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This blog will pay for itself.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

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

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

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This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

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Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

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Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

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I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

You are here: Home / Music / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Happy Hannukah!

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Happy Hannukah!

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This year especially, we could all use as much light as we can kindle. Submitted by the artist’s aunt, who lurks on Balloon Juice:

“Nes Gadol Haya Sham” (A Great Miracle Happened There) was recorded completely in Israel. The song compares the lights of the hanukkiah/menorah to the Light in our hearts. When people see the symbol of a lit hanukkiah/menorah in the window they should remember that “a great miracle happened there” in Israel at the time of the Maccabees when the nation survived violent persecution and the Temple was restored to Israel and rededicated. Likewise, when people see us we should be like a living hanukkiah/menorah of Light so that when they see our lives they can recognize that “a great miracle happened there” in our hearts!…

***********

What’s on the agenda, as we power towards the end of 2016?

Reader Interactions

315Comments

  1. 1.

    ThresherK (tablet)

    The Minn. Public Radio stream of holiday music is a godsend. I know, that’s a big claim for a near-atheist to make.

    Lately everyone seems to be rerecording “Baby It’s Cold Outside” or “Santa Baby”. Michael Buble, no favorite of mine, spends most of the latter singing “Santa Buddy”, and that made me think:

    I’ve been to a few shows by the self-titled CT Gay Mens’ Chorus. They are no-holds-barred sometimes. Has a male ever gone ahead and just recorded “Santa Baby”, er, straight (sic)? Kept the lyric, singing it male-to-male with the overtones we got out of Eartha Kitt?

    (No, I didn’t look on YouTube. Just lying abed and too lazy to check myself not he little tablet.)

  2. 2.

    Baud

    I can’t remember, is it now safe to say Happy Hanukkah again or more dangerous to say Happy Hanukkah again?

  5. 5.

    BellyCat

    Was once wished Happy Hannukah by a neighbor of eight years. I replied, “Happy Hannukah to you, too!”

    She hurriedly replied, “I’m not Jewish” I said, “Neither am I”

    Laughter ensued…

  6. 6.

    Morzer

    To prepare for my role in the Resistance, I am watching Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, to be followed by The Godfather. I think that covers all the bases.

    Dies natalis solis invicti feliciter!

  8. 8.

    EZSmirkzz

    Merry Christmas Anne!

    Thanks for years of efforts. You done good.

    Today is the day for me to count the blessings of life, counting the curses is not allowed. Too often we forget to be thankful for what we have, and become disappointed by what we do not, (hello Mr and Mrs conservative! Happy holidays to you too.) (Words matter)

    Anyway tell the old man to get feeling better or the whole community will trek to your place on inauguration day and rub the top of his head for good luck.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    Donald J. TrumpVerified account
    ‏@realDonaldTrump
    Vladimir Putin said today about Hillary and Dems: “In my opinion, it is humiliating. One must be able to lose with dignity.” So true!

    He gets worse every day. No sign (yet!) of Donald Trump miraculously transforming into a completely different, much better person. Hires this bad don’t get better- they only get worse. We could hit rock bottom by June and still have 3 and a half years left.

  11. 11.

    otmar

    I’m in Carinthia, celebrating xmas at my MiL’s house. It’s cold, so the big kid went skating with his uncle, the small spawn is helping me decorate the tree.

    Here in Austria, kids get their presents on the eve of Dec 24th.

    Happy festivities, everybody!

  12. 12.

    Kay

    Shaun WalkerVerified account
    ‏@shaunwalker7
    Trump “understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him, except us,” says Putin to more applause.

    So in a normal functioning country they would have enough now to look into whether Trump or the Trump campaign were working in some way with the Russian government, right?

    I mean, considering we’re a country that just concluded 18 investigations into Benghazi and spent 20 months on Hillary Clinton’s emails?

  14. 14.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Kay: I find myself recoiling at every mention of Trump. I’m not sure I have enough energy to maintain sufficient outrage for what’s coming. And yet, it’s important that we not let him wear us down.

  15. 15.

    JAFD

    @ThresherK (tablet): Having spent a holiday season working in a K-mart, I feel I have listened to enough of the MSM’s ‘Christmas music’ to last me the next reincarnation.

    When we closed the store, the Saturday between Christmas and New Years that year, after the 10:05 announcement “The Store Is Now Closed. Managers Will Check that No Customers Remain In Their Department”, the PA started playing Madonna’s “Material Girl”

    the employees all stopped and applauded.

    Will check Minnesota’s stream later today, waiting for rain to ease, food shopping must.

  16. 16.

    MJS

    @Kay: You are making the mistake of thinking there is any vestige of decency remaining in this country’s institutions. There isn’t, or at least there won’t be after Jan. 19.

  17. 17.

    Adrift

    Today I get the joy of traveling two and a half hours to my father’s house where I will be surrounded by an entire family of 15 all of whom (bar one) practically worship the orange shitgibbon. The bright spot is eventually I get to leave for home.

  24. 24.

    Kay

    @MJS:

    Well, we’ll see. Maybe an effective opposition won’t come from institutions. Maybe they weren’t all they were cracked up to be and were much weaker than anyone imagined. If they fail in a crisis they’re no good to anyone anyway and deserve to be sidelined or become irrelevant. Trump can’t limit the possibility of a new opposition forming. In fact, if institutions are so weak they crumble faced with Trump it’s MORE likely something new appears to fill that void.

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    @Adrift: Yeah, what baud said. I think I’d skip that this year. Cough as you call in your regrets. Next year could be waaay different.

    There are worse things than having quiet Christmases. I am leaning against participating in a Confederate Christmas with my BIL, who shushed me earlier this year because “a job creator” was on the TV. Last in a series of irritations for me. Done with him, for a few years.

  26. 26.

    Adrift

    @Baud: I already bailed on Thanksgiving couldn’t deal with them so soon after the election, so there’s no way am I getting out of Christmas Eve dinner. There may be blood.

  27. 27.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mary G: Happy b-day, mine’s the first full day of the Trump maladminstration, I believe I share the date with BellaQ.

  28. 28.

    Spanky

    @Mary G: Happy Birthday, kiddo! I’ve got an orbit and a half on you.

    Birthdays at Christmastime must have sucked as a kid, especially when you went to all those summer birthday parties for your friends’ b-days.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    @Mary G: Happy Birthday! I just called a neighborhood to wish him Happy Birthday also. As an adult, he is committed to enjoy his special day, and I hope you do also.

  35. 35.

    Schlemazel

    @Mary G:
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

    I gotta ask, did you get a lot of “This is for your birthday AND Christmas”? Mine is in a week and I used t get that from some people

  36. 36.

    Adrift

    @MJS:

    Do you have time to make a t-shirt to wear that reads, “2.8 million more votes”?

    Ha! I should wear my “New Jerseyans for Hillary” t-shirt. That would guarantee never having to do this again. Really though the only reason I do this is my father is 73 and not in the best of health, so you know…..

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    @Adrift: When my Trump voting relatives bring up the shitgibbon to me, I tell them the only thing I have to say about it is that they fell for a conman, and if they can’t see that yet, they will soon enough. When they start the “but Hillary” bullshit, I say that anyone still talking about Clinton after the election is doing so because they can’t defend Trump, an obvious conman.

  41. 41.

    ThresherK

    @Mary G: Best wishes from our home.

    @JAFD: Wow. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but would have cheered to hear Madonna at that point. I once worked in a Catholic hospital and they kept the holiday music going maybe a week past New Years’. (Not all sacred, which might have been an improvement. Plenty of the repetitveness a la a radio station.)

    Thing is, when there aren’t people milling around to absorb the decibels on nights and weekend, and your job puts you for hours at a time in a hallway with noise-bouncing walls and tile floors, it gets real ear-splitting real fast. And there was no way to turn the damn thing down.

  42. 42.

    Schlemazel

    @Betty Cracker:
    Before the election a FB friend posted a requests to state why you were voting the way you were without ever mentioning the other candidate. He got a bunch explaining Clinton & none for Trump. This friend was tied to a lot of rural Trump supporters so it was not because they didn’t vote for the asshole.

  43. 43.

    Adrift

    @Betty Cracker: As much fun as that would be, my course of action is going to be remaining silent. I will let them revel in their newfound toy this Christmas, and I will keep the peace no matter how often I have to excuse myself to vomit. Next year, however, when it’s all gone to hell, will be different.

  45. 45.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @Adrift:

    If you have to go, here’s your perfect chance to be the flip side of everybody’s obnoxious RWNJ uncle who ruins every family get-together. You be the one to lay into them with every half-baked conspiracy theory and rumor about Trump and make them miserable. It’s your patriotic duty!

    “Remember, don’t mention Trump or bring up politics, because cousin Adrift will go nuts and ruin it for all of us. Just talk about football.”

    A somewhat backhanded gift will be that each year you will have more material to work into your act. Thanks, Trump! (Doesn’t have quite the same ring as “Thanks, Obama.”)

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: I know. That’s why I don’t want to go eat with someone who thinks people should “just get over it.”

    Incidentally, that’s not been said to me personally. It’s been on Facebook. I am hating FB and what it’s told me about that family. I really do think about skipping FB entirely. TMI.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    You be the one to lay into them with every half-baked conspiracy theory and rumor about Trump and make them miserable

    I don’t think that works. The other side doesn’t care as much.

  50. 50.

    ThresherK

    All you may need to know about genuine v. false Christianity, Trump, and RealAmerica’s economic anxiety.

    The characters are from the webcomic Dumbing of Age; by David Willis.

    The young woman is Joyce. She is homeschooled, and at college is dealing with more changes and challenges than other freshmen owning to her social isolation. But she is growing nicely into an adult.

    The mother is Carol. She is backsliding into a husk of religious intolerance surrounding a heart of barely-concealed bigotry,

    The author was brought up fundie, so he knows what the hell he’s writing about for evangelical characters.

  51. 51.

    BBA

    @Baud: The traditional greeting is Hebrew “חַג שָׂמֵחַ” or Yiddish “גוט יום־טובֿ”, which translates as, um, “Happy Holiday”.

  52. 52.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    nobody believed in him, except us

    Right there, Putin is saying he knew something that no one else did: He’d rigged the election.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle: Right. Tell them you are going to vote for people who will tax the shit out of them and make them gay marry and see how well they get over it.

  54. 54.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Well, I caved and am spending Christmas with my Trumpster family. I decided I wanted to see nieces and nephew, who are in or about to enter college. None of them plan on coming back after school (which I can relate to) and I realized I wouldn’t be seeing much more of them. So there it is. Politics comes up, I’m sure I’ll either be a major bitch or stomp out of there, but I hope to get a few hugs before they set in.

  55. 55.

    HinTN

    @Mary G: Happy Birthday, you puppy. I and Mrs H got three on ya. Also too, the parents always made sure to differentiate my birthday from the Big Effin Deal six days later. Too this day there ain’t no decorations until it’s past (except, of course, when it’s unavoidable that a tree has to be pilfered on Sunday ’cause there’s no way after work…). Celebrate the returning of the light, y’all.

  56. 56.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    The Weimar Republic was referred to as such because the constitution creating it was signed in Weimar. Maybe future historians will refer to our 227-yearlong period of mostly peaceful governance as the Philadelphia Government.

  58. 58.

    debbie

    Arghh. The Telegraph has an article titled, “The Life and Times of Carrie Fisher.” Has she passed?

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie: Yeah. That’s the thing. Love seeing the nephews, who are college and just before and after. When they look up from their smartphones. Realize it’s cutting my nose off to spite my own face, and BIL is not likely to be an asshole, personally.

    But I miss how much I used to love him. He has hardened over the past few years. Used to be a much better guy. Now he revels in being a hardheaded Southern working man. Not someone who would ever fly the confederate flag, but actually brings up the importance of “States’ rights” a lot.

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    @HinTN: tee hee.

    It’s true. FB does not add much to my life, and it’s either an echo chamber or repellant, with bird photos.

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @Baud:

    The point is not the content, it’s being vocal and outspoken. It kills me how universal it is on our side to say, “Oh, I just kept quiet because I didn’t want to ruin the holiday for everyone.” So the RWNJs cow everyone into silence or, worse, think that they have won. It’s a cliché, but in a way silence is consent. Resistance to Trump is going to have to consist of more then commiserating on lefty blogs. Dysfunctional family drama is something everybody’s good at, so it’s a great place to start!

  64. 64.

    satby

    @Baud: Happy Birthday Mary G! May your day be a joyful one! Virtual hug!

    My late mother’s birthday was also on Christmas Eve, and she was a twin, so her party was always our Christmas celebration too. Even though the last few years she didn’t travel, she always was with my younger sister and we all called to sing to her when we had gathered for her “remote party”. Christmas day was always quiet and somewhat anticlimactic after one of mom’s parties.
    Edited to add: obv. That was for Mary G, not Baud.

  70. 70.

    germy

    @Elizabelle: Arnold Schnabel. A railroad worker who wrote poems in his spare time.

    This is one of the very few poems of Schnabel’s to exist only in his holograph — written, as was his custom, with a Bic pen in a black-and-white marble copybook. The poem is undated, but carbon dating of the paper indicates that the poem was probably written sometime during his stay at the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry in early 1963, following his complete mental collapse in January of that year.

  76. 76.

    Morzer

    @MomSense:

    I am considering telling any Trumpzis that I encounter that The Donald is giving Alaska back to Russia. Then I shall innocently ask why he would do such a thing.

  81. 81.

    JPL

    Tis the season to obsess whether or not you have enough food. My appetizers are skimpy since I’m only do puff pastry pinwheels, a fruit tray and a cheese tray. The main course and dessert tray is fine though.

  82. 82.

    MomSense

    @Morzer:

    You’re not far off. There are already territorial disputes in the Arctic. Russia may be testing a new underwater nuclear drone carrying a nuclear warhead that was considered too incendiary to attempt during the cold war.

  86. 86.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    Dammit I’ve tried twice but the link is upsetting WP. Google pu$$yhat project. I plan to just wear mine all winter.

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    @efgoldman: Santa has been good to you this year. Best to you and yours, and granddaughter time. The best.

    I remember the Edaville Railroad.

  89. 89.

    tobie

    @debbie: First off, Happy Hanukkah everyone.

    Secondly I feel like the most productive thing I can do right now is archive under broad categories Trump’s outrageous statements and tweets so I don’t forget them over time. I’m thinking of categories like Russian influence, sore winner-dom, conflict of interest, EU threats, NATO threats, China-baiting, etc. The rate at which he’s overturning precedent and engaging in petty tete-a-tetes is so fast that it’s impossible to keep up with it. Filing it has the advantage of making it accessible when we need it and can help us feel a little less powerless. I know this blog has tags for posts. Can we add tags for the shitgibbon’s insane tweets and statements?

  90. 90.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    When I drove up to Brand Library the other day, I noticed that my car is getting in worse shape. Until I get it either fixed or replaced I can’t hike and it’s making logistics for the next two days problematic. This has me in a pretty blue mood.

  91. 91.

    germy

    Nazareth – As tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims converge on the Holy Land this week to celebrate the birth of Jesus, senior Israeli rabbis have announced a war on the Christmas tree.

    In Jerusalem, the rabbinate has issued a letter warning dozens of hotels in the city that it is “forbidden” by Jewish religious law to erect a tree or stage new year’s parties.

    Many hotel owners have taken the warning to heart, fearful that the rabbis may carry out previous threats to damage their businesses by denying them certificates declaring their premises to be “kosher”.

    In the coastal city of Haifa, in northern Israel, the rabbi of Israel’s premier technology university has taken a similarly strict line. Elad Dokow, the Technion’s rabbi, ordered that Jewish students boycott their students’ union, after it installed for the first time a modest Christmas tree.

    He called the tree “idolatry”, warning that it was a “pagan” symbol that violated the kosher status of the building, including its food hall.

    Jonathan Cook
    Al Jazeera

  93. 93.

    debbie

    @germy:

    Remind me who Israel’s in an eternal struggle with: the Arabs or the Christians? Seems to me those rabbis are kating avek zeyer noses tsu lhkheis zeyere pnimer (cutting off their noses to spite their faces according to Google Translate).

  97. 97.

    Botsplainer

    I have a houseful of my early 20s daughters (and one brought her live-in boyfriend) home for the holiday. Thoughts:

    1. They are evil, horrible people. They switched the Santa blocks under the TV to read “SATAN”, and are incapable of cleaning up after themselves while on a long drunk. They also don’t know how to close a liquor bottle, put away unused mixers or keep to one or two things – they keep trying everything. Wife made me hide the premium spirits because they’re drunken monsters, but now that I’m almost out of Tanqueray (just opened last night), we’re dangerously close to me having to crack open the Hendrick’s. They insist on me making martinis dirty (as opposed to just the olives), which I find an abhorrent abuse of a decent spirit. They took the local alternative paper and drew cocks all over it, too.

    2. After last night, I have determined I can no longer run with the big dogs. I hurt. I’m convinced that Islam’s prohibition on alcohol arose when Muhammed woke up one day with the sort of hangover I have now. I’m considering converting so I can do battle against the purveyors of devil alcohol, insh’Allah…

    3. We had our office party yesterday, catered by a sushi place with really great, fresh products and a free flowing open bar with premium spirits. The funniest goddamn thing was done to one of the guys, which provided awesome entertainment. One lawyer in my shop is a youngish politician whose gorgeous wife (and was a mom of 3) ditched him for her boss a couple of years ago. His ego shattered, he overcompensated by banging a string of girls in their 20s and early 30s for short term fun times. One of those girls he had banged is a former Playboy Playmate rating a 10.5 on a 10 scale, but also batshit crazy, sort of stalker-like, and focused like a laser on having a husband, and obsesses on this guy. He loved the sex (according to him she was inventive and versatile) but broke up with her over the crazy – and, to be fair, he wasn’t ready for long term. Since then, he has really sparked with someone who everybody likes – but she had a past with a guy who used to beat and stalk her. The stalker has moved back to town and initiated verbal and physical confrontations which have now led to my lawyer friend suffering political and legal consequences (basically, the guy jumped my friend at a football game, my friend punched him three times in the face rapidly and broke his orbital socket. Put him right down on the ground). So in all that, the new relationship is on the rocks.

    So back to crazy Playmate – another lawyer in the office represents cray cray, who was complaining about her networking in her new chiropractic sales job. This guy says “oh, our Christmas party is December 23, and lots of lawyers will be there from all over town.” She shows up. Everybody knows about what a disaster she is, and starts chortling (to be honest, not only was the show to be kind of fun, seeing him be awkward, but we all want to see him get a lesson about his dick and the choices he makes in women). Receptionist and I beeline to his office with Cheshire Cat grins, and initially deny her attendance as it dawns on him. He initially closes and locks his door in a panic, and then realizes he has to go mingle. As we’re standing and talking over food and drinks, she starts easing her way over, he starts to say he needed to go refill at the bar in the front of the shop, and then somebody chimes in that he’s going up front. I helpfully placed an order for drinks all around the table so that my friend wouldn’t have to leave (he gave me a “you motherfucker” look). Crazy then cornered him like a Wolfpack on a caribou – for the next hour. Next thing I know, they’re in his office, door locked. Two people went to finally try and rescue him in succession (we decided that rescue was not going to be in his cards earlier, we’re mean that way), but there was no answer. We agreed that an ear to the door would be a bad idea, as there would be things heard that could never be unheard, unless someone was in to that sort of thing. Finally, on the third time (about a half hour later), she came up for air long enough to announce that the assistant we claimed to be looking for wasn’t in there.

    What a great party.

    4. Now off to the store to replace the five pounds of sugar I spilled on the kitchen floor last night.

  105. 105.

    debbie

    @JPL:

    Don’t make the mistake my mom always did. Come up with additional appetizers, ensuring everyone will be too full to eat any dinner.

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    What?! No AMJoy on this morning? WTF! That was the only reason I bothered getting out of bed. I may just cancel the whole fucking day the way this is going.

  109. 109.

    Botsplainer

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Oh, I nearly forgot – we always save them the task of setting up the Lego crèche. About 15 years ago they blended some parts from the pirate set, which makes for a far more interesting tableau (baby Jesus always goes into the stewpot over the campfire. There was a lot of drunk cackling).

    I couldn’t believe how much they ate and drank after Inwent to bed.

  111. 111.

    WereBear

    @Kay: In fact, if institutions are so weak they crumble faced with Trump it’s MORE likely something new appears to fill that void.

    I completely agree. While the Republicans and those allied with the Evil Empire were busy undermining the corporate press, think tanks, and universities, we at least were creating new channels for thought and information and organizing. This gives me hope.

    Oh, we live in interesting times, as the old Chinese curse is said to go…

  112. 112.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @debbie: You can always quote Hamilton at them. Best if you can sing it:

    ♫ I’m not here for you! ♫

  114. 114.

    Morzer

    @Botsplainer:

    http://people.com/pets/english-cat-kicks-baby-jesus-out-of-the-manger-for-nap-world-goes-wild/

    There’s a new “Messiah” in Ilkeston, England, and she’s been known to jump on top of coffins, bravely tiptoe across church organ pipes and occasionally yowl during weddings and baptisms.

    Pips the cat, as she’s known to parishioners at All Saints Church, has also taken a recent liking to mangers, particularly the cozy straw one at the center of the Nativity scene set up inside the chapel this year for local children.

    The grey-and-black striped tabby kicked the baby Jesus out of the manger last week and settled in for an afternoon nap.

  115. 115.

    WereBear

    Just got back from stocking up on pot roast ingredients, Christmas butter cookies for Mr WereBear, gluten free cookies for me, and other goodies for our weekend. We already opened our mutual present, the entire run of Monk, and have been enjoying it all week.

    Tonight, the animated Grinch which is our Christmas Eve staple. I always cry when the Grinch’s heart expands. Every year!

  116. 116.

    JMG

    My son came home (short trip, he lives in Boston proper) last night and my daughter has been here all week. We went out to an Italian restaurant last night then watched “After the Thin Man” on TCM. Today I’ll watch the Pats game while they make dinner (crab cakes, endive salad, smoked salmon for appetizers). Tomorrow I make dinner (prime rib, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts). We each exchange one gift on Christmas Eve while drinking champagne, then open the rest tomorrow.
    Let’s put it this way. I’ll be more than ready for Sober January this winter.

  120. 120.

    Elizabelle

    @JMG: Wonderful plans, and elegant menu.

    Also, you are in my thoughts, because I believe you wrote that your mom passed earlier this month? I was too late to that thread.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

  121. 121.

    Morzer

    @Botsplainer:

    I am sure they didn’t really talk about what a spry old man Grandpa Botsplainer is for his age. And I am quite certain they didn’t refer to you as “well-preserved”.

  126. 126.

    JPL

    @debbie: My mom would be disappointed, because I don’t even have bowls of nuts and candy. I still hate that ribbon candy she used to put out.

  131. 131.

    Schlemazel

    @JPL:
    EVERYONE hates that ribbon candy! There is a reason it only sells at Christmas, nobody wants it any other time and only ‘want’ it now because it is somehow tradition.

    @debbie:
    What? I never had any of that stuff that was cinnamon. We got taken!

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    Is it a bad sign when your official spokesperson has to put out the message, “We will all be just fine” ?
    /asking for a friend

  133. 133.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack: I just drove it a few blocks to Target and back(they had a good deal on diet Coke), it still makes a noise when I make right turns and there’s an inch of water in the rear seat floorboard; but I managed to get there and back. Everytime I take it in, it’ll cost probably a grand, and I wonder if that grand would be better spent on something newer(even if used).

    ETA: It was 31 years Dec. 4.

  134. 134.

    Brachiator

    @Morzer:

    To prepare for my role in the Resistance, I am watching Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, to be followed by The Godfather. I think that covers all the bases.

    The new movie “Rogue One” will get you set up as well.

    And listen to Leonard Cohen’s “The Partisan.”

  135. 135.

    ruemara

    @Mary G: Happy Birthday! May you have a great day and many more.

    Adrift, your time is your own, but I’d rather pull my hair out that spend time around 15 Trump worshippers. May you have peace and joy no matter what you do today.

    I am doing my hair for the season because long natural hair is fucking feat of strength to style, doing script breakdowns for the video project disaster I am rescuing at work and hopefully seeing the first of many movies this weekend. And figuring out what to do with lamb shanks for Christmas Eve dinner.

  136. 136.

    Shalimar

    @Adrift: Give the gift of a cat and all will be well with the world.
    “Here, I got you a pussy you can grab without getting arrested. Scratched all to hell, but not arrested.”

  138. 138.

    Elmo

    @Schlemazel: Mine is on the 14th, and it was an ironclad rule in our house that there was to be no Christmas – no music, no decorating, no tree – until the 15th. My parents did everything they could to make my birthday separate and special.

    Yeah. They were great people and I was very, very fortunate.

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    Lots of posts already and I’m just waking up here in rainy, cold Southern California.

    Happy holidays to all.

    Unless there something outrageously Trump is announced, I plan on staying away from and ignoring political news for the next few days, and mainly staying close to home. I may do my traditional Christmas, a movie with a couple of friends followed by dinner at a Chinese restaurant (guaranteed to be open during the holidays).

  152. 152.

    zhena gogolia

    I’ve been blithely commenting and replying to botsplainer and jpg and all and not realizing that all my comments are going into moderation because here at the office I’m still gogol’s wife and not zhena gogolia. Damn you, Word Press!

  154. 154.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:

    Hires this bad don’t get better- they only get worse. We could hit rock bottom by June and still have 3 and a half years left.

    So true, as the criticism of his actual governance increases, and it will because he is terrible, he will lash out more and more. Right now many people are giving him the benefit of the doubt, once they begin to sell off the country and loot it broad daylight, the outcry will increase. He will not like it.

  156. 156.

    CaseyL

    Happy hols to all!

    I have no particular plans, as my family is far flung and my friends are all with their families. There’s a Christmas Eve open house I might go to tonight, but that’s it for the socializing.

    In the meantime, I will share a new Christmas video I found on FB:

    Arachnophobes may want to skip this one

  158. 158.

    Brachiator

    A couple of movie notes.

    Really enjoyed “Rogue One,” which I think succeeds despite a few flaws and some clunky dialog. Some stunning visuals, a little comedy to keep things from becoming too dour and (for my money) characters you’ve not met before that you come to care for, which is what you want from any movie.

    I dragged myself to see “La La Land” because it has made so many critics “best of lists.” I am not a big fan of musicals, and I generally don’t care for movies about the woes of aspiring actors, and I hate movies that depict jazz as music to be feared and despised, as though it is a castor oil, Ex Lax and milk of magnesia milkshake that gags even the douchiest hipster. The callbacks to earlier Hollywood films and movie musicals is an obvious attempt to suck up to film critics, who love to have their egos stroked, and it obviously has paid off in overly effusive reviews.

    That said, the opening musical number, set on the 105 Freeway, is an absolute delight and immediately grabs you. I don’t know if Emma Stone is a great actress, but she has a wonderfully expressive face (she’s the aspiring actress), and is well matched with Ryan Gosling, who plays a talented jazz musician who is tempted to sell out (aren’t they all?). They credibly do their own dancing and singing, and one song that Stone sings later in the film is nothing less than marvelous.

    And I love the use of locations, which uses bits of Hermosa Beach, the Hollywood Hills, South Central LA, Pasadena and other locales to construct a fantasy City of Lights.

    Best film of the year? Still not totally convinced, but “La La Land” fought me to a draw, largely winning me over, and clearly pleased most of the people I saw it with.

  159. 159.

    hitchhiker

    @Kay:

    I think the person Putin was trolling with that line was DT himself, tho’ obviously DT doesn’t realize it. It was bugging me all day yesterday, the question of what the hell Putin wanted to achieve w/ that language.

    There has never been a more humiliating moment for the USA than the calling of the election for DT. And because he watches “the shows” he knows that millions of citizens are not ever going to be reconciled to that moment.

    Losing with dignity is there because of course DT did lose by 2.86 million votes, and he can’t reconcile himself to that reality, much less approach it with dignity.

    Putin has successfully baited his poodle into using Putin’s own language to further debase himself publicly and demonstrate to the world just how pathetic and pathological he is. That’s a fairly impressive trick.

  160. 160.

    Larkspur

    @MomSense:

    Merry Christmas, Comrades!

    Ooh, I like that. Consider it stolen.

    Happy birthday, Mary G.
    Happy birthday Ava Gardner (1922-1990)
    Merry Christmas!
    Happy Aðfangadagskvöld (the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns. Iceland)
    Happy Hannukah!
    Grateful remembrance of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent (1814)
    Solemn celebration of the start of the “Christmas Truce” in Europe (1914)

    That’s all I got. Thanks Wikipedia.

  161. 161.

    Mike J

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I’m not sure I have enough energy to maintain sufficient outrage for what’s coming. And yet, it’s important that we not let him wear us down.

    Did the Republicans get worn down by eight years of Obama or did they just get meaner? Should we be wimpier than Republicans?

    Of course they also just went bat shit insane. We should avoid that.

  163. 163.

    WereBear

    @JPL: I still hate that ribbon candy she used to put out.

    The ultimate in “decorative, not edible.” Only the fact that it attracts dust like a magnet kept my thrifty grandmother from putting the same pieces out every year.

  164. 164.

    Brachiator

    @hovercraft:

    Right now many people are giving him the benefit of the doubt, once they begin to sell off the country and loot it broad daylight, the outcry will increase. He will not like it.

    He will continue to be vigorously defended by his true believers, who seem to believe that if he makes money, they will also prosper. They are willing to throw out all the rules in his case, and see laws against conflicts of interest as pesky technicalities that can easily be ignored.

    And on Trump’s apparent call for a renewed arms race, I actually heard some doofus say that this indicates that Trump is a man of action.

    Even more than Reagan or Dubya, it is unsettling to see the degree to which his supporters are “all in” with Trump, and are eager to see him take office, kick ass and make America great again. Anything he says or does is all right with them. American Exceptionalism on steroids, they don’t see any dangers or need for caution.

  166. 166.

    Mike J

    Waiting to hear from doctor if they want to run more tests on Mom. Got cardiac enzymes back, they were clean. She’s ready to go home.

  167. 167.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Did you see, Dear Zindagi?

    I did not get a chance to see it before it left the theaters. It’s been displaced by the onslaught of holiday blockbusters. There is a chance that it may show up at one of the second run theaters later on. Otherwise, I am going to have to find it on one of the streaming services.

    It’s doubly ironic. I had to attend a conference in Vegas when it was showing at a theater relatively close to me.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    I tried hard to be good and read through the thread before commenting, but I only made it to #88 before I couldn’t help myself anymore.

    It’s so good to see everyone. I have missed all of you! I am on the train for the next two hours with no other obligations to keep me from BJ, so I am here for the duration.

    love from WaterGirl

  172. 172.

    Brachiator

    @WereBear:

    Decades of Vichy reassurances have winnowed down Republican Base into a pure distillation of cray-cray.

    People insist on seeing Trump as another instance of Republicans v Democrats. I don’t think that’s adequate.

    One thing. I’ve talked to Trump supporters who honestly believe that the new regime will preserve Social Security and health insurance. They don’t buy into free market economics, nor are they typically evangelicals.

    But the worst of them, and yeah, I have to say worst, truly believe that Obama and the Democrats gave away everything to undeserving blacks and illegal immigrants. One guy even said that he heard that Hillary Clinton had declared that she wanted open borders. He also believed that women needed to be put in their place, that white women, for example, had used affirmative action to take jobs away from deserving black men, and that women should just shut up and return to being docile housewives (and this is a white guy).

    But he also liked how Trump had dominated all the Republican pretenders in the primary race. He has no love for the traditional Republican Establishment.

    In short, Trump is his populist hero. And that he is tough talking and pu$$y grabbing adds to his appeal. This ain’t your standard issue Republican.

  173. 173.

    hovercraft

    @Baud:

    This election was a hate-fest, and hate won out.

    This, so much this, and now I hate them for what they’ve done to us. It would be one thing if they showed remorse, but they don’t.

  176. 176.

    geg6

    Lots on today’s agenda but I can’t seem to get started. Christmas is at my sister’s and BIL’s, thankfully, and we all agree on politics so no problems there. Except that we’re all depressed and horrified, of course.

    Today, I’m supposed to be prepping my contribution to the feast, the veggies. I’m roasting carrots in honey, olive oil and sea salt and also Brussels sprouts and bacon in olive oil and maple syrup. I’ll get those prepped and marinated so all I have to do is pop them in the oven when I get there tomorrow. Dinner is going to be early so as to be over in time for the start of the Steeler game at 4:30. I also have to put together my traditional gift bags of things we grew and canned this year. Jars of tomatoes and basil, black raspberry jam and bread and butter pickles this year. One for each sister’s family and my good friends who will stop by for the game. Got to wrap my grab bag gift (I got younger sister, so that was an easy one) and write the checks for the nieces’ money cards. At their age, they’d most appreciate money over gifts.

    I also want to bake some dog biscuits for Koda and Lovey but I think it will have to wait for Monday. They won’t care that Christmas is over after all!

  178. 178.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: Wow, I certainly hope so!

    I loved everything about Barack Obama’s inaugural day. Everything. I wish Pete Seeger was still here to sing This Land is Your Land to help us remember to carry on the fight, even when we are tired.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    @debbie:

    Anyone think this will happen?

    The alternative Inauguration concert?

    I have mixed feelings about this. It will only harden the Trump supporters. They will bear deep and long grudges against those who denied their man his big moment.

    On the other hand, Trump himself might go ballistic over what he will obviously take as a deep insult, especially if Alec Baldwin appears and does his Trump imitation. This alone might be worth alienating Trump supporters.

  181. 181.

    WereBear

    @Brachiator: This ain’t your standard issue Republican.

    I believe those (including our esteemed bloghost) bailed out during the W administration.

    This IS the Republican Party. All the prominent Republicans lined up to kiss Trump’s behind and line their own pockets proves it.

  184. 184.

    WereBear

    Which reminds me, our Tumblr to Tell Your Story:

    Could Happen to You

    Is waiting for your story; and it doesn’t have to be about health care. Vent about anything you wish about what Trump has declared he wishes to destroy… because it is all linked together.

  186. 186.

    geg6

    @Brachiator:

    My John and I are going to see “Fences” next week. Love me some homeboy August Wilson and it’s always fun to see a movie filmed here in the ‘Burgh where I can recognize much of the scenery.

  187. 187.

    trollhattan

    @Brachiator:

    I have mixed feelings about this. It will only harden the Trump supporters. They will bear deep and long grudges against those who denied their man his big moment.

    This response is already baked in–resentment is what got him elected and they’ll keep right on stewing in it, which will come in handy as they blame liberals for all of Trumps many, many looming fuckups.

    I think the opposition needs to plan on a giant, loud and continuous middle finger, let the thin-skinned monster put his true colors on display to all.

    ETA a confession to the mixed cooking metaphor.

  189. 189.

    WaterGirl

    @Brachiator:

    I have mixed feelings about this. It will only harden the Trump supporters. They will bear deep and long grudges against those who denied their man his big moment.

    I see where you’re going with that. Here’s where I am on that: screw them. They are going to bear deep and long grudges anyway. Changing any of our actions in any ways so as not to offend them seems a lot like an abused woman carefully tending the house, making dinner, tiptoeing around so as not to offend their abuser and engender a beating.

    I don’t seen how worrying about their feelings is going to get us anywhere we want to do.

  190. 190.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: Where were you when I was buying my christmas gifts for the kids? I got penzeys spices for the grown-ups, but that would have been perfect for all the kids.

  192. 192.

    Lizzy L

    My only family (brother, niece & husband) are 800 miles away, and most of my friends are not partiers (nor am I) so I’m having a quiet Christmas. I’ll be solitary but not lonely. Last night I did the traditional Chinese restaurant meal (they were playing soft rock, NOT playing Christmas carols, otherwise I would have walked out), so tonight I’ll have a homemade Christmas dinner, roast chicken with potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and some cookies. I’ll go to dawn Mass (8 am, close enough) and sing. A friend had surgery last week, so if she’s up for company I’ll visit her tomorrow. My dog and I will take a walk.

    I wish all the BJers Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Good Yule, whatever floats your holiday boat. Let there be peace on earth. God bless us every one.

  194. 194.

    geg6

    @WaterGirl:

    Exactly. The abuser’s argument that we are making them be hateful, ignorant assholes by pointing out they are hateful, ignorant assholes is a losing strategy. Any woman who has had to deal with men knows this is true.

  195. 195.

    Mike J

    @Brachiator:

    It will only harden the Trump supporters. They will bear deep and long grudges against those who denied their man his big moment.

    You can’t live your life trying to avoid doing things that piss off Trump supporters. Maybe you can for a little while if you’re a white, straight, Christian, man, but it won’t last.

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    @Mike J: You are right about that.

    I was sorry to hear that your mom is having health problems again, but I was happy to learn (in nearly the same breath) that her numbers were clear and that she gets to come home.

  198. 198.

    Brachiator

    @geg6:

    My John and I are going to see “Fences” next week. Love me some homeboy August Wilson and it’s always fun to see a movie filmed here in the ‘Burgh where I can recognize much of the scenery.

    I may try to see “Fences,” or more likely “Hidden Figures,” which will be in limited release on Christmas Day in selected cities.

    A bounty of choices.

  204. 204.

    debbie

    @zhena gogolia:

    A couple of my FB friends posted that separately, so I hope so too. (Is your name change permanent? It’s so hard to keep up with things here.)

    @Amir Khalid:

    I’m betting Alec Baldwin would be more than happy to comply with your hope!

  208. 208.

    gogol's wife

    @debbie:

    Yes, apparently apostrophes in a nym now trigger moderation. So I just translated “gogol’s wife” into Russian and transliterated it. We’ll see how long it lasts!

  209. 209.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    (reposted because I’m in moderation because Firefox has my old nym) Yes, apparently apostrophes in a nym now trigger moderation. So I just translated “gogol’s wife” into Russian and transliterated it. We’ll see how long it lasts!

  210. 210.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    Changing any of our actions in any ways so as not to offend them seems a lot like an abused woman carefully tending the house, making dinner, tiptoeing around so as not to offend their abuser and engender a beating.

    I’ve seen this metaphor suggested a number of times, and reject it. We are engaged in a political civil war, not a marriage. It is better to fight on a ground of your choosing, when you have marshaled your forces, than to needlessly inflame your opponent.

  211. 211.

    Suzanne

    @Botsplainer: That party sounds incredible. God. That’s fabulous.

    I made some homemade body butter yesterday (scented with vanilla and almond), and DAMN I smell delicious.

  212. 212.

    Felonius Monk

    @geg6:

    it’s always fun to see a movie filmed here in the ‘Burgh where I can recognize much of the scenery.

    Did you ever see “The Florentine” ? I believe this was Chris Penn’s last movie. Good story set in western PA.

  214. 214.

    Brachiator

    @zhena gogolia:

    You care entirely too much about Trump’s base. There aren’t really that many of them.

    As always, Yeats is my guide.

    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

    I am concerned about the deep harm that Trump may cause, egged on by his supporters, now matter how few or numerous they might be.

    And I think that a lot of people who talk tough about opposing Trump will slink away and do nothing if some truly noxious policies are enacted.

  215. 215.

    JAFD

    Hello again !

    First world problem: Am planning to go out to exurbs, have Xmas dinner with friends. Got call “We got some balsamic vinegar a while back, liked it fine, got some more, it upset m’lady’s stomach. Checked, found the good kind was 4,5% acidity, the notsogood 6%. Could you check the ethnic markets in your neighborhood, see if they have the 4.5% stuf?

    Well, went to one this morning. Employee I talked to there said “Do you know who produced it ? – if so we can check the inventory list.” So we shall see if my friends can find ‘good-stuf bottle’ again… Meanwhile, will walk over to other market this afternoon, hope not too chaotic, outcheck their stock…

    Best wishes for joyful Christmas, Channukah, Kwannza, Festivus, and Mummers’ Day to all Juicers, and a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2017.

    And remember, the USA survived Spiro T. Agnew – I was there, a frightening ‘leader’ he was – and will survive the Donald as well.

  216. 216.

    Renie

    Saw this AM that Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan) is quite pleased with drumpf’s cabinet picks cuz it will be ‘reset’ everything and make it good for business. That tells you we will get screwed.

    My fear is there will be no one speaking out on our behalf to stop the storm of legislation the GOP wants to do from happening. Schumer seems to go back and forth on what he opposes and wanting to work with Drumpf.

    On a personal/selfish level my own fear is the changing of Social Security and Medicare. We will see many more bankrupt elderly due to having to use vouchers to pay for health expenses while living on fixed incomes. I’m 60 and see my future not looking too bright.

    How will the approaching apocalypse affect many of you personally?

  217. 217.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Brachiator:

    This ain’t your standard issue Republican.

    Obnoxious, bellicose, resentment-fueled asshole seems like the standard issue Republican for the last 60 years to me.

  218. 218.

    WaterGirl

    @Brachiator:

    It is better to fight on a ground of your choosing, when you have marshaled your forces, than to needlessly inflame your opponent.

    Generally speaking, I agree with that statement.

    In this case, though, having that kind of alternative to the inauguration of the piece of shit that is donald trump could inspire hope, raise some serious money, help people know they are not powerless, etc. So weighed against those things, I am unconcerned about whether trump supporters will be offended. i don’t see how they could possibly hate us more than they do now. But maybe that’s just me.

  219. 219.

    Shell

    On one of the cooking shows, someone was explaining why they eat a lot of fried foods at Hanukah, to commemorate the miracle of the oil. All I could think was , “Like I’d need an excuse!”

  220. 220.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: It would be fun if half the Rockettes showed up.

    Since we’re told they have more Rockettes who volunteered than slots for them.

    ETA: Or Rockettes Emeritus.

  223. 223.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Yeah. And Pavarotti’s family would totally go with including his performance on film. They asked that Trump stop playing Nessun Dorma a while back, because he is the opposite of the late tenor’s values.

    Part of me feels badly for Trump, as a fellow human being, should this concert come to pass. It is an embarrassment.

    But then I remember his braying tweets about what a loser Hillary is, and how graceless he has been towards her. Nobody forced him to do that.

  224. 224.

    Woodrowfan

    Saw “Rogue one” last night. Enjoyed it more than I feared I would. Really liked the droid. Next up, Moana and Sing!

  226. 226.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle:

    Part of me feels badly for Trump, as a fellow human being, should this concert come to pass. It is an embarrassment.

    I don’t know whether to be ashamed or proud of you.

  227. 227.

    Brachiator

    @Felonius Monk:

    Did you ever see “The Florentine” ? I believe this was Chris Penn’s last movie. Good story set in western PA.

    “Florentine” was a 1999 film. Penn appeared in the 2001 movie “Corky Romano,” and did TV and other work before his death.

  228. 228.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Hi Baud. I am okay. Got another job offer out of the blue 5 weeks ago (Not the one I had written about a couple of weeks before that where I would have to work in an office for not good money.) This one was working from home (except for meetings), my usual consulting rate, full-time hours for 3 months.

    It appears that the universe was trying to come up with distractions for me so I wouldn’t spontaneously combust from my angst about trump or dive into constant despair. I’m able to keep all my current clients and continue to work from home, but it has me working about 60 hours a week, so there hasn’t been much time for anything else. And if all goes well, I get to pay off my porch!

    But i have really missed you guys. After 5 weeks of full time or more, I am going to try for 35 a week so I can pace myself, as it looks like they may well want me for longer than 3 months.

    How are you? What have I missed here?

  229. 229.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl: I’m glad to here things are looking good for you professionally, although 60 hrs per week is a bit much.

    I’m not sure if you missed much here except trolls and people cycling through the various stages. And John’s house. I’m still trying decide what my future will be in this new dark age.

  230. 230.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: @Elizabelle: I have not a single shred of concern about Trump as a human being, not one. It surprises me that any of us here would be concerned about Trump’s hurt feelings. Plus, I’m not sure it’s possible to hurt Trump. Anger, humiliate, etc maybe, but I don’t think he’s normal enough to actually experience hurt.

  234. 234.

    WereBear

    @WaterGirl: Oh, I do not have to send anything negative his way: the inner world of a narcissist is deep and dark and very very frightening.

    He is an incredible example of the supported (by his wealth and his syncophants) Personality Disorder. And the inner worlds of these people are never anything enviable.

    Don’t be fooled by the facade. It is truly all there is.

  235. 235.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: Oh, I think he can feel hurt. Badly. It is what makes him lash out. Even if he will not admit it.

    @Baud:

    I’m still trying decide what my future will be in this new dark age.

    Well, that’s suitably mysterious. As long as it includes us.

    Myself, I am just numb.

  238. 238.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Yeah, last week it was 50 hours at the new gig, on top of my usual 15 or so. Not surprisingly, I got sick on Wednesday. I was down for the count for about 3 days but now I’m well enough to head to chicago for christmas. Not feeling great, but good enough. So i’ll try for 35 at the new gig and 15-20 for my other clients so I can pace myself.

    I, too, think this will be a new dark age. But I’m enough of an optimist that I think something somehow will help mitigate the disaster. We just don’t know yet what it is. Maybe that’s just denial?

    Glad I missed the trolls, but I did miss the rest of you. I think this 5 weeks of no time to worry at all has been a good break for me, but I’m ready to engage again.

  239. 239.

    hovercraft

    @Botsplainer:
    Wow what an incredible, day/evening you had.

    As to young people, my belief is that are are tow phases of youth, childhood, when they are young and cute and don’t know anything because they are kids and still learning, this lasts till puberty begins. Then phase two begins, the lost years, this is a phase when they are learning at such an alarming rate that they can’t keep up with all of their newly acquired knowledge and skills, they are impervious to advice and guidance, they know everything and must try everything. In short they are monsters, you just have to hope that you instilled enough sense into them before the change occurred and that they will survive the lost years. Then one day, on or around their 25 th birthday, they will emerge from the wilderness as a human being, open to reason and now aware that they do not in fact know everything. The monsters you are dealing with now will become a distant memory, with stories like the one you just told becoming embarrassing tales you tell the grandkids about their parents.

  241. 241.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl: Good to have you back. Cutting out all news besides BJ has helped keep me relatively calm. Can’t stay in the cacoon forever, though.

  244. 244.

    Felonius Monk

    @Brachiator:

    Penn appeared in the 2001 movie “Corky Romano,” and did TV and other work before his death.

    Thnkx. My poor memory embarrasses me again. I never saw Florentine until about 6 mos. before he died, so it stuck in my mind.

    Also, too. The movie was filmed in the Lehigh Valley steel towns which are in eastern PA not western PA.

  248. 248.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Now you have got me worried.

    Escaping to Barcelona? (And that’s a fantasy of mine.)

    Just going to take an internet blackout?

    I think we will have to have multiple daily pet pictures, just to have something sweet to look at.

  249. 249.

    WereBear

    @hovercraft: Nice summing up :)

    I see it as a shock to the system… as we approach puberty, we have childhood down, but then our body and the rules change like we’ve been dropped off a cliff.

    So long, competency!

  250. 250.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    @Brachiator: Screw them and their grudges. I have neither the desire nor the complete lack of self-respect necessary to make nice with those who would see me dead or marginalized.

    To quote a notable sort, I welcome their hatred.

    Their disdain is a badge of honor. Their condescension denies history, progress, and logic,and will prove to be their epitaph.

  251. 251.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud:

    I’m still trying decide what my future will be in this new dark age.

    How about “Keeper of the Light”? Adult Diaper sounds so urinary.

  252. 252.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    Got another job offer out of the blue 5 weeks ago

    Congratulations, even if this all adds up to a lot of hours. Hope the new year goes well for you.

  253. 253.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: @Elizabelle: Seconding Elizabelle and others. I was so grateful when I got on BJ this morning for the first time in weeks to see your nym and so many others. You are not allowed to leave. :-) I mean that in the nicest possible, non-controlling, non-threatening way possible. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

  255. 255.

    SenyorDave

    @Elizabelle: Part of me feels badly for Trump, as a fellow human being, should this concert come to pass. It is an embarrassment.

    IF Trump and his family were buried up to their necks on the beach, and the tide came in and thousands of tiny crabs were picking at their eyeballs, I would feel bad for the crabs having to eat such disgusting people. Also, is Trump really a fellow human being?

  257. 257.

    J R in WV

    My birthday is right around the corner!

    Long ago, in the mists of times past. I would watch in the snow storm for my dad coming home from work late at night. They both worked hard to keep my birthday separate from Xmas. Once my Dad wanted to give me a telescope, so for the only time in my life I got a birthday present from my Uncle! ‘Cause the folks already had my birthday presents…

    Some winters we went to FL for a short beach vacation over Xmas, and the time we went to St Pete beach (stayed at a beach motel owned by Don Ho of Hawaiian music fame) I managed the parents into taking me (us all) to see Louis Armstrong, who’s big band was appearing in a vast old theater in St Pete. After seeing an ad for it I begged shamelessly… it wasn’t that hard as Dad and Mom were big fans of the big bands of the 40s and 50s. It was a great show, too.

    So Merry Festivus to all, and to all a good night!

    I’m trying not to go off on anger today, for once. So far, so good!

  259. 259.

    WaterGirl

    @Brachiator: Thank you!

    I was actually kind of serious when I said the universe was looking out for me with these offers out of the blue. I really was struggling with the election results. All this work and too tired to think at the end of the day was a good way of interrupting my despair. Like a mini-lobotomy, only without the procedure and $6,000 falls out of the sky for a bonus. I’ll take it.

  262. 262.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    You know, listing a crowd of top stars like that, it looks pretty real to me! I would pay $LOTS to attend that show, anywhere in the eastern half of the country! Funds going to a good cause…

    And it would keep me from knowing anything about the Drumpfkin’s party in DC… Priceless !!

  263. 263.

    WaterGirl

    @J R in WV: Nice to see you!

    I googled that a little while ago, and it appears that it started, at least, as a petition to get support for something like that happening. I surely hope it is real.

    P.S. I’ll take Tom Friedman’s cab driver and raise him an Amtrak train’s business class car full of people who hate donald trump, think Melania is no lady, they are white trash, they are both an embarrassment and a threat to our nation. Among other things.

  266. 266.

    Brachiator

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):

    Screw them and their grudges. I have neither the desire nor the complete lack of self-respect necessary to make nice with those who would see me dead or marginalized.

    Again, I don’t care about their feelings. I do care about what they may do.

    Most sane people agree that Trump was a fool for pointlessly provoking the Chinese by taking the call of the president of Taiwan. Curiously, Trump’s most vehement supporters are boasting about how they welcome the hatred of the Chinese. To quote a notable sort.

    Their disdain is a badge of honor. Their condescension denies history, progress, and logic,and will prove to be their epitaph.

    I understand where you are coming from. But we will need all this and more to defeat them.

  267. 267.

    Yarrow

    @Elizabelle: I’ve given up on hope. I posted about this last night and got some pushback. I feel hope is a wasted emotion. I’d rather be a cold-eyed realist. Hope has not served me well this year. When things I hope for don’t come to pass I end up disappointed. Hope seems to be a wish masquerading as something else. And wishes do nothing without work behind them. So my goal is now to figure out what I want, figure out what it takes to get there and work toward it. May not work out, but at least I haven’t wasted any energy on hoping it will. I can use my imagination for what the world would look like if I do get what I want. I don’t need to hope it will change. Hope just wastes my energy.

  269. 269.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Brachiator:

    Their condescension denies history, progress, and logic,and will prove to be their epitaph.

    The Chinese have been an advanced civilization for quite some time. They know what the long game is, and my money in the 21st Century is on them , not the USA.

  271. 271.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yarrow:

    I would put what you’re saying a slightly different way: “Hope is not a plan.” It’s all well and good to hope that things won’t get too bad, but we’d better plan for the worst and be prepared.

    I think the pushback is because people think you’re saying that you’re going to work to make things better but you have no hope that it will and that it will all be futile. I don’t think that’s what you’re saying, though.

  272. 272.

    DesertFriar

    Part of me feels badly for Trump, as a fellow human being, should this concert come to pass. It is an embarrassment.

    Well, let’s make our own list of performers (and songs) for Trump’s Inaugural Party:

    Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”
    The Castaways – “Liar, Liar”
    The Count Five – “Psychotic Reaction”
    Pussy Riot – “Straight Outta Vagina”
    Paul McCartney – “Nowhere Man”
    Tennessee Ernie Ford – “16 Tons”
    Sting – “Money For Nothing”
    Leningrad Cowboys – “Those Were The Days” & “Sweet Home Alabama”
    Cathy Carroll – “Poor Little Puppet”
    Paul Rogers “C-Lebrity”
    Kendrick Lamar – “For Sale (Interlude)”
    Lily Allen – “Insincerely Yours”

    What else?

  273. 273.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Yarrow: You’re getting pushback because you’re defining hope as waiting for some hero to come along and be the nation’s savior.

    When you set out to work toward a goal, you have hope. Not for a fairy godmother to fix things for you, but you are hopeful that it is possible to change what you want to change through the work that you are doing. You have not given in to the doubts telling you that the situation is hopeless and unchangeable.

    Being without hope is despair and depression.

  274. 274.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    I was actually kind of serious when I said the universe was looking out for me with these offers out of the blue. I really was struggling with the election results.

    I know what you mean about dealing with the election results. I would wake up some days and think, “I cannot believe that Trump is president. What in the hell was America thinking?”

    But again, glad things are looking better for you. You may have said before, but what kind of consulting do you do?

  276. 276.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    I just sent TaMara an email to see if she can create a Movie Club post since I think Anne Laurie is too frazzled to do it, but we’ll see. I need to get dressed and go pick up our chocolate cream pie for tomorrow.

  280. 280.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    A place in North Hollywood called Republic of Pie. And I’m slightly wrong — it’s actually a banana chocolate cream pie, which is really just chocolate cream pie with the added bonus deliciousness of bananas. I hope it will hold up until tomorrow’s meal. We have a weird tradition in my family of having Christmas “dinner” at around 2:00 pm.

  281. 281.

    James Powell

    @Brachiator:

    He will continue to be vigorously defended by his true believers

    His ardent supporters love him because he hates the same people they hate and does so without apology. They have no other attachment to him, so policy differences, personal corruption, or violations of all social and political norms mean nothing. Trump has understood this from the beginning. It’s why he beat the elite of the Republican party so badly. It’s why the negative campaigning against him was not enough to defeat him.

    And he has no reason to stop hating and abusing. His victims have no power and, with the Democrats completely out of the federal government, no defenders.

  284. 284.

    WereBear

    @Mnemosyne: I once made a gorgeous lemon meringue pie; and put it in the backseat for a Christmas trip from Long Island to Connecticut.

    About three hours in we had to dump it in a rest area trash can; the constant vibration of the car had turned the lemon filling into soup and totally soggified the crust!

    Fruit pie for travel from now on…

  285. 285.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud: Pls do not go anywhere. I missed you terribly when you were on vacation. I actually described this place as “Assholes, Curmudgeons, Academics. And Baud”

  287. 287.

    gene108

    I’d feel more sympathy towards the rural white working class, if they showed even the slightest bit of sympathy towards urban America, when urban America was going through a tough time from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.

    Factory jobs moved from cities to cheaper labor in rural America, killing job opportunities for less educated urban folks. People with money moved out, leaving a bunch of unused buildings from a city’s population peak in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Plus the crack epidemic of the 1980’s and early 1990’s was met with a lot of “lock them up and throw away the key”.

    And now the tables are turning with urban America being revitalized and rural America in decline, and we need to show them the sympathy they refused to show us.

  288. 288.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: Well. You are in the right Amtrak car, then.

    Fly on the wall reporting, please, if you hear any particularly apt turns of phrase.

  289. 289.

    Elizabelle

    @HeleninEire: Yes.

    Seriously. baud provides intelligent levity, which is needed here, because it does get too sour sometimes. I’d be gone without the baud.

  290. 290.

    gene108

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Chinese also remember when their civilization became stagnant, focused inwards too much and fell hard from its peak to be overrun by foreigners. I do not think they want to repeat that.

  291. 291.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: Well, let’s see. One lady has never hated anyone, but she hates donald trump. She, in fact, will not be sorry of the Chinese “come after him”. Another lady is appalled that Michelle Obama, a real lady, will be followed in the white house by Melania. Someone else mentioned that Melania cannot even pronounce the word “woman” correctly, though she allows that that wouldn’t bother her if Melania had any class at all. The guys were less vocal, but lots of nodding. Someone said that Donald Trump wishes he could be the man Barack Obama is, and it kills him that he isn’t. Gotta head for the metra now, I wonder if people will be as worked up and vocal on there.

    Merry Christmas, everyone!

  292. 292.

    Brachiator

    @DesertFriar:

    Well, let’s make our own list of performers (and songs) for Trump’s Inaugural Party:

    Two from Cabaret:

    “Money” – Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey

    “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” uncredited singer

  293. 293.

    Yarrow

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I guess we’re defining hope in different ways. I am not wasting any energy on hope because it hasn’t served me well, especially this year. I have learned to be a clear-eyed realist about where i am and go from there. Hope just makes it all much harder.

    @Iowa Old Lady: I’m not a pessimist either. I’m actually fairly optimistic. But I know things don’t always work out well for me. So I have learned not to waste energy on hoping things will work out well. Just move ahead. They’ll happen how they happen.

  298. 298.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @HeleninEire:

    I actually described this place as “Assholes, Curmudgeons, Academics. And Baud”

    I’m just trying to figure out if I’m an Asshole or a Curmudgeon.

  310. 310.

    reggie mantle

    @Baud:

    If you Clinton supporters hadn’t spent so much time bleating “fuck you, you lost, you get nothing, so STFU” to the “Bernie Bots,” you might not be hearing it so much now from the Trump Chumps.

    Clinton herself seemed to realize she needed every vote, but her own alleged supporters were working as hard as they could to refute that idea.

    Merry Christmas, and may Santa bring you some fucking self-awareness this year.

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