Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Republicans do not trust women.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

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

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

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

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

Our messy unity will be our strength.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

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Reader Interactions

85Comments

  1. 1.

    Yutsano

    U wuz reading my brain vibes. I’m like totally tripped out and stuff.

    I put up how to spot me over at SoBeale’s place. Which is not on the blog roll. That situation should be adjusted.

  2. 2.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The entire pet parade at the link is well worth clicking on.

    My fave is the Elvis dog who, despite inauthenticity (wearing a cape, a fashion choice of Elvis’ “fat” period, while not being fat) is still a hoot.

  12. 12.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I bathed my two at noon. DH mowed the back yard and the dogs went for a romp and within the hour they were both totally covered in fleas again. I am fighting a losing battle here. Have tried everything and nothing is working. The only thing I have ever found that really works was something that my mother brought over from England I think it was called Enforcer or something like that.(which she gets from her vet). The US equivalent is called Stronghold but it appears to have different ingredients because it is nowhere near as effective as the English stuff. Luckily we have no carpets in the house so at least I am not battling them in that respect but damn flea season is bad this year.

  15. 15.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @J.: The chihuahua (cross I think) is what Jilly Thompson called a “Mexican Hat Dog” in her book “Intelligent and Loyal” which was an homage to mutts. (Two of which she owned and which her pure bred dog owning friends used to look down their noses at and say “well they are supposed to be intelligent and loyal”) She had some wonderful descriptions of dogs “The prop forward” was anything with boxer/bulldog/pit bull lineage for example.

  17. 17.

    Phylllis

    Made the apple, cream cheese & pecan bundt cake that’s featured on the cover of the new Southern Living. It’s a very dense cake, mighty tasty. One of those recipes where you’ve used three bowls, almost every measuring cup and spoon in the set, and a number of other assorted items. I had to take a nap once it came out of the oven.

  18. 18.

    PsiFighter37

    Bored as hell. Did a little cleaning, did a little grocery shopping. Now just finalizing my soundtrack for my upcoming 3-week vacation.

    PF37 +4 Sam Adams Oktoberfest

  20. 20.

    The Dangerman

    With the Chihuahua, now Yo quiero Taco Bell (I have no idea how far that commercial went; it may not make sense but for the West).

    As for Mad Muammar (perhaps on the road, warrior), there were some reports the Tripoli Airport fell overnight; have no idea how that might impact things.

  21. 21.

    John Weiss

    @Litlebritdifrnt: You can buy it online. Google “fleas revolution”. It isn’t cheap, but it’s much less hassle than dealing with fleas. I think that it prevents heartworms as well.

  22. 22.

    Comrade Mary

    Hey, guys, I need to whip up a strawberry shortcake on short (ha!) notice, but don’t trust myself to make my first EVAH sponge cake perfectly the first time. I’m thinking of using my basic chocolate cake recipe (I mean, why not?), but if anyone has any other ideas, please let me know.

    Caveat: I’ve got flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, butter and a variety of fresh and frozen fruit on hand, but I doubt I have time to run out and get any more ingredients.

    Thanks!

  23. 23.

    Phylllis

    @Yutsano: Yeah, I’ll do this one again at Thanksgiving. At Christmas I do a chocolate chip & sour cream pound cake that only slightly less labor-intensive. That one starts from a cake mix though. This one was scratch all the way baby.

  25. 25.

    lamh34

    so Ben Smith over at politico has a link up that say that Karl Rove is saying that Palin in gonna run…i don’t know if this is good news for Romney, Perry, Bachmann, or John McCain.

    Actually, now that I think about it, a Palin entry would probably be good for Obama.

  27. 27.

    Comrade Mary

    @Yutsano: Ooh, the biscuit method! I have all this stuff (and a few of Alton’s books), but while that’s something I’ve filed away for future use — thanks! — I need to make cake-cake tonight.

    If I had actual cake flour around, I could try the hot milk sponge cake recipe from Joy of Cooking, but, alas, I don’t. I guess most real cake recipes are out, too, because all I have on hand is all-purpose flour.

  28. 28.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Yutsano: I’m doing a big catfish fry for the bride’s garden club tomorrow after I do the swim leg of a sprint triathalon at dawn!

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): NOM!! Save me some! It’s a five hour flight to the ATL if I hop the red-eye Delta…

    @Comrade Mary: You can use AP, just be much much more delicate in the mixing. The real difference between cake flour and AP is the amount of protein around that will make gluten. AP has more, and since gluten development should ideally be minimal for a cake, you just compensate by trying not to encourage it too much.

  33. 33.

    Comrade Mary

    @jeffreyw: NOM!!! OK, you and Yutsy have convinced me: biscuit-y shortcake it is! I have to run out and get cream, though.

    (My Mum always made hers with spongecake, but I don’t know if that was her idiosyncrasy or a Canadian versus American thing.)

  42. 42.

    JimPortlandOR

    The wildly different eyes on the bulldog suggest some mixed blood. Where is the long-form birth certificate? Was it born in Kenya and smuggled into the US to spread Sharia Law?

  43. 43.

    dmsilev

    Since the thread has evolved (devolved?) into baking, does anyone have any particularly good chocolate cake recipes that they want to show off? One of my traditional jobs for Thanksgiving is to bake the chocolate cake, and it’s a point of pride never to use the same recipe twice. Since I do want to evaluate recipes ahead of time, it’s about the right time of the year to start researching…

    (my coworkers love me around about this time of year. A from-scratch chocolate cake a week for the better part of a month…)

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    ETA: I am seriously trying to eat healthy and shed some poundage.

    Me too. The fact that things like pizza and beer and cake don’t help us meet that goal is enough to disprove the theory of “intelligent” design.

  45. 45.

    Southern Beale

    Reminder! Balloon Juice Seattle meet-up today! Mr. Beale and I will be there! Details HERE.

    We are fried. Cat got me up at 3:30 a.m., didn’t bother going back to sleep because alarm was set for 4 am. That’s Central Time. Didn’t really sleep on the plane, either. So I will be … a little less sharp than usual. But with enough cocktails who cares, right?

    Be there if you can!

  47. 47.

    Dee Loralei

    @Comrade Mary: You can make your own cake flour equivalent: measuring cup 2 TBL corn starch, then fill rest with All purpose to get a level cup. Do that for each cup of cake flour the recipe calls for and then sift it into your batter. Ta-da, easy-peasy and not as costly.

  48. 48.

    Violet

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    After you’ve made all the zucchini bread, vegetable lasagna and so forth that you want, you can donate excess produce you grow in your yard to food pantries. Find one via Ample Harvest. People depending on food pantries don’t often get fresh vegetables, especially homegrown ones. It’s a nice thing to do.

  49. 49.

    Josie

    @jeffreyw: Oh, I wondered about that when I saw her picture on the other thread. She is darling. Calicos are my favorite kind of cat. How is she being received by the other inhabitants?

  51. 51.

    A Mom Anon

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Have you tried a product called Cedarcide? I’ve been using that on Abby and it’s been working great. It’s red Texas cedar oil based,no chemicals. I use it to kill ants and roaches and other acky things too,it is wonderful. You order it online,just google Cedarcide and then look for Best Yet flea and tick killer spray. It’s also great for killing aphids on roses and stuff.

  53. 53.

    jeffreyw

    @WaterGirl: We are gonna keep her unless there is an upheaval. Introductions not yet made. Not worried about the dogs, we’ll see how Homer and the rest of the kitteh gang deal over the next few days.

  57. 57.

    Dee Loralei

    @dmsilev: Oh I just made an amazing chocolate covered cherry cake for my aunts birthday. I brandied the cherries for 6 weeks, then made chocolate covered cherries, a chocolate genoise and chocolate ganache. I cut the genoise in half made a cherry syrup with the liquor Maraschino (totally not sweet) and then put spme Pollaner’s Black Cherry preserves on it, then a thin layer of ganache, then covered the entire thing with the chocolate covered cherries, and then covered them in more ganache to make the layer smooth. Put the other genoise half on, covered the top and sides with the ganache and then made a chocolate cherry glaze over all.

    Oh My GOD it was to die for. My father said it was the best cake he had ever had. And it only took 6 weeks + 10 days for the chocolate covered cherries to get perfect + 2 days to bake the cake and build it. And it was only 6 different recipes. If you’ll post your email address, I have all the links II used to the specific recipes handy because Athenae@ First Draft, and here!, asked for it.

    Seriously, if you want a challenge and if you like Chocolate and cherries together this is the recipe for you. Also, when you cut into it, through the cherries, all the ooey-gooey booze drizzles down into the cake and Oh My God!

    When I went to my liquor store for a cherry liquer not as sweet as Kirschwasser, the turned me on to the Maraschino Liquer. And two of the clerks and I discussed my cake, so I took them a piece and all 10 of the employees at the store now love me forever LOL.

  58. 58.

    Comrade Mary

    @Dee Loralei: Ooh, nice trick — thanks!

    @WaterGirl: You can repost for future reference, if you like :-)

    Guys, I have the cream. Hey, I may even end up with extra whipped cream. Whatever shall I do with that?

  59. 59.

    Yutsano

    @Comrade Mary:

    Hey, I may even end up with extra whipped cream. Whatever shall I do with that?

    ZOMG IT’S A CONUNDRUM!! If you’re really bored you could make chantilly until it covers half of Toronto. :)

  60. 60.

    dmsilev

    @Dee Loralei: Oh my. That does sound tasty. I’d at least like to take a look, but that may be a tad too much work given all the other things that need to get done for Thanksgiving. If you could send it to me (dmsilev (at) gmail.com), I’d be very grateful.

  64. 64.

    dmsilev

    @Dee Loralei: That’s certainly more manageable. Any long-prep-time ingredients run into logistical difficulties (i.e. I’d have to carry them halfway across the country).

  68. 68.

    CaseyL

    OMG, I have just found an amazing shared universe fiction/comics/art community called Spontoon Island. It’s a graphics-comics place, with animals taking the place of humans, and the stories are set in the 1930s, approximately.

    I’ve only read a series of stories by Antonia T. Tiger, about a young, handsome bear named Wolf Baginski who is a Sergeant in the Army Union Landing Forces of Rain Island (which seems analogous to the Pacific NW, as Spontoon seems to be analogous to the South Pacific).

    Tiger’s writing is, IMO, fully original – but if I had to compare it to other writing, I’d say it was equal parts Kipling, Heinlein, and Kenneth Graham (a la “The Wind in the Willows”).

    Please check it out. Utterly marvelous stuff!

    http://spontoon.rootoon.com/SPwHome1.html

    http://spontoon.rootoon.com/SPwWnFCn.html

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw:

    She’s a little sweetie, going to be a real beauty when she grows up. Counting on you to chronicle her every cuteness.

  70. 70.

    Dee Loralei

    @dmsilev: you have mail.

    @Litlebritdifrnt: I did the google thing. One of them asked if they could put the marrow in the muslim! Hahahaha!

    OK I’m outie too. One of my dearest friends moved with her family 4 years ago to Richmond and she’s in town tonight and we’re gonna hit Beale Street for “eat, drink, boogie” and then the Cas1nos in Tunica, where I will drink exactly the amount of money I’m intending to lose, LOl! 4 beers + tips = 20$ right?

    Y’all having the meet-up in Seattle, have a blast! I’m mildly jealous. I would be more-so if I didn’t have my own fun planned.

    Oh and a DrWho retrospective on the aliens is on tonight as well. Hurray for the DVR!

  71. 71.

    dmsilev

    @Dee Loralei: Saw it. Thank you again. I’m pretty sure that I’ve made the raspberry ganache cake that you used as a base; it looked awfully familiar.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    @A Mom Anon: Are you interested in a meet-up.. We could have coffee and ice tea at my house hopefully with SiubhanDuinne and SIA. You could bring your son and hubby if you want. It would be fun to convince Raven and his wife over but that is quite a trek for them. I’m not sure who else lives in the Atlanta area. I would promise not to put anyone to work although I would take any landscaping advice I could get. It would give me an opportunity to make litlebrits cinnamon rolls.

  74. 74.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    My wife snuck off to the animal shelter yesterday. I didn’t have a chance. We now have a 4-6 year old lab-hound mix named Yeller. He managed to find the side gate was open a hair within 5 minutes of exporing the back yard. He bolted across the street into the neighbor’s back yard, ran through the creek along the train tracks, and crossed another main road before I caught him. I jumped a few fences, get mud up to my knees, and face planted in a matter of 2 minutes. He doesn’t know jack shit and must have been fending for himself his entire life. 15 minutes ago, he managed to jump onto the kitchen table and land all four paws onto our salads. He’s finall resting and had to yell at my wife b/c she wanted to pet him. Let sleeping dogs lie………

  75. 75.

    brettvk

    @Litlebritdifrnt: @Josie:

    Revolution can be ordered online, but you will need a prescription from the vet. It is ordered by weight. It is pricey but very effective.

    No prescription necessary if you order from Joe’s Pet Meds dot com [don’t want to add a third link]. Prices are reasonable, shipping from NZ was just $7 last time I ordered, Visa added $1.40 for an international transaction. I’ve used them for four-five years now and been very pleased with both the service and the results; I have many ferals and a herd of indoor-outdoor moggies but the localized flea population seems to have diminished considerably, perhaps because of several years’ treatment.

    Lately the local vets have recommended switching to Advantage Multi to control the particular species of heartworm we have here. Joe’s sells it as “advocate.”

  77. 77.

    JPL

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: That is so sweet. It sounds like the pup just freaked out a bit and it might take a few days to calm down but he will.
    I’m pet sitting my sons dog and there is something special about taking a nap on the sofa with one at your feet and another near you chest.

    another thing.. it took my rescue a few years before she realized that she didn’t have to eat berries and nuts from outside.

  78. 78.

    quannlace

    Help. What can I do with elebenty tonnes of zucchini that I have?

    Shred the zukes, and mix it into a basic fritter dough. Pan-fry in a little olive oil. I swear, it tastes as if there’s seafood in it.
    ***********

    Why am I the only one who can’t get inundated with zucchini? I have four huge plants, and I’ve gotten a grand total of three.

  79. 79.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    This is $(BOXER). $(BOXER) just ate a 690 gram loaf of sourdough, raw. Right now I am kind of pissed at $(BOXER). Do you think I should expect projectile vomiting? Or diarrhea? Or both?

  80. 80.

    catpal

    @Violet: Ample Harvest is a wonderful suggestion.

    I take some people to Food Pantries – and it is so wonderful to see all of the donated tomatoes, corn, zucchini, etc. (that they could never afford to buy)

    Thank you farmers and garden growers!

  81. 81.

    NickM

    Anybody involved in/have thoughts or observations on the Verizon strike. It’s ended today, possibly temporarily. On the whole, it’s good to see unions still pulling a draw in this kind of high-profile fight.

  82. 82.

    NickM

    Anybody involved in/have thoughts or observations on the Verizon strike. It’s ended today, possibly temporarily. On the whole, it’s good to see unions still pulling a draw in this kind of high-profile fight.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    Any interest whatsoever in doing a SoCal Balloon Juice meet-up at Great Park in Irvine next Saturday? Behind the Orange Curtain.

    Del McCoury. Free concert. 8:15 p, Saturday, August 27

    $10 to park. Food, beer and wine available in cafe, or can picnic. (They don’t—ahem—allow outside alcohol.)

    http://www.ocgp.org/2011/06/the-del-mccoury-band/

    Preservation Hall Jazz Band the following Saturday.

    But suspect Lucinda Williams last weekend was the highlight of this season. Excellent concert, and am kicking myself for not publicizing it more.

    Let me know!

  84. 84.

    catpal

    @NickM: good for the verizon workers!

    the news that the Verizon CEO makes $55,000 Per Day plus perks — gained a lot of extra support for the workers.

    Go Unions and workers!

  85. 85.

    Joseph Nobles

    @dmsilev: I’ve had an idea for a chocolate cake, if you’d like to perfect it. Basically it’s the opposite of a Boston Creme Pie. Dark chocolate cake, a layer of pastry cream flavored with expresso, and topped off with a caramel sugar topping. I’ve tried to make it, but my cake wasn’t moist enough and the caramel topping was more like caramel syrup and just made an ungodly mess. I know this cake can rock, though.

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