Heading to the doctor tomorrow and this time I think I have an ironclad reservation on Tuesday. America. Fuck yeah.
I, also, watch True Blood, and I feel I need to get this off my chest. I would let Pam tie me up. Sorry for the unfortunate mental images, but I couldn’t keep it in.
I watched Steve catch a bird tonight around 5:30. He had just begged me for food, but it was not time for his dinner, so I told him to piss off and I went outside. I was sitting on the porch, and he pawed at the sliding glass door, so I opened it and he came out. As soon as he was on the porch, he saw a bird sitting on the cedar edge of the raised garden, and did that cat twitchy thing where they chirp and their whiskers get all jittery and their tails lash around and you can visibly see instinct take over- it’s kind of like watching Bruce Banner and you know there is some inevitable Incredible Hulk transformation shit about to go down.
At any rate, he ran down the steps and around the porch, stayed there for five seconds, did the speedy crouch walk about halfway to the garden, stayed for five seconds, and then just bolted, pounced on the bird, it tried to fly away and he batted it out of the air and grabbed it in his mouth. I yelled for Shawn- “HOLY SHIT- STEVE JUST CAUGHT A BIRD!”, and Steve raced up to the porch, showed me the bird, Shawn opened the door and he ran in and dropped the bird on the carpet below his food bowl.
Sadly, the bird was still alive, so Shawn scooped it up and told me the thing is still blinking and all I could think is “WTF do you want me to do? I don’t even kill beetles and get pissed off when you kill spiders. I carry them outside. I can’t kill things.” Shawn responded “Damnit Cole, it’s your fucking cat. I guess I will go break it’s neck and put it out of his misery. Fuck, man, I don’t want to do this.” In my defense, all I could think was “My cat- what lap is he on all night? I just feed and house him.”
Started to walk outside with the bird, got out back and damned if the thing didn’t fly away. It was either stunned or in shock or playing possum, and maybe Steve has a soft mouth like a lab and can carry prey without damaging them. Who knows? It was freaky.
For the record, I don’t sit around encouraging Steve to kill birds. It happened so fast- like 20 seconds. And I had no idea he was that fast. It was like watching a National Geographic video. He was coiled and ready, and then just looked like he was shot out of a rocket, and the agility to catch the bird in mid flight was stunning. I honestly didn’t know he had it in him. And the look in his eye when he had the bird in his mouth and was showing it to me was, well- “I’m a stone cold killer, bitch. Next time I ask for food, you better recognize if you say no a bird gets it.”
At any rate, just wanted to check in, and hopefully you won’t be hearing from me for a while.
sm*t cl*de
And now he is even more convinced that you are a failure as a cat, and can’t even kill the food when he catches it for you, so he will double down on the remedial lessons.
lamh36
Good for you John.
dogwood
Best wishes, John
BGinCHI
We will be thinking about you, JC.
If you need some reading material, email me.
Anne Laurie
Did you get MisterMix’s text message, John?
lamh36
All it takes is one change to inspire millions:
Marvel’s new Captain America is black
Anthony Mackie (NOLA native…shoutout) and the guy who plays Falcon in the latest Captain America tweeted this pic and it was awesome:
The twitter pic at the link is very awesome.
John (MCCARTHY) Cole
@Anne Laurie: Yep.
Genine
@JohnCole At any rate, just wanted to check in, and hopefully you won’t be hearing from me for a while.
We hope so, too. Good luck!
Francis
Best of luck to you. While I don’t comment much I check in several times a day, because I like the hosts and the company so much.
Sorry that your habits have gotten the best of you and I wish you a speedy transition to a new healthier you.
wrye
We’ll be thinking of you, John. Wish there was more we could do.
sharl
Good luck to you JGC!
MoeLarryAndJesus
And maybe there’s a Bird Rehab for Steve.
Rots a ruck, Mr. Cole.
SuperHrefna
So good to hear from you, even though I wish for your sake that you were already at a good rehab. I have my fingers crossed that this next reservation will be the one to go all the way.
I made it to Australia and so it’s just early afternoon for me here. I’m sitting in my friend’s living room smelling the gorgeous soup she is making for us. Life is good.
TG Chicago
Hope all goes well tomorrow and beyond. Best wishes.
Yatsuno
May the change be for the betterment of you JC.
And the barn cat Lucy catches live birds all the time. She keeps trying to teach the spoiled housecat Saffy how to hunt and Saffy keeps failing. So yeah, cats actually do catch living birds all the time.
cckids
Good thoughts your way John. I love the Steve story.
My big guy, Gryffindor, “caught” a baby bird one day & promptly brought it to me. You read about animal’s eyes glowing, and his really were! He was so proud, and I squawked & yelled, he dropped it, I took it back outside & its parent hung out with it until it flew away. I thought it wouldn’t make it, but it did.
Apparently birds are tougher than they appear.
Mike J
You’ve been charging exorbitant prices for hen fruit. Let us see your burglar license!
Sorry, Harold Lllllllloyd shorts on TCM.
Karen in GA
John, good to hear from you. Also good to hear that we won’t be hearing from you again for a while.
John (MCCARTHY) Cole
Stop wishing me luck. Wish me a fucking bed in a facility. Luck has nothing to do with this. Getting someone in the medical profession to take me seriously is what I fucking need.
aangus
: ))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNcygbTNJyE&feature=related
;)
Don K
@cckids:
Apparently. Our late predator Billy brought a bird in one night, and when I yelled dropped it under the kitchen counter. I scooped it up in a dustpan, and when I got the dustpan to the front door the bird flew away. I coulda sworn the bird looked dead!
Billy was talented. One evening I saw him go into his stalking thing, crawl under a large spruce tree between our yard and the next, jump, and snag a bird off of a branch a couple of feet off the ground. That bird ended up as feathers hanging out of Billy’s mouth.
Mike J
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole:
Good luck with that.
Tommy
@lamh36: And Thor now is going to be a women. I am only a small, small comic book guy. I geek out on other nerd stuff (I am a nerd — call myself that — so not a slur). I walk into my locally owned place a few times a year and have to ask, hey what is cool?* They always hook me up. Kind of cool, if not also sad, that comic books might be more progressive then our society as a whole isn’t it?
*I should note that half of the space of this store are those tables you had if you ate lunch at school in the 70s and it is free to come in a play fantasy and other board games — I mean how cool is that?
aangus
“Moderation???”
Give me a break!
Bobby B.
I doubt the rehab folks are going to cut you much slack for your Hot Animal Love.
aangus
Everything I post
is
in
Mod.
????
BubbaDave
Just as long as the rehab can break you of naked mopping, man.
Seriously, go get it, suck it up and gut it out when you really want to leave, and get your shit together so you will be able to properly serve the Steve for the rest of his life. As is your calling.
patrick II
You do a hard job, John. I read this blog and am amazed at the relentless stupidity and craven motives of much of american politics. It is hard to read day after day and I can’t imagine how much more difficult it must be for you and the other front pagers to find and describe to us what is happening. It takes courage and determination to do what you do, and I appreciate you and the others for your efforts to inform us, even though sometimes it depresses even me.
So good luck with your rehab, attack it with the same determination you have shown when writing about injustice and you will be fine. A little justice for yourself is deserved..
joel hanes
On islands where there are no ground predators, birds sometimes lose the power of flight.
The ancestors of the dodo appear to be pigeons who found the safety of Mauritius.
maven
The largest killer of our native bird population is domestic cats. Obviously your overweight cat doesn’t need to be eating birds outside.
I suggest, in addition to getting yourself under control; you do the same with your cat.
cckids
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole: I wish you that, too. Been around the medical profession way too much, way too long to assume that what needs to happen will happen. But we’re all hoping that you get what you need.
aangus
@Mike J:
Yup!
Mike J
@Tommy:
No, a woman will be found worthy to lift Mjolnir, just like all the other people who weren’t Thor and wielded it. Other people who have been worthy in the past include Wonder Woman and a humanoid frog.
aangus
Thank you!
:)
cckids
@maven: I hate to say this, but bite me. Also, too, in the spirit of this site: Fuck off.
hilts
Get well soon John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTz8g8yh8GY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oH8u9PxWJo
aangus
” Been around the medical profession way too much, way too long to assume that what needs to happen will happen. But we’re all hoping that you get what you need. ”
And from us to you, as well. :)
Suzanne
Hugs, Cole. You have quite a journey ahead of you, and I hope that you ultimately find it rewarding and fulfilling.
I used to have this fat Cocker Spaniel who was sick and had horrible joints, and like, every health condition known to vet. (The sweetest dog that ever lived.) Also had a lithe, beautiful, purebred Siberian Husky who could run like a cheetah. (The craziest dog that ever lived.) One day, I was out in the backyard with the two of them, and some birds were flying around the dogs. That Cocker sprinted with all the energy she could muster, vaulted herself into the air, snatched a bird mid-flight, and swallowed it whole before I could even reach her to wrestle it away. Meanwhile, the Husky stood there like a total dumbass. Just amazing what they can do.
Tommy
@maven: Hey now. My cat is an indoor only cat. Outside of before she was rescued, been outside like 10 minutes. I don’t declaw her cause I think that is cruel. They are still animals even if they sleep in bed with us. My cat is 8. If I let her outside now she’d be confused. If I let her out all the time when she was younger (and I live in a rural area) I am sure she’d kill a lot of things. Heck I have no squirrels around me. Lady behind me has some type of greyhound and/sheppard mix. A squirrel gets near that yard they are dead.*
Now with that said the reason I don’t let my cat out of my house is as I said I live in a rural area. My cat is not nearly at the top of the food chain. I’d hate for her to run into a raccoon or possum. Much less all the far too many feral cats we have around here.
Cats are going to kill birds. Kind of in their DNA.
*She is a fellow hippie liberal, yoga instructor. Grow a ton of kale she gives me :)
maven
@cckids: ok eat me. fuck me too..
but you know i.m right.
maven
Debate This.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html
srv
John,
Worst case, just dress up in fur and start chasing birds in front of the court house. When questioned by the cops, scream:
Anyone know how far you have to go for a two week psych eval?
Frivolous
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole:
Wishing you a fucking bed in a facility, John Cole. Also be well and get well.
aangus
@Frivolous:
THIS!
magurakurin
Good Luck to you, John.
I know you can do it once you get started. I got sober 26 years ago. It still remains the single best thing I ever did for myself.
We are all pulling for you.
Ruckus
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole:
That’s what we are wishing you good luck for. A fucking bed in a facility.
Now that that’s out of the way, work hard, listen, learn how to get where you want to be. Then go there. Not easy, but it is very doable.
aangus
Good news: Boots dude ain’t here tonight.
Bad news: I am. : ))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2wvaWTTmz8&list=PLC8AE19F91EB0D73D
PurpleGirl
Cats killing birds: As Tommy said: It’s kinda in the {cat} DNA.
Nothing to debate, it’s their natural instinct.
Only way to stop it is to keep a cat indoors all the time. Two thousand years of domesticated living hasn’t changed the instinct.
ETA: Hope everything works out for you getting into a facility. I realize you want to do this during the summer when you’re not working, but does your college have an Employee Assistance Program you could go through for help?
⚽️ Martin
80% of success is just showing up.
Don’t let the bureaucrats deny you that.
Ruckus
@PurpleGirl:
Had a Golden Retriever who never had a day of training in it’s entire life, but she could retrieve like nobodies business. And she could stalk a bird for as long as it took to get close and when the bird took off she could jump about 6 ft in the air and bring it down by the wing. Amazing to watch. She wasn’t all that smart but instincts she had more than enough of.
aangus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tctzUNMp5po
lamh36
@Mike J: as I understood she will be “Thor” not Thorina or She-Thor. It won’t be like Wonder Woman who was basically still Wonder Woman with Thor ‘s Hammer. Even with the hammer she just had “the power of Thor”. In the new editons the woman will just be “Thor”.
At least that was my understanding from the first round of interviews after the announcement
David Koch
Welcome to Obama’s Amerika
aangus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYnE6Fpkw98
PurpleGirl
@Ruckus: My friends’ cat — Rowdy — once brought me a bird. I wrapped it in paper and put in the garbage can and told Rowdy that I appreciated that he liked me and wanted to show me but he didn’t have to bring me more birds. Rowdy was the neighborhood mouser and neighbors were sad when my friends moved to Florida. Rowdy was an indoor-outdoor cat. He knew how to use the dog door to leave the house.
NotMax
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole
I’ll drink to that.
One day at a time.
Tommy
@Mike J: Yes found worthy. It isn’t a static role.
Suzanne
@PurpleGirl: My cats are both scorpion hunters. I keep them indoors only, but they are allowed to hunt anything smaller than them that comes inside. It works well.
aangus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pQ0zMDJKkbg
burnspbesq
Go kick its ass, Cole. You can do this. A friend of mine just celebrated nine years of sobriety last week. Same friend got engaged today. Congrats to David and Ben.
Mnemosyne
@maven:
Here you go.
Also, one of the researchers in the original 2011 study was found guilty of trying to poison feral cats, so I’m not sure we can really conclude that the Smithsonian’s research has been unbiased.
Radio One
I’m not going to say why I think this post seems like a simultaneous criticism of tv shows like Halt and Catch Fire and Game of Thrones fourth season.
Narcissus
Good luck, Cole.
Narcissus
When you introduce yourself in group don’t open with the bondage stuff
PNW_WarriorWoman
Love you John. A poem for you. The House of Belonging
aangus
As a non-practicing alcoholic & rehab “client”, let it be known that it is possible!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEA6gzAAPfc
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
Time for a bell for Steve. Srsly, consider it. He’ll hate everyone in the world for 2 – 4 days, then he’ll get over it.
I get the difficulty in getting a bed in detox. Had a roommate who needed the same thing. In all my calls, I’d get, “just make sure they have access to alcohol and keep checking back.” Fortunately, living in a major metro area, I finally found a bed within 30 miles. Thank Rotini my rooomie was a happy drunk, although the fact they smoked always left me nervous when I had to be at work.
Someone else I know just showed up in the ER with withdrawal tremors. Bang!, just like that, they were ahead of everyone else but the massive trauma patients. And, yes, they got a bed for 48 hours, even if it wasn’t in rehab. (KIDS: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME; UNATTENDED ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL CAN KILL YOU.)
Heck, knowing what I do about ethanol withdrawal, if I’m asked for spare change by an obvious drunk, I always give them whatever I have that will at least get them through the night. No one should have to convulse or stroke out on the street for lack of access to proper care — or a simple bottle of fortified wine.
Tommy
@PurpleGirl: I got my cat, now I ponder it, more years ago then I said. Being abused as a maybe 12-15 week old kittens in front of me (her sis as well — took her in as well but that is another story). Children 12-14 where throwing the cats into a kitty pool and laughing.
Took both of them home. Maybe three months later I touched her for the first time. She was so freaked out the room I put her in if I walked into it she ran into walls. I left her my clothing I had worn to smell. Laid for hours on the floor reading just to get her used to her being around me.
Success!
She is a cat so she does her own shit.
But generally speaking she is never more then a few feet from me. I hate to confess at times it is kind of difficult and she pisses me off. A long day of work and she is there on my lap. I don’t know how may thousands of times I have gently pushed her off, but she comes back again and again.
She is a rock star cat …….
aangus
@Narcissus:
Hi. I’m aangus and I’m an alcoholic.
How are you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSeaC_A9BXg&list=PLC8AE19F91EB0D73D
maven
@Mnemosyne: Yes, a feral cat rescue group. I also rescue. But the point is that Cats Kill Billions of native birds a year. More than pesticides. More than windmills. More than GMO’s.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/29/cats-wild-birds-mammals-study/1873871/
(I also belong to the Audubon Society)
Anyone interested in native animal populations will responsibly research this topic.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@Tommy: Hell, I live within 2 miles of downtown Seattle, and we have raccoons and possums (godDAMN those things look scary as shit), and even owls. Big, BIG proponent of keeping the felines indoors at all times. Not to mention, there’s other cats, cars, ill-tempered dogs, sadistic psychos, etc. Neither Mrs. Pantload nor I can begin to fathom why someone would let their kitty out unattended. She has relatives who continue let their cats out, even though one of them simply never returned or was ever heard from again.
Just. Don’t. Understand.
Tommy
@maven: Imagine if every house in the US had a cat they let roam? Look I am with you. I get it. I am 45 and never had a dog. The ones I am looking at like to stake a kill things. I wouldn’t unleashed that on the public.
As a cat lover (and former 15+ ad executive) you need to work on our message and/or branding!
aangus
Give ’em hell, John.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCUEaVJV3s&list=RD02ZAejkh4rTjs
trollhattan
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole:
Don’t be not lucky then, damnit! Bureaucracies exist primarily to keep us humble, a mission at which they excel. As we all wish you a hearty fuck you, be well.
aangus
One last thought, before bed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyTge3XkLnw
See ya later.
maven
Well, hopefully the destruction of the native bird population will become as important as where John Cole finally ends up in ETOH treatment.
However, I doubt it will be a Contender.
aangus
I lied.
This time I’m done,
Fer sure :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQcV4lnT9vU
Good night all, and John, I meant what i said in that message.
Mrs. Skink
Pam, really? You will have some catching up to do when you come back to us, see you on the other side Mr. Cole…
Mike J
@maven: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stop-blaming-cats-as-many-as-988-million-birds-die-annually-in-window-collisions/2014/02/03/9837fe80-8866-11e3-916e-e01534b1e132_story.html
Mike J
@maven: http://www.voxfelina.com/2013/02/garbage-in-garbage-out/
wasabi gasp
Have a happy rehab. You can do it. Just say no.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJiCUdLBxuI
Pogonip
John, I do wish you a bed…but, dude, don’t you think it’s a little harsh for poor Shawn to have to keep his bowl on the floor? No wonder Steve felt sorry for him and made him a gift of the bird. (…”gave him the bird”…while grammatically correct, didn’t seem quite right here.)
mobile RoonieRoo
Good luck tomorrow Cole and WOW on Steve! Maybe it was just his way of telling you not to worry while you are gone. Steve’s got this!
Jewish Steel
Our 15 yo basenji girl caught a rabbit in the back yard last year. Broke it’s back and was skinning it in front of the fascinated and horrified basenji boys when I found her. The boys, neither of whom have the slightest hunting skill. If humanity goes tits up, they better stick with her if they want to see supper ever again. And take notes!
Joseph Nobles
I had such a nutty night at work, I wrote in my shift transition email that I would escape all the crazy by watching True Blood. And I did.
stibbert
@cckids: Have had some mental-health probs, adequate insurance-coverage is a big help.
I recall it was the 60th anniversary of Normandy D-day when I fronted up for some help – after several weeks of increasing inability at work (I could barely speak, & couldn’t do basic math) I didn’t drive to work that morning, but instead went to Allegheny General to beg for aid. Fortunately, I didn’t get tied up in emerg-room, but was sent to an upper-floor situation, where I interviewed w/ a nurse & MD. But they didn’t take me serious, after 1/2-hour of interview I was getting nowhere, so I just uncorked it, started to yell & chew the scenery. Fortunately I got their attention, got some scrips, got a weekly appointment, got a bit of breathing-space & eventually made it through that crisis.
At the time, I knew I wasn’t thinking quite right, but I could still keep a decent emotional grip. What scared me witless was I couldn’t cope w/ simple problems, such as math equations involving sines & tangents, or totalizing a series of area measurements. I was in a bad way, but fortunately got the help I needed.
Well that episode was a bit instructive for me, ‘cos when 2+2 aren’t adding up to 4, it’s time to take a break & get re-aligned. So I can only wish the best for JC & his entire household – Shawn, the naminals, the pretend-dead birds, the FPer’s & all youse of the commentarirant.
Gvg
You need a screened porch for the cat. then keep him inside. Outside is too dangerous for cats IMO. they live longer inside. also a screened porch gives you a 2nd set of doors so you can keep them from bolting out without your permission, like an airlock. My current cat is a rescued feral who was born outside now kept indoors. he gets out now and then but is quickly caught. Usually he wants the attention pretty clearly but sometimes he runs to patches where the lawn is too long and eats grass so we bring it to him or stand around while he grazes. apparently it makes it easier to get rid of hair balls, yuck, but I guess he needs it. next cat chases lizards up the screens on the wrong side, lizard outside, cat inside. I planted butterfly plants near the screen but cats liked the lizards better, so now I just plant flowers for me.
Aleta
“Brains will only get you so far, and luck always runs out.”
– Harvey Keitel, Thelma & Louise
One cat (Maine coon-type) (“Type B” ? *) used to bring big green frogs the size of his head through the cat door and gently set them down on the kitchen floor in front of us, unharmed. Then he’d sit there at his party purring.
* Type B: “Enjoying achievement but …they do not lose their minds; and either enjoy the game or back down.” (Wpedia)
The other one (blue tortie-type) (“Type A”? **) eventually settled on chipmunks, which by nature will faint and look dead until set down. Sometimes when I slept late, there would be one chipmunk each in 3-4 different rooms, chirping to each other like undercover agents behind enemy lines. It took me days to catch them all.
** Type A: “free-floating hostility, triggered by even minor incidents; time urgency and impatience, “short-fused”; and an achievement-driven mentality” (Wpedia)
Now I use breakaway collars made in Vermont, and put 3 bells on each collar so they jangle together. The feisty cat loses several collars every summer, but with bells on they don’t catch a thing.
Sifu Snafu
@maven: You’ve clearly swayed everyone now with the power of that rhetorical bombshell. Congratulations, you snide, sad little shit.
Cervantes
@stibbert: Thank you for writing. Are you doing better these days?
Cervantes
@Sifu Snafu: Some people care a bit more about birds. Some people care a bit more about cats. And some people care a bit more about other people.
rikyrah
Good luck Cole. Prayers to you on this journey.
Manyakitty
@John (MCCARTHY) Cole: Here’s hoping the bureaucratic morons don’t bite you in the ass again!
Nanzee
Best wishes.
I don’t know if this will help but during your intake assessment, you might want to stress the physical effects and how your efforts to deal with your addiction on an out-patient basis have been unsuccessful. If you are depressed, and I think you’ve described that state, please stress that as well.
I hope that you are able to get what you need.
However, I used to be able to rescue birds from my outdoor cat by bribing him with catnip; ie: drug the cat but not yourself. Inconsistent, I know.
WaterGirl
Love, you Cole. You’re fighting this hard to get in somewhere so you can get help, so I know you’ll have the fight you’re gonna need once you get in.
I hope today is the day.
WereBear
@maven: The largest killer of our native bird population is pesticide use and habitat destruction.
More people than ever before keep their cats indoors.
Don’t spread a lie.
WereBear
Wishing you a rehab bed, John!
CnyOrange
I once saw one of our barn cats catch a bird in mid flight-the birds were clearly antagonizing the cat for fun but one got to close and the cat jumped and snagged the bird in mid flight. The rest of the birds went batshit.
Another Holocene Human (now with new computer)
@Tommy:
Marvel, my man. Not DC. DC has gone in the exact opposite direction since Dan Didio took the helm. They’ve lost market share at the same time and can only take the bleeding because the “real money” is on the animated side, although they’ve been imo fucking that up as well. I don’t really follow YOUNG JUSTICE closely but there was some crap with that had to do with young female fans. Plus the creator of STATIC, Dwayne McDuffie passed away suddenly last year. He saved JLU from complete suckage and he was writing JLA but with the editors writing herd on him for fear he’d turn their flagship into an “ethnic” title. Racists like young glibertarian Geoff Johns are more the “new” DC’s speed. Or woman in refrigerators Gail Simone who has Amanda Marcotte race problems.
“New 52” wasn’t about Infinite Crisis on Infinite Earths. They had rewritten that stuff over the years where it was just where they wanted it. It followed some business deals to completely turn over control of WildStorm, which was cofounded by a couple of asian dudes, and Milestone, which was founded by African-Americans as a DC imprint in the early 90s, to DC. Once they did this they did the New 52 which allowed them to cherry pick characters that they liked in those universes (basically Grifter and, uh, Grifter, and, yeah, uh, Static, he had a TV show but it didn’t sell enough toys but we want McDuffie to stick around so sure, we’ll do a Static mini, uh huh) and ditch the rest. The whole point of New 52 was to get rid of WSU and also get a free hand to use any Milestone character they wanted to although to be clear, Milestone was always part of DCU, just in “Dakota City” ie Detroit, and originally, if Milestone and DC characters teamed up it was billed as a crossover. (Milestone, before it was shut down, also did some really great comics, such as Xombi and Static itself, great titles, groundbreaking, the art is amazing.)
One really telling thing about what happened with DC is that characters from the acclaimed Batman Animated Series were folded into the comics continuity but under Didio they’ve been exploited, sidelined, or killed off. Renee Montoya is the Question? (Think Rorschach from WATCHMEN) The what what? And Harley–jesus.
DC in the 1980s a) wrote better comic books that felt like a whole story at 22 pages and not a rip off b) had teams with way more diversity than today c) did not treat female characters in such a condescending way. The worst female title I can think of from the 80s is She-Hulk and that was Marvel. I mean, DC had Infinity, Inc. I’ll admit it, I fucking downloaded scans of that comic. It’s really good. Where are those characters now? Killed off, made into villains (in a way that fails all over itself re: mental illness), completely retconned. DC stands athwart modernity shouting “DO NOT WANT!”
Turner Hedenkoff
Best of luck, John. All available appendages crossed for you.
Another Holocene Human (now with new computer)
@WereBear: No shit. DDT killed the raptors. They’re only now coming back.
People forget there were native cats in North America and somehow there were plenty of songbirds before the massive habitat destruction and agricultural pesticide use that started in the 19th century.
chef hiking
John, I did rehab about 4 years ago. Best thing I ever did for myself. If you ever need to talk to another alcoholic. I am here for you. I assume you can get my email from this comment. Also, I volunteer at Maine’s AA hot line. csoaamaine.org will get you their phone number and meetings. Know that there are lots of people that want to help you. If this one does not work out. Try Father Martin’s Ashley.
shelley
Hope all goes the way you want it, John. But sorry about the ‘won’t hear from me for awhile…” Do these places keep you incommunicado the entire time?
stibbert
@Cervantes: yes, that episode I described was a low-point 10 years ago. Currently I’m recovering from a depressive episode that started this past January, & have just returned home from hospital 4 days ago, had an upper-left lung lobectomy. Fortunately, the path reports say I’m cancer-free, & the tests / diagnoses / surgery didn’t add any weight to my depression.
I signed up for an affordable plan from healthcare.gov on 12/31/13, so I’ve been spared from a complete financial wipe-out – thank FSM for the PPACA legislation.
I’ve had fair decent insurance coverage this year for my mental- & medical-health needs, as well as good family support.
So certain thanks are due to my sister, my therapist, my doctors, & even my health-insurance company, which was in touch w/ me to get me straight w/ pre- & post-op care. Some several dozens of folks were involved – they’ll get paid & I won’t have to declare bankruptcy. It’s a new lease on life for me, I’ll get a bit more daily exercise, & hope to re-enter that job-market w/ better breathing on my side. Feeling more feisty & determined than I’ve been in a long while, & it’s not all residual effects from the morphine at the hospital, either. Gonna put a beast in view for my chase, & make a few new drawings on the journey.
Cervantes
@stibbert: Glad to hear the path is less perilous.
May the road rise to meet you on your journey.
c u n d gulag
Best of luck, John! :-)
randy khan
@maven: I’m reasonably well educated in these things, and those studies always have struck me as too pat. Most birds – particularly the kinds that cats hunt – have very short lifespans (that robin people think is coming back to their yards every spring probably actually is a different robin each year), and I haven’t seen a study that analyzes excess mortality as a result of cats versus total mortality. And, of course, many more birds die from hitting buildings and other human-constructed structures than from cats hunting.
That said, as a cat owner, I wouldn’t let my cats spend any time outdoors where they can hunt. The furthest any of ours get is the screened porch. The outdoors is dangerous for cats and I really don’t want to contribute to whatever number of birds cats actually kill.
Lurker
How long will you be away, John? Is Shawn taking care of the piglets and Steve in your absence? Will we get pictures of said piglets and Steve regularly?
Good luck to you John! You are embarking on a difficult process, but I trust you will complete it with flying colors.
Lurker
I wish you to find a bed in a rehab facility ASAP. You’ve worked very hard to find one.
Another Holocene Human (now with new computer)
@randy khan: Yeah that’s a really good point about the buildings and other man-made structures.
It’s a lot easier to nag people online about their housecats than do the infrastructure investments necessary to keep crows and other birds from flying into glass.
Cervantes
@Another Holocene Human (now with new computer):
If those are the two biggest causes of songbird fatalities, which is what I’ve read, then I’m not sure what your point is. Why not address both causes? And if addressing one cause is less expensive than addressing the other, why not start with it?
Louis
John, I have read there are debunks of cats being the worst killers, but do not know the links. Hope you are well caring for yourself. Keep on keeping on (showing my age), do the next right thing, be gentle with yourself and get that help. Good luck with tomorrow.
Louis
John, I have read there are debunks of cats being the worst killers, but do not know the links. Hope you are well caring for yourself. Keep on keeping on (showing my age), do the next right thing, be gentle with yourself and get that help. Good luck with tomorrow.
xian
take care of yourself, big guy
Edith
John, just want to let you know how much reading your posts means to me. I look forward to when you are back, confident, and going to meetings. Good luck at rehab, it’s been 10,683 days for me a day at a time. Take good care of yourself.
Mnemosyne
@maven:
That is the exact same research study. Please respond to the debunking that I linked you to rather than posting links to different coverage of the same study over and over again.
Just because a study gets widespread coverage doesn’t mean it’s automatically more accurate than others. Linking to multiple news stories about the same study doesn’t fix the problems with that study.
ixnay
@maven: http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=945
Note that most of the claims are about feral cats.
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
Good luck to you, Cole. And since you probably missed my prior message amid a zillion posts, I’m gonna repeat myself. I’ve been a social worker for more than two decades, so it’s experience talking when I tell you:
YOU CAN DO THIS.
Cinthia
I never comment, but I read your blog every day (even when you supported Bush the younger and the ran smack in Terri Shivo) It’s a long road, not an easy one…been there, done that…..you CAN make it to the other side. Wishing you nothing but strength and the best….but be weak when you are and take the help that’s offered. So sorry it took you so long to find some help.
pika
All best, John.
Delk
John, the message I took away from my meeting this morning:
May any disruptions be met with serenity.
LT
@Johngcole
DUDE, how do you live that long and not know birds get stunned and sometimes just need a minute (or more) to come out of it? Really common. The thing to watch for is broken wings. Even if they come out of a stun – if they can’t fly, they’re food.
EDIT: That sounds prickish and condescending. Sorry.
Nicole
You go to rehab and your last memories of True Blood feature Pam dressed up like a “Republicunt,” as she put it. It’s like your past and future (fantasy) all together in a package for you. If that’s not a good sign, I don’t know what is.
As for me, I don’t even like blonds, but- ERIC IN A BOLO TIE.
Sending all the “that bed better be fucking available for you tomorrow” thoughts.
Nicole
You go to rehab and your last memories of True Blood feature Pam dressed up like a “Republic*nt,” as she put it. It’s like your past and future (fantasy) all together in a package for you. If that’s not a good sign, I don’t know what is.
As for me, I don’t even like blonds, but- ERIC IN A BOLO TIE.
Sending all the “that bed better be fucking available for you tomorrow” thoughts.
Nicole
@Nicole: @Nicole: agh! The dreaded double post! I’m sorry. I swear the screen said the first comment didn’t post and I assumed it was because the site didn’t approve of Pam’s potty mouth.
Culture of Truth
Great story. Good for Steve!
Not surprised the bird flew away. Halfway through the tale, I was thinking, that bird is probably fine. Cats like to catch birds gently and play with them.
Also, obey.