• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

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

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

He really is that stupid.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Second rate reporter says what?

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

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

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Easter Hedge: Open Thread

Easter Hedge: Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  March 30, 20144:10 pm| 63 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

Easter Hedge cares not for your pastel baskets and sunshine:

easterhedge

Speaking of Easter (which must be coming up soonish?), a Dave Sedaris piece from “This American Life” features a diverse classroom of students trying to discuss the meaning of Easter in French:

It is long but howlingly funny. Also informative: I had thought the Easter Bunny was a worldwide phenomenon (at least in Christendom), but it is not. Please feel free to discuss whatever.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « West Coast Sunday Morning Garden Chat: “Furniture & Flowers”
Next Post: GOP: The Eldritch Ones Arise Again »

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  1. 1.

    different-church-lady

    March 30, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    “I know one big thing. Unfortunately it’s not how to get out of this damn basket.”

  2. 2.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    Gators up in a bit.

  3. 3.

    gogol's wife

    March 30, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Please don’t remind me that I have to read Isaiah Berlin before the day is over.

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    March 30, 2014 at 4:23 pm

    @raven: Wait, what? The F4 game is next weekend! What am I missing?

  5. 5.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    @Betty Cracker: OOOP/s the other SEC team!

  6. 6.

    Hill Dweller

    March 30, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Unskew the Obamacare numbers!

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    March 30, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    @raven: Whew! Scared me for a minute there! ;-)

  8. 8.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 4:26 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I scared me, I’ve obviously watched too many (all) games!

  9. 9.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Chickenshit play by U Conn player but they win! The last team to beat the Gators!

  10. 10.

    IowaOldLady

    March 30, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    That was hilarious. Still, you have to go some distance to beat his story of working as a Christmas Elf at Macy’s.

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sedaris+elf+crumpet+you+tube&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=43408525B3E2C113271343408525B3E2C1132713

  11. 11.

    Elmo

    March 30, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    Who knew hedgehogs could be this freakin adorable?

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    March 30, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    @raven: My brother says the Gators will win it all, and he follows round ball much more closely than I do and usually doesn’t let homerism cloud his judgment. We shall see!

  13. 13.

    ixnay

    March 30, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    The first time I heard this piece (the Easter one, not the Christmas Elf one, which also laid me out flat), I was driving. I very nearly had to pull over because I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t see. We all need to laugh more. I recommend this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xzA3Oul1c

    Also: my collection of seriously stupid seasonal riddles:

    What do you call a rabbit that gives anesthesia? (The Ether Bunny)

    What do you have when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? (Hot Cross Bunnies)

    I told you they were stupid.

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 30, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    @ixnay: Why can’t Jesus eat M&Ms? (They fall through the holes in his hands.)

  15. 15.

    Mnemosyne

    March 30, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    @Elmo:

    Kitten meets hedgehog. Surprised the internet didn’t overload from the squee.

  16. 16.

    ixnay

    March 30, 2014 at 4:56 pm

    @ixnay:
    oh my word. I just listened again to the Sedaris bit, and was once again reduced to laughing tears. More of this.

  17. 17.

    ? Martin

    March 30, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    which must be coming up soonish?

    Careful, Jesus shall smite you upon return for thou does not knowest when to hand out thy Peeps™.

  18. 18.

    ? Martin

    March 30, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    What am I missing?

    Almost all of the games, apparently.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    March 30, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    I have a chicken paella-type thing in the crockpot and need to go grocery shopping, but I’m being lazy. I also need to get my bicycle off our balcony and back downstairs in the garage now that the landlords seem to be done with all of the repainting etc.

  20. 20.

    Anne Laurie

    March 30, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    Betty, your kid knows the fine old English word “tiggy”, right?

    I always thought that was a better name for my favorite small omnivore. Back in the last century, my fanzine nyk was ‘Questing Tiggy Press’.

  21. 21.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 5:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker: They are scary good but ya never know. I’m sure he is glad the big favorite, MSU, is gone.

  22. 22.

    MikeJ

    March 30, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    @Anne Laurie: OED’s first printed example is from 1905 (Beatrix Potter character name), so maybe not as old as you think. “Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was nothing but a Hedgehog!”

    They do say it probably comes from the dialect word “tig”, little pig, but the y don’t have an entry for that.

  23. 23.

    JPL

    March 30, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    @raven: This might seem like an understatement, but Michigan State sucked.
    They didn’t seem to be prepared.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    March 30, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    @Anne Laurie: She probably does, raging Anglophile that she is.

  25. 25.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    @JPL: That was a team that my lowly Illinois killed on their own court. I think they overachieved but many of the “experts” picked them because of Izzo.

  26. 26.

    Juju

    March 30, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’m no fan of the Gators, but I agree with your brother.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    March 30, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    It has been a beautiful Sunday for me: Liverpool thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 4-nil at home and are now top of the English Premier League. They last won the league title in 1989-90 — the season after the Hillsborough tragedy.
    ETA: Liverpool have never won the Premier League as such; in 89-90 it was still the First Division of the English Football League.

  28. 28.

    raven

    March 30, 2014 at 5:31 pm

    @Juju: They were the number one seed in the tournament for a reason.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    March 30, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    The ACA Surge Blackout
    March 30, 2014, 12:52 pm

    It’s not in itself that big a deal, but I’m somewhat amazed by what amounts to a de facto blackout by major news media on a developing story that’s really obvious if you read the invaluable Charles Gaba, or even the White House blog: a huge surge in Obamacare enrollments in the final days of the signup period. The print sources I read are still putting out basically downbeat reports about the ACA, with maybe a mention 10 paragraphs in that exchange enrollments passed the 6 million mark last week. I don’t watch cable news, but from what I hear it’s all still Malaysian airways.

    In the end, I guess it won’t matter in a direct sense; the final number for year 1, which looks likely to be very close to the original 7 million projection, will eventually come out. But you wonder why news media that are happy to speculate about the 2016 election aren’t interested in at least putting out a heads-up about the strong possibility of a bombshell number next week.

    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/the-aca-surge-blackout/

  30. 30.

    Elie

    March 30, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    @Elmo:

    they are just so cute — cute, cute, cute

  31. 31.

    something fabulous

    March 30, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    @rikyrah: I am one! Finally signed my ass up at 3am last night! [Not busy then btw– a breeze in CA!] Funny note on the CA site, if not mentioned before: in the online demo, the town used for filling out the sample personal info is… Galt!

  32. 32.

    Elie

    March 30, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    My wonderful Mom is bed ridden and dying. She is soon to be 92 but has been in increasingly poor health and that has accelerated over the last month and a half. she is mostly sleeping, but when she awakens, what hurts so much is hearing her begging God to let her “go through the door”, or to open the door for her. Hospice has been wonderful. We focus on her comfort and spooning in liquids and nourishment as possible — this is diminishing.

    Over the weekend we had family and babies over to play on her bed and bring their loving energy. It was a wonderful thing and I am grateful that she could still experience that..

    Pray for her peaceful transit and for us, her family, wanting to ease the path on her way to eternity. We know that love lives forever and we will all continue to take her love into this world – a classy, smart and funny woman with a big heart.

  33. 33.

    shelly

    March 30, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    That is one of the funniest bits of writing from , ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day.’

    “he weared of himself the long hair and after he die. the first day he come back here for to say hello to the peoples.” he nice, the jesus.”

    And agree with Sedaris, on the French symbol for Easter. WTF?

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    March 30, 2014 at 6:02 pm

    @Elie:

    I’m so sorry. As you know, several of us have lost parents in the past few years, so we understand what you’re going through.

    You may want to ask the hospice if there’s a counselor or minister she can talk to to help “let go.” I remember a part in Julia Sweeney’s book God Said Ha! where they had a counselor come talk to her terminally ill brother.

    Also, strange as it sounds, you may want to try and leave her with just the nurses for a few minutes instead of having a family member with her 24/7. I heard so many stories of people waiting until their family members were out of the room before they finally passed away that I think it may be a real phenomenon that some people don’t want their family in the room at the moment they go. It happened that way with my father and my father-in-law, both of whom waited until family was out of the room before they let go.

  35. 35.

    the Conster

    March 30, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    @Elie:

    Bless you and her, and keep talking to her about how much her life mattered and how much love there is for her. Also let her know it’s OK for her to go now. The hearing is the last thing to go. She’s ready, so all you can do is be there with her, and to keep her clean and as comfortable as possible. May we all be so blessed to make our exits surrounded by love.

  36. 36.

    Pogonip

    March 30, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    Elie, I will pray for a good death for your mom. My condolences.

    Betty, Easter is 20 April this year, and Orthodox and Western Easter both fall on the same day, which won’t happen again for a few thousand years, if I remember right.

    Geek alert: George R r Martin put up a new sample chapter called “mercy.”

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    March 30, 2014 at 6:12 pm

    @Elie: My thoughts are with your mom, you and all others who love her. I wish I could say I don’t know how you feel. But I do. Courage, love and strength.

  38. 38.

    Elie

    March 30, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Thanks, Mnemosyne… its a good idea to have her pastor talk to her.. and I acknowledge that several of our balloon-juicers have lost parents this year — you guys know where I am at…

    We have been just letting her sleep more and more and not trying to do some schedule around eating or serving liquids. Sadly, but truly, dehydration is her friend.

    Thanks much for your good thoughts and prayers…

  39. 39.

    Elie

    March 30, 2014 at 6:15 pm

    @the Conster:

    Amen and thanks to all of you for your kind words and support

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    March 30, 2014 at 6:18 pm

    If this is what I think it is, I was just thinking about it earlier today and wondering how I could possibly find it again on the internet. Crossing my fingers while I go click the video.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    March 30, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    @Elie: It’s so difficult to lose a mother and all I can add is internet hugs.

  42. 42.

    gbear

    March 30, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    I fucking HATE bunnies right now. The snow has melted enough to reveal that the bunnies burrowed into a snowbank and ate the bottom foot of bark off of one of my boulevard crabapple trees all the way around. It’s going to die. Fuck bunnies.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 30, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

    My next trip to the UK, for sure, I am visiting Saint Tiggywinkle’s — a rescue hospital for hedgehogs and other small English wildlife. It sounds adorable!

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    March 30, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yay!

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 30, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    @Elie:

    I am holding your mother and all who love her in my thoughts and in my heart. May her transition, when it happens, be easy, peaceful, and comfortable, and may you celebrate her life in joy even as you grieve your loss.

    Hugs and love.

  46. 46.

    ruemara

    March 30, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    @Elie: You have my sympathies, my blessings and my prayers. Glad you all can be there at her time.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    March 30, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    @Elie: Heartbreaking.

    When my dad was dying, a wise nurse told us that sometimes someone will hang on if they are worried about someone they will be leaving behind. My two sisters are both married and had settled lives. I was daddy’s girl, and not married, and we all suspected I might be the one my dad didn’t want to leave behind.

    Hardest thing I’ve ever done. My whole body was literally shaking as I stood in the hospital hallway, trying to find the strength to go in and tell my dad that I would be fine, that it was okay for him to go. I was able to compose myself somehow and went in to have that talk with my dad, who could no longer speak but could still hear.

    He was gone just a few minutes later.

  48. 48.

    Juju

    March 30, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    @rikyrah: I’ve been watching too much basketball. I thought the headline read ACC.

  49. 49.

    Tehanu

    March 30, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    @Elie:
    Elie, my dad wanted to go too, and it’s the main comfort I have now, knowing that he was ready when the time came. I know how hard it is on you too and I hope there’s some comfort to you in knowing that others are sending sympathetic thoughts your way. Best to you and your family.

  50. 50.

    Juju

    March 30, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    @raven: So I’ve heard. I stopped caring and just watching after the last ACC team left the tournament. That Arizona Wisconsin game was a heart stopper. This current game is just as edge of your seat good.

  51. 51.

    Anne Laurie

    March 30, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    @gbear:

    The snow has melted enough to reveal that the bunnies burrowed into a snowbank and ate the bottom foot of bark off of one of my boulevard crabapple trees all the way around. It’s going to die. Fuck bunnies.

    I feel you, bro (although we’ve been blaming the voles/mice, not bunnies). When the worst of the snowdrifts receded, both of the spindly little multigraft fruit saplings I planted summer before last had been girdled. And so had the impulse-purchase one that got left out in an 18″-high root pouch — that one, at least, I don’t think I can blame the bunnies for, they don’t even have the ambition to climb a 6″ rise to eat fresh greens…

  52. 52.

    J R in WV

    March 30, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    It is so hard to let go of someone you love so much. It is good that she is ready, my Mom had COPD and passed out one evening, so Dad called 911, they came and “saved” her and took her to the ER, Once she got home she told Dad, don’t do that again… if you can’t stand to stay with me, go in the other end of the house.

    A couple of weeks later she died in his arms about 5:30 am. so all was for the best. She was past ready, sick of being an invalid. Dad gave her the best care, cut her fresh fruit, the Drs. gave her 9 months to go it was 3 years before she finally went.

    My heart goes out to you and yours. It really does get better. You will remember the best parts of her life for the rest of your life.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    March 30, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    @J R in WV: Until you wrote that, I had completely forgotten that on the last day when my mom suddenly was not right (after 18 months of a 6-month terminal diagnosis) she shook her head “no” to my dad when he wanted to call the ambulance. She wanted to stay right there in her chair in the living room. By the time I made it home that day, she was already gone and had been taken away.

    There’s just no way to be prepared for losing a parent, even when you know it’s coming. But you do get through it.

  54. 54.

    Elie

    March 30, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Beautiful and painful story you tell… I have spoken with Mom and let her know that it is ok to let go, whenever she is ready…

    Thanks for your kind words…

  55. 55.

    kathy a.

    March 30, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @Elie: xoxox

  56. 56.

    Betsy

    March 31, 2014 at 3:34 am

    @Elie: I wish peace and comfort and loving closeness for you all. No matter the age or circumstances, We’re never quite ready to say our final goodbyes.

  57. 57.

    Fred

    March 31, 2014 at 6:39 am

    Here in Sweden they have the Easter Witch. Little girls dress up as witches. Why? I don’t know but they just do, OK?

  58. 58.

    JadedOptimist

    March 31, 2014 at 8:38 am

    @@WaterGirl: Thank you for sharing that deeply personal story. I remember a similar moment with my husband, telling him that it was ok to let go of the pain and that I would be ok. I remember him looking directly at me as I spoke to him, and a peacefulness that seemed to fill the room as his eyes acknowledged my words. And by morning he was gone. And I knew that it was a peaceful experience for him. I could ask for nothing better.

  59. 59.

    JadedOptimist

    March 31, 2014 at 8:39 am

    @@WaterGirl: Thank you for sharing that deeply personal story. I remember a similar moment with my husband, telling him that it was ok to let go of the pain and that I would be ok. I remember him looking directly at me as I spoke to him, and a peacefulness that seemed to fill the room as his eyes acknowledged my words. And by morning he was gone. It was a peaceful experience for him; I could ask for nothing more.

  60. 60.

    Paul in KY

    March 31, 2014 at 10:37 am

    @Betty Cracker: Gators will be very hard to beat. If they & we (UK) get to Championship game, The Gators will have a chance to join the UK 1986 squad (Kenny Walker, Roger Harden, etc.) as the only team to beat another Div 1 team 4 times in one season. that UK team beat a good Alabama team 4 times that year.

  61. 61.

    Paul in KY

    March 31, 2014 at 10:40 am

    @Elie: Elie, very sorry to hear that. Just be with her & love on her. My prayers are with your mother & your family.

  62. 62.

    Paul in KY

    March 31, 2014 at 10:43 am

    @WaterGirl: God bless you for doing that.

  63. 63.

    Caravelle

    April 1, 2014 at 11:35 am

    After reading the post but before listening to the video I was trying to remember what the Easter Avatars were in other countries. The first one I thought of was ducks, because of course !

    Turns out I was thinking of the Soul Cake Duck, which has nothing to do with Easter whatsoever…

    Something’s just occurred to me – could the Easter Bunny be a Protestant thing ? Because the whole point of the Easter Bells is that they fly in from Rome, presumably tasked by the Pope to rain chocolate eggs into the gardens of the good little Catholic boys and girls. (which, shut up David that makes a lot more sense than a rabbit, why is the rabbit leaving chocolate eggs in the garden anyway ?)

    Actually I looked it up and it makes even more sense than I was thinking – apparently in various Catholic countries the bells are silenced for three days (Jesus being dead and all) and are then rung extra-hard on Easter. Hence the idea that the bells are silent because they went off to Rome to get blessed by the Pope, and then came back on Easter full of chocolate in celebration.
    This seems to be specific to France and Belgium however. And the Easter Bunny seems to be American (possibly Anglo-Saxon ?), so never mind the Protestant thing.

    This, however, is my favorite Easter custom :
    “In Norway, in addition to staying at mountain cabins, cross-country skiing and painting eggs, a contemporary tradition is to read or watch murder mysteries at Easter. All the major television channels run crime and detective stories (such as Agatha Christie’s Poirot), magazines print stories where the readers can try to figure out “Whodunnit”, and new detective novels are scheduled for publishing before Easter. Even the milk cartons are altered for a couple of weeks. Each Easter a new short mystery story is printed on their sides.” (Wikipedia as usual)

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Baud on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 1:07pm)
  • Geminid on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 1:06pm)
  • John S. on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 1:04pm)
  • WaterGirl on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 1:02pm)
  • John S. on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 1:01pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!