Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

When we show up, we win.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

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

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Reminder – Down Tonight

Reader Interactions

228Comments

  2. 2.

    Suffern ACE

    I hope nothing happens. Do you have any recommendations of where we should gather in case some pundit writes something so profoundly awful that our commentary can’t wait until the morning? I bet David Brooks and George Will in their enclaves on the coast are plotting such an attack as we speak.

  4. 4.

    WereBear

    I picked a fine weekend to recruit then, but the emergency happened Friday morning:

    CALLING ALL IT PEOPLE: Need money? I need a consultant!

    My WordPress blog has grown beyond my ability to optimize it. I’ve got CloudFlare conflicting with my cache plugin and my empty HTTP host name interfering with the CDN.

    If that makes sense to you and you’d like to pick up a fee for fixing it, please contact me at the Way of Cats.

    I will be posting this plea all weekend… then I’ll have to search elsewhere.

  9. 9.

    Culture of Truth

    Wiat, we can’t hang on an internet chat room Sat. night?

    Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    Note to self: Schedule complaining “why can’t I see the site” email for 6:01 this evening.

  26. 26.

    Gex

    Gotta admit, I will probably navigate to this site several times tonight just on auto-pilot.

    I think I need a twelve step program.

  28. 28.

    arguingwithsignposts

    We’re supposed to get 5-8 inches of snow tomorrow. you fuckers had better have this thing up by then! ;)

  30. 30.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Gex:

    I think I need a twelve step program.

    Me too. It will be interesting to see if I can find something else to do. Clean out the sock drawer?

  31. 31.

    Baud

    @Gex:

    Step 1: Check out other blogs.
    Step 2: “OMG! So this is why we keep losing.”
    Steps 3-12: Repeatedly click refresh on balloon-juice.com until Sunday morning.

  32. 32.

    Ash Can

    THIS BLOG SUX THIS UPGRADE BLOWS BIG ONES I DEMAND A FUKKIN REFUND

    In all seriousness, guys, here’s wishing you smooth sailing with this, and thanks for all the work you all do.

  34. 34.

    geg6

    @WereBear:
    @JPL:

    Well, I’m at work today, but she and Otis seemed okay with each other so far. John just texted me that Koda jumped over the blue chair in our living room and ran up the stairs to his office when he went up to do some work there. I think she’s very smart. And very active!

  38. 38.

    Elizabelle

    Can we get the “vitriolic jackals” rotating tag back? Loved that.

    And — Go VCU Rams! Playing Michigan at 12:15.

    March Madness beats teatard madness any day of the year.

  39. 39.

    raven

    What a bummer. Now I can’t be the only one commenting on the greatest event in sports while a bunch of commies talk about “Footie”.

  41. 41.

    PeakVT

    Rich people are assholes, part the umpteenth:

    Of the 50 largest individual gifts to public charities in 2012, 34 went to educational institutions, the vast majority of them colleges and universities, like Harvard, Columbia, and Berkeley, that cater to the nation’s and the world’s elite. Museums and arts organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art received nine of these major gifts, with the remaining donations spread among medical facilities and fashionable charities like the Central Park Conservancy. Not a single one of them went to a social-service organization or to a charity that principally serves the poor and the dispossessed.

  42. 42.

    raven

    Baby, babe, let’s get together.
    Honey, hon, me and you.
    And do the things, ah, do the things.
    That we like to do.
    Do a little dance, make a little love,
    Get down tonight.
    Get down tonight.
    Do a little dance, make a little love,
    Get down tonight.
    Get down tonight.

  45. 45.

    Ben Franklin

    Some male gender asshole is decrying the extinction of ‘fathers’ with all the threats about SSM.

    All I have to say is ‘Stop turning women into lesbians, asswipe’.

  47. 47.

    maya

    Isn’t there some teabagger blog we can all go to and keep our knives finely honed whilst we wait?

  49. 49.

    scav

    @Ben Franklin: Cuties can’t help but revealing that they are very well aware that marriage to them (personally), if not required by law, might not be exactly that attractive a proposition.

  50. 50.

    scav

    @maya: What’s the opposite of a flash mob? Maybe we’re being unleashed to wreack havoc in all unpredictable directions? The Jackals of War, Mustard, Lyrics and Diapers, with accompanying animal companions!

  52. 52.

    Linda Featheringill

    Up in the morning out on the job
    Work like a devil for my pay
    And the lucky old sun ain’t got nothing to do
    But roll around heaven all day

    Fuss with my woman, toil for my kids
    Sweat till I’m wrinkled and gray
    But the lucky old sun ain’t got nothing to do
    But roll around heaven all day

    WILLIE NELSON

    Crappy morning. Yuck. Hope the afternoon gets better.

  57. 57.

    dance around in your bones

    ” Oh John, oh Mistermix, whatever shall we do?”

    “Frankly my dears, we don’t give a damn!”

    I hope it all goes well and y’all don’t smash the place into smithereens.

    :::sobs into pillow at the very thought:::

  58. 58.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Well there is some good stuff on Netflix, Headhunters and Yellow Sea,pretty decent thrillers, then there is some B-ball.
    Speaking of B-ball, who the (*^&^& is Florida Gulf Coast?

  59. 59.

    Ecks

    @gnomedad: can you get one of those little bird devices that keeps rocking back and forth dipping its beak infinitely? Just position over your F5 key…

  62. 62.

    Elizabelle

    @geg6: Great to hear Koda is settling in. She wants to be where she wants to be.

    @Mr Stagger Lee: That’s what Georgetown is asking itself! Talked today with a visiting Floridian. He doesn’t know where Gulf Coast is from either.

  63. 63.

    Elizabelle

    Would we trash Ms. Cracker’s site if we showed up at Rumproast?

    Got to keep her in wine foils. She can’t be spending it all on IT stuff.

  65. 65.

    WereBear

    @PeakVT: Give to Harvard or the Met; you get a building or an opera production where all your “friends” can see it.

    Give to something that feeds a poor person; you have a happy poor person you never see!

    Don’t make business sense, old chap.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack

    DVD/Dead Blog Alert

    TCM is showing Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita at 1:45 a.m. EDT tonight. Excellent film, doesn’t show up on TV much. Might help the night-shifters get through the Balloon Juice blackout. Trailer here.

    And it’s followed by Claude Chabrol’s Story of Women at 4:00 a.m. EDT.

    Alternative: Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho on Sundance at 10:15 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. EDT.

    Alternate alternative: The Silence of the Lambs on HBO at 2:20 a.m. EDT.

  68. 68.

    the Conster

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    Here’s your answer. You’re welcome.

    Also too, I didn’t know Will Ferrell could act, like actually straight act without going all Ricky Bobby/Ron Burgundy at some point, but I saw this nice little movie on Netflix last night – Everything Must Go – and he plays a great drunk without the pratfalls. Who knew?

  71. 71.

    WereBear

    @Steeplejack: Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita

    Seconded, that’s a good one.

    We got The Hobbit as a gift recently, plan to watch this weekend. I know the spoilers, but Mr WereBear does not!

  72. 72.

    dance around in your bones

    @Steeplejack:

    Wow, thanks for the alerts! How do you DO that? I tend to just cruise along the guide thingy until I land on something I like or might like. Not much research involved (lazy).

    We also just changed from Comcast to DirectTV so I’m still confused about what is where and on what channel number.

  73. 73.

    scav

    @PeakVT: Merely for the information, not to disprove the essential point or cascade of appropriate actions.

    Stephen King and his wife pledge $3m to Maine library

    Barbara McDade, director of Bangor Public Library, told the Bangor Daily News that Stephen and Tabitha King had offered to pay one third of the $9m (£5.9m) the library is looking to raise for refurbishment, as long as the remaining $6m (£3.9m) is raised. “They have just been wonderful supporters of the library,” said McDade.

    The Kings previously donated $2.5m (£1.6m) towards a new wing for the library in the 90s, said McDade, and “also replaced our front marble steps [six or seven years ago], which were worn to the point where they were dangerous”.

    In 2011, King donated up to $70,000 (£46,000) for fuel assistance for low-income residents of Maine, saying that “this economy is terrible and Tabitha and I both worry so much about Bangor because it truly is a working-class town and we are always looking for ways to help, and right now this is a great need”.

  75. 75.

    minutemaid

    Isn’t this about the 5th time there was a server upgrade announcement which never seems to happen? Last time I remember there were several announcements to clear your cache and refresh the screen because the website was changing and it NEVER did.

  78. 78.

    dance around in your bones

    @Steeplejack:

    DirectTV’s guide is sucky, IMHO. Slow and unresponsive would be how I’d describe it, and I have no idea how to search it. The other thing I hate is that it shows ALL the channels on the same kind of background, so often I’ll click on something only to be told “call us to subscribe to this channel”.

    Why they waste my time like that?

  82. 82.

    gelfling545

    @WereBear: I’m planning to buy it today so the grandkids can watch it after dinner tomorrow. The Hobbit was not a book about which felt any excitement although I did and do find LOTR wonderful (the movie slightly less so). Still, the movie version of The Hobbit looks pretty good.

  84. 84.

    A Farmer

    I don’t know if somebody has brought this article up, but it is fascinating, while seeming so commonsensical. I think the discussion of it could go in a bunch of different directions. Here is where I took it.

  85. 85.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Steeplejack: I loved La Femme Nikita, the American version sucked though I was in love with Brigitte Fonda. The French can make some good action movies like the B-13 series.

  87. 87.

    Amir Khalid

    I have a question, about the phrase “ass-backwards”. One’s ass, as I recall, is the part that’s supposed to be at one’s back end. But used as an adjective, the phrase means — or so I gather — that something is back to front. That doesn’t compute for me.

  89. 89.

    Redshift

    @Garbo:

    BJ down for the evening, meteors in the skies…coincidence? I think not!

    I’m so disappointed I didn’t remember to go out and look for the comet last night, because I would have been out at just the right time to see the meteor.

  92. 92.

    Maude

    @Amir Khalid:
    It’s slang. It means confused if you want the basic meaning. I don’t do fancy.

    @Baud:
    I get my pronouns mixed up. Oops.
    The General hasn’t been here for a time. Hope he is okay.

  94. 94.

    Redshift

    @Amir Khalid: Well, it could be because when you’re going backwards, your ass is going first. But I suspect it’s just added to make an association with “stupid,” since someone who’s an ass is stupid or obnoxious, with the added emphasis of being a minor swear word. (Don’t know about kids today, but when I was a kid, “ass,” along with “hell,” were the first “dirty” words we learned, way before were old enough to understand the ones that are really dirty.)

  97. 97.

    Valdivia

    I hope General Stuck is ok.

    Is this changing the dressing in your wounded toe thing a conspiracy to drive one to drink? I swear if this doesn’t get easier I am going to start drinking at 8 am every fucking day. Next I am going to need a wooden stick to put between my teeth so I don’t yell to the skies.

    ETA: sorry for being so monothematic lately, this thing is driving me to distraction.

  99. 99.

    Maude

    @geg6:
    You can put your pup pics in a folder named Koda Chrome.

    @Yutsano:
    I did find that one vitamin A a week helps sinus. A woman told me about it a long time ago. I scoffed, tried it and it did help.
    I’m buying some this week. Glad the infection is over. They are very nasty.

  100. 100.

    scav

    @dance around in your bones: Well, if we’re following the lack of logic trail, there’s always Head over Heels, also biomechanically the SOP. Tail over teacups makes far more sense, and I just learned how many objects said tail can be over. Teapot a rather troubling one, in part due to the spout and likelihood of hotter tea and more shards.

  101. 101.

    raven

    It’s fun to watch hoops and see how many people out walking stop to admire your house and flowers and stuff.

  102. 102.

    Maude

    @Valdivia:
    It will get better. Hang in there. I’m sorry you are going through this. Next winter, keep your feet warm The toe will ache from the cold. Found that out waiting for the bus one morning.

    @Baud:
    Thanks. I do carry off this mistake with elan now because I do it so much. I wasn’t sure either.

  105. 105.

    Valdivia

    @Maude:

    Thank you so much Maude I saw you mentioned that yesterday and I am grateful to know that. As long as it doesn’t hurt continuously til next winter I think I can hang in there until the excruciating pain passes.

  106. 106.

    dance around in your bones

    @scav:

    I always figured Head Over Heels to be like tumbling, somersault, falling, etc….jeez, English is a weird language.

    I pity anyone who has to learn it as a second language.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    @Valdivia: I can sympathize. I’m currently “enjoying” a torn rotator cuff due to an inconvenient patch of ice. Physio starts on Monday, but in the meantime, it’s annoying as all Hell. At least the shooting stabbing pain that I started with has subsided to a dull ache.

  109. 109.

    Baud

    @Maude:

    It’s great that you ladies got “Ms.” out of the 60s feminist movement, but I wish there had been a greater push for a gender neutral third person singular pronoun. Then again, who at that time could have predicted anonymous blogging?

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    @MikeJ:

    Yeah, that seems way too long for just an Internet outage or something prosaic. Hope he’s okay.

  111. 111.

    scav

    @dance around in your bones: I think that is how it’s actually used for the most part (the mid-air twirlies). I just personally skip ahead to the gravity taking hold part. better noises.

    I think I’m getting my heads and teacups confuzzled at this point. Time to be a sleepy doormouse and curl up in a teapot (and I’ve probably erred there too somehow.)

  112. 112.

    Redshirt

    [sobs] Don’t make me go outside… don’t.. I can’t handle it…[/sobs]

    Oh wait, I haz a blog also too!

    Oh wait. Don’t make me go to Free Republic…

  113. 113.

    dance around in your bones

    @Redshift:

    (Don’t know about kids today, but when I was a kid, “ass,” along with “hell,” were the first “dirty” words we learned, way before were old enough to understand the ones that are really dirty.)

    Kids today learn the f-word from their older brothers (4 and 6) and spout it freely just to see your reaction. Potty-mouth brats :) I know this because I live with the 2, 4 and 6 year olds.

    (And frankly, I think a lot of kids hear these words from their parents first, in moments of frustration or unguarded conversation).

  114. 114.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @dmsilev: Be glad you do not have to familiarize yourself with the words “spiral fracture,” which happened to a colleague of mine due to an inconvenient patch of ice several years ago, and still suffering from the repercussions.

  115. 115.

    Valdivia

    @dmsilev:

    ouch! Having gone through physio myself–for sciatica–I can tell you they do the work of angels getting you well, but the road there can be also very painful. I found that a really good anti-inflammatory would get me through most of it without relaying too much on vicodin. I used Voltaren which I regard as the magic pill (along with the cream form which is a magic potion).

    I hope you’re feeling better and are on the way to recovery soon.

  116. 116.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Amir Khalid: So what do you think about “bass-ackwards”, which is the next iteration, IIRC. Does it make any more sense?

  117. 117.

    dmsilev

    @arguingwithsignposts: Oh, believe me I know. I actually also got a pair of bruised ribs out of the experience, but those have healed up nicely. Just the shoulder and upper arm now, and they’re both (slowly) healing.

  118. 118.

    Yutsano

    @dmsilev: You will learn to hate your therapist. It’s inevitable as s/he will make you do things that are wildly uncomfortable. Just don’t scream. I think they have a scorecard for some kind of pool for most screams.

    Oh, forgot this bit: when you see improvement you’ll be thinking they’re mad geniuses. But that doesn’t happen right away.

  119. 119.

    dmsilev

    @Valdivia: Thanks. My primary-care doc recommended ibuprofen both for pain and anti-inflammation, and at least for the time being that’s kept things tolerable. I’ll see what the specialists have to say.

  120. 120.

    22over7

    @Valdivia:

    Really, really sorry about the toe. Maybe you could change the bandaging you use to something that doesn’t stick as much? I almost lost my toenail a few months ago, but it stayed on (purple and ugly, but attached). Also, your doc should be a little more help.

    In other news, I bought a new car a couple of weeks ago (yay!). It comes with some free months of Sirius radio, but I hadn’t taken the time to explore it. So today I was messing around, and it turns out that, not only is there a 24/7 Elvis channel, but also a 24/7 Pink Floyd channel. Also a radio sex channel.

    Does anyone out there use this service? Are there good news stations?

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    “Butt naked” is actually a corruption of “buck naked,” which comes from the early American use of buck to refer to a (typically young) Indian native American man.

  123. 123.

    Amir Khalid

    @Valdivia:
    I lost the nail off my left big toe some years ago. (I’m not sure what happened to cause it. I only remember suddenly noticing that my sock was soaked with blood from the nail-bed.) What has grown back since looks like the Quasimodo of toenails, which is one reason I don’t wear sandals anymore.

  124. 124.

    dance around in your bones

    I don’t want to needlessly scare Valdivia, but I broke my right ankle about 10 years ago? and when I flex my ankle it still makes creaking sounds, and hurts when the weather’s cold.

    Then a year ago I broke my right hip and got screws put in, which kinda click when I walk.

    So that’s why the Right just annoys the hell out of me. All my pain is from the right.

  127. 127.

    dmsilev

    @Yutsano: That’s what everyone tells me (both the pain and the “it really works” bit). This’ll be a new experience for me, so I’m both interested and a tad nervous.

    Certainly beats surgery, even the fancy non-invasive stuff, that’s for sure.

  129. 129.

    Valdivia

    @22over7:

    thank you. I have been following the doc’s instructions and using the cleaning kit they gave me. Today I made sure to put a lot (a lot!) of the ointment under the gauze hoping it will prevent it from sticking as it did yesterday, even if just putting it on hurt like hell (the nail bed is very very tender). I left the bandage around it very loose too. Keeping my hopes up for tomorrow. If not I am going to barge into the doctor’s office on Monday :)

    and wait–sex channel on radio? really? I feel out of the loop!

    @dance around in your bones: that made me laugh. This is my left toe, I am hoping this doesn’t turn me into a fascist! ;)

  135. 135.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Hey I got another movie to recommend, Outrage, a Japanese Yakuza movie, very intense, also speaking of American movie rip-offs, Battle Royale a Japanese movie about high school kids forced to kill each other off, made 10 years before The Hunger Games.

  136. 136.

    dance around in your bones

    So, I hate to say this and possibly piss off mistermix, but are we practicing for the black-out tonight? No new threads since this one?

    Ok, let the slap-down commence.

  137. 137.

    raven

    @Yutsano: When I broke my back and had spinal surgery and rods place on my vertebrae I had a bunch of buddies that played football at Illinois. They had just started what they called the “kinesiology” clinic and these guys insisted I needed to go and rehab after a year in a full body cast. This was 1976 and, outside of sports, rehab was relatively unknown. My orthipod didn’t want me to do it, said “what do you want to do, bend the rods”. He felt I should have been happy just not to be a quad. I went ahead with it and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. Of course it hurts, how could it not? There’s is no other way to regain strength and flexibility.

  139. 139.

    sparrow

    Hey BJ-ers, I need some sage advice for how to deal with my parents. They’re still defending their voting republican even though my brother recently came out as gay, and I am a woman in science facing the effects of sequestration which could mean I’m out of the field as funds are drying up rapidly.

    I try to point things out to them, like the horrible anti-gay comments, or the fact that, you know, I could be out of a job for no good reason. They don’t care. Either “we don’t support THAT specific guy, or THAT specific policy”, but in the end, it’s still straight-ticket republican.

    If I can’t get them to care about their own children what can I do? Some days I get so mad I want to stop talking to them altogether, but that is not a mature reaction, and I don’t think it would do any good anyway.

    They are not wealthy. My dad has been on unemployment, my mom has been on foodstamps and used planned parenthood as her doctor for many years. I think they are closet racists, but I still don’t understand how they are SO DAMNED THICK.

    I sent my mom a calm email today detailing my work situation and how they have some measure of responsibility, and she replied that she “didn’t want to discuss politics with family” What the fuck kind of society do they think we live in? I just despair sometimes…

  140. 140.

    dance around in your bones

    @Valdivia:

    Come to think of it, I also had an ingrown toenail (ON THE RIGHT!) that required surgery. It did hurt like the dickens.

    Those damn Righties.

    I hope you heal up soon and don’t become a fascist.

  141. 141.

    gogol's wife

    @Steeplejack:

    I thought maybe I’d missed his announcement, because I tend to skip threads about Bradley Manning and/or drones, but if you’re sure he never said anything, maybe we should worry.

  143. 143.

    raven

    @Baud: @Baud: “Lawdy Miss Mawdy”

    Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy miss Maudie
    Girl you sure look good to me
    But please don’t excite me baby
    I know it can’t be me

    Well as a girl you want my money
    Yeah but you just won’t treat me right
    You like to ball every morning
    Don’t come home till late at night

    Oh gonna tell, tell my mama
    Lord, I swear girl what you been to me
    I’m gonna tell everybody that I’m down in misery

    So bye, bye, bye, baby
    Girl, I won’t be comin’ no more
    Goodbye little darlin’ down the road I’ll go
    So, bye, bye, bye baby
    Girl, I won’t be comin’ no more
    Goodbye little darlin’ down the road I’ll go

  144. 144.

    gogol's wife

    @sparrow:

    I think you need to give up on them. Find some like-minded people to work on issues with. They sound pretty hopeless, I’m sorry. But your energies are too valuable for this.

  146. 146.

    gogol's wife

    @Amir Khalid:

    It’s an attempt to mimic in words the misguidedness of what it’s describing. “bass-ackwards” is much better than “ass-backwards,” although I’ve heard both.

  147. 147.

    raven

    @Amir Khalid: it’s an anagram

    “Any word or phrase that exactly reproduces the letters in another order is an anagram. However, the goal of serious or skilled anagrammatists is to produce anagrams that in some way reflect or comment on the subject. Such an anagram may be a synonym or antonym of its subject, a parody, a criticism, or praise; e.g. William Shakespeare = I am a weakish speller”

  150. 150.

    sparrow

    @gogol’s wife: Yeah, I mean I kind of have. Just sometimes something happens to me, or in the news, and I think SURELY this will reach them, and then it doesn’t, and I get mad all over again. I just don’t know how to be “at peace” with leaving them alone on this. I feel like if *I* don’t do it, no one will. sigh.

  155. 155.

    dance around in your bones

    @Valdivia: Now THAT would be a fate worse than a toenail going south.

    There’s another English expression – “going south”. My best friend from Canada was perplexed and then very amused by this phrase. Also, when I wrote to her that some friends had moved to Bumfuck, CA she wrote back and asked if that was a real place? Bumfuck?

  156. 156.

    gogol's wife

    @sparrow:

    No one will. Sorry. They are not willing to make the change for the sake of their children. (Neither is Rob Portman, not really.)

  157. 157.

    Maude

    @Amir Khalid:
    This is why I don’t get fancy. Some technical terns send me into a ball of confusion.
    You get the meaning, that’s all you need.
    The other version is a play on words.
    Like Hell of a mess, mell of a hess.

  158. 158.

    Redshift

    @raven: Actually, it’s just a spoonerism — reversing the starting sounds of the words. (Technically, it is also an anagram, but a change that simple isn’t much of one.)

    I suspect it originated as a “clever” way to use the expression in a situation where it was considered impolite to say “ass.”

  160. 160.

    scav

    @raven: Sometimes, when only done to the first letters, it’s more playful as easier to figure out. Lirty Dies springs to mind. Long Live the American Lay of Wife! Swell Foop another common one.

  162. 162.

    gogol's wife

    @Maude:

    Oh, okay, I thought you somehow intuited it from my comment! These days when ads pop up about things I only thought about and never said or typed, I’m not sure who’s reading my mind.

  164. 164.

    Dee Loralei

    @gogol’s wife: I vaguely remember him saying he was leaving for awhile. But it was kinda not 100% clear that was his intention. I just remember reading, wondering if it was GBCW because it was so vaguely worded and when I didn’t see him after a few days decided that I had interpreted him correctly.

    He and his adorable dog are prolly out enjoying nature and stuff, clearing his head not paying attention to politics, lowering his blood pressure, etc.

  165. 165.

    Yutsano

    @raven: Physio had developed a bad reputation because much of the research behind it started in Soviet Russia in the 1960s. A lot of doctors never got over that prejudice even though it has shown to be effective in practice even back when it was still experimental in the US. But that has changed a lot over the years.

  166. 166.

    JGabriel

    mistermix @ top:

    In case you were making plans to hang out posting tonight, remember that we’re migrating servers tonight and we’ll be down from a little before 6 until sometime tomorrow AM.

    This is far too polite for Balloon Juice.

    It really should read:

    In case you were making plans to hang out posting tonight, remember that we’re migrating servers and we’ll be down from a little before 6 until until we’re goddamn ready to bring them online again, so don’t fucking annoy us with any of your whinging “When are you gonna be back up?” emails, because I hate you all. We’ll be back online when I fucking say so. And get your shit off my goddamn lawn.

    .

  168. 168.

    TheOtherWa

    @sparrow: It’s doubtful anything said to them will get through. It will take a situation they’re in to make them see. A huge prescription drug bill, getting turned down for some benefit, etc… But when it happens, the truth will dawn on them and then everything you said to them over the years will make sense. You’re laying the groundwork. Events have to finish the job. Stay strong.

  170. 170.

    raven

    @Yutsano: Hmm,interesting. I figured it was just the state of the state. In those days if you had a heart attack they told you to sit down and NOT get up again. Now you are on the treadmill the next day. Hell, in Vietnam they loaded us up on salt tabs, not exactly great for ya!

  171. 171.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven: Ha!

    I remember having to explain the expression to her, as in things going downhill or getting bad and for her it was comical because guess which country is south of Canada?

  173. 173.

    Redshift

    @sparrow: I understand what you’re trying to do. The thing I would say is that, frustrating as it is, you’ll need to nudge them a bit at a time. It’s very hard to get people to admit that a decision was a mistake (especially when the media talks nonstop about things being the fault of “Congress” and “politicians,” not Republicans), so I’d set as a goal making them less likely to vote Republican next time, rather than about their vote last time.

    But if they’re not bringing up politics, and it’s just that they’re voting for people doing appalling things that you have to remind them about, then it’s tough.

  176. 176.

    MattR

    @raven: Need to correct something I said last night. The US Soccer Federation claims that they decided to play in Denver in order to be at altitude as preparation for their game on Monday in Mexico City, which is about a mile and a half above sea level

  177. 177.

    raven

    @MattR: Makes sense. thx

    eta I figure the low altitude in Austin is what allowed my Illini to beat Colorado even though we only had THREE baskets in the second half!

  179. 179.

    MattR

    @raven: And Costa Rica is protesting saying that they asked the ref to stop but the US convinced him to continue.

  183. 183.

    TheOtherWa

    On a completely different topic, HBO is running a documentary this week called “American Winter.” It’s about the people who call 211 in Oregon to get help with rent and utilities. Absolutely heartbreaking look at poverty in America, 21st century style.

    It’s not on tonight unfortunately, during the down time, but I highly recommend it.

  185. 185.

    MattR

    @aangus: Every time that version comes on the radio I am stumped trying to figure out what song it is as I enjoy the opening jam.

  187. 187.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    DougJ, you’re missing a golden opportunity to start one last open thread with the title “Get Yer ya ya’s out” before we shut down for the night.

  189. 189.

    dance around in your bones

    @aangus:

    This comment made me crack up:

    Sorry to all you hardcore Lou Reed fans, but as far as I’m concerned, this song consists of some of the most kick-ass guitar work ever put on record with a little mediocre singing thrown in.

    which is kinda true, Lou Reed wasn’t the greatest of singers. But then, I’ve heard people say that about Bob Dylan and I totally disagree. At least in his early years.

  190. 190.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    @raven: Barely me, brother. I’ve been vicariously enjoying March Madness through you on here. Have never been into hoops but I’m trying to get there since I’m in basketball country now. Let me tell you, brother, after Temple beat the Wolfpack yesterday afternoon, it was like somebody came over this place in a crop duster and sprayed everything with shit mist.

  191. 191.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    @raven: Working in the yard otherwise. Digging out an old rock pathway that’s basically turned solid with dirt and roots and everything else in preparation for putting down some pavers. Digging that shit out is for the birds.

  193. 193.

    raven

    @Evolving Deep Southerner: Oh yea, it’s serious bidness. I had fun last night with the folks that had deep Illini roots. I’m a bit bummed that we play at 8:40 tomorrow night. I get so fucking keyed up that I can’t sleep win or lose. It only happens with Illini hoop and football and, of course, the Dawgs!

  195. 195.

    raven

    @Evolving Deep Southerner: We’re doing a major addition and I have been doing similar work. Moving plants and a huge amount of granite we have as planters and patio/walkways. I’m having two tree taken out next week and, if the historic preservation weenies buy our plan, we’ll start in late April. My bride has a horrible back so I get to do the grunt work.

  196. 196.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    Tell me this. Serious question. Our new Republican (maybe stealth wingnut, the jury’s still out on him) governor has announced another big cut to the UNC system, about $138 million on top of some $400 million the system has absorbed since 2008-09. There are 17 schools in the system (15 or 16 of them colleges, the other is some “governor’s school”-type high school) and of course the Board of Governors of the system doesn’t want to close a damn thing. I was reading in the N&O today about it, and they said, in part that the advocates of the plan “pointed to Georgia’s move earlier this year to consolidate eight campuses into four.”

    What the fuck did I miss? I know I couldn’t name all eight of the schools in the system, but which schools are they talking about consolidating? And how is that going over in the Classic City?

  197. 197.

    raven

    @Evolving Deep Southerner: Yes, Gainesville State and North Georgia were consolidated along with six others. It’s been an interesting process and whether it saves money will have to be seen. There is way too much overlap with 36 schools and I think it made sense. We also have the first time ever agreement between the tech school system and the BOR on credit transfer and program duplication. If some of this stuff eliminates some of the administrative bloat I think it’s good. We’ll see.

    eta The only impact on Athens is that GSU now North Georgia has a campus in Watkinsville and it changed names.

  198. 198.

    Jebediah

    @dance around in your bones:

    DirectTV’s guide is sucky, IMHO. Slow and unresponsive would be how I’d describe it, and I have no idea how to search it. The other thing I hate is that it shows ALL the channels on the same kind of background, so often I’ll click on something only to be told “call us to subscribe to this channel”.
    Why they waste my time like that?

    Yes! Why not a different background? I understand the marketing need to show me all the great stuff I could have if I spent more money, but when I click on it and get “not subscribed” I just get pissed. And it is so frustratingly* slow…

    I first mis-typed that as “fristrating” which, if it isn’t already in use, should mean the feeling you get watching somebody abuse the credibility their degree/profession/position etc. gives them in order to spout transparent bullshit (a la Dr Frist “diagnosing” via video. Still pissed at Frist.)

  199. 199.

    dance around in your bones

    @Jebediah:

    I just want to spit at the TV when it tells me that “just call us” bullshit.

    Don’t show me the gawdamned channels if I’m not subscribed! Or mark them as different somehow, BEFOREHAND!

    It also has a bunch of movie channels that you have to text some bunch of numbers to if you want to “purchase” it. What a bummer.

  202. 202.

    Anne Laurie

    @Redshift:

    (Don’t know about kids today, but when I was a kid, “ass,” along with “hell,” were the first “dirty” words we learned, way before were old enough to understand the ones that are really dirty.)

    Hmm, I wonder if the idea is somehow related to the very old visual trope about the very stupid no-clue person riding a donkey but facing towards its tail? I’ve seen that used everywhere from medieval drawings to silent movies…

    (Yep, I’m so old, I remember being thrilled by the naughtiness of the little kid bible-school joke about the slipperiest day in the New Testament being the one where Jesus came into Jerusalem on his ass!)

  204. 204.

    Violet

    @dance around in your bones: You don’t have to text to get the movies on DirecTV. It’s stupid and convoluted, but you can log in to your DirecTV account online and then order the movie that way. If you have a phone line in your house and it’s hooked up to your DirecTV box, you can order via the remote. That’s the way satellite services work. Stupid and old school. They’re going to have to change eventually.

  205. 205.

    gene108

    @raven:

    Raven, the UNC System did that in the 1960’s, when it was formed.

    I was reading in the N&O today about it, and they said, in part that the advocates of the plan “pointed to Georgia’s move earlier this year to consolidate eight campuses into four.”

    As some sage poster put it the “South Carolinaification” of the Great North State will only accelerate under Republicans.

    I feel sorry for the kids in the North Carolina, because after moving to NJ after growing up in NC and graduating from NCSU, I can see what a neglected state college system has done for New Jersey.

    I have a nephew and niece, who both got free rides to Rutgers, but don’t want to go because it’s beneath what they want to achieve.

    I know a bunch of folks, who were just as bright, when I graduated, who were happy to go to UNC or NCSU and didn’t have an issue with ECU’s medical school, for example or getting an education degree from UNC-G.

    At some point with all the cuts and tuition hikes to the UNC System, the best and brightest in North Carolina aren’t going to want to stick around in the state after high school.

  206. 206.

    dance around in your bones

    @Violet: Thanks for the info.

    Since this TV service belongs to my daughter and her husband, I am reluctant to order anything that costs money or change any set-ups. I just flounder along and hope for the best.

    I will read that link, however :)

  208. 208.

    raven

    @gene108: I’m not sure your comparison holds for Georgia. With the combination of a University System with 32 institutions and a “technical college” system with 25 there is a great deal of overlap and duplication. We have had record enrollment and record budget cuts for 13 years running but I don’t see the consolidation as a negative. But I could be wrong.

  210. 210.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    @gene108:

    As some sage poster put it the “South Carolinaification” of the Great North State will only accelerate under Republicans.

    I don’t know who that poster was, but they were spot on. I came to Raleigh a little over a year ago from Clemson University thinking that I was moving to a more enlightened state, but God damn if I haven’t been here just long enough to watch it go to hell. This legislature seems to be trying to pass every God damn thing they’ve ever thought of doing to the state in the first month they’re in. I’m starting to worry that wherever I go (born in Georgia, joined higher ed in South Carolina, and now in the Triangle) I’m dragging the redneck governance trend along with me.

  211. 211.

    Ruckus

    @Yutsano:
    The young girl PT artist I had working on my torn rc almost got me to tears. Hurt far worse than the accident that got it that way. Fireman walking by the table asked her what she was doing to me to get me to make that face. And it only sort of worked. Had to have surgery very few years later. Of course now I have small tears in both of them, so I get to start all over.

  213. 213.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    @raven: See, the thing is, as I look at the list of UNC colleges, and from the standpoint of geography and relative size, I don’t see where it will happen – at least in a way that would allow anybody concerned to realize any real economies of scale. Yes, there’s UNC Greensboro (enrollment 18,516) and N.C. A&T State (enrollment 10, 636) also in Greensboro. But those are big schools. Together, they’d be less than half a thousand students smaller than Chapel Hill; it’d be the third-largest school in the state behind Chapel Hill (29,278) and N.C. State (34,340). But in that same bargain, you’re doing away with the largest (and probably proudest) historically black university in the system. And how much will you really save relative to the hassle?

  214. 214.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    @raven: Believe me, brother, now that the GOP has control of all three branches, it’s getting so fucking South Carolinafied that you wouldn’t believe it. It’s happening overnight. Like I said, it’s like these fuckers were a crazy bowstring pulled back for years and years and years, and now they’ve suddenly been released. It’ll take sane people 10 or 12 years to undo the damage these redneck motherfuckers will do this year.

    ETA: Not talking about the university system alone here as much as just the general vibe coming from the General Assembly and governor.

  215. 215.

    raven

    @Evolving Deep Southerner: Yea, I wasn’t really commenting on your situation. There could be another round and I cannot imagine the HBCU’s are not going to be in the mix. Savannah State and Armstrong? Albany and Darton? It’ll be a fight and I think that is why they didn’t tackle it this time.

  217. 217.

    Ruckus

    @sparrow:
    My mom was the nicest person I’ve ever met who was a control freak. She could twist her children into knots without raising her voice, swearing and never raised a hand to us. But my sister spent almost her entire life trying to blame mom for her problems. I tried to tell her that as an adult she had the ability to overcome her upbringing, even though it may be hard. It took her getting cancer and realizing her life was almost gone to move on. Your parents gave you life, they raised you and you owe them for that, but you are an adult and you have to think about life from your point of view, not theirs.

  218. 218.

    gene108

    @raven:

    The level of investment, in things like higher education and roads, is more than in South Carolina.

    As much as the rural economy of both states struggle, North Carolina still has urban centers that have strong industries, like banking in Charlotte and hi-tech stuff in RTP that are absent in South Carolina.

    Cutting investments in things like higher education is going to hurt what bright corners of a struggling economy North Carolina still has.

  219. 219.

    gene108

    @Evolving Deep Southerner:

    I’m dragging the redneck governance trend along with me.

    My memories of North Carolinians is that they do not look fondly upon South Carolina and would are rather upset at any comparisons to their southern namesake.

    People put the Republicans in charge because of perceived and real corruption / good old boys network amongst Democrats.

    I’m not sure how these things will go over and/or if the Democrats have the brains to take back power, now that the going has gotten hard.

  220. 220.

    Ruckus

    OK we are getting close to shut down time and I’m starting to get the shakes. I’ve got a number of dvds lined up and there is always netflix but I’m not sure if I’ll make it to the morning fix.

  221. 221.

    scav

    @sparrow: Odd little progression isn’t it? They start off all-knowing and all-powerful, we fight our way out of that and often swing entirely the other way, age a bit more to find they’ve gotten a lot smarter then we were teenagers, and then discover they’re still not always on the same wavelength, even obvious ones. They proabably care, they just don’t seen to express or link that care to how they vote (or apparently link other things in their lives to how they vote). Uncomfortable. A tactful and regretful silence vis-a-vis direct communication might be the best way to go. Indirectly asserting your positions and leading by example might be the best you can manage. Parents are unfortunately not perfect or always teachable, rather entirely like people. Good luck.

  223. 223.

    NotMax

    #Baud & Maude

    a greater push for a gender neutral third person singular pronoun

    I like gender neutral and we need one.

    Been pushing “hown” for nearly 40 years now, to no avail whatsoever. Still use it it casual conversation.

    Sort of a contraction of both ‘his own’ and ‘her own.’

  224. 224.

    tybee

    @Amir Khalid:

    i’ve ripped off the right one 3 times, the left one twice.

    they both grew back but aren’t totally attached to the nail bed. look like hell but don’t hurt. i don’t go barefoot or wear sandals. crocs are as close as i get.

  225. 225.

    tybee

    @sparrow:

    explain the part about you choosing their nursing home and how you may testify against them during Obama’s death panel hearings….

  226. 226.

    tybee

    @raven:

    i suspect there’s too much political clout involved with savannah state to force them to combine with armstrong.

  228. 228.

    NotMax

    @Redshift

    I suspect it originated as a “clever” way to use the expression in a situation where it was considered impolite to say “ass.”

    In that case would be, linguistically, a minced oath rather than purely a spoonerism.

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