Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Republicans in disarray!

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

Cole is on a roll !

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

So many bastards, so little time.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

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This post is in: 

I think we need an open thread, if for no other reason than I have run out of subject matter that works well with a title from the Smiths.

Spent three hours driving today, and because of the shoulder injury a couple years a go, I mainly drive with my left arm because my right one starts to ache or go numb, and apparently drove in such a way today that I somehow pulled a muscle in my neck/back. How do you pull a muscle in your neck/back while driving, you young whippersnappers might ask? Easy. Turn 41. It’s funny- I used to be able to drive from home in the northern panhandle of WV to Atlanta with only one stop in Charlotte for gas and a potty break. Now, if I drive for two hours, my legs are so stiff I almost fall out of the car when I get to my destination. And by funny, I mean REALLY FUCKING DEPRESSING.

Also, because I am a world-class hypochondriac and my father just had a heart attack, any shoulder, chest, stomache or neck pain and I am all “OMG AM I HAVING A HEART ATTACK.” I’ll never figure out why I can handle physical pain like broken bones with no problem, and even refuse painkillers and stop taking them weeks before the doctors tell me, but the idea of a disease or something else and I am getting the vapors like it is no one’s bidness. I’m such a hot mess.

So what are you all up to tonight? I think I might play a little SWTOR myself.

*** Update ***

Just got a phone call from a very drunken buddy from undergrad. He and a bunch of mutual friends are at the Rusted Root concert in Morgantown, a band that was pretty big in 95 and 96 when we met (not sure if they were big nationally, but they were locally- so was a band called Rasta Rafiki). Long story short, they had a song called Send Me on My Way, and one night we were in a bar, and I looked over at my girlfriend (I was plastered) and said – “I have no idea what this song is about- why are they singing about ‘Simian the Whale?‘” She just burst out laughing and it has been a running joke ever since. From that point on, any time the song played everyone would sing Simian the Whale. At any rate, they just called and held the phone up so I could hear Simian again.

In my defense, listen for yourself:

And why does that video with them prancing around want me to break things and play Pantera?

Reader Interactions

107Comments

  3. 3.

    CA Doc

    Friday night, drinking wine (hometown Tempranillo), checking on Linsanity occasionally (Knicks are behind at the moment)

  8. 8.

    Felinious Wench

    Still on good drugs for a torn muscle somewhere in my lower back. I do not envy those of you out there with chronic back pain. It’s miserable.

  9. 9.

    RedKitten

    Not much going on here. I just finished copy editing a 76 page publication, and my eyes are half-crossed, so I’m going to drink enough wine to see if I can get them to cross all the way.

    And physical pain doesn’t bother you because broken bones knit. But disease is unpredictable.

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    @Bago: I have no idea how many people will be coming, but I will be there! Sazerac at 6:00 pm; I’m the broad with the red hair :)

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Christ, man, pull yourself together.

    Get a car with decent seats. I can drive 10 hours in my Saab with no problems. Ten years ago, driving two hours in my Altima would cause my lower back to knot up.

    Finally, pain from an injury is somehow different from illness. I can tough out pain as well, but being ill just fucks me up.

  12. 12.

    cathyx

    Tonight, work work work, interspersed with stopping by here. I hate long distance driving. But I blame it on my dad for making long distance trips miserable.

  13. 13.

    Linkmeister

    @Felinious Wench: A year ago I had my first torso x-ray in years. The doc read the result, turned to me and said “did you know you have a compression fracture low down in your spine?”

    “Ah,” said I. “That explains my lower back pain.”

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    because of the cupcake craze around the country, local grocery stores have had to step up their game. Used to be, one wouldn’t touch a cupcake in a grocery store because they were half a step up from cardboard. times have changed. I was in the mood for a chocolate on chocolate, happen to see that some were on sale, and took a chance. damn, if they weren’t delicious. the cake was moist, and the icing creamy and delish. I’ve already eaten 2.

    well, that’s my food story for today.

  15. 15.

    Gordon, The Big Express Engine

    Had lunch with the finance team of a major US energy company yesterday (CFO and his team). All of them are thoroughly disgusted with the Republican party and the sad spectacle of the primary process so far (“clown car” was literally the phrase used by this CFO). They don’t want Obama to win and don’t like him, but the current group of Republicans have not impressed them at all. These folks are not social conservative crusaders, but rather the pro-business, low taxes types. At the end of the lunch, the CFO polled all eight of us on who would win in November and it was unanimous: Obama.

    I left that lunch thinking if the Republican party has lost the CFO of a US energy company, then they are doomed. Anecdotal to be sure, but I was pretty stunned.

  16. 16.

    Linnaeus

    Easy. Turn 41.

    I turn 40 in about two months, but I don’t feel the way 40 is “supposed” to feel. Very strange.

    Me, I’ll be playing Bioshock after dinner.

  17. 17.

    Mark S.

    I picked up a copy of Assassins Creed II for $20. I didn’t like the first one, but a lot of people told me this one is much better. We’ll see about that.

  19. 19.

    Linnaeus

    @Bago:

    Is there going to be a Sazerac based Seattle meet tomorrow ?

    There was talk of one, but no confirmation that I saw. Which doesn’t, of course, mean that there wasn’t one.

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Linnaeus: I’ll be 48 in August and I don’t feel much different, physically, than I did at 32. I know I am not 21 anymore, but one’s 40’s don’t have to be a death sentence – no matter what Cole says.

  23. 23.

    MikeJ

    if for no other reason than I have run out of subject matter that works well with a title from the Smiths.

    How do you pull a muscle in your neck/back while driving, you young whippersnappers might ask? Easy. Turn 41.

    How soon is now
    That joke isn’t funny anymore
    The Boy with a thorn in his side
    and of course:
    The Queen is dead

  24. 24.

    Bnut

    I made the decision today that I will be putting my dog down next weekend. His canine pappilloma is spreading to his throat, he coughs when he eats and smells like a corpse. He’s my first dog, the sweetest animal in the world. Tried 5 different treatments, none took. I’m a broken man.

  26. 26.

    beltane

    Speaking of shoulder pain, I was just diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis today. I had been trying alternative treatments for years but I finally broke down and went to the doctor because I couldn’t take the pain any more. John’s post last week actually helped with my decision to seek medical attention instead of pretending that supplements and yoga were going to fix this. The meds won’t fix it either but the Medrol I am now taking allowed me to wash the dishes without pain for the first time in 3 years. Thanks John.

    Also, I would like to lay the blame for this last flare-up on the Republicans. Their anti-contraception crusade seems to have sent me over the edge and triggered an auto-immune response.

    I’m done with complaining for now. Hope everyone is having a lovely Friday evening.

  27. 27.

    Linnaeus

    @Bnut:

    I’m sorry to hear that…I know it’s gotta be hard, but I know you’re doing the best that you can for your dog.

  29. 29.

    slag

    @Benjamin Franklin: I have a suggestion for you to take or leave, if you will. Continue to support the ACLU; continue to make your support for civil liberties known by every means necessary; but stop bashing the Obama Administration over it for a while. Consider the unlikely prospect that it’s taken us a while to get into the civil liberties mess we’re in and it’s going to take us a while to get out of it, and in the meantime, your efforts might be better spent being for something rather than against someone. That’s what I’m trying to do…it’s a challenge.

  30. 30.

    gordonsowner

    I’ll never figure out why I can handle physical pain like broken bones with no problem, and even refuse painkillers and stop taking them weeks before the doctors tell me, but the idea of a disease or something else and I am getting the vapors like it is no one’s bidness.

    Because that’s one of the sh!tty parts of Panic Disorder — take it from a fellow sufferer. BTW, thanks for coming out about that… not only does it help take the stigma away, but more importantly, if you suffer from it, just knowing that it exists and that it’s a probable alternative to YOU ARE GOING TO DIE EITHER RIGHT NOW OR SLOWLY WITH A HORRIBLE DISEASE can drop your pulse by 40bpm…

  31. 31.

    cathyx

    @Bnut: I had to put my lab down when she was 3 and a half years old. She had kidney disease. I’m certain she ate melamine tainted dog food and got the disease from it. I know how hard it is.

  32. 32.

    Joseph Nobles

    Up your ride, Cole. I’m 44 with a lot of the same problems. I just did four days of long-term driving, no day less than six hours, and I was starting to tire out by the end of the fourth day (a ten hour plus stretch from New Orleans to Dallas). A very, very good friend of mine had lent me his Cadillac CTS for the trip. Smooth ride, fantastic seats. What’s called luxury, I now call bare necessity for a long haul.

    Seriously, I can feel worse after my ten-minute daily commute in my Ford Ranger.

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Benjamin Franklin: Perhaps. Maybe I am also learning to do things smarter – start my run a little slow to warm up or ski a couple easy ones before hitting the black diamonds. I can still do the things I did; I just am more careful about how I do them.

    @Bnut: That sucks. Sorry, man.

  36. 36.

    Lojasmo

    Get a stress test for peace of mind. Unlikely to be coronary disease. Seems you don’t have many risk factors (early family disease, diabetis, smoking, high LDL, low HDL)

    Being overweight, and having older family members who have had MI are not risk contributors.

    Relax.

  37. 37.

    lamh35

    I assume everybody is watching the NAACP Image Awards too right…no just me…ah well.

    I’ve got to work Sat and Sun and then Sun night, I’m travelling to NOLA for 3 days to enjoy my goddaughter, my family and a Mardi Gras parade or two, in that order.

    I’ll try to bring ya’ll something back from Mardi Gras, but I’m not sure what to bring back for the rag tag bunch of Balloon Juice commenters.

  38. 38.

    thalarctos

    @Bnut: I’m so sorry, Bnut. I wish there were words that could help.

    You are doing the kind and right thing for your dog, even though it feels so awful.

  40. 40.

    RossInDetroit

    52 years old and haven’t raised my left arm above shoulder height since July. It’s slllooowwlly getting better. As in I can sometimes sleep through the night now. Next time, I’ll let the young guys who lift weights for fun move industrial freezers instead of ‘showing them how it’s done’.

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh35: Sazeracs? Jambalaya? There was a really hot local girl I saw in Coop’s Place a couple of years ago. Now that I am going to be single, you could get her for me – um, if she is amenable, of course.

  42. 42.

    Benjamin Franklin

    @slag:

    That’s what I’m trying to do…it’s a challenge.

    I try to remember Abraham Lincoln and his habeus corpus dilemma, but it’s a fuckin’ bitch, I tell ya.

  43. 43.

    Linnaeus

    Rusted Root concert in Morgantown, a band that was pretty big in 95 and 96 when we met (not sure if they were big nationally, but they were locally- so was a band called Rasta Rafiki). At any rate, they had a song called Send Me on My Way

    Well, they got a lot of radio play in Michigan in 95 and 96, I can tell you that.

  46. 46.

    Cassidy

    Bored as hell at work, so I started doing some research into the State Dept. and their Diplomatic Security Special Agents. Holy shit that looks like a fun job!

  47. 47.

    CaseyL

    @Bnut: He looks like a wonderful friend and companion, with a little sardonic edge. Sweet old pup. I’m so sorry.

    @Linnaeus: I sorta gave up, since I didn’t hear from people who wanted to go. But now it sounds like some folks might want to get together after all – so do please join us if you can!

  48. 48.

    Linnaeus

    @lamh35:

    I’ll try to bring ya’ll something back from Mardi Gras, but I’m not sure what to bring back for the rag tag bunch of Balloon Juice commenters.

    A Huge Ass Beer? Some Pat O’Brien’s hurricane mix?

  52. 52.

    KS in MA

    @Omnes Omnibus: You’re so right about car seats. And about Saabs in particular. I could drive my dear old (’93) Saab for days on end, and did, with never a problem– hmm, I may have to get another one. My present car gives me a stiff neck and numb hands after an hour on the freeway. I’m a lot older than Mr. Cole, so trust me, it’s not an age thing!

  53. 53.

    ChristianPinko

    Cole, what about “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before”? It would go with almost anything.

  54. 54.

    Brutusettu

    Rusted Root? They seemed big in Ohio for drunken frat boys circa that same time frame.

    Anyway, for musical reasons, I hate Rusted Root almost as much as I hate Gwar, and I’m a man that hates his Gwar.

  55. 55.

    amused

    Wait, you’re joking about 41, right?

    Rusted Root! True story: My daughter lived with my fundie ex as a teen and I used to feed her music on the sly. My ex took away the Rusted Root because the band name sounded vulgar. She’d hidden it under her mattress, and he found it in a security sweep.

    I know!

  57. 57.

    RossInDetroit

    @Brutusettu:

    I saw Rusted Root in the mid ’90s for reasons I can’t recall. I still have the shirt. Their fans are really intense and the singer’s even more off-pitch live. I think I caught a contact buzz just walking in the place. Pretty much what you’d expect.

    ETA: Also Blues Traveler. Same deal with harmonica

  60. 60.

    RossInDetroit

    @amk:

    Isn’t saab dead now?

    As the dodo. One of my colleagues just bought a new one. Boy, is she going to be surprised.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @amk: Almost dead. In bankruptcy, but several buyers are in negotiations to buy the whole company. Ultimately what happens will depend on GM’s willingness to license some of the tech that Saab developed while GM owned it (and starved of resources because thay had no concept of what they owned and wanted to badge-engineer it like they did they with the abomination that was the Saab 9-7 or the Swedish Blazer which is why I will never by a GM product ever again so there).

    ETA: If they can’t save the company, I am likely to drive mine into the ground and then cry while looking for a replacement.

  63. 63.

    Gwangung

    @CaseyL:

    I have no idea how many people will be coming, but I will be there! Sazerac at 6:00 pm; I’m the broad with the red hair :)

    Yah…..have production meeting scheduled…..

  64. 64.

    RossInDetroit

    Old Volvos also had great seats. I had a pre-Ford 740 that even at 200K mi still made me sigh with pleasure every time I sat down in it. Great heater, lousy AC.

  66. 66.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RossInDetroit:

    Great heater, lousy AC.

    My parents’ Volvos had the same issue. My Saab’s A/C and and heater are brilliant. A couple of decade’s difference, perhaps.

  67. 67.

    RossInDetroit

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That’s a surprise. I thought the last company sniffing around the remains had backed out. I sincerely hope for current Saab drivers that someone ends up with the tooling. Without dies to stamp replacement body parts, a fender bender could be the end of the car once the spares run out. They didn’t sell many cars over the last 5 years or so so it might not be worthwhile for someone to continue parts production.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gwangung: When I was in the army, I had a senior officer who was fond of this saying, “You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.”

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RossInDetroit: Supposedly there are four buyers interested in the company proper and not just breaking it up. One of the top ones is Mahindra and Mahindra of India who are interested in doing what Tata did with Jag and Land Rover. They also want to bring their inexpensive cars (they own a Korean brand- SsongYang) to the US and would be interested in Saab’s dealer network.

  71. 71.

    Rita R.

    And why does that video with them prancing around want me to break things and play Pantera?

    I don’t know, after sitting through the video, that seems like the natural response to me. Kind of counterintuitive that “Cowboys From Hell” would actually be soothing, but there you go.

  73. 73.

    MBL

    I love Rusted Root and will never apologize for it.

    And yes I was in college in the Midwest in 1995 and 1996. :-)

  75. 75.

    amk

    @Omnes Omnibus: yeah, one of my south african business friends is a saab nut. He once imported an entire gear-box set from europe paying enormous customs duty for his 15 year old saab. He still has that car.

  77. 77.

    Cain

    Please consider doing yoga. You aren’t stretching enough. I can drive for hours with no issue. You’re doing it wrong is what I suspect. I bet you can find a youtube video showing how ;)

  79. 79.

    RossInDetroit

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    One of the top ones is Mahindra and Mahindra of India who are interested in doing what Tata did with Jag and Land Rover.

    “Nice Mahindras” doesn’t have the same cheap gag appeal.

    I think Saab was a Roger Smith acquisition. Along with EDS and Hughes. They never figured out what to do with it. Or Saturn, for that matter.

  80. 80.

    electricgrendel

    I feel you on the hypochondriac business. Ever since I have been in nursing school any time I get the sniffles I am convinced I am going to die. I got a little pukey after a clinical in which I took care of a patient with VRE and I was convinced I was going to be in the hospital in like two days.. Hell- stress and poor diet made me a little irregular and I was certain I had a small bowel obstruction. Neurosis + medical knowledge = OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE LET ME SET MY AFFAIRS IN ORDER!!!

  81. 81.

    Rita R.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Gotta admit I only know Madness for “Our House,” but that wasn’t bad. I like a little ska, and it’s way better than that RR debacle. I’m still going with Cowboys from Hell though. Have a two-decades-old soft spot for that song.

    I remember the name Rusted Root from back then, but escaped the ’90s without hearing their music. Not my thing.

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Rita R.: “One Step Beyond” and songs like it are what made the group’s rep in the UK. They were signed to Two Tone (ska label started by Specials founding member Jerry Dammers) for a while. They are worthy of more respect than “Our House” gets them.

    ETA: Sorry for the Second Wave Ska fan boy thing.

  83. 83.

    Cain

    @Cassidy:

    @Omnes Omnibus: I was, but I’m trying to become a Special Agent/ Criminal Investigator in Federal law enforcement.

    Cool dude, I hope you get the position! Sounds like a glamorous life!

  84. 84.

    specialed

    Idk if Rusted Root was ever very big nationally either, but I was at WV Wesleyan about the same time and everyone was listening to them, Rasta Rafiki and Steel Pteradactyl, who were friends of mine from my hometown, Lewisburg WV who played in Morgantown a lot.

    One of my best ever road trips was in 1996 or 97, a caravan of us from Lewisburg to Star Lake Ampitheater up near JC’s neck of the woods to see Rusted Root open for Carlos Santana. For an encore, RR came back out and played Exodus and a couple other Bob Marley songs with Carlos and his band. Great show.

  86. 86.

    Rita R.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I’m woefully uneducated when it comes to ska, however I love Save Ferris (which is more like ska-lite, I know). A friend turned me on to them about a decade ago, I liked them immediately, and then found out they’d already broken up. lol But I fondly remember a tequila-soaked Cancun vacation in which we had the second album playing constantly, esp. this song:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcliEqq3-uo

  88. 88.

    Geeno

    I saw Rusted Root at the Water Street Grill in Rochester, back in ’93. Great band, great show.
    Don’t know if it counts as going national, but Rusted Root did do most of the music for “Ice Age”. The original movie.

  89. 89.

    FuriousPhil

    I don’t remember Rusted Root at all, and I lived/went to school in Ann Arbor in ’96. Dave Matthews, sure. Blues Traveler? Yup. I never really liked any of that stuff. I was big into the Doors, and the art-rock indie stuff. I even did spoken word poetry with a back up band. I am constantly grateful that streaming video and cell phone cameras weren’t yet in common use at that point.

  91. 91.

    Rita R.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Wanna try for fourth wave? lol (I should really do a little Googling because I don’t know what either second or third wave ska is. But the Chinese food just arrived…)

  95. 95.

    moderateindy

    Cole. quit posting crap about your personal life, because you’re starting to freak me out. Way too many similarities. I, too, am in my mid 40’s, suffer from various medical maladies, played lax in college, (by the way most of my physical problems stem from continuing to play till my mid-thirties) I’m a Deadhead with a great affinity for Little Feat, and the Smiths, and no kidding; one of my friends from college called me hammered last week to ask if I wanted to go see Rusted Root next month at The Cubby Bear in Chicago.
    If there are any fans of the Rusted Root genre check out Trampled by Turtles from Duluth.
    http://youtu.be/nKTlRN3jLfw
    more traditionally bluegrass than Rusted Root. Also, a superior choice of the jamgrass bands to see live, would be Cornmeal. Unbelievable energy at their live shows.

  96. 96.

    Merfy

    The similarities tonight are eerie. My 41-year-old husband also developed an affinity for Rusted Root in his college days. Just two weeks ago, we were in the car and this song came on XM radio. I sang along to the chorus, and he said, “It’s ‘send me on my way’? I thought they were saying Simian the Whale.” As any wife worth her salt would, I laughed and pointed out the myriad ways in which he was a total dumbass: 1) why would anyone sing a song about a monkey whale?; 2) he owns the album with the song title printed on it; and 3) the radio display in our car clearly lists the title as “Send Me On My Way.” Just yesterday I told him I intend to play this song at his funeral. I’ll send you on your way in style, my little monkey whale!

  97. 97.

    Savage Henry

    Rusted Root was a regular at Penn State in the early 90’s while I was there for grad school. Any time I hear anything by them it brings back great memories.

  98. 98.

    Redshift

    “I have no idea what this song is about- why are they singing about ‘Simian the Whale?‘”

    I’m late to the party, but I just wanted to mention that I also heard it as ‘Simian the Whale’, (actually, I think mine was “Semi and the Whale”) way back when.

  99. 99.

    AB

    Holy crap. Rusted Root is all white people? I seriously never thought that. I always pictured a group that was like Ladysmith Black Mambazo in my head.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @Bnut: I am inexplicably drawn to your dog just from seeing those photos. He seems to look right at you, his eyes may be a window to your own soul, and they are certainly a window to his. You are lucky to have had each other.

    I am so sorry you are losing him. But once you know it’s time, there’s no turning back. I always wonder how we find the strength to let them go, but the answer is obvious. It’s love.

  102. 102.

    PaulW

    Who else here plays Old Republic? I’m on Namaadi Corridor, trying to get more Open Thread people from Ta-Nehisi’s house to join up… sigh…

  103. 103.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    And why does that video with them prancing around want me to break things and play Pantera?

    Because the urge to punch hippies is deep rooted and visceral.

  104. 104.

    Tehanu

    “Simian the Whale” is a mondegreen — a misheard lyric; there’s probably a Wikipedia article about them. The term comes from the ballad “Lord Randal,” in which the phrase “And laid him on the green” is misheard as “And Lady Mondegreen.”

    My favorite is Creedence Clearwater’s “There’s a bathroom on the right.”

  105. 105.

    noabsolutes

    I always thought of that song as “Simian Away,” like what you would have to say to get rid of an overly amorous monkey.

  107. 107.

    Paul in KY

    @Bnut: So sorry to hear that. You are doing the right thing. Doesn’t make it any easier. God bless you & your beloved dog.

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