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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

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

We will not go back.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

He really is that stupid.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

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

In my day, never was longer.

Everybody saw this coming.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread

Friday Evening Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  June 28, 20139:49 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture

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basic game of thrones
(Scott Meyer’s website)

.
Who wants to complain about their local weather? Today was only in the low 80s but the dewpoint was in the “oppressive” range, ergo, “tropical” — a word that should never be used to describe the Boston area. It’s been alternating between mizzle and thunder most of the week, and is predicted to keep doing so for most of the next week. And yet, I’m aware that many of you, especially in the West, are in much worse straits…

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Previous Post: « Creepy-Ass Crackers, Race and Bias in the Zimmerman Trial
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Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    aimai

    June 28, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    I think that may be the best scott meyer cartoon I’ve ever seen. I usually don’t like them, but this one was spot on.

  2. 2.

    RobertDSC-iPhone 4

    June 28, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    It’s goddamed hot here in LA. No bueno.

    What’s on tap? Just more old Mac stuff. My machines are easier to deal with than people.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    Humid here. Me no like. It is not hot enough that I feel right about turning on the a/c, but I may do it to prevent damp rot.

  4. 4.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    Weather? Ooooh, we’re getting our arses kicked but good. It’s 101 with 103, 105, 106 and 106 predicted the next few days. Yeehaw.

    But it’s a thick heat.

  5. 5.

    Comrade Mary

    June 28, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    @aimai: As much as I loved the cartoon, I think one of his commenters topped him:

    Imagine dozens of people wandering around unseeing in a dark room. This is Game of Thrones. Lots of these people want to find something in the room, so they run around touching things and trying to find what they want.

    The floor in the room is made of knives, as are the walls and most of the furniture. Every now and then a grizzly bear is released into the room. The bear is made of knives.

    Meanwhile the roof is grinding slowly downwards, waiting to crush all the people. Together they could all stop it but they’re too busy trying to murder each other to get stuff.

    The stuff they’re trying to get is knives.

  6. 6.

    MattR

    June 28, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    This week on Full Show Friday – Little Feat live at Rockplast from 1977.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    @Comrade Mary:

    Okay, that’s pretty darn perfect. (pretty perfect? more perfecter?)
    Although he forgot dragons with knives.

  8. 8.

    2liberal

    June 28, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    i bought one GOT book but quickly lost interest. I just skipped ahead to see the evil/weak brother-pimp GET HIS and then stopped reading. One idea i have about this after hearing that EVERYBODY DIES at some point – I guess the author just ran out of ideas and the simplest thing to do at that point was kill everyone and start over. Am I right? Or am i right?

  9. 9.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Rain up here in Maine, but not enough to get my stream flowing. That said, everything outside is green as fuck.

  10. 10.

    ? Martin

    June 28, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    Warmish here – 80. Coast is protecting me from 100 degrees. We’ll see if I’m as fortunate tomorrow.

    I do miss thunderstorms, though. I expect to see rain next in November.

  11. 11.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    @2liberal: Which book? Who’s the pimp?

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    @trollhattan: Bears made of knives is obviously a metaphor for dragons with knives.

  13. 13.

    ? Martin

    June 28, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    @Comrade Mary: LOL

  14. 14.

    ? Martin

    June 28, 2013 at 10:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: And I think the knives are a metaphor for knives.

  15. 15.

    Scout211

    June 28, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Today was 105, then it will be 108, 109, 109, 107

    It is hot here in NorCal but not unusual to have a heat wave like this.

    The unusual thing was it rained on Monday and Tuesday with highs in the 60s. Very rare.

    Now that right there is climate change.

  16. 16.

    Poopyman

    June 28, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Wait, is this a GoT thread or a Crappy Weather thread?

    I get so confused ….

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    @? Martin: And swords and daggers and all manner of cutlery and edged weapons.

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Damn it, I shoulda stayed awake in litterchure klass!

    I blame it on coeds and rock and roll.

  19. 19.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I blame it on coeds and rock and roll.

    Don’t we all…

  20. 20.

    ranchandsyrup

    June 28, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    Hot in San Diaaaago today. No AC in our house. When my wife was pregnant with our daughter we got a portable AC unit. We’re having a “sleepover” in our room. Brought in the old mattress from the crib for our daughter. She’s loving it.

  21. 21.

    MattR

    June 28, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    @trollhattan: My friend was excited to be working in the Nevada desert today where the forecast high was 118. I think it may have ended up topping that where she was.

  22. 22.

    lamh35

    June 28, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    Alrighty, Nic Cage fans will love this. I’m watching the last bits of The Rock with Sean Connery and Nic Cage. I really need to get this one on BluRay. Makes me wonder how Sean Connery’s health is going. I remember seeing a vid of him congratulating the dude who won the Olympic Gold medal in tennis. At 80, I understand he’s been full on retired for some time now though.

    http://youtu.be/8JYJ7c9p-fI

  23. 23.

    2liberal

    June 28, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    @Redshirt: the original game of thrones book.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones

    see “in the east” section re: Viserys Targaryen

    how he got his ;

    When Viserys publicly threatens Daenerys, Drogo executes him by pouring a pot of molten gold on his head,

  24. 24.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    I hit a high of 60 today FYI.

  25. 25.

    muddy

    June 28, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    Spring level flooding by me. Didn’t get it in the spring, no snow pack. It has just been so so wet. The garden and yard are like jungles, I can’t keep up. I have potatoes 3′ high, they are more like trees than bush shaped. The humidity was 87% inside the house yesterday morning. I had to turn on the a/c at 9am although temps did not call for it.

    The animals were funny, they were just lying there as though they were prostrate entirely from heat although they were in the a/c. I have to say I haven’t gotten up to much myself, just the thought of it makes me feel sweaty.

  26. 26.

    2liberal

    June 28, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    re: weather. It hit 116 F here today in the Southeast Valley near PHX

  27. 27.

    Keith

    June 28, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    100+ in Houston, but I don’t mind since April/May were unusually moderate this year. Three and a half more months of this to go!

  28. 28.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    @2liberal: He’s not a pimp, he’s her brother! That’s how they roll. And no, you’re not right. Not everyone dies. In fact, the “everyone dies” meme is well overstated.

  29. 29.

    Poopyman

    June 28, 2013 at 10:08 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: We had that occasionally when I was growing up. For whatever reason the memories have stuck with me, and they’re very good ones.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    @MattR:

    Is there such a thing as “death weather”? Because I think that qualifies.

    Once rode my motorcycle to Redding in a heatwave like this. When I got there it was 118. Somehow, the windchill graphs don’t accommodate the combination of 118 and 70mph, but the folks who make beef jerky understand.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    @Redshirt: Everyone who dies dies.

  32. 32.

    tybee

    June 28, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    it’s not the heat, it’s the humanity

  33. 33.

    Suffern ACE

    June 28, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    Yeah I hate weather. But heat and humidity are the most boring things to complain about. Everything outside just kind of stops feeling like moving. But it’s not hot enough here to cook an egg on the sidewalk and not humid enough to make glasses fog up when exiting an air conditioned building. It’s still slow, though. Can we call it glacial heat?

  34. 34.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    @efgoldman:

    My university was pretty darn loose but they didn’t have an open-container-in-class policy. That would have been cool.

    Gotta go pick up a pizza. I wonder if it will be cold when I get home?

  35. 35.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    @efgoldman:

    No beer? No alternate chemical adjustment?

    Those don’t interfere with litterchur learning’.

  36. 36.

    ? Martin

    June 28, 2013 at 10:13 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Somehow, the windchill graphs don’t accommodate the combination of 118 and 70mph, but the folks who make beef jerky understand.

    I’ve got a chart that covers it. I’d need to know how many pounds you weigh and whether your goal was to arrive still with some pink on the inside, though.

  37. 37.

    Poopyman

    June 28, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    OK, I’ll play along.

    The Wundermap says it’s 70 out there, after 2 waves of T-storms knocked the heat down. The problem is that the dewpoint is also 70 and I don’t have gills.

  38. 38.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    We’ve got a bunch of teeny little showers moving through the Twin Cities. Temps have dropped from about 80 down into the 60’s but it’s still really muggy.

    Spending the evening doing a couple loads of laundry and listening to my vinyl of the Atlantic Super Hits Volumes I, 2 and 3 (after listening to four sides of the new Big Star ‘Nothing Can Hurt Me’ soundtrack. What a great record that is, but it still can’t quite beat those Atlantic Super Hits LPs.

  39. 39.

    lamh35

    June 28, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    I’m thinking I need to do a Nic Cage movie night. I’m more a fan of his action work than his dramas (Leaving Lost Vegas and the like), although I do love City of Angels, but it’s more of an Romantic drama than you “emotional” drama although I admit to being misty-eyed at the fate of Meg Ryan’s character.

    Anyway, thinking about actors I love, I’m a big Paul Rudd fan, and I came across this quiz and I realize that Paul Rudd, must snack on babies tears and puppies blood, because he seems to NOT AGE!

    Take Our Ageless Paul Rudd Quiz

  40. 40.

    2liberal

    June 28, 2013 at 10:15 pm

    @Redshirt:

    He’s not a pimp, he’s her brother! That’s how they roll. And no, you’re not right. Not everyone dies. In fact, the “everyone dies” meme is well overstated.

    ok, i didn’t read it that closely. He lost me very early on, where in describing a corpse , RR made use of a lot of descriptive literary devices pointing out how fresh the corpse was. and they pointed out that it had maggots in the eyes. Just really bad writing. he lost me right there.

  41. 41.

    ranchandsyrup

    June 28, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    @Poopyman: It’s odd which memories stick with you and which ones don’t. I gotta say that having the whole family in here (including the dogs that are hogging the AC flow) is really comforting.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    @lamh35:

    Paul Rudd, must snack on babies tears and puppies blood, because he seems to NOT AGE!

    I have a portrait of myself that I keep safely tucked away in a backroom that does the trick for me.

  43. 43.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    June 28, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    103° in my corner of SoCal. 102° predicted for tomorrow and a bone chilling 106° on Sunday. Not to worry, Tuesday is predicted to be only 99° with a 20% chance of rain. Hand me down my jungle greens.

  44. 44.

    JWL

    June 28, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    A friendly bet: I say that Obama approves that godforsaken Canadian pipeline over America’s aquifer.

    Anyone disagree?

  45. 45.

    2liberal

    June 28, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I guess he never watched CSI.

    neither did I

  46. 46.

    ranchandsyrup

    June 28, 2013 at 10:21 pm

    @lamh35: I read today that Johnny Depp is as old as Wilfred Brimley was when he starred in Cocoon. Some quick wikipedia and math verifies it. Doesn’t seem right, though.

  47. 47.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: SPOILER!
    +++
    ___
    +++
    ___

    Not so much. Bran?

  48. 48.

    Suffern ACE

    June 28, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    @JWL: nope. Won’t take the bet. I’m also in favor of calling it the Obama pipeline. Maybe if they name it after him, he’ll spend his 30 or so post presidentin’ years driving its length, looking for leaks.

  49. 49.

    Redshirt

    June 28, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Whoah. That blows my mind.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Depp just turned 50 and Brimley was almost 51. They are both younger than Cary Grant was in To Catch a Thief.

  51. 51.

    Suffern ACE

    June 28, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    Do any of the totters around here have any experience with slivovice? I’ve got about two shots left from a pint I bought in the Czech Republic in April. I’ve not liked anything I’ve done with it so far. I want to give it one more chance.

  52. 52.

    lamh35

    June 28, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: OMG! I’m just realizing that Johnny Depp is 50!!!! Man, I distinctly remember him in 21 Jump Street, Nightmare on Elm Street and Edward Scissorhands…damn!

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    @Suffern ACE: Shots. It is the only way I’ve ever seen it done or done it. Good luck.

  54. 54.

    Cacti

    June 28, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    It was a sunny 118 in Phoenix today. Ye gods get me out of here.

  55. 55.

    lamh35

    June 28, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    Ahhh, I see Sarah the Grifter still at it again.

    Sarah Palin’s Biblical Insult To Marco Rubio On Immigration Bill: Was It Worth ’30 Pieces Of Silver?’

  56. 56.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Since CDs came out in the 80s, I have never understood the vinyl love.

    Well I came out in the 50’s so I had 20 years of vinyl love going before CDs showed up. My collection is about 50/50, but there are times when slapping on a record is just the best thing to do. And some aspects of the sound of an LP are better than CDs – infinite sampling has it’s merits.

  57. 57.

    MikeJ

    June 28, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    Jesus Christ it sucks in Seattle. My thermometer said it was 90F outside and even with my roll around AC it was 80 inside. Argh! I can’t wait for October when the rains come back.

  58. 58.

    Punchy

    June 28, 2013 at 10:33 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: I fucking hate you.

    /feels older than shit

  59. 59.

    Hill Dweller

    June 28, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    @2liberal: I think this is where the Night’s Watch finds bodies that don’t look decomposed, but someone notices maggots. They’re baffled by the incongruity.

    It is all explained later in the chapter.

  60. 60.

    MikeJ

    June 28, 2013 at 10:35 pm

    @gbear:

    And some aspects of the sound of an LP are better than CDs – infinite sampling has it’s merits.

    The first time you play it anyway.

    My mp3s of Rockpile’s Seconds of Pleasure is full of clicks and pops since I played the fuck out of the album I recorded it from.

  61. 61.

    Alison

    June 28, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    I hate it :( For health reasons, I can’t go outside in this kind of heat, which sucks because I have an errand I need to do in the next couple days. May have to beg my mom to do it for me. I hate being decrepit.

    On another note! If there are any folks in the Bay Area who want to buy a pair of tickets to tomorrow’s Quakes vs Galaxy match, my friend down in the Santa Cruz mountains has two to sell. Let me know and I’ll see about the details.

  62. 62.

    dance around in your bones

    June 28, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Since CDs came out in the 80s, I have never understood the vinyl love.

    I remember when cd’s first came out, in a tiny little section of Tower Records (remember that place?) and they were all $25 bucks or more – we snorted through our noses and wondered who the hell would buy those chingaderas when you already had the vinyl.

    Well, we were soon buying those chingaderas. Stuff changes.

  63. 63.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Since CDs came out in the 80s, I have never understood the vinyl love.

    Screwtops on wine bottles are at least as effective as corks, but I still like the ritual of opening a bottle with a corkscrew. Partly because I am decent at it.

  64. 64.

    yopd

    June 28, 2013 at 10:45 pm

    WTF. I go away for a bit, get sent to moderation in my first post and it gets dumped. Was the youtube link too offensive to the current moderator? Wow, things have sure changed. I remember when open threads were freaking open.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:47 pm

    @MikeJ:

    I saw Rockpile in the coffee house at UC Davis. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to brag about something 1.7 living humans give a shit about.

    I suspect my Seconds of Pleasure ellpee is in darn good shape; sadly, I don’t have a vinyl to MP3 workflow.

  66. 66.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    June 28, 2013 at 10:48 pm

    @dance around in your bones: I bought my first 2 CD’s at Tower on the Ave in the U district in Seattle. The Police’s Synchronicity and a Japanese pressing of Abbey Road(the rest of the Beatles catalog wouldn’t be released for several years). Oh, I didn’t have a CD player; got that in about a week.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    @trollhattan: At least 2.7 people. I think it’s cool.

  68. 68.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    @gbear:

    Does anybody know what happened to Ross in Detroit? He restores classic analogue audio gear and was always fun to hear from.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    @trollhattan: Changed his ‘nym to Ultraviolet Thunder for work reasons. I think it is his stage name.

    ETA: I presume he is a male stripper, a drag queen, or the bassist in a KISS cover band.

    ETAA: He could be all three like the late Earl Warren.

  70. 70.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    Still wading through 165 pages of majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions from the Tenth Circuit in the Hobby Lobby case. So far, I think the dissent has the better of the argument, for both common-sense and legal-mumbo-jumbo reasons.

    Bottom line for me: you can’t have your corporate veil and eat it too. Regardless of the religious beliefs of their shareholders (and the dissent is careful to point out that the individual plaintiffs aren’t even the shareholders–the stock is owned by trusts), corporations should be held to be incapable of “exercising religion,” within the meaning of the RFRA.

    This one’s headed to the supreme court eventually, but if DOJ is smart, they will conduct realllllly extensive discovery, call a shit-load of expert witnesses to dig deeply into the question of whether IUDs prevent fertilization or instead prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, appeal if they lose, and ask for rehearing en banc if they lose before the Tenth Circuit panel. That will keep the case away from the Supremes until around 2015, and hopefully by then Scalia will have keeled over.

    ETA: link to opinion, for all you self-abusers out there.

    http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/12/12-6294.pdf

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Tiny place so it was doubly-thrilling to be there practically in Lowe and Edmunds’ laps. Whoever booked bands there must have had an inside connection with Stiff Records because we also saw Elvis Costello there.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Aaah, thanks! (I kanna keep up.)

  73. 73.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 10:55 pm

    @MikeJ: I used to pile up 5-6 albums on the phonograph and fall asleep to records. I still do that with a small bedside CD player with some of the same albums, and I realize that I miss the ticks and pops from my original old records. It was kind of a comforting sound. The CDs seem cold.

    @dance around in your bones: When CDs came out and people started dumping their record collections, I was back in the used LP bins snapping up some incredible bargains. Those were glory days.

    I still look through the used LP bins when I go record/CD shopping, and I’m starting to notice that amazing stuff is starting to show up again. The boomers are starting to get shuffled off to senior apartments, and they (or their kids) are dumping or downsizing their collections. I’ll be there soon enough.

    Edit: I’ll have to one-up trollhattan on the Rockpile stories. A friend of mine worked as a record buyer for Musicland and was backstage at a Rockpile concert. He had the whole band autograph a copy of Seconds of Pleasure. That’s in my collection now.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 28, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    I am officially a Retiree. I don’t feel any different, though.

  75. 75.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 10:58 pm

    @trollhattan:

    sadly, I don’t have a vinyl to MP3 workflow.

    I do. This puppy makes flipping awesome vinyl rips.

    http://www.lynxstudio.com/product_detail.asp?i=59

    Where are you located?

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Earl was very…va-va-voom! in that Zaza Gabor way. Always suspected he and Eric Sevareid had a thing.

    “Had a bitch of a day in the high court.”

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    The first time I saw Talking Heads, it was in a club about the size of my current living room (the Hullabaloo in Renssalaer, NY).

  78. 78.

    MattR

    June 28, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Congratulations?

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Congrats. Right? FWIW my parents have loved being retired. They chose to go while they were still healthy and still liked what they were doing. the also were fortunate to be able to do so. Have fun.

  80. 80.

    Yatsuno

    June 28, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    Weather? It kinda rained a wee bit this morning but it’s sunny right now. Supposed to be arther toasty (for up here) at least through the holiday.

  81. 81.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    @trollhattan: I’ll make it 3.7 people. Sounds like a great way to see them.

  82. 82.

    Cassidy

    June 28, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    Watched the Footloose remake tonight. It was actually pretty decent.

  83. 83.

    JGabriel

    June 28, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    Omnes Omnibus:

    It is not hot enough that I feel right about turning on the a/c, but I may do it to prevent damp rot.

    Same here, and I hate turning on the AC unless it’s over 85 but it’s just too goddamn humid.

    .

  84. 84.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    @JWL:

    A friendly bet: I say that Obama approves that godforsaken Canadian pipeline over America’s aquifer.

    I’ll take that bet. I think he made it pretty clear earlier this week that Keystone XL, as currently conceived, ain’t happening.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Holy moly, that looks drenched in audio awesome sauce.

    I’m in Galifornia’s gabital. (Jerry has yet to rebrand us even after two years, although the cigar tent is now a yoga spot [no kidding].)

  86. 86.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @MikeJ:

    My mp3s of Rockpile’s Seconds of Pleasure is full of clicks and pops

    The good stuff isn’t cheap, but there’s software that can take care of that.

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @JGabriel: I am preventing damp rot. No way I could sleep tonight if I didn’t remove humidity from the air. I would not do well in the tropics.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @gbear:

    A friend of mine worked as a record buyer for Musicland and was backstage at a Rockpile concert. He had the whole band autograph a copy of Seconds of Pleasure. That’s in my collection now.

    You win.

  89. 89.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    OK, the vinyl lamp is lit. Popping the shrink wrap on the 40th anniversary remastering of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

  90. 90.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    @trollhattan: Gah! I take it back. It wasn’t Seconds of Pleasure, they all autographed a copy of Dave Edmunds Track on Wax 4. Too many records…

  91. 91.

    JGabriel

    June 28, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    burnspbesq: @burnspbesq:

    This puppy makes flipping awesome vinyl rips.

    http://www.lynxstudio.com/product_detail.asp?i=59

    From the website:

    Suggested Retail Price: US $2,495.00

    [Jaw-drop]

    I think I’ll wait for the paperback.

    Seriously, that’s like the world’s most expensive MP3 ripper.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 28, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    @gbear: Your win now has an asterisk.

  93. 93.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Hmmm. I’m in OC. Difficult, but not insurmountable. I have to come through there in late August, in connection with moving the kid back into the dorms in Seattle. Perhaps something can be done …

  94. 94.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 28, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    @Alison: is that at Stanford? Going by what the high trmperature is supposed to be here tomorrow, ugh.

  95. 95.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    @JGabriel:

    It’s also a reference-quality digital-to-analog converter and a killer headphone amp. And nobody pays list for pro-audio gear. There’s a dealer in northern Kentucky who will sell it to you for $1,850 if you call them, ask for the right person, and say the right magic word

  96. 96.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My Seconds of Pleasure win only provided seconds of pleasure.

  97. 97.

    Alison

    June 28, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: Yeah, I know. People are nuts.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 28, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    @MattR:
    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oh yes, this was on my own terms, after 25 mostly very happy years. And I’ll be doing some contract work for them over the next few months, so it’s an easy transition all around. Still, I admit at age almost 71, I’m looking forward to more leisure and pretty much doing what I want to do, when I want to do it. Always glad to hear success stories from those who’ve been there :-)

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    @JGabriel:

    When it comes to audiophile stuff…well, you just don’t want to know.

    http://app.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-wadia-series-9-dac-931-922-in-black-2013-06-24-digital-85032–2

  100. 100.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    June 28, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Damn’ thing is worth more than my car.

  101. 101.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    A very kind offer.

  102. 102.

    MattR

    June 28, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: In that case, congratulations!!! Don’t have any advice other than “have fun but pace yourself”.

  103. 103.

    SatanicPanic

    June 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    First day of beach season! Got off work early. Water was very refreshing. Looks like a cool evening today too. I got no complaints.

  104. 104.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    @gbear:

    Even if you’re kicked out of the Kewl Kidz Klub it’s still a great memento. By coincidence I listened to “Creature from the Black Lagoon” this afternoon, tickled by the odd, fat guitar chords anchoring what otherwise was a novelty song. Dude never took a misstep.

  105. 105.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    One of my favorite places to check out high end analog equipment is Jerry Raskin’s Needle Doctor. Some of the reviews of the most expensive turntables are pretty funny.

  106. 106.

    scav

    June 28, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    Good God, Rhino Records is apparently still in Claremont, Things hanging on is almost more stunning than the opposite.

    Later. Ok, Claremont is seriously scarey that way.

  107. 107.

    Mnemosyne

    June 28, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    It was so hot today that we had to move our office party inside because no one wanted to sit outside, even in the shade.

  108. 108.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    @trollhattan:

    When it comes to audiophile stuff…well, you just don’t want to know.

    For reals.

    http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/review-preview-dcs-vivaldi-digital-playback-system/

  109. 109.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    @trollhattan: The other kewl kidz thing I have is a full set of Badfinger LPs autographed by everyone in the band except for Pete Ham, who had already committed suicide by that time. Pete Ham was the most talented guy in the band by far, so it’s a bittersweet omission. I’m still a big fan of Badfinger, although some of their post-breakup LPs have been pretty dismal.

    Edit: Rats. I checked the Needle Doctor site and they’ve cleaned out the sarcastic comments from the $170,000 turntable.

  110. 110.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    Heh.

    If you can afford the astronomical $110,000 price, the Vivaldi has no sonic equal.

    I’ll speculate the pleasured moans of Olivia Wilde would be its sonic equal, but hell if I’m ever going to find out.

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    June 28, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @gbear:
    Has a pop group ever crafted more perfect pop gems than Badfinger in such a brief period? A favorite cover.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdB2h2aghVs

  112. 112.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    @gbear:

    170? Did Clearaudio take a price increase on the Statement, or has it been surpassed in absurdity?

  113. 113.

    burnspbesq

    June 28, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Umm, Crowded House?

  114. 114.

    dance around in your bones

    June 28, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    @dance around in your bones: I bought my first 2 CD’s at Tower on the Ave in the U district in Seattle. The Police’s Synchronicity and a Japanese pressing of Abbey Road(the rest of the Beatles catalog wouldn’t be released for several years). Oh, I didn’t have a CD player; got that in about a week.

    It all just seemed so incomprehensible to us….what could cd’s do that vinyl couldn’t? It was wacky. AND really expensive.

    @gbear:

    When CDs came out and people started dumping their record collections, I was back in the used LP bins snapping up some incredible bargains. Those were glory days.

    I had a friend who used to do the same with old 78’s back in the day. Had a great collection -you had to have a specialized turntable and (what the heck do you call the needle arm? Stylus? Dang, it’s been a long time – you used to have to put a nickel on the arm to make it heavy enough) but that person used to find treasures, I mean TREASURES in old people’s attics. Sometimes at flea markets as well, for pennies.

    I remember when we lived in Amsterdam and ran our record turntable off a car battery on our houseboat. (LP’s? WTF are they?)

  115. 115.

    Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound

    June 28, 2013 at 11:54 pm

    @trollhattan: I don’t know. The owner of the pipeline can just ask for a religious exemption. What court can even question that kind of evangelism by an owner?

  116. 116.

    gbear

    June 28, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    @burnspbesq: Well it’s the Clearaudio Statement that’s selling for $170k. Anything that I look at on that site, I have to click on the ‘budget’ section and still scroll 2/3 of the way to the bottom. I can’t afford the cool stuff..I’m listening tonight with the Dual 1229 that I bought in my early 20’s.

  117. 117.

    handsmile

    June 28, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    Weather: 64 days of hell left (out of 92, June 1-August 31). I loathe summer in the city. When September arrives, the worst is behind me and the days grow shorter.

    The forecast monsoons failed to arrive the past couple of days, and tonight’s heat&humidity suckitude level is at least bearable.

    CDs: I still buy ’em. Yesterday got Bill Frisell’s new “Silent Comedy” and Steely Dan’s old “The Royal Scam.” My knowledge of audio technology does not quite fill a thimble.

    Talking Heads: The first time I saw them was at the Mudd Club on a double-bill with Television, circa 1979.

  118. 118.

    dance around in your bones

    June 29, 2013 at 12:03 am

    @efgoldman:

    From what I have read in comments from Siubhan Duinne, she has a full schedule planned for her retirement! I applaud her and wish her Happy Trails. :)

  119. 119.

    gbear

    June 29, 2013 at 12:05 am

    @dance around in your bones: I used to go garage saling on my lunch hour when I worked in a tony Minneapolis suburb and if they didn’t have records out, I’d ask if they had any. Sometimes they’d bring out a box full of crap, but there were a few good ones. Nothing life-changing (except for the 1965 Twins Division Champ button that was sitting on the top of one box of records). Collecting 78’s must be a lot more fun.

  120. 120.

    SatanicPanic

    June 29, 2013 at 12:13 am

    @dance around in your bones: The early Vinyl to CD transfers sound so awful too, I don’t get why people switched. Once people started mastering specifically for CD they sounded good, but if you were like some early adopters and rushed out to replace your record collection with CDs you really would have been better off lighting your money on fire.

  121. 121.

    dance around in your bones

    June 29, 2013 at 12:17 am

    @efgoldman: Yeah, I was just as clueless. I still think LP’s sound better, though. Even though I went through a whole cassette tapes (recorded off the original LP’s) to CD conversion – they are all sitting in my closet awaiting conversion to MP3 or whatever nowadays…..

    @gbear: What this person collected was primarily blues and what we used to call ‘world and weird music’. I recorded all of it onto from LP’s onto cassettes (see above) and then onto cd’s and I guess I will convert it into some form of digital crap at some point. Anyway, I’ve still got it all in some form that will no doubt become unplayable in a few years, haha!

    @SatanicPanic: Well, that’s the way I felt back in the day, and I wasn’t even really an audiophile, just a music lover. Plus, they were so fucking expensive! (cd’s)

  122. 122.

    Suzanne

    June 29, 2013 at 12:22 am

    Weather? Fuck you all. It was 121 in the parking lot at work today.

    Which means it was the PERFECT time for two of the tires to go flat.

  123. 123.

    mclaren

    June 29, 2013 at 12:23 am

    It ain’t the West that fricasees your butt, it’s the American Southwest. Get the fuck out of the Southwestern part of America. You’ll have to anyway within a few years due to global warming, so might as well get ‘er done now before the water riots and forced evacuations start.

    I used to live in Southern piece-of-shit California and by 1990 global warming had become shockingly apparent, and that entire region had grown completely unlivable. So I got the hell out, stat. Now we’re getting headlines like “life threatening temperatures to hit Los Angeles.” Told ya, chumps.

    Looking forward, you can see 130 degree Fahrenheit heat in Los Angeles within another generation. Explain to me how Los Angeles stays populated when people are stuck in 130 degree heat for two hours in their hot cars every day with $10-a-gallon gasoline. Just try and explain that one, buckaroo.

  124. 124.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    June 29, 2013 at 12:27 am

    @mclaren:

    I for one will stay because I’ve always wanted to try slow cooked long pig.

  125. 125.

    SatanicPanic

    June 29, 2013 at 12:29 am

    @mclaren:

    I used to live in Southern piece-of-shit California and by 1990 global warming had become shockingly apparent, and that entire region had grown completely unlivable.

    You must be writing in some new dialect of English, because this makes no sense whatsoever.

  126. 126.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 29, 2013 at 12:32 am

    @SatanicPanic: being in a state of perpetual outrage may warp your use of language.

  127. 127.

    handsmile

    June 29, 2013 at 12:34 am

    @Suzanne:

    Did frogs, boils or locusts figure at all in this hellacious week for you?

    I can only hope that some much-deserved, much-earned comfort and serenity might soon be coming your way.

  128. 128.

    SatanicPanic

    June 29, 2013 at 12:36 am

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: She must have lived in Needles. That’s the only way I can process that level of California hate.

  129. 129.

    Suzanne

    June 29, 2013 at 12:38 am

    @handsmile: No frogs or locusts, but I did completely break out all over my face. I look disgusting.

  130. 130.

    MikeJ

    June 29, 2013 at 12:39 am

    @SatanicPanic: It’s nice just to see:

    trolling by mclaren
    reply from Higgs Boson’s Mate to trolling by mclaren
    reply from SatanicPanic to trolling by mclaren

  131. 131.

    dance around in your bones

    June 29, 2013 at 12:45 am

    @mclaren:

    So what fucking paradise do you live in now, oh Cassandra WHO WILL NOT BE IGNORED?

    I don’t know, I’ve lived in many Southwestern states and loved them all to varying degrees. I like the desert. I never moved out of a state for fear of the future…..there is time and time enough to cope with that stuff. Not like it hasn’t happened in the past (shitty though that is) – think of the Anasazi.

  132. 132.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    June 29, 2013 at 12:50 am

    @MikeJ: I haven’t added mclaren yet, T&H, yup.

  133. 133.

    Janet Strange

    June 29, 2013 at 12:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I retired a year and a half ago from a job I loved for over 20 years with a passion. Prof at a community college. I was almost panicky about whether it was the right thing to do – I wasn’t even 65 yet.

    But I do love it. Took a little while to discover a new rhythm, but it is so great to have time to do things right. For me, I realize now how much I was just settling for good enough because that’s all I had time for. I teach one class every other semester. It’s lovely. Not like work at all, just fun. My garden thrives, my house is clean, my Blackboard site is better organized and has more helpful stuff for my students than ever, and I ride my bike almost every day. Unless it’s a yoga day. Or I decide to swim instead, like today.

    I just feel lucky as hell to have this time . . . with plenty of time to do things and still healthy enough to do them. So many of my friends are already gone and never got the chance. Ever since my 60th birthday, every day seems like a gift. (Still alive? yep. Faculties intact? yep. Can still dance? yep. Yippee!)

    I bet you’ll feel the same once you get used to it.

  134. 134.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    June 29, 2013 at 12:52 am

    @MikeJ:

    Heh. I live in a town 29 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Our business district is two blocks long. I can walk four blocks north of home and be in the Angeles National Forest. I think it’s pretty livable. OTOH, I have lived in a WWII vintage non-air-conditioned open barracks in Kingsville, Texas, a CONEX box in the Mekong Delta, and a ’57 VW bus so I may not be as scrupulous as some folks.

  135. 135.

    SatanicPanic

    June 29, 2013 at 1:08 am

    @MikeJ: Some things I just can’t let go. Especially after a very nice day in southern California.

    @dance around in your bones: Somewhere with rivers of chocolate and populated with oompa-loompas I guess

  136. 136.

    slag

    June 29, 2013 at 1:12 am

    Game of Thrones is easy enough to explain: It’s a soap opera for D&D-loving dudes. Or, as someone I know (who actually likes the show) calls it: Boobs and Barbarians.

  137. 137.

    dance around in your bones

    June 29, 2013 at 1:13 am

    @SatanicPanic: If it doesn’t have beer volcanoes, I ain’t moving.

    I live a block from the beach and it’s pretty awesome (SoCal/SB). I’m not freaking out yet.

  138. 138.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    June 29, 2013 at 1:20 am

    @slag:

    I tried watching Game of Thrones. I kept hearing the rattle of 20-sided dice.

  139. 139.

    slag

    June 29, 2013 at 1:32 am

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: They do have a special rattle, don’t they.

    Even though I’m not a geek myself, I find this series fairly entertaining. Probably because it doesn’t take itself seriously. Self-effacing geeks are really the only tolerable geeks.

  140. 140.

    burnspbesq

    June 29, 2013 at 7:45 am

    @SatanicPanic:

    In 1990, air quality, traffic, or crime would have been understandable reasons to leave SoCal. Climate, not so much.

    Must suck being mclaren and carrying the terrible burden of omniscience.

  141. 141.

    burnspbesq

    June 29, 2013 at 7:47 am

    And for the record, Needles isn’t the worst place in SoCal. That honor unquestionably belongs to Brawley.

  142. 142.

    SatanicPanic

    June 29, 2013 at 10:36 am

    @burnspbesq: Brawley has a rodeo and a nice parade that goes along with it. And a pretty cool main street and town park. I’ve spent lots of time in Brawley, it’s not even the worst place in the Imperial Valley- I’d say that honor should go to Calipatria or one of the towns around the Salton Sea. In recent years Desert Hot Springs has had some of the worst crime in the nation, so maybe there. Also, Trona.

  143. 143.

    Lawrence

    June 29, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    Phoenix hit 113 yesterday, maybe higher today. If you live here, 100 to 105 is tolerable, almost nice. 110 is not nice, and the into the teens is do not go outside unless you have to. June is usually the first really hot month, though it can start in April. July is the “monsoon” season. But anymore you need a really big storm cell to push into the heat island of the city. August is not quite as hot, but more irritating because you are just tired of it.

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