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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Night Open Thread

Saturday Night Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  January 22, 20117:57 pm| 57 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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What’s the evening entertainment looking to be in your household?

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57Comments

  1. 1.

    AAA Bonds

    January 22, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    Obama should make the State of the Union about unions and use his special guest appearances to introduce frightening-looking union leaders and organizers in the balconies.

  2. 2.

    Phyllis

    January 22, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    Quiet evening watching UK pretty much eviscerate the Gamecocks. What fun. And polishing off my first bottle of 2 Buck Chuck-Trader Joe’s opened in Greenville last year & a friend who lives up there hooked me up.

    I see via the internetz they will also soon be opening a store in the Charleston area. I can see a road trip from Sarah Palin’s house. Woo hoo.

  3. 3.

    KG

    January 22, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    I’ll be watching UFC, Fight for the Troops… lamenting the fact that I walked away from the martial arts about four years before MMA blew up.

  4. 4.

    TooManyJens

    January 22, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    What’s the evening entertainment looking to be in your household?

    Drinking cough syrup straight from the bottle. Fuck winter.

  5. 5.

    Redshirt

    January 22, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    My friend and I have maintained a quaint tradition of letter writing – actual letters, sent in the mail. I suppose I’m not pure enough, since I use a computer rather than by hand, but still, I think my intent is noble enough. It’s such an archaic tradition, and we’ve moved on so far since we started it in 1993. It’s serious business, the letters – I just finished the first draft, 11 single spaced pages. I’ll go through it again and tighten it up, then a final proofread, and print.

    It’s so much fun, though admittedly, a lot of work. 1st draft took me 6 hours!

    My friend writes short stories, so I have two of his to edit and critique. I’ve been doing editing work for him for over 15 years now. Egads! Neither of us has published, however, though he’s far more involved in the biz.

  6. 6.

    PurpleGirl

    January 22, 2011 at 8:20 pm

    This afternoon I watched the 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. An ad said they are showing The Uninvited tonight. I really love the Ray Harryhausen special events in Jason so I actually stopped doing other stuff and watched the movie. (I’ve been going through papers to declutter.) The Uninvited is a ghost story from the 1944 with Ray Milland. I haven’t seen it in ages, so I’m looking forward to that. I like Turner Classic Movies… Not a double feature timewise, but two movies I like a lot. I haz a happy.

  7. 7.

    eemom

    January 22, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    KO update:

    http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/olbermanns-msnbc-exit-was-weeks-in-the-making/?hp

    I like this part:

    Months before Comcast was expected to gain control of NBC Universal, Comcast officials were worried about the perception that they might interfere with MSNBC for political reasons.
    One executive, who asked not to be identified because Comcast had instructed employees not to speak about the situation, said the company dreaded the prospect of being blamed if Mr. Olbermann were to quit soon after the takeover.

    Poor widdle Comcast — it was all “worried” and “dreading” that we wuz gonna be mean and blame it for stuff. : (

  8. 8.

    BGinCHI

    January 22, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment.”

    Never get sick of his movies.

    Recording Purdue vs MSU.

  9. 9.

    PurpleGirl

    January 22, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    @Redshirt: I understand the preference for paper letters.

    I’m a member of an APA (amateur press association) and we are still doing it on paper through the mail. Most of us use computers to produce our submissions but the actual final pages are paper. (We do the multiple copies needed on photocopiers or printers, not on mimeographs.) We’ve discussed doing the whole thing electronically but we like the paper form.

  10. 10.

    Max

    January 22, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    We are having friends over to play “Dominion”. If you haven’t played it, check it out at Amazon. I’m so addicted. We’ve got the original set and the Intrigue add on. Soon to get Alchemy.

    It’s a fantasy-type card game. Family friendly.

  11. 11.

    Montysano

    January 22, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Had a nice afternoon at our wonderful Lowe Mill Arts Center, which houses my personal heaven, aka Vertical House Records. Now: baking some brownies and contemplating a second viewing of “Winter’s Bone”. Really an incredible movie, and while yes it is dark, it was ultimately hopeful. Amazing performances by the two lead actors.

  12. 12.

    BGinCHI

    January 22, 2011 at 8:28 pm

    @Max: At first I thought there was going to be spanking……

  13. 13.

    lol

    January 22, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    @Max:

    Dominion’s great. Very easy for non-board game player types to play.

    The attack cards from Intrigue can get out of hand though. There’s a couple that involve looking through people’s decks and if you have 6 people playing, it kills the momentum of the game pretty easily.

  14. 14.

    Shadow's Mom

    January 22, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    Reading journal articles for my “Organizational Diagnosis for Changing Organization” and “Fundamentals of Information Management in the Public Sector” classes while streaming Season 7 of Buffy on Netflix.

    Today I also made a draft video demonstrating how easily one can build a Website on Google Sites for a project in the Inf. Mngmnt Class.

    Anyone out there know of any small towns or non-profits who are using Salesforce or Google Sites as a mechanism to maintain Web presence and data collection for their constituents inexpensively and with a minimal need for IT support? I’m looking for sample sites that I can incorporate into a presentation for the Inf. Mngmnt project. Any help appreciated.

  15. 15.

    gbear

    January 22, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    @efgoldman: Best wishes to your BIL. This is a pretty good video joke that was posted in TBogg’s comments today. I hope it’s not some old thing everyone’s already seen. I’d never seen it before.

    I’m doing laundry this evening and looking around the internets for a good blood pressure monitor. VERY cold night in store for the Twin Cities.

  16. 16.

    Punchy

    January 22, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    I’m very, very afraid the apocolypse is neigh. Gave both dogs peanut butter-flavored bones, and they’re dissing them. This is akin to a child eschewing a tootsie-roll, or a Republican ignoring a tax loophole opportunity, or a priest passing on a naked boy. Unheard of.

  17. 17.

    Southern Beale

    January 22, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    What’s the evening entertainment looking to be in your household?

    We got a Roomba at CostCo today. I think when it’s charged I’ll turn it loose and watch the cats and dogs freak out.

  18. 18.

    Max

    January 22, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @lol: Yeah, they can get pretty brutal.

    It’s interesting the instinct of different players. Some go for the cool action cards, others (like me) go straight for gold.

    Great game.

    @BGinChi – that’s for when our friends leave… ;)

  19. 19.

    SIA

    January 22, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @PurpleGirl: I LOVE The Uninvited. I read the book too. I’ve seen in many times but I’m recording it again. Love the house. I always check out the great set design in old movies. And Ray Milland is SO urbane.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    January 22, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    Was out walking earlier this evening, and noticed big “Store Closing, everything on sale!” signs outside the area Borders.

    The to-be-read pile just grew by several entries.

    dms

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 22, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    Anyone here live in or near Jackson, MS? I haven’t been there for at leat 10 years but it looks like I *may* have to go for 2-3 days later this week, and would enjoy meeting up with a Friendly if the trip actually happens.

    I admit, though, that I’m kind of hoping for that rainsnowsleet “wintry mix” that’s forecast for Tuesday morning. If I’m really lucky, it will fuck up all my travel plans and I can stay put.

  22. 22.

    gbear

    January 22, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @dmsilev: my sister bought a Borders gift card for me for Christmas but hasn’t mailed it to me yet. I even asked her to just give me the code number off the back so I could use it for an on-line purchase but she said she was too busy at the moment. I hope I get to use the damned thing before the company goes under. I didn’t know they were in such bad shape until a couple weeks ago.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Mary

    January 22, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    @Southern Beale: Cats LOVE Roombas. Dogs? Not so much. (Turn down the volume before you go to the second link.)

  24. 24.

    Comrade Mary

    January 22, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Chicks dig Roombas. Also.

  25. 25.

    frosty

    January 22, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    Evening’s entertainment? 1) Sitting by the fire and trying to stay warm in this drafty old house. 2) Finishing the reading assignment for Nixonland. Ugh. Nothing has changed in 50 years — they’re still using the techniques he pioneered of stoking resentment. 3) Trying to figure out if I’d rather pick up a guitar or another book. 4) Thinking about getting myself a bourbon on the rocks.

    But hey, I’m happy that I’m not at work tonight trying to meet an impossible deadline like I was two weeks ago.

    frosty +0 so far

  26. 26.

    eemom

    January 22, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Thanks for the rec! I am totally gonna watch that — never seen it b4 and I love classic horror movies. 10:15 EST

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    January 22, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    @gbear: Around here, they’ve already closed one big store downtown, and I guess others are on the chopping block. This must have been the very beginning of their closing-out sale, since all the shelves were fully stocked with books. I assume that if I go back in a week or two, the place will be the bookstore equivalent of a carcass that’s been stripped to the bone by scavengers.

    dms

  28. 28.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 22, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    Presently watching The Sea Hawk, no it is not about Matt Hasselback, but the 1940 film with Errol Flynn. Maybe later catch Spartacus God of the Arena again

  29. 29.

    BGinCHI

    January 22, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    @frosty: guitar and bourbon, if we’re voting

  30. 30.

    AAA Bonds

    January 22, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    So has anyone seen this Ian McKellan Richard III?

  31. 31.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 22, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    @AAA Bonds: Great movie! McKellan kicks ass in that movie. Oh BTW in watching The Sea Hawk, I got to say Alan Hale Sr was a cool actor.

  32. 32.

    BGinCHI

    January 22, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    @AAA Bonds: Opening scene is esp masterful, with the urinal and all.

    End is not as great, but it’s well worth a watch.

  33. 33.

    suzanne

    January 22, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    What’s the evening entertainment looking to be in your household?

    Well, I took the dog and went for a run. I know I’m supposed to wait six full weeks before exercising, but, God, I missed it so badly, so I started running again a few days ago.

    And, just to rub it in, I wore a tank top and shorts. Y’all that ask me incredulously why I live in Phoenix—that’s why.

  34. 34.

    BGinCHI

    January 22, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @suzanne: Don’t make me come out there and recline in a lounger in your back yard with a cold drink and maybe some peanuts or better yet cashews.

  35. 35.

    frosty

    January 22, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    @BGinCHI: Ha! Thanks, I’m leaning that way, but not ready to commit.

    Also, too, not exactly a guitar: Nationsl Style O. I want to relearn a couple of Linda Rondstadt heartbreakers before Valentine’s Day: (S)he Darked the Sun and Number and a Name. Nothing like songs of Dear John letters and stalkers for the holiday of love.

  36. 36.

    hamletta

    January 22, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    Alan Hale Sr was a cool actor

    He was great! And he was in everything. He’s like Thomas Mitchell: They were always supporting players, but they were in all the best movies.

    And he (Hale) invented the foldy-uppy theatre seat, according to IMDB, anyway.

  37. 37.

    M. Bouffant

    January 22, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    I will be out painting the town red, rocking & rolling through L.A.’s various musical haunts, & staggering in at 0400ish.

    No, wait, that was 20 yrs. ago. Tonight I’m well over 50, & have a cold. The DVR is 87% full, so I must decide between Thunderball, One, Two Three, Buckaroo Banzai, Mystery Street, The Green Berets, Forbidden Planet & several other movies + a mess of tee vee shows backed up on it.

  38. 38.

    Skepticat

    January 22, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    It’s a bit unnerving that the instant I saw that comic this morning I thought of this blog. Not any specific animal (or person), you understand, just the blog.

    My entertainment is being grateful that I’m a long way from New England weather for the winter.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    January 22, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Still frantically preparing for our winter foray to Chicago. (Plane tickets from Los Angeles to Chicago are dirt-cheap, BTW — whodathunk it?) I’ve bought a few wool sweaters, a new winter jacket, and knitted myself a hat, gloves, and a scarf. Now I’m making some slipper socks and hopefully that will be the last of it.

    We’re cat-sitting for one of Gerard’s co-workers — she’s the one who adopted Charlotte’s sister, so we get called on for cat-sitting every so often. There’s a day or two of hissing and growling and then she seems to realize, “Hey, wait, I remember this place! And these cats! That’s my sister — I should go smack her in the head.” Much better than when she stayed with her owner’s cousin and ended up pooping under the couch because she was too scared to get out and go to the litter box.

  40. 40.

    kdaug

    January 22, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    @Punchy: They’ve been eating poo in the backyard.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    January 22, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    Also, I fourth or fifth the recommendation to watch The Uninvited (though it doesn’t start until 7:15 for us West Coasters). It has some scary/creepy parts but I don’t know that I would call it a horror movie the way that, say, The Haunting is a horror movie — it’s more of a supernatural mystery story. Great movie, lots of fun.

  42. 42.

    beergoggles

    January 22, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    My fridge is so stocked with leftovers that keep falling out when the doors are opened, that my dogs would never stop me from opening them.

  43. 43.

    PurpleGirl

    January 22, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I agree about The Uninvited. The movie I always found way scary was The Haunting of Hill House.

  44. 44.

    BruceFromOhio

    January 22, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    @PurpleGirl: The movie I always found way scary was The Haunting of Hill House.

    To this day I confuse that with House on Haunted Hill. Too many Saturday afternoons watching television.

    Tonight is eating, then drinking wine as recovery to sledding all afternoon. And hanging out on teh tubez.

  45. 45.

    BruceFromOhio

    January 22, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    @Southern Beale: Oh, gosh. Good times like that are so, so very rare. Can haz videos later pleez?

  46. 46.

    Linda Featheringill

    January 22, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    CBS has canceled Medium! That’s terrible!

    I just watched last night’s episode online and the last 10% or so of the show really looked like a finale. So I checked online and it was!

    OH, that is just so sad.

  47. 47.

    frosty

    January 22, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    @M. Bouffant: Buckaroo Banzai, if we’re voting.

  48. 48.

    tkogrumpy

    January 22, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    Entertainment? I’m cutting out ribs and formers for a 48″ wingspan model of a 1950 Stinson 4 place light plane. Ya, I know. doesn’t sound very entertaining.

  49. 49.

    CA Doc

    January 22, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    @mnenosyne-going to Kansas City on Thurs, so I went out today to try to find a real winter coat to wear over business clothes. Surprise-no such thing exists here! (Probably exists in San Francisco but that’s too much of a trek)
    Tonight’s entertainment was a really good steak and a bottle of Louis Martini cabernet. Haven’t had steak since Christmas Eve, so I don’t feel too guilty.

  50. 50.

    4jkb4ia

    January 22, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    Federer Update:

    Robredo takes second set 6-3. (Federer took first set, but Robredo should be very easy)

  51. 51.

    Yutsano

    January 22, 2011 at 11:49 pm

    First of all, read the headline of this LZ Granderson column. Then read it and tell me the editors at ESPN.com don’t piss you off to no end.

    (edited to fix stupid name spelling mistake)

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    January 23, 2011 at 12:09 am

    @CA Doc:

    I had to order mine online from Sierra Trading Post. If you still have time to stop in somewhere, your best bet is probably REI, or Sport Chalet as a second choice — they both carry a lot of ski stuff, but REI’s tends to be less, um, brightly colored.

  53. 53.

    4jkb4ia

    January 23, 2011 at 12:32 am

    Federer 6-3 3rd set

  54. 54.

    Cliff

    January 23, 2011 at 12:37 am

    @Punchy:

    Made in China now?

  55. 55.

    CA Doc

    January 23, 2011 at 12:46 am

    @mnemosyne
    LOL, that’s exactly what I’m trying to replace, a too colorful ski jacket that I bought in the early ’90’s and looks dated, to say the least.

  56. 56.

    RossInDetroit

    January 23, 2011 at 2:17 am

    Tonight? Afternoon nap, simple dinner and catching up on the last 3 episodes of Burn Notice from Amazon. Hate TV. Love that show.

  57. 57.

    catdevotee

    January 23, 2011 at 3:29 am

    OK, Mr. catdevotee and I are not usually much for TV – except the football games he *can’t* miss no matter what – but today, because we were both feeling a bit crappy, we watched Sea Hawk (wonderful fun), then The Uninvited (seemed to be channeling Rebecca too much, or maybe vice-versa).

    I didn’t miss out on the beautiful day in southern coastal Oregon though. 68 today, sunny, and our daffodils are already up. An early azalea is in bloom out the dining room window.

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