Or at least don’t be humiliated by them. The last decade has reminded me of the old Carlin routine about the Army losing to William and Mary.
Something unrelated, I watched Melissa Harris-Perry’s show this morning, and I liked it more than I remembered. Not saying I didn’t always like MHP, just that she seemed better than I remember. I can quite describe what it was that I found irritating before, but there was less of it. Or maybe there was more of something that I liked. Or maybe I have changed. At any rate, I’m spending a lot of words to tell you that I can’t quite put it in words but that I liked her show more than I remember liking it.
She had a guy named Allen Nance on, someone I’ve seen a lot lately. I really like him, and find him very interesting and he has such a good conversational style as a guest. I find him to be really neat and someone I hope is on more often. When he talks, he acts like everyone around him is not a complete moron (which is easy to do when you are on MHP’s show) and he always has something rational, reasonable, and informative to say. That’s pretty rare these days. There’s a lot of talk, but no one ever has anything to say.
This is where you all tell me something awful about him and why I am a terrible person if I like him.
BTW- did I miss the Bayou Classic again?
Phylllis
Must take the contrarian view: Go Navy!
JPL
My Father was retired Navy. My brothers were both in the service and one if retired Air Force and the other retired Army. A nephew is still in the Air Force.
Go Navy!
The Other Chuck
Go Air Force!
Skippy-san
Beat Army!!!!!
HRA
My cousin who was like a brother to me was a Lt. Commander flying jets off of carriers in the Navy. My husband is a retired Marine.
I have to Go Navy!
I once watched MHP for a long time until I got tired of her for some reason too long ago to remember. I’ll have to watch her show next week. .
Davebo
Army doesn’t stand a chance, as usual. The Navy helmets are a nice touch.
Oh, and to the cadet holding up the “Navy Sucks” sign, go pay for your own education elsewhere.
Corner Stone
They have been prominently showcasing her cleveland the past few weeks, with a drop necklace as accessory.
burnspbesq
What the hell is going on in the Premier League this year? Not only is Leicester tied for first, Bournemouth has back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Manchester United.
The development of the MLS academy system has killed college soccer. Yesterday’s NCAA semis were pretty much unwatchable; 220 minutes without a goal. Clemson and Stanford won penalty shootouts.
Corner Stone
I usually really enjoy watching MHP. Her show consistently has people on I would otherwise never be exposed to. Although on the times she has one RWNJ on, it destroys the entire segment and is virtually unwatchable. She’ll have three people with interesting perspectives and that one asshole will destroy any vestige of info or rational discussion for up to 10 minutes.
I hate it when she/her schedulers/etc does that.
Mart
Maybe your higher opinion of MHP was reflecting your man crush with Allen Nance.
M. Bouffant
Sorry, gotta go NAVY!! My father was a gunner’s mate aboard a ship at Pearl Harbor. (Yes, when the Japanese attacked.)
14 straight & the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy on the line!
Navy has cooler helmets, too.
I’ll go along w/ no humiliation, however. Magnanimous in victory!
Old Dan and Little Anne
MHP’s lisp drives me crazy. Other than that I like her.
Corner Stone
@Old Dan and Little Anne: It’s not really all that noticeable any more, I think she’s worked on it. But WTS, hot.
Mart
She spoke about the speech impediment on air years ago. Forget the root cause, believe birthed with it. She has fought thru it her entire life. Her bio is pretty remarkable.
John Cole
Hrmm. It’s not the cleavage, because I mainly listen while I am in front of the computer with the tv running off to the right. And her lisp doesn’t bother me.
Corner Stone
Speaking of beautiful women, I kind of fell in love all over again with FLOTUS after imagining her rapping the rhymes Elon James White et al have on the twitter feed under #FLOTUSBars
Corner Stone
@John Cole: I, for one, welcome our new cleavage overlords.
Corner Stone
I am still baffled at what kind of world you have to be living in to dump Bridget Moynahan and actually freakin’ upgrade. At least pure looks wise, anyway.
p.a.
Navy QB reminds me of Julian Edelman, also a college QB. Wonder if he has good hands. Darth Belichick, you listening?
Germy
in the Marx brothers war movie “Duck Soup” Harpo is seen wandering out on the front lines wearing a sandwich board sign reading, “Join the Army and see the Navy.”
Jager
A friend of mine went to his niece’s West Point graduation a couple of years ago. Her dad is an Annapolis grad, career Marine Aviation officer. He wore his dress blues to the commence ceremony. He said later it was a great family moment watching the hard ass, jet jockey Marine Colonel cry his eyes out as he pinned her brand new butter bars on her uniform for the first time.
Hildebrand
@burnspbesq: My wife, who has been a United fan for a very long time, can’t stand to watch them right now – not because they are losing, but because they have absolutely no creativity in their forwards. Rooney is hurt – and really starting to slow down even when not hurt. Martial and Depay are proving to be less than effective. If van Gaal has a plan for this bunch, now is the time to fully implement it.
p.a.
@Corner Stone: TB12 must’ve saved a whole city from a disaster of some sort in a previous life. But for Brazilian models I’m an ABB man.
HumboldtBlue
The Bayou Classic was played on Nov. 28th.
GO ARMY!
BEAT FUCKING NAVY!
trollhattan
@p.a.:
Wow, will she be an Olympic event?
suzan
I remember her show being all black and women’s issues and I was not part of the “in crowd” I too have found it more interesting but I only watch occasionally. my take is she is better and i still wouldn’t like 4 hours a week of it.
I miss Chris Hayes. still watch him in the evening now but I liked the pace of his Weekend show. he’s the best imho.
trollhattan
Here we go again.
But Democrats are the real terrorists.
Corner Stone
@suzan:
That is a big chunk of the territory she covers. And it’s why I find her show usually interesting. Who else is doing that in an accessible way, anywhere?
She has artists, musicians, pop culture people, academics, public officials, and others. I don’t know, I like her show and tune in when I can.
PaulW
Navy family here. GO NAVY.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
I was hoping to post the “Drunk History” segment where Benedict Arnold tries to turn West Point over to the British but is foiled by the unexpected arrival of George Washington and his right-hand man, but only the first half is on YouTube. Feh.
rikyrah
Afternoon, Everyone.
For my Chicago folks…
Yesterday, Peanut and her Grandmother came downtown to Macy’s. I met them after work.
We took in the windows, then Peanut went to see Santa, and we had dinner at The Walnut Room.
Times have changed. When I was growing up, you went to see Santa, you stood in line and waited until you saw Santa.
Now?
We got a pager.
A pager to see Santa.
Well, we looked around; got the buzz, had to stand in line about 15 minutes, got in to see Santa and then had dinner.
I remember so many years, growing up, even after I stopped going to see Santa, we’d always go downtown and visit the windows at Marshall Field’s, and go to the Walnut Room. I love sharing those traditions with Peanut.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@rikyrah:
I sometimes miss getting to see all of the windows on State Street, but I just can’t take the rest of the winter.
G’s aunt took our niece to the Drake Hotel for tea for her birthday — at 9 years old, she’s just the right age for the Little Princess Tea.
martha
@rikyrah: Ahhh, Marshall Fields. Yes, I’m old :-). I love traditions like that and I hope everyone had a wonderful evening. I can picture it!
And, because I mostly lurk these days, I want to say a thousand good mornings to you. And how much I appreciate your comments and links. Thank you.
Iowa Old Lady
I’m deeply jealous of those of you with grandchildren.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Did you see Colbert last night?
BillinGlendaleCA
About MHP, I used to watch her as well; but her delivery sometimes sounded like a dramatic poetry reading. I really found it annoying.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: When I was a kid, we always took the train downtown at christmastime so we could see all the store windows. We always went to Marshall Fields, too, which was way better than Macy’s. They had these huge pinwheel suckers in bright colors and we all got one.
Just found out that a family member is taking us all 13 of us to see The Lion King in downtown Chicago on 12/26. Should be fun!
edit: I haven’t seen downtown Chicago at christmastime for decades. Are the store windows still exciting, or only to little kids?
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Not yet — we have it DVR’d. I have to wait for G to get back from his eye appointment so we can watch it. I did see the 30-second teaser and laughed when he said he was John Adams.
Weird coincidence — we were watching some show on the Esquire Network last night (no idea how we ended up there) and the host was looking into changing his signature. He found someone with his same name, David Rees, on the same document as one signed by the rarest signature of any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Yep, that would be Button.
WaterGirl
@BillinGlendaleCA: I wondered the same thing when I watched it about an hour ago!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (tablet): It was a good show and would almost tempt me into joining your cult; but I loathe musicals, so I’m safe.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@WaterGirl:
G is actually the one who got me hooked, so I have to wait for him to get home (or, I guess, sneak-watch it behind his back and pretend I didn’t when he gets home).
Did you see that the fair city of Chicago is getting the first touring company? Super jealous.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I wouldn’t be surprised if “Wait For It” from the show becomes the breakout pop hit, though this high school chorus already nailed it. But it’s hard to say — Sondheim is still puzzled that “Send In The Clowns” became an inexplicable hit.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
I’m sure it’ll have a revival considering the GOP Presidential field.
Davebo
A much closer game than I expected.
Still, my neighbor a USMA grad is out of town so I won’t be able to rile him with the inevitable Navy win.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne (tablet): No, I didn’t see that, but it makes some sense in that Chicago is rather centrally located in the US.
raven
I don’t want to read any of this because I just turned the DVR recording on. I was in the Army but I’m from a Navy family. My old man was an enlisted swabby in WW2, graduated from Illinois and became an officer. He hated the fuckers from the Academy with a passion. I felt the same way about the few West Point dopes I encountered in my 3 years. One particular butter bar could have gotten the reaction force I was on in Korea killed when we bolted out the gate in pursuit of “infiltrators” that were spotted. Thanks the FSM we didn’t find them. So, lets hope for a good football game and screw both Academies.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@WaterGirl:
IMO, it’s probably more that Chicago is the second-biggest theater city in the US, so they can find local cast and don’t actually have to tour people. (As anyone who lives out here can tell you, Los Angeles is a terrible theater town — it’s hard to get people to make the long-term commitment to a play when it’s so much less time-consuming and so much more lucrative to do TV or movies.)
True story: the original Steppenwolf theater company was in the basement of my suburban grade school. We used to go down there and play with their props until they started locking the door. I’d be tempted to tell John Malkovich that story if I ever met him, but he seems like someone who would hold a grudge, so I wouldn’t dare.
rikyrah
@WaterGirl:
probably kids and adults who ‘remember when’
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Does it include the hysterical Mrs. Arnold?
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Yes, as played by Winona Ryder (with Chris Parnell as Arnold).
And, as I’m sure you already know, Peggy faked her hysteria to give her husband enough time to make good his escape. Hamilton always did have a weak spot for hysterical women in distress.
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
I grew up in Oak Park, and while we had our own Santa at the locally-owned department store (Gilmore’s, for the benefit of any locals), a trip to Marshall Field & Co. State Street was an important part of our Christmas ritual. Absolutely luncheon (not lunch!) in the Walnut Room — chicken pot pie, with Frango pie for dessert, always. A great deal of time every year devoted to observing Uncle Mistletoe and Aunt Holly. And of course the magnificent tree.
Things in this world all went to hell and gone when Field’s (and Rich’s, and many other iconic department stores) became Macy’s.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Good. Now I must search this out.
Did you see Jeopardy a couple of nights ago?
JPL
@efgoldman: Jordan’s had a village of Dickens houses that fascinated me. We used to eat at Howard Johnson’s on Route 2.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne (tablet):”… it’s probably more that Chicago is the second-biggest theater city in the US.”
I’m sure you are right!
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
If you’re a Hulu subscriber, they have full episodes of “Drunk History” — I think that one is titled “Philadelphia.” I can’t remember if they mention it, but that world was such a small one that the close friend that Peggy confessed her masquerade to was Theodosia Prevost, the future Mrs. Aaron Burr (who was still married to a British officer at the time, but already seeing Burr on the side).
Not only did I watch “Jeopardy,” I told my “Jeopardy” fanatic co-worker to be sure to see it. He ended up being able to impress his family since I gave him a few tips about who the play’s characters were.
M. Bouffant
Good show Army. Maybe next yr.
Navy not perfect, however.
raven
Fun game.
Bill Murray
@BillinGlendaleCA: and followed by Tears of a Clown after the election
Bitter Scribe
I guess Navy now is a legit football power, but one of the many things I found annoying about Notre Dame is how they would always schedule at least one of the service academies every season (if not all three, plus does the Coast Guard Academy have a football team?). It’s really beating up on the little guy. The service acads can only choose from among kids who want to be military officers, and who don’t mind putting up with that insane discipline. That’s an exponentially smaller pool of manpower than the average school.
Davebo
M. Bouffant
Oddly the reply link is gone from your post.
But seriously, you’ve never had a boat break down on you? If so, you’ve never spent any time on the water.
Perfect is the enemy of the good.
raven
@Bitter Scribe: They are D3.
J R in WV
I’m ex-Navy, was a bosun’s mate on a WW-II era sub-tender. From 40 years ago perspective, it was interesting and fun… at the time it was somewhat terrifying, even though we weren’t within 80 miles of an enemy.
I stood watches with the Officer of the Deck, who was a senior petty officer while we were in port. We guarded the gangway, and I used a duty-log to wake up guys for the next watch.
One night when I showed up for midnight watch, the guy I relived handed me a loaded 1911M2 .45 pistol. The chief and I talked about it, and we decided that while I was climbing around in berthing compartments waking guys up for the next watch, I wouldn’t need a .45 pistol, and he should keep it to guard the gangway.
I like pistols, and have a modern 1911-style .45, but not for FSM’s sake in a berthing compartment at 2 am in the dark, with red lights everywhere.
The USN is crazy, but less so than the AF – not sure about the Army. And or course the Marines are part of the Navy, they’re the Navy’s army. And very serious.
Good job, Navy. Army was close the whole game, but USN rocked again this year.
And what’s with a brand new ship just breaking down?!?! WTF!!!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
re: the Milwaukee
That’s why you have a shakedown cruise. Better now than on mission.
burnspbesq
@Bitter Scribe:
Division 3, and not especially good. My wife’s nephew played RB for the Bears in the mid-Oughts until he had one concussion too many.
Schlemazel
@burnspbesq:
So admiral material then?
JPL
@efgoldman: When I turned 18, I could purchase beer at Devens in ’67.. I only did it once though. My friends and I hid it in my back yard and we discovered that hot beer wasn’t that good.
JPL
This wrapping of the presents is getting old. ..ugh
The big football game comes on PBS now. The local high school is playing in the state finals against a team that could beat GA. I think they are ranked third in the nation.