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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

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Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Afternoon Open Thread

Afternoon Open Thread

by John Cole|  May 20, 20155:22 pm| 120 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Lot going on, and I have a couple of the fraternity boys staying this week because the dorms are closed for the summer and they have nowhere to go yet (long story) so they are crashing here on the couch, which means I have been cooking a good bit. I always forget ho much these guys can eat. Easy meal tonight- burgers on the grill, corn on the cob, cole slaw, and I’m cutting up some potatoes to throw in the deep fryer.

Meanwhile, I’m starting to realize that Thurston has beagle in him, which is distressing. He’s lucky he is so damned cute.

summernaps

He looks like he is doing the Snoopy happy dance in his sleep.

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Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    Pogonip

    May 20, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    What’s wrong with beagles?

  2. 2.

    mai naem mobile

    May 20, 2015 at 5:29 pm

    @Pogonip: They yodel and trust me when I say they yodel, they yodel.

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    May 20, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    What a sweet doggie! It would be worth putting up with an occasional yodel to have that boy around.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    Aah! Thurston probably wouldn’t mind a play date with Lovey. You need a sign that says always room for one more.

  5. 5.

    Keith G

    May 20, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    @mai naem mobile: And being nose hounds, some take off on a scent and are gone.

  6. 6.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Got started on my syllabi for the summer courses and looking through my books (actually re-arranging the library) I found some treasure catalogues from the Folger Library (one was of Donne’s marriage letters). So of course I ended up totally distracting me for a good hour.

    But it was a productive day and I am very excited about one of my courses (about Chile & Argentina) so now I am treating myself to a glass of prosecco on the balcony on a lovely spring day. We don’t have many of those in DC.

    oh and for a laugh, Marco Rubio hijacking tv finales on twitter.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    @Pogonip: What’s wrong with beagles?

    Well, beagles have delightful personalities and I would never argue with their fans. But they have been bred to bark a lot and run in packs, so they are loud and lively and occasionally, thick as a brick.

  8. 8.

    Linnaeus

    May 20, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    @WereBear:

    thick as a brick.

    They really don’t mind if you sit this one out.

  9. 9.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    @Linnaeus: Yes, it started an earworm, but a good one!

  10. 10.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    @Valdivia:

    and obviously too much prosecco and too little grammar for me today. hhis.

    cute doggy is very cute.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    May 20, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    Long day. I’m knee-deep in preparations to move a whole bunch of very delicate and very expensive lab equipment halfway across the country, and I’m pretty sure the process will soon move from “knee-deep” to “hip-deep” and get worse from there.

    Cheery move coordinator at the receiving end: “Oh, the movers can dismantle your equipment for you and reassemble it here. It’s just plumbing, right?”
    Me: “Over my dead body. Unless, of course, the movers can demonstrate their working knowledge of how to safely work with a helium-3 circulation loop.”
    CMCATRE: “…”

    It’s going to be a long summer.

  12. 12.

    Tenar Darell

    May 20, 2015 at 5:49 pm

    I know nothing about various breeds of dogs, except that squirrels playing polo riding corgis is just wonderful, though it looks like team dachshund would win. Also, Thurston is a cute puppeh!

  13. 13.

    Jebediah, RBG

    May 20, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    Awesome pic!

  14. 14.

    fordpowers

    May 20, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Awww! Thurston is handsome.
    This is my new pup

  15. 15.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    @fordpowers: Welcome to the B. J. family frankie. What a cutie he is.

  16. 16.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    @fordpowers: What soulful eyes! Congratulations.

  17. 17.

    JMT

    May 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    @fordpowers:

    Now THAT pup should have a voice.

    I just got one of my dog’s DNA tested. She’s a total mutt, with hints of basset hound and fox terrier in her great grandparents. She does not bay, but she does love hunting rabbits.

  18. 18.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    @fordpowers:
    What a sweetie!

  19. 19.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Thurston? When did you get a dachshund? Do you still have Rosie? I’m sorry, I’m an old reader who has been away for a long time.

    And, yes, he is devastatingly cute and shiny.

  20. 20.

    les

    May 20, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    @Pogonip:
    Nothing, sorta. But think really, really fast with a fox terrier kinda attitude. Manic with a turbo. Mine once caught a squirrel that started closer to the tree than she did. Also possibly pertinent to J. Cole’s locale, she loved to eat cowpies. Fortunately also certs. Lovable anyway.

  21. 21.

    Felonius Monk

    May 20, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    @mai naem mobile: I have a cat that yodels, but I don’t think he is part beagle.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    Thurston (which autocorrect wants to turn into Thrusting) is really adorable! That pose is squee-riffing! But I don’t see a scrap of poodle in him. Are you sure he came out of Ginger?

    (Speaking of whom, I hope she’s happy and well, and a better fit in her new home.)

    ETA: Second JPL’s suggestion of a Thurston-Lovey play date. With pictures, or maybe even video, of course.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    @Althea:

    Thurston? When did you get a dachshund? Do you still have Rosie? I’m sorry, I’m an old reader who has been away for a long time.

    How much time do you have? As John said in another context up top, “long story.”

    And welcome back!

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @fordpowers:

    Wow, what a beauty!

  25. 25.

    kindness

    May 20, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    When I used to walk my dog with a friend with his Beagle, his beagle would frequently catch a scent and take off like a rocket. Only to be found (most the time) later far far away. Great dogs but really caught up in that hunt thingy.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Dammit. I tried to coin a word and of course FYWP/FYAC changed it so it makes even less sense than it would have.

    For the record, I was trying to say “That pose is squee-riffic.” But it came out “squee-riffing.”

    We would all have been better off if I had left the whole thing alone in the first place.

  27. 27.

    Jebediah, RBG

    May 20, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    @fordpowers:
    that dog looks fantastic! Congratulations!

  28. 28.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: OT, in just great news, Dr. Betty Price has announced plans to run in the special election to fill the Georgia House District 48 seat, which was vacated due to the passing of Rep. Harry Geisinger. She was the sole no vote for the latest city budget. I guess it’s good news for the city.

  29. 29.

    shell

    May 20, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    Hey Cole, you and I have the same sheets.

    Mini blast from the past. It was just from your mention of all that cooking. That friend that was staying with you, who had diabetes. You made regular updates on how he was doing with your cooking/diet. So , how’s he doing these days?
    *********
    That is one relaxed puppy

  30. 30.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    can one borrow your new word? :)

  31. 31.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 20, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    More signs of post-racial America. Try for yourself, if you dare.

  32. 32.

    Hal

    May 20, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    I had to talk myself out of turning the heat back on last night. Instead I slept with two winter blankets. I actually hate heat and humidity, so now that I’m back to living in upstate NY from San Francisco (where it was naturally air conditioned) I find summer heat oppressive. I just can’t tell from the weather so far if it’s going to miserably hot or unusually cold this summer.

  33. 33.

    ruemara

    May 20, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    Sure, he’s a bit of a beagle but still adorable.

  34. 34.

    shell

    May 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @Hal: Yup, the temps have really been bouncy-bouncy. The other night i had my little table fan going in the bedroom to move the humid air around. Last night i was hunting for the blankets again.

  35. 35.

    Hal

    May 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Not hard to believe.

    http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/1_hello_n_gger_conservatives_welcome_president_obama_to_twitter

  36. 36.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: thank you – so I take it he is still not married with children (human, that is)? :3

  37. 37.

    shell

    May 20, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Oh, and adding to the piling-on posts about the’80’s today. Let’s not forget that the ’80’s was the beginning of the Big Cholesterol Scare! Not only were more people getting tested, but the threshold for a safe level dropped over night from 300 to 200. If you weren’t put on medication, you were given a list of forbidden votes. Shrimp and nuts were verboten. Eggs suddenly became the devil’s hen’s fruit. Some doctors insisted that one egg a month might be too much. And of course, all the diet books started coming out, of varying quackery. One my mother had was the Oat Bran diet, guaranteed to drop your cholesterol by 20 points (it didn’t). After a month of these recipes, one night I snapped and ran screaming to Burger King.
    And……then years later we found dietary cholesterol doesn’t affect your blood levels that much.

  38. 38.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    @shell: After a month of these recipes, one night I snapped and ran screaming to Burger King.

    I ate low fat and every few weeks I’d also snap, only I ran to Wendy’s.

    I think that was good. People who were strict about the low fat had health problems later!

  39. 39.

    shell

    May 20, 2015 at 7:13 pm

    @WereBear: I think the nadir of products catering to this was oat bran coated potato chips.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    @shell: I am so glad I missed that one.

  41. 41.

    Kristine

    May 20, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    @fordpowers: Adorable pup!

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    Need I add beagles are problem-solvers?

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    @JPL:

    Our very own little husband-and-wife political dynasty!

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    @Valdivia:

    Of course, and welcome to it! Just make sure it’s friends with your autocorrect before you go using it in public.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    I adore beagles, so if Thurston ever gets jettisoned, please send him my way.

    (Like that is going to happen…)

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    May 20, 2015 at 7:26 pm

    Thurston is adorable

  47. 47.

    Enzymer

    May 20, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @dmsilev: I feel your pain. Reminds me of the physical plant guy who didn’t understand why we got excited when he turned off the vacuum pump serving our mass spectrometer. Oil sucked into the $500,000 instrument, no problem. Then the Dean chimed in that he didn’t see why it was a big deal, we could just rinse it out, right?

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    @fordpowers:

    Frankie is a sweetheart. Those eyes and ears are going to break all the Balloon Juice hearts.

    Speaking of ears, Thurston is adorable and perfect in every way.

    I just came back from the dog park. Korra had a play date with my friend’s new puppy. She is a beagle bluetick coonhound. I’m completely smitten.

    I keep thinking that Korra is small but today there was a full grown Brittany and Korra was taller. I think I’ve lost all perspective since I’m with her every day.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    @fordpowers: Beautiful dog. Have fun!

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    @Althea:

    Not that he’s confided in us, his close personal friends on Balloon Juice. I think the pet count right now is one cat (Steve, a Maine Coon) and three dogs (Lily, Rosie, and the newest addition Thurston).

    A few months ago, John’s sister prevailed on him to foster a female miniature or toy poodle mix named Ginger and her two pups, who were quickly dubbed Thurston and Lovey. Ginger was in poor health, had a tumor and I think a bunch of other stuff, including some behavioral or personality problems which didn’t fit with John’s menagerie, so she was eventually (after getting good medical care) placed in another foster home. Lovey, the little girl, went to our own geg6. And to absolutely nobody’s surprise, John decided to adopt Thurston himself.

    How long has it been since you last checked in? I expect there are other things that have happened that might surprise you, but none of them are my stories to tell.

  51. 51.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    I had my gallbladder out today and am in the hospital. Messed up on dilaudid. They said one overnight and possibly 2, just on account of the heart failure, the gallbladder itself is no bigs. Got a sitter for the dogs, who are apparently having a treats festival and probably don’t miss me. And I just recently adopted 2 (older) kittens, so I can’t wait to get home. My FlicR account vanished so I will need to make a new account to share photos of the overwhelming cuteness.

  52. 52.

    Pogonip

    May 20, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    But rabbit dogs are SUPPOSED to follow their noses and to yodel!

    When I was a kid we had a beagle who was a great tracker but kept her discoveries to herself. My dad complained to the breeder who said he never heard of a beagle that didn’t bay. So they took Lady out together and the breeder said “Well, I’ve heard of one now!”. So Lady went on to a new career as a pet, and the breeder gave my dad Joe, who yodeled like a Swiss mountain climber.

    I have heard that modern beagles are prone to be mean? I’ll be sad if that’s true. Up through at least the ’80’s, they were the sweetest dogs going.

  53. 53.

    David Koch

    May 20, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    Letterman taped his farewell episode of “The Late Show” on Wednesday afternoon, then walked backstage as the Foo Fighters closed out the show with a performance of “Everlong.”

  54. 54.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. It’s been a very very long time. I used to follow national politics like a rabid dog (no pun intended) and then I had to stop for my own mental health so I avoid news but just decided to check in, probably because I had too many glasses of wine. I used to read all the “dirty liberal” blogs of the day but then I had to stop.

    It was a heady time, those days.

  55. 55.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 20, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    I’m starting to realize that Thurston has beagle in him

    Put him down, John. There’s no other way with beagles.

  56. 56.

    sharl

    May 20, 2015 at 7:47 pm

    @Enzymer: Ouch, that was painful to read.

    At our workplace, we’ve been informed in the past that in the event such costly damages occur, we are “self-insured”. What an adorable term for our situation, where it apparently means “come up with the funding yourself for repair or replacement”. [Although the term represents a useful thing in some situations apparently, as opposed to being a term that only serves to add insult to injury.]

    Good luck to (and commiserations with) dmsilev at #11!

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    May 20, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @muddy:

    Yikes! But you’re right, getting by without a gall bladder isn’t a big deal, though you do have to change your diet (no more fatty or spicy foods for you, and your own tummy will enforce that). It’s pretty common if you’ve had weight fluctuations, which is why women who’ve had children discover that their gall bladders have gone kablooey.

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @Althea:

    Well, please come back. You can skip over the political posts if they make you crazy, and hang around for pets, sports, food, gardens, music and film, and any other non-political stuff.

  59. 59.

    dmsilev

    May 20, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    @Enzymer: Oh, Physical Plant stories. My “favorite” was the pipefitter that set up his brazing station directly underneath a sprinkler head, one floor above a pair of SEMs, a cleanroom facility (“now with integrated waterfall!”), etc. _That_ was a fun day.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    May 20, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Do you have any trustworthy grad students who can help, or is it all on you?

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    @muddy:

    Good grief, Muddy! Sorry I didn’t know about that. Hope you are doing well, and that the pups are getting away with all kinds of naughtiness in your absence :-)

    Seriously, heal well, fully, quickly, and comfortably, and post photos of the new kitties when you can.

  62. 62.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    @muddy: Please follow doctor’s orders so you get to go home soon. We are counting on those pictures.

  63. 63.

    TrishB

    May 20, 2015 at 7:59 pm

    @Pogonip: Never met a mean beagle, and am hoping that’s not a thing. I did have one teach my mini schnauzer to howl. Bud lived next door and would regularly bolt through the neighbor’s electric fence and had a few secret tunnels under the physical fence to make escape even easier. We’d always hear Bud yodel from his own yard, but one day we had absolute cacophony much closer. When I went outside was trying to teach 3 part harmony to my 2 mini schnauzers. Tramp took to it happily and to this day will sing along with tornado sirens and passing firetrucks. I need a video, because it’s pretty funny for a toothless old schnauzer.

  64. 64.

    WereBear

    May 20, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    @muddy: Sorry to hear! I hope you get back to your menagerie soon.

  65. 65.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @Enzymer:
    As somebody currently trying to recover from getting oil into a mass spec, I feel your pain. If you’re really lucky in the instrument design, it might even work. It did a few years ago when it happened to one of our LCQs, but those things are fucking bombproof.

  66. 66.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you, you are very kind. My political involvement and activism scarred me in a way that I will never attempt it again. But I can never get enough of puppy and kitty posts. :)

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    @muddy:

    Please be very careful not to rush too much to get home. Your body needs rest. Will be thinking of you and hope you feel better.

  68. 68.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    May 20, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    It was a dark and stormy night at the Cole household….

  69. 69.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    And may I say (and I don’t know if anyone else has noticed) that Thurston’s paws are exquisite.

  70. 70.

    Enzymer

    May 20, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    @Roger Moore: thanks, fortunately that trauma is long in my past. I had the joy of dealing with Bobby Jindal, who was an asshole then as well. Talk to anyone in either the Lousiana Hospital system of LSU about Mr Bobby And you will probably hear profanities

  71. 71.

    Pogonip

    May 20, 2015 at 8:14 pm

    @Althea: If you read everything tagged “Dog Blogging,” you can get the whole cute story of Thurston and his sister Lovey. Lovey now belongs to reader Geg6.

  72. 72.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 20, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    I’m off to some sort of San Francisco high-powered LGBTQ fundraiser, I’ll be the tall one in the sloth shirt should anybody else be there.

  73. 73.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I lost over 100 lbs, maybe has to do with that. Several people in my family have had theirs out too, so there is maybe some genetic component.

  74. 74.

    Pogonip

    May 20, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    Cole says the boys, plural, are sleeping on the couch, singular. Is he stacking frat boys like cordwood?

    Someone should look into this. And Thurston should move over and let one of those kids into the bed.

  75. 75.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    @Pogonip: puppehs!!!

  76. 76.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I mentioned it the other day but it was in the middle of the mystery can’t-use word issue. I have a great animal sitter. Way nicer than me, so the animalia will be happy, I’m sure.

  77. 77.

    Cervantes

    May 20, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    @Valdivia:

    What do you teach about Chile and Argentina?

    (I thought the “Valdivia” might be Chilean but was not sure.)

  78. 78.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    @JPL: I know, priorities! A friend scolded me and said I shouldn’t adopt kittens before surgery in case something happened. I said I figured he’d take them for me – he hates cats. ;-)

  79. 79.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    @WereBear: I’ve meant to ask you, one kitten has a spot on his face with no fur. It is pigmented, orange and stripes. No redness or weird texture to it. He does not appear to notice it or try to scratch or anything.

    It just has no hair. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser, on one cheekbone. He goes to the vet in a couple of weeks to be fixed, do you think I should do something before that?

  80. 80.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    @MomSense: No rush to get home, and not much work to do there once I get there. I spent the last few weeks cleaning the house and making vacuum sealed single portions of meals, so I plan just to sit about and pat the animals for some weeks.

  81. 81.

    raven

    May 20, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    Sunrise to sunset with a 2 hr nap. Nice blue, flounder and whiting. The bride has a friend in Wilmington who came to visit so I’m throwing together a quick mexican dinnner.

  82. 82.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    @muddy: I dropped Finch off today for grooming and was concerned because he seemed stressed. When I picked him up, he didn’t show any interest in coming home. Finch is the only animal that I have owned, that has received the spa treatment. This is coming from a person that has her hair cut three times a year.

  83. 83.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    @muddy:

    I mentioned it the other day

    Either I missed it altogether or skimmed past it too quickly for it to register. Sorry to have missed the earlier announcement.

    Way nicer than me

    Unpossible.

  84. 84.

    lamh36

    May 20, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    Video spotlights Freddie Gray at Baker and Mount streets

    The video shows Gray halfway out of the van, his stomach flat on the floor and his legs hanging off the back. He does not move as four officers stand over him and place shackles around his ankles.

    In her first interview about the incident, Gross, 58, said she was shocked at the turn of events that led to Gray’s death from a spinal injury. “I thought his leg was just broke and that he was just going to the police station and we would hear him that afternoon,” she said recently, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

    Most of the video of Gray was taken of the arrest at Mount and Presbury Streets. Less is known about what happened a block away, when the van stopped at Baker Street and he was shackled.

    That was a key moment, according to Mosby. Charging documents filed against six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport state: “Following transport from Baker Street, Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the [Baltimore Police Department] wagon.”

  85. 85.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    @raven: Flounder sounds good for supper. just sayin

  86. 86.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    @Pogonip: Maybe he got a couch like in The Lego Movie?

  87. 87.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Well, thank you! I guess what I meant is that they will be getting stuffed fill with treats and not scolded ever. I expect them to be upset at bedtime though. Sawyer has had this experience before, but not Gracie.

  88. 88.

    TaMara (BHF)

    May 20, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    @fordpowers: OMG, that is one cute coonhound. I love them and love her red color. Can’t wait for future updates.

  89. 89.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    May 20, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    @fordpowers: Adorable beyond words. I suspect some coonhound in the lineage. I love coonhounds. And I adore beagles, voices and all.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 8:45 pm

    @muddy:

    Well, you know, if I were ever in charge of Sawyer and Gracie I wouldn’t scold them either. Gracie is my love, she can do whatever she wants.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    @muddy:

    Ok, good. You’ve been through a lot.

    @lamh36:
    I am so sickened when I think about how much pain he must have felt. I don’t know how his family can manage knowing how he suffered.

  92. 92.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: She has settled down a bit since you met her – and about time, she will be 3 next month. She has been so great about the kittens. I was apprehensive because she has a very strong prey drive, but she decided they were babies, and she would defend them. I had to crack down on that, because of course Gracie, even when being super good, has to do it in the most over-the-top and obstreperous way. MY kittens, Gracie, not yours!

    Her rushing to defend them from Sawyer giving a polite sniff or whatever scared them more than the initial trigger. She used a totally different body move to herd him away, not her usual playing/toy stealing moves. It’s apparently some kind of Mommy move, she only uses it to protect “her” kittens. So interesting, the ongoing Discovery Channel in my living room. ;-)

  93. 93.

    gelfling545

    May 20, 2015 at 8:53 pm

    @Hal: When I left home in Buffalo for a trip to FL our temps were 70’s to 80’s. I came back today from central FL where it had hit 100 already to 46 degrees. The heat has been turned back on and damn the gas bill.

  94. 94.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    @MomSense: I was hoping that the spinal damage perhaps kept him from some of the physical pain, but he must have just been terrified! And for so long. I think they kept driving and stopping and driving because he wasn’t dead yet. They didn’t want to bring him in able to say what happened. Disgusting fucking pigs.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 20, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    @MomSense:

    I am so sickened when I think about how much pain he must have felt. I don’t know how his family can manage knowing how he suffered.

    This. It is absolutely heartbreaking and sickmaking. That poor man. Nobody deserves to go through what he experienced. Nobody.

  96. 96.

    rikyrah

    May 20, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    Tom and Lorenzo’s final Mad Men recap:

    ………………..

    MAD STYLE: PERSON TO PERSON

    Posted on May 20, 2015

    For this, our final Mad Style entry, we’re about to get high-falutin’ on your asses. But come on, you would expect no less from us, right? Give us one last chance to utilize all that crap Tom learned in film school.

    The central question surrounding the ending of the story of Don Draper is what happened to him after his moment of enlightenment on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Did he go on to write the most famous and arguably most influential advertisement of all time? And if he did, what does that mean, both for him and for the world he inhabits? Or did someone else write that ad and its inclusion at the end of the story indicates that the monolithic entity known as the advertising industry will always and forever package people’s fears, hopes and experiences into catchy moments to sell products; like some sort of eternal zeitgeist engine? The answers come down to whether you think Mad Men is a Freudian reality or a Jungian one.

    Oh, yeah. We said it. PRETENTIOUS FILM SCHOOL SPEAK AHEAD. Brace yourself.

    http://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/05/mad-style-person-to-person/

  97. 97.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    @muddy:

    It’s disgusting and horrifying.

  98. 98.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    May 20, 2015 at 9:03 pm

    @muddy: I got no words. And I’m not proud to admit that I’d like to extract some vengeance. Of the unpleasant, to put it mildly, variety.

  99. 99.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    @MomSense: Once the cops in Asheville NC beat the hell out of my son about 10 years ago. Picked him up and refused to say why they were arresting him. They cuffed him and then used his cuffed arms as a swing to ram his head into the cruiser multiple times. Then they beat on him. He was covered in bruises and handmarks.

    I called a lawyer and was advised that if the kid was still out on the town, the cops would harass him and probably hurt him more if I made a report or brought a suit. We were moving in a couple of months so we let it go. It still sickens me.

    What sickens me more is that my son said the lesson he learned was don’t ask why you are being arrested. Goddammit.

  100. 100.

    JPL

    May 20, 2015 at 9:08 pm

    @muddy: Excuse my language, but fuck. How is your son doing because I would assume, that interaction would leave some damage.

    I always taught my sons there are good cops and bad cops and you say the same thing, if ever stopped, yes sir.

  101. 101.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2015 at 9:10 pm

    @muddy:

    Nightmare. I don’t blame him for the lesson he learned but we shouldn’t have to choose between our rights and beatings.

  102. 102.

    Althea

    May 20, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    @rikyrah: I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to watch the last episode or not (but I haven’t). Looking at Jon Hamm is like staring into the sun for me, but still, it’s just a teevee show.

  103. 103.

    geg6

    May 20, 2015 at 9:15 pm

    So cute! Meanwhile, I ‘m more and more sure that Lovey is min pin.

  104. 104.

    muddy

    May 20, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    @JPL: @MomSense: He had blurry vision for a few days, received good care, but who knows about the long-term damage from the head injury.

    The crime they eventually charged him with: underage drinking. He was 2 months short of being 21. He was just walking around with a friend, the friend was old enough, and was carrying their beer in his backpack. But they couldn’t charge him, so they used it as the excuse of why they picked up my kid. They weren’t doing anything, just walking at night, not in the neighborhood they should have been in. Cops didn’t even bother to make up a story about vandalism or whatever. They found the beer afterwards and used that as their excuse, as though they had x-ray vision. At the time they were cracking down on the homeless, maybe they thought these 2 were homeless, why else would they not be drinking and driving in a car, like decent Americans?

    At least he lived to tell the tale.

  105. 105.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 9:57 pm

    @muddy:

    I hope you are all better soon and back at home.

  106. 106.

    Valdivia

    May 20, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    @Cervantes:

    Yes the Valdivia is definitely Chilean related, after the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia whose story I always found fascinating.

    The course is a comparative look at the history of both countries. But though my training is in poli sci I don’t limit myself to just the march through political events and institutions. I incorporate art, literature, poems, film and soccer (if you speak spanish, I would highly recommend this amazing podcast about a soccer match for the World Cup qualifier a month after Pinochet and the coup). I am very excited about teaching it, should be interesting and a lot of fun since I found great materials.

  107. 107.

    BubbaDave

    May 20, 2015 at 11:52 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:
    Not true– you can always choose to put yourself down instead. Then it’s just a matter of hoping you’ve behaved well enough to avoid the bagpipes-and-beagles afterlife….

  108. 108.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 12:11 am

    @Valdivia:

    A story you may have heard before, as it was never truly a secret:

    It was two weeks after the coup. Santiago was still in shock. Policemen and soldiers were now all the time everywhere, swarming openly and hunting the left into oblivion. But at Pablo Neruda’s funeral, thousands of people had come out again, had finally dared to gather and march once more, to mourn even mute if they had to be, in defiance of the generals and their torture chambers.

    Had the poet really died of cancer? He was gone, yes, but how about all the others? In those days of “indefinite recess,” no one but the desaparecidos knew where they were, and they weren’t talking.

    The funeral was not to be a political act, the city had been warned, but amid the unbearable sadness and fear, on the one hand surrounded by guns and yet on the other somehow protected by the ghosts in the Cementerio General, finally a single voice cried out: “Compañero Pablo Neruda?” “Presente!” came the response. Then the call again, louder but shaking: “Compañero Pablo Neruda?” Louder again the crowd: “Presente!” This was all highly illegal, the policemen knew, and proof of their loyalty would soon be necessary, but what to do? In their one moment of uncertainty, the protest grew, and as it grew the policemen and the soldiers, too, seemed to shrink. “Compañero Pablo Neruda?” “Presente!” Soon someone dared a new cry: “Compañero Salvador Allende?” “Presente!” And again, and again, and again. “Compañero Salvador Allende?” “Presente ahora y para siempre!”

    The fascists may have had their long victory and their countless victims, but they will never understand the simple thing we had, and still have.

  109. 109.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 12:46 am

    @Valdivia:

    The course is a comparative look at the history of both countries. […] I am very excited about teaching it, should be interesting and a lot of fun since I found great materials.

    That sounds really good!

    Do you have any idea yet what enrollment is likely to be?

  110. 110.

    CONGRAULATIONS!

    May 21, 2015 at 12:52 am

    I have heard that modern beagles are prone to be mean? I’ll be sad if that’s true. Up through at least the ’80’s, they were the sweetest dogs going.

    @Pogonip: I am very sorry to say that this may be true. Remember anecdote does not equal data, but here is mine.

    We tried to adopt a pup that we had been told was a lab mix. He was not. Half beagle and half Belgian shepherd. We had to give him up, he was violently, uncontrollably aggressive. I have run into several beagles that were mean, but not like this. He broke my heart, that guy did.

  111. 111.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    May 21, 2015 at 12:53 am

    I have heard that modern beagles are prone to be mean? I’ll be sad if that’s true. Up through at least the ’80’s, they were the sweetest dogs going.

    @Pogonip: I am very sorry to say that this may be true. Remember anecdote does not equal data, but here is mine.

    We tried to adopt a pup that we had been told was a lab mix. He was not. Half beagle and half Belgian shepherd. We had to give him up, he was violently, uncontrollably aggressive. I have run into several beagles that were mean, but not like this. He broke my heart, that guy did.

  112. 112.

    burnspbesq

    May 21, 2015 at 12:56 am

    If Thurston is part Beagle, then if he gets to be too much to handle you can try to foist him on Andrew Sullivan, who is a committed Beagle Guy. That would be karmically epic, I think.

  113. 113.

    Aleta

    May 21, 2015 at 1:42 am

    He looks like he is doing the Snoopy happy dance in his sleep.

    He does exude happiness, even in his sleep.

    Happy animals are beautiful to watch. Their whole body carries it.

  114. 114.

    Aleta

    May 21, 2015 at 1:48 am

    @muddy: And they didn’t want him to be examined by a doctor. Intentionally did not provide medical attention.

  115. 115.

    Valdivia

    May 21, 2015 at 8:24 am

    @Cervantes:

    I hadn’t hear that story, thanks for sharing it.
    The class is sold out which is great, 20 students. A good number for a summer course.

  116. 116.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 8:37 am

    @Valdivia:

    Twenty kids for eight weeks or so? That sounds good. And are they all kids? Any ABCs among them?

  117. 117.

    Valdivia

    May 21, 2015 at 8:42 am

    @Cervantes:

    It should be a lot fo fun. Most of the students are Americans, at least so far! If they spoke spanish it would be easier since there is so much material I could use. Still plenty of great readings available in english.

  118. 118.

    imonlylurking

    May 21, 2015 at 10:52 am

    @Valdivia: I would be interested in your course materials, if you would like to share.

  119. 119.

    Valdivia

    May 21, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    @imonlylurking:
    Happy to! I will have the syllabus ready by Monday and can find a way to get it to you. It will have tons of hyperlinks.

  120. 120.

    fordpowers

    May 21, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    Awww.. Thanks Ya’ll!
    Shes been a pretty sweet babe so far.
    Will keep the pix coming.
    Maybe she can make it into the calendar this year!
    :)

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