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

Before Header

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

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

He really is that stupid.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Let there be snark.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Mobile Menu

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

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  June 6, 201512:56 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

From the category “stuff one stumbles across on the internets”.

I’m gonna be away for a few hours, so until better pickings come along, entertain each other.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Open Thread: Chris Christie, Big Mouth (Large Foot)
Next Post: Champions League Final Open Thread Barcelona v Juventus »

Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    June 6, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Gonna go walk the dog, then pull weeds. But that’s every Saturday.
    Enjoy your weekend.

  2. 2.

    shell

    June 6, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Looks like it’s gonna be sunny for Belmont.

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    June 6, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Wow. Beau def looked like his dad. But am I wrong in thinking Hunter sounds a lot like VP Joe?

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    June 6, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    Hunter Biden recalled his first memory of childhood waking up in a hospital, age 3, w/Beau holding his hand, saying over & over again: I love you.

    Apparently, Chris Martin (Coldplay) learned thru grapevine that Beau Biden was a big fan and volunteered to sing at the memorial.

    POTUS Eulogy did Joe Biden proud

    RIP Beau Biden

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    June 6, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    I don’t think I can watch the funeral, but I very much appreciate my fellow Juicers filling me in.

    And because I haven’t found an open thread early enough until now:

    Way of Cats Fund Drive

    is underway, and close to the top! For those so inclined.

    Thanks.

  6. 6.

    the Conster

    June 6, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    @lamh36:

    I’m crying here just reading about it – can’t bring myself to watch such sadness. Joe has felt too much sorrow.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    Iowa Old Lady’s comment from previous thread. Sums it up.

    I know most funerals are sad, but this one felt tragic.

    ETA: C-Span 1 will rebroadcast remarks by Odierno, PBO, and the Biden family at 8 p Eastern tonight.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 6, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @lamh36: it was an incredibly moving service for a man who was, by all accounts, extraordinary. Even allowing for a bit of possible eulogistic hyperbole, Beau’s decency came through loud and clear, and the love and support the Biden family* all have for each other is palpable.

    *(Including POTUS, a self-described “honorary Biden”)

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @the Conster: The Biden family was very strong and dignified.

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    C-Span 1: “next up is Senator Tom Cotton talking about foreign policy. …”

    Click goes the remote. Back to a sunny Virginia Saturday.

  11. 11.

    the Conster

    June 6, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s too much to bear. They’ll fall apart later.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    June 6, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    Popped awake much, much too early, about 6:30. Had nearly forgotten the Sun is up at such an unfortunate hour.

    Not a morning person. *grumble, grumble* Gonna be logy all day now.

  13. 13.

    Gimlet

    June 6, 2015 at 1:46 pm

    The Florida House of Representatives voted Friday to reject a state Senate bill that would have expanded Medicaid for thousands

    The proposal would have used $18 billion in federal funds over a decade to help low-income workers purchase health care plans from private providers. The program would have expanded Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of Floridians.

    Opponents derided the legislation as expensive, overreaching and “just Obamacare with a clever name,” as state Rep. John Wood (R) put it.

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida has the second-highest uninsured rate in the country, with 24.3 percent of residents lacking health care in 2013.

    Friday’s vote marks the third time Florida legislators have rejected expanding health care since the Affordable Care Act passed.

  14. 14.

    DCrefugee

    June 6, 2015 at 1:55 pm

    @Gimlet: Forget it Jake, it’s Florida Man…

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 1:55 pm

    Learn from the wolves. NY Times today: Tapping your Inner Wolf:

    The point is, alpha males are not aggressive. They don’t need to be. “Think of an emotionally secure man, or a great champion. Whatever he needed to prove is already proven,” he said.

    There is an evolutionary logic to it.

    “Imagine two wolf packs, or two human tribes,” Mr. McIntyre said. “Which is more likely to survive and reproduce? The one whose members are more cooperative, more sharing, less violent with one another; or the group whose members are beating each other up and competing with one another?”

    of course, the pack is small and select:

    They are his family — his mate, offspring (both biological and adopted) and maybe a sibling.

    But:

    Biologists used to consider the alpha male the undisputed boss. But now they recognize two hierarchies at work in wolf packs — one for the males, the other for the females.

    Doug Smith, the biologist who is the project leader for the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Restoration Project, said the females “do most of the decision making” for the pack, including where to travel, when to rest and when to hunt. The matriarch’s personality can set the tone for the whole pack, Dr. Smith said.

    Or, as Mr. McIntyre put it: “It’s the alpha female who really runs the show.”

    Clearly, our alpha male stereotype could use a corrective makeover. Men can learn a thing or two from real wolves: less snarl, more quiet confidence, leading by example, faithful devotion in the care and defense of families, respect for females and a sharing of responsibilities. That’s really what wolfing up should mean.

    Learn up, people. (ETA: people, generically. The BJ community pretty much already follows this credo.)

  16. 16.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    Stepping away from the laptop. Catch up with you guys for the Belmont. Cheers.

  17. 17.

    fuckwit

    June 6, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: After reading Obama’s autobiography, it became very clear why and how he became so close to and had so much affection for Biden, and for Clinton actually too.

    Biden seems, from Obama’s description, very much like Obama’s grandfather who raised him, and with whom he was very close. Clinton seems very much, from the somewhat sparse description he gives, like Obama’s mother, who was very nearly the same age.

    It’s interesting to me that Obama wrote a wonderful autobiographical book about his search for his absent father, but didn’t get around to writing about his mother. Maybe he intended to but didn’t have time or didn’t think the time was right. But I predict once he’s out of office, the first book he’ll write will be something personal and introspective and it will be about Dr. Dunham. And it’ll bookend his other autobiography.

  18. 18.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    Basketball Commentary from Key and Peele.

    Pretty much what all sports talk sounds like to me.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    June 6, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    Andrew O’Hehir’s political punditry is even sillier than his film criticism.O’Hehir seems to be arguing that Caitlyn Jenner’s media debut, the Josh Duggar scandal, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign are all aspects of one big thing that O’Hehir doesn’t quite manage to define. They aren’t. They are three different things going on at the same time, that’s all.

    Salon has really lost its way in the past few years.

  20. 20.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    @Amir Khalid: True about Salon. Years ago I used to enjoy reading. Now I actually find myself getting irritated when I click on an article and find the headline has nothing to do with the subject. Clickbait. And the commenters seem to be growing sick of it.

    Andrew’s bullshit essays are a big part of it, but there are other writers there equally bad.

    And when they have space to fill they just reprint some dense book excerpt and tack on an irrelevant, overly dramatic headline.

    What is Joan Walsh thinking?

  21. 21.

    gogol's wife

    June 6, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    My husband’s back from his archive trip. So I’m ecstatic despite the broken washing machine and inoperative cable TV.

  22. 22.

    Mark B.

    June 6, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    This song title was the answer to one of the clues in the NYT crossword puzzle I worked this morning. It’s published in the NYT last week, but the local paper publishes it on Saturday morning. I hadn’t heard it before. I’m not a big Billy Joel fan, but this is a nice song. Glad I heard it.

  23. 23.

    MomSense

    June 6, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    Here’s a snippet of my day.

    Son: Say “toast” five times fast.
    Mom: toasttoasttoasttoasttoast
    Son: Say “toaster” ten times fast
    Mom: toastertoastertoastertoastertoastertoastertoastertoastertoastertoaster
    Son: What do you put in a toaster?
    Mom: Bread
    Son: Oh darn it.

    Son: Oh I told my teacher you would make a cockroach hat or gloves for the science fair auction.
    Mom: Isn’t that on Wednesday?

    Son: What gets wetter as it dries?
    Mom: I have no idea.
    Son: A towel (exits)

    Wait what about this science fair thing? No response.

    and scene

  24. 24.

    Amir Khalid

    June 6, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    Walsh hasn’t been running the place in years. She’s an editor-at-large now, and apparently all she does these days is her own punditry. The changes of the past few years — the increasingly tabloidish tone, the clearing out of the better contributors like aviation guy Patrick Smith — were made by her successors.

  25. 25.

    lamh36

    June 6, 2015 at 2:43 pm

    Serena Williams wins her 20th Grand Slam, beating Martina. 2 more and she beat Graff for most Grand Slam wins.

    As usual, the haters gonna hate and for 20 years now belittle what the Williams sisters have done for themselves and women’s tennis, but Serena keeps going and has to be considered one of the GOAT in American athletics.

    And her winner’s speech was in French, LIKE A BOSS!

    Serena Williams Wins French Open

  26. 26.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    @MomSense: A cockroach hat or gloves? Are we talking costumes? For the science fair? LOL

    How does one make such a thing?

  27. 27.

    raven

    June 6, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Is this futbol game a biggie?

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    June 6, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    @MomSense: Son: Oh I told my teacher you would make a cockroach hat or gloves for the science fair auction.

    Do the hat. You only need to make one.

  29. 29.

    Tree With Water

    June 6, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Lest We Forget: Digby has posted a photo shot from a landing craft showing men of the 29th Division stepping onto Omaha Beach.. (which occurred in the blink of an eye ago, constructive imagination-wise). It was taken by Robert Capa, who naturally was forced to pause near the edge of the landing ramp to take it. As he told it later, the sailor piloting the landing craft assumed he was stalling and shoved him from behind and onto French soil. He didn’t like it there, either, and with perfect candor admitted he was soon looking for a ride back to the fleet offshore. He got it, and his film was rushed to London where a nervous dark room operator, cognizant of the film’s historical import, botched the job. Only a very few shots (in addition to Digby’s frame) were salvaged.

    Six months later Capa accompanied Patton’s relief column in the Ardennes, and was among the first Americans to breach the perimeter of surrounded Bastogne. Capa was Hungarian, and the joke was that while he spoke six languages, he spoke none of them well. Paratroopers from the 101st took one look at his camera gear, and then another few seconds to discern his accent, and proceeded to steal everything of value he was carrying. It got straightened out, however, and he got it all back (with no hard feelings on his part, either).

  30. 30.

    dmsilev

    June 6, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Very small knitting needles?

  31. 31.

    raven

    June 6, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    @Tree With Water: Almost all of the film of D-Day was collected by one officer on the beach and dropped into the sea when he climbed up a net with the duffel bag and dropped it. That’s why you see the very short clips over and over.

  32. 32.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    @dmsilev: But what happens at the science fair? The ones I was compelled to go to had posters plus one incredible project done by some kid’s dad. Nothing as fun as someone in a cockroach costume happened.

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 6, 2015 at 2:57 pm

    @fuckwit:

    That’s a really good point. I read Dreams when it first came out, and again shortly after the first Inauguration, but not since. I’ll have to go back and read it with your observations in mind, vis-à-vis Biden.

    I also agree he probably has a lot to write about his mother, and I hope he does so after he leaves office. But I don’t want that to be his first post-presidential book. I’m counting on finding out what he really thinks about Boner, McTurtle, Grampa Walnuts, the Mittster, and all the rest.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    June 6, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    @raven:
    UEFA Champions League final. Biggest game in club football.

  35. 35.

    dmsilev

    June 6, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Dunno. Most of the ones I’ve been to recently (as a judge, generally) have been like that. The really competitive national ones have truly amazing projects, but the “held in the school’s gym” type things tend to be a bunch of posters and maybe a few visual aids, but not much else.

  36. 36.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    @raven: One time at the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, I saw this photo exhibit from the Prague Spring in 1968. They’d been taken by an American college student bumming around Europe on a motorcycle. He heard interesting stuff was going on in Prague and went there. He woke up the next morning to Soviet tanks rolling through the streets.

    He took all kinds of pictures, fighting to keep his camera at one point, then headed out of town. Cars were lined up at the border crossing, but on his bike, he rolled right through. He took the film to the AP in Paris, as I recall. They bought some of the pics and one of them was on the front page of the NYT the next day.

    Then he went home and became a doctor. It was years before he dug out all the pics and this exhibit was put together. I was struck by how young most of the people involved on both sides were.

  37. 37.

    Tree With Water

    June 6, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    @raven: Fantastic knowledge. Do you recall the source the information? The history of WW2 has always has always fascinated me, and I’ve never read that particular in the oft told accounts of Capa’s invasion film (I’d remember if I had).

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    June 6, 2015 at 3:07 pm

    @lamh36:
    Actually, no. Two more Grand Slam titles and she’ll be tied with Steffi Graf on 22, the most any player has won in the Open era beginning in 1968. Australia’s Margaret Court is the all-time champion of Grand Slam titles with 24. That’s the mark Serena has to beat to become all-time champion herself.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    June 6, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    @dmsilev

    And always one volcano which either doesn’t function or which does, but too vigorously.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    June 6, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady

    Somewhere on YouTube (IIRC; too groggy to go searching at the moment) is the only film footage reporting by a Western journalist in Poland during the German invasion.

    Part of it shows the destructive aftermath by artillery of the photo lab, where the film had finished being developed mere minutes beforehand.

  41. 41.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    Tanned, Exquisitely Coiffed Bernie Sanders Tells Supporters Corporations Actually Have A Lot To Offer

    He looks like John Boehner

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    June 6, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: @WereBear:

    I think I’ll make a hat and use several colors? Believe it or not there aren’t any knitting patterns for cockroaches.

    Thank goodness it isn’t a costume. I’ve already made a preying mantis costume with clear plastic wings even.

  43. 43.

    shell

    June 6, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    @WereBear: Get a plain hat and a couple of fabric paint colors from your local craft store. Paint a tasteful cockroach motif

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    June 6, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    @MomSense: This video of what the world looks like through compound eyes:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnfgPipV7UE

    Might give you pattern ideas. In fact, if you get a couple of cheap compound eye filters for the brim, you could SEE THROUGH COCKROACH EYES.

    And maybe win a prize :)

  45. 45.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    @MomSense: I am so impressed

  46. 46.

    Gimlet

    June 6, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    @MomSense:

    And a set of tasteful Deely Boppers to set it off nicely.

  47. 47.

    Keith G

    June 6, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    President Obama’s eulogy for Beau Biden was amazingly personal. Not totally so in it’s verbal construction, but if one notices the body language and occasional waver to his voice, one can sense the emotions that the President was feeling.

    At about a minute twenty into the eulogy, President Obama states:

    We are here to grieve with you, but more importantly because we love you.

    As he delivered the last half of that line, he looked directly at Vice President Biden for about two seconds. In public speaking terms, that is an emphatic length of time.

    Very moving.

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    June 6, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Ha!

    His project is on the Stroop Effect and apparently they are putting visitors to their booth through examinations of some kind. It involved building models of the brain and lots of computer time. They are having an auction to raise money for future science fairs since this is the first one his elementary school has done and the kids are hoping to start a tradition.

  49. 49.

    MomSense

    June 6, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    @WereBear:

    Awesome

  50. 50.

    RaflW

    June 6, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    Maybe this was noted last night here since MJ ran it yesterday morning, but I just saw it. A woman has come forward saying she told ABC news 10 years ago that Dennis Hastert sexually abused her brother while Hastert was a coach. I can see why the network might have dismissed her allegation, her brother had been dead 6 years at the time.

    But Hastert is toast. Crispy, disgusting burnt toast. What a scumbag for going after Bill Clinton while he had this nasty child molesting skeleton in his closet. Sheesh.

  51. 51.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    @RaflW: The man was second in line after the VP to be president. Now there’s a horrifying thought.

  52. 52.

    Tree With Water

    June 6, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    @RaflW: Which begs the question, then, given that the blackmail payments were of more recent vintage, just just how many kids did Hastert rape?

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    @Tree With Water:
    I would say “all of them, Katie” but that’s cold comfort to his victims. Many smelled a Sandusky in the room when this story broke and it would appear this is exactly what we have.

    The sad fact is he has basically gotten away with it, and everything else: damaging several boys and damaging the nation. So his income stream has been disrupted now. What sort of price is that to pay? Not bloody much. He’s probably not going to jail and if there’s a trial it will be in civil court. He can block, delay and obfuscate from now until he’s dead. Nobody is likely to be satisfied with the outcome.

  54. 54.

    wmd

    June 6, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    There were a couple of front page posts yesterday about the labor report. Did anyone comment on the employment by educational attainment data?

    It’s surprising. From May 2014 to May 2015 the labor force with a Bachelors degree or above increased by 1,732,000 people (3.4%). Over the same time period 1,899,000 more people with a Bachelors or above became employed – the unemployment rate for BH or higher dropped while absorbing near a 1.75 million workers. This is astounding.

  55. 55.

    Suzanne

    June 6, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    I am trying to buy a new car. I have had my 2000 Honda CR-V for eleven years, and it has over 200K miles on it, and it’s just been too problematic for the last year and a half or so. So I think I am going to pick up my new CR-V tomorrow. Love the car, hate the payments. I will miss my old girl. Sniffle.

    I cannot watch the Beau Biden funeral. Just such an unbelievably tragic loss, and POTUS will make me cry. I signed the digital condolences book for the family. Love the Bidens so much.

  56. 56.

    Botsplainer

    June 6, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Beautiful afternoon at Churchill Downs – wanted to be here if Pharoah wins. I

  57. 57.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    June 6, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    @Botsplainer: I am nervous as a cat. I really like this horse. He has both talent and a great brain, though he can get a little wound up in/on the way to the paddock if there’s a rowdy crowd. Earplugs help, and once he’s on the track he’s all business. It rained earlier, quite hard at Belmont, and while they’ll have worked the surface, you can only get so much done with equipment.

    Did I mention that I really like this colt. And I know (believe, IIRC) Baffert is a family friend of yours. When Wayne Lukas says a horse he doesn’t train is special, I pay attention.

  58. 58.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    Open thread:

    Sen. Bernie Sanders on the O’Really factor:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO4Ko-v-q0g

  59. 59.

    Tree With Water

    June 6, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    @wmd: Those stats lend ammo to Sanders call for tuition-free colleges, don’t they?

  60. 60.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I agree this is a special horse. I didn’t know about earplugs. Do horses tolerate them?

  61. 61.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    June 6, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: Mine did (show horses not racehorses) and the big colt seems to. The fact that he’s much less skittish with them (they are cotton or yarn; his seem to be cotton) suggests it’s noise that bothers him.
    Noise got a couple of mine really wound up also, and they were better with their ears stuffed. Some horses find the stuffing really annoying, so you’re better overall with noise. Long way to say “it depends on the horse.”

  62. 62.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: I tried to watch that and found I still can’t stand O’Reilly smug, obnoxious manner for more than 60 seconds.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    You made it 60 seconds in? Tough stuff, that of which you are made.

  64. 64.

    Sibelius

    June 6, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Suzanne: Looked at the CRV 3 years ago. Liked it, almost bought it until we looked at the Acura RDX. LOVED it, 6 cyl, better transmission, not too much more. Still love it 3 years on. The only problem with the CRV was the power. I’ve got a left turn I have to make every day and I need to GOOOOOO. The Honda transmission wasn’t available as a “manumatic” so you had easy access to the shifter at the time, always thought that would have made me buy the CRV and save the money on the Acura. We really wanted the Audi Q5, but that was just ridiculously priced. Good luck with the car.

  65. 65.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: He really is so pompous it’s almost like a put on. But he’s serious. He gives me a headache, but I wanted to see how Sanders would handle him. Very even and thoughtful, never tricked into giving answers he doesn’t want to give.

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    @Sibelius:
    Probably shouldn’t recommend the A4Q Avant then. Spousal unit loves her ’07, as it’s a car the 95% of the time one wants a car and a hauler for the other 5%. We’re wannabe Eurotrash.

  67. 67.

    Sibelius

    June 6, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    @trollhattan: I was surprised they discontinued that one for awhile, then brought it back. My wife just wants an A4. She works across the street from the Audi dealer and sees them get delivered in their little white blankets. Great Great car. Our Mercedes C280 is old now and gets taken in on Monday for probably $3000 worth of work. I’d much rather put that down on the A4, but have to wait until our remodel is done, or at least started.

  68. 68.

    Iowa Old Lady

    June 6, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    I’ve decided we’ll have dried cherry and blue cheese pizza for dinner. I need to go do something about that.

  69. 69.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    @Sibelius:
    Sounds similar to what we experienced. Dealer floor and lot were packed with A4 sedans–pick any package and color you like–zero new Avants and a couple “executive” (i.e., loaner) used Avants, which is what we ended up with. They’d order us one with a 10-week turnaround at precisely the sticker price.

    Uh, no on that chief.

    Every time I’m on a sopping wet road (too, too rare in California lately) I am remided why I wanted this car. Test drove it in a heavy rainstorm and the salesdude kept telling me, “give it more gas.” He understood who he was dealing with while I was thinking, “Okay, it’s your neck too; how many airbags, again?”.

  70. 70.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Test drove it in a heavy rainstorm

    Just curious: Did he made a xerox of your drivers’ license before letting you test drive?

    Because that was my experience the last time I test drove (with the sales guy in the car). He said it was a rule, but I was suspicious.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    Hazy recollection is they did, but this was eight years ago. Since at any given time in our metroplex probably a third of the drivers are unlicensed/have fake licenses and no insurance, I can probably understand the extra step.

    Quite a change from when shopping for my current car and they offered me a tester overnight.

  72. 72.

    Sibelius

    June 6, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: When I was last test driving I had everything from DL copy, to phone numbers, e-mail, mother’s maiden name etc. down to here are the keys just bring it back. They’re all different, and most angling for any hook to keep you there. I finally got fed up with dealers and once I decided what I wanted I used my credit union buying service. I’ll never buy a car any other way. Funny that the nicest sales guy when test driving turned into the biggest A-@*&% once it was time to buy. I walked and never went back.

  73. 73.

    Germy Shoemangler

    June 6, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    @Sibelius: Funny you mention the credit union. Wife & I had the conversation last week. Next time we need to buy a car, we’ll use our credit union. I’ve had my fill of the hard sell and tricks.

    The xeroxing my license made me suspicious because I remember reading somewhere that there’s no “rule” and that they simply give the copy to the manager while you’re on the road with the salesman. He can go online and learn all sorts of things from the info on your license. They want to see how much you can afford to spend.

    I remember the bullshit chit-chat which was really the sales douche asking personal questions. (“So what does your wife do for a living?” when I mentioned my wife would be using the car.)

    EDIT: Just found this:

    http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/09/car-dealers-can-use-your-drivers-license-to-access-your-credit-report/index.htm

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 6, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    Been binging on Psycho-Pass to catch up with my friends.

    Holy shit, that gets dark.

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    June 6, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    In ways it’s worse now than that article, since they can Google Earth your damn house. “That van in front, are you planning on trading it in?”

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    Hi peeps. G&T in hand; waiting to root for American Pharoah.

    Kind of wishing for a C-Span like feed for horse racing, vs. the pomp and commercialism of NBC Sports.

    Beautiful conditions for racing, no?

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    And they’re off. Anybody else out there? Where are you?

  78. 78.

    Pogonip

    June 6, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Yes and I’m not happy about it. They used to be very good about reporting the latest in autism research. Now they’re a parody of liberalism, but the problem is I don’t think they intend it as parody.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    Triple Crown!!!

    And all the horses healthy?

  80. 80.

    Pogonip

    June 6, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    @RaflW: Say ” Hastert” ten times fast…

  81. 81.

    debbie

    June 6, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    That was a beautiful run!

  82. 82.

    Pogonip

    June 6, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @MomSense: Don’t try to make hats for cockroaches. They invariably knock them off as they run under the fridge.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @debbie: Always in the lead (or no?), and pulling away at the end.

    Textbook.

    Racing needed a Triple Crown. I am still personally mad at Tonalist. Faker.

  84. 84.

    debbie

    June 6, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes, always in the lead.

    I always root for the grays, and I was secretly hoping for a tie with Frosted, but American Pharaoh ran so easily, it looked like he could almost go for a second lap.

  85. 85.

    catatonia

    June 6, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    AP didn’t labor at all. Impressive win.
    Jeez, the trifecta only paid 54 bucks. Even for a TC 7-horse race where the 3:5 favorite won, that’s still seems pretty low. Didn’t see the odds on the place and show, though.

  86. 86.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    @efgoldman: Hello there. I think it’s a bigger deal. Long drought.

    I think Barbaro could have been a Triple Crown winner. Still haunted by that. Gorgeous horse.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @debbie: Frosted is beautiful. We can root for him if he races more.

    Do you think retirement for Pharoah?

  88. 88.

    debbie

    June 6, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I’ve never heard of a Triple Crown winner not retiring. Have you?

  89. 89.

    debbie

    June 6, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    @catatonia:

    Frosted was 9:2, but that’s all I remember.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    Your wish is NBC’s command. Who are the Goldmans rooting for? (Forgive me if it’s totes obvious. Don’t follow sports…)

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    It was nice to see a field of horses fewer than the GOP field. (Nags all, the second group. Not roadworthy.)

  92. 92.

    Elizabelle

    June 6, 2015 at 7:32 pm

    @efgoldman: Very good.

    Heading back outside. It’s beautiful out. Catch up with you guys later.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    June 6, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    @Sibelius: The Acura looks great, but is definitely more than I can spend. Hell, the CR-V is at the top end of my budget. But I want something that will last. I have loved my current CR-V, and I want that same reliability.

    Had to put my student loans into forbearance until the end of the summer. God damn. I feel like I will never be financially secure ever. Not ever. And after this week at work, I almost wish I had become a plumber or welder or something. Something where I don’t have to deal with clients who hate me.

    Yay for American Pharoah. First Triple Crown in my lifetime.

  94. 94.

    Botsplainer

    June 6, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    Lots of cheering and tears at Churchill Downs today, a delightfully mixed crowd, young, middle aged and old. All economic strata, all races, all genders.

    Among race fans, this is a big f’ing deal – thoroughbred racing needed this attention, and the story is VERY positive.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Joey Maloney on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 15, 2024 @ 7:53am)
  • Kay on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 15, 2024 @ 7:52am)
  • Subsole on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 15, 2024 @ 7:50am)
  • Kay on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 15, 2024 @ 7:44am)
  • Baud on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 15, 2024 @ 7:43am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

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

Balloon Juice Posts

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

Balloon Juice Meetups!

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

Fundraising 2023-24

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

Featuring

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

Calling All Jackals

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

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

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

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

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

Email sent!