beck’s alley of conspiracy paranoia.
Chad N Freude
@sfinny:
Unless we’re speaking in metaphors.
sfinny
@Chad N Freude: Oh I still worry about the metaphorical comparisons, but at least I have some concrete examples for the whole “it could have been worse” scenario.
morzer
@Kryptik:
During the Civil War, the South and its sympathizers repeatedly described Lincoln as an advocate of miscegenation and the rape of white women by blacks, not to mention their frequent comparisons of him to an ape.
Not much changes, I fear.
NobodySpecial
@thomas Levenson:
FTFY.
handy
@Chad N Freude:
But Elijah is one of the true badasses of the
Hebrew“Judeo-Christian” bible. People even compared Jesus to the guy. The dude never even died! This isn’t just willful ignorance, it’s full-on “we’re making it up as we go along and we don’t care.”geg6
@thomas Levenson:
Heh. Charter member of Lambert’s Lunatics here. My high school friend, Dana, is married to Franco Fucking Harris and my ex was college roommates with Franco’s brother (also a football star at Penn State) Pete. Personally, I have very fond memories of that game and the only sad thing about it is that the Chief missed the play because he was on his way down to the locker room to console the team on the loss. Heh.
Chad N Freude
@morzer: @Kryptik: Is there some other species we could join? Leaving the troglodytes to do their thing without involving us?
freelancer
@Svensker:
You are not alone. I get beat up on Skeptic websites when I admit I admire George Hrab, but I LOATHE the sound of his voice.
jl
@Chad N Freude: I saw shelves and shelves of those Pesach crackers awhile ago. See, the Muslims are taking over. And nobody seems to notice.
Chad N Freude
@handy: Yeah, he walks through the open door every year just to freeload that wine.
morzer
@handy:
Yes, but he was never a former half-term governor of Alaska, so you can’t expect committed Christians to have heard of him.
Chad N Freude
@jl: You think it’s bad now, wait until April.
morzer
@Chad N Freude:
Hmmm of course, the problem is that the troglodytes are rather committed to slaughtering every other species in the name of stewarding God’s earth. Or possibly saving the Palin clan from destruction by radical field mice. It’s hard to know what the safe option would be.
handy
@freelancer:
Seriously? Cuz that’s genius stuff.
freelancer
@handy:
Guy’s really likeable, I just can’t stand his music.
Eric U.
just saw someone talking about the Obama tax increases. WTF? How were these people taught enough simple hygiene that they have made it to an adult age?
Chad N Freude
@freelancer: Thx. I had never heard of George Hrab before, and I don’t loathe the sound of his voice. What Skeptic websites are you referring to? Surely not Skeptic.
handy
@freelancer:
I suppose as a “trooper” I’m a bit biased, but I’ll take his “Lonely Heart” cover over the original.
Chad N Freude
@freelancer: Well, he’s not Sondheim, but he’s entertaining.
freelancer
@Chad N Freude:
Well skepchick was where I got mobbed by a group of hrab groupies, but I can imagine the same would happen if I wandered into Randi.org.
If you like Hrab, and I’m all for expanding the Skeptic Community, he has a podcast called The Geologic Podcast.
The website is down, but it is available on iTunes.
frosty
New Topic: Thanks for the tips on Madison!
Just got back from a business trip. Loved the Great Dane and the Old Fashioned. Had fried cheese curds and their mac ‘n’ cheese and between that and the beer, my pants don’t fit any more.
Stayed at the Ruby Marie, an old railroad hotel converted to a B&B. Very cool, but bring earplugs for the trains going by at 5 AM 100 feet away.
Cool town, but what’s this I hear about the U of W letting people park ON the lake in the winter? Brrrr.
Steeplejack
Night shift belatedly checking in. Been home from work for an hour, but I was decompressing and getting my + levels properly adjusted. Late shift tomorrow–don’t have to go in until 4:30 p.m.–so I feel like I have a mini-weekend tonight. Woo-hoo! Night owls party.
I swear I have heard a reggae cover of “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” but I can’t find it on YouTube. Damn. It was pretty good, too.
Steep + 2
asiangrrlMN
@Omnes Omnibus: Fuck you with a rusty pitchfork, cheesehead! We’re taking you DOWN!
@morzer: You are going to do this the entire season, I can tell. FU, too, with an extra-rusty pitchfork!
@Linda Featheringill: This is bad, but I love your response to your family. You go, girl!
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: STEEPMAN! It’s been forever since we’ve crossed paths. How you be?
KSinMA
@demo woman: (#12) You’re wrong because, as MLK said, the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward Justice. People who are on the side of Justice are always in the minority. We were a minority in the sixties (and in the forties and in the twenties), and we’re still a minority. That’s how the world is, but (though I blush to say it here at BJ) it doesn’t need to keep us from continuing to fight the good fight.
I’m going to celebrate the anniversary of King’s speech by reading it in full, out loud. I may even go downtown and read it on the steps of City Hall. Care to join me?
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
I am very fond of you too, MEH, but I draw the line at pitchforks, rusty or not. Anyway, my wife says that at a time of economic stringency we can’t indulge any longer in the pitchforks of our youth. I must, therefore, beg to be excused from the tryst which you so graciously proposed.
PS. Is it true that Favre was found wandering down the highway at 3 in the morning, clad in green and yellow booty shorts and singing “Stand by your Pack” in a voice that set the dogs howling in towns five miles away, breaking off occasionally to chug moonshine and weep, before resuming his onward shuffle?
asiangrrlMN
@morzer: Holy crap, but this post is a work of art. I can only stand back, giggle helplessly, and applaud. Nicely done, Sir!
ETA: If you talk about Favre like this and make no mention of his gray badger, I MIGHT not fork you with the pitchfork extra-rusty.
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
Morning, MEH. I left you a brief note on your blog, with the bent and scratched two cents I discovered in a Target parking lot recently. If it seems irrelevant or unhelpful, just ignore it. FWIW, my excuse for not writing is that the paper seems so beautifully white, it would be a shame to spoil it. Call it the aesthetic theory of procrastination.
asiangrrlMN
@morzer: Ta. I saw it. I am going to respond now. I like your excuse very much–except, I don’t like white very much, so it probably wouldn’t work for me!
Anne Laurie
@Church Lady: Hey, not everybody can have a cushy NSA sinecure with full medical benefits. I’d say ‘Don’t read ’em if you don’t like ’em’, but that would, well, interfere with Part A of this comment, wouldn’t it?
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Tired and tired. Tough week at work—not over yet!—and I just discovered today that they’re totally changing my schedule next week. One closing shift and then a run of day shifts. So my circadian rhythms will get jerked out of their already precarious alignment yet again. Ugh.
I have been trying to keep up with Balloon Juice this week, but I’m way behind. And it’s frustrating when I want to comment on a thread and have to remind myself that it’s already dead.
Already starting to lose the mo’ tonight, so I don’t know how much longer I’m good for.
Good to finally touch base with you.
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
Ancient procrastinatorial doctrine takes two forms. Some have argued, cogently, that they can be reconciled, while others have argued, with equal cogency, that such a thing can never come to pass. The doctrines are: justification by faith, and justification by works. Justification by faith avers that one procrastinates in the faith that someone else will do what we have not. Justification by works avers that one procrastinates because the works achieved by others are inevitably better than our own reluctant efforts, and so it would be morally wrong for us to deprive the world of them. A middle position, that we procrastinate in the faith that others will do, and do better, what we have not done and will not do, has steadily gained in popularity over time, although purists continue to regard it with suspicion.
asiangrrlMN
@Anne Laurie: I’m thinking somebody has a little crush on DougJ because somebody can’t seem to stop making comments like this in his threads.
@Steeplejack: Aw, sorry to hear about work. And, I comment on dead threads all the time just because I can. I’m glad to finally catch up with you. I saw you post in the morning once, and it was just not right!
@morzer: Ha! That’s brilliant and funny. I procrastinate because I know I can do better work if I just wait. Yeah.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Just got back from seeing Rush at the Minnesota State Fair. I have some problems with the set list, but they kicked ass. They have never been as on any of the previous times I . . . well, actually, they were on fire when I saw them in 1998 like no other band I’ve ever seen, but they were really fucking good tonight.
The last time I saw them, a couple years ago, Alex really struggled. Nothing worked, the miscues were audible and he just got more and more visibly frustrated. It was pretty interesting to watch, in a train wreck kind of way. Proof that even someone at the top of their profession can have days where nothing goes right.
Halfway into the second song, I could tell tonight was different. He just looked so much more confident. They rocked the grandstand.
About that set list, though. They played all of Moving Pictures coming out of the intermission. That just wouldn’t be my the album I’d pick, for several reasons. The first is that there are several of their albums I just like better than Moving Pictures: Power Windows, Roll the Bones and Hold Your Fire.
All of those albums are also just better albums. They may or may not have better songs, but they are all much more tied together thematically, which makes it more useful to play all of the songs together and in the order they were in on the album.
The biggest thing, though, is that they play more than half of Moving Pictures on every tour. There’s nothing special about hearing these songs anymore. I’ve seen half a dozen Rush shows, and they have played the opening to “2112”, “The Spirit of Radio”, “Freewill”, “Tom Sawyer”, “YYZ”, and at least one of “Limelight” or “Red Barchetta” every single time. Tonight was the first time they didn’t play “Natural Science” (which is a better live piece than “Freewill”, to name something off of the same album).
They made nine albums between Moving Pictures and Snakes and Arrows, from which they did a total of six songs. One of those was “Leave That Thing Alone”, which, while kick-ass, I don’t really count since these three could come up with a fantastic instrumental with colossal hangovers after an all night bender. Nothing from Grace Under Pressure, which is a weak album, but has two great songs: “Distant Early Warning” and “Beneath the Wheels”. Nothing from Roll the Bones. Nothing from Test for Echo, which, while even weaker than Grace Under Pressure, also has two great songs: the title track and “Driven”. Nothing from Vapor Trails. I did at least get to cross “Marathon” and “Time Stand Still” off my list of Rush songs that I really want to hear live someday.
The band, and even more the fans, need to grow up and realize it’s not 1980. Rush has too much good work to tie up so many concert slots with something they play every damned time. Pick one song from Permanent Waves and one song from Moving Pictures. That’s it. Everything else gets rotated. Also, “Working Man” is kind of lame. It’s nice that they remember their history, but I’ve heard it three times now. That’s enough.
They kicked some serious ass tonight, though.
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
Ah, your vision of procrastination falls into the category of justification through works, using what is known as Rimbaud’s Bridge (the “I is another/je est un autre” gambit).
asiangrrlMN
@morzer: Yeah, you are a writer, aren’t you? You have a way with words. Speaking of Rimbaud, I saw this movie because I love me some David Thewlis. Oh my gawd, it was wretched. Leo as Rimbaud was serious FAIL!
JWL
I love cheerful songs, too.
Thanks, Cole.
Sandmann
“And then right after the Sam-Frodo suckfest, right before the credits roll, Sam fuckin’ flat-out bricks in Frodo’s mouth.”
~Randal Graves from Clerks II
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
I haven’t seen the movie, although I’ll investigate what the local library can do. I must admit to a mild preference for Baudelaire. I’ve left you another note on your blog, for your perusal as and when you choose.
It might seem like an odd recommendation, but have you read the Screwtape Letters?
MattR
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): This is good news. Hopefully Alex wasn’t just in a good mood because it was his birthday and they will kick equal ass next Friday night.
So you are saying they didn’t play “I Think I’m Going Bald”? Maybe next tour. Given the choice, I would rather hear Permanent Waves to Moving Pictures but I definitely understand where you are coming from. Way too many slots are locked up by the same songs over and over. I have alwys wished they would shake up the setlist more within the tour as well. Maybe a tour with nothing from Chronicles? I don’t think they have to worry about satisfying the “casual” fan at this point.
asiangrrlMN
@RedKitten: Forgot to say, SamKitten is getting so big and is as adorable as ever. What a charmer!
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Also, I’m just as bummed as everyone else around here about the drift of the daily news–mosque madness, etc.–so a good bit of the time I just feel like hunkering down and trying to get through the day (or night, as the case may be).
Gonna try to break out of the rut and do something different this weekend, so maybe that will help. And the weather here has improved a lot–highs in the mid-80s, lows in the 60s. Currently 66°, and I’ve got both big windows open in the man-cave. Only going up to 86° tomorrow. Me likey.
asiangrrlMN
@morzer: C.S. Lewis? I may have many years ago, but not in recent memory. Should I? And, the movie sucketh. Seriously. Don’t watch it. David Thewlis is very good, but even he cannot make up for the wretched thing. Will check out new comment. I am blogging as I type.
@MattR: How’s packing going?
@Steeplejack: I hear you on the news front. I am loving the drop in temps, too. Sixties/seventies here. Whatcha thinking about doing this weekend?
morzer
@asiangrrlMN:
Well, the Screwtape Letters, once you get past the occasional moments of attempted theology, is mostly a discussion of how we drag ourselves down (depicted as being the result of various forms of temptation). One passage which struck me very forcibly was the one in which the senior devil reproves his apprentice for having made a terrible blunder – namely, allowing the intended victim to do something he genuinely enjoyed. This rendered all the temptations the apprentice could offer rather obviously empty and shallow, as well as pulling the victim out of the cycle of despair and weakness which the tempter was cultivating. It struck me when I read the passage that so many of the things we do through fear, folly, weakness or selfishness are not, in fact, genuinely enjoyable, which is why they make matters worse for us, rather than better. In any case, I think one can ignore the somewhat limited Christian aspect of the book, while gaining some valuable insight into the tricks we play on ourselves. Just a suggestion.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: Packing is going :) Got most of it done and the rest needs to be last minute (ie. I am taking the wireless router with me) Have a couple errands to run tomorrow since I did not take care of them today. And I have to vacuum and freshen up the apt so it is presentable to potential buyers. If all goes acording to plan I will take care of all of that by 3 pm and head to a BBQ. Then come back and sleep at my place, pack up the car in the morning and make the 90 minute drive. Should have perfect beach weather all weekend. Hopefully it will last thru Labor Day.
@morzer: And I was looking for something light and breezy to read at the beach.
asiangrrlMN
@morzer: You had me at senior devil. I will check it out. I am pretty good at ignoring theology these days when I read something.
@MattR: Woot! Good on you for getting shit done. If you want something light and enjoyable to read on the beach, I have a story or two I can send your way. Heh.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@MattR: Don’t get me wrong; I like Moving Pictures a lot; it’s on the fringe of my 50 favorite albums of all time. It’s just that Hold Your Fire and Roll the Bones are easily in the top 50, and Power Windows is in the top 5.* So, yeah, I want to hear from that stretch. For a while, I thought “Dreamline”, “Bravado”, and “Roll the Bones” (as fine a three song stretch as you’ll ever find on an album) were going to be in the “must play” category, but they fell out the last couple of times.
*The others are: Dire Straits Love Over Gold; Marvin Gaye What’s Going On; Marillion Marbles and a rotating selection off of a list of about five candidates, depending upon what day it is.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@asiangrrlMN: I enjoy reading theology, even when I disagree with it. For instance, I’m just getting around to reading Slaughterhouse Five, and I love Vonnegut’s contention that the central teaching of the Gospels is, “Before you go kill someone, make absolutely sure he’s not well connected.”
I may have to make that a .sig file.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: Well, I could have done more today, such as run those errands. The problem now is that I keep wandering around the apt seeing other things I could bring (decided against a monitor, keyboard and mouse but am still debating speakers for the laptop)
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Don’t worry I know where you are coming from. Personally, my favorite Rush stuff is pre Moving Pictures, but there is also more crap on those early albums. It is also kinda funny to think that I am a relative newcomer to the Rush scene and my first concert was almost 19 years ago (Roll the Bones).
roshan
Some comment gold from the Wonkette post on the retard party at Lincoln Memorial
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Breaking out of the recent routine of going to the brother’s house on Sunday afternoon for dinner, shmoozing and Wii golf, then inevitably staying over until Monday. I don’t sleep well over there, and so I come home tired on Monday morning and take a daytime nap, and then I feel like my whole weekend has almost disappeared. I enjoy the time over there, but my time off from work is so limited, and feels so precious, that I want to sort of hoard it this weekend.
So I’m going to hang around the man-cave, maybe get out in the pleasant weather for a walk or two to the nearby lake, and I want to cook something delicious and semi-complicated. Maybe braised beef and vegetables in the slow cooker. Because of my work schedule, I’m lucky if I get one real meal a day–I tend to graze and snack–so a nice big sit-down dinner would be nice, even if it’s only for myself. Will see how it goes.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I don’t remember that about Slaughterhouse Five. I will have to read it again. I was raised Christian, and my family is Christian, so I still have some issues. I’m mostly past them, though.
@roshan: I read that. Some funny shit there. The one about deep-fried on a stick was in reference to the MN State Fair, and it’s so true.
@MattR: I would have to take the keyboard and the mouse. I use a breakaway keyboard, and I hate the eraser button on the laptop. Not to change your mind or anything. How’s Ellie? Is she sensing that there’s gonna be something big happening?
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: I hear you about sleeping in someone else’s place. Not easy to do, and with your work situation, you need all the good sleep you can get. Your weekend sounds perfect, actually. Me, I gotta do some cleaning; I have tai chi tomorrow; I was invited to a party, but I don’t think I’ll go. I really want to focus on my fiction writing, so I’ll be doing that this weekend as well.
Steeplejack
I’m punching out. I’m dead tired. Will check back in the morning. ‘Night, y’all.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Essay question for tonight/tomorrow: I know you go to a tai chi class, but do you also use any DVDs or books? I usually do really well with either, if a class is not available–or convenient, which it isn’t with my current schedule–so I’m looking for recommendations.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@asiangrrlMN: Well, it is about a page total in the book, though he does explain how the Gospels could have been written to be much more satisfying.
roshan
@asiangrrlMN: Dammit, then why couldn’t you bring it back here for all your brethren to read? Why do I have to do all the work to bring the goodness back for my fellow BJers? You missy, are one lousy Bjer.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Still. I can barely remember the book. I will have to read it again.
@Steeplejack: No and no. But, I know my teacher can recommend some of each. I will ask her. She won’t be there tomorrow, though, so it will be sometime next week. I have to say, taking tai chi is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life (my cats being the first). I am more flexible now, stronger, and more confident. However, right now, it’s also stirring up shit that I really would rather not face. I am fortunate in that my teacher is also a good friend, so I can really talk to her. She is also teaching me some really nasty chin na techniques which inflict maximum pain with minimum effort. I find tai chi to be really helpful physically, mentally, emotionally, and yes, spiritually.
@roshan: HELLO! It’s in the open thread below! That’s how I found it in the first place. Duh! And, it’s my job to poke people with rusty pitchforks–not to provide amusing links. ETA: Actually, it’s in this very thread! First post!
BDeevDad
For more outrage from Brewer check her tweet.
roshan
I watched “The Aviator” yesterday. I had never heard of Howard Hughes before. Do any of you know of any good books on Hughes? He seems like a hugely interesting personality with all his OCDs, money and adventurous spirit (especially his flying adventures). I would like to read more about him.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: I can’t use an external keyboard and mouse if I am using the laptop screen and I really dont feel like packing up a monitor. Ellie is pretty oblivious for now. She’s gonna be pissed when I leave her at home tomorrow but she’ll forget all about that 15 minutes after I get home. She will probably figure out something is up when I throw her dog bed into the car.
As a side note she hated driving in the car when I first got her and threw up on the first couple hour long drives to my parents house. But now she loves it and has done the 14 hour drive to Georgia without problem. I figure it was because she was fostered and associated the car to being moved around to a new home and/or pet stores for adoption days. I have a feeling she was not treated well before she got to me. I don’t know if it was by humans or other dogs but she is still a bit neurotic and has a hard time differentiating encouragement from punishment (which makes training quite difficult). But she is definitely mellowing and getting better with age. She is almost seven now and people who meet her for the first time often think she is a puppy, especially if we are outdoors and the other person has a dog of their own. I really want to get a new house so I have the space to get her a companion or three (ideally I’d like to get an older dog and a puppy and maybe a cat if my allergies can handle it). EDIT: And a pony. Maybe a unicorn.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Whenever you have any input, that would be great. I used to do aikido a long time ago, and I have done yoga off and on for a long time, so I get the whole chi/ki thing. Just have been feeling the urge to do something structured lately, and tai chi has been calling my name.
ETA: Okay, really out now. Will check back in the A.M.
asiangrrlMN
@BDeevDad: Well, she is offensive to me, so I’d call it a wash.
@MattR: Oh, I don’t actually use my breakaway keyboard on my laptop, but I do use a mouse. Why can’t you use them if you don’t use the monitor? Aw, poor Ellie girl. Makes me sick to think about what some animals have suffered in their lives, especially when it takes so very little to make them happy.
And, just because. Current earworm. You’re welcome.
BDeevDad
@Steeplejack: Loved Tai Chi when I did it. Just can’t afford it right now in time or money.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN:
Because I am a spaz and automatically go for the laptop keyboard when I am reading off the laptop screen which doesn’t work very well when there is another keyboard in front of it.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Oh, and as for Tom Waits, he’s like Bob Dylan* and Leonard Cohen: great songwriter, but lousy performer. The Blind Boys of Alabama did a fantastic version of “Way Down in the Hole”. It was the theme for the first season of The Wire. Waits’ version is used for the second season, and it isn’t within miles of the quality of the Blind Boys.
*In fact, the Sixth Law of Rock and Roll is that every cover of a Dylan song will be better than the original.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: The form of tai chi that I do is really nice because it’s structured, but there’s room for personal expression as well. My teacher calls it, ‘stylings’. This is my teacher’s home studio. I know that they have books and DVDs and such, so I will get that info to you. If you’ve taken aikido and yoga, then you will find similarities in tai chi.
@MattR: Ok, that’s just funny. Snort. But what about the mouse?
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
You take that back about Leonard Cohen!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Hi hon. Tired as all get out from the trip but things got taken care of so I’m more or less pleased. Tomorrow or Sunday I get the new bank accounts established and then it’s just a matter of getting everything settled away. Other than that I pretty much got nothin’.
@Steeplejack: Coq au vin. You’ll thank me later. Or chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. But nothing says semi-complicated like French cuisine.
asiangrrlMN
FYWP! Part I:
@Steeplejack: The form of tai chi that I do is really nice because it’s structured, but there’s room for personal expression as well. My teacher calls it, ‘stylings’. This is my teacher’s home studio. I know that they have books and DVDs and such, so I will get that info to you. If you’ve taken aikido and yoga, then you will find similarities in tai chi.
@MattR: OK, that’s just funny. But what about the mouse?
asiangrrlMN
FYWP, Part II:
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): You take that back about Leonard Cohen!
@Yutsano: Woot the mofo hoot! You go, you!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I hate it when I can’t decide if I’m more tired or hungry. Really this late there should only be one option, but I didn’t eat very much today again (I know I know!!) and feel like I should shovel some cereal down my throat before giving up on the world of the living. It will definitely be chocolate though.
@MattR: I don’t remember it wiping me out this much when I was in college dammit. Oh well, it’ll all get settled since next is the big furniture run. After that it will be whatever odds and ends I forget to take with me and the rest I can either buy new or live without.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: I just end up going to the laptop mouse reflexively when I am typing on the keyboard. The laptop actually has both a touch pad and one of those stupid buttony things.
@Yutsano: Go on. Take the money and run.
Yikes. Sorry. Glad you are getting settled in. Moving somehow manages to suck even when it is cool.
@Steeplejack:
I think that is good advice if I hope get those errands done in the next 12 hours.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Eat then sleep. Simple!
For Steepman when he returns
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Ah, I see. So it’s not a technological reason–it’s a user reason. Gotcha. You’re hitting the sack so early? I keed. Night! Give Ellie a smooch for me.
TrishB
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I was worried about your Rush love for a while in this thread, but Dire Straits and Marillion redeem any doubts I may have been harboring.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Done and done! Oh and FYI my brother liked the new place, even though the security in the building bugged him a bit. Pretty much every door is locked and you need a key to summon the elevator from the garage. And now my chocolatey goodness awaits me. Night y’all.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@asiangrrlMN:
No.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@TrishB: And, uhm, what do I win now that the doubts are erased?
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I thought he wasn’t moving? Huh? Oh well. Night!
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): YES!
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@asiangrrlMN: And what are you going to do if I don’t?
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Rusty pitchfork!
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
And, as if it was reading my posts, iTunes just popped up Spirit of the Century, the Blind Boys album with the cover of “Way Down in the Hole”. It also has their version of “Amazing Grace” sung to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun”, and a kick-ass version of “Run Along for a Long Time”.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): So, thinking Leonard Cohen is a great songwriter and a lousy performer merits the same treatment as being a Republican congressman? I think your punishment system needs some nuance.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Hm. True. I will think about it.
Cacti
I has a sad.
Albert Pujols will be appearing at Glenn Beck’s “I have a scheme” rally tomorrow.
:-(
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@asiangrrlMN: I mean, I thought about whether you saying that you’d reach through the intertubes and strangling me where I’m sitting would be enough of a threat to make me recant. I never dreamed that the rusty pitchfork would make an appearance.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Cacti: With that accent, he may want to reconsider.
JamesC
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Man, I don’t care what you say. The Springsteen cover of “Jersey Girl” doesn’t even begin to live up to the oppressive, melancholic longings of the Waits original. Waits is just fine as a performer.
Cacti
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I’m not sure if he just got bad advice from his publicist or what.
Pujols has been a vocal opponent of SB 1070, in stark contrast to the raging hardon Beck and Palin have for it.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@JamesC: Okay, I give you Springsteen. But, really, that’s how low you want to set the bar on being a good performer? A man whose singing can be most generously described as “enthusiastic”?
I admit, the rule isn’t absolute, but it’s a good first order approximation.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@Cacti: Jesus (Alou, of course), could he be suicidal enough to go to try to talk some sense into them?
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
off to bed.
tworivers
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I will grant you that Shatner’s version of Mr. Tambourine Man surpasses the original. In most cases, I like the Dylan version better.
Re: Tom Waits video
Had not heard this song before – very cool. I have to say, I prefer his “demented carnival music” side to his woozy drunken and sentimental piano ballad side. But that’s just me.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Thanks for the video. We could use some rain around here (psychologically, at least).
spavogt
Don’t see a link for the league. Hope it’s upcoming–can’t imagine a better set of competitors!
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a fun league, a cohort from the Fantasy Football Guys forum has this one:http://www.fleaflicker.com/nfl/league?leagueId=95646
It’s a free keeper league on fleaflicker, with a fun wrinkle. Instead of a team defense, you play 2 IDP flex spots. Fun intro to IDP.
Join quick. Draft today at 6 CDT
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Pitchfork is my go-to position. But, you have a point. Nuance. It’s about nuance. Maybe for lesser transgressions, the rusty trowel.
And, Leonard Cohen is a GREAT performer.
@Steeplejack: We could use the actual thing here.