Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

The words do not have to be perfect.

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

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Consistently wrong since 2002

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Sunday Evening Open Thread

Sunday Evening Open Thread

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Here are a couple of birds I saw today. First, a kingfisher perched on a channel marker early this morning:

Kingfisher

The kingfishers are entertaining this time of year. Well, they are fun to watch all year, but when the highly territorial little birbs are in courting mode, they’re especially fascinating to watch. I’ve seen some amazing aerial combat maneuvers.

Right around sunset, we spotted this big old wood stork perched in the top of a large cypress tree:

Sunday Evening Open Thread

Wood storks are fairly common around here, but I can’t remember ever seeing one land in the top of a tree. Usually they’re on the ground near a body of water or flying somewhere.

Anyone watching anything good on TV? My husband is watching “Hunters” on Prime. I’m not a fan. Maybe I’m just not in the mood for that type of show right now.

Earlier, we were watching the Westminster Dog Show, which was a lot more pleasant, IMO. It was on last week, but we missed it, so we watched it on YouTube today. Wilma the boxer won the working group!

I’m a frequent TV sporting event watcher, and it occurred to me that dog show announcer chatter most resembles golf tournament broadcasts. There’s not a TON of action to provide a play-by-play narrative, so they delve into all sorts background information.

The blurbs they recite about the different dog breeds strike me as somewhat suspect. For example, they claimed that French bulldogs got their start as the favorites of lace-makers at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. That seems too specific to be true. Also, virtually every dog breed that originated in Asia was allegedly bred to guard monasteries, which also strains credulity.

Anyhoo. Open thread.

Reader Interactions

74Comments

  1. 1.

    Jerzy Russian

    I listened to much of the final round of the World Golf Championship tournament on the radio. That usually provides me with more than enough excitement.

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    BIRBS!!!

    As always seems to happen this time of year, I’m helping friends out with various tax situations. What I’m also learning is that none of this is taught in schools. That’s a big problem. Most of the issues I come across are pretty basic but completely opaque to the vast majority of Americans out there. It really needs a major correction. And won’t happen until the IRS stops getting starved to death.

  4. 4.

    delk

    I do the Friday NYT crossword on my phone. I’ve been working my way backwards and currently I am solving a puzzle from October 14, 2011. If I was solving this puzzle back then, one clue would have not been too easy. Today, on the other hand it required no thought. 4 letters—William _ _ _ _ 1990’s attorney general.

  5. 5.

    donnah

    I watched Westminster as well and I enjoyed it. I was surprised by how many of the breeds I have known in person over the years, in spite of owning mostly mixed breeds. We had a Springer Spaniel when I was a girl, our neighbors had a boxer named Muggs. friends had Irish setters, another had a blonde cocker spaniel, and later we knew a couple with a pair of Dalmatians. I don’t ever think of having a purebred dog, but I guess a lot of people still do. I was really surprised that Westminster had a rare Italian truffle dog, because another friend just bought one last year, and it cost a pretty penny. They also have a black Standard Poodle, who lacks the pompadour haircut but is equally personable.

    I guess I enjoy seeing so many beautiful dogs because they remind me of canine friends I’ve known over the years. It’s fun to see them all under one roof. And my favorite is always the wire fox terrier.

  6. 6.

    Omnes Omnibus

    For example, they claimed that French bulldogs got their start as the favorites of lace-makers at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. That seems too specific to be true.

    I don’t know.  If you spent your day working on tiny delicate stuff, wouldn’t the squat sturdiness of a French bulldog be a nice contrast and a bit of a relief to come home to?

  7. 7.

    Mary G

    That gives me an idea for cheering up – watch “Best in Show” again. I really try not to get too down, but I had a Rituxan IV on Thursday, which drags me down physically. That movie always makes me smile, especially Fred Willard as the idiot commentator.

  8. 8.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @delk:

    Semi-LOL. I, too, have been working (forward) through old NYT crosswords. I’m up to somewhere in the middle of 2004, and I’ve run across a couple of (past tense) Barr references. I also have to calibrate when the puzzle refers to “recent” TV, music or pop-culture things.

  10. 10.

    dp

    Love your bird pics.  I’m not watching anything except sports; just finished watching my Pelicans beat Golden State.   Especially since Zion came back, they’re tremendously entertaining.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    @donnah: My parents have a black standard, and my mom told me that after the win this year, multiple people stopped her in the street to congratulate the dog. Breed solidarity I guess.

  12. 12.

    mayim

    Ah, the wonders of modern technology! I’m typing this from 36004 feet above Sioux Falls SD. Free airplane wifi! The plane also has a version of DirectTV that is quite minimal, so Balloon-Juice it is ;-)

    As I was waiting to board the plane at Logan, I thought I was hearing things ~ but the couple sitting in the lounge behind me did indeed have a cat. Poor beastie was not liking the chaos of the end-of-school-vacation-week airport. Gorgeous brown tabby! Not letting my youngest cat know that traveling woth the human is an option ~ he’d want to join me, as he thinks my only purpose in life is to snuggle and pamper him; he’s a bottle baby foster fail.

    Looking forward to a week at a conference in Salt Lake City ~ no politics, lots of genealogical amusement, and feline-free knitting time at the conference sessions. Sounds heavenly!

    I haven’t had a chance to watch this year’s Westminster ~ that may be my evening wind-down, now that I know it’s on YouTube.

  13. 13.

    Another Scott

    @Mary G: That is a great movie, but it’s painful to watch at times.  (E.g. the couple arguing and their poor sensitive skinny dog getting all upset.)

    Hang in there, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  14. 14.

    Barb 2

    Dog ability on YouTube. Then there is something called free style dance with the dog and trained acting out a story.

    The ability was neat – the hoomans had to be very agile as well. The US version and UK version of agility is always interesting. Ah then there is the fly ball competition. Those dog & handler so utterly British!

  15. 15.

    Redshift

    There’s a kingfisher hanging around the pond in the office park where I work this year. He’s very skittish and will fly off chittering his annoyance if you walk near him, do no pictures. Very pretty, though.

  16. 16.

    markar

    Wow! Howdja get so close to the kingfisher?  They usually bolt if I just think I want to take a step towards them.  Would love to see an action shot!

  17. 17.

    Amir Khalid

    Also, virtually every dog breed that originated in Asia was allegedly bred to guard monasteries, which also strains credulity.

    Maybe it was the Shaolin monasteries. If you believe the movies, those monks were big on the martial arts.

  19. 19.

    opiejeanne

    @mrmoshpotato: I should have cooked, but I made the excuse that it was getting late so we went to McDonald’s and now I hate myself. Ugh. Any of the other drive-thru places is better but it’s the closest.

  20. 20.

    Juice Box

    @dmsilev: Yes, people congratulated my dog on his breed’s win. My husband was quite upset about some of the silly stuff people said online. We’ve heard some pretty dumb comments about our dogs over the years though. They’re just dogs, extra easy to train and they don’t get hair all over the house, but they are otherwise just dogs. Some of them even eat poop (elegant!)

  21. 21.

    opiejeanne

    Betty, I love your photos! That kingfisher is all that but the stork is pretty swell too.

    I’m trying to get a photo of what I think is a nuthatch that visits the feeder stuck on our French doors, but if I twitch or blink he’s gone like a flash. We also have a very rosy small bird that visits, about the size and shape of a sparrow. Black-cap chickadees, juncos, towhees, and a very small squirrel known as a Douglas  squirrel. Half the size of the gray squirrel that sometimes visits, but Douglas is a daily visitor and it’s not enough that he cleans up the black sunflower seeds that the birds toss out, but mr opiejeanne now feeds him every morning. He’s adorable.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    “Better Call Saul” season 5 premiers tonight–a two-parter concluding tomorrow. Be there.

    Kiddo met with a Princeton alum today and thought it was the most positive of these sessions she’s had. Winter in New Jersey, what’s not to like? [“That chill you feel is your wallet’s dread.”]

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    “Hunters” is supposed to be like a Tarantino clone. Have not watched yet. Rented “Joker” at Redbox (sucked as we expected) but “Jojo Rabbit” was pretty good.

  24. 24.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: I was very impressed by how beautiful that part of NJ was when I drove through it on the way to NYC a few decades ago.  You could really see why it was called “The Garden State”.

    Best of luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  25. 25.

    mad citizen

    Also watching Last Week Tonight.  Stayed up for Curb, using sick time for work tomorrow for a simple dental check up.  Sick days are the best if you’re not sick

     

    Oliver’s long story on Modi of India with a little trumpov visit preview thrown in.

  26. 26.

    trollhattan

    The spouse spent the weekend with friends at Lk. Tahoe (6,000+ feet) and reports the snowpack is dismal (should be tens of feet deep). Then they get a message and pics from their Chamonix friends that it’s the same there, with temps in the 60sF. They had all traveled there last fall and did the glacier walk with a sign sequence demarking the ice’s retreat up the mountain, which is losing many meters/year.

    It’s all quite depressing. OTOH I got something resembling a tan this weekend.

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott:

    Thanks! We’re on pins and needles because while offers are in hand the Ivies and UCs don’t release decisions for a month. “Sweetie, remember, you can only go to one.”

    Somehow that never helps.

    A lot of mom’s family landed in Jersey and in my few summer trips there I found it pretty nice. There are some very tony places, as teevee and movies never mention. Myself, I envision padding down to the front gate in my robe and slippers to pick up the paper.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev:

    Hope he got a chance to enjoy that lovely winter sky during his journey.

    “Steam-powered rocket.” Is that where Trump got his CV catapult policy from?

  32. 32.

    PJ

    @Omnes Omnibus: I had heard that the dogs were bred to sit on the seamstresses laps and keep them warm with their body temperature and exhalation during long work days.  Don’t know if it’s true, but it would explain why French Bulldogs are not so keen on exercise.

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, G and I have started watching “Picard” and are enjoying it so far. It’s more of a science fiction mystery than a reboot of ST:TNG.

  34. 34.

    Jay

    At the same time, lace workers from Nottingham who were displaced by the Industrial Revolution began to settle in Normandy, France.[10] They brought a variety of dogs with them, including Toy Bulldogs.[11] The dogs became popular in France and a trade in imported small Bulldogs was created, with breeders in England sending over Bulldogs that they considered to be too small, or with faults such as ears that stood up. By 1860, there were few Toy Bulldogs left in England, such was their popularity in France and due to the exploits of specialist dog exporters.[12]

    The small Bulldog type gradually became thought of as a breed, and received a name, the Bouledogue Francais.[12] This Francization of the English name is also a contraction of the words boule (ball) and dogue (mastiff or molosser). The dogs were highly fashionable and were sought after by society ladies and Parisian prostitutes alike, as well as creatives such as artists, writers, and fashion designers.[12] There is record of artists named Edgar Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec who have been thought to have French Bulldogs in their paintings.[13] However, records were not kept of the breed’s development as it diverged further away from its original Bulldog roots. As it changed, terrier stock had been brought in to develop traits such as the breed’s long straight ears.[12]

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Bulldog

  37. 37.

    Kelly

    Our power went out this afternoon. Our 7 year old grandson was here and we decided it was best to just eat all the ice cream.

  39. 39.

    The Pale Scot

    @Mnemosyne:

    Cool! Curly Neal showed up at my childhood day camp in Jersey City. There was a pool on a lower level than the basketball court. Curly went to the other side of the pool and heaved one over. Went thru, nothing but net, first try. We were amazed.

  40. 40.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mnemosyne:

    That’s cool! I don’t think it’s possible to replicate the best of 90s Trek tbh. It’s a product of it’s time.

    Too bad you have to be a CBS All Access subscriber. It should be on broadcast television. Or at least on Netflix, the streaming service that everybody else in the world uses. Picard is available on Netflix internationally

    There’s way too many streaming services imo. To get the same quality and choice out of streaming that you can on cable/satellite, you’d have to probably subscribe to dozes of streaming services that would collectively add up to far more than a typical monthly cable/satellite bill. That’s the benefit of bundling

  41. 41.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @donnah: On the topic of Westminster and breeds I have known, on behalf of Ninja the Chow** of beloved memory, I wish her group had a better name.

    “Non-sporting dogs” makes them sound like they cheat at cards.

    ** Yes, I know. She came to me already named, and I didn’t want to confuse her when she was already used to the name.

  42. 42.

    Jay

    Justice Sotomayor warns that the Supreme Court is routinely granting stays of appellate decisions when requested by the Trump Administration.A stay is supposed to be an extraordinary remedy because the court hasn’t yet fully considered the case. https://t.co/ddFQGiZcPb— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 23, 2020

  43. 43.

    The Dangerman

    @dmsilev:

    ….a flat-Earther failed in his attempt to prove that the Earth was flat when the homemade steam-powered rocket he was riding didn’t work quite right…

    Beep Beep!!

    /road runner

    ETA: I hope the Discovery Channel or whomever it was sponsoring this Dude gets their asses sued off. At least with Mythbusters, it was “Buster” that did the prat falls.

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne

    @The Pale Scot:

    The Harlem Globetrotters were such a fixture of my 1970s childhood that I was surprised to find out that they’re still active and still tour the world, but they are.

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Since the show has been picked up for a second season, I’m sure that they’ll put the first season on Netflix or Hulu once it’s over so they can get more viewers, but it is frustrating that there are so many streaming services now that all seem to have, like, one good show that may take months to show up anywhere else.

  50. 50.

    JWR

    @The Dangerman:

    ….a flat-Earther

    Just to be clear, the L.A. Times story quoted his PR guy saying “I don’t think he believed it,” Shuster said. “He did have some governmental conspiracy theories. But don’t confuse it with that flat Earth thing. That was a PR stunt we dreamed up.”

    ETA, not to say that the flat-Earther jokes aren’t welcome. ;)

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    And then they sent the pregnant woman out to apologize on the assumption that people wouldn’t yell at her as much. ?

    The show was apparently a Cal-OSHA nightmare, which may have been one of the reasons they got cancelled.

  54. 54.

    Jay

    This will be the first presidential election in decades in which the Republicans RNC will no longer be shackled by a federal consent decree that stopped many of the GOP’s “ballot security” tactics, such as dispatching armed, off-duty police officers to minority voting precincts. https://t.co/entdKC24Xu— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) February 23, 2020

  57. 57.

    Jay

    Oh my GODCharlotte just raised $27,000 for @ewarren IN LESS THAN 90 MINUTES because that’s how badly the internet wanted to know which TV finale she was disappointed in ?(And/or, that’s how little of an excuse they needed because that’s how much they believe in Warren!) https://t.co/l4hBTHnYHu— Emily Crockett (@emilycrockett) February 24, 2020

  61. 61.

    hitchhiker

    In a few months me and hitchhikerdaughter #2, who will be turning 30, are going to do a road trip around the towns of my youth, before I was able to make my great escape back in the 70s. I love/hate these great lakeshore places, and I want to show them to her before I’m too old to ride on all the bike trails they’ve built since I left.

    Duluth, Escanaba, Marquette, Houghton, Traverse City.

    I spent part of the afternoon noodling through possibilities and making plans to build up some bicycling chops before I find myself struggling next to her. She is a beast.

  62. 62.

    jl

    It’s widely known that the famed Florida swamp dogs were originally bred to guard Lady Cracker, while making lace and other home craft items, while sipping some tropical booze concoction from time to time.

  64. 64.

    JWR

    OT, Politics:

    The big picture: Since Trump’s Senate acquittal, aides say the president has crossed a psychological line regarding what he calls the “Deep State.” He feels his government — from Justice to State to Defense to Homeland Security — is filled with “snakes.” He wants them fired and replaced ASAP.

    Crossed a psychological line? Pretty sure that boat sailed a long time ago. But they gots lists, with alotta names! And Ginni Thomas, (who else?) is still there to con the conman-in-chief.

  65. 65.

    opiejeanne

    @Redshift: I think that’s right. mr opiejeanne had identified it as a house finch, I just forgot its name and he wasn’t handy when I commented.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    @Mike in NC

    It goes somewhat overboard, to the point where Hunters = The A Aleph-Team.

    Stock, trite Jewish-based dialogue is clumsily spread on thicker than Mae West’s make-up at age 80. Most likely gonna end up bailing out before the end.

    As always, YMMV.

  70. 70.

    opiejeanne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks. That’s where I worked when we first moved there.  About ten miles from our house. We moved back to SoCal in June of 2001 so it must have been after we left or we would have heard all about the incident.

  71. 71.

    opiejeanne

    @Sister Golden Bear: Wow! I think that “bomb range” was a base that my dad and my uncle were stationed briefly during WWII, before they were sent to Germany, called Camp Parks. I think they had a fire there that burned down most of the buildings that were still on the site.

  72. 72.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: There are times that it is very like a comic book. We’ve watched the first two episodes. It’s brutal. Not sure how many episodes we will watch yet, but one a day is plenty. I don’t know how anyone could binge-watch it.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @opiejeanne

    Certainly not binging it. The whole breaking into the bank scene was where I threw up my hands and said enough. Yes, I know what they found, but that doesn’t excuse the contrived way they got to it.

  74. 74.

    prostratedragon

    I have learned a new word this morning: glitzkrieg, used in reference to a certain building of inflated vertical value in the vicinity of 57th St. in Manhattan. The essay is an architectural critic’s mournful view of the recently-issued federal guidelines on new buildings, Make America Beautiful Again. Of note is that the critic starts out decrying easy Godwin form comparisons. Yet as he gets into the subject, whoops, there it is.

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