Miscellaneous item one — this sign for the Tampa Shrimp Docks was erected in the 1970s, and it shows: 
This owl is fake. It doesn’t frighten seagulls, chickens or pigeons. Maybe sparrows fear it, but honestly, the jury is out. Is it the paint job?
I would have gone canoeing from this launch on the Withlacoochee River on Sunday, but it was raining: 
So I had a glass of wine and a bowl of Spanish bean soup instead.
The end.
Pogonip
The topic below about the paid pundit who informed us Donald Trump shows strength because he’s strong, or something like that, got me to wondering what was the silliest thing I had ever seen on the Internets. After some thought, I picked the guy griping because he had to clean his butt if he wanted sex; he thought the girls, or perhaps the sheep [been a while since I saw it], were being unreasonably demanding and fastidious.
Baud
I’ll get this party started.
ETA: Unless Pogonip gets there first.
Major Major Major Major
@Pogonip: Obviously you’ve never seen Timecube.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
I went canoeing with friends on the Loxahatchee last February. I saw my lifetime limit of gators on the shore 10-20 feet away.
schrodinger's cat
That looks like the first frame of the Florida version of the Blair Witch Project.
mai naem mobile
I guess some drunk Floridian named this river Withacoochee or is ‘drunk Floridian’ redundant?
WaterGirl
I’m just not sure it’s a good thing when the opening comment in a thread is about a guy griping because he had to clean his butt if he wanted sex – can’t wait to see where this thread goes.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
After a year, we’re getting off our asses and looking for a new dog. It’s been too long. I’m really yearning for a brittany spaniel, but it’s hard to snag a rescue brittany, and I don’t want to go through a breeder. Anybody know of any brittanys that need a new home?
bystander
It’s “Withlacoochee.” I believe it’s from the French for “female”.
WaterGirl
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I can’t remember what neck of the woods you hail from, but perhaps jefferyw’s wife could keep an eye out for you. They are in southern Illinois.
Also, I saw your name mentioned in a previous thread about the meet-up tonight. Someone was hoping you could be there, but if you’re here talking about dogs, I’m guessing you’re not at the meet-up.
beltane
I like the owl,
Germy Shoemangler
the owl looks like he’s saying “who, me?”
And what is he planning to do with that lighter?
Pogonip
@Major Major Major Major: No, i haven’t: did Mr. Fastidious star in it?
jl
@beltane: Me too. Owl looks perfectly fine to me.
Thnx to BC for exotic cypress swamp in rain pic. I love cypress swamps. We need more out here in California.
Just saw this and thought about how soon they forget great feats of strong strength.
Colorado Man Sets Appalachian Trail Record on 2,189-Mile Run
” Scott Jurek reached the summit of Mount Katahdin on Sunday afternoon to finish the 2,189-mile run from Georgia to Maine in 46 days, eight hours. ”
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/colorado-man-sets-appalachian-trail-record-on-124067823782.html
But Mark Sanford, as the SC Gub traveled almost 10,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail (round trip). What about that, huh?
raven
Cool, I’ve wanted satellite tv for years. I got it today and a storm just shut it down!!!
KG
Turned on the all star game to hear Harold Reynolds say this when talking about how good the 28 year old Buster Posey is: we’ve been spoiled, he’s the same age as Jackie Robinson was as a rookie.
No further context, from an African American baseball player who broke into the majors at 22 in the 80s. And I thought Joe Morgan was bad at announcing
Baud
@Germy Shoemangler: I’d be more worried about those shears.
Karen in GA
@raven: That’s probably the one that just passed us. Didn’t seem too harmful — but then again, we had one the other night that seemed like nothing more than noise, and I went out the next morning to find the top half of a tree in my driveway.
We’re headed to Daytona in September. I think I want to try bodyboarding, probably because I have no kids to point out how embarrassing it would be to see my fat middle-aged self waddling into the ocean with one of those things.
ETA: More storms coming. Busy night.
Gvg
We went canoeing down juniper springs in Ocala Forest I think 15years ago. there is a really cool stretch where the spring is just wide enough for the canoes and its eroded down so the banks to either side are about shoulder high and the water about a foot deep. then the river starts to snake and about 6 to 10 feet away you can see the canoes behind and in front of you doubling back the other way. spring makes about 6 reverse turns really quick. we turned a corner and the current took us right over the back of a large sleeping gator. Maybe 12 foot lying across the creek. he didn’t seem to care that several canoes in turn couldn’t stop and ran over him. really memorable canoe trip. Most of them have been much more peaceful and soothing.
scuffletuffle
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): How close are you to Western MA? There is a rescue group for Brittanys out here.
raven
@Karen in GA: The break in the Atlantic is normally pretty tame.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@WaterGirl:
No, I missed it. I’m hoping the next one won’t be too long from now, though.
We’re near Washington, D.C., but a lot of rescue societies have deals where people will shuttle dogs from one part of the U.S. to another.
Mike in NC
@jl: We have a cypress swamp near us where they just started a zip line excursion and boat ride. The boat ride runs $29 per person and goes for about half a mile before the swamp becomes unnavigable. Talk about a ripoff.
Karen in GA
@raven: My husband is hilarious. He started going on about undertows and rip tides and ohmygodyou’regonnadie. (He also suggested I bring MREs when I did the motorcycle trip in Norway, just in case.)
I love him, neurotic mess that he is.
scuffletuffle
Google new England Brittany Rescue in Cummington MA. They have several dogs at present.
Omnes Omnibus
@Pogonip:
That was on Balloon Juice, wasn’t it?
Mike in NC
Last time we visited the Tampa area we had lunch at the Blue Gator in Dunnellon, on the river. Fantastic food.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
The sheep gave it away.
raven
@Karen in GA: @Karen in GA: Swim with the rip until you make your way to the outside. . . but you knew that. The Marine that got bit by the shark at Surf City last week was about a mile from where I surf fished for a week in may (with a cut knee and post op finger!)
HinTN
@raven: “And that’s the way it is…”
Karen in GA
@raven: Thanks, yeah — it seems the fatal mistake people make is fighting directly against the current, which leads to fatigue, which leads to drowning.
Pogonip
@Omnes Omnibus: No, you are thinking of the cat who would very much have liked to clean his butt, but was too stoned on ‘nip to find it.
JPL
@Karen in GA: The storm here was about thirty to forty minutes with several large strikes that shook the house. The pup had gone in his crate earlier and decided that it might be better to stay next to mom.
A friend who lives in Sandy Springs lost power.
slag
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): https://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?location=Washington%2C+DC&animal=dog&breed=Brittany+Spaniel&filtersUpdated=false&distance=&name=
raven
@Karen in GA: Panic. Most of the deaths in tri’s are in the swim portion. I did that out at Sandy Creek a couple of years ago and I can see how easy it would be. I KNEW I wasn’t going to drown but getting kicked in the face fucked up my breathing and I was pretty nervous.
Omnes Omnibus
@Pogonip: No, I can guarantee I was not thinking about that. At all.
Pogonip
I kinda sorta remember reading about Mr. Fastidious in one of the many articles about the manosphere current a while back. I do remember amusing myself with a mental picture of a manosphere demonstration: “What do we want?–Stinky butts! When do we want them?–On date night!”
If you missed all those articles, the “manosphere” is the new word for “grumpy guys.”
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Trying to finish drinking a smoothie before my swimming lesson and really hoping Mom was not right that you have to wait an hour between eating and swimming.
MazeDancer
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Wow. @scuffletuffle found a treasure trove of pups. 8 of them: https://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=MA195
There are a lot of BJ people within driving distance of Cummington, MA. Maybe someone who knows dogs could check out the ones you like.
Benw
The family and I just got back home from FL. Saw the in-laws, including my wife’s grandmother who is 97 and who lives in the middle of nowhere (aka Hardee County). The we took the kids down to Naples for a few days in a rental with a pool about a mile from the beach. Had a great time and got to float in the gulf while watching spectacular sunsets after the t-storms had blown through almost every day.
Pogonip
@MazeDancer: Start the dog bucket brigade!
Karen in GA
@JPL: Which, tonight or the other night?
In any case, glad everyone is okay, and I hope you all remain so.
Another Holocene Human
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I know the feeling, though in my case it was the much less scenic Lake Wauburgh.
Damn near split my toe open in my haste to pull that canoe onto the (non gator infested part of the) shore.
Pogonip
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, you should have been. Yesterday two years ago was when Cole lost him untimely.
Another Holocene Human
@WaterGirl: Oh, it gets better. I mean worse. Roosh V is an MRA. He writes “travel guides” about going to various impoverished countries and picking up young and desperate women.
currants
So wait, Spanish bean soup?
Like this?
IN THE SUMMER IN FLORIDA?
That looks like a winter recipe to me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Pogonip: Thank you for the lecture.
WaterGirl
@raven: Welcome to satellite tv! Everyone I know who has gotten it has cancelled it at the first opportunity. Not good in storms, winter or summer.
Seems kind of shitty to lose it your first night, though!
Tree With Water
@raven: Along with every other kid that had the opportunity to swim off San Francisco’s Ocean Beach when I was growing up, I had that bit of advice drilled into my head. When I was seventeen and swimming there one seasonal indian-summer day, I got caught in a vicious riptide and it saved my life. Even then, I remember being very tired by the time I finally did reach shore. I’ve also got a cartoon map of San Francisco that was created in the 1920’s, and it shows a tiny little swimmer at the exact spot waving his hands and yelling “help”.
Tommy
@raven: I had sat for 4-5 years before I went to cable for about the same time (now I use neither). All things considered, if you are not getting a package deal with your cable company where you also get Internet access and VOIP, sat IMHO is far superior just for TV.
Sure it goes down in storms. If it snows you have to wipe the snow off the dish. They are ugly. But my coaxial cable goes down from time-to-time when it is a bright sunny day.
Just the state of affairs in our nation where our infrastructure for this kind of stuff sucks compared to the rest of the “first” world.
KG
@Tommy: I liked satellite while I had it. But recently dropped it for appletv. Liking the change, but that may change during basketball season when I can’t watch games
Tommy
@KG: When I got rid of cable last year I just had local (digital antenna) channels, Netflix, and Hulu. Before I got every single cable channel my service offered. I am a huge sports fan and I was dying. Didn’t realize how powerful ESPN was.
But got Sling three months ago and their sports package add-on ($5/month) and now I am in heaven. Not only all the ESPN channels, but also the SEC channel (I am an LSU guy).
Now this is said as somebody that didn’t have cable until I was like 35 (I am 46). My first experience was with satellite. I loved it with my TiVo (yes it was years ago).
But the deal I got to move from satellite to Charter to get a package deal for cable, Internet, VOIP (I was doing the “package” before it was called that) I couldn’t pass it up.
I got a pretty high-end/good cable company, but I thought for the 4-5 years I used Charter I wish I had my dish back.
But of course ….. experiences differ, often greatly!
Karen in GA
@WaterGirl: That’s the opposite of my experience — we had cable, switched to Dish, ditched Dish because we wanted the baseball package and they didn’t offer it, got DirecTV and we’ve been fine with it for about 12 years. We’ll eventually ditch it and go all-Roku-all-the-time, probably in a few months when our latest contract runs out, but the service has been fine — it goes out for a few minutes if there’s a torrential storm, but it’s still more reliable than cable in our area.
KG
@Tommy: appletv has watch ESPN, and I’ve been watching using my folk’s cable log in. So that’s help. I’ve looked at the sports apps, but I can’t get local teams, so that’s a no go.
Tommy
@Karen in GA: Yes all in with all-Roku-all-the-time, as a person that has three TVs and all three of them use Roko units.
I know I might sound like a broken record on this topic here, but with my Rokos and Sling TV you can have more TV than you can shake a stick at, major cable networks (w/ Hulu), including live TV (Sling), for a fraction of the cost of most cable companies. I mean a fraction of the cost.
Tommy
@KG: Yeah I almost asked my parents for their login info, but didn’t. What sports do you watch, because the MLB app (I use) doesn’t black you out of ANY local games (the point of it is to kind of NOT do that).
seaboogie
@Germy Shoemangler: the owl does have kind a ” I will BURN you!” look in his eyes…maybe the lighter just helps him to back up the implied threat.
KG
@Tommy: it runs the gambit – MLB, NBA, football (college and pro), Pac-12 and Big West for college (or any big game), been getting into soccer a bit. My understanding was the MLB app blacked out local broadcasts, and the Dodgers’ TV deal kind of complicated it. I’ll have to look into it for the second half of the season, will be nice to hear Vin Scully again.
Betty Cracker
@currants: It really is more of a winter thing. But being damp from getting rained on and inside on a gloomy day was close enough!