I seem to have lost all desire to blog about recipes for the moment. There has been much going on and I have been busy in the kitchen, making gift plates of treats and planning the menu for the Christmas Eve party. Tonight, as I finished watching Love Actually, I realized that it was Friday night and once again I hadn’t even thought about dropping a recipe thread off here.
My apologies. But, still no recipes. How about a little Bixby news? The other day on a walk we were attacked by a little Cairn Terrier, hell-bent on self-destruction. We were the only reason he veered from his course to dash across a very busy street. Came right at the Beast and started biting at his face and ears. Bixby, being Bixby, tilted his head at this intrusion, backed up to me and then sat on my feet. Because of his size, once he sat, little dog could not reach anything vulnerable (it was kind of funny to watch) and his owners were fast to retrieve him. He had escaped from his fenced yard. But it scared me, without a doubt Bixby could have done some real damage if he felt threatened, or felt I was threatened. I’ve tried to teach him to take his cues from my posture and reactions and I think that paid off here.
Back to Love Actually. Not a great movie, but one I drag out every Christmas because there are some great parts to it: Sam and Daniel; Karen and Harry; David and Natalie. And I’m basically a sappy romantic when all is said and done. What it really has though, is some great music. Three that I added here. What favorite, sappy holiday movies pull you in each year?
Consider this an open thread.
stinger
Love Actually, About a Boy, White Christmas, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Meet John Doe, Christmas in Connecticut. It’s a Wonderful Life and The Bishop’s Wife are almost unavoidable, not that I wish to avoid them. I always start my Xmas movie-watching season with The Ref (watched it this evening, in fact) and end with Remember the Night on NY Eve or Day. I also watch Ball of Fire even though it’s set in springtime. Yes, I am a Barbara Stanwyck fan.
The Moar You Know
Bixby done good.
Haven’t posted here in a long time, been busy. The wife and I decided to get into raising guide dogs. And this is something I haven’t done before, take a puppy from day one and train him perfect – because there’s no leeway. These dogs have to be perfect.
And I read stories like this and hear the stories the blind people tell about getting attacked by other dogs, and it just pisses me off that there’s so many awfully behaved dogs out there, and owners who WILL NOT teach them to behave better. It’s not that hard! But people don’t do it and you end up getting attacked.
reality-based
Ok – today I went and traded in my faithful 2004 Ford Taurus – which has developed an alarming number of noises and crotchets, but has STILL never left me stranded –
On a 2008 Buck Lucerne.
It was a good thing because I have been keeping my eye out for a really-low-mileage Grandma’s Buick, with one of those great 3.8l V6s, and this one has only 41K, is in perfect shape. The dealership sold it new to Grandma – who just died – and are now selling it for her estate. I got a great price – $9,700, plus 300 for an Autostart. They gave me 1300 for the Taurus – which is fair, as the car needs work and reeks of smoke.
It is a bad thing as I had to take the money I had earmarked for a car down payment and USE it for down payment. So now I don’t have the money anymore. Plus I have 30 months of car payments.
Wondering If i should have just dropped a grand into the Taurus, hoping somebody could finally diagnose and fix that alarming ping between 30mph and 50mph – plus the new coolant overflow tank, and the rear defrost, and the windshield washers, plus the $1000 worth of new suspension that was coming up –
But damn -I’d had the Taurus for 10 years, only had 115k on it – should I have fixed it instead of trading it? Plus – I have an unreasoning affection for it. (It was a kind-hearted car, if you see what I mean – if the starter went out, it did it when I was parked a block from my repair garage.)
oh, well, too late now – the dealership has my money, i get car tomorrow – Can i get some fiscal/automotive reassurance here from the BJ crownd?
Omnes Omnibus
@reality-based: No one here cares.
NotMax
A favorite Xmas season movie not often enough listed: John Huston’s last stint at the cinematic helm, (directing daughter Anjelica), The Dead.
As for sappy ones, a pair of TV flicks starring Jason Robards, Jr.: The House Without A Christmas Tree and A Christmas To Remember.
Slightly switching gears, here’s a bit of seasonal holiday fun which while a valiant effort, doesn’t entirely gel (but that Joshua Bell sure can fiddle).
Mnemosyne (tablet)
We watch The Shop Around the Corner every Christmas Eve. It has the classic Stewart/Sullavan romance, but it’s the work stuff that really holds up for me, especially Felix Bressart as Pirovich.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I can talk about my beloved Saab, but my point is that R-B is an asshole troll and no one is particularly interested in his trials and tribulations.
Hitless
TaMara — Just wanted to say thanks for your recipe blogging. Several of your recipes have become family staples (especially anything involving grilling). It may sound silly, but you made our lives materially better.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Maeve
A Christmas Story (the one with Ralphie and the Red Rider BB gun) – the first time I “saw” it was in the original release on a plane (1983) and I didn’t get the earphones and it seemed stupid and made no sense to me. In the following years my Dad saw it and loved it – because he in his youth had listened to the Orphan Annie radio show and had also sent in for the Orphan Annie decoder ring and been equally betrayed when all the secret messages had been advertisements for Ovaltine. Since then have seen it and loved it multiple times.
Also, too, It’s a Wonderful Life. Love, Actually, I love – don’t love it all but some scenes are great and Bill Nighy and “love is all around” makes up for all the rest of it.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
I’m watching a show on Esquire network where Aimee Mann is showing a guy how she would beat him up. And she probably could, because she’s a trained boxer and he’s a guy who’s never been punched in his life.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): How odd that someone trained and educated in a particular field may have expertise in that field. It is a puzzlement.
Gin & Tonic
Not a Christmas movie in any sense other than perhaps its chronological accuracy, but I just got back from seeing Spotlight, the movie about the Boston Globe’s early 2002 stories about the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal/coverup. It was a very solid piece of work all around, although somewhat nostalgia-inducing for the days when a newspaper could really define a city and affect people’s lives in a positive way.
Maeve
@efgoldman:
Yeah – the story telling audio parts are what makes it – which is why I didn’t get into it when I first saw the movie make of it on a plane with no audio! The voice-over adult Ralphie for the movie is actually Jean Shepherd!
NotMax
Once again, for anyone who has worked in retail (or knows anyone who has), a favorite Christmas episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis that holds up after more than fifty years.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Playboy is where I started reading Shepherd. And I recall the story before I saw the movie. Now it’s possible that we are both wrong and were just looking at the pictures……
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: You owe me a keyboard. I hope you’re happy.
As for holiday movies, I hate Christmas with the hear of 762 suns, so I have no favorites. I appreciate the inquiry.
And Bixby was a star. Terriers are not called terrorists just because it’s sounds “cute.” They earn it.
NotMax
@efgoldman
Also where I first heard it. Jean Shepherd’s show was a must every weeknight for this listener for many years.
Trip down memory lane for you: Shep’s theme music.
Amir Khalid
For a rather obvious reason, I’m not a big watcher of Christmas movies. So I’m wondering, how much Christmas must a movie show to count as a Christmas movie? Must the movie revolve around the holiday or its celebration? Will a key scene or two be enough? Does, say, any version of Les Misérables count if it mentions Valjean rescuing Cosette from the Thenardiers on Christmas Eve?
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
And yet Mann is not a professional boxer, just an enthusiastic amateur.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: It has, but the Globe of today isn’t the Globe of 15 or 20 years ago. We’ll see how much money John Henry wants to shovel into that hole after the NYT dropped a fucking billion in there first.
I do wish for it to succeed, but I am not sanguine.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Me, my one and only dog is a cocker spaniel named Beau – he is/was my all, my everything.
As for the other, some times people piss me off.
ThresherK (GPad)
@stinger: “I kidnapped my fcking parents.”
I’m a sucker for modern movies that my imagination could place in the Studio Era. The Ref really works for me in that regard.
trollhattan
@Maeve:
A Christmas Story and Nightmare Before Christmas are the only Christmas movies we own, but am planning on acquiring a copy of Bad Santa for the 50% bump.
Eva Cassidy had the voice of an angel. Fuck cancer.
reality-based
@Omnes Omnibus:
um – actually I’m not. Well, I’m the ORIGINAL reality-based – and I’M not an obnoxious troll. Verbose, yes – troll, no
I’ve been reading BJ faithfully since 2005, commenting occasionally (i seem to go in spurts) – used the name because of Rove dissing "The reality-based community"
(see my re-write of Draytons "since there's no help" on the occasion when Tunch made a dash for freedom , and we all started waxing poetic. I think you were in on that )
although I gather – from comments in other threads – that a troll using that name, of the right-wing lunatic who thinks he's just smarter than everybody else variety, – appeared here a year or two ago.. Not sure how he could use my user name (does the troll use the hyphen?) – but anyway, I am not him.
which is not to say that anybody SHOULD care about my automotive meanderings – but I thought open thread = "what's on your mind" – or has in the past – hence long winded rambling.
verbose, yes – but I am NOT that crazy reality–based guy, but the sane one, of the female persuasion, currently exiled in North Dakota with eldercare duties.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Step back to the previous thread if you actually want to have a conversation. Otherwise it will seem that a number of actual subject matter experts disagreed with you and you walked away.
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
Bad Santa is my one of my favorite movies, xmas or any other time.
Voice of an angel or rock crusher, agreed Fuck Cancer.
Ruckus
@reality-based:
Wondered about that, the style was just not the same.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sorry, I didn’t realize that you were going to chase me from thread to thread so you could continue to beat me up for disagreeing with you.
Maeve
@Amir Khalid:
I’d say key scenes have to be about Christmas – which in these movies is generally not religious although with many cultural/religious reference but about family and gathering and traditions. Many Christmas moves ( Miracle on 34th Street with Maureen O’Hara) are about people being caught up in the commercialism of Christmas only to realize family is more important (perhaps opposite to the reality but an ideal!)
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Would opine that Xmas or the holiday season/trappings must be a key enough point or pivot of the plot that the story wouldn’t make sense without.
For example, the under-appreciated gem of a movie The Coca-Cola Kid has a lot of scenes and decorations of Christmas (even a cadre of dancing Santas) but would play just as well with another major festive holiday referenced, so I wouldn’t class it as a Christmas movie.
trollhattan
@Ruckus:
Swear to bog the first Shepard I ever read was in Playboy: “Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds”, which had the turkey-thieving dogs of the movie and quite a bit that’s not. Googles informs me of this “Story One, The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds.” The man was a treasure, sorry I never heard anybody like him, growing up.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I wouldn’t normally, but you seemed to flee that thread when the consensus turned against you. Did I make a mistake, or did you bail?
TaMara (BHF)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): No kidding. Jesus wept, someone is off their meds tonight or something. I’m waiting to see how long it takes for @reality-based to get an apology for that asshole comment up-thread.
Mike in NC
Eva Cassidy was an amazing talent and her untimely death from cancer was a great tragedy for everyone who loved her in the DC area.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
I bailed before I lost my temper. If you really, really want me to come back and call you all a bunch of fucking rape apologists who don’t understand why women are skeptical that this prosecution means jack shit for the future, I’ll come back.
Omnes Omnibus
@TaMara (BHF): What did I do wrong?
The Pale Scot
@reality-based:
If a Dealership is selling the car for a under a G in Bluebook price I’d be suspicious. Quick google has that model at 11Gs with over 70,000 miles.
(I’d always dump a GM for a Ford, but if the Taurus has a mystery, flip a coin.)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): have you been taking lessons from Tommy? No one’s beating you up.
But you seem to confuse subject matter expertise with rape apologism. How many rape cases have you tried> Or presented at preliminary hearing for a judge to determine whether there is probable cause to bind a case over to a grand jury?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Think for a minute. Is this something you really want to say?
trollhattan
@Maeve:
Know folks who consider the first “Die Hard”: a Christmas. movie. Don’t know how to process that other than “yippie-ty-yay, Santa.” Also, too, Nazi nihilists.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Is it something you really want to push me into saying by being a dick to me until I say it?
PurpleGirl
First my dog story: I loved to take the Doberman pinscher (Hugo) for walks. I had been trained how to handle him and have him obey me. (My friend Nick wanted me to know how he had trained Hugo so I could handle him.) So one day we are walking down Orchard Street going to Division Street (in Peekskill) and I notice that there is a loose dog at the next corner. So I crossed the street so we wouldn’t get too close. Well the other dog saw us and began crossing the street to come to me and Hugo. I told Hugo to sit, which he did, and I looked for the owner of the other dog and he came out of his house in a little bit. At first he didn’t call his dog back but then he did. Hugo could get into what I called his Doberman routine — protecting me — and I wanted to avoid trouble when possible. I’d seen that other dog loose before and didn’t like that the owners let him run loose even when they weren’t there.
The Pale Scot
@Amir Khalid: Let me recommend Rare Exports, a Finnish Christmas monster movie.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Don’t respond to me – respond to Bella Q. I am cool with that.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
So explain to me, with your extensive experience, why this case is a game-changer that will make rape prosecutions against cops more successful in the future rather than being a single quickly forgotten anomaly?
reality-based
@Ruckus: my fault for not doing something about it when I first noticed it – I meant to, of course, but my aging brain forgot –
though I don’t know what, exactly, i could have done -I suppose I should have changed my user name, but I thought, damn it, I was here first, I’ve been reality-based for YEARS
( i even knew Omnibus drove a Saab, from the Saga of JC Buying A Replacement Subaru –
now THERE was championship obsessing about Car Purchase!)
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (tablet): A win is a win, yes?
The Pale Scot
Unrequested advice;
It’s more likely that listening to desert/trance rebel musicians Tinariwen will have you shuffling around the room waving your hands around than putting you to sleep
TaMara (BHF)
@reality-based: I suggest changing your handle to: reality-based (the original, not the troll). LOL. Then after a while you can shorten it to just reality-based (the original). That might even prove to be a troll-be-gone solution, too.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
If your football team ends the season at 1-10, are you happy with that season because at least you got one win?
TaMara (BHF)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I think the fact that @Omnes Omnibus and @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q) are actively bullying you says all that needs to be said about their “arguments”, doesn’t it? When that’s all they have, they’ve lost whatever point they thought they were making.
seaboogie
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
I think that this is a start, and might represent a turning point – a tip in another direction on the fulcrum of justice and accountability. A lot of light is being shed now on deeply entrenched police abuses in many areas, and perhaps to celebrate the beginning of the shift v arguing all past grievances. If you have ever been in a close personal relationship wherein an argument degrades into a “you always” and “you never” laundry list of grievances – well, you know that never produces change that you really desire.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@TaMara (BHF):
They’re being lawyers. They think that I was challenging their knowledge of the law in the other thread rather than expressing my emotions about the verdict, so now they have to try and argue me into submission. It’s what lawyers do.
reality-based
@The Pale Scot:
The great thing about small-town North Dakota (and I mean small) – – you call your friends/relations in the small town where the dealer is, around 40 minutes away, and they call THEIR friends, and then their friends report back, yeah, that was my husbands aunt, no, the car is great, the heirs are just trying to close out estate so they don’t have to come back. (plus, all the maintenance is on the CarFax. )
Also, my mechanic drove it, put it up on the rack and inspected it, and then threatened to never change my oil again if I DIDN’T buy the car at that price. Also said he would buy it if i didn’t.
Partly why I’m wigged out – i wasn’t planning to buy till next summer, but this is such a good deal (granted that such things are as real as unicorns) – that i did.
just sentimental about the old blue taurus. Also, car payments. But this state is full of these Bucks with 250K miles on them – so I shouldn’t have to do this again for a LONG while.
Gwangung
@seaboogie: I will hazard saying a shift will not happen on its own. Public pressure needs to be maintained. And not just in social media….which may be difficult to induce in the mass media.
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@TaMara (BHF):
smart! That is what I shall do!
PurpleGirl
Christmas movies: I still like to watch Miracle on 34th Street. I like to watch The Bishop’s Wife. Donovan’s Reef is one of the few John Wayne movies I can watch. Can’t think of any other movies right now that I consider Christmas movies.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@seaboogie:
Sorry, but I have a very Chris Rock feeling about this verdict — oh, yay, the police and prosecutors correctly did the jobs they’re paid for. What do they want, a cookie?
The Pale Scot
Buicks in ND with 250Gs on them? Sounds magical, but I guess it’s not like you ever have to make a turn or anything.
seaboogie
@Gwangung:
Agreed, and like a recent discussion re: features on comment threads, a number of folks gave a nod to a “This” button, v. up or down vote. I think a “This!” response to anything that represents a positive change is a good idea, v. lamenting the past, or “finally, but….” or whatever. So yes to pressure, but also yes to “Yay! This is what you should be doing – you got it right! We want to see more of this! People respond to that. Dogs respond to that. Cats couldn’t give a rat’s ass – but they are never public servants.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@reality-based:
I felt that way about trading in my 15-year-old RAV-4 for a new Subaru. I probably could have gotten another 3-5 years out of it, but I would have lost all of the trade-in value, plus the increased safety and Bluetooth were sounding really good. I still miss the RAV, though.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): In my opinion, this case isn’t
It’s a case where there was a conviction, and one in which there was a significant amount of evidence, including physical evidence, against the defendant.
Are rape cases difficult to prosecute? Absolutely. Are they more difficult to prosecute if the victim has an admissible criminal history, or is otherwise a member of a marginalized population? Unquestionably. Are cases – of any kind- with LEO defendants more difficult to prosecute? Usually, but not always.
Cultural norms are changing, and that affects criminal proceedings. I was once required to prepare rape victims that at the preliminary hearing, they would have to answer a ridiculous question because it was an element of the crime. The question? After she identified the defendant for the record, I’d ask her “are you married to him?”
Marriage to the victim is no longer immunity from a rape charge. I had judges refuse to bind over cases where the victim and accused were acquaintances who’d been drinking; those were generally presented directly to the grand jury but the conviction rate was appallingly low. It’s still lower than it should be, but much higher than it once was.
Rape cases are always going to be difficult – because of rape culture. But I’ve seen LEOs convicted of sexual assault where only one victim reported, and no others could be identified. Those cases did not make national news. I was involved in a case where an officer would run records of attractive female drivers and contact them, often in the course of “patrol,” on a pretext. There were no reports of force but an implication of coercion. It was clear from the records requests – identifiable by requester – that all the complainants had been run by him. He was fired and convicted of menacing.
Among the evidence in the Holtzclaw case was that he often ran records of the women he stopped and assaulted, and computer data correlated dates and locations. There will be different types of evidence if an LEO is assaulting women off duty. Again, rape cases are difficult, but as cultural norms change, they have gotten, and will continue to get, less difficult to prosecute successfully.
Ruckus
@seaboogie:
Good points but how much can the justice dept actually do? It takes change at the local level even if that is pushed from higher up. And not a lot of that change seems to be even being considered. I believe that we are in a dangerous place in this country politically, and that is making it a lot harder for any meaningful change in the justice system. It, like most other systems is not completely broken but it does seem to be not improving in any noticeable way. This one case may be a starting point but the system seems to be so strained and lost that how is effective change going to happen? Sandy Hook seemed to be a turning point in the issue of guns but since then we’ve had over 80,000 gun homicides with no changes noticeable. Skepticism and cynicism seem to be a pretty good vantage point here.
ruemara
You guys, I think you mean Reality Based Steve, if I recall correctly. I could be wrong, but I think so.
seaboogie
@Mnemosyne (tablet): See my response below…yes – by all means give them a cookie. You train people (and critters) by rewarding the behaviour that you desire. Shitting on them when they do the right thing is not going to get you more of what you want.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@seaboogie:
I actually was happy when I originally heard about the verdict. It was when people started demanding that I be grateful for it that I started to get pissed off.
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@The Pale Scot: well, ones with the 3800 in them & 250k are pretty common – I am personally acquainted with 4 of them – all obsessively maintained by retired farmers, dontcha know.,
Oddly enough – while our gravel roads are hard on them – cars up here don’t rust out very often. See, if it’s gonna be 30 below for weeks, there’s just no POINT to salting the roads.! Though we are having an uncannily nice winter, so far.
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@TaMara (BHF): well, not apology, exactly – just an acknowledgement that I am me, and not the asshole reality based.
ruemara
@seaboogie: Christ. You think this is shitting on them? This is where I back away, because you don’t really deserve the years deep reservoir of despair and anger that such a description brings up.
Ruckus
@reality-based:
I once considered changing my posting name to my real name. I started using a pseudonym when I started blogging years ago because I had a job with a limited public spotlight and figured that my commenting maybe wouldn’t be received well at work. Many told me to keep it as is because I had developed a persona here and other places with it and I’d have to keep reminding people about who I was. I’d say the same for you, with the caveat that someone up thread suggested, add (the original) or something like that to your name. Others have done that to separate themselves, such as Kay (not the front pager).
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@TaMara (BHF): I do not believe that offering some subject matter expertise is tantamount to bullying, but you clearly have a different opinion.
May I ask you politely to please not suggest that
if posters are cranky or pissy or otherwise obnoxious or combative? Comments like that perpetuate the stigma that brain disorders – which often require medications to manage successfully – are somehow a weakness of character or otherwise shameful. It’s unacceptable to mock people with other chronic illnesses, but the brain stuff is fair game. People are pissy/obnoxious/combative for all kinds of reasons, many, if not most, of which are not medical. I’m not trying to bitch specifically at you, but I saw it and wanted to comment.
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I’m not trying to argue you into submission. You made a speculative assertion about a legal decision
that I believe is incorrect, having been a prosecutor. That’s what I disagreed with, and I said so. I also noted, repeatedly, that rape prosecutions are difficult. I do not believe I am a rape apologist; you may disagree.
I don’t think at any point Omnes or I tried to prevent you from expressing your emotions about the verdict. But as lawyers, we are inclined to quibble with inaccurate legal assertions. Politely, I thought; you seem to disagree.
seaboogie
@Ruckus:
So let’s go grassroots on endorsing and supporting the change that we want. That’s what the teabangelicals did, and it seems to be working for them.
The elected officials do respond to what is coming from whatever base elects them, so let’s put pressure and also support behind that. Here is a link to what Vermonters are doing to deal with a heroin epidemic in their communities. Don’t wait for the “Powers that Be” to fix it, just roll up your sleeves and start to fix it, and push the higher-ups to be accountable. And then get behind them when they respond as you want them to.
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@ruemara:
Ok, NOW i remember why i didn’t want to change my screen name – now i’m stuck in moderation!
oh, well – just have to comment heavily till i get trusted again. Apologize in advance for the non sequiturs in the next couple of days.
Origuy
@reality-based: My folks always bought Buicks and they lasted forever. My dad still has the one he bought more than 15 years ago. You mentioned a bunch of things that needed to be fixed on the Taurus; they would probably have run you much more than a couple of grand. Plus there is the hassle factor of having your car in the shop over and over. I don’t know about you, but my time is valuable and I factor that in when I make financial decisions. Finally, you want something reliable in a North Dakota winter. I’ve never been there, but Illinois winters were bad enough.
That reassuring?
Ruckus
@seaboogie:
You haven’t seen my FB feed.
A lot of people out in the wild still think that cops can do no wrong. And they are vocal about it. Yes, that’s not everywhere but there is enough noise that getting public support for change to a group of people doing what they want with the power the state has given them when the noise supports them is never going to be easy. Or fast. Or cheap. That the system worked as good as can be expected in this case really isn’t a selling point to a lot of people. That’s the reason they are skeptical and cynical that this is a turning point, even a possible one.
Amir Khalid
@reality-based (the original, not the troll):
Yes, a change to your nym will put you in moderation. It’s easy to forget that if you don’t change it as often as some commenters do. In the thread where I took the underscore out of my name, I made sure to warn the front-pager so that she could rescue my comment.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Whatever. If you want me to be ecstatic that one rapist cop out of 100 was finally successfully prosecuted, I’ll paste a fucking smile on my face. I accept that it’s the best we’re ever going to get. Happy now?
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@Origuy:
yes, thank you – that was my reasoning exactly, so consider me reassured – by you and the other juicers.
Plus, my mechanic – whom i trust implicitly – said, “look, i can just start replacing things on the Taurus, trying to get rid of that ping and get the check engine light to stay off – but the codes are no help at all, its just gonna be a fishing expedition, could take a lot of time and money – and at the end of it, you still have an 11 year old car that needs work! ”
thanks, all – gonna go to bed so I can get up and take delivery of car tomorrow . I think I’ll name it Lucy.
I’ll make sure next time I comment, it will be my usual snark about the Republican Clown Car, so Omnibus will recognize me? I’m with JC, tho – I’m boycotting all Trump threads!
seaboogie
@ruemara:
A few months ago I was in a fb convo with a friend of my sister and BIL who trains police dogs, and they were rabidly pro-police, as in “all of them are heroes”, and I commented that “all police, not necessarily so” and gave some informative links to what is happening in recognizing issues in training and practices in the law enforcement community.
The response that I got back was “Who do you think you are….yadda, yadda, and my BIL unfriended me. So be it.
Point being, the “Fuck you, you have no agency!” argument is coming at me from both ends of the spectrum, and neither is valid in my case. What I hear from both of you is “shut up – I’m angry”, and I’ll agree that you are, but I still have a perspective and opinion – one that is usually carefully considered, even when it falls on angry ears that are not open to discussion.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@seaboogie:
You might want to be careful about telling a black woman she shouldn’t be angry about the actions of the police. Just sayin’.
jenn
I think it’s been a full year since I last commented here! Life has definitely been crazy. Anyway –
My favorite Christmas movie is probably _The Ref._
Regarding giving out cookies, I actually think the world would be a better place if we all used clicker training on our fellow humans – except instead of clicks, we dole out praise and thanks. They made a move in the right direction – praise ::click::. Ooh, they actually did what I want, for once! Praise ::click:: I particularly think this would work well with politicians! And I’m not considering that as something the praised one deserves per se, but as an opportunity to encourage them to keep moving in the direction I think they should be moving.
Anyway, hope everyone has a good evening!
Betty Cracker
For some reason, my daughter and I have a Harry Potter movie marathon over the holidays every year. It’s not especially Christmassy (though there are some holiday scenes), but we fell into the habit of it. I also manage to catch “A Christmas Story” every year, and my sister and I have a ceremonial viewing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” annually — the original, of course, not the Jim Carrey abomination.
@reality-based:Congrats on that sweet new luxury ride! As reassurance, I can offer my own similar experience of trading in a trusty vehicle that was starting to fall apart for a low-mileage cream puff I picked up from an estate sale situation. I traded in my Beetle for a luxury land yacht, partially to accommodate the olds I have to haul around, all of whom complained about the Beetle. Here’s the reassurance part: I love driving that new-to-me car! It’s kinda spoiled me for stripped-down models.
seaboogie
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Don’t think I was saying that – in fact I know I wasn’t. I am deeply empathetic to the despair that black folks feel with regards to the police, even if it is not my own particular experience because I am a white woman.
And you are just provoking….because that always works – just not usually in your favor. A response? Yes. The desired response? Not so much.
eemom
Good evening all — late to the clusterfuck, but just wanted to note that esteemed Mnem has a long history of provocative, ignorant strawmanning, especially when it comes to issues in this category. See, e.g., Rolling Stone/UVA case of one year ago.
Of course, this case — actual conviction of sexual assault in a court of law — is worlds apart from the insane Salem witch hunt based on lies and grossly irresponsible “journalism” that took place last year — but Mnem’s MO is the same…..and it’s rather disturbingly similar to that of candidate Trump.
seaboogie
Also, I just phoned the Oklahoma City PD on their non-emergency number and gave them a very polite verbal “thumbs up” for their handling of Officer Holtzclaw. I got a “Thank you, I appreciate that, and I’ll pass it around” from the officer answering the phone just now. So that’s something positive that we can do.
Origuy
Trading Places was on Comedy Central tonight. While the story could have been told without having been set during Christmas, some of the best scenes relate to Christmas and New Years Eve. One of my favorites.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Hogfather is the only obligatory holiday-season movie here.
The others? Meh. Most of them set up unrealistic expectations of assholes actually acting human for a week or so.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Origuy: And it does have the fine acting of luggage handlers 1 and 2.
raven
A Midnight Clear
Loosely based on the actual WWI Christmas cease fire between German and English troops. The two sides met halfway across the battlefield and sang silent night and played soccer. Each year the two countries re-enact the game in tribute
Anne Laurie
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Just as a sidebar, how much did you enjoy that company holiday party? Because something seems to have taken your usual Debate Queen tendencies up a notch, and the comments here on the blog don’t seem like a reason to me.
Satby
@raven: Yeah, that’s both a great and heartbreaking movie, especially knowing the carnage that WWI caused on the battlefield.
normal liberal
@raven:
I had no idea that it was re-enacted every year. That’s actually beautiful.
Anne Laurie
The Preacher’s Wife (because Denzel, but really: It’s good!) and the Muppet Xmas Carol are my seasonal movies.
Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather is my seasonal holiday read. The BBC movie is a pretty good abridgement, but the book is even better — if only for the Carollers!
raven
@normal liberal: I just saw that as well!
stinger
@Ruckus: I’ve considered using my “real” name for my occasional lapses from lurking, but decided I don’t need the insults, contemptuous dismissiveness, and stalking that would result. Not at BJ, but elsewhere on the ‘tubes.
kc
@Omnes Omnibus:
Trolls don’t typically confide their personal automotive tribulations on here. Also, you don’t speak for everyone here. You certainly don’t speak for me.
Although, in fact, I don’t actually care. Sorry, R_b. :D
Enjoy your new car.
kc
@stinger:
I just discovered “Remember the Night” a couple of years ago, thanks to TCM. Love it.
kc
@Omnes Omnibus:
Who peed in your cornflakes?
Betty
@reality-based: Sorry some people choose rudeness as a way to relate to others. I understand your affection towards your old car and why you felt you needed to update. As you noted, it’s an open thread and lots of people use them just to talk about what is on their mind.
Omnes Omnibus
@reality-based: Probably a dead thread, but my apologies for confusing you with a similarly named troll. Sorry.
Chris
Christmas movies; surprised no one mentioned “Home Alone.” I will never tire of that one.
Chris
@trollhattan:
Yep. “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon” both rank pretty high on my list of Christmas movies.
shell
@Amir Khalid: Maybe one stand-out scene, like in ‘Meet Me In Saint Louis‘, has the Christmas dance and later Judy singing ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’.
**************
Wish ‘Moonstruck‘ was shown more, Definitely set during Christmas and it has a feel-good ending.
****************
Definitely not a christmas movie, but it was on last night. ‘October Sky‘ , and I wonder why I always tear up at the end.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@eemom:
Go fuck yourself.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Anne Laurie:
I know, it’s SO WEIRD that I would get pissed off in this thread that people would decide to chase me from thread to thread and continue to pile on after I walked away from their clusterfuck in the previous thread. A mystery.
SteverinoCT
I just bought “We’re No Angels” (Bogart, Ustinov, Rathbone, Leo G. Carroll) because I liked it when I saw it on TV years ago, and was surprised that it was blurbed as a Christmas movie. It *did* take place over the holiday and the convicts did put on a Christmas dinner for the family, but it wasn’t essential to the plot.
I do watch the original “Miracle On 34th Street” (Maureen O’Hara: rawr!) and the original Grinch as traditions. Both on DVD– I saw the Grinch on TV and could identify the parts they cut to maximize the commercials, and even when they rode right past the originally intended breaks to squeeze in a few more further along. I love Karloff’s narration.
“Scrooged” is cool, too. Oh, and the original British “Robbie The Reindeer: Hooves Of Fire”!
Matt McIrvin
@Amir Khalid: The demarcation line can be a mystery.
The Nightmare Before Christmas wasn’t a gigantic hit on initial release, and part of the problem was that, thanks to the peculiar premise of two holidays colliding with each other, nobody (including Disney) was quite sure whether it was a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. They actually released it for Halloween, which was probably the right choice, but the title confused some people anyway.
Matt McIrvin
@Omnes Omnibus: Are you confusing “reality-based” with some of the former names of a certain delusional Jeb Bush fan?
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@Omnes Omnibus:
that’s ok – I gather the guy who also used reality-based was a giant asshole, so – (in fact, I think i read some of his lunacy -(
i should have cleared up the confusion with Tamara’s suggestion long ago – it’s kind like having an evil twin steal your identity and piss off all your friends!
maurinsky
I love The Family Stone and Trading Places when it comes to Christmas movies.
@NotMax:
The Dead is such a beautiful film. It never fails to make me cry. It’s a wonderful story, and I’m glad the narration keeps the original final paragraph at the end, which is one of my all time favorite paragraphs in literature.
Gemina13
I watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” (the cartoon, not the Jim Carrey atrocity) every year. It’s been a staple ever since I was five years old, and it doesn’t feel like Christmas if I don’t see both. I’ll be 80 one day and still demanding to see those two cartoons come December 1st.
Other than that, I love the 1984 version of “A Christmas Carol,” “A Christmas Story,” and “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I hated “Life” for most of my twenties, as back before the copyright was properly renewed in 1993, it used to be played on Every Fucking Station before, during, and after Christmas. On Christmas Eve 1991, my brother (drunker than the proverbial skunk) monopolized the TV and watched the fucking movie 5 times in a row. I was ready to kill him with my bare hands. I finally watched it all the way through eight years later and realized it wasn’t a piece-of-shit Hallmark Card, but actually said a lot about company towns and the poisonous effect of poverty and isolation.
But my favorite movie has become “The Hogfather.” Courtesy of my SO, I watched this in 2011, and it’s been our Christmas tradition ever since. The line, “YOU MUST BELIEVE IN THE THINGS THAT AREN’T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?” brings me to tears every time.