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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

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Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

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

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

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In my day, never was longer.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

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This really is a full service blog.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

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The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Non-Political Open Thread

Non-Political Open Thread

by Cheryl Rofer|  July 27, 20178:50 pm| 117 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I need a break. I’ve been listening to this a lot lately. No politics!

 

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Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 27, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    Because that conference ate my previous weekend, I get tomorrow off, so suck it, libtards!

    ?

    I plan to write and read and sleep in and draw and go to the eye doctor. Tonight I’ll stay up late watching Psych and playing Warcraft maybe, but first, dim sum!!!

  2. 2.

    MikeInOly

    July 27, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    That is lovely! I’ve been listening to Erik Satie lately. So mellow and sweet. Perfect for a slow weekend morning.

  3. 3.

    Time Waste

    July 27, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    They don’t rest, so they win.

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    Very nice, Cheryl – thanks!

    Very psyched about concerts and trips coming up this fall. Music and travel, is there anything better? (Don’t answer that, jackals)

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne

    July 27, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    Our company offered tickets to a special charity performance of “Hamilton” and I got an AMAZING seat within my budget. Very very happy day. ?

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    July 27, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    I’ve always liked that piece. Thanks for posting.

  7. 7.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    July 27, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    Something stupid this way comes:
    Appalachian Wrestling’s Greatest Villain: ‘The Progressive Liberal’

    http://www.npr.org/2017/06/30/534969928/appalachian-wrestlings-greatest-villain-the-progressive-liberal

    When Daniel Harnsberger leaves his home on the East Coast and drives into Appalachia, he usually packs a T-shirt covered in Hillary Clinton faces and spandex wrestling briefs that say “Progressive Liberal.”

    That’s his wrestling persona — and his costume. And most weekends, Harnsberger dons it to work in semipro regional circuits as a stereotypical coastal elite who trolls in Donald Trump country. (He sometimes also wears a shirt that says “Not My President.”)

    He’s wrestled for years — until recently, without the left-leaning political tilt — in conservative corners of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. It’s a grind. These are small gigs, often in high school gyms or on county fairgrounds. On these regional circuits, wrestlers often schedule a match at a time.

    “I was wrestling for $5 and a hot dog and a soda,” Harnsberger tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep. “There were times I didn’t get paid at all.”

    But two years ago — just after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign — Harnsberger made politics part of his act.

    He was wrestling in a small town in West Virginia. As Harnsberger recalls, the promoter told him to “be the biggest heel you can be.” That was easy for Harnsberger, who’s always been a fan of wrestling heels — cartoonish bad guys whose job is to rile up the crowd.

    So he took the microphone and brought some of Trump’s campaign rhetoric into the ring: “I said, ‘I hope Trump doesn’t build a wall around Mexico. Instead I hope he builds it around this town so you people can’t infiltrate the population.’ And that got a heated reaction.”

    And his shtick kept getting that reaction. He honed it into a character named Dan Richards, The Progressive Liberal, that he kept playing throughout the election. When Trump won in November, crowds hated Dan Richards even more.

    In character, Harnsberger tells crowds he’ll take their guns. He says he wants to “reprogram” Trump supporters to make them favor renewable energy over coal.

    “I know how you stupid Trump voters think,” the Liberal Progressive says in one video for Appalachian Mountain Wrestling. “Allow me to illustrate: dur-dur-dur, I love coal. Dur-dur-dur, I love mountains.”

    And in the ring, he finishes off opponents with a move called the “Liberal Agenda” he described recently to Sports Illustrated:

    “It’s just a cross-arm neckbreaker, so if I’m standing in front of you, I’m grabbing each of your wrists, crossing your arms, then twisting you for a standard neckbreaker. I call that the Liberal Agenda so then the announcer says, ‘Oh, he hit him with his Liberal Agenda!’ ”
    Wrestling fans seem to eat it up. In one video, a gym full of spectators boos Harnsberger as he makes his entrance before a match; a group of kids scream at him from just a few feet away. In another video, Harnsberger gets into a shouting match with a fan. The man calls him “D.C. girl” and starts a chant of “Bye, bye, Hillary!”

    Harnsberger goes out of his way to make wrestling fans hate his character. Turns out the left-wing views of the Progressive Liberal aren’t an act.

    “I’m the progressive liberal in real life,” he says, “so I think this would generate a reaction from fans, especially the places I was going.”

    And that’s probably what makes Harnsberger such a good villain. A great heel, he says, is one who “believes what they’re saying and feels justified in their actions.”

    Not exactly about politics. Well, lighter anyway

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Music and travel, is there anything better? (Don’t answer that, jackals)

    Fine Dining. And drinking. And having someone affectionate close at hand. Reading a good book. Ice cream. Puppies.

  9. 9.

    MomSense

    July 27, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I love Psych. My 13 year old and I consider the beginning of season 7 episode 11 Office Space one of the funniest ever.

  10. 10.

    maurinsky

    July 27, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    I love Nimrod from the Enigma Variations.

    I’ve been listening to Camille.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7ryxk41HtI

  11. 11.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 27, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: semipro wrestling, now there’s an American tradition! Thanks, I hadn’t seen that.

  12. 12.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    Round 2 of bluelight cancer preventive treatment tomorrow. Two hours with some acid on my mug, 16.5 minutes gettin cooked and a weekend indoors. Could be worse.

  13. 13.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    I’m sorry but Rachel is killing it!

  14. 14.

    TriassicSands

    July 27, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    Cheryl — good taste in music. British composers aren’t, generally, my favorites, but The Enigma Variations are always worth hearing. Thanks.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    July 27, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Music and travel, is there anything better?

    Crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you, and hearing the lamentation of their women?

  16. 16.

    germy

    July 27, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    Girls Trip is a funny, funny movie.

  17. 17.

    Yoda Dog

    July 27, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    @raven: 3 minutes in? She must be.. guess I better tune it in..

    Cheryl, I’ve been listening to a lot of Michael Kiwanuka. He’s got an old grainy voice that I dig. His song was featured in the recent HBO miniseries, Little Big Lies. Really good stuff.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNDqoYyX2RM

  18. 18.

    PaulWartenberg

    July 27, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    I will see you all at Tampa Comic Con on Saturday!

  19. 19.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 27, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: When my dad started his navy enlistment(1937) some of the old chiefs had been semipro wrestlers. They’d stir the new guys coffee with their dentures.

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    @TenguPhule: When I said “don’t answer that, jackals”…? Plus you forgot coffee.

    @dmsilev: When I said, “don’t answer that, jackals”…? Plus it’s “…duh lahmentashuns of der vimmin…”

  21. 21.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 27, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    @Jeffro: Not much.
    When I am in a bad mood, these days wedding songs from Hindi movies always manage to perk me up. TBH, I am not big on attending IRL. Unless its for people who are really close to me. However, its fun to watch on screen. Also too, RL weddings are no where as much as fun as Hindi movie versions.
    Kala chasma, (Black Glasses) is not quite a wedding song, but is catchy.

    Disney could have cast Siddharth and Katrina ( the couple on the screen) in that stupid Aladdin movie.

  22. 22.

    Iowa Old Lady

    July 27, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Go you! I am jealous.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    July 27, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    @Jeffro: You expected us to heed that?

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    @Jeffro:

    When I said “don’t answer that, jackals”…? Plus you forgot coffee.

    You thought that would be anything but an invitation here of all places? Also, I think coffee is at best a necessary evil.

  25. 25.

    efgoldman

    July 27, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    British composers aren’t, generally, my favorites

    I don’t especially like Elgar; the advantage of Enigma is its relative brevity.
    OTOH his big orchestral pieces are good for filling time in an all-night show.
    He wrote a couple of big oratorios that some mid-20th century English conductors loved. They are really, really awful; the most boring music ever; wan to make you take knitting needles to the ears.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    Costco now has Japanese Wagyu Beef for order online.

    $100 a pound for new york cuts.

  27. 27.

    germy

    July 27, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    We were watching America’s Got Talent a few nights ago, and a woman came on with her piano playing pet chicken.

  28. 28.

    ThresherK

    July 27, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    LIstening to a bunch of Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbach. My wife is worried that this is a gateway drug to operetta.

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    July 27, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    @efgoldman: When I was visiting my parents a few weeks ago, my mom and I had basically the same conversation (sparked by listening to a recording of the Enigma Variations on the radio). For top-tier British composers, we came up with Purcell, Handel (partial credit), Elgar, and Britten. Not much else. Sullivan loses points because his “serious” music is godawful.

    Also, the dog came up to us halfway through the piece because it was time for his evening toilet walk, my mom told him “wait until the Elgar is over”, and he went away and came back 15 minutes later. Smart dog…

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    @germy:

    and a woman came on with her piano playing pet chicken.

    I haven’t heard that one before. Did the piano lay any eggs?

  31. 31.

    debbie

    July 27, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    @raven:

    Good luck!

  32. 32.

    Emma

    July 27, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    The Dream of Gerontius. My Elgar fave, hands down. There’s a new recording by Barenboim that is getting good reviews.

  33. 33.

    Gvg

    July 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    I am taking tomorrow off to drive my mother to a caladium festival. Secondary benefit is avoiding the office. They used some new cleaning fluid on something yesterday and it’s been killing my sinuses plus making me sneeze. Hopefully by Monday it will have aired out. Mother doesn’t drive long distances and she has wanted to go for years. Should be fun but hot.

  34. 34.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Sounds like the Sand Pebbles.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    July 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    @ThresherK:

    She’s not wrong.

  36. 36.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 27, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    @TenguPhule: how do you know it’s real?

  37. 37.

    germy

    July 27, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    @TenguPhule: No. Got a standing ovation. Quite a talented chicken. And patriotic.

  38. 38.

    Felanius Kootea

    July 27, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    Okay in somewhat non-political news, I have a short story in the Summer 2017 issue of Ploughshares.
    It is about a tyrannical boarding school principal and the girls who try to thwart her, so maybe not so
    non-political :-). It’s the first time I’ve been paid for a short story, so that’s nice.

  39. 39.

    Steeplejack

    July 27, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Congratulations! That’s a milestone.

  40. 40.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Well they just sent us the monthly ad book. And it looks like actual wagyu marbling in the photos. And Costco isn’t generally a liar when it comes to this kind of thing.

  41. 41.

    Iowa Old Lady

    July 27, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    No politics is a good idea at this time of the evening. I usually listen to Maddow the next day but Mr IOL has her on in the next room and I have to go somewhere I can shut the door or I will stew about things when I try to go to sleep.

  42. 42.

    debbie

    July 27, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Congratulations! It sounds like my school experience. I hope the girls won.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    @germy:

    Quite a talented chicken. And patriotic.

    I think we’ve found Baud’s 2020 running mate.

  44. 44.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 27, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: that’s awesome, congrats!

  45. 45.

    germy

    July 27, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    I think we’ve found Baud’s 2020 running mate.

    And if he loses he can make soup.

  46. 46.

    efgoldman

    July 27, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @Emma:

    The Dream of Gerontius. My Elgar fave, hands down.

    Oh gawds!
    I spent 15 years of overnight radio looking for long pieces that filled a lot of time (you’d be surprised how hard it is to fill six hours/night without being repetitive). I played Gerontius exactly once – never did again.

  47. 47.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    1. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie (1st And 2nd Movements) 2. Smiling Phases

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 27, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    I am going to American Players Theatre this weekend. Family and friends do an annual outing. Picnic and wine in the afternoon. And then up the hill to see a play. This year we are seeing “A Flea in Her Ear.” I am tasked with bringing wine – my capabilities were assessed and this task was found to be in my wheelhouse. After brunch on Sunday, I may go over to Taliesin.

  49. 49.

    Felanius Kootea

    July 27, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    @Steeplejack: @debbie: @Major Major Major Major: Thanks all! Now I just have to finish writing my short story collection – discipline I’m good at but consistency is my problem, my full-time work (which I greatly enjoy) always intrudes and takes over.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    July 27, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @raven: Tis why I stopped streaming the show, and decided to relax by listening to the orchestra.

  51. 51.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @JPL: The first 5 minutes were really funny.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    July 27, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    … and, of course, I discovered after posting that I managed to lose my house key. Fucking instant karma. I should never tell anyone when good things happen to me. ?

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @dmsilev: Well of course not…isn’t it twice as much fun piling on when someone says, “now now, let’s be civil”? Just trying to add value here.

  54. 54.

    TriassicSands

    July 27, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I do like The Enigma Variations, but it is the only music of Elgar’s that I ever listen to. I like some Ralph Vaughan Williams, but not much beyond that from British composers. I have symphonies by a number of British composers and they never became favorites.

    Sometimes I enjoy a run through The Planets.

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Fucking instant karma.

    Are you sure its not delayed karma for telling us too much about your cat?

  56. 56.

    TenguPhule

    July 27, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @germy:

    And if he loses he can make soup.

    I’m not sure the chicken will enjoy Cream of Baud.

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 27, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    @TenguPhule: Baud is a friend not food. Please not to be eating Baud.

  58. 58.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 27, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    @TenguPhule: that seems more likely.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    You thought that would be anything but an invitation here of all places?

    (Whoops should have copied you in at #53 as well – I’m fully aware of all Balloon Juice traditions!)

    Off to read a bit: “The Warmth of Other Suns” – amazing!

  60. 60.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:48 pm

    @Jeffro: Great book.

  61. 61.

    david spikes

    July 27, 2017 at 9:48 pm

    I’ve been listening to Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and the other day was pleased to hear its opening movement woven into Dunkirk-which is a good but to me unsatisfactory movie.
    And just picked the first tomatoes-black pear-yummm.
    And note to self-next year not so many cubanelle peppers.

  62. 62.

    raven

    July 27, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    @Jeffro: Try this when you finish

    “Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South

  63. 63.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 27, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    Punjabi Wedding Song, with Siddharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra from Hansee to Phansee.
    I loved this movie, which I saw earlier this year. Nerdy science girl gets the hot guy instead of her model sister!

  64. 64.

    K488

    July 27, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    There’s lots of good Elgar – the two (completed) symphonies, the violin concerto and the piano quintet are particular favorites of mine. Pace efgoldman, but while the text of Gerontius doesn’t thrill me, I find a lot of good music in it. But, as efgoldman knows, I like folks like Max Reger and Franz Schmidt, so perhaps my tastes are…questionable. Thanks for posting the Enigma Variations – it’s a wonderful set.

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    July 27, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    Please do a political thread. Thank you.

  66. 66.

    zhena gogolia

    July 27, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    @K488:

    You have a nice nym.

  67. 67.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 27, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    My physical therapist and I decided to take a little break in our relationship.

    A little more seriously, since I can do no strengthening work for at least another month, and can work on flexibility and range of motion myself, there’s no reason to keep spending money. If my next visit with the surgeon (end of August) shows progress, then we can go back to working on strengthening. If it doesn’t show progress, then there are several other possible courses of action, none of them good.

  68. 68.

    Schlemazel

    July 27, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    @efgoldman:
    I have not been hanging around regularly – how have you been, alta kaker?

  69. 69.

    Ian G.

    July 27, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    https://youtu.be/zI9ivyULEW4

    This song has been bouncing around my head of late. I’ve listened to The National for a while, but for whatever reason, they’re really beginning to grow on me now.

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 27, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Best of luck and all that.

  71. 71.

    satby

    July 27, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: Congratulations!

    Enjoying the Elgar while nursing the sore shoulder from a wasp sting I got while weeding. On the plus side I did get almost all the weeds before I was driven away by the wasp. The raised bed is frightfully dry though, if we don’t get rain tonight I need to buy a second hose so can reach it to water. Probably should just buy the hose anyway.

  72. 72.

    Schlemazel

    July 27, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    SInce classical music is the theme I’ll add that I played Beethoven once . . . Beethoven lost badly

  73. 73.

    satby

    July 27, 2017 at 10:06 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: man, so sorry you’re going through this.

  74. 74.

    satby

    July 27, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    The last and totally unlamented ex hated that I listen primarily to classical music in the house in the morning. I enjoy a peaceful start to my day as I enjoy my pot of coffee. He used to call it funeral music.
    The local station plays baroque almost exclusively.
    He was and is a total ass.

  75. 75.

    efgoldman

    July 27, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @K488:

    I like folks like Max Reger and Franz Schmidt, so perhaps my tastes are…questionable.

    Honestly, I never question anybody else’s taste, likes or dislikes. I just know that Mahler, R Strauss, Bruckner reach me in a way that Elgar never did and never will.
    And no, I didn’t love everything I aired. If I did that I’d have played the same 20 hours over again.

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 27, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @satby: That makes two of us.

  77. 77.

    Schlemazel

    July 27, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:
    I find its the friggin waiting and fretting that is the worst. Better to find out then to wait. Hopefully this will work out for you and you will look back at all this agita as a dim memory

  78. 78.

    Ninedragonspot

    July 27, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @K488: whatever Max Reger’s faults, tasteless wasn’t one of them. There’s a lot of Franz Schmidt I enjoy, but his final project, the post-Anschluss “Deutsche Auferstehung”, kind of soured me on him.

    As far as British composers ago, things pick up with Britten, Maxwell Davies, Birtwhistle, and Thomas Adès.

  79. 79.

    efgoldman

    July 27, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    how have you been, alta kaker?

    Not well, thanks. My kidneys have failed, I’ve started dialysis. I was in the hospital over the weekend getting it round the clock. My doc never told me, but I think I was nearer to croaking than they said.

  80. 80.

    StringOnAStick

    July 27, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    We’ve made plans to go Austria for 10 days in Sept since my husband found rt tickets for less than $450 each. So, climb some via Feratta’s, rent some mountain bikes and climb some peaks in the late summer/early fall. Should be nice.

  81. 81.

    gene108

    July 27, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    My mom unearthed many pictures from the 1990’s, which I do not want to accept was mostly 20+ years ago….

    Let’s just say, I have not aged well…

  82. 82.

    Schlemazel

    July 27, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @efgoldman:
    fug, sorry but keep fighting this may pass we are all pulling for you.

  83. 83.

    sm*t cl*de

    July 27, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    @dmsilev:

    we came up with Purcell, Handel (partial credit), Elgar, and Britten. Not much else

    No Vaughan Williams?!
    Good Day, sir!
    In other news, the national School of Music is staging a production of ‘Vixen Sharp-Ears’ tonight, so yay, cheap tix.

  84. 84.

    gene108

    July 27, 2017 at 10:26 pm

    @efgoldman:

    My kidneys have failed, I’ve started dialysis.

    There’s a pretty big range, from my personal experience, on how exactly kidneys fail. It’s not like your heart failing, where there are two modes: pumping and not pumping.

    Even at low levels of performance, they still do something.

    That’s why they leave them in there, whenever possible, when you get a kidney transplant.

    How’s dialysis going? Feeling any better?

  85. 85.

    Emma

    July 27, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    @efgoldman: Not everyone’s cup of tea by a long chalk.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    @raven: Sounds like a great recommendation, thank you!

    On a civil rights/progress/sports note, the fam and I were recently blown away by watching “Race” (with Stephan James and Jason Sudeikis) – wow what a movie! The kids asked to watch it again the very next night.

  87. 87.

    efgoldman

    July 27, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @gene108:

    How’s dialysis going? Feeling any better?

    Maybe a little. My appetite is coming back, but the generalized weakness is still there, It’s a real effort just to get around the house. Plus four days in a hospital bed played havoc with my legs (hospital beds are torture devices).

  88. 88.

    debbie

    July 27, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I am so sorry to read this. Are you starting to feel better?

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    July 27, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Actually, the reason people are pissed about the Aladdin movie is that the female lead is (half) Indian-American and not Middle Eastern (Arab or Persian), so that would have just made them even more mad.

    The male lead is Egyptian (born there to Egyptian parents, raised in Canada), so I’m not sure what people are pissed about there.

  90. 90.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 27, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    Apologies, but I just had to get away. Here’s another Elgar piece I love.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71wbpPpfmTM

  91. 91.

    smintheus

    July 27, 2017 at 10:36 pm

    @dmsilev: Delius?

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

    July 27, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Let us know if they talk about the whole mass murder thing at Taliesin or if they still try to avoid the subject.

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    July 27, 2017 at 10:40 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    To be fair, I was telling you about my cat’s poop, not about the actual cat. ?

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 27, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne: How is it important to what Taliesin was and is?

  95. 95.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 27, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    efgoldman: I am sending good thoughts your way. I didn’t follow comments closely until I became a front-pager, but I have enjoyed your insights and general crochetiness.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 27, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Not pissed at all. Just offering suggestions.

    BTW I don’t see why an Indian actor could not play an Arab or vice versa.

  97. 97.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @efgoldman: hang in there and feel better soon! Know that this pack/band/gang of jackals is sending you our best wishes.

  98. 98.

    Yarrow

    July 27, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    @efgoldman: So sorry to hear that it’s a slow recovery. I hope your energy starts to improve and you feel better. It’s been a long haul for you.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 27, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    @efgoldman: This can give you years and years, no? I can say that I hope that your cranky ass is around here for a long time to come without even stretching the truth. .

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    July 27, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: btw Cheryl, I have to thank you, uncultured lout that I am, I’d never heard of “The Enigma Variations” nor Edward Elgar. What a fascinating backstory there! And of course great music. Thanks!

  101. 101.

    Madeleine

    July 27, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Ninedragonspot: Have you heard any of George Benjamin’s music? I heard/saw a performance of Written on Skin a couple years ago and was completely enthralled.

  102. 102.

    Bill Arnold

    July 27, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    Found this recent piece on the Enigma Variations while poking while listening (and like Jeffro, spottily cultured):
    Has a Cleveland policeman cracked the secret of Elgar’s Enigma Variations? ( 3 May 2017 )

    Cleveland policeman and amateur cryptologist Mark Pitt reckons the theme of the Variations is a counterpoint to Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem Les Préludes.

    (Perhaps Cheryl knew of this story but it was entirely new to me.)

  103. 103.

    M. Bouffant

    July 27, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Aw, c’mon. Everything‘s political

  104. 104.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 27, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    Quick updates on mugging-related news, plus a question:

    1) Making good progress recovering from the slash/stab wound in my left elbow, with range of motion improving hourly. Arm strength will be the big challenge – I’m a long way from being able to handle a carry-on on the port side.

    2) There is in fact video of the mugging courtesy of the supermarket’s surveillance cameras; it’s gone to the police who have matched it up with data from other nearby camera to trace the robber’s line of retreat. They might actually be able to nail him!

    3) No dry-cleaners will touch the clothes I was carrying at the time, two sports coats & two vests now radically stained with my own blood. I’d really like to resurrect these items but it looks like it’s up to me. Whence comes the question:

    Anyone have any advice on removing substantial bloodstains from “dry-clean-only” clothing?

    As of now I intend to start with the more rugged of the coats, soak it in cold water, & hand wash it with dishwashing soap. (Other soaking suggestions I’ve seen for when the stains persists are vinegar and (separately) hydrogen peroxide, which looks like a last desperate resort to me since it’s a bleaching agent.) If I can get most of the stains off it I may take it back to a cleaner or swallow hard & run it through the washer with cold ware & Woollite at the most delicate setting.

    Your thoughts?

  105. 105.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 27, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: “cold water & Woollite”

  106. 106.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 27, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Thanks. I’m just checking around before I turn in, so I’ll read it tomorrow. I never took the music theory course I wanted to in graduate school because the chemistry department already looked askance at the math courses I was taking, and although never particularly subtle, I did get that hint.

    The Enigma Variations have always been a mystery to me because I don’t hear the continuing theme in the variations. I’m not too good at that, and it’s taken me some time to “get” the Goldberg Variations, but I think I’m starting to see through them.

    I tend to be skeptical about cryptology applied to music, but I also love Les Préludes, so maybe that is it.

  107. 107.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 27, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Glad to hear that things are moving along and you are healing. You might try dissolving regular laundry detergent in cold water and soaking the clothes. The ability of laundry detergent to remove blood has improved immensely over the past decade or so.

  108. 108.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 27, 2017 at 11:48 pm

    Apparently parts of the Enigma Variations were in the “Dunkirk” score.

  109. 109.

    M. Bouffant

    July 27, 2017 at 11:48 pm

    “Catio”.

  110. 110.

    TriassicSands

    July 27, 2017 at 11:53 pm

    @K488:

    You failed to mention the Cello Concerto. If you’re a fan of Elgar’s, as you appear to be, do you really not care for the Cello Concerto?

    Out of curiosity, I searched for Elgar’s most famous composition just now. A DGG page came up and sure enough the Cello Concerto was listed first.

    Is K488 a reference to Piano Concerto No. 23?

  111. 111.

    TriassicSands

    July 28, 2017 at 12:09 am

    @efgoldman:

    I hope you are feeling better. And I hope the dialysis works wonders for how you feel in the future.

  112. 112.

    Yutsano

    July 28, 2017 at 12:16 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I hate to be that guy, but it can’t be true Japanese wagyu. That AFAIK is still forbidden for export.

  113. 113.

    Ninedragonspot

    July 28, 2017 at 1:07 am

    @Madeleine: I haven t listened to “Written on Skin” all the way through, but I liked it, and it has been both a critical and, by classical standards, popular success.

  114. 114.

    David Evans

    July 28, 2017 at 3:37 am

    Michael Nyman is a modern British composer who sometimes reminds me of Elgar. His music for “The Piano” is very much to my taste.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo9G9C6KvCE

  115. 115.

    HeartlandLiberal

    July 28, 2017 at 3:56 am

    Well, it is 3:48 am, and I see I am not the only one who could not sleep, David Evans posted at 3:37.

    Regarding Elgar, all I have to say is, if you have not listened to it, you must: ELGAR CELLO CONCERTO, JACQUELINE DU PRE.

    Du Pre died too young, sadly, a terrible loss, but her performance of the concerto is just masterful. It is a powerful, moving piece. I searched for the above caps text and found an eight minute video of her playing a section of the concerto. RIP, Jacqueline Du Pre, your talent was lost too soon.

    I was chatting with my wife while we were driving the other day. Sadly she has suffered severe hearing loss as we journey into older age, but the one thing we agreed we should try is getting out vinyl of all our favorite classical pieces like Elgar, Tchaikosvky, Brahms, especially the violin and cello concertos, and have a vinyl analog music fest. Right after I retired a few years ago I invested in a brand new turntable and a nice compact Denon amp and speaker set up, and I use it in my upstairs study / office to listen to vinyl while I work. A great investment it was. My ears, fortunately, still work, and I count myself among those who can often HEAR the difference between a CD or other digitized music, and the analog technology of the old vinyl LPs. Digitized music is, when you get down to it, no matter how sophisticated, a SAMPLING of the sound stream. There are minute bits of the stream missing. That is why to my ears I have run into CD version of classical music that sound ‘tinny’, you can sense the difference.

  116. 116.

    K488

    July 28, 2017 at 5:53 am

    @TriassicSands: Not so much a fan of the cello concerto as I am of the violin concerto, but it’s still a lovely piece. Nor did I mention the violin sonata and the string quartet, from the same period as the piano quintet, and wonderful pieces as well. Re the number, yes. The key is the key!

  117. 117.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 28, 2017 at 11:08 am

    @Bill Arnold: Interesting theory. I can’t refute it, and I have been having phrases from Enigma and Liszt playing in my head since last night. Could be something there.

    I like the cello concerto too. I even like “Pomp and Circumstance.”

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