Many of you have been clamoring for Steve pictures, so here is an “action” shot:
It’s been a long winter, so he needs to work on brush up on his hunting skills. Just a little.
I sat on the back porch taunting him. “You’re not fooling anyone, fat boy.” “You waiting for one to fall out of the feeder, you lazy bastard?”
Etc.
HinTN
etc. !!!
SuperHrefna
Steve! The perfect end to the day. He looks so mighty and handsome, and yes, he is definitely waiting for one to just fall in his mouth, all feathery deliciousness.
trollhattan
Hey now, birds get fat and lazy too!
Violet
Love the name you gave this photo. Steve the big, strong hunter!
Hildebrand
We used to raise holy hell when kids would ‘guard’ during neighborhood kick-the-can games. Your birds should be pissed.
kc
What a splendid beast he is.
danielx
He appears to be exercising some Tunch Zen.
Zinsky
I thought it had been impaled!
Josie
He’s meditating the birds into his mouth.
Tree With Water
What I want to know is if any birds had the courage to taunt Steve by feeding? Because if none did, then it seems to me Steve is the one having the last laugh here. He’s telling his natural prey the birds it’s his territory, and they’ll forget that at their own peril. He’s giving them fair warning, because he’s a cool cat.
Hal
Reposting a short, beautiful and inspirational video about exploring the solar system.
https://vimeo.com/108650530
east is east
Domestic cats kill a billion birds a year.
Karen in GA
Steve doesn’t have to move for anybody.
At last, today was the day the new laminate flooring installation was to start — but they ordered the wrong stair tread, and we have some moisture issues in a couple of spots thanks to our 16 year old tabby. We have to fix the moisture spots and await the arrival of the correct stair treads, so it won’t be installed for another couple of weeks at best. Meanwhile, we’ve already pulled up most of the carpet and padding, boxed a lot of stuff and moved furniture out of the way. The house has been in varying stages of “Christ, what a disaster” for weeks since we had part of the dining room wall knocked down — stuff boxed up and put away, furniture moved to weird places to allow access for contractors, subfloor exposed, etc. It was okay back when I excited about this, but now I’m just tired of living in a house that looks like a bomb hit it, and I’ve lost all motivation. I’d paint the front bedroom while waiting for the new flooring to finally be put in, but what’s the point? This will never be finished.
Eh. First world problems. Pardon my loss of perspective.
Keith G
@east is east:
Questions have been raised as to how accurate the “billion” figure actually is.
SiubhanDuinne
@Karen in GA:
Yeah, it actually will. At some point. Hang in there, it will all be worth it. (Perhaps kinda like childbirth, or so I’m told.) You will take great, artistic photos of the renovations. All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
Baud
@Keith G:
Cat polling is notoriously unreliable.
srv
@Keith G: It’s a debate between whether cats are a Pol-Pot Level or Hitler Level of birdocide a week.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: Cats need no stinking polls. They do whatever they please. My boss cat woke me up this morning by biting the hand that feeds him. He even drew blood. He is a badass kitteh.
jibeaux
I plant tomatoes every year, love them, and every year, even in a brand new location I dug up, they get fusarium wilt. I read something new this year, to mix in some powdered or even liquid skim milk with the soil before planting. I had some powdered milk, so I didn’t have anything to lose, but I’m skeptical that’s going to kill fungi in the soil. Anyone have experience with this or any luck with anything beating back fusarium? I really like heirlooms and don’t want to have to only plant hybrids, although I do a little of everything.
schrodinger's cat
@srv: Neither, it is Chairman Meow level.
east is east
@Keith G: My cat, Alice, before she disappeared, was an avid hunter. A few years ago she was stalking under a tree where two blue jays had their nest. They were swooping down and making a racket in an effort to protect their young. I chased Alice away and felt that the situation had been neutralized. The next morning Alice delivered a baby blue jay with no head to my back door. No more cats for me.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: Good thing you were still alive or you might have gotten eaten.
SiubhanDuinne
This is wrong of me. Sorry.
I’m seeing the attorney for the shooter guy (buy-a-deputy) in Oklahoma, on CNN, and he (attorney) looks like an absolute charlatan. A kind of sleazy Harold Hill vibe. The sound was muted, so I have no idea what he said, but he simply oiled his way through the screen.
Speaking of CNN, I had to chuckle earlier this evening when the screen was full of BREAKING NEWS!!! HILLARY CLINTON ARRIVES IN IOWA!! Seriously, if they waste their flaming graphics and breaking news crawls on this shit, what are they going to have available when World War III breaks out?
Ajabu
For anybody who might have missed my pleading on a Sunday open thread – Here it is again. (And to those who responded. Thanks! and bear with me…)
Very Important (to me) Announcement!
(and with Cole’s blessing…)
Dear BJ family:
I’m a daily continual reader of Balloon Juice — I won’t call myself a lurker
because that sounds vaguely sinister & sleazy — but rarely post anything.
However, I feel like I know you all and have no qualms about asking for your support. Here’s the deal:
I’ve been a working jazz musician all my life and this year marks my 50th year as a professional. Having missed the ‘regular job’ step in my career trajectory I find myself old & broke, working until I fall over my instrument one day which will constitute retirement.
To celebrate the milestone of 50 years I’m trying to do a CD for release around September.
I’ve put up a Kickstarter page to pay for it. (Personally, I can barely afford to pay attention…) The problem is that I’m going to need a shitload of small donations to make this work. The Kickstarter model is that if you fail to meet your funding goal you get nothing. Nobody’s card is charged unless it’s fully funded. And it’s a tight window. 30 days total.
I’d be very grateful if you guys could throw a few dollars my way to get this
done. It’s going to be a really nice project. Nearly all original material performed on vibraphone, marimba and steel pan.
Instrumental jazz music with West Indian roots. You’ll love it!
Thanks for considering me and I’ll make sure that anyone who identifies
themselves as a Balloon Juicer will get something extra along with their CD. (But it won’t be a puppy.)
The link is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1939410000/50th-anniversary-cd
Thanks again!!
Don Moors
P.S. My personal website (http://www.donmoors.com) is a valuable resource if you’re ever on Jeopardy and the category is ‘aging vibraphonist trivia’.
Tree With Water
@east is east: You wouldn’t have got very far in ancient Egypt with remarks like that..
Elizabelle
The cat across the street is meth-crazed at the prospect of killing young small animals. Took a swipe at me last month and drew blood — and he likes me — to stay in practice or because he can’t stop himself. Like a hormonal teenage boy.
He is romancing a cherry tree that has been the source of tiny birds in years past. Out there constantly.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hal:
Watched that a day or two ago (maybe you posted the link, can’t remember). Beautiful and moving and inspirational.
Elizabelle
@Ajabu: I’ll check it out. Have nothing like that in my collection.
Was listening to the Brothers Johnson and then Tchaikovsky earlier today.
ETA: And early morning viewing was Tavis Smiley interviewing Bill Withers. Thought Withers died years ago; delighted to find he is still with us.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: Biter kitteh spared my life because I got up and fed him.
Davis X. Machina
My Twitter-thingy is telling me Deval Patrick is going to work for Bain Capital…
east is east
@SiubhanDuinne: I was watching CNN in the early 2000’s and the crawl informed me that on that day Bob Dylan had turned 650 years old.
currants
@jibeaux: No, but last year I planted mine with egg shells crumbled underneath. I think that was for blossom end rot, but I can’t say it worked. Did get some of my egg shells out into useful space, and added a little tilth to the raised beds, so at least there was that.
scuffletuffle
@east is east: My visiting cat dropped one at my feet this morning as I got out of the shower, so there’s one for you. One of my domestic’s promptly made off with it, and he gave chase. Found what was left when I go home from work.
Gin & Tonic
@east is east: One of our two cats is an avid hunter, but of furry, not feathered creatures. Mice, voles, chipmunks are often left in various parts on the steps. But she seems uninterested in birds, and I don’t think has killed one in several years. The other cat is much lazier, and knows that all she has to do to get food is to stand in the kitchen and purr.
Elizabelle
@efgoldman: I’d be good if that happened without a WW in the background.
WaterGirl
@Baud: As usual, they are missing all the cats who only have cell phones. Land line kitties are just not a representative sample!
TaMara (BHF)
@Elizabelle: My friends have a cherry tree on the edge of their property. Every year the birds feast on the cherries and get drunk off their little feathered asses. They literally fall into the waiting mouth of the cat. It’s like cat Thanksgiving. It’s mostly robins.
Then they go on to procreate and our furry friend waits until next “thanksgiving’ for his treats.
I wouldn’t call him a mighty hunter.
SuperHrefna
@Ajabu: I’m glad you posted this again, because I was feeling sorry I hadn’t backed you the first time you posted it. I’ve backed you now, good luck with getting this fully financed! Have you tried publicizing your project on music blogs? And have you looked into Band Camp and/or Sound Cloud? They might help you if the cd thing doesn’t work out, you can digitally distribute your music. Fifty years of devoting yourself to your art deserves a rousing celebration!!
Karen in GA
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. Relaxing on the sofa now. The TV’s on low, since it’s only about four feet away. And I’m listening to the frogs in the backyard. (Yes. Frogs. This is a new thing.)
Have to go medicate Phoebe, the World’s Most Affectionate Cat now. Thyroid meds and ear drops. She hates me.
Baud
@Davis X. Machina:
Did he first kill all the younglings?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
The polls are definitely skewed.
WaterGirl
@SuperHrefna: uh, oh. I have it on good authority that you are on drugs. Stay away from the home shopping network. :-)
srv
BJ Federal Prosecuters Report!
What are the odds the Blackwater sentencings get overturned? Didn’t Bush write a law to get-of-jail-free for contractors?
How many US gov’t foreign contractors been convicted under the law they used?
SuperHrefna
@WaterGirl: I know, having an Internet connection is dangerous when the doctors have you hopped up on the good stuff. So far tonight I’ve backed Don’s kickstarter and bought a set of make up from this new company my brother’s best friend from college just started – I’m not totally sure about her concept, which is that makeup is sized too large and what we need is smaller make up that is easily to carry around and use up before it expires, but I like her entrepreneurial spirit so I bought a set to support her. And who knows, the make up could be good!
SiubhanDuinne
@srv:
It’s the Tonton Ma-CUTE!
SuperHrefna
@SiubhanDuinne: LOL
SiubhanDuinne
@east is east:
Sadly, I have no trouble believing that.
mainmata
@Tree With Water: Having lived in Egypt quite a while, you are correct. Cairo is completely overrun with feral cats that are fed by the local populace (for pre-Islamic cultural reasons) and yet there are a lot of birds that are totally onto those cats and ignore them. Also, Egypt is a huge flyway for seasonally migratory birds (Asia to Africa) so the place is really crazy for birds.
NotMax
The wheels of justice grind slow, but grind they do.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@SiubhanDuinne:
I thought they were Meow-Meows.
jl
The cats of Cole seem to follow certain tendencies. Is that a coincidence?
Thnx for riveting action shot petpic.
Aleta
@east is east:
If I put three jingle bells onto a breakaway collar, it works great. (Perhaps then the failures also condition her to stop trying as much.) If she loses the collar and I don’t replace it right away, she resumes catching after 3-4 days. During migrating and nesting seasons I keep her in entirely, or just let her out for a few hours at night or in pouring rain.
The other cat is a master at falling asleep in the sun or feigning indifference until a vole bumbles along and falls over his paw. A lot of technique and daily practice goes into perfecting that form.
lamh36
@Elizabelle: I think he’s being inducted into hall of fame this year?
srv
@NotMax: They used domestic gangland automatic weapons laws against contractors in Iraq?
What was Blackwater supposed to use, slingshots?
srv
@Steeplejack (tablet): No, Mao-Maos.
He was worser than Hitler.
Mike E
@Keith G: Domestic cats do damage, but buildings probably kill more birds.
A British research team tracked a village’s cats with GPS and video collar rigs, and they found that humans maybe are altering the wild hunter instinct with (wait for it) treats!
lamh36
So a friend on FB was posting how great Carol Burnett’s classic skits were. Carol Burnett was on Jimmy Fallon sometime last year, and she talked about how she was able to not crack up during sketches like Tim and Harvery did.
Carol Burnett’s Painful Trick to Keep from Breaking
Then 81 year old Carol Burnett proceeded to do an improv skit with Jimmy Fallon called Tensions and she was as sharp and funny as ever.
Tensions with Carol Burnett
Made me wonder if Carol Burnett has ever hosted SNL, and then made me wonder if she hasn’t, then WHY.THE.HELL.NOT! Hell, John McCain’s old ass has hosted twice right?
Anne Laurie
@jibeaux:
I’ve had good results with Serenade — which was recommended to me by a couple of plant scientists right here on Balloon Juice. Available at most garden centers & even big-box hardware stores, these days. Main problem is it washes off, so when we get the New England summer sequence of ‘two days dry, one day rain, one day dry, three days rain’ I can’t always keep up with the re-application. (It even kept our lilacs from developing harmless-yet-unsightly powdery mildew, which pleased the Spousal Unit.)
There’s also Actinovate, and something called Excel LG.
(I’m gonna look into those battery-powered sprayers — didn’t realize you could get a ‘hand’ model for under a hundred bucks… )
Scamp Dog
@Ajabu: Ack! I signed up yesterday, but didn’t note myself as a Juicer. Is there any way to fix that? Either way, I’m looking forward to getting the CD.
Major Major Major Major
How does my cat know birds are food? He makes that “frustrated cat” noise every time he spies a pigeon but he’s never been outside even. It’s not like they watch TV…
PurpleGirl
@Keith G: Besides, don’t ‘feral’ or natural cats hunt for small rodents and birds to eat. Cats aren’t vegetarian so plants don’t cut it as a food source.
east is east
@Aleta: Belling the cat is a goo idea but it doesn’t help birdlings in the nest. And cats are so good at keeping perfectly still until the kill. Still, anything helps. I hate to see the chipmonks and the birds killed. If only they would unionize with the squirrels.
Major Major Major Major
@PurpleGirl: mine certainly enjoys bromeliaceae
NotMax
@srv
Really hope you’re trying for snark there, as the point of the finding is that they weren’t “supposed to use” them at all in that situation at that time.
The entire process of hiring and deploying private mercenaries stinks to high heaven. Always has, always shall.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Thanks for the action shot. Glad your shutter speed was appropriate that we could see it clearly. It’s always delightful to see Steve.
PurpleGirl
@east is east: If you didn’t like your cat, Alice, stalking other critters, why didn’t you keep the cat indoors? Alice couldn’t get the bird if she was an indoor cat, now could she?
MattF
Via TPM, Idaho legislators go full crazy:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/idaho-sharia-law-fear
east is east
@PurpleGirl: Cats are wanting to be outside. I’m not one to restrict a critter’s nature. All my beasts run free.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@east is east:
Humans domesticated cats to use them as pest control for rodents and birds. It’s a little weird that you don’t want to “go against nature” by keeping them indoors, but then you resent that they do what comes naturally.
My cats are indoor-only, because the nearby freeway full of cars is not natural.
Aleta
@Major Major Major Major: Once I read that cat brains may be pre-programmed to recognize the bird shape, just like some humans may have pre-programmed triggers to the shapes of poisonous insects/reptiles.
scav
@MattF: Sharia has very firm convictions about pizza delivery not to mention cupcake decoration for Same Sex Ramadan parties. Gotta be vigilant.
east is east
@Mnemosyne (tablet): And that’s why I don’t have cats anymore. I didn’t resent Alice for what she did, moron.
Mike E
@east is east: It’s best to not have cats then, if keeping them indoors isn’t an option.
A good line from The Walking Dead: There’s nothing sadder than an outdoor cat who thinks he’s an indoor cat.
KG
As an American of Cuban descent, I feel like I should be proud, on some level, that not one but TWO Cuban-Americans are running for president in one of the major political parties. And yet, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio… fml
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@east is east:
Clearly you did resent her killing things, since that’s why you decided not to have cats anymore.
If you have dogs instead, I wouldn’t fool myself about them being sweet and kind to all living things. They’re happy to kill other animals, too.
Major Major Major Major
I tried to take my cat outside one time. We have a little carport area behind the building.
I still have a scar from how quickly and violently he escaped my arms and ran…
back inside.
Violet
@lamh36: Carol Burnett is so funny. I’d love to see her host SNL. Can Tim Conway make an appearance too. The Carol Burnett Show has some of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on television.
east is east
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Clearly, you’re a moron.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
PurpleGirl
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Good answer, better than anything I could have thought of right now. Thanks.
Violet
@east is east:
What sort of “beasts” do you have that you allow to “run free”?
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@east is east:
I’m not the one saying that it’s unnatural to keep cats indoors but that you won’t have cats anymore because they kill things while they’re outdoors. There’s a simple solution, but you’d rather blame the cat for doing what comes naturally.
east is east
@Violet: My dogs, under supervision. Should I keep them indoors too?
kc
@Baud:
They all exaggerate.
east is east
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I didn’t blame anyone. How dense are you?
SuperHrefna
@east is east: My late tabby Kel used to leave half eaten squirrels all over the garden. I miss him so much, but I don’t miss having to dispose of the corpses. I used to scold him to finish up his meals before catching another one, but he’d start at the head, eat as much as he fancied, then go off to catch another. It’s not that I didn’t feed him, it’s just that apparently his kibbles were deficient in squirrel brains?
My youngest cat, Tobermory, is indoors only, I raised him that way partly because I feel guilty about my pets’ killing sprees and partly because I hadn’t realized before I got him how obviously showcatty he’d look and I’m frightened of someone stealing his handsome little self. He’s my first non- rescue cat, bought after having my heart broken by three rescue cats dying of horrible illnesses. I went to a breeder who works hard to breed healthy cats in the hope of delaying the inevitable heartbreak as long as possible.
My older cat goes outdoors when she wants to during the day. And yeah, her death toll is pretty high. But I love her so much and I hate the thought of upsetting her by narrowing her world so drastically. My little boycat doesn’t know what he’s missing and he’s perfectly content, but she definitely would know, and she’d mind a lot. I think in future I will raise my cats to be indoors cats, but my Luna will get to live out her life under the old regime, bless her murderous little heart.
srv
@NotMax: Nope. I predict it will be overturned. Warping laws to placate fee-fees is still warping laws.
Question is if a decent plea will be offered before overturn.
Violet
@east is east: I don’t think “running free” and “outside under supervision” are the same thing. Allowing your dog to run in safe places is fine. Allowing your dog to “run free” suggests the dog gets to run wherever it wants whenever it wants, which can be dangerous for the dog and maybe for other animals and humans depending on the dog.
It’s my understanding that it’s not recommended that dogs be kept indoors but it is for cats. Several years ago a friend tried to adopt a cat from a standard animal shelter–not a breed-specific or very particular type of shelter–and she “failed” the application because she said she’d allow the cat to go outside.
east is east
@SuperHrefna: Half eaten squirrels? That must have been a bad ass cat. Even my dogs pause when they actually get close to catching one.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@east is east:
You blamed Alice for doing what comes naturally, and you refused to be a responsible cat owner by keeping her inside. I can’t quite figure out what the deep principle is supposed to be here — let animals act naturally until they gross you out, and then get rid of them?
Also, I’m pretty sure I can guess the names of your two dogs.
Hal
The wanna be cop who killed Eric Harris has been charged with manslaughter. I don’t expect a conviction, but this is a start.
Aleta
@east is east: Yes, I have to agree. And I think your decision is admirable. Though, keeping them indoors during the spring seems to work to protect the babies and fledglings. With chipmunks, the bells seem to work. (Not one bell, but multiple bells that hit each other.) I also keep them in when the chipmunks are intensively gathering in the fall. And other times according to the patterns of the wildlife.
east is east
@Violet: Dogs are dogs and only an idiot would let them run free. I take my dogs for daily runs in the woods. Intown they need to be harnessed. Cats, obviously, are not harnessed and we all make a decision whether they should be indoor or outdoor. I want all my beasts to be free and since cats are so murderous to birds and chipmonks I’ve made a decision not to have them because I like having their prey alive in my little vicinity.
east is east
@Mnemosyne (tablet): get a life
M. Bouffant
Newest in indoor felines.
Moving pix.
SuperHrefna
@east is east: Kel was something else, when he finally had to be put to sleep everyone at my Vet’s office came to say goodbye to him. Everyone loved him. He had long claws, but he never used them on people, he’d fight you for half an hour if you tried to give him a pill, but never once by biting or scratching. He was too gentlemanly for that. You can imagine how much the vet techs loved him! He was the undisputed king of the neighborhood, and a mighty hunter. He was the perfect cat as long as you were a human and not prey or another cat. He was too dominant to get on with other cats, really. He made their lives pretty miserable. Boy, do I miss him, though.
Mike E
@Major Major Major Major: My Hamish got out one night and I feared the worst for him since he was an avid climber (including banisters, drapes, blinds) and we had an apple tree behind the house…when I went back there I saw a pair of eyes looking back at me from near the treetop, and that’s when I heard the damn cat banging on the storm door! I never found out what that other animal was.
jl
@east is east:
I can’t have pets right now, but would have same problem making that decision if I had a cat.
Last two cats my folks had were terrified of the outdoors, so the whole problem has been avoided in my extended household.
In theory I would think cat harnesses would a be a solution. But then I remember what happened whenever I was around and my folks tried to put their cat in some weird veterinary harness to give it some medicine or clip its claws. What a disaster. And if the cat could wangle itself out of that straitjacket thing (just when you thought the cat HAD to be zipped up tight as bug) what chance would a mere harness have of holding a cat?
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
Same way the golden that I had as a child knew how to retrieve. She wasn’t good at much else but she could retrieve like nobodies business. Stalk birds on the lawn for ever and take them down by the wing. Never a lick of training.
Karen in GA
@Major Major Major Major: Our former stray, Elwood, joined our household when he showed up at the back door one day. We took him in, and kept him indoors. One day not long after we took him in, he snuck last my husband when he opened the front door and ran halfway down the length of the driveway. My husband called after him, “You sure?” Elwood stopped, turned and looked at my husband, then walked back into the house.
True story.
He’s content to hang out inside, chase his Da Bird toy occasionally, and sleep on the couch.
Ruckus
@Karen in GA:
“You sure?”
Great line, especially to a cat. Had an immediate picture in my head.
Amir Khalid
@Karen in GA:
Cats and dogs, and I think domesticated animals in general, understand human speech better than they usually care to let on.
east is east
@Karen in GA: Elwood thought–ordinarily I would fuck with this situation, lead it out, see how much I can get. Luckily he found his forever home.
jibeaux
@Anne Laurie: Thanks, I will look into all those. It rains every day here in the summer though, if only for ten minutes.
Karen in GA
@Amir Khalid: Yep.
One night I was in the kitchen when my cat Smudge walked in and sat in front of the cabinet where her food was. I had just filled her bowl a couple of minutes earlier. Here’s how our exchange went:
Smudge: Meow.
Me: I fed you.
Smudge: Meow.
Me: Yes I did.
Then she got up, walked past me to her bowl at the other end of the kitchen, stopped a couple of feet from her bowl, looked at it for a second, then started eating.
Steeplejack
WTF?! Just happened to accidentally catch (on the late news) the video of the Tulsa shooting by the amateur cop. For some reason I hadn’t realized before that the suspect already had been tackled and was presumably under control (or getting there) when
Paul Blart, mall cop,Robert Bates decided to tase him. I thought he was shot “on the run,” so to speak. Again, WTF.Not trying to get this whole thing going again in yet another thread. I already knew the situation was horrific. Just had to register that my gob was well and truly smacked.
jl
OK, this is getting spooky. That Steve has been sitting there for a long time now, and I don’t see how he has moved at all.
I want an action pic to show he not morphed into some kind of feline objet d’art.
Edit: the ‘action pic’ where Steve was busy disguising himself as something akin to a garden toad sculpture comes to mind. As with this pic, Cole claimed that Steve was ‘hunting’. Odd, the things you read on this blog.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
Steven Johnson at Medium makes the argument about California’s water crisis better than I can:
https://medium.com/matter/let-it-rain-ac793178d51c
Short version: it’s the agriculture, not the population.
Chickamin Slam
Yay Steve!
He is just waiting for something to make a wrong move and then … pounce.
Rainy here although they say it should dry out in a couple days.
Mike E
Just watched Snowpiercer and it was better than I had thought it would be.
Mary G
I bet you could knit a sweater from all the winter coat he will be shedding. Great picture.
east is east
@Mike E: Your expectations must have been very low.
Kropadope
@east is east: Hey, that was a good flick.
I just hope this new Mortal Kombat game is fun.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
Dog-hair sweaters are already a thing, so why not cat-hair sweaters? You’d have to be careful around friends with allergies, though.
jl
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Jerry Brown has pretty much admitted that he is not going after agriculture in the next round of conservation efforts. Not sue how much is political in that he thinks that sector has suffered enough (and i think it has suffered more than residential and industry). or prudent waiting and seeing if next year will be better before a really big chunk of ag is shut down, or political in that he gets a lot of money from ag water interests (though why? he is not running again).
(Edit: in interviews, he pretty much admitted he is not going to ask for incentives to, for example, get more drip irrigation installed.)
I see the info wars are beginning, with CA farm bureau spokespeople saying that agriculture only used 45 percent of the water. They keep this just short of a lie by saying at the end ‘and by water we mean all raindrops that fall on CA’. But only 50 to 60 percent of water that falls on the state can be reliably diverted into water system. So, agriculture does get about 80 percent of controllable and deliverable water. And I think some that is officially counted as environmental use does benefit agriculture, water being diverted into delta to keep salinity from SF Bay under control is an example.
I haven’t seen any figures that divvy up water use as portion of renewable sources, and aquifer draw downs. Those number would be interesting. With those twin satellites that can measure total near surface water content, last figure I read was CA 11 trillion gallons down, surface and subsurface since this period of drought began.
Heard an interesting interview with a UC hydrologist saying that it would be a very bad idea to run and build all the dams that have been planned, since a lot of them are designed to capture Sierra snow melt, of which there may not be much on a regular basis in 25 or 30 years.
east is east
@Kropadope: Really? I watched it on Netflix. It was truly awful. I just watched The Wolf of Wall Street. Decaprio does his Henry Hill impersonation. Very entertaining, especially the Quaalude scene.
Mandalay
As godawful, avoidable, horrendous clusterfucks go, this one is a doozy:
NotMax
@srv
Y’know, reading an article is often helpful. (emphasis added)
scav
For those looking for cheap thrills, Google has a Pony Express game up for the 155th.
Steeplejack
I see that Dog Day Afternoon is coming up on TCM at 2:15 a.m. EDT. Not my favorite Pacino movie, but it reminded me that Sunday I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Danny Collins in the theater. Pacino plays a semi-has-been ’70s rock star (Neil Diamond-ish?) who receives some potentially epochal information and tries to make some changes in his life. Not saying it’s the greatest movie ever, but it was much better than I expected going in. Pacino’s tendency to indulge his mannerisms actually works in his favor for a character who has been living in a cosseted celebrity bubble for decades, and the supporting cast is good, particularly Annette Bening and Bobby Cannavale. (Jennifer Garner is Jennifer Garner.) Short version: a non-sucko movie in the sucko time of year for movies.
Tenar Darell
@Hal: that was you then. Thank you! That was wonderful.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
So far as acting goes, Pacino is an acquired distaste.
/channeling Dorothy Parker
piratedan
@NotMax: I like it when he plays an overly emotional character… :-) Although I will say, his turn in The Godfather trilogy was pretty awesome.
Tenar Darell
@lamh36: We could petition, like with Bette White. It would be awesome!
Steeplejack
@NotMax, @piratedan:
The Godfather I and II are gold, Jerry, pure gold! Of course. Later Pacino, I thought he was amazingly good, with a pared-down, non-Pacino-esque performance, in Carlito’s Way, which is a very good little movie. Great soundtrack, Sean Penn is good too.
east is east
@piratedan: My offer to you is this. Nothing. And I would appreciate you paying the cost for Steve, Rosie, Lily, and Thurston’s vet fees.
Major Major Major Major
@Karen in GA: Had a sheltie growing up. She was, shall we say, enthusiastic, when it came to running back and forth in the back yard so much that she put a groove in the dirt.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike E: I like that movie, though I will admit I thought the fascists had a point. (Because I read the book, damn it.)
Anne Laurie
@Mary G:
I’ve been assured by knitting experts that cat hair makes lousy wool — it’s too fragile & breaks very easily. Professional spinners will mix it with lamb’s wool, if someone’s determined to honor their particular pet, but they charge more because it’s a pain to work. Dog hair, on the other hand, works just fine (& you get a lot more material from a Malamute or a Samoyed than from a whole clowder of cats!).
qwerty42
@Aleta:”If I put three jingle bells onto a breakaway collar, it works great. ”
A friend put a bell collar on her cat, but gave up when she saw the cat stalking a bird soundlessly. The collar made her a better hunter. My cat (RIP) occasionally got a bird, but was more into the rodentae (this is the country, so kittehs do have jobs).
Ajabu
@Elizabelle:
Interesting trivia point. James Gadson, who was the drummer on both of Bill Withers first two hit albums, was the one who mentored me into the L.A. studios so I could play on all the hits of the 70’s & 80’s. I’m very grateful to him. (Google his name…)
Ajabu
@SuperHrefna:
Let’s hope so.! It’s going to be a long haul to $15K in just over 3 weeks.
I’ll definitely check out your suggestions. Thanks.
And there will be a digital download, either way.
Ajabu
@Scamp Dog:
I don’t know how to fix it but shoot me a note on my personal email ([email protected]) and tell me what name you pledged under. I got you!
Manyakitty
@schrodinger’s cat: Ha! Schrodinger bites me every morning. And yet I still get up and feed him…
Trinity
Steve is glorious. May the feathered treats simply fall into his mouth.
Howard Beale IV
@lamh36: Some of those outtakes were hysterically brutal.
What was pleasing to see come out (sadly, it doesn’t look like it’s the entire series or the complete shows tho) is the Dean Martin Comedy roasts.
MissBarbie
@Keith G: habitat loss is responsible for most the decline in numbers of birds. The real estate industry would like all of us to swallow their propaganda. I found it quite improbable the first time I heard it.
imonlylurking
@jibeaux: Fusarium wilt appears to be pH dependent. I don’t know that adding powdered milk will change the pH into the ‘no wilt’ range, but lime will.
http://www.appalachianfeet.com/2012/02/13/how-to-prevent-fusarium-wilt-on-tomatoes/
Jebediah, RBG
@Amir Khalid:
My dogs have convinced me that this is true – but they seem to reserve the right to “play dumb” when understanding would be inconvenient for them.
Montarvillois
@east is east: However many birds that cats kill each year, I expect it’s miniscule compared to the number of birds that smash into walls-of-glass edifices.