.
.
A little somethng for the Obots, from the Los Angeles Times, via Taegan Goddard:
Final Tally Shows Election Wasn’t Even Close…
“In the weeks since the election, as states have completed their counts, Obama’s margin has grown steadily. From just over 2 percentage points, it now stands at nearly 4. Rather than worry about the Bush-Kerry precedent, White House aides now brag that Obama seems all but certain to achieve a mark hit by only five others in U.S. history – winning the presidency twice with 51% or more of the popular vote.”
(I can’t believe the Muppets never did a version of ‘We Are the Champions’, but this is the closest I could find on Youtube, and it just didn’t seem appropriate.)
***********
What’s on the agenda for the ragged end of the weekend?
Just Some Fuckhead
Nice.
Violet
Maybe this can be a thread to discuss anything other than the terrible events of Friday. Plenty of other places to discuss that if desired.
Has Romney dropped to 47% yet? I know GOS was on 47% watch for awhile but I got busy and didn’t keep up.
James E. Powell
But any win by any Democrat will always be treated as if it were close. We are, after all, a center-right country.
Similarly, any win by any Republican will always be treated as if it were a landslide, the adults back in charge, a return to where we all want to be.
WereBear
@Violet: I believe he did, officially, wind up with 47%.
haw haw!
smith
@James E. Powell:
A Democrat could win with Reagan-like numbers (like when he won all but one state against Mondale) and it will still be considered a “close” or “narrow” Democratic victory.
A Republican wins by 10 votes? MANDATE, baby!
Linda Featheringill
I’m thinking gardening thoughts. The internets tell me that there’s a way to start seeds outside in the winter time. The freezing and thawing is an important part of the process. If it works, I’ll have baby plants ready to go when spring gets here.
And the internet is never wrong. So I’ll try it. I never have had good luck with starting stuff inside, so I figure I have nothing to lose here.
cmorenc
The final talley of both popular vote and electoral votes wasn’t really all that close, but most of us have to admit that the interval between aftermath of the first debate and election night itself had most of us extremely scared and nervous that Romney had a realistic chance of winning, despite Nate Silver’s statistical projections and the Obama campaign’s projections of confidence.
Raven
@Linda Featheringill: SproutRobot tells you when to plant & sends you seeds.
Enter your zip and away you go!
Mnemosyne
I came across a 1934 movie version of Anne of Green Gables on TCM, so I’m watching that. I’m a little surprised by how much of the dialogue they pulled directly from the book (though they felt free to combine characters).
huckster
The Falcons totally kicked the Giants ass today, so there’s that. Maybe they’ll get a little respect now.
James E. Powell
@cmorenc:
but most of us have to admit that the interval between aftermath of the first debate and election night itself had most of us extremely scared and nervous that Romney had a realistic chance of winning
Very few will admit that now, of course. I never had the feeling that Romney was ahead or going to win, but the first debate and the press/media pumping Romney made me feel like it could go that way. I was terrified that some other shoe might drop and change the outcome.
Poopyman
Well, the Steelers just Shit the Bed, as Cole would say, so expect him along any second now to stomp all over this thread.
Just Some Fuckhead
When our Republican country elects Democrats, they are giving Democrats a mandate to be bipartisan with Republicans and get the stuff done that Republicans want to do.
Violet
@Linda Featheringill: There is no freezing where I am. Well, it freezes for a few hours off and on, but the ground doesn’t freeze. I garden year round. My concern this year is that it is not going to get cold enough for the fruit trees to have enough chill hours to produce. My peach tree still has most of its leaves. Sigh.
Raven
@huckster: And the Illini are about to go 11-0!
Poopyman
@James E. Powell: There was a very real danger, given that an obviously (to those of us on the left, anyway) incompetent was within striking distance of upsetting a sitting President. Hell, I still find it disturbing that 47% voted for Romney, and I’m not optimistic about 2016, unless a Dem star emerges RSN.
huckster
@Raven: Very impressive, against a stout schedule too!
The Dangerman
@Poopyman:
30+ seconds in regulation and a TO…
…and they played for OT. Yes, they were at the 20, but I don’t see the risk (other than getting your QB whacked, as the O-line was getting beat with Philips-like regularity).
Litlebritdifrnt
@Linda Featheringill:
I don’t know how your finances are but my DH bought me a greenhouse last year from Harbor Freight Tools. It was not terribly expensive if I recall (especially as he had a 20% off coupon that I gave him) and has held up well since then. I have every intention of starting out lettuces and other veggies from seed over the winter. I also dug up a whole bunch of my “tender perennials” (sold as annuals around here such as Angelonia) and put them in pots in the greenhouse and so far they are doing quite nicely. I also have two tender tree hibiscus in there which again are doing nicely despite having had at least two hard overnight freezes.
Elizabelle
@James E. Powell:
Was it Violet or Valdivia who said we’re not a center right country, but we have a center right press?
I think that’s correct.
Linda Featheringill
@Raven: #8
SproutRobot: That’s cute!
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
I went to the mail box yesterday and noticed that my gazania daisies were not only fine (after two hard freezes) but were coming back into bloom.
Violet
@Elizabelle: Wasn’t me.
Narcissus
Did Romney really get 47 percent?
That has to be on purpose. God was like, “Subtlety is lost on these people”.
“I mean, Jesus, do I have to put up a sign?”
And Jesus was like, “Yes, yes you do.”
Maude
@Mnemosyne:
The tv version was good.
It didn’t go overboard. I only saw the first few before Anne grew older.
Spaghetti Lee
@Poopyman:
I’m optimistic about 2016 for three big reasons:
-The demographic changes that have been helping Democrats will likely continue.
-The Republicans have shown no signs of being able to moderate, step back from the brink, etc.
-The economy will probably be better four years from now.
Raven
Here’s a December Camillia.
Linda Featheringill
@efgoldman: #13
Weather has been warm. I’m in the greater Philly area and it’s been quite mellow for December. I’ll probably die when real weather gets here.
Linda Featheringill
@Violet:
Lazy peach tree! Tell it to get with the program!
But you have a point in that the plants we are used to depend on a cold dormant period.
Poopyman
@Spaghetti Lee: All good points. Now find me a candidate that we can GOTV for.
Linda Featheringill
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Ooooh! A greenhouse, even a small one!
Mnemosyne
@Maude:
I liked the TV version (the one with Megan Fallows and Colleen Dewhurst). Unfortunately for them, Dewhurst died long before her character did — I’m still not sure how they got around that.
Plus they ended up doing weird things like putting Anne and Gilbert in World War I. Saw the commercials for that but never actually saw the series. That was going WAY off from the books (where their sons went to WWI).
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt: It’s so warm that things that should be kind of dormant here now, like carrots, are going gangbusters. Fruit trees still have leaves. Bananas haven’t frozen back. Papaya and mango are still okay. Citrus is good–ate some today.
I would like to have a winter but am not holding my breath.
Poopyman
@Poopyman: PS – I predict having the name “Castro” will NOT be a liability at that point in the 21st Century.
Mnemosyne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
One of my coworkers buys things from Harbor Freight all the time (not a greenhouse, though). He’s always been very happy with the service and quality.
Rosie Outlook
@Raven: Thank you, Raven!
I’m addressing Christmas cards to my colleagues, to be passed out tomorrow as many of them will be gone the last 2 weeks of the year due to use-it-or-lose-it holiday time; having been sick a lot this year, I’m not that lucky. Which I don’t really mind; a deserted office is a peaceful office. Also mailing the last present for this year, tomorrow .
Linda Featheringill
Are you guys thinking we might not have a winter? Or almost no winter?
Litlebritdifrnt
@Linda Featheringill:
Mine is 6′ by something, plastic, pretty easy to put together once you break down and read the instructions (as opposed to winging it and ending up putting it together inside out for a while :) ) I think after the coupon it was $99.00. It has already been well worth every penny, if only for the amount I have saved on buying lettuce for my husband’s salad every night.
ETA and it came through Hurricane Sandy just fine. I wanted to point that out lest anyone thought it was too flimsy.
Poopyman
@Linda Featheringill: @Litlebritdifrnt: Something like this one, perhaps? I’ve been wondering about that. Harbor Fright tends to sell cheap Chinese imports (beware their power tools), but this has always looked OK to me.
Poopyman
(Deleted duplicate, with a hearty FYWP.)
Ron
Since I see no NFL open thread, all I have to say is “Goddamn Cowboys”.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Poopyman:
This is mine, I have it full of shelves and stuff to put plant trays on.
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-ft-x-6-ft-greenhouse-97439.html
JPL
Question.. I am watching a live event and when Muslims pray, their hands are open and Christians hold them together. Why? I was taught that holding your hands together upward towards God but I’m not sure about symbolism with Muslims.
Poopyman
@Linda Featheringill: No! Long term forecasts for the East Coast are for a pretty average winter, and usually things really don’t get cranking until after the holidays.
If this weather holds through January 15th, I might start to think things are going to be mild, but right now it seems to me like a pretty average pre-holiday pattern but minus precipitation, which concerns me – and the farmers.
Kristine
Watching the George C Scott iteration of A Christmas Carol on AMC. My desert-island version is the Alastair Sim Scrooge, but Scott is supposed to be very good as well. We’ll see.
Fifth warmest December on record here in NE Illinois, although there are rumblings of a White Christmas. Ground has yet to freeze, but it’s bound to eventually–if/when I start seeds, it’ll be indoor grow trays in late February. I have so many different varieties of tomato seeds that I’m reluctant to buy more, but I keep hearing about Paul Robesons.
Mark B.
@Ron: that was a heck of a Christmas present that Ben gave to Carr. That was a fun game to watch. The defenses couldn’t stop anyone. Until they did.
Mark B.
@Poopyman: most of the tools that HF sells are from the third world, but not all from china. I have no problem with their hand tools, which mostly come from India.
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Having a swanky Sunday dinner alone at the Hotel Presidente Intercontinental in Puebla Mexico. Been here since Thursday and going home in 2 days.
dcdl
@Linda Featheringill:
Here are some more sites
and SproutRobot is good
Pinterest is good for finding info fast and makes good visual bookmarks.
Anya
@JPL: I think my grandmother said that’s “to receive all the goodness from God.”
Elizabelle
@RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist:
What are you eating? Drinking?
Yum.
LeftCoastTom
@Raven:
It tells me I should have planted cilantro more than a month ago.
Take that, cilantro haterz!
Anoniminous
@Violet:
At the moment it’s 51% to 47.3%. Don’t know if that is the final total.
J. Michael Neal
@Raven: Gophers stand at 20-0. The race for first in the WCHA is basically over.
JPL
@Anya: Thank you.. what a sweet sentiment.
handsmile
@Kristine:
If you have access to it, TCM will be broadcasting the version of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim at 9:30pm EST.
Never much cared for the version with George Scott, but he himself portrayed a forbidding Scrooge.
JPL
@Raven: My Easter Lily is coming up.
Linda Featheringill
@Poopyman: #45
Thanks. I’m a newcomer to the East Coast. Cleveland might still have snow on the ground, left over from Thanksgiving.
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
@Elizabelle:
Insalata tricolore. Sopa poblana. Cerveza Leon. A light dinner, as I have to be up early tomorrow. This restaurant is really the business, man.
RiD +2
Elizabelle
President Obama being introduced for remarks at Newtown vigil.
Svensker
A cousin is in animal rescue in Philadelphia. There’s a place that specializes in older pets and this one, Bishop, is a 15 year old pit who was given up by his family. The face just slays me.
Anyway, see their facebook page “The City of Elderly Love: Save A Senior Pet”
Thanks for looking, any folks in the Philly area.
dcdl
@Linda Featheringill:
Ignore an early comment I tried editing and it wouldn’t let me.
Here are some links.
How to build hoop houses
How to start seedlings with toilet paper rolls
How to start seedlings in eggshells
SproutRobot is also good.
Pinterest is tool I use for fast searches and visual bookmarks.
Narcissus
@RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: Is anyone else thinking upscale prostitute?
Just me then?
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Yesterday I drove through an appaling slum. Collapsed buildings blocking the street and block after block without an intact window pane. I think the cabbie knew that would freak me out and it really did. Post-armaggedon landscape. I’ve decided to shut up about my missing suitcase and just …. pretty much STFU…
? Martin
Save Money. Live Better.
$900 from the Low Price Leader.
JPL
“I know Karate and I can lead the way out”
words to remember…
Kristine
@handsmile: THANK YOU!! I do get TCM.
I’m not too impressed with the Scott version so far.
Mnemosyne
@handsmile:
Right now, they’re showing the end of a Sterling Hayden version of “A Christmas Carol” where Scrooge is a bitter man who lost his son in WWII. Carol for Another Christmas. Never heard of it before.
Raven
@Litlebritdifrnt: I bought a gigantic bay window at the Habitat thrift store yesterday and we hope to make it into a greenhouse!
mai naem
@RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: They had a couple moving to Puebla on a House Hunters International. It looked nice. Anyhoo, I was talkingto a Mexican friend about that episode and he said Puebla is known for it’s citizens being short. This coming from a guy who’s about 5’7″.
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
@mai naem:
My 3rd trip (work) to Puebla in 3 months. The winter weather is awesome. The volcano is amazing. The people are super. Food is wonderful. But I don’t know if I could ever get used to the poverty and decay. And I live 6 miles from Detroit.
Well, here comes the check.
RiD + 2
Elizabelle
@RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist:
No dessert? A flan?
Mnemosyne
@Mnemosyne:
We’re Tivoing it for the second showing (on Saturday 12/22) because we’re kind of getting sucked in. “A Christmas Carol” as updated by Rod Serling? Yes please!
G just pointed out that Aaron Sorkin is the 21st century Rod Serling. Think about it.
trollhattan
Muppets. Is the such a thing as too much Muppets? That would be like too much “Far Side.” Limitless demand.
My contribution is the Amazon consumer ratings on the Hultzler 571 banana slicer. Not since the Halcyon days of the ‘hoff’s Greatest Hits and Tuscan Milk have so many waxed so profoundly over so little.
http://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-5717-571-Banana-Slicer/product-reviews/B0047E0EII/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
trollhattan
@Raven:
Uh, how does one get a gigantic bay window from point A to point B? For that matter, how does a thrift store end up with a hunk of a building?
Edo
@JPL: Hands open was how everybody prayed when Islam was getting started in the 600s. (The Eastern churches still pray open-handed now.) Folded hands only became a thing in the Western Church 500 years later, after the Great Schism.
Not sure if there’s any specific symbolism to it; the Sunni sources are behaviorist, and talk about *how* stuff is done more than *why.*
trollhattan
@Anoniminous:
Official California Statement of Vote has been published. I’m happy to note Willard got his magically clad ass delivered to him in a Champagne bucket. To wit:
Barack Obama 7,854,285 60.2%
Random Dude 4,839,958 37.1%
Kristine
@Mnemosyne: Is that Peter Sellers as one of the ghosts?
Nope, he;s not–went to IMDB to look things up. Interesting take on an old story.
Mnemosyne
@Kristine:
Robert Shaw is one of the ghosts. Peter Sellers plays one of the people in the future (and, as G snarked, demonstrated why he did not play a Texan in Dr. Strangelove).
It’s actually pretty interesting if you like Rod Serling/Aaron Sorkin-style speechifying, which I do. It’s worth Tivoing if you have one.
lawguy
It does appear as though the original article doesn’t count Washington, Jefferson, or Monroe. Nor does it count the Sainted Ronny who if you round up his first election from 50.7% also accomplished it.
mainmati
@Linda Featheringill: Use a cold frame. There are a lot of guidelines if you have plants you want to overwinter. Obviously we aren’t talking about tree crops.
PurpleGirl
@Svensker: That is a beautiful dog. It’s not the usual pit face, at least not the one I’ve usually seen.
mainmati
@Poopyman: I know and Ruthlesshamburger did it again. (sigh). They still have a chance but it’s not good at this point.
Davis X. Machina
@JPL: Early Christians prayed arms out, palms up. Frescoes, mosaics and stuff from late antiquity have it frequently — figures in that pose are called orantes ‘praying ones’ in art history…
Seems to be borrowed from the Jews.
(@Edo: See you here first…)
Ruckus
@Narcissus:
lolz
And thank you.