Just got back from a pumpkin carving party, and it was a lot of fun. Figured I would throw up a thread.
*** Update ***
I was in a kind of Laphroiag induced Zen kind of mood, but from the comments, this story. What kind of douchebag shoots a sea lion? Seriously. How could you look at this face and think “I’m going to pop a cap in that”:
If your reaction when you look at that face is not to squeal and think “I need to throw that some fish” you just don’t belong in the gene pool. What is wrong with people? God, people suck.
Full disclosure… I had a stuffed animal seal and a stuffed walrus named Sammy the Seal and Wally the Walrus that I slept with growing up, and OTTERS RULE and were my favorite visit at the zoo. My sister had a female stuffed animal seal we named Cecilia.
JAHILL10
Did you use a pattern or free hand?
Roger Moore
FTMFY. That is all.
Hal
Parker Spitzer has to be the worst evah name for a talk show.
Reminds me of the Austin Powers charachter, Robin Spitz-Swallows.
Jman
Show us your pumpkin.
awesome guy
I’m concerned about stuff.
Angry Black Lady
LOUD NOISES.
maye
don’t throw up
John Bird
You can make booze out of the insides.
Comrade Luke
In case you missed it, great post at History Unfolding.
Highly recommended.
N M
I second the call for pumpkins. Also, did Tunch carve one?
Comrade Mary
Of course, I am reminded of this.
MikeJ
I had to replace a motherboard today. Even with the trip to Fry’s, it was still quicker, cheaper, and less annoying than the last five times I’ve been to the Apple store. And I fixed it right the first time.
suzanne
Pumpkin. Mmmm.
I’ve been told by my doctor to eat iron-rich foods. Which I am interpreting as an ORDER to eat pumpkin pie. And those Costco pies are only $5. IT’S SO ECONOMICAL!
MikeJ
@suzanne:
Your doctor is a vampire. He’s ordering you to drink blooooood!
Odie Hugh Manatee
I have concluded that a lot of voters in my county here in Oregon are fucking stupid. There are Art Robinson signs all over the place and the few supporters I have engaged were not aware of his crazy ideas like spraying nuclear waste all over the oceans or possibly on land since his studies show that some radiation is good for us. Then I tell them about his idea of mixing it with concrete and using it for foundations in homes and businesses. Only one person said that they would look it up online, the rest said it was a smear campaign by liberals. I told them to check out his web site and read it for themselves. They just got pissed off and said that they would never vote for a Democrat (virtually spitting out the word).
Every single one of them are retired, every single one. They got Robinson signs all over their yards, in their windows, on their cars and probably tatooed on their eyelids.
Fucking crazy old people. They would rather slit their wrists than vote for someone who gives a shit about them.
Annie
While I applaud you John for trying to ensure we enjoy our Friday evening, I am thinking that puking for our benefit may not be the way to go…
However, I do admit that it did make me laugh…
M. Bouffant
You’d expect Tunch to be throwing up the thread. Pets & staff do come to resemble each other.
trollhattan
Yay, asshole sentenced:
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2010/10/man-gets-jail-f.html
Lord knows, you gotta pack heat when you goes fishin’.
Violet
@Hal:
Wasn’t Parker Spitzer one of the actors on the Hardy Boys TV show?
SIA
I am on a sci-fi kick, and watched Contact with Jodie Foster last night. So much potential, but basically sucked. Also watched Fire in the Sky about the guy (played by DB Sweeney who I almost always like) who supposedly gets abducted by teh aliens. Anyone seen Epoch? It’s got Ryan O’Neal in it so probably not very good. Although he was great in Barry Lyndon.
Work my ass off, and Netflix movies at night. That’s pretty much my life, with cats, dogs & SO thrown in. Not bad. At all.
TooManyJens
I am in Princeton for a conference this weekend. I would like to ask the fine people of New Jersey how the fuck they manage to drive around here. Seriously, are a few streetlights and reflectors too much to fucking ask? Navigable streets perhaps? Maybe it’s just this area, but Jesus, I’m having a heart attack every time I get in the car.
Violet
@TooManyJens:
Don’t you have to pay someone to pump gas in NJ? No self-serve gas stations?
MikeJ
@SIA: Did you dislike just the movie Contact, or the book too? From what I recalled, they were fairly true to what Sagan wrote. Not bang on, but as well as you can get 600 pages into 2 hours.
something fabulous
Just got back from visiting dad in the Chicago suburbs for a few days and am really really sad. For the first time in a long time, he was not actively in the hospital or rehab, but he’s 83, and just has a ton of things about to be or just over being wrong in some way, so is really– fading. Yet, no drama or anything, so why sadder this time when the plane landed than some of the trips with big upheavals in them? So odd, the emotions; I do not get them.
Art
In other pumpkin news, my neighbor gifted me four absolutely fabulous pumpkin cookies.
I ate the last two. There was very little sharing. After all, they were damn good cookies.
If you had these cookies, then you would have done the same thing. Guarantee it.
carlos the dwarf
Tanqueray is delicious. Really, really delicious.
+4
kdaug
@MikeJ: Sagan just didn’t do fiction well. Don’t want to read a Hawkings murder-mystery, either. Expertise in one realm doesn’t confer it to another.
TooManyJens
@Violet: I don’t know, maybe. I haven’t needed to buy gas here.
Amir_Khalid
I’ve wanted to brag about this for quite some time: I can use chopsticks either left-handed (my writing hand) or right-handed.
There. Now that I’ve said it, I feel so much better.
Zam
@Amir_Khalid: I actually prefer double-wielding
Violet
Awwww…that’s adorable. When do we get to see pictures of Young Master Cole with his friends Sammy and Wally?
trollhattan
Saw this today, linked at Rumproast. All kinds of win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR3C0S7yiv8&feature=player_embedded
Comrade Mary
Jesus. People SUCK.
Here’s some hand-holding otters for y’all. I saw them at the aquarium in 2003 and just couldn’t tear myself away for a full half hour.
Roger Moore
@Amir_Khalid:
But can you use them to pick a round piece of ice out of a water glass, or pick up a piece of jello without breaking it. Until you can do that, you’re not really proficient.
Amir_Khalid
@Zam: That just smacks of gluttony.
Jay in Oregon
@John Bird:
Are we talking about the pumpkin or the sea lion…?
VixenStrangely
One of the things that sends me into full anger-mode is people who are violent to animals. To lack the compassion to realize what one is doing to another entity, or to be so f’d up as to not to care, is a signal of a whole lot of wrong in their make-up.
As far as I know, Jersey has outlawed pumping one’s own gas, necessitating station valets. The gas tax on petrol in NJ being low, the difference between, say, PA and NJ gas prices is often a little favorable to NJ, all pumping aside. But I understand in the next hundered years, they will have done away with all these unnecessary circles that divert unfamiliar drivers to places far from the Turnpike. Or the ones without GPS, anyway.
Davis X. Machina
The Maritime provinces and NE coastal states paid bounties on seals into the 60’s, and 70’s in some cases. Some fishermen will still shoot seals, provided they can get away with it. They’re presumed to be the competition. And some people do it just because.
Amir_Khalid
@Roger Moore: The piece of ice? No problem. The piece of Jell-O? A little more difficult, but I’ve managed it, both righty and lefty, with items of similar texture and slipperiness.
JasonF
So the latest right-wing talking point is apparently that Michelle Obama violated Illinois election law because when she went to vote yesterday, some of the other voters struck up conversations with her and she told them to support her husband, and that constitutes electioneering in the polling place. Kill me now.
Yutsano
@Comrade Mary: You just made me haz a happy. I’m two hours from there now plus I haz a passport so re-entry is a breeze for me. I might go see me some otters here soon.
Violet
@JasonF:
Heard it on Hannity’s radio show today. Some sub in for Hannity was talking about it with a caller. Apparently Michelle “broke the law” by doing this. Give me a break.
Martin
@JasonF: I bet the impeachment papers have already been drawn up.
The Dangerman
I hadn’t heard of the Sacramento shooting (kinda surprising for reasons explained in a moment); anyway, there are some seriously sick fuckers out there. It wasn’t that long ago that 2 or 3 elephant seals were killed near my neighborhood, near Hearst Castle, CA (the location of the event, not my neighborhood).
Anyway, I do volunteer rescue work with the Marine Mammal Center that is based out of Sausalito (and where, presumably, this Sea Lion went for recovery). If you’re into Marine Mammals, think of these good people around the Holidays. They do tremendous work and most of my work has been with sea lions, though an occasional elephant seal or harbor seal comes through, too. I’ve only worked with one otter; a beautiful animal.
If you’re ever in the Bay Area and interested, there is a new marine hospital in Sausalito and I hear the tours are excellent…
Ash Can
MANLY MENZ GOTTA HAVE THEYR GUNZ don’tcha know.
@JasonF:
@Violet:
As soon as Hannity’s sub can show me where on Michelle’s precinct’s ballot her husband was listed, I’ll be more than happy to cry foul along with him/her/it.
Mark S.
I’ve read that’s what Jeter and ARod like to do in the offseason.
MikeS
In California fishermen don’t like sea lions because they steal fish from nets or lines. Where I live people fishing a mile or two offshore have had seals come onto their kayak and capsize them while stealing yellowtail (AKA hamachi at your local sushi joint). They are smart animals with similar personalities to dogs, and once they figure out how to snatch an easy meal, they are all over it and are extremely bold and clever in their attempts.
Way back in the day before the federal marine mammal protection act, shooting sea loins used to be common, and some douchebags still do it if they think they can get away with it. I remember fishing the Coranado Islands in Mexico in the late 80s and the captain (of a US-based boat) would sit in the wheelhouse and plunk away at the sea lions with a 22 caliber rifle all day. Mexico has since passed laws protecting them, but as you can imagine enforcement is spotty down there and they occasionally wash up dead on the beach with gunshot wounds.
In my opinion there is no justification to harming a sea lion while fishing. They can be incredibly frustrating at times, but here are ways to keep them away from your hooked fish, such throwing out a fish carcass or large bait fish to distract them with an even easier meal or avoiding certain areas where there are tons of sea lions. For commercial guys it is tougher, but they just need to suck it up and figure it out, there are fishing methods that are not susceptible to heavy losses from sea lions.
Violet
@Ash Can:
Yeah it was kind of funny because the caller was absolutely incensed and insisted that Michelle “told the people in the polling station to vote for her husband!” I did a bit of a double take, thinking, “but he wasn’t on the ballot.” The sub realized it was a dead end so agreed that Michelle “broke the law” and then pivoted on to some other related subject so as not to get bogged down in details of exactly how she broke the law when it was obvious she hadn’t.
John O
Gee, John, that was…cute. Sweet. And I agree with you.
Now take your skirt off and go to bed.
In other news, Dweezil has now gone through 2 sets of earbuds and one set of Sennheisers. He learns fast on most things including what not to chew and has been a great dog–A+ in Social Skills–but the boy is killing me on the portable ear-listening equipment.
I’m a moron about leaving stuff where he can get it.
wilfred
NYT headline:
Drunk gets nine months in violin case.
BR
@wilfred:
I think more and more voters are ignoring the leaders’ views on pretty much everything…
Yutsano
@Mark S.: Pay Fraud seems to be overindulging in his heterosexuality. Jeter, however, is probably one of the worst kept closet cases out there. His dating routine is pretty much a total front. I don’t think he recovered when Alex decided to go out and play the female field.
Angry Black Lady
@TooManyJens: watch out for those roundabouts, too.
Angry Black Lady
John, I’m sure you know about the daily otter, then.
http://dailyotter.org/
thatmichaelguy
Those adorable sea lions are decimating the wild salmon runs of the Columbia River thanks to the dams and fish ladders built to aid their return. The brute lay wait at the entrance and kills not for food but for fun as well. They need to be controlled humanily. A quick shot to the head does the trick.
MikeJ
Fuck you penguin has always been tough on the otter question.
http://www.fupenguin.com/2008/11/what-is-this-otter-trying-to-prove.html
http://www.fupenguin.com/2009/06/desperate-otters-turn-to-cute-based.html
and many, many more I can’t link lest I wind up in the spam bin.
Allan
So THAT’S what you young folks are calling it nowadays…
Allan
@John O: They taste of your earwax. I mean, what dog could resist that?
Uncle Clarence Thomas
> Just got back from a pumpkin carving party
Family traditions are very important.
YellowJournalism
My oldest son loved the otters when we went to the zoo for the first time. We stood for almost a half an hour just watching the adorable little creatures play and dive in the water. Tigers, elephants, zebras didn’t get as much attention from him. Nothing excited him more than the otter exhibit and the prairie dog habitat.
All the talk about pumpkins makes me wonder if I can replicate my mom’s pumpkin brownie recipe this Halloween. I’ve only tried it once, and the results weren’t that great. I have no confidence in my baking skills right now. I haven’t baked a thing in months.
And John, if you’re throwing up blog posts, you really need to see someone about that. It could be related to your allergies.
Roger Moore
@Amir_Khalid:
It’s not the slipperyness that’s the problem, it’s the softness and fragility. It’s hard to grab a piece of jello firmly enough to pick it up without breaking it into pieces.
Yutsano
@YellowJournalism:
Maybe we can talk FH #1 into a quick holiday to give a few lessons. I’ve been dying to get him back to the US anyway, but I doubt I could talk him into the 23 hour plane ride all by my lonesome.
Mark S.
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Shit, you learn something new everyday.
SIA
@MikeJ: I never read Sagan’s book, so I can’t compare it with the movie. Jodie Foster was interesting and quite believable in her role, but I thought Matthew McConaughey was horrible. There was zero energy between them. Every time he was in a scene I lost interest in the movie. And the ending, where they ride off together in their limo, was just bizarre. It just seemed like a fascinating premise for a movie that never came close to the mark.
Ruckus
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Fucking crazy old people. They would rather slit their wrists than vote for someone who gives a shit about them.
This is what I don’t get at all. How does someone vote for someone who clearly would rather step in fresh dog shit in their bare feet than do anything that might be helpful towards the voter? And I’m a, well maybe not old but older, white guy that has been described as crazy on at least a couple of occasions. I just don’t get how these people don’t suffocate with their heads so far up their asses.
cckids
@SIA: The book is dramatically superior to the movie, IMO. (Aren’t they always?) I had the same problem with the movie–kept losing interest. The book, of course, can go into much more character/element detail. I’ve always enjoyed it.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
Once had a very competitive friend tell me how proud he was that he could pick up a single grain of rice with chopsticks. My response was ‘Why would you want to eat rice one grain at a time, you’d starve before you finished’.
Anne Laurie
@SIA:
__
Yeah, we saw that when it first came out. McConaughey was being sold as the Next Hot Young Star, but the Spousal Unit remarked that Foster (a genuine actor) found it easier to perform believably with a blue screen than a live MMcC. If there’s such a thing as anti-charisma, McConaughey’s photo appears next to the dictionary definition.
hamletta
He shot a sea lion? How can you shoot a sea lion? They’re so goofy and sweet, they’re like 900-pound otters.
The last time I saw my Grandmom, we went to the Santa Cruz pier and fed the sea lions. Fat, spoiled bastards, they were. And adorable.
Wile E. Quixote
@Anne Laurie:
Matt Damon does an absolutely brilliant impression of MMoC.
hamletta
@Anne Laurie: I had a subscription to Texas Monthly back then, and he was the cover boy. The hed was: The Next Paul Newman?
To be fair to Mr. M., he has done some good work, like his cheesy turn in Tropic Thunder. But he doesn’t have near the discipline and devotion to his art that Newman had.
He just has the six-pack.
Wile E. Quixote
@hamletta:
So you’re saying that if they weren’t adorable they’d just be the teabaggers of the sea?
hamletta
Well, no. Because their adorableness is composed of happiness and love. It just doesn’t compute.
PeakVT
Sgt. Nevis was shot in the face near the town of Verona in Sutter County in November and his injuries made it impossible for the sea lion to swim underwater.
Did the sea lion have to apologize afterward?
Barb (formerly gex)
@PeakVT: Oh, that’s funny!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Wile E. Quixote:
Get the government out of my municipal aquarium!
Mark S.
I barely remember a thing about Contact besides McConaughey was completely miscast. What was he supposed to be again, some religious advisor to NASA or something?
Barb (formerly gex)
Good thing they never made a Law and Order – AZ:
http://www.wral.com/news/political/story/8453530/
platonicspoof
@Comrade Luke:
Thanks for the link.
Usually I’ve read, or read about, Bacevich at Tomdispatch (e.g., this Oct. 7th post).
Three link limit, will continue.
platonicspoof
Continuing:
A couple days ago I checked Bacevich’s site (on the BJ blogroll) and read some of the other contributor’s posts.
This one from David Rieff included an excerpt from a 1951 George Kennan book:
Three link limit, will continue.
platonicspoof
Continuing David Rieff:
The excerpt is a general enough metaphor to still describe more than one U.S. domestic or foreign situation today:
Soylent Green
Fixed that for you.
JAHILL10
@Anne Laurie: A couple of scenes in that movie that I absolutely love and one of them is when MMoC asks her under oath whether she believes in a god and she doesn’t lie about it, though she wants to be the one to go more than anything. It made my young atheist heart skip a beat. Although why she doesn’t shoot MMoC just outside the hearing room, I don’t know.
asiangrrlMN
Otters and sea lions are cute. Cole is a stand-up guy. Chopsticks and ice = easy. Chopsticks and anything = easy. That Matt Damon impression of MMC is hilarious.
Yes, I’m catching up on dead threads. Why do you ask?
nalbar
@MikeS:
Good post Mike. Shooting seals from day boats was not all that uncommon even a couple years ago. I watched a captain shoot one with buckshot about 6 years ago off the shore of Oceanside. That captain later moved his boat to Mexico to avoid the ‘regulations’. I once tried to explain to his cook that the ocean used to be teeming with fish, and it wasn’t the seals that removed them.
Most fishermen, whether commercial or not, would just as soon kill all the competition animals (the birds can cause a lot of trouble, also), fish the ocean clean, then complain about how the government would not help. It’s classic ‘law of the commons’.
Just this past Wednesday I was speaking to a friend at work who was complaining about how little of the money he pays for his fishing license goes to restocking trout in the Sierra’s.
I told him to STFU, 90% of Californians do not fish or hunt, and he was one bad video from not being able to fish at all.
I sometimes still fish (salt water), but if it comes down to seals or fishing, I pick seals.
nalbar
joe from Lowell
John,
You’re breaking my heart.
You’re shaking my confidence daily.
parsimon
@platonicspoof: Thanks for these links.