• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Bark louder, little dog.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

All hail the time of the bunny!

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

This really is a full service blog.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Friday Evening Open Thread

Friday Evening Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  March 4, 20165:33 pm| 189 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, RIP

FacebookTweetEmail

Rest in peace, Gayle McCormick of Smith. (Love the earlier version of that song by the Shirelles too.)

It’s a lovely evening here, so we’re hanging out at the tiki bar, having a glass of wine and watching the hens scavenge. We’ll throw something on the grill for dinner eventually. (Not a chicken!)

What are you up to? Open thread!

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « I’ve Been Saying This Since Day One
Next Post: Balloon Juice Bunker Standoff Update: KGW’s Interview with Ammon Bundy »

Reader Interactions

189Comments

  1. 1.

    Linnaeus

    March 4, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Evening? Nah, it’s the middle of the afternoon. And a rainy one at that.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    March 4, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    Wow. A welcome respite from politics…and this thread is deserted.

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 4, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    sorry, didn’t mean to step on your open thread.

  4. 4.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: BJ summarized.

  5. 5.

    Hal

    March 4, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    Hamster moms don’t play around.

    http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/hamsters/

  6. 6.

    benw

    March 4, 2016 at 5:49 pm

    I clicked on the right arrow on John’s post, and it took me to Adam’s post. I clicked left, and it brought me here. This is like a secret little post of my very own! I feel warm and safe.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    March 4, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: What, this old thing? No worries! It’ll be a refuge for those who never want to hear another word about the Bundys and / or are weary of playing Hillbots vs Berniacs. ?

  8. 8.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    @benw: We are safe here friend. Tell me your favorite band and why.

  9. 9.

    benw

    March 4, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    @redshirt: oh no, I’m not falling for that one again!

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    It’s getting near bedtime here in London, and I’m beat, so a glass of wine and a pillow are in my immediate future.

  11. 11.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @benw: Alright then. What is your favorite novel and why?

  12. 12.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Where in London are you?

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    @redshirt: Greenwich, basically.

  14. 14.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    Anyone watch the Netflix series “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones”?

    I know I’m late to the table on both, but I just got to watch each. They’re both great, and I think JJ is the better series but I enjoyed Daredevil more, I think because of the content. It’s debatable though. Thoughts?

  15. 15.

    kc

    March 4, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    What a voice!

  16. 16.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Is it urban or suburban or rural? I know nothing of rural England.

  17. 17.

    JMG

    March 4, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Takeout Chinese tonight. Am perusing the menu now. Then we’re watching “Creed” on demand from FiOS.

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 6:03 pm

    @redshirt: Urban. London is a big city. Greenwich may have been rural 500 years ago, but it’s just a neighborhood in the city now. I have never been in rural England.

  19. 19.

    benw

    March 4, 2016 at 6:05 pm

    @redshirt: oh, that’s harder. Okay, I’ll answer the band question: Guns N’ Roses. Just the right mix of sleaze, punk, and metal to hit my musical sweet spot. True fact: my wife and I kicked off our wedding reception with “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. How about you?

  20. 20.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Sorry if I missed the backstory, but are you on vacation or work trip or are you from there?

  21. 21.

    delk

    March 4, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    I got an Anova immersion circulator a couple of weeks ago. So far I have made pork chops, bone-in and boneless chicken breasts.

    Trying steak for the first time tonight. New York Strips at 130 degrees for 2 hours.

  22. 22.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    March 4, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    Months ago I thought that Trump would collapse and all his support and therefore the nomination would go to Ted Cruz. I’m actually glad that didn’t happen.

    Cruz seems to plugged into the right-wing mind more than the others. He recites the exact conservative memes that your horrible friends post to Facebook.

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    March 4, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    @redshirt: I’ve seen both and like both but favor JJ, probably because I’m a feminazi. We (my husband and I) have odd TV habits because our media consumption is so different. Those two shows I watch with the mister, so it’ll probably take a year to get through them. Whereas I’m an insomniac, so series I watch without the mister, I blast through in short order.

  24. 24.

    Elmo

    March 4, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    @redshirt:
    Tried Daredevil and couldn’t stick with it. Jessica Jones, tho – David Tennant was in that, so that was a bingefest from start to finish.

    I love me some David Tennant!

  25. 25.

    gogol's wife

    March 4, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    @Hal:

    So cute.

    Another exciting evening here. Glass of wine to celebrate beginning of spring break (during which I have tons and tons and tons of work to do, but I started an article this morning that I’ve been blocked on, so I’m happy), then another thrilling evening of Midsomer Murders followed by Merle Oberon falling in love with an Irish rebel.

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    @redshirt:

    We are safe here friend. Tell me your favorite band and why.

    I’m too old to have a favorite band. But the combo that Louis Armstrong put together to record “Tight Like This” is up there.

    Favorite novel, “Ulysses.” Why? Because “Astral Weeks” led me to it.

  27. 27.

    gogol's wife

    March 4, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    Oh, and I’m gearing up for the last episode of Downton tomorrow night! I can’t believe it! I bought all the DVDs, because it’s going to be like that Trollope novel you return to again and again.

  28. 28.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 4, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @redshirt:

    What is your favorite novel and why?

    The only correct answer to this is A Confederacy of Dunces and because it’s awesome.

  29. 29.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I liked both alot but will go with Daredevil for this simple reason: Everyone on DD was sympathetic and “good” – even the bad guys. Fisk was a monster and yet he made omelets and got the girl and cried when his number one died. On JJ, everyone was fucked up and nasty, even the good guys. Kilgrave was just an out and out monster even with the somewhat sympathetic backstory, and even JJ was harsh and cruel and mean – even the last shot of the show brought this home. She’s a real anti-hero while Murdoch is a hero.

    There was no one to really like on JJ while almost everyone had some-thing likable on DD. JJ became somewhat a chore to watch because of how depressing it was during the middle episodes, whereas DD kept building a hero/villain arc.

  30. 30.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    @Elmo:

    Tennant’s portrayal of Kilgrave resulted in one of the most legitimately scary villains I can remember.

  31. 31.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 4, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    I watched “Selma” last night (instead of the R-Schvantz “debate” [sic]) and was inspired. I was alive during the Civil Rights movement, but too young to remember much beyond the broad strokes. Does anyone have recommendations for good histories of the movement and/or biographies of Dr. King or other major figures? Thanks!

  32. 32.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    @benw: I will embarrassingly confess to Led Zeppelin as my favorite band. I rejected them in my youth but as I grow ever older I find myself amazed at how operatic their rock and roll is, and how much they pack into every song.

  33. 33.

    Joel

    March 4, 2016 at 6:19 pm

    Couldn’t stick with Daredevil past the pilot episode. As such, not really motivated to watch Jessica Jones.

    Those plots are just too canned for my tastes.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    March 4, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    Is Downton on Saturday where you are? Here it’s on Sunday and repeated on Monday. I find I’m impatient to see how it all turns out.

  35. 35.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    @Elmo: Even as that character? He was pretty vile.

  36. 36.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    @redshirt:

    Anyone watch the Netflix series “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones”?

    On my list, but have not watched either. I have heard a lot of good stuff about Jessica Jones, even from folks who don’t like “comic book” movies and TV shows.

    By contrast, I tried hard to watch Agent Carter. I think the actress that plays Carter is fantastic, but the series itself was just a piece of crap.

    “Deadpool” rocks.

  37. 37.

    goblue72

    March 4, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    Who?

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    @redshirt: I’m here for a week, largely to attend a sporting event. As a spectator.

  39. 39.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    @Technocrat: Totally. He was terrifying. Not just because of the nature of his powers and when you consider what the implications of those powers are, but how petty and childlike his motivations were. Given near absolute power as a child, he never matured. But then, does he represent men who have power from day one, and always get what they want? I think so.

  40. 40.

    Elmo

    March 4, 2016 at 6:23 pm

    @redshirt: Even better as that character. I’ve seen him in so many roles where he’s the conflicted or damaged good guy, and he’s great at that, but as a villain? A genuinely despicable monster? So much fun to see how he pulled it off!

  41. 41.

    MomSense

    March 4, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @redshirt:

    Both excellent and I’m not generally a fan of the comic book genre. I had a hard time with some of the JJ episodes for content reasons. They were well done but upsetting.

    Having a beer and icing my foot. The pup has a new dog bed that has survived a whole 24 hours. We went to the feed store where she is treated like a princess by the staff. She charmed one of the local farmers into giving her a huge beef bone which she is now happily working on in front of the fire. If she weren’t a mutt she could absolutely win Westminster with her fancy pageant walking.

    My plan for tonight is to watch a movie, finish a commissioned knitting project, and avoid Republicans.

  42. 42.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @Brachiator: I thought Agent Carter season 1 was quite good; season 2 was disappointing.

    But I LOVED both Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but each show is quite different from the other. They’re much more violent/sexual then anything else in the comic book universe on film, save Deadpool.

    I just got to see Deadpool too. Really funny and awesome.

  43. 43.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 4, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Go Arsenal!

  44. 44.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: What’s the sporting event?

  45. 45.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @MomSense: Yeah, JJ was upsetting in a lot of regards, whereas DD never really was.

    What happened to your foot? You know about RICE, right?

  46. 46.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @redshirt:

    The “absolute power in a child” bit…his arc reminds me of a classic science fiction short story where everyone in town is afraid to say anything bad for fear of a psychic (?) child.

    Interesting point about the metaphor he represents. I think that’s even more explicit in the comics.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 4, 2016 at 6:30 pm

    @redshirt: nd even JJ was harsh and cruel and mean – even the last shot of the show brought this home.

    Can’t remember the last scene, but I did like the series, though I thought it could’ve been an episode or two shorter. I do like that the non-traditional providers (Netflix, Amazon, I guess FX and AMC) play with the season format a bit.

  48. 48.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:31 pm

    @Technocrat: That’s a Twilight Zone episode, I forget the name, but the kid can do anything and everyone lives in terror of him.

    Same with “Kevin”.

    As I was flying back home I got to watch the latest Star Wars movie and it occurred to me how unsettling the “jedi mind trick” really, is, AKA Kilgrave’s powers. To be able to make anyone do anything you say is a power that easily abused.

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    @redshirt: The track cycling world championships.

  50. 50.

    hamletta

    March 4, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    @redshirt: See, I always like watching a good actor play a villain. They’re always such juicy characters! Yes, George Sanders is my favorite actor of all time, why do you ask?

  51. 51.

    benw

    March 4, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    @redshirt: I sorta turned on Zep when I went through my exclusively hardcore/metal phase but I’ve come back around on them. I listen to them quite a bit these days.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    March 4, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    @redshirt: Good rationale. Will have to get further along in both series myself before drawing conclusions.

    @Steve in the ATL: I can’t pick a single novel as an all-time favorite, but that’s in my top 10.

  53. 53.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:36 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That’s specific. Do you have a cycling background?

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 4, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @redshirt: I’ve been a fan for a long time. But it’s late and I have to get up early.

  55. 55.

    Hal

    March 4, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @redshirt: Loved Jessica Jones. I’m getting ready to watch Daredevil. The trailer for season two of dd looked great.

    I just hope Jessica gets more raw power in the series and maybe a more diversified storyline for season 2. In the comics the character can actually fly and threw a truck through a building. But the storyline for season one really called for a more muted super powered character in recovery and trying to overcome her trauma. Tennant was awesome but I loved that his character wasn’t portrayed as anything but a villain.

    Oh, and my one nitpick. Why did everyone find it so hard to believe Killgrave existed? This is NYC post Avengers 1. The movie were aliens opened a portal above the city and were defeated by Thor and the Hulk. But everyone around Jessica, including bullet proof, super strong Luke Cage are just can’t believe a guy with mind control powers could possibly exist?

  56. 56.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @benw: I rejected them as “dinosaur rock” in my youth, but now, they sound so good.

    But then, for some weird reason, AC/DC just keeps sounding better and better to me every year. They might take my vote soon enough.

  57. 57.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Go to bed already! Sweet circular dreams!

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    March 4, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @redshirt:

    Yes. I’m on night 4 of this. Nothing is broken but my right metatarsal,four toes, and instep are swollen and bruised.

    I was boxing out my dog to keep her from getting the food I was preparing and managed to bump a heavy ceramic serving bowl off the counter with my elbow. It didn’t break because it landed rim first on my bare foot. It’s getting better but I think I won’t be able to hike or go to the gym for another week.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    March 4, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    @delk:
    Fun! I have something similar. For steaks I typically sear outside on the grill for at the most, a minute/side but it can also be done indoors on a REALLY hot skillet, preferably iron.

    Enjoy.

    Grumble, dinner is hours off.

  60. 60.

    scav

    March 4, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    Different RIP: Star Wars’ R2-D2 inventor Tony Dyson dies.

  61. 61.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    @Brachiator: Do you read “Ulysses” for fun?

    I am so conflicted by the novel. I’ve read it, but hate it, but know it’s generally accepted as the greatest novel ever. And yet, I hate it.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 6:42 pm

    @redshirt:

    That’s a Twilight Zone episode, I forget the name, but the kid can do anything and everyone lives in terror of him.

    It’s a Good Life.

    Scenes

    I bet that Romney wishes he could send Trump to the cornfield.

  63. 63.

    gogol's wife

    March 4, 2016 at 6:43 pm

    @debbie:

    It’s Sunday but I’m already getting ready. Did I say tomorrow? A brain glitch.

  64. 64.

    gogol's wife

    March 4, 2016 at 6:44 pm

    @Brachiator:

    There’s a great Simpsons parody of that one.

    Billy Mumy!

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    March 4, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    @Hal:
    I watched it cold, maybe even based on Cole’s recommendation (something about jeans), so knew nothing about the backstory, prequels, whatever, so they needed to goddamn explain the smattering of throwaway “You know, after the aliens and all” comments in the script. I kept looking for aliens.

    Great actress that I only knew from Breaking Bad.

  66. 66.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    @Hal: I actually get that. It’s a weird power, nothing like anyone has seen. Super strength? Fine. Can fly? OK. But able to control people with a word? Weird. And that’s why I get one of the central tensions of the show – Jessica lets Kilgrave live when she could kill him – because she’s hoping she can gather evidence to prove to a superhero exposed population that this guy is to blame. As opposed to just killing him the first chance she gets.

  67. 67.

    delk

    March 4, 2016 at 6:48 pm

    @trollhattan: I can’t wait to try using the grill! Luckily, my stove gets very hot.

  68. 68.

    humboldtblue

    March 4, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    A Korean kid and some Italian street musicians show up once again how music is truly the universal language

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    @redshirt:

    Do you read “Ulysses” for fun?

    Why else would one read it?

    A co-worker, Irish American, read it. He came to it without fears of its literary magnitude. He used to read it out loud and caught puns that overly serious lit majors couldn’t see.

    I am so conflicted by the novel. I’ve read it, but hate it, but know it’s generally accepted as the greatest novel ever. And yet, I hate it.

    As Joyce said in the wake, some people are just “jung and easily freudened.”

    I love the chip that Joyce has on his shoulder, his disdain for the stubborn ignorance of his countrymen and their stupid dependence on religion, and his love for his countrymen and women, and their stubborn ignorance and stupid dependence on religion.

    But then again, I also love The Odyssey and Dante, two major influences on the work.

    And I like the through line from Joyce to Van Morrison.

  70. 70.

    Mike J

    March 4, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I was watching a bit of the replay last night.

  71. 71.

    April

    March 4, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    @redshirt: “Ulysses” is only called the greatest because it is so dang hard to get through you feel you have to call it great to excuse all the effort of reading it. I’ve always preferred “Portrait of the Artist” from Joyce.

    Seems any discussion of great novels has to first be divided into genre. How to rank the best science fiction verses the best romantic fiction verses the best historical novel…….

  72. 72.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    @gogol’s wife: It’s on Saturday night where you live? It’s Sunday for me. Please no spoilers tomorrow night. KThxBai

  73. 73.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    @Brachiator: Seriously, you’ll just pick up Ulysses again and again because you sincerely enjoy the experience? As enjoyable?

  74. 74.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: A knew someone who was very much like the main character. I read the book once, won’t read it again… reminded me too much of that person.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    March 4, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    @trollhattan: You might also enjoy the short-lived series “Don’t Trust the B” featuring the same actor in a comedic turn. Also free on Netflix.

  76. 76.

    soledavid

    March 4, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    Hello, new member here but VERY longtime lurker – as in I started reading shortly after Cole turned from the dark side. Hope to get to know some of you better.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    March 4, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    @Brachiator:

    How about the episode where Billy Mumy is talking to his dead grandmother on a toy telephone?

    (Can’t find it on youtube.)

  78. 78.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 4, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    A knew someone who was very much like the main character. I read the book once, won’t read it again… reminded me too much of that person.

    You’re scaring me. That can’t be possible.

  79. 79.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Isn’t he just a highly intelligent autist? Seems fairly realistic.

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Try “Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63,” by Taylor Branch

    Branch wrote two more books that cover the period from 1963 to 1968, but this is good to start.

    And the movie “Selma” actually conveys the spirit of the age quite well.

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    March 4, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Taylor Branch has a highly regarded trilogy that starts with Parting the Waters.

    A good short introduction is Juan Williams’s Eyes on the Prize (also a PBS series available on DVD).

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    @debbie:

    How about the episode where Billy Mumy is talking to his dead grandmother on a toy telephone?

    Long Distance Call

    Just the promo

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    … slowly I turned …

    Nah, just kidding. It looks like I may actually being doing this “restarting my abandoned novel” thing. Origuy found me a lead on a history book I need for it, so now I’m debating if I should buy it on Kindle or trek down to the library to check it out.

  84. 84.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    @MomSense: If I may, where in Maine do you live? I’ve been watching a show on Animal Planet about Maine’s Game Warden Service (North Woods Law). I’m sort of becoming familiar with sections of Maine and thinking I’d like to visit there some day.

    Congrats on the commissioned knitting project.

  85. 85.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Wait, what…?

    I remember Billy Mumy from The Munsters…I had no idea he had a whole horror franchise going on.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    @debbie:

    That one is creepy as fuck, and gets creepier the more you think about it.

  87. 87.

    MomSense

    March 4, 2016 at 7:20 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Thanks! I’m in Midcoast in Waldo County. I haven’t watched that show in awhile but I do admire the warden service. We were camping in Mount Blue State Park but missed MacDreamy by a day. Everyone was buzzing about the moose carcasses they had found. Apparently the ticks have gotten so bad that they can kill a bull moose. They find them sucked completely dry of blood. Yikes!

  88. 88.

    Ben Cisco

    March 4, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    Finished my first week back at work. I missed a LOT in the month I was gone. It was good to be back around my team, and everyone else was really supportive. Got through the days (mostly) unscathed; had to retreat into the datacenter a time or two. My niece moves out tomorrow into her own place, so come Monday I’ll have the house to myself. Not quite what we intended…I’m guessing the REAL work will start right about then.

  89. 89.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 4, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    I’m not sure I have a favorite novel any more. What I want to read changes all the time.

    At the moment, I’m reading not a novel, but Taibbi piece on Trump in The Rolling Stone. I just laughed out loud at his referring to Scalia as a “satanic quail hunter.”

  90. 90.

    Ben Cisco

    March 4, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    @Technocrat: Billy Mumy was from Lost In Space.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    March 4, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Talking Tina really creeped me out. Too close to the Chatty Cathy I had when I was a kid.

  92. 92.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:25 pm

    @Ben Cisco: My thoughts are still with you. Never feel you’re weak.

  93. 93.

    MomSense

    March 4, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    @humboldtblue:

    Fantastic! Sharing with my mom.

  94. 94.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    @MomSense: I think that show is going to the Warden’s head. I had an encounter this past summer and the dude acted like a tv star, even though there were no cameras. Admittedly, he’s probably a tv star.

  95. 95.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    @April: Agreed. I find Ulysses painful. Every other Joyce novel is better in my mind, but the critics have long spoken.

  96. 96.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    @debbie:

    Another of my favorites. “My name is Talky Tina, and I’m beginning to hate you …”

  97. 97.

    WereBear

    March 4, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    Can’t have a favorite band and novel because I loathe hierarchies:)

    But we can start with Pink Floyd and Crime and Punishment.

  98. 98.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    You’re right. I’m a huge fan of LIS, so I should have connected the name.

    Also, too, Billy Mumy’s website is kind of interesting – but turn down your speakers.

  99. 99.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    Keep going. It’s your only option, and I’m sure it’s what she would have wanted for you. Be gentle with yourself and give yourself all the time and space you need to mourn.

  100. 100.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    @redshirt:

    Seriously, you’ll just pick up Ulysses again and again because you sincerely enjoy the experience? As enjoyable?

    Here’s the thing. The Comic books I read as a kid led me to literature.

    And the irony is when I was a kid, I had an English teacher tell me that comic books were trash. Now I hear adults moan and groan about literature being “too hard.”

    Yeah, I pull out Ulysses now and again. And recently went back and forth about it with a friend who was doing it for her reading group. Tough critic. She had issues with Joyce’s treatment of women and the sexuality. Fair criticisms.

    I also like the fact that at a certain point in time, some of the people doing it to death in English literature were all Irish. Synge in drama, Yeats in poetry, and Jimmie Joyce in the novel. Throw in Eugene O’Neill in America, too.

    I also prefer “Dubliners” to “Portrait of the Artist.” One story in Dubliners, “Two Gallants,” includes references to historical situations in which the Irish betrayed their people for cynical, foolish, and ignorant reasons, even as one of the “gallants” brags about a woman he has seduced, another act of betrayal. The anger packed into such a short story is tremendous.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    @WereBear:

    I once got into a spat with someone because he refused to believe I was serious when I said the greatest novel written in English is The Code of the Woosters. But I am 100 percent serious when I say that.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    @technocrat

    Say what now? Butch Patrick was the male child in The Munsters.

  103. 103.

    Elie

    March 4, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    Best to you,man….. you’ll be ok. Just move but allow yourself to feel what is happening — don’t wall it off —

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    @redshirt:

    Every other Joyce novel is better in my mind,

    You’ve read Finnegans Wake?

  105. 105.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    @MomSense: Argh! Take care of yourself.

  106. 106.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I think there’s a huge difference between “greatest” novel and “favorite” novel.

    Ulysses makes many of the first, not many of the latter. Except for Brachiator.

  107. 107.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    @Brachiator: I’ve read all of Joyce. Novels at least.

  108. 108.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    @Technocrat:

    I remember Billy Mumy from The Munsters…I had no idea he had a whole horror franchise going on.

    No, Mumy is Lost in Space, and much later Babylon 5.

    I wonder what the world would have been like had Rod Serling been able to cast Ron Howard in those Zone episodes, and Billy Mumy had been Opie Taylor.

  109. 109.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    Over the past few months I’ve bought my some of those adult coloring books. Tonight I’m going to start coloring in one of them. I found my box of Venus Paradise colored pencils from many (mumble mumble) years ago.

    Tomorrow if the weather is nice I should go down to the Barnes & Noble on 17th Street/Union Square. (The B&N that was in Forest Hills closed at the end of 2015, to be replaced by a Target(????).)

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    @Ben Cisco: You have a tough road ahead, no doubt. Being alone in the house will surely bring a new layer of grief, and some healing as well. You’ve gotten this far, and I know you’ll get through the rest of it, putting one foot in front of the other.

    Big hugs.

  111. 111.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 4, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    I’ve read Ulysses and admire its brilliance but for me, its appeal is purely intellectual. It makes me work too hard for anything else. I want a novel to tap into my emotions too, which is one reason that for years, my favorite novel was Pride and Prejudice. I think Joyce is also very centered on his own experience as a male, Irish, Catholic writer.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    @redshirt:

    There’s no law that says the greatest novel has to be the hardest to read. In fact, I think that being virtually inaccessible to an ordinary reader should automatically disqualify a book from being the greatest novel.

    How are you holding up after the big loss for “Mad Max”? Have they taken you off suicide watch yet?

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:39 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Animal Dreams was my favorite novel for a long time. Not sure what I’d pick now, haven’t thought about what’s my favorite book for a long, long time.

  114. 114.

    MomSense

    March 4, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    You are doing really well and routine can help but please reach out for support. We are all rooting for you and honored to have you share with us.

  115. 115.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I agree with your take on novels.

    As for Mad Max, it did win the most Oscars out of any movie. Rightfully so! I was only disappointed in the Director category. How can a movie win almost all the technical categories and the Director does not?

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    @PurpleGirl

    I’ve bought […] some of those adult coloring books

    File that under TMI.

    ;)

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    @redshirt

    Um, because those fall under the purview of the Technical Director.

  118. 118.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    @NotMax: Even Editing?

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    @redshirt:

    Happens all the time. Best Picture winners rarely sweep the technical awards. They’re always very sci-fi and action movie heavy.

  120. 120.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 4, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    FTR the “It’s a Good Life” TZ episode was adapted from Jerome Bixby’s 1953 short story of the same name, which was selected by SFWA as one of the 20 best SF short stories published before the organization started giving out its Nebula Awards in 1970. A number of TZ classics were originally short stories published in pulp SF magazines, e.g., Damon Knight’s “To Serve Man”.

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    @redshirt:

    I think there’s a huge difference between “greatest” novel and “favorite” novel.”

    Why?

    But then again, I don’t view Joyce or Ulysses as being “difficult.” Nor do I think it’s greatness lies in its supposed complexity.

    I also think that Waiting for Godot is some funny shit. You can see Beckett’s love of vaudeville and silent comedy all over it.

  122. 122.

    WereBear

    March 4, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Wodehouse was a genius in his use of the language.

  123. 123.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 4, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @NotMax: A friend of mine warned me not to google adult coloring books. Sort of like my husband looking for the hours at Dick’s Sporting Goods and googling only the first word.

  124. 124.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    There you go. I thought it was originally a short story.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @redshirt

    Of course not. But editing isn’t quite a technical award, it’s a post-production award. Editing is done by a film editor (sometimes with assistance of the director, but not always, particularly for films where the studio lays on a heavy hand). Often a director has already moved on to his/her next project and is only peripherally involved in editing.

  126. 126.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Sure. Still, Mad Max winning the most Oscars (and many other film critic awards) this year is a huge victory for the film and critical recognition of what I’ve been saying: It’s a classic movie and deserves to be considered far more than just an “action film”.

  127. 127.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    @NotMax: The editor of Mad Max: Fury Road is the director’s wife.

  128. 128.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 4, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Sort of like my husband looking for the hours at Dick’s Sporting Goods and googling only the first word.

    If he’s a republican that was probably not an accident

  129. 129.

    WereBear

    March 4, 2016 at 7:53 pm

    @Ben Cisco: Having been there myself, I can tell you the adaptations just keep coming for a while. Sounds like you have a support system forming. Take full advantage of every help that is offered.

    My heart goes out to you.

  130. 130.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    FTR the “It’s a Good Life” TZ episode was adapted from Jerome Bixby’s 1953 short story of the same name, which was selected by SFWA as one of the 20 best SF short stories published before the organization started giving out its Nebula Awards in 1970. A number of TZ classics were originally short stories published in pulp SF magazines

    I have an abiding love for “The Howling Man.”

    From a Charles Beaumont story, I think.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo

    Speaking of SF magazines, mentioned previously but repeated for those who may have missed it, the entire run of If is now available online. Link to the actual archive is in the article.

  132. 132.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 4, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: He’s a Democrat who tells me it’s sometimes embarrassing to be an old white man.

  133. 133.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Oh, your poor husband…but that’s hilarious. There’s a Universal Law that states: the amount of erotica you accidentally Google is proportional to the chance of your wife walking by.

  134. 134.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    @WereBear:

    Which is why it gets my vote for greatest novel in English. And he really slaved over every single word he published — he would line the pages of a short story up on the wall with the ones that needed more work hung slightly crooked, and re-work each individual page until he was happy.

  135. 135.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    @redshirt

    So what? In no way means they sat in the editing studio together for hours on end, rather it implies he may have trusted her more than someone else to operate on her own.

  136. 136.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    @Technocrat: Yes, he was one busy child actor.

  137. 137.

    dp

    March 4, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    @delk: Is it not the bomb? Love that thing.

  138. 138.

    Mnemosyne

    March 4, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    @Technocrat:

    Accidentally or “accidentally”?

    I have four older brothers, I know these things.
    ;-)

  139. 139.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    @NotMax: No doubt. I’m just saying a film that wins the award for best editing, best costumes, best production, best sound, should probably win best direction too.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady

    :)

    Likely also happens to people searching for art supplies from the venerable Dick Blick company and who are too lazy to type out more than Dick art.

  141. 141.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    @redshirt:

    Anyone watch the Netflix series “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones”?

    Jessica Jones was great. Daredevil? Too realistic. The beatings are close to what you’d see in real life, and seeing that guy pound and slam away at other people (realistically, getting tired, stumbling, blood spattering from him as people punch and kick him) got so sickening so fast, it proved unwatchable.

    The series Daredevil also seems to me to sum up everything that’s wrong with America as a culture: got a problem? Sure, fix it by beating the shit out of people!

    In the real world, after the first fight, a real-world vigilante would’ve gotten a Russian sniper rifle and started taking out the bad guys from 1000 yards away.

    Now, I understand that this is what the Big Bad in the 2nd season is supposed to do. But let’s get real…we are actually seriously supposed to believe that a masked vigilante thinks he can genuinely fix a corrupt slum by…beating the shit out of people?

    It’s on the level of Captain Kirk saving the galaxy with some roundhouse punches.

    Jessica Jones’ depiction of the emotional toll of Killgrave’s manipulations seemed a lot more realistic. Even though the whole fight scene stuff in Jessica was transparently fake. She was taking hits that would kill an ordinary person. But her emotional damage made the serious seem somehow more realistic, as well as far more tolerable.

    Maybe it’s just me.

    Watching guys beat each other up over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over gets to be so nauseating, after a while, you just have to put your head down between your knees and shut the TV off and breathe for a while. So you don’t projectile-vomit.

  142. 142.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    God, that’s so funny. I may or may not have added the word “accidentally” after some consideration.

  143. 143.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:03 pm

    “Dick’s sporting golf balls”

  144. 144.

    NotMax

    March 4, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    @redshirt

    As Mnemosyne said, rarely happens.

    All members of the Academy don’t get to vote for all awards. Directors (mostly) vote for the directing award, technical professionals vote for the technical awards, etc.

  145. 145.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    @mclaren: These people have super powers, you know, right? Daredevil can sense what’s coming before it comes; Jessica Jones is tougher then ten rugby dudes.

  146. 146.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    @NotMax:

    Isn’t it funny how the prefix changes it?:

    adult movies – sexy
    adult diapers – not sexy

    adult coloring books – ???

    ETA: “suffix”, not “prefix”

  147. 147.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    @NotMax: Ah, didn’t know that. Surprised the same director won two years in a row.

  148. 148.

    Brachiator

    March 4, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I think Joyce is also very centered on his own experience as a male, Irish, Catholic writer.

    Which is, of course, why the protagonist of the novel is Jewish, and why Molly Bloom has the last word.

  149. 149.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    @mclaren: But yeah, the hallway fight in Daredevil episode 2 is the most realistic super hero fight yet filmed. He almost can’t continue due to exhaustion. Something you never see in a Batman movie, for example, but which you should.

  150. 150.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Why else would one read [James Joyce’s Ulysses]?

    For juvenile pretentiousness…for ignorance of what real literature is, as opposed to crapfest wordplay verbal masturbation below the level of the typical Bazooka Joe bubblegum-wrapper comic…for self-punishment…for a deluded mis-imagination of literature as hideous unreadable complexity…for an appreciation of a monument to stupidity and infantilism and obscurantism raised to the level of a religion…for the sake of mythomanic self-delusion more extreme than Mormonoid baptism of the dead…for an up-close-and-personal taste of the disgust properly engendered by effete literary types who have gotten so wrapped up in their bizarrely warped fantasies of so-called “serious” fiction that they’ve forgetten everything that makes real literature worth reading.

    That’s only the top fly off the turdpile of bad reasons for trudging through that clownfest fail parade of a book.

  151. 151.

    Felonius Monk

    March 4, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    We’ll throw something on the grill for dinner eventually. (Not a chicken!)

    EAT MOR CHIKIN

    /Courtesy of your Local Cows

  152. 152.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 4, 2016 at 8:11 pm

    @Hal: Maybe part of Killgrave’s power is that it’s hard for people to believe he exists.

  153. 153.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 4, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    @redshirt: When I was a kid I tended to reject hard rock/heavy metal just because the people I knew who listened to it were unpleasant bullies. It sounds better now with the kid-culture associations gone.

  154. 154.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    @redshirt:

    I’m just saying a film that wins the award for best editing, best costumes, best production, best sound, should probably win best direction too.

    Nay, nay, I say! Very often “best editing” is awarded precisely because the editing fixed the incompetent direction. See the original Star Wars film for a classic example. Ditto costumes, production, sound design, etc. They all serve to cover up massive fuckups by the director when done well enough.

  155. 155.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    @redshirt:

    That fight was painful to watch. Just awful. Very realistic. But wow, so tough to sit through. I could feel my desire to watch more of the series ebbing away as that scene went on…

  156. 156.

    PurpleGirl

    March 4, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    @Technocrat: Okay, all kidding aside on the “adult” descriptive I used. The actual title of the coloring book I chose to color in tonight:

    The Mindfulness Coloring Book
    Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People
    by Emma Ferrarons

  157. 157.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    @mclaren: All to save a kid – like the kid he was when he lost his father at age 8 or so.

  158. 158.

    Tom

    March 4, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    @redshirt: They’re both great but definitely different in tone. Both have great casting, particularly with their villains. Donofrio actually made me sympathize with Kingpin while still be terrified of them. Tennant was just flat-out terrifying.

  159. 159.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:17 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Maybe part of Killgrave’s power is that it’s hard for people to believe he exists.

    “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Another line from a great film, The Usual Suspects.

    Maybe part of the power of Jessica Jones for me was that Killgrave seemed like a very explicit call-out to evil mesmeric figures like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. The big bad guy in Daredevil didn’t seem quite so formidable. He just basically…killed people. Okay, by beating them to death. But that’s not nearly as scary as someone who can make you do anything by just talking you into it.

  160. 160.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:17 pm

    @mclaren: Perhaps some times, but not in this case. George Miller had MM:FR planned to the actual shot 10 years before it was filmed, literally. Every single shot was on a storyboard done a decade earlier.

  161. 161.

    Betty Cracker

    March 4, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    @WereBear: After my own heart! C&P was Dostoyevsky’s greatest novel; I don’t care what anyone says!

  162. 162.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 4, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    @Brachiator: There’s this great series of interviews with Bill Mumy on YouTube. He has a lot of stories.

  163. 163.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    @mclaren: Fisk killed very few people with his own hands. His power resided almost entirely through financial control – he bought people. The muscle, the police, the other gangs, the lawyers and judges. That was his real power, not his muscles.

  164. 164.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    @redshirt:

    I was under the impression that Daredevil just has extremely sensitive hearing and superb coordination. Those aren’t superpowers. Also, the series seemed to take pains to show Daredevil as pretty human. He got tired, he bled, he got wounded. Jessica Jones…not so much.

  165. 165.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Well, there goes any further coloring book potty humor. Even the title is soothing. ;)

  166. 166.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @redshirt:

    Didn’t Fisk beat that guy to death personally at the start of the series, and then basically beat up Daredevil after Nobu beats the crap out of him? Then there’s that final fight where Daredevil takes really an amazingly long time to beat down Fisk (which I did not buy at all, frankly).

    Looked to me as though the series was trying to make Fisk seem as physically formidable as Daredevil. But I could be wrong.

  167. 167.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    @mclaren: Daredevil has super senses, so his hearing can detect muscle contractions as they are happening, for example. IE he can detect a punch as its forming but before it happens. He can hear pulse and heartbeats to detect someone lying or about to shoot him, etc.

    He can super smell too.

  168. 168.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @mclaren: Fisk is very strong – whether he’s super strong is debatable in the TV show. But his violence is extremely limited. His power comes from his role as “Kingpin” – controlling organized crime.

    As for that last fight, yes, DD has no super strength, just awesome martial arts and super senses. But Fisk does pick him up and throw him a good twenty yards or so which would be impossible for any normal person. So maybe he’s super strong.

  169. 169.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    @redshirt:

    Yeah, I really didn’t buy that scene where Daredevil was tracking that cab through the streets of New York by the music that was playing on the stereo inside it. While he was running along rooftops.

    That’s not super hearing, that’s magic.

    The scenes where he can tell if people are lying by listening for their heartbeats…iffy. But that cab tracking scene, nope, not buying that one at all.

  170. 170.

    mclaren

    March 4, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    Best novel? The Tale of Genji written circa 970 A.D. in Japan.

    What, no love for non-Western literature here?

  171. 171.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:34 pm

    @mclaren: Well, that’s the character, believe it or not. Every sense but his sight is to the Nth degree, and that’s the extent of his super powers. Couple that with a lifetime of ninja training and he’s the superhero Daredevil.

  172. 172.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 4, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: No, the only correct answer to the best novel question is “The Master and Margarita” because it is beyond awesome.

  173. 173.

    Technocrat

    March 4, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @mclaren:

    I think magic is probably a good definition for any superpower. Iron man gets punched by the hulk, makes a crater in a wall, and his suit protects him. From inertia, apparently.

  174. 174.

    gogol's wife

    March 4, 2016 at 8:49 pm

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Right on.

  175. 175.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Technocrat: Iron Man has tech justifying everything. Someone like Daredevil or JJ does not.

  176. 176.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 4, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    The Guardian profiles Guardian readers who support Trump. Keep in mind that a Guardian reader who supports Trump is probably neither a typical Guardian reader nor a typical Trump voter. But the prevalence of people who are voting for Trump precisely because he is horrible and unfit for office, as a heighten-the-contradictions move or an attempt to punish society, is striking.

  177. 177.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: It is an awesome novel. If you haven’t read it, do so. It’s a fun and quick read too, unlike most Russians.

    I guess at this point my “favorite” novel is literally and actually 1984 . I’ve read it several times in the last ten years and it seems to get better everytime. It’s terrifying. Claustrophobic. And so literal to the times we are actually living in, and will continue living in.

    I urge everyone to reread 1984 ASAP if they haven’t recently. It’s never been more fitting.

  178. 178.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s an odd phenomena. For example, I like Trump quite a bit myself. Never would have expected that. But he’s speaking a lot of truths that NO ONE else is saying, and I find that beyond intriguing. I’d never in a million years vote for him but to be honest, I like him as a politician and would answer a poll thusly.

  179. 179.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 4, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    @redshirt: I can’t like anyone who spews ethnic bigotry like that guy does; I believe he’s driving the United States in the direction of Holocaust- or Rwanda-style mass murder and I know many people who he might get killed. But I can see the appeal of his shtick, and it’s satisfying when he sticks the knife into somebody I already hate, because he’s really good at that.

    I get the impression that for some of these people it’s all a big game. They don’t really believe anyone is going to get hurt who doesn’t deserve it. Or they think everyone deserves it. Some may be trying to punish themselves.

  180. 180.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 4, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    @redshirt: I had to read “1984” and “Animal farm” in boarding school in Nigeria, which was somewhat painful for me, even though I see the appeal. I got to read “The Master and Margarita” on my own and it was truly magical. My favorite books tend to be from the geographical south (“One hundred years of solitude,” “The famished road,” “The god of small things,” “Half of a yellow sun”, “Chronicle of a death foretold,” etc.), and magical realism appeals to me. My mom taught African-American and Victorian literature at a university in Nigeria so I also came to love “Pride and prejudice,” “The bluest eye,” “The color purple,” and “Go tell it on the mountain.” I also like books by Milan Kundera even though no one else seems to.

  181. 181.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 4, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: Loved “100 Years of Solitude”!

    And my stepfather designed the US embassy in Lagos.

  182. 182.

    WereBear

    March 4, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: I also like books by Milan Kundera even though no one else seems to.

    I love his stuff! A mesmerizing stylist.

  183. 183.

    redshirt

    March 4, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: I love you and your family for your reading habits.

  184. 184.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 4, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Oh wow! I’ve never actually seen the US embassy in Lagos though because I grew up in a different city (Ibadan). It’s the focus of an O. Henry Prize winning short story by Chimamanda Adichie called “The American Embassy,” which captures the humiliations Nigerians go through in their quest to leave Nigeria for greener pastures. I disliked Lagos intensely as a child – too noisy and crowded for me. I would get stomach-aches every time we had to visit relatives there. As an adult, though, I’ve come to appreciate its madness.

    @WereBear: All right! One other person who appreciates Kundera :-).

  185. 185.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 4, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @redshirt: I “blame” my mom :-). All her kids decided to be scientists but at least we can quote literature.

  186. 186.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 4, 2016 at 11:13 pm

    @Brachiator: Thank you! I’m off to the library tomorrow!

  187. 187.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 4, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): Thanks for your suggestions as well. I love the book discussions here, especially as a break from the Hillary/Bernie neener neener stuff.

    With the customary disclaimer that I will crawl over broken glass to vote for the Democrate nominee, whoever s/he might be.

  188. 188.

    Betty Cracker

    March 5, 2016 at 5:26 am

    @mclaren: Goddamn, you crack me up sometimes!

  189. 189.

    Groucho48

    March 5, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    Ulysses is quite readable and enjoyable if you don’t tackle it as a project. Parts of it require knowledge of the times and of Dublin and of mythology and such that most of us, nowadays, don’t possess. Just skim those parts or any parts that you feel are boring. Because there really are some great set pieces in it and, overall, it is a very humane and optimistic work. It is also beautifully written.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Albatrossity - The Birds of May 3
Image by Albatrossity (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • UncleEbeneezer on The Ongoing Texas Tragedies (Jul 12, 2025 @ 1:24pm)
  • RaflW on The Ongoing Texas Tragedies (Jul 12, 2025 @ 1:19pm)
  • trollhattan on The Ongoing Texas Tragedies (Jul 12, 2025 @ 1:19pm)
  • moonbat on The Ongoing Texas Tragedies (Jul 12, 2025 @ 1:18pm)
  • trollhattan on The Ongoing Texas Tragedies (Jul 12, 2025 @ 1:18pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!