This pair of seahorses adorn a building on 7th Avenue in Tampa’s Ybor City section:
I’m no architect, but I think it would be cool if builders would start slapping seahorses and gargoyles on buildings again.
Today I’m tired because I couldn’t sleep last night and stayed up late binge-watching “The Man in the High Castle.” After 10 episodes (not all in a single night), I have one question: WTF?
Open thread.
Geeno
Our world NEEDS more decoration. I blame the whole “form follows function” movement for the lack of civic decoration.
Simplicity is nice, but so is seeing cultural signifying decoration, and I, personally, like to see such decoration from other cultures. Indian restaurants with their Ganeesha statues, etc., but of course, I delight in seeing new, “other” things. A trait sadly lacking in many of my country men.
cope
Phillip K. Dick is WTF, yes?
triknitcode
I loved “The Man in the High Castle”. I thought it was a great depiction of how fascism affects everyone in the system, even those working for it.
I noticed that John had a similar reaction to the show. What was it that you didn’t like / understand / agree with?
Zinsky
Rumor has it that Trump is going to have Caribou Barbie (Sarah Palin) appear with them at a rally in Iowa tonight. I hope the attendees are careful about the massive vacuum created in the room by the two emptiest heads in America being in one place!
Betty – is that the building that the wonderful Columbia restaurant is in in Ybor City?
Punchy
I binge watch Forensic Files. If it’s taught me one thing, it’s not to off my wife and expect to skate. Those not-as-shooty-of-black-people crime cops convict perps on 2 picograms of pubes, a buttprint, and cell phone triangulation. These bastards could find (and amplify) DNA on a meteor from 4 galaxies over.
JPL
Gotta say that I didn’t even finish episode 3. Life is tooooooo short. I watched the first episode with my son who had stopped by and that was after showing him the Trump freedom girls video. After he left, I was going to binge watch the rest but just quit. I still woke up with a nightmare about the freedom girls dancing.
Geeno
@Punchy: They can’t though. They just want you to think they can.
Well, they can, but only under special circumstances. I think one of those is that the victim isn’t black.
trollhattan
Wouldn’t that disrupt the Bauhausian aesthetic of the cinder-block construction? Jeez, people.
Geeno
@trollhattan: My point exactly.
You were agreeing with me, right?
JPL
It might surprise you, but I’m not a fashionista. I need something to wear to my son’s wedding and finding something is an absolute fail. Neiman’s had their big sale so I ordered a few things online. They are all going back. One outfit would look great if I were teaching in the late 1800’s and the other just not me. All the future daughter-in-law said, was that it had to be long. weddings are a pain
Mike J
@trollhattan: Calm down, Howard Roarke.
trollhattan
@Punchy:
Is there any power in law enforcement greater than a lead investigator leaning over the lab tech at his/her monitor, instructing “enhance!”? Seventeen pixels become a rather fetching image of Penelope Cruz.
Betty Cracker
@Zinsky: Not the same building, but it’s close by.
ETA: I think the pictured building used to be a fish market back in the day. Not sure what it is now — probably a bar that overcharges its patrons!
trollhattan
@Mike J:
I’m starting this club, see….
JPL
If Sarah introduces Trump, and then he speaks, who will translate?
Ridnik Chrome
I was home from work with a cold last week and re-read “The Man in the High Castle” (along with an anthology of A.J. Liebling’s World War Two reporting, kind of a weird but not incompatible combination given the subject matter). Still haven’t seen any of the TV series. Does the I-Ching figure as prominently in the show as it does in the book?
Botsplainer
Cold War conceit. It completely ignores Japanese wartime policy and objectives. It also ignores Nazi capabilities and occupation strategies.
boatboy_srq
Ybor is fun: a bit like Nawlins in miniature. I don’t miss much of FL, but THAT I do miss (though less than I would if redevelopment had gone as planned and not been short-circuited by the real estate plunge: all the mid-to-high-end boutiques and local neighborhood shops that were supposed to move in got trounced by property values dropping to the bottom of the Gulf, and by the bars reasserting their dominance of the street).
Geeno
@JPL: Will anyone need to? Gibberish translates gibberish.
Botsplainer
@Zinsky:
Columbia is the purveyor of the best sangria known to mankind.
That and the fish in a paper bag.
JPL
@Zinsky: The only reason I know where Ybor City is because of Dennis Lehane’s book World Gone By.
boatboy_srq
Open Thread, so:
The job hunt is in high gear this month. Anyone needing a techie in metro DC please chime in. MCSE, VCP, working on renewing both and adding Security+ and Network+. Clearable but no clearance at the moment.
boatboy_srq
@Botsplainer: You never went to Acropolis, did you? Sangria there beats Columbia’s hands down. Only two blocks away.
MattF
I read a lot of PKD in grad school– it seemed appropriate. I’d certainly recommend reading his stuff– see if you like it. I’d try the earlier books first, Dick was semi-famous by the end of his career, and that didn’t help his style– the later books have a trying-too-hard feeling.
Amir Khalid
@Zinsky:
The best riposte to having Sarah Palin endorse the Donald at a rally would be having Tina Fey endorse her choice of Democratic candidate at a rally.
Face
FTFY.
Gin & Tonic
Ybor City and Key West are the only two reasons I’ve found to go to Florida.
Oatler.
If you can stand rants about how hippies wrecked American architecture, check out the Lileks site, which might have a section on signage.
WaterGirl
@JPL: I feel your pain. When my 50-year-old sister got remarried, she wanted a “real wedding” because she and her former husband eloped in their 20s and were married by a justice of the peace.
The only requirement for those of us standing up for her was this: pink dress. long.
My sainted friend Tina went shopping with me, over and over and over. We called it “the quest for the pink dress”. I mean, I HAD to find one because I was in the wedding and WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND ONE???, so my fear of not finding one was real.
This may sound crazy, but surely if we knew your approximate size one of us here at BJ would have something that we probably wore only once that we would be happy to loan or give you. I know I would.
Edit: maybe Anne Laurie would let us email photos to her. Or maybe you could set up a free imgur image account with balloonjuice as the password and we could all take photos of our long dresses and upload them with our BJ nyms.
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: My DIL endeared herself to me by going to the post New Year sales and buying two possible outfits for me to wear to their wedding in Chicagoland. I got my choice (a long black skirt and sparkly top) and she took the other back.
I believe she was afraid I’d show up in black pants and a comfy sweater if she didn’t take matters into her own hands, but since I live in the middle of nowhere, I was deeply grateful.
Mustang Bobby
@boatboy_srq: What was the name of that place we went to a couple of blocks from your old place where we had that nice dinner half-way in and out of the restaurant? Charlie Something?
The Other Chuck
@Ridnik Chrome:
It’s there, and figures pretty highly in the character of Tagomi, though I wouldn’t say it drives the plot or anything.
My impression of the show is pretty mixed: I find it both brilliant and hokey. Still has me on the hook waiting for season 2.
p.a.
You know I always wanted to pretend to be an architect.
boatboy_srq
@Mustang Bobby: Streetcar Charlie’s. Long since closed: Laughing Cat moved in there (before they too folded). Just as well Streetcar Charlie’s went under: I have horror stories about undone (never mind underdone) entrees, mixed-up orders and just plain awful service there. Seems the waitstaff’s one job qualification was prettiness: neither intelligence nor attention to customers seems to have mattered too much. I suppose they counted on their clientele getting snockered at the bar before ordering, so they wouldn’t care what they ate. I do miss Laughing Cat, though: the seafood fra diavolo was amazing and the buffet lunch (complete with poached salmon!) was excellent.
Matt McIrvin
@MattF: I think it’s more that by the time of the later books, his paranoia combined with the decades of amphetamine abuse drove him to a full-blown psychotic break; pink lasers from God started feeding him cosmic information, and he was struggling with trying to get the baffling things he’d experienced down on paper. It made his writing even less logically coherent than usual, while at the same time, he was actually getting better and better as a prose stylist.
His break into general fame really came shortly after he died, when Blade Runner came out. I think he lived long enough to see a rough cut of the movie. But I think it was Total Recall that established him as, somehow, Hollywood’s favorite science-fiction author.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: We’ve married off two daughters in recent years, and my dearly beloved wife’s search for the right dress for each of those occasions was enough to drive me to medication. I wore a dinner jacket. It was hot, but that more than balanced what she went through.
Mustang Bobby
@boatboy_srq: And then there was that ice cream parlor with the folk singer who entertained us with songs about death and disillusionment. Yeah, that was fun.
boatboy_srq
@Mustang Bobby: That was actually a coffee shop (The Bunker). The entertainment may be questionable, but the espresso is excellent and the wine list (what venue in Ybor doesn’t serve alcohol?) is pretty good. I hear they’re still going.
shawn
I design buildings for a living, and while it’ll likely take a while for the styles to shift, I think there’s a lot of potential for decorative elements to come roaring back in the near future. Thanks to 3D printing, making custom decorative components is likely going to become significantly cheaper now that it only has to be modeled digitally and then a machine can churn it out relatively quickly.
The costs of large handmade custom pieces has been prohibitive for many building types for a while.
Corner Stone
@p.a.: Why not aim higher? Maybe a city planner?
raven
@Gin & Tonic: The Emerald Coast is great off season.
Helmut Monotreme
FWIW I have a new post up about the Flint MI water crisis over at Sadly, No
Germy
I have reoccurring, vivid dreams where I live in a world full of architectural flourishes. Sort of early 20th-century Beaux Arts meets Victorian-era ornamentation, with machines and electronics all steampunk. Walls are deep red or green, heavy curtains, all deep cherry or mahogany wood. These usually go with my “hidden room” dreams where I discover a door I’d never noticed before, and it takes me to an attic or cellar full of beautiful antiques.
Downton Abbey is Brutalist compared to these dreams.
Hungry Joe
Philip K. Dick was brilliant, a true visionary … and (generally) a pretty bad writer; calling his prose “workmanlike” is about as high a compliment as he deserves. An exception is his early and very odd (of course) mainstream — i.e., non-SF — novel “Confessions of a Crap Artist,” which I consider his best. But books like “Ubik,” “Flow my Tears, the Policeman Said,” and “A Scanner Darkly” are mesmerizing for their paranoid ambiance alone.
(“Crap Artist” is the only Dick book I can think of that’s both well written AND written in the first person. Hmmmm … )
satby
@JPL: @WaterGirl: I love Watergirl’s idea! Maybe post the size and colors you like and any of us with long dresses can send in pics!
Germy
@shawn: About twenty years ago I had a roofed porch built for a house we owned at the time. When it was finished, it basically looked like a storage shed. I went to a lumber place and bought some decorative millwork, and nailed it to all the corners, then stained the wood deep brown. The end result looked victorian. When the contractor came around for the final payment and saw the millwork, he said “Hmmph. Ladies like that sort of stuff.”
Botsplainer
There is some white hot Palin-supporter vs Cruz-supporter action going on at the Free Republic.
They’re devouring each other over Bristol chiming in on behalf of snowball snooki.
gogol's wife
I highly recommend the War and Peace series that started last night on History/A&E/Lifetime. It will have three more installments, on Mondays at 9:00 PM. The acting is quite good (Lady Mary from Downton, Sydney from Grantchester, the accountant from Home Fires, Chief Inspector Innocent from Lewis, etc.), and the battle scenes are much better than I expected and are very much in line with the way they’re represented in the book. With the exception of some anachronistic dialogue here and there, it’s a very intelligent adaptation.
But — the commercials really break the mood.
satby
I loved the book Man in the High Castle but only watched one episode of the show. Granted I read the book a long time ago, but the show didn’t follow the book as I remembered it enough for me to keep watching.
I also really am looking forward to going back to Ybor city for Cuban food. One positive of moving down that way.
Betty Cracker
@boatboy_srq: I’ve tried both, and I’ve gotta side with Bot. But maybe it’s just because I grew up here and the Columbia’s version is THE Platonic Ideal of sangria due to that. Anyway, I wouldn’t say no to either!
@shawn: That’s good to know. Thanks!
Botsplainer
@shawn:
Of all the iconic Manhattan buildings, I like the Chrysler Building the best. Something about it sings hope and whimsy to me.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Looking for a dress like that IS. NOT. FUN. You are lucky, even if you were hot. Plus, you could take off your jacket when no one was looking, right? :-)
gbbalto
I’ve read the book several times and I found it perfectly coherent and well executed. I don’t know how realistic the Axis occupation regimes he portrayed would have been, but he was using the rivalry of the Axis powers as a mirror of the actual Cold War situation at the time he wrote. With potential US/Soviet nuclear annihilation hanging over the world at that time, he was asking who really had won WW2.
I haven’t seen the series but understand that it is quite different, including resistance activities. There is no organized resistance in the book. Maybe the writers figured that the audience wouldn’t accept that situation. Probably best not to judge the series by the book, which is well worth the read.
satby
@gogol’s wife: Lady Mary or Lady Rose?
Seanly
I enjoyed the first season of “Man In the High Castle”. I particularly liked how nonchalant everyone was about the current state of the world. It was also refreshing in that it didn’t try to over-explain how the world got to be as it was. Rather they dropped hints such as Nazis dropping A-bomb on DC and Roosevelt being assassinated.
Most of the acting and dialogue were very good. I know some folks busted on the performances of the young protagonists who meet up in CO, but I thought some of their delivery was on purpose. The main Nazi & Japanese officials were played very well. The sets & setting were excellent.
I also liked Amazon’s Bosch series. The one incongruity is that in the book, Bosch was a tunnel rat in Viet Nam but they ported that over to him doing that in Desert Storm which is a little WTF (but ultimately a minor aspect). Looking forward to season 2 for both shows.
Speaking of Amazon, the last couple of years I’ve done my taxes using TaxCut software by Intuit. You can get part of your refund as an Amazon giftcard with a 10% boost. A nice way to get even more out of your federal return if you’re already going to be using software. I have to use software because we (unfortunately) still own a house in another state that we rent out.
WaterGirl
@Germy: You are scaring me! I am thinking of putting on a screened in porch since the tree crashing in 2013 left me with absolutely no shade anywhere in the back yard. I want it to look like it belongs on the house, and you have just described my porch nightmare.
trollhattan
@p.a.:
I may have mentioned you’re a marine biologist.
But I’m not a marine biologist!
I’m aware of that.
p.a.
@Corner Stone: Pretending to be an architect has more false cachet, I believe. Life mirrors Seinfeld, not vice-versa.
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: I just called to see how to return. It’s a long black skirt but a friend said that it wouldn’t go with the future DIL’s colors. The tuxes are white and the bridesmaids are wearing pale pink. link
I simply explained that I was already flunking this mother-in-law stuff.
@WaterGirl: I am not wearing pale pink but I think grey or a beige wouldn’t stand out. The mother is wearing champagne. I hate pale colors…
Germy
@WaterGirl: The mistake I made was hiring a contractor who didn’t care about architecture or beauty. He hired a crew who put up some posts; the railings were square. It was a basic industrial frame. My woodstain and millwork addition made it look more like part of the house.
I guess my advice is, communicate with your contractor. Ask for spindle posts for the railings if you want something more decorative or “nice” as they call it, because most contractors default to basic sticks of lumber.
Josie
@JPL: Two online catalogs that I would suggest looking at are Coldwater Creek and Draper’s & Damon’s. I have found nice evening and mother of the groom dresses in those two.
satby
@Germy: I don’t remember having you over to my house.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Gargoyles, yes!
ObOpenThread:
Some (more) words to live by from Wendell Berry (via M. A. Grubbs):
Some heavy thinking went into that list. I like it.
Cheers,
Scott.
boatboy_srq
@Betty Cracker: I suppose I get my impression thanks to going to the Columbia to eat (not drink)…
Doug R
Look up The Marine Building Vancouver BC.
Corner Stone
@trollhattan: The sea was angry that day my friends! Like an old man…on a DNC debate stage.
p.a.
@WaterGirl: Tip: if it’s truly a screen room and not weatherproof, and you don’t want to be out there with a mop and rags drying things off immediately after rain/snow, use vinyl for all non-structural items, especially horizontal pieces. And I was conscientious about my priming/painting. Didn’t matter. Maybe I could blame crappy Home Depot pre-primed pine.
bemused
@Helmut Monotreme:
Oh man, I read your link to Fournier’s adulation piece on Snyder. There are no words….
gogol's wife
@satby:
You’re right — Lady Rose, sorry! Lady Mary would be good, too, but I guess she’s still employed at Downton.
p.a.
@satby: The key to stalking is the stalked doesn’t know.
;-o
Germy
@satby: There are some old houses that are just so beautiful.
Germy
@p.a.: I was stalked by my contractor until I paid for the porch.
bystander
@Zinsky: According to Trump TV, aka MSNBC, the fun is about to begin.
To keep beating that metaphor, it’s like rheumatoid arthritis endorsing multiple myeloma.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
You might want to take a look at eShakti. For a reasonable price (usually under $200 total at most), you can have them customize it not only to your measurements, but also to your preferences for sleeve length, neckline, hem length, etc. They’re a little bit retro, which can be fun, too.
Also check Ann Taylor and Nordstrom online, both of which do a lot of wedding business. The Nordstrom website is where I found my matron of honor’s dress 10 years ago, and she was able to get in-store alterations on it.
JPL
@Josie: Drapers doesn’t have a large selection in long skirts. I was hoping to find something that I might wear again, but that’s unlikely.
@WaterGirl: I’m a six unless I can rid myself of the pudge that appeared after Christmas then a four. I’m 5′ 7″..
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
I tried binge-watching TMITHC, got bored with it. Did it finally get interesting after 10 episodes?
satby
@Germy: I was teasing of course, but I love old houses that have been well maintained. My house in Chicago was a Victorian, and we did it in a Painted Lady style for about 10 years, which was pretty visible because my street was on the house tour (not my house though). Other houses around the area were painted in “my” colors for a while…
Shana
@JPL: I suggest a long black skirt, check the dressy section of your local department store. There are usually a variety of styles, one of which will look lovely. Then, get a separate top that works for the occasion. The skirts aren’t generally too expensive. That way you have a timeless base for whatever occasion may come up in the future.
I’ve found nice ones, full, narrow, several overlapping layers of chiffon. Always in style so you don’t have to get another new one for the next occasion.
satby
@JPL: I’m out…I have nothing that small. And no one who’s a 6 is allowed to say “pudge” :)
Poopyman
Timely:
Germy
I remember reading an interview with Art Garfunkel. He said in his college days he was fascinated by the idea of becoming an architect. But then when he began the actual studies, he realized he liked the “idea” of being an architect, rather than any actual work involved.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: I second Mnem, I got a fabulous silk halter dress at Ann Taylor. Also check Banana Republic. Tracy Reese whose dress FLOTUS wore for the last Dem convention, also has good dresses that are not too too expensive.
I found eShakti to be quite fugly the last time I looked. Are you looking for a full length or cocktail length dress?
ETA: We are pretty much the same size but I am a couple of inches shorter than you.
WaterGirl
@Germy: ” The mistake I made was hiring a contractor who didn’t care about architecture or beauty. He hired a crew who put up some posts; the railings were square. It was a basic industrial frame. ”
You are describing the guy I met with.
@p.a.: I appreciate the advice!
Mart
Sure the seahorses are pretty, until the hurricane winds break them loose, and they are the spinning seahorses of the Apocalypse.
Germy
@Poopyman: Designer of the Morris Chair
SiubhanDuinne
@Helmut Monotreme:
An excellent, clear piece. I’ve been following this story pretty closely (unlike Li’l Marco), and this is among the most concise explanations I’ve seen.
If I may suggest one small correction, in your penultimate paragraph (referring to Ron Fournier) you call the governor “Ron” Snyder instead of “Rick.”
It’s a complicated history. Thank you for laying it out so clearly.
GregB
Listening to Jane Mayer on NPR confirming my suspicions that the Koch brothers are crypto-Nazis.
p.a.
@Germy: Your contractor would say: not stalking, just business. Actually, you’re lucky. Try the reverse: tracking down a no-show contractor.
Germy
@GregB: Some rather unpleasant family dramas are revealed in Mayer’s book “Dark Money”
Shell
Man, I haven’t thought about the I-Ching since reading ‘Divine Rights Trip’ in the Whole Earth Catalog.
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
I love eShakti, but I like that retro look, plus I’m a hard to fit size (wide shoulders, no hips) so dresses tend to look a little weird on me if I’m not careful.
Germy
@p.a.:
I’ve experienced it.
And I actually got to observe it! A guy I hired a few years ago, his cell phone kept ringing. He’d take it off his belt, see the incoming call number, mutter “Nope, I don’t wanna talk to him” and let it go to voicemail.
This happened, on the average, about three times an hour. Not sure if it was one single panicked customer, or several trying to reach him.
WaterGirl
@JPL: What time of year is the wedding?
My pale pink is more of a pink-champagne color, if that would help. I also have a deep blue. If it’s summer, I have a beautiful embroidered skirt with a long embroidered top – very dressy and not embroidered in an old-fashioned way. Would any of those be a possibility?
Edit: do you have a Dress Barn? I haven’t been in decades, but they used to have dresses that might work. In my QUEST FOR THE PINK DRESS I tried everywhere, even places that sounded awful or crazy. In the end, I found my pink dress in this tiny little boutique.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: Now that would be pretty funny/cool!
Paul in KY
@Gin & Tonic: Anna Maria Island isn’t bad, same for Sanibel/Captiva Islands.
Mike J
@GregB:
Read up on the spying they did against Dennis Conner because he had the temerity to try to build a fast sailboat.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m listening to Fresh Air on NPR. It’s an interview with Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money, the new book on the Koch Brothers. Holy shit, she has unearthed some crazy stuff, and the pushback against her has been even sleazier than you could imagine. I have to read it now!
The interview is well worth hearing. See when your local NPR station broadcasts Fresh Air, or find a podcast. Powerful stuff.
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: I pretty much have an hour glass figure, not too difficult to find dresses but finding pants that fit are hard because I have a narrow waist compared to my hips. So pants that fit my hips gape at the waist.
Pretty dress for JPL from Tracy Reese
bystander
@SiubhanDuinne: I’ve noticed that ABC always personalizes the decision to use Flint River water by saying,”The City of Flint decided to use river water to save money…” Never an attribution to the real parties who made the decision.
In the cheap novel metaphor department, four Carson campaigners were in an auto collision today.
MomSense
@JPL:
I’ve got some 4s but I think they are all black. I’m 5’9″ so you may have to hem them. Hmm, I have a cocktail length gray dress with black beading but I think you said long.
HRA
@JPL:
I had the same mother of the groom problem a few years ago. I found the long dress in a bridal shop and it was on sale.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
As far as wearing it again goes, how many formal events do you attend per year? If it’s less than one, then IMO there’s not much point in looking for something you’ll wear again, because it will probably be out of style by the time you have a chance. Get something you like and then sell it at a consignment shop or donate it to charity.
JPL
@WaterGirl: April 9th but it’s in Atlanta. The mother-in-law is going to wear champagne and a friend said she chooses first. Told ya, that I’m failing this.
The son wants to select the place for the rehearsal dinner but is still looking. The ex and I chipped in a chunk of change so it shouldn’t be that difficult, but he still hasn’t done it. The bride wants that guest list to be 75 so all of the out of town are included. Fun times.
Paul in KY
@Germy: I roomed with one in college. Was always at the Architecture building making scale models of this & that. Seemed very time consuming.
WaterGirl
@JPL: I also have one more option for summer or spring. It’s sleeveless, a mostly white background with a flower print, and it has a long matching cover-up. This is sort of light and breezy, so if you’re looking for brocade, this isn’t it.
bemused
@bystander:
Fournier is burning up twitter basically yelling blame Obama’s EPA, don’t pile on Snyder.
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
The low-rise pant fashion was a freakin’ godsend for me — until then, pants that fit my waist would balloon clownishly at the hips and thighs because my waist and hips are almost the same size. They will pry my low-rise jeans from my cold, dead hands!
The gap at the waist in pants is really common for hourglass figures. I think the advice is to find pants that fit your hips and then have the waist taken in, which is usually pretty cheap to do.
MomSense
@JPL:
oooh, Ann Taylor has a v neck, floor length gown in a deep red sizes 4 and 6. $234 and half off at check out.
WaterGirl
@JPL: You don’t have to match her, just not clash, right? Do any of my 4 options sound at all promising?
Germy
@Paul in KY: It’s an interesting-sounding profession. I know nothing about architecture; I just know what I like. The scale model-building sounds like he probably pursued it. I wonder how many people think they want to be architects, but then change their majors when they see the work involved?
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: Same here, pants that sit at the waist or slightly below fit far better than the higher rise versions.
Iowa Old Lady
@bemused: By what possible rationale?
Seanly
@GregB:
My favorite part of that interview was when the NPR douche-host brought up both sides do it. Even mentioned the Dread Pirate George Soros. Has he even given any money to any Democratic candidates since 2004?
RE: the Kochs – one of the big aspects of fascists was that they were fighting against communism. The Kochs still seem to believe in the John Bircher BS which still has 1950’s paranoia about Big Bad Communism coming to agitate the underclass and steal all our women.
schrodinger's cat
@WaterGirl: I am of the opinion that blush and champagne tend to wash you out. Any color close to your skin tone is a no no.
JPL
@WaterGirl: I’m going to keep that in mind and thank you.
@MomSense: That’s gorgeous… The other colors are pale, so would I stand out?
Oh and I’ll buy makeup and stuff for this event. Maybe even have my nails done.. haha
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Never mind, I missed one of your comments – you are 4″ taller than me. So my stuff won’t work.
SiubhanDuinne
@bystander:
Didn’t know that specifically about ABC, but that framing seems to be pretty common. Whether it’s merely lazy shorthand (because gods forbid they should actually explain the background) or a deliberate attempt to mislead, I could not say.
Even though Carson is a joke of a candidate running a disaster of a campaign, I wish no harm to his staffers. Hope they are all unscathed.
MomSense
@JPL:
Of course you will stand out–in a good way.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Did you check out the Tracy Reese dress? The color is described as antique gold.
ETA: In a traditional Indian wedding the M-I-L (groom’s mom) is the most important person.
Paul in KY
@Germy: He certainly put in more hours than I did with my Political Science major.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
Hahahahaha! Like Ron Fournier needs a rationale!!
SiubhanDuinne
@Seanly:
That was the NPR douche-host on Morning Edition, where Jane Mayer was also a guest today. The Fresh Air interview is longer, better, more nuanced, and not at all douchey.
WaterGirl
@JPL: I loved the red dress that MomSense mentioned, but I suspect you can’t wear red if the rest are wearing pastels.
Also, does it have to be LONG to the floor, or would mid-calf work? If the latter, then we don’t have to rule everything out because you’re taller.
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: For a moment, I left the reality based community. You’re right.
WaterGirl
@JPL: This is kind of like going shopping with 6 of your girlfriends. :-)
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: Has to be long although I’m thinking about approaching her and asking if midi is okay. I really screwed up by forwarding an email that I shouldn’t have, so I might wait a few days. I just sent a friend some links to see what she thought, and the soon to be DIL said, show me. I forgot that I wrote Weddings are a pain on the bottom. uhoh She laughed and I pointed out that I hate shopping and at that time, stopped digging.
SiubhanDuinne
@bemused:
I loathe these people.
JPL
@WaterGirl: This is the kinda thing you not only shop with but you come home and serve wine and cheese afterwards. It’s going to be a pretty fancy wedding. ugh
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: How about a Dolce and Gabana lace dress, spendy but purty!
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: I do too. I didn’t read the book but I know that at the time the father was being paid, it was money from Ukraine. The people of Ukraine were starving.
MomSense
@schrodinger’s cat:
I love that dress. How would it look with bean boots?
sigh.
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: Yup a little spendy. The problem that I’m having is that I’m comfy in my jeans with a paint brush in hand. My son is very fortunate though that he found someone to put up with him. She is really lovely.
muddy
What about rental dresses?
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Another option:
Floor length gown by Herve Leger
boatboy_srq
@bemused:
For what? Poisoning Flint deliberately (How? Is this more of the “fluoridated water is gummint mind control”?)? Or not nixing a deal they had no say in? Or is this more “Obama destroys jobs” garbage (Detroit and Flint lose jobs [30 years ago] and hence tax base, which is now suddenly the Kenyan IslamoFascoSoshulist’s fault?) Great noodly FSM..
schrodinger's cat
@MomSense: I have to see that! Very difficult being a fashionista in the Maine winters.
JPL
@MomSense: I love this.. link
Definitely not gonna happen…
You guys might turn me into a fashionista..
WaterGirl
@muddy: That’s a gorgeous dress! Someone 5;7″ and that size could really pull that one off!
Origuy
@Paul in KY: My sophomore roommate was an architecture student. We had these tiny rooms just big enough for two twin bed and two desks. (Forbes Hall, for the Illinois alums.) He built himself a drafting table with a shelf for a mattress over it. The desk slid under the table and he pulled it out to work on models. I was taking assembly language programming and was in the computer lab all the time, so it worked out ok.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: I suggest pairing it with pearls or diamonds.
Xenos
@shawn: Interesting about 3D printing. I understand that much of the reason for American victorians to be so heavily decorated was because new sawmills and technologies and the railroads brought relatively inexpensive decorative pieces throughout the country in short order. The commodification of building materials lead to a deliberately archaic and picturesque look becoming more popular.
raven
@Origuy: Oskewow.
Gin & Tonic
@JPL: In fairness to Fred, while he did help set up oil refineries in the USSR, the evidence seems to indicate that he wasn’t there for long, was disillusioned by Stalin’s purges and left by 1932. This was before the worst of the Ukrainian terror-famine, and almost certainly before anyone in the West was aware of it. The evidence of his working with the Third Reich is both stronger and more damning, IMO.
JPL
@MomSense: This is me… link
This is where the wedding is.. link
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
Despite the uneven quality of his prose, his imaginative ideas made for a lot of great sci fi.
I got busy and have only seen the first two episodes of The Man in the High Castle. I hope to finish it and a couple of other Amazon series whenever I get a chunk of free time.
pluky
@Germy: It’s called ‘archi-torture’ for a reason.
trollhattan
@boatboy_srq:
It’s the EPA’s fault Michigan violated the holy crap out of EPA’s SDWA regulations, putting them in violation of federal law. No SDWA, no EPA, no law broken. Excelsior! Freedom!
JPL
@Gin & Tonic: IBM dealt with them also. My ex is retired from IBM and I met him while working there. Funny story, one of my sons works at the weather company that has just been purchased by IBM.
When I was younger, I didn’t mind dressing up, so I know that I can do it..
MomSense
@JPL:
Love the color and the neckline. I’d go with one striking accessory, like an unusual cuff in gold. There is a sheer, black lace dress that is really pretty. I usually stay away from sheer–but that one is gorgeous.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Fancy!
boatboy_srq
@trollhattan: Sigh. Remind me again why wingnuts don’t adore Somalia…
geg6
@JPL:
I found a great dress at JCrew online and for a good price. Nice basic dresses and you can get whatever length you want. I paid less than $100 for mine on sale and had it tailored. The whole thing, including shoes, came to $140.
MomSense
@JPL:
Then I’d go with this
Or http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Carolina-Herrera-Sleeveless-V-Neck-Ball-Gown-Black/prod183000372_cat13790832__/p.prod?icid=&searchType=EndecaDrivenCat&rte=%252Fcategory.service%253FitemId%253Dcat13790832%2526pageSize%253D30%2526Nao%253D60%2526refinements%253D&eItemId=prod183000372&cmCat=product
JPL
wpress fail
schrodinger's cat
@MomSense: I think pearl earrings and the cuff like you suggested.
Helmut Monotreme
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for catching that error, I have corrected it.
MomSense
@JPL:
Damn, links didn’t work.
Neiman Marcus Carolina Herrera navy trench coat dress or the sleeveless v neck black ball gown. Both have a bit of pouf in the back and full skirts.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I remember the original long-read New Yorker piece several years ago. On the strength of the Fresh Air Interview, I have just downloaded the book and will start reading it this evening over a sustaining glass of wine.
By the way — I’m following The Great Mother-in-Law Dress Hunt with great interest, although I have nothing to contribute by way of ideas, let alone possible garments! But good luck with the search!
raven
Cabela’s has insulated khaki’s for $29, usually $59!
MomSense
@schrodinger’s cat:
Oooh, pretty.
JPL
@MomSense: I have a wide sterling silver band. Many decades ago when I lived in MA, I took a silver class with a pretty good silversmith and made one. I might try that one on when I go to Nordstrom. I think it’s fun and since I already flunked the mother-in-law thing, if it’s a little longer on, it might work.
WereBear
I appreciate the heads up. As a big Philip K. Dick fan, I was interested, but I know how badly such things can go wrong…
Gin & Tonic
@raven: Do you think she’ll need insulated khakis for an April wedding in Atlanta? It’s pretty warm by then, if I recall.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Actually you know how simple I am and fancy is not my thing.
Please review the book for us.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: I report, they decide.
JPL
@Gin & Tonic: Hey we might get ice tomorrow, but I’m prepared already. No french toast storm for me though.
bystander
@SiubhanDuinne: I only use my telekinetic powers for good, never for evil, so don’t look at me.
Groucho48
The series has the setting and the characters of the book but deviates from the plot pretty quickly.
On the plus side, the background is well done with lots of clever little snippets that show, yes, Nazis will be Nazis. The acting is average to very good. The new plotlines are fairly interesting and engaging.
The big flaw, for me, is that each episode has a couple or three interesting conflicts and the characters deal with them in the stupidest ways possible. That’s not unusual for a TV series, but, this one really goes overboard in characters acting stupidly. So, after each episode, I’m thinking… that could have been SO much better.
JPL
@raven: AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING BRINGING THE THREAT OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION TO PORTIONS JUST NORTH OF THE I20 CORRIDOR.
haha.. I’m not leaving the house.
schrodinger's cat
@MomSense: Thanks! If you have watched the links that I have put up over the past few months about Bajirao Mastani, you must have noticed the pearls everyone wears, especially Kashibai the character Priyanka Chopra plays. The west of coast of India where my family is from originally is known for its pearls.
My great grandfather used to own several pearl fields outside of Mumbai in Thane.
muddy
@JPL: That’s amazing, so elegant. Love the color.
@WaterGirl: The color was what drew me to that one too. I don’t usually like the ones that look different on both sides of the bodice. So apt to make one look lopsided.
raven
@JPL: It’s a cruel hoax perpetrated on a nation of sheep.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Appreciating the banter. You guys are me on the football threads.
p.a.
Not criticism, just curious: can anyone remember another such fashion-centric thread on Balloon Juice? This thread could really use Cole’s fashion sense.
gogol's wife
@Gin & Tonic:
Are you watching War and Peace? I’m wondering how much input Vladimir Vladimirovich had. They seem to have been given some good access to some important sites within Russia. Which creates an interesting effect for Tolstoy’s characters. Like, I guess the Tsar let them ice-skate on his front lawn.
geg6
@gogol’s wife:
I believe it’s Lady Rose, not Lady Mary.
WaterGirl
@p.a.: I remember another one, maybe when geg6 (or someone else?) needed a dress for some important event.
I am not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, but anyone with a heart who has ever had to FIND A DRESS FOR THE WEDDING jumps in to help when someone else is stuck.
WaterGirl
@muddy: I don’t have the height or the shape for that dress, but damn, it sure is beautiful!
Grumpy Code Monkey
Never read the book (wasn’t much of a PKD reader), enjoyed the series a lot, especially in the little details. There was a sense of retarded technological advancement (yeah, the Germans had rocket planes, but nothing that filtered down to daily life), zero hints of rock-n-roll or other Boomer culture, stuff like that. After all, there was no postwar boom in this reality, so the early ’60s still look a hell of a lot like the late ’40s.
Shortly after we watched that we saw an excellent documentary on North Korea called The Propaganda Game, and a lot of shots of Pyongyang immediately made me think of MitHC. You have these huge public spaces with relatively little public, and that same sense of arrested technological development.
MomSense
If anyone is interested, gofugyourself has been a lot of fun lately with all of the recent awards shows.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: So those pants are your fault.
My hourglass figure curses those pants!
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
That interview can be found here (audio and transcript). Mayer’s reply is very good.
EriktheRed
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
My “WTF” was that I had no idea just what this show was supposed to be? Science Fiction? Fantasy?
Sometimes when a show brings up questions such as those I feel compelled to watch more. Not so with this; it’s just a mess, IMHO.
Gin & Tonic
@gogol’s wife: No, I’m not. I don’t make much time for watching TV these days.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
Yes, it was a very good answer.
SiubhanDuinne
@bystander:
No, of course not. Wouldn’t think of blaming you.
boctaoe
@JPL: I finally found “the”dress for my son’s wedding, and then they eloped.! I still have it, unworn.
JPL
@MomSense: My much older brother was married to a gal, whose father was a motion picture photographer. He was nominated for several Academy Awards and won a few. Anyway when she was visiting us, she went shopping in Grant’s which is like a KMart and found a dress to wear to the awards. Her dad was filming in Europe at the time and she had to attend, in case he won.
My brother volunteered to bomb Hanoi, even though he didn’t have to because they had young children. Things didn’t work out after that.
bemused
@Iowa Old Lady:
It’s Fournier, who knows. He seems to be annoyed that Snyder is getting all the heat.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
No, you are not the fancy type, but you are very much the elegant type — jeans, t-shirt and gardening gloves notwithstanding — and I think some of the dresses that the girlfriends have linked to are on the right track. You say pale pink is the theme for the attendants (and mother of the bride? can’t remember) and that you aren’t much for pastels — but could you go with a deeper pink, which would be better with your colouring but still coordinate with the rest of the wedding party?
schrodinger's cat
@muddy: I have the perfect coral and pearl earrings for the dress
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: haha.. They are beautiful though.
hilts
@Brachiator:
Yesterday, you recommended “The Big Short.” I’d like to get your take on this critique of the film http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/what-the-big-short-gets-wrong-213535.
schrodinger's cat
@p.a.: We have had them before, DougJ used to put them up. We have discussed the merits of seersucker over linen for example.
Kay
@bemused:
I think he’s embarrassed because he wrote a fawning piece about Snyder right before we found out about the lead poisoning.
He has another interview with Snyder up where Snyder admits it’s “his Katrina”- almost like a correction in a newspaper.
I listened to about 20 minutes of Morning Joe on it today and they’re doing the same thing. Everyone will be responsible so no one will be responsible when they’re done spinning it.
bemused
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes, abominable people. Just a month ago, Fournier wrote with much admiration about Snyder’s “fresh approach to politics” governing style extolling Snyder’s emphasis on helping the state’s residents re-enter what Snyder calls a “river of opportunity” without a mention of Flint lead water. Unbelievable.
p.a.
@WaterGirl: Guys have it soooo easy, especially now that ‘White Tie’, ‘Evening Wear’ etc. is so rare. (In the circles I run in, it’s not even a consideration, thank dog. Probably 1/2 the guys I know don’t own a suit.)
Gimlet
I would encourage one of the Flint high schools to adopt Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” for their senior play.
Gin & Tonic
@p.a.: Feel free to wear a starched long-sleeved shirt with a bow tie and a wool dinner jacket to a 3:00 pm outdoor wedding on the hottest day of the summer.
bemused
@WaterGirl:
First kid’s wedding, dress hunting was a nightmare. Searched and searched but couldn’t find a thing. Thank goodness it was a low key Vegas wedding so made do with what I had in my closet. Finding a dress for second kid’s wedding was a breeze and I was thrilled to find a dress I loved marked down plus coupons for the unbelievable amount of $20.00. That was my best shopping day ever and the dress got a ton of compliments.
p.a.
@Gin & Tonic: And a boater? Always wanted one. Would have to google bow tie tying. For neckties, I know Windsor, 1/2 Windsor, and Four-in-Hand.
PurpleGirl
@Germy: The house my friend bought is 100 years old and still has almost all the original woodwork inside. The kitchen has been updated at least once, and the windows are new but the wood trim is original. What I love are the pocket doors between the two parlours, and they still work. In the room she uses as her bedroom, there is a shelf above the radiator and the cats use it for the heat and the sunlight. There are three bedrooms on the second floor — she plans to use those for the cat/kitten rooms. The porch is also screened in.
bemused
@Kay:
That National Journal piece was vomitus, just as fawning and adoring as Hinderaker saying GW Bush approached genius. I don’t see how Fournier could have been unaware of the Flint water fiasco even if it hadn’t hit national news yet.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
As probably one of the more recent brides here (10th anniversary this year), I’ll say that the only way to flunk the mother-in-law thing would be to say anything other than, “Whatever you think is best, dear, you’re the bride.” I’m sure her own mother is driving her berzerk, so she may actually want someone she can vent to who will say soothing things like, “It doesn’t really matter, the important thing is that you’ll be married at the end of it all.”
We solved the bride vs mother of the bride problem by having separate parties — I planned the actual wedding and luncheon in California for 40 people, and she planned a reception for 150 that took place a month later in Illinois. We were both happy because we both got our way for our party.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
It was 106 degrees for our July wedding, but we were smart enough to have it indoors.
PurpleGirl
@gogol’s wife: I watched it last night. In fact, I watched it twice because a friend during the first showing and I couldn’t pay attention. I liked it and will watch the other installments. I never read the Tolstoy novel; I think I need to find a listing of the characters so I can keep them straight.
laura
@SiubhanDuinne: @SiubhanDuinne:
I checked the link to the wedding location and would like to offer an opinion – a simple blue column dress with your silver cuff would be understated, easy to wear and act as counterpoint to the brides’ colors. A color like hydrangea (or moonstone) would be swell.
Please make sure that’s there’s no fussy stuff that makes you aware of your dress -you wear it, IT shouldn’t wear you.
I hope you and your dil have as much love as I had with my mil.
Kay
@bemused:
Oh, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt there. Even if he was aware of it he probably thought they were whining and too coddled.
I hate these stories because details are so important. Snyder’s people are conflating two different events as a defense- they are saying Flint signed onto a water authority (true) but they are making it sound as if that was the same as the decision to decouple from Detroit and use the Flint River water.
No, it wasn’t. Those were two separate decisions at two different times: 1. sign onto developing new connection to Lake Huron water, 2. decide to use Flint River water. Two events. They are solely responsible for the second decision.
bemused
@Kay:
I bet Fournier wishes he hadn’t quoted Snyder’s “river of opportunity” remark and Snyder hopes it will be forgotten.
Brachiator
@hilts:
I liked The Big Short, but don’t think it Best Picture material because it is more a visual lecture than a real movie.
That said, the Politico article is correct that some of the cameo analogies are not clear, or are flat out wrong. HOWEVER, the main point that they were trying to address was correct.
The Politico article is wrong and the movie is right in other respects. Politico:
Bullshit.
One of the central premises of the movie is dead on. My oversimplified analogy: Greedy ass lenders inflated the already ballooning housing bubble by deliberately approving mortgages that were risky. They then lied about “sophisticated” instruments that reduced risk.
On top of all this the ratings agencies deliberately obfuscated things in order to hide the fact that many of these financial instruments should have been rated junk. Or worse. I remember on rating agency going to court with the novel idea that their ratings did not have to be based on anything objective because freedom of speech laws protected their right to essentially create fictions called ratings.
The movie oversimplifies, but oversimplifies better than almost every media financial commentator I’ve ever read.
The Politico article also notes that some of the fat cats lost their own money by investing in housing. Yeah, some people believed their own bullshit. And the movie makes clear, contrary to the Politico story, that many of these people were motivated by stupidity and greed, not evil. This is even worse than evil, because stupid fools self righteously insisted that they understood risk and markets and let this blind them to what a sober analysis would easily have revealed to be the certainty of economic collapse.
Hope this was not too much of a rant.
Shorter: the movie, warts and all, is a good way to get a general understanding of the mess. Obviously, there are deeper investigations that can be found, but few as entertaining.
gogol's wife
@PurpleGirl:
Yes, it’s kind of Wolf Hall in that I think it would be totally confusing if you haven’t read it. But if you’ve read it, the selection of scenes to dramatize, and the execution, is excellent. I’m so glad to see a Pierre who isn’t too skinny (Henry Fonda) or too old (Bondarchuk).
Satby
@muddy: That’s got some great dresses!
Satby
@JPL: Check out muddy’s suggestion at Rentthedress. Some really nice ones, and way cheaper than buying.
scuffletuffle
@JPL: i think gray would be lovely, or what about lilac.
WaterGirl
@bemused: Wow, dress you loved for almost nothing. Win!
muddy
@Satby: Beats having something in the closet you’ll not wear again. I have a dress bought for a wedding that did not come off in the end, probably I will be laid out in it when I die for a 1st wearing.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
Been there, done that for brother’s first wedding. Very scenic, outdoors, 90 miles south of Atlanta. Wool tails!!
Second one was in air conditioned church, thank FSM!!
Ruckus
@Face:
These bastards could
findfake a black man’s (and amplify) DNA on a meteor from 4 galaxies over.FIXIT for both of you.
moderateindy
If you are an architecture fan, and find yourself in Chicago in late spring /summer/early fall, I highly reccomend the architecture tour by river boat. I am not exactly an architecture fan, but I’ve taken it twice cause it’s really cool.
Paul in KY
@Origuy: Sounds like he had already built some scale models of it before he started!
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: Did an outdoor one once where it was 100, in Lexington KY. The preacher cut the service short, but I just about ruined my outfit from sweat.