Genine and I had a lazy morning and then headed out to the big city for the meet the candidates event at the Crooked Dock in Wellsburg. A pretty good turnout:
Here’s AJ Thomas, who is running to be the Brooke County Commissioner:
And here is Joe Manchin speaking with Kendra Fershee right behind (in a very on point blue outfit with yellow scarf):
Genine and Kendra had a nice conversation- Genine can speak for herself in the comments, and Joe was, well, Joe.
Right now Genine is making me watch the Good Place on Netflix, which is not interminable and at some points mildly amusing, but overall a touch tedious and over the top cutesy/clever. On the upside, if I pretend to watch it while surfing the internet Genine will not hector me to watch something else, so it’s a compromise I am willing to make. Genine clearly values communication more than I do.
WHat are you all up to?
danielx
Wondering exactly what fucking excuses Trump and his apologists will come up with this time, is what I’m doing.
Bonnie
Watching football.
guachi
I’m having a Halloween party indoors!
My wife is recovering from wrist surgery so instead of going out we are dressing up in our Harry Potter outfits. She is a Hufflepuff. I am a Ravenclaw. Our doggy is a house elf complete with a sock. And we will be watching Harry Potter movies in glorious 4k/HDR!!!
Right now we are on movie number three, Prisoner of Azkaban.
David Anderson
Jfc JC she will read the post soon enough and bust you…. Internal monologue stays internal!
frosty
Looks like a good outing. At the moment I am reading blogs. Later on I’ll print up 20 more postcards for Heitkamp and Ms. Frosty has promised to write half of them. Then some more guitar, a book* and crash. I lead an exciting life.
*Halberstam, The Coldest Winter, about the Korean War. OMG, Kim Il Sung and MacArthur were both clueless assholes surrounded by sycophants. Some of what they said and did could have come out of the White House right now.
MazeDancer
@guachi:
Doggy as Dobby is the best.
CaseyL
Trying so hard to find some beauty to cherish.
A flock of Canada Geese flew over my house on their way south just now. The honking got me up off the couch and onto the balcony to watch them fly by. (I always stop and watch when Canada Geese fly overhead in formation: it’s an everlasting source of wonder to me no matter how often I see it.) This was a large flock, so there was a lot of honking.
I always wonder what they’re saying to one another.
I think about the perils they face; and worry about them, hoping they arrive at their wintering grounds safe.
I think about how awful humans have been to every other living thing on Earth, and my heart breaks.
danielx
@frosty:
Excellent book. MacArthur had about as much grip on reality as the Tangerine Torquemada.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
Just got back from shooting for my Photojournalism class. Gonna order business cards for my fledgling photography business tonight, finally — I need to start getting paid for this stuff. 50 is kind of old to be a broke college student.
Also, the link to my new, still bare-bones photography website is in my nym if anyone’s interested. Feedback welcome.
NotMax
Did you think to open up a new profile on Netflix before streaming The Good Place? Because otherwise from now unto eternity Netflix’s AI will offer up recommendations based on your choosing it.
Before anyone mentions it, yes, you can go in through the Netflix web site and delete the series from your list of watched shows. However that does not remove the memory of it from the AI. Individual profiles, though, can be deleted with impunity.
John Cole
@David Anderson: lol genine and I have talked on the phone since at least 2006-2007 she knows who she is dealing with.
debbie
@CaseyL:
Not when they’re nesting a couple feet from your apartment door. Trust me on this.
Gvg
I voted. Tomorrow I babysit. Looking forward to it.
Had an annoying run in with parents neighbor who recently showed she was a racist to my parents and evidently doesn’t want my parents to think so, so she came over, brought it up again and made it even more obvious. My parents are in their late 70’s, value civility and getting along to much IMO. The woman lives next door so there is some value in not starting a feud but IMO a better strategy would be keeping a polite distance from a bigot. I have come to realize when my parents retired almost 20 years ago, they stopped meeting surprising new people and they haven’t met or worked with or learned the personal desperate situations of LGBT people or minorities. They were very liberal for the 60’s, pro civil rights, always more liberal than most people around them. I think they were very good at remaining good while their bosses and coworkers weren’t, but they haven’t kept up and don’t know how many people are really being hurt directly now. They still like Bernie and resent my critiques awhile back. Anyway I am kind of shocked they aren’t brushing this woman off. The one good thing is she is German and doesn’t vote here.
Ohio Mom
@CaseyL: I also enjoy watching Canada Geese in flight but around here they are just flying from one retention pond to another. Life in southwest Ohio is too good for them to ever leave.
Tonight I’m catching up on laundry, bouncing around the internet while squeezing my hand putty to loosen up my RA hand, and waiting for super to be done.
We’re having baked potatoes with all the fixings. It’s taking a little longer than usual because Ohio Dad only recently discovered he forgot to turn the oven on. The potatoes have been sitting in the oven patiently for almost an hour now.
hedgehog mobile
Watching the Series. There was a moment of silence for the Tree of Life victims snd the Dodgers’ announcer’s requst for it was heartfelt and moving. Also finishing Spanberger postcards. Spaghetti for dinner.
Steeplejack
Just put the stream of the World Series game on my tablet next to the computer. (Still haven’t replaced my broken TV.)
Didn’t catch his name, but the guy singing the national anthem went full Bleeding Gums Murphy on it. Figures for L.A.
The game hasn’t started yet, and I’m already sick of Joe Buck. But that’s par for the course.
Sister Golden Bear
@Ohio Mom:
We’ve also got geese that wised up and realized there’s no reason to ever leave the marshlands of the SF Bay Area, regardless of time of year. There’s a huge number of them outside my office.
@debbie: Or when they formation bomb your car in the parking lot. Trust me, you don’t want to know…
Wapiti
@CaseyL:
“Are we there yet?” All migration long.
Another Scott
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): You’ve got an excellent eye and obvious talent. Thanks for sharing, and best of luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
I just recently caught Maya Rudolph’s 2006 parody of a bad anthem singer. Priceless:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUT80JVy3v4
p.a.
At a soon-to-start Brenda Bennett show (Vanity 6, Apollonia 6) at a local (usually) Celtic/folk music venue. Not sure what to expect, and the crowd is not only the usual suspects. For comparison, last show was Tony McManus/Julia Toaspern- def worth checking out on u tube.
Pogonip
@Ohio Mom: ?. Breathes there a person with soul so dead, who never to himself has said “I forgot to turn the oven on!”
raven
Nice day here, a bit breezy on the beach but I fished without luck until an hour before the Georgia- Fla game. It’s nice to have a house full of people for the bride to play with for a couple of days. Go Dawgs!
raven
Here’s the Bohdi helping me fish.
oldster
The Good Place gets better. Stick with it. Pretty soon you’ll fall in love with each of the characters, each for different reasons.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@Another Scott: Thank you!
BC in Illinois
1. Six years ago this weekend, my son and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. His gift to me, as I edged into my 60s, was to run at my pace for two years as I did the training (which included 50 pounds of weight loss). A heart attack / heart catheterization / stents / heart rehab this year has helped me get back even under that weight.
Today, in honor of the 2012 event, we went back to Illinois, to the old training trail, and ran a Tither’s Marathon — 1/10th of a Marathon — 2.62 miles. It was like old times again. Tomorrow, the grandkids will run a 1% Marathon — .262 miles (one lap and 23 yards or so).
2. I just read a tweet that said that there are ten days until election day.
That’s not quite right.
It’s nine days and a wake up.
raven
@Steeplejack:
My brother was at the game last night. Here’s his list of games he’s been at with memorable home runs.
So I can add Max Muncy to the list of significant Home Runs that I’ve witnessed in person.
1982 – Joe Morgan knocks the Dodgers out of the playoffs on the last day of the season with a homer off Terry Forester at Candlestick.
1988 – Kirk Gibson, Game 1 World Series walk off
1997 – Tony Gwynn inside the park grand slam
1999 – Fernando Tatis two grand slams in the same inning off the same pitcher (Chan Ho Park)
2004 – Steve Finley clinches the West with a walk off grand slam against the Giants on the last day of the season.
2018 – Max Muncy!
Immanentize
@raven: scanning the surf for the elusive redfish…. Please have fun for all of us.
Patricia Kayden
@danielx: Trump already said that Bowers wasn’t one of his supporters. I guess the excuse will be that somehow he’s not one of their people because he hated Trump.
raven
@Immanentize: Nothing so far, it was brutal yesterday with a current that made it impossible to hold the bottom. I’m hoping foe better.
Keith P.
@oldster: Yep, I totally agree. One of those shows where all the characters are likeable, and you feel like they’re your friends (Chidi is my favorite). Kristen Bell is phenomenal (and Ted Danson is Ted Danson). I particularly like that seeing The Red Hot Chili Peppers live counts against your afterlife score.
EDIT: Cole should probably start watching “Barry”, too. If you want TOTALLY bonkers, try “Happy!”
WereBear
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): GOod COMPOsitions.
I just took a class so its on my mind. Site hates me, must go.
Immanentize
@raven:
That is some great baseball moments.
I have one for you — we took the Immp to his first baseball game when he was just a toddler — Fenway, Red Sox versus Tampa. 2002 It was Derek Lowe’s no hitter!! First in Fenway in 37 years. That is a good way to start being a fan.
Neldob
Waiting for my flight at SeaTac having a beer. Could be worse.
Genine
West Virginia really is a beautiful state. I timed my trip so I could experience fall colors. The leaves are changing late this year, so I’m not seeing the brilliant golds, yellows, and reds I’d hope to see. But there is some color and it’s really pops under the dreary, gray sky. We drove along some winding roads along the Ohio river and, despite the weather, took in some sights that belong on postcares.
The event was pleasant and I spoke to a lot of genuinely nice people. Kendra is amazing. She’s very grounded and sharper than a tact. I only spoke to her for a few minutes but her poise and determination was apparent. West Virginia is as red as a raw steak but, if it changes, it’ll be due to her and people like her.
And Joe Manchin. Yeah, I’m not a fan. A lot of us aren’t fans (for good reasons) but his love for West Virginia and West Virginians is palpable. I appreciated the way he spoke about progressive issues like regulation, Medicare, Social security, and the opiate crisis. He made everything very personal, making his appeals based on individualistic self-interest using concrete examples. In my little time here, watching and listening to people interact , I knew it was the correct approach. And, honestly, he is the best the Democrats can do in the Senate – for now.
Having said all that, please keep in mind, I’m still not a fan. I think his Kavenaugh vote was bullshit and I’m not the only one. A number of women gave him shit for that vote in loud, uncertain terms. John and left at that point, so I didn’t hear the rest. But the way Joe wielded that bullshit FBI report as a shield confirmed the whole FBI “investigation” was just a cover.
Anyway, I must continue to torture John by “making him” watch a funny, well-written show with actors that he likes.
raven
@Immanentize: Sweet!
Amir Khalid
My Lenovo phone has given up the ghost so on Saturday I bought a new Vivo Y53. Closer to the bottom of the Vivo range than the top, but I don’t use a smartphone much anyway. It amused me when I showed my deceased Lenovo to the salesman, so he could put the SIM card in the Vivo: he gently explained to me, as though to a bereaved person, that after two years “its time had come.”
JMG
@raven: That’s a pretty great list. I was a sportswriter for 30 years, and I’m not sure I could match it, although I would lead off with Hoe Carter’s walk off in the ’93 Series, Aaron Boone’s homer to win the 2003 ALCS and George Brett’s shot off Gossage in the 1980 ALCS.
PS: As a teenage fan, saw Dick Allen hit one that went out of center field in Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Distance to dead center was 447 feet, then they had a an area where they kept the batting cages and stuff, and there was a 10 foot high wall behind that. He cleared it all. Had to be a 550 footer.
I’m not trying to bigfoot here. I sincerely admire your friend’s fan list.
satby
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): I especially like your portraits, they let the subjects’ personalities show. Nice!
@John Cole: it’ll grow on you. I stuck with it even though it’s not my usual TV fare (I enjoy British murder mysteries) and by episode 3 I was binging on 4 per night.
@raven: who’s a good boy?
SiubhanDuinne
For a host of complicated reasons, ended up not doing the opera today. But I wrote 25 postcards for Heidi Heitkamp; will decorate and address them tomorrow, and stamp and mail them Monday morning.
MazeDancer and postcardpatriots.com make everything super easy! If you haven’t yet signed up to send postcards, I heartily encourage you to do so!
jl
@Genine: Thanks for the report. From the pic, it looked like Manchin was able to capture the local crowd’s attention, but not sure it was in a good way.
Please don’t be too mean to Cole, forcing him to go enjoy himself and all.
raven
@JMG: Not at all, it’s my brother and I’m going to send him your comment.
Pharniel
@oldster: I gotta second oldster here.
The Good Place just…keeps getting better. We just finished the second season.
Mary G
@Genine: Good for you getting John out of his rut. The countryside around there looks so beautiful and green. Definitely a change from California!
NotMax
@raven
“If I lie here long enough that boat full of bones I overheard the local dogs whispering about is bound to show up.”
debbie
@raven:
He’s looking pretty zen!
hilts
I’m all for denouncing Trump, but no one should let scumbag Kevin McCarthy for this despicable tweet
h/t https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1056245714982965249
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
The only reason Bowers despises Trump is that Trump doesn’t let his hater flag fly as proudly as Bowers does.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@WereBear: Thanks!
@satby: Thanks — I’m surprised at how much I love portrait photography.
Mary G
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Your photos are excellent. Especially the portraits. Let us know when you start selling. I do miss the Iggy Dialogues, though. I hope he and Muppet are well and amusing you as much as ever.
Mary G
Mike Levin and Diane Harkey had their last debate for CA49, and she tried to get him as reneging on his not taking lobbyist or PAC money by saying he’d taken more than $3 million from “Code Blue,” which is actually Act Blue and all from small donors. The last poll I saw he was up 14 points, so I’m passing along his thanks to all of youz who donated through the BJ funds Doug set up. How things can change. This is the district Darrell Issa was supposed to own for life.
jl
@Patricia Kayden: Your comment sent me looking. So, Bowers was such a deranged anti-Semite that he didn’t vote for Trump because Trump was not anti-Semitic enough. OK, so what? Trump himself narrated a vile and deranged anti-Semitic conspiracy theory political ad right before the 2016 election. Trump courts anti-Semitic and neoNazi support with code words and absurd conspiracy theories. He has no excuse and he can’t distance himself from it. He’s sent out a good chunk of the executive branch to peddle it re a ragtag stream of desperate nearly helpless impoverished refugee families a thousand miles away from the US border. He can’t even refrain from veiled threats the second he goes off a scripted prompter (‘maybe I should tone it up’).
The disgusting GOPer McCarthy out of Bakersfield was running vile Soros conspiracy theory ads after the shooting until the finally pulled it, and Fox is running Lou Dobbs peddling Elders of Zion garbage (as reported on Josh Marshall’s twitter today, go take a look).
Nothing neo at all about the fascist BS coming out of the GOP. We can’t let them get away with BS excuses. It is just an open sewer of ant-Semitic, racist, xenophobic, sexist, lying, stream of filth at this point.
Robert Bowers: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
http heavy.com/news/2018/10/robert-bowers
(not sure how links work these days at BJ blog, but you can put it together and go look)
Genine
@Mary G:
I try and it’s very different from California.
Ohio Mom
@Genine: Nice to meet you! Torture John a little for the rest of us, too.
Kelly
We’re off to the community art center where my wife is showing paintings, mostly plein air landscapes from this summer.
No need to watch tonight game I watched two Word Series games last night.
lamh36
@Genine: Cool beans!
I’ll admit, I’ve never really had any desire to visit WV. I’m not into fall stuff and to be quite honest, I’m not always comfortable being in a place where I think my color may make me stand out.
I know u spent time with John, but I wondering if you ventured out on your own and if so, did you feel any vibes from folks?
I ask because being a Black woman who travels alone a lot, I’m a bit wary of places I imagine may not be as welcoming to me cause of my Blackness.
Not saying that would absolutely be the case in WV, but it does tend to color my mind when I’m thinking about places I want to travel to.
Any way, I love the idea of you dragging John kicking and screaming to watch The Good Place ??? heard nothing but good things about it
jl
@Genine: When I first went to visit some family in the WV and southern PA part of the country, all those green hills, right in my dang face, were slightly disturbing in late summer. I liked the pretty flowers though. It was very pretty, and when it got too much for me, I reminded myself I would be back among the nice rolling hills of central California in month or two, golden brown, like God intended.
donnah
@Amir Khalid:
At least your dead phone got some respect. Many years ago, when my Motorola phone died and I took it back to trade it in, the young saleswoman looked at it as if I’d handed her a dinosaur bone. She laughed and said, “How long have you had this? I’ve never seen one of these!”. I was embarrassed!
marv
@CaseyL:
I live in deep country too, and know that feeling. God bless the feathered things.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Cool.
I was at that Braves game in Atlanta that was even longer than the game last night! July 4-5, 1985: 19 innings, 16-13 loss to the Mets. Rain delays and whatnot, didn’t finish until almost 4:00 a.m.
jl
From Josh Marshall’s twitter:
Straight out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Just moments ago, Lou Dobbs guest Chris Farrell (head of Judicial Watch) says Caravan is being funded/directed by the “Soros-occupied State Department”.
https twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1056324117329297409
FelonyGovt
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): You have an excellent eye for good composition. Great photos!
Luciamia
Ghost and Mrs. Muir on TCM
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Made food for the Jennifer Wexton canvassers today. I’m going to do the same next Saturday.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Ha! The guy tonight wasn’t too far from that.
lgerard
@Steeplejack:
I remember that %^%$$#$##$ Rick Camp home run very well. at about 3AM
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
Two years?! Jeez, my Moto X will be coming up on its fifth birthday in January. I sort of window-shopped for a replacement when it took its toilet dive a few months ago, but I didn’t see anything I really liked. And the Moto came back from the dead, so crisis averted.
It still does everything I need it to do, but I do get a twinge occasionally when I see how slowly it updates apps vs. my two-year-old tablet. (Both are Android devices.) Makes me realize that overall performance is not as fast as it could be. But most of the apps spend most of their time waiting for me to do something anyway.
geg6
@Pharniel:
Agreed. I love that show but was iffy until about 3/4 through the first season.
Steeplejack
@lgerard:
The worst part was no food or beer after the seventh inning. The horror!
lgerard
@Steeplejack:
i hope you stayed for the fireworks!
Avalune
* I have family in WV. It’s pretty but all I remember is the mosquitoes latching on to me like It was an apocalypse and I was an MRE.
* Pupper!
* Leto and I were digging The Good Place. Early episodes felt a little Peewees Playhouse but it is a fun show.
* I always stop to watch the geese when I can too – or any flock of birds really.
* Leto is finished with his surgeries for now. Decided the big wound was healing well enough on its own to not require surgery. They will need to go back into the knee for ligament repair but not for a while.
He hasn’t been asleep – in more than a week really considering sedation isn’t really sleep. They keep giving him stuff to help him sleep but he is resistant. I’m ready to throw him in a car seat and drive him around – worked on the kid!
Monday they will likely take out the feeding tube (tiger devil tube according to him), move him to a regular room vs ICU and start his PT. Running some tests for a little tremoring in his thumb.
He’s slowly starting to sound more like himself and less loopy from sedation and whatnot. He’s had some reactions to some drugs which lead to a crazy night of chasing away hallucinations or cold sweats but he’s coming around. Out of the woods really but the grind is just starting. ?
* Leto says hey guys! Making my recovery one day at a time. It hurts but it has to be done. Hope to see you guys again soon.
Mary G
@Avalune: Such good news. It will be a long, hard slog, but it could have been so much worse. Glad you are enjoying your time with your son.
Sister Golden Bear
Normally I hate watching defensive slugfests, since 3 and outs are boring to watch.
But when Cal massively upsets #15 Washington, I’ll take it.
Did I mention that one of our inside linebackers was both the leading tackler and the leading scorer…
Steeplejack
@lgerard:
You know, I must have, because my friend and I were fully committed, but—contra the article I linked to—my memory was that they canceled the fireworks because of the late hour, noise concerns and the fact that most of the crowd had left, and they were rescheduled for the next night. Ah, frail memory!
Sister Golden Bear
@Avalune: Glad to hear good news about Leto! I know he’s got a long recovery ahead of him, but may it go well.
Steeplejack
@Avalune:
Good to hear! Give him our regards.
chris
@Avalune: Good news! Thank you.
lgerard
@Steeplejack:
I watched it on TV from New York and you could hear the fireworks going off during the wrap up of the game, They even commented on it. It is a legendary game among Mets fans, as we don’t have much else.
Ohio Mom
@Avalune: Hah! I remember those aimless drives to lull Baby Ohio Son to sleep.
Sounds like Leto is making good progress — keep at it! We’ll look forward to your return to these threads.
satby
@Avalune: improving Leto is very good news, thanks! Send him our jackal love, and save a bit of it for yourself as you take care of him. It’s so good of you to take the time to keep us posted.
lurker dean
@lamh36: i recently saw an episode of kamau bell’s united shades of america that was set in WV. i know nothing about w virginia and was pleasantly surprised that at least where he went, there was a healthy african american population. he spoke with a lot of retired black miners who loved living in WV.
FelonyGovt
@lgerard: We sure don’t! Always next year though.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack:
Well, the Lenovo’s battery was all swole up and I didn’t fancy a lithium fire suddenly engulfing my trouser pocket. So I was planning to replace it anyway when it decided to join the bleedin’ Choir Invisible.
Amir Khalid
@Avalune:
Best news we could have hoped for. All the best for the tough guy to make a full recovery.
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
No criticism here. No one wants a trouser fire! It just made me realize how quickly technology advances and how quickly things become “old.” My phone is an antique!
hedgehog mobile
@Avalune: Good to hear! Thank you for letting us know.
sgrAstar
@raven: Bodhi is so, so cute! He seems like the perfect fishing companion- patient, non-judgemental, taking pleasure in the moment.
sgrAstar
@Sister Golden Bear: ACK! We WON? Thx for the update, SGB..I didn’t have the heart to look. Go Bears!
ronnno
@guachi: wow, that sounds so fun, enjoy!
TomatoQueen
@Avalune: This is great progress, so glad to hear of it, and hope Leto will be resting more comfortably in a regular room–altho’ the noise level won’t be that much less, hospital routine being what it is.Best wishes and good thoughts to you.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack:
Back in the mid-1990s, I paid over twice as much for my first dumb phone, and I had to fill in an application form for a radio transmitter licence. The phone was a phone and nothing but, not even a directory, and it measured two inches front to back with the battery clipped on. It was a Flintstone-era cellphone.
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
I got my first cell phone around 1999-2000, one of those compact little Nokia blocks. It made calls, it had a directory/contact list, and it had a rudimentary game or two. I don’t think it even had voice mail. End of story.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@Mary G: Thanks! And yes, Iggy and Muppet are as amusing as ever, but between work and classes I have no time to document the shenanigans and goings-on.
@FelonyGovt: Thank you!
rikyrah
@guachi:
That sounds adorable ?
rikyrah
Sounds like a good day, Cole ?
Genine
@lamh36:
Hey girl!
It’s actually been kind of cool. John and I went to a restaurant yesterday and I saw two other black people which were two more than I expected. Also John and I aren’t attached at the hip, so I’ve had some interactions on my own. They’ve been friendly, so far, and I haven’t gotten any side-eye.
I have to admit I was a little nervous about coming here. I TOTALLY get where you’re coming from, Lamh. I’ve been to some places where I’ve sensed and experienced hostility to my skin tone.
And I though you watched The Good Place? Girl, get on that. It is GOOD. I just started watching Insecure and finished all three seasons in a week.