Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’re not going back!

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

This fight is for everything.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

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

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

You are here: Home / Books / Monday Evening Respite Open Thread

Monday Evening Respite Open Thread

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In reference to nothing in particular, except that public libraries are the best…

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67Comments

  1. 1.

    MomSense

    Cheers, Mr Guichen!
    From a library lover currently taking a break from turning the compost.

  5. 5.

    Phylllis

    Our local libraries reopened several weeks ago for curbside pickup service only. I can give up restaurants, shopping, and maybe even travel. But not having the library in March – May almost broke me.

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    @Phylllis:   I am loving that our local libraries opened a few weeks ago, and we can order books, but they still gave us until mid-August to return the ones we checked out before they closed for months.

    They’ve been really good about making e-books available when they were closed, and I noticed a few libraries doing virtual story time for kids, etc.

  7. 7.

    Phylllis

    @Elizabelle: I tore through some great e-books while they were closed; turns out the Libby app works great on a iPad Pro. And the extended checkout period is an added benefit. On the downside, I’ve been 1 of 1 for two titles for a couple of weeks now & I’m champing at the bit. It’s almost like your 401K-you have to train yourself not to check your account too often.

  15. 15.

    Jay Noble

    Sorta Library related – Tomorrow my high school Senior English teacher Dorothy Holloway now of Farmington, N.M. turns 106! She retired after my class of ’79 (we had that effect on teachers) And we thought she was old back then! She taught 20+ years and was along with her horse the model for our original Red Raider mascot in ’67. She rode horses into her 90’s. Happy Birthday! And Thanks

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/190537417675307/

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    @scav:   Yeah.  It was heartbreaking to read a story about some parents without wifi at home driving the kids to library parking lots after dinner so they could do their school work.

    We could do so much better.  Richest country in the world, my ass.

  21. 21.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    Watching a thunder and lightning storm roll my way.  Sitting on the porch having a delicious beer.  Serenity now!

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    @Eric S.:

    Japanese surnames also precede the given name — in Japan and among Japanese speakers — just like in Korean and Chinese names. Elsewhere, they put the given name in front to avoid confusing Westerners.

    Some people of Chinese heritage have a Western given name before the surname and a Chinese given name after. E.g. Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, the Malaysian actress.

  30. 30.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: My pets are not enjoying the thunder rolling our way. At least we aren’t getting much wind, so my unstable tomatoes won’t get blown over this time.

    I tried to post in an earlier thread, but got swallowed by moderation. I had to go to the supermarket this morning, so while I was there I bought a half dozen boxes of individually wrapped packets of cookies. Dropped them off at my local post office. I told the lady at the counter that I I know they’re going through a rough time and I can’t do anything to make their work more sane, or get their paychecks to them on time, but I can bring them cookies, so that’s what I’m doing. It’s not much at all, but I’ve felt better all the rest of the day.

  31. 31.

    WereBear

    We’ve been binging on Upstart Crow. A must for Shakespeare fans, which is crucial to some of the comedy.

    Same writer as Blackadder.

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    @Major Major Major Major:

    There’s a South Korean forward who plays for English football team Tottenham Hotspur. Depending on their house style, the British sports media outlets call him either Son Heung-Min or Heung-Min Son.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    Some people of Chinese heritage have a Western given name before the surname and a Chinese given name after. E.g. Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, the Malaysian actress.

    In titles of Hong Kong action films, the actress is identified in the English titles and credits only as Michelle Yeoh. Similarly in other Western TV shows and movies.

    Some of my Chinese American co-workers appear to have a Chinese first name and an alternate English first name. But they are never used together.

    Japanese American co-workers seem more likely to have an American first name, though again I had one old friend who also had a Japanese first name that was never used or mentioned to non Asian friends.

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    @Brachiator:

    Some of my Chinese American co-workers appear to have a Chinese first name and an alternate English first name. But they are never used together.

    In my experience they are not used together in speech, but it’s reasonably common to list both the Chinese and alternate name in things like company directories and signatures.  That makes it easier for someone who has met a person under one name to realize the other name refers to the same person.  I’ve also noticed that people who legally changed their names when they naturalized will often give their new legal name first and their original name second rather than the other way around.  So one of my former coworkers would sign documents as Helen Yan Ge.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    Mild spoiler for the new Perry Mason series.

    Okay. Warning given.

    I finally caught up with the new Perry Mason series. I didn’t realize that it was going to be a noir superhero origin story. There is a scene where I half expected Mason to rip open his shirt and reveal a costume with a big letter P on his chest.

    The series is mildly diverting. They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.

    That said, I like much of the acting, and like these versions of Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake. The mystery narrative itself is a bit overwrought. But I guess there will be a second season and it will be interesting to see the further adventures of Super Perry, uh I mean Perry Mason.

  40. 40.

    Avalune

    Re: Pending rain I’m hoping for a good heavy bout so I can say the power’s out and read for a while instead of work tomorrow. Haha! Look they are going to say “there ain’t no snow in your house roll on over into your office and get to work” during snow days this year, so slightly exaggerated power outages are all I got.

  42. 42.

    BruceFromOhio

    Signed into the local library ebook site and holy cow, are you ready to be an activist informed by deep and wide history? The opening page is filled with titles on social justice, activism, and Black history in America. LOVE THESE TITLES. ON THE FRONT PAGE.

    And then it changes to Kids & Teens. I think i might just check out “Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved An Ecosystem” because a respite is a good thing. Thanks, Public Library!

    Can you hear me, Doctor?

    Are you with me, Doctor?

  43. 43.

    zhena gogolia

    @Brachiator:

    The series is mildly diverting. They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.

    I haven’t watched the new one, but this sounds like the ONLY feature that is faithful to the original.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    @Roger Moore:

    ETA to my previous post: I’ve also noticed that it’s most common for people who change the name they go by to do it when they change jobs.  It’s awkward to tell all your coworkers that you’d like to go by your western name now instead of your old name, but it’s relatively easy to do that when you switch to a new environment where nobody knows you under the old name.

    It’s not exactly the same, but my former boss hated his first name, and when he started working here he started using his middle name, which he greatly preferred.  We all knew his first name and that he was going by his middle name, but it was always interesting to go to conferences and meet people who knew him by his first name.  He wound up legally changing his name when he naturalized, which wound up being a gigantic hassle when dealing with legal matters in his birth country.

  45. 45.

    Emma

    @Brachiator: Michelle Yeo’s Chinese name isn’t on the credits in the English version of the credits because it would only confuse most of the world into thinking her surname is Kheng. But her government-issued identity card would have her name in the format Amir gave, and it’s common for local news media to refer to Chinese Malaysians and Singaporeans by their entire English-Chinese name (unless they don’t have an English name, of course). I don’t have a Chinese last name, so my parents had to put my Chinese name as my middle name on the birth certificate, but English – Surname – Chinese name is the norm in Malaysia and Singapore, even if we don’t actually go by both names.

  46. 46.

    Anotherlurker

    @WereBear: I have binge watched “Upstart Crow” multiple times.

    It is so much fun watching producers, writers and actors lampooning a subject that they love.

  47. 47.

    The Lodger

    @Amir Khalid: It also happens in Hungary,  family name comes first (e.g. Bathory Erszebet)  although Western references still usually put the given name before the family name (Erszebet Bathory). I’m not getting the accents right because I’m using my phone, sorry about that.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @zhena gogolia:

    I haven’t watched the new one, but this sounds like the ONLY feature that is faithful to the original.

    Mild Spoilers again about Perry Mason.

    I don’t think that the tv show or novels dealt with Mason’s back story, and Della Street was maybe 15 years younger than Perry. It wouldn’t make sense that she would be a competent contemporary.

    However, the problem with the new series is that they over-burden Mason with sorrows and failures, and by comparison Della is a noir Wonder Woman with not as much in her way.

    But again I note that I like Della Street and Paul Drake in this series. Drake’s competence makes sense and is plausibly developed. I like the actor who plays Mason, like him a lot. But the way he is depicted doesn’t always work for me.

  51. 51.

    Roger Moore

    @Emma: 

    Michelle Yeo’s Chinese name isn’t on the credits in the English version of the credits because it would only confuse most of the world into thinking her surname is Kheng.

    Actors are a special case because it’s already common for them to adopt stage/screen names that are considered more marketable.

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    I don’t go very often, but I miss not being able to go to the library.

    I do order some books online. A great service which should be expanded, but I have heard that publishers oppose this.

    And yes, I have heard some techies and regular folk claim that libraries are obsolete in the age of the Internet.

  54. 54.

    Emma

    @Roger Moore: maybe I’m wrong, not like I personally know her, but I don’t think she had to “adopt” her screen name. Michelle IS her legal name that her parents gave her at birth, she’s not adopting a stage-name by dropping out part of her legal name. This is different from, say, a PRC teenager picking an English name as a form of self-expression.

  60. 60.

    different-church-lady

    @WaterGirl: Since you’re here: I noticed something on my iPad a couple of days ago. It was just as kludgy and hesitant as ever when loading the front page. But once it loaded, I clicked on one of the “show full post on front page” and all of those tweets “below the fold” loaded like a rocketship.

    Could it be that some of the hold-up is that all of those tweets are trying to load immediately, even though a lot of them don’t get displayed at first?

  61. 61.

    James E Powell

    @Brachiator:

    They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.

    I am probably revealing my ignorance and will beg forgiveness in advance, but I’m not sure why making Della Street a fuller, more realized, more complex, and more central character in the story is a problem.

    None of these characters are going to be who they were in the TV show. This is, after all, the 21st century. And it’s HBO.

    But maybe more important is that this noir Perry Mason is closer to the original source material. The first novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, came out in 1933. He’s more akin to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe than the guy we see in the late 50s TV series. Della Street is 27 years old in the first novel.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: I just came in from the porch.  It was 70, and it felt quite chilly!   I would have had to put on warmer clothes if I had stayed out there.

    We’ll have 2 more days with highs of 70 before we get back to 90+ on Thursday.  I am not complaining about the cool weather!

  64. 64.

    pluky

    @Eric S.: same in Japan. For some reason the Western convention is to flip the family name to the end unlike what we do with Chinese or Japanese names.

    Btw, if you refer to a deceased Japanese emperor, the proper way is by era name, not regnal name. i.e. Showa Tenno (the Showa era emperor) rather than Emperor Hirohito.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    @James E Powell:

    RE: They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.

    I am probably revealing my ignorance and will beg forgiveness in advance, but I’m not sure why making Della Street a fuller, more realized, more complex, and more central character in the story is a problem.

    Mild Spoilers ahead

    To be blunt, Perry Mason’s name is the brand name being sold, but he is more like the sad sap protagonist of some film noir, somebody set up to take the fall. He is not a consistently good protagonist. Della is noticeably smarter than Perry. There are scenes where we are waiting for him to catch up to her. So, imagine if John Watson was the hero of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, but Holmes was still the brilliant detective.

    Every time I saw Della or Paul Drake, I wanted to know more about them. But often, when we follow Mason, he is doing something stupid, or whining about his life, or failing his friends and family. This seems to be a thing in contemporary films and tv shows, giving the main character a lugubrious and tragic back story. It’s not nearly as interesting as writers imagine. They want the hero to have flaws, but they overdo it.

    None of these characters are going to be who they were in the TV show. This is, after all, the 21st century. And it’s HBO.

    I am equally dismayed with shows like Endeavour. And since Mason does not have much of a back story in the novels or tv show, the writers were free to be as creative as they wanted to be. But I have seen a lot of this before, and done much better.

    But maybe more important is that this noir Perry Mason is closer to the original source material. The first novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, came out in 1933. He’s more akin to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe than the guy we see in the late 50s TV series. Della Street is 27 years old in the first novel.

    The problem is, it’s not 1933. The writers have taken their love for 1940s film noir, and stripped out a few themes from Chinatown and mixed it with a phony 1930s sensibility. This Mason is not much like a 1930s detective, nor should he be. But too much of the 30s vibe is empty atmosphere.

    However, a lot of people like the show and the cast is good. It’s not my favorite TV show, but it does have its moments despite my reservations.

    ETA. I will also note that the black characters are not well served by the cinematography. This is an ongoing problem, and there is no excuse for it. But this is a whole other topic.

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