Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Petty moves from a petty man.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Bad Stuff Is Easier To Believe

The Bad Stuff Is Easier To Believe

by | 133 Comments

This post is in: ,

Pretty much this:

Not sure how I missed this, it’s been up for almost nine months. Thanks to jacy for the link.

The blue jays have filled my plum tree and are fighting over the ripe plums – seriously there are plenty no need to fight. It’s was a beautiful day here and I’m trying to make sure we get out to see the Venus-Jupiter Conjunction tonight. What’s on your agenda for the evening?

I was looking for some music to include and JeffreyW brought this to my attention. Something for the blog boss to pass the time before the next Walter update:

Bonnie Raitt looks the same today.

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Not sure how I missed this, it’s been up for almost nine months.

    It must be undergoing some kind of renaissance. I saw it for the first time today. Good stuff!

  2. 2.

    Hungry Joe

    I finally figured out what’s so familiar about Trump’s Every Day an Outrage campaign. Now, this goes back a while, but it was sort of the same feeling:

    Even in the ’70s I knew better than to watch TV for news, so I never knew what was going on until I read the paper in the morning. During the Watergate spring and summer of ’74 I’d wake up and stagger to the front door, mumbling, “There’s no way –” open door “– it can be wilder –” bend over to pick up paper –“than yester- –” open paper — “-day. JESUS CHRIST!”

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Hungry Joe:

    During the Watergate spring and summer of ’74 I’d wake up and stagger to the front door, mumbling, “There’s no way –” open door “– it can be wilder –” bend over to pick up paper –“than yester- –” open paper — “-day. JESUS CHRIST!”

    I was working in radio at that time. I started less than a year before all Watergate hell broke loose, and with all the hearings that NPR carried live, it was stressful to stay on top of the feeds. They might end abruptly and I’d have to be ready to go on air with a piece of classical music of exactly the right length to take us to All Things Considered. There was rarely more than 30 or 60 seconds of warning. But yeah, every afternoon I’d settle in, and every afternoon the Senate hearings would reveal some insane new piece of information. It’s a very good thing I never muttered “Jesus Fuck” into an open mic, although efgoldman will confirm what anyone who’s worked in radio quickly learns: that ALL microphones are ALWAYS hot (just as ALL firearms are ALWAYS loaded).

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @SiubhanDuinne: Speaking of people and not realizing the mic is hot…I was thinking of visiting the Reagan Libriary. Well not anymore, IT’S $29 TO GET IN!

    ETA: Tricky Dick’s place is only $10$12.

  10. 10.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @efgoldman: I got that wrong, Tricky Dick’s is $12; Clinton’s is $10. Saint Ronnie’s Palace of Affection does have one of the retired AF1 707’s.

    ETA: Remember, Pat only has a Republican Cloth Coat.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Have never been to either of those. Have visited the Truman Library and Museum, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, the Carter Center / Carter Library and Museum (of course), and the Clinton Presidential Center (before it officially opened). Honestly, it’s sheer coincidence that they’re all Democrats — I would actually be pleased to visit the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, or Bush places. Presidential libraries and museums are fascinating, whatever one thinks of their policies. Can’t wait to see the Obama place.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @SiubhanDuinne: The only one I’ve visited was HST’s in Independence. Even though I was a teen, I still loved it(I’m a history buff). But, $29 for Saint Ronnie’s Palace of Affection; no thanks. I do have a Republican friend who worships St. Ronnie and wants to go, maybe I can get him to spring for it.

    ETA: Looks like the HST Library costs $8, the Democrat’s libraries seem to be cheaper than the Thug’s libraries.

  13. 13.

    joel hanes

    Lowell George was such a lovely rocket, burning in ascent

    Bonnie Raitt looks the same today.

    I’ve been stone in love with her since “Streetlights”
    You can hardly hear her (or Emmy) on the embedded video.
    This one, on the other hand …
    Can’t Find My Way Home
    [ skippable tuning until 2:30 ]

    Those who think Bonny Raitt and Lowell George together is a splendid idea mightl like the recording it’s from
    Bonnie Raitt & Lowell George Ultrasonic Studios 1972, with John Hammond

    The Feb 1972 recording released as the “Lost Broadcast” CD has also made me a happier person.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    Wondered at first if that Vagenda of Manocide board was a set-up; someone Colberting us. “Those libtards will fall for anything.” Bias confirmation and all that.

    Turns out there used to be a British blog called “The Vagenda”, from 2012-2015, which I’d guess most of us never heard of. “Like King Lear, But for Girls.” (used sardonically) Bloggers are/were Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett (now in The Guardian a lot) and Holly Baxter.

    The Vagenda (blog): We Need a Lie Down (last post). Explaining why they were going on summer hiatus (and maybe now they will do a fresh post, since their term has crossed the pond?)

    So it’s interesting that, if that sign was legit, the rightwingers were discussing and monitoring vagendas before we were.

    Had any of you ever heard the term before?

  15. 15.

    Truegster

    We get some outdated music recommendations around here. For the youngsters wanting to listen to something made in this century- Radiohead’s Moon Shaped Pool is really good, probably their 2nd or 3rd best album. Also Beck’s Morning Phase is a cool chill out album. Ray Lamontagne’s Ouroboros was a disappointment. Sturgill Simpson’s new album is great ( I hate country, but his Metamodern Sounds is phenomenal, almost psychedelic).

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    No, I really would. I wouldn’t make a special trip or go out of my way, but if I happened on some drivng trip to find myself in or near Grand Rapids or College Station or Simi Valley or wherever, absolutely I would visit.

  17. 17.

    redshirt

    I hate bluejays. My least favorite bird.

    Also, the Jupiter Venus conjunction is a bit of a tease. It happened earlier tonight and low on the western horizon. Needed pretty perfect viewing spot.

  20. 20.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m putting Nixon’s place on my adventure list: it’s pretty easy to get to via Metrolink and OCTD and it’s less than half the cost of St. Ronnie’s Palace of Affection. St. Ronnie’s place is expensive AND hard to get to(I’d have to drive there).

  21. 21.

    redshirt

    So at this point are tattoos completely acceptable in normal society? Are we heading for full on Maori face tattoos?

    I’m an old and I don’t like it.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    HST was fun. I was there with a bunch of either Southern governors or Southern legislators as a conference field trip one year, so it didn’t cost me anything extra. I do remember a really good Truman impersonator who took us around, who looked and sounded exactly like my childhood recollections of the President. I have no idea if that’s standard for all tours or whether they laid it on special for the high-ranking dignitaries, but it was pretty cool.

  24. 24.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @redshirt: Yup, tats are acceptable(I’ve even got some). I’m not sure that facial tats will ever quite be acceptable.

  28. 28.

    Hal

    I see the Colin Kaepernick backlash has started. Remember folks, once you have reached a certain level of success in your respective field, discrimination no longer exists. You are for all intents and purposes a straight, white, American male!

  30. 30.

    Truegster

    In Austin they are. I just ate with the family at upscale ($20+ per meal) downtown restaurant tonight and most of waiters had tats, one waitress was fully sleeved and legged, almost to the neck. I’d say at least 50% of retail workers here have tattoos in Atx, no matter the class of clientele.

  33. 33.

    Groucho48

    @efgoldman:
    I and some roommates were painting houses while the John Dean testimony was being broadcast on the radio. We had a portable radio we’d be listening to outside, while painting. Every now and then the woman who lived there would stick her head out and ask something like…who was Colson, again? And, we’d discuss that for a bit.

  37. 37.

    Jim Parish

    I remember, at a small convenience store, dealing with a cashier who, quite frankly, looked as if he’d be at home on a pirate sloop. He had a large and intricate tattoo on his forearm, and while he was ringing me up I tried to figure out what it was, It finally came clear; it was the Serenity Prayer. “God, grant me the serenity…”.

    Appearances can be deceiving.

  38. 38.

    raven

    @efgoldman: Nope, it was four and it’s resolved, thanks. I ended up with a half a bottle of magnesium citrate and that did the trick. thx

  40. 40.

    joel hanes

    @Truegster:

    We get some outdated music recommendations around here

    You damned kids get off my lawn.

    Very well, then. Recent : All I Ever Wonder by St. Paul and The Broken Bones. Their video of “The River Song” is worth seeking out.

  42. 42.

    Schlemazel

    Apparently, before he became second banana to an angry cheeto Mr. Pence thought of himself as something of a cartoonist. He was in law school at the time and I have to say as cartoonists go he was a pretty mediocre law student.

    Judge for yourself

  52. 52.

    Keith P.

    Isn’t karma funny? The GOP has been using the flip-flop charge against Democrats for years, and now they have the ultimate distillation of flip-flopper in Donald Trump. That he’s comically bad at it makes it that much funnier.

  53. 53.

    raven

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I was watching 30 Seconds Over Tokyo today and there was a scene where some wives were sitting on the beach outside of Eglin and there sat the Malibu Hills!

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    If nothing else I’d bet there’s a slot above the coffin that every so often someone slides money into. This was left in his will, a grift slot. Better if the money is stolen but he’s not particular any longer.

  60. 60.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Hal: The Alt-right Butthurt faction is questioning why is a $11 million dollar athlete complaining about oppression? I can answer that one with a quote by Malcom X.
    What do you call a Black man with a Ph.D?
    A N*****.

  63. 63.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Ruckus:

    he’s not particular any longer.

    That tends to be the case when you’ve been dead for over 20 years. BTW, my cocker shares a b-day with the old crook.

  65. 65.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @SiubhanDuinne: A guest I had a week or so ago had been to the Herbert Hoover Museum here in Iowa. I’ve never been, but as a project, she was visiting national parks and monument sites and collecting stamps as she drove across the country.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Have toured the Lincoln home in Springfield IL, but that’s as close as I’ve ever gotten to any president, current or past. 25 yrs ago, so I can not recall if there was a cost.

  71. 71.

    JR in WV

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    The day I pay real money to enter a place of homage to a Republican traitor is the day after the meteor strikes us all daid.

    And yes, both Nixon (who negotiated with the North Vietnamese before being elected) and Reagan (who dealt with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard holding our diplomats hostage) also aided our enemies. Both of them the only presidents even guilty of treason, that we can know of.

    Both of them causing damage to our nation in order to win election!

    Other reasons to despise them, but that has to be number one on my list. They both simultaneously committed treason and perverted our democratic elections.

    No, they would have to offer me a 7 digit payment just to open their door and walk in, whereupon I would urinate on the floor and leave. Figuratively speaking. Or maybe metaphorical…

  72. 72.

    raven

    @efgoldman:

    Turtle Mound is a prehistoric archaeological site located 9 miles (14 km) south of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on State Road A1A. On September 29, 1970, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is the largest shell midden on the mainland United States, with an approximate height of 50 feet (15 m).[3] The mound extends for over 600 feet (180 m) along the Indian River shoreline and contains over 35,000 cubic yards (27,000 m3) of shells.[1] Turtle Mound was estimated to be 75 feet (23 m) high before it was reduced by shellrock mining in the 19th and 20th centuries.[4]

    The turtle-shaped mound contains oysters and refuse from the prehistoric Timucuan people. Archaeologists believe that these people may have used this site as a high-ground refuge during hurricanes. With bow and arrow, spears and snares, they caught a variety of small mammals and reptiles. It was constructed between 800 and 1400 CE.,[5] however recent radio-carbon dates it around 1000 BCE.[6] Early Spanish explorers and subsequent mariners utilized the large mound as a landmark. Today, the site is owned and managed by the National Park Service as part of Canaveral National Seashore.[7]

    Visible seven miles out at sea, early sailors used Turtle Mound as a navigational device. The Timucuan experienced greater competitive forces for finite resources such as arable land resulting in increased open conflict. This is apparent in some of the material found in the Turtle Mound location where it occupied an important location along the coast.[citation needed] Archaeologists have recently found 1,200-year-old pottery on the site.

  73. 73.

    Groucho48

    Last school year I had to pick up my 8 year old grandson from school every day. Lots of parents were there in an entrance hallway waiting for classes to end. During the colder weather, most of them looked exactly what you’d expect soccer mom types to look like. Then warm weather came and folks started wearing short sleeves and shorts and I would say at least two-thirds of the women had tattoos. And, I’m not talking about a discreet rose or whatever. The proportion seemed to be much lower with the guys waiting.

  74. 74.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: You’re thinking of Bath, I think. Bethel is in the Western mountains close to the NH border. It’s a cool little town which punches way above its weight thanks to the presence of the Sunday River ski resort.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    How many times do I have to say that one political party chose ECONOMIC TREASON against this country, January 20, 2009, in the midst of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression?

    ………………………………….

    How GOP austerity helped create Trump

    The conservative media can’t stop complaining that we’re in the midst of the worst recovery since World War II — despite the fact that it’s likely that more private sector jobs will be created in President Obama’s second term than have ever been created in four years under any Republican.

    But conservatives aren’t complaining, they’re bragging.

    A little-noticed report from the Economic Policy Institute earlier this month should have been national news, but was drowned out the sturm und drang of the campaigns and low-grade trauma generated by Donald Trump’s constant toxic mix of abuse and gaslighting.

    Here’s the conclusion EPI came up with as it examined the role government investment has played in the last four recoveries:

    The recovery since 2009 has been historically slow, and the disappointing pace can be explained entirely by the fiscal austerity imposed by Republicans in Congress.

  78. 78.

    raven

    @efgoldman:

    I was cruisin’ in my Sting Ray late one night
    When an XKE pulled up on the right
    He rolled down the window of his shiny new Jag
    And challenged me then and there to a drag
    I said, “You’re on, buddy, my mill’s runnin’ fine
    Let’s come off the line now, at Sunset and Vine
    But I’ll go you one better if you’ve got the nerve
    Let’s race all the way
    To Dead Man’s Curve”

    Dead Man’s Curve, it’s no place to play
    Dead Man’s Curve, you best keep away
    Dead Man’s Curve, I can hear ’em say
    Won’t come back from Dead Man’s Curve

  80. 80.

    raven

    And, from Hot Rod Lincoln

    What is the Ridge Route?

    The Ridge Route Highway is that section of road that winds over the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains between Castaic Junction on the south (where I-5 junctions with Hwy.126 to Ventura) and extends to the bottom of Grapevine Grade on the north where I-5 enters the great San Joaquin Valley.

    The “Grapevine” is the 6 1/2 mile segment of the Ridge Route that extends from Fort Tejon to the bottom of Grapevine Grade. Many people erroneously believe that the “Grapevine” got its name because the original 1915 highway had a series of “switchbacks” which allowed early vehicles to gain elevation as they climbed the grade heading from Bakersfield toward Los Angeles. The serpentine path resembled a giant grapevine. Although this observation was true, the name actually came from the fact that early Wagoner’s had to hack their way through thick patches of Cimarron grapevines that inhabited “La Canada de Las Uvas,” Canyon of the Grapes. Traveling the grade today, look for patches of what appears to be ivy on both sides of the canyon near the truck run-a-way escape ramps. What you see are descendant vines which date back to the 1800s.

    The news media Incorrectly refers to the entire Ridge Route as the Grapevine.

  82. 82.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @JR in WV: Well, there’s always the George W. Bush library, it’s only $17($16 off season). Seems that all the Democrats libraries are cheaper than the Republicans.

    According to the Bush library’s twitter, today is LBJ’s b-day.

  85. 85.

    redshirt

    @JanieM: Ah yes, I’ve been to the Owls Head place. I was thinking of the ship building museum in Bath which is really great. Just down the road from BIW.

    Go Maine! Except that asshole LePage and his voters.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    And $299 to get out.

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Haven’t had anything to eat from there since 1971, after being served an effluent burger. Should people drag me to one, I will have coffee but that’s the absolute limit to purchases.

    Fond memories of the old (as in pre-McD’s) Wetson’s chain, though.

  90. 90.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: How much aggression can there be at 15 mph tops? I’m not talking traffic jams, but rather fast moving traffic. As a Boston driver I was a bit intimidated at first at how fast folks were driving in LA – 90+.

  92. 92.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @redshirt: Come now, we usually don’t drive over 75 or 80.

    ETA: The worst thing in LA is folk talking on their cellphones instead of driving. I’m opposed to the death penalty, except for talking on the phone(or worse, texting) while driving.

  95. 95.

    Lizzy L

    I am an old, and I love tats. I was going to get one for my fiftieth birthday, and didn’t. Then I was going to get one for my 60th birthday, but I had a heart attack at 59 and went on Plavix (a blood thinner), so a tattoo was a no-no. This year they took me off the Plavix and put me on 81 mg aspirin, so I could probably convince my cardiologist to let me do it, but I’m over 70 so fuck it. I occasionally wear temporary tattoos, just for fun. I love bright colorful interesting tats and am happy to admire them if someone wants to show them off.

  96. 96.

    JR in WV

    @redshirt:

    Oxford county, home of the tourmaline gemstone mines!!

    That whole area, we spent a week there at Poland Mining Camp, where at the time Dudy Groves, who was 80-odd years old, and still actively mining gemstones, ran a crowd of rockhounds to quarries old and new to search dumps in the woods and bedrock in the quarry searching for rare rocks.

    Then we drove up and down the coast, all the way to the Roosevelt family estate and back, into Canada, even. Before 9/11, so just a driver’s license worked. Beautiful country, from the western mountains to the down east coast.

    The sat dishes pointing down really tickled me. Way north.

  101. 101.

    redshirt

    @JR in WV: I’m in the OC! There’s quarries and gem mines everywhere. As I am on a mountain, I suspect there’s some good stuff right below me. I just don’t want to dig it up.

    Fun fact! Poland Springs Water is from here, but actually bottles at lots of different springs. My town has a free and open spring that anyone can use, so it’s basically Poland Spring water pouring out of the ground for free.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    I drive through Simi Valley on occasion. Have never had any desire to stop, even just to make sure that he’s not getting up. And as I’ve been informed arrangements are in place to prevent watering the site, it really isn’t worth my time.

  103. 103.

    redshirt

    @FIBark: Don’t hate man. I drove the 95/93 exchange for 7 years. I lived 10 miles from work and it would regularly take me an hour. It’s nuts. But LA was something else.

  105. 105.

    Mary G

    Those guys are amazing! I am listening to “Half the City” on Amazon Prime. Definitely takes you back to Muscle Shoals.
    .

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @redshirt:
    Nothing wrong with tats. Not my thing and apparently not yours but then I’d bet you don’t have any. I have 3, got them 2 weeks ago. Wasn’t actually my idea and I wasn’t under the influence. Done by a very nice young nurse. Very professional.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    Never been much of a fan of soda pop, and prefer iced tea with no sweetener. Have yet to experience any water packaged in plastic bottles that doesn’t taste a bit off.

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    Personally, cannot abide them but have nothing against those who can. Comment was an oblique reference to the stricture against burial in an Orthodox cemetery if one has a tattoo.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    @MomSense:
    I’ve driven in both and Boston is worse. In LA the rules are a bit different but if you understand them, not all that bad. I think it’s better now than in the 60s. More people try not to kill you today, while in the 60s trying to was part of the sport. I relate it to the fact that cars cost a lot more, insurance is a lot more, not that life is valued any higher.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    @redshirt

    For water dilettantes. Evian has been bottled and shipped from France for freakin’ ever. Biggest scam is Dasani, which is bottled tap water.

  117. 117.

    Schlemazel

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    thanks! One of the things I like is non-English music that does not fit the stereotype we have of what the music is supposed to sound like. I have some stuff on my iPod that ‘breaks convention’ this song seems to do that too. Still its so interesting to hear music that comes from a different place and has different sensibilities.

  120. 120.

    Lizzy L

    @JanieM: Very very well. Post-ER my PCP checked everything out, and I’ve twice visited Kaiser to have the dressings changed at no charge. The puncture wounds on the right forearm have graduated to bandaids and will soon be healed. Tuesday next the stitches come out of the left hand. I couldn’t Monday, but today I can do everything I need to do; dress myself, drive, chop vegetables, wash dishes.

    My neighbors, w/o exception, have urged me to go after the owner who, BTW, has not bothered to drop by my house to ask how I’m doing. Tomorrow I meet with the Animal Control officer to give a statement. The dog will almost certainly be euthanized because the owner will not want to keep him under the conditions imposed on a dog who has caused injury at this level.

    I’m going to be fine, and thank god it was me, and not one of the local kids.

  122. 122.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    No one drags me to a McDs. Ever. And I’ll be nice and not explain the results of the first case of food poison except to say that Linda Blair couldn’t hold a candle to me in the Exorcist. I thought it was a fluke until the second time about 4 months and 6 states later.

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    Mine are not in a place where anyone is going to see them casually. Unless I go to this one beach just north of LA harbor. Best to get there by boat and you really shouldn’t mind people standing on cliffs with binoculars.

  124. 124.

    Miss Bianca

    Drinking some awesome Danish mead, listening to Volbeats, and chilling with the hounds! Saw a gorgeous black Great Dane at the Dog Park who looked so much like Bixby that I had to ask his name – Zeus. ZEUS!! I thought that was so awesome.

  125. 125.

    Mary G

    @Ruckus: Did you get tattooed because you’re having radiation treatments? I hope you’re OK. You have often offered me help and it’s reciprocal. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.

  126. 126.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:
    Yes, yes and thanks. Things will be OK or they won’t. So far all is going, as we used to say, swimmingly. All I can do is go with the program, one foot after the other. So that’s what I’m doing.

  128. 128.

    Jerzy Russian

    Well, I saw the Jupiter-Venus conjunction. It was very low on the western sky, and I could only see Venus with my unaided eye. I was able to see Jupiter using a cheap pair of binoculars.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @joel hanes:
    Went off exploring YTube for more music and came across this, Eric Clapton in Tokyo in 2001
    I work with my hands and have for over 50 yrs and have to wonder how someone plays the guitar so good after decades of using his hands. There are days when my hands just don’t do what I tell them to anymore. Luck of the draw or whatever maybe.
    ETA or maybe Eric and I have the same issues and it’s catching up to us.

  130. 130.

    Matt McIrvin

    Mars, Saturn and the bright star Antares (which gets its name from its resemblance to Mars) are also grouped close together lately. Like Jupiter and Venus, you’ll only be able to see them early in the evening.

  131. 131.

    JanieM

    @Lizzy L: Good to hear. You’re right about the kids but it’s still too bad anyone had to go through what you did.

    I went through a rabies adventure some years ago involving a rabid skunk and a couple of our barn cats that had bite wounds of unknown (but strongly suspected) origin. Six of us in my extended/blended family had to get the shots. One of cats had to be put down because by a weird oversight, it hadn’t had itsshots and we weren’t prepared to quarantine it for the required six months. That was a sad day. Another cat had to be quarantined for a month. Very long story.

    The shots weren’t what I expected from the horror stories of my childhood, which called for 24 shots in the torso. Nowdays it’s five shots in the arm over the course of a couple of months…no worse than flu shots, really. The biggest hassle was the insurance bureaucracy around where to get them.

    Again — glad you’re healing with, it sounds like, no complications!

  132. 132.

    redshirt

    Like this 22 or 24 year old kid knows what his world at 45 will or could be. But he’ll have the cool birds and some words of no doubt wisdom on his arms. No escape except long sleeves.

  133. 133.

    Central Planning

    @efgoldman:

    Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport (an otherwise spectacular take)

    QFT. We were there a few weeks ago. Standing in front of the space shuttle Discovery, the SR-71, and the Enola Gay was just amazing. I had shivers when I was there, and have them again just thinking about it. Phew!

Comments are closed.