I got the solar powered attic fan in and running yesterday. The A/C seems to be working a bit less, but we’re still too early to know how long the payoff will take. Sitting around watching DIY network, and wondering where these people get all this energy to work outside.
Going to a movie with the soonerdaughter here shortly. Soonerson has been having a devil of a time finding a job this summer, as has his cousin. OK has low unemployment primarily because of the energy sector, but the cities still have a surplus of talent, and that’s making things hard for young people. Why hire an 18-year-old when a 25-year-old with a degree can be had for the same price?
Anyway, not much going on around here today. Got the mowing done this morning, so I don’t have to be outside in the heat this afternoon. It’s supposed to reach 99 to 100 today and get hotter during the week.
EDIT: After some deliberation, I passed on the unit from Home Depot, and bought this one from Amazon.
MikeJ
Didn’t read the byline before the post and was wondering if something was going on we hadn’t been told about.
cathyx
I have an attic fan and I didn’t notice any real cooling of the house from that. But what I was informed of was that they extend the life of your roof.
Gozer
OY! I hear you about the heat. I have inlaws that live just outside of Tulsa. We visited there in the summer “once”. It was the worst fucking heat I’ve ever experienced and I’m from Louisiana.
Mama Gozer is visiting this week which is fun. I’m lucky that Dr. Mrs. Gozer is like the daughter she never had and they get along wonderfully. I think she may just love my wife more than me!
Linnaeus
Ain’t no heat up here. We might make it into the mid-70s by the middle of next week.
Valdivia
@Gozer:
that is very lucky. Mother’s in Law can be difficult to navigate for wives. Speaking from experience :)
WereBear
Many lovely commentors wanted to know when I launched a Way of Cats fund drive. It’s NOW.
Let’s keep the Way of Cats blog Blooming
Ironically, the blog’s growth is why I need contributions. I don’t have enough ad, cat toy, or book revenue to cover bandwidth, security, and all the etceteras that come with popularity. I’m apparently not that popular yet.
If you are so moved… Help the Cause?
Increase cat understanding and acceptance. And let’s empty those shelters!
lamh35
Anyone going to see “Brave”, the new Pixar movie with the ginger-headed Princess?
I actually do want to see it, but being single it just seems kidna weird to be going to a children’s film by yourself.
I remember right before Katrina, my sister and my cousin and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The theatre of course was full of family (including Mayor Ray Nagin and his family) and some adult pairs, but there was this one guy who was alone in the back of the theatre that we noticed. My cousin mentioned that maybe he was just waiting for someone else, but no one ever showed up. I’ll admit, that I was a little weirded out by it for no real rational reason mind you, just ’cause.
Linda Featheringill
Weather dot com says that you’re supposed to reach 100 today and 103 tomorrow. Lucky you.
ETA: OKC.
WereBear
I remember heat like that… I spent 10 growing-up years in Florida. Does not suit me.
However, chatting at work about our recent heat wave led to me remembering that I once worked with a woman who was also a bartender; the man who owned the bar got married, to an employee, and he didn’t, literally, get out much, because he’d been born without sweat glands.
Guess where the new Missus wanted to go on her honeymoon? I forget the specifics, but it was some rather hot tropical islands…
So, Soonergrunt, you could be worse off!
Eric
Hot as heck doing the ghey in chicago. Walking the route with the local elementary school. Recruiting. ;)
lamh35
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/romney-adviser-reporter-confused-notion-of-outsourcing
Uhmm, what? That really is a reach.
cathyx
@lamh35: Don’t you know any little kids, even friend’s little kids you can take?
Alison
So, SIGH. Grandpa didn’t end up having his surgery today, they wanted to do an ultrasound first to determine what exactly they were dealing with. Which…okay fine, but then they put the surgery off till tomorrow morning. I don’t get that. How long can an ultrasound possible have taken? Why couldn’t they do that and then go ahead with the damn operation today. Bleh. More waiting! And he has to stay in the stupid hospital longer.
I mostly trust doctors but sometimes they are annoying.
Jade Jordan
Cosco has some nice solar powered attic fans, including a professional version.
Brachiator
@lamh35:
You can always say you are seeing it because it is a Pixar film, not a children’s film. It did great box office, another Pixar film coming in at Number 1 with $66 million in box office. Apparently, doing lots of business with families.
Then again, there’s always Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
lamh35
@cathyx: Nope. In the past, I used to take my lil cousins and my god-children in NOLA, but here in DFW, none of my friends have any kids or young siblings. So I usually just have to wait until the movie’s been out for a while and all the families have seen it, or wait til it at the discount cinema before going out on my own.
celticdragonchick
Just got back from watching the ballet Raymonda broadcast live from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Our local Carmike 18 theater has live feeds from various ballet and opera productions during the year. Nice way to spend three hours, and Svetlana Zakharova was wonderful in the lead role as Raymonda. Pavel Dmitrichenko lit the stage on fire as the Saracen Abderakhman and brought some old school Bolshoi flash and color.
Other then that, it’s hot.
Valdivia
@lamh35:
I want to see that too. Have to wait for this summer flu to pass before I can venture out and into a freezer that shows movies.
Phylllis
Staying indoors until dusk-forecast here is for upper 90’s and I don’t handle the heat very well these days. Put together a strawberry pretzel icebox pie that needs to stay in the freezer for 8-12 hours. Will report on the results* tomorrow. Watching the Braves and counting down to first pitch for the Gamecocks.
*I mean, we’ll eat it no matter what. Just hoping for it to turn out like the pretty picture with the recipe.
smintheus
Would be working in the garden or orchard except the damned neighbors are burning plastic, again.
lamh35
@Brachiator: I am actually interested in the ALVH movie too. that movie I’d be fine seeing alone, because I already know my friends are just NOT interested :-)
As for “Brave”, I’ll see it eventually, I’ll just have to wait til the fervor dies down, unless I can convince one of my friends to go with me or lose my friendship forever…lol.
Arclite
Brave?
Did you buy them all? They’re out of stock!
Steeplejack
At 91° in NoVa right now, the temp has already blown through the forecast of 89° for the day. But the humidity is low, so it doesn’t feel as bad as the scorching days earlier this week.
Went out this morning to do a few things, but I’m lying low this afternoon. May venture out tonight.
Mike E
Miss E just got her first jobby job, fast food of course. She might climb that min wage ladder into a fitness chain position later, during her senior year. Gotta keep her grades up, though.
Soonergrunt
@Jade Jordan: I would love for us to have a Costco here, but we don’t unfortunately. We have Walmart and Sam’s Club. We do have Target, but the only real difference between Walmart and Target is the Target stores are cleaner and red.
Soonergrunt
@Arclite: Actually, we’re going to see “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
Martin
@Gozer:
I have that problem too. Mom calls, talks to wife for an hour, hangs up. I get to talk about one time in three. Oh well. Back to work for me. Bratwurst, German potato salad, and homemade saukraut is a hell of a nice lunch. Will wait the appropriate time before washing it down with a proper Irish beer. Got some more time with the saw to put in yet, but beer makes the painting go better.
Arclite
@lamh35: It’s cool to go see Pixar movies as an adult by yourself. I have kids now, but have seen most of them in the theater even before I got married. They’re geared toward both adults and kids (watch the first ten minutes of UP if you don’t believe they’re not geard towards adults).
Arclite
@Soonergrunt: Heh, my nine-year-old is begging me to go see Snow White and the Huntsman. She’s watched the trailer 20 times. We might go see it today.
lamh35
Romney Adviser Hits Back On Bain Offshoring: Obama Is ‘Outsourcing’ Jobs To Nebraska!
gogol's wife
Why, why, why do I read the NYTimes? And pay them for it, to boot! They have once again given wife of Romney strategist Campbell Brown or whatever her name is a prominent position to spout her bilge. This time it’s about how terrible it is the Planned Parenthood doesn’t support the Republican Party. God, I hate them!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/opinion/sunday/planned-parenthoods-self-destructive-behavior.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
lamh35
GOP Oversight Chair Admits There Is No Evidence Of White House Involvement In Fast And Furious
Valdivia
@gogol’s wife:
I refuse to read that.
@lamh35:
I am sure it will get prominently broadcast over the media village. Not.
YellowJournalism
@lamh35: Went to the movies with hubby and the boys. I wanted to see Brave, but we chose Madagascar 3 (not 3D) because we’d heard that the middle of Brave gets intense. The 2-year-old can handle that stuff but my older guy gets scared easily. There was a pre-trailer short presentation promoting the anniversary of the War of 1812 (huge deal up North), and the battle scenes made him jumpy.
The movie ended up being better than I thought it would be, though, and my boys actually sat through it well, unlike last year when we had to leave Cars 2 early.
I would still love to risk going to Brave, though, if I could find out more about it in a spoiler-free way. My boys adore every Pixar movie they’ve seen so far, so if the older one can get past the intense stuff…
pk
Why are yahoo comments so horrible? On any topic it turns into either an anti Obama hate fest, or just general irrational uninformed, hate filled nonsense. Is there something about Yahoo which attracts the pond scum? Does anyone have a rational explanation as to why people are so hate filled?
bemused
@gogol’s wife:
The title “Planned Parenthood’s Self-Destructive Behavior” made my teeth ache. I refuse to read any further.
Campbell Brown is an idiot. Any woman that refuses to understand how important Planned Parenthood has been and is to womens’ well-being is self-destructive.
Raven
@Eric: Is that supposed to be funny?
jl
@lamh35:
Another Issa scheme starts to fall apart? Huh? Hoodudanoan?
Amir Khalid
@Soonergrunt:
Snow White And The Huntsman is basically the classic story, but with Prince Charming written out so that it’s not a romance, and Snow White is not a Disney-style princess. That is, there’s no wedding at the end of the movie. And a good thing too; in the Disney cartoon, all that useless sod does is sing one song. It is titled One Song, and he sings it twice.
Hypatia's Momma
@gogol’s wife:
… wut.
I dunno, maybe PP doesn’t support Romney for the same reasons I don’t support violent muggers.
Dee Loralei
Just got polled by Rassmussen. Very weird poll about the economy and the Constitution, also, too. I was wondering if Rass was trying out some new Frank Luntz, Karl Rove approved lines for future Republican messaging.
Lamh, I want to see Brave, LOL and Snow White too! I wish you lived closer, we like so much the same movies and TV.
MikeJ
@Dee Loralei: You should have told them you were a republican so they would count your results.
lamh35
Pawlenty Says He Told Romney Campaign To Look At Other VP Prospects
Hmm, so that’s Daniels, Christie, Pawlenty, and for all intents and purposes Rubio. I’m beginning to think that these guys either don’t have much faith in Romney’s chance of winning and they want to keep their powder dry until 2016, or they’re lying. what???
Bago
It’s downright balmy for the Seattle pride parade. It’s 61 degrees right now! And sunny! Truly freaky weather.
Dee Loralei
@Amir Khalid: LOL Dude, your review of Disney’s Prince Charming is perfect! And pithy! I may have to steal it. LOL you need to be on twitter, I’d so follow you.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh35:
I go to the movies by myself all the time. Maybe other people think I’m a little weird, but I don’t!
cckids
@Amir Khalid:
No kidding. And they fall in love because . . .why? As the mom of a daughter, she is used to my pet Disney peeve-why do these people fall for each other? Because they’re cute? Sing well? Such bad messaging.
One reason why I put Beauty & the Beast higher on my Disney list. At least they get to know each other.
rant over.
lamh35
@Amir Khalid: Funny enough, Snow White is probably my least favorite of the Disney Princess movies. My all-time favorite is probably Sleeping Beauty don’t really know why, it’s probably the first one I remember seeing as a lil girl. As an adult woman though, I’m partial to Princess Tiana (the first AA princess, even though she spent 90% of the film as a frog and not in human form…but hey it featured NOLA as the setting place and the music had a NOLA feel to it, so who am I to complain).
gbear
I should be out pulling weeds in the garden but I’ve been indoors all day doing laundry, listening to Blonde On Blonde, and wasting time at the computer. It’s 84 outside and that is warm enough to put me into the too lazy to work outside mode. All I want to do today is nap with the kittie.
I took tomorrow off work to use up a floating holiday and becuase it’s my 58th b-day. The forcast here is for a high in the low 70’s and sun all day. I’m going to blow off the guilt about not working on the garden and spend the day on my scooter driving down Highway 61 to Wabasha and then coming back up on Wisconsin 35. Hopefully all the serious bikers will have done the loop around Lake Pepin over the weekend and the roads will be pretty open (serious bikers can’t stand being within a mile of a scooter).
Dee Loralei
@MikeJ: Yea, now I wish I had. One weird question was whether we should keep the Constitution as is, make minor changes, make major changes, or scrap the entire thing and start over.
Did I agree with the statement that All men are created equal. Yes or no?
Did I agree that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yes or No?
Are we in a recession? Will it end within 6 months of continue indefinitely? (Neither of those are really yes, no questions.
As I said, very weird survey. Not exactly a push poll, but I think a testing of some future Republican talking points.
gbear
@Eric: Teh gey is happening in Minneapolis this weekend too. I’d completely forgotten about it.
Like they say, memory is the second thing to go when you get old…
SiubhanDuinne
@Amir Khalid:
LOL! you win the ‘tubes today!
SiubhanDuinne
@gbear:
Happy birthday, gear!
Violet
@lamh35:
Go to a late showing. Like 9:00 p.m. or later. All the kids will be home either in bed or heading that way. Especially so during the week when, if the kids aren’t in school so have to get up early themselves, the parents have to work the following day and aren’t keeping the kids out late.
I’ve gone to at least one kids movie at this time and there was only one kid there with his dad. Everyone else was adults.
shortstop
Just got back from Chicago’s Pride Parade. Y’all will be pleased to know that the third baseman and me and everyone within 50 feet of us lustily booed the handful of Log Cabin Republicans who marched.
No one else got booed. Seriously. Even the big insurance companies and banks only got silence, no boos. People sure hate them some Log Cabin Republicans.
lahke
Just saw this, and came running to share with folks who will love it.
Hm–not sure the link is working.
http://youtu.be/C-UKYW-Wh-Q
Hypatia's Momma
@WereBear:
Crap. I so wish I could donate but I’m reduced to just giving food to rescue groups as my only form of animal aid. Sucks to be me!
Amir Khalid
@lamh35:
Well, it’s only in Snow White And The Seven Dwarves that the Prince is a complete cipher. And yes, that was a wonderfully atypical Disney princess movie, the first one to celebrate American rather than European culture. Pity it was not the box-office success it deserved to be.
gbear
@shortstop: The Log Cabin Republicans always have a booth at Twin City Pride. It’s the lonliest and most defensive-looking booth at the festival and I’ll admit that it’s hard to walk past their booth without telling them to go get fucked.
Last time I went to pride there was some random evangelical hater standing next to their booth telling everyone that they were going to hell. Really made the Log Cabin guys look like morons.
gbear
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks!
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: I sense a fellow Disney debunker :)
WereBear
@gbear: Hey, it’s your birthday. Do what you want, and have a Happy.
shortstop
@gbear: Love it. And happy birthday to you!
SiubhanDuinne
@lahke: That. Is. BRILLIANT.
gbear
@WereBear: @shortstop: Thanks. I can’t remember the weather forcast on my birthday being so perfect for a long time. Tomorrow will be a nice day.
Dee Loralei
@lahke: That was brilliant, thanks! I tweeted it and facebooked it! His Mitt Romney song was funny and ironic too!
gbear
@efgoldman: Wouldn’t know. I haven’t been able to see my belt for years.
(I’m going to have to google what an onion on my belt means)
gbear
@efgoldman: Ha. That was the video that came up first on teh google. Love that he learned history from reading the back of sugar packets.
Cmm
@gogol’s wife: Planned Parenthood supporting Republicans would be like supporters of gay rights supporting Republicans. At least the hairy legged baby killing feminazis are smarter than the Log Cabin Republicabs/GOProud.
lamh35
Since the next week promises to be a doozy (does anyone think SCOTUS will punt the decision on ACA until next year?), here’s a little something to make ya’ll smile.
The First Couple on their First Meal Together: Dinner with Barack and Michelle
Brachiator
@Valdivia:
I didn’t realize that something was going around until a cold or flu bug knocked me on my butt Friday. No fun at all.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Unfortunately, SWATH is a frustratiningly disappointing movie. It has some great visuals and some nice narrative twists, but misses a lot of opportunities to take the story in a satisfying or creative direction. “Prometheus” suffers from this problem as well.
Odd coincidence that Charlize Theron is featured in both films. BTW, the wittiest takedown of “Promethus” that I have heard is the podcast An Hour With Your Ex, available online and via iTunes.
YellowJournalism
Who watches Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the romance? That movie is all about the Wicked Queen and watching Grumpy deal with his idiot buddies, much in the same way you watch Sleepy Beauty for Malificent and a literal color war between two fairies. Pfft! The romances!
(You also watch those two movies for the georgeous animation.)
lamh35
@YellowJournalism: BTW, have you seen the pics of Angeline Jolie costumed as Malificent? She is producing and starring in a movie that gives Malificent the same treatement as the Wicked Witch of the West ala “Wicked”.
First Look: Angelina Jolie as the evil sorceress ‘Maleficent’
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
I tend to agree with Ebert. Snow White And The Huntsman could have been a better movie, maybe even a great one, had Ravenna and Snow White and the conflict between them been given more complexity in the writing. And a more experienced director might have gotten more nuanced performances from Theron and Stewart. But it was still a pretty good movie for me.
As for Prometheus, i found it disappointing at first sight, and the more I think about it the less I like it. Its plot consists of incredibly smart people all doing incredibly dumb things. Starting with old man Weyland funding that trillion-dollar space mission, from a proposal straight out of Chariot of the Gods.
karen marie
@gogol’s wife: Wow, I feel dirtier and more stupid after reading that. I am really starting to hope that there is in fact a god and s/he is a vengeful fuck.
karen marie
@Dee Loralei:
Doesn’t strike me as a yes or no question. It’s two questions in one — Do we have a creator and do we have certain inalienable rights.
I don’t believe a creator (other than mom & dad and ancestors gave humans anything. Inalienable rights arise from justice and fair play.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
I will take a look at Ebert’s review. From interviews she has given, Theron says that the director told her to be over the top, and so, lots of shouting. I don’t think he was looking for nuanced performances. I have no problem with Stewart and had been looking forward to seeing the film, but she just came across as a blank to me, and her transformation at the end came out of nowhere.
But I agree that it could have been a very good movie. I also agree with you about “Prometheus.” The riff on Chariots of the Gods was a mistake, and after a while supposedly smart people doing stupid things just made me lose interest in the story and just watch the fun visuals. I would like to blame one of the guys from Lost, who worked on the script, but I have to hold Ridley Scott responsible as well.
Soonergrunt
@Amir Khalid: It was a pretty good movie for summer fantasy/action fare. It definitely could’ve been deeper, and the dialog could’ve benefited from tightening up, but it was a pleasant afternoon with my wife and daughter.
On a side note, I must remember to never take the 13-year-old Soonerdaughter to another movie with either Chris or Liam Hemsworth. I am SO not dealing well with this aspect of my life.
Prometheus, which I saw a couple of weeks ago, was a disappointment, and my feelings about it were coalesced by that review by the Archeologist.
YellowJournalism
@lamh35: If I have a sitter, my butt is in the seat.
Brachiator
@Soonergrunt:
You should let your daughter listen to the Sci Fi Party Line podcast. The main host is a woman who loves sci fi and fantasy and includes a range of guests of different interests. Her all female Girls Guide to the Avengers was hilarious. Lots of … appreciation … for Chris Hemsworth, along with good insights about the movie itself.
karen marie
@lamh35: I liked especially that when she mentioned he took her to an art exhibit, he said, “Guys out there, it impresses people.”
That is the sign, imo, of a true feminist.
Soonergrunt
@Brachiator: Yes, because that is EXACTLY what she needs.
Brachiator
@YellowJournalism:
Just because it’s animated does not mean that every cartoon movie is suitable for all audiences. Some people who sent emails to a BBC film show noted that parents had to take younger kids, under age four, out of the theater because Brave was too intense for them.
I think the film is rated PG in the US. The film will be there when younger kids get a little older.
As an aside, even though my stepson would swear up and down that he could handle some intense movies, his mother and I told him that if a movie was ever too much, he could ask that we leave. He didn’t use this escape clause very often, but was happy to know that he was more important than the cost of a movie ticket.
Yutsano
@Soonergrunt: Your daughter has decent taste. Tall, handsome, makes good money, single, Australian. She could do much worse. But she’s not fully baked yet and a lot of this is the hormonal stew starting to percolate. It does settle down. Eventually.
/not helping
Mnemosyne
@YellowJournalism:
I found the bear fight scenes in Brave to be very intense, and I’m an adult, so you may want to wait for the DVD. Depending on your child, s/he may find the magical consequences of one of Merida’s decisions to be even more disturbing than any actual violence/scariness (I think that’s a spoiler-free way to put it).
Soonergrunt
@Yutsano:
THIS
YellowJournalism
@Brachiator: @Mnemosyne: Thank you both. You pretty much confirmed why we didn’t see it. We have that same rule for handling movies, but it usually applies to DVD, which is easy to just shut off or skip through when things get too hard to handle.
Amir Khalid
@Yutsano:
Not sure which of the Hemsworth brothers you’re speaking of. Chris is married with a new baby, and Liam just got engaged to Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter.
Soonergrunt
@Amir Khalid: Yutsano’s mainly screwing with me. I am not ready for my little girl to be having crushes on ANYBODY. He knows this, and he mocks my pain!