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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Thursday Morning Open Thread

Thursday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  May 21, 20155:19 am| 111 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Open Threads

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biker bar second amendment toles

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)
.

On the opposite axis of the ‘flying things in the news’ vector, from the NYTimes:

On a recent Sunday, Holly Tooker stood by the transparent wall inside the Butterfly Conservatory, at the American Museum of Natural History. It was, as always, 81 degrees with 78 percent humidity, and it had been a busy morning. Nearby, a giant Danainae butterfly perched on a flowering Ixora plant; its black-veined transparent wings suggested a piece of Victorian jewelry. Ms. Tooker wore her auburn hair in an asymmetric pixie cut, and a button on the lanyard of her museum ID tag read: “ICH SPRECHE DEUTSCH.”

She took a long drink from a water bottle and, in the voice of an especially confident substitute teacher, sang out: “I can say ‘butterfly’ in 139 languages! Anyone want to challenge me or teach me a new one?”…

Of the world’s 7,000 languages, 13 will let you converse with half the world’s population. An additional 70 are spoken natively by at least 10 million people, after which the number of speakers for any one language swiftly declines. But in all of them, the word “butterfly” is a rare species.

“Butterfly” has stymied language experts for decades. It is the one common word that does not have cognates — words that are similar in sound, spelling and meaning — in related languages, even closely related ones. “Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French — each one has a different word for ‘butterfly,’ ” said William Beeman, chairman of the University of Minnesota’s anthropology department who has written on the anomaly. “This flies in the face of what we know about how languages work. And when someone hears you say ‘butterfly’ in their language, they know you’re speaking their language.”

At the conservatory, Ms. Tooker wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a photo of a paper kite butterfly and, on the back, letters that read: “Ask me to say ‘butterfly’ in your language,” a dare she credits with the number of requests she has received for Klingon…

“Is there a word for it in Madrahi?” Mr. Dasadia asked.

“Yes,” Ms. Tooker said. “Patang-EE-yoo.”

He repeated the word like an incantation: “Patang-EE-yoo.” Mr. Dasadia smiled. “You see,” he said, “I’m a Madrahi and I didn’t know that. But I knew it.”

“I very vividly remember running around chasing butterflies in a small mulberry shrub in front of my grandma’s house,” Mr. Dasadia said to his girlfriend, “and that’s how my grandma used to say it: patang-EE-yoo. I just remembered the whole thing, just now. I mean, it’s awesome to hear it now. But the kid inside me wants to jump!”

(No, the article does not give the Klingon word for ‘butterfly’. Does such exist?)

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Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 5:43 am

    No, the article does not give the Klingon word for ‘butterfly’. Does such exist?

    Not according to this.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    May 21, 2015 at 5:59 am

    Since I slept through the final Letterman show, I’m streaming it now.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2015 at 6:00 am

    Snacking on some pistachio gelato.

    Probably been a year since last had the urge to eat ice cream or similar stuff.

  4. 4.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2015 at 6:18 am

    @JPL: I DVR’ed it, and finished it up about a hour ago. I’ve not watched Letterman much since the mid 80’s. It was a fun watch.

    In other news: Mika got braces. She’s got a bit of a lisp.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 21, 2015 at 6:34 am

    I watched a Letterman show once.

  6. 6.

    bemused

    May 21, 2015 at 6:36 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Oh dear, I shouldn’t giggle but a slight lisp along with her personality is amusing me. I find her earnestness tiresome. She writes a book and gives talks about women knowing their value as if she was the first to learn of this issue. Maybe I’m just being petty…

  7. 7.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 6:50 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, me too. Probably the same one.

  8. 8.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 6:52 am

    The humidity is creeping up, even in New England. That gets into our supermarkets. Ice cream is subject to more melting and refreezing even with the most careful handling, before it gets on display in the frozen foods. Cartons frost on the outside due to the humid air.

    I want a Balloon Juice ruling:

    I witnessed someone in front of the freezer case, door propped open, on their cell phone talking, extensively, about what flavor ice cream to get.

    Is this a crime? What does the law allow me to do to that person?

  9. 9.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 6:57 am

    @ThresherK:

    What does the law allow me to do to that person?

    Demonstrate a creative use of a strawberry Popsicle.

  10. 10.

    Iowa Old Lady

    May 21, 2015 at 7:02 am

    I’m getting things done preparing to leave for WisCon early tomorrow morning. That’s the feminist science fiction con in Madison. I’m on a panel and giving a reading. But first, I have to do laundry, pay bills, and pack.

  11. 11.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2015 at 7:09 am

    @bemused: It is difficult to get used to something new in the mouth, it took me a few months to get used to my tongue stud. Still have problems pronouncing some words.

  12. 12.

    Botsplainer

    May 21, 2015 at 7:12 am

    Shitty day upcoming. Was up at 3 am getting youngest daughter ready for part one of summer – nearly a month in the jungle in Belize, excavating a Mayan pyramid. She comes back for a day and a half and then goes on to Greece to dig on some royal tomb site for another month. I get to pay to maintain her apartment, car, etc.

    The early rising was just the opener. My shared secretary has been fucking up royally for months, complete with days of shitty attitude and zero initiative. She’s in constant text wars with her husband, a drug addicted alcoholic whose hobbies are drinking a 1.75 of cheap whiskey every 18 hours, passing out in pools of vomit on the floor, suicide threats, habitual unemployment, verbal abuse, hectoring her for money, and performing no household tasks while she works 3 jobs to deal with his methadone and the financial consequences of his various wrecks and illegalities. Aside from the two rounds of detox in the last 45 days he’s gone through and two rounds of mental inquest in six months regarding suicide threats to former employers and other third parties, his latest hobbies are wandering the streets to get assaulted by other bums and getting caught by her while in some sort of gay thing with a nude, fully erect junkie in her apartment (she pays for it but moved out about 6 weeks ago to couch surf with friends – she’d come home to check on him). She also pays for cable and his cell, she doesn’t want him to “lose his stuff”.

    Anyway, the latest bumfight put him in ICU, and she texted out yesterday. It’s sort of a last straw in a long line of last straws. We’re having a “come to Jesus” meeting with her this am.

    Plus, I get to yell at my SEO assholes today.

  13. 13.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 7:13 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Get out your Middle English dictionary: It’s about to get awfully Chaucer in here.

  14. 14.

    PurpleGirl

    May 21, 2015 at 7:14 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Hope the panel goes well, have a good time.

  15. 15.

    kindness

    May 21, 2015 at 7:15 am

    The bench here at Balloon-Juice is deep but I doubt we have any Klingon speakers. Yea a few words. But not Comic-Con deep. We can be and are nerds about stuff, just not that nerdy.

  16. 16.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 7:24 am

    Another 19th-century fable from Ambrose Bierce:

    The Moral Principle and the Material Interest

    A Moral Principle met a Material Interest on a bridge wide enough for but one.

    “Down, you base thing!” thundered the Moral Principle, “and let me pass over you!”

    The Material Interest merely looked in the other’s eyes without saying anything.

    “Ah,” said the Moral Principle, hesitatingly, “let us draw lots to see which shall retire till the other has crossed.”

    The Material Interest maintained an unbroken silence and an unwavering stare.

    “In order to avoid a conflict,” the Moral Principle resumed, somewhat uneasily, “I shall myself lie down and let you walk over me.”

    Then the Material Interest found a tongue, and by a strange coincidence it was its own tongue. “I don’t think you are very good walking,” it said. “I am a little particular about what I have underfoot. Suppose you get off into the water.”

    It occurred that way.

  17. 17.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 7:26 am

    @kindness:

    The bench here at Balloon-Juice is deep

    Do you think we’ll ever see a balloon-juicer president?

  18. 18.

    Valdivia

    May 21, 2015 at 7:32 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    how exciting. good luck with the panel and reading!

  19. 19.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2015 at 7:33 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Do you think we’ll ever see a balloon-juicer president?

    How do you know we already haven’t?

  20. 20.

    Iowa Old Lady

    May 21, 2015 at 7:37 am

    @PurpleGirl: @Valdivia: Thank you. I’m nervous, but I prepared so it should be all right. I hope.

  21. 21.

    Randy P

    May 21, 2015 at 7:45 am

    I missed the overnight thread as usual. Wanted to comment about 70s TV as Mary Tyler Moore’s brief variety show was discussed.

    I don’t remember that show, but what I remember was being appalled at how every two-bit musical act briefly had a variety show. Always consisted of them performing, mixed with standing on the stage reading painfully bad jokes off cue cards and perhaps doing the occasional sketch. Sonny and Cher had one, Tony Orlando and Dawn (whom I don’t know if anyone even remembers, though I still have a guilty weakness for some of their schlocky songs), Donny and Marie Osmond had one. They were universally terrible.

    The last time I remember that format being successful was Jackie Gleason, which produced the immortal “Honeymooners” sketches, and Carol Burnett, which I watched religiously and was the funniest thing on TV in my youth. I’m proud to say I remember seeing the famous moment in the “Gone With The Wind” parody where Carol came down the stairs wearing the dress made from the curtains. Complete with curtain rod.

    I think producers are always trying to reproduce successful shows, thinking it’s the format that’s somehow magic and not realizing that in order to have people laugh at comedy, it actually has to be funny.

    Also even successful stars can’t seem to reproduce their success. Bob Newhart is the only two-show success that comes to mind. Mary Tyler Moore, as was pointed out in the other thread, had a wonderful sitcom before the variety show. (Also a co-starring role in the Dick Van Dyke Show, so maybe that counts for her two). Carol Burnett tried to have a new show with similar format to the old show but edgier comedy, and it died very quickly.

  22. 22.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 7:46 am

    @Botsplainer: Wow. My LCSW wife has worked in a halfway house, and a whole host of court-ordered clientele. This sounds like one of the stories she comes home with about her clients.

  23. 23.

    JPL

    May 21, 2015 at 7:47 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: It will be all right. Have fun.

  24. 24.

    Randy P

    May 21, 2015 at 7:48 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Do you think we’ll ever see a balloon-juicer president?

    How do you know we already haven’t?

    I had the same thought. Obama seems to be aware of all internet traditions after all. Hmm, which of us is he, do you think?

  25. 25.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 7:52 am

    @Randy P:

    which of us is he, do you think?

    Little Boots? srv? Knowbody?

  26. 26.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2015 at 7:53 am

    @Randy P: Don’t have a clue, though my name is really Bill; I live in CA not NY.

  27. 27.

    Woodrow/Asim

    May 21, 2015 at 7:55 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Oh, have fun! I miss WisCon, I went and did some panels there for a few years in the mid-2000s — it’s such a great con, and if it wasn’t so far and on Memorial Day weekend I’d still be attending!

  28. 28.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 7:55 am

    @Randy P:

    I don’t remember that show, but what I remember was being appalled at how every two-bit musical act briefly had a variety show.

    The Hudson Brothers show was excruciatingly unfunny. And I remember two (or was it three) young Asian ladies who didn’t speak a word of English getting their own show (Pink Lady and Jeff). And of course Donny & Marie. It was a horrible time.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    May 21, 2015 at 7:56 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Do you think we’ll ever see a balloon-juicer president?

    I Like Khalid!

    (Amend for Amir!)

  30. 30.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 7:56 am

    @Randy P: As Fred Allen, a radio star from the 1940’s, once noted, “Imitation is the sincerest form of television.”

    (The best line in the Carol Burnett parody of GWTW about the dress is “I saw it in the window and just had to have it.”)

  31. 31.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 7:57 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Mrs. Wiggins and her boss always cracked me up.

  32. 32.

    satby

    May 21, 2015 at 7:58 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Madison is a great town! Have fun!

  33. 33.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    May 21, 2015 at 8:00 am

    @Randy P:

    Amir

  34. 34.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 8:02 am

    @Randy P: The culture is fragmenting. We’ll never see two generations of people, let alone three, in the same living room, relating to the source material. Carol Burnett wearing a Bob Mackey gown (truth) coming down those stairs as Scarlett O’Hara was hilarious because GWTW was a cultural touchstone. Its first broadcast on network TV still places in the ten-highest-rated non-Super Bowl progams.

    What “four quadrant” movie exists now, and how does one parody it in front of a live audience? (And how few million people would watch the TV show of that?)

    The only thing I can compare it to is “Forbidden Broadway” or “Musical of Musicals”, by people who both love and skewer musical theater. And they are certainly niche items (which I’m in the niche of).

    (Here I will stop, because my observation is value-neutral, and I don’t want David Brooks to do a column about the good old days when black and white people alike loved GWTW, and why did uppity black people have to spoil white folks’ memories of those good old days?)

    —

    From Merrill Markoe, in the preface of thread downstairs (which I’m just reading now):

    I was particularly sick of seeing everyone on television doing that bigger-than-life, fraudulent, full of shit television persona.

    As a teenager fresh out of the gate, SCTV’s “Sammy Maudlin” connected with me in a surreal manner. It spoiled basically almost all TV yakking for me. I don’t know that I’m missing anything.

  35. 35.

    raven

    May 21, 2015 at 8:03 am

    I managed to totally overdo it on the surf fishing. My lip is burned, I got my index finger bit playing with a huge lab puppy at the beach, I woke up in the middle of the night with an intense hammy cramp and my calves are tight as knots! Looks like a day for rehab and sightseeing!

  36. 36.

    Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey

    May 21, 2015 at 8:03 am

    The “butterfly” thing reminded me of this.

  37. 37.

    satby

    May 21, 2015 at 8:05 am

    @Botsplainer: That’s a mess. But her personal life is her problem, if she’s not performing her job she should be fired. That sounds harsh and it is, but it could be the kick in the ass she needs to get a grip on her own life and quit enabling her husband.

  38. 38.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 8:08 am

    @ThresherK: You’re right about the talk yakking.

    Here’s a parody of every young actress appearing on every talkshow (shades of Letterman, Leno, Conan, etc.) and the audience of fans.

    I remember many, many years ago (1970s?) seeing Rodney Dangerfield on Carson. Dangerfield wrote his oneliners and just did them rapid-fire seated next to his host. He told Carson: “Twenty years in the business, and you ended up with a desk job.”

  39. 39.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 8:09 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: SNL’s “Pink Lady and Carl (Sagan)” was a very clever spot. Points to sort of an inverse relationship in satire: The more gawd-awful the original offering is, the more difficult it is to smartly, properly insult it.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2015 at 8:11 am

    @Randy P

    Red Skelton had a long, long run.

    Wasn’t Tony Orlando recently pulled out of mothballs to perform at someone’s (Huckabee?) campaign kickoff?

    Pink Lady and Jeff already mentioned above as being the nadir.

  41. 41.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 8:13 am

    @Randy P:

    Obama seems to be aware of all internet traditions after all. Hmm, which of us is he, do you think?

    Obama thought he could work with republicans. I doubt he reads balloon-juice. Maybe he started in the middle of his second term, which explains his new attitude?

  42. 42.

    Baud

    May 21, 2015 at 8:15 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    I’m sure it’s that and not the term limit.

  43. 43.

    Belafon

    May 21, 2015 at 8:17 am

    So we knew as a species that we must name the butterfly even before we named anything else.

  44. 44.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    May 21, 2015 at 8:19 am

    @Botsplainer: It’s great you’re supporting your daughter like that. I’m sure she’s building a lifetime of memories that she will be grateful for all her days.

    Best of luck with The Talk with your secretary. It must be horrible to be in her situation, and awful for you to have to risk making things worse for her. Here’s hoping she finds a way to climb out of the pit.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 8:19 am

    @NotMax:

    Wasn’t Tony Orlando recently pulled out of mothballs to perform at someone’s (Huckabee?) campaign kickoff?

    Is there a rule somewhere that states the shittier the 1970s act was, the more likely they are to reappear in support of a GOP candidate?

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 21, 2015 at 8:23 am

    @Randy P:

    which of us is he

    I can not tell a lie.

  47. 47.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 8:24 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I knew it!

  48. 48.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 8:26 am

    @NotMax: My earliest memories of TV were grainy black-and-white variety shows — Red Skelton, The Hollywood Palace, Jackie Gleason — in the mid-50’s, and it occurred to me much later that what TV was doing was reviving vaudeville, complete with the stand-up comics, dancing girls in flimsy outfits, and all the acts that toured in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s until movies and radio came along. Radio then did the same schtick over the air, then turned it over to TV.

    That’s showbiz.

  49. 49.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 8:29 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Is there a rule somewhere that states the shittier the 1970s act was, the more likely they are to reappear in support of a GOP candidate?

    I’m guessing this means you aren’t going to knock three times on the ceiling even if you want me, nor twice on the pipe even if you don’t.

  50. 50.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 8:37 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Then you must remember the Steve Allen show and all the wild stunts he did.

    This blog is all about old showbiz. Some interesting interviews with post-war comedians.

  51. 51.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 8:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I suspect you just did.

  52. 52.

    muddy

    May 21, 2015 at 8:49 am

    @ThresherK: Make a big deal out of taking their picture, and then say with great seriousness and maybe a touch of sadness, “I guess you know where this meme will show up.”

    Let them search the internet all day for the ice cream assholes site.

  53. 53.

    muddy

    May 21, 2015 at 8:50 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: “Mrs. Whhoooo-iggans!”

  54. 54.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 8:51 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: My parents didn’t let me stay up to watch him, but I’ve seen a lot of clips from them. My favorites were the times he’d get the giggles and couldn’t stop.

  55. 55.

    muddy

    May 21, 2015 at 8:52 am

    @raven: Get some potassium into you, dude! Low-sodium V-8 is the best non-prescription choice: 27% rda in one glass. Bananas and OJ are about 10% only.

  56. 56.

    Randy P

    May 21, 2015 at 8:55 am

    @Mustang Bobby: A number of older comics in that era had been vaudeville performers.

    I’m pretty sure the “Who’s on First” routine that Abbott and Costello made famous, was an old vaudeville routine. Which is why they did it in 1890s baseball uniforms as I recall.

    I’m not old enough to remember 50s TV, but Abbott and Costello’s show was in reruns in the 60s and 70s.

    Kenan and Kel revived the A & C format successfully in the late 90s (tell some jokes in front of a curtain, lead into what is essentially a sitcom episode, then come out afterward and tell some closing jokes).

  57. 57.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 8:56 am

    @muddy: I love in-jokery as much as, maybe more than, the next guy who can’t hear “The Final Countdown” without thinking “I’ve made a huge mistake”*.

    However, I may be a bit introverted for this. Especially if I have to explain to a complete stranger what a “meme” is.

    My particular non-verbal intervention fantasy is to aim a hair dryer on the ice cream they finally put in their cart.

    (*Delighted to find out that Google knows exactly what this means.)

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2015 at 8:58 am

    Democrats Have Good Reason to Want Alan Grayson Out of Senate Race

    By: Jeff Henderson | Posted: May 17, 2015 8:00 PM

    Democrats across Florida and in Washington, D.C., had to cringe over Alan Grayson’s behavior this past week.

    Despite being one of the richest members of Congress, Grayson has always carved out a niche for himself as a populist who doesn’t back down against the Republicans or big business. Only one problem: Grayson had been planning to invest funds into a Cayman Island account, something he has punched away at Republicans and corporations on.

    Grayson was called out for his hypocrisy this week by the Tampa Bay Times and the Democrat went ballistic, unleashing a barrage of insults and obscenities at reporter Adam Smith. Needless to say, the story went national, no surprise considering Grayson is thinking of running for the Senate in 2016.

    http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/democrats-have-good-reason-want-alan-grayson-out-senate-race

  59. 59.

    Randy P

    May 21, 2015 at 9:00 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Another show I know from reruns. One of my favorite bits was when he would read actual letters to the editor with the emotion that their writers had invested in them on, say, the pothole in front of the writer’s house.

    I’m not sure what silly internet writing I would revive that routine for. Comments on news articles? Too obvious. Maybe the stupidest pundit writing.

    Although reading BJ comment threads with over-the-top emotion might be kind of fun.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2015 at 9:03 am

    From the creator of Mad Men himself:

    Mad Men Creator: Finale Coke Ad Came From Don’s ‘Enlightened State’

    By Kimberly Roots / May 20 2015, 5:42 PM PDT

    http://tvline.com/2015/05/20/mad-men-finale-matthew-weiner-interview-don-wrote-coke-ad/#more-614833

    For those of you who need to hear it straight from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner‘s mouth: Don (and not Peggy) wrote the Coke ad.

    “The idea that some enlightened state, and not just co-option, might’ve created something that is very pure” was an attractive way to end the series, Weiner said. “To me, it’s the best ad ever made, and it comes from a very good place.”

    The assertion was one of the highlights of a public conversation Weiner had with A.M. Holmes (The L Word) at the New York Public Library on Wednesday evening, four days after his AMC series’ final episode aired.

    Weiner conducted no interviews after Sunday’s episode, so the conversation was the first time fans had an opportunity to hear Weiner’s thoughts on the finale.

    “I’m so pleased that people enjoyed it and seemed to enjoy it exactly as it was intended,” he said, adding that the episode had been locked down since October.

    During the conversation, Weiner shared some of his influences (such as President Richard Nixon and Catholicism) and recent insights about the show’s final hour.

    “Don likes strangers. Don likes winning strangers over,” Weiner said. “He likes seducing strangers, and that is what advertising is.”

    ………………………………

    * Though Weiner had known for seasons that the end of the series would feature the Coke ad and Betty’s cancer diagnosis, the same can’t be said of one other huge, fan-satisfying development. “I didn’t know Peggy and Stan would end up together,” he said. “That had to be proved to me.”

  61. 61.

    Mustang Bobby

    May 21, 2015 at 9:04 am

    @rikyrah: Once again Florida Democrats are proving that they can f*ck up a one-car parade.

    I like Alan Grayson for his vaudeville routines, but he’s setting himself up as the poor man’s Chris Christie.

  62. 62.

    Betty Cracker

    May 21, 2015 at 9:04 am

    @rikyrah: Grayson is a train wreck into a dumpster fire. In addition to making noises about running for the open US Senate seat, he is promoting his girlfriend to take over his US House seat. He’s going through an extraordinarily nasty, headline-generating divorce. His candidacy would be a gift to the GOP.

  63. 63.

    satby

    May 21, 2015 at 9:05 am

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: You are such a kind person I feel a bit like an ogre now. But my (over 35) years of management experience taught me the hard way, once by being fired myself, that getting let go can work out in a positive way for everyone after a lot of pain. Most of us avoid conflict and don’t want to inflict harm on others, but leaving a dysfunctional employee in place doesn’t actually help that person and demoralizes other staff. I made the assumption that Bots and co. have already pointed out the subpar performance, if they haven’t then a warning that her job is in jeopardy may be better.

  64. 64.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 9:05 am

    @Randy P:

    Although reading BJ comment threads with over-the-top emotion might be kind of fun.

    Another funny thing is to hear them spoken in a flat, emotionless computer voice. My macbook has a “speech” function. Find the angriest balloon-juice comment and let the computer say it.

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2015 at 9:09 am

    Scott Walker jobs agency in ‘chaos’ amid calls for federal probe

    05/19/15 02:56 PM—Updated 05/19/15 03:10 PM

    By Zachary Roth

    Three days after being sworn in as Wisconsin governor in 2011, Scott Walker announced an ambitious plan to turn the state’s commerce department into a semi-private corporation laser-focused on economic growth and job creation.

    “Transforming the Department of Commerce will align state government with our most important mission: creating jobs,” Walker said in a statement announcing the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), whose major role would be to make loans to private companies.

    Four years later, as Walker lays the groundwork for a presidential run, WEDC appears rudderless and deeply troubled. Government and press reports have raised serious questions about the agency’s transparency, effectiveness, political independence and compliance with the law. Walker, who serves as chair of the WEDC board, has twice in recent months announced major shifts to the agency’s structure and mission—and this week he has been forced to deny that he knew about a questionable loan to a political contributor’s company.

    Democrats are calling for a federal investigation. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s job growth continues to lag far behind the nation’s—taking a toll on the governor’s popularity at home.

  66. 66.

    Betty Cracker

    May 21, 2015 at 9:10 am

    @rikyrah: I’m glad someone talked Weiner into the Peggy-Stan outcome. I’ve read a shit-ton of negative commentary about it elsewhere, including assertions that it undermined Peggy’s narrative arc as a feminist. Bullshit, I say.

  67. 67.

    Botsplainer

    May 21, 2015 at 9:12 am

    @ThresherK:

    I’ve been doing this 26 years. I’ve run across assholes like him, but have never seen one go so far as an enabler.

    This morning, it occurred to me that her disorder is in the spectrum of Munchausen’s by Proxy. She knows that continuing to prop him up and fighting his battles is actually harming him, but she won’t stop.

  68. 68.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2015 at 9:21 am

    WHAT DA PHUQ?!?!?!?!

    ……………

    Georgia middle school teacher arrested for letting kids have sex in classroom

    Posted 11:44 am, May 20, 2015, by Scott Wise

    STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia — A teacher was fired from his job and charged with a crime after he was accused of allowing students to have sex in a classroom closet. A parent discovered text messages between her 14-year-old son and middle school math teacher Quinton Wright.

    “I was in a state of disbelief when I read all these messages,” the parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told WSBTV. “Basically he’s allowing the students to have sex in a storage room in his classroom.”

    The texts, according to the mother, indicated her son could have sex in the classroom from 7:30 to 8:30. In one text, the teacher asked the teenager if he told the girl what was going to happen and that she could not tell anyone. Another text indicated the teacher did not have condoms to provide.

    http://wtvr.com/2015/05/20/classroom-sex-text/

  69. 69.

    Snarkworth

    May 21, 2015 at 9:24 am

    @muddy: Almost! I heard it as “Mrs. Eh-Whhoo-iggans”

  70. 70.

    kc

    May 21, 2015 at 9:26 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I know it’s just a TV series, with fictional characters, but it made me happy to see Peggy happy.

  71. 71.

    satby

    May 21, 2015 at 9:29 am

    @Botsplainer: She’s a classic co-dependent continuing to enable her alcoholic spouse. She needs treatment as much as he does to break her own cycle of destructive behavior. Which she may never recognize until she herself “hits bottom” and gets “sick of being sick”.

    Lotta alcoholics in my family, fortunately all in recovery and doing well in their sobriety. But this is a subject I also have years of experience in.

  72. 72.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 9:43 am

    @Botsplainer: I’ll just echo what others have said about your employee. What have you “been doing for 26 years”? I didn’t hear; something in the mental health field, or are you basically an “innocent bystander in the office” for someone else’s situation?

    @Germy Shoemangler: I recommend the Wits radio show “One Star Amazon Reviews” recurring feature, if you want the reverse. High dramaturgy for laffs.

  73. 73.

    Debbie(aussie)

    May 21, 2015 at 10:01 am

    @raven: Glad you’re having such a great time. Take care of yourself, no extra injuries. The muscle strains and aches along with the sunburn will heal pretty easily. Look after your finger.

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    May 21, 2015 at 10:07 am

    @ThresherK: I think Botsplainer’s an attorney and that he’s seen all manner of dysfunction from his clients and their families.

  75. 75.

    Kathleen

    May 21, 2015 at 10:20 am

    @ThresherK: Those of us who take our ice cream seriously would probably testify on your behalf, regardless of what you chose to do.

  76. 76.

    Kathleen

    May 21, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @ThresherK: Weren’t those classic SCTV sketches the absolute best? How I loved those shows. The older and shorter I get, I’ve started calling myself Sid Dithers when I drive.

  77. 77.

    Kathleen

    May 21, 2015 at 10:32 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: Remember Ernie Kovacs? My dad and I loved his show

  78. 78.

    muddy

    May 21, 2015 at 10:32 am

    @ThresherK: I may have told this anecdote in here before, you will probably like it. Once in the supermarket there I saw a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, whining and shrieking in her mother’s cart. The mother just kept twittering at her gently but not putting a stop to it. So I stuck my tongue out at the little girl.

    This stopped the whining, as she stuck her tongue out at me in response. The mother finally decides she needs to do something, and scolds the child for it. Child insists I did it first. I stand there looking appalled and amazed that a child would tell such a story! Child subsides grumpily, glaring at me.

    I felt a little bad because it was unfair, on the other hand I didn’t feel that bed because she needed a scolding anyway. This is how bad I felt: when the mother turned away I stuck my tongue out at the little girl again. Her face!

  79. 79.

    Amir Khalid

    May 21, 2015 at 10:33 am

    @Baud:
    If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve. Besides, I’m not American.

  80. 80.

    ruemara

    May 21, 2015 at 10:33 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: come back with details and have a nice trip. Have you shared your book titles here?

    @Botsplainer: yeesh. Has she considered moving the fuck on? Moving the fuck on is known to cure such a bad case of deadweight-itis. Because homegirl needs to move the fuck on from that hot mess.

  81. 81.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 10:35 am

    @Kathleen: Ernie Kovacs was scheduled to appear in “It’s A Mad Mad World” but died before filming. His part was taken by Sid Caesar.

    He was excellent in the movie “Bell Book and Candle” with James Stewart and Kim Novak.

  82. 82.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 10:40 am

    “Butterfly” has stymied language experts for decades. It is the one common word that does not have cognates — words that are similar in sound, spelling and meaning — in related languages, even closely related ones.

    Leaving aside the “the one common word” thing, I take the point — the variety in the words is as beautiful as the variety in the order Lepidoptera itself — but why put it so categorically?

    Just off the top of my head there’s French: papillon and Catalan: papallona and Latin: papilio. (We need not count Esperanto.)

    Going back in time a little, there’s English: butterfly and Dutch: botervlieg and German: butterfliege.

    There are similar Chinese and Japanese character renderings.

    Those are off the top of my head, but if I were one of those “language experts,” I’d also look at groupings such as Galician and Portuguese; Czech, Slovak, and Polish; Ukrainian and Belarusian; Bulgarian and Macedonian; Albanian and Romanian; Maltese and Italian; Hindi and Punjabi; the various Indonesian languages; and so on.

    Plus if one wants to be grumpy about it, there are even more obvious pairings such as Serbian and Croatian, Dutch and Afrikaans, French (again) and (Haitian) Creole.

    Anyhow, I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure there are numerous cognates to be found.

  83. 83.

    eyelessgame

    May 21, 2015 at 10:42 am

    Random fact for y’all’s open thread.

    It has been 54 years since the first man went into space.
    When the first man went into space, the Model T was 53 years old.

  84. 84.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 10:43 am

    @Cervantes: My son, when he was three, saw one and called it a “flutter by” which I thought was actually a better name. He also remarked once while we were flying a kite that we were fishing for clouds.

  85. 85.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 10:44 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    The lad’s a poet!

    Many children are, I think, until we bash it out of them.

  86. 86.

    Shantanu Saha

    May 21, 2015 at 10:47 am

    @Mustang Bobby: You didn’t do your due diligence in research.

    The OED thinks that the etymology of “butterfly” has more to do with butter’s root word (beat, or churn milk into butter) than the object itself. So the origin of “butterfly” would be “fly that beats its wings”.

    So if you look for “beat” and “fly” in the Klingon dictionary, you get “moq” and “ghew”. Thus I coin the Klingon word for butterly to be “moq ghew”.

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2015 at 10:48 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m glad someone talked Weiner into the Peggy-Stan outcome. I’ve read a shit-ton of negative commentary about it elsewhere, including assertions that it undermined Peggy’s narrative arc as a feminist. Bullshit, I say.

    Stan is man enough and confident in his own skill level to be happy doing what he’s doing, and be happy being Mr. Peggy Olsen. He is not without talent, but he knows that Peggy is a STAR, and he doesn’t resent her for it. He loves her all the more fr it. He will be her rock and support system as she soars.

  88. 88.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @eyelessgame:

    Thanks, that’s a good reminder.

    Model T : Vostok :: Vostok : ?

  89. 89.

    Germy Shoemangler

    May 21, 2015 at 10:52 am

    @Cervantes:

    The lad’s a poet! Many children are, I think, until we bash it out of them.

    He’s 26 now. I made a point of never bashing him, but I’m concerned the world (and specifically his employer) is doing some bashing. But he’s strong and finding his way.

    Off topic I guess, but I just saw Hannibal B.’s standup routine at the Webby Awards, and thought that Balloon-Juice should be nominated and should win.

  90. 90.

    Kathleen

    May 21, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: My fondest memory is at the end of his show, Ernie donned a suit of armor and delivered a dramatic soliloquy from a Greek tragedy. At the end of his speech, he broke into a tap dance. I never saw my dad laugh so hard in my life (and he listened to lots of good comedy).

  91. 91.

    SFAW

    May 21, 2015 at 11:00 am

    Meanwhile, Jeb is doing his best to prove that W is “The Smart One.”

    Fucking moron. (With apologies to morons everywhere.)

  92. 92.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 11:01 am

    @Shantanu Saha:

    The OED thinks that the etymology of “butterfly” has more to do with butter’s root word

    Well, it also speculates that the word is related to Dutch: boterschijte, which (and I quote) “suggests that the insect was so called from the appearance of its excrement.”

  93. 93.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 11:01 am

    @SFAW:

    Apology accepted, thank you.

  94. 94.

    stickler

    May 21, 2015 at 11:04 am

    @Cervantes: Wait. The German word for “butterfly” is Schmetterling, not “butterfliege.”

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    May 21, 2015 at 11:07 am

    @Cervantes:

    Now, now, let’s not be dramatic. I prefer to think of you as a “Sub-Genius.”

  96. 96.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 11:07 am

    @stickler:

    Wait. The German word for “butterfly” is Schmetterling, not “butterfliege.”

    Thanks, but notice that I said: “Going back in time a little” …

    In the same vein: the Dutch mostly use vlinder these days.

  97. 97.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 11:08 am

    @SFAW:

    I prefer to think of you as a “Sub-Genius.”

    My religion is a private matter, thank you very much.

  98. 98.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2015 at 11:11 am

    @Kathleen

    Even better than the Nairobi Trio, IMHO, Swan Lake a la Kovacs.

  99. 99.

    SFAW

    May 21, 2015 at 11:12 am

    @Kathleen:

    At the end of his speech, he broke into a tap dance.

    Did he also sing “Puttin on the Ritz“?

  100. 100.

    SFAW

    May 21, 2015 at 11:12 am

    @Cervantes:

    I’ll let “Bob” know, he’ll be pleased.

  101. 101.

    Cervantes

    May 21, 2015 at 11:22 am

    @SFAW:

    While it may be true that “[h]undreds of Bostonians and area college students, particularly MIT techies, have denounced normalcy and invested blind faith in Bob [sic]” (Laura Yuen, Boston Globe, July 4, 1998, p. C1), all I said was that my religion is a private matter, thank you very much!

  102. 102.

    TG Chicago

    May 21, 2015 at 11:28 am

    People still ask about Klingon? I thought the hip thing these days would be to ask for “butterfly” in Dothraki.

  103. 103.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 21, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @Cervantes: The word for “butterfly” in most Slavic and East European languages is very similar (with the exception of Russian.)

  104. 104.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    @Elizabelle: Thanks for info. There is an intersection between attorney and social worker.

    My wife would love to be able to decisively tell people “You’re wrong!” or “You’re right!” the way an attorney hears about their clients. And believe me, she’s seen enough of people who need to hear it. Sometimes I think that that’s the biggest professional skill she has.

  105. 105.

    sukabi

    May 21, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    @rikyrah: wouldn’t be surprised if there was a camera installed in the closet. ….

  106. 106.

    ellennellee

    May 21, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    maybe it’s harder to give a word to such a fleeting phenomenon. and keep it, and then share it.

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    May 21, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Cervantes:

    all I said was that my religion is a private matter, thank you very much!

    Yes, yes, I know. And you’re only asking various sensitive questions “for a friend” or “this guy I know” and so on.

    Fortunately, the wave of “religious freedom” that is sweeping the right-thinking parts of ‘Murica means that you can come out of the figurative (or is it metaphorical?) closet regarding your slackfulness, etc.

    Bleeding head good, baby!

  108. 108.

    smintheus

    May 21, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    “Butterfly” has stymied language experts for decades. It is the one common word that does not have cognates — words that are similar in sound, spelling and meaning — in related languages, even closely related ones. “Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French — each one has a different word for ‘butterfly,’ ” said William Beeman, chairman of the University of Minnesota’s anthropology department who has written on the anomaly.

    What a strange thing to say. The latin for butterfly is ‘papilio, papilionis’. French is papillon; Catalan is papallona.

    ETA: Cervantes has already pointed this out.

  109. 109.

    yet another jeff

    May 21, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Now I want to hear it say “cudlip”…

  110. 110.

    Anne Laurie

    May 21, 2015 at 9:57 pm

    @Shantanu Saha: Spousal Unit said the Klingon word for butterfly should translate as “colorful splat under my fist”.

  111. 111.

    opiejeanne

    May 21, 2015 at 10:18 pm

    @smintheus: but in Spanish it’s mariposa.

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