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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

People are weird.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

The words do not have to be perfect.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Thursday Night Open Thread

Thursday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  May 21, 20208:38 pm| 177 Comments

This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"

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Lots of awful in the news, our President is still a fucking loser asshole sociopath, so I am not going to talk about any of it. I will talk about the very vivid dream I had last night.

I dreamt that I had a 90 year old tortoise who had been passed down through generations, and I was very attached to him. His name was Gary. At any rate, Gary developed some rare disease and his shell started to deteriorate into gel, and I had to have his upper shell removed to save his life. I then fashioned a temporary shell out of a very large copper mixing bowl that I found at the consignment store, and then had a friend fashion an elaborate permanent replacement shell with a 3d printer.

In other news, the wildflowers I planted in the front yard walkway bed three years ago are back with a vengeance:

Thursday Night Open Thread

Thursday Night Open Thread 1

If I lived in the country I would just plant fields of wildflowers.

*** Update ***

No sooner did I hit publish on this post when I turned around and found this majestic motherfucker:

Thursday Night Open Thread 2

I love him so much.

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Previous Post: « Election Year Open Thread: Stacey Abrams Knows Her Worth
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Reader Interactions

177Comments

  1. 1.

    zhena gogolia

    May 21, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    The pandemic brings weird dreams.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    May 21, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    You Macgyver’d a tortoise?

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 21, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    @zhena gogolia: And weirder, obsessive Twitter observations.

    A thread.

    Here’s the problem with Scooby-Doo: The humans are going around, finding mysteries that might be ghosts and shit, but they’re traveling WITH A FUCKING TALKING DOG.— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) May 20, 2020

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    May 21, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    @Baud: No duct tape appears to have been involved.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    May 21, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Does he really talk, or is that what the Scooby Snacks make them believe?

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 21, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @Baud: Did you want him to A-Team a tortoise?

  7. 7.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 21, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: They lampshaded that in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (which is a surprisingly good movie, if you go in with reasonable expectations).

    “Lampshaded”? I stole the term from TVTropes.org. Be warned, the site is addictive! If you’ve used a trope so often it’s starting to get old, people will joking “hang a lampshade on it” – exaggerate it to the point of ridiculousness for effect. I believe the reference is to the trope of someone getting drunk (in the 1950s/60s) and putting a lampshade on their head, because it seemed funny at that time/BAC.

    For example, when I’m *really* angry, I tend to speak far more gently. Some day, if I’m important enough, and I start saying “valued colleagues, and dear friends” people will be all “HIT THE DECK! HE’S FURIOUS NOW!” – and that would be lampshading my tendency to be careful not to speak too angrily.

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 21, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    @Baud: Probably really talks.  Fred, Daphne and Velma don’t struck me as massive stoners.  (They’re Shaggy and Scooby’s dealers obviously.)

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 21, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo: Oh Jay and Silent Bob.  I should watch that tonight.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    Cole, you forgot to tell us how Gary is doing with his new shell!?!

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Baud:  I want to marry that comment.  ?

  12. 12.

    BGinCHI

    May 21, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    Cole, you are a national treasure.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @dmsilev: MacGyver doesn’t need duct tape!  Duct tape is for mere mortals.  Foil gum wrappers, something in a bottle in your garage, stuff like that.

  14. 14.

    zhena gogolia

    May 21, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo:

    What is the difference between lampshading and jumping the shark?

    Trying to explain “jumping the shark” to my husband was quite an experience. He’s never seen Happy Days.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @BGinCHI: He really is.

    Why does that picture of Steve remind me of some painting I have seen from another century?

  16. 16.

    Charluckles

    May 21, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    Ridiculous. Everyone knows that Gary is a snail’s name.

  17. 17.

    Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)

    May 21, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    So what happened with Gary?  Did his new shell work out?  I think we’re going to need updates now on Gary, the same as your other pets.  Maybe we could even have a new calendar next year, The Imaginary Pets of Balloon Juice.

  18. 18.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 21, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Draw me like one of your French girls

    Lizzo meets the Soviets.

  19. 19.

    oatler.

    May 21, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    I had a bad dream about a 90 year old turtle named Mitch.

  20. 20.

    JoyceH

    May 21, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    Gary must have looked magnificent in his copper shell!

  21. 21.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 21, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Lampshading would be the Fonz whacking Reactor 2 at Three Mile Island a good one, and fixing the problems.

    (Happy Days was a long time ago – Arthur Fonzarelli aka the Fonz or Fonzie,  could whack a jukebox and make it play (sometimes with a suspiciously appropriate song), and fix a great many other minor mechanical issues similarly. His power, he notes, does not work on hydraulics. Damn, why did I remember *that*?)

    Jumping the shark would be, I dunno – imagine they were having a beach episode, and in order to show up some blowhard, the Fonz takes a bet to put on water skies (which he had never used before the trip, I’d assume him being from Milwaukee), and jump over an underwater cage, containing a shark, to show he’s as, or more, courageous as the blowhard.

    But they would never do that… or WOULD THEY?

    Ahem. OR WOULD THEY?

    Sigh. (FX: footsteps.

    FX: Door opening

    FX: Loud crashing, and sounds of violence

    FX: door slam, footsteps.)

    OR WOULD THEY?

    (at last! It’s so hard to find good help these days.)

  22. 22.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    The patient seems as good as she could be with the glued together finger. It was her left index so that is way better than her right. They want her back in two weeks so I’ll be doing my best to keep her from damaging it anymore.

  23. 23.

    Viva BrisVegas

    May 21, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    I had a dream last night in which I found a shop that sold pineapple donuts, just like the old days.

    Alas, it was only a dream.

  24. 24.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    The trailer for Spike’s Nam movie looks good! If you gotta be one, be a Big Red One!

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 21, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    @raven:  Between her finger and your incident with the finger/hand (?) maybe you should think of takeout when you’re having people over.

  26. 26.

    Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)

    May 21, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    This thread is a classic.  When our great grandchildren visit the Balloon Juice museum, this thread will be one of the exhibits.

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    May 21, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    @oatler.:

    We’re all in that dream with you.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: The polar bear, that’s it!  Well, it’s close, anyway.

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 21, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    This is really weird, i almost never remember my dreams, but last night I dreamed my family and I were dealing with a really nasty, aggressive snapping turtle. Really want to know what it means that we kept picking it up, and there were no ponds around.

  30. 30.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 21, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @raven: Huh, may have to sign up for Netflix to see that one.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @oatler.: @zhena gogolia: I believe that’s called a nightmare.

  32. 32.

    Duane

    May 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: Regular coats of Turtle Wax are recommended to maintain that new shell look for years to come.

  33. 33.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:  @raven:

    Just get some chain mail for your hands

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @raven: All excellent news, as these things go!  Is she supposed to keep it elevated?  That will be a challenge for someone who (I presume) is always moving.

    I bet it hurts like the devil and is throbbing like crazy.  Yes?

  35. 35.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 21, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    An effective portrayal of income inequality.

    https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/

    I was furloughed last month from my job, and told it would be for eight weeks. Found out today that the plan is still to bring all of the furloughed employees back next month, so I’m breathing a little easier. I won’t fully believe it until I’m back at work, but it’s alleviated some of the stress.

    And Chauncey the Easily Frightened Bichon Mix touched the evil, no good, terrifying potty bells with his nose today, rather than eyeing them suspiciously from across the living room like he usually does. So it’s been a decent day overall.

  36. 36.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: When I tripped and almost cut my pinky off we weren’t having people over, it was just us!

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    a friend fashion an elaborate permanent replacement shell

    Affixed with rhinestones and sequins, so he would thenceforth be known as Shellvis.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    May 21, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Is “Rut roh” technically talking?

  39. 39.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @WaterGirl: She claims not, they gave her some Tylenol with codeine  and I’m engouraging that “stay ahead of the pain” deal.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    May 21, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @NotMax:

    Warden threw a party at the county bog…

  41. 41.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I don’t think that would help if you had your finger in an immersion blender and hit the trigger.

  42. 42.

    J R in WV

    May 21, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @raven:

    Wife and I have each had two joint replacements, her knees and my shoulders. Both were closed up with glue (DuraBond IIRC) and a clear tape. Both worked out fine as frog hair — so she should be fine also, too!

    If you don’t need a hand surgeon / aka plastic surgeon, you’re probably OK.

    Keep us posted!

     

    ETA: I mostly use my immersion blender to make milkshakes, usually chocolate with vanilla ice cream… so far, so good!

  43. 43.

    Tdjr

    May 21, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    Anyone else having problems with concentration? Or sticking to one thread of thought? No? Must be just me then.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    May 21, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Dude who did my carpel tunnel procedure is a hand and wrist surgeon, period. I did not know such a critter existed and all I can say is genius.

  45. 45.

    Yutsano

    May 21, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @NotMax:

     SHINY!!!

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    May 21, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @NotMax:

    In Brideshead Revisited, Rex Mottram gives Lady Julia a tortoise with her named spelled out in diamonds embedded into its shell.

  47. 47.

    CaseyL

    May 21, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    Huh.  The only animal dream I had recently involved a radio repair shop that was also a doggie shelter.  Room was full of disassembled radios, big bakelite housings, lots of old, old cords all over the floor.  And doggies, lots of them, in crates or sitting around the perimeter of the room.

    The radios were antiques; the dogs weren’t.

  48. 48.

    VeniceRiley

    May 21, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    John Cole: Tortoise Physician
    That’s a show I’d watch.  I am starved for new content.  I feel like I’ve watched everything and am waiting for Janelle Monae

  49. 49.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @J R in WV: Yea, I think it’s as good as it could be. I really never wanted her messing with that thing in the first place, for a woman with a home ec degree she’s a mess in the kitchen!

  50. 50.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @trollhattan: Yea, that’s who repaired my severed ulnar nerve.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Beware of this link.  Super interesting, but It shut my computer down.  Then it didn’t want to start back up.  When I finally got it back up it was WAY OVERHEATED.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    @raven: I am giving you (her) the side eye on that one.  I cannot believe they don’t want her to keep it elevated.

    Stay on her re: the stay ahead of the pain.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    Almost completely through the third season of Bordertown on Netflix. Glum and stoic as all get out (Finnish noir, ’nuff said) but the best of the seasons, IMHO, although would ever suggest it as a candidate for binge watching. More than redeemed the intermittent story floundering in season 2.

  54. 54.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 21, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Funky (even got a tuba which yours is sorely lacking)

  55. 55.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    No, she claims it doesn’t hurt that badly.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    @J R in WV: That’s what I mostly do with mine, also!  Personal favorites:   vanilla ice cream with a ton of strawberries or raspberries OR haagen dazs coffee ice cream milkshake.

  57. 57.

    Jake Gibson

    May 21, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I dreamed I went defcon1 on a bunch assholes for not wearing masks. In real life, I just think it.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @raven:

    …for a woman with a home ec degree she’s a mess in the kitchen!

    I am now completely convinced that she never reads BJ.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @NotMax

    For want of a letter…

    Should read: would never suggest it as a candidate for binge watching.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @raven: I’ve got 5 bucks that says it will.

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    May 21, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    Posting on the fly. Comedian Julie Nolke. Is the Pandemic Over Yet?

    https://youtu.be/LTh-BBnnZd8

    3 min, 35 seconds of inspired craziness

  62. 62.

    raven

    May 21, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    @WaterGirl: Take that to the bank.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @WaterGirl

    One of the great decadent pleasures is a bowl with scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream which have been liberally drizzled with a framboise liqueur.

  64. 64.

    VeniceRiley

    May 21, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    @Tdjr: Places where I’m a regular have trouble making my usual?  They forget the little things like putting in a bag of chips when you order a dip dish?  people at work keep typing their passwords wrong and getting locked out?  People I send items for further execution needing to be repeatedly reminded before they get them done… Like that?
    I do notice.  It’s happening to me too.  I’ve been late to work twice this month. I couldn’t find my phone yesterday.  I’ve spaced a meeting.  People are making small errors because they are worried and distracted.  I told futurewife today that I just let it go- It’s not really their fault.  No one is performing at the top of their game.

  65. 65.

    ThresherK

    May 21, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    Steve in that photo reminds me of Megan Nicole Dong, who often draws her male cat with (accurate) prominent belly and moobs.

     

    Twice, while commuting, I saw bears crossing big state routes here because of the low traffic. One day, one, another day, two together. Last night I dreamed there were twenty of them.

    It’s about the best dream I could hope for in the circumstances; I worry about Andromeda Strain nightmares.

  66. 66.

    Fair Economist

    May 21, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Beware of this link.  Super interesting, but It shut my computer down, when I finally brought it back up it was WAY OVERHEATED.

    Income inequality is so bad now even computers get heated about it.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @zhena gogolia

    “I’m so grateful your name isn’t Clarabelle. My wallet couldn’t handle that.”

    ;)

  68. 68.

    frosty

    May 21, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    Wildflowers are a good plan. I had a great time photographing and identifying wildflowers all over the southwest in the last three months. I’m getting serious about our landscaping finally and I’ll have to look for good locations to plant some.

  69. 69.

    gene108

    May 21, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I think the level one understands the talking dog is directly proportional to Scooby snack consumption.

  70. 70.

    Honus

    May 21, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    Gary? Really?  For a 90 year old turtle?

    That said, a copper mixing bowl shell sounds really cool. And then a nice new plastic one from a 3D printer is very Ohio Valley, what with the Bayer plastics plant and all.

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    This thread????

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @mrmoshpotato

    It’s past time to blow the lid on the whole talking dogs thing.

    :)

  73. 73.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    Ok,

     

    We have some smart people here.

    I am helping Peanut with a school project.

    She has to do a Power Point presentation on Little Women.

    The trick is…

    Every slide has to begin with a letter of the alphabet.

    We are stuck on  ‘ X’

    If you have read Little Women, and you have a word that begins with ‘ X’ , that could apply to Little Women, I would appreciate the hint.

  74. 74.

    gene108

    May 21, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    I keep having this weird point in a dream, where at some point – doesn’t matter, what the rest of the dream’s about – my mom has gotten tickets for me and her to go to Los Angeles and visit my cousin there.

    The cousin in question used to live in Los Angeles 20-30 years ago, but has since relocated to San Diego.

    What freaks me out about the dream is, at the last moment, I’m like I can’t go because I have too much work due during the period we’re supposed to be traveling, and I need to cancel the ticket at the last minute, but I don’t want to waste the money my mom already spent on my ticket.

    Then different sorts of stuff happens, which I don’t remember upon waking, which may or may not have anything to do with visiting family.

    Probably due to work related anxiety, because I get very little work done from home, and the coronavirus restrictions have hit us really hard.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @NotMax: Does it taste like raspberries or raspberry flavoring?  The only liquor I have found that actually tastes like what it is is this awesome peach liquor that actually tastes like peaches.  I have not tried that with vanilla ice cream, but perhaps i should!

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 21, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @trollhattan: My arm was also done by a hand and wrist guy. I’m very happy with the outcome. Shortly after doing my arm, he went off to do some advanced surgery fellowship at Duke, so he seems to have been good.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @VeniceRiley: It’s like when you’re grieving.  Part of your brain background power is taken up by (virtual) shrieking oh my god this person is gone forever, and trying to process that.

    So all sorts of things we do on automatic pilot don’t go as well as usual because we are short on RAM.  :-)

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @Fair Economist: Yeah, I figured there was a metaphor in there.  Jeff Bezos has so much money that your computer runs out of memory and overheats just trying to display it.

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 21, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @WaterGirl: Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett, NY, makes some awesome raspberry and blackcurrant (and cherry, maybe?) liqueurs.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    May 21, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Xenophobia was not one of Jo’s qualities, or she would never have married Professor Bhaer.

  81. 81.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 21, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: Sorry about that!  I looked at it on my phone with no trouble and hadn’t heard of anyone else having any problems.

    It’s too late to edit my comment or I’d add a warning.

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: True confessions?  I have never watched Scooby- Doo.

  83. 83.

    seefleur

    May 21, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    After a day of dealing with aging-parent issues from a distance of nearly 2000 miles, and dealing with half of my sibs who are batshit crazy, this posting has relieved a lot of stress. Thanks to the blogmeister and the jackals – you have NO idea what a medical miracle y’all are. Smooches to all! And Steve is truly magnificent (for the record, my two overlords are giving me the side-eye as I type this).

  84. 84.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 21, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @trollhattan: I believe you’re thinking of Astro, from the Jetson’s. Scooby wasn’t a chatterbox, but he did have “speaking” bits. (Though “rrrooby rooby dooooooooo!” is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. Memory is such a strange thing. But I’m pretty sure he could get “hraggy’s” attention, for example.

    Damn it, am I going to have to search for old Scooby Doo ‘toons, now? I thought my last time doing that was when I tried cobble “scooby dooby doo” to “artoo de (pause) too, where are you? We need some help from you, now.”

    (If anyone reads my comments with regularity, you’ll probably note I’m having a really good day, fatigue/(non!)fog-wise. And I couldn’t have told you that until just now. Again(ish), what a strange thing brains are.)

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA):  No apologies necessary!  Did you go all the way to the end? Or near the end?  It went on and on and on and on.

    Super interesting, though.

    edit: It completely hosed Outlook, which will no longer open. Sigh.

  86. 86.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @rikyrah

    Xerosis is certainly one thing the gloves will hide, according to Marmee.

  87. 87.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 21, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    It was old man Jenkins. It was always old man Jenkins, and he would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!

  88. 88.

    Miss Bianca

    May 21, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @zhena gogolia: It does. And coronavirus anxiety has woven its way into more than a few of mine.

  89. 89.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 21, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @WaterGirl: https://xkcd.com/1053/ (*IF* you’re interested, of course. But I do *love* the theme of that strip.)

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    @WaterGirl

    The good ones taste like raspberries, yes. Somewhere in the depths of the liquor larder is a small bottle of a French brand which actually contains raspberry seeds as well.

  91. 91.

    dmsilev

    May 21, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    @rikyrah: It’s been a long time since I read any of those books. Did they ever have to worry about water for their gardens or crops? If so, xeriscaping would be my oddball suggestion.

  92. 92.

    Luciamia

    May 21, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    .

    Why does that picture of Steve remind me of some painting I have seen from another century?

    It’s that painting you see over every saloon bar in a Western. With a naked woman, tho.

  93. 93.

    frosty

    May 21, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I have never watched Scooby- Doo.

    Nor have I.

  94. 94.

    Kattails

    May 21, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @Tdjr: Yes. Terrible time. All over the place…what were we talking about? Steve needed a new copper coat in 3-D??

    OK now I just remembered scene with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck with him recounting a  bizarre dream that contained a clue… WTF was the movie? ah, wait, Google says not Hepburn. fill in: Ingrid Bergman. Spellbound.

    @WaterGirl: I like your explanation. Several times I’ve warned people who are headed into a grief cycle to expect to be exhausted for a long time. Surprising how much energy processing that stuff takes.

  95. 95.

    Luciamia

    May 21, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    Back to the X words.  Xylography? Engraving on wood and Amy did do some wood engraving.

  96. 96.

    MomSense

    May 21, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    @Tdjr:

    YES!!! It’s taking me longer to do everything and I feel so restless and disoriented.

  97. 97.

    JCJ

    May 21, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    He drew Steve like one of his French girls

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @JCJ: ha!

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    Thanks for the “X” suggestions?

  100. 100.

    prostratedragon

    May 21, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    @Luciamia:
    Cross-gender, but still fits for a kitty:

    “La maja de Goya,” Granados, played by Julian Bream

  101. 101.

    JCJ

    May 21, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @rikyrah: Have never read it, but how about “x-rays were taken to evaluate for possible fractures”

    “Xarelto was chosen over warfarin to prevent additional blood clots”

    “Xeloda was used rather than infusional 5-FU as a radiation sensitizer as part of the pre-operative treatment of her rectal cancer”

    “‘Xanax!’ She exclaimed.  ‘I need more Xanax!'”

    “Xtandi is the name of the new medication he was given for metastatic prostate cancer”

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 21, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    In Brideshead Revisited, Rex Mottram gives Lady Julia a tortoise with her named spelled out in diamonds embedded into its shell.

    I wonder if that’s where the Breaking Bad guys got the idea for their tortoise scene….

  103. 103.

    Kattails

    May 21, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @Kattails: reading reviews of Spellbound–was reminded of the fun trivia that the dream sequence was designed by Salvadore Dali.

    Ok that’s all the concentration I can muster for tonight.

  104. 104.

    khead

    May 21, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    So not too long after we were clowning on the churchgoers in the downstairs thread I got an invite from a pastor friend to go to his “reopening” this weekend.  I, uh, politely declined.

    Also, I loved Scooby Doo as a kid.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    Why does tonight feel like Friday night?

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @rikyrah

    One more.

    “Xy-low-fohn, Amy, not xy-lah-fa-nee,” Jo muttered.

    :)

  107. 107.

    opiejeanne

    May 21, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    @Jake Gibson: I growled at a couple of people today who were wearing masks, but below their noses. Idjits.

  108. 108.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 21, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    @WaterGirl: I have that same weird feeling. Usually it’s in the morning that I get confused about what day it is.

    It only matters to me now cause I have a zoom happy hour for a relative’s birthday tomorrow evening. And just like a before-times meat-space social thing, I plan to arrive late, leave early and I’m hoping there aren’t too many people there.

  109. 109.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It only matters to me now cause I have a zoom happy hour for a relative’s birthday tomorrow evening. And just like a before-times meat-space social thing, I plan to arrive late, leave early and I’m hoping there aren’t too many people there.

    That made me laugh.  At least some things don’t change.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    @WaterGirl

    Pace Network: “You have tampered with the primal forces of challah, Ms Girl.”

    :)

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    Fox News poll: Joe Biden now leads Donald Trump by eight points, 48-40 (was 42-42 in April)Trump leads among men by 7, Biden leads among women by 20.Biden leads among independents by 13, 40-27, and is getting 8% of 2016 Trump voters.— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) May 21, 2020

  112. 112.

    trollhattan

    May 21, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: @frosty:

    In sum, all planned crimes/plots/schemes would be successful were it not for those meddling kids and their dog.

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    May 21, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    Fox News poll: 63% of all voters favor a "vote by mail" system in the November elections while 30% oppose.Men favor it by 28 points, women by 37 points.Democrats favor it by 72 points, Independents by 24 points… and Republicans oppose it by 9 points.— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) May 21, 2020

  114. 114.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 21, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @rikyrah:&nbsp Ouch.

    When should I start panicking? Pundits were telling me that Biden was ruining his chances.

  115. 115.

    trollhattan

    May 21, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Fox, post fiddling with the numbers? Keep hope alive.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    May 21, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Rikyrah

    If this be Dems In Disarray, keep it coming.

  117. 117.

    dww44

    May 21, 2020 at 11:19 pm

    @raven: I missed the backstory here.  How did the injury happen and what’s the prognosis?

  118. 118.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    New moon tomorrow night, I’m feeling urges.

  119. 119.

    opiejeanne

    May 21, 2020 at 11:26 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: To go take photos?

  120. 120.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 21, 2020 at 11:28 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was able to go all the way to the end.  It took a while, which really drove home the point about the richest 400 people.

  121. 121.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 21, 2020 at 11:29 pm

    @opiejeanne: Yes.

    (If you look at Flickr, you’ll notice I went out last week.)

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 11:31 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): I am still trying to rebuild my Outlook database because my email was hosed after it crashed. :-(  Not your fault!   But still frustrating.

  123. 123.

    WaterGirl

    May 21, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): I got to what if we taxed them 5% point.  Not sure how much there was after that.

  124. 124.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 21, 2020 at 11:48 pm

    @WaterGirl:  There was a lot more.  I don’t recommend you verifying that for yourself, though.  Ouch.  Sorry.  (I know you said I don’t need to be, but I am.)

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    May 21, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Haven’t looked at Little Women in decades, but I put the HTML version at Project Gutenberg under the scope and came up blank. No words that begin with x. Only two that end with x: sphinx and phalanx. Side note: lots of characters exclaiming about things all over the place.

    If I were the kid, I would make a joke about there being words for every other letter except x. Ba-ding.

  126. 126.

    Tenar Arha

    May 21, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    Are you sure you weren’t dreaming about this tortoise in need named Ms. Jennifer?

    ?? Massachusetts jackal alert!

    53-year-old tortoise needs home after owner dies of COVID-19 BOSTON —
    At 53, Ms. Jennifer may just be the oldest animal that a Massachusetts shelter has ever been charged with adopting into a new home.

    The tortoise arrived at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on May 9 after her owner was admitted to the hospital. The owner died this week of COVID-19.

  127. 127.

    laura

    May 21, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: urges to wish Amir Khalid a Eid Mubarak?

  128. 128.

    lamh36

    May 21, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    Getting ready to go to bed, but the TR/Biden story is taking on more hits tonight.

    I hate to say it. but I hope someone is watching this woman, cause all them folks used that woman’s and they hung her out to dry and are now scattering like bugs while the hits keep coming against her. And ya already know TPTB will somehow blame Biden whatever happens .

     

    thwy used that

  129. 129.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 21, 2020 at 11:55 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo: Why would you assume that someone from Milwaukee had never waterskied?  There is a rather large lake just to the east of it, and Tommy Bartlett’s water ski show was going on only two hours to the west.

  130. 130.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 21, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    @zhena gogolia: But Rex always was rather naff.

  131. 131.

    BruceFromOhio

    May 22, 2020 at 12:02 am

    @frosty: cats, I feel badly for you both.

    “I would’ve gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those darned kids!”

  132. 132.

    BruceFromOhio

    May 22, 2020 at 12:04 am

    @JCJ:

    “‘Xanax!’ She exclaimed.  ‘I need more Xanax!’”

    This made me LoL

  133. 133.

    debbie

    May 22, 2020 at 12:06 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Cordelia was appalled!

  134. 134.

    cain

    May 22, 2020 at 12:07 am

    @WaterGirl:

    I’m very sorry about that. It represented the last gasp of cartoons before soul train showed up which for us kids ended the Saturday morning day.

  135. 135.

    cain

    May 22, 2020 at 12:10 am

    @WaterGirl:

    how many glasses of wine did you drink? I’ve been drinking since 4:30 PST.. because it’s been a never ending string of happy hours. :-)

  136. 136.

    debbie

    May 22, 2020 at 12:10 am

    @raven:

    Wow! And the Chambers Brothers!

  137. 137.

    cain

    May 22, 2020 at 12:12 am

    Sorry y’all it seems I’m just in a convo with water girl.

  138. 138.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 22, 2020 at 12:12 am

    @laura: No, urges to go out into the night and take photos of the sky.

  139. 139.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 22, 2020 at 12:14 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Because I thought of waterskiing as exclusively a salt water activity, and while I could have thought of lakes, I just didn’t :-). Thanks for the thoughts.

  140. 140.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 12:17 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: It would be easy to assume that Fonzi had never water skied before despite the local opportunity; if you’ve seen enough episodes with him he has a lane that he very rarely leaves.

    IIRC, he kept his leather jacket on while they were in California.

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    May 22, 2020 at 12:18 am

    One might call it the fickle finger of feta, although I cheddar at the thought of the muensterosity of seeing the USA in a Chevrelet.

    :)

  142. 142.

    debbie

    May 22, 2020 at 12:18 am

    @rikyrah:

    Xtraordinary imagination of a young author.

    (yeah, sorry)

  143. 143.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @LongHairedWeirdo</a: Have you water-skied on the ocean?

  144. 144.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 12:20 am

    @LongHairedWeirdo: I always consider waterskiing a freshwater sport. In SoCal I think most waterskiing happens on lakes because the ocean can be too rough.

  145. 145.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 12:22 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Link doesn’t work.

    I tried to find the filming location, and I think they filmed Fonzi jumping the shark at Malibu, and that water looked extremely calm.

  146. 146.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 22, 2020 at 12:25 am

    @NotMax: (Looks over at NotMax, shakes head.)

  147. 147.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 22, 2020 at 12:26 am

    @opiejeanne: They could have used green screen.

  148. 148.

    NotMax

    May 22, 2020 at 12:27 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    “Cheese it, the cops!”

    :)

  149. 149.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 22, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Friend, all I know about water skiing, I learned from the Happy Day’s episode! All I knew was “shark” and (having quickly searched to re-verify :-) ) assumed salt water, et voila, water skiing is a salt water thing. But I’m glad I followed the thread, I’m learning things.

    @opiejeanne: We are once again proving the old adage: the fastest way to learn something on the internet is *not* to ask a question, but to post something wrong. :-)

  150. 150.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:36 am

    Shake your bones

  151. 151.

    Searcher

    May 22, 2020 at 12:36 am

    @BruceFromOhio: X-rated adaptations typically have little to do with the actual plot of the novel.

  152. 152.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 22, 2020 at 12:37 am

    @opiejeanne: Apparently, it was filmed at Paradise Cove by Point Dume.  This was also where Jim Rockford’s trailer was.

  153. 153.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:37 am

    @opiejeanne: No idea how I made the question a link. Haha

  154. 154.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 22, 2020 at 12:40 am

    @LongHairedWeirdo: I take that back! There is also oceanic water skiing in the novelization of Jaws II. So, all I know about water skiing I learned from…

    Jeez. This is almost as embarrassing as when I went into my first marijuana store and had to admit, all I know about pot I learned from Jay and Silent Bob (and I hadn’t even seen Clerks, yet!).

  155. 155.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:43 am

    @NotMax:

    1. You’re terrible.
    2. The article is even more punny.
    3. Certainly this was a semi filled with boxes of macaroni and cheese.

    “Boys!  Alternate shovelfuls of cheese powder and dried pasta!  Fill it up as much as you can!  What could go wrong?”

  156. 156.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:45 am

    @LongHairedWeirdo: Oh!  Haha! :)

  157. 157.

    dlwchico

    May 22, 2020 at 12:46 am

    My boy Danger Mouse in solidarity with Steve.

     

    https://i.imgur.com/JspfQAq.jpg

  158. 158.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 22, 2020 at 12:47 am

    @opiejeanne: I accept that he had never waterskied before.  I object to the idea that he had never waterskied before because he was from Milwaukee.

  159. 159.

    Yutsano

    May 22, 2020 at 12:53 am

    @dlwchico: I see Balloon Juice: After Dark is in full swing…

  160. 160.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 22, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @LongHairedWeirdo:

    the novelization of Jaws II

    Oh please tell me it’s the shark doing the waterskiing!

  161. 161.

    Torrey

    May 22, 2020 at 12:56 am

    @rikyrah: 
    xanthous means ‘having yellow hair’ or just ‘yellow’; xylan refers to some sort of tree-gum; Xanthippe was the wife of Socrates, and the name now refers to a scold (I have things to say about that, but I’ll let them pass for now); xerophagy refers to eating dry food (as I recall, Littie Women has a couple of men, Mr. March and someone else, who are in or with the army, enjoying the famous Civil War Union Army hardtack and possibly jerky; xilinous is obsolete, but means ‘pertaining to cotton’; xenia is ‘guest-friendship,’ a very intense variety of hospitality, but could be used for someone who is an exceptionally generous host(ess); xiphias gladius is a swordfish; there’s a bone in the human body called xiphoid; xylocopa is the genus of carpenter bees, so xylocopid means something associated with carpenter bees; and finally xystus, a shady walk planted with trees (or between rows of trees?), which I see was in use throughout the 19th century.

    I hope there’s something there you can use.

  162. 162.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 22, 2020 at 1:43 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    That only happens in the “Jaws II Snyder Cut” novelization, alas.

  163. 163.

    JWR

    May 22, 2020 at 2:06 am

    Michigan’s AG earlier tonight:

    “The president is like a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules”. – CNN Video

    I think I’m falling in political love. ;)

  164. 164.

    Amir Khalid

    May 22, 2020 at 2:14 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    What, no Eid wishes for me? Pout.

    //

    ETA: Eid is on Sunday (technically, the first of the month of Shawal begins at sunset on Saturday) so there’s no rush.

  165. 165.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 22, 2020 at 2:20 am

    @Amir Khalid: Well, since I was supposed to be on the road right now chasing stars*…Eid Mubarak Amir.

    *I checked the weather in the Antelope Valley, pretty windy, so I’m not going tonight, pout.

  166. 166.

    cain

    May 22, 2020 at 2:24 am

    Eid Mubararak @Amir Khalid!

  167. 167.

    Lumpy

    May 22, 2020 at 3:03 am

    What a magnificent cat.

  168. 168.

    Sab

    May 22, 2020 at 3:12 am

    3 am here. My windows are open. My cats are so happy, just sniffing the air at an open window.

  169. 169.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 3:17 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, but they didn’t. Winkler was a pretty decent waterskier and he demonstrated for the show, all except  the jump. He said they wouldn’t let him do the jump, and he didn’t know how anyway.

  170. 170.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 3:19 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Aha. I remember that place. Earlier when I pulled it up on Youtube I didn’t recognize the pier. Could not place it.

  171. 171.

    opiejeanne

    May 22, 2020 at 3:23 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, you’re right, although I don’t think of waterskiing when I think of Milwaukee, I think of beer, and cheese, but I haven’t been to Milwaukee, just Madison.

    Just a west coast bias or something.

  172. 172.

    Sab

    May 22, 2020 at 3:31 am

    @opiejeanne: Years ago, somebody ( possibly Omnes) showed me that they can actually surf on the Great Lakes. I didn’t think they had enough surf to surf, but in winter storms they do. Fucking walruses in wetsuits on surfboards. Weirder than Florida people.

  173. 173.

    Amir Khalid

    May 22, 2020 at 4:43 am

    @cain:

    Thank you.

  174. 174.

    debbie

    May 22, 2020 at 7:15 am

    @Sab:

    My mom waterskied on Lake Michigan, more in the lake than on it. It was her first time ever and she refused to give up. The home movies were hilarious.

  175. 175.

    evodevo

    May 22, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @rikyrah:  Xanadu?

  176. 176.

    J R in WV

    May 22, 2020 at 11:00 am

    @NotMax:

    One of the great decadent pleasures is a bowl with scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream which have been liberally drizzled with a framboise liqueur.

    We visited Italy, specifically the Tuscan countryside, where we spent one day having a cooking lesson on a farm, where they make wine, and vinegar, and have chickens, and dig truffles with a truffle dog who was really affectionate, even with the guests.

    After we made pasta and other Italian delights, we had a late lunch, and dessert was vanilla ice cream with balsamic vinegar, made from their high-end red wine and aged for decades in a deep cellar. It was wonderful !!!

    The vinegar was thick and drooled over the very good ice cream slowly, it was a beautiful shiny purple color, and so sweet and tart and fruity. Now I’m wanting another bottle asap just talking about it.

  177. 177.

    JAFD

    May 22, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    Personally I like a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, topped with a shot of good bourbon.

    There’s a vanilla liqueur, ‘Island Royale’,  IIRC, very good added to hot chocolate on a coldwet day.

    But, de gustibus…

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