Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s finish the job.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

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

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

This really is a full service blog.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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72Comments

  3. 3.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Well, I’m sure I’m totally screwed here. First Bixby has been letting himself in and out the back door, and taking Scout with him. It was fine until she went into heat, so I had to put a stop to that. But now Zander has decided he wants to spend the day outside. And while I let him out when I’m around to watch him, once I’m in my office, cats need to be in the house. I just went to fill up my water (ok it’s Diet coke, shush) and he was outside.

    The patio screen is closed. Now, he could easily open it – it wouldn’t surprise me – because it doesn’t lock. But then he would have to turn around and close it behind him, so I wouldn’t suspect he was outside. If any cat would do that, it would be the Z-Man.

  5. 5.

    LAO

    @TaMara (HFG): And this is why I don’t have a cat. I don’t need a pet that’s smarter than me. I love my dog and although she is wily — she’s not a mensa candidate.

  6. 6.

    Catherine D.

    @Duane: Oh yes, her voice is still amazing! She recorded Diamonds and Rust with Joan Baez not too long ago, and it’s goosebump worthy.

  8. 8.

    BC in Illinois

    @Duane:

    I saw Judy Collins and Stephen Stills in concert last night.

    Oh, wow.

    I saw Judy Collins and Stephen Stills, too.
    In the DC area.
    In 1972 and 1973.

    Man am I getting old. I think this must be what my father felt like when my friend and I went to see Buddy Rich, around the same time — during the Nixon years. He remembered Buddy Rich from the Roosevelt years.

  10. 10.

    debit

    Kelpie is Dani’s Dog Mom. They adore each other. Although I think Kelpie often wonders why her puppy is so pointy.

  16. 16.

    Chetan Murthy

    Since it’s an OT, a vid and a bleg. There’s this cover by Kiah Victoria of John Legend’s All of Me. It is …. luminescent. I. Mean. Luminescent. And yeah yeah she’s easy on the eyes. But I’m talkin’ about the AUDIO. So I went looking for other vids by her, and they’re just … meh. Anybody a fan of hers, could suggest something else by her I could try out? B/c sheeite, that vid …. I play it all the time, just to bathe in it (as Connie Sachs used to say about Alexei Polyakov).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXS52TSweKc

  17. 17.

    Emerald

    I missed the Video Games thread from the other day. Somebody asked if anyone remembered the Ambrosia Software Ferazel’s Wand. Yes! Yes! Yes! I got to within the final three levels of finishing once way way back in the day. I still have the game, and still have an old blueberry Imac that plays it!

    I am inspired. I must go back and play that game. Sadly, it wasn’t popular enough for GOG to revive it, but those of us who still have that little gem remember it well!

    Meanwhile, I’m waiting for Blackenrock, the sequel to the masterpiece The Lost Crown, to come out from Jonathan Boakes. He’s indicated that it actually might happen before the end of the year. We hope. Maybe. And he’s also announced a little Christmas game for December.

    So, gaming is alive and well in the Emerald household.

  21. 21.

    Gin & Tonic

    @BC in Illinois: I just purchased the CD re-issue of Music From Big Pink because all I have is a pretty trashed vinyl. The re-issue was for its 50th anniversary. 50 years. Fuck.

  22. 22.

    debit

    @schrodingers_cat: Merrill? She is slowly integrating into the household. She gets along fine with Oscar and Oliver, but Dani and Julian are being dicks to her so we’re still working on those relationships.

  23. 23.

    bemused

    I wish I could be as relaxed as Samwise but don’t know how to to accomplish that unless I had a case of amnesia until our national nightmare stopped.

  28. 28.

    Brachiator

    @BC in Illinois:

    I saw Judy Collins and Stephen Stills, too.
    In the DC area.
    In 1972 and 1973.

    Man am I getting old.

    Naw. Old is when you go from “Let’s go see …” to “I remember when I saw …”

    I think of some of the artists I’ve seen who are no longer with us. David Bowie. Miles Davis. Michael Jackson. Prince. Charlie Haden.

  30. 30.

    Mart

    What happened to the front pager from Illinois – cannot remember name – Steel something maybe, musician, fundraiser for pols.

  33. 33.

    raven

    @Duane: Did she do Some Day Soon? I watched The Wrecking Crew thew other night and they talked about how pissed Stills was when the Crew was used on Tamborine Man . ”

    So I reached out to Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine for some insight into the Byrds. Turns out that except for Roger McGuinn, the group didn’t play their own instruments on their first hit single, Mr. Tambourine Man. Members of the Wrecking Crew did.

    Here’s Hal yeseterday on the Byrds’s first hit…

    “We recorded Mr. Tambourine Man in January 1965 with Roger McGuinn but without the rest of the Byrds [the flip side was I Knew I’d Want You]. I can’t recall the other musicians producer Terry Melcher brought in to overdub [see JazzWax note at bottom of post].

    “Roger recorded with us on his 12-string guitar, and he was very happy to have me there on drums and Larry Knechtel on bass.

  34. 34.

    debit

    @schrodingers_cat: My plan was to foster her until someone adopted her. Then my daughter decided that 4 cats and 2 dogs were not enough animals for one household. Merrill is now clearly her cat and has fully moved into her room to the point I only see her at meal times.

    I don’t have anything new on my flickr because I can barely get time with her, but I think the big “you’re all going to get along” ordeal is going to start this weekend. I’ll get some then.

  36. 36.

    Hungry Joe

    On Monday Alice the Dog gets two staples removed from her chest and belly: While walking the ‘hood last week we were attacked by a dog that bounded out an opened front door. The owners gave chase, but not in time. The dog (black lab, I think) bounded up all friendly-like to Alice (Aussie mix), then lunged and chomped down. Poor Alice — a love-everybody goofball — was terrified, shrieking and yelping helplessly. We all flailed on the sidewalk, with much shouting and cursing. When the lab let go to get another bite I was able to drag them apart. Alice was bleeding, but not badly — 20-30 drops. Owners were genuinely sorry and shaken. (“She’s never done this before,” of course.) Vet bill: $339. They came by the next day and paid in cash, called to ask about Alice — who seems the least traumatized of all of us: she was her happy self again about five minutes after it happened. So all’s … okay, at least.

  39. 39.

    raven

    @BC in Illinois: I’ve been on a Leon Russell tear lately after watching the really weird “A Poem Is A Naked Person” which prompted me to watch “The Wrecking Crew”. In 70 I saw him and the Madogs in Champaign and they played on a riser in a gym, not a stage. I leaned on the piano and shit the shit with Leon between songs, great dude.

  40. 40.

    debit

    @Hungry Joe: So sorry to hear this about Alice!! And I think it’s the least the lab’s owners could have done. They are probably terrified you’ll report the dog, which you should consider. Do they know what triggered the dog? What if Alice had been a toddler?

  44. 44.

    Keith P.

    @Emerald: Going back to the video games thread, I mentioned that anything by Epyx could probably be on my top games list. I’d augment that to add anything by Cinemaware….what they could pull off on the C64 was incredible.

  45. 45.

    raven

    @Hungry Joe: That happened with Bodhi and a black lab about a year ago. He knew the dog’s owner and, when they came around the corner, Bohdi happily bounced over to say hi and the lab nailed him right above the eye. Insurance paid off on that one and we were lucky it didn’t fuck up his vision.

  46. 46.

    PaulWartenberg

    I need to finish a writing project this weekend. And I need to work on my elevator pitch as I will meet with an agent at the Florida Writers Conference to see if I can market my writing better. :/

  47. 47.

    TenguPhule

    The event, organized by the Hawaii Republican Party and Young Republicans on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus, included a 45-minute talk and question-and-answer session at Kuykendall Hall that was attended by about 200 people. The Republican Party promoted the event as a chance to hear diverse ideas “at a time of increased campus censorship by snowflakes with their safe spaces.”

    The two main themes of the talk: America is the greatest country in the world and the Democratic Party has been harming black people through their government programs for the past six decades.

    “In America right now there is a big divide,” Kirk told the crowd that included Trump supporters and opponents, and others there just to observe. “Are you thankful to live in America or are you angry to live in America? If you are thankful you’re most likely a Republican, and if you are angry you are most likely a Democrat. You should be kissing the ground saying, ‘Thank you God that I live in the greatest country on this earth.’”

    Owens, who is black, said that blacks and other minorities have been brainwashed into supporting the Democratic Party.

    “We lost everything by voting Democratic for the last 60 years,” she said. “We have lost everything. Our families have been destroyed, our communities have been decimated.”

    She said government welfare programs have “acted like a drug dealer with the black community.”

    I am ashamed and revolted that they polluted my state.

  54. 54.

    Ruviana

    @Sab: I know there was a kerfuffle in the past but I’m glad to see you back! Pix of goats if possible this weekend, please.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    @Duane:
    Good to know Judy still has her voice–not easy for singers to maintain over a lengthy career. We saw Boz Scaggs last week and his voice has also held up remarkably–still has that buttery, throaty richness (what is this, bread talk?) and more amazingly, his falsetto. Dude is 74.

  57. 57.

    TenguPhule

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump
    Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay. Facts don’t matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C.

    2:56 AM – Sep 21, 2018

    on occasion, a rare nugget of truth escapes.

  61. 61.

    debit

    @Sab: If it’s any consolation, I have no knowledge about the incident in question, so you remain awesome and unsullied in my eyes. FWIW.

  62. 62.

    BC in Illinois

    @Brachiator:

    I think of some of the artists I’ve seen who are no longer with us. David Bowie. Miles Davis. Michael Jackson. Prince. Charlie Haden.

    . . . Ray Charles, Artur Rubenstein, Leonard Bernstein, Roy Buchanan (and the Snake Stretchers), Jim Croce . . .

    . . . and (when they were together / original lineup) the Who, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, the Vanilla Fudge, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Peter Paul & Mary, the Battlefield Band . . .

    Oh, well.

  65. 65.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Downstairs folks asked how I’m doing, so here’s an update.

    I’m nine weeks post-op as of today. As I’d been warned, months 2 and 3 are harder than the first month — you’re back from Thailand, where your only job was to rest and recover, and now you have to do all that plus deal with the rest of your life (even if you’re taking time off).

    Thankfully, I didn’t have too many issues with the scar contracture that kicks in during month 2. Gradually, the pain has gotten better. In the last week or so, I’ve ended up being late taking meds because I forgot, which is a good sign because usually my body would definitely let me know it was time. So I’m starting to experiment with reducing the meds. Although those plans were delayed by a couple days of extremely painful tissue irritation. (Nothing worry about, it happens periodically to almost everyone, but definitely not fun.)

    Mostly, I’m just kind of exhausted. Haven’t been sleeping well — at a minimum I’ve had to wake up every three hours to take pain meds, and there have been plenty of nights where I’ve also woken frequently due to pain. Hard to nap during the day because they’re doing construction next door.

    Plus I still have to do after-care 3x/day for another three weeks, and since it takes 60-90 minutes per session, it’s amazing how that takes over the day. I’m starting back at work next week, so my life really is going to be eat, sleep, work, dilate until I can go down to twice a day. Even twice a day (for three months) is going to be a lot.

    I knew it was going to be hard recovery, but I did underestimate how much it would kick my ass. But I’ll get through. Until then, I’m just embracing the suck.

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    Might need a new battery for the new (to me) Subaru. Should I go for the AGM type? I live in New England, and I’ll be driving this car to go skiing this winter, so I want a strong battery.

  70. 70.

    J R in WV

    @BC in Illinois:

    We saw Judy Collins our last trip to NYC, in a club with 90 seats. She was with a piano player, and had her guitar. Amazing show, lots of chat about starting in NYC back when this kid from MN was playing in the Village – Bob. She’s quite a star, still.

    Just got home from the errands, no corn at the farmer’s market, I was too late, but they still had some, it was just all bought by the time I got there. Also got some Indian carry-out, will be eating that soon, after the G-&-T I just built. A Vindaloo and a Korma, with the condiments to go with and garlic naan. Ummm.

  72. 72.

    J R in WV

    Judy Collins is 79, 80 next May… amazing. I hope I can just speak well when I hit that age… let alone sing well, that would be a miracle as I have never advanced past singing along in the car…

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