Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Come on, man.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

Let there be snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

The willow is too close to the house.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

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

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

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

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Balloon Juice Thanksgiving Get-Togethers

Reader Interactions

144Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    Trying to be discreet here so we don’t get a bunch of yahoos or Toobins joining our meeting.

    Meeting times are set for 10am, 2pm. 6pm, and 10pm.

    We will also have a “practice” meeting at 9am for anyone who is new to Zoom wants to make sure they are ready to go and have changed their name to their nym in Zoom.

    We’re kind of jumping off the cliff here without a safety net, totally winging it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I know you’ll all be kind if everything is not smooth!

    If this works as proof of concept, maybe Balloon Juice can get set up with Business Zoom for Christmas or whatever event we want to do next.

    Please remember to change your name to your Balloon Juice Nym either before or as soon as you enter the zoom.

    To change your name to your nym: Click on the three dots in upper right-hand corner. Click rename and type your nym.

  8. 8.

    J R in WV

    OK, so funny to see double-sekret pswd posted!!

    This is great, we are supposed to Zoom with friend in Montana Saturday, now that won’t be my first whirl in Zoom!! Not that meeting with JAckals won’t be great all by itself!

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    Very, very well planned.  WG, I honestly don’t know what we’d do without you.

    Looking forward to seeing [a subset of] everyone!

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL: Thank you!  We are actually totally winging this, but what else can you do with one day’s notice?

    I am totally a “measure twice, cut one” kind of girl, so totally winging this is not my comfort zone, but that’s okay.  Worst case, stuff goes wrong and we’re still further along than we would have been if we didn’t try.

    Many thanks to Imm for hosting the “practice zoom” and the 10am zoom.

    To JaySinWA for hosting the 2pm zoom, and to feebog for hosting the 6pm and 10pm versions.

    Cheryl Rofer was kind enough to volunteer to co-host the 6pm zoom, and I will cohost for the others.

  50. 50.

    West of the Rockies

    @Baud:

    Damnit, I guess it’s time to confess that I’m Morgan Freeman.  Or Bobcat Goldthwait.  Stay tuned to find out!

  53. 53.

    Alison Rose

    I’m in California, so I’ll probably try for the 2pm slot, as that puts it at a good time for me out here on the Best Coast.

    I take it the jackals won’t GAF that I haven’t had a speck of makeup on my face since mid-March and sure as hell don’t plan to start now, LOL.

  54. 54.

    dmsilev

    Some mordant and topical humor, courtesy of Alexandra Petri:

    Americans revive spirit of first Thanksgiving by carrying disease to new areas

    Across the United States, millions of people pointedly spurning CDC advice as they celebrated Thanksgiving during a time of increased covid-19 community spread were excited to hearken back to the very first traditions of European settlement in the Americas.
    “We wanted to keep alive the customs these settlers helped start,” explained one family that was traveling hundreds of miles to spread disease to people they didn’t know because they thought the trip would be best for their family. “We just want to do the same thing they did, but in a way that includes a dish that somehow incorporates both marshmallows and sweet potatoes.”

  55. 55.

    feebog

    I’ve been hosting virtual cocktail parties with liberal friends in the runup to the election.  It’s fun and informative.  Think of this as a local get-together gone nation-wide.  If you have not used Zoom before, it’s pretty easy, and the host/moderators will talk you through any problems upon entry.  Thanks WaterGirl for putting this together, gunna be a hoot.

  56. 56.

    Benw

    @WaterGirl: my prediction:

    10 am ET: high attendance. Lots of half-dressed Juicers trying to turn off their cameras. Lots of other Juicers chasing pets around with our laptop cameras. General hilarity.

    2 pm ET: good attendance. Significant presence of west coast Juicers. Pleasant chit-chat and good times.

    6 pm ET: low attendance. Those Juicers who forgot to close the Zoom link from the 10 and 2 meetings will be heard snoring over the sound of football in the background.

    10 pm ET: high attendance. We decide to talk politics. Starts well with Trump mockery, but bitter infighting over minutia, name calling, demands for a Zoom pie filter ensues. Watergirl, Tom, and Adam all try to speak but accidentally stomp on each other. Finally Cole unmutes, calls everyone assholes, and says he’s going to bed. Then BillinGlendaleCA shares his screen with lovely pictures.

    Best thanksgiving BJ ever.

    :)

  62. 62.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: You actually already have a picture of it; same recipe I made when we all celebrated lamh’s graduation this past spring. I skipped the sliced almonds though, mostly because I forgot to buy any.

  63. 63.

    geg6

    @Suzanne: 
    Which one are you attending? I’m thinking we should see what each other looks like in case we ever do a meetup when all this is over.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    @Dan B

    Scene in the Swedish series The Restaurant, set in 1945, referring to the 50th anniversary banquet being planned for the occasion.

    Chef: “I’m planning on serving lamprey. It was very popular.”

    Fishmonger (aghast): “Lamprey? Does anyone really eat that anymore?”

    Chef: “Can you provide it or not?”

    Fishmonger (noncommittal,, long pause): “I’ll see what I can do.”

  66. 66.

    Suzanne

    @geg6: I’m not sure! I’m thinking the first one is the most likely, though I may still have bedhead.

    One of the weirder aspects of 2020 has been putting on makeup to sit in front of the computer. I may put on lip gloss for y’all. I may not.

  69. 69.

    Benw

    @WaterGirl: Like a good debate team you’re setting the bar for success low!  :)

    Thanks for getting this all ready. I’ll be on the 10 am ET link for sure.

  70. 70.

    geg6

    @Suzanne:

    Oh,  I will still have bed head for sure at 10am.  No thanks, I want to look human for the first BJers besides Cole to see me IRL.

    It will be either 6pm or 10pm for me.

  76. 76.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: Lamprey may be too far for me.  We had them in Lake Michigan when they opened the St. Lawrence Seaway.  The damage they did to Salmon and  other fish was gross.  And they are truly ugly.  Eels are sleek.

  83. 83.

    PsiFighter37

    @Ivan X: I have been to 3, none of them in NYC ironically enough…

    Not sure which one I will make (if any), as all of them are during my kid’s wake windows (and I hope to be long asleep by 10PM tomorrow). Will probably try for 2PM if I can make it.

  84. 84.

    Nancy

    I’m excited to see some faces to go with the snarky comments. Snark is an art form and practitioners are artists.

    Art appreciation on Thanksgiving and Wegmans for dinner. New holiday tradition.

  85. 85.

    dww44

    @Suzanne: double endorse that. What WG does takes a lot of time and effort. I do hope  she is appropriately compensated.
    I shall try to make one of the zooms although I will be cooking lots tomorrow and will likely be exhausted  when I’m finally free. I’m one of the oldies.

  90. 90.

    mali muso

    @Amir Khalid: hmm, there isn’t any kind of internal mic on your laptop? To be honest, half the time with busy zoom meetings and lots of people, typing in the chat box is the way to go anyways.

  91. 91.

    Lyrebird

    @Amir Khalid: If you own some headphones with the right jack size, they can work backwards.  Not what you’d wanna record your guitar with, but it might let other lucky folks hear your voice!

  93. 93.

    JaySinWA

    @Amir Khalid: If your laptop has a camera it almost certainly has a built in microphone. You can use a phone as an alternate audio via dial in where it is supported. Free Zoom hosting may or may not support phone in.

  96. 96.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think you should do a quick search for semaphore signaling, grab the WW2 era pedal-powered wireless and start preparing to send comms.

    We’ll pick’em up in Guam and they can be relayed via satellite to this barn dance.

    That’s just me, though.

  101. 101.

    AJ

    I’m fired up for this, I hope I make it!!

    Is Silverman coming? I want to hear the latest on disinformation, thoughts for 2021. I am not kidding, I love the analyses he posts.

  102. 102.

    Sloane Ranger

    Planning on joining the 10am meet up. That’s a civilised 3pm here over the Pond.

    Looking forward to putting faces to nyms.

  104. 104.

    Bruce K in ATH (GR)

    Depending on how busy work gets for me, I might be able to make the 10am EST; the 2pm EST is also quite good for me in EET (GMT+2), depending on what goes on with loved ones in the States.

    Turkey is a Christmas thing around these parts. Well, actually, around these parts, Turkey is a pain in the ass on the far side of the Aegean Sea, but that’s another conversation for another day. (There are long grudges over the Ottoman empire that still fester here, and Erdogan’s modern-day shenanigans aren’t helping matters.)

  106. 106.

    The Fat White Duchess

    @Dan B:  I loved smoked eel, the one time I had it. An hour later, foid poisonong symptoms set in hard and, well, that’s why I’ve only eaten it once.

  110. 110.

    Nancy

    I just went to the test zoom at 9:00. I wanted to see what a test zoom was.
    I highly recommend this experience. There is help for first timers and the conversation is pleasant. I may go back later. I enjoyed this zoom because it was not work-related and the company and conversational was delightful.
    And to paraphrase a comment made in the meeting, we were all quite good-looking and, may I add, intellligent.

  114. 114.

    Nancy

    @WaterGirl:

    It was and I will second or third the praise offered to you for all the time and effort involved in this and other parts of site management. I loved Balloon-Juice when it was smaller and less sophisticated. Love it now.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    If anyone has trouble getting into the zooms, send me an email message and I can send you a link that includes the password.

    That worked for NeenerNeener.

  119. 119.

    oldgold

    Be careful.

     

    Josh Marshall

    School board Trustee who bashed LGBT curriculum takes a dump during zoom school board meeting, accidentally broadcasts it to all 150 attendees, resigns.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dan B:

    Isn’t there some urban legend that the first Tday featured eel.  I love eel but few present day Americans do.

    I only eat it as sushi, but I love it. Not such a stretch to think it was eaten by the Pilgrims. There was a BBC History podcast a couple weeks back, that I haven’t yet listened to, about the importance of eel fishing in the medieval English economy and the formation of an English identity.

  126. 126.

    MomSense

    Thanks for putting that together WG!

    Just had my family zoom and dad is home! So happy to see him in their condo.

    Cooking now and may join the BJ after dark.

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I was so worried about your dad, I am so glad to hear he was home!

    Oh, and I was surprised to see that you had dyed your hair a darker color than your usual (that I had imagined!).  :-)

  130. 130.

    AJ - Mustard Search & Rescue Team

    Practice Zoom and 10am were both really fun!

    Sorry I missed John but wonderful to see many of you ?

  142. 142.

    Sloane Ranger

    Lovely to see everyone on the 10am Zoom meet up.  Really enjoyed talking with everyone.

    We must do it again.

    Happy Thanksgiving, one and all.

Comments are closed.