• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Petty moves from a petty man.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Books are my comfort food!

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The revolution will be supervised.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / My flight was cancelled because Al Gore is fat

My flight was cancelled because Al Gore is fat

by DougJ|  February 25, 201110:06 pm| 126 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Readership Capture

FacebookTweetEmail

I won’t be at the solidarity rally tomorrow after all because I got snowed in up here in fly-over country. So I thought I’d do a post of two unrelated items lacking the sturm und drang of most of the week’s topics.

1. Why isn’t this detail from Ian Murphy’s epic prank call getting more LOLs?

“I was really hoping to talk directly to Scott,” I said. He said that could be arranged and that I should just leave my number. I explained to Gilkes, “My goddamn maid, Maria, put my phone in the washer. I’d have her deported, but she works for next to nothing.” Gilkes found this amusing. “I’m calling from the VOID—with the VOID, or whatever it’s called. You know, the Snype!”

2. The always excellent Evan Dawson has a fascinating piece about one of the Finger Lakes’ most unusual grapes, Saperavi, a key component of the legendary McGregor Black Russian Red as well as a new wine from Standing Stone.

What else not-so-serious is going on?

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « The Air Up There
Next Post: Saturday Morning Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

126Comments

  1. 1.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    new thread. now my previous bon mots (oh, google it) are for naught.

  2. 2.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    and I loved the maid thing too, Doug. Yes, that should be much more widely known.

  3. 3.

    BD of MN

    February 25, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    Wii Fit and cocktails… ah, such is the fun of Friday nights…

  4. 4.

    Redshirt

    February 25, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    This is all so very random. I love it.

  5. 5.

    TooManyJens

    February 25, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    I miss @MayorEmanuel. I’m really feeling surprisingly morose about the whole time vortex thing.

  6. 6.

    Dennis SGMM

    February 25, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    I’m here in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains listening to the rain. What a gift it is: programming the wildflowers and making my old car shine like it was brand new.

  7. 7.

    Martin

    February 25, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    @Dennis SGMM: It might actually snow in Newport Beach tomorrow night. I’m rather excited.

  8. 8.

    mr. whipple

    February 25, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    I won’t be at the solidarity rally tomorrow after all because I got snowed in up here in fly-over country.

    If you hop in the tank you still might be able to make it.

  9. 9.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    ya know, there is some stuff going on here in flyover country. drop in.

  10. 10.

    Redshirt

    February 25, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    My Birthday party got canceled because of the snow, Doug, if that’s any consolation. Is it?

  11. 11.

    cat48

    February 25, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    Newt Gingrich is going to hate Obama’s new Social Secretary which is a historic appointment:

    The White House made history in two ways Friday, when it announced Jeremy Bernard as its new social secretary — the first man and the first openly gay person to fill that role.
    Bernard, who is currently the Senior Advisor to the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, will replace Julianna Smoot, the White House announced.

  12. 12.

    ChrisNYC

    February 25, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    I LOVE that story about the phone. It makes me laugh just to think of it and it will for years. As good or better though is, when he’s talking to Walker and says:

    “They’re probly putting hobos in suits. (pause) That’s what WE do. (pause) Sometimes.”

    Walker pauses after that, just for a sec. I think “hobos” was just on the edge of blowing the ruse.

  13. 13.

    Dennis SGMM

    February 25, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    @Martin:
    The snow has come down to a level that I haven’t seen since the early Seventies. I only had to drive eight miles up Glendora Mountain Road to feel the crunch of it under my hiking boots. I know that there are places where snow is a burden (I lived in Spokane) but, it’s a welcome gift. Clean, crisp air, snow, and an old Mazda Miata with the top down on a snake twisty mountain road. Life can be good.

  14. 14.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    Okay, it’s totally cliched, does it help if I say I’m gay? but really, why the hell hasn’t every White House social secretary of the past 200 years been a gay man? srrsly.

  15. 15.

    sukabi

    February 25, 2011 at 10:37 pm

    @ChrisNYC: probably wasn’t close to blowing it… Walker probably got confused and thought he was talking to the asshole from Nevada instead.

  16. 16.

    cleek

    February 25, 2011 at 10:40 pm

    Flight Control HD. it’s the most addictide, stupid, frustrating simple game i’ve played since i beat Peggle Nights, last week.

    yay

  17. 17.

    Mark S.

    February 25, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    Talked to my teabagging parents tonight. God, it’s amazing what you learn when you get all of your news from Fox and Rush. Did you know Wisconsin teachers get paid $80,000 a year? It’s true. Well, no, it’s not.

  18. 18.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    @Mark S.:

    If only. I could quit my job and live on my partner’s salary. oh, heaven.

  19. 19.

    El Cid

    February 25, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    @Mark S.: It’s true enough. How true do you need it to be?

  20. 20.

    Redshirt

    February 25, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    Ha! Ten years ago my Birthday party was also ruined. I’m cursed! But blessed – anyone familiar with that feeling?

  21. 21.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 10:49 pm

    @Mark S.:

    My parents are conservative, have always been, no big deal. but lately they are impossible to talk to. they watch Fox all day and they are just hopeless. Fox news really is poison. they are intelligent, well read, but since getting hooked on Fox, absolutely crazy. it’s a problem.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 25, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    Well pfoopf! All that memorizing and practicing for nothing.
    ( ::whistles :: “. . . a flibbertigibbet, a will-o’-the-wisp, a clown . . .”)

    :::SHAKES FIST::: Darn you to heck, Al Gore!

  23. 23.

    El Cid

    February 25, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    This is awesome. Via Digby.

    At a recent gathering in South Carolina, the site of a crucial early presidential primary next year, party activists said the [Palin] didn’t have the experience, the knowledge of issues or the ability to get beyond folksy slang and bumper-sticker generalities that they think is needed to win and govern.
    __
    Many are shopping for someone else.

    I know, right? Pretty impressive.

    Even in South Carolina, Republicans are starting to wise up.

    No wait — maybe not.

    They’re looking at Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., for example, and seeing what they call a smarter, more experienced candidate who’s equally as conservative.
    __
    “Sarah Palin with a brain,” said Gail Moore, a Republican from Columbia.

    Man.

    The Himalayas were formed when India’s continental plate smashed up against Asia, lifting the seafloor between it and Asia up high enough to be the highest peaks on the planet (from sea level).

    This process could represent the Reagan / Southern Strategy dumbening of the political plain.

    As the collision takes place, Wingnut is raised hiiiiigh up over the former surroundings, forming some of the highest peaks of Wingnut which have ever existed.

    One important difference is that the Himalayas are still growing higher, as India still presses into Asia. However, they rise very, very slowly.

    The right wing plate collision, however, manages to keep the Wingnut peaks growing higher much more quickly, and some observers believe that the rate is increasing. There could even be some sort of repulsive dark energy at work.

    In the Himalayan case, the collision then pushed the leading edge of the Indian plate down, smashing it into the Earth for hundreds of miles.

    The GOP subduction dumbening too pushes the national political plate down, down, down, falling deep into the Earth, where under tremendous pressure the material melts and returns to the mantle.

  24. 24.

    KCinDC

    February 25, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    What the hell is with this BP ad that hides the text of some posts (like this one) and can’t be moved? I don’t mind so much if y’all want to take some money from BP as they do their best to convince us they’re really good guys, but can you at least not let them hide the words we’re trying to read?

  25. 25.

    Mark S.

    February 25, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    @El Cid:

    Can’t. Breathe. Laughing. Too. Hard.

  26. 26.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 11:00 pm

    @El Cid:

    I am speechless. I am without speech. that is bljgiuaklajieloualeoaiold.

  27. 27.

    freelancer

    February 25, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    @El Cid:

    Jesus. I’m speechless. The GOP primary is going to be AWESOME.

  28. 28.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    @Martin:

    Oh Christ, if it snowing in southern Cal, then it will likely cross our paths in the high desert a few miles east. I’m up to here with this winter, that has reminded me of the two I spent in Montana years ago and haven’t quite yet warmed back up from. I know global warming doesn’t mean everyone’s temperature goes up on cue, but we have been beyond the low 8 ball this winter. It will probly be 120 in the shade come June though.

  29. 29.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    If we don’t get edit back, I’m taking to the streets for lowly commenter bargaining rights.

  30. 30.

    Mark S.

    February 25, 2011 at 11:09 pm

    @Little Boots:

    What makes Fox so poisonous is the cultists their viewers firmly believe that Fox is the only media outlet that isn’t biased. Screaming about liberal bias for twenty years was really the smartest thing conservatives ever did. If only they knew as much about, well, anything concerning governing (economics, science, geopolitics) as they do about mass propaganda.

  31. 31.

    freelancer

    February 25, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Open edit in new tab or new window.

  32. 32.

    Wile E. Quixote

    February 25, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    I tried reading Bobo’s latest prose piece in which he fellates Mitch Daniels but could only get three paragraphs in before I was seized with an uncontrollable urge to hunt him down and repeatedly slam a rifle butt into his head. I blame Al Gore and the Ubuntu development team for this and am now going to relax with some friends and some beers at the Madison grill.

  33. 33.

    S. cerevisiae

    February 25, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    @El Cid: Oh please let this happen. Caribou Barbie vs. crazy eyes Shelly. If they ever got on a stage together the resulting density would rip a hole in the space-time continuum and immediately transport them both to a parallel universe full of Lovecraftian horrors.

    We can only hope.

  34. 34.

    jwb

    February 25, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    @General Stuck: You do know you can edit by opening edit up in a new tab or window, right?

    ETA: Yup, still working.
    ETA2: What freelancer said.

  35. 35.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    @Mark S.: it’s true. though I would say flipping the definition of “elite” was their smartest, most effective move. used to be that the elite was the guy that owned the company and could fire you, or worse, the guy in New York who could shut down your whole factory and many more like it on a whim. Now it’s some Hollywood actor or snooty professor who can … well, be all elite and shit.

  36. 36.

    MikeJ

    February 25, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    Is the edit problem limited to any particular os/browser/version?

  37. 37.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    WASHINGTON – Just 52 percent of the US public accurately believes the sweeping health care overhaul enacted last year is still law of the land, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

    Twenty-two percent wrongly said the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act had already been repealed, while 26 percent didn’t know or wouldn’t say.

    The results reflect a surprising level of ignorance among the public on an issue that has been one of the most high-profile in recent years, making frequent headlines and being discussed ad nauseum in the press.

    Break out the rubber mallets

    Or just follow Howie’s lead

  38. 38.

    Mark S.

    February 25, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    I think Mitch Daniels should run, like hell away from Bobo. Brooks sounds like Pepe le Pew in that fucking column.

  39. 39.

    Punchy

    February 25, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    But what does Sullivan think about snow?

  40. 40.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    @freelancer:

    I tried that. You mean open a new browser window and go to bj and the comment and try edit again? that doesn’t work for me, unless I’m missing something.

  41. 41.

    jwb

    February 25, 2011 at 11:22 pm

    @Mark S.: I’d say buying up media properties and investing heavily in think tanks was the smartest thing they did.

  42. 42.

    burnspbesq

    February 25, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    Doing laundry so I can pack for tomorrow’s trip to NY, and scoreboard watching. Union and Yale both tied tonight, so the regular season championship of the ECAC hockey league will be decided tomorrow night. If Union beats Princeton at home on Senior night, or if Yale loses at Cornell, the trophy and the top seed in the playoffs are ours.

    Go Garnet!

  43. 43.

    jwb

    February 25, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    @MikeJ: From all reports, the editing problem is universal.

  44. 44.

    scav

    February 25, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    @El Cid: What is this, the Olympiad of stupid? — oh it huts to laugh.

  45. 45.

    TooManyJens

    February 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    @General Stuck:

    The results reflect a surprising level of ignorance among the public on an issue that has been one of the most high-profile in recent years, making frequent headlines and being discussed ad nauseum in the press.

    Hard to believe that something that’s been “discussed” so extensively in our media would be so misunderstood, isn’t it? It’s almost like the purpose of media coverage isn’t to inform people.

    God damn, I hate the news industry.

  46. 46.

    jwb

    February 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    @General Stuck: No, click the “click to edit” button but have it open a new window.

  47. 47.

    MattR

    February 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    @General Stuck: Right click on the edit link and choose “open in new tab” or “open in new window”. It took me a while to figure out that was what people meant.

  48. 48.

    jwb

    February 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    @MattR: Or control click, if you live in Mac land.

  49. 49.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    @TooManyJens: as you should, although in this case, not sure how this works. people were so whipped up about it, so stupidly, that seeing so many who think it’s been repealed already might actually calm them down. not sure, but I think if morons are going to be morons, maybe telling them they got what they want and to sit down and stfu might be the best result.

  50. 50.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:30 pm

    testing.

    edit – got it now. thanks all.

  51. 51.

    Suffern ACE

    February 25, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    @General Stuck: Sure the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act has been repealed. BUT what about OBAMACARE!

  52. 52.

    General Stuck

    February 25, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    @TooManyJens:

    Stuff like this wipes out any optimism I can muster these days. I don’t know if it’s all media, or mostly just a country of brain dead bumpkins. Either way, you can’t run a democracy when half the people are not informed in the most basic way, on at least the biggest issues.

  53. 53.

    Ailuridae

    February 25, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    Just, wow, factcheck.org

  54. 54.

    Zuzu's Petals

    February 25, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    So speaking of solidarity rallies…my son and his wife and little girl are going to the one in Salem, Oregon. (They have friends in Wisconsin.)

    Any suggestions for a sign for a non-union family who pays a lot of taxes and supports public employee uninos?

  55. 55.

    stannate

    February 25, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    I’d be very curious to try a Black Russian, though judging by McGregor’s website, I would most likely have to visit the winery. Unless I’m missing it, I don’t know if NY wineries can ship out-of-state.

    Eastern European wines are a whole ‘nother universe to explore. I’ve tried a couple versions of Saperavi from Georgia–the Kvareli and Kindzmarauli, with the latter having a unique full-bodied, yet somewhat spicy taste that isn’t like anything else before or since. Romania apparently wants to become like the Chile of the Old World, as it has become a go-to source for good-quality Cabs and Merlots that won’t set you back much in the wallet. There’s one native varietal from Romania, Fetească neagră, that I tried once, but I was unfortunately a bit under the influence so I can’t recall much of its tasting profile apart from “good.” And then there’s Hungary’s wines, which I’ve talked about before.

  56. 56.

    Little Boots

    February 25, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    @General Stuck:

    we need a better people. we need to send out for a better people. this people is annoying.

  57. 57.

    freelancer

    February 25, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    @Punchy:

    No idea, but this, about Daniels made me do a triple take:

    These people claim that the United States is on the edge of a fiscal cliff, that what they care about is liberty. But at every opportunity they show that an actual record of fiscal conservatism in government isn’t nearly as important to them as polarizing rhetoric.

    My emphasis.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    February 25, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    Went to see Kathy Griffin at the Kennedy Center tonight, so I am now informed in the best possible way, i.e., D-list pop culture. She did a solid two-hour set.

    Think I will toddle off to bed soon, because I have to go back to work early in the morning. It’s just not fair.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    February 25, 2011 at 11:47 pm

    @Ailuridae:

    Am I wrong, or is that complete bullshit? Too late, too tired and too liquored up to check.

  60. 60.

    kdaug

    February 25, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    Getting angry thinking about Diebold again, in re: another comment on some other thread about some close election. How the fuck can you trust the results?

  61. 61.

    Maude

    February 25, 2011 at 11:55 pm

    @stannate:
    I have an interest in wine making and I don’t drink wine. The wine makers are artists in a way.

  62. 62.

    Mike E

    February 25, 2011 at 11:56 pm

    @stannate: I bought some Hungarian wine in Sopron, trying to spend all their inconvertible currency before traveling to Austria. It was a honey colored deal, with legs… damn thing was so leggy in practically walked across the border all by itself. Caramel-like. Not that good.

  63. 63.

    Ailuridae

    February 25, 2011 at 11:57 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It is complete and utter bull shit that doesn’t show a cursory understanding of how Social Security works or for that matter what it means for the government to issue debt.

    I hope Bruce Webb has some free time

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 25, 2011 at 11:58 pm

    In their seemingly endless quest to find irrelevance through FoxLite editorial decisions, CNN has fired Kathleen Parker and replaced her with (among others) E.D. Hill. Yes, that E.D. Hill.

  65. 65.

    stannate

    February 26, 2011 at 12:01 am

    @Mike E: You must have had Tokaji, which is a potent dessert wine. I’ve never had the luxury of tasting any of the expensive German BA’s or TBA’s, but even when compared to icewine, Tokaji is powerfully sweet. I’ve drank mead that was less sweet than some Tokaji.

  66. 66.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 12:04 am

    @Ailuridae: And Factcheck dumped this item just in time for the weekend talk shows. Rather than talking about labor issues, we’re now going to have conversations by VSPs on why we need to cut government. Coincidence?

  67. 67.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 12:06 am

    @El Cid: No. NONONONONONONO! For the love of all that is good and not evil, NOOOO! ::shakes fist at the ignorance::

    ETA: Testing, one two three. Editing my own goddamn comment should not be this hard.

    ETA II: Yippppppeeee!

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    February 26, 2011 at 12:08 am

    @Ailuridae:

    Thanks, that’s what I thought. [Face-planting in bed]

  69. 69.

    JPK

    February 26, 2011 at 12:11 am

    The best part of the prank was that he got Walker to take the call at all. The best part of that was the story about the maid and the VOID and “Snype.” That thing about “Maria” still makes me laugh and groan every time at the combination of audaciousness and stupidity. Dennis was right when he said it played perfectly to the sense Walker’s staff must have of a rich asshole — more like pitch-perfect. In other news, I’m going to the Olympia rally tomorrow, for all the good it will do and I hope it will do some. But I can’t help being reminded of marching against the Iraq War this time of year in 2003.

  70. 70.

    TooManyJens

    February 26, 2011 at 12:12 am

    Yes, I’m linking you to a “Fox and Friends” clip. You’ll thank me.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqx9sUz36Zo

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    February 26, 2011 at 12:13 am

    @Martin:
    Was supposed to snow north of the bay tonight but we have clear sky and stars. Getting cold though (39 now going to 25).

  72. 72.

    Mary G

    February 26, 2011 at 12:16 am

    @Dennis SGMM: @Martin: Snow level 500 feet! That is the lowest I think I have ever heard it predicted. There is a lot of pink on the Weather Channel radar – freezing rain in Southern California! Everyone else probably thinks we are nuts to be excited about a cold snap. I’ll have to tuck the hibiscus bushes in tomorrow night. They were badly damaged the last time we almost had a frost.

    And the freaking out by the local media about WHAT WILL THIS DO TO THE OSCARS???? is hilarious.

  73. 73.

    Three-nineteen

    February 26, 2011 at 12:19 am

    @Zuzu’s Petals: How about “Private Company Employee Supports Public Unions”?

  74. 74.

    freelancer

    February 26, 2011 at 12:19 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    You read Tbogg yet? He’s got a vicious one line takedown of Althouse. I got out of the boat. All of her posts on the protests are infuriating enough to almost make me want to penalize all state workers just so this dipshit gets canned by the guy she’s cheerleading.

  75. 75.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 12:24 am

    @freelancer: I hate you. I hate you for making me get off that boat. I hate you for making me read even one word of the Inebriated Professor. And, I hate myself with the intensity of eleven-billionty hot suns that I read some of the comments.

  76. 76.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    February 26, 2011 at 12:24 am

    I won’t be at the solidarity rally tomorrow after all because I got snowed in up here in fly-over country The Koch Bros(TM) gave me 50 large and a coupon good for a blow job from Scott “Bottoms Up” Walker to stay away.

    Fxd4u.

    I don’t know if this qualifies as not serious, but the ad with Rusty Orange Boner is creeping le fuck living out of me.

  77. 77.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    February 26, 2011 at 12:30 am

    MODERATION, WHY HAST THOU FORETAKEN MY COMMENT?

    Bastard SOB.

  78. 78.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 12:32 am

    @Mary G:

    Everyone else probably thinks we are nuts to be excited about a cold snap.

    Yeah, but I am hoping the cold doesn’t get too snappy till I get home. Motorcycle+rain+night shift=thank FSM my commute isn’t too long.
    I really would rather speculate, as opposed to find out first-hand, how my old FZR handles in frizzing rain.

  79. 79.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 12:38 am

    @Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen: Because it hates you. SATSQ

    ETA (Because I can, bitchez): Or, FYWP. No other explanation needed.

  80. 80.

    sukabi

    February 26, 2011 at 12:38 am

    @asiangrrlMN: don’t waste your energy hating yourself or freelancer… it’s informative to open the door to a drunks’ house once in awhile… let’s you know who NOT TO INVITE to yours.

  81. 81.

    gnomedad

    February 26, 2011 at 12:39 am

    @freelancer:
    I clicked through to Althouse and read

    If I made you laugh today, why not donate $5?

    Yeah, you did, but no.

  82. 82.

    Mary G

    February 26, 2011 at 12:40 am

    @Jebediah: Oh yeah, that isn’t good at all, be safe. I would almost worry more about the other drivers, at least some of whom will certainly try to cope by driving really, really fast. Recipe for fail, of course. Tow truck drivers are rubbing their hands together with glee. Good luck.

  83. 83.

    freelancer

    February 26, 2011 at 12:42 am

    @gnomedad:

    I saw that as well. I thought “Fuck you, I visited YOUR website. You should be paying me.”

  84. 84.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 12:44 am

    @Mary G:
    Thanks – yeah,the other drivers are the problem. I am old enough that on wet pavement, I am very cautious about traction – but around here, plenty of folks do not know to slow down a bit in the wet. At least it won’t be late Friday night/early Saturday AM when people have been out drinking… oh, wait… damn.

  85. 85.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 12:49 am

    @freelancer: Hey, don’t be unkind: she’s giving up $10K so that this clown she supports can be governor. She’s got to make up that difference somehow. Sacrifice is for chumps.

  86. 86.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 12:54 am

    @sukabi: You are right. Plus, I need to own it and say, “I choose to look at the drunk show. That’s on me.”

    @gnomedad: FUCK YEAH! I need compensation for the brain cells I lost reading that post.

  87. 87.

    Mark S.

    February 26, 2011 at 12:59 am

    @Ailuridae:

    Wow, that piece is misleading as hell. It’s like saying if I borrowed money from Lily to pay Tunch back and turned around and said that Tunch was causing my debt problems.

    It reads a lot like a McMegan post. Does she use Brooks Jackson as a pen name?

  88. 88.

    sukabi

    February 26, 2011 at 1:06 am

    @Mark S.: it doesn’t matter… they’ve all sucked the same Koch and their goal is the same… kill the middle class.

  89. 89.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 1:19 am

    @Mark S.: TUNCHIE! You said TUNCH! Does that mean pictures are imminent?

    I’m so easily led down the Tunch-shaped path. Sigh.

  90. 90.

    Mark S.

    February 26, 2011 at 1:22 am

    @asiangrrlMN: I hope not. He’s mad that I still owe him money. Gotta run.

  91. 91.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 1:24 am

    @Mark S.: You can briskly stride to escape the wrath of Tunch.*

    *First time I EVER made a Tunchie weight joke.

    @Mark S.: That’s a good point, Mark. COLE! Pics of Lily. And Tunch.

  92. 92.

    Mark S.

    February 26, 2011 at 1:25 am

    When’s the last time we got a picture of Lily? 2009? Does John still own her?

  93. 93.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 1:29 am

    @Mark S.:

    Does John still own her?

    Think you have the owner/owned relationship backwards.

  94. 94.

    freelancer

    February 26, 2011 at 1:30 am

    Anyone seen The Wild & Wonderful Whites of West Virginia?

    My jaw is on the fucking floor right now.

  95. 95.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 1:32 am

    Anyone else got teh “Speaker Boner takes your questions” ad? I clicked on it, and the first five questions seemed to me to be questions Lil Boner would probably rather not answer. Did he not realize that the internets isn’t only teatards?

  96. 96.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 1:33 am

    @asiangrrlMN:
    And Rosie!

  97. 97.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 1:33 am

    @Mark S.: And what does that tell us? Who gets all the attention around here? crazy Rosie and overlord Tunch. Calm, rational, liberal Lily never gets the media coverage. Why? Why? Why? I blame Obama.

  98. 98.

    srv

    February 26, 2011 at 1:34 am

    What else not-so-serious is going on?

    Apparently my employers worldwide IT Help infra-structure is down for planned service tonight.

    I guess I should not find these kinds of things to be so serious anymore.

  99. 99.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 1:35 am

    @Jebediah: Very true. Haven’t seen pics of EITHER dog lately. Hm….

    @jwb: Poor Lily. She needs to act up a bit more to get more prominence.

  100. 100.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 1:36 am

    @Jebediah: Not here, but I got it on YouTube earlier today. I just presumed it was a teaser ad. Is it legit? Who’s running it?

  101. 101.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 1:38 am

    @jwb:
    I’ll take another look – once I saw folks were asking impertinent questions already, I jumped back here – figured my services were not needed.

    edit: aw frick now it has gone away. I did see “youtube/johnboner” on there so maybe it is the Orange Weiner’s youtube channel?

  102. 102.

    hamletta

    February 26, 2011 at 1:47 am

    @Redshirt: DC got three feet of snow on my 16th birthday. This was decades ago, before Al Gore caused the weather to turn extreme.

    I had gone to my best friend’s house for a sleepover anyway, just ’cause; I wound up stuck there for three days and begging for my mommy to pick me up once they got the roads cleared. BFF and I were on the edge of murder/suicide.

    In the meantime, we ate frozen pizza, listened to the Clash, and wrote letters to the editor of CREEM.

    A couple of months later, my mom picked me up after I’d taken the PSAT with the latest copy of CREEM, which carried my letter (my first published work).

    Aced the PSAT, but published! In CREEM! Boy Howdy™!

  103. 103.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 2:01 am

    Not usually a fan of punditry by anecdote, but the quote Herbert used to conclude his column was excellent:

    I asked Lynda Hiller if she felt generally optimistic or pessimistic. She was quiet for a moment, then said: “I don’t think things are going to get any better. I think we’re going to hit rock bottom. The big shots are in charge, and they just don’t give a darn about the little person.”

  104. 104.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 26, 2011 at 2:03 am

    @jwb: If not exceedingly depressing because of its accuracy.

  105. 105.

    Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)

    February 26, 2011 at 2:05 am

    Just got back from an NIH review in DC. The NIH staff are pretty much prepared for a government shutdown that would mean the cancellation of over 1000 study section meetings in the next few weeks. That means research proposals, no matter how meritorious, won’t get reviewed and many NIH staff (including some who were lured away from academe and persuaded to work for the government) won’t get paid.

  106. 106.

    Jebediah

    February 26, 2011 at 2:07 am

    @jwb:
    It appears to be Orange Wanker’s youtube channel.

  107. 107.

    hamletta

    February 26, 2011 at 2:07 am

    @Little Boots: No, we don’t.

    As some Texas politician, quoted by Molly Ivins (GRHS), once said, “The people is not dumb.”

    You don’t ever give up on people. The most Fox-numbed hater of unions will still give you the shirt off his back.

    We have to appeal to people’s basic decency.

    Cutting funds for TANF, or WIC, or whatever it’s called now, is great in the abstract, but people don’t want kids to go to bed hungry.

  108. 108.

    jwb

    February 26, 2011 at 2:09 am

    @Jebediah: Thanks. I’ll be interested to hear what innocuous questions actually end up being selected. I think this is a job for DougJ.

  109. 109.

    Angry Black Lady

    February 26, 2011 at 2:13 am

    @freelancer: jesus christ. i was on the fence about going out and brave the rain in search of wine.

    reading that pushed me right over the line…

    brb

  110. 110.

    hamletta

    February 26, 2011 at 2:34 am

    Idle Googling on “do do that voodoo” turned up this piece in the New York Sun from 2007. (Didn’t that paper die a well-deserved death?)

    It’s a cultchah piece on the anniversary of Cole Porter’s first big musical. What’s the big deal? They could use the n-word back then, and we can’t use it now, dammit!

    I am not kidding.

  111. 111.

    Wile E. Quixote

    February 26, 2011 at 3:15 am

    @Mark S.:

    I think Mitch Daniels should run, like hell away from Bobo. Brooks sounds like Pepe le Pew in that fucking column.

    Yeah, but he’s on the edge. You know that Brooks is tightly wound up and about to snap. I don’t know what it is, or when it’s going to happen he’s going to go from being Pepe le Pew to being Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs in about zero New York seconds..

    It’s not going to be pretty. Republican politicians and Blue Dog Democrats will start disappearing, strangely enough in every case the disappearance occurred soon after the Times</i. published a flattering OpEd about them. Then the bodies start turning up and pretty soon the death toll is up there somewhere between the Battle of Kursk and the bombing of Hiroshima and still, the bodies keep coming.

    Meanwhile David Brooks is down in the cellar of of a distinguished two story colonial in Nassau County. He’s naked and dancing around in the suit he’s making out of the skins of Republican politicians (and Joe Lieberman). While he’s dancing around in the suit he’s pretending that he’s John Thune and he’s on Meet the Press and David Gregory is fawning over him and telling him how primal his scent and admiring his athletic grace and body type. Meanwhile, over in the pit he dug in the corner, a frightened and naked Mitch Daniels is trapped and being starved so his skin will be easier to remove from his body, dreading the moment where Brooks comes over to the pit and tells him “It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again.”

    Yeah, whenever you see Brooks writing that crazy shit I want you to think about the scene that I described. Of course if I knew where the fuck I was going with this I could have worked in something about Gail Collins being Clarise Starling, but if I did that I’d have to figure out who was going to be Hannibal Lecter. I was thinking Stephen Colbert or maybe Keith Olbermann, I couldn’t figure out which one though because the image of Mitch Daniels cowering helplessly in a pit while David Brooks stood above him screaming “it puts the lotion on it’s skin or it gets the hose again!” was strangely appealing, as was the image of Ross Douthat being one of the hapless prison guards that Lecter slaughters, you know the guard who got his face cut off.

    So, just out of curiosity, on a scale of 1 to 10, hypothetically speaking, how fucked up is that?

  112. 112.

    Yutsano

    February 26, 2011 at 3:29 am

    @Angry Black Lady: I wouldn’t risk it ABL. I made the mistake of driving in California when it rained once. And up here we drive through it all the time so it doesn’t bug us. I almost went hoarse from the road rage.

  113. 113.

    Dennis SGMM

    February 26, 2011 at 4:03 am

    @Yutsano:
    Many Californians drive on bad tires because most of the time it doesn’t matter. “Aquaplane” is an aircraft that can land on the water.

  114. 114.

    Mark S.

    February 26, 2011 at 4:09 am

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Pretty fucked up. But even if Brooks got caught, he’s such an American institution they’d let him continue doing the NewsHour in the contraption Hannibal Lecter was in.

  115. 115.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 26, 2011 at 4:32 am

    I drank your fucking wine, dickwad.

  116. 116.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 26, 2011 at 4:34 am

    @Wile E. Quixote: Jesus

  117. 117.

    hamletta

    February 26, 2011 at 5:16 am

    @Wile E. Quixote: It goes to 11. But that’s one more than 10, innit?

    You are not sick. They are that depraved.

  118. 118.

    celiadexter

    February 26, 2011 at 7:42 am

    About the Saperavi — I had the McGregor years ago, didn’t know what grape it came from but liked it a lot — the problem is that they are NOT giving it away, which is sadly true of all good New York wines. But if you take the D or the Q train (I think) somewhere near the end of the line in Brooklyn and find yourself in Brighton Beach, there are Russian liquor stores on the main drag with all kinds of Georgian wine made from Saperavi. The labels are in Georgian script (looks like a mixture of Russian and Thai) and some of the wine is sweeter than we’re used to, but the price is right so you can experiment. Have fun.

  119. 119.

    Southern Beale

    February 26, 2011 at 7:55 am

    Why isn’t this detail from Ian Murphy’s epic prank call getting more LOLs?

    Well, I wrote about it.

    I don’t think it’s funny. I think it’s sick. Of course that’s the kind of ruse that would make the Governor’s chief of staff think he was talking to a real big shot.

    I would love to be a fly on the wall when Walker reamed Keith Gilkes a new one after it was revealed this was a prank and Walker became a national laughingstock. Teanutties hate nothing more than being laughed at.

    Gilkes was his campaign manager. You’d think he’d have known better.

  120. 120.

    Southern Beale

    February 26, 2011 at 7:58 am

    Speaking of laughing at the Teanutties, have y’all seen this new Jack In The Box TV ad? I think they’re poking fun at Tea Party “patriot” crap, in a clever way. When an ad agency mocks you to sell hamburgers … I think that says something about your movement.

    Maybe it’s me.

  121. 121.

    Southern Beale

    February 26, 2011 at 8:01 am

    What else not-so-serious is going on?

    Local news fail comedy gold.

  122. 122.

    Phyllis

    February 26, 2011 at 8:22 am

    @Steeplejack: You lucky devil. She’s been to SC a couple of times, once in N. Charleston & once in Greenville. I couldn’t go either time. Would love to see her live.

  123. 123.

    chopper

    February 26, 2011 at 8:26 am

    after a long week of work and child care, i finally saw the weekend and woke up sick today. sigh.

  124. 124.

    Doug Hill

    February 26, 2011 at 8:41 am

    @stannate:

    They can ship to many states. They are one of the best states about shipping now.

  125. 125.

    Doug Hill

    February 26, 2011 at 8:44 am

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Ha ha.

  126. 126.

    Cat Lady

    February 26, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    @TooManyJens:

    Way late to this party, but when a guy is on a news show and what he’s saying is so interesting and righteous that there’s more outrage at the bank than curiosity about why the fuck he’s got vampire teeth, we’ve crossed some kind of event horizon.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - PaulB - Olympic Peninsula: Lake Quinault Loop Drive 5
Image by PaulB (5/19/25)

Recent Comments

  • Aziz, light! on War for Ukraine Day 1,180: The Cost (May 19, 2025 @ 11:23pm)
  • Jackie on Monday Night Open Thread (May 19, 2025 @ 11:21pm)
  • Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom on War for Ukraine Day 1,180: The Cost (May 19, 2025 @ 11:15pm)
  • Kayla Rudbek on Monday Morning Open Thread: Another Week (May 19, 2025 @ 11:13pm)
  • Nettoyeur on Monday Night Open Thread (May 19, 2025 @ 11:11pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!