__
Of course our Antipodean readers are well into their various celebrations by now, so: Cheers!
__
Other than the next installment of the pig-wrestling travelling freakshow otherwise known as the GOP primary debates, what’s on the agenda today?
__
__
Reader Interactions
58Comments
Comments are closed.
MikeJ
Less than three hours of Australia day left, but I’ll join in wishing them happy knifey-spoony and hope that dingos don’t eat their babies.
dogwood
I’d like to hear some “Waltzing Matilda”, and here’s hoping Roger Federer wins the Australian Open.
amk
@dogwood: Fedex-Nadal- one set each now.
MonkeyBoy
I presume you are referring to the saying: “Never wrestle with a pig in the mud because it just gets you dirty and then you realize that the pig enjoys it”.
By which you imply Newt=Pig who likes getting down and dirty and soiling all the other candidates after his “Mr. Don’t Diss Republicans” mask has been stripped off.
S. cerevisiae
Noooo Pooftahs!
(no offense, I just couldn’t resist the Monty Python opening)
So to speak…
Joey Maloney
Dunno if anyone else is seeing this, but something’s a little wonky with the main page – it’s showing “Let me know what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars” as the top post. To get here I had to navigate into a post and then click forward on the nav links.
It’s not a browser cacheing issue; I tried it with three different browsers, two of which had never been to balloon-juice.com ever before.
amk
politico’s ‘discussion’ topic – is mitt romney too modest ?
fracking unbelievable.
THE
Thanks Anne. Wasn’t too hot today . Currently sipping on an ice-cold soft drink in the late evening.
JGabriel
We Want Blood! (via Thers @ Powder Blue Satan)
.
dogwood
@amk:
I love tennis. Admire the players – their season never really ends, And they have to compete at all times against the best in the world. Travel is a bitch in that sport. I think tennis would be popular in America if we were the only ones who played it and we could have tournaments culminating in crowning the victor WORLD CHAMPION. I’ll never forgive SI for not naming Federer Sportsman of the Year a few years back. A real travesty.
Raven
Anyone seen Burk and Wills? besides me?
MikeJ
@amk:
He has a lot to be modest about.
Raven
Or “The Odd Angry Shot“?
amk
@dogwood: yup. The true ‘international’ sport where one has to travel all over the world, all year round competing with players from different countries.
Both 5-5 in third set. I’m rooting for fedex. Let’s see.
@MikeJ: But he isn’t. Which is what is irritating about that gopolitico fluff piece.
harlana
Good morning:
Eric Cantor’s bitch face
harlana
also, too:
can’t figure out if this is just sublime parody but considering comments are disabled, perhaps it is intended to be sincere
regardless, i recommend watching before you’ve had your breakfast
JGabriel
@harlana: How did Cantor ever get elected or even manage to begin a career in politics? The expressions Cantor constantly wear on his face should be used to illustrate the dictionary definition of “smarm”.
.
MonkeyBoy
@harlana:
I sounds like “Christian Pop” music and one click shows explicitly Christian music on that channel so my guess is that it is strongly trying to appear as sincere. Appearance of sincerity (not music quality) is what often lands Christian music gigs.
JGabriel
Question: Krugman linked this piece from Jared Bernstein yesterday on Politifact’s selective, biased, and inaccurate fact-checking, but the side photo made me wonder: were Jared Bernstein and David Cronenberg separated at birth?
.
harlana
@JGabriel: was wondering same thing this morning, it’s baffling
SiubhanDuinne
@harlana: @MonkeyBoy:
A quick Google search suggests that Glen Shulfer is indeed a strong Walker supporter (I’ve never heard of him before). It would have been some fine parody, but I fear it’s sincere.
harlana
@JGabriel: i wish i could post that as my “swansong” to FB since they now want my frickin phone number to get back in and i’m not down with that! but i really wanted to share it with everybody before i go – i totally lmao
harlana
@SiubhanDuinne: thanks for googling which apparently i am too lazy to do – perhaps i just wanted to believe it couldn’t be anything but parody. but, indeed, it is unintentional self-parody, not sure if Colbert could have done better!
JGabriel
Stand With Governor Walker via harlana:
While I kind of have to give kudos to the rhyme of “quo” with “Monroe”, what really marks this as a lyric of poetic genius is the way the verse’s second couplet rhymes “Governor Walker” with “Governor Walker”.
That’s the kind of disregard for convention that makes the true artist stand out from all the others.
.
harlana
holeee fuck – one of the guys (convicted murderer) pardoned by Haley Barbour is on the lam
JPL
The tennis match is good. I for one want five sets.
@harlana: How shocking!
Don K
Well, I’ll be celebrating my birthday, not that that amounts to much once you get to 58, other than picking a bit nicer place to go out to dinner…
Also the birthdays of Paul Newman (my personal fave for this date), Ellen DeGeneres, Eddie Van Halen, Wayne Gretzky, and Douglas MacArthur (ewww…).
WereBear (itouch)
@harlana: And just what persuaded Barbour to this “compassionate” act? Did their families have money? Did he want to spend his retirement surrounded by grateful felons as a sort of mini-Godfather? What?
dogwood
@JGabriel:
Spend some time watching CSPAN. Congress is full of Eric Cantors. A big chunk of them share at least three of these characteristics – unattractive, dull, sanctimonious, smarmy, narcissistic, mean, and phony. Cantor seems to have all those qualities, but he has plenty of company.
4tehlulz
Lovely. Jan Brewer puts that one in his place.
MonkeyBoy
@SiubhanDuinne:
What I tried to point out above is “just the strong appearance of sincerity” which is needed to get paid for elaborate gigs in Christian Pop or other cults such as Republican politics.
Money or status for further jobs is the bottom line here, not sincerity.
The only Christian Pop crossover music I ever liked was Sixpenses’s “Kiss Me” – I guess because I couldn’t understand the lyrics (or maybe there was no message in them) and the chick singer had a sexy voice.
harlana
also, Jan Brewer, from one old bat to another sweetie, your “badass” photo op is NOT AT ALL flattering – you just look like a bitter old crone fish-wife harpy shrew who doesn’t have the CLASS to show respect for the Office of the Presidency. i don’t really care how sexist that sounds because your are a skanky redneck bitch. anyway, sweetheart, that plastic surgery that has your eyelids pulled back to the back of your head was a waste of money – with a profile and an attitude like that, darling! just sayin’
i’ll have my saucer of milk, now.
off to work, everyone have a nice day.
SiubhanDuinne
@Don K: Happy birthday! For the most part you seem to be in pretty good company.
SiubhanDuinne
@harlana: Awesome bitchrant to start the day :-)
amk
nadal wins in 4 sets. sigh…
Viva BrisVegas
As to Australia Day.
When I was a kid Australia Day was a strange lost holiday tacked onto the end of the long summer school vacation. We didn’t celebrate it, nobody did, except in the way we celebrated all such summer days off. Where Dad would drive the family off to the beach and we would jostle for a spot on the sand, or else to a National Park for a BBQ among the gum trees and the blowflies. We didn’t celebrate Australia Day, we lived it. We knew what it was about, but such historical concerns were remote and far less involving than a family outing.
Now it’s different. Instead of being a day on which to quietly live like an Australian, it’s now a day to noisily proclaim your Australianness. People wave flags, which not so long ago this would have been regarded as eccentric outside of international sporting events. They put flags on their cars, wear flag themed clothing, play backyard footy with flag painted footballs, have Australia Day themed BBQs and god forbid, even try to sing the bloody national anthem.
Once it was enough to be who we are, now it seems we must say who we are, loudly and often. Our politicians exhort us to celebrate the day and remember what it is to be Australian. I remember what it was to be Australian when it was to not celebrate Australia Day.
Angela
What a beautiful way to start the day. I’ve been gone from Australia 10 years, after only living there three years. It was the most beautiful place I have ever lived, the people amazing, and the wine and food even better.
kay
@harlana:
I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s pretty funny, and if it IS true the in-state reporters all know it:
One of the reasons I like following state politics is it’s incredibly gossipy, really competitive, and thus the media coverage is not at all deferential :)
We had a probate judge here who was a drunk and the one and only person who believed “no one knew” he was a drunk was the probate judge.
Everyone knew. He was quite literally the last person who thought it was a secret.
Origuy
Is it time for an Aussie Barbeque?
DirtyAussie
@Viva BrisVegas:
I totally agree. I remember when the national anthem would come on at sporting events and people would look around in annoyance. One or two of the weirdos would stand up but the rest did not want to risk spilling their beer. The national anthem should have been Waltzing Matilda anyway!
Now it seems we have to celebrate our Australian-ness like, well, Yanks. As BrisVegas said, celebrating being Australian would be like celebrating having two legs, it was a fact, why make a big deal about it?
Hal
The NY Times on Christie’s leave it to the voter’s move in NJ:
Is there anything this guy does that the press doesn’t think is a brilliant political move.
Villago Delenda Est
So, the US got the religious nutcases, and Australia got the murderers, thieves, and whores.
Australia wins!
keestadoll
Fascinating and nothing at all to do with the elections.
Southern Beale
Time for a doggie update!!! Cute video and pics at the link, I promise.
Amir Khalid
@Hal:
Chris Christie would do well to follow the lead of the most popular man in New Jersey on all political issues. That man, if I recall correctly, is on the record in favor of gay marriage in their state.
Viva BrisVegas
@Villago Delenda Est:
I believe that it was Peter Ustinov who on a visit to Australia was asked if he was worried that half the population were descended from criminals, and he said that was no problem, but what did worry him was the half of the population that were descended from warders.
Satanicpanic
Fucking GOS! I almost never comment there, but I was reminded today by a response that the site is nothing but a bunch of irritating dead enders.
BDeevDad
Newt’s staffer admits he lied in debate to John King about the open marriage claims.
Pococurante
Jeff Goldberg now allows comments.
“This is gonna be great!”
/Flounder
waratah
@Viva BrisVegas: I remember those Australia days. The days of the quiet Australian seem to be gone.
waratah
@Villago Delenda Est: Thank goodness mine came from the middle category!
Kilkee
And the greatest song Liam Clancy ever recorded may be “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” which of course is not “Waltzing Matilda,” but an Eric Bogel anti-war song of the first order. If I were less inept I’d imbed a YouTube version, but it’s worth going over there and getting it. It’s why Dylan called Clancy the greatest balladeer he’d ever heard.
Brachiator
How could a thread about Australia Day miss this:
Julia Gillard ‘rescued’ amid Australia Day protests
Sounds like a kind of Occupy Australia protest.
AZmando
The thing I love the most about Australians is the total, never-ending fun they have with the English language. Here in the US, we just speak it, with a bit of slang and lots of bravado thrown in. Australians seem to have big time fun with the language. I always enjoy talking with them.
handsmile
@Brachiator: (#53)
Drats! I see you got here frist.
I’ll still link to the Guardian article below though, because its attached video clip does not include the annoying 30-second ad that prefaces the BBC’s tape, and features conversation between PM Gillard and security personnel inside the restaurant. The police scrum effecting her escape is quite a sight to behold.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/australian-prime-minister-tent-protesters?INTCMP=SRCH
This peaceful demonstration differs from many Occupy protests here in that police refrained from pepper-spraying or clubbing protesters.
pseudonymous in nc
@Brachiator:
In appearance, yes, but sort of the opposite, given that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up as a protest against the, um, occupation of Australia 200 years previous.
The protestors want the PM to come and retrieve her shoe. [video]
Brachiator
@handsmile:
Some good photos of the incident.
@pseudonymous in nc:
Very droll.
Annamal
*muttermutter*underarm bowling*muttermutter*
Congratulations on existing Australia…