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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Celebutainment News

Open Thread: Celebutainment News

by Anne Laurie|  November 14, 20137:34 pm| 140 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture

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Since some of you are fans of John Oliver, news from the Atlantic Wire:

John Oliver’s stint hosting The Daily Show was an audition of sorts, but it turns out not for Jon Stewart’s job. HBO has swooped in and poached Oliver, giving him his own “topical comedy series” that will begin next year. Oliver, however, will not go up against his old boss. His show will air weekly and on Sunday nights, a night when The Daily Show is not on the air….

Also at the Atlantic Wire, Philip Bump talks to fans of an entirely different celebrity demographic, “They Came to Adore Her“:

… If you’re Palin, there’s only one place better than Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, to launch a book about Christmas: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, only about 70 miles west of New York City, where she had spent Tuesday giving interviews (to mixed reviews). Except that Bethlehem doesn’t have a Barnes & Noble, so the event was actually in Easton — just a smidge east of Bethlehem, but distinctly less symbolic…

As I was talking to one couple, a man drove by in a pick-up truck. “I hope she runs again!” he yelled out the window. Some of those I spoke with shared that sentiment, adamantly offering their eternal support to Palin in any future political campaigns. But here’s the thing: Most didn’t. Some gave tepid support to the idea of backing Palin in 2016; as the mother of the two semi-excited teens told me, it would depend on her “values and viewpoint” having not changed. Connor, the kid in the Alaska sweatshirt, said he wasn’t sure if he’d support Palin when he could vote someday, nor did the field hockey players. Some thought the toll from 2008 and ensuing critique made a Palin candidacy impossible. Dick and Mary Kay — the most stereotypically Tea Party types, who drove the six hours to D.C. for the “Restoring Honor” rally — said that they wouldn’t back Palin against, say, Ted Cruz. “We gotta get the old farts out of there,” Mary Kay said, taking care to point out that I could quote her on that. Palin didn’t seem to be included in that descriptor, but the point was: fresh blood.

For the people I spoke with, Palin was no longer a politician. She was a communicator, a symbol of conservatism and Christian forthrightness and traditional values. Of the three or four people I asked, none could remember who they’d voted for in the 2012 Republican primary. Politics, for most of us most of the time, is a clunky, complex irrelevance. For many, it seemed, Palin had moved outside of that sphere into the realm of symbolism. They showed up to buy a book that hadn’t been widely reviewed, that, for all they new, contained nothing but blank pages. But its message and the name on the front were good enough. Buying the book and meeting Sarah Palin were reinforcements of a world view — central to who they are and what they believe.

When I said above that Palin didn’t offer personalized signatures, that turned out not to be entirely true. As I stood outside of the bookstore talking to Rob (“I told her she’s a young, female Reagan”) a woman with him jumped in. “She personalized a book for my 90-year-old Aunt Marge,” she said, “and that was very nice of her.” Marge loves Sarah Palin, but didn’t want to come because it was “too late” and there were “too many people.” I asked if the woman was going to give the book to Marge now or wait for Christmas. “I was going to save it for Christmas,” the woman responded, “but I’m going to get in my car and take it over to her now because …” She took a breath. “She’s 90. She’s going to love it.”…

***********
Apart from applauding entertainers finding their niche, what’s on the agenda this evening?

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Reader Interactions

140Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    Clemson-Ga Tech

  2. 2.

    Alison

    November 14, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    Good for John Oliver, and being on HBO means no annoying bleeps on all the dirty words.

    There;s no way I’m expending the mental energy to read that fucking piece about Palin. GO AWAY AWFUL PERSON.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    November 14, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    John Oliver was excellent as guest host of TDS over the summer. He still has the energy that Stewart seems to have lost.

  4. 4.

    Hill Dweller

    November 14, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    Nice to see Oliver get his own gig.

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    November 14, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    “I hope she runs again!” he yelled out the window.

    I hope she runs again, too. Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.

  6. 6.

    the Conster

    November 14, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    Oh fer fuck sake, please let the morons give that harridan all of their hard earned money. I hope they all die destitute and forsaken and that the last thing they hear on this earth is the sound of the idiot screeching incoherently about Obama.

  7. 7.

    gbear

    November 14, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    So did anyone observe how still Easton was lying?

  8. 8.

    Goblue72

    November 14, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    Oh my. As a Bethlehem, PA native (since escaped to the Left Coast), I am quite appalled. Hopefully someone tossed a pint of Yeungling in her face.

  9. 9.

    David Koch

    November 14, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    Nothing funnier than a coke sniffing adulteress lecturing people about “traditional values”.

  10. 10.

    Redshirt

    November 14, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    @the Conster: LOL. A diminishing whisper…. Barack……

  11. 11.

    karen

    November 14, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    My ebook was released on October 2 so my royalty check will be bigger next quarter since this was from July – September. But 16 people pre-ordered from the publisher and that means yesterday I got my first royalty check of $28. I know it’s tiny and not a big deal but it’s the first time I’ve been paid for my writing and that’s exciting to me. Anyway I wanted to share it with you all and an open thread is the place to do it.

  12. 12.

    Cassidy

    November 14, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    @Alison: Might as well. There’s only a few paragraphs left.

    Ba dum bum

  13. 13.

    Poopyman

    November 14, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    @gbear: No, but apparently someone visiting Easton is still lying.

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    November 14, 2013 at 8:01 pm

    @karen:

    But 16 people pre-ordered from the publisher and that means yesterday I got my first royalty check of $28. I know it’s tiny and not a big deal but it’s the first time I’ve been paid for my writing and that’s exciting to me.

    I can beat that, so to speak. The one and only royalty check I’ve ever gotten, for my PhD dissertation of all things, was for roughly $12.

    And the check bounced.

  15. 15.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    @efgoldman: I WISH she would run for Senate in Alaska again. She’d be just enough to divide the wingnuts and usher back in Begich for a second term. Plus if we get really lucky we’ll get Joe Miller back in for teh extra lulz.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    November 14, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    @dmsilev:

    And the check bounced.

    They probably expected you to frame it rather than to try to cash it.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    November 14, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    As she’s all shallow image, all the time, surprised that snow-making machines weren’t trucked in the night before.

    More surprised her handlers didn’t choose Christmas, Florida (20 miles from Orlando), which even has a Fort Christmas historical park, so she could simultaneously wrap herself in tinsel and guns.

  18. 18.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 8:15 pm

    @karen: OH FRABJOUS DAY! CALLOO! CALLAY!!!

    (You are chortling right?)

  19. 19.

    Cermet

    November 14, 2013 at 8:17 pm

    @karen: Very nice – congratulations

  20. 20.

    Liberty60

    November 14, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    @NotMax:

    she could simultaneously wrap herself in tinsel and guns.

    You just know that somewhere over at the Weekly Standard or NRO, someone has Photoshopped that very image and it gets passed around like a Penthouse at a high school locker room.

  21. 21.

    Karen in GA

    November 14, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    @karen: Au contraire. As Rand Paul once said,

    This is a big fucking deal.

    Congratulations!

    And now the awkward segue from the accomplished and talented Karen to this one. I got my new banjo yesterday, and I’m looking up beginner clawhammer instruction videos on YouTube because I can’t find a clawhammer banjo teacher nearby. I guess Skype will be my friend.

  22. 22.

    Jebediah, RBG

    November 14, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    @karen:
    Congratulations!

  23. 23.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    @Karen in GA: Where’d you end up getting it?

  24. 24.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 14, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    @karen: I had a book published in December 2011. Unless 500 sell, I don’t see dime one. I don’t think it’s gotten to 200, and I don’t expect it to, and I’m not sure they even printed that many in the first place. So, hats off to you. You made money from writing.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    November 14, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    @karen: That is AWESOME. I hope you feel proud of yourself, because I think that’s excellent.

    More bad news. A longtime client of mine, someone whom I always liked and had a fairly familiar business relationship, shot himself in the head and is completely brain dead. He’s going to be taken off life support as soon as his family arrives.

  26. 26.

    Hal

    November 14, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    “I hope she runs again!” he yelled out the window.

    Why wouldn’t anyone think that? Especially after Palin nails the solution to our nations healthcare woes.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/12/1254979/-Palin-Asked-for-Her-Alternative-to-ACA-She-NAILS-It

    Said Palin: “The plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a health-care system in America that certainly does need more help so that there’s more competition, there’s less tort reform threat, there’s less trajectory of the cost increases, and those plans have been proposed over and over again. And what thwarts those plans? It’s the far left. It’s President Obama and his supporters who will not allow the Republicans to usher in free market, patient-centered, doctor-patient relationship links to reform health care.”

  27. 27.

    tybee

    November 14, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    @karen:

    congrats. it’s truly a hoot to finally get paid for one’s thoughts.

  28. 28.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    @Hal: BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

  29. 29.

    tybee

    November 14, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    @dmsilev:

    a friend of mine found his dissertation on-line.
    and submitted by someone else at a different uni.
    he was not amused.

  30. 30.

    Karen in GA

    November 14, 2013 at 8:31 pm

    @raven: Amazon, of all places. I decided on a 5-string rather than a tenor; I just love the clawhammer style. Looked around for a decent deal on a Deering Goodtime, and Amazon had a great price on a Goodtime Special with a resonator and tone ring.

    I know, open-back is supposed to be the traditional clawhammer banjo, but enough people play it on a resonator banjo — and play it well — to make it clear that open-back isn’t a requirement.

    I’m looking forward to this.

  31. 31.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    @Karen in GA: cool

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    November 14, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

    You must not have gotten through the first sentence, because the last part is pretty clear: Republicans good, Obama bad. That’s the essential message, and anyone who listened to her would get that part through the word salad.

  33. 33.

    opiejeanne

    November 14, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    @efgoldman: Wow! I am related to Elijah Lovejoy but I have rarely heard him mentioned. He was an abolitionist running a newspaper in Illinois, and the pro-slavery crowd did not like his editorializing.

  34. 34.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    @Karen in GA: This fellow was from my bride’s hometown.

    Joel Sweeney grew up in rural southside Virginia in the early 1800’s. From his earliest days as a boy he loved the African-based music brought to the North American continent by Black slaves. Sweeney took the idea of the stringed “banjar” – a gourd-bodied string instrument – and developed it into the basic modern 5-string banjo with skin head and frets.

  35. 35.

    Cermet

    November 14, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @dmsilev: Your lucky, I discovered that a few hundred copies of my thesis were bought and I received nether a check or any information that they were sold – that, I had to search for myself. At least yours was offically acknowledged.

  36. 36.

    April

    November 14, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=613515338707167&set=a.396902320368471.88744.396885043703532&type=1&theater&notif_t=photo_reply

    I hope Annie Laurie sees this link. The rescue MARC, the rescue this blog has been helping, needs some volunteers and funds for twenty five desperate dogs. I’d like to tell John about this but for some reason can’t use the contact list. I need an app or something.

  37. 37.

    Paddy

    November 14, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    I popped it in last night’s thread, but just in case anyone missed it….

    Every year we run a list of cool things people can give/get/contribute to for the holidays. I know there are a lot of talented folks here, so this is an open invitation to send me info, links etc if you are an artist, writer, musician etc whose work would make someone happy as a gift. I usually spend the next week putting it together and then run it every day for a month. You can get the gist here, one of the lists from last year here. Worthy charities are great too! You can email me at paddy at the political carnival dot net with any questions.

  38. 38.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 14, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    @karen:
    Having been there myself, it is the biggest deal in the world. Congratulations.

    To the OP:
    Showing up in the original Bethlehem would be bad for Palin. Neither the Jews nor the Arabs would appreciate her, and both groups know how to not appreciate someone loudly.

  39. 39.

    hildebrand

    November 14, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    The most important news (well, entertainment wise that is) is the 50th Anniversary prequel mini-episode of Doctor Who. Great stuff. http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/11/watch-new-doctor-mini-episode-night-doctor/

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    November 14, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    @Roger Moore: Alas, I’m too pragmatic/cheap for that.

  41. 41.

    IowaOldLady

    November 14, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    @tybee: Holy crap.

    What I really don’t get about something like that is how a dissertation advisor doesn’t see that happening. When I was directing them, the students met with me for an hour a week to talk about their progress. I looked at chapter drafts.

  42. 42.

    opiejeanne

    November 14, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    @karen: Congratulations! What is the title, so we can maybe take a look at it?

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 14, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    It also means ‘deregulate medicine completely and that will create a utopia’, but I think only as a side effect of ‘liberals want regulation, so it must be bad’ and ‘fuck you, I do what I want’.

  44. 44.

    Aunt Kathy

    November 14, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    I happen to be privy to some inside (B&N bookseller) skinny on the event, the only decent tidbit goes like:

    “And strangely enough… when the event was over, there was glitter EVERYWHERE. All over the table, all over the floor. No idea where it came from.”

    Another sincerely hoped Palin hadn’t been watching Martha Stewart, and I must agree.

    http://youtu.be/_uzNOQUlCdM

  45. 45.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    @IowaOldLady: How would a dissertation advisor have anything to do with that?

    eta, Oh, I see, with the person who swiped it. But really, with all these fly-by-night doc programs it would easy.

  46. 46.

    Hal

    November 14, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    @Yatsuno: What do you mean? She’s as clear as day. The left is not allowing free market healthcare in this country and doctor patient relationships. It’s Putin’s head rearing itself on the horizon, ringing them bells to warn the British, and that’s just what Obama wants.

  47. 47.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:51 pm

    @tybee: I drove to Bass Pro Monday and the dude talked me out of the bailess reel.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    November 14, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    @IowaOldLady:
    I guess it must vary by field. I can’t imagine somebody in the sciences getting away with that, since they’d have to discuss all the details of their research with their adviser all the time. Unless nobody actually bothered to read the thing, there would be no way of passing off somebody else’s work as your own.

  49. 49.

    IowaOldLady

    November 14, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    @raven: I guess I wasn’t very clear. My excuse is, I was stunned.

  50. 50.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    On the agenda this evening, pimping my latest blog post about who else but Richard Cohen.

    ETA: I fixed the wrong link. Kthx.

  51. 51.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    @IowaOldLady: No, I think I just misread it.

  52. 52.

    Aji

    November 14, 2013 at 8:59 pm

    @April: I just sent yer link to Cole. He actually bothered to reply to me the only other time I’ve e-mailed him about something, so who knows? Maybe he’ll see it. Especially with MARC & “desperate” in the subject line . . . .

  53. 53.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    Fucking idiot announcer just said ” he received the Purple Heart for time server in Afghanistan”! Jesus.

  54. 54.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    @karen: Congrats, I am doing a happy dance on your behalf.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    November 14, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    We finally took our long-delayed annual trip to Santa Barbara and the nice people at the inn we always stay at upgraded our room for free again. Getting ready to head out to dinner. Tomorrow, Hearst Castle!

  56. 56.

    Keith P.

    November 14, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    I was kind of hoping he’d take over TDS, since I have gotten hellaciously tired of Jon Stewart (his Iran bit a couple of days ago was just painful to watch, as was his New York pizza vs. Chicago pizza bit that went on entirely too long), but HBO’s better anyway…no bleeping.

  57. 57.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    Latest apolitical post, late fall in New England. With photos.

  58. 58.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    @Keith P.: He is just not that funny anymore. Jon Stewart, I mean.

  59. 59.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 14, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    @Hal:For me still the best model to understand the way she speaks is the way small children imitate adults talking on the phone. They don’t understand that content matters, they see it as just Mommy and Daddy using serious voices and stringing a bunch of sounds together. Palin is doing something similar, it always struck me. Since she has such little respect for intellect or even moderately complex thought, she’s convinced that all these people she hears are just stringing words together more or less at random and thinks she can do it too.

  60. 60.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:10 pm

    @Roger Moore: I think my wingnut translator decoder ring is on the fritz.

  61. 61.

    Redshirt

    November 14, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    There’s no God, people.

  62. 62.

    CaseyL

    November 14, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @karen: Great news! Congratulations – I am totally envious. Some people I know are writing and posting their books on Amazon, and I keep feeling a little urge to try that one myself. Hope your book sells beyond your wildest expectations.

    Would you mind telling us what the title is, and what it’s about?

  63. 63.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Going to the place with the duck pond again? I should have gone to California with my mom, then I could have taken her there. Especially since she loves Santa Barbara.

  64. 64.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @Yatsuno: I hear your fine state has said “fuck you, we’re not allowin no weasel shit policies!

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    November 14, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    Yuck².

    Ad just ran for a foodie show on local public access cable announcing an upcoming show covering, among other things, places with “the best balut.”

  66. 66.

    Mike in NC

    November 14, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    Just downloaded “Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right” by Thomas Frank, author of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”. It’s about how Obama caused the GOP to double down on its toxic wingnut ideology to create the Tea Party movement and revere people like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan (those millionaires who never did one honest day’s work in their lives) as well as expose their MSM enablers. I trust it will reveal how ABC, CBS, and NBC decided to follow the lead of FOX News.

  67. 67.

    opiejeanne

    November 14, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @raven: Who was he talking about?

  68. 68.

    Chat Noir

    November 14, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    @Yatsuno: Just wanted to tell you I chuckle every time you refer to John’s cat Steve as “Papa Stevedore Hemingway.”

  69. 69.

    Paddy

    November 14, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    @April: My SIL runs a pit rescue in Ohio, I just sent the link along, she might know someone who can help.

  70. 70.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:21 pm

    @raven: No big shock there. Washington has been wrestling with health care costs for decades, up to and including a single payer proposal that the Clinton Administration shot down in the 90s. We try to encourage specialists to take Medicaid with carrots and sticks, so I think the expansion will be a good thing overall. Plus the state website is being promoted like crazy, though I think it would have been cooler if they adopted the name for the SCHIP program for the exchanges. Apple Health just rings off the tongue better.

  71. 71.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    @Chat Noir: Every polydactyl should have a name that honors Big Papa and his multi-toed cats.

  72. 72.

    West of the Rockies

    November 14, 2013 at 9:24 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: For me, Bill, the moment I was absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt convinced that Pinhead Palin was done as a politician was when she whipped out a gigantic 7-11 cup and began to suck on the straw with her ridiculous, self-important, “aren’t I ever so clever” smirk. She’ll never again move past partisan political celebutant. Her moronic fans will continue to adore her; most everyone else will turn and look away as though from the urine-stained guy in the subway yelling at the trashcan.

  73. 73.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    @opiejeanne: Man that plays for Clemson.

    “CLEMSON, S.C. — Daniel Rodriguez lives alone in a two-story off-campus apartment where he sleeps three to four nights a week on the first-floor couch. It’s not that Rodriguez is afraid of beds; it’s that when he’s secluded, he prefers to be ready to fight. A cornered-off second-floor bedroom doesn’t allow for that.

    This is how Clemson’s newest and most unique walk-on football player, a 24-year-old from Stafford, lives. Symptoms of Rodriguez’s post-traumatic stress disorder still linger from his time in the Army, especially the year he spent in Afghanistan. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal for bravery in combat during one of the bloodiest battles in the Afghan war. “

  74. 74.

    Davis X. Machina

    November 14, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    @opiejeanne: Elijah Lovejoy’s a big noise here in Maine, where the journalism award named after him comes from…Colby College link

  75. 75.

    West of the Rockies

    November 14, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    @karen: Fabulous, Karen! Are you allowed to mention the title, or does that break forum rules/protocol? I am so pleased we live in a world where people can still make money with words.

  76. 76.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    @raven: give that man a Grammy for best broadcaster.

  77. 77.

    April

    November 14, 2013 at 9:27 pm

    @Aji: Thank you! I just though that this community, that raised so much money for MARC might be able to help out with the dogs, 3venif it’s just donate to pay for a spay.

  78. 78.

    Chat Noir

    November 14, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    @Yatsuno: We visited the Hemingway house in Key West a few years back. Loved seeing all the cats just chilling all around the house and the grounds.

  79. 79.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    @Aji: AL is a good option for pet blegs as well. But I think we’ll see a post here from JC about this matter here sooner rather than later.

  80. 80.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    @Chat Noir: Did you see the film about the kittehs of the Hermitage Museum?

  81. 81.

    negative 1

    November 14, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    I have returned from reading the news on the national news sites. I may need to stop doing that. I have become, literally, a lefty version of the teahadist commenter. I am now going to all sites that I can, finding right wing idiots declaring that ‘Obamacare is a catastrophe’ and saying “what was your plan then?” over and over. I can’t seem to stop. I need a drink, I think.

  82. 82.

    ruemara

    November 14, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    @karen: Congratulations! That’s a very exciting thing. You should be very proud.

    I am drinking. Again. Not enough vodka left for a real drunk off, but something to suppress everything, since hydrocodone doesn’t really work for me. Contemplating selling all my software, my editing laptop, tripod, all my art supplies and equipment. Can’t order upgrades to keep the skills up, can’t earn a dime shooting on shit consumer stuff, no access to real equip any more and can’t seem to land a gig to save my life. And my very helpful young friends are risking a major dose of fuck off if one more of them offers me the helpful advice of maybe I should look for admin or clerical or retail work. Ah, to be so goddamn young and stupid that you think you’ve come up with novel advice. And since I can’t really think of anything, vodka decaf all around. Maybe some tv.

  83. 83.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: once we eliminate the threat of tort reform, the republicans will implement these other ideas they have.

  84. 84.

    Chat Noir

    November 14, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: I did not. Where is that?

  85. 85.

    Suffern ACE

    November 14, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    @negative 1: if you do it 100 more times, the first round is on me.

  86. 86.

    Litlebritdiftrnt

    November 14, 2013 at 9:36 pm

    Hello peeps I am back on the grid after a week in England, snuggling next to the gas fire in my Mum’s chilly old Georgian row house. It rained every day but one, but that didn’t stop my DH and I walking into town every day and shopping the wonderful walking friendly town center, stopping off for pub lunches along the way. The only fine day we had was spent in the Lakes, having yet another pub lunch at a 200 year old converted water mill building just outside of Windermere. The birthday party for my Mum and Norman was absolutely wonderful, literally all of the family were there and it was so nice to see them all in the same place at the same time. I of course got extremely “tired and emotional” as we say up North and ended up blubbering me eyes out with home sickness. I shall be blogging about it later once the jet lag has worn off and I have uploaded all of my photos. Tomorrow I will go and pick up the pooches from the Kennels, they will no doubt express their displeasure at me for a while before they forget it even happened. I have missed you peeps! (Although I have to admit I have not missed the politics, it was nice to watch the Beeb breakfast show and not have to worry about Politics).

    PS) Went to a very nice Lady Dentist at the practice I used to go to before I joined the Navy and actually got my tooth glued back into my head without the insistence of $3K worth of other useless treatment and x-rays and stuff. It feels really strange not having to worry that my tooth is going to fall out at any minute as the Fix O Dent wears off. Methinks it is going to take me a little bit of time to get used to the idea.

  87. 87.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: How is your mom? How were the birthday celebrations?
    @Chat Noir: Cats of the Hermitage Museum in Russia.

  88. 88.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: Nice to have you back!

  89. 89.

    Bostondreams

    November 14, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    About to have my own brush with an academic celebrity. Waiting to pick up Dr Jim Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, at the train station to take him two hours away for a conference tomorrow.
    And I will never delete his number from my cell. :)

  90. 90.

    Litlebritdiftrnt

    November 14, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    She is doing great, although I have to admit that since the most recent heart attack she tends to forget that she has told me things already, so I found myself saying “yes you already told me that Mum” a lot. Having said that she is 80 years old so who am I to judge? I spent time with my sis and her hubby (who my DH absolutely adores) my nieces and my new great nieces (Nancy Olivia who is 3 and Penelope who is 6 months), my aunt and my cousins were there (who I have not seen since 2001) and it was so wonderful to catch up with them. Norman’s daughter (who lives in Australia) was there too so it was great to catch up with her, it really takes an occasion like an 80th birthday to get us all to get together from all over the world but it was certainly worth it.

  91. 91.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: The puppehs will be mad at you for about three microseconds until they realise ZOMG MOMMY IZ BACK!!! Then they’ll shake their butts off in happiness and probably try to eat your face off with their tongues. It will be a happy reunion.

  92. 92.

    ruemara

    November 14, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: Now, are you back in the US or still in the UK? Welcome back if you are here and Why come back, if you are there.

  93. 93.

    Redshirt

    November 14, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    @ruemara: Girl. You need to step back and take a look around. What do you see? Is it what you want to see? If not, do something about it.

  94. 94.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    @Redshirt: I’m sure drinking will help.

  95. 95.

    pluege

    November 14, 2013 at 9:49 pm

    “so the event was actually in Easton — just a smidge east of Bethlehem, but distinctly less symbolic”

    Easton is the home of Crayola the famous maker of crayons. So I’d say Easton is far more appropriate for palin than Bethlehem is.

  96. 96.

    Anne Laurie

    November 14, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @April: Just saw your comment; it’s a bit late for me to call them tonight, but if John doesn’t beat me to it, I’ll try tomorrow afternoon & put up a post/bleg.

    Note to other readers, there’s a donation button on MARC’s website if you want to beat the rush!

  97. 97.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    @pluege: See? This WAS planned out! Now they have multi-coloured snacks for everyone!

  98. 98.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: My wife is about to head up to Virginia for her 94 year old aunt’s funeral. I did an hour-long conversation with her 6 or 7 years ago and made a nice DVD that combined it with old home movies.

  99. 99.

    Aji

    November 14, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    @April: You’re welcome. I wish we were closer. LOL – although it’s no doubt for the best that we’re not. If we were, we’d probably take a couple and maybe be able to place at least a couple more, but we’re nearly 2,000 miles away.

  100. 100.

    raven

    November 14, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    @pluege: Baseball bats too?

  101. 101.

    Belafon

    November 14, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    @karen: What book? I don’t mind contributing to people’s royalty checks.

  102. 102.

    Aji

    November 14, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    @Yatsuno: Yeah, I know, but I figured she’d be relatively likely to see it, since it’s her post. Cole, notsomuch, and since April couldn’t get his e-mail to work, I figured I’d do it.

  103. 103.

    Chat Noir

    November 14, 2013 at 9:53 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Excellent! Thx for the link. Cats are fab. I have a large tortoiseshell (who is a delicate flower) plopped next to me on the sofa.

  104. 104.

    David Koch

    November 14, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    It’s about how Obama caused the GOP to double down on its toxic wingnut ideology to create the Tea Party movement

    I don’t think Obama caused anything. This happens whenever there’s a Democrat in office. Bill Clinton was a Blue-Dog from a blood red deep southern state, who ran on ending welfare and passing NAFTA. And despite being more pro wall street than reagan, they still went nutz, accusing him of murdering vince foster and ron brown and drug running and being a chinese and soviet agent, eventually impeaching him over nothing.

    Democrats could elect Evan Bayh and the wingers would find away to demonize him, cuz their whole turnout model is based on riling up low info and resentment losers with manufactured hate and anger.

  105. 105.

    Woodrowfan

    November 14, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    way to go Karen! I’ll get royalties when my book sells 750 copies, which will happen about the same time Dick Cheney gets to enter heaven.

  106. 106.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:57 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: Sounds like you had fun, welcome back!

  107. 107.

    Litlebritdiftrnt

    November 14, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    @ruemara:

    LOL we are back in the US, but trust me, DH and I had some serious conversations about “why are we going back anyway”. It all comes down to the fact that the DH is a High School Band Director, it is what he was born to do, and there is little if not zero opportunity for him to be employed in his chosen profession in the UK. We know that we would have a much better standard of living were we to move to the UK but he would be miserable teaching general music, and from what we understand there are only a couple of High School Band positions in the UK and they are in the American armed forces schools on the bases. BTW I would say that take everything I say this evening with a grain of salt, I got up at 4:30 am UK time this morning (11:30 pm EST) and it is now 9:53 EST so I am going on 23 hours without sleep.

  108. 108.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 14, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    @Chat Noir: You are welcome!

  109. 109.

    danielx

    November 14, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Grifters gonna grift….and as that wise man P.T. Barnum said, there’s a sucker born every minute.

  110. 110.

    Redshift

    November 14, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    This is my favorite bit:

    Of the three or four people I asked, none could remember who they’d voted for in the 2012 Republican primary.

    Suuurre, they don’t.

  111. 111.

    Hill Dweller

    November 14, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    @David Koch: They did go crazy during Clinton’s time in office. But the party is to the right of the ‘Contract with America’ crowd now, and they’ve embraced an unprecedented level of procedural radicalism. Senate Dems are basically nullifying Obama’s reelection. They have shattered filibuster records, and are currently saying out loud Obama can’t put anyone on the DC Circuit.

    The Republicans are essentially neo-Confederates.

  112. 112.

    PurpleGirl

    November 14, 2013 at 10:08 pm

    @efgoldman: Yes, but Irwin Corey made some sort of sense when you played through his word salad. (He was doing it as a comedy routine, Snowbilly Barbie believes she’s saying something serious and profound.)

  113. 113.

    ruemara

    November 14, 2013 at 10:13 pm

    @Redshirt: Oh please. Seriously.

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: Well, welcome back. It sounds like a lovely time was had by all and the beloved beasts are thrilled to have you back.

  114. 114.

    David Koch

    November 14, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Oh, I agree. My point is this would happen under any Democrat. They can’t win on their policies, they’re just too unpopular, so their only strategy is to damage the country and create chaos, and hope enough people who aren’t paying attention blame the incumbent white house.

  115. 115.

    Felonius Monk

    November 14, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    Palin is a dingleberry hanging around the seat of government.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    November 14, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    @PurpleGirl

    Prof. Corey is still with us, and has not entirely retired from performing.

    (Don’t have the link handy, but if you find his epic rant against Dubya from several years back, it is quite something.)

  117. 117.

    Hill Dweller

    November 14, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    @David Koch:

    Oh, I agree. My point is this would happen under any Democrat. They can’t win on their policies, they’re just too unpopular, so their only strategy is to damage the country and create chaos, and hope enough people who aren’t paying attention blame the incumbent white house.

    The Village enables everything they do.

  118. 118.

    Felonius Monk

    November 14, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    @karen: Congratulations. I hope that multiplies many times over.

  119. 119.

    ruemara

    November 14, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    Ok, I saw this and I know finer minds than mine would have a field day with it. http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/11/oprah-skinny-naked-screaming-on-your-dress.html. What in the fuckingfuck would make you design that?

  120. 120.

    Violet

    November 14, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    @Litlebritdiftrnt: Welcome back! Glad you had a wonderful time. I love the Lakes, even in winter. Glad the party was wonderful and hope you ate and drank all the English goodies to your heart’s content.

  121. 121.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 14, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    @David Koch:
    I strongly disagree. The GOP were assholes to Clinton, including insults and conspiracy theories. They’ve gone completely fucking nuts about Obama. The difference in scale is so great as to be a difference in kind. Clinton did not face even the wholesale obstructionism of Obama’s first 2 years, much less the kind of constant hostage taking we’ve seen since 2010. Clinton did not set off a wave of hate that forced utterly insane candidates on the GOP and continues to threaten every candidate who makes an even vaguely rational vote. It’s not at all the same.

  122. 122.

    jenn

    November 14, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    @ruemara: I’m sorry things are being so shitty right now. In case an electronic hug from a stranger would be of any use, I enclose one here ==> O.

    About the “dress” … I have no words. Seriously.

  123. 123.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    @jenn:

    About the “dress” … I have no words

    Wot she said. Oi.

  124. 124.

    NotMax

    November 14, 2013 at 10:47 pm

    @ruemara

    What in the fuckingfuck would make you design that?

    Everclear. With an angel dust chaser.

    Suppose the muumuu with Chris Christie on it is special order only.

  125. 125.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    @NotMax: If Chris Christie is naked in public, and you can’t see his genitalia due to his stomach, is that indecent exposure?

    /random thought

  126. 126.

    Anne Laurie

    November 14, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    @ruemara: Calculated bid to take (more) money from celebrity attention whores, as per the designer’s own words in the article:

    it’s clearly a little exploitative, that you find a homeless person on the street, and they’re wearing everything they own all at once, and you think, Oh my god, that’s a great style. I’m comfortable with that intersection.

    Speaking of fameballs, you know about GoFugYourself, right?

  127. 127.

    jenn

    November 14, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    @Yatsuno: Oof. Curse you and NotMax for introducing that image to my innocent brain.

    On the dress question, NotMax’s explanation is certainly plausible.

  128. 128.

    Yatsuno

    November 14, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    @jenn: That would certainly make sense, as certain drugs do enhance creativity and alcohol lowers inhibition so the “maybe this isn’t such a good idea” sense gets diminished.

    As far as the Christie image: I REGRET NOTHING!!!

  129. 129.

    ruemara

    November 14, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    @Anne Laurie: OOooo bad fashion. You’re soaking in it. Swear to bob, once saw in some high class art museum in tribeca, a socialite “artist” with the most hideous shoebooties I have ever seen. the heels were polished irregular lumps of marble. Just the worst. With a matching necklace. Art fashion. an amazing joke the wearer is never in on.

    @jenn: hugs always accepted. electronic ones.

    @Yatsuno: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Jesus Christ, warn a fucker before posting that. My damned brain needs to regrown from scratch now. Dammit!

  130. 130.

    PurpleGirl

    November 14, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @Yatsuno:< You owe all of us a gallon of brain bleach for that image.

  131. 131.

    chopper

    November 14, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    enjoy our weather. it was 75 and sunny here in SLO today.

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack

    November 15, 2013 at 12:33 am

    @karen:

    Congratulations! How about, er, letting us know what the book is, so that we may marvel at it and perhaps even buy it? Unless your Balloon Juice anonymity is more important than authorial fame and fortune, of course.

  133. 133.

    Keith P.

    November 15, 2013 at 1:26 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: I just watched Jon Stewart cover Obamacare for the umpteenth time, Rob Ford for the umpteenth time, and then bring on Neil DeGrasse Tyson for the hundred-and-umpteenth time to talk about whether f’n zombies are possible. Stupid, stupid stuff. I am really at the point where I almost skip Colbert just because I can’t stomach watching TDS any more (this week particularly has been unfunny as hell) and just go watch a movie.

  134. 134.

    opiejeanne

    November 15, 2013 at 2:33 am

    @raven: Thanks. Wow.

  135. 135.

    opiejeanne

    November 15, 2013 at 2:42 am

    @Davis X. Machina: I had no idea. I only knew about him because I was trying to help Dad figure out some stuff about his family. His mother’s mother was a Lovejoy and I ran across the story on a distant cousin’s genealogy site.

  136. 136.

    hnJohn

    November 15, 2013 at 6:47 am

    In regard to Sarah the Snowbilly’s book tour kicking off in Beth, PA, all I could think of was this…

    And what rough beast, its hour come ’round at last,
    Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

  137. 137.

    Jebediah, RBG

    November 15, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    @ruemara:

    Mushrooms?

  138. 138.

    Jebediah, RBG

    November 15, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    @hnJohn:

    In regard to Sarah the Snowbilly’s book tour kicking off in Beth, PA, all I could think of was this…

    And what rough beast, its hour come ’round at last,
    Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

    Shouldn’t that be:
    And what dim knob, its hour long past,
    Grifts towards Bethlehem to be boring?

  139. 139.

    karen

    November 16, 2013 at 1:00 am

    Thank you everyone for your good thoughts!

  140. 140.

    karen

    November 16, 2013 at 1:00 am

    Thank you everyone for your good thoughts!

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