Looks like we could use a new thread. I can’t sleep, so I’m up re-watching “The Sopranos.” I’d forgotten how good it is.
It is still raining. It’s 2 AM, and it’s nearly 80 degrees with 94% humidity. Fucking Florida.
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Mnemosyne (tablet)
I’m on my way to bed because I have to get up early tomorrow to take my nieces and nephew to THE BEACH! My brother had a little chat with my controlling SIL (referred to previously as WC) and I have basically been told to show up at their place tomorrow and cram as many kids as I can into my car so I can take them to Santa Monica and Venice. They’ve been here for a week and have not even seen the ocean yet. WC is welcome to come, but will she nil she, the kids are finally seeing the friggin’ Pacific Ocean tomorrow. Yay!
wasabi gasp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDAr24H-tKU
Zinsky
I’m in Toledo, Spain waiting for the bullet train to Barcelona. It’s 75 degrees and gorgeous – what a beautiful city! Every American should visit here to relish the history and appreciate the laid-back stress-free lifestyle. Peace to all!
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Sounds like a little break in the madness. Have fun.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I’ll wave to you from the top of the Verdugos. Hope you and the kids have a good time.
Betty Cracker
@Zinsky: I’ve never been to Spain, but I definitely want to go someday. Have fun!
wasabi gasp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68hL87sJ74E
lamh36
Good night BJ.
I’ll leave ya with some video of POTUS having a good time in Kenya.
The Moment: President Obama danced to Kenyan Music – Sauti Sol … via @YouTube
Check in at the 1:10 mark to see POTUS and his sister Auma dancing at state dinner…
Here is a different angle of the dancing:
Marc
@Zinsky: Stayed in Spain for two day lay-over while in the military (mid-90’s), and loved what little I could see. Lots of Europe I’d like to explore, but I’ll have to wait until after I retire to have time to properly travel there.
https://youtu.be/7lr0hV0CSzo
Zinsky
@Betty Cracker: Thanks, Betty. I have been to Florida in the summer and I know how oppressive the heat and humidity in July can be!
wasabi gasp
Pumuky – Los enamorados
Tommy
Just rewatching the last Hannibal. So pissed off they didn’t renew the show. I will openly admit they got a little full of themselves this year. IMHO got away from the core of the show and tried to be to “artsy” for lack of a better word. I also know from TVLine the ratings were way down. Never good but kind of terrible this year.
I just don’t know how a network as large as NBC can’t keep at least a couple shows going, that might lose money, but win awards and the critics love it. Oh and people like me literally can’t wait for it to air.
I can almost count on one hand the number of TV shows I watch on network TV. One of the few is now gone.
Tommy
@Zinsky: If I could go to one place in the world this very second it would be Barcelona. I’ve had that feeling ever since the Olympics were there. So much to see but I think my first stop would be what I believe is the largest open-air food market in the world.
I’d eat till it hurt and ponder why we don’t have these kind of places in the US. When I lived on Capital Hill in DC there was one. Eastern Market. The concept for me, and a dude from the midwest, was total foreign. But I quickly bought into shopping at a market and not a grocery store.
Nothing was in a can. Nothing was shrinkwrapped. Everything fresh. And the best of all, if you wanted to get some cheese from the cheese guy, you of course could always get samples before you bought.
Oh how I miss that place ….
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: I watch the local NBC 11pm news, that’s it. I do have DirecTV so I watch some MSNBC and Comedy Central(TDS and Wilmore).
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: Oh I watch a ton of stuff on HBO, Showtime, AMC, FX et al. I just don’t watch much stuff, almost none, on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. That was what I meant by “network” TV.
Having worked in advertising for many years before I started to work for myself I know for a fact I am the demo they want in like every way possible. I can’t believe they don’t realize they have totally lost me.
dogwood
@Tommy:
My most vivid memory of the Barcelona Olympics is watching the the diving event which was held outdoors against the backdrop of of the Barcelona cityscape. Simply stunning.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: The only stuff I watch on network tv is the local 11pm news.
Tommy
Now watching Running w/ Bear Grylls. He has Jesse Tyler Ferguson on from Modern Family. He is openly gay of course. He said as a kid he didn’t dream about going into a domestic partnership. He dreamed of being married.
He then said something as a straight dude I had never thought of. That soon after marriage he went to the Dentist. On the form there was a box he could check asking if he was married.
He said he checked the box and then started to cry.
Then said the obvious, why did I have to wait so long to do this? That is a very good question!
Major Major Major Major
I don’t entirely know what’s going on. I was exhausted all day and then I went to a pub crawl for my friend’s birthday at which i drank nothing. No alcohol at least. A little bit (splash of bitters for color) but not…
Maybe I simply need more sleep.
Tommy
@dogwood: Yes.
I don’t know the entire history of the place, although I know it is staggering, but I am something of a foodie and I’d want to go for just their food market. I got this thing for open-air food markets.
Most of my travels outside of the US has been in Central America. In fact that is all of my travels. Their markets and the food I eat from somebody with a little stand, well I’d take that over a Michelin Star restaurant (I’ve been to more than a few).
Major Major Major Major
Oh, I did de-escalate a potential barfight into not a barfight with limb control, that was… i’m not going to say ‘fun’…
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I hope you see some seals. That’s typically what impresses us East Coasters the most about California beaches.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: Probably not, if she’s going to the People’s Republic of Santa Monica and Venice(too many people).
Tommy
@Betty Cracker: LOL. As a landlocked midwesterner I am just stunned with sand and tides. Seals would be so much of an added plus.
At my core I am a hiker/camper. I like a hill or a forest, not a beach. Never really understood the whole beach thing, even if I have spent some time on one. Years ago my brother wanted to get married on a beach. We have NO connection to Flordia. We spent a week in Destin, Flordia. The condo I rented was right on the beach. In the week plus there I never wore clothes in the traditional sense. I never wore shoes.
I never understood the concept behind a “beach bum” until this. I did not want to leave.
RandomMonster
Wife and I worked on some fancy food for my birthday, but the results weren’t as satisfying as we hoped. Then our dog with developing renal issues pissed uncontrollably all over the floor. Just one of those days I guess.
raven
@BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t think it’s the people, look at Fisherman’s Wharf in the SF.
Another Holocene Human
I thought medianoche was a sandwich. //
So, mold/mildew question. Is it possible I’m getting mold upstairs because the A/C is too efficient or the thermostat is set too low? (75F if you’re wondering, and it has been SUPER hot around here lately, high 90s to over 100 and humid)
Also, am I right that stuff on the floor collects moisture and is a big no-no?
I’m thinking of trying to close some A/C vents and put damp-rid around. But I also kind of picked a fight with my wife about some shit on the floor. To be fair, I asked her several times four months ago to put it away and … nothing.
Another Holocene Human
@Tommy: I once bought a stack of “hot” CDs from a guy in a stall right outside Eastern Market (This was DC in the early 2000s, not NYC, so it was all out in the open). It was how I got introduced to David Diamond, so, score.
Another Holocene Human
@Tommy: Once a business starting shrinking there is pressure to just ruthlessly cut, cut, cut, and nobody will blame management for doing so. When the interstate system ate a chunk of the railroads’ lunch, for decades they just ran their operations into the ground instead of rationally adjusting to the new normal. It took two generations before they got leadership in there that said, hey, we can do heavy, we can do long distance, we can make money, so let’s invest in intermodal and kick trucks out of the intercontinental business.
The latter meant cooperating with local governments after giving them the finger for years, also, too.
Juju
@Zinsky: Well, I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music, say the ladies are insane there, and they sure know how to use it…
PaulW
almost done…
LAllen
I go to middle Alabama 2 days a week and the humidity sucks the vital principle out of you. It is terrible that Florida could be worse.
low-tech cyclist
We’re headed down to Florida a week from today. Spending one week in my wife’s grandmother’s house, and then a week at the beach on Anna Maria Island.
The grandmother in question is 91 and in a nursing home, and we’re going through her stuff, which has been taking awhile because we’ve been working on it a day or two at a time. Putting in a solid week won’t finish the job, but we should at least be able to get within striking distance. I’ll probably spend awhile cleaning out the shed, so it’ll be a hot, dirty, grubby week.
The beach house on Anna Maria Island is one we’ve been to several times before, but always in October. But now the kid’s starting third grade in the fall, and taking him out of school for a week just doesn’t work anymore. The house is on the Tampa Bay/Anna Maria Sound side of the Island (at night, we have a view of the lights on the Sunshine Skyway), and there are trees literally overhanging the water, which gives us shade on the water in the afternoon, and the water is close enough to our back door that I could probably heave a shotput from the house into the water. It ought to be pleasant even in August.
Gimlet
Pass the popcorn
“Wisconsin is doing terribly. It’s in turmoil,” Trump said at Oskaloosa High School in Oskaloosa. “The roads are a disaster because they don’t have money to rebuild them.”
He also accused Walker’s administration of borrowing due to a budget deficit, and painted him as a supporter of Common Core education standards, which are opposed by much of the Republican base.
“Schools are a disaster. Hospitals and education are a disaster,” Trump said. “And he was totally in favor of Common Core, which I hate.”
Walker recently has been a fierce opponent of Common Core, leading Trump on Saturday to label him a flip-flopper.
Trump’s remarks come one day after a fundraiser for Walker’s campaign called Trump “DumbDumb.”
“As you’ve seen Gov Walker is now well ahead of everyone not named DumbDumb (aka Trump) in the national polls,” the email invitation said.
Venture capitalist Gregory Slayton told the paper that intelligence is not required to gain the wealth that Trump has acquired.
Amir Khalid
@Gimlet:
Donald Trump inherited his wealth, so that’s true enough.
Amir Khalid
Is there no end to The Donald’s creativity in campaigning? Now he’s naming as his supporters war veterans who had no idea they were supporting him.
Hunter
“it’s nearly 80 degrees with 94% humidity.”
Sounds just like Chicago for the past week, ten days. Except we have been getting below 80 at night. A little bit. And daytimes have been closer to 90.
Chris
@Zinsky:
The most irritating part of life hereabouts; the rainy season (usually fall rather than summer) when your primary means of transportation is a bicycle.
bystander
We’ve had a string of beautiful days here on the Delaware.
So beautiful, in fact, that while we were eating dinner on the deck, a porcupine emerged from the shrubs to enjoy the evening with a stroll across the yard to visit our neighbors. We had six dinner guests: four people and two Frenchies. That made three Frenchies on the deck…but luckily nobody but the people were paying attention to the porcupine. We do not need any quilling adventures.
Origuy
@Zinsky: I loved Toledo, I hope you saw El Greco’s masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.It’s a huge painting in a small church.
I was there before the bullet train to Barcelona had been built. The bus from Madrid took an hour. The train coming back from Barcelona took all day.
Betty Cracker
@LAllen: I’ve got family in Alabama and have spent much time there. I’d say it’s just as miserably hot and humid as Florida in the summer. Worse maybe if you aren’t in a place that gets sea breezes.
@low-tech cyclist: I’m fond of Anna Maria and Longboat Key. Have you tried the Lazy Lobster?
@bystander: Three Frenchies and a porcupine! Cute overload!
kindness
‘Can we have some of your rain?’ asked California.
Thoughtful David
@Gimlet:
I think this statement by The Donald is the beginning of the end for little Scotty. His record in office is terrible, but no one has been mentioning it. With this statement, it now allows all the other candidates to pile on. They can now say “Well, I don’t agree with tRump on much, but he’s right on this.” It allows them to criticize Scotty without being the instigators. It also opens up the question for the stenographer media, who haven’t been willing to bring up the subject. Now they can, in two ways, by asking Scotty directly about his record, and by asking his opponents whether they agree with tRump and what they think about Scotty’s record.
It will indeed require more popcorn.
redshirt
@kindness: I don’t live in CA but I check your weather all the time, looking for rain. I was so excited for you all last week with your .03 inch deluge.
abo gato
@Tommy: Tommy, the place you want to go in Barcelona is La Boquiria. Here’s a link:
http://www.boqueria.info/index.php?lang=en
We went to Barcelona a couple of years ago and loved it immediately. We wanted to go back, but thought that we ought to go a different place in Spain the next time, so last year we went to Madrid. If I thought I had loved Barce, it paled to how much we loved Madrid. However, now I want to go back to Barcelona again. This market is stunning. There are stalls everywhere and places to eat inside the market as well as ringing it. We walked all over and marveled at the vegetables and fruits and got a ton of beautiful photos then had a wonderful seafood lunch at a place on the ring outside. Madrid had a couple of nice markets but nothing like Boquiria. I want to go and stay in an apartment near the market so I can go there every day to buy what I want to cook that day. Highly recommended and I will go back.
Omnes Omnibus
@Juju: I am glad someone did that.
J R in WV
We spent a week in and around Bilbao SP as part of a tour of ancient cave art we took, which was also amazing. The art was so sophisticated, even for today. One guide moved her lantern, after everyone else shut their lights off, and when the guide’s lamp moved, the animal looked at you.
Bilbao was wonderful, not that huge, steep mountains all around, the great art museum was great. We also stayed in a parador, a medieval home remodeled into a guest house, in a medieval village not changed outdoors since about 1300, then we moved into SW France to tour those caves, also wonderful.
The food. Roadside taverns (with sign BAR !!) had great food, not much variety, but great. Want to do Barcelona, etc,
redshirt
I slept on the streets of Barcelona for 3 nights. Good times!