Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Let’s finish the job.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The willow is too close to the house.

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

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Handsome Hound Open Thread

Handsome Hound Open Thread

by | 88 Comments

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Haven’t posted a Badger photo in a while, so here’s one:

Auto Draft 25

He often walks along the top of the sofa as if he were a cat. That abused piece of furniture is a frequent launchpad when he gets the zoomies. Recently, he used that same commanding height to pounce on our Roomba.

I need to cut his damned claws, a task that we both hate. Daisy’s need to be trimmed too, but I don’t dread it as much as she’s usually not a big baby about it like Badger is. She’s stoical about baths too, whereas he acts like we’re trying to skin him alive. A big ol’ drama llama.

Anyhoo…open thread!

Reader Interactions

88Comments

  1. 1.

    Jerzy Russian

    He often walks along the top of the sofa as if he were a cat.

    There is nothing wrong with thinking you are a cat.

  6. 6.

    geg6

    Badger is so adorable. He’s what I would like for my next doggo.

    Lovey has a thing for the backs of furniture, too. She is often laying across the top of the loveseat in our sunroom, but her favorite place, no question, is on the back of the recliner John sits in. Of course, John must be sitting there for her to sit there.

    Cleo, a real cat, does the same to me on the couch in our bonus room where I have my home office set up. She loves when I take a break from work and sit on the couch to watch tv for a short while because she makes a beeline for the back of the couch the minute I sit down. She purrs like crazy when sitting there, so it makes me happy.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    Since it’s an open thread, I just got back from early in-person voting. One hour and fifteen minutes from leaving my car to coming back to it. I’m not good at judging distances, but the line had to be more than a mile long. Tons of Dems handing out sample ballots; only one guy for the GOP (and sadly, the man in front of me who seemed pleasant enough took a GOP ballot, grr). Line moved plenty fast the entire time (except when it was not in the sun). Once inside, I registered and voted and walked back out in less than five minutes.

    ETA: Poll workers told me it had been just as crowded every day (since Oct. 6).

  8. 8.

    Johnnybuck

    Waiting to vote Douglas county GA. Ine hour and twenty minutes just to get through the metal detector. It’s almost as if they don’t want us ti vote.

  9. 9.

    Damien

    My girlfriend went on a trip recently, and the second day she was gone our dog started SCREAMING every time I’d pick him up in a certain way. I started really worrying when he kept doing it the next day, so I took him out to the urgent care vet….

    Only for this little wiener to be not only perfectly fine, but so well behaved and healthy that the vet called him “stoic.”  Turns our you can get a lot of compliments and some light Doggie pain meds if you’re just enough of a drama queen ?

  10. 10.

    Nicole

    @Anonymous At Work:

    it’s likely the Trump had larger viewing numbers, but part of that is due to NBC putting him out on several platforms. More than ABC could do with Biden.

    it’s not a big deal. Ratings aren’t electoral votes, and Trump clearly did himself no favors last night.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    Forgot this: At the entrance to the parking lot, there was a bunch of GOP signs. Stuck in the middle of the group was a sign saying “George Floyd 2020.” A good reminder of why this election is so important.

  14. 14.

    Delk

    Just voted in Chicago. No problems—no need to show ID. Felt so good to see Joe and Kamala’s names.
    in other news, yesterday I weighed in at 221 pounds. January 1 i was 261. 40 pounds!

  15. 15.

    Charluckles

    At the dog park last night there was a young boston doing brodies, spins and twirls and just generally causing mayhem.  My 2-legged kids thought it was the best thing ever.  They are ready to trade in our dogs this morning.

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Anonymous At Work:

    Found this, no idea how reliable:

    According to analysis by Samba TV, a content recommendation engine and viewer tracking application designed for Smart TVs, 6.3 million US households tuned into Trump’s town hall, a 209 per cent increase from the previous town hall, while Biden had 6.9 million US households tune in, up 291 per cent.

    Biden slightly ahead of Trump. And my own suspicion is that a hefty chunk of the Trump numbers were due to hate-watching.

    Source: https://advanced-television.com/2020/10/16/data-biden-pips-trump-in-town-hall-tv-ratings/

  17. 17.

    debbie

    @dmsilev:

    Heh. Driving back from voting, I listened to Glenn Beck’s paen to Donald Trump (“Balls of Steel”). That is why I was going to vote, no matter what. These idiots.

  19. 19.

    laura

    @Delk: I’m updating your file to reflect your good deeds. Santa’s going to good to you this Christmas! Seriously jealous of your reduction and proud of your exercise of the franchise.

  21. 21.

    TS (the original)

    @Anonymous At Work:

    I know absolutely nothing about this group but from the write-up they do ratings for smart TVs.

    Biden pips Trump in town hall TV ratings

    According to analysis by Samba TV, a content recommendation engine and viewer tracking application designed for Smart TVs, 6.3 million US households tuned into Trump’s town hall, a 209 per cent increase from the previous town hall, while Biden had 6.9 million US households tune in, up 291 per cent.

    Edit: And this one online

    Town Hall YouTube Views Suggest Biden hit Trump Where It Hurts Him Most—Ratings

    While final television viewership numbers for the meetings have yet to be announced, Biden may have attracted more viewers online than Trump.

    At the end of Trump’s town hall, the NBC News YouTube channel showed 153,660 viewers were watching. ABC News’s YouTube channel showed 507,445 viewers at the end of Biden’s town hall.

  22. 22.

    A Ghost to Most

    Rick Wilson at the beast:

    Americans saw two men last night in the closing days of their respective pursuits of the highest office in the land, and their split-screen town halls clarified and catalyzed an understanding of this race in a way that their one debate so far did not.

    It was one more sign of a Trump campaign in total collapse; broke, broken, and unmoored.

    As Donald Trump was eviscerated by a smart and determined Savannah Guthrie who put up with exactly zero bullshit from a subject who usually submerges interviewers under a tidal wave of bullshit, while Joe Biden connected with both his audience and interviewer George Stephanopoulos, it became clearer than ever that the choice is between the craziest possible uncle and a steady elder statesman, between a chaos president and a centrist Democrat.

    Chicken Donald got what he asked for last night after ducking the presidential debate for what he’d expected to be the more amenable circumstance of a network town hall. And America saw him as he is, as Gurthrie opened up by pressing him on the key elements remaining in his base, white supremacists and QAnon maniacs, and Trump reeked of desperation not to further embarrass himself as he flailed to recapture his old media magic but instead dispelled once and for all the deeply-held belief that he cannot be bested by a reporter.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @debbie: Driving back from voting, I listened to Glenn Beck’s paen to Donald Trump (“Balls of Steel”).

    Why?  Why would you do that?

  25. 25.

    Percysowner

    Ratings aren’t votes, but Trump cares more about them than votes, SO, happy days, Biden’s Town Hall beat Trumps in all measures*

    Total viewers Biden 12,705 Trump 10,386

    18-49 Biden 2.6 Trump 1.7 Biden even beat him in the Adults 59+ Biden 15 Trump 14. That’s going to leave a mark. Let the tweeting begin.

    *For the other categories go toShow Buzz Daily

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @Percysowner: That’s hilarious. Trump wanted the town halls to be at the same time so he could gloat over the higher ratings that he inevitably would have gotten. Oops.

  32. 32.

    Chris T.

    Hah, of our four cats, one is a total drama-queen about getting her claws clipped. The others vary: nobody likes it, but they put up with it to some extent. The extent varies depending on their moods.

  34. 34.

    WereBear

    A big ol’ drama llama.

    And they are the “gentlemen” of terriers. Count yourself lucky! As much as I love visiting with them, I knew I could never actually live with them.

    Cats are more my speed… like Reverend Jim!

  35. 35.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @debbie: Thing is, aren’t toxic gasbags like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Rogan, etc. boring? As Gertrude Stein said, “There is no there there.”

  36. 36.

    Nicole

    Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to be wrong about the ratings thing.  The only source I could find was Newsweek (which I know is a crap site nowadays) and it had the Youtube numbers favoring Trump, although it pointed out it was likely due to being on more Youtube channels than Biden was.

    Again, won’t affect the election, but I take grim pleasure in Trump being denied anything.

  37. 37.

    different-church-lady

    Those irritating “From the web” clickbait-y ads sure were quick to pounce on Savannah Guthrie’s freshly minted prominence.

  38. 38.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Nicole: Not about ratings helping Biden, hurting Trump (directly) or anything like that.  It’s all about the effect on Trump’s snowflake psyche if Biden outdoes him on ratings.  It’s about keeping Trump spiraling out of control publicly.

  42. 42.

    mad citizen

    @Chris T.: We adopted a large black female cat several years ago (she LOVED to eat), with her male companion, and she was simply a NO on nail clipping–had never been done at my stepson’s place, and I think he told me the vet couldn’t accomplish it either.  After several months, I eventually got to the prize, and was able to clip her nails regularly.  It was a great day.

  44. 44.

    mad citizen

    Journal Entry, Donald J Trump, October 15, 2020.

    I’ll never forget the night I met my fourth wife.  I was levering a very nasty newswoman on national tv, when an angel appeared on my right.  She was wearing a MAGA shirt and MAGA glasses, and told me I had a beautiful smile, that I was so handsome when I smiled.  I moved on her like The Donald.  Later on, when I showed her my new YMCA dance, the deal was closed.

  45. 45.

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

    @Delk: Congrats on the weight loss! That’s a lot, especially during all the stress & confinement of the pandemic. You should be proud of your accomplishment. I am. :-)

  46. 46.

    Ken

    @Omnes Omnibus: Why?  Why would you do that?

    I’ve driven through parts of the country where when I hit the “seek” button the radio  sweeps through the entire band before ending up back at the same Sinclair station where I started.  Maybe debbie was in a similar wasteland?

  47. 47.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Yeah, my guy spends a lot of time perched / sleeping / barking out the window from the top of the sofa. He’s only 34 pounds (er… up to 38 in lockdown) so his damage is limited.

    He’s managed to absorb the nuances of Sofa Rules pretty well:

    • Dogs do NOT sit on the sofa,
    • Except if Dad is sitting on the sofa. You can sit on Dad and nobody will yell at you, or
    • Nobody seems to mind if you sit on the top of the sofa either. Not even if you walk over Dad to get there.
  49. 49.

    Ken

    @Anonymous At Work: I would add that it’s well-known that when Trump is unhappy he shares it. Widely. So he’ll be making his campaign staff miserable, and that will impact their work.  Plus they deserve it for working for him.

  51. 51.

    Ken

    @Omnes Omnibus: It was a joke.  However, my explanation still works if we assume that as a person in a city in a Republican-controlled state, she was required to drive two hundred miles to get to her assigned polling place (open alternate Thursdays, 4 to 5 AM).

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    Bad – juh!  Love that hound.

    The NY Times is getting shrill.  Maybe those fuckers shouldn’t have gone all emails emails emails, hmmm?  It’s a whole section, with numerous articles.  Going to be its own special Sunday Review section, it seems.  (And you might have covered this on the morning threads; first time checking in and — there’s Badger!  A good Friday.)
    END
    OUR NATIONAL
    CRISIS
    The Case Against Donald Trump

    Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.
    Mr. Trump’s ruinous tenure already has gravely damaged the United States at home and around the world. He has abused the power of his office and denied the legitimacy of his political opponents, shattering the norms that have bound the nation together for generations. He has subsumed the public interest to the profitability of his business and political interests. He has shown a breathtaking disregard for the lives and liberties of Americans. He is a man unworthy of the office he holds.
    The editorial board does not lightly indict a duly elected president. …

    Fuckers couldn’t scream emails, emails, emails enough.  You helped elect him, NY Times/Sulzbergers.  You and NBC, may that network live in shame.  (Fox too, of course, but we expect them to be awful.)

  54. 54.

    Nutmeg again

    I love the Badger side eye. He must be quite a character. (And yeah, Murphy does not allow nail trimming, nor necessary brushing of her hind end.  It’s a never-ending dilemma, with a querulous 97 pounder.) How we love them, though.

  55. 55.

    different-church-lady

    @Ken: A lot of them are probably trudging along, putting in minimal effort, and thinking, “I can’t wait for this to be over.”

  60. 60.

    Ken

    @mad citizen: Are you talking about the “nodding woman”?  The Miami Herald found some information about her.  Also she doesn’t look like Trump’s type, though I was struck that the three women sitting behind him in one photo had a similar appearance and outfits.

    I saw this on Tom Nichols’ twitter, where he also notes that Trump re-tweeted a satirical post from the Babylon Bee, apparently thinking it was real.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    @different-church-lady:   I am curious if the FTF NY Times has put this content out without their paywall.

    Anyone want to check?

    If it’s that important, the Sulzbergers need to make it free and shareable.

    I mean, since it is a national emergency.  (Which the Times has awoken to, slowly.  Maybe they’re briefing Maggie Haberman on it, right now.)

  62. 62.

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

    My son’s elderly chihuahua is also a couch-back sitter and nail clipping drama queen. He’s a bit of a drama queen about everything, to be honest – he barks at the wind when he’s outside, too. My daughter-in-law thinks the couch-back sitting is because he has spent so much time around cats, but I think it’s because he’s small and likes to be up high enough to see what’s going on.

     

    And where the 20 lb cat is.

  66. 66.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @geg6: My Buddy sleeps on the back of the sofa in front of the big window every day.  He now has to shoulder the 2 cats out of the way, which does not please him AT all.  My lovely old cats(RIP) did not care about that window strangely.  One of the new cats likes to sit on that back of the leather recliner near the front door.  He is very offended when we actually want to recline in the recliner.  They all hate and stalk the Roomba.

  68. 68.

    debbie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It was just a couple of minutes. The NPR program was a rerun and CD101’s DJ (or whatever they call them now) was running his mouth. I really didn’t miss that much.

  71. 71.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Nutmeg again: My 14 year old Jack Russell mix can give side eye like that.  I finally gave up on doing nails and baths myself when my knee and back problems got too bad.  Thankfully a dog and car groomer moved into the strip mall down the street and they do contactless pet grooming including baths and nail trims.  Takes they about 4 minutes to clip my 2 kitties nails. Takes longer for the dog because he is such a baby about it.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    @mad citizen:

    Is this our new Guy in Red Sweater?

    Yesterday I heard a political reporter despairing over how few undecided voters there are this cycle. Perhaps fewer Cletus safaris then, guys?

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    Since open thread, this article was a lot of fun. Worth a click.

    Los Angeles Times: An unlikely Pasadena love story: The high-school bromance of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth

    Early in the summer of 1973, singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen performed together for the first time. Playing in front of an audience of buzzed students from John Muir, Blair and Pasadena high schools in an east Pasadena backyard, this embryonic version of Van Halen, then called Mammoth, blasted out songs by Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad and Cream, rattling windows and shattering eardrums while party attendees chugged keg beer.

    …. The Pasadena chapter of the Van Halen story begins in 1962. That year, the Van Halen family — 7-year-old Eddie, his older brother, Alex, and their parents, Jan and Eugenia — emigrated to America from Holland. They spoke no English, making the trip with a few suitcases, about $15 and the family’s treasured piano.

    Jan Van Halen, a Dutch big-band musician, had in 1950 married Eugenia Van Beers, a Eurasian woman whom he met while on an extended tour of Indonesia, in Jakarta. In 1953, they migrated to Amsterdam to escape Indonesia’s political instability. Then after nearly a decade in Europe, they left Holland for the United States. According to Alex, they moved because his father believed “America was the land of opportunity” that would provide him ample musical prospects.

    Years later, Eddie would remark that his father’s conception of his family’s new homeland initially turned out to be a “crock of s—.” With big band music out of fashion, his father’s first job in America was as a dishwasher at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia. Eugenia worked hard as well, cleaning houses to supplement her family’s income. …

    … Eddie and Alex, who’d begun taking piano lessons in Holland, continued them in America. Their mother was a strong advocate for this musical education. Eugenia, who knew her husband’s career struggles better than anyone, wanted to assure that if her sons were going to follow in their father’s footsteps, they’d pursue a more respectable and stable musical path, one that would keep them out of nightclubs.

    Yeah, well.

    Interesting article on busing in LA area in the 1970s (Eddie and Alex got to attend their neighborhood high school, David Lee Roth — from a wealthier area — got bused), high school party culture, the Van Halens’ preference for metal hard rock and Roth’s more varied tastes, shall we say. I think the VHs later flamed him by calling him “Disco Dave”, etc.

    Author is Greg Renoff, (“a historian and the author of “Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal” and “Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life in Music.”)

  75. 75.

    Miss Bianca

    Now I’m starting to wonder if Watson might be part Boston – the way you describe Badger’s attitude about baths reminds me of Watson’s – he shrieks and flails and squirms like he’s being flayed alive when you turn the hose on him. Sponge/rag baths or nothing for this boy!

  76. 76.

    Zelma

    Since this is an open thread, I’m looking for cat advice.  My beloved Simmons died about 3 weeks ago and it has been strange to be cat-less.  I have been feeding 4 ferals on my deck for years.  (Part of the local TNR program.)  One of them has been very friendly, allowing me to pet him and pick him up.  Well, today, said cat decided to come into the house for the first time.  (it was raining.). He is now ensconced in my utility closet.

    My dog – who chases the cats when they are on the deck – is studiously ignoring him.  He’s used to having a cat in the house.  I’m thinking I’d rather give this cat a home than go get a new one at the animal shelter.  Can anyone give me advice as to how to proceed?

    BTW, I’ve been calling this cat “Piggy.”  I think I may have to change that if he stays!

  77. 77.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: Beau hated baths and hated going outside in the rain.  At the same time, if you put him near a lake or pond, it was virtually impossible to keep him out of it.  If it wasn’t deep enough for swimming, he wasn’t having it.  He also loved snow.

  79. 79.

    karensky

    @Omnes Omnibus: OMG.  What a great wormhole is “Meanwhile in Finland.”  I grew up in North Central Massachusetts in the’50s and my dad’s buddies included 3 Finns, farmers and a furniture maker.  They were so awesome.

  80. 80.

    Raven

    @debbie: It belonged to her aunt and we had it recovered, Lil Bit’s headstone just came so I have to get on it an build her wheelbarrow shrine.

  84. 84.

    Raven

    @Elizabelle:  I dunno, the situation at the beach seemed physical. He’s fussy about his food now and I get the sense that without competition it’s not the same. We fed her in the chair and he loved to muscle between us and gobble the dropped food.

  86. 86.

    J R in WV

    @Zelma: 

    I’m thinking I’d rather give this cat a home than go get a new one at the animal shelter.

    First, sorry for the loss of your long time cat, Simmons!

    But also, I’m thinking you’re done with the cat search already. Maybe take Piggy to the vet in a few weeks, once he’s established that you are his home-maker.

    When the cat picks you, you have been had. Or something like that. Congratulations on the new cat. . .

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