(Tank McNamara via GoComics.com)
The last thread was filling up, and Tank McNamara is the only sports cartoon I follow. It was a lovely autumn day today, although a bit early for what New Englanders call leaf-peeping.
What’s on everyone’s agenda tonight?
cathyx
Not football. And since there is a pledge drive on my local pbs affiliate, probably a book.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
Jane Eyre or football?
Southern Beale
Smoked some baby back ribs on our stovetop smoker then finished them off on the grill with a whiskey sauce, ate that with corn on the cob. Sauce was great, but the ribs got a tad overdone.
So there’s that, and the New York Times, and watching True Blood.
Roger Moore
Making pizza. I’ll probably read some, post on Balloon-Juice, and maybe watch something on Netflix. Oh, and play with the cat.
lamh32
Yeah, Open Thread.
First off, congratulations to the chick that won the US Open, but even bigger congrats to Serena Williams. She’s been playing some bad ass tennis since coming off her injury. She earned a higher ranking than she had.
Second, saw Colombiana yesterday. It was pretty good, but Goddess save me from another movie well some lil skinny thing cold-cocks grown ass men when they seem to weigh a buck fifty wet and i can see the bones in their damn spine.
Still, it was a nice way to spend a few hours out of the hot ass DFW sun.
Third and more political in nature, President Obama will announce tomorrow that he is sending the America Jobs Bill to Congress tomorrow evening.
ETA linky: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/180791-obama-sending-jobs-bill-to-congress-monday
Yutsano
Got invited out to an old college friend’s house…and woke up with a cold. So I may do the chicken soup and house bumming thing tonight.
@Steeplejack:
OOH!!! Road trip in the making?
(I have to go to the store too. Blech.)
Steeplejack
Thinking about walking up to the grocery store to get a few things, but mostly to get outside for a bit. It’s just past sunset here in NoVa, with pleasant weather–75° and 70% humidity. Might surf the Sunday night football game a bit, but the DVR is full of stuff I need to watch.
It’s the middle of my weekend. Looking forward to another day off, although I have a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon.
Got approved for a week’s vacation starting on the 23rd, so I’m psyched about that.
lamh32
@Southern Beale:
what do you think of this season?
I know that Alan Ball is a big Bill-Sookie-shipper, but man am I tired of Sookie’s love for Bill. I love me some BAMFV Eric.
Still, I’d give ’em all up for Alcide (i.e. Joe Mangiello). Dude’s just how like ’em, hot big, tall, built like a rock and dumb as hell!
IMHO, Jesus, who I love, is not long for this world, and I can see Holly and maybe Maxine joining him.
Anyway, this season has been way uneven, even for True Blood.
Roger Moore
@lamh32:
So what’s up next on the troll talking points list? They won’t be able to claim he hasn’t made a concrete proposal anymore. Will it be that the bill is too expensive, that he’s overstepping his bounds by not letting Congress do its thing, or that it doesn’t go far enough? I guess I only have to wait one day to find out.
jeffreyw
I’m pretty well caught up for the night. Got all the pics downloaded from the camera and into the correct folders, did the post on the bacon cups over at W4Dinner, posted a few to my Tumblr blog, played with the cat. (Note to self: Put Bitsy down before Annie comes galloping out to meet Mrs J coming home from the store. It seems that a charging canine freaks poor Li’l Bit right the fuck out.)
Southern Beale
@lamh32:
We missed the Open, thought it came on later … like idiots! So we just caught the recap but what was that deal with that controversial point the umpire gave to the Australian chick? What happened? We were totally confused.
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: I’m going with too little too late and doesn’t go far enough. Mostly because those are the two grumblings I’ve heard so far.
henqiguai
It’s Sunday which means back to work tomorrow, which means goofy bad attitude is kicking in so…
No, it was not; not even here in north central Massachusetts. It was, however, a nice New England late summer day.
Of course on the up side, as someone who has spent too much time unemployed in recent years, at least there’s a job to go back to, in the morning.
And yes, I am very good at finding dark clouds surrounding silver linings.
Anne Laurie
@efgoldman: I have even less clue than usual, unless FYWP thinks ‘leafage’ is a spam-bot term for ‘cleavage’?
jprfrog
Practicing the piano (big performances next week) and then (hopefully) watching the Jets lose. And thankful that I managed to avoid any public posturing on the anniversary — Brahms is a lot better companion than Rudy Giulani.
Allen
@cathyx: Same here, OPB pledge drive here in Oregon (TV) and 9/11 relived on the radio (NPR). Can’t stand football, baseball is starting to get a bit slow these days. Probably back to reading Richard Rhodes.
Southern Beale
@lamh32:
I’m liking the season so far. I’m sorta over Lafayette being such a tool. I’d think after he got possessed by a baby-snatching ghost the *first* time he’d have figured out that he’s a “vessel” or whatever they call it and find out how to keep himself from being used in such a way.
And I hate to be a pedant here, but I’m also sorta over people walking around going “wow, now THAT’S weird! Too weird! I must be seeing things.” People, you live in Bon Temps where every other person is a vampire, werewolf or shapeshifter. Let’s just assume that there’s no such thing as “too weird” for your little town, ‘m’kay?
jeffreyw
Mrs J developed cataracts over the last few years and was dreading going in for the corrective surgery. It seems that several of the women she works with at the shelter have had the procedure done and encouraged her to go ahead. They have a new lens out that they can implant. I have no idea how it works, but now that Mrs J has had the operations she doesn’t need glasses any more. Fucking amazing shit.
PurpleGirl
TCM’s 9/11 programming turns out to be movies picked by survivors.
Just watched On the Town.
Next up is Casablanca.
Then Mister Robers.
Good movies all. I hadn’t seen On the Town in a while, it was nice to see it again. I can always watch Casablanca. We’ll see if I can stay awake for Mister Robers.
cathyx
@Allen: I’m in Oregon too. They seem to have pledge drives every 5 weeks or so. I remember hearing that Oregon has had more cuts for public broadcasting than most states. Not sure what that means, except more pledge drives.
gogol's wife
@Roger Moore:
I am spending the evening trying to force myself into a routine that used to be sheer pleasure — reading the Sunday New York Times. But now it’s sheer hell. Today’s headline on the Sunday Review (formerly Week in Review)? “If Obama is a one-term president . . .” I hate them, I hate them so much.
suzanne
I hate football with the fire of a thousand suns. I hope we can have more book club chats and less YAY RAPISTBURGER threads.
Morzer
@Roger Moore:
The First Stimulus failed, we should not add to America’s debt to pursue failed Sozialist policies, etc etc.
Basically: What Would John C. Calhoun Do (NOT!)
Southern Beale
From PFAW:
RossInDetroit
Agenda? I have my mom’s preamplifier cracked open on the bench and I’m hating it. Damn thing has 39 microamperes leaking somewhere and the output relays won’t engage. I should just shelve the worthless thing and move on, but I hate to turn my back on a problem that has a solution. You always think you’re one test and one inspiration away from a fix.
Anyway, squinting into a scope and cursing Japanese engineers under your breath is a decent way to stay occupied until this day is over.
cathyx
@efgoldman: I can read your #6. Maybe it was “leaf peeping”. It sounds kind of dirty.
Allen
And its hot here in northwest Oregon (for us the mid 90’s is hell, when’s it going to rain? Cats are crashed out in the coolest place they can find indoors staring wistfully out the front door.
Mustang Bobby
I spent the day at an antique car show, then watched the Tigers win their ninth straight (via Gameday), so I will watch Casablanca for the 700th time and go to bed.
In the Quaker tradition, I let the silence speak today over at Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Southern Beale
@Allen:
I’m sorry, “starting to” ..?? Baseball is the slowest, most boring sport in America.
There, I said it.
I’m not a huge football fan, but if the Titans are playing we’ll watch. Today we hit a little sports bar and had some beers and watched our team get pummeled.
But no, give me hockey any day.
lamh32
@Southern Beale: so true.
it was funny when Arlene didn’t believe Andy when he told her about the fairy sex in the woods.
I was like damn girl, you just saw a dead woman who possessed La-La and kidnapped your baby. Um, you work with vampire Jessica??
I love me some La-La though. I know that in the books, Lafayette was the one who died in book one, I haven’t read the other books yet, but I just can’t imagine NOT having Lafayette in them.
Dude who plays La-la so deserves an Emmy nod for his portrayal. First of all he’s straight, second of all, he turns what could be a one dimensional character into something much more solid and substantial.
Also, I know some onliners, don’t like tara, but I love Tara. She’s bout the only one who tell Sookie how much stupid shit she gets into. Also, Tara’s always saving Sookie’s azz, so I contend that if Tara was there, Sookie would probably be dead by now.
Can you tell, I’m over Sookie?
RossInDetroit
@Southern Beale:
Almost. One word: Golf.
jeffreyw
And yay! Got a message from Dish Network that the USB ports on my sat receivers are now functional and will accept an external hard drive-extra storage for my DVR, and/or turn a simple receiver like the one in the kitchen into a DVR, though that last option requires that I send them a one time $40 dollar fee for the software to be beamed down. Boo!
I ordered a 500 gig Western Digital drive, not sure yet where I will go with it.
lamh32
@lamh32:
speaking of the POTUS sending his bill to Congress tomorrow evening, ya know what else is happening tomorrow evening….
CNN’S TEABAGGER DEBATE.
If the POTUS and WH times it right, those idiots are gonna have to answer questions on what they are going to do about jobs, and are NOT gonna have time to go over what exactly in in the POTUS’ bill.
They will have to tread lightly unless they say or commit to something they can’t get out of.
Cacti
The St. Louis Cardinals are tormenting me with a last minute wild card push. A sweep of the Braves puts them 4 games back with 16 left to play.
They’re on their longest hot streak of the season, while the w/c leading Braves are 4-8 for September. Damned hope of the lifelong fan.
Morzer
@lamh32:
But,but… questions about policy or jobs indicate librul bias. According to
GeorgeChris Wallace Rules anyway.PurpleGirl
@Mustang Bobby: Quaker silence is a good thing. I hope your reflections are fruitful. We all could learn to be silent sometimes.
Anne Laurie
@gogol’s wife: I wish the Financial Times would sell “weekend only” subscriptions. I once had a job which included clipping industry-related articles from the FT, and the lovely fat “weekend” second section was much better for a week’s worth of books/movies/thinkpiece stuff than any of the American Sunday equivalents! I’d even pay for a dead-tree version delivered on Mondays, but the online cost is just too high for my budget, since I don’t need all the value-plus business-ticker info…
Elizabelle
@gogol’s wife:
Do join Valdivia and me in our daylong boycott of said NYTimes, earned by their toolish story about Democrats dumping on Obama. Became troll central in the comments.
I might skip the Times for quite a few days after that one.
And they’re my favorite newspaper of record.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Just finished dinner. Caribbean Chicken and Squash, with squash and tomatoes from the backyard. My usual Sunday evening agenda is up next: update Quicken, pay the bills, forecast the expenses, tighten the belt, then read. I’m about halfway through Stephen Hunter’s latest Bob Lee Swagger novel.
My eldest son is sitting at the armory with his Guard unit. About 5 days now, paid at active duty, and they haven’t been deployed to any of the flooding sites in PA, I’ve got no idea why not.
Southern Beale
OMG. We have CBS on. Who is this person with the horrible lisp introducing a 9/11 program on TV right now? I can’t believe my ears. Oh the poor dear. Talking about the “brave firtht rethponderth” and offering “our hopeth and prayerth to the familieth…”
Oh, dear.
RossInDetroit
@RossInDetroit:
I take that back. Baseball may be the most boring sport. A sports fan friend once informed me that Golf is not a sport. It’s a drinking game with ugly pants.
Larkspur
@suzanne: Oh well. I kind of like football. In any case, football season is the only time I do much ironing of clothes. “Football” may call out for beer and nachos in some households, but for me it means hours of intermittent enjoyment, a hot iron, and a shiny bunch of crisp, sharp natural fiber clothing items. I admit to hitting the “mute” button a lot. Much of the chatter and all of the commercials suck. That is all I will say about le futbol on this thread.
In other news, I do not think there will be much fog in my northern California neighborhood tonight, and that means some delicious full moon viewage.
Anne Laurie
@suzanne:
DougJ was talking about the possibility of discussing Naomi Klein’s SHOCK DOCTRINE online. Somebody should ask him about that, now that the summer doldrums are over…
Southern Beale
@RossInDetroit:
Not on TV! No way! Golf is boring anyway, but when it comes to watching on TV, they can at least cut away to the other people playing further on the course. Baseball it’s all standing around. If some player wants to scratch his nuts or spit tobacco juice, we have to sit and watch it.
kdaug
Sculpting in Mudbox, listening to my GPS backlog so I can clear out some room on the DVR.
lamh32
C-SPAN is showing uninterrupted coverage of the “Concert of Hope” live from the Kennedy Center.
MikeJ
@Southern Beale:
Nah, you just don’t know enough sports. Sailboat racing is edge of your seat stuff if you’re on the boat, but mainly a confusing mess if you aren’t.
Chess[1] can be sort of slow, and even people who know what’s going on can argue about who is ahead at any given moment. However you can get most of the excitement of watching a game by yourself with a list of moves and a board. I did have a lot of fun at the K-K match I went to though.
And baseball, the only mainstream pro USian sport I watch, is exciting if you know what’s going on, like chess or sailboat racing(or real football).
[1] Some will say “game” not “sport”, but back when I played in tourneys I ran into a sports doctor socially and he gave me tips that really did help with sitting at the board for hour after hour and staying sharp even at the end.
Dennis SGMM
Making string beef taquitos for the family and working in Sculptris. The latter is a very powerful (And free) 3D sculpting application. Fun, although my first few characters look more like Golems than they do human beings.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
My agenda is to make a special holiday presentation of the newly selected theme song for SUPER COKE! It’s by the truly lovely Miss Tina Britt, and if you’d like to hear it, here it goes – The Real Thing – on youtube.
.
.
RossInDetroit
@Southern Beale:
Golf would be greatly improved if they engaged in periodic junk-juggling and expectorating of toxins. I have no patience for TV to begin with but Golf makes me wish something… unpredictable would happen.
kdaug
@jeffreyw: SSD?
barath
@Anne Laurie:
Just want to throw in my vote for Richard Heinberg’s just-released The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality. I’ve only read excerpts, but it seems like it’d be a great fit for the group…
SiubhanDuinne
Made it to Asheville (the mountains, as always, are spectacular; and now the Harvest Moon has risen) and am enjoying a nice Argentina syrah and waiting for my dinner to be served.
Southern Beale
@lamh32:
I know! Totally! Yeah, last season Tara really got on my nerves. She was such a doormat. I like her better this season. But really I don’t know why she is there this season, especially after moving away and then saying she didn’t want to get all wrapped up in the vampire shit again. What the hell is she doing back there?
I don’t mind Sookie but I’m confused about why she never seemed interested in figuring out how to control her power. Especially since she’s been in life-threatening situations how many times now? If I was constantly getting myself mixed up in life or death situations and I knew I had this weird power I think I’d find myself a fairy mentor who could teach me how to control it so I know how to protect myself and my loved ones.
Also, I have to say, I have a problem with all of these vampire shows. Being a vampire strikes me as really messy. You cry blood, for crying out loud. So what vampire in their right mind would own white towels or a white article of clothing? Yet all of these vampires are always shown wearing white. It doesn’t make sense to me.
I know, I’m trying not to be pedantic, but even in my fantasy and sci-fi stuff I need a shred of realism. I can take the leap of logic to agree that vampires exist and special powers exist, but don’t tell me they’re like real people in every way except the one logical way.
Also, if vampires are cold to the touch because they’re basically dead, I would think it would not be that great having sex with one. Especially a man having sex with a lady vampire. You want to stick your dick in a cold hole?
You know what else doesn’t make sense to me? Spiderman. Where does all the spider silk go? If he’s using his spidey-powers to go from skyscraper to skyscraper, wouldn’t there be giant ropes of spider silk all over the city? What happens to that stuff, does it just evaporate? Spider silk in my garden is everywhere. I’m trying to imagine a human-sized version of that. They need to explain what happens to that stuff before I’ll take that leap of faith and go along for another fucking sequel.
/end rant
khead
I witnessed the Steeler beatdown from inside M&T bank stadium today.
It sucked worse than a 4 hour baseball game – which is kinda hard to top for suckage.
handy
@lamh32:
Are you kidding? They’ll just double down even if miles off on the president’s plan. Because they always do because they never get called out.
Chet
Hearing NFL fans declare authoritatively that baseball is “boring” is, to me, akin to hearing connoisseurs of Michael Bay flicks state that foreign movies with subtitles are “boring”.
ADD-addled children, the lot of you.
gnomedad
@Southern Beale:
Coming soon: The Stoning of Sally Kern II in which she describes how badly she was treated during her first book tour.
SiubhanDuinne
@Southern Beale:
Pithy comment.
Southern Beale
@MikeJ:
Chess is not a sport. Just .. no.
Of course, anything is interesting if you’re familiar with it. But I find baseball boring both at the stadium and on TV. Sorry. It’s just sooooooo sloooooow.
Football is too slow for me too. All of that standing around, a flag on every single play, jeez. That’s why I like hockey.
jeffreyw
@kdaug: Nope, a single platter hard disc drive. Dish says that’s what will work with their stuff, no flash or solid state stuff. There are a couple of TB single platters out now, I may get one of those to put on the dual tuner DVR in the front room.
gnomedad
Warning for the fastidious — link to Sully:
The Press And The War Criminal
khead
@Chet:
I hate 4 hour boring movies too.
Southern Beale
@Chet:
LOL.
I do have a problem watching films with subtitles at home. I always fall asleep. I can only watch them at the theater now.
Although I’ve been known to fall asleep in the movie theater, too. “Tree Of Life” put me to sleep, what a disappointment.
B W Smith
@efgoldman: Since Bubblegum is the sweet music of my youth, I must make a correction to your post. That would have been ‘1910 Fruitgum Company’, a completely different band than ‘Ohio Express’ that gave us “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.” That is, unless you were hoping for an amalgam of said style.
Larkspur
@SiubhanDuinne: I don’t get it. I must be thick.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: How was the trip?
handy
@Chet:
What I find odd in that complaint is that in football there’s a lot of standing around, huddling up, setting the players around the scrimmage line, etc. And finally when there’s a snap it’s action for maybe five seconds.
Until the end of a tight game of course when the trailing offense goes no huddle and waltzes down the field against the prevent. That’s pretty exciting stuff. Oddly the opposite from basketball. At the end close basketball games feel like they’re suspended in animation sometimes.
Southern Beale
@SiubhanDuinne:
You’re in Asheville right now? We love it there, what a gorgeous place. Are you going to Biltmore?
If you go to Black Mountain outside of Asheville take yourself to Montreat, it’s a Presbyterian retreat center but it’s open to the public. Lots of hiking trails around there, a pretty stream … it’s quite lovely up there.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Chet: There’s nothing more exciting than a pitcher’s duel between two competitive teams. 0-0 in the 9th inning, just waiting for someone to break the game wide open. You get to see the defense working at it’s best. It’s like the quote in one of Roger Angell’s books from some Brit seeing his first MLB game”
“Look how marvelously they catch and throw.”
lamh32
@Southern Beale: haha.
lovely rant.
yeah, i don’t understand why Tara came back. But what bothers me even more is that Alan Ball introduced the new “lesbian” Tara, but that storyline just seemed to go no where once her lover left? WTF is AB thinking?
I hear ya ’bout vampires. If I had a choice, I go for the more hot-bloodied werewolves myself (Alcide…umm umm…did I mention I love him???). But for a long time vamps have been my fav “supernatural” beings. Between Interview With A Vampire, Angel, Spike, Dark Shadows.
Do you remember “Forever Knight”? I think it was on USA Networks back in the day? I was obssessed with that damn show when I was younger. It was my Twilight…lol.
Speaking of which, I need to see if I can get “Forever Knight” on Netflix.
ETA: Did ya know “Forever Knight” was based on a Nick Springfield movie…really?
Roger Moore
@MikeJ:
This. Any sport is boring if you don’t know what to look for. Baseball rewards an informed fan. I’m not sure if it does excitement as well as some other sports, but it does tension better than anything that has anywhere close to the same amount of action. You can go inning after inning with every pitch being a potential game breaker. Obviously most of them aren’t, but you have to watch every single one on the edge of you seat wondering if this is going to be the one.
Chet
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Speaking of Angell, here’s something he once said in an interview apropos of baseball being “boring”:
“Baseball is meant to be watched all the way through. Sure, it’s boring. There are boring innings and sometimes there turn out to be bad games, but you’re not going to have a feeling for the good games unless you’re willing to watch. I think I wrote once that baseball in many ways is very much like reading. I said there are more bad books than bad ballgames, or maybe it was the other way around. I can’t remember. But each have formal chapters. There are wonderful beginnings that don’t stand up and boring beginnings that are great in the end. You just don’t know. They’re both, baseball and reading, for people who aren’t afraid of being bored.”
BruceFromOhio
Chicken madrasa, palak paneer and somosa from the local Indian cafe.
Football.
Sleep.
MikeJ
Goddamn, show me a director today who will do a 20 second closeup of the lead actress listening to somebody else talk.
dlnelson
I need to know the self watering system for plants. If you could do another thread on that I would love it. I love your posts on vegies, etc. Thanks. [email protected].
Southern Beale
@lamh32:
Am not familiar with “Forever Knight” …
I thought the lesbian Tara twist thing was odd, but I am betting the GF turns back up. It’s not like them to have a loose story thread like that hanging.
I just didn’t buy Tara as a lesbian, especially after the whole Egg thing.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Uneventful except for a few moments of frisson when the Low Fuel light went on and I was in the mountains, out of cell phone range, and many miles from civilization aka gas station. But no problems as it turned out; just a few tense miles.
burnspbesq
I have a new favorite album of 2011: “Sky Full of Holes,” by Fountains of Wayne.
SiubhanDuinne
@Southern Beale:
Would have gone to Biltmore yesterday if I had come up when I intended. Nasty head cold kept me in most of yesterday and I didn’t leave until this afternoon. Have two days of staff meetings tomorrow and Tuesday but might try to snag a little extra time for some good sight-seeing. I have been to Biltmore but never to Mo treat; thanks for the suggestion and reminder.
MikeJ
@burnspbesq: I just got it yesterday, but haven’t given it a proper listen yet. Since power pop is my preferred genre I have high hopes.
Steeplejack
@Southern Beale:
Williams hit what looked like a winner to Stosur’s backhand but yelled right as it got to Stosur. According to the rules, you can’t do that, as it might be misconstrued by the other player as an out call or something.
Allen
@MikeJ: I used to ocean race sailboats. Lot’s of fun when you are in the boat (except on the weather legs when sitting on the weather rail can get old quick). Downwind legs can get exciting, especially when you you broach.
Cacti
@Chet:
+1
Complaints about baseball being “slow” from fans of a game that takes 4 hours to play 60 minutes, just rings awfully hollow.
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
Good news for you. After I got the big-ass TV and upgraded to Cox HD in January ’10, I found out that I could add an external drive to my Scientific Atlanta DVR. Bought a 1TB Iomega eSATA drive for about $100 and took my DVR from about 40 hours of storage to about 300 hours. It has been on continuously since March 2010 and works great. And of course it’s still usually about 99% full.
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
Funny you should mention that. I am starting to get into the market for a car, and one of my motivations is that I have another week of vacation that I have to use by October 31, and the thought came to me that a road trip would be a really nice break from my routine of the last few years.
Southern Beale
@Steeplejack:
Thanks. So they gave the point to Altsur instead of just not awarding to Williams?
SIA
@Elizabelle: I’m in too please. Made the mistake of reading that wretched article AND the comments first thing this morning. Had to then talk myself in off the ledge.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Troll Central? See also MoDo’s comment column today.
Steeplejack
@Southern Beale:
Yep, Serena lost the point. There was some back and forth in the booth between Mary Carillo and John McEnroe about whether they should have played a let instead.
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: Hope they put you up at a good hotel! I like staying in hotels if they’re nice. Weather is lovely I bet, and a couple shades cooler than here probably?
Paddy
@jeffreyw: I had my first cataract 17 years ago (unusually young), and my dr told me before the op that there was a 80% chance that my eyesight would be corrected then, and it was!!! I had worn glass since the age of ten, so it was quite the revelation. Now that I’m getting on the gubermint cheeze list, I got a second one ready to go. Gimme that improved eyesight that I sorely need.
Yutsano
@Steeplejack:
I am too. First raise kicks in Tuesday, and my poor beast isn’t going to last too much longer. I’m right now having the style over substance debate. Two cars, same price, but one is an Audi convertible. I’ve researched the fuck out of it (including the Carfax) and am wondering what’s holding me back. Other than my practical side kicking in.
jeffreyw
@Steeplejack: Alas, Dish insists on USB 2.0 connection, and they do also specify that the drive be a single platter. I don’t have the chops to know why that might be. I bought from Amazon as well, and the reviews were full of people who used the WD drive exactly as I intend, and they liked it, aside from the oddball review with some nitpick complaint-“It quit after two days! Wah!”
Goobergunch
@Southern Beale:
In the comics, Spider-Man’s webs evaporate after an hour. I don’t remember if they bothered to explain that in the movies.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
Convertible, Seattle weather, what could go wrong?
Steeplejack
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
That reminds me that I’ve got one of those sitting around here that I need to read. I enjoyed the one or two that I read a year ago. And the first one was made into a surprisingly good movie with Mark Wahlberg (Shooter). Nice supporting acting from Kate Mara and Michael Peña.
JD Rhoades
Writing. With occasional forays onto the ‘net when I get stuck for the next paragraph.
B W Smith
@efgoldman: Aw, don’t break my heart. These bands were my Justin Bieber. I was eleven or twelve when they first came out and knew every song by heart which was easy since neither band had that many. I was on vacation a few years back and happened upon a free concert near the beach. It was ‘1910 Fruitgum Company’ along with some other bands of the period singing their “hits” and a few Beach Boys covers. The original lead singer and another guy from the original band were there with a few much younger replacements.
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: If you were here today you’d know why it was worth it…
Ron
Ooh. I finally get to post my food porn! Made lasagna yesterday with homemade sauce and pasta. Quite happy with how it came out:
http://t.co/qYTKeRC
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA:
I will change hotels tomorrow. I think the one they’re putting us at tomorrow night is nice but it would have cost me $289/night to stay there on the weekend, so I’m at a modest cousin a few miles away. Most of my colleagues are getting up at oh-dark-thirty to drive up tomorrow but That. Just. Doesn’t. Work. For. Me.
I like hotels. and I like long solitary road trips, so this all works for me.
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
I suspect because of the relatively low speed of the USB connection, but I don’t know for sure. I do know you will love having the extra space. Any idea on how much more time it will give you?
SiubhanDuinne
You guys aren’t going to BELIEVE what I’m having for dessert! Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and roasted cinnamon rum pecans.
Oh yeah. It’s called the John Cole. I swear!
Yutsano
@SiubhanDuinne: Link to a menu naow plz!
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
If they’re both the same price, what’s the “practical” objection? What’s the other car in contention?
I have found myself sort of lusting for a (used) Ford Escape hybrid, but I’m in the very early stages.
Roger Moore
@Goobergunch:
What I want to know is why Peter Parker is stuck with a dead-end job as a freelance photographer. He’s a super-genius who was able to invent not just the web but also spider tracers and a whole host of other fancy gadgets. He’s a hard enough worker to hold down a job while working on an undergraduate degree and being Spiderman every night. But he can’t patent something that would earn enough royalties to pay the rent and keep food on the table? What’s wrong with this picture?
tofubo
“Youths are passed through schools that don’t teach, then forced to search for jobs that don’t exist, and finally left stranded in the street to stare at the glamorous lives advertised around them.”
—
Huey P Newton
Steeplejack
@Ron:
Nice dish. I had lasagna myself tonight, but it wasn’t nearly that good.
Yutsano
Just got this handy chart from an old friend’s Book of Faces. Please disseminate as you see fit.
@Steeplejack: The practical is a newer (but still used) Dodge Avenger. Mileages are similar and such. But one is a German convertible. :)
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano: Took picture of menu but not sure how to link. Looking for website naow.
Roger Moore
@jeffreyw:
If you’re getting a bus powered disk (i.e. the ones that don’t need a separate power cord), they may specify a single platter because their USB port isn’t up to powering a two platter drive. That would be my first guess.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
I did end up walking to the grocery store a couple of hours ago, and I’m glad I did. Got some fresh air, saw that huge full moon someone mentioned upthread, and I treated myself to a couple of goodies in addition to picking up a few necessities.
Laundry question: Any suggestions on the best method/product to remove stains from fabrics? I’ve got a few small, faint bloodstains on my bedsheet where my bandage has leaked a bit.
@Yutsano:
German convertible! Go for it!
Goobergunch
@Roger Moore: He’s currently working as a scientist for Horizon Labs. Which led to this wonderful moment of geekery recently. :)
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
http://www.carrabbas.com/our-menu/
Third item under “dolci”
And OMG is it wonderful
marv
Fuck it. I’m sick of this shit. Charle Blows-Bobo and every other pundit permutation possible says it’s just a speech, the Job Acts is DOA etc. What if all one million Balloon Juice commentators and lurkers (like me) met at Washington Monument at noon this Saturday and made one demand: Pass the damn Jobs Act. Now! That’d get the motherfucker passed, I bet.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
Sadly, the part where the wingnuts’ heads
explodeasplode won’t happen. Why? Because they’re on the faith track and are perfectly comfortable ignoring contradictory evidence. They’ll insist that scientists are following pretty much the same system they are and are just lying about the part where they listen to evidence, and keep believing whatever they started out believing. Your own diagram should convince you that converting the true wingnuts is hopeless.SiubhanDuinne
I thougt I posted link to menu but I’m +2 so maybe not.
Try again: http://www.carrabbas.com/our-menu/
And the John Cole dessert I described is the third listing under “dolci.”
Also too, I took a photo of the dessert but even if I knew how to link it, I’d be ashamed to — it has four scoops of ice cream, to begin with.
Alison
@Steeplejack: Don’t know how well it’ll work on older stains, but plain club soda tends to work for me on recent ones.
jeffreyw
@Steeplejack: No firm idea how much time it will give me, notwithstanding a cursory Google search. I am going with 5 GB/hr for HD video for a 100 hour extension. I may be wildly off.
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: We can still beat them over the head with it though right?
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m dying now. That’s awesome!
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
I have a faint recollection that cold water and salt helps draw out bloodstains to the point of near invisibility. Hot water, however, will set a bloodstain forEVAH.
jeffreyw
@Roger Moore: They also require a drive with its own power source, so good guess but, sadly, no.
Steeplejack
@Alison:
These are recent! I’m not that much of a slob. LOL. Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
Jesus, this thing Has about 80 scoops of ice cream. Okay, four. Or five. Or maybe eight if you count all the lower layers. a lot, anyway.
Good ice cream and wicked wonderful pecans. I’m a rotund little Buddha now and will roll myself back to my hotel room for what is likely to be a restless night.
lamh32
@Southern Beale:
OMG. Just watched the TrueBlood finale. My last words were NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
In one final episode, they may have made up for this whole wishy washy season.
Alison
@Steeplejack: Haha, well – certainly didn’t mean to imply anything negative about your character :) I thought of it more like that crap situation where you notice a stain and think “Where the fuck did that come from, and how long has it been there??” Which I have sadly had some experience with…
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
That sounds pretty good, depending on how your DVR formats and allocates space. I went from about 40 hours of mixed standard and HD programs to about 300 hours, so 1 TB ≈ 260 hours for me. You’ll probably get a bit more than 100 hours.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
If it’ll make you feel better, beat them over the head with it until they’re black and blue. Just don’t count on anything clever you say changing any wingnut minds.
Comrade Kevin
@jeffreyw: It’s a good thing I usually look at your photos after eating..
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good point. I was thinking that hot water would help.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
Buy a new car, even if all you can afford is a Chevy Aveo or Nissan Versa.
The 1998 A4 with 62K miles that we bought for the kid last December for $8K, swallowed another $6K for repairs before it got hit and totaled last month. I am now a big fan of warranties, or, alternatively, of having used cars turned upside down and inside out by an independent mechanic before pulling the trigger.
Anne Laurie
@Southern Beale:
The comix-geek joke among 1960s NYCers is that the rats/pigeons/insert-vermin-of-your choice ate it.
@Steeplejack:
Plenty of effective stain removers out there, but if it’s just a bloodstain or two, rub it with DIAL bar soap and rinse the spot in cool water until it disappears. Other embroiderers swear by shampoo, but Dial worked best in my experience.
Goobergunch
@Roger Moore: He’s currently got a job with Horizon Labs. I had a scan linked where he’s really happy about finally getting published, but FYWP ate it.
jeffreyw
@Comrade Kevin: Whistles a nameless tune, shuffles slowly off stage, through diminishing pools of light, disappears in the distance. His work here is done.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Steeplejack: I didn’t know any of the novels had been made into movies. I’ll have to keep my eye out for Shooter. Hunter was the film critic for the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post and I wondered if he’d just decided not to sell the rights based on that inside experience.
Or maybe he’s got a version of “Get Shorty” coming out to make fun of Hollywood, like Elmore Leonard did.
Roger Moore
@jeffreyw:
In that case, I can’t think of any good reason why a two platter drive wouldn’t work. As I understand it, the USB interface is supposed to abstract away all those kinds of details so the system doesn’t need to know or care how many platters there are on the hard drive. Even the OS isn’t supposed to need to know that kind of stuff, much less the application layer. I can only think of two things that might be going on:
1) The only tested the system with single platter disks, so they won’t guarantee it will work with anything else.
2) There is some kind of extreme performance corner case, like recording the maximum allowed number of streams while watching something else, all at highest def, that might have performance problems.
The last one seems dodgy to me. USB2 can move something north of 100 GB/hour, which would be enough to record multiple BlueRay quality streams simultaneously. And the bus is definitely the limiting factor for any remotely recent drive. It just seems unbelievable that there would be any real need for a single platter drive.
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
Cool. Thanks. I’ve got some Dial in the shower. I’ll give it a try.
At the grocery earlier tonight I was looking at the detergent aisle and was overwhelmed by the sheer variety of products on display. I use Tide, and that’s about it. Fabric softener very rarely.
Dennis SGMM
@Yutsano:
Do not buy a used Audi unless you have plenty of cash in the bank. They are expensive to repair and things wear out on them just like any other car. They require the services of a specialist mechanic for many repairs and those people don’t work cheap. How often do you see an older Audi on the road? I don’t see them very often at all. There’s a reason for that.
Hyundai, among others, builds very good cars and you can probably buy a nice one for the same cost as the used A4. Hyundais come with a 10 year, 100,000 mile power train warranty. If your dealer will provide same for the Audi then buy it. If you’re set on a convertible then look at used Mazda Miatas. They are cheap and plentiful, fun to drive, and you can beat even a used one like a rented mule.
Dennis SGMM
Moderation can be fun,
Join the holy orgy Kama Sutra everyone…
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@burnspbesq: Our son just bought an A4 and had it looked at before buying. I agree: don’t buy a used car otherwise. It needed about $2,000 of repairs, but nothing scary, so when the dealer dropped the price so that car+repairs was more-or-less at Blue Book, I told him to go ahead.
Steeplejack
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
I’ll say again that it’s a surprisingly good movie. I wasn’t expecting much, given the director, Antoine Fuqua, who usually dials it up to 11 and leaves it there (Training Day, Brooklyn’s Finest). But it was very faithful to the book–a rarity in Hollywood–and, as I said above, the acting is pretty good. It shows up occasionally on Spike, etc. Even worth getting from Netflix. Since you like the books you should check it out.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq:
I can do certified used, since I’d just as soon skip the depreciation. They’re usually covered by original manufacturer warranty or have one of their own.
I’m looking into an aftermarket warranty if I find one I feel comfortable with. I also have AAA (which saved my ass a couple months back so is worth every fucking dime) so hopefully between the two I should be okay.
This shall already be planned before the test drive, and will happen during. And if the dealer squaks about it, sayonara sunshine.
jeffreyw
@Roger Moore: I do note that there is a 1TB drive at Amazon that says it is compatible with my system. I do not know if it is a single platter or not, but I think not.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack:
I do too amigo. I do too.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Haw!
Dennis SGMM
@Yutsano:
Because my original reply is in moderation – Who knew – I’ll give you the short version.
How long do you plan on owning the car? Audis are really neat but things do wear out on them just as they do on other cars. Many of these things are very expensive to replace and they require specialist mechanics for the job.
I understand convertible love. I own a Miata. That car is not for everyone. In terms of total cost of ownership I’d buy a used, warranteed, Mustang V6 before I plunked for an Audi.
Dennis SGMM
Sweet God, my second comment is in moderation. FYWP.
On the other hand, good night and sweet dreams all.
Corner Stone
@Dennis SGMM: We can’t just let you walk away. Jimmy! Jimmy!!
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Dennis SGMM: We have a local mechanic who’s good with VWs. He’s the one who did the $2K of suspension, exhaust, and other work on the Audi. My understanding is that the A4 1.8T engine is pretty much the same as the Jetta’s.
That being said, parts for the German cars are hella expensive. And dealer repair charges are insane. So if you don’t have an independent shop who knows their way around them, best to buy something else.
We’ve got a 22-yr old Miata with 207,000 miles on it. I’ve had work done on everything but the engine at this point, but it seems to be bulletproof. If you’re buying used, check the rocker panels and quarter panels for rust. Mazda didn’t do a whole lot better than the British in that regard.
Anne Laurie
@Steeplejack: TMI extension: Hot water, or dryer heat, will “cook” invisible-to-the-casual-observer protein or sugar stains. This is why the white shirt with a ginger-ale or white-wine stain looks fine when you take it out of the washer, but comes out of the dryer with an unlovely tan splash. Anything organic-based, pre-treat with cool water, and hang it to dry if you’re not 100% sure every remnant’s been removed.
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
Thanks for the follow-up. Sheets are some expensive 600-thread-count beauties I picked up recently, and I’d like to salvage them.
Probably should have put the old cheap ones on for the duration of my recovery.
suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: That sounds AMAZING. Even better than Schweddy balls.
@Yutsano: I have two small children and one large doofus of a dog, so I own a small SUV. And I don’t generally enjoy driving, so convertibles haven’t ever appealed to me. But you only live once, yo.
@Steeplejack: Soak in cold water. Also, those Shout wipe things work really well.
Yutsano
@Dennis SGMM:
Several years at least.
(found your FYWP sin BTW)
There are a lot of foreign cars and several European speciallty mechanics in Seattle. So the finding someone will not be hard. The rest will depend on a good aftermarket warranty and me saving my butt off.
I haven’t pulled any triggers yet. Hell I’m questioning why the hell the car is still sitting there other than they’re asking above blue book for it.
Steeplejack
@suzanne:
Thanks. Will add those to the list of things to check out.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
I got your car right here.
http://www.europeancollectables.com/[email protected]_inv_id=VW2483
Also: Cowboys, what the heck was that? In punt formation, isn’t the center supposed to stay home and block anyone trying to come right up the middle?
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne:
Mo Do? No can do. Not accessing the NYTimes for a few days, methinks.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Been there. Done that. LOVED it. Died every other Tuesday like clockwork. But it was a fun little car. Hate the new ones though.
Darkrose
@Southern Beale: I used to think baseball was slow and boring, because I’d always been told it was.
Then I went to my first ballgame, and had an absolute blast. Now, I’m wondering what I’m going to do when the season’s over, and what I’ll listen to on the way home from work when there’s no Giants game. And I’m planning my reading for the off-season, so that I’ll understand the stats thing better and can throw out random numbers with the best of them when explaining why Bruce Bochy sucks.
I love this game.