Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

After roe, women are no longer free.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Not all heroes wear capes.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Baa-Baa, Mofos!

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  5. 5.

    schrodingers_cat

    OMG he is cute! Husband kitteh went for a run, and donkey on the farm that’s on his route came up to him to be petted, the woolly sheep on the farm, ignored him. I had no idea that donkeys were friendly.

    BTW what happens to Connor Lamb after Easter?

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I think 2016 butter lamb was better.

    Nope. This is your best EVAH. Love this BL.

  22. 22.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @SiubhanDuinne: LOL. YOu both crack me up.

    I love your this year’s version. I didn’t make once this year, but plan to do so again next Easter. They are such great fun.

  28. 28.

    JMG

    Just showed Alice (my wife of some years) the lamb photo. She was enchanted. Good work Ms.Cracker.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @raven

    “Now we come to this life-size replica of the Taj Mahal, made entirely of oleomargaine. Let’s knock on the door and see if he’s in.” *squish squish*

  34. 34.

    Bumper

    I’m at Korean Bamboo in Belltown. Not seeing anything familiar. Did I get the wrong location?? Help!

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ruviana:

    Jeez, everyone has to ram these puns down our throats!

    Only if they’re trying to fleece you. Otherwise, it’s shear madness.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    @raven: I had to google to see more. Those are so beautiful. Who knew that you could sculpt butter into such ornate patterns?

  46. 46.

    Feathers

    Very impressive! I’ve made sheep cookies and honey-butter beehives, but the butter lambs are really something. There’s a local bakery that does challah bunny loaves, this would be a perfect companion. I think I make one as practice at some point. Do you just thoroughly clean your garlic press, or do you keep one just for this?

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    Did you see my reply in the last thread? You missed my joke.

    As for this comment you mentioned it was to avoid inhaling gnats but not why, I just reinforced your comment

  54. 54.

    Mary G

    The addition of “Mo-Fos” to the lovely Easter tradition is next level Balloon Juice!

  56. 56.

    donnah

    Not baaaaaaa-d, Betty!

    It’s adorable and I’m sure it will be a show-stopper. Happy Easter!

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    *DVR Alert *

    A while back, in a thread about anime, one of the Uncle nyms (Cosmo?) asked me what’s so great about Cowboy Bebop. I came back way late to the discussion and didn’t answer. But I’m happy to report that Cartoon Network is running the entire series (26 half-hour episodes) in two-episode blocks every weekend, starting with the first two, “Asteroid Blues” and “Stray Dog Strut,” at 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. EDT tonight.

    Cartoon Network just finished doing this same run last weekend. I have to say the series holds up very well—a genuine classic. Time for me to break down and get the Blu-ray set.

    Anyway, for those who are interested, or even curious, here’s your chance to get a taste.

  63. 63.

    Corner Stone

    So Over This
    ‏ @Johngcole
    23m23 minutes ago

    So Over This Retweeted So Over This

    I don’t know why I love @bettycrackerfl ‘s butter lambs so much, but I do.

    AAAWWWKWAAAAARRRD!!!

  64. 64.

    satby

    I really think this is your best one Betty, but I guess we would have to do a side by side comparison. Well done!

  65. 65.

    Kay

    I love that.

    I’m making a rectangle sheet cake with coconut on it and calling it “lamb cake”. They have to use their imaginations. Maybe they won’t know it’s supposed to have legs.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @Betty Cracker:

    Nice butter lamb!

    My Easter tradition observance tomorrow will not be so nice. One of Bro’ Man’s in-laws, a Brazilian auntie, has claimed Easter as her holiday event every year, so we’ll be trooping over to the Maryland side tomorrow to have an afternoon meal at her place. She’s a good cook, the food is great, except that on big occasions the Brazilians always include some dish featuring salt cod, apparently as a token of their Portuguese heritage. Usually it’s some sort of stew. WTF? The best I can say is that it’s interesting. Definitely more sinister than a butter lamb.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    It’s supposed to call their wooly coats to mind. I’m hoping if I look them right in the eye, set it down, and say “here’s the lamb cake” they’ll play along.

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What does coconut have to do with lambs?

    Shredded coconut (which I personally find repugnant, but that’s neither here nor there) is white and slightly curly, and somewhat resembles lamb’s-wool on a lamb-shaped pastry.

    (For several decades, I thought the boxed shredded coconut was what coconut actually tasted like. I hated it and still do. Imagine my surprise, well into my 50s, when I accidentally tasted fresh coconut and discovered how tasty it is. My mother had the same misconception and aversion. I’m really sorry she died without learning The Truth About Coconut.)

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Shredded coconut (which I personally find repugnant, but that’s neither here nor there)

    That is objective fact, not personal taste.

  80. 80.

    The Dangerman

    @Lapassionara:

    Also, sad about Loyola-Chicago.

    It was a helluva run; they basically ran out of gas at 10 to go. No more legs, no can shoot.

    Plus, Villanova would have beat them BAD.

    They should be proud; it was a hell of a nice run.

  81. 81.

    efgoldman

    @Steeplejack:

    on big occasions the Brazilians always include some dish featuring salt cod

    First xmas (there were only two) mrs efg #1 and i were married, we went to her paternal grandparents’ for xmas eve dinner. Very Italian. Meatballs, sausage, pasta….
    And baccala. I really tried, I really did, but I just couldn’t. And that was before i saw it just left out all year. In the sun.

  82. 82.

    mai naem mobile

    Nice looking lamb.
    NPR Weekend Puzzle had a puzzle a couple of weeks ago with lamb and baba. Take the letters from an animal name and the sound it makes and name a famous song. It was Lamb,Baba and La Bamba. Once in a while I’ll get the puzzle right off the bat. This was one of them.

  83. 83.

    The Dangerman

    @efgoldman:

    And baccala. I really tried, I really did, but I just couldn’t.

    Wise choice. A long time ago, I was in China on business and I ate almost everything that was offered to me (I drew the line at something that my translator said was scorpion; no fucking way). I ate some sort of fish eggs (that were actually quite tasty, as I recall)…

    …but I paid one major price (I’ll spare you the explosive details).

  84. 84.

    Yarrow

    Love the butter lamb! I look forward to your artistic creation every Easter. Thanks for sharing.

  88. 88.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: That’s some pretty pale people right there. And by pretty I’m not necessarily referring to pleasant to look at.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    @rikyrah:

    The “Where’s Waldo?” caption reminds me: Google Maps is doing a “Where’s Waldo?” game in the app the next day or two. If he doesn’t pop in automatically it’s available from the menu, I think.

  96. 96.

    dm

    Open thread, so….

    We were discussing the potential Democrat opponents to Steve Embarassment-to-the-decent-people-of-Iowa King.

    One of them, JD Scholten, just got a celebrity endorsement:

    https://twitter.com/hamillhimself/status/979019818538905600

    No more noble mission than to FORCE the odious @SteveKingIA back to the private sector. Help us @Scholten4Iowa… you’re our only hope!
    #JDtheJedi #VanquishTheKing

    As someone who has always felt more comfortable with Star Trek‘s enlightenment than Star Wars‘s Enlightenment, I think either William Shatner (“Actually, I’m from Iowa, I only work in outer space”) or Chris Pine (whose Iowa looked pretty ravaged by climate change in the first movie) should join in the fun.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The eight-pack of toilet paper I bought the other day is browner than that bunch.

    The tips of my French manicured nails are browner than that bunch.

    An albino Norwegian wandering naked in a blizzard is browner than that bunch.

  103. 103.

    Feathers

    @SiubhanDuinne: A cousin who was in the Peace Corps in the Philippines said folks there were horrified to learn we ate dried coconut. It was only good for the pigs there.

    @Steeplejack: The whole run of Cowboy Bebop is up on Crunchyroll. I signed up, planning to watch Yuri on Ice! during the free two weeks, but ended up paying for a month to watch Bebop. Don’t know why I missed it when it was on. Pre TiVo TV was a different world. I caught the first episode at a con recently and had been looking forward to seeing the rest.

    BTW Yuri on Ice! is also highly recommended, especially if you like to watch figure skating and/or romancey melodramas.

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: If I’m counting correctly there’s one African American young man and either an African American or Southeast Asian young woman.

    Also, I don’t care what any men’s magazine’s or style guides say: do NOT wear brown shoes with a blue suit!!! It looks hideous.

  112. 112.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amir Khalid: Here’s three different pics of three different cohorts of interns in the Obama White House:
    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t4sfj8rLI_Q/maxresdefault.jpg
    https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/files/internpote.png
    http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130819140257-white-house-interns-1024×576.jpg

    TL:DR: there’s more diversity in the first row of each of those pictures than in the one that rikyrah posted.

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yep, I love my cordovan dress shoes. Though my two blue suits – one has a black glenn plaid pattern too it, are lighter or brighter blue, so I tend to go with the black dress shoes for those. I do the cordovan shoes for my black and grey suits.

  120. 120.

    Suzanne

    It’s adorable.
    I have lost ten pounds by doing intermittent fasting. It is something that hasn’t been making me too crazy. So yay. I bought myself a new pair of jeans to celebrate. DAMN jeans have gotten expensive.

  125. 125.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: Speaking of jeans…

    J thinks that LLBean jeans look like “mom jeans” on me. Levis disintegrate too quickly these days, and they change the fit all the time, and they’re not cheap. I got a couple of pairs of All American jeans recently, but they’re pretty baggy (especially with the gusset in the crotch). I think I’m going to try a pair of these Round House jeans next.

    It’s kinda ridiculous that jeans are so complicated these days. But choice is good!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Another Scott: Wranglers work for me and have held up well, which is why I switched from Levis. The Levis got real expensive and didn’t last. I wear the relaxed fit.

  130. 130.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We weren’t a poster org for diversity, but our demographics broadly matched those of the student body as a whole.

    Same with us. Available diversity was having Baltimore lacrosse players from Gilman AND St. Paul’s.

  133. 133.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Adam L Silverman: traditionally, one wears very dark brown shoes with a navy suit. And for suits, there is no blue other than navy.

    Being a rebel, I will wear black or cordovan shoes with a navy suit.

    Light brown shoes with any suit are an abomination.

  136. 136.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Corner Stone: I fully recognize (as does Omnes, I suspect) that my fashion sense is highly limited by the people and culture that I grew up with, and the world would be a very boring place if everyone dressed like I.

  137. 137.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steve in the ATL: Our Betas had their charter pulled shortly before I showed up. Drugs and more. The ex-Betas were pretty cool – played hockey and were drug sources. Once they were all gone, the university okay a reboot. The new Betas were proto-fascists. They decided to do an alumni thing and asked for University catering, Then they asked that no AA or Jewish students be assigned to the dinner. The school said, “Fuck you. You get who you get.” There house was next to ours. The brother who lived in the house closest to theirs was Black. He borrowed a BB gun and shot out the windows of their house. When suspicion fell on him, other brothers shot out the windows when he was obviously in class.

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    There’s a weird visual effect in that photo where it looks like they’re all leaning away from him. It’s something about the way they positioned the people behind him.

  144. 144.

    Suzanne

    @Another Scott: I bought some from Madewell because I had a coupon. Women’s jeans are hard. I am also all about comfort, so I like the jeans that have stretchy stuff in the fabric.

  146. 146.

    NatashaWhilk

    @NotMax (#33) Is Tiny Dr Tim available?

    Butter lamb is adorable and makes me miss cheese paskha. Looking for a good recipe. (I am neither Greek nor Russian—nor any sort of Orthodox Christian—but used to hang out with them.)

  147. 147.

    Ruckus

    @Steve in the ATL:
    I went to HS with a man who can pull off tan shoes with a suit. He’s a large black guy, very nice, quiet and smart. Looks at 68 like he could twist your neck enough times to actually make it come off without breaking a sweat.
    Maybe it’s just that no one actually wants to tell him about the shoes.

  149. 149.

    H.E.Wolf

    Beautiful butter lamb!

    Seattle meetup report… 6 attended: 5 valued commenters and a valued lurker. Good food and good conversation.

    Thanks to Yutsano and Anne Laurie for getting us all shepherded into the right restaurant.

    Those of you who couldn’t be there this time, we hope you’ll be baack for the next meetup.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:
    My jeans, 501s, last as long as they ever did. But I buy them only washed once and have to wash them a number of times before they can be worn. Just like I have been doing for decades.
    What are all these different colored suits you people are talking about? If I need to dress up I wear a shirt with a collar. If that’s not fancy enough, it’s not worth going to.

  154. 154.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    I’ve been to Norway. In the winter no less. Took one of my all time favorite pictures there.
    So I’ll ask, how the fuck could you tell?

  155. 155.

    jl

    thanks to Lady Cracker for this year’s butter lamb. BC posted a pic of last year’s butter lamb and what BC says is true. Last year’s looked fresh and eager for Spring. This year’s looks more tired and dismayed. But art is not always Hello Kitty stuff, and it is a butter lamb of its age.

  156. 156.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Aleta: before or after Easter?

    Yes, I know that my fashion sense was set in 1950, long before I was even born.

  161. 161.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Ike Barinholtz @ ikebarinholtz
    What Frank Stallone said is despicable and I call on the Lomita Community Blood Bank to boycott him and no longer buy his plasma

  162. 162.

    opiejeanne

    @H.E.Wolf: I am so sorry we missed this party. We are hosting Easter and I found out one guest won’t be able to eat the carrot cake because it has raisins, so right now I am making a second dessert, an almond tart.

    The house is not ready, I am not ready, and I cheated and bought the potato salad instead of making my own because I am just about out of time. The dessert should be out of the oven around 10:30 tonight. The crust has to chill for an hour before the first baking

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @Steve in the ATL:
    I’ve been to Holland and Denmark in the summer, only time to Norway was in very late November, our ship stopped in the very northern most port. It was fucking cold. No that’s wrong it was too cold to think about fucking. We left there and spent 13 days sailing to Charleston SC by way of the Azores and Maine. That’s not the normal route. Hit a winter storm that had green water coming over the bridge for days. Ripped off a couple of things that were welded to the deck. Fun times. I’m not kidding, I’ve got pics from the bridge. The color looks weird because everyone in the pics is about the same color as that water. And I’m weird because I enjoyed it and didn’t get sick at all.

  170. 170.

    Another Scott

    @Adam L Silverman: Speaking of Death Metal… RawStory:

    Jesse Hughes, frontman of ironic rock ba[n]d Eagles of Death Metal, knows something about gun violence. His band was on stage in Paris in 2015 when three gunmen stormed the club and killed 90 people.

    Hughes is hated in France, where he blamed Muslim security guards at the club for the incident. He was banned from an anniversary memorial.

    Hughes is pro-gun and attacked the Parkland students in the wage of the massacre.

    “May everyone of these disgusting vile abusers of the dead live as long as possible so they can have the maximum amount of time to endure their shame,” he said in an Instagram rant, “and be Cursed.”

    Like Laura Ingraham and rapper Killer Mike, Hughes now realizes he went too far in his viscous attacks on the survivor of the Parkland attacks, and is now trying desperately to walk it back.

    Hughes is saying that he “never intended for that to happen” and praised “the beautiful movement of our nation’s youth.”

    “I truly am sorry I didn’t mean to hurt anyone or cause any harm,” he said.

    Watch the apology video below.

    […]

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  171. 171.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Another Scott:

    Watch the apology video below.

    Fuck that shit. I’ve heard all I need to hear from this guy from a band I never heard of before the shooting and hadn’t heard of since until today.

    Though I do like the story of how they got their name.

  172. 172.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:
    Did dickhead realize or did someone tell him he was being a dickhead?
    I’m going with someone told him, he doesn’t seem like the type to recognize a dickhead in the mirror.

  173. 173.

    H.E.Wolf

    @opiejeanne:
    Hope to see you next time!

    Your Easter desserts sound great, and the non-raisin person owes you big for the almond tart.

    My mother’s cousin’s emergency clean-up trick when company was coming over: throw it all in the trunk of the car. The cousin was a very elegant and soigné woman, so her Secret Method has always tickled me.

  176. 176.

    Miss Bianca

    Awesome butter lamb.

    this non-artist wants to know, tho’, how you stick the little butter wool curlicues on without mashing the lamb.

  180. 180.

    jl

    @Miss Bianca: Yes, good point. The link BC posted earlier today was just a description of the tradition. I request BC tell us how she does it. (My guess is that she freezes the butter curlicues and then rolls the little butter body in them, but I bet that is wrong).

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Where’s you effing butter lamb, buddy?

    Edit: do they still make Boone’s Farm? Back when I was a youngin’ they made that crap in humungous stainless steel tanks in a town just down the road from where I grew up.

  183. 183.

    low-tech cyclist

    I think 2016 butter lamb was better.

    But how does it compare to the 2017 ‘butter emails’?

  184. 184.

    divF

    @Ruckus:
    I’ve been to Junction City. Dad was stationed at Ft. Riley when the 9th Infantry Division was shipping out to Vietnam in 1966.

    I noticed in one of the Obama intern photos a gentlemen in the front row wearing a blue suit with pink socks. “One does want a hint of color.”

    ETA: black shoes, though.

  186. 186.

    Jager

    @Ruckus: I’ve been a 501 guy since i was a kid. The only problem with new 501s is you have completely unbutton them to take a leak, when you get them broken in, they work just fine. I was struggling with a new pair in the men’s room at the eye doc last week, a guy walked in, pulled into the urinal next to me and said, “New 501s?” I about pissed myself laughing.

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    @Steve in the ATL

    ‘Miami chic’ sport coat found hanging in the closet (well after he’d been buried) of an elderly relative who had moved to Florida some time beforehand was a doozy. Closest picture could find right off the bat is of a necktie but it’s a nearly perfect match to the pattern of the jacket.

    @Adam L.Silverman

    Well played, old bean.

  188. 188.

    Corner Stone

    @Jager:

    I was struggling with a new pair in the men’s room at the eye doc last week, a guy walked in, pulled into the urinal next to me and said, “New 501s?” I about pissed myself laughing.

    You have some weird bathroom interactions.

  189. 189.

    Corner Stone

    @jl:

    This year’s looks more tired and dismayed. But art is not always Hello Kitty stuff, and it is a butter lamb of its age RAGE.

  190. 190.

    Ruckus

    @Jager:
    Yes that is a pain in the something. Especially if you really, really have to go. I do find that washing them unbuttoned at least 5 times before you even attempt to wear them is best. We used to tow our dungarees behind the ship tied to a rope when we weren’t allowed to wash clothes due to lack of fresh water. That worked well to age them nicely. Six minutes at 15 knots if I remember correctly. If you left them in too long they came back shredded.

  196. 196.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    If there wasn’t fresh water to very thoroughly rinse them afterward, then wouldn’t wearing after post-tow drying have resulted in a shipful of salted dicks?

    ;)

  198. 198.

    Jager

    @Ruckus: It was a great relief when I was in the Army when my “fatigues” (well before the fluff and buff days) finally got to that nice, almost light green color. I recall it took about 6 months of quartermaster laundry action to get there.

  199. 199.

    opiejeanne

    @H.E.Wolf: LOL! We have a pickup and a Subaru Forester. No trunks. There is the garage but it’s getting awfully full and the durned boys keep bringing more beer to these parties and they trek through the mess in the garage to get the cold ones. We’ve told them DRINK UP WHAT IS THERE AND DON’T BRING US ANY MORE, but they do not listen.

  201. 201.

    Ruckus

    @Steve in the ATL:
    @Steve in the ATL:
    I had to go for work. On more than one occasion. It was……. interesting. I’ve also driven through. That. was. not. interesting.
    Hey! Yes I’m older than dirt. That’s still not as old as it gets. But dungarees was the actual name of the working uniform. It was replaced a very few years ago with what has been termed, and not in a honorific way, aquaflage. That’s blue/blue camo gear.

  202. 202.

    Ruckus

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    Talking law of averages here. I have hair, just not on the shinny part on top. And the eyes have been gone and fixed for decades. So right you are but I was thinking reading glasses. And hey you’ve got cataracts to worry about. Got those too.

  207. 207.

    opiejeanne

    @Suzanne:

    Almond Tart

    It’s not hard but what with the filling needing to sit and meld for at least 20 minutes and the pastry shell (almost a cookie) needing to chill for an hour before baking it, it’s a bit of work. It calls for Grand Marnier but you can use any orange liqueur you can find (my lord, I priced it today and got a surprise). There’s about three tablespoons left in our bottle (that’s three more tarts) and it no longer smells or tastes orange-ish so instead of replacing the bottle I just used it and added some orange zest. $44 for a bottle the size of the one we have, but there are cheaper orange liqueurs, if you can find them.

    One instruction that is left out is to either line the shell with foil and fill it with beans or baking beads, or to dock the shell with a fork before baking. Either one is a method to prevent the crust from rising up too much in the middle.

  208. 208.

    NotMax

    @opiejeanne

    Yeah, I use a lot of Grand Marnier in Thanksgiving recipes. Price went through the roof early this century and has kept on climbing since. Drambuie is a perfectly good substitute – although that has also started to become pricey but not yet exorbitant like Grand Marnier. B&B (Benedictine and Brandy) also works well in a pinch.

    If you only need a spoonful or two now and again, some liquor stores sell Grand Marnier in the miniature airplane-type bottles.

  209. 209.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: Hiram Walker Triple Sec or Orange Curacao (imagine the curlicue under the second “c” that changes the sound to an “s”).

    I think I’d have to go to Bev M0 as we don’t seem to have many liquor stores in Washington since they voted to get rid of the state liquor stores. Coming from California, those were weird.

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